Can't disagree more with the AC1 haters. Whilst I can acknowledge the fact that it can get boring and repetitive, it is definitely not one to skip. I know for a fact that I wouldn't have loved the original's successors as much if I hadn't played the first... first... (I hate it when that happens...)

Anyway, even if you don't play it for the game itself, it's worth picking up for the story and the sheer beauty of the environments. I can recall just sitting on my bed not even playing through the game, just climbing to the highest spots to get the best views possible.

Don't settle on skipping it just yet. I'd say it's vital that you play through it in order to appreciate the other games. Although it makes Revelations rather unsettling hearing Altair's voice (I understand why they changed it, but I loved everything about AC1's Altair)

Oh, and another reason to get it... There was a spin-off for the PSP that involved Altair. I'm not sure if the Vita's BC, but if it is, you'll probably want to get that one too.

Ya im actually getting that collection since I havent playn brotherhood, revelations or any of the dlc. Should be nice.

I only wish it were more of a "complete" collection, with all of the DLC for Brotherhood as well. The DaVinci Disappearance was a pretty cool little mission pack.

But I might be getting it anyway on the chance that the games will already be patched on the disc. Hopefully that'll be the case. These games always seem to start out with tons of bugs, but get patched over and over as time goes on. Revelations was supposedly pretty buggy initially, but I popped it in yesterday, the patch was automatically applied, and the game was actually even more solid than I remembered. Impressively so, actually.
15 or 20 years from now, when those patches are no longer automatically downloaded and applied, it'd be nice to know that I've got a version of these games already fully-patched on the disc. So here's hoping that's what we're getting.

Getting too off topic her but will just say this. the only expectations I went in with is a bunch of crime solving in 1940's LA in a NOIRE style. I am getting just that and LOVE IT. Also maybe this has someting to do with it or not. 1940's for the US is a very romanticized era for us. The War,how strong the country was. Hollywood and many private detective films and books and NOIRE films and books. Considered a golden age. To me the game took a balance of that NOIRE and beloved era of fiction and fantasy and blended some reality in in a perfect balance. At least when doing the detective work on each case. I like the shooting more than let's say uncharted personally. Also love how it does not focus on it. I love how it focuses on solving the crime. The game is everything I would have wanted out of it and so since I waited since 2006. I'm very satisfied.

No, not at all, but if the game comes out and is blasphemous OL isn't the type of guy that would call it out as such. Theres acceptance but he takes it a tad too far.

Having fun with something because there's fun to be had isn't taking anything too far.
Labeling one change or another in a videogame series to be "blasphemous"... yeah, that couldn't be considered taking anything too far, now could it?

You seem to be forgetting that I had a pretty huge number of complaints about Assassin's Creed 3 just recently. It's a series I absolutely love. And yet I'm not blind to it when the developers make a decision that I'm not particularly keen on. They didn't ruin the game for me, but I certainly didn't gloss over them.
I tend to accept games for what they are, but I'm not automatically enthusiastic for everything. A game has to earn my love. If I sound like I'm too positive about everything most of the time, then it's because I don't revel in the act of bitching as so much of the rest of the overall videogaming audience does. If I hate something, then I tend to avoid talking about it. I could easily go all Dorian about everything all the time, but why the fuck would anyone want to do that?
I'd rather focus on things I like, because they make me happy.
The way you talk about it, one would think I'm doing something wrong by having this outlook.

I don't know where you got this idea that I consider everyone a fanboy for not liking what I like; I rarely even use the term "fanboy" at all. You just tend to perk up and latch on to it when I do. It's not like I even tend to insinuate everything I like on everyone else. People are free to like or dislike whatever they want. Can't remember ever implying otherwise. If you have examples, I wouldn't mind clarifying them. I do seem to have a history of people misinterpreting my words.
Regardless, the fact of the matter is that in videogaming, above almost all other entertainment mediums, there really is a huge, vocal, angry chunk of that populace that never seem to be happy, no matter what action is taken in a series. They stick to this mindset that everything is getting worse, nothing is as good as it used to be.
I refuse to have such a spoiled attitude as that.

And my point about this Hitman review wasn't that the writer is a fanboy; I didn't even read the full review. I'm just hoping that he is one of these people I've described, because I want the game to be good. And if he happens to be one of these people -- these angry, never-content "fanboys" -- then his complaints might not be particularly valid.
If it turns out that he isn't one of those people, and everything he says is true... then shit. That's unfortunate, and I hope they get it right next time. It remains to be seen, and I wasn't labeling him as one thing or another outright.

He tries to draw comparisons between games that aren't there, it seems almost like excusing a decision.

I don't think I quite understood that part...

If all of that is true, then they've really done a piss-poor job of advertising it. Yeah, the point of advertising is to play up a game's merits, make it look appealing as possible. But in everything they've shown, the game has looked like it has the same basic setup of previous games, with little done to make it more "streamlined" or "mainstream" (which, obviously, is an appealing prospect to previous fans) aside from the "sense" ability.
Hoping the review is just some longtime fan whining because one thing or another is different, and they're just making it sound worse than it is. Fanboys tend to do that, so hopefully this is one of them.

Just got the Ezio Trilogy. Quite awesome. I platinum'd AC2 when it came out but never did dlc or played Brotherhood or Revelations. Heck I loved AC2 ill play through the main story again just for fun. Ezio is a pimp.

Far more can be gained focusing on the future, than dwelling on the past.

Ryudo wrote: Socialized Medicine is bad in the long term.

Its sad that this is the unpopular opinion.

I hope they do a prologue, like there was at the end of Harry Potter, that shows a middle aged mustachioed Ryo and his wife visiting a grave site and telling his son Zhao the tale of a brave young girl he once knew.

Fuck you.

I think an HD re-release actually isn't a great idea from a business sense, though I would love the opportunity to play the game on an xbox 360/ps3. Many 3D games from the early 2000's haven't aged very well. I just beat the re-release of Jet Set Radio, and while it was awesome (of course :-P), the controls were pretty brutal and the game is getting lukewarm review scores (gamespot gave it a 4.5!). Most people aren't going to give Shenmue the benefit of the doubt that "flaws can be overlooked because it's from 2001", and for $10-$15 there are tons of great original games on the XBLA/PSN service. I'd definitely be afraid that the HD re-releases wouldn't do so well. As an example, I remember a big criticism of the xbox version of Shenmue II was that it was basically a DC port. How would a DC port be received on the 360/ps3? In a way, it could almost turn people away from SIII. A re-release would be great for the established fanbase, but I don't think it'll really help make too many new fans. Making major changes can be difficult and costly, too.

What I would do is make a series of videos that retells the story using the game engine for SIII and record or rerecord the lines with new voice actors. The videos can be released episodically on gametrailers.com, xbox live marketplace, PSN, steam, etc. and can serve the purpose of getting newcomers hooked on the story and leave them with a cliffhanger. You can tell the story without having to about whether or not newcomers will be turned off by the goofy voice acting, or gameplay/graphics from 2001. That makes the most sense to me and I imagine would be more cost effective than an HD rerelease.

As for SIII changes:

I would re-evaluate the role of money and what you can do with it. It doesn't serve much of a purpose in S1 and S2, except for a few story segments. Nothing you buy really does anything.

I would expand upon the fighting/training system - Require a wider variety of strategies, have more opportunities to spar, have more moves and combos to unlock and learn, etc. Maybe have a level system for individual moves, which unlock additional combos and abilities. Be careful to not make it to "video gamey" though ;-)

In general I think the "critical path" could probably move at a faster pace, with the option to explore at your own pace. Remove the tedious chores like airing out the books, moving crates, or at least have them last for a shorter amount of time. I really loved the Iron Palm/Leaf catching segments in SII on the other hand. I guess because they were more unique and were a part of Ryo's "training" (even if it just concerned the story, like the leaf catching).

I agree with some more side stories/NPC interaction and all that.

No. I am superb gamer with amazing skill. Look at my PS3 trophies. You're all pussy gamers. Ninja Gaiden is easy peasy. Now excuse me using a virtual keyboard sucks thanks to that hack Kojima and his hipster glasses. Keyboards are too loud. I never talk because I hate my own voice. Fuck you pussy gamers.

Beat it, loved it, very little to complain about.
I could previously say "oh yeah, I can understand if people are upset about a lack of hit missions/targets dying in cutscenes" and all that, but as it turns out, those complaints are so minor it's not even funny. There are lots of focused "hit" missions. There are many, many levels that play in the classic Hitman style; searching levels, finding interesting ways to eliminate your target, attempting to pull them off without arousing suspicion. It's all there, and absolutely in full force. They just happen to be balanced out with a number of "in-between" or "evade" missions as well, which probably threw people off into thinking they weren't hunting enough.
There are a few instances of targets being eliminated in cutscenes, but they're easily the minority. The very first one, the very last one, and only one or two others that I can think of throughout the rest of the game (though those last two I mention still require the participation of the player to take them down). They're story-focused, so it's kind of understandable. Aside from those, there are still tons of other targets to be eliminated completely at the discretion of the player, just like in earlier games.
That's not to say it doesn't have problems. Of course the disguise system could use some tweaking, as has been mentioned. It might be a little odd that I found myself sneaking more than hiding in plain sight, as was always the series' hallmark before. Sometimes it almost feels more like Splinter Cell because of that. Though, considering the slight backlash against Conviction, it might be a good thing that this is still among the purest of stealth experiences released this gen. Someone like Mittenz who's wanted more stealth lately ought to be completely taken in by the game.
Either way, the good points far outweigh the bad.
The series is alive and kicking with this one. Fully deserving of the "Hitman" title. And honestly, I'd quite like it if they continued making yearly Hitman games, as they alluded to not long ago. Might work out really well.

Perfect_Chaos wrote: are you happy with it? its not printed out on low rate crappy paper or anything is it?

Looks very professional. I know wish DC games came in it

http://i.imgur.com/RtFmx.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/JQXEL.jpg

So they do exist. Just that the mansion isn't in the villa. Still I been looking into AC and all these people and locations. I'm really blown away how much homework was done. This is an incredible amount of detail. I think that's the most brilliant part so far is that you feel like this could have really happened. Not had this feeling in terms of detail since Shenmue

Wait till you play 3

MiTT3NZ wrote:Here's an idea. Remove all story content from games. Remove all characters. Replace everything with plain white textures/skins, and we have to interpret what's going on, projecting whatever image we like onto everything.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opVmjPGzBUg[/youtube]

So, reading through all I'd missed in this topic since last seeing it, and I keep seeing the word "racism" everywhere. And it's being used in completely the wrong way.
Stereotyping is not automatically racist.
The definition of racism states that it's the quality of considering one race to be above another.
There's nothing complicated to be gleaned from that. Thinking that Mexicans all eat tacos, or that black people all have big dicks isn't racist at all. Ignorant, maybe, but racist?
Nope.
Hell, even negative stereotypes don't automatically denote racism.
I've worked in retail before, and found that people from India, Pakistan, or the Middle East usually pull shelves apart and make a mess everywhere (which I would then have to clean up). That's my own personal stereotype of them. However, my feelings of annoyance over it, and the initial observation that "people like this" tend do do it, aren't racist at all. "Racism" only enters the equation if I decide that another race is better than theirs.

Far Cry 3's true crime with these side-missions involving the natives isn't one of racism; the true crime is that the side-missions as just badly-made to begin with. It wouldn't matter if the natives were black, hispanic, asian, or white; the side-missions suck.
"Find these items."
"Listen to this conversation."
"Scare this guy by shooting but not hitting him."
"Take pictures of this and that."
The problem with the side-missions isn't that they're racist, it's that they're boring.
Would the "racism" issue be averted if only the mission objectives didn't suck?
Probably. But the objectives are so unimaginative, it makes the characters you deal with in them seem simplistic and stupid. The problem isn't racism, but bad mission design.

It is racist, because it deals with the explicit extermination of a very specific group, by another group that clearly thought of themselves as better. Regardless of gameplay, the aesthetics are clearly expressing a very specific opinion.
Far Cry is absolutely nothing like that. The fact that the side-quests are given by these island natives is only natural; they're the people who live there. Who else would be giving out the side-missions?
The fact that those missions are boring and unimaginative never comes off as an opinion on the natives being lesser beings; it comes off as bad game design.
Pretty big difference there.

Got through that part on my first try.Really isn't difficult.You said the same thing about ACI and you beat it,no reason why you can't do the same this time around.

So one American company says another American company will do better than a Japanese company? Thats news? Come on, this is just cooperative stealth advertising

only 1 good point has the ps3 and thats the blu ray player, and that is a poor result overall

Plus the fact that it has more in the way of exclusives, and not just of the "done before" shooter variety. That's a big plus to me.

...but Sony has more first party shooters.

Usually with something to further differentiate them from the pack. Uncharted with it's climbing and cinematic nature, Ratchet with its Pixar-like cartoon style and platformer mechanics. Killzone is admittedly pretty "regular" though.
On the other hand, Microsoft's consoles are mainly known for Gears and Halo, both of which I find pretty "meh" all around.
But Sony still has Infamous, Sly Cooper, Siren, Ueda's games, Gravity Rush, Journey, Yakuza, Folklore, Twisted Metal...

Pic's I took of my friends dog at a recent car show.

Happy Birthday Perfect_Chaos!

Happy birthday Chaos!

Oh man I am such a bad grandson, I wished Chaos a happy birthday before I remembered it was my dads mom birthday!

that's why i live this place ;)
Happy birthday Chaos and Beck

happy happy birthday!