Post everytime that you buy a new game...

[DaMadFiddler]

Trine 2 and Giana Sisters: Twisted Nightmare. Both very worthwhile.

[Matisfaction]

Truxton

[DaMadFiddler]

Battle Kid 2: Mountain of Torment.

The first Battle Kid came out for NES 3 years ago, and its sequel launched this spring, but production has been slow, resulting in limited availability. Finally managed to catch it in stock and get an order in.

An iPhone version was also released (it's basically just the ROM wrapped in an NES emulator), but a game like this really needs physical controls.

[Specially Cork]

Battle Kid 2: Mountain of Torment.

The first Battle Kid came out for NES 3 years ago, and its sequel launched this spring, but production has been slow, resulting in limited availability. Finally managed to catch it in stock and get an order in.

An iPhone version was also released (it's basically just the ROM wrapped in an NES emulator), but a game like this really needs physical controls.

The App Store version is only a Lite version - I assume because the significantly lower price-point they'd need to sell it at on iTunes would seriously undermine cartridge sales, especially when it already supports the 8-bitty controller.

I'll give it a try, but I don't own a NES. Seems kinda wasteful to me to put so much effort into a game then limit it's release in this way.

[DaMadFiddler]

The iOS control situation should gradually improve now that Apple has *FINALLY* formalized game controller standards with iOS7, but it'll take a while for implementation to become widespread.

Wasn't aware the iOS version was only a lite version, though. Since it appears to be free, my guess is that it uses the demo ROM you can download from Sivak's (the developer's) website. Maybe the contract with RetroZone includes an exclusivity clause?

I've always thought it would be a fun idea to develop games for 8- and 16-bit systems, do limited-edition releases FOR those systems, and be able to create "universal" disc-based versions from there.

For example: if I made a new platformer for NES, I could do a small print run of NES cartridges for the die-hard fans. Then, since the game is so small and "good-enough" NES emulators have been ported to basically every platform ever, I could use the ROM image for a universal disc. One CD could easily be set up to be bootable on Dreamcast and also contain executable data for Windows, OSX, and Ubuntu. The special formatting required would probably make the disc only suitable for one console at a time (for example, I think the requirements for a self-booting DC disc would inherently get in the way of a self-booting PlayStation disc), but that's still a nice, versatile release. Plus, having the game as a ROM image that can be wrapped in an emulator makes "porting" incredibly simple.

[|darc|]

The special formatting required would probably make the disc only suitable for one console at a time (for example, I think the requirements for a self-booting DC disc would inherently get in the way of a self-booting PlayStation disc)

Not at all, in fact the requirements of the MIL-CD actually help--you could create a data/data Dreamcast disc by burning a PSX game as a data track on one session and then burning the DC data track on a second session. AFAIK that should work fine.

[DaMadFiddler]

I seem to recall having a conversation with Quzar about that a few years back, specifically about how many platforms we could make the same disc cross-compatible with. DC/Win/Mac/Linux is a no-brainer. If a DC disc could be made to be PSX-compatible as well, that would add one more (though PSX development seems... not exactly robust. SEGA CD may be an option as well.

How nice would it be to buy one disc and know you could play it on so many different platforms? If the console manufacturers could just agree to a common disc/copy protection structure, then we could largely eliminate the need for separate Xbox/Playstation/Nintendo discs. So long as there is enough space on the disc, companies that want to make their releases cross-platform could simply compile separate binaries for each platform and have them all draw from the same assets. There would be some significant limitations, of course, but the concept is appealing.

...more realistically, though, I would at least like to see independent DC releases also be playable on Windows/OSX. If I ever managed to get a game off the ground that was worth publishing, that's how I'd do it: set it up as DC bootable, but also include executables for Windows and OSX in the data area, and add the appropriate autorun data. It seems like it would broaden the appeal of Dreamcast releases, allowing them to sell to a larger audience (and persuade people who find the idea of a DC release novel but are on the fence about whether it would actually be worth buying).

[Smurph]

Battle Kid 2: Mountain of Torment.

The first Battle Kid came out for NES 3 years ago, and its sequel launched this spring, but production has been slow, resulting in limited availability. Finally managed to catch it in stock and get an order in.

An iPhone version was also released (it's basically just the ROM wrapped in an NES emulator), but a game like this really needs physical controls.

I want that cart. I think I've found this check's impulse buy.

[DaMadFiddler]

Just be prepared: it's tough as nails.

http://www.retrousb.com/index.php?cPath ... ea750b163d

[not just souLLy now]

Just picked up a PS3 because I saw a pretty great deal and wanted to play The Last of Us.
So I'm probably going to pick up all of the Playstation exclusive stuff I've been jealously eyeballing for some time soon too. Ni No Kuni, Journey, Rain, Ico/Shadow of the Colossus, Heavy Rain and Deadly Premonition Directors Cut all look like my kind of thing. Anything else I should check out?

[Specially Cork]

Just picked up a PS3 because I saw a pretty great deal and wanted to play The Last of Us.
So I'm probably going to pick up all of the Playstation exclusive stuff I've been jealously eyeballing for some time soon too. Ni No Kuni, Journey, Rain, Ico/Shadow of the Colossus, Heavy Rain and Deadly Premonition Directors Cut all look like my kind of thing. Anything else I should check out?

- Uncharted 2

I'm not really a fan of TPS and I don't really like the first or third in the trilogy but Uncharted 2 is by far one of the most solid single-player gaming campaigns I've ever played through. The train level alone (not a spoiler) is an absolute gaming masterclass.

- All the MGS games

Yeah 1 is old, 2 and 3 are just HD ports, and 4 is fan-service, but whack them out one after the other. It's an awesome ride.

- LittleBigPlanet 2

Floaty sackboy sucks compared to Mario, but the campaign is much more creative, the number of quality user-made levels is huge, and I know you're fairly creative so you might enjoy dicking about with the very comprehensive toolset on offer.

- Playstation Plus

Pay £39.99 for a year subscription and you'll get access to a collection of "FREE" PS3 games - you can download them and play them forever as long as you have an active subscription. The list of downloadable games rotates every month, but you can continue to play the ones that have been removed from download...just as long as you're still subscribed.

So yeah, you never actually "own" the games, but in the past 12-months there's been about 70 games available to download, including an even match of major retail releases and decent indie games. Even if you download 10% of what's on offer in a 12-month period, then quit and end up never being able to play the games again I'd say you would've got your money's worth.

The current games available to download right now are:
Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning
ICO and Shadow of the Colossus HD Collection (YOU WANTED TO BUY THIS ANYWAY!!)
Demon’s Souls
Rayman Origins
Coconut Dodge Revitalised

And this will change on July 3rd to:

Battlefield 3
Payday: The Heist
Saints Row the Third
Ninja Gaiden Sigma Plus
Unit 13

I know some people don't like the idea that one day the service will stop and you'll have nothing extra sitting on your gaming shelf, but it's ridiculously cheap when you think about it and by the time the PS3 is dead any game you played via the service that you'd still want would probably be a fiver on eBay anyway...

[DaMadFiddler]

I actually prefer Uncharted to its sequels; the settings are a bit less fantastical, but they're also a bit more believable and the game feels a little more grounded.

The God of War series is a must-have. There is a collection disc you can find for about $25 that has 1 through 3 plus ports of both PSP games.

The Ratchet & Clank series is also something that should be on your shelf. It's up to you whether to get the original trilogy, but definitely at least get the new ones (Tools of Destruction and A Crack in Time). A Crack in Time, in particular, has both some nifty puzzle segments with Clank and features the return of the series' best villain.

3D Dot Game Heroes is a fun send-up of early action-RPGs like Zelda, Golden Axe Warrior, and Adventure. It also gives you a "pixel" editor to create your own character.

Nier has somewhat dated clunky gameplay, but holy CRAP what a story. You only get the *full* story from multiple playthroughs, but it's one hell of a mindfuck.

The Infamous series is also pretty great. Open world pseudo-superhero scenario with a fairly compelling story, great controls, and a world that actually feels compelling.

And if you don't have a Wii, do yourself a favor and get the port of House of the Dead: Overkill. (No More Heroes is a blast as well, but it really needs the added visceral experience of the motion controls to be fun. Only get that if you're planning to buy the Move controller; it sucks with a traditional gamepad.)

I'm assuming from your post (and your avatar) that you have a 360 already? I also have plenty of non-exclusive games to recommend if you don't.

[DaMadFiddler]

I should also mention that if you don't already have any PS1 games, there is a reasonable collection of them available for download via PSN. They don't have all the games you'd want from that platform, but they do have all the big Square RPGs, Grandia, Castlevania, and most of the big-name stuff. Some games hold up better than others.

If you already have PS1 games, though, your PS3 will play them. (PS2 compatibility was omitted from recent models, but the PS1 support is based on software emulation and exists in all versions.)

[not just souLLy now]

Cheers for the suggestions guys, I do have a 360 so I was only really eyeballing the exclusives. My wishlist is now nicely queued up with £15 games.
Was kind of shocked how cheap the PS1 games are; £1.99 for Tekken 2 and Wipeout is very decent.

The Last of Us is stunning obviously, only a couple of hours in but it's already one of the most impressive games I've ever played, does not look like a game from this gen at all.

[Jeeba Jabba]

does not look like a game from this gen at all.

in all of the videos i've seen, most environmental textures look extremely low-res. anti-aliasing is pretty low too.

[DaMadFiddler]

It's still decades (perhaps even centuries) in the future, but I'm awaiting the day when a "true physics" engine makes things like game engines and texture art... well, not OBSOLETE, necessarily, but only a very minor role in tweaking the gameplay experience.

What I mean is a single, comprehensive physics engine (rather than a bunch of more-or-less isolated rules) that create a true virtual world, where color and texture automatically look the way they do because of the virtual matter they're comprised of, and different objects and forces automatically interact with each other correctly because of their size, shape, composition, etc. Plus, the game would have 100% environmental interaction, because in a virtual sense, everything in the game world actually "is" what it represents. For example, if a level designer inserts a brick into a level, that brick has all the properties of a brick. The developer simply has to sculpt and place that brick, and since it is part of a pervasive, unified-physics world, its base material (presumably clay), size, and shape inform all of its traits automatically. The engine knows whether it's something you can pick up, and how hard and far you can throw it. It automatically calculates what happens when that brick hits a cement wall, a steel car door, a tree, another character, etc. at various speeds and angles. Everything in the world is that way: items put in place by the level designers that are sculpted from known materials, and thus all of their characteristics--their weight, their texture, their color, their interaction with one another--is inherent.

This sort of engine obviously wouldn't be desirable for every game type, but it would make "realistic" game worlds as immersive and believable as possible... and it would turn game design largely into a combination of sculpture and script design.

[Christuserloeser]

...more realistically, though, I would at least like to see independent DC releases also be playable on Windows/OSX.

Yeah, we aimed at that goal with many of the later post 2004 DCEvolution releases and we had plans to make this a standard for our releases. This also was discussed with The Sandman replacement project a few years back: Come up with a CD layout that allow for the CD to be played on Dreamcast, Windows, VCD/DVD players.

[Specially Cork]

Luigi's Mansion
Crashmo
Ketzal's Corridors
New Super Mario Bros 2
Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask
Etrian Odyssey IV
Zelda DX
Zelda: Oracle of Ages
Zelda: Oracle of Seasons

...can't put down my 3DS at the moment. I've been really padding my library out and the rest of the year looks awesome too.

[Nico0020]

Tomb Raider
Prey

Picked these up during the xbox live sale this week. I've actually never finished a tomb raider game, so maybe this will be my first.

[Specially Cork]

Tomb Raider
Prey

Picked these up during the xbox live sale this week. I've actually never finished a tomb raider game, so maybe this will be my first.

Looking back, TR is still my GOTY so far. It has some clear issues, but I thought the single-player campaign was perfectly paced - I never once got bored or felt I was playing through pointless filler.