PS3

[scoobysnacks]

I got a PS3 this weekend but I can't get it to work properly online can anyone help? MY router works fine for my laptop, PSP, and Wii. It connects to the PS3 but it will just disconnect after awhile. I read online that I have to change some settings ony my router but I;m not really sure what to do. Can anyone help me and give me like step by step instructions on how to fix this.

[Sonic the Werewolf.]

So, my friend has been hyping up this game HAZE like it's the killer app for PS3, but...

http://ps3.ign.com/articles/875/875229p1.html
http://www.gamespot.com/ps3/action/haze/review.html?om_act=convert&om_clk=gssummary&tag=summary;review

I so want to print those out and literally rub the pages in his face. >_>

[Floyd Pinkerton]

So, my friend has been hyping up this game HAZE like it's the killer app for PS3, but...

http://ps3.ign.com/articles/875/875229p1.html
http://www.gamespot.com/ps3/action/haze/review.html?om_act=convert&om_clk=gssummary&tag=summary;review

I so want to print those out and literally rub the pages in his face. >_>

I haven't even bothered to open the reviews, but from what I've heard, it's basically a clone of Halo without the good parts, just another generic passenger on the Sony Hype train, seated firmly next to Lair.

[Stephen Stills]

Now that Kojima's done with his little pet project, maybe we'll get back to where the real action's at.

[Sonic the Werewolf.]

Quite a few of my friends are selling their souls/360s/Wiis/kidneys to get a PS3 and MGS4.

From what I've seen, it's worth it.
Go buy MGS4 nao

[Alexisonfire]

Go buy MGS4 nao

Just did KBAITHX.

Actually it was my sister. And the only reason she got the MGS4 bundle was because it came with a dualshock 3.

Meh. Her loss.

[Revan/anakinjmt]

Assuming I like the first three MGS, MGS4 may be the final game necessary for me to justify getting a PS3.

I'm still getting a 360 first though. And no way will I sell my Wii.

[Depressio]

MGS4 was ridiculously dissapointing in relation to the other MGS games. I'd post a review, but I'm pretty sure:
a) people probably wouldn't read it
and b) if anyone would, they would just -1 me for it. Not that I care about being -1'd, but whatever.

It's dissapointing to anticipate a game so heavily and then find yourself underwhelmed by it. 2008 might just turn out to be the year of the unsatisfactory sequel.

[Stephen Stills]

SPOILERS FOR MGS 4:

The nuclear disposal facility on Shadow Moses is still intact when Snake returns there but is totally overrun by Gekko and small robotic drones. Working his way through the facility, old memories return and even comes back to life when Snake encounters Crying Wolf (instead of Sniper Wolf) on the snowfield. The 'Beauty and the Beast' member tries to attack from Snake from downwind and shoots at him using the same rail gun that Dead Cell Fortune (from MGS2) had previously carried.

Yeah, not actually very important, but it's so awesome!

IMDB has a plot synopsis if you don't want to pay $460 for the normal way

P.S. Otacon's life sucks.

[Sonic the Werewolf.]

I'm in the middle of my first MGS4 playthrough, Act 4, Big Boss Hard.

MGS4 is ridiculously easy compared to the previous games. I had difficulty passing Hard on the others (especially Sons of Liberty), but this is a breeze.
I tried to do a No-Kill game but ended up accidentally killing a guy with an AK...within the first 5 minutes of the game. >_< Eh, a 1 Kill game is still OK.

Also, the cutscene that ends Act 3 = too epic to be described in words. So far the worst part about this game is that it's eventually gonna end. 

[Deputy Laser Action]

I'm done all of the gameplay portions and just have the ending to watch. It may be because I am a MG fanboy, but the game was really enjoyable. The boss fights weren't as good as before, but Act 4 was epic. I'll post more later after I've completed the game (including watching the ending).

MGS4 was ridiculously dissapointing in relation to the other MGS games. I'd post a review, but I'm pretty sure:
a) people probably wouldn't read it
and b) if anyone would, they would just -1 me for it. Not that I care about being -1'd, but whatever.

It's dissapointing to anticipate a game so heavily and then find yourself underwhelmed by it. 2008 might just turn out to be the year of the unsatisfactory sequel.

I would very much like to read this. I won't -1 you or tear you down for your opinions.

[Sonic the Werewolf.]

Man...Act 4 was incredible. So much nostalgia, and some great boss fights to boot.

Oh, and it looks like the game finally got difficult in Act 5. I'm getting destroyed.

[Depressio]

Thanks DLA.

Yeah, I have some issues with the game. Like you, I'm a big-time MGS fan, so my expectations were HUGE for this game. I'm going to talk about what I liked and disliked about the full package. I'm going to try to avoid spoilers here for anyone reading. Therefore, I'm not going to talk about the story (which I thought was kinda faulty in its own right), and instead focus on the game mechanics themselves.

Things I liked

+: Octocamo - This was one of the best aspects of the game for me. Streamlining MGS3's cool-yet-clunky camo system by having Snake's suit mimic the environment was awesome. It was really neat to see the variety of different surfaces present in a single area.

+: Solid Eye - Another great innovation. Though I miss the thermal goggles, the Solid Eye consolodated multiple pieces of equipment into a single, useful tool. This was the kind of progress I expected for MGS4.

+: The (few) gameplay/control tweaks - Finally, a Metal Gear Solid game with good controls! Moving while shooting was nice and natural. CQC is much easier to pull off (though I really miss the interrogation feature), and sneaking around feels much more fluid than in other MGS titles.

+: Visuals - MGS4 might just be the best looking console title I have ever seen. Lighting, character animation, etc. is done smoothly, and the high production values definitely add to the epic tone of the game.

Things I really didn't like:

-: Downgraded Codec - I was shocked to see how downgraded this feature was in MGS4. Only two contacts? No amusing save-your-game discussions? Come on! One of my absolute favourite parts of past Metal Gear games (especially 3) was calling up your support team and having them react to what you are doing, telling you about your weapons, items, surroundings, etc. Codec is almost worthless this time around: Otacon will often repeat himself, and saving the game is now relegated to a menu option. Why...?

-: Drebin Points - Metal Gear Solid  is a series where ammo is usually scarce: you are meant to use items and weapons conservatively. The shop system introduced this time around makes all of that obsolete. At any time in the game, you can access Drebin's shop and get whatever you want. This REALLY killed the flow of the game for me. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense that, while travelling at high speeds on a vehicle, Snake can suddenly accumulate a dozen RPGs and a new machine gun. I played on Naked Normal, and by the end of the game, I had WAY more of these points than I knew what to do with. A game-breaking mechanic that compromises the whole structure of the game.

-: Dumber AI - In MGS3, enemies would remember you even after you left a map screen. Not the case in MGS4. I guess the PMCs/militia have better things to think about...?

-: Loading AND installs - To have to install the game before even playing it (as well as before each act) AND STILL deal with loading is a major annoyance, especially considering it breaks up the structure of some of the narrative's most compelling moments.

-: War has changed - MGS4 has marketed itself on this tagline, depicting a world full of endless, meaningless battles. This could have led to some really cool emergent gameplay. It's too bad that everything seems way too scripted: either side with the militia and take out the PMCs or watch them kill each other over and over again with endlessly respawning units. It would have been nice to see some meaningful, interesting, randomized elements from these scenarios.

-: Repetition - This is something that I never thought would be an issue in MGS4, let alone most next-gen games I play. NPCs seem to loop all the time: soldiers repeat the same exact lines when calling for backup, and even your Codec contacts repeat identical, obnoxious animations over and over.

-: Heads-up display - I played MGS on a medium-to-large size TV, and I found it EXTREMELY hard to make out little details in the game's HUD. Locating items was nearly impossible for me without the help of the Night-Vision Solid Eye. Gone are the helpful spinning boxes, replaced by tiny squares that seem to blend in to the backgrounds themselves. And am I the only one who had a ridiculously hard time (particularly in Chapter 1) figuring out who was a PMC and who was a militia? The Solid Eye helps, but until I was familiar with the display, I found myself shooting all over the place. Once again, if realism was the goal here...why the Drebin points?

-: Where's Cam Clarke?- While his name is "Liquid Ocelot", Snake's brother is clearly the one in charge. Cam Clarke, Liquid's voice actor, is noticeably absent from the game, and it really shows. Patric Zimmerman (Ocelot) does a good job, but it's not quite the same without Clarke.

-: Backwards menu system - For every great innovation MGS4 brought to the table, it seemed to ignore countless other gameplay complaints. You still need to navigate through a clunky menu system to take your weapons/items out of a backpack and set them to slots. Checking gun statistics is ridiculously convoluted, with each gun being "ranked" according to a criteria that you can only figure out by consulting the instruction book. What's going on here?


Maybe my expectations were too high for the game. When I have brought this up to friends who have played the game, they tend to argue that I should appreciate the title for its own right, and not compare it to the rest of the franchise. I think that's a bunch of nonsense: the game is so aware of itself, constantly bombarding you with flashbacks of previous titles and discussing often-minute elements from other Metal Gears. If anything, past experience with the series is compulsory.

I have to admit, though. Act 4 is unbelievable. One of the best things in MGS history, definitely. Even this, however, was not explored to its full potential. I wanted more freedom.

I had huge hopes for this game, and I really regret my decision to buy a bundle. How this game got perfect scores from Famitsu, IGN, and Gamespot is beyond me.

Feel free to post any comments, questions, etc. My apologies for the length.

[Sonic the Werewolf.]

-: Downgraded Codec - I was shocked to see how downgraded this feature was in MGS4. Only two contacts? No amusing save-your-game discussions? Come on! One of my absolute favourite parts of past Metal Gear games (especially 3) was calling up your support team and having them react to what you are doing, telling you about your weapons, items, surroundings, etc. Codec is almost worthless this time around: Otacon will often repeat himself, and saving the game is now relegated to a menu option. Why...?

I do miss the witty conversations while going to save the game via Codec, but since the developers focused on telling the story via cutscenes (as opposed to long Codec conversations) I didn't really miss it.

-: Drebin Points - Metal Gear Solid  is a series where ammo is usually scarce: you are meant to use items and weapons conservatively. The shop system introduced this time around makes all of that obsolete. At any time in the game, you can access Drebin's shop and get whatever you want. This REALLY killed the flow of the game for me. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense that, while travelling at high speeds on a vehicle, Snake can suddenly accumulate a dozen RPGs and a new machine gun. I played on Naked Normal, and by the end of the game, I had WAY more of these points than I knew what to do with. A game-breaking mechanic that compromises the whole structure of the game.

This is a bit strange considering how you were constantly fighting to conserve ammo in the previous games.

-: Dumber AI - In MGS3, enemies would remember you even after you left a map screen. Not the case in MGS4. I guess the PMCs/militia have better things to think about...?

This must be a difficulty-related thing. I'm playing on Hard, and the guards remember me when I leave map screens...the Alert status doesn't just "go away".

-: Loading AND installs - To have to install the game before even playing it (as well as before each act) AND STILL deal with loading is a major annoyance, especially considering it breaks up the structure of some of the narrative's most compelling moments.

Yep, that's PS3 for ya.  Better than putting it on any other system and having to switch between 4-5 discs...

-: War has changed - MGS4 has marketed itself on this tagline, depicting a world full of endless, meaningless battles. This could have led to some really cool emergent gameplay. It's too bad that everything seems way too scripted: either side with the militia and take out the PMCs or watch them kill each other over and over again with endlessly respawning units. It would have been nice to see some meaningful, interesting, randomized elements from these scenarios.

My problem with this is that the PMC/Militia dynamic in the first act doesn't affect Snake at all...no matter how hard I tried I couldn't side with one of them, so I just ran past them while they killed each other.
But again, this might just be a difficulty-related thing.

-: Repetition - This is something that I never thought would be an issue in MGS4, let alone most next-gen games I play. NPCs seem to loop all the time: soldiers repeat the same exact lines when calling for backup, and even your Codec contacts repeat identical, obnoxious animations over and over.

AGREED.

-: Heads-up display - I played MGS on a medium-to-large size TV, and I found it EXTREMELY hard to make out little details in the game's HUD. Locating items was nearly impossible for me without the help of the Night-Vision Solid Eye. Gone are the helpful spinning boxes, replaced by tiny squares that seem to blend in to the backgrounds themselves. And am I the only one who had a ridiculously hard time (particularly in Chapter 1) figuring out who was a PMC and who was a militia? The Solid Eye helps, but until I was familiar with the display, I found myself shooting all over the place. Once again, if realism was the goal here...why the Drebin points?

Again, agreed. If it wasn't for night vision I wouldn't have found many of the hidden goodies on the ground (and I'm playing on a massive 54" HDTV). It's more realistic, sure, but more annoying too. I guess it's a way to make the game more difficult?

-: Backwards menu system - For every great innovation MGS4 brought to the table, it seemed to ignore countless other gameplay complaints. You still need to navigate through a clunky menu system to take your weapons/items out of a backpack and set them to slots. Checking gun statistics is ridiculously convoluted, with each gun being "ranked" according to a criteria that you can only figure out by consulting the instruction book. What's going on here?

The menu system is clunky, but I didn't really notice/care about the gun rankings.

You make good points, sir. I recall reading a review that pointed out these things and remarking that while the storytelling in the MGS series has always been amazing, the gameplay takes a backseat. Many of the choices the developers made (or DIDN'T make) in the gameplay department left me wondering if they listen to the customers' complaints about certain annoying elements from MGS2 and 3 at all...because a lot of them are still here.

[Revan/anakinjmt]

Depressio, I have to give you props. You brought up a ton of good points. I don't recall if you ever listed your problems with FFXII like this, but I'm seriously interested in your problems with that game now. That was very well thought out.