The gaming diary

[BadEnoughDude]

Played a bit of Mortal Kombat 2 this weekend with some friends. That's about all the gaming I've done in the last few weeks.

I have been thinking a lot about scaling back my collection lately. It takes up a whole room, and I very rarely want/have time to play any of it anymore

[modest9797]

I played Forza 2 (Better than grand turismo!) and advanced alittle further in carrer and painted some of my cars to look like different Modest Mouse albums.

[Tan]

I played Forza 2 (Better than grand turismo!) and advanced alittle further in carrer and painted some of my cars to look like different Modest Mouse albums.

I picked up the Limited Collector's Edition of Forza 2 for the 3 extra cars and the Encyclopedia that came with it. Awesome game and very feature rich. Forza 3 is in the works right now and from the sounds of it it's a bigger game.

[Kimoosabi]

Picked up and played some Soul Calibur IV tonight on the Xbox 360, so far I am really enjoying it. I skipped over Soul Calibur III entirely, so it's been a while since I've played a game in this franchise.

[Feechy]

Played some Bonk's Adventure on the TG16. And as soon as I got onto world 1-2 (whichever has the dinosaur in it) I realize that it's the goriest game ever.

[The Metamorphosing Leon]

Was playing some nethack and dwarf fortress. Then I played some Demon Stone...horrible port--and then finished the last two missions in the all too short SWAT 4.

[OatBob]

On my trip I played the original Sonic the Hedgehog for GBA.

worst.  port.  ever.

Fortunately for me, I also had a book along to read.

[Sirgin]

On my trip I played the original Sonic the Hedgehog for GBA.

worst.  port.  ever.

Fortunately for me, I also had a book along to read.

What's so bad about it? (I'm not trying to argue, I simply don't own the game, so I don't know)

[OatBob]

On my trip I played the original Sonic the Hedgehog for GBA.

worst.  port.  ever.

Fortunately for me, I also had a book along to read.

What's so bad about it? (I'm not trying to argue, I simply don't own the game, so I don't know)

Instead of being a true port, it seems to be emulated.  Now, while I love Sonic the Hedgehog, this one seemed to suffer from slow emulation, and small-screen-itis.  Like Super Mario Bros. Deluxe, you only see most of what you would view on your television screen, not the whole thing.  That leaves you less warning if you're rolling along towards spikes or a pit.  That being said, there is a nice "Anniversary Mode" where you can also use the spin dash, a move added later in Sonic 2.

[phoenix1967]

More SMCR. Still struggling with the playing as the German Civ vs. the rest on Emporer difficulty. China and Japan are a pain to try catching up with on the Tech tree.

[logical123]

On my trip I played the original Sonic the Hedgehog for GBA.

worst.  port.  ever.

Fortunately for me, I also had a book along to read.

What's so bad about it? (I'm not trying to argue, I simply don't own the game, so I don't know)

Instead of being a true port, it seems to be emulated.  Now, while I love Sonic the Hedgehog, this one seemed to suffer from slow emulation, and small-screen-itis.  Like Super Mario Bros. Deluxe, you only see most of what you would view on your television screen, not the whole thing.  That leaves you less warning if you're rolling along towards spikes or a pit.  That being said, there is a nice "Anniversary Mode" where you can also use the spin dash, a move added later in Sonic 2.

Strange... I used to love SMBDX. One of my all time favorites because of the extra modes. I probably logged about 100 hours in that cart. Ahhhh, the memories.

[phoenix1967]

More Civ Rev. Lost the prior game to Japan. Started a new game on Emporer difficulty (as Germany again) and got a much better draw (no Japan or China). Took out Greece early and stayed ahead of the tech tree vs America, Aztec, and Spain. I'm ready to build the United Nations for the Cultural win. However, I'm going to be sure to finish the Manhattan Project first.

After much trial and error with the Germans, they get some kickass perks if you play them right. The +1 to Forest production in Midieval really makes a difference. And as long as you concentrate on building up your Warrior armies (with a Barracks) in the Ancient era and delay Iron Working as long as possible, your Warrior armies will upgrade automatically from Warriors...to Legions...to Knights...to TANKS when the appropriate Tech for these units are fully researched. The most important aspect of Germany is keeping population numbers up in your cities to be able to take advantage of the Midieval bonus and get the most out of your resources.

Damn! Out of all the Civs in the game I think I've learned the most ABOUT the game from playing as the Germans...because you MUST play fundamentally sound in order to win with them, it forces you into being patient and deliberate, knowing when to attack vs. knowing when to build. I imagine each of the Civs in the game are comparably challenging, but having no "free" tech, movement bonus, or resource bonus at the start really made Germany a challenge for me. But always fun.

Looking forward to hopefully finishing my win the next time I play.

[Kimoosabi]

Last night I played Soul Calibur IV for about 5 hours, so far my only complaint is with the online component, it takes quite a while to join a match, since you frequently get "match is full" errors.

I also downloaded and played Geometry Wars Evolved 2. So far I am really enjoying it, having more than one game play mode will definitely keep me interested in it for a while. The achievements are a lot easier in this one than the last as well.

[Zimbacca]

I've downloaded and been playing The Bring Down the Sky for Mass Effect.

[James]

I was playing Tetris DS today, trying to beat my high score, as ever. I got up to 1,770,000 in Marathon mode then got distracted and put it into standby. It takes quite a while to get up to that. Maybe 45 minutes to over an hour. I picked it up again and lost that game within a minute.

My record is something like 2,690,000+.