E60 to spend, what to buy

Damien360

I have 60 quids worth of Xtravision credit and GTAIV for more credit to spend in the next week. I currently have GTAIV, FIFA08, Burnout Paradise (for the young lad) and am trying to decide what to buy.

I could'nt care less about online games as I rarely get enough time to dedicate hours to this. Quick games appeal to me, like quick COD4 matches. Single player quality comes first.

I am considering

1. Battlefield (had COD4 on 360 and liked it - not sure about the Battlefield demo, did'nt draw me in)

2. MGS4 - lots of hype but needs to be a big leap ahead of last one to get my attention. Been there done that, if you know what I mean.

3. Bejing 2008 - sport games last for ages but do you really need 2 players or online to get enjoyment. Not sure I can persuade wife to play and may need to buy second controller if 2 player at same time.

Love car games but had Forza 2 on 360 and loved it. Even GRID demo did not compare. The game needs to have some life in it, for example, not to be finished in 10 hours gameplay.

Any other good games considered.

Nailz

Sir, MGS4, all the way.

Mossy Monk

Nailz wrote: »

Sir, MGS4, all the way.

What he said.

newballsplease

do NOT get bejing 2008. its crap. unless ur playing with a load of your mates its ok. but gets very old fast.

guil

Mossy Monk wrote: »

What he said.

i bought mgs4 played the training thing and then traded it in, i bought civilisation revolution at the weekend and its a great game, well worth the money

Nailz

guil07 wrote: »

i bought mgs4 played the training thing and then traded it in, i bought civilisation revolution at the weekend and its a great game, well worth the money

You sir, are mad!

Good man MM.

guil

maybe ?, i never liked the mgs games, dunno why just never played them

Nailz

Well how do you know you don't like them if you've never played them??
Give them a chance, you'll like it if you do, but don't start a MGS4 if that's the case. Buy this. It's worth it. Work your way up, then buy MGS4. You'll need plenty of spear time though!

Damien360

Cheers folks.

Looks like it is MGS4. Might rent out the Bejing game to pass a night away.

noodler

Nailz wrote: »

Well how do you know you don't like them if you've never played them??
Give them a chance, you'll like it if you do, but don't start a MGS4 if that's the case. Buy this. It's worth it. Work your way up, then buy MGS4. You'll need plenty of spear time though!

They didn't release that for PAL did they?

newballsplease

Damien360 wrote: »

Cheers folks.

Looks like it is MGS4. Might rent out the Bejing game to pass a night away.

have the plasters ready for your fingers(their in for a bashing)!!:D

ravydavygravy

newballsplease wrote: »

have the plasters ready for your fingers(their in for a bashing)!!:D

Because MGS is all about button bashing?

Anyway, I'll play devils advocate, and suggest you don't buy MGS4 -if you haven't played MGS, you'll find this a bit tedious with all the cut scenes (which are mostly designed to appeal to fans of the series). Also, the game time is quite short - you'll play through in 6-7 hours, once you skip the movies. Expect the same again in cut scenes....

No, don't get me wrong, I love MGS, and I liked this one, but nowhere near as much as previous games. I played through a second time just to see how much of the game was movies, no other reason.

I'd recommend Grid, if you can deal with the handling - I've been playing it for a few weeks now, and it'll take me a few more to unlock all the events.

Dave

nedd

ravydavygravy wrote: »

Because MGS is all about button bashing

i think he means Beijing is button bashing

dazftw

Yea I can recommend MGS aswell bought a ps3 for the game!!

newballsplease

nedd wrote: »

i think he means Beijing is button bashing

yes i was......

nealmac

I'll say MGS4 too. It's impossible to be disappointed with it.

Also, don't get "Lost". It's sh*te.

DeVore

If you loved Forza on the Xbox, consider Gran Tourismo Prologue for the PS3. Its a "demo" but dont be put off by that, its got more play then many games! It should set you back 30/35 euro so its cheap and its gorgeous. Its a great racer which you can drop into and out of and should take you weeks to finish (it gets bloody hard when you reach the 5 license level!).

GRID is one game I also didnt like when I played its demo. Curiously the full game is actually a lot better (what is it with demos painting the full game in a bad light, I've played several now!). I'm still undecided about it but it is certainly different and also a bit inventive but its a bit tricky to learn the driving (the cars are hard to control at times!).

Civ Rev is a great game but its complex so your young lad might not get much from it. Its like a big board game. I love it but thats something to consider.

Star Wars Lego is a great game for dropping in and out of. Your son will love it I'm sure and its so much fun you'll love it too! Its huge and great value for money and you can drop in and out of it easily enough. Indiana Jones Lego is great too!

I loved SKATE too, its a great great game. Slick, fun and the video editing system is a real source of fun too. If you have any interest in that sort of thing, pick it up, its days and days of fun and replay value galore.

DeV.

nealmac

DeVore wrote: »

If you loved Forza on the Xbox, consider Gran Tourismo Prologue for the PS3. Its a "demo" but dont be put off by that, its got more play then many games! It should set you back 30/35 euro so its cheap and its gorgeous. Its a great racer which you can drop into and out of and should take you weeks to finish (it gets bloody hard when you reach the 5 license level!).

Good or not, it's still a glorified demo, and it's scandalous that we're being made pay 35 quid for it, when the full release is only a year (or less) away. I love the GT series, and it's the most realistic driving simulator you can get, but I think Polyphonic Digital are pushing it too far.

WarZoneBrother

Mossy Monk wrote: »

What he said.

what both those guys said (quote from semi-pro)

eggplantman

id buy mgs1:)

Ste05

MGS4 is amazing, I played some of the previous games but didn't finish any of them and wasn't mad into the story line, but MGS4 is just amazing. Spend about an hour reading up on the story line, (google) and you'll be fine (just pause a cut scene if you get confused and google whatever character is on for an explanation and you'll be fine), but even without being mad into the previous games and storyline it's still one of, if not the best game I've ever played in my life.

noodler

u can pause the cut scenes? Sweet

Damien360

DeVore wrote: »

If you loved Forza on the Xbox, consider Gran Tourismo Prologue for the PS3. Its a "demo" but dont be put off by that, its got more play then many games! It should set you back 30/35 euro so its cheap and its gorgeous. Its a great racer which you can drop into and out of and should take you weeks to finish (it gets bloody hard when you reach the 5 license level!).

GRID is one game I also didnt like when I played its demo. Curiously the full game is actually a lot better (what is it with demos painting the full game in a bad light, I've played several now!). I'm still undecided about it but it is certainly different and also a bit inventive but its a bit tricky to learn the driving (the cars are hard to control at times!).

Civ Rev is a great game but its complex so your young lad might not get much from it. Its like a big board game. I love it but thats something to consider.

Star Wars Lego is a great game for dropping in and out of. Your son will love it I'm sure and its so much fun you'll love it too! Its huge and great value for money and you can drop in and out of it easily enough. Indiana Jones Lego is great too!

I loved SKATE too, its a great great game. Slick, fun and the video editing system is a real source of fun too. If you have any interest in that sort of thing, pick it up, its days and days of fun and replay value galore.

DeV.

Fantastic info here. I bought MGS4 for myself and traded GTAIV for 35 in Xtravision + a voucher for a fiver, leaving me 40 to spend at my leisure.

Young lad loves Paradise City and although he is 4 years old, he is not bad at it. Tried getting him in to the Star Wars movies but the effects did'nt draw him in at all so I am not sure the game will do it. I keep reading that it is a great game for a laugh when you know the story.

Skate is one he might like and I have seen them second hand in Xtra.

You guessed right on Gran Turismo. I bought the PS2 for the GT3 many moons ago and GT4 was just a copy of that. I avoided GT5 because it is not a full game. No price drop second hand on this at all anywhere. Lowest is 35.

Varik

it's not a full Gran Turismo game but has more than some other titles if it came out under another name it be a full game

get mgs4

Nailz

WarZoneBrother wrote: »

what both those guys said (quote from semi-pro)

LOL.

grames_bond

guil07 wrote: »

i bought mgs4 played the training thing and then traded it in

i think i bough that one, perfect condition, not even a thumb print on it and i got €20 off, happy days! it is a brilliant game! defo 100% reccommend it!

DeVore

We definitely got our 35 yoyos worth from Prolog. Nice hard challenges. If your son likes Paradise city, I would say he'll like GRID a lot too, its a very "arcadey" racer (just buy a new car as soon as you can, the initial one is a crock!).

Star wars is lots of fun if you know the storyline but he might be a bit young for it.

i'd say either GRID, GT5 Prologue or Skate , with the latter probably being the most fun but a bit tricky.


By the way, dont listen to the nutters who say kids shouldnt play games, in moderation game playing is a fantastic mental development tool and also can be the centre of a relationship between father and son when little else really can be imho.
Skill at computer games is now considered the #1 indicator for surgical skills believe it or not.

DeV.

James Forde

DeVore wrote: »

Skill at computer games is now considered the #1 indicator for surgical skills believe it or not.

DeV.

Really?? Links?

Nailz

DeVore wrote: »

Skill at computer games is now considered the #1 indicator for surgical skills believe it or not.

DeV.

Well accounting can fùck off then!!

DeVore

I'll try and find the link, but here's some others for light reading

http://www.youthevolutionsports.com/coordination.asp

This one references the report I was quoting but annoyingly the link from it is broken!!
http://otec.uoregon.edu/games.html

Rosser has been using video games to train doctors in laparoscopic surgery -- a minimally invasive surgery that uses miniature tools and fiberoptic cameras controlled by joysticks -- since 2001. Rosser has found that students who played video games for more than three hours in one week had 37 percent fewer errors during the procedure, and finished the operation 27 percent more quickly.

Laparoscopic surgery is performed on just about any part of the body, from an appendix to the colon and gall bladder.

"Video games were the determining factor -- more than years of experience, gender, dominant/non-dominant hand, all of that,"


DeV.

DeVore

Actually this google search should give you all the reference material you need:

http://www.google.ie/search?hl=en&safe=off&q=%22surgical%22+%22video+games%22+Rosser+&meta=


Results: Past video game play in excess of 3 h/wk correlated with 37% fewer errors (P<.02) and 27% faster completion (P<.03). Overall Top Gun score (time and errors) was 33% better (P<.005) for video game players and 42% better (P<.01) if they played more than 3 h/wk. Current video game players made 32% fewer errors (P=.04), performed 24% faster (P<.04), and scored 26% better overall (time and errors) (P<.005) than their nonplaying colleagues. When comparing demonstrated video gaming skills, those in the top tertile made 47% fewer errors, performed 39% faster, and scored 41% better (P<.001 for all) on the overall Top Gun score. Regression analysis also indicated that video game skill and past video game experience are significant predictors of demonstrated laparoscopic skills.

Conclusions: Video game skill correlates with laparoscopic surgical skills. Training curricula that include video games may help thin the technical interface between surgeons and screen-mediated applications, such as laparoscopic surgery. Video games may be a practical teaching tool to help train surgeons.



DeV.

noodler

My lord they stata anything alright, the low t-stats do indicate statistical significance alright.

Damien360

DeVore wrote: »

By the way, dont listen to the nutters who say kids shouldnt play games, in moderation game playing is a fantastic mental development tool and also can be the centre of a relationship between father and son when little else really can be imho.

DeV.

A careful choice of game is required for the young lad. His uncle has a 360 and was playing battlefield online with my lad watching. Uncle thought it was funny that he was so engrossed. Young fella had a sleepless night and so did we. He was dreaming that he was shooting people dead. Felt like beating the uncle to death next morning.

So far, car games are only allowed.

It has improved his hand eye coordination. Saw him playing Need for Speed on an old xbox and although it was his first game, he played like he knew the turns already.

My preference is to throw him outside for the evening to kick football. Wears him out and he sleeps like a log then !

muppetkiller

MGS is only 39.99 in the GAME sale and I also saw drakes fortune in there today for 19.99 ...get both

noodler

Damien360 wrote: »

A careful choice of game is required for the young lad. His uncle has a 360 and was playing battlefield online with my lad watching. Uncle thought it was funny that he was so engrossed. Young fella had a sleepless night and so did we. He was dreaming that he was shooting people dead. Felt like beating the uncle to death next morning.

So far, car games are only allowed.

It has improved his hand eye coordination. Saw him playing Need for Speed on an old xbox and although it was his first game, he played like he knew the turns already.

My preference is to throw him outside for the evening to kick football. Wears him out and he sleeps like a log then !

The balance is tough, theres no doubt. I was lucky as a child, played GAA for 7 years and loved football. The old chestnut of how youd play until you were dragged in by your mother etc. Even now, age 23, I still keep it up or even the gym when the season is off.

I'd say it must be tough for those kids who don't have the interest to begin with.

DeVore

Absolutely balance is important... games (preferably puzzle games in my opinion) are great for spatial relations and logical thinking. Every kid needs physical exercise so my 6 year old nephew (completely game-mad and only gets a challenge by beating lumps out of his uncle Tom) got a Wii and plays rugby and sprints.

The right kind of game is important too. You're son's uncle was well meaning but frankly, thick. "Reading" is good for kids too (statistically by far and away the best thing a parent can EVER do for their children is get them reading) .... but you don't start them off on Playboy!

DeV.

noodler

Yeah I read a fair bit as a child. Not so much educational stuff but when you are reading alot of Dahl, or Blyton the writing is of a decent technical standard so you are absorbing without even realising.

Reading can still be a chore (some reading) even if you have been brought up on books. I am still in college and still find it a bit of a chore to read articles etc sometimes.

DeVore

Have a read of a book called Freakonomics, the chapter on the impact of parents on their children is very good. Reading, even something parents might think of as a trashy, is a primary indicator of later success in life. Personally, I started off reading Dahl and Blyton as well as pulp fiction like The Three Investigators. The modern equivalent are the Harry Potter series (very well written in fact). Getting a head start absorbing information that way is great practise for school later on!

Dragging the topic back on track, I didnt mention Motosport which is a fun drive to with a wide variety of dirt track racing vehicles and bikes. Its very well done but I prefer track racing (like GT and Forza) rather then rallying. Colin McCrae's DIRT is supposed to be excellent too.

DeV.