You guys have any burning questions? About anything? This is Ask Me Stuff, which does exactly what it says on the tin. Leave me a question in the comments below and I’ll endeavour to answer it before the day is out.
You guys have any burning questions? About anything? This is Ask Me Stuff, which does exactly what it says on the tin. Leave me a question in the comments below and I’ll endeavour to answer it before the day is out.
lambomann007
Wednesday, December 28, 2011 at 11:02 AMHave you played NFS The Run yet? If so, what did you think of it? If not, why not? :P
Mark Serrels
Wednesday, December 28, 2011 at 2:48 PMAhahahahahaha! I HAVE NOT PLAYED IT NOR WILL I EVER PLAY IT!
[Should I play it?]
lambomann007
Thursday, December 29, 2011 at 3:25 PMYes. You should have kept that copy lying around KotakuHQ and played it instead of giving it away as a prize :P
batdan
Wednesday, December 28, 2011 at 11:04 AMGAME recently ran a poll on their facebook page asking fans whether to kill to keep GAMETV. Majority of votes (I think about 80%) were in favour of keeping it. What do you think of it Mark? Should they keep it?
Mark Serrels
Wednesday, December 28, 2011 at 2:51 PMI think it’s gotten better since they moved to the sketches. If they’d done that from the beginning people would have been far more receptive to it.
Huntsman
Wednesday, December 28, 2011 at 11:07 AMAre you actually at work Mark? or is the computer tricking us?
Mark Serrels
Wednesday, December 28, 2011 at 2:51 PMI am actually in the office as we speak/write/post!
NotoriousR
Wednesday, December 28, 2011 at 11:08 AMHow was your weekend/christmas?
Mark Serrels
Wednesday, December 28, 2011 at 2:53 PMAwesome. On boxing day I went to Palm Beach, which has these boulders you can climb (I love climbing!) right next to the beach. Got there really early climbed all morning, then went to the rock pool, which was awesome. Got lunch, played Skyward Sword, went to Ben’s house for a poker night.
Best day ever!
How about you man? What did you get up to?
Martin
Wednesday, December 28, 2011 at 11:08 AMI got the kinect bundle with K adventures, gunstringer and fruit ninja. What other Kinect games are essential?
Luis
Wednesday, December 28, 2011 at 11:11 AMNone :(
Would you rather work here on Kotaku or at a more eh… journalistic website such as Giantbomb?
Also, can we please filter select “journalists” like plunkett and ashcraft?
D.C.
Wednesday, December 28, 2011 at 11:12 AMI hear Child of Eden is supposed to be good, but there’s no demo on Live, alas. Once Upon a Monster! What? It’s Double Fine! ;)
Matthew K
Wednesday, December 28, 2011 at 11:16 AMDance Central was pretty great. I haven’t played Dance Central 2 yet.
Mark Serrels
Wednesday, December 28, 2011 at 2:55 PMChild of Eden is *awesome*.
Dance Central isn’t really my thing, but everyone else seems to love it.
N0NEoftheAB0VE
Thursday, December 29, 2011 at 1:22 AMI really like Kinect Sports (haven’t played No 2 though) but other than that you have everything I’d recommend (though people say Child of Eden is good also)
Matthew K
Wednesday, December 28, 2011 at 11:10 AMWhat are the best and worst Christmas presents you can remember receiving from your childhood (i.e.: around the time ‘Santa’ was still leaving stuff under your tree).
For the record, the best thing I ever got as a kid was either a Sega Master System or a new bike. The worst thing was probably an ugly Christmas-themed t-shirt that didn’t even fit, so it was unwanted in two entirely different ways.
Batguy
Wednesday, December 28, 2011 at 11:17 AMLego pirate ship, hands down. I was hoping for it all year, didn’t think I’d get it, but then it was there on Christmas morning. Lived up to the hype too!
Mark Serrels
Wednesday, December 28, 2011 at 2:56 PMBest Christmas: SNES. Easily.
Worst Christmas: I got an easel and oil paints. Tried to paint Sony on canvas. Failed miserable!
Lobo
Wednesday, December 28, 2011 at 5:11 PMSNES and DKC 2. That combination is pure gaming nostalgia for me.
Lone Wolf
Wednesday, December 28, 2011 at 11:14 AMHave you announced the winner of the “hardened” competition yet?
Also, I seem to recall you saying there would be another competition this week, will that one be making an appearance today?
Chuloopa
Wednesday, December 28, 2011 at 11:30 AMyeah i remember that too – i’ve also just sent him the first of the KKP comps as well, so that;s something to also keep an eye out for. :)
Mark Serrels
Wednesday, December 28, 2011 at 2:57 PMWe have some KKP comps this week courtesy of Chuloopa!
D.C.
Wednesday, December 28, 2011 at 11:20 AMAny chance ShopStyle ads will stop advising me on underwear and hipster shirts any time soon? :p
Braaains
Wednesday, December 28, 2011 at 11:49 AMAs soon as you buy enough of their stuff, they’ll stop :P
Strange
Wednesday, December 28, 2011 at 1:21 PMHow could you not want a reindeer hoodie for $250?!
Mark Serrels
Wednesday, December 28, 2011 at 2:58 PMShopstyle is like that girlfriend who keeps trying to dress you up all nice.
Eventually you’ll give in.
D.C.
Wednesday, December 28, 2011 at 3:08 PMDoesnt sound likely. :D
Luke C
Wednesday, December 28, 2011 at 11:23 AMMark, what is the most embarrassing thing that has ever happened to you?
Mark Serrels
Wednesday, December 28, 2011 at 3:04 PMI taught English in Japan for two years and one of my Friday classes was a kid’s class. I was playing Soccer with them one day, just messing about in the classroom. I bent over to pick up the ball and the back of my trousers ripped all the way from the top of my ass to the testicles.
The weird thing was: I wasn’t wearing any underwear.
I just sort of shuffled up to the wall, got through the class and then went back upstairs to continue teaching. Thing was I still had four classes left and didn’t have time to go out and buy new trousers.
I found a stapler, went into the toilet and tried to staple them together. It kinda worked, but then as soon as I sat down for the next class the trousers ripped again! Plus it was soooo uncomfortable with all those staples!
Then I tried to use sticky tape! Another fail!
Eventually I managed to rig up a staple/sticky tape concoction that held the trousers together.
The worst thing was — I had to cycle home, trousers flapping in the wind!
D.C.
Wednesday, December 28, 2011 at 3:09 PMAnd that led to your triumphant entry into the sex offenders database?
masha2932
Wednesday, December 28, 2011 at 11:30 AMWhat are you excited for in 2012?
Mark Serrels
Wednesday, December 28, 2011 at 3:05 PMJourney!
ME3!
The Last Guardian!
You?
masha2932
Wednesday, December 28, 2011 at 3:38 PMFar cry 3-
I enjoyed Far cry 2 a lot but the game was hampered by poor design decision like respawning enemy posts, no fast travel except with buses which were spread so far on the map, slow reload times and very few vehicles which handled similarly for the most part. Based on the E3demo I am pumped for the game, the dry African landscape has been replaced with a lush tropical environment and hopefully the developers will respond to fan feedback and make the necessary changes to the previous game’s mishaps. An open world FPS will also be a welcome change from the corridor FPSs-which I enjoy but are exhausting at the moment.
Starhawk-
I enjoyed warhawk a lot on the PS3. The mixture of vehicle, on foot and aerial combat was so much fun. The only thing I missed from the first game was a singleplayer mode and I’m hoping the team deliver a fun and chaotic narrative similar to the online multiplayer. It’s also a space western so hopefully I can ride a horse on the moon or something :-) I’ve actually been playing the online beta this past few weeks and it has been great despite only 2 modes being available at the moment.
SSX
The initial VGA trailer really scared me as it seemed they were abandoning the fun and crazy trick system for a ‘gritty reboot but the latest gameplay videos have renewed my hopes. The over the top moves and tracks are all there and most of the characters from the previous games have been confirmed. My only worry is the game will be saddled with DLC for new tracks and character skins.
Dragon’s dogma
Capcom’s take on a western RPG is intriguing. I’m not interested in the RPG mechanics though but the game’s boss fights. Capcom is one of the best developers when it comes to boss fights and creature design from resident evil 4, lost planet 1 and 2 and Dragon’s dogma seems to follow the trend with Griffins, serpents and dragons just some of the beasts revealed so far.
Other notable games:
Bioshock infinte- I loved Bioshock 2 and this looks to be much better
Last guardian-
The recent news about the director leaving have me worried but I’m still hopeful. Shadow of the colossus is one of my favourite PS2 games.
GTA V
PREY 2
These are just the few I can remember. 2012 looks like it’s gonna be a great year as well.
masha2932
Wednesday, December 28, 2011 at 3:39 PM* had.
Still waiting for an edit button. :-)
mattroe
Wednesday, December 28, 2011 at 11:40 AMThis is more of an open question, but I just (finally) picked up Mass Effect 2 on the Steam sale and I was dreading the planet scanning mini-game based on all the complaints I heard about it. It really wasn’t a big deal to me though, I kinda enjoy it actually. It’s pretty satisfying and only takes a couple of minutes. I guess I can see why some people wouldn’t enjoy it, but it doesn’t seem anywhere near as bad as people made it out to be. Is it more tricky to do with a controller or something?
D.C.
Wednesday, December 28, 2011 at 11:45 AMI kind of liked it too. Apparently they patched it to be a lot quicker than it initially was, though. I didn’t mind it even then, though.
Lone Wolf
Wednesday, December 28, 2011 at 11:46 AMThe scanning minigame was actually patched to be a bit quicker, initially it was torturously slow and required 10-20 minutes to extract enough minerals for a research project.
With the upgrade, it is even less of a chore and not obtrusive at all, but some opeople still remember the frustration of the original.
mattroe
Wednesday, December 28, 2011 at 11:50 AMAhh okay, glad I picked it up post-patch then. :P
Thanks guys.
Thom
Wednesday, December 28, 2011 at 12:28 PMYeah, definitely post-patch. I spent about a third of my total playtime planet scanning to get all the basic ship upgrades (I have a habit of actually timing stuff like that, which is why I also know that even though MGS4 took just under 13 hours, only 4hrs and 28 mins were gameplay).
Milbo
Wednesday, December 28, 2011 at 12:37 PMI enjoyed it too at the time… but it is the reason I haven’t gone back and played ME2 again. I couldn’t handle any more mining in order adequately play through the story. It’s be good if you could switch it off for the new game+
Thom
Wednesday, December 28, 2011 at 1:45 PMWhen I started again, I got so many bonus minerals, I didn’t need to do any scanning. Don’t know if that’s because of the way I did my first run through, but its certainly increased the re-playability of the game.
N0NEoftheAB0VE
Thursday, December 29, 2011 at 1:27 AMIt’s much more enjoyable than travelling to every second planet in your moon buggy which has all the steering finesse of a 20 year old shopping trolley
In that regard (compared to the first game) the planet scanning is a pleasant – if mindless – diversion
Doug McCreedy
Wednesday, December 28, 2011 at 12:38 PMMark. Wa diz Crecente hae a wikipedia entry an’ ye dinnae? mair important, wa ur ye lettin’ thes gang withit a barnie? whit kin’ ay scotsman ur ye?
Strange
Wednesday, December 28, 2011 at 1:20 PMQuit confusing us and get back to killing stuffs. :P
Mark Serrels
Wednesday, December 28, 2011 at 3:05 PMI want a wiki entry!
Hiero
Wednesday, December 28, 2011 at 1:40 PMWhat do you think about Skyward Sword? Have you played it yet?
Mark Serrels
Wednesday, December 28, 2011 at 3:07 PMI just finished the third dungeon.
Totally undecided at the minute. The padding is frustrating. The motion controls aren’t as consistent as I’d hoped they’d be.
I love the setting, the music and the twist on the story, but it feels like the exploration aspect is completely null and void. So far it feels like a collection of levels.
Hiero
Wednesday, December 28, 2011 at 10:22 PMIf it’s worth anything, I found the first three dungeons quite terrible as well, but overall thought the game was fantastic. There’s way better stuff in store later on in the game, in my opinion.
Stevorooni
Wednesday, December 28, 2011 at 1:40 PMMark what do I do about receiving my Alien Vs Predator prize I won? Do I just send you an email?
Mark Serrels
Wednesday, December 28, 2011 at 3:09 PMJust shot you an email!
cdj
Wednesday, December 28, 2011 at 2:11 PMI never thought I’d hear a Kotaku Skyrim review on Radio National breakfast. I just thought they existed in parallel universes.
Mark Serrels
Wednesday, December 28, 2011 at 3:10 PMHahaha! That’s my second time on there. Going back on in a couple of weeks. I had a blast doing it. :)
masha2932
Wednesday, December 28, 2011 at 3:48 PMHere’s the link for anyone that’s interested. I’m just about to listen to it.
http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/breakfast/2011-12-28/3749452
Brendo
Wednesday, December 28, 2011 at 2:17 PMSinilar to Stevorooni, is there anything I should be doing about recieving my Rage prize. I’ve sent quite a few emails with my details but might be showing up in the Spam folder. Is this email address right? ‘mark.serrels@kotaku.com.au’
That’s where they’ve gone. If they are in the spam folders, you should just need to search for ‘RAGE’ or ‘JB’. It seems like it’s been ages, I was hoping it’d show before the boxing day sales. I’m not sure how much longer some of these deals will last!
Mark Serrels
Wednesday, December 28, 2011 at 3:10 PMEmail also sent! :)
Crazyguy1990
Wednesday, December 28, 2011 at 2:56 PMIs there any new anime you’ve been watching?
Mark Serrels
Wednesday, December 28, 2011 at 3:12 PMI mostly just read Manga now…
Was watching Tora Dora with my wife, which was fun.
Manga I’m reading ATM: REAL, Vagabond, Naruto, Hajime No Ippo, Billy Bat, Bakuman.
Christie
Wednesday, December 28, 2011 at 4:57 PMWhats your favourite Christmas present you’ve ever got ever?
Christie
Wednesday, December 28, 2011 at 5:01 PMOh no its already been asked! That teaches me for not reading all the other questions :)
the cake
Wednesday, December 28, 2011 at 5:00 PMHey Mark, do you know why Trine 2 hasn’t been released on XBLA in Australia yet?
Batguy
Wednesday, December 28, 2011 at 5:31 PMI’m tellin’ ya, set up a US account and buy it that way. Cheaper and actually available!
the cake
Wednesday, December 28, 2011 at 7:54 PMThe reason I don’t want to do that is I’d have to buy more points for the new US account and then I’d be stuck with left over points on both accounts as M$ sells them in batches of 1500.
Batguy
Wednesday, December 28, 2011 at 8:47 PMLeftover schmeftover. Is there really any point in trying to round out to zero every time?
I always have a few bucks floating around in my AU and US accounts at any given point in time. I figure there’s no point getting upset about the small amount of money they get in advance of me spending it, because I will find something to spend it on eventually!
JediKilla
Wednesday, December 28, 2011 at 11:03 PMFrozenbyte doesn’t know. It’s not up on the PSN either.
http://frozenbyte.com/board/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=4022
A guy
Wednesday, December 28, 2011 at 9:48 PMWhat are the chances of final fantasy versus thirteen coming to xbox 360?
Marc Tribbia
Friday, December 30, 2011 at 2:44 PMHi. My son and I absolutely love the Skylanders game….. however….. I am very dissapointed that I cannot buy Figures (individually or separate) from anywhere….. All dept & game stores have no stock!…. can you please tell me when and where I can get some from…… I live in Sydney Australia.
Regards Marc & Daniel Tribbia
Orion
Tuesday, January 3, 2012 at 11:13 AMHey, I’ve heard rumours that there is a way to increase the 3D effect on a 3DS, beyond that of the depth slider. If so, how do I do it? If not, thanks anyway
Tyce
Tuesday, January 3, 2012 at 1:27 PMExcellent question -> why the hell can’t I get to the U.S Kotaku any more? It’s been touch and go to land on the US version of this site without being redirected. Frustrating!
Jeremy
Wednesday, January 4, 2012 at 5:42 PMAre you White Ninja?
http://www.whiteninjacomics.com/comics/1279.shtml
Fenixius
Wednesday, January 4, 2012 at 6:34 PMWhy don’t any of the new releases (next ~3 months’ worth of games or so) on my wall at work interest me? What should I do about that? It’s somewhat disconcerting..