This isn't really a regret, as you can't predict these things ever, but maybe around 2010 I bought a complete copy of Cubivore for $60, then sold it for the same amount after I finished it.

It is now going for $800.

@dipset said in The EZA Community Top 20 Best of 2005!:

I also didn't have an Xbox and I think it was exclusive for a long time?

It was on everything, but the best version was Xbox. It's currently available to download on Xbox backwards compatibility and Steam.

@dipset said in The EZA Community Top 20 Best of 2005!:

Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory

I know it's crazy considering how many awards this game won, but I never played it. Pandora Tomorrow was too difficult for me as a kid so I never had any desire to rent Chaos Theory. I remember kids at school talking about it, but I never touched it cause I assumed it was too hard. It's on my list to play one day.

I couldn't get past the second level of Pandora Tomorrow because too much precision was required. But aside from a few moderately annoying sections, Chaos Theory felt more flexible.

@oscillator said in The EZA Community Top 20 Best of 2005!:

The tutorial level is well done,

Looking at footage, I may have been confusing it for Pandora Tomorrow's tutorial. Mission 1 in Chaos Theory looks more like a regular mission, but is still basic enough to show you the ropes (and it's cool, like all the missions).

@Brannox Chaos Theory is a great standalone game. The tutorial level is well done, and if there were any lore references, it didn't seem like they were crucial to the plot at all (though I didn't complete the last level, so maybe the ending could be more lore-heavy?).

Chaos Theory has incredible, incredible production values. Hollywood-grade setpieces, an insane lighting engine fully integrated with gameplay, even pretty good writing. It all combines to make sneaking around, trying to find/create blind spots in security, super satisfying.

I would've put it higher if the multiplayer had been as endearing as Pandora Tomorrow's multiplayer. But the maps aren't as memorable, and the upgraded lighting engine had to be dialed WAY back to run well in multi, to the point it it looks kinda ugly.

Two questions for @bruno_saurus

1. I have virtually no experience playing Madden, but I did briefly dabble in a couple other football games, around 2005. They came across to me as being obtuse for people who aren't really, really into football. You're offered dozens of plays to select, but can't tell the difference between most of them. And all these teams and players don't feel different in a gameplay sense. With four downs/chances, it feels like you can 'brute force' a positive result by picking the most basic looking plays over and over.

Are 360-era and newer Madden titles considerably more advanced and polished in gameplay compared to older Madden titles/other football series, as in does play selection/team+roster knowledge/how well you execute a play, make a very clear difference in how well you do, and for newbies, do they help you 'get' how to play well?

2. Is the draw of Madden more the things surrounding the on-field gameplay, like managing teams? Is experiencing the flavour of a football league more key to a football fan enjoying it than the actual playing of football?

Two questions for @JDINCINERATOR

1. Compared to The Elder Scrolls (Oblivion and Skyrim), how open and interactive is The Witcher III's world? I've always heard gushing praise of the game, often namedropping the open world, but every time I've looked at gameplay videos, I've seen a world that looks quite nice, but doesn't feel fully tangible. Like, there's a sense of being of funneled in certain directions, and going off completely randomly instead of following trails and markers resulting in nothing fruitful. Have I somehow been looking at the wrong stuff each time?

2. How "edgy" are the characters and dialogue? I've heard praise of the narrative elements, but when I've tried watching some, it seems somewhat crass and shallow. Are there notable heavier/mindful plot elements, or is 'edgelordery' its raison d'etre?

@JDINCINERATOR That's definitely not a funny scene...or is that the joke?

@jdincinerator said in The EZA Forum Hall of Greats (May 2022):

@Oscillator

1. Do you think that HALO’s legacy has had more of an impact on Xbox than the general videogame community, and if you think the latter how do you feel HALO is a monumental accomplishment in videogames overall?
2. I’m not into HALO and when I played the original HALO it was hard to get into. Do you think HALO caters to a particular audience and that it might be too hardcore for the mainstream?

1. The original Halo was a touchstone release. Not only did it singlehandedly drive sales of the Xbox to be immediately competitive against established market leaders, it got 10/10s and Game of the Year awards everywhere. Halo 2 kept the momentum going by being not only THE pillar of Xbox Live by far, but a pillar of online gaming in general. Other online FPSes like SOCOM, Counter-Strike, and Unreal Tournament were certainly big, but Halo figuratively rolled off the tongue easier. At the time, MMOs like Everquest and World of Warcraft may have been the only online games bigger. And somehow, Halo 3 was even more mainstream. It was the Madden of online gaming to WoW's FIFA. Of course, with Modern Warfare, Call of Duty tore the throne away. But Halo very much helped create the environment for its success.

While Halo's sequels were greater successes in terms of playerbase, they've kept the central elements of the first game - the story, characters, gameplay formula, weapons, sound effects, and music - to this day.

2. To a degree. Its design does have a somewhat overwhelming quality. Its two-weapon system requires more thought, as does its open-concept levels and roaming enemy squads. The missions are quite long too. Doom, GoldenEye, Gears of War, and Call of Duty all have had a better pick-up-and-play quality. The multiplayer though, if you had friends who played it, had a great party atmosphere. And while it may not have cast the absolute biggest net, elements of Halo have infused themselves into the gamer consciousness. Master Chief, the main music theme, the Warthog. It's not Super Mario Bros., but it's not a game that only found fame in the energy drink chugging speedrun MLG crowd either.