GwiDan

i don't think Everything or Nothing is dull in the slightest really.

After the first level ends you get the title screen just like a Bond film and then the game proper kicks off with decent action packed levels full of cool Bond moments and decent gunplay.

In fact it's more Bond than Goldeneye even if Goldeneye is the better game.

EA games are all presentation and no substance, so you wouldn't expect anything less than authenticity, really. Goldeneye beats it to twelve shades of dullness on all levels; more than that, Goldeneye laid out the formula for all successors.

For what it's worth, games like Metroid Prime prove to me that we don't need a new generation of hardware for the next couple of years. I might be naive but I don't see how video games can look much better than this?

It's a shame that the next generation of consoles has to be released; I'm just as excited as the next man, but now developers have pushed current consoles as far as they'll go [probably], we might have started to see more developers focusing on what they can achieve gameplay-wise, with there being no more fancy lighting effects to be discovered. As an industry, we focus far too much on the future and not nearly enough on what we already have; more often that not, that future doesn't live up to our expectations. How is this good?

Nightfire and more importantly Everything or Nothing say you're wrong.

Those games are fine if you're looking for dull, predictable 5/10 gaming. Goldeneye was a proper game with a Bond license slapped on for good measure; EA sell their games on the Bond license alone - not merit.

How could any Bond fan not want to run around areas from the classic films?

Because EA are making it. Remember Medal of Honor? Swap your camoflague with a tuxedo, and that's an EA Bond game. EA don't make quality games - they make lukewarm, braindead, easily completable titles that the player finishes before realising he's just been conned out of £40, helped by the EA bandwagon coming around again with the sequel to stop him from replaying the original and being struck by its crapness.

You blame the parents?.

So what happen when its someone of your family looking after the child and takes them to a shop?

Fact remains that many parents are blaise when it comes to games because their still stereotyped as kiddie entertainment.

In that case, the member of the family looking after the child should be responsible enough to ask the parent before buying a clearly labelled 18-rated game for a kid. Do adults need to be led by the hand? Do they really need the government to put a "GAMING KILLS" sticker, or some other hyperbolical label on all cases just to get people to pay attention to the age rating?

Parents need to take responsibility for their own actions instead of blaming anyone they can make a scapegoat of.

I mean why doesn't anyone talk about Mario 64 or Goldeneye in these 'mainstream' articles?

The Nintendo GameCube is aimed at a significantly younger sector.

Swap Gamecube with N64 and there's your answer, in a classic mainstream line. Anything Nintendo is always regarded as being for kids, so they'll leave 'The Beano' to discuss any games made for said consoles while the big boys talk about Manhunt.

Why didn't the cover go to one of the more adult oriented magazines, like Edge for example. Edge is the kind of magazine a young teenager will have no interest in whatsoever, thus stopping said teenager from being targetted without implementing any kind of law. It is morally irresponsible to shove an 18 rated game in the faces of children, no matter how often the age restriction is made clear. If you can kill people, steal cars, and kill more people - kids are going to want it, and if they want it, they'll get their parents to buy it. Fine you may think, parents know best for their kids.

Do they really?

You really think there'll only be a couple of launch titles for DS? A console launch can be a very successful period for game sales - everyone needs a game with a new console, right? I'd have thought EA and chums would jump in with something, just to take advantage of nonexistent competition.

The World Is Not Enough wasn't too bad...

I think that was made by Eurocom and the others by an in-huuse EA team, right?

It's going to be pap. What's to seperate this from the crapness of the other EA Bond titles?

If you put £40 of faith in a magazine reviewer, then ask yourself whether you can trust someone who is paid to write. If he's an honest and good reviewer, then the public might not like what he says, leading to a loss of sales, and possibly his job. Extreme example, of course, but not wholly unrealistic I'll bet.

It does worry me that this is the start of a 'massive campaign'. At least those were their intentions.

You aren't wrong.

According to Gamespress...

THE GORILLAS GO BANANAS!

Witness the World's Biggest 'Gorilla Marketing' Stunt

DATE: Wednesday 13th October 2004

PLACE: Trafalgar Square (by Nelsons Column)

TIME: 10:00am until the police move us on!

You've seen 30,000 bananas in a pile, and 500 city types having a pillow fight, but we promise that you haven't seen everything...yet!

On Wednesday 13th October the world's biggest 'Gorilla Marketing' stunt will take place. Fifty of Donkey Kong's closest sapien pals will converge on Trafalgar Square at 10am to show their support as their famous friend launches his brand new game, Donkey Konga on the Nintendo GameCube.

A group of gorillas is called a band, and this particular band will be wreaking havoc as they monkey around playing bongos and dance a conga line through the streets of London. Donkey Kong has assured us he is more than happy to pose for photos and give interviews, although these will be with the assistance of his translator, to ensure his grunts aren't misquoted in the British press.

Yet more superb marketing by Nintendo. How will grown men in gorilla suits sell this game to the public?

It really does make a massive difference. I've played in both PLII and 5.1 and in 5.1 the sound is much clearer, miles better separation in the channels, and just generally better.

If you're anywhere near Leeds feel free to drop in to hear the difference

Thanks for the offer, but Leeds is a bit too far from Wales, really. I suppose £20 isn't much for crystal clear skull-shattering.

Isn't there a cheesy new Ghostbusters series with the crappest "stars" they could pick out from a police lineup being made? EA might pick up the license and turn it into 'Ghostbusters: Luigi's Mansion by Numbers". Great.

Setting the whole thing up, however, certainly is not. I was left weeping on my knees with 10 miles of speaker wire and a screw driver.

I know the feeling, I nearly smashed my setup into a million pieces after finally setting it up. Wiring a room neatly is not fun.

Is Halo's 5.1 option good enough to warrant spending £20 on the Advanced SCART? I'm using PLII now, and I'm not sure I'm bothered about it enough to upgrade.

Huh?

Skedar homeworld, crappest level in a game ever.

You have some fair points - maybe Rare should redo it on a more capable console (that's if they ever get round to releasing another game).

Or when you',re rolling into a morph ball. Or when you see your reflection. And on the pause menu...if they keep that feature.

Samus should have a "makeup bag with mirror" arm attachment just so you can see the suit. It's plausible that she'd want to put the slap on after getting covered in gunge, so why not?

I got hours and hours of fun and pleasure from Perfect Dark. It was awesome

What was awesome about it? The invisible Skedar trying to stab you in the back or the grating framerate? Rare tried to add way too many features to the game and lost any kind of focus like they had in Goldeneye in the process. It did have one saving grace, though - Area 51 and the G5 building were pretty sweet levels.

So halfway through the game I'm finding that all solutions are similar to what I've seen before.

Deus Ex's problem is that it was too long. Had it been condensed into a neater package, you wouldn't have had the time to notice every set-piece is identical, and it would have been a better game for it.

Okay I might have sounded sarcastic but I really think there's a point here. Imagine being able to sneak around buildings all day at home on your console'; don't you think it'd make you a better criminal?

Would you ban MS Flight Simulator (for reasons other than being deadly boring)?

Sounds like something the Daily Mail would come up with.

Slightly on a tangent, a genre I wouldn't ban is survival horror, as they teach you essential survival techniques for when trapped in a zombie infested mansion. Just remember to pack the lighter fluid.

Perfect Dark. It was better than Goldeneye in every way, except it wasn't any fun.

Maybe they'll rename themselves "Official Edge Mag" and put a demo on the cover in a bid to lose their elitist image.

Is it a Samba de Amigo beater?

Didn't their inability to play against non-journos limit their ability to review the Live component?

Was there ever Live compatability, or did the developers "promise" it'll be in the game and working great when it's on full release. Why couldn't they just be honest and admit they haven't played the Live mode that's been promised so can't comment on it. It's a review, not a meant-to-be-optimistic preview.