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Post by Seth Drakin of Monster Crap on Mar 11, 2008 7:38:11 GMT -5
99. WWE Raw 2 WWE Raw 2, trademarked as WWE RAW 2, is a video game released for the Xbox console by THQ in 2003, and developed by Tokyo, Japan-based company Anchor Inc. It is the sequel to the WWE Raw (formerly WWF Raw) game that was released in 2002 after numerous delays. The game was given the tagline Ruthless Aggression, a phrase used regularly in WWE at the time, coined by Mr. McMahon. For the first time in the series, a season mode was included in the game, allowing players to set-up other wrestlers, call others out from the locker room, form alliances, and hire managers. In Create A Superstar you have the ability to choose your alignment type and whether you are to be face or heel. Type is how you what player to act like:fame and success,perfectionist,etc.Whatever type you pick determines how successful your superstar is and who your friends and enemies are. It also allows people to edit their favorite wrestlers the way they want them to look. In Season Mode you cannot change your alignment, but you can change who likes or dislikes you by the various options. You can also change your Type from heel to face or vice-versa using the options. Face to Heel using surprise attacks or anything that makes other Superstars dislike you. Heel to Face using Encourage or anything that makes Superstars like you. To successfully complete a season, the player is required to play through 12 months of Raw and SmackDown! shows, as well as Pay-Per-View events, and finish the season with either the WWE Championship, or the World Heavyweight Championship. Successful seasons earn points, which can be seen in the "Hall of Fame" section of the main menu of the game, which in turn unlocks items of clothing and entrance videos which can later be used in the creation or modification of characters. However, these items can also be unlocked using the "Steal" action during events in Season Mode. Unlike season modes from the SmackDown! series, Raw 2 has no voice overs or text. The odds of receiving title shots, and of successfully completing the various available actions in season mode, are mostly based on the popularity of the character in use. However, other factors, such as a character's level of friendliness towards other characters, such as Surprise Attacks, Encouragement, or the use of repetitive call-outs can also affect the odds. There are a few flaws in the season mode, however: if the player is competing in a title match, the belt can be won via disqualification, going against WWE rules. Another flaw is, if two superstars are competing for either the World Heavyweight Championship or the WWE Championship; and somebody interferes they will become the champion. Also, divas are able to win World Titles. Another flaw during gameplay is while playing Royal Rumble, you can exit the ring on your own terms and still not be eliminated. However, under rules that the Royal Rumble is over-the-top-rope, as long as you do not flip over, jump over or step over the top rope, or you go through the ropes, this would be legal. The game features several arenas that WWE held events at in 2002 and 2003. There is also arenas based on each WWE television show. New match stipulations were included in the game, including Hell in a Cell, TLC and 'Royal Rumble' matches. The Create an Entrance feature allowed the player to use custom tracks ripped onto their Xbox, time two sets of pyrotechnics to synchronize with taunts or poses, and create an entrance video featuring the player's character doing varied wrestling moves. It was also praised for an improved roster with more up to date wrestlers. The majority of the Japan-based development team was fired immediately after the completion of the game, and publisher THQ had American developer Studio Gigante work on the next Xbox WWE-licensed game, WWE WrestleMania 21. This game is now compatible for the Xbox 360 console. This is the only WWE Video game that allows players to edit their favorite WWE Superstars, They can simply edit the color of a Superstar's tights or totally changed the Superstar's attire. Featured Wrestlers are: * A-Train * Batista * Big Show * Billy Gunn * Billy Kidman * Booker T * Bradshaw * Brock Lesnar * Bubba Ray Dudley * Chavo Guerrero * Chris Jericho * Christopher Nowinski * Christian * Chuck Palumbo * Goldust * Hardcore Holly * Hulk Hogan * The Hurricane * Jamie Noble * John Cena * Kane * Kevin Nash * Lance Storm * Mark Henry * Matt Hardy * Rhyno * Ric Flair * Rico * Rikishi * Rob Van Dam * Scott Steiner * Shannon Moore * Shawn Michaels * Spike Dudley * Stone Cold Steve Austin * Tajiri * Tommy Dreamer * Triple H * Undertaker * Val Venis * William Regal Divas are: * Jacqueline * Jazz * Lita * Molly Holly * Nidia * Stacy Keibler * Stephanie McMahon * Terri * Torrie Wilson * Trish Stratus * Victoria Arenas: * Raw, includes THQ where the TNN branding was * SmackDown! * Royal Rumble 2003 * No Way Out 2003 * WrestleMania XIX * Backlash 2002 * Judgment Day 2002 * King of the Ring 2002 * Vengeance 2002 * SummerSlam 2002 * Unforgiven 2002 * No Mercy 2002 * Survivor Series 2002 * Armageddon 2002 * Note 1: All arenas except RAW and SmackDown! are unlocked by winning at a PPV. * Note 2: In first version of RAW 2, WrestleMania X8's arena replaced WM XIX.
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Post by Seth Drakin of Monster Crap on Mar 11, 2008 7:43:12 GMT -5
98. Brute Force Brute Force is a video game released for the Xbox by Microsoft in 2003. The game is a squad-based third-person shooter that uses of four members of a team which fight in numerous battles. These members in the squad include Flint, a sniper, Brutus, a shock trooper, Tex, a heavy assault trooper, and Hawk, a scout. Each character on the team has their own strengths and weaknesses. The story is of a science-fiction setting where humans spread throughout the galaxy. Tension arises with the threat of a hostile alien race that appears. The squad, Brute Force, is sent in to confront the enemy. Additionally, each character has their own backstory. Brute Force began as a PC game in 2000, but was soon after turned into a first-party title for the Xbox, following the buyout of Digital Anvil by Microsoft. Brute Force takes place in the year 2340, when the human race has spread out across the galaxy and settled around 50 star systems, which are collectively known as the "Known Worlds". The major colonies and some alien races are governed by what is known as the Confederation Republic (usually referred to as the "Confed") . They patrol borders, protect their people, and keep watch on hostile alien races. The playable characters in Brute Force are a team of elite operatives that work for the Confed. In the game, a new, hostile alien force is beginning to attack the fringes of the Republic. The squad is thus sent out to the frontlines to confront this enemy. Brute Force was developed to be a third-person squad-based shooter. This allows for both open-ended type gameplay and adding a tactical component by playing the characters according to their abilities. Engagements can be handled via stealth, sniper fire, or direct assault. Each of the four playable characters has a special ability for approaching combat in their own way. Tex and Brutus are suited to direct assaults, Hawk is suited to stealth, and Flint is suited to sniping enemies. The player switches between and issues order to the characters via the D-pad.[2] No online gameplay is offered with Brute Force, however there is cooperative play, where another player may at any time control another character during the campaign. Up to four players are supported this way. After the mechanics of the squad-based gameplay, AI was perhaps the most important parts of development. This was actually to complement the team-based system, which would allow the enemies to act intelligently and allow your team to support the player and work together as a team. The gameplay has four different command modes to which the AI reacts differently. The characters are also aware of the environment in finding areas for cover and sniping, as well as going to heal themselves. The single player campaign missions are composed mostly of a series of battles where the player attempts to fight their way to the end. They consist mostly of objectives such as disabling structures, eliminating a target, or collecting an artifact. These missions take place on six different planets with different environments — a desert, a swamp, a volcanic planet, and an alien lair.
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Post by Seth Drakin of Monster Crap on Mar 11, 2008 7:46:47 GMT -5
97. Metal Slug 3 Metal Slug 3 is a run and gun video game for the Neo-Geo console/arcade platform created by SNK that was released in 2000 and is the sequel to Metal Slug 2. Being the last Metal Slug that SNK was working on, it was given a lot of features, enhancements and improvements. The music of the game was developed by Noise Factory. The rebellion orchestrated by General Morden to bring about a new global regime is now ancient history, and order and peace has begun to return to the world. Morden, brought back into power, was attempting another coup d'état, but government forces got wind of the plot beforehand and pre-empted the impending assault. Instrumental in squashing Morden's rebel forces, Marco and Tarma of the Peregrine Falcon Strike Force are ordered to lead the team after their earlier requests for resignation were denied. Although General Morden has been written off as "missing" by his followers, they have hidden themselves throughout the world, and Marco and Tarma's abilities and experience are seen as a necessity to destroy remaining rebel strongholds, one by one. Throughout the furious fighting against the holdouts, Marco and Tarma cannot help but suspect Morden's involvement in this new evil plan for world domination. Meanwhile, the SPARROWS, a special strike force within the government intelligence agency, have come across a series of strange events running parallel to the Peregrine's pursuit of General Morden. From trivial abductions of livestock to the disappearance of government officials and the appearance of freakishly large creatures, numerous occurrences with nothing in common point to one grim possibility. General Morden is not the only menace to worry about. Eventually it is learned that the alien menace that appeared in Metal Slug 2/Metal Slug X have returned. Once again, an ad-hoc alliance is formed to combat the external threat. The gameplay mechanics are the same as previous Metal Slug games. New for Metal Slug 3, however, is the branching path system; in most missions, there are forking paths for the player to choose from, each with their own obstacles, and of varying length and difficulty. However, no matter what route the player takes, all paths will ultimately lead to the same end. This iteration of the series marks a departure from the trend of increasing shootable objects on-screen. On the console versions, ported by Playmore, once the arcade mode has been beaten, there are two additional mini-games: 'Storming the UFO Mothership' and 'Fat Island'. Storming The Mothership mode allows the player to control one of the soldiers of General Morden, to rescue fellow soldiers and attack the UFO forces. The player can choose between the Riot Shield Soldier, Bazooka Soldier, and Grenade Soldier. The player is given a single life; this is balanced by the number of reinforcements from fellow soldiers. Fat Island mode allows two players to compete to gain the most weight in a limited amount of time by eating various foods. They start out with 100kg and must finish with 200. If players lose enough weight, they will return to normal size and then to a mummy state.
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Post by Seth Drakin of Monster Crap on Mar 11, 2008 7:56:07 GMT -5
96. Fahrenheit aka Indigo Prophecy Fahrenheit (known as Indigo Prophecy in the United States and Canada) is a video game that was released in September 2005. It was developed by French studio Quantic Dream, and published by Atari. The game was written and directed by Quantic Dream founder David Cage. According to the official Quantic Dream website, Fahrenheit has sold over 800,000 units worldwide since it was released. Fahrenheit is an adventure game where every decision has a direct effect on the story path of an unfolding mystery. In this paranormal thriller, New York City is stunned by a series of mysterious murders that follow the same pattern: ordinary people become possessed and kill absolute strangers in public. Lucas Kane becomes another one of these murderers when he suddenly kills a stranger in a men’s bathroom. Lucas must uncover the supernatural forces behind his crime before the police find him-or he loses his sanity. A good deal of publicity was generated from the developer's rejection of conventional game genre labeling for the title; Quantic Dream prefers to brand it as the first truly "interactive film" rather than an adventure or third-person action title. This game features a large amount of motion captured animation as well as branching story lines, split screen cameras (used in a manner very similar to the television series 24) and an interface designed to be intuitive and realistic. Event triggers in the game are also mainly time-based, as opposed to the more common player-initiated progression found in most games. A majority of critical reviews were enthusiastic, and considerable praise has been given to the developers for their attempt to reinvent and reimagine the "adventure game" genre. However, they also mentioned the bizarre plot twists and the seemingly rushed non-sensical nature of the second half of the game. Quantic Dream's only other game to date has been the similarly ambitious, but less successful Omikron: The Nomad Soul for Windows and the Sega Dreamcast. Lucas Kane is the game's primary male protagonist, and the character around whose actions the story revolves. The game opens with him stabbing a stranger to death in the restroom of a diner while in a mysterious trance, and follows his efforts to discover who or what drove him to the murder while simultaneously trying to elude the authorities investigating the case. Raised on the remote Wicrapa military base by his scientist parents (the death of which severely affected him 10 years previously), he now works as a technical expert for Naser & Jones bank in Manhattan. Since his childhood, he has had periodic clairvoyant visions, the disturbing nature of which it is implied had a severe emotional impact on him as a child and drove him to isolate himself from others. These visions, apparently long dormant, suddenly increase in frequency following the events at the diner, accompanied by a dramatic increase in Lucas's physical strength and the emergence of telekinetic abilities, eventually allowing him to dodge bullets and fly. He is voiced by David Gasman. If Jade tells the Indigo Prophecy to Lucas, the final ending shows an Eden like garden, and Lucas attempting to explain the meaning of life to Carla, who tells him that she is pregnant. Carla Valenti are the primary female protagonist of the game. A police inspector with the NYPD, Carla is one of two detectives called upon to investigate the murder committed by Lucas. She is known among the other members of the department for her intense work ethic and commitment to her job (which sometimes tend towards excessive, as her devotion to her work is in part her way of compensating for her lack of any personal life, her only friends being colleagues and her neighbour Tommy). Naturally inquisitive and completionist, Carla tends to brood over cases which are going nowhere, and will spend long hours poring over evidence in the hopes of finding one vital clue which she may have missed. She is also highly claustrophobic, and is prone to panic attacks when inside dark, enclosed spaces. She is voiced by Barbara Weber-Scaff. Carla's partner, Tyler Miles, has a much more lackadaisical attitude towards life, although he is very devoted both to his job and his fiancée, Samantha Malone ('Sam' as he calls her). His relationship with her has always been close but has also been under constant strain due to her terror of him being hurt in the course of his job. The long hours and increasing cold have begun to sink his spirits greatly, and this latest murder case hasn't helped, leaving him to reconsider life as a police officer and perhaps leaving for Florida with Sam to run her parents' store. His hobbies include playing basketball, video games (which he often talks about or makes references to, including multiple instances of metafiction) and collecting 1970s memorabilia and vinyl Motown albums. He is also voiced by David Gasman. At the end of the game, the player can choose if Tyler should leave to Florida with his girlfriend. Lucas' older brother, Marcus Kane, is a priest at Saint Paul's Church. He worries about the current state of affairs involving his brother, but his faith prevents him from seeing very much past the fact that Lucas has murdered a man, despite his best efforts. When they were kids, Markus tried to get Lucas, who was something of a loner, more involved with the other children on their military base home. He is voiced by Doug Rand. His fate is decided by the player. If he is rescued, the Invisibles explained the situation to him, making him realize that Lucas is telling the truth. Tiffany Harper is Lucas's ex-girlfriend who shows up the day after his killing in the restaurant. It is suggested by some of Tiffany's comments that she broke up with him due to his intimacy issues. He still has feelings for her and it is possible to rekindle their relationship in the course of the game. She dies in the middle of the game after the Oracle destroys the Rollercoaster in the fun park with her and Lucas on it. She is voiced by Sharon Mann. The Oracle is a man of unknown identity who appears in Lucas' visions after the murder. The Oracle is the main villain in the story and Lucas' archnemesis. He has only been seen wearing a gray hooded coat which hides his face, leaving his true nature a mystery. He is later revealed to be a Mayan oracle over 2000 years old, working for the Orange Clan to find the location of the Indigo Child. His use of Lucas in a ritual to help do this is what triggers Lucas initial mental abilities, allowing him to survive the ritual, whereas every other "host" of The Oracle either commits suicide or becomes insane after being forced to kill another at The Oracles compulsion. He also has telepathic abilities, allowing him to be forgotten by others even as they speak to him. The Indigo Child/Jade is q "perfectly pure soul, never before incarnated" who holds the secret of the meaning of life. Her coming has been anticipated since the beginning of time, and numerous factions are competing to gain possession of her, as the person who hears her secret will wield control of the entire universe (who this person will be depends on the actions of the player). She appears as a young girl wearing the uniform of the Catholic orphanage where she lives. Agatha is an elderly, blind, paraplegic woman who, using her psychic abilities, helps Lucas understand what happened to him at the diner. Despite dying early in the game, Lucas sees her afterwards; this is then revealed to be a member of the Purple Clan masquerading as her so that Lucas will do their bidding. She is voiced by Jodi Forrest. The Purple Clan is a group of Artificial Intelligences wishing to use the secret of the Indigo Child to become the dominant species on the Earth. If Jade tells the Indigo Prophecy to the AI at the end of the game, Earth is plunged into an ice age, with the surface becoming near unlivable, and humanity driven to the brink of extinction. The Orange Clan is an Illuminati-like secret society ruling the planet from behind the scenes. They wish to utilize the secret of the Indigo child to become Immortal and rule the Earth for eternity. The Invisibles are a secret underground organization that monitors the other clans, and wishes to make sure that the secret of the Indigo Child does not fall into the wrong hands. The organization is made up of mostly homeless individuals who use the tendency of others not to notice them to gather information on the other clans. They are led by a homeless man only named Bogart, who is remarkably more intelligent than the drunken persona he adopts should people talk to him. The game is set in January of 2009. The story begins on a cold New York night, when Lucas, in a possessed trance, stabs a man to death in the restroom of an East Side diner and then flees the scene in confusion. His crime is set against a backdrop of similar ritualistic murders and falling temperatures (hence the name). Detectives Valenti and Miles are charged with solving the case and tracking down Kane. The player is placed in control of all three, and occasionally of Markus Kane, Lucas' brother, over the course of the game, and thus is given the chance to sometimes aid one character in opposing another. The game's plot is also unusual for its manifold branchings and options. The creators describe the plot as "elastic," capable of much stretching to accommodate the player's choices and decisions across all three characters, although it still follows a set plot thread. For instance, in the opening scene, the player is placed in control of Lucas and left to deal with the aftermath of the murder. The player's choices, such as what to hide, what to leave alone and how to escape the diner, determines what clues Detective Valenti and Detective Miles find and how the patrons recall him, and thus the ease with which they later discover Kane's identity. (There is a specific mission where the sole purpose is to figure out all the clues.) The game features three endings with the outcome dependent solely on the results of the final scenes. However, the game features many more scenes and game-play sections, depending on the choices that the player makes. In every ending Lucas tells us that he has been living with Carla for 3 months and that she's the best thing that has happened to him in a long time. He then adds that she's expecting their child from the time in the underground with the invisibles, and worries that his child will be like him as Carla had gone into the hanger to see him and the baby has been exposed to the chroma as he had been when he was in his mothers womb. Console versions of the game eschew most of the traditional methods of control, making minimal use of the face buttons on the controller, instead using twin analog sticks for all player actions. The left stick controls movement of the character, and the right is used for context-sensitive actions. For instance, when Lucas approaches his table at the diner in the opening scene, one direction may cause him to take a seat, while another makes him examine his bill, and a third lets him pick up his drink and take a sip. The available options are displayed with simple diagrams at the top of the screen. Some more complex motions, such as climbing a fence or spinning a yo-yo in "around the world" fashion, require controller motions akin to those used for special moves from conventional fighting games. During the tutorial of the game director David Cage instructs the player to move the thumb-stick slowly when opening a door, to maximize immersion, making it clear the prevalent use of thumb-sticks in the game was intended to increase immersion. The rare occasion in which the face buttons are used never directly control character actions, rather, the buttons (the Y, B, and A, or triangle, O and X, on Xbox and PS2, respectively) are used to interact with menus and user interface. This includes changing between characters, navigating menus in computer systems, and displaying the "mental health" of the character. On the PC the game can be controlled by keyboard and mouse, with key movements and mouse gestures used in conjunction in lieu of analog control sticks, but PC gamepads with analog sticks are also supported, and recommended. There are also large action set pieces, which are completely scripted, but do require reflexes to complete. During these scenes, two circular diagrams with colored segments (resembling the electronic Simon game) are superimposed over the full-motion animation, each one corresponding to one of the analog sticks. The diagrams depict sequences of control inputs, which the player must mimic in order to maneuver the character out of danger. It is similar to the game-play of Dragon's Lair or the "Quick Time Event" sequences in Shenmue. The game also requires feats of endurance, involving the alternate pressing of the left and right shoulder buttons as rapidly as possible. These L-trigger/R-trigger sequences are generally used to evoke (and cause) physical strain, such as running or swimming. The game provides each character with a "Sanity" meter, which goes from full ("Neutral") to empty ("Wrecked") and represents the character's mental health. Many of the game's events (such as the opening, where Lucas Kane comes over to the prone body of his victim) subtract points from the meter, but everyday or habitual activities (such as eating, urinating or receiving good news) will add to them, as well as scenarios in which the character makes a revealing discovery or action that helps him or her in some substantial way. An empty Sanity meter leads to an end depending on the character (Carla and Tyler will give up their badges, and Lucas will either turn himself in, or commit suicide) and a Game Over. Finally, conversation is also implemented by the game, with the right analog stick being used to choose dialogue options. This is sometimes accompanied by a "Suspicion" meter which is affected by the player's choices, indicating how suspicious the character who Lucas Kane is conversing with is. For example, failing to give convincing answers when being interrogated would raise the Suspicion meter. In these situations, if the player does not make a choice within the allotted time limit, the game will make a default choice for him, or else the conversation is abruptly ended. It should be noted that it is impossible to leave a conversation without the minimum amount of information necessary for the characters to progress in the game, and if one continually strays too far from the topic's intended resolution, the game will automatically make the choice for him. Examples include the cop in Joe's Diner telling the player, as Carla Valenti, about the waitress and the table at which Lucas was sitting, Lucas being interrogated by Carla or Tyler. The original title of Fahrenheit was changed to Indigo Prophecy in the United States and Canada. The change was made to avoid confusion with the film Fahrenheit 9/11. Scenes depicting sex (one of which is interactive) and other "adult content" were removed from the North American versions so the game would receive a "Mature" (17+) rating. Both the name change and editing were made at the request of the publisher. A likely cause for the requested changes was due to the infamous Hot Coffee mod for Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, which garnered unfavorable media attention and controversy in mid-2005. Although Fahrenheit's sex scenes are not explicit (less so than a typical "R"-rated film), Quantic Dream claims that the cuts don't "dramatically affect" the plot of the game. The deleted scenes are completely ancillary to the plot. Even so, the game has been re-released in Canada and the USA under the title Fahrenheit: Indigo Prophecy Director's Cut. This version of the game, available only for Windows as a download, is uncut and rated Adults Only (18+). The game faced no such problems in other parts of the world; any copy of the game entitled Fahrenheit has not been edited in any way. In the European version of the game there are a couple of nude scenes that were cut from the US release. The first is when we first see Carla's apartment. The introduction of the mission starts with her having a shower. She exits the shower. We see her body from different angles (i.e. a top down position. Her nipples can't be seen, but were presumably made without a 3D perspective). Two sex scenes are featured in the game; one optional, interactive scene between Lucas and Tiffany, and the second between Lucas and Carla in the Invisibles' underground base. In this scene Carla's nipples are partially visible in low-resolution. In addition, one unlockable bonus movie in the game, titled 'Sam's Dance' shows Sam dancing for Tyler, eventually stripping nude; as the scene fades out at the end, a brief, uncensored frontal nude shot is shown.
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Post by Seth Drakin of Monster Crap on Mar 11, 2008 8:02:36 GMT -5
Countdown Update
125. Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets 124. Silent Scope Complete 123. SSX 3 122. Madden NFL 2005 121. Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis 120. Star Wars: The Clone Wars 119. Darkwatch 118. The Lord Of The Rings: The Third Age 117. The Simpsons: Hit And Run 116. Rainbow Six 3 115. Madden NFL 08 114. Blitz: The League 113. Mafia: The City Of Lost Heaven 112. Dungeons And Dragons Heroes 111. WWE Wrestlemania 21 110. World Soccer Winning Eleven 8 International 109. Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell 108. GUN 107. NHL Hitz Pro 106. Top Spin Tennis 105. Rocky 104. TransWorld Surf 103. Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy 102. MechAssault 101. Legends Of Wrestling II 100. NCAA March Madness 2005 99. WWE Raw 2 98. Brute Force 97. Metal Slug 3 96. Fahrenheit aka Indigo Prophecy
Next five clues are:
* Desmond Howard Is On The Cover
* Long After Midnight
* Rebel Yell
* The Final Showdown
* This Isnt Vengeance, It's Punishment
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Post by Seth Drakin of Monster Crap on Mar 11, 2008 10:54:41 GMT -5
95. NCAA Football 06 NCAA Football '06, known colloquially as College Football 2006 is a collegiate American football video game which was released on July 11, 2005. The product features former Michigan Wolverines standout and Heisman Trophy winner Desmond Howard on the cover. He is the only cover athlete not to have played the year before their respective game, Howard last played at Michigan in 1991. NCAA Football 06 features a new game mode, "Race for the Heisman." In "Race for the Heisman", you begin as a high school standout hoping to sign with a major college program. After choosing your position and your position-specific drill, you are offered three scholarships, or you can walk on to a school of your choice. The prestige of the offering schools depends on how you performed in your drill. Another new feature in NCAA Football 06 is the Impact Player. Each team has three impact players, usually the three highest rated players on the roster, but there is always at least one impact player on offense and on defense. (In Dynasty mode some teams only have two Impact Players in later years) Some teams' kickers or punters are impact players, too. Offensive linemen are never impact players in the game. Impact players are called upon to make big plays when "in the zone" (indicated by their white impact icon underneath them pulsating). If they execute a big play, action pauses and the camera zooms in on the tackle, juke move, etc., somewhat like the movie The Matrix. Still around from the previous version are the Top 25 toughest places to play (The University of Florida's Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, or "The Swamp", remains #1 in 06), a still-revamped Dynasty Mode (with a new In-Season Recruiting feature), all-time and historic teams, Create-a-School, and much more. The main menu screen features a highlight reel with footage of plays made by some of the most famous players in college football history, including Ricky Williams, Bo Jackson, Archie Griffin, Charles Woodson, Herschel Walker, LaDainian Tomlinson, Barry Sanders, LaVar Arrington, Warren Sapp, Ray Lewis, Tim Dwight, Randy Moss, Ron Dayne, Warrick Dunn, Lawrence Phillips, Lawrence Taylor, Tim Brown, and Peyton Manning.
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Post by Seth Drakin of Monster Crap on Mar 11, 2008 10:59:58 GMT -5
94. Stubbs The Zombie In "Rebel Without A Pulse" Stubbs the Zombie in "Rebel Without a Pulse", or simply Stubbs the Zombie, is a third-person zombie game developed by Wideload Games, published by Aspyr Media, and built on the Halo engine. It was released on October 18, 2005 for the Xbox, and was released for Windows and Mac OS X in November that same year. Finally, the game was released on February 10, 2006 in Europe. Later, the Valve Corporation made the game available for purchase via Steam on May 17, 2007.[2] The title is a pun on Rebel Without a Cause. In 1933, Stubbs is a travelling salesman during the Great Depression trying to eke out a living. However, according to the game manual, Stubbs has had a string of bad luck since he was born, and was thereby unable to get people to buy what he was trying to sell them, life insurance. After making love to Maggie Monday, she became impregnated. Stubbs was then murdered by Maggie's father, Otis Monday, and was then buried in a remote Pennsylvania field. Maggie Monday later gave birth to Stubbs' son, naming him Andrew Monday. He would later become a playboy industrialist responsible for the creation of the city of Punchbowl. The game takes place in the fictional city of Punchbowl, Pennsylvania at its opening ceremony in 1959. Stubbs rises from his grave and decides to get his revenge by eating the brains of the inhabitants of Punchbowl, thus creating his own army of the undead, creating increasing amounts of havoc as the undead clash with the various militant factions of the area. During the chaos, Stubbs kills Otis Monday by blowing up his house after a brief reunion. Stubbs eventually reunites with Maggie Monday and the two lovingly embrace, with Stubbs promptly eating her brain (whether she was willing or not is uncertain). Andrew tries to avenge his half-destroyed, zombie-infested city and his mother by killing Stubbs behind a force field. Stubbs, however, destroys the force field and looms toward Andrew, but Maggie, now a zombie, convinces him to spare him. It is implied that the two zombies declare themselves married to each other. The game ends with Stubbs and Maggie sailing off on a small rowboat, kissing as Andrew and all of Punchbowl are destroyed by a nuclear bomb, and they both "live" happily ever after. Punchbowl is a retro-futuristic city that resembles the future as portrayed by the media in 1950s. It includes hovercars, laser weaponry, a monorail, and robots, but no computers. Punchbowl was envisioned and funded by Andrew Monday and created by his teams of scientists, led by former Nazi scientist Dr. Hermann Wye. The game begins when Stubbs rises from his burial site under a patch of grass in an urban area of the city. He appears during Punchbowl's opening ceremony, and is immediately greeted by a robotic, female, tour-guide called a guide-bot. Stubbs soon begins to wreak havoc on the citizens and police officers of Punchbowl, travelling to several locations in and around the city, such as the plaza, a futuristic greenhouse, a police station, Punchbowl's Shopping District, a mall, a farm outside of Punchbowl, and a large electric dam. Stubbs' only apparent long-term goal (besides the destruction of Punchbowl) is to resume a romantic relationship with Mrs. Maggie Monday, Andrew Monday's mother. In his search of Mrs. Monday, Stubbs goes on to unwittingly uncover the cause of his death, and in the process of satisfying his bodily functions and cravings for brains manages to kill those responsible. Stubbs gameplay is unusual because the player plays as a zombie, rather than a human, and the primary goal is therefore to kill and eat the brains of humans. Eating brains gives back a certain amount of lost health to the player as well as converting humans into zombies, causing them to fight alongside the player. The player also has the option of beating an enemy to death with melee strikes to transform them into zombies. Stubbs' zombie state prevents him from wielding any conventional hand held weapons, and instead wields a variety of improvised weaponry and combat techniques: * Severed arms - Used as improvised clubs. Procured by forcefully tearing them off. They wear out after 3 hits, and kill most anyone. The first chainsaw man's can be used until he dies though. * Unholy Flatulence - Stubbs' powerful farts. A useful byproduct from digesting brains that temporarily incapacitates his enemies within a small radius and damages those in a still smaller radius. Useful for tanks. When done nearby, you can get the men out, and Stubbs can get in. * Gut Grenade - Stubbs' own pancreas that he pulls out of his abdomen. It sticks to those it is thrown at and eventually explodes on its own, but can also be triggered to explode by Stubbs himself. It regrows when Stubbs eats brains. * Stubbs' hand - Stubbs' own detachable left hand. Used for scouting, operating controls and possessing individual humans. Humans possessed by Stubbs' hand have their weapons at Stubbs' disposal as well as an applicable secondary attack and are necessary for infiltration, operating stationary weapons, and driving vehicles. There are two modes a possessed individual can move, which are attack mode and nonchalant mode, and if nobody witnesses the individual getting possessed then no one will attack that possessed person unless it attacks or stops moving in a nonchalant mode, which is a much slower pace than the attack mode. Conversely, if the humans in the room don't yet know the character's possessed state, neither will the zombies, who will attack the possessed character until he dies or blows his cover. Stubbs is vulnerable while controlling someone else, and his hand can not possess those who wear protective helmets. * Stubbs' head - Stubbs' own detached head. Referred to as his Sputum Head in game. Used in a manner akin to a bowling ball. Eventually explodes on its own, but can also be triggered to explode by Stubbs himself. Aside from the very powerful explosion, the head sprays sputum as it rolls, effectively converting whoever it rolls by into a zombie. All of the aforementioned improvised weapons, excluding Stubbs' hand, have a chance of converting the humans they kill into zombies. Stubbs can herd zombies which are in range by whistling. Since there is a limit to how many zombies will follow him at a time, Stubbs can guide the rest by sending whole groups of zombies in a direction with a single shove. Zombies, both followers and wanderers alike, will attack other humans that they notice and will turn them into zombies as well if they eat their brains or beat them to death. An enemy that fires upon a zombie in a group will attract the attention of all the rest of the zombies, which makes the zombie-herding technique of shoving groups of wanderers useful in assaulting a dangerous gathering of enemies with a horde of zombies. Crowds of zombies serve as a great shield when approaching enemies armed with ranged weapons and are needed for sowing the necessary chaos and confusion into a difficult melee. Stubbs can also drive a wide variety of vehicles, such as cars, tractors and tanks. Stubbs has a variety of enemies, most of which are hostile towards him. His enemies include: * Civilians - Usually unarmed, and often unhostile, but males occasionally carry improvised weapons such as hammers, crowbars, shovels, axes, baseball bats, pipe wrenches and even fish as a weapon. * Scientists - When first encountered they are unarmed, later they are armed with rayguns or sonic pulse carbines. * Police detectives - Armed with revolvers * Police officers - Armed with revolvers and wrist mounted stun gauntlets which double as police radios. * Riot Police - Carry riot shields and wear helmets, and are armed with batons. Some also wear gas masks. As an in-joke, their shields are marked with the line "Welcome to Punchbowl". * Hillbillies (Militia) - Militia called the "Quaker State Irregulars" made up of light-weight old-timers, strong middle-agers, and enormous mountain men armed with long-range muskets, double barreled shotguns, and chainsaws, respectively. * Soldiers - Armed with M14 rifles, M3 Carbines with infrared scopes, M1 bazookas and grenade. * Robots - Attack with stun guns if provoked. Unlike humans, they cannot be zombified, and will instead explode once they have taken enough damage. * Barber Shop Security guard - Mr. Monday's personal bodyguards that wear barbershop quartet garb to avoid giving the notion that Punchbowl is unsafe. Armed with the various ray guns commonly carried by scientists, along with large RPG-like rayguns. They are occasionally seen wearing jetpacks and/or singing melodic tunes. The following Vehicles are usable by Stubbs in the course of the game. * The Sod 'O' Mobile - A Hover vehicle with mounted fertiliser cannon. * Hover Truck - Used by Punchbowl Dam maintenance personnel. * Tractor (AKA Impala) - A modified Tractor used by the Quaker State Irregulars which sports several large blades mounted on the front. * Willys MB - Conventional US Army Jeep. * M26 Pershing Tank - Conventional Tank used by Army Forces later in the game, Stubbs can use both the cannon and the turret machine gun.
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Post by Seth Drakin of Monster Crap on Mar 11, 2008 11:06:13 GMT -5
93. Midnight Club II Midnight Club II is the first sequel to Midnight Club: Street Racing, published for the Xbox, PC, and PlayStation 2. Players race through cities inspired by Los Angeles, Paris, and Tokyo. For the second installment, more realistic detail was added to ensure a higher likeness to the models of the real things. The game also features an online multiplayer component. Dry, hilly suburbs and congested interstates can be found throughout Los Angeles, and just like Midnight Club: Street Racing, the city contains many landmarks, as well as numerous shortcuts and jumps. Paris is the home to cobblestone alleyways, monumental roundabouts, and the Paris Catacombs. Also featured are a lot of jumps taking you across the river of Paris and into an alleyway. Tokyo is a city of neon-glittering avenues and tight alleyways, and contains an equal array of tourist sights and attractions. Characters are: * Moses * Steven * Maria * Angel * Diego * Dice * Hector * Gina * Jewel * Julie * Primo * Blog * Parfait * Stephenie * Ian * Farid * Owen * Shing * Ichiro/Zen * Kenichi * Ricky * Haley * Nikko * Makoto * Savo Races consist of a series of checkpoints, represented by columns of light. In some races, the order in which the checkpoints must be cleared is prescribed. In this case, a transparent, glowing arrow points to the next checkpoint. In other races the checkpoints may be cleared in any order. In that case, the arrow points to the nearest checkpoint. It is up to the player which route to take from one checkpoint to the next. There are no artificial barriers that force the player to stay on a specific course. Any area that is drivable or jumpable in the free-roaming cruise mode between races may be used to get to the next checkpoint. Some areas can be driven upon that are not intended for such use outside of a computer game. Examples are escalators, roofs, railways and riverbeds and many ramps. However, many areas that would be drivable in reality, for example entrances and some stairs, are fenced off with invisible barriers. In some areas, the player can jump or drop down. Using this to the player's advantage can be necessary in order to win a race. If the car falls into deep water,the damage meter goes to its maximum stage and the car starts to overheat and the race is immediately lost. The game features a damage model. The amount of damage infliced upon a car is indicated by both an HUD indicator and visual damage to the car. The performance of a car does not degrade with damage. When the damage limit of a car is exceeded, the car explodes or stalls. After a delay of a few seconds, the player can continue with a new car. The vehicles in Midnight Club II all resemble real life vehicles, such as the Victory, which resembles an Aston Martin Vanquish, the Jersey XS, which resembles a Dodge Viper, and the Veloci, which resembles a Saleen S7. Other examples follow. * 1971 Bestia - Pontiac GTO (with huge drag race tires and a protruding Blower) * Alarde -2004 Lotus Elise * Boost - 2002 Ford Puma * Bryanston V -1996 Ford Escort Cosworth * Citi - 1995 Honda Civic * Citi Turbo - 2000 Honda Civic Si or VTi * Cocotte - 1986 Ford Sierra * Cohete - Kawasaki Ninja ZX-9R * Emu - 2002 Volkswagen Jetta * Fripon X - 2003 Volkswagen Golf GTI * Interna - 2004 Honda S2000 (with a custom hardtop) * Jersey XS - 2006 Dodge Viper SRT-10 GTS-R Concept * Knight - 2002 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VII * L.A. Cop Car - 2005 Ford Crown Victoria patrol car * Lusso XT - 2003 Lexus GS300 or 430, Toyota Aristo * Modo Prego - 2002 Porsche 911 GT3 * Monsoni - Ducati 996 * Monstruo - Front: Mazda RX-7, Rear: Pontiac Firebird Fourth Generation * Nousagi - Yamaha YZF R1 * Paris Cop Car - 1999 Peugeot 306 panda car * RSMC 15 - 2005 Nissan 350Z * Saikou - 1997 Toyota Supra Fourth Generation * Saikou XS - 2001 Veilside widebody Toyota Supra * Schneller V8 - 1996 BMW M5 * SLF450X - 2011 Dual Jet Engined Protoype Concept Race Car (known as "bat-mobile") * Stadt - 2003 Renault Clio V6 * Tokyo Cop Car - 1999 Nissan 300ZX police car * Torque JX - 2002 Nissan Skyline R34 GT-R * Torrida - Front: 1996 Mitsubishi Eclipse back: 1999 Acura Integra * Veloci - 2006 Saleen S7 * Victory - 2005 Aston Martin V12 Vanquish * Vortex 5 - 1996 Toyota MR2
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Post by Seth Drakin of Monster Crap on Mar 11, 2008 11:11:31 GMT -5
92. Showdown: Legends Of Wrestling Showdown: Legends of Wrestling is the third installment of the Legends of Wrestling video game series developed by Acclaim Entertainment for the Xbox and PlayStation 2. A version of the game for the Nintendo Gamecube was also planned but was canceled. A significant coup for Showdown: LoW was the inclusion of much requested fan-favourite legend Ultimate Warrior who, due to ongoing hostilities and financial disagreements with the WWE, had not been featured in video games since the mid-1990s. The full roster in Showdown: Legends of Wrestling is: * Abdullah The Butcher * André the Giant * Andy Kaufman * Bam Bam Bigelow * Baron Von Raschke * Big John Studd * "Superstar" Billy Graham * Bob Backlund * Bobby "The Brain" Heenan * Bret "The Hitman" Hart * British Bulldog * Bruno Sammartino * "Cowboy" Bob Orton * Brian Knobbs * "The Loose Cannon" Brian Pillman * Captain Lou Albano * "Mr. Perfect" Curt Hennig * "Diamond" Dallas Page * "The Rock" Don Muraco * Dory Funk, Jr. * "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes * Dynamite Kid * "Hot Stuff" Eddie Gilbert * Eddie Guerrero * Fritz Von Erich * George "The Animal" Steele * Grand Wizard * Greg "The Hammer" Valentine * "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan * "The King" Harley Race * Hulk Hogan * Iron Sheik * Ivan Koloff * Ivan Putski * Jake "The Snake" Roberts * Jerry "The King" Lawler * Jerry Sags * "The Mouth Of The South" Jimmy Hart * Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka * Kerry Von Erich * Kevin Von Erich * Killer Kowalski * King Kong Bundy * Koko B. Ware * Mil Máscaras * Mr. Fuji * Nikita Koloff * Nikolai Volkoff * One Man Gang * "The Rocket" Owen Hart * "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff * "The Macho Man" Randy Savage * "The Model" Rick Martel * "Ravishing" Rick Rude * Rick Steiner * Ricky Morton * Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat * Road Warrior Animal * Road Warrior Hawk * Robert Gibson * Rocky Johnson * "Rowdy" Roddy Piper * Sabu * "Big Poppa Pump" Scott Steiner * The Sheik * Sid Vicious * "Dr. Death" Steve Williams * Sting * "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase * Terry Funk * Tito Santana * "Mr. USA" Tony Atlas * Ultimate Warrior Bruiser Brody was originally in the game, but he was taken out for an unknown reason.
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jzbadblood
Unicron
Christ, man. Can't you see what's happening? Can't you read between the lines?
Posts: 3,052
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Post by jzbadblood on Mar 11, 2008 11:15:37 GMT -5
Is Deathrow going to be on this list? That game kicks ass.
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Post by Seth Drakin of Monster Crap on Mar 11, 2008 11:19:12 GMT -5
91. The Punisher The Punisher is a 2005 action game which stars the Marvel Comics vigilante, The Punisher. After his family was murdered by the mafia, Frank Castle devoted his life to the punishment of those who do evil to others. Players take control of the vigilante hero to track down criminals and make them pay for their deeds. The game's story is a loose mixture of the 2004 film, as well as the 2000 mini-series, Welcome Back, Frank, written by Garth Ennis and pencilled by Steve Dillon (with the title character designed to look like Dillon's depiction of the character), wherein the Punisher has no aversion to committing acts of extreme (if not gratuitous) violence. A mobile phone game based on this series was also released. Somewhat similar to Rockstar's controversial Manhunt, gameplay in The Punisher offers a combination of exploration, stealth and combat. When he comes across an enemy, who could help further the mission or one simply deserving of punishment, the hero can attack immediately, or sneak up to perform a one-button "quick kill". Depending on the villain, the current location, and a player-determined level of aggression, one of the many gruesome and fatal assaults will be performed. The game's environments also feature interrogation "hot spots", where the vigilante can commit violent and torturous acts on his enemies, coercing them to share information that may help him in his quest. All of the console ports (Xbox and PS2) saw Frank's torture sequences with the game's various villains censored to some degree (limited blood and gore, no finishing death scene, etc.). Much of this can be removed with a Codebreaker or Gameshark. Internet codes and a modified Xbox allow some of the censoring to be negated. Other patches intensify the gore and violence. The game is well-known for cameos of Marvel Comics characters, such as Iron Man, Nick Fury, Black Widow, Daredevil (seen only briefly as Matt Murdock), Bushwacker, The Kingpin and Bullseye. Not to mention several memorable characters from the Welcome Back, Frank comic book storyline such as detectives Martin Soap and Molly Van Richtofen, the Punisher's neighbors Joan and Spacker Dave, Ma Gnucci, The Russian and General Kreigkopf. Main Characters are: * Frank Castle - The Punisher. A vigilante hero who punishes those who do evil by any means necessary. * Jigsaw - Archenemy of the Punisher. The Jigsaw character is different from his comic book incarnation. He is presented as John Saint, the disfigured son of the movie villain, Howard Saint. * Detective Martin Soap - Friend of the Punisher, helped him escape from custody at Ryker's Island prison. * Lieutenant Molly Von Richtofen - A lesbian[1] police investigator who wants the facts and will pressure any criminal for them. * Spacker Dave - The Punisher's neighbour, and technical wiz who helps him during the raid on Stark Towers. * Joan - The Punisher's next door neighbor. She is a shy woman who wishes to escape the fear she feels while lives in New York and dreams of moving to the country. She is kidnapped by Bushwacker in the Central Zoo as bait for The Punisher. * Bushwacker - Real name is Carl Burbank. A former CIA agent and one of the most dangerous foes of both the Punisher and Daredevil. Cybernetic weaponry implants make him a dangerous adversary. * The Russian - He is a hitman hired by General Kreigkopf, he later appeared as a cross-dressing villain in the comics. * Damage - The leader of the crackhouse where everything begins. * Tom & Larry - Two crackhouse thugs who trash talk The Punisher in the first level of the game. * Ma Gnucci - The matriarch of a mob syndicate. Her sons serve as her lieutenants in her operations. * Bobby Gnucci - Ma's favourite son and the boss of the Lucky's Bar scene. * Eddie Gnucci - Son of Ma Gnucci, encountered in Gray's funeral home. * Lou - A Gnucci member in charge of the drug operations in the Meat Packing Plant. * Carlo Duka - Another Gnucci lieutenant who is in charge of the Chop Shop operations. He is also the uncle of Micky Duka, a character from the 2004 film. * General Kreigkopf - A former U.S. military general, now heading an organization of Russian mercenaries. Plots to steal a nuclear missile and fire it at New York. * Russian Boat Captain - Brings in women to feed prostitution rings. * Russian Tank Commander - The man piloting the T-80 tank at the end of the Pier 74 mission. * Takagi - The leader of The Yakuza gang called "The Eternal Sun". * Takagi's brother - The man in the black suit without sunglasses in the meat packing plant level. * Yakuza Helicopter Pilot - Pilots the helicopter in the last area on the Stark Towers raid. * Black Widow - Also known as Natasha Romanoff. She helps the Punisher take down the first of the Russian Mercs. * Nick Fury - Member of S.H.I.E.L.D., aids the Punisher on Kreigkopf's island. * Matt Murdock - The appointed lawyer for the Punisher, he is the secret identity of Daredevil, but does not appear as the superhero. * Iron Man - A small cameo during the raid on Stark headquarters. * Bullseye - Attacks The Punisher during the raid on The Kingpin's headquarters. * The Kingpin - Runs most of the illegal activities in New York. The Kingpin does not appear to have a vendetta against The Punisher until the end of the game. Primary weapons are: * .40 CAL SMG (miniature Heckler & Koch MP5/40) * 5.7 mm SMG (FN P90) * 5.56 mm assault rifle (Colt M16A1 / M203) * 7.62 mm assault rifle (AK-103) * Pump-action shotgun (Remington 870) * Automatic shotgun (USAS-12) * Battle rifle (XM29) * Machine gun (M60) * Sniper rifle (Barrett M95) * Flamethrower (M2 flamethrower) * Anti-tank weapon (An M72A2 anti-tank rocket) * Grenade launcher (A Milkor MGL Grenade launcher) * Grenade * Flashbang (grenade class) * RAMS (grenade/mine class) Side arms are: * .45 CAL semi-automatic handgun (Colt M1911) * .50 CAL semi-automatic handgun (Desert Eagle) * .45 CAL machine pistol (MAC-10) * 5.56 mm machine pistol (OA-93) * Revolver (Colt Diamondback) * Hand cannon (Smith & Wesson 500) (Large revolver capable to blow heads off in game)
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Post by Seth Drakin of Monster Crap on Mar 11, 2008 11:19:59 GMT -5
Is Deathrow going to be on this list? That game kicks ass. No
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Post by Seth Drakin of Monster Crap on Mar 11, 2008 11:30:20 GMT -5
Countdown Update
125. Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets 124. Silent Scope Complete 123. SSX 3 122. Madden NFL 2005 121. Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis 120. Star Wars: The Clone Wars 119. Darkwatch 118. The Lord Of The Rings: The Third Age 117. The Simpsons: Hit And Run 116. Rainbow Six 3 115. Madden NFL 08 114. Blitz: The League 113. Mafia: The City Of Lost Heaven 112. Dungeons And Dragons Heroes 111. WWE Wrestlemania 21 110. World Soccer Winning Eleven 8 International 109. Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell 108. GUN 107. NHL Hitz Pro 106. Top Spin Tennis 105. Rocky 104. TransWorld Surf 103. Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy 102. MechAssault 101. Legends Of Wrestling II 100. NCAA March Madness 2005 99. WWE Raw 2 98. Brute Force 97. Metal Slug 3 96. Fahrenheit aka Indigo Prophecy 95. NCAA Football 06 94. Stubbs The Zombie In "Rebel Without A Pulse" 93. Midnight Club II 92. Showdown: Legends Of Wrestling 91. The Punisher
Next five clues are:
* Advertised As "The Worlds First 4D Action Game"
* Final Chapter Takes Place In Guilin
* I Feel So Alive
* Manny Ramirez Is On The Cover
* Popular Sport In Hogwarts
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Post by Seth Drakin of Monster Crap on Mar 11, 2008 14:35:09 GMT -5
90. Dead Or Alive Ultimate Dead or Alive Ultimate is a multiplayer fighting game for the Xbox. It is a collection of the games Dead or Alive and Dead or Alive 2 from the developer Tecmo. The game requires Xbox Live in order to play online, and includes twelve different game modes, fifteen different characters from the Dead or Alive series, as well as bonus content for Dead or Alive 3. With the December 14, 2006 backwards compatibility update for the Xbox 360, the Xbox release of Dead or Alive Ultimate can now be played on the Xbox 360. In 2004, Team Ninja released Dead or Alive Ultimate (DOAU), known in development as Dead or Alive Online. The compilation contains the Sega Saturn version of Dead or Alive and an enhanced remake of Dead or Alive 2 which utilized the Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball graphics engine and offered Dead or Alive 3 game mechanics, new game content and the inclusion of Hitomi and Tengu as playable characters. Xbox Live support for this compilation makes it the second online console 3D fighting game to be released in America and Europe (Mortal Kombat: Deception being the first) and the first online console 3D fighting game in Japan. The system set forth by Tecmo for online play in Dead or Alive Ultimate was intended to recreate the feel of playing at an arcade. Players would log onto a shared "lobby" and then observe other matches until it was their turn to participate. Each lobby has a set of gameplay parameters that is determined by its creator, allowing for tournament-style play. In Japan, Dead or Alive Ultimate was released with a crystal-clear blue version of the Xbox system that included a controller of the same color, a copy of Dead or Alive Ultimate, and some bonus Kasumi-themed extras. It became the first DOA fighting game to be rated M, CERO 17+, and PEGI 16+ due to female characters with revealing outfits and the allusion of rape in the opening cutscene. In the United States, two trading cards with character pictures on them were randomly included in each game as part of a collector's edition. The game disc of the U.S. release also contains the Booster Pack for Dead or Alive 3, which adds numerous character costumes and a new opening cinematic for the game. This disc also included a G4-produced segment on the history of the series that offered a video interview with series creator Tomonobu Itagaki. Being a compilation of the first two games that introduces new features, online play, and various unlockables, the story of Dead or Alive Ultimate plays out as it did in the original. However, a new CG opening was included, further explaining the relationship and history of Ayane, Kasumi and Hayate. Dead or Alive Ultimate is a compilation game that includes a remade version of Dead or Alive 2, with re-developed graphics and new stages for the Xbox gaming system. It also includes the original Sega Saturn version of the first Dead or Alive, with smoothed graphics, but lacks the additional content received in the later-released North America PlayStation version (No Bass or Ayane characters or extra costumes). Both editions include online play. Dead or Alive Ultimate 1 is essentially identical to its original, and is generally considered more of a collector's disc than for its content. Its most defining features were its speed and countering system. Unlike Tekken, Dead or Alive put an emphasis on speed, and relied more on simplistic commands and reaction time rather than long strings of combos. Furthermore, its countering system was the first in the fighting genre to utilize different commands that corresponded to each type of attack. There are two kinds of holds, an offensive hold (OH) and a defensive hold (DH), furthermore, these commands are executed by holding back or forward on the directional pad along with the guard input to either force away or counter-damage an opponent. Finally, the game used an environmental addition called the danger zone, which surrounded the outer edges of the fighting arena (depending on the options, it could also completely consume it), and when a character came in contact with it, sent them in the air so the opposing player can execute a juggling air combo. However, this can be avoided with a Ukemi (defensive roll). Dead or Alive Ultimate 2, being a remake created after the debut of Dead or Alive 3, takes elements and mechanics from both its original iteration and successor. The action of 3D-axis movement is as free-formatted as Dead or Alive 3, and Hitomi is now a playable character albeit outside story mode. Other elements have been kept intact from Dead or Alive 2. These include higher damaging counters than in Dead or Alive 3, environmental hazards not warranting a knockout on a character, and a counter mechanism that is much harder to execute . Despite being able to freely move on a 3D axis in the Ultimate version of Dead or Alive 2 however, most moves cannot be sidestepped as in other 3D fighters, as well as in Dead or Alive 3. Only a few, mostly jumping, moves are actually able to be avoided with a sidestep, such as Hitomi's back, forward + kick combo. Another major change is in the revamped holding system in Dead or Alive 2. Formerly, holds were performed simply based on the three heights of high, mid, and low. In the Ultimate version however, mid punches and mid kicks have their own holds, requiring more thinking when using holds. The final major set of changes instituted in Dead or Alive Ultimate is the inclusion of slopes, which are a type of environmental hazard where those knocked down them roll down the slope, taking damage as they fall. All of the characters also now have slope-based throws that are executed when they are near them instead of their normal throw. Character Roster: * Ayane * Bass Armstrong * Bayman (unlockable, cannot be used in Story mode) * Ein * Gen Fu * Helena * Jann Lee * Kasumi * Lei Fang * Leon * Ryu Hayabusa * Tina Armstrong * Zack * Hitomi (unlockable only with DOA 3 already installed, cannot be used in Story mode) * Tengu (boss character, unlockable, cannot be used in Story mode)
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Post by Seth Drakin of Monster Crap on Mar 11, 2008 14:37:45 GMT -5
89. MVP Baseball 2005 MVP Baseball 2005 is a baseball video game developed and published by Electronic Arts. It features Boston Red Sox left fielder Manny Ramírez on its game cover. It is available for the PlayStation 2, the Xbox, GameCube, the PlayStation Portable and the PC. The main new feature in the 2005 game is the "Hitter's Eye" system, which turns the baseball different colors in the pitcher's hand (remains white for fastball, turns red for breaking pitches like a curveball or slider, green for off-speed pitches such as changeups, orange for knuckleballs, etc.) and leaves a trail as the ball flies through the air toward the plate to aid in hitting, which game developers said had been too difficult in previous versions. The game boasts full Major League Baseball, Minor League Baseball, and Major League Baseball Players Association licenses. It was also widely regarded to have the best graphics and gameplay of any baseball video game on the market as of 2005. It is also the most well received MVP Baseball game, holding the 98th spot on IGN's reader's choice top 100 games ever as of 2006. As with previous versions of the game, the announcers are Duane Kuiper and Mike Krukow, real life announcers for the San Francisco Giants. In addition to the advent of the Hitter's Eye, an Owner Mode feature and pitching and hitting Mini Games were added. Other minor features include the ability for the managers to argue with the umpires at any time (automatic ejection for arguing balls and strikes) and a slow motion overhead view of the plate that can be accessed after each and every pitch (pitch/swing analysis) to see pitch location or the batter's timing. Games can also be rained out, forcing a player to play a doubleheader. Minor league teams from the California, Carolina, and Florida State Leagues (High A) were added to their respected teams. MVP Baseball 2005 also supports online play. MVP Baseball 2005 also boasts a "Dynasty Mode", where players can select any of Major League Baseball's 30 teams and manage and/or play as them for up to 120 seasons. Games can be simulated along the way to speed up the game. Also in Dynasty Mode, gamers can trade players, negotiate contracts, call up and send down players to and from the minor leagues, and scout new talent, among many other activities. MVP Baseball 2005, in addition to having Dynasty Mode, features a new game mode called Owner Mode. Owner Mode is similar to Dynasty Mode, however instead of acting as a team's manager, you act as their owner and control all their finances. A common criticism is that you have to build a new stadium with minor league capacity at the start with no variations. Another is the simple fact that Total Conversion Mods screw up owner mode cash. The user has the ability to purchase upgrades for their user-created ballpark to improve the cash brought in by games. All other features are the same as Dynasty Mode. As is in other baseball video games, Barry Bonds's likeness is replaced by a bearded caucasian man named Jon Dowd. This avatar has the same attributes as Barry Bonds, but since Bonds withdrew from the player's union licensing agreement, Electronic Arts was forced to put a generic player in his place. And if one wishes, the user can go into Edit Player and change his name to Barry Bonds, as well as all other attributes, including facial features. Other real-life players also have alternate names and likenesses including Kevin Millar (Anthony Friese), Damian Miller (Roger Chamberlain), the late Cory Lidle (Alan Hughes), and Brendan Donnelly (Scott Barcik). This is due to the fact that these real-life players crossed the MLBPA union picket line during the 1994 Major League Baseball strike that resulted in the first-ever cancellation of the World Series. Also featured is a second baseman prospect named after and based on one of the games announcers, Duane Kuiper. Many of the game's "fictional" names are actually those of the game's real-life software developers from EA Sports.
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Post by Seth Drakin of Monster Crap on Mar 11, 2008 14:44:22 GMT -5
88. Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup is a video game produced by EA Games that features the fictional sport of Quidditch from the Harry Potter universe. The user plays for the Hogwarts Quidditch Cup (competing between Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw) and then takes on the Quidditch World Cup (competing between the United States, England, France, Germany, Scandinavia (described as "The Nordic Team" Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Finland and Danmark), Japan, Spain, Australia and Bulgaria.) Its teams have drawn criticism mainly for its lack of Ireland who won against Bulgaria in the World Cup in the fourth book, which was released more than three years before the game. Featured characters are: * Harry Potter * Draco Malfoy * Cho Chang * Cedric Diggory * Viktor Krum Because the books have not named all of the members of the Hogwarts house teams, the video game has filled in the gaps as follows, around Harry's third year. Though these names are not considered canon, it is possible that J. K. Rowling provided them, as she has been known to participate in multimedia projects, such as the Harry Potter Trading Card Game. In any case, the rosters are as follows: Gryffondor* Angelina Johnson (Passing Chaser) * Katie Bell (Tackle and Shoot Chaser) * Alicia Spinnet (Special Move Chaser) * Fred Weasley (Beater) * George Weasley (Beater) * Oliver Wood (Keeper) * Harry Potter (Seeker) Their team special move is called the Weasley Wangler. The twins hit a bludger side to side with Alicia Spinnet with the Quaffle, the passing and special move chasers try to defend the keeper, however they get scared, at last the keeper screams as he gets pelted by a bludger and Alicia scores. (10 points) (Also greatly reduces opponent's Snitch Bar) Ravenclaw* Jeremy Stretton (Passing Chaser) * Roger Davies (Tackle and Shoot Chaser) * Randolph Boam (Special Move Chaser) * Duncan Ingleby (Beater) * Jason Samuels (Beater) * Grant Page (Keeper) * Cho Chang (Seeker) Ravenclaw's team special move, The Burdish of Raven, is the most offensively powerful of all the teams, at Hogwarts or elsewhere. First, the three chasers go up in the air, the passing and special move chasers gaze in awe as they loop and go down, as they pass, Roger Davies kicks the special move chaser, Randolph Boam punches the passing chaser, leaving the way clear for Jeremy Stretton to shoot, then Randolph Boam scores, then finally, Roger Davies scores. (30 points) Hufflepuff* Malcolm Preece (Passing Chaser) * Heidi Macavoy (Tackle and Shoot Chaser) * Tamsin Appleby (Special Move Chaser) * Maxine O'Flaherty (Beater) * Anthony Rickett (Beater) * Herbert Fleet (Keeper) * Cedric Diggory (Seeker) The Cedric Swoop 'n' Swagger is quite a long move. First, they are in possession of the Quaffle, when the passing and special move chasers from the other team are in hot pursuit of it. Preece fires the Quaffle to Macavoy, avoiding the passing chaser, then Macavoy passes it to Appleby, who passes it to Macavoy who avoids the special move chaser, then she passes it to Preece who does a ground shot which the force lifts it up into the air so it goes in a hoop, then Macavoy passes it to Appleby, then she scores. (20 points) (Minor reduces opponent's Snitch Bar) Slytherin* Marcus Flint (Passing Chaser) * Graham Montague (Tackle and Shoot Chaser) * Adrian Pucey (Special Move Chaser) * Lucian Bole (Beater) * Peregrin Derrick (Beater) * Kevin Bletchley (Named Kevin Bletchley in software) (Keeper) * Draco Malfoy (Seeker) The Zeeburger Slither is very brutal. All the players, except Malfoy and Bletchley knock the opponent passing and special move chasers out of the way with the tackle and shoot chaser screaming, then they use cobbing on the keeper (no penalty), then Montague scores, Pucey kicks it to Flint, who scores it again. (20 points) (Slightly reduces opponent's Snitch Bar) The following international teams are included in the game: * England (Stadium set in an old ivy-covered British castle Velten Potter of legend world cup forever) * USA (home stadium located in the New England area) * Japan (Stadium set in a Palace, with a massive koi pond replacing the field and the stands set in pagoda towers) * Germany (stadium looks like a medieval walled city, complete with a fountain) * France (Stadium resembles the Palace of Versailles, with opulent gardens covering the field) * Australia (Stadium set in a rocky Canyon hidden in Uluru) * Nordic Team (Scandinavia; Stadium set in a massive glacier crevasse) * Spain (Stadium resembles Bull Fighting Arena) * Bulgaria (Stadium set in a dark castle)
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Post by Seth Drakin of Monster Crap on Mar 11, 2008 14:48:38 GMT -5
87. Shemue II Shenmue II is an Adventure game for the Dreamcast and Xbox game consoles. It is the sequel to Shenmue, and was produced and directed by Yu Suzuki of Sega-AM2. Due to exclusivity rights obtained by Microsoft, the North American Dreamcast version was cancelled. Unlike the first game of the series, no English dub was recorded for the Dreamcast version of Shenmue II, and the European release included subtitles. The later Xbox version included an English dub, and was not released in Japan. Shenmue II incorporates four chapters of the Shenmue saga. Shenmue II begins shortly after the first installment concluded. While Shenmue told the story of the 1st chapter of the saga, the second game tells the story of the third, fourth and fifth chapter. The second chapter happens between Shenmue and Shenmue II during his trip from Yokosuka to Hong Kong and is just mentioned during the beginning of the game. It is available as a comic book as an extra in the Xbox version of the game. The third chapter of the saga begins when Ryo Hazuki, the main protagonist of the series, arrives in Hong Kong in order to locate Master Lishao Tao as he was instructed to do by his friend and confidant, Master Chen Yao Wen, at the end of the series' first chapter. This mysterious and elusive individual is Ryo's only possible link to Lan Di, the Chinese man who murdered his father. After a difficult search, Ryo finally meets Master Lishao Tao, a woman named Xiuying; but she is unwilling to assist him in what she considers an immoral quest for vengeance. The two part ways, although Xiuying continues to monitor Ryo's progress and they continue to meet on occasion. Through his continued search, Ryo discovers another individual who may be able to assist him in locating Lan Di. Wuying Ren, commonly referred to as Ren throughout, is the leader of a gang named The Heavens, who engage in a variety of illegal activities. After initially attempting to wile Ryo, Ren decides to assist him in his quest after discovering that there are large sums of money tied up in the mysterious and ancient Phoenix Mirror. A young boy who holds Ren in high regard (considering him like a brother, although they are not related by blood) named Wong, and an adventurous and free-spirited woman named Joy also befriend and assist Ryo in his continued search for Lan Di. The fourth chapter of the saga takes place in Kowloon, as Ryo attempts to locate Yuanda Zhu; a martial arts expert who sent Iwao Hazuki a letter warning of his impending murder, a warning that arrived too late. At this juncture, several confrontations ensue between Ryo and his allies and the dangerous Yellowheads organization, who are aiming to kidnap Yuanda Zhu on behalf of Lan Di. After following several clues, Ryo and Ren finally find Yuanda Zhu; but the meeting is cut short when they are ambushed by the Yellowheads leader, Dou Niu, and Yuanda Zhu is kidnapped in the resulting encounter. Wong and Joy are also held captive, although Ryo later ensures their release through his victory against a powerful martial artist. In the climatic scene that follows, Ryo and his allies enter the building in which Yuanda Zhu is being held and after Ryo does battle with Dou Niu for the final time, they are able to prevent Lan Di from receiving a captured Yuanda Zhu as originally planned. Illusive and imperious as ever, Lan Di escapes once again. Yuanda Zhu provides Ryo with crucial information regarding the true purpose of the dragon and phoenix mirrors. It is revealed that the mirrors will lead to the resurrection of an ancient order, known as the Qing Dynasty. Ryo is advised to continue his search in Bailu Village, in remote Guilin. He parts ways with Ren, Wong and Joy; continuing his journey and heading for the same destination as his rival, Lan Di. The fifth chapter takes place in Guilin. Shortly after arriving, Ryo encounters a young woman named Ling Shenhua. She had previously appeared to Ryo through several dreams throughout the first chapter of the series. As the two converse, it is revealed that the Shenhua family is connected with the legacy of the dragon and phoenix mirrors. Shenhua leads Ryo to a stone quarry on the outskirts of the village to meet with her father, but he is nowhere to be found. The episode comes to an ambiguous end when the pair discover a cryptic note and sword, which Ryo combines with the phoenix mirror and unwittingly sets off a device revealing a huge depiction of the two mirrors. At the game's cliffhanger ending, the sword is seen to float in mid-air. As in the first chapter of the series, Ryo Hazuki is the main protagonist and the only playable character. As the player progresses through the game, Ryo will encounter a variety of new characters as he travels through Hong Kong and Guilin in search of Lan Di. Early on in the story, Ryo meets flirtatious Hong Kong socialite, Joy. She will later become a more important character in the story through her association with Wuying Ren (more frequently referred to as Ren). He is the leader of a gang, known as The Heavens, who are primarily involved with petty crime in the local area. Ren, however, seeks fame and fortune; both of which serve as his main incentive for assisting Ryo in his quest to begin with. Ren's charisma and charm is greatly admired by Wong who sees Ren as an older brother and aspires to be like him. Although she refuses to assist Ryo in his quest, which she considers to be immoral and dangerous, Hong Xiu Ying (aka Master Tao Li Shao) offers him valuable advice and several important martial arts skills. Thoughtful and elegant, a lifetime of sacrifice and sorrow appears to be hidden behind her beautiful eyes. She is a motherly figure to adopted Fangmei Xun, who is physically attracted to Ryo and is frequently bashful around him. As the story develops, Ryo seeks and eventually finds Zhu Yuan Da; an old acquaintance of Iwao Hazuki who attempted to warn him of his impending murder. Once an owner of a wealthy trading company, he is kidnapped by The Yellowhead corporation, who act on behalf of Lan Di. The powerful underground corporation is headed by Dou Niu, although Ryo has more involvement with his eccentric sidekick, Yuan. Yuan is referred to as a female (and voiced by a female actress in the English voiceover) in the Western and European releases of the game, but in the original Japanese edition is established as a cross-dressing male. Although it is never confirmed, there are several allusions to a homosexual relationship between Yuan and Dou Niu. For example, Dou Niu refers to Yuan as his "cuddly little love thing" on one occasion. The final major character that Ryo meets is Ling Shenhua. This beautiful and innocent young woman grew up in Guilin, surrounded by only nature. Though pure and compassionate, Shenhua also has great strength. She previously appeared to Ryo through his dreams and there is an implied mystic connection between them both that would always ensure their meeting. Shenmue II initially takes place in Hong Kong. The final chapter of the game takes place in picturesque Guilin, located in China. The environments found in Shenmue II are based upon the geography of locations in and around Hong Kong. The environments found in the game are much larger than those found in the first title of the series. It has been noted that the settings of Shenmue II are less intricately detailed than those of Shenmue. The first environment of the game is Aberdeen Harbour, where Ryo arrives after travelling from Japan via Boat. Aberdeen is an underprivileged area, and in addition to the various docks and drinking establishments, there are several gambling parlours where players can take part in QTE-based games of chance. Ryo meets a variety of dangerous individuals here, but also future allies including Joy, Wong and Wuying Ren. On the outskirts of Aberdeen, is Queen's Street, a pleasant area that is lined with brownstone houses, reflecting Hong Kong's British governors. Wan Chai is a highly affluent and metropolitan area of Hong Kong, and is comprised of six distinct quarters in Shenmue II. The first of these is Green Market Qr., which contains several points of interest including the Come-Over Guest House, where Ryo stays for an extended period before meeting with Hong Xiu Yung. The area also houses a bustling market and a pawn shop where players can trade items for Yuan. Beyond are the residential quarters South Carmain and Wise Men's, they are of little interest overall although the latter is the setting for several meetings between Ryo and various martial arts masters, who can teach him new techniques and fighting moves if the player so wishes. The vibrant Golden Qr. is lined with various stores and boutiques, including the Tomato Convenience Store; a branded chain of supermarkets that appear in the previous installment of Shenmue. There is also a Video arcade, which allows the play of Space Harrier and Outrun, two popular hits produced by Yu Suzuki. The Lucky Charm Qr. contains various stores, most of them dealing in consumer electronics; and several bars and restaurants. Another area of Wan Chai is the White Dyntasy Qr an area with a large market which also contains quite a few bars. The final area is an attractive hamlet known as Scarlett Hills, it is pretty small and is most notable for the Man Mo Temple, where Xiu Yung is the resident master. Kowloon, an urbanised area of northern Hong Kong is the final district of the city that Ryo visits before leaving for Guilin. It is surrounded by eight peaks, the most famous of them being Lion Rock. Ryo arrives in the area via bus. This densely populated city is visually dominated by its many high reaching skyscrapers, which are in varying degrees of disarray. Whilst here, Ryo's home is Ren's hideout, located on the outskirts of the city. In addition to the locations that progress the narrative of Shenmue II, Kowloon also contains a variety of gambling, video game and retail establishments for the player to enjoy. The Yellowhead Building, where Ryo and his allies do battle against Lan Di's dangerous associates for the last time, is in the very center of the city. Ryo's final destination in Shenmue II is beautiful Guilin. This subtropical region is surrounded by the Lijiang River and several mountains, the most notable being Elephant Trunk Hill. Arriving here via boat, Ryo meets several locals of a small riverside village before traversing deeper into the surrounding forests and meadows. Guilin is home to Ling Shenhua, who shows Ryo some of the region's more impressive attractions. A substantial point of interest within Guilin is the frequently foreshadowed ancient tree from which the saga's title is derived. Located in the garden of the Shenhua residence, this ancient blossom tree is both literally and figuratively, at the centre of the prophecy that runs as a continuous thread throughout the Shenmue series. The game's final scene takes place in a setting based upon the Seven-Star Cave. When the U.S. Xbox version was released in 2002, it brought some changes and enhancements to the original with it. The most significant difference is the inclusion of a full English dub, with Corey Marshall reprising his role as Ryo Hazuki (°ÅÔÂ ›ö Hazuki Ry¨) from the first game. There are two new gameplay features ¨C a Snapshot mode to take pictures of gameplay or cutscenes to store on the Xbox's hard disk and Filters to alter the colour filters used on the entire screen. The graphics were given a boost by the Xbox's more advanced hardware (bloom lighting during the night hours, better looking water, etc.), the lengths of the load times were slightly reduced, Dolby Digital 5.1 support was added for the game's cutscenes, and the frame rate now ran at a much more consistent 30 frames per second with less loss in characters on-screen (the Dreamcast version used an aggressive character LOD that caused pedestrians to fade in and out of plain view in very crowded scenes). This was all done without many sacrifices to the original game design, with only one instance (the Worker's Pier,) of noticeable pedestrian reduction from the Dreamcast version. The Xbox version also used Quincunx Anti-Aliasing (like many Xbox games) and although the technique reduced "jaggies" associated with aliasing, fans are generally split down the middle as to whether this and the new nighttime bloom lighting effects hurt the image quality in the Xbox version of the game giving it a somewhat "blurry" or "washed out" look. There are also many other curious, and somewhat baffling graphical differences, mostly involving the signs on buildings, labels on jukeboxes, signs on gates, etc. having been inexplicably improved or toned down from the Dreamcast version. Also added was a mode to view the player's snapshots and six side stories that could be unlocked by taking an in-game snapshot of certain characters. These side stories took the form of comics (or manga) and four of them expand on areas of the story that the main game touches on, while the remaining two contain bonus art. While the original Dreamcast version came on four GD-ROMs, the Xbox version is on one DVD and came bundled with Shenmue: The Movie on a separate DVD for play on a standard DVD player. The film is comprised entirely of scenes from the first game, excluding a short scene at the beginning involving a confrontation with two thugs not included in the original game. Some argue Ryo's aggressive choice of speech and action in this added scene to be out of character. One feature the Xbox version lost was the ability to import a save file from a completed Shenmue game, allowing the player to bring items and money collected in the first to the second game. However, since the player could not import his inventory, the Xbox port started the player off with (nearly) every item obtainable in Shenmue, including a majority of the capsule toys and other collectibles, though the cassettes (amongst a select few other items that can be re-obtained in this installment) are mysteriously missing. This is identical to starting the Dreamcast version without a cleared Shenmue save file. Shenmue II features gameplay similar to that of its predecessor, Shenmue. However, there are many additions and changes, and many fans consider it to be a completely different experience. One marked difference in this installment of the game series is the abundance of action sequences, mostly relying heavily on the use of QTE events in lieu of Free battles (whereas the first installment had a fair balance of the two). This adds to the game's cinematic feel but it also pushes the player through the story in a far more linear and somewhat constrained pace than that compared to its predecessor. A lot of this is attributed to a boost in the game's pacing; in Shenmue there was often a certain character who Ryo had to talk to in order to advance the story line; in Shenmue II, often many characters will be able to help Ryo reach his destination. The game is therefore a lot less about the townsfolk interaction and instead much more about the plot steadily moving it forward, giving the game a very different feel than its predecessor. Despite Shenmue II's more linear nature, however, there are still moments of non-linear plot progression; for example, at several points Ryo must make a hidden sign at certain restaurants, and depending on which restaurant the gamer choses, different events will occur. Occasionally a QTE will make use of this as well; in the first Shenmue, failure of a QTE meant the gamer would simply be allowed to retry it, whereas in Shenmue II, although rare occurrences, there are occasionally QTEs where, if missed, result in different events occurring than if the gamer was successful. The QTE system itself also received an upgrade from its predecessor; now during many QTEs multiple button combos will come up, rather than just the single-button ones used in the first Shenmue. Shenmue II also features an all new "question system" where the gamer can choose from a variety of different questions to ask non-playable-characters, as well as the ability to get a part-time job or gamble. This installment also introduced an air of mysticism into the story with the formal introduction of Ling Shenhua. It was never openly discussed during the course of the game, but a notable cutscene reveals that she possesses the ability to interact with nature on more than just a normal level than most others can. This, coupled with the revelation of the purposes of the two mirrors lends the game a more fantasy-styled approach in story and apparently sets the stage for further inclusion and expansion of such elements of mysticism and myth in the series next (and possibly final) installment(s). Whereas the first Shenmue consisted of a single world with an immense amount of detail (for example, the ability to open almost every drawer in Ryo's house and often pick up the contents inside) Shenmue II consists of several worlds with less intricate detailing, although much more to explore. Despite the tighter pacing and more eventful storyline, however, Shenmue II keeps the basic formula of its predecessor, which essentially involves the gamer wandering through a virtual world, talking to people and receiving clues that lead Ryo deeper into the mystery surrounding the murder of his father.
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Post by Seth Drakin of Monster Crap on Mar 11, 2008 14:51:58 GMT -5
86. Blinx: The Time Sweeper Blinx: The Time Sweeper is a platform game developed by Artoon and published by Microsoft Game Studios. It was released for the Xbox on October 7, 2002. A sequel, Blinx 2: Masters of Time and Space was released for the Xbox in 2004. Advertised as 'The Worlds First 4D Action Game', Blinx is a third-person platform game, in which the player controls Blinx, a Time Sweeper, on his mission to prevent the end of the world. The game revolves around Blinx's (then-near-unique) Time System: Blinx is outfitted with a magical vacuum cleaner, the Time Sweeper (or TS-1000), with which he can exert some control over Time itself; slowing, speeding up, reversing or stopping its flow entirely. In Blinx: The Time Sweeper, the player takes on the role of Blinx, an anthropomorphic cat who works at a facility known as the Time Factory. The Time Factory is a facility located outside of Time, dedicated to the creation, distribution and maintenance of the flow of all time throughout the universe. When glitches or corruptions in time are found, the Time Factory dispatches Time Sweeper agents to locate and correct them. Left unchecked, temporal glitches can manifest themselves into malevolent Time Monsters, roaming freely among dimensions, distorting everything with which they come into contact. When a gang of evil pigs known as the Tom-Tom gang begin stealing and destroying Time in dimension B1Q64, it becomes temporally unstable to the extent that the Time Sweepers decide that it is safer for all dimensions if the supply of time to B1Q64 be halted, suspending it and its inhabitants indefinitely. When Blinx receives a message from a young princess trapped within the doomed dimension, Blinx grabs his Time Sweeper and dives into dimension B1Q64 through the Sweepers' Time Portal moments before it closes. In each stage, Blinx must travel from the Start Gate to the Ending Gate, eliminating all Time Monsters that exist on the stage. Each level has a time limit of 10 minutes. The Time Sweeper Blinx possess places six different Time Controls at his disposal. Five of these time controls are based on controls commonly found on VCRs and the sixth, RETRY, is unique. To gain Time Controls, Blinx must first collect Time Crystals. The Time Crystals appear as shining, floating, spinning crystals in the game world. Blinx can collect the Time Crystals in any order, but when he possesses four at once, they are converted into Time Controls. If Blinx holds three of a particular Crystal, he gains one of that Time Control. If Blinx holds four of a particular Crystal, he gains two of that Time Control. Blinx can trigger any of these first five Time Controls at any time as long as he collects the correct sequence of crystals. * REW - Two purple chevrons pointing to the left. Time Crystal - Purple 'plus'. This causes time to run backwards for everything in the world except Blinx himself. Bridges and other elements previously destroyed can be restored with this Time Control no matter how long ago they were destroyed. Useful when there is a stream with a one-way current or you need to go up a waterfall. * FF - Two orange chevrons pointing to the right. Time Crystal - Orange pyramid. This causes time to run rapidly forwards for everything in the world including Blinx. During FF, Blinx is invulnerable to damage from time monsters or environmental hazards: any contact will cause FF to be cancelled, and Blinx will be unharmed. * PAUSE - Two light blue rectangles. Time Crystal - Blue crescent moon. This causes time to stop for everything in the world except Blinx. Scenery elements are frozen during PAUSE, and can be jumped on to reach hidden areas. Also, he can't use switches and jump pads. * REC - Green circle. Time Crystal - Green diamond. The first phase of REC is 10 seconds of 'recording' time, where Blinx is invulnerable to all damage, and can move as normal. When 10 seconds has elapsed (or Blinx has been lost to an unrecoverable environmental hazard), the world and Blinx will be rewound backwards for 10 seconds, and the same period of time will be played. During this 'playback', the actions taken by Blinx during the 'recording' will be shown as a green ghost, allowing for enhanced combat tactics to be used, or puzzles that would require two players to be solved(such as a seesaw). * SLOW - Yellow triangle pointing to the right. Time Crystal - Yellow star. This causes time to run slowly for everything in the world except Blinx. Scenery elements are slowed during SLOW, and can be jumped on to reach hidden areas. There is a sixth Time Control, called RETRY. This Time Control cannot be triggered manually, it is triggered automatically when Blinx is knocked out by an enemy or lost to an infinite chasm. If Blinx holds no RETRYs when he is knocked out, the game is over. * RETRY - Red heart. Time Crystal - Red heart. RETRY causes everything in the world, including Blinx, to rewind to a point where Blinx should be safe. Blinx can hold any combination of REW, FF, PAUSE, REC or SLOW up to the number of Time Holders he possesses. He begins with three Time Holders, but you can gain up to 10 as the game progresses. The Time Control RETRY requires a special type of Time Holder, called a Retry Holder. Blinx begins the game with three Retry Holders, but can hold up to nine (an allusion to the lore that cats have nine lives).
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Post by Seth Drakin of Monster Crap on Mar 11, 2008 14:59:01 GMT -5
Countdown Update
125. Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets 124. Silent Scope Complete 123. SSX 3 122. Madden NFL 2005 121. Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis 120. Star Wars: The Clone Wars 119. Darkwatch 118. The Lord Of The Rings: The Third Age 117. The Simpsons: Hit And Run 116. Rainbow Six 3 115. Madden NFL 08 114. Blitz: The League 113. Mafia: The City Of Lost Heaven 112. Dungeons And Dragons Heroes 111. WWE Wrestlemania 21 110. World Soccer Winning Eleven 8 International 109. Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell 108. GUN 107. NHL Hitz Pro 106. Top Spin Tennis 105. Rocky 104. TransWorld Surf 103. Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy 102. MechAssault 101. Legends Of Wrestling II 100. NCAA March Madness 2005 99. WWE Raw 2 98. Brute Force 97. Metal Slug 3 96. Fahrenheit aka Indigo Prophecy 95. NCAA Football 06 94. Stubbs The Zombie In "Rebel Without A Pulse" 93. Midnight Club II 92. Showdown: Legends Of Wrestling 91. The Punisher 90. Dead Or Alive Ultimate 89. MVP Baseball 2005 88. Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup 87. Shenmue II 86. Blinx: The Time Sweeper
Next five clues are:
* Her Eyes Were Made Of Gold
* In The Midnight Hour
* Kevin Harvick Is On The Cover
* KO Moment
* The Destruction Of Hulkamania
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Post by Seth Drakin of Monster Crap on Mar 11, 2008 17:20:23 GMT -5
85. GoldenEye: Rogue Agent GoldenEye: Rogue Agent is a James Bond video game developed and published by Electronic Arts. The player takes the role of an ex-MI6 agent who is recruited by Auric Goldfinger, a member of SPECTRE, to assassinate his rival Dr. No. Several other characters from the Bond film series make appearances throughout the game in a non-canonical setting, including Pussy Galore, Oddjob, and Xenia Onatopp as well as Francisco Scaramanga, playing a Q type character with the voice and likeness of Christopher Lee, who played the same character in 1974's The Man with the Golden Gun. Rogue Agent is largely considered to be an attempt to recreate the success of one of the best selling video games in recent history, GoldenEye 007, which was a first-person shooter for the Nintendo 64 based on the Bond film GoldenEye. Aside from the character Xenia Onatopp, the Uplink multiplayer level, and the fact that both involve a good agent going bad, GoldenEye: Rogue Agent actually has nothing to do with either the film GoldenEye or its video game adaptation although his scarred appearance considerably resembles Sean Bean's portrayal of rogue agent Alec Trevelyan in that film. Rogue Agent was preceded by the critically acclaimed Bond game Everything or Nothing which featured the likeness and voice talents of Pierce Brosnan and Willem Dafoe. Rogue Agent, however, was released to mediocre reviews. Reviewers criticized its lack of innovation and the fact that the game contributed nothing new to the first person shooter formula. The player takes the role of Jonathan Hunter, later to be known as "GoldenEye" (His full biography is only available in the instruction booklet of the PS2 version). Hunter was trained in the British Special Air Service, reaching the rank of major. While serving in the SAS, he was commander of a sniper detail and later an assault team. He was recruited into MI6 in 2001 and became a 00-agent. At the start of Rogue Agent, a recording by M (head of MI6) reveals that: "Three years ago, while on assignment, the agent was severely wounded in an encounter with Dr. No, and subsequently lost the use of his right eye. Consumed with vengeance, he frequently resorts to violence and brutality, and is no longer fit for service with MI6." Three years after the incident which claimed GoldenEye's right eye, he is evaluated through a holographic simulation in which he is paired with 007 to stop Auric Goldfinger, a member of SPECTRE, from detonating a suitcase nuke inside of Fort Knox. He fails the test, and is held directly responsible for the "death" of 007. Charged with "reckless brutality", he is dismissed from MI6. As he leaves the headquarters, he is seen reading an offer by Goldfinger to enlist in his organization. GoldenEye accepts Goldfinger's offer and is recruited as his enforcer, meeting with him at Auric Enterprises, where Goldfinger's scientists have developed a weapon known as the OMEN (Organic Mass Energy Neutralizer), which releases energy capable of breaking down organic matter on a nearly atomic level, resulting in disintegration. For his job of eliminating Dr. No, a fellow SPECTRE official who has declared war on Goldfinger's branch of the organization, GoldenEye is given a gold-hued cybernetic eye created by Francisco Scaramanga, another SPECTRE official (from which he receives his codename "GoldenEye"). As GoldenEye takes on more difficult missions, Scaramanga provides upgrades for the eye, starting with MRI vision, then an EM hack feature, then a magnetic polarity shield, and finally a magnetic induction field. GoldenEye is sent by Goldfinger against Dr. No on various missions in various locations around the globe (many of which are borrowed from settings found in James Bond movies and novels). He is eventually sent to Crab Key, where he confronts Dr. No. During their duel, GoldenEye uses his mechanical eye to sabotage the island's nuclear reactor, causing it to electrocute Dr. No. Upon No's death, Goldfinger contacts GoldenEye and informs him that he believes he is too dangerous to be left alive, and that he had contacted GoldenEye earlier and told him to activate a program which would shut down the Lair's defense grid. Goldfinger reveals that he is intent on taking over SPECTRE's lair, and leaves GoldenEye to die in the impending nuclear meltdown. GoldenEye, however, manages to escape in Dr. No's osprey before the reactor overloads and the island is destroyed. GoldenEye returns to SPECTRE's Lair intent on confronting Goldfinger. Pussy Galore rendezvous with GoldenEye and informs him that Goldfinger has used the OMEN to wipe out most of the Lair's guards, and taken control of it. Scaramanga provides the mechanical eye with a computer virus which he can use to overload the OMEN. GoldenEye fights his way through the Lair, eventually reaching the area where Goldfinger and the OMEN are. Goldfinger traps GoldenEye inside a chamber which he claims will soon be devoid of oxygen. GoldenEye now plants the virus in the OMEN, causing it to explode in a huge burst of energy, killing Goldfinger and his troops. GoldenEye and Galore leave the Lair aboard Galore's chopper, and Scaramanga and SPECTRE's Number One (Ernst Stavro Blofeld) later discuss what to do with GoldenEye, and decide to simply see what he does next before proceeding. The game featured a highly customizable multiplayer component as well. It features 4-player split screen play, as well as online play on the PS2 and Xbox versions. On November 26 2006, the servers for both versions were shut down due to "inactivity" online. Players can unlock additional customization options, skins, maps, and gametype variations by playing through Story Mode and performing well.
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