Talk Amongst Yourselves

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8:30AM September 25, 2009 | David Wildgoose

This is where Kotaku readers go to talk about the stuff we’re not already posting about. Think of it as the official unofficial Kotaku community forum.

You can talk about games. Or movies. Or politics. Music. Food. Science. Sport. Insert your own miscellaneous off-topic discussion here. Just keep it clean.

I’ll be promoting this post each morning until Sunday to let the conversation continue all week. Makes more sense than starting a new comments thread every day.

Talk amongst yourselves below…

Comments

  • ThePengwin

    September 21, 2009 at 10:59 AM

    Why dont we have an R rating here? Its becomming rediculious!

    • mambodog

      September 21, 2009 at 1:38 PM

      really bummed about this…

      • chuie

        September 22, 2009 at 11:01 AM

        The problem is that although all gamers are upset about the classification ratings, most are not bothered to really do anything about it. The best thing you could do is probably write to your local MP. If there are enough complaints, it will make the move to a R18+ classification more likely and faster.

    • Tonez

      September 22, 2009 at 9:21 AM

      Just as ridiculous is your spelling of ridiculous and becoming.

      • ThePengwin

        September 22, 2009 at 9:34 AM

        I am terribly sorry I have very little regard for the English language and its correct spelling. I was voicing an opinion, not trolling for grammar Nazis.

        But, to the topic. there anything the masses can do to make the R18+ classification for games happen?

    • Ben!!

      September 22, 2009 at 10:40 AM

      I say more media attention would help.
      Shed as much light as possible on this bullshit issue.

      • RufusLives

        September 23, 2009 at 10:42 PM

        I am trying to get something going with the ultimate aim of getting some sort of action taken against Micheal Atkinson for abusing his position to suit his personal opinion. Join in on whirlpool over here http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies.cfm?t=1286583 to find out more.

      • mambodog

        September 25, 2009 at 4:08 PM

        I have to say, it is pretty messed up that one guy (and not even a federally elected guy) can make decisions for what is appropriate for THE ENTIRE COUNTRY. I mean this guy must have some pretty damn huge balls to think that his opinion is the only right one… for everyone!

  • Danny

    September 21, 2009 at 11:08 AM

    Is it possible for Kotaku to find out if the Forza 3 Xbox360 250GB bundle will be available for Australia?

    Would love it if you guys at kotaku could get the inside scoop and possibly a release date and price?

    Much appreciated. :-D

    • k'Fox

      September 21, 2009 at 3:26 PM

      The hype behind Forza isn’t as great as both Halo and/or Modern Warfare 2. As Forza is an Xbox 360 exclusive title along with the competition from Sony (Gran Turismo), Nintendo (Mario Kart), EA (Need for Speed) and itself (Project Gothem), making it fairly hard to sell off as a bundle.

      You’ll need to wait a long while before it would be sold not as a bundle or when the HDD is sold seperately.

      To deny one for the sakes for the gain of the other will create problems for itself. Surprising that Xbox 360 can get away with 2 exclusive Driving games and still make money off both. Kudos!

      Give it about 6 months before you’ll hear anything about non bundles or customised ones

  • Silencer

    September 21, 2009 at 11:19 AM

    Can anyone please explain to me why, after transferring my old XBL Arcade games from my tiny 20GB HD to my 120GB HD that i have to sign into Xbox live to play them?? Sometimes I wanna play my games offline but i’m treated only with the “TRIAL VERSION” of the game.
    Same happens when i re-download the game too!!

    My area has sucky net connection and when i’ve been forced to log in and play Virtua On to play some singleplayer and i get disconnected the next VS battle greets me with “BUY FULL VERSION NOW” !!
    WTF ??
    Any advice?

    • David Wildgoose

      September 21, 2009 at 11:21 AM

      Call customer support and they will sort it out for you. This is fairly common.

    • Mr Waffle

      September 21, 2009 at 11:31 AM

      That didn’t happen to me when I transferred. It’s only supposed to do that when you change Xboxes, I think…

      Regardless, yes, call Xbox Support, and bully them into updating the licences.

      • Silencer

        September 21, 2009 at 12:02 PM

        Thanks David, Mr Waffle….oooops i did forget to mention, i am using another Xbox.

  • Gobbo

    September 21, 2009 at 11:23 AM

    Shouldn’t there be more pre-TGS hype?? Or am I living in the past? :P

    • Mr Waffle

      September 21, 2009 at 11:33 AM

      Shows that Japan doesn’t pull the weight it once did in the videogaming arena…?

  • Qumulys

    September 21, 2009 at 12:44 PM

    So, I’ve been digging (pun intended) Dirt 2 this weekend. But, I’m reallllly saddened at the death of rally games, all because of America. If you look at most forums, ppl are sceraming out how much they want the game to be 90% proper rally stages, but codemasters have so many stupid truck races and raids etc, that only about 10% of the game is rally stages. Dont get me wrong, they are EXCELLENT, but there should be more of them. I’m also sick of the dumbing down of customisation, wont somebody please make a decent true rally game???

    • oggob

      September 22, 2009 at 9:16 AM

      You speak the truth… Been playing it myself and basically have been searching out the Rally events before anything else…

      they’ve taken out what made the franchise as big as it is and left only a 3-5 Stage event at it’s longest, worst still… the stages are ranked and points are awarded, it should be based on time!!!

      The market still needs a Rally game, so it will be interesting to see what GT do with the WRC license.

      What Codies should do? would be happy for a real rally game like the first 2 Colin games… Let’s say they use 8 Countries, 15 Stages + 1 Special Stage… Full control over the vehicle settings, Repair functions between stages… Stage lengths to sit at a minimum of 5mins, upto 10mins… so a single Rally will take about 1-2 hours to complete. There would be an option for Custom Rally also, so you can pick your favorite stages from anywhere…

      On top of that, they could throw in a career progression, start at the bottom as you win the complete rally you get to the next class. 3 class levels would suffice.

      DLC, about 6 mths after the release, they throw another 2-4 full countries and add a final event using all the normal and DLC stages!

      Lastly, all racing games to remove the “Flashback/Rewind” option!!!!!!!

      • Qumulys

        September 22, 2009 at 10:23 AM

        Couldn’t agree with you more there! CMR05 was pretty close to that, but there is so much scope to remake it with the new graphics engine, lets get australia back, those tracks in cmr05 were awesome. Sweden was tops too, I loved those stages. I think its quite insulting how so many games are being dumbed down these days. Is the american youth market really this stupid? I’d feel pretty ashamed if I was from the USA knowing companies are targeting my demographic in this way.

    • Korwin

      September 23, 2009 at 9:11 AM

      Agreed, I do miss the older CMR’s, 04 and 05 were great (Boxhill in AUS was alot of fun). I also liked the wet downhill tarmac events in japan, those were alot of fun in cockpit view.

  • Bish

    September 21, 2009 at 2:43 PM

    My DS hinge cracked today.

    I died a little inside.

  • Cypher

    September 21, 2009 at 4:36 PM

    ThePengwin
    September 21, 2009 at 10:59 AM
    Why dont we have an R rating here? Its becomming rediculious!

    Because as we have “elected representitives”, we don’t need to think for ourselves, or make our own descisions. Oh, wait. Won’t SOMEBODY think of the CHILDREN!?!?!?

    I’d like to see more media coverage on it though. The more people that are aware we don’t have an R18+ rating, the more people are going to say to themselves, “WHY DON’T WE THINK OF THE CHILDREN AND STOP THEM BEING ABLE TO BUY THESE GAMES WITH AN M15+ ON IT!!!

    Seriously, 90 percent of the games I have at hme have 18 stickers from other countrys RIGHT NEXT TO the MA15+ sticker. Inconsistent? You bet your butt it is

    • kFox

      September 22, 2009 at 9:50 AM

      I blame the idiotic parents who buy their kids the “MA15+” titles and then they go around complaining about the game being so violent.
      Though, if parents can’t get into the heads the difference between ratings and the fact that they actually “exist”, we should of had an R rating by now… but no…
      Next time one complains about the violence, get them to do an IQ test

    • ThePengwin

      September 22, 2009 at 10:08 AM

      Well i didnt vote for any of these clowns running the joint at the moment :(.

      In the PDF of the decsion report there is a note saying

      “1. Computer games that:

      (d)are unsuitable for a minor to play;” will be Refused Classification

      If they think Left for dead 2 is so bad, why was House of the dead: Overkill released? Similar scenario of zombie killing, massive amounts of gore, and to add more F and MF words than i could count. I wouldnt allow a kid to play that if i had kids. This game is also on the Wii, mostly regarded as a kids console… And by that rule, they are essentially saying that they approve this title for minors.

      Some games that are released to day really should be in the R category, and kids shouldnt be allowed to play them. But kids arent the only ones playing games these days!

    • Newguy

      September 22, 2009 at 10:36 AM

      I like this peron’s view on it:

      “See the thing is that it has nothing to do with the government… For some retarded reason this issue sits in the hands of the state’s governors (the queen’s reprisentatives to each state) and when they vote on an issue it has to be unanimous. This means that not only is this not democratic process it’s also not being carried out by elected officials.”

  • Tristan Hennessy

    September 22, 2009 at 9:22 AM

    picked up ODST from midnight launch. Its something that only halo fans from the beginning can only appreciate.
    Also got jibbed of my Sgt Johnson preorder bonus. “sorry we are running low”. Broadmeadows EB. There was a stack of at least 200 and only 40 people at the launch. Probably will never buy a game from there again.

    • GmBH

      September 22, 2009 at 10:30 AM

      Why did you take that crap? You should demand what’s rightfully yours!

      Also I was wondering if the ‘hub world’ system works or is it a contradiction riddled experience destroying abomination like in ‘The Darkness’?

    • glennc

      September 22, 2009 at 1:35 PM

      you deserve what you get if you buy from EB games. there is no ‘probably’ about it, do not buy from them. i will not buy a game from a place that sells second hand versions for $5 less. $105 for a new $110 game that is probably only $89 new in jb anyway is just wrong.

      or, make them price match. feels better than buying from the cheaper place.

  • Kane.T

    September 22, 2009 at 12:31 PM

    Can someone please tell me what’s the deal with the AUS PSN??
    Ok, I’m happy I got FFVII which has been a blast to go back and play, but where is Metal Gear Solid, Resident Evil and other quality gems the US PSN store has?
    Bull$&^T to distribution deals needing to be re-done again, that’s a weak answer. As if those involved find it bothersome to rubber stamp APPROVED on the request and get the extra coin for doin nuthin.

    • Aaron Clement

      September 22, 2009 at 1:13 PM

      Make a US account and use that instead!

      • dzc12

        September 22, 2009 at 1:30 PM

        The issue there is you can only fund it with a US credit card or US PSN Card.

      • Aaron Clement

        September 22, 2009 at 2:27 PM

        US PSN cards are easy to get though – sellers on eBay or sites similar to gamecard.com.au (who doesn’t handle PSN cards might I add) will email you the codes within a couple of hours if you buy the cards from them..

  • dzc12

    September 22, 2009 at 12:49 PM

    I hope someone can set my mind at ease on this, I just watched and read the IGN review for Uncharted 2 and noticed that Australia has a release date of TBA. I then checked the EB website (I know they’re super unreliable but I need more info) and they’re saying October 2009.

    The only site I found a concrete date is JB (15/10/09) I was just hoping that someone out there in Kotaku land could confirm this? -looks at Wildgoose-

    • truncheon

      September 24, 2009 at 10:07 AM

      its the 16th officially but JB like to sell stuff as soon as they get it in which is nice

  • Pattrice

    September 23, 2009 at 8:45 AM

    So my 360 died last night (RROD), it one month outside of the warranty. It was a noisy bugger anyway so I’m thinking it’s time to move on.

    I’m still tossing up which version to buy but have a question hopefully someone can help me with… How do I go about transferring the stuff from my existing hard drive to the hard drive of the new one I buy? Is it even possible?

    • k'Fox

      September 23, 2009 at 1:18 PM

      There should be something called “Apparent Warranty” which safeguards you for any warranty just happens just outside of the issued time-frame.
      Ring up Microsoft and ask them about it since it is a freecall number and it is a consumers right as some things do break just a bit of time outside of the given time-frame of warranties

  • HotDamn!

    September 23, 2009 at 9:12 AM

    Seeing an ad for the PSP GO in the latest DS catalogue @ $429, near a PS3 with Dirt 2 @ $498 is a bit hard to stomach still.

  • clint

    September 23, 2009 at 9:45 AM

    well im confused,
    I preordered cod mw2 because i heard it had both lan and co-op. Now i hear it isnt really co-op, but a quick shootout against the ai on a map with no story. At least i hear it still supports lan.

    And please tell me borderlands is still going to be lan and co-op…..

  • Finlay Downes

    September 23, 2009 at 12:40 PM

    Hey guys, I’m doing a case study of gaming in Japan and its relation to culture and society, and I figured this might be a good place to ask. I was wondering if anyone has spied any links that might yield some useful information, or perhaps knows some interesting areas that I can look in to? I’ve already got a stash of books from the library, so I’ve at least got something to work with.

    • Sing Nguyen

      September 23, 2009 at 2:18 PM

      Since we’re on Kotaku may as well plug it a bit: Brian Ashcraft released a book not too long ago titled “Arcade Mania: The Turbo-charged World of Japan’s Game Centers”. Amazingly I saw a copy of it in a bookstore in Hobart whilst on holiday last year, but I didn’t buy it. From what I remember, it was divided into types of arcade games and the people and culture surrounding each of them (from fighting games to rhythm games, and even prize winning games like UFO catcher).

      Whether that figures into your case study of gaming in relation to culture and society (do you mean overall society, similar to how you ask how sport affects society?), I don’t know. The only other thing I can think of, besides getting more books, is to look up some blogs. You’re gonna have to try and find someone who specifically writes about this stuff (so someone doing what you’re trying to do), or someone who simply observes and comments on this stuff in passing.

      The only examples I can give you however is of the latter: http://aaronin.jp/ It’s mostly dedicated to DDR, but there’s probably more to the site if you dig a little more. Another commentating foreigner in Japan is this one: http://www.gaijinsmash.net/ He had a good set of editorials on his experiences as a black dude teaching English in a Japanese high school, but has since moved on to other jobs and topics. Sometimes he’ll write about games.

      Case study or not the second one is a hoot to read anyway, it mostly dealing with culture shock. Good luck though. I’d say be ambitious, but not too ambitious (depending on what this case study is for of course).

      Ding!

      • Finlay Downes

        September 23, 2009 at 3:19 PM

        Neat, thanks.

        I’m actually studying a graphic design course (visual communication, if you must) but for one of my subjects there’s an option to look at the cultural and ethical impacts of videogames. The question itself is:

        ‘Digital games have arguably become one of the most popular forms of entertainment in our culture today. This popularity has also been accompanied by loud claims associating it with the encouragement of excessive and senseless violence, childhood obesity and intellectual laziness. Above and beyond these important issues discuss the cultural relevance of video games with reference to storytelling, gender and the ethics of virtuality.’

        I’ve found this blog to be helpful so far: http://japanmanship.blogspot.com/ I’m also going to see if I can find a copy of Chris Kholers ‘Power Up’ in a library somewhere.

    • chuie

      September 24, 2009 at 11:07 AM

      Yo Finlay have you heard of the hikkimori? They’re like the extreme people in Japan that stay in their homes all day and night playing games and watching anime, probably a result of a combination of social/cultural issues which you should look up.

  • Paul Puccio

    September 23, 2009 at 1:26 PM

    Question for Mr Wildgoose or some other learned one:

    Has there been any news on the Battlefield 1943 Aussie servers for the 360? Weren’t these promised ages ago?

  • Darius

    September 24, 2009 at 11:29 AM

    Selling my 20gb xbox 360 with wireless controller + COD WAW + Nokia N95 unlocked with 20gb

    contact me with offers; pickup sydney city
    0488393250

  • Steve

    September 24, 2009 at 12:22 PM

    Quick one guys, saw that they’ve released a new Challenge DLC for Arkham Asylum, but it’s saying for 360 that they’re only releasing it in Europe, not coming out in U.S. Does this mean Australia gets it as well since we’re always tied to the Europe releases?

    • Andrew Low

      September 25, 2009 at 2:52 PM

      The batman dlc is there on the PS3 today, so I assume that means we get it too.

      On an unrelated note, did anyone see EB were selling elites for $338 IF you buy odst for $99? Isn’t odst meant to come free with evry elite console? Are EB stealing from people?

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