applefleas

@Lucky48
And yet...

@Teeree

Yeah... you know... I agree with you even though I just said you're either a kid or a douche. We cool?

Do these things have any points of articulation or are they just figurines?

For all of the gameplay and enemy imbalances that NG2 had, I actually really liked the direction they took in terms of combat. Keep in mind that I hate the incendiary shuriken ninjas and rocket launcher bitches just as much as the next guy, but I will say that some of my favorite moments involved a butt load of standard and elite ninjas coming at me. It felt so cool to be able to dispatch them with relative ease - even on MNM!

Having said that, I think a large part of why that formula worked so well was because Itagaki had stated that he wanted the fights in NG2 to play out more like how real fights do in terms of duration and efficiency. At first, I was worried when he explained how real fights only take a few seconds of minutes to complete, but when I saw the gameplay of 10 ninjas getting taken down systematically and brutally, I was sold. Dismemberment will always be one of those things I will miss... It's probably the only thing (in addition to obliteration techniques) that I will miss about NG2. Of course, the weapon selection was quite nice in the sequel as well.

This third game, however... still not sold on the combat. QTE's? Simon-Says gameplay for climbing up walls? Only the dragon sword? Don't get me wrong, I love the DS but... come on! The games have been about combat and variety within combat. How can you possibly defend going from having 8 weapons to only 1? Not only that, but these QTEs and simon-says segments of gameplay go so completely against the traditional pacing of past Ninja Gaiden games that it's almost shameful. Why couldn't Ryu wall jump up the side of the building? Or if it wasn't possible, have him do some wall running and jump off of some objects and stuff. I always loved some of the more intricate platforming sections of past NG games and it seems like they took those completely out!

NG3 is still in decision limbo for me.

@tehtimeisnow

You again... Didn't you say the same friggin' thing when Joystiq announced that the soul calibur 5 sticks were being shipped? Or is that the whole joke?

I've had a few issues similar to this with XBL and Xbox.com. Where I click on one thing, it asks me to sign in (again!), and the next thing I see is either completely unrelated to my original request, is the original homepage and I must continually sign in over and over again endlessly (most common), or it processes my request as if I had chosen something else (kind of like this example - except without unintentionally buying anything).

I wouldn't say this stuff is too common since I don't go on Xbox.com that much anymore for purchases or download queues and such but I would say that this kind of issue is in line with a lot of their other stuff.

@Trendkill Are you an HF.com fan? I've heard that term before but only from that podcast.

Either way, the reason why people are getting upset is because their policy, which I remember always excluding the addition of guns to avatars from the beginning, is pointless. What possible safety or security would this ensure for anyone of any age? It's completely asinine and does absolutely nothing. Just one look at the fall season of 2011 shows what most people were into and guess what... it was all about shooters! GUNS!

My hope is that one day, the idea of Avatars either goes away completely or is revamped so that it isn't gimped by idiotic decisions and pointless limitations. I suspect Christmas wont come early however....

So I can get big bucks just by working on my laptop?

Yeah... that's really lame of EA but then again... I can't help but not be surprised. I'm not saying that the people involved in the lawsuit shouldn't be surprised either, I totally understand their disappointment and frustration, but this is a lame move by a huge corporation that is known for being hyper-aggressive and greedy. All I'm saying is that while it's incredibly deceiving, it is EA and in my opinion they've done little to improve their image.

I personally support (non-financially, of course) the people who've launched this lawsuit against EA. I think since the gaming industry is still relatively new, a lot of these companies have no precedent to go on so they can just be as crappy to their customers as they want because it's all practically new territory still. What's scary, however, is just how many developers and publishers are turning to somewhat despicable cash-grab tactics and misleading advertisement.

I could go on, in great detail, to say how the entire industry is starting to feel stagnant and how desperately it needs a renaissance of fresh and invigorating ideas and practices.

...but I won't...

@Rise2theTop
lol! My thoughts exactly.