A new game for the PS2 hardrive...and Psychonauts is here!!

[ThaMaskedGamer]

Hey for all you users of the PS2 hardrive get ready. Capcom is about to release the very enticing, "Vampire: Darkstalkers Collection" 2D fighting game. Ohhhh happy happy joy joy! There is only one wrinkle, the game is set to release in May in Japan. No word on a US release, but keep those PS2 hardrives warmed up though, gotta be ready!


For those of you always crying there is only shooters and racers on XBOX, hell this is your time of the year. First there was ODDWORLD, now Jade Empire and now Psychonauts is upon us. Yes Psychonauts!!!!!! That's three good to great non-shooters back to back. Hmmmm how many has the Gamecube had so far this year?

Now for all of those people crying MS didn't lose money publishing these titles, here is your chance to put your money where your pie-hole is. Go out and buy these games. Does it matter who published it? Its still on the console, and its still exclusive.

And lets here it for Mr.Lorne Lanning. Talk about whining. "Ohhhh woe is me, i'm leaving the VG business cause nobody would pimp my games properly and they sold really bad...its everybody's fault but my own!" Well, here is a tissue. Oddworld may not have had tons of TV advertising, but that game was plastered all over the net and gaming magazines, and got plenty of buzz and conversation on the net. Its not like no one knew about the game. The game just wasn't appealing to many people in the end. Hell, I bought the game, played it all the way through, and while it was good, it certainly wasn't great, and not even better than the first one. While I understand his disappointment, I'm sure he is not eating bread crumbs for dinner. I think his games are on the brink of success, all he has to do is tweak the formula a little bit. But alas he is headed to tinsel town, never to be heard of again.

Psychonauts is going to do worse than Oddworld Strangers did by the way.

[DrunkenThumbmaster]

Well I don't completely agree with you about Oddworld's marketing I do think part of the problem with the sales was the actual game. If you like shooters do you really want to play one set in the oddworld universe and if you are looking for the traditional platform and puzzler how would you fell with a game that is primarily a FPS. It's a catch 22 I guess.

Psychonaughts while it does look fun I want buy it for more than $20 and when it get's to that price I probably will get for $17 used but by that time Xbox2 (I refuse to call it Xbox360) and I might not ever play it.

[slade]

What does the harddrive have to do with Darkstalker's collection? You could just as easily burn the game and play it on your modded PS2.

[Fivespot]

Psychonauts is in my hands - I justed picked up my copy from Gamestop. Although the game looks to be great IMO, I still feel a slight obligation to invest my gaming $$ in a title that dares to fight the mainstream mediocrity. Similar to Oddworld as the Masked Gamer compared it to. I'd also put a few other titles in the same category - Voodoo Vince, Pikmin (although tinkering on mainstream), Panzer Dragoon Orta, Ikaruga.

I so desperately wish games like these would get more attention mainly in the form of gamers dollars. They should outsell Dynasty Warriors 18 & EA James Bond CopyDome, etc... But they don't - not even close.

I, for one, did my part and pre-ordered Psychonauts. I also jump on the large games like most people; Halo2, Forza, Madden, etc. yet have to make my way to the smaller, unnoticed titles that go out of their way to be different, original, and creative.

If only more publishers in the movie biz would do the same - maybe I'd actually care to see a new movie. But its all re-hashed crap (with some exceptions of course).

My gaming dollars will help if only a little. I don't want vids turning into Hollywood. Its much more a diversion for me when its unique and different. Plus Psychonauts is psychedelic as well (gotta love that).

[ThaMaskedGamer]

I wanna play Psychonauts but I know if I buy it, it will just sit there. I just will not have an opportunity to play that game, probably until after summer. At that point, i'll be catching up on Jade Empire. I think this is what happens when there are too many good games out at once. And this is also what happens when you release great games during the summer/spring months, too many competing interests. I've been gaming too much these last few months, way too much. I finished Star War Republic Commando, Brothers In Arms, Splinter Cell CT, and i'm almost done with Close Combat, and working on Doom3, this all in the space of about 2 months, plus i've been online. I'm actually getting fatigued of games. So once Forza comes out, it will be 90% Forza and 10% SC:CT. I feel bad cause i'm not supporting Bioware and not even thinking about Psychonauts, two titles and genres that really need the support of the XBOX community, especially if we want these kinds of games on the next system. But, the timing is just bad.

[Fivespot]

I hear ya - I also never have enough time to play all the games I want to or enough time with the games I own.

I clammor for the days when I was 12 or so and had every day from 3:30pm until bedtime to play vids. Little to no responsibility except for beating Mike Tyson in Punch Out or finding all the warps in Super Mario Brothers. I enjoyed those days so much that my parents held the Nintendo over my head for punishments, eating all my vegetables, etc...

Now my wife does the same thing (just kidding).

In all seriousness, I fired up Psychonauts for an hour last night and came away very pleased. Its too premature for me to offer any sort of a review, but its the most fun I've had playing a platformer since the early days. The training/obstacle course is fantastic including tight rope walking, trapeze, and other high flying / high altitude jumping (platforming). I was so immersed in playing that when Raz (main character) fell from a high height - it felt like I actually fell. If you lived near me you would have heard many Oooh's and Ahh's coming from my crib.

[ThaMaskedGamer]

I hear ya - I also never have enough time to play all the games I want to or enough time with the games I own.

I clammor for the days when I was 12 or so and had every day from 3:30pm until bedtime to play vids. Little to no responsibility except for beating Mike Tyson in Punch Out or finding all the warps in Super Mario Brothers. I enjoyed those days so much that my parents held the Nintendo over my head for punishments, eating all my vegetables, etc...

Now my wife does the same thing (just kidding).

In all seriousness, I fired up Psychonauts for an hour last night and came away very pleased. Its too premature for me to offer any sort of a review, but its the most fun I've had playing a platformer since the early days. The training/obstacle course is fantastic including tight rope walking, trapeze, and other high flying / high altitude jumping (platforming). I was so immersed in playing that when Raz (main character) fell from a high height - it felt like I actually fell. If you lived near me you would have heard many Oooh's and Ahh's coming from my crib.


Well I saw the commercial for the game today and came away very impressed. The game looked completely bizarre and original. It prompted me to read the Gamespot review, simply cause I knew they'd be the most critical. I came away more impressed. They said the game is completely different from level to level, completely original. A lot of characters in the game. Another thing I like is they said the game is not too hard, which hopefully means there won't be any insane platform jumping anywhere, which I can not stomach anymore.

I may have to find a way to sneak this game into my schedule. Hell, I should trade in Doom3 tonight for it, and finish Psychonauts before Forza comes out. I am not feelin' Doom3 and its getting to the point where it isn't fun to finish, it just feels like a chore. Nothing is surprising me, nothing is impressing me, and it is beyond boring.

[Wan-Fu]

Well I saw the commercial for the game today and came away very impressed. The game looked completely bizarre and original. It prompted me to read the Gamespot review, simply cause I knew they'd be the most critical. I came away more impressed. They said the game is completely different from level to level, completely original. A lot of characters in the game. Another thing I like is they said the game is not too hard, which hopefully means there won't be any insane platform jumping anywhere, which I can not stomach anymore.

I may have to find a way to sneak this game into my schedule. Hell, I should trade in Doom3 tonight for it, and finish Psychonauts before Forza comes out. I am not feelin' Doom3 and its getting to the point where it isn't fun to finish, it just feels like a chore. Nothing is surprising me, nothing is impressing me, and it is beyond boring.

Doom 3 is definitely getting traded as soon as I beat it. I couldn't agree more. I actually enjoyed Killzone more than Doom 3. There are way too many XBOX games to play now and it is driving me crazy. Psychonauts seems like a good breather from the whine of a reloading plasma rifle or the cha-chick of rackin the shotgun. Xbots need these Gadfly moments to recapture our platforming love lost!

[Fivespot]

I traded my copy already. With all the great games coming out and so little time - it was an obvious personal gaming choice.

Ironically, the gal I traded it to (@ GS) said it was the 4th she received that day! She said they're coming in pretty dang fast. Sounds like we're not in the minority.

[Darwin]

That's too bad ya'll can't enjoy Doom 3 on the level that I am. I actually find the game to be very intense and can only play a few levels per sitting. I got into the first Hell level today, and man did they ramp up the difficulty or what?!

On another note ... Unreal Championship 2 .... fun game ... steeeep learning curve ... bots are kicking the shiznight out of me even on the second lowest diffculty level. Definitely more complex than Unreal Championship 1, and even more complex than Halo 2 for that matter.

[Gadfly2317]

The Ps2 version got bumped back to June for additional polishing. No problemo. . . I breathed a sigh of relief; after GT4, God of War, Paper Mario (still unfinished) 4 PsP games w/ 2 on the way, and a brand new DS game (polarium) I need something to get bumped.

This looks to put Psychonauts out sometime near Killer 7 if all releases hold.

Letting go of any system, you're gonna sorta miss it. But I'm still feeling it was absolutely the right decision to drop the Xbox to fund my PsP purchase. Psychonauts was one of the last Xbox titles I wanted to play, and while it will no doubt look prettier on the Xbox, it will still look sweet and play well. If Psychonauts hadn't gone multiplat, I WOULD have held onto my xbox a little longer.

Currently, in a transitory state w/ TV and consoles packed up to move, and so I'm doubly glad for the PsP and DS. Especially PsP right now. . . puts on a good porn slide show,and it gets the console fix while the DS gets my niche and twitch on.

[DrunkenThumbmaster]

I had the game in my hand the other day. I went to pick up Jade Empire and the clerk almost sold me on Psychonaughts but I put it back and picked up Xmen legends along with Jade Empire. Psychonaughts seems cool the demo was fun but I'm not compelled plus I think the game is going to flop commercially and I can get it later for cheap.

After all the good feedback Xmen legends was getting on the net (this board and others) I decided to go ahead and pick up a used copy plus it's multiplayer.

Jade so far is cool the story starts off typical (burned village is the newest cliche in gaming I guess).

[shogun]

It's good to see people enjoying Psychonauts. I might just bite the bullet and nab it while it's $50. So many brilliant games go unbought early on. Buying a game when it's cheap is no way to support a game company. Why not buy the struggling games first, then buy the blockbusters when they're cheap? It's not like a million other people won't pick up Jade Empire and pick up your slack...

If more people had bought Stranger's Wrath instead of waiting for it to be $20, maybe Oddworld Inhabitants wouldn't have gone under...Between them and UGA, I'm getting nervous.

[Mochan]

Doom 3 is a boring game. And I played the PC version, not the XBox version.

[DrunkenThumbmaster]

It's good to see people enjoying Psychonauts. I might just bite the bullet and nab it while it's $50. So many brilliant games go unbought early on. Buying a game when it's cheap is no way to support a game company. Why not buy the struggling games first, then buy the blockbusters when they're cheap? It's not like a million other people won't pick up Jade Empire and pick up your slack...

If more people had bought Stranger's Wrath instead of waiting for it to be $20, maybe Oddworld Inhabitants wouldn't have gone under...Between them and UGA, I'm getting nervous.

The reason I'm not going to buy Psychonauts now is because, why I do think the game looks decent. It doesn't really seem all that compelling It's another double jump booty bump platformer. Yeah it's imaginative it looks funny but the gameplay is same ole been there done that. I played the demo (which is kind of long) and while fun it's nothing I haven't done a hundred times before just a different coat of wax. And normally that's not much of a problem for me but it's in genre that I feel so so about. In the demo it even had a variation of the collect a hundred coins theme from the old mario games. Plus when you look at all the reviews when the take the time to actually talk about the gameplay they all say that it's old hat a hat that I'm not that fond of anymore. I'm not one to buy games for good stories because frankly even the best videogame stories aren't that good. And all the other things Psychonaughts is getting praised for is just Icing on a burnt(out) cake in my book. Oddworld to me always had compelling gameplay (more so in the platformer/puzzler version of the game) so that's why I always enjoyed that series.The story and the characters added to the gameplay they didn't take precedent over it. The gameplay in Psychonaughts from what I've played and read just doesn't compell me that much. I'm slighley interested but there are other games I would rather play right now (Jade Empire)and spend $50 on.

Also I don't feel any need to support developers just to be supporting them. They have to earn my money I don't care how different or unique a game is if I don't like it I won't support it and when I play it I won't give it any "points" for being unique. I hated ICO I think Beyond Good and Evil desereved to flop neither to me were worth more than $20 bucks and why in the hell was BG&E was released at christmas I'll never know. I kind of see Psychonaughts like the new BG&E a decent to average game with a lot of character that doesn't hit it big with the mainstream so the internet gaming snobs (which this board is mostly consist of) praising it and making it something more than it is. But I haven't played the game so when and if I ever get around to it I may change my tune and be pleasently suprised if not oh well.

I'm not one to judge what somebody spends there money on (unless they spend hundres of dollars on something trade it in for pennies come to this board confess about it then go out and by it over again to do the same thing). People like what they like it's not that serious to me it's just videogames! They are fun though :D

[ThaMaskedGamer]

I had the game in my hand the other day. I went to pick up Jade Empire and the clerk almost sold me on Psychonaughts but I put it back and picked up Xmen legends along with Jade Empire. Psychonaughts seems cool the demo was fun but I'm not compelled plus I think the game is going to flop commercially and I can get it later for cheap.

After all the good feedback Xmen legends was getting on the net (this board and others) I decided to go ahead and pick up a used copy plus it's multiplayer.

Jade so far is cool the story starts off typical (burned village is the newest cliche in gaming I guess).

Was a very impressive game, you won't be sorry. I chose that over Fable and felt it was great decision. I don't care it wasnt exclusive, enjoy. JE is starting to scare me with its simplicity compared to past bioware games. I won't feel bad if I skip it, hell I've more than supported bioware since day one. I'm not mad they are kinda selling out, they are jus reaching out to a more diverse fan base. I'm sure one day soon they will bring it back home with something intense.

[ThaMaskedGamer]

It's good to see people enjoying Psychonauts. I might just bite the bullet and nab it while it's $50. So many brilliant games go unbought early on. Buying a game when it's cheap is no way to support a game company. Why not buy the struggling games first, then buy the blockbusters when they're cheap? It's not like a million other people won't pick up Jade Empire and pick up your slack...

If more people had bought Stranger's Wrath instead of waiting for it to be $20, maybe Oddworld Inhabitants wouldn't have gone under...Between them and UGA, I'm getting nervous.

You know the first Oddworld on XBOX debuted with some heavy hitting games, Halo, DOA3, Project Gotham. When people are buying a new console, no matter how many good games there are, most won't be able to afford more than three. So between those games and Madden and Fever, and SSX, I kinda think Oddworld got lost in the shuffle. But, I think over time many many people played this game in one way or another(used, rental, etc). I think everybody were familiar with Abe and Munche. So now Lanning comes along with Stranger, and just because its called Oddworld, well it wasn't Oddworld. And ironically, going away from Abe and Munche probably doomed the title, even though it was an attempt to make it more popular, by making it a fps. I bought the game and though it was good, and it got great near the end levels. It still wasn't as good as Oddessey, it wasn't as smart or funny, or different like that game was. I always thought with the sequel having 2 person cooperative play online with Abe and Munche would have been a runaway hit, and also supporting cooperative play offline.

[ThaMaskedGamer]

Doom 3 is a boring game. And I played the PC version, not the XBox version.

I completely totally agree. Its just a boring game, and it has NOTHING to do with the fact it is the XBOX version. It has nothing to do with graphics or framerates or anything. I feel Carmack went halfway with the game. He claimed to be shooting for terror, and he went halfway between terror and twitch shooter, and it doesn't work with me. With terror I think there needs to be some level of believability. The most terrifying thing to me seems to be why this one Marine is so damn bad that he takes on powerful monsters, fireballs, gun fire, even missiles, and survives. And the silly thing is these monsters can take shotgun blasts one time, even two times, but the third time they magically disappear. I mean has Id ever heard of the HAVOK physics engine? They said the game was slow paced one monster at a time running for your life. I would have liked to have seen a monster running after you and a shotgun blast rip off its leg or do some kind of incremental damage, to make it believable that you can escape. I woulda liked to have seen the Marine fleeing, closing off areas, etc. And what about the other marines. How about showing them fighting as a team, albeit a losing team, but at least show it, depict the marines in combat. Instead, you get one or two scientist, just walking around, unarmed completely safe. And I'm sorry, hell's minions using firearms is just not convincing. And why the need for cheap tactics like phasing in one or two or 4 enemies all around you, that isn't terrifying its dumb. I've already been over the environment and lack of NPC etc. Maybe my expectations were too high. Silly me.

[Glockstar]

Psychonauts is in my hands - I justed picked up my copy from Gamestop. Although the game looks to be great IMO, I still feel a slight obligation to invest my gaming $$ in a title that dares to fight the mainstream mediocrity. Similar to Oddworld as the Masked Gamer compared it to. I'd also put a few other titles in the same category - Voodoo Vince, Pikmin (although tinkering on mainstream), Panzer Dragoon Orta, Ikaruga.

I so desperately wish games like these would get more attention mainly in the form of gamers dollars. They should outsell Dynasty Warriors 18 & EA James Bond CopyDome, etc... But they don't - not even close.

I, for one, did my part and pre-ordered Psychonauts. I also jump on the large games like most people; Halo2, Forza, Madden, etc. yet have to make my way to the smaller, unnoticed titles that go out of their way to be different, original, and creative.

If only more publishers in the movie biz would do the same - maybe I'd actually care to see a new movie. But its all re-hashed crap (with some exceptions of course).

My gaming dollars will help if only a little. I don't want vids turning into Hollywood. Its much more a diversion for me when its unique and different. Plus Psychonauts is psychedelic as well (gotta love that).

Excellent post, Fiver. It brought a right tear to my eye.



Now, I'd be a hypocrite if I didn't say that Psychonauts is not a $50 game. I've been on a "value" kick for a long while, and have bashed a whole bunch of games for coming out at $50 when they clearly shouldn't be (like God of War and The Bards Tale). And... well... though it pains me to say this, Psychonauts does not seem like a game worth $50. Not when it: is just single-player only, can probably be beaten in less than 15 hours, probably won't have a much replay value, and is virtually featureless (as in, it doesn't have any downloadable content coming, doesn't support HDTV, isn't Live Aware, doesn't include any making-of featurettes, etc.)

But at the same time, it'd also be hypocritical of me to not put my money where my mouth is. I'm probably one of the most vocal people here when it comes to rally-crying - especially when it comes to the little man (i.e. the inventive/artistic/creative/original/maverick/pioneer) versus the big monster (i.e. EA).

Well, can't call me a hypocrite in this instance; I've now done both. I've said my piece... and I've bought the game.

And please know that I'm a lot gladder for the latter. Having played the demo, I'm pretty danged confident that Psychonauts will be a heck of game. It looks good; it plays good; it's funny; it's trippy; it's heady... I just know I'm going to love playing it.

But I'm also actually pretty happy to have given my hard earned $50 up for it. Especially in this case. Especially when I did not get to support Strangers Wrath or Alien Hominid (or even Burnout 3). I'm glad I finally get a chance to tell the little guys (and that goes double here, in this case, because it's not just Tim Schafer's Double Fine studio, it's also Majesco) I appreciate the games that they are making.

And you hit it Fiver, the two biggest ways to convey that message are:
1) buy the game early - like when its in its first week of sales
2) pre-order the game

[Mochan]

Well, I do say it's quite boring but that's because it was rather repetitive. It's not necessarily a bad game, and it definitely manages to create an intense atmosphere and although I say it's boring, it does get my blood up and rushing and the adrenaline pumping.

But... it keeps doing it over and over with the same tricks. It did get quite boring after a while though I do intend to go back and play it through. The terror is there but I usually get afraid because I can't see my enemy since I have to put my flashlight down when I bring my gun out, somehow it didn't scare me the same way System Shock or even Undying and Thief did.