partious

Cried at the end of Shemue - not a big old blubbering cry, just a few tears as the ship sales off into the distance, the music soars and the opening voiceover/narration comes on to the soundtrack. One of those real goosebump moments, as though you've lived through the first chapter of an epic story with a strong anticipation of what happens next.

Finished it again before I played Shenmue 2 and it had exactly the same effect second time, although I really wasn't expecting it.

This post applies to me 100% too. Thanks for saving me the bother of typing it up

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. I'm working my way through them, and I'm liking a lot of what I hear. Keep em coming!

So, I'm sitting here listening to an Erik Satie cd and I start thinking "this is really great, I want to listen to more stuff like this" The problem is, I don't really know where to start, I have pretty much no knowledge when it comes to that type of music. The type of thing I'm looking for is slow, relaxing, tranquil piano music. Other things which may be similar include, Clair de Lune and Moonlight Sonata. Would a compilation of Beethoven or Debussy piano songs be a good place to start? All recommendations greatly appreciated! Thanks.

Is Vala a regular character now, then? She was with the rest of the cast on the front of SFX...

She and Ben Bowder should never be seperated.

Sadly I think she is.

Didn't think much of the new episodes to be honest, SG-1 in particular. Atlantis was better, but still nothing special.

No, Shadow of a Doubt is great. I guess it's quite understated compared with a lot of his more famous ones though, I think that's part of what I like about it. It doesn't seem that far fetched.

Agreed, add my name to the "Shadow of A Doubt is great" list.

Oh, "Audition" changed my world, too, in that it disturbed me to such a degree that I couldn't sleep in the dark for 18 months and despite having watched it three times since, I've never watched the gimp scene again.

I bought that movie about a year ago and haven't watched it, because I'm afraid to. Maybe I should though.

Come on, you're being as bad as him if you start with that. It's not like people are necessarily listing the films they consider the best here, it's as subjective as it gets. Although it'd be nice to get some reasons for the choices rather than just lists.

Yeah, you're right. I noticed that about 1 second after I posted that, but sadly, it was too late. People pointing out to others how shit their taste in movies or whatever is, is one of my pet hates in real life, I can't stand it, so I y'know, regret being a hypocrite and all that.

I have a terrible confession to make.

I've never seen any Hitchcock films, ever. With one exception: Rear Window, which I saw today.

And Rear Window surprised me. It surprised me by not 'thrilling' me even once. Which I can't understand, as I get scared far too easily normally that I can't watch most thrillers without cowering like a girl at some point. I'd say something's either wrong with me or the film, and judging by the unanimous praise it's getting here, I'll have to assume it's me. It's just, it all seemed so, well, contrived. I loved the way in which the viewers perspective (until the end at least) was always taken from within the one room, and I liked the little somethings that were always going on in the unimportant characters' rooms (and the way the piano player's music composition went along with the plot), but the actual brunt of the story: the murder and suspicion/investigation, plus the romance between the two main characters, just didn't do anything for me at all. The latter possibly not helped by the main actor's voice, which I found hard to take seriously.

So, er, what did I miss?

Edit: just noticed partious seemse to have suffered a similar fate to me (hey, I'm tired, I'm allowed to not notice series of posts, right?). Sucks to be us, eh?

Still, Frenzy sounds good. Might watch that if I get the chance. Not the Birds though, even the idea of it scares me, so I imagine I'd be watching large portions of it through the gaps between my fingers, which is no way to enjoy a film.

Edit: and Rope seems worth a watch too. And I don't even know what it's about.

While it's nice to find someone else who didn't get what all the fuss is about, I can't possibly allow myself to be associated with a person who says that he found it hard to take Jimmy Stewarts voice seriously Just kidding of course, but you'd better sort that out, or you'll go through life unable to enjoy some of the greatest movies ever, ie, Vertigo, Harvey, It's a Wonderful Life, The Philadelphia Story, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance and a ton of lesser but still really good movies, including Rope, which would be a massive, massive shame.

Rear window didnt do much for you that IS shocking

I honestly think you are the first person ive ever met who wasnt impressed.

Heh, I know, I wanted to like it, i really did! I thought it was well made and technically impressive and all that, but I just found it pretty boring. I know that's a pretty unconventional opinion. I wouldn't go around saying "Rear Window is shit" as it clearly isn't, but I'd be lying if I said it did anything for me.

the birds is actually one of my least favourite Hitchcock movies. Along with strangers on a train (so contrived) and Psycho (just cos its done to death). Still great movies of course, but not a patch on some of the heavyweights.

ROPE!

I agree about the birds, it was just silly, the plot was pretty much non existant, but it was mostly just the fact that it was incredibly stupid that I didn't like. It's one of my least favourite Hitchcock movies, along with the remake of The Man Who Knew Too Much, such a bad movie, not least because of that song, I think I especially disliked it because of the fact that Jimmy Stewart was in it, and most of his movies are great. Another Hitchcock movie I didn't like was Suspicion, not so much due to the majority of the movie, but more because it has simply one of the most atrocious cop out endings of any movie I've ever seen. Mr and Mrs Smith sucked too.

My favourites are probably Vertigo, Rebecca, Rope, North By Northwest and the 39 steps. Psychos good too, but I suppose it's almost impossible to watch that movie without already having a fair idea of the plot.

Vertigo is one of my favourite movies, I haven't watched it in a good while, which I'll probably fix in the near future. It starts off pretty slow, but works its way into one of the most facinating movies I've ever seen. Stewart's performance was great, really different to anything else I've seen him in. Lot's of twists and such, oh , and perhaps my favourite shot in any movie ever. Also, the music is great. Yes, I should watch vertigo again.

I have to admit that a few of the supposed greats didn't do much for me. Rear Window being the main one that comes to mind, Notorious being the second.

I haven't seen Frenzy, I'll have to check it out.

Is it better than Sin City which is also on just now?

It's definitely more fun. I really like this movie. The sequel was pretty damn good too.

I actually like making these lists so, in no particular order..

Vertigo

The Shawshank Redemption

Field of Dreams

Braveheart

Laputa

Groundhog Day

It Happened One Night

Saving Private Ryan

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre

Rocky

Shenmue 1 and 2 are the only games that have ever pulled me in. I pretty much agree with what Crispin Glover said. In Shenmue I actually did feel like I was in a real Japanese town. The gameworld isn't really that big and you spend quite a bit of time waiting around for things to happen, so you end up exploring everywhere, visiting all the shops and such and talking to everyone, so you get really familiar with the world. After the first one it actually felt like I was leaving somewhere I was safe/comfortable in and heading off into the unknown. No other game has ever come close to pulling me in that much before or since. I remember at the end of Shenmue feeling genuine emotions like sadness at leaving a place I was familiar with and people I knew, but excitement about the unknown that lay ahead. Which is quite something, because despite the fact that I've played a lot of games , my emotional reaction to them is usually about as complex as "fun" "boring" or "exciting".

Shenmue 2 has a much bigger gameworld, so you don't really get as well aquainted with the little details and the people around and such. I know that was the point though. You're supposed to feel like you've left your hometown for somewhere you're totally unfamiliar with, and that's exactly what it felt like. Also in Shenmue 2 you can just skip ahead in time instead of waiting for things to happen, which I suppose removes a lot of the exploration for explorations sake of the first game, since you can just keep going about achieving whatever objectives you're supposed to be achieving.

I'm not exaggerating when I say that no other game has ever come even close to this level of immersion for me. None of the Zelda games, as great as they are. Also, I'm not a fan of Japanese RPGs, so FF7 didn't do much for me. I like Chrono Trigger, but it didn't pull me in. I'm pretty sure that apart from the fact that I really can't stant the levelling up/grinding aspects of RPG's , the plots are just too complicated for me to get really drawn in. I think the relative simplicity of the plot of Shenmue 1 probably helped me to become immersed in the game. That and the fact that it's the best game ever.

I finished Norwegian Wood yesterday(seems pretty popular in this thread). I have to be honest, I didn't like it,at all. I've read two other Murakami books, The Wind Up Bird Chronicles and Sputnik Sweetheart, which I thought were pretty good at the time, but I think I'll be avoiding reading any more of his books from now on. His "protagonists" are just boring no personality types who go around name dropping various obscure songs/singers/artists/books etc,and who everyone seems to find ever so fascinating for some reason and you can't go 5 pages without some tacked on "sex scene". I'm sure someone will claim I'm missing something or it's going over my head or whatever, but honestly, reading Norwegian Wood, I just felt like I might as well be reading a Mills and Boon novel of some sort, and if I was less stubborn I would have stopped reading at about page 150.

On a better note, just before that I read Contact by Carl Sagan , which I thought was really great. Really interesting plot, well developed characters etc etc. Great book, best novel I've read in quite a while.

Before that I read a few of Carl Sagans non fiction books. The Demon Haunted World, The Dragons of Eden, Broca's Brain, Billions and Billions. All good. Sagan was great.

Started reading "How the Mind Works" by Steven Pinker today. Pretty interesting stuff so far.

UK:Father Ted

US: Curb Your Enthusiasm

I really don't like scrubs at all. The moral messages and dramatic musical montages at the ends of the episodes really make me cringe.

Shadow of Memories is short and sweet. If you can find it cheap, it's worth a go. Not a lot of substance to it, though.

Having played a good bit of this now, I think I see what you meant by this. I'll reserve judgement on it until it's over though.

Anyway, thanks for the recommendations everyone, I'll definitely be checking out some of those games, the Indiana Jones one in particular I like the sound of.

Not being facetious, but did you actually play Shenmue 2? It's better than shenmue and it doesn't have the godawful american voices of Shenmue. The plot does more things and it features "Ren of Heavens"

I felt like I was living a coming of age/ kung-fu movie playing that game. Fond memories.

Yup, I played it. It was great, really great. I played the xbox version, so I got the added bonus of listening to the English voices! I don't actually mind the voice acting in Shenmue to be honest. Ren was cool. I still prefered the first one though.

True, but genre picking is a tired excersise, and it's pretty clear partious wanted games with a strong story and atmosphere deriived from adventure games, as opposed to purely being point and clickers.

Yep, that's exactly what I meant. Thanks.

Well, I just bought Shadow of Memories. See you all in 3 hours!! Not really, it's too early/warm/bright to enjoy a game. I'll play it later. I'll keep you updated!

Thanks for the advice and opinions everyone. I'm coming around to the idea of playing Grim Fandango, after seeing all the love for it in this thread. I think I'll play Silent Hill 2 next though.

Has anyone ever played the old PC game Necronomicon? It must be pretty old , because it was on a budget label about 3 years ago. I really liked the look of it at the time. It's probably crap, but if it's supposed to be even half decent I think I'll hunt it down.

.::: There are plenty of sleep-inducing games around. You should have no problem buying them as well, as nobody else wants them.

If only, if that were true I'd buy them all and change my name to Rip Van Winkle.

The plot's pretty gripping, actually. It's like Fahrenheit, where it's the only reason I was compelled to carry on. But it's literally over in about three hours, and most of the time you're wandering around talking to people to trigger the next chapter of the story.

Hmm, I saw it in a shop for 12 euros the other day, maybe I'll still just rent it though,if it's THAT short.. The thing about triggering chapters reminds me that I actually played a PC demo for it a few years ago. If you tried to walk certain places he'd say something like "no, I shouldn't go here, at least, not until I go talk to Bill, yes, Bill in number 9, I think i should talk to him RIGHT NOW". Not that I necessarily mind that sort of thing in adventure games.

EDIT: Also, fahrenheit in "not actually pure shit" shocker. Hmm...

Shadow of Memories is short and sweet. If you can find it cheap, it's worth a go. Not a lot of substance to it, though.

Cool, I'm actually glad it's short. I tend to stop playing games that are really long before I complete them, regardless of how much I'm enjoying them. What do you mean by substance though? Bad plot? or just that it's a short game?

The Longest Journey is great. Dreamfall (its sequel) has had mixed reviews - I've still to start it myself. Siberia 1&2 is good. Some people liked that Ctuthulu game, some hated it. Ditto for Fahrenheit. I also have Blade Runner to play but thats ancient. Then theres the likes of Silent Hill and Project Zero. One I'm curious about is Glass Rose, have been meaning to get that for a while.

I thought Project Zero was great, did get a bit hard though further in to be honest. I've heard good things about the Blade Runner game before, so I might check it out. Does The Longest Journey have a self contained plot though? or will I have to play the second one to find the answer to a cliffhanger/have something explained, etc? When Fahrenheit came out it seemed like a good bet, these days everything I read/hear about it seems to be along the lines of "It's pure shit" though. I've never heard a thing about Glass Rose but I have to say, the screenshots look really good. Is it actually out in Europe? I've never seen it in a game shop.

Grim Fandangoooo!

You're inevitably going to have to go to GameFAQs for it like with any other Lucasarts adventure, but you will learn to forgive it instantly. Hopefully. ):

Heh, yeah this one looks good, in a quirky lucasarts adventure kind of way. It's not really what I'm in the mood of at the moment though. That is, unless I've gotten it wrong and it's not actually a quirky comedy type thing ala Day of The Tentacle.

Oblivion?

I haven't played it, and I do have a 360 that's gathering dust but... Morrowind was one of the most boring games I've ever played. I mean, I didn't really put much time into it and my memory is a bit fuzzy but there just didn't really seem to be a point to it, just walking huge distances and having the odd fight, with no real interesting overall plot. Is oblivion the same? If I'm being honest I'm more interested in the plot than the actual game. I'm not really interested in playing anything actiony.

I know it sounds like I'd probably be better off reading a book or watching a movie or something. but it's not really the same. I'm looking for something that will pull me in like Shenmue did , get me interested in the plot and when it's finished have me feel like I've actually experienced something interesting. Which is an effect that pretty much no book I've ever read has achieved. Maybe Shenmue is actually the only game which can actually have that effect though, and I should go back to lamenting the fact that the third one probably isn't ever getting made.

Thanks Shenmue, you ruined games for me

I'm currently pretty bored of games in general. Platformers and action games and such. Actual "gamey" games aren't appealing to me at all these days. What I would like to play is a nice adventure game with a good plot. Something like Shenmue, if that exists. I haven't played many point and click adventures but I'm open to the possibility. I did play Day of The Tentacle though, a few years ago, and to be honest, some of the Puzzles were a bit too obtuse for my liking, and I ended up resorting to gamefaqs a couple of times. I'm assuming the other lucasarts adventures like Monkey Island and such are similar. I'd like a more mature plot anyway(not in the GTA/Manhunter sense).

One game I've been considering for quite a while is Shadow of Memories on PS2. Does this fit the bill at all? I haven't heard much about it, but it does seem to have quite a Shenmue sort of look about it and looks like something I'd enjoy. How about "The Longest Journey" that sounds decent too. I know there's a sequel that apparently isn't great, is the first one a self contained story, or will I have to play the second one too for it to make sense?

Another game that I always thought looked quite good was Necronomicon on the PC... Granted everything I know about that game I learned from the back of the box, but it looked decent. Is it? I'm guessing it's not.

I'm also planning on playing Silent Hill 2 in the near fiture.

If anyone could tell me if I'm on the right track here or offer some suggestions I'd appreciate it. I guess the most pressing question is have I got the right idea about Shadow of Memories and is it any good. If I am/it is, I think I'll head into town later and buy it. Thanks

Well,my top 5 would be something like, in no particular order. Laputa, Beyond the Clouds, Kiki's Delivery Service,Grave of the Fireflies,My Neighbour Totoro. Since you've probably seen the 4 ghibli ones, I suggest you check out Beyond the Clouds.imdb link

Yes, yes it does. It also reminds me that I want to get a projector. Is that some sort of sheep/lamb ornament/furniture in the corner? That makes it far less depressing. I like it.

Why, Why because it needs a Nintendo to cheer it up a bit!

Its me Mario, the fat plumber landlord who last installed installed this tenant a carpet in 1978.

And yes, that room does look depressing.