best video game platform and why
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ReformedWretch
Puritan Board Doctor
As in console? Well, if you want the best "next gen" system it's easily the XBox 360 simply because it has the fairest price for what it offers, the biggest and most varried game selection, very good performance and features, wonderful online components, and a large user install base.
The Nintendo Wii has far and away the best price tag, is a load of fun, and is far more innovative than any other system. I love my Wii, but it is still difficult to find, has very few games available, has very few online components, and uses last gen hard ware.
The PS3 is very "next gen" with it's BluRay DVD player, HDMI, memory card reader, PSP interface, graphics chip set, etc. but the cost is insane (although they are releasing a $400 model soon), has a very small user base (at this time), a questionable online interface (though it is free!), and a small game collection (presently). The PS3 will rebound in my opinion and I will most likely pick up the new $400 model when it releases. That said though, at this time the 360 is still the best over all choice.
However, if you're willing to consider last get hardware then the PS2 wins hands down. It still has very good graphics, a decent online component, a DVD player, and TONS of very good games now at very affordable prices. Buying memory cards stinks though.
If you're also considering hand helds, for pure FUN the Nintendo DS is the system to get! It's not as powerful as the Sony PSP, but the game selection is far, far greater (and wider), and those games are natural "hand held" games that you can pick up and play when ever. The PSP is a portable console game, and while that's kind of "neat", in my opinion it doesn't make for a great hand held experience.
The Nintendo Wii has far and away the best price tag, is a load of fun, and is far more innovative than any other system. I love my Wii, but it is still difficult to find, has very few games available, has very few online components, and uses last gen hard ware.
The PS3 is very "next gen" with it's BluRay DVD player, HDMI, memory card reader, PSP interface, graphics chip set, etc. but the cost is insane (although they are releasing a $400 model soon), has a very small user base (at this time), a questionable online interface (though it is free!), and a small game collection (presently). The PS3 will rebound in my opinion and I will most likely pick up the new $400 model when it releases. That said though, at this time the 360 is still the best over all choice.
However, if you're willing to consider last get hardware then the PS2 wins hands down. It still has very good graphics, a decent online component, a DVD player, and TONS of very good games now at very affordable prices. Buying memory cards stinks though.
If you're also considering hand helds, for pure FUN the Nintendo DS is the system to get! It's not as powerful as the Sony PSP, but the game selection is far, far greater (and wider), and those games are natural "hand held" games that you can pick up and play when ever. The PSP is a portable console game, and while that's kind of "neat", in my opinion it doesn't make for a great hand held experience.
No Longer A Libertine
Puritan Board Senior
The old NES (Nintendo Entertainment System), a 1980s classic and available on e-bay and pawn shops the nation over, if you find one that works embrace it in all its glory!
No Longer A Libertine
Puritan Board Senior
I am serious.
VaughanRSmith
Puritan Board Sophomore
I'm torn. Best for price would definitely be the Xbox 360, but I am enamoured by the PS3. Wii is a lot of fun to play with the wife though.
ReformedWretch
Puritan Board Doctor
Best games? Wow, that's going to bring various replies.
Sports? NCAA Football in my opinion is the best football game on any console. Baseball in my opinion would be MLB Power Pro's. I don't play any other sports games besides Wii Sports which I LOVE!
Racing: I prefer Project Gotham Racing 4 and Mario Kart
FPS_ Bioshock for me, yes, even over Halo 3, but Halo has one of the biggest fan bases in gaming history! A good deal money wise would be the "Orange Box" Half Life game.
Action game: Marvel Ultimate Alliance unless you don't enjoy comics then it's easily Elder Scrolls: Oblivion with Metroid Prime 3 coming in very close to the top as well.
Platform game- Paper Mario (Wii) is very, very good!
Unique: Viva Pinata on the XBox 360 is one of my favorite games and shouldn't be missed by anyone just because it seems "odd".
RPG: Tough for me to say, but I think it's going to be a game that has yet to come out-Mass Effect on the 360.
More if I think of them.
Sports? NCAA Football in my opinion is the best football game on any console. Baseball in my opinion would be MLB Power Pro's. I don't play any other sports games besides Wii Sports which I LOVE!
Racing: I prefer Project Gotham Racing 4 and Mario Kart
FPS_ Bioshock for me, yes, even over Halo 3, but Halo has one of the biggest fan bases in gaming history! A good deal money wise would be the "Orange Box" Half Life game.
Action game: Marvel Ultimate Alliance unless you don't enjoy comics then it's easily Elder Scrolls: Oblivion with Metroid Prime 3 coming in very close to the top as well.
Platform game- Paper Mario (Wii) is very, very good!
Unique: Viva Pinata on the XBox 360 is one of my favorite games and shouldn't be missed by anyone just because it seems "odd".
RPG: Tough for me to say, but I think it's going to be a game that has yet to come out-Mass Effect on the 360.
More if I think of them.
ReformedWretch
Puritan Board Doctor
Yep, they are being sold, but they won't be in stores (or shipped to those who order) until November 2nd.
ReformedWretch
Puritan Board Doctor
I play Viva Pinata all the time (lol) I think it's pretty enjoyable!
Scott
Puritan Board Graduate
I don't know, Adam. It looks kind of odd.
ReformedWretch
Puritan Board Doctor
trust me and at least rent it. It's one of my favorites now!
Scott
Puritan Board Graduate
Traci: Do you play?
ReformedWretch
Puritan Board Doctor
Here's a review I did of the game a while back
"The most addictive game I've played in a long, long time!"
The most addictive game I've played in a long, long time. Seriously, I've not played a game that has captured my attention and time the way this game has in literally years. My wife even commented saying “I've not seen you into a game like this in along time.” In fact, the last game she said she recalls me playing this much, this often is “Kings Field” and “Kings Field 2” for the Playstation 2. For those not in the know, “Kings Field” is a FPRPG (first person RPG) game that I was absolutely wild about. That said don't compare these two games! The only thing comparable is the amount of time I've invested with both.
Viva Pinata is a “resource management” game and I normally do not enjoy those type's of games at all. Occasionally I've played a little “Roller Coaster Tycoon” or “The Sims” but I grow tired of them after a few hours of mundane game play and never touch them again. Viva Pinata keeps me coming back to it again and again.
You start the game out with a messy looking piece of land that you've got to clear with a shovel. Here's the worst part of the game unfortunately. Having only a shovel is pretty weak as you have to clear the entire plot of land by pressing and holding the “A” button leveling out the rocky soil as well as concentrating on “difficult spots” (think broken wagon wheels, metal pipes, debris, etc.) hammering away with the shovel. The benefit to clearing debris is the chocolate coins (the games form of currency) you discover most times when doing so.
When you've got everything clear and level you can begin to plant grass, seeds, or dig water holes and or ponds. Again the shovel can be annoying, especially if you want to create a large water resource. Shoveling scoops out of your large plot of land takes way too much time. I dedicated one of my three gardens to strictly water and it took quite a while to get the entire plot dug up. In fact, wild Pinata's showed up as I was working and I had to stop my shoveling often to tend to them and fight off enemies that attacked them. Having said all this though, it's not horrible, just a little inconvenient. It would be nice if they gave you the option to highlight an amount of ground and shovel it all out with a giant scoop or something, even if you had to pay a little to have that done.
After you've begun to prepare your land (garden) Pinata's are attracted to it by what you've done. Certain Pinata's enjoy flowers, certain ones enjoy water, others grass, dirt, tall grass, trees, etc. I find it an absolute blast to see what kind of creatures I can draw to my garden. You will often see creatures just outside your boundaries and have to try and discover what will make them enter your garden and then, once you've accomplished that, what will make them stay. You can click on them once they've entered your terrain for information to help you out. Once they decide to stay you can name them, dress them up in accessories, and breed them! Breeding them is hilarious because they all have a little “dance” they do in order to breed. Before breeding though you have to make sure they are happy (foods they like, tree's they rest in, grass to lie in, etc.) and you have to contract a builder to build them their specific dwelling place (which is also often hilarious like the old haunted house looking home the bat like creatures live in).
Along your way in this game you will “level up” which allows you the opportunity to meet “workers” on Pinata Island who will help you for a fee. There are builders, doctors to heal your Pinata's when “Sour Pinata's” makes them sick. The “Sour Pinata's patrol looking to cause trouble. The challenge of the “Sours” isn't only in keeping them away, destroying the sour candy they leave behind, and shooing them off, it's in trying not to break them open, but instead finding what will “tame” them (cure them) causing them to be good Pinata's that will then aid you in your work! You will encounter bar tenders, hunters, and even a bum who begs you for money (NOTE SPOILER HERE: If you treat the bum well and give him some nice hand outs he will pay you back very well later in the game, if you treat him poorly he will come back to haunt you! END SPOILER).
As you level up you will be rewarded with better shovels, better watering cans, and better things to buy in the stores and shops you visit. The amount of land you have to build your garden on also grows quite a bit! I have a very large piece of land to build on now with dozens of different Pinata's roaming around. Part of the fun is discovering that many Pinata's can change their species! For example, a certain flying elephant like creature (worth $600) can change to a “fire bug” if you direct it to fly through a garden torch and then put the fire out with your watering can making the new species now worth over $2000! I've made a ton of cash (Chocolate coins) breeding these and performing this trick over and over. Also, eventually the government of Pinata Island calls on you to send certain species to them to borrow for shows. If you do this they will reward you with prizes for your willingness to help.
While not the same, this game reminds me very much of “Pokemon Snap”. The old picture taking game on the Nintendo 64. I've always hated Pokemon, but I enjoyed the strange concept of “Snap” and played it over and over trying to get the highest score possible. Viva Pinata is similar in the way it draws you into finding more and more creatures, only this time the game play is so much deeper and there are so many more creatures to find, buy (domesticated Pinata's), and tame. Rare has confirmed that there are over 600 different Pinata species with more coming as downloads on Xbox Live in the near future.
As for online, you can send friends Pinata's, and other items in your “mail box”, you can even send them to yourself if you need to keep something you've got but need it out of your way at the moment. Rare has also promised the ability to visit your friend's gardens and see what they have as well in the near future.
This is a very fun and addictive game. Right now I am determined to obtain the hard to find and ever-elusive Unicorn. I have to work my way up with the many different types of horses, become a master breeder, and a tree from the most rare seed but I am determined to do just that. There's a little “odd” man who roams your garden looking at your plants and trees because he just loves seeds, if you speak with him as often as possible he will give you seeds. You can also beat him with your shovel to get his seeds but he will then often come and drop bad seeds (poison Ivy for example) for how you've treated him. I've been nothing but kind to him but alas I still await that rare seed to grow the fruit that unicorn loves. But I'll be at this game for more and more precious hours because it's just so addictive! If you own a 360 you've absolutely got to set a course for Pinata Island and join me in VIVA PINATA!
Control: Other than the dainty little shovel everything is smooth and easy to understand and put to good use.
Sound: Sound is used very well in the game to alert you to danger, rewards, and the needs of your creatures.
Graphics: It's bright and beautiful like a Saturday morning 3D cartoon
Replay: Through the roof! I have three gardens and I can see creating more and more especially when Rare releases Xbox Live downloads.
This games rates a 9/10
"The most addictive game I've played in a long, long time!"
The most addictive game I've played in a long, long time. Seriously, I've not played a game that has captured my attention and time the way this game has in literally years. My wife even commented saying “I've not seen you into a game like this in along time.” In fact, the last game she said she recalls me playing this much, this often is “Kings Field” and “Kings Field 2” for the Playstation 2. For those not in the know, “Kings Field” is a FPRPG (first person RPG) game that I was absolutely wild about. That said don't compare these two games! The only thing comparable is the amount of time I've invested with both.
Viva Pinata is a “resource management” game and I normally do not enjoy those type's of games at all. Occasionally I've played a little “Roller Coaster Tycoon” or “The Sims” but I grow tired of them after a few hours of mundane game play and never touch them again. Viva Pinata keeps me coming back to it again and again.
You start the game out with a messy looking piece of land that you've got to clear with a shovel. Here's the worst part of the game unfortunately. Having only a shovel is pretty weak as you have to clear the entire plot of land by pressing and holding the “A” button leveling out the rocky soil as well as concentrating on “difficult spots” (think broken wagon wheels, metal pipes, debris, etc.) hammering away with the shovel. The benefit to clearing debris is the chocolate coins (the games form of currency) you discover most times when doing so.
When you've got everything clear and level you can begin to plant grass, seeds, or dig water holes and or ponds. Again the shovel can be annoying, especially if you want to create a large water resource. Shoveling scoops out of your large plot of land takes way too much time. I dedicated one of my three gardens to strictly water and it took quite a while to get the entire plot dug up. In fact, wild Pinata's showed up as I was working and I had to stop my shoveling often to tend to them and fight off enemies that attacked them. Having said all this though, it's not horrible, just a little inconvenient. It would be nice if they gave you the option to highlight an amount of ground and shovel it all out with a giant scoop or something, even if you had to pay a little to have that done.
After you've begun to prepare your land (garden) Pinata's are attracted to it by what you've done. Certain Pinata's enjoy flowers, certain ones enjoy water, others grass, dirt, tall grass, trees, etc. I find it an absolute blast to see what kind of creatures I can draw to my garden. You will often see creatures just outside your boundaries and have to try and discover what will make them enter your garden and then, once you've accomplished that, what will make them stay. You can click on them once they've entered your terrain for information to help you out. Once they decide to stay you can name them, dress them up in accessories, and breed them! Breeding them is hilarious because they all have a little “dance” they do in order to breed. Before breeding though you have to make sure they are happy (foods they like, tree's they rest in, grass to lie in, etc.) and you have to contract a builder to build them their specific dwelling place (which is also often hilarious like the old haunted house looking home the bat like creatures live in).
Along your way in this game you will “level up” which allows you the opportunity to meet “workers” on Pinata Island who will help you for a fee. There are builders, doctors to heal your Pinata's when “Sour Pinata's” makes them sick. The “Sour Pinata's patrol looking to cause trouble. The challenge of the “Sours” isn't only in keeping them away, destroying the sour candy they leave behind, and shooing them off, it's in trying not to break them open, but instead finding what will “tame” them (cure them) causing them to be good Pinata's that will then aid you in your work! You will encounter bar tenders, hunters, and even a bum who begs you for money (NOTE SPOILER HERE: If you treat the bum well and give him some nice hand outs he will pay you back very well later in the game, if you treat him poorly he will come back to haunt you! END SPOILER).
As you level up you will be rewarded with better shovels, better watering cans, and better things to buy in the stores and shops you visit. The amount of land you have to build your garden on also grows quite a bit! I have a very large piece of land to build on now with dozens of different Pinata's roaming around. Part of the fun is discovering that many Pinata's can change their species! For example, a certain flying elephant like creature (worth $600) can change to a “fire bug” if you direct it to fly through a garden torch and then put the fire out with your watering can making the new species now worth over $2000! I've made a ton of cash (Chocolate coins) breeding these and performing this trick over and over. Also, eventually the government of Pinata Island calls on you to send certain species to them to borrow for shows. If you do this they will reward you with prizes for your willingness to help.
While not the same, this game reminds me very much of “Pokemon Snap”. The old picture taking game on the Nintendo 64. I've always hated Pokemon, but I enjoyed the strange concept of “Snap” and played it over and over trying to get the highest score possible. Viva Pinata is similar in the way it draws you into finding more and more creatures, only this time the game play is so much deeper and there are so many more creatures to find, buy (domesticated Pinata's), and tame. Rare has confirmed that there are over 600 different Pinata species with more coming as downloads on Xbox Live in the near future.
As for online, you can send friends Pinata's, and other items in your “mail box”, you can even send them to yourself if you need to keep something you've got but need it out of your way at the moment. Rare has also promised the ability to visit your friend's gardens and see what they have as well in the near future.
This is a very fun and addictive game. Right now I am determined to obtain the hard to find and ever-elusive Unicorn. I have to work my way up with the many different types of horses, become a master breeder, and a tree from the most rare seed but I am determined to do just that. There's a little “odd” man who roams your garden looking at your plants and trees because he just loves seeds, if you speak with him as often as possible he will give you seeds. You can also beat him with your shovel to get his seeds but he will then often come and drop bad seeds (poison Ivy for example) for how you've treated him. I've been nothing but kind to him but alas I still await that rare seed to grow the fruit that unicorn loves. But I'll be at this game for more and more precious hours because it's just so addictive! If you own a 360 you've absolutely got to set a course for Pinata Island and join me in VIVA PINATA!
Control: Other than the dainty little shovel everything is smooth and easy to understand and put to good use.
Sound: Sound is used very well in the game to alert you to danger, rewards, and the needs of your creatures.
Graphics: It's bright and beautiful like a Saturday morning 3D cartoon
Replay: Through the roof! I have three gardens and I can see creating more and more especially when Rare releases Xbox Live downloads.
This games rates a 9/10
Augusta
Puritan Board Doctor
Hi Scott, I do play occasionally, not as much as I used to. I like Oblivion and Halo. I mostly play Halo with my husband. I don't play much on my own, except Oblivion.
VaughanRSmith
Puritan Board Sophomore
You must be an impostor. No woman would ever play either of those games. Especially with their husbands. Bring back the REAL Traci!!!
I wish my wife liked video games! She calls me geeky when she hears me and my best friend talk about them!
Philip A
Puritan Board Sophomore
Now that the Orange Box is out, there is no other video game left in the world, period. Make sure your home computer can run it (and run it well), download the free Steam client, and purchase the game that way. No need to mess with anything else.
ReformedWretch
Puritan Board Doctor
I prefer gaming on a console, even though I do play PC games.
Augusta
Puritan Board Doctor
He got me started on Quake on the PC, then Unreal Tournament. I was geekified. Then when the Xbox came out he was so excited I couldn't help getting drawn into it as well. It was all downhill from there. Now give me a shotgun and a room full of flood. 
I will second Half Life also. It's interesting and very Orwellian. Oh and the Indiana Jones I like also.
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