What lies in your console as we speak?

[Facade19]

PS3: COD4 I f-ing love this game!

[Aetherfukz]

I work a regular 9-to-5 job as software developer, but since I quit playing World of Warcraft I got time for other games again

[Starnum]

PS3: Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3

I never really played the first 2 very much, though I was familiar with them. Anyway, I'm really enjoying this game so far, cool shit.

[Aetherfukz]

Never heard of that franchise but upon reading the wikipedia entry it sounds like a nice game. Too bad such things probably never come out in europe.

PS3: Still Bladestorm. Just love hacking away everyone who opposes me with my spiky haired mercenary named Guts

[Starnum]

You don't get the Persona games in Europe! That can't be right. If so, that's like almost a travesty and stuff.

[Aetherfukz]

Well according to the videogame and anime business (although the latter changed for the better in the last several years) Europe gets handled pretty much like a third world country. We got FFVII Advent Children almost 2 years after the international release, I think there's only 1 Katamacy Daimasu (spelling wtf?) game out here, Chibi Robot was released almost half a year late, and exotic titles like the one you mentioned usually never see the light of day around here. On top of that, in the late 80s and 90s it was verboten to use Ninja in titles, so Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles became Hero Turtles, Ninja Gaiden and the likes were dubbed IIRC Shadow Gaiden, and such.

Plus what nerves me the most, is the law against brutal scenes in video games and henceforth the censoring in germany. And altough I live in neighbouring austria which doesn't have such a law, we still very often get the cut german version of games. So in C&C there were robots fighting and oil squiking instead of blood, the whole Doom and Quake franchise may not be tested by games magazines because it is forbidden, and so on. Age of Conan (my hope for the next best MMO) will feature a censoring system with the fatalities which is built into the server. I hope to god that they will make a distinction between germany and austria there.

So basically, what Hot Coffee Mod was to the USA, Manhunt was to Europe

[Tonbo]

So basically, what Hot Coffee Mod was to the USA, Manhunt was to Europe

Hehe... I'd rather have more sex and less than violence than the other way around.
I hear you though, sucks...

[Starnum]

Man, that sucks Aether. I feel for ya man. Why is it that you guys don't get all the games, and why couldn't the word ninja be used for so long?

[Aetherfukz]

Concerning the Ninja censorship:

Upon TMNT's first arrival in the United Kingdom, Sweden and Germany, the name was changed to "Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles" (or TMHT, for short), since local censorship policies deemed the word ninja to have excessively violent connotations for a children's program.[11] Consequently, everything related to the Turtles had to be renamed before being released in these nations. The lyrics were also changed, such as changing "Splinter taught them to be ninja teens" to the "Splinter taught them to be fighting teens."

The policies also had other effects, such as removing use of Michaelangelo's nunchaku (which were at the time banned from appearing in even 18-rated movies) and generally toning down the usage of all the turtles' weapons. After many seasons of never using his nunchaku, they eventually disappeared entirely, replaced by a turtle shell shaped grappling hook called the "Turtle Line".

However, when the live-action movie came out in 1990, the "Ninja" of the title was kept even in the UK. In time, nunchaku scenes were retained in previously-censored movies such as those of Bruce Lee.

By the time of the 2003 TV series, these censorship policies had been abolished, and no changes have occurred in the content of the show. The name "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" remained unchanged for the 2003 show. As a result, in the UK, the 1987 program is still called Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles and the 2003 program is called Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, hence a disambiguation between the two TV series.

Well at least Mikey still had his Nunchuks in the german version, removing them is really rediculous (just as is removing weapons from Yu-Gi-Oh security guards so they just point with their fingers )
And why so much nichê games don't come out in europe, I have no clue, other than the publishers thinking they won't make their money worth.
On top of that, for the german market there is the localisation issue: Almost every game now comes localised onto our market, so the developers/publishers probably won't go through localising a game which isn't marketed towards the masses.

Which I hate BTW, why the hell should I have to wait a few month to get a new game because some other dipshits can't speak and/or read proper english?

[Xandarg]

Damn, Aether, sounds like you guys are gettin' the raw deal. And I guess importing (from the states or Japan), even with a mod chip, must be a bitch since Europe has that whole PAL format. I know my PS2 modchip sometimes screws up the color/aspect ratio when I try to play PAL games. Not kewl. There's only one solution! Buy an NTSC compatible TV, US game consoles w/mod chips, and then download and burn all your games off the internet and never look back!

As for what lies in my console as we speak? Well, I just picked up Orange Box, which is pretty great, but the only games that ever get replayed by me are Shadow of the Colossus, Devil May Cry 1 and 3, and the Onimusha series. Wow, such great games. Speaking of, I haven't played Devil May Cry in years... Gotta go!

[Aetherfukz]

I never liked the Devil May Cry Series, but damn Shadow of the Colossus was one of the best games to ever grace a system. The atmosphere was just as brilliant as was the gameplay and the lack of music. Plus Agro beats Epona as best horse in a game. It was so cool that there was a button on the controller just to pat him

[Xandarg]

Ya, Shadow of the Colossus really elevated gaming into an art form. You're right, I would definitely say the atmosphere was one of the most compelling things about that game. Everything from the vast, uninhabited lands you traversed to, to the epic nature of the battles: no game ever made me feel so small and alone. It made it that much more heart wrenching when [spoiler]Agro fell off the cliff after saving your life, thus giving you the feeling of losing your only friend in the game.[/spoiler] It really geared me up for the final boss battle though! As for the music, I hope you remember all the boss battle music (even though there was no worldmap music). I still listen to that OST! I especially love Sunlit Earth (played during the credits). Get it all here if you don't already have it: http://gh.ffshrine.org/soundtracks.php (this is the greatest anime/game OST website in the universe, I even downloaded the tristram theme music from Diablo I here)

[LordMune]

SotC is the best game of the last console generation.

It didn't try to be a movie like every other game, and told a story by being a game.

It's also a tragedy, which is rare.

I'm sure it's all post-modern as fuck.

(Also, I would recommend getting yourself the proper soundtrack. Game Rips, like the one on Galbadia Hotel, are... not optimal. The ending song is called In the Land of Happiness. The credits song is Epilogue ~Those Who Remain~ IIRC.)

EDIT: The Land of Happiness. That's some extreme cognitive dissonance right there, especially if you've played ICO. I love it.

[Starnum]

Yeah, that's a shame Aether, because I've found that some of the best games are niche titles.

[War Machine]

I thought about getting some video game posters for my room and one of the first games I thought of was Shadow Of The Colossus, a poster from that game would be awesome. Unfortunately nobody sells video game posters on the internet, only a few on ebay and a couple of other sites and they won't be bothered to carry anything other than the usual titles.

[Aetherfukz]

I dunno what the normal prices for wallscrolls or framed pictures are, but deviantart seems to really have high ones. Anyway, this would sure look great on a wall.

[War Machine]

Very impressive Too bad it's so expensive.

[dialdfordesi]

Wii-Wii sports and SMB 3.

I finally have all three consoles!

[Shiva]

Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth ^^

[Xandarg]

Lunar: Silver Star Story COMPLETE

Finally found a seeded copy of it on bittorrent! Praise the gaming gods, I've been looking for this game for the past 5 years! (Still, Lunar 2 seems to be better so far, especially in terms of graphics... Oh well!)

[War Machine]

PS2: Harvey Birdman Attorney At Law

The game's fairly short and difficulty mild (if you read carefully), but it's as hilarious as the show itself. It plays pretty much as Phoenix Wright and feels like new episodes from the series. Everyone except Stephen Colbert made it to the game to lend their voice for almost every original character and some of the Hannah Barbera ones as well. If you ever liked the show, you owe it to yourself to play this game.

Oh, and some Street Fighter characters make cameos as well:

[Aetherfukz]

PS3: Orange Box (just rented though, I couldn't care less about Half-Life 2, but I want to play through Portal and maybe check out Team Fortress 2)
Wii: Metroid Prime 3 Corruption, simply awe-inspiring.

Edit: Finished Portal and it was awesome.

But now I just started playing Ninja Gaiden Sigma (also rented) for half and hour and it is even more awesome!

[DrPepperPro]

Ya, Shadow of the Colossus really elevated gaming into an art form. You're right, I would definitely say the atmosphere was one of the most compelling things about that game. Everything from the vast, uninhabited lands you traversed to, to the epic nature of the battles: no game ever made me feel so small and alone. It made it that much more heart wrenching when [spoiler]Agro fell off the cliff after saving your life, thus giving you the feeling of losing your only friend in the game.[/spoiler] It really geared me up for the final boss battle though! As for the music, I hope you remember all the boss battle music (even though there was no worldmap music). I still listen to that OST! I especially love Sunlit Earth (played during the credits). Get it all here if you don't already have it: http://gh.ffshrine.org/soundtracks.php (this is the greatest anime/game OST website in the universe, I even downloaded the tristram theme music from Diablo I here)

the ost is great for reading berserk too.

anyways thread topic: in my ps2 is probably berserk or okami i cant remember.

[fujinsan]

ps3: mgs and condemned 2: bloodshot

[Aetherfukz]

PS2: Shin Megami Tensei Persona 3
PS2: Dark Sector