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November 21, 2009
2:55 PM
Picnic1 commented on:
The 7 most beautifully animated 2D games
Although there was deserved mentions of Disney Megadrive games in general and Cool Spot (and, thankfully, some less good looking SNES games were left out for a change) I'd have liked to have seen Donkey Kong Country mentioned (although with 3D sprites is that 2D enough to be counted?)

I know that, by the criteria of the control being too linear, you haven't included some graphic adventures but The Curse of Monkey Island is fondly remembered (even though Grim Fandango's art style gets mentioned more).
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November 02, 2009
11:32 PM
Picnic1 commented on:
The rise and fall of the mine cart level
'Essentially a playable metaphor for the arguments of those cynical journos of old, it was like shooting our way through a barren womb. The final barb was in the way that it even set us up for a return to Resi 4’s finest moment by actually allowing us to climb into a cart at the entrance to said mine, before revealing its run to be pointlessly short and uneventful, ending before the mine proper even began. Truly the most poignant in-game requiem for video game mine cart riding imaginable, Ueda’s standpoint on the genre was made with inarguable clarity. But did he have to be so cruel?'

This is great writing! To talk in all earnestness about mine cart levels is a fine blend of poignant, detailed, truthfulness and subtle, dry, comedy gold. I read that platform games used to account for about 25%-33% of all games (especially easy to believe in the 16 bit days) and now account for about a tenth of that. The likes of the Uncharted series, with its Inddiana Jones/Romancing the stone ways may keep the mine cart level alive for it will surely always be there waiting to surface.
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September 23, 2009
7:16 PM
Picnic1 commented on:
The Top 7... Kickass Disney games
I haven't played all of these games but I would certainly have put World of Illusion(Megadrive) on that list. Forget any notion of Disney tweeness (or also sentimentality)- World of Illusion is a sometimes quite mysterious, classily presented game with excellent music and an original plot (although it also references Alice in Wonderland on one level).
It has some great ideas like an underwater level that, later on, is revealed to have all taken place in a goldfish bowl and a colourful flight on a flying cork from a bottle of wine. It's actually one of my favourite games of all time. Quackshot is quite good too.
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June 13, 2009
12:23 PM
Picnic1 commented on:
The secretly sinister storylines of your favourite games
All the others, as far as I've played, seem to make sense but Pacman's drug use remains completely unproven speculation! They could still be sweets/other food or just round dots although some do seem to temporarily turn ghosts in to unconfident shadows of their former selves- but if you are seeing ghosts in the first place then you may have problems, regardless of how confident or shadowy they are.
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June 08, 2009
8:33 PM
Picnic1 commented on:
The greatest game on every platform
Crash Team Racing is not just easily my favourite PS1 game, it's easily my favourite karting game, my favourite racing game ever and one of my favourite ADVENTURES (it feels like a proper adventure) ever so I would have put that as number 1.

I haven't played very many Dreamcast games but surely Jet Set Radio, Shenmue, Sonic Adventure or one of the Crazy Taxi games sum up Sega brilliance better than a fighting game.
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8:33 PM
Picnic1 commented on:
E3 09: LittleBigPlanet + Mario Kart = ModNation Racers
Both Little Big Planet AND Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and bolts deserve to be remembered this generation for allowing user created content.
This seems to mix the ideas from both games.
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8:29 PM
Picnic1 commented on:
The greatest game on every platform
The NES was an aged system in 1990 when it released its best game Super Mario 3. In the United Kingdom, more people were playing the Commodore Amiga because there was much greater variety of games from inventive studios (mostly British but a few from America) with much better graphics.

I think that Donkey Kong Country and Super Mario World deserve to be listed as the best SNES games. DKC is timelessly good looking for any console, not just of its generation.

Banjo Kazooie is the top N64 game in my opinion.

Metroid Prime is the top Cube game and number 2 should be the Resident Evil remake to me.
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May 23, 2009
2:52 PM
Picnic1 commented on:
More accurate names for your favourite games
Perfect Mark? Zero (Perfect Dark Zero- actually, it was a pretty good game in places and good looking).

Risible Sequel Zero- Resident Evil 0 (again, it was a pretty good game, just not as good as some reviews tried to make out- not as good as the remake).

Final Fantasy? Nein.

Mario Kart- Balderdash!! (Mario Kart: Double Dash!!- a colourful game but a series that remains less ambitious than 1999's Crash Team Racing by Naughty Dog).
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1:18 PM
Picnic1 commented on:
The Top 7... Nintendo mistakes
A good article- it's such a tangled web of fortunes between the videogame companies and that competition has resulted in some great games.

Unlike in Japan, here in the UK, Nintendo has never had unquestioning dominance with the majority, except for with its handhelds. Even the Wii, despite its fashionable status, is still about equally rivalled by the Xbox 360 by the majority. Part of their problem was timing- Nintendo released the NES in the UK at about the time that the Commodore Amiga and Sega Megadrive, with their superior graphics, rightly dominated the UK.
I’ve always thought that the Sega Megadrive deserved its UK victory over the Super Nintendo- not just because it appeared the cooler choice but because it had a larger number of great games- Sega’s partnership with Virgin Interactive and Disney sealed it- and because the Megadrive, older than the SNES, actually had a processor that was twice the speed of the SNES’s. And when the SNES had a superb series like Rare’s Donkey Kong Country, Miyamoto, concerned at Nintendo’s request that he makes Yoshi’s Island appear more like it, appears to throw cold water over DKC by essentially (and wrongly) saying that it’s all flashy visuals and no game.

When I first saw the N64 in a well known toy store, it appeared an epic console to me- it was in ways, although its blocky visuals on cartridge capacity needed to be moulded by skilled experts in game design like Rare. I ended up buying a Playstation on that occasion due to price and wanting to play Crash Bandicoot (despite the PS1 not being one of my glory purchases, the great Crash Team Racing still doesn’t make me regret the purchase too much) however a few years later, and after I had bought a Gamecube, I got a brand new N64 Mario 64 bundle for £50 from the same shop and then bought all the classic Rare games second hand, but in near perfect condition, online.

As the Gamecube had sales approximately the same as the Xbox, which was not judged a failure as a new entrant to the console wars, the Gamecube’s fewer sales than any other major Nintendo console didn’t turn in to the tragedy that befell Sega’s sales as a hardware manufacturer. However saying that you had bought a Gamecube still, a bit oddly, seemed to be regarded as a niche purchase by some people. I think that the Wii has shown that it was not necessarily the inability to play DVDs on the Gamecube that was the reason. I think that the Gamecube, in terms of how the console looked, was just seen as Nintendo at its cutest- something for kids. I think that’s a shame because the juxtaposition between the cute appearance of the tiny Cube and its discs and the detail of the Resident Evil remake (or Metroid Prime) was compelling to me. Playing any Xbox360 or PS3 game, no matter how beautiful, on a machine 2 or 3 times the size and weight of the Cube, doesn’t seem quite as impressive to me- it feels like playing it on an affordable PC in a box, rather than the subtler, more purpose built, nature of the Cube.

Nintendo have now got their sales up by offering quite a retro experience dressed up, to some extent, in the fashionable clothes of magazine lifestyle choices- weight control, keeping your mind active etc. It’s not the uncompromising blend of cuteness and hardcore games that the Cube was but it was clear to them that they needed to draw a line in the sand between them and their competitors and to send out a relatively simple message that a lot of people will identify with. It doesn’t make the Wii have the cult status of the Cube, or the N64 to some extent, but selling themselves to the mainstream is making them survive.
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May 18, 2009
12:05 PM
Picnic1 commented on:
Which number is the best number?
I think that there is a good case for the number 2 or 3:

Monkey Island 2 is many fan fan’s favourites but I adore part 3 (‘Curse of ‘) for its animation and sound whereas 4 had obscure solutions to puzzles and 3D animation that wasn't quite as pleasing as part 3.

Sonic 2 and 3 are both good- I prefer Sonic 2 though.

I got the feeling that Devil May Cry 3 was now regarded as regarded as the best by many?

Silent Hill 3 is more highly regarded by 4 but I suppose that most people regard part 2 as the best- I’m not sure why- all that fog is annoying.

I prefer the Gamecube Resident Evil remake (technically still Resident Evil 1) than RE4.
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May 16, 2009
1:51 PM
Picnic1 commented on:
Fan Art versus Official Art
I remember seeing the Bioshock sequel fan art-it's mysterious and a bit like Ridley Scott's Alien (Ridley studied at my school in north east England!). It's better than the ofifcial ideas for Bioshock which have all concentrated on playing around with characters rather than expanding Rapture. Rapture was always the main draw for me. Without a backdrop, it's just freaks facing off against each other. Maybe Bioshock 3 will get it more right.
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May 14, 2009
7:47 PM
Picnic1 commented on:
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (PS3): Exclusive in-game footage of Uncharted 2
I thought Gamesradar didn't go in for false headlines? This isn't 'Exclusive' news. This video, or at least a near identical one of it showing the same location, has been on You Tube for weeks- and that was shown at a presentation.

You 'managed to get' your hands on it? So did I weeks ago by going on You Tube.
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May 13, 2009
9:21 PM
Picnic1 commented on:
BioShock 2: GamesRadar reader response
Further to my previous post on the original article, I agree with nearly all of it except perhaps that going in to the sea is necessarily a bad thing. I never thought of the sea as being the ultimate villain, right from the start when I realised that, if I didn't swim to the entrance to Rapture, I wouldn't freeze to death in Atlantic waters or be attacked by a shark (at least, no-one has said that happens if you stay there for a long time).

On the other hand, once in Rapture, there is the appealing metaphor of Rapture being just a couple of cracks away from disaster. But going in to the sea in a protective suit doesn't harm that relationship, just as when someone got in a cage and looked at Jaws didn't harm that film. They won't necessarily concentrate on immediate danger underwater- it can instead allow a moment of quiet contemplation away from the horrors in Rapture, just as the diary rooms did in Resident Evil, with the added extra of having more things to explore- they could keep it very realistic or they could have a wrecked ship and other random debris.

Bioshock apparently takes place 10 years later in 1970- on the one hand it seems a shame that the game shows no significant stylistic changes as happened in the real world in that time- the creation of brutalist architecture for instance seems to mean nothing to a world trapped in an art deco period with 40s/50s music. But on the other hand, this could be looked upon as having deep meaning- despite all of Rapture’s chaos, it is in reality arguably changing much less than the real world was during that time- it is a hermetically sealed bubble. It is an irony, of course, that the comforting sound of such an innocuous songs as ‘Beyond the sea’ are the soundtrack to such brutality.

To try to be near as affecting as the first game, they probably would have had to leave it for a few years, maybe call it something else and try a different setting- I considered the idea of a quasi-Victorian ‘steam punk’ setting. But striking gold is hard enough but they had to laboriously craft it until it was the brilliant game that was Bioshock so I can’t blame them too much for not wanting to abandon that particular mine.
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May 12, 2009
10:30 PM
Picnic1 commented on:
Why BioShock 2 is a TERRIBLE IDEA
The article is good. I like the comments about it. Although there have been many videogame sequels that are better than the first in the series, when I think of Bioshock 2 I think of Metroid Prime: Echoes, both sequels to games that are rich in atmosphere, tension, poignancy and a sense of discovery. I played very little of Echoes before being dissatisified in comparison with the first game. It just didn’t feel as polished and felt like the concept of dual worlds was meant to be the hook rather than the natural desire to explore. As far as I was concerned, the first game was an adventure game that happened to have a sci-fi setting to it. Dual worlds gives the sequel a more sci-fi feel full stop, putting off some people from whom ‘sci-fi’ isn’t always a selling point. The characters in the sequel also weren’t quite as satisfying looking. I see the same thing with Bioshock 2- it seems to be becoming more sci-fi looking. It starts to affect the balance of the game from something of a ‘gothic (well, art deco) horror.

Unless you are making an out and out 'frag-fest' like Quake 3: Arena with no deep meaning, I think that it can be unwise to attach multiplayer and what may be gimmicky character changes to an idea like Bioshock. An increase in action isn’t necessarily always bad though- Some prefer James Cameron’s ‘Aliens’ to the slower pay off of Ridley Scott’s ‘Alien’. But I think that the first Bioshock game will definitely remain distinctly superior.
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8:51 PM
Picnic1 updated their profile.
April 19, 2009
8:22 PM
Picnic1 updated their profile.
April 09, 2009
8:44 PM
Picnic1 commented on:
GR Asks: Why was Biohazard renamed Resident Evil?
'Resident Evil' is more multi meaning than Biohazard in the context of the games. Not only does it refer to evil that is resident in the mansion or other environments, in the form of zombies/mutated animals but that evil that infests those zombies/mutated animals.

I think that the way that games studios always seem to think that minimalism is necessarily more suited to European game art though is a bit predictable though. The American Gamecube Resident Evil remake had a zombie attacking Jill Valentine. The European version had the words 'Resident Evil' on a brown backdrop.
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April 05, 2009
1:11 PM
Picnic1 commented on:
Things gamers would never have believed 20 years ago
20 years ago, I would not have thought that the platform game would have been relegated from its crown as, in my opinion, THE videogame staple to being seen as a relative niche.
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1:01 PM
Picnic1 commented on:
38 favourite bullshit PR cliches
This was a recent one from Nintendo:
“…what you’re seeing is this average business model, the typical business model of, say, the five to six year generation of hardware is just not valid anymore. The Wii is a very approachable, accessible platform that’s going to interest gamers for years to come.”

Translation: At the moment we've made so much money from the Wii that we're using £50 bank notes as toilet paper. Spend money on creating new technology in a few years time? Are you mad? Half our new buyers are grannies who think that Teletext has good graphics. We should have spotted this years ago- the Gameboy's graphics were rubbish compared to the Game Gear but people didn't care. Now we're going to milk this cash cow until its udders are sore like we did with the Gameboy and Sony did with the PS1 and PS2.
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12:44 PM
Picnic1 commented on:
Beloved games we hate
Firstly, as someone new to commenting on Gamesradar articles (although I have been a some time viewer of the site in general over the last 5+ years), I want to say how refreshing, informative and fun this site is-
it's clearly written by people who love games but are willing to insult some of their readers and some 'sacred cows' in videogames if it is the right thing to do.

I also wondered whether I was doing something wrong when I was playing Silent Hill 2. I knew that people said it was possibly the best in the series but not knowing where to go next in the fog was just frustrating.

As for Super Mario World, the article says 'The level design does not seem as intricate as Super Mario Bros 3 nor as simple and enjoyable as SMB1'. OK, so it's somewhere in between. Is there necessarily something wrong with not being at the extremes?

As for the graphics, the huge size of some of the Bullet Bill sprites and the rotational scaling on the bosses perhaps made it stand out but the Megadrive was doing that last effect on Puggsy a couple of years later. Super Mario World does have some nice fog effects in parts and an interesting colour palette that goes for subdued natural colours. But Miyamoto was still unwise to knock Rare's great 'Donkey Kong Country', hinting that was all graphics and no game, although he did apologise for that as he had been under pressure to make Yoshi's Island in the same style. Given the Megadrive's Sonic games, as well as Sega's frutiful relationship with Disney, I think that the Megadrive had a larger number of great platformers.

Regarding GTAIV, saying 'We'll fight to the end to defend your right to fantasize about running over hookers in purloined vehicles; we just wonder why anyone thinks that's fun.' is a relatively rare view for a games site to admit to. They rightly conclude that wanting freedom of speech does not mean that we have to necessarily like what people use that freedom to say.
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11:47 AM
Picnic1 commented on:
Why Japanese game ads are the best in the world
American ad agency: "Yes, we've got to promote Konami's latest carefully crafted game 'Metal Gear Solid SNAKE EATER' to the American public. I was thinking that we should show some, well, you know, some of the things that make this stand out like the jungle and water effects. Let's go a bit Japanese quirky this time. Or a bit David Lynch maybe.'

"No, let's stick with the whole Armageddon blowing things up thing like we always do. Anyway, I've got a hair appointment at 4pm.'
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11:23 AM
Picnic1 commented on:
Which version of Mario is the best version of Mario?
Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door shows the perkiest Mario. The Super Mario Galaxy Mario looks great as well with white highlights around him. However, like the vast majority of Mario incarnations, they still have him in those tired deep blue dungarees circa 1983. Super Mario World may have been back on the SNES but it's actually one of the more colourful looking Mario Sprites and his dungarees are a more fetching pale blue. It was also just the right proprtions to be perfectly balanced for that game.

Super Mario 64 actually has one of the worst Mario sprites. Cross-eyed and too thin faced, he looks like is wearing a comedy big nose and moustache yet the joy has been sucked out his expression.
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11:10 AM
Picnic1 commented on:
Which version of Sonic is the best version of Sonic?
Sonic started to lose his looks after Sonic CD. NiGHTS was probably partially to blame- they accentuated his spikes, giving him a harlequin look. They also started to make him skinnier than the satisying sprite of old. The older version are balanced just right in proportions to convincingly look like a round ball when spinning. Compare the very first shot of Sonic finger waving on the first Sonic the hedgehog, a look of assured confidence on his face, to the gaunt gangster wannabe of later incarnations.
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April 04, 2009
10:27 PM
Picnic1 updated their profile.
10:27 PM
Picnic1 updated their profile.
10:17 PM
Picnic1 commented on:
The visual evolution of game logos
The Sonic Adventure logo is great, as are the logos for Super Mario World, Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Galaxy. If I had to choose one Mario logo, I would choose Super Mario Sunshine's, because of the Shine and Sun additions to it, although Super Mario Galaxy strikes a good balance by keeping the world 'Super' in plain white, accentuating the other words.
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9:44 PM
Picnic1 updated their profile.
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