So far, such a disapppointing summer for video games

J

JohnLa101

CAGiversary!
Not sure how much of you guys would agree with me, but so far, my summer purchases have been extremely disappointing.

1. Ninja Gaiden 2 - I have no problems with the difficulty or lack of story since this game is all about the action, but the sloppy programming that has caused multiple lock-ups, game ending glitches and system freezes are terrible. Even such a simple thing as leaderboards is affected.

2. Metal Gear Solid 4 - This was my first Metal Gear game, and the only reason I bought it was because of the great money back deals out there for the 80gb bundle (thank you CAG for that). The gameplay was not bad, and at times, it was great, but given that nearly half the game is cutscences (many of which are not good and horribly dull/repeatative/pretentious), I could say with confidence that if I ever decide to play it again, I will skip 90% of the cutscences without hesitation.

3. Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo Remix Beta - I realize that I didn't purchase this beta, but rather bought Commando 3, however I did not care for that game and only spent the 800 points for the beta. I knew beforehand that a beta is simply that, but the fact that the game freezes and I can't even test it out is ridiculous.

Sorry for the vent, but these are the only purchases I've made recently, and they are all huge disappointments. Anybody else agree or have other titles they'd like to add to the summer of disappointment?
 
[quote name='JohnLa101']Not sure how much of you guys would agree with me, but so far, my summer purchases have been extremely disappointing.

1. Ninja Gaiden 2 - I have no problems with the difficulty or lack of story since this game is all about the action, but the sloppy programming that has caused multiple lock-ups, game ending glitches and system freezes are terrible. Even such a simple thing as leaderboards is affected.

2. Metal Gear Solid 4 - This was my first Metal Gear game, and the only reason I bought it was because of the great money back deals out there for the 80gb bundle (thank you CAG for that). The gameplay was not bad, and at times, it was great, but given that nearly half the game is cutscences (many of which are not good and horribly dull/repeatative/pretentious), I could say with confidence that if I ever decide to play it again, I will skip 90% of the cutscences without hesitation.

3. Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo Remix Beta - I realize that I didn't purchase this beta, but rather bought Commando 3, however I did not care for that game and only spent the 800 points for the beta. I knew beforehand that a beta is simply that, but the fact that the game freezes and I can't even test it out is ridiculous.

Sorry for the vent, but these are the only purchases I've made recently, and they are all huge disappointments. Anybody else agree or have other titles they'd like to add to the summer of disappointment?[/quote]

Becuz of that your opinion is invalid.

MGS4 is the game of the generation.

Who starts playing MGS4 at 4?
 
Hmmm....I really have to say that I wholeheartedly disagree with you :) No offense or anything. I think this is one of the best years every for video games personally and my problem is that there is TOO MUCH good stuff to play.

My biggest counter-argument to the "there are no good games lately" argument is that there are literally THOUSANDS of games on multiple systems that you more than likely have not yet experienced. Just on the current systems alone and one generation back there are several hundred great titles. As a gamer, and more specifically as a CAG, I recommend you hunt down some of the older titles you have missed out on and work your way up.
 
Yeah, you picked a glorified button masher that didn't live up to it's original Xbox title, the 4th game in a series infamous for its long cutscenes and confusing story that you got in a bundle, and a beta as your three reasons for the summer sucking? If you think the releases blow, maybe you should choose better games...
 
[quote name='SpikeJonez']Becuz of that your opinion is invalid.

MGS4 is the game of the generation.

Who starts playing MGS4 at 4?[/quote]

The game of the generation?

I'm only into Act 2, but I wouldn't count on that statement.

As it stands, the only MGS I have liked is the first one. I played and did not enjoy 2 and 3. We'll see about 4 as I progress further.

On-topic, my summer purchases have been slim. MGS4 came with my PS3...and, is that it? That might be the only game I have purchased since Mario Kart Wii. You might be right about the disappointment.
 
I say, bring on the drought. Everyone has bought too much already as it is.

The DS is bringing the hits this summer though, with Atlus in particular.

Between just June and July we've got/had:

Summon Night: Twin Age
Etrian Odyssey 2
Izuna 2
Trauma Center 2
FFTA2
Space Invaders Extreme/Arkanoid
Final Fantasy 4
 
Summer is typically slower for great releases. GTA IV, although technically out before summer, already makes this summer way better than most.


I'm just going to have to completely disagree with you on MGS4, but hey, that's your opinion.

I've found lots of great, shorter games to enjoy such as Space Invaders Extreme, Penny Arcade. I think its been a great couple of years to be a gamer, I would welcome a slump, actually, so I could get to my backlog.
 
I am extremely pleased with my games this summer.

GTA IV - best of the series

Rainbow Six Vegas 2 - Solid tactical shooter

MGS 4 - So far, very engaging. Loads of cut scenes, but they really pull me into the story.

God of War - Chains of Olympus - Great action title for the PSP Crisis Core is next up for me

Granted, some of these games came out before "summer" but I've played them all in June, and they are some fantastic games.
 
I consider Late April and May to be part of Summer. So I guess I'd say it kinda has been a disappointment.

Grand Theft Auto 4's hype just sort of killed it for me. Along with its' length which provided increasingly repetitive missions and a near broken online mode, you have a major backlash that left many people, myself included with a very bad taste in their mouths.

Wii Fit. Got, didn't play it much. I haven't even unlocked every mini-game.

Mario Kart Wii. Online is great, but single player sucks, and since you have to play single player to unlock everything, it makes it a major hassle not worthy of Double Dash.

Ninja Gaiden 2 (rental). I beat this game, and I really wanted to like it, but its' difficulty was a pain, even on the easiest difficulty. It's erratic. It gets insanely hard, dies down, gets hard and finally near impossible at the end. I didn't beat Ninja Gaiden 1, but it was better. By a mile.

Metal Gear Solid 4 is the only bright spot this summer game wise for me on the console front, as I've beaten it 4 times already (And I only beat a game twice maybe 5% of the time) and on the handheld circuit, TWEWY was a blast until I got to the extra chapter. I still need to go back and finish that.
 
if you have a ds and like rpgs (like me), i think now's a good time! The World Ends With You is pretty fun, Final Fantasy Tactics A2 just came out (although it looks like more of the same, which can be a dealbreaker for some), and Final Fantasy IV is due out in a month.

there's also etrian odyssey 2 and probably a lot of other games i'm forgetting.
 
[quote name='KingBroly']Metal Gear Solid 4 is the only bright spot this summer game wise for me on the console front[/quote]

Agreed. I don't understand the OP's reasoning for not liking it. I could say the same thing about watching only the 3rd Lord of the Rings movie, and not liking it because of the story.

And it's definitely the game of the the generation, for me, and I think it will stay that way unless the rest of the industry REALLY steps up it's game.
 
I don't think there's anything wrong with starting on MGS4 rather than from the beginning. I never said the story was hard to follow, since they were so kind to include the database and the many cut scenes pretty much regurgitated the whole series in a nutshell. I have no problem taking the time to read and learn about the game, but when I'm "playing" a game, I actually want to "play" it, not watch it. Some of the scenes were done well, I'll admit that, but "Voice of God" my a**.
 
Oh god, please make it stop! Summer, is slow for gaming? Really? TRU has some great deals right now. Go pick up some awesome cheap games. Maybe your summer won't suck so much.
 
Comparing this summer to summers from the past, this summer is actually pretty good. There are quite a few big name titles and as Kendal said, the deals are flowing in right now.
 
The deals are there, I'll agree with that. Heck, me having a PS3 is proof of that, and I was able to score some DS titles for my nephew at TRU as well (all educational/brain games).
 
MGS4 (I was never a huge fan of the series, but I agree with the game of the generation statements), Soul Calibur 4, Civ Revolutions (the demo was surprisingly good and easy to control for a console version), Disgaea 3, Wipeout HD (I think coming soon).

These are only PS3 games since that's what I own and know about. You could also count GTA IV. Since the summer actually started under a week ago it's hard to tell what you include in summer.
 
[quote name='Rig']
As it stands, the only MGS I have liked is the first one. I played and did not enjoy 2 and 3. We'll see about 4 as I progress further.
[/QUOTE]

I thought I might be alone in that. I really loved the first MGS. I played through it multiple times. I have only played some of 2 which I couldn't get into and I've yet to try 3. I don't have a PS3 so I don't have much to say about 4 right now.
 
Are those problems with NG2 typical? I never had anything like that. It's not a technical masterpiece, perhaps, but the gameplay and fun factor easily beat our the Xbox original.
 
GTA IV seems to be holding me over. But MGS4 soon to b in my hands. And yes it will be the first MGS game i play, much like Resident Evil 4, I only played 1 before that, and after playing 4, I worked my way back.
 
I partially agree OP. MGS4 and NG2 were the two games I was looking forward to most this gen and both didn't live up to my expectations at all. The SF2 beta I could care less about, but I'll buy the game day 1.


MGS4- great game, but there's not enough game. Definitely skipping cutscenes next time around...Kojima has no around to say "lets make this a little shorter and less filled with bullshit."

NG2- Fun, but so riddled with problems. there's a formula to the action that makes it very repetitive. it's dumbed down from NG1. the score system is broken. I could go on forever. They shat this one out quickly to get to the lawsuit, it seems.



I don't care so much though. I have a shitload of DS and PS2 games to play.
 
[quote name='daroga']Are those problems with NG2 typical? I never had anything like that. It's not a technical masterpiece, perhaps, but the gameplay and fun factor easily beat our the Xbox original.[/QUOTE]

I have had a few system lock-ups but it hasn't angered me all that much. I love the game but it does feel sloppier than black to me. There is also supposedly a game ending glitch on Chapter 10 but people say to just switch to manual saves at that point and make a few.
 
[quote name='jkam']I have had a few system lock-ups but it hasn't angered me all that much. I love the game but it does feel sloppier than black to me. There is also supposedly a game ending glitch on Chapter 10 but people say to just switch to manual saves at that point and make a few.[/quote]Huh, I guess I should count myself lucky. I had some slow down here and there, but nothing game breaking or ending.

And I'm even running it on a still-working original build quality 360! :whee:
 
With such a great year, you must have a backlog of some sort...

GTA 4
MGS4
UT3

Seems like a strong summer to me, esp. since summer usually has NO games.
 
Summer is always a great time to go back and play games in the backlog or to pick up cheap games that got lost in all the Holiday Blockbusters. OP sounds jaded and expects alot from games. Not every game will be a perfect rated masterpiece but we've seen two within the last couple months. Some people just can't be satisfied.
 
Who needs new games anyhow? I still haven't even had enough of or beaten GTA4, Eve Online, Sins of a Solar Empire, Baldurs Gate II, Diablo II, Super Mario Galaxy, Super Smash Bros Brawl and countless other games.
 
I thought this summer had been pretty good so far.

I can remember summers back in the PS1 days (when I was living in the UK) where nothing would get released for weeks. I'm not saying nothing in a jokey way either, I mean literally NOTHING was released.

I remember one summer buying V-Rally for the PS1 cos I was gagging for a new game, it sold loads because the publishers (Infogames I think) had the presence of mind to release it when there was nothing else out.

As has been said by Kendal and many others, there's plenty of deals on good games that were released prior to summer if you don't like whats come out recently. There's also all the new stuff on PSN, XBLA, VC and WiiWare to download as well.
 
[quote name='benjamouth']I thought this summer had been pretty good so far.

I can remember summers back in the PS1 days (when I was living in the UK) where nothing would get released for weeks. I'm not saying nothing in a jokey way either, I mean literally NOTHING was released.

I remember one summer buying V-Rally for the PS1 cos I was gagging for a new game, it sold loads because the publishers (Infogames I think) had the presence of mind to release it when there was nothing else out.

As has been said by Kendal and many others, there's plenty of deals on good games that were released prior to summer if you don't like whats come out recently. There's also all the new stuff on PSN, XBLA, VC and WiiWare to download as well.[/QUOTE]

Ya there were seriously some summers where NOTHING came out in the past. This has been an amazing summer.....even if MGS is horribly overated. Im gonna puke when that came is voted for GotY....heaven forbid it wins it.
 
I think it's been a slow year for gaming as well. I've never liked the MGS or GTA series. Sick to death of Smash Bros and Mario Kart. The only 2008 game I've bought so far has been Space Invaders Extreme on the DS. Have some interest in Ninja Gaiden 2 after playing the demo, but I'm not super into action games and have little patience for hard games so I'm not willing to pay more than $30-40 for it. Or get it off of Goozex eventually.

Gears 2 is the only forthcoming game that I'm super excited about, though there are a handful of other fall games I'm interested in--stuff like Fallout 3 etc. But less excited as I've either never played games in the series or their new games that I need to see reviews on.

Just a bit of a let down for me after last year had a lot of games that I loved: Metroid Prime 3, Mario Galaxy, Bioshock, Halo 3, Call of Duty 4, Mass Effect etc.

But as somone else said, I have plenty of older games to play so I don't care. I just got my 360 in October last year, so I have a lot of catching up to do. Playing Crackdown now, and on to CoD2 and Oblivion after that if I have time. I'm busy a hell this summer with teaching and working on my dissertation and some other writing, so it's probably a good thing no killer must play games have come out for me!
 
[quote name='JohnLa101']Not sure how much of you guys would agree with me, but so far, my summer purchases have been extremely disappointing.

1. Ninja Gaiden 2 - I have no problems with the difficulty or lack of story since this game is all about the action, but the sloppy programming that has caused multiple lock-ups, game ending glitches and system freezes are terrible. Even such a simple thing as leaderboards is affected.

2. Metal Gear Solid 4 - This was my first Metal Gear game, and the only reason I bought it was because of the great money back deals out there for the 80gb bundle (thank you CAG for that). The gameplay was not bad, and at times, it was great, but given that nearly half the game is cutscences (many of which are not good and horribly dull/repeatative/pretentious), I could say with confidence that if I ever decide to play it again, I will skip 90% of the cutscences without hesitation.

3. Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo Remix Beta - I realize that I didn't purchase this beta, but rather bought Commando 3, however I did not care for that game and only spent the 800 points for the beta. I knew beforehand that a beta is simply that, but the fact that the game freezes and I can't even test it out is ridiculous.

Sorry for the vent, but these are the only purchases I've made recently, and they are all huge disappointments. Anybody else agree or have other titles they'd like to add to the summer of disappointment?[/quote]

#1 Never happened to me in NGII.

#2 Who the hell starts with the last game of the series without playing the other three first to know wtf the game is about? Jer?
 
Totally agree with the backlog thing. I was able to pick up a mint used copy of Persona 3 FES for $20 awhile ago (still had the new price tag underneath the used sticker), and that B2G1 xbox deal at Gamestop a few months back has yet to be played through. It's reasons like these that I feel backwards compatibility is so important, just cause so many games of this gen focuses too much on the graphics and pretty package that they leave so much to desire for in content and sometimes stability.
 
I highly disagree with the OP. Awesome games are across all platforms.

Some great games so far are:
DBZ: Burst Limit
FFT A2
GRID (very good racer)
Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee 2
Lost Planet Colonies
MGS4 (Best game this gen IMO)
NG2 (much better than the first)
Secret Agent Clank
SingStar (most fun I had with a music game)

and more. Still, we get Disgaea 3 and others. This summer hasn't been bad at all.
 
If you don't like the games coming out this summer, why don't you go outside? This baseball season is shaping up to be a great one and there's nothing better than a summer day at the ballpark. Or you could find the nearest state park and take a hike. There's so many other things to do. Why bitch about something you can't control?
 
E3 will confirm many dates and have a few tricks up It's sleeve, even though E3 has been dumbed down now.

Looking at the holiday season It's going to be wallet murder as usual, and come January/Feb if your patient you can get good deals on all the shit that came out this holiday.

Wait a few more months dude. This is called cheapassgamer.com for a reason anyways. Buy the cheap good games, and wait for the hits to become cheap.
 
[quote name='The Mana Knight']
Some great games so far are:
DBZ: Burst Limit
FFT A2
GRID (very good racer)
Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee 2
Lost Planet Colonies
MGS4 (Best game this gen IMO)
NG2 (much better than the first)
Secret Agent Clank
SingStar (most fun I had with a music game)
[/QUOTE]

Just depends on what you like. I have no interest in any of those other than mild interest in NG2.

DBZ-fuck anime and anime games
GRID- not into racers
Hot Shots- hate golf, even casual golf games like this
Lost Planet- played the 1st one, mediocre at best
MGS4- hate the MGS series and stealth games in general
Secret Agent Clank-mediocre game in a tired series
SingStar-hate karoke games.

That said, I don't mind the personal summer drought.

1. It's the norm.
2. I'm busy as hell this summer anyway
3. Plenty of older games to catch up on
4. Plenty of shit to do outside in the summer-hiking, concerts, summer blockbusters to see, fishing etc.
 
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