Hey! I resemble that statement!

I just find a nice, homely girl to smile and make eyes at. It also helps if you have something else you're buying anyway as they seem to care less

The coupon doesn't make the item $9.99 so keep your receipt for the price adjust on Sunday. Going Sunday in one trip might be risky as the sale alone will reduce stock.

First I've heard of this, but apparently XBLA games have a new roof of 350MB.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...-s-david-edery

Why don't they look at the 360 library and see what the smallest game is, say 2GB and make that the limit instead of this fluctuating nonsense?

Because that wouldn't be good for the ecosystem, you dirty industrialist.

Damn straight, since they're printing all of these damn discs that they're just going to dump in a landfill ala ET cartridges.... oh wait...

What was the old limit?

50MB for the 64MB memory card.

Then 150MB after the 512MB card came out and Castlevania needed a "special exception" to break that.

Now 350MB likely due to Penny Arcade and the upcoming SFII-HD and maybe Bionic Commando? I seem to remember the PSN one being more full due to having more space to work with on the download.

If they keep increasing limit, they'll eventually need to make the 120GB hard drive not $180.

Well, from a corporate perspective this is the time to keep the price up-or jack it up, now that there's more exclusive reason to actually "need" the space.
I'll try the PA demo, but I probably won't buy it unless it's really darn good.

It's hard for me to spend 1600 points on an Arcade game. That's just a number I have some inherent problem with. If it were say 1200, I'd probably get it (if the other reviews match the glowing OXM one), but that price is the same as I have earmarked for Bionic Commando Reloaded AND Street Fighter II HD. That's a tough sale to me, especially for a game based on a comic I rarely find the least bit amusing.

Still, I read a big article on the game and the strip in Wired recently and was somewhat intrigued. It had better be a great game since it was created by a couple of guys who made a career ripping other people's bad or disappointing games.

Anyone know what to sprinkle on meat from dead hobos to improve the taste?

I tried the PAA:OtR-sPoD:E1 demo this morning and enjoyed it enough to buy the full game. I had to leave for work, so I only had time to dip my toe into Hobo Alley before saving my game and quitting.

It's got classic RPG battles that are a blend between real-time and turn-based. If you just sit there, the enemies will attack you. Everyone in your party has their own set of meters (one each for special attack, basic attack, and item usage) that fill up over time, and when they're full, you can perform the action. If multiple characters have their special attack meters full, you can do a team attack. Timing is a factor, as you can hit the right trigger just before an enemy attack to block it, and special attacks involve timing, rapid button presses, and other actions. The humor is hit and miss so far, but if you like Penny Arcade's brand of comedy, the hits are laugh-out-loud funny.

If you like PA and classic RPGs, this is an excellent choice. If you like classic RPGs but not Penny Arcade, you might enjoy it, but it might not be engaging enough for you without some connection to the characters. If you don't like classic RPGs, you probably won't like it even if you're a PA fan. Fortunately, the demo gives you enough play time to know if the game is worth the money for you.

This is awesome.

Thanks for the quick write up, Gramps. I pulled the demo before I left this morning, but won't get to it until tonight. Sounds like I'll probably be buying it as I love RPGs and like PA.

keep in mind that with the size of games increasing the cost of them will as well... for space- you are paying for the space to put them on.

Which is why I think the current Download-and-play model is garbage.

price of the 120 GB is $180 or $1.50/gig.

Not much of a cost to store games you own, but it adds up. Already you are paying with devalued points and upwards of $20 for arcade games.
Then what happens when you fill all that space with games? The time and cost to upgrade the hardware- if, that is, an upgrade is even availible.
Is it a pain to manually remove content and download it again when needed?

The game is cool so far I just don't like the fact it's really not turn based, and it gets kind of hectic at times. They really don't give you much time to make a decision before your attacked.

It's not an insanely long demo, but you can create a character and play through the tutorial section of the game. You get an introduction to the characters and the basic play mechanics, and you get to fight through a decent number of battles. It's enough of a taste to let you know what the game is like and still leave you wanting more.

It comes down to personal preference, but I like the challenge of managing three characters and blocking attacks all at the same time. Turn-based games tend to be a little too slow for me, and without the pressure of making quick decisions, I tend to lose interest in the battles. But I can see how the PA approach is not for everyone.

Is it fully real-time where once a character's meter fills, they're able to attack immediately? Like the computer can pelt you while you're actively picking what you want to do?

http://www.destructoid.com/penny-arc...ic-86914.phtml

Any word on how long the gameplay will last?

The prologue comic they put online has piqued my interest.

They claim between 5 to 10 hours.

Yeah, but you can block while picking your actions, so it's not like you're tied up in menus or anything.

It's definitely closer to 5 hours as far as the main story is concerned. I played for a few hours this morning and seem to be nearing the ending during my lunch break. (That's about 3.5 to 4 hours in) The achievements might take a bit longer.

You would think that they'd want to bring down the price of the drive so that people have more space to store things that they would readily spend money on. I realize at this point, they're making money on both ends, but I wonder how many more people would buy more things like bigger games and videos if the HDD was set at a more reasonable price.