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108 responses to “Ask Kotaku”
Why would a man whose shirt says “Genius at Work” spend all of his time watching a children’s cartoon show?
What’s the best way to kill a bear using only an iPhone, an empty can of Red Bull, and shoelaces? Urgent response needed.
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Tear the can in half to produce a razor edge. Tie the shoelace to the iPhone. Load up the oh-so-lovely and addictive Jetpack Joyride. Entice the bear closer by showing it the game, and slowly moving the shoelace towards you. At the right moment, lunge forward and slice with the torn can.
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Larf? Milk out the nostril larfed.
On a completely unrelated topic, while Leandros is ever so slowly loading the shell in Warhammer, is there any special trick to getting through this section?
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Set traps where the orcs spawn out with the Vengeance Launcher and use the Stalker Bolter to pick off the Orcs on the top level quickly.
Also don’t be afraid to run off the the closed gate as the snipers can’t reach you there, and try to pick of the squigs quickly so they take out any orcs surrounding them.-
Cheers Licks! Appreciate it.
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More MacGyver then McGarnical. Awesome
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Only flaw in my plan is the bear could be more of an Angry Birds bear. And by the time you find that out, it could be too late.
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Who is Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s character in The Dark Knight Rises?
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Batman
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I knew it.
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SPOILERS.
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Unconfirmed spoilers.
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He plays a cop, that is not mentioned in any of the comics at all.
There are many rumors that JGL will don the Batsuit during this film. If so, it makes sense that he would be an ersatz Azrael
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Interesting. It would make a lot of sense for him to be Dick Grayson, not Azrael. Pure speculation, of course.
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Any one else getting a little tired of the constant Blizzard hate thanks to Diablo 3?
Every minor things seems to get blown out of proportion as an excuse to accuse Blizzard of whatever treachery people can name.
It’s not a perfect game but I sure as hell am enjoying myself and it’s depressing to see so many people who seem to think that because it isn’t what they wanted it’s an abomination.
The best part of Diablo 2 was closed Battle.net. Every other aspect of that game was a wretched hive of scum and villainy (although ladder characters definitely were not immune to it), even local multiplayer ran the risk of having that one asshole friend who felt the need to use a character editor. Diablo 3 takes advantage of that walled garden approach. They made no attempt to hide it either.
For me, Diablo is, and always has been, a multiplayer game that you can play by yourself. Most of the people complaining seem to think that it’s a single player game with pervasive DRM.
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It’s because they didn’t balance for lean. …. Wait.
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We’re not talking about dinosaurs…
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I know! Crappy console port. … Damn it. I’m doing this wrong. Wait, I’ll get it.
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you should try being a Bioware fan
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For me, Diablo is, and always has been, a multiplayer game that you can play by yourself. Most of the people complaining seem to think that it’s a single player game with pervasive DRM.
To read that it comes across as an issue of perception.
You might be the only one who sees it this way.
I personally believe they screwed up… badly, and they continue to screw up…. and they should be held to account for it untill such time as they cease screwing up.-
Please, elaborate.
They built the game around having a constant connection to Battle.net. That’s not going to change, nor should it if they want to preserve the game’s economy (without creating an entirely separate version of the game for single player, like they did with Diablo 2). So what have they screwed up that they are being held account to that they can cease screwing up?
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It is my understanding that people wishing to log into the game (even before the ‘real world auction house’ became active) were unable to. It is also my understanding that this continues to impact on some money paying customers.
Then there was a problem where some people who had paid for the game were unable to play in any language but the one native to their country… not a huge issue i’ll agree, unless I’m not native to let’s say Russia and don’t speak Russian, but suddenly cannot play the game in English. This was an issue introduced after launch mind you…
There was a problem where entire charectors went missing off of Blizzards servers… which is not a problem one should encounter in a single player game.
Blizzard launched WoW (with many, many problems) and Starcraft… they cannot claim that something like this was entirely unexpected.Ultimatly this is like anything on the internet, we’ll be outraged for a while… then we’ll forget it… then, like Chris Brown, we’ll celebrate and laud them despite the fact that we all hated them a few months earlier.
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The first issue was when everyone tried to login at once during the launch window. A few hours a chaos and then it wasn’t an issue. Blizzard simply underestimated the server load.
The issue with the languages was weird. I heard about it but it affected a small number of players and I think has been resolved.
As for characters going missing, that was caused by the game putting players into the wrong realm (the game is split up into Europe, America and Asia. Characters are tied to realms and if you create a character on Europe and then change your realm to America, they won’t appear). A minor glitch that people were able to resolve fairly simply with a few clicks in the options menu.
Launches are rough. What you’re describing are not entirely out of the ordinary, particularly for a game of this magnitude. Yet we’re constantly hearing about this sort of thing that, as a player, has little impact.
My brother and I both encountered that realm switching issue. He created a new character, not knowing his old one was recoverable. I changed my realm instantly and didn’t suffer at all.
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Whilst I understand that you percieve these issues as minor… are you prepared to accept that there are others who wont see them as such?
Blizzard are the major player in online games and that they mis estimated the server load is pretty stupid on their part.
The other errors I described would not be part of a single player game… and, despite the fact that you wanted to play with your brother, some people don’t wan’t a multiplayer experience. -
From what I can tell, you’re hearing about these issues second-hand. It doesn’t give you a very clear perspective of things, especially when there are daily articles saying “look what is wrong with Diablo now!” This is what I’m sick of.
The game is clearly a multiplayer game. While you and a decent portion of the player base may think otherwise, the simple fact that you are prompted with the option to quick join your friends games when you login makes it pretty clear how big of a element drop-in co-op is to this game. Of the many hours that I’ve already put into this game, only a scant few have been by myself. It’s not rare for a single-player session to be interrupted with a friend jumping in to join the action.
Some people may not want the multiplayer experience, in the same way that people may not want the multiplayer experience in Street Fighter. You have the choice to play by yourself but the intended way to play so your experience will suffer.
As for underestimating the server load. Well, it was a mistake. No way around it. It’s still hard to be fully prepared for one of the biggest online game launches ever.
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James Mac you sound like someone that has read a bunch of posts and come to conclusions based on others experiences. Play the freakin game yourself it’s good fun!
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I’m new to all this DIablo. I’m loving it but have no idea all the ins and outs that people complain about. I just want to loot. In saying that it bummed me last night when I was super keen for some R&R and the servers were down.
1.03 is bloody horrendous. Repair costs are outrageous. Not playing for a while and hoping they fix it. Breaking a lone barrel and it causing 90 gold worth damage is a bit rich. $20k repair bills are a game breaker.
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Not looking forward to that bit either. Haven’t had a chance to log on since the patch. Luckily, I don’t die too often. Being a Monk with 400 resist all, 4k armour, 25.5k health and 12.5k DPS in Act 4 Hell (been playing with friends so progression isn’t necessarily the fastest when we tend to go back and do whatever the person furthest behind is up to) means that I don’t die that often.
When will Kotaku learn that whenever it tries to foster outrage in its readership (Tomb Raider not-a-rape-scene, Hitman trailer, etc) by using examples that are just as prevalent in other media (without the same moral panic), it makes developers not want to push the boundaries of gaming storytelling for fear of offending someone? And then, turn around and complain that everything coming out is a FPS war sim?
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I’d like to know the answer to this, too.
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It doesn’t really. It just undermines the US Kotaku branches already lacking journalistic integrity by making them appear hypocritical.
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WOAH! Yea you’re awesome.
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I fail to see how morally reprehensible content or generic FPS bloat are the only 2 possible outcomes of this discussion.
Pushing boundaries is fine, but the content needs to be justified. However I’m not up to speed on this tomb raider rape thing so apologies on that.
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If you seriously think a bunch of fake nuns in latex with heaving bewbs hobbling towards an assassin in high heels is pushing the boundaries of storytelling, you’re delusional.
It’s juvenile crap.
More to the point, vocal consumer bases of other media don’t absolutely freak out when someone criticises character portrayals, and they certainly don’t do so to the extent of organising in mobs to send them death threats, rape slurs, or stalk them for days on end.
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Why isn’t there a moral outrage when Tarantino releases a sex-charged trailer?
Why don’t film fans cry “the sky is falling, our industry is doomed”?
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There are so many problems with what your saying.
I don’t think gaming is actually the only media subject to these “outrage” issues. Game of Thrones increased the age of all the characters by three years, because they didn’t think they could have a 13 year old getting raped.
Second, these issues aren’t are prevalent in other media. Seriously, how many compelling female characters are there in the history of gaming. I bet Jane Austin wrote more by herself.
Third, I’ve outlined my position before, but how exactly is Hitman pushing boundaries. It was sexualised violence plain and simple.
Fourth, I agree that Tomb Raider is pushing boundaries. The complaints I’ve read aren’t about the rape per say, but this is the wrong character to broach this subject – way too much sexual baggage. It would be like making a film set in the holocaust starring Shakespeare’s shylock. I also didn’t like the way this was initially released to the press – the developers sounded like they included it rather cynically.
Finally, I think your last sentence is a huge leap of logic. i.e. if you complain about offensive story content, then only shooters will get made. Frankly, if a game aspires to be art, it should provoke people.
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Your point of Game of Thrones could be seen in another way; it was fine in 1996 when the book was released, featuring rape – but HBO saw the need to edit it. I can’t imagine that it would have been presented in a overtly sexualised way had it actually been unaltered.
These issues aren’t as prevalent in other media? You’re kidding right? You don’t think film, television, and music is incredibly sexualised?
I was more referring to Tomb Raider pushing boundaries. Would we rather the storyline for this reboot was the traditional “found a dead relative’s lost journal, went off to find some loot”, or what it is now.
Is it crass or morally reprehensible for them to write in the danger of rape, when the storyline has a young woman kidnapped by a group of morally bankrupt murdering criminals on a remote island with no laws or code to live by? And does the way a bunch of PR-trained developers who exist outside of the story, and who aren’t the writers somehow make the scene’s inclusion cynical?
I don’t think my last sentence is a huge leap of logic. If this alarmist attitude to storytelling is seized by sensationalist journalists, you will get the traditional “found a dead relative’s lost journal, went off to find some loot” story in future Tomb Raiders, and games will continue to treat story as an afterthought or an excuse to shoot some bad guys.
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Opinion required:
I sold my 360 about 2 years ago, and kept my profile/saves etc on a USB just in case. Been doing great with a PS3, Wii and a decent laptop.
Now I really, REALLY wanna play Fez, and maybe Halo 4.
a) Do you think its dumb to but a console for 2 games, even if I’m batshit crazy about wanting to play Fez?
b) What do you reckon the best option is for buying a 2nd hand 360 on the cheap.
c) Is Fez worth it, considering I love platformers, braid, limbo, superbrothers, journey?
Cheers.
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Fez really didn’t grab me. You’d be wise to try it out before you go spending money on an entire console to play it.
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If you can see yourself logging 10-20 hours into a puzzle game and have the cash to spend, then yes.
Fez is a rabbit hole that doesn’t just send you to Wonderland, it deconstructs Wonderland and makes you view it inside-out.
If that doesn’t make any sense that’s ok, because I actually can’t explain why Fez is so good without ruining it for you. Two things:
– If someone has played Fez and tells you it’s a game about collecting cubes, they only played a quarter of the game
– In Fez, EVERYTHING means SOMETHING.buy Forza Motorsport 4 as well. That game is amazing.
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I think I might be in the minority here in saying that yes, Fez is totally worth getting a 360 for. I had moments of sheer joy playing this.
That said, doesn’t it come on pc?-
Also Shadow Complex is another great excuse to get a 360
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I bought my ps3 just for uncharted and maybe some future exclusives they release, so no you are not crazy
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Don’t have any friends that could lend you a 360 for the week or so you’ll need it to play Fez?
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Actually, if you’re in Brisbane, I have a spare old-school 360 (the white model) gathering dust if you wanted to borrow it.
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Super generous offer, (thanks!), but I’m in Melbourne. All of my friends have ps3’s or don’t play games, so out of luck there.
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This is going to make me a super bad person, but whatever.
(Note: When I worked in DSE, I actually advocated people do this, so I have seen both sides of the coin)Dick Smith Electronics have a 2 weeks return policy, no questions asked. Find a local DSE with an already returned Xbox360 (one with a “Not new” stick on the box), buy it, play what you want (save to an external HDD), return it within the 2 week period.
If you think it’s worth buying one after that 2 weeks, buy a new Xbox from them (or keep the current one if you’re happy with it).
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Fez is worth it – also N+, the Splosion Man games and although not a platformer, Trials Evolution!
Has Dead space 3 been ruined forever?
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yes
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Don’t know, it’s not out yet
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So much this.
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I personally didn’t get into Fez. It’s cute, and well made, and I thought I would like it, but I spent about half an hour with it and just felt like doing something else.
That said, I prefer the 360 so I’d naturally recommend you consider getting one again. Realistically, for two games, I wouldn’t. However, I bought a PS3 thinking I would get a lot more use out of it but so far apart from blu-ray movies it’s only been used for Silent Hill Homecoming, Uncharted 1, and Heavy Rain. It sure cost me a lot more to buy a PS3 in 2008 than it costs to buy an Xbox now.
I don’t think I’d trust any second hand console from this gen, they’re just not as sturdy as the last gen and I’d be worried any second hand unit was on the verge of failure. I have a spare 360 myself I couldn’t in good conscience offload because the disc tray is worn out gimped and it only reads discs about half the time.
If you’re not willing to pick up whatever bargain is going to JB to tide you over until the next gen starts in *checks watch* 18 months, then you might as well just wait at this point.
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Thanks dude, between you and Doubledizz though I’m no closer to making a choice, argh!!
Was considering Eb games for a second hand one on the cheap, at least they come with 12 months cover, as much as I loathe entering an EB store.
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Sorry! If you can get one cheap with a 12 month guarantee from EB I guess that’s not the worst option out there. And I’m sure Fez is a fine game, bit I think it requires a commitment. I personally was too distracted with other stuff, but if you want to commit to Fez and get the most out of it i’m sure it’s great, and I fully intend to go back to it.
Halo 4 also seems to be shaping up well.
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now that we have an R18+ rating, you think publishers might re-submit “MODIFIED” versions of previously RC’d games?
Like MORTAL KOMBAT and SYNDICATE?
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syndacate will be resubmied un modified because thats why they didnt resubmit a censored verion and probably any other company that thinks it will make money will do the same
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Are you sure of that, or are you just making assumptions?
Because in the legislation, “Section 38 precludes a reclassification of a computer game within two years of it’s classification decision. Persuant to s 39, a computer game may be reclassified once a period of two years has elapsed from the date of the existing classification decision.”
That might actually mean the same game (ie: an un-modified one) could not be re-submitted…
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The cop-out solution to this is to release a version of the game with DLC included. Mortal Kombat has several DLC characters, releasing a copy with all of them on disc would allow them to resubmit for classification without altering any content.
Left 4 Dead 2 can take the same approach. Syndicate is the only one that I’m not entirely sure about.
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I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s an exemption on anything rated between 1 January 2010 and 31 December 2012, given the fact the act is being amended to include a new rating.
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There’s a rumour that Valve has promised to resubmit Left 4 Dead 2 for classification if Australia ever got an R18+ rating. I doubt Mortal Kombat or Syndicate will be resubmitted. I think most diehard MK fans already imported it and Syndicate probably isn’t worth the effort given it didn’t sell very well – which is a shame because I’d still like to play it even if it wasn’t very good.
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I heard Syndicate was pretty good. Don’t use sales figures to judge a game. Max Payne 3 should be a perfect example of this.
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Good point. I think it got fairly average reviews but the themes of the story were too close to Deus Ex HR, which is probably the best game of 2011. I will absolutely play Syndicate when I can. If it’s no longer RC’d next year, & I am able to import it without risking a fine (or JB imports it for me), I will check it out.
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I doubt that, given the cost involved, anyone will bother.
What was better for the LEGO series: Mimed cutscenes or the addition of voices?
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Lego games always had a sort of derpy charm to them. They’re not good games. In some rather fundamental ways, they’re terrible. The lack of voice acting added to that charm.
I honestly think that they don’t know which parts of the games actually worked and are just making changes that don’t necessarily address the existing problems. The introduction of voice acting is one of those changes. It may or may not be an improvement but it’s a change that does not reflect an understanding of the appeal of their games.
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Mimed cutscenes was better. Adding voices kind of puts them into the uncanny valley between satire and real games that screams “we tried to make a real game but couldn’t so pelase forgive us for this shitty knockoff”.
Mark, Kotaku,
Embargoes on what you can write about are very skewed to the advantage of the publisher and fitting in with their plan for promotion. For example the fact you could not write up “The Last of Us” until the end of E3 was a big plus for that game as it ensured some exclusive front page time on many websites post E3 glut. My question is do journalists expect anything in return to assist in their agenda?
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I think journalist just adhere to embargoes so they’re not given unfavourable treatment or miss opportunities for future exclusives. If Mark had been a massive jerk to Randy Pitchford or Gearbox at some point, he wouldn’t have gotten interviews out of him the last couple of times he visited Australia, you know?
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Eurogamer have often made mention of the fact that Rockstar wont talk or deal with their staff because of the reviews they’ve recieved from them.
I’d imaginge that compliance get’s continued access.
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Interesting. I relied on the Eurogamer review of Max Payne 3 in my decision to buy that game. I felt I was informed about what I was in for as it seemed an honest review. I think they gave it an 8. (Shock!)
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They mention on their podcast that their review copies of Rockstar games all come from one of the coders their mates with… because their PR people refuse to send them copies.
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Why are gamers so selective about when they choose to be offended by the exact same issues?
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This comment offends me.
Here’s a question for eveyone;
Are there actually any DECENT games i can get for my PS Vita? I mean, something thats going to assist me in the realization that i am actually using a next gen handheld?
I mean, here’s my experience so far:
I pre-orderedmy vita from Game in January last year – before pricing was announced. as it got closer to launch, and i saw the list of launch titles, i decided to cancel my pre-order. i figured, there really arent any games im interested in, so i may as well wait for a price drop on the console.
So here we are, 4 months after launch, and i ended up picking one up on saturday night for $220 (Brand spanking new, WiFi only model).
Sunday, i went to EB. who for once had the cheapest prices. I spent about half an hour, staring at the selection of 20-odd games. practically the same launch titles, plus maybe 6or so newies. Once again i was overwhelmed with the realisation that there arent really any games that i really want to play. I bit the bullet, and bought Resistance: Burning Skies, and Dungeon Hunter: Alliance.
I literally fell asleep about 10 minutes into Resistance. it looked very bland, and played bland. I powered up dungeon hunter, and discovered the co-op campaign to actually be quite fun. However i can get the same dungeon hunter experience on my IOS device for < $7…. not $47
The games feel like they are more suited to the PSP. Graphically at least,seeing as how difficult it is to pull off an FPS on a single analogue stick.
I downloaded every Vita demo i could yesterday, and had fun with a couple; for about 5 mins.
I'm really shattered guys. i have an outstanding piece of hardware and nothing to play.
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Gravity Rush
Escape Plan
Motorstorm RC
Unit 13-
Tried gravity rush; not my thing
escape plan: havent tried
Motorstorm RC: ZZZZzzzzzzz
Unit 13: got boring real quick-
Sounds like anything I suggest will bore you. Probably best if you don’t get Escape Plan.
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grabbed escape plan seems fun!
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Angry Birds?
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lol the only thing that will be flinging in that instance would be my ipad…
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-Rayman Origins
-MLB the show
-Wipeout
-UMVC
-modnation
-attack of the mutant blob – this has to be my favorite game. Truly amazing platformer, currently trying to collect everything. Can’t recommend it highly enough, but it’s only available on PSN. seriously, buy it now.-
Rayman origins i have on 360 & wii
MLB not my thing
Wipeout is cool, but im questioning its replay value?
UMVSC im grabbing tomorrow, though once again not sure about replay value.
modnation racers – have on ps3 and psp
attack of the mutant blob – didnt even consider that one, will grab it now 🙂-
yeah, i havn’t played any of these before, so they’re all pretty awesome to me. UMVC does have replay value in the form of unlockables and online, but only if you’re really into fighting games and wipeout, not really any replay value but good time waster for me.
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yeah, i havn’t played any of these before, so they’re all pretty awesome to me. UMVC does have replay value in the form of unlockables and online, but only if you’re really into fighting games and wipeout, not really any replay value but good time waster.
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damn double post…
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How come there were no sequels to Naruto Rise of a Ninja after Broken Bonds? UNSG is good but I want real combos… I heard the developers may have split from Ubisoft, confirm/deny?
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Also, are you playing Generations Mark? I know you are a Naruto fan. If so, who do you main?
If I bought something from GAME last week and still haven’t received it, should I expect to receive it?
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same here, bought last Friday and still waiting. It says delivery next business day delivery, or 1-5 days for in-stock items, cant remember which is which.
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Mine says “Pending.” Does that mean delivered? This is my first time having something mailed to this my new address, too, so it’s making me a bit apprehensive.
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You should… I bought something yesterday as well. The fact we’ve ordered whilst they’re under administration means we should be ok. I’m sure they would have frozen online sales if they were an issue, plus they are supplying stock they already have., not new stock.
Why is my LAN connection working fine in Ubuntu, yet not working at all in Windows 7?
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Because Ubuntu is awesome like that.
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In all serious its probably that your drivers or software is behind…. Also check firewall just in case the program is blocked.
make sure the network is set to private.
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why does everyone on kotaku think they’re journos?
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Probably something to do with the fact that they work for an online publication and receive a pay cheque that says “journalist” on it.
That’s my theory anyway.
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