The problem with demos is that sometimes they don't adequately portray the game.

The demo for Dead Rising was almost nothing like the final game. The demo was just hack-n-slashing zombies with no hint of the side quests/games, rescuing survivors, free roaming, etc that is in the final game.

The demo for F.E.A.R. really played up the scare factor, but the final game really was not all that scary.

The demo for Hitman: Blood Money was just a very basic tutorial and playing it would lead one to believe that the game is very linear. I knew from playing past Hitman games that was not the case. Each mission gives you a multitude of ways to go which was not evident at all in the demo.

What developer was that? While I don't care for the Achievement system since I don't like to take time to explore every nook and cranny to get the highest score possible, I would never say it was a "cheap gimmick" because there are plenty of people that do enjoy it.

Once again I got Mutant Storm Reloaded confused with Outpost Kaloki X. My bad.

I like the new Pac-Man.

now if someone would only give me a real arcade stick to play it properly...

Hey, don't you generalize me!

I get that the retro arcade games might not appeal to you, but there is no excuse at all for not giving a game like Aegis Wing a whirl. It's got some awesome multiplayer action and IT'S FREE. I've gotten more enjoyment out of that game than I have for some games I've dropped $40+ on.

Did you miss the part where I said I don't play multiplayer?

I was never a Pac Man fan but that looks really good.

It wasn't the cable? What was it?

I totally understand what you're saying and I feel the same way. I downloaded a couple of the old school game demos like Mr. Do, Joust, Centipede, and others that were cool when i was younger and playing them now was not fun. There are some cool games on there, and I understand that many love those games. I guess playing Nex Gen games then switching back to some of those simply doesn't do it for me.

It was the red rings. But it was 4 rings which is supposedly a cable issue. tried a new cable and it didn't fix it. After a few tries I got the 3 rings and a dead system.

ok wow.

So I hooked up my temp cables and the video returned! But then I noticed the optical connector didn't stay seated so I had no audio. Ok, fiddle with it to make it stay although it wouldn't, but then the video went away again. Shit, could the 360 be burning out cables? I mean WTF man!!???

Don't know man. Totally unrelated to all previous issues/deaths, I had the optical cable issue last week. It just wouldn't stay in there. It was never a tight fit though. So the audio kept going in and out. I bought a new optical cable at Radio Shack($18) and now it is nice and snug and no troubles.

<--- hypocrite.

After all the shit I talked about Pac-Man: Championship Edition, I downloaded the demo and loved it. After two quick games I bought it. This game is a BLAST. Will definitely get more play than the other two Pacs on the 360.

I just wish there was an unlimited mode. Every mode is timed. That's the only fault I can find with it, other than the price which is still too high despite me loving it.

After playing it for about 90 minutes last night I have to say the analog works great, especially compared to Pac Man and Ms. Pac Man which were less than stellar with that control scheme. Since it was designed for the 360, it seems they took controls into account and it plays very smooth.

The achievements are easy as hell, but that seems par for the course for the Pac-Man releases on XBLA. I nabbed 'em all but one in about an hour.

So I guess I knew I shouldn't have talked shit because the Pac-Man franchise remains my all time favorite. If you have ever been a fan of Pac Man and especially the turbo version of Ms. Pac-Man you will love this game. Very addictive. I figured I would play a couple of games and head to bed... 90 minutes and 170 gamerscore later I did. With the little time I have spent with it, I would rank it #2 right behind the turbo Ms. Pac as far as the franchise goes. It's that good.

That optical connector problems is most likely related to the Pelican brand cable. That's no big deal. I never had that problem with the MS HD cable. However, now that 2 HD cables have stopped sending video I'm almost wishing for the 3 red rings because I have a feeling when the new MS cable arrives it will get killed too.

Somethin' ain't right here.

Wouldn't the DOA4 Hori Stick work for these types of games? I haven't tried it but it seems like that would be a perfect solution. When I get home today I'll hook it up and try the Pac-Man demo

I love the sparks that fly off Pac-Man when you are trying to push against the walls to take a turn early. This might be the first arcade game I buy off live.

I don't know if this has been mentioned before (probably), but do you guys think GTA IV will be a 360 seller? I know a lot of people think Halo 3 will be a system seller, but most of the people who care about Halo were Xbox owners -- whereas GTA had a much larger user base. Now, I realize that GTA will be on PS3 too, but I'm thinking -- will GTA IV make people want to invest in this generation of consoles -- and if so, wouldn't they be most likely to buy the 360 to play GTA?

Anyway... the funny/sad thing is, I'm mostly interested in the 360 for reasons other than Gears, Halo, or GTA. Sadly, I'm more interested in downloading movies and some of the Live Arcade stuff (like Catan -- a game I've never played, but I'm really interested in).

I think between the two you've got a lot of system sellers.

GTA IV is the chance the PS3 needs to pull the graphical rug out from under the 360, it could very well make or break the system (PS3) for the remainder of the year.

That being said, the system that runs the game better will be the one with the sales boost.

I totally disagree. If the game is on both systems at the same time, it's the one with the larger install base that will sell better regardless of performance issues . Many would argue that the Madden games looked better on the Xbox than the PS2, but it sold a lot more copies on the PS2.

You misread.

He meant the console that it runs best on will see a boost in CONSOLE sales.

i.e. if the PS3 version is superior, people who own neither at PS3 or 360 will be more likely to buy a PS3 for the game. Or vice versa if it runs better on the 360.

I don't think it will matter. It still comes down to:

- Do I pay $600 to play GTAIV or
- Do I pay $400 to play GTAIV, Halo, Bioshock, Mass Effect, Dead Rising, etc.

I think some overestimate the impact that GTA will have, especially since it is now multi-platform. I don't know a single person for whom any GTA game has been a system seller. Heck I played III on my PC and got bored after a few days.

Now Halo, that got me and several friends to pick up an Xbox. I know a few that picked up a PS2 for FF games. But none for GTA.

Maybe better graphics might make it more aesthetically appealing, but unless they really ad something new to the gameplay it will take a lot more than that to make me glance at a PS3 (or 360 if I didn't already have one).

I've got to agree with you, plus I'd imagine any differences between the two would be negligible at best.