Be Excellent To Each Other

He turns it off.

I don't particularly like the original Pacman FWIW, was just saying that the idea of a modernised improved version makes me shudder like someone walked over my grave. I'm wrong, I know!

Yeah, I mean who'd want to play a modernised version of bagatelle? Ludicrous.

Crazy Taxi is available. Played the demo, no sale.

It's a lazy "upscaled" port. It basically looks about as good as the Dreamcast version does through my VGA cable. No Offspring makes it approximately 7429x less fun, and the shitty screamo SHITE they've replaced it with basically rounds it off as a lazy cash-in attempt. I'll just plug the Dreamcast in next time I fancy playing it.

You could add Offspring via a custom soundtrack.

You can't add the original locations or better graphics though.

What do you get access to in the demo?

It seemed okay when I played it at R3play. Offspring is no loss for me, I've never liked them because of that poxey singer (that said, I hope the music isn't as bad as the Virtua Tennis music). Being in party chat invariably means I've got the sound turned down anyway.

The music is terrible.

You get a few minutes of "arcade mode". Not long really, but enough to notice the game has basically been emulated from the DC version verbatim, barring the music and other licensed bits. There's no reason other than cheevos to buy it. It's as blatant a cynical cash-in as SEGA have ever been involved with. It can't have taken them long to do, and I imagine Sonic Adventure and this are just the start. Now that they're emulating the Dreamcast reliably, they'll start churning them all out. Not necessarily a bad thing if you missed them the first time around or don't have a Dreamcast on standby at all times, but cynical nonetheless.

I might grab the demo then. A couple of minutes from time to time is probably enough for me.

If they could rework Seaman to work with the headset, that would be worth a go.

Certainly! Don't get me wrong, I'm not writing off re-releasing the Dreamcast's frankly excellent catalogue of games. It's just they seem to be doing it in the laziest possible way. Even the menus are up-scaled. It's exactly like emulating a console on the PC. They haven't done anything - they've changed the button icons, removed The Offspring and some branded locations, and that's it. Other than that it's a ROM running on a Dreamcast emulator.

I was expecting "HD" visuals. Like, uprated textures and stuff.

I was under the impression that they weren't actually emulated dreamcast games, but ports of the incredibly lazy PC ports of Dreamcast games. Hence why (unless I'm mistaken) all the Dreamcast games Sega have put on PSN/XBLA are ones that had PC ports.

What you're saying is true of the PC versions of those games mind, so it would obviously carry over to ports of them.

The rumoured Jet Set Radio and Space Channel 5 part 2 disagree, assuming they exist, of course. I'm just holding out for them releasing Shenmue and Shenmue 2 on XBLA followed by Shenmue 3.

space channel 5 part 2 has been confirmed hasn't it?

Not sure, I read about it the other day, but I can't remember where. That was the first I'd heard of it.

I think I've heard of it too.. not that I'm a reliable source or anything, I'm just saying.

Was it no some weird furry girl from Ready Up?
EDIT: Aye.

I posted this link in B&B, will repeat here: Space Channel 5 Part 2 and Sega Bass Fishing Coming to XBLA.

telt ya's

That doesn't take away from the fact that Crazy Taxi and Sonic Adventure are lazy sub-standard ports. SA isn't even in widescreen ferchrissakes!

Aw man, I'd forgotten that shit.

Crazy Taxi. Played it. Was bored right away.

That saddens me. Is this Dreamcast thing going to ruin all those lovely memories?

Yes.

I'd be happier if the controls weren't so fucking broken. HOW CAN THEY HAVE BROKEN THE CONTROLS, the 360 controller as as close as it gets to a DC one!

Reading this toping i think i'll do too which saddens me, i thought crazytaxi would be a sure buy

After pacman cedx haven't got points anyway..

I think most DC games are best left in the past, they were awesome at the time, Crazy Taxi WAS the arcade game in your house, but really, I think gaming has moved on since then, even relatively simple arcade games.

I loved my DC, I still have it and all my games (I think I probably accounted for about 50% of DC game sales on the IOM ), but IMO it's one of those things where the memories are probably better than the reality, the proper rose-tinted glasses effect.

Well, apart from things like House of the Dead 2 and Confidential Mission, which remain as ZOMG AWESOME shooters to this day, I have two guns and have kept my 28 inch CRT telly so they can still be played, since the guns only work on olde tellies, not even olde 100Hz tellies, they have to be properly archaic.

Today only deals:

Splosion Man – 160 MS Points
Greed Corp – 160 MS Points
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time: Reshelled: Subtitle – 160 MS Points
Trails HD – 400 MS Points

Xbox Originals
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas – 400 MS Points
Halo: Combat Evolved – 400 MS Points

Rock Band DLC
Creedence Clearwater Revival Pack – 400 MS Points

Avatar tat
Still too expensive.

I'm having Halo. Never really played the first one, which stopped me from trying the rest

Theres no sign of GTA in the sale section.

What's Greed Corp?

Those deals are up on xbox.com, might not be live on the dash til later (2pm)

It's a turn based strategy, the screenshots look pretty cool and it got "generally favourable reviews" but that's all I know.

Anybody given Quake Arena Arcade a bash? I'm absolutely gutted they priced it at 1200 points because no fucker is going to buy it, but it's basically Quake 3/Team Arena plus a fair few new maps created just for this in one pretty slick package. I realise we can now play Quake 3 for free in a browser, but it's nice to have it on the 360 for obvious reasons. It takes some getting used to with a pad, particularly the rail gun, but it's starting to click now and I'm really enjoying it. It's taking me back to simpler times. But yeah, 1200 points. Had I not been gifted a points card for my birthday I would've waited for a price drop. Anyone else tempted?

A controller? For quake?

Why not just send someone round to cut your thumbs off whilst they're at it.

Upcoming Christmas deals:

Super Meat Boy – 800 MS Points
Comic Jumper – 800 MS Points
Toy Soldiers – 800 MS Points
Banjo Tooie – 600 MS Points
Castle Crashers – 600 MS Points
The UnderGarden – 400 MS Points
Risk Factions – 400 MS Points
Afterburner Climax – 400 MS Points
Carcassonne – 400 MS Points

Also individual daily deals.

From the 21st to 31st.

Level playing field though, innit...

Sure, it's level, but it's covered in jelly.

Your mum likes to be covered in jelly.

Pad works fine for every other shooter & as sacred cows go Quake's a bit pish.

Quake 3 ain't pish, son. It's a fast-paced, finely balanced affair. Whilst UT was enormous fun, Q3 was ultra competitive, heart-racing stuff. Both deserve some love! I wouldn't really consider it a sacred cow though - it didn't review brilliantly at the time because it lacked a proper campaign, and a lot of people preferred UT. Unless you're talking about Quake the series, in which case, do you really think Quake and Quake 2 were pish?

Ah, Quake 2. That glorious Sunday which saw my return from the computer fair at the Riverside clutching both a copy of q2 and a brand new white boxed 3dfx card.

*nostalgia*

The latest borderlands dlc for 400 points is also a must buy. Along with keflings for 800pts

Heh, on what planet?

Quake in particular is *THE* ultra-twitchy mega-sensitivity shooter, yeah it'll be a level playing field but I'd like to see someone do a 360 degree rocket jump, switch to the railgun, and nail someone half a map away with a fucking pad. That sort of move is part of the anatomy of Quake, remove that and you may as well just play Dreary Shit Ops This Year's Shitty Shovelware Release and be done with it.

Quake 2/3 still hold up as quality games today, 2 looks a bit wanky but 3 manages to both look pretty slick and play superbly. (I'm not convinced by the browser version though.)

I remember by brother got ISDN put in just to play Quake 2, back in the day when access was paid for on a 'time used' basis, if I recall he managed a bill of about £800 one quarter.

The browser version doesn't have the longest yard, therefore it can choke on a dick as far as I am concerned.

Don't start with this bollocks again please. As ridiculous a move as you just described, it's still perfectly possible with a pad if you're a competent user and you're prepared to put a bit of practice in. Seriously, I'm not going to argue with you about mouse and keyboard vs joypads or PC vs Consoles for the MILLIONTH TIME, but AS I'VE SAID BEFORE, I spent most of my young life glued to a mouse and keyboard playing FPSes. I didn't believe for a second that playing FPSes with a pad was possible to a level even approaching that of someone with a PC. I was wrong. You just have to practise. I am actually telling you, as someone with a lot of experience and playing time with both methods, that whilst the pad isn't as accurate - of course not - it is NOT the crutch you and most others continually claim it is. It's getting boring now. If you're shit with the pad, that's your problem. I'm not, and many others aren't.

You've completely dismissed the slightest possibility of Quake working on a console without even so much as trying it. Stop doing that. Please, bugger right off with that sort of thing. Don't even pass a comment until you know what you're talking about. It's irritating.

You can't tell someone you're not going to argue with them and then argue with them, then tell them they're boring for arguing.

Anyway, he's right.

Ah shut up. You people are just too old to accept that you might have to re-learn a few things, re-program a bit of muscle memory. FPSes with the pad to a high level is perfectly possible. And if you look at the youngsters who've never played FPSes on PC - some of the things they can do with a pad are insane.

/unexpected moon

Oh right, in future Grim... I'll just allow AE to come in and make a completely inaccurate sweeping statement about something he hasn't even tried without any sort of rebuttal. He's forever poo-pooing the consoles with stupid stuff like this. It's annoying.

So hang on, are you positing that the control method has no impact on how enjoyable a game is?

Edit: And I have played the Dreamcast version of Quake 3, and it's not a patch on the PC version, because it is impossible to control it with the same speed, precision and accuracy with a controller.

*popcorn*

It's incredible, isn't it?

No, that's not what I'm saying. The Wii is shit, for example. But FPSes on the current-gen consoles control perfectly fine.

The Dreamcast has ONE analogue stick you mook.

Just to clarify:

I'm not saying the pad is "better" than PC. I'm not saying it's "more accurate" - it's not. Those are the things you're deliberately trying to hear. I'm saying it's nowhere near as bad as the boring "are you still fucking banging on about that?" PC-only brigade have been making out for fuck knows how long.

Yes.