What is the last video game you played?

[Kevin 22]

Who really knows PCs around here?

[Maglorfin 196]

I've just bought an original Game Boy with Tetris and Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3

Wow, what a great investment! Since I've bought my own Game Boy I've been playing on it pretty regularly, and I'm sure you will too! You need to get the original Super Mario Land though, it's truly a classic! Still my favourite GB game ever.

[Ren 75]

i have those!

[Maglorfin 196]

Good girl! Hope they're not just acting as dust collectors!

[Ren 75]

Oh no. It's on my beside table

[King Mark 3,625]

Been on a few days gaming break because of the olympics.

I settled for Final Fantasy 13-2. Will try to do the first chunk of it tonight

[Wojo 2,453]

All the buzz surrounding the Dark Knight in recent weeks finally inspired me to give Batman: Arkham City another go to see if I could manage to get Games for Windows Live to co-exist with Steam on my computer to get it to work. And I did. The trick is to create an "offline profile," because it would not install the GFWL software without crashing in the final seconds. And even though I bought the game through Steam, without having a GFWL account alongside it, the game would suspect me of being a pirate and not save my game or upload my achievements to the interwebs. I can live without achievements, but I really need save games to work.

So far, it's a pretty cool game, and a lot easier to control the fighting with the X360 gamepad than the button mashing was on K/M. I do miss the freer range of motion that the mouse look seemed to give, but I can get used to this.

[Quintus 5,399]

Finished both campaigns of Chronicles of Riddick (Escape From Butcher Bay & Assault on Dark Athena). Old games, outdated design, but still enjoyable and worth playing nevertheless. And they still do stealth better than most modern titles.

Other than that, I have one more stage to do on Lollipop Chainsaw. A fun-in-short-doses hack 'em up along the lines of Devil May Cry and Bayonetta; only less polished.

[Wojo 2,453]

Finished both campaigns of Chronicles of Riddick (Escape From Butcher Bay & Assault on Dark Athena). Old games, outdated design, but still enjoyable and worth playing nevertheless. And they still do stealth better than most modern titles.

I'm glad to read they get your stamp of approval. I bought the PC game on last Christmas' Steam Sale because the price was right, but have not made the time to play them yet. I rather like games that promote stealth as opposed to full-out assaults since I've always had a cat-and-mouse approach to games.

[King Mark 3,625]

The main character of Final Fantasy 13-2 , Serah, is annoying

The "helpless" super adorable, pretty girl who knows she's super adorable and pretty and knows every guy wants to go out with her and gets everything she wants from anyone just by being super adorable and pretty. She's even worse than Vanille from the first one

[Quintus 5,399]

Fine Japanese writing for you ;-)

[King Mark 3,625]

Well, usually the characters are likeable and I normally embrace the cheesiness of the writing

[King Mark 3,625]

I'm getting more into it. It's less linear than the first one and the environments are beautiful

[Maglorfin 196]

Wow, this sure looks exciting!

The description says that "as a true sequel to James Cameron's film, the story of Aliens: Colonial Marines takes place after the events of the third film, Alien 3." Well, then this is the sequel to Alien 3 and not to Aliens, right?

"The story is told through the eyes of Corporal Christopher Winter, a Colonial Marine who is part of a SAR team sent to investigate the U.S.S. Sulaco in search of Ripley, Corporal Hicks, and the rest of the missing marines who were dispatched to LV-426. The Sulaco, and the derelict alien spacecraft from Alien as well as LV-426 itself will all serve as environments in the game, as well as other locations yet to be detailed."

Sounds great! I think I may end up buying this game. Maybe they'll even use some original score(s), there's some Horner in above trailer.

[King Mark 3,625]

Another game based on a movie franchise . I don't play those anymore

The last was Battlefront 2 because I wanted to record the music

[Quintus 5,399]

Let's face it though KM; you don't play much of anything if there's no inventory and levelling systems and the same old protagonists with because I'm worth it hairstyles.

The Chronicles of Riddick was a smashing movie tie in, as was X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Even Tintin was a lot of fun and a well made game. Movie tie ins are still a mixed bunch, but that's not to say there's no good cherry picking to be had out there.

Lee - getting bored waiting for Aliens and wondering whether it's not coming along too late into this gen's life cycle.

[Ren 75]

Lee - getting bored waiting for Aliens and wondering whether it's not coming along too late into this gen's life cycle.

Midlife crisis!?

[Quintus 5,399]

You're intent on hurrying it along for me aren't you!

[Ren 75]

Lol. Nah. I don't want this to your halfway point in life, but still. ;)

[Wojo 2,453]

Movie tie ins are still a mixed bunch, but that's not to say there's no good cherry picking to be had out there.

Wouldn't every single Star Wars video game ever made be considered a movie tie-in game? Or just those that rehash a specific movie's plot, such as Rebel Assault (loosely), the vast majority of prequel tie-in games like The Phantom Menace, or the Star Wars Lego games -- which KM might be quick to dismiss as kiddie games, which he's not wrong except in the fact that some adults do enjoy them?

Because when I look back at the long and confusing history of Star Wars games, there are some truly standout games -- the Dark Forces series, the first two Knights of the Old Republic games, the X-Wing and TIE Fighter space shooters, and even recent worthwhile wastes of time like Episode I Racer, the Battlefronts,and Republic Commando -- among the crappier ones, which are mostly obscure PC titles that nobody here would remember if I mentioned them, or some of the more recent prequel tie-ins.

The upcoming Star Wars: 1313 definitely has my interest, where you play a bounty hunter instead of done-to-death plot element of a fallen or spent Jedi who has to rebuild his abilities within the span of a 12 hour game.

To dismiss a game because it is a "movie tie-in" without evaluating its individual strengths is an infantile methodology if it happens to otherwise be a good game, because the vast majority of bad games in existence are NOT movie tie-ins.

[Quintus 5,399]

Indeed Wojo. And happily, for every bad Star Wars game, there seems to have been about three good ones, which is pretty amazing actually.

[Wojo 2,453]

Now Star Trek, on the other hand, those games would technically not be "movie tie-ins" since the franchise was mostly based on a TV series. Granted, that franchise suffers from the reverse ratio: three bad games, if not far more, for every good game. Unfortunately for our discussion, most Star Trek games are found only on the PC, with the exception of some side-scrollers or action games on really old consoles -- NES, SNES, Genesis, etc. -- simply because Star Trek has been mostly irrelevant in the modern era of X360/PS3. The last one to try it -- Star Trek: Legacy -- which did extend from Enterprise to Voyager, was a total failure, signalling the end of major Star Trek games.

Only a few games are pure movie tie-ins, such as the Generations PC game, a PC game based on either Nemesis or Insurrection (I don't recall which), and the latest DAC game based on Star Trek XI; all of these games were lousy. Klingon Academy served as a prequel to Star Trek VI and allowed you to simulate attacks on Federation installations, such as Regula I, and this game was absolutely superb. The first two Starfleet Command featured movie ships that could attack races from the TOS show, such as Tholians.

Standout games? Voyager: Elite Force, the Quake-III engine shooter based on a TV show, was excellent. TNG: A Final Unity is a personal favorite of mine, and it's based on the TV show. 25th Anniversary and Judgment Rites are based on the original series. DS9: The Fallen is -- surprise -- TV show based.

A few games did transcend the various series and movies into one coherent universe, such as the strategy games Armada and Armada 2. While not a standout, the Bridge Commander game combined the movies and shows in much the same way, giving you command of a Galaxy class and Sovereign class ships; I remember trying to take out a Terek Nor battlestation myself, which wasn't easy.

The two Batman Arkham games are not movie tie-in, but comic tie-in featuring voices and writing from a TV series. What is special about this technicality that would make these superb games worth playing?

Movie tie-in games that strictly rehash plot elements of the movies are usually constricting in nature and thus usually make bad games. Or you get lots of crazy plots and bad guys that you didn't see in the movies.

The two Chronicles of Riddick games are not strictly movie tie-in games because you don't relive either movie in the games. They are prequels that lead up to Riddick's capture prior to Pitch Black, which opens up the storytelling to include stuff you haven't seen before and have it make sense.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Star Wars 1313 looks like Uncharted in space. Not that that's a bad thing.

I enjoyed The Force Unleashed, throwing people around with the force was good fun for a few hours. Never finished it though.

The Phantom Menace for PS1 was hilariously awesome too. I would just go around killing bratty kids on Tatooine. I also had the Podracer game for N64, that was good.

[Wojo 2,453]

I forgot about TFU. That was fun when it finally came to PC, but it was terribly buggy, so when I defeated the junkyard Jedi, the game stalled and would not advance. I didn't care enough to continue.

[Quintus 5,399]

Alerted me for the first time to the awesome alternate snare arrangement of the pod race music, that game did.

[Quintus 5,399]

I just bought a pc for DayZ. Fuck knows where I'm going to put it.

[Wojo 2,453]

Holy crap! Looks like I'm going to have to finally install my copy of Operation Arrowhead so I can join you!

[Quintus 5,399]

Yes! Most welcome!

[Ren 75]

I just bought a pc for DayZ. Fuck knows where I'm going to put it.

Serious?

[King Mark 3,625]

I bought White Knight Chronicles 2 for 20$

[Koray Savas 2,251]

I just realized I haven't bought a game since Mass Effect 3 back in March. Has to be a new record for me. It'll end on August 28th with the Ratchet & Clank Collection but I may pick up Max Payne 3 before then.

[Quintus 5,399]

I gave MP3 6/10.

[Maglorfin 196]

I just realized I haven't bought a game since Mass Effect 3 back in March. Has to be a new record for me.

I haven't bought a game since 1998 or so, until I bought MW3 and FSX last December, to be followed by several others in the following months. Talk about a record!

[King Mark 3,625]

When the next gen consoles come out will you guys buy one right away?

I tend to wait at least a year till they fix the bugs and unstable hardware

[Jay 37,287]

Somehow I've managed to go this far in my life without ever playing Chrono Trigger, but I think I'm gonna break that spell soon. I assume anyone here who's played it would recommend it, right?

[Quintus 5,399]

Never played that one.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

When the next gen consoles come out will you guys buy one right away?

I tend to wait at least a year till they fix the bugs and unstable hardware

Almost a guarantee for me. I got PS2 and PS3 within their first weeks, and never had problems. I just hope this time around it isn't $600. Based on developer information and release schedules, the new systems will be out next Fall. Sony and Microsoft won't leave more than a year gap after Wii U, I think. I'm guessing a price point of around $350-$400.

[Quintus 5,399]

I intend to watch closely what both Sony and Microsoft do with their systems out the gate since next around I intend on buying only one or the other, at least for the first three years into their lifetime. However, if Halo 5 is secretly in production now for an Xbox 720 release then MS will be taking my money immediately, fuckers.

[Jay 37,287]

I got my eye on the Nintendo 3DS XL coming out. I am enjoying playing my Nintendo DS again, but god the screens are small. There's a Nintendo DS XL, but I figured I might as well go right for something in the 3DS line so I can play Super Mario 3D Land and New Super Mario Brothers 2

[Marian Schedenig 8,173]

I don't think I'll be in any hurry. I don't to do that much gaming to begin with, and by next March I'll have my Ouya, too. I'll probably pick up the PS4 whenever the next Uncharted comes out.

[Quintus 5,399]

Uncharted needs a complete revamp gameplay wise for me to be interested in the next one. The last one was all gloss no meat for me.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Based on Naughty Dog's track record, Uncharted is finished; they work in 3s. Besides, they haven't developed a franchise across two generations before. There is a first time for everything though.

I'm expecting Insomniac to have a nice exclusive for the PS4 launch, like they did with PS3, although I recall reading that they ended their exclusivity deal with Sony and want to develop for other consoles.

[Marian Schedenig 8,173]

Well there have been spinoff games of the main Uncharted series for the PSP, and as far as I know team members have said that as long as they have new ideas, they see no reason not to continue the franchise.

Uncharted needs a complete revamp gameplay wise for me to be interested in the next one. The last one was all gloss no meat for me.

I loved the gameplay in the first two installments, and the third one improved on it even more. It's the story and script that got too thin at times, especially during the last part.

[Quintus 5,399]

Gameplay? Where?

You mean the hand-holding/on rails stuff?

Nah, not for me.

[Marian Schedenig 8,173]

Improved melee fights. I'd avoid weapons whenever possible and just sneak up on my enemies with my bare hands.

[King Mark 3,625]

Darksiders 2 coming out this week. I liked the first one so I'll buy this eventually

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Well there have been spinoff games of the main Uncharted series for the PSP, and as far as I know team members have said that as long as they have new ideas, they see no reason not to continue the franchise.

Uncharted needs a complete revamp gameplay wise for me to be interested in the next one. The last one was all gloss no meat for me.

I loved the gameplay in the first two installments, and the third one improved on it even more. It's the story and script that got too thin at times, especially during the last part.

Spinoff game. Just one, and for the Vita Clint Bajakian did the score, if you didn't know already.

Drake's Deception is easily in my Top 10 favorite games of all time. Amazing gameplay and story. They brought it down to Earth more, I thought, dumping the twist formula they reused for Among Thieves in favor of a more dramatic climax.

[Marian Schedenig 8,173]

Spinoff game. Just one, and for the Vita Clint Bajakian did the score, if you didn't know already.

Ok. I thought there were two. Didn't know about the score. Is it good? Is any of it released?

[Koray Savas 2,251]

It's on iTunes. I haven't gotten around to buying it yet but it sounded in the same vein with enough of a difference in style. I recall a lot of choir based on the samples, but that could just be my imagination.

[King Mark 3,625]

Shit my controller is broken, by character won't move in the forward direction properly