HearUsTalk

you are working again right?

No, I haven't solved that puzzle yet.

i thought you said "my boss listens to the show" last episode.

If you put this much effort into personal work you'd be a millionaire (ok maybe a thousandaire). Maybe thats been the source of my latest lull from gaming. I kinda started to get bummed out going for these trophies and milestones in games, when i turned off the console I didn't feel satisfied. Who knows, I'm sure its the fuckin winter doldrums i suffer from this time of year, and maybe No More Heroes 2 can get me back into some gaming again.

I still do work from time to time for the company that downsized me. Work just always leaves me feeling deeply unsatisfied, so I'm sticking with pointless entertainment and poverty.

If you're looking to take things to a scarier level, here you go Brian.
http://kotaku.com/5457166/get-your-game-on-when-you-put-your-shoes-on

Once that whole ARG thing actually went live, it was pretty stupid. There was nothing really ARGey about it at all, and they kind of just make you do simple chores and pretty much hand you answers on a platter, but in the end if you give them the right "final answer" you get a code for early access (right now) to the demo. If anyone's interested in the demo but can't be bothered with the ARG, here's how to get it...







...make sure you're registered (see the "registration" link earlier in this thread), then sign in with your registration info here. You eventually get to a page where you have to select 4 pieces of evidence. They are:
Cigarette Butt (1117/B - The Short One)
Coffee Shop (C)
Tyre Prints (1117/H - The Right Hand Drive One)
Origami Bird (1117/E)

Thanks for the heads up. I played it last night and I'm definitely looking forward to the full release. Since the demo spans a very short period of time in 2 different events, there wasn't really any way to figure out exactly how drastically the actions taken in the scene could effect the outcome of events, but in those two scenes alone I found a good amount of stuff to replay in slightly different ways. I was really pleased with the fight scene in particular, and not just because it was really exciting. If you screw up at any point during it, the course of the fight immediately changes, even if the outcome is pretty much the same as long as you come out on top. I couldn't bring myself to let the detective get beaten though, so I don't know what would even happen if you lose. The whole thing was engrossing though, and I like the style a lot. It's a really detailed world that inspires exploration, which is perfect for this type of game. I wasn't bored for one second looking for evidence on the crime scene, even though I felt like I should be, considering what I was actually doing. I thought some of the voice acting was lacking though... Most was solid, but the ex-client who you fight was so cheesy.

On a side note, the prostitute herself (can't remember her name right now, Lauren something?) is not only voiced by the same woman who is in the tech demo that i posted at the start of this thread, but she looks exactly the same (still odd looking). I don't know if the desired effect was to make anyone who remembers her feel like she got the part in this film despite the comment at the end, but it's the way I choose to think about it. Makes me smile.

From playing the demo, it seems like it's essentially the same thing as "Indigo Prophecy" just HD and slightly better controls. The way it bounces between characters, little flourishes like ambient music and screen text (marking the opening of scenes), and much larger things like the over-arching themes and style make it an obvious successor to that original game (almost like the developers haven't evolved much at all really). The controls seem slightly less clunky (the fight in this demo would have occured like the garbage "simon says" controller stick prompting in the original game where now it incorporates QTEs for the entire controller), but not nearly enough to "fix" what made that game so horrible. Having played through the demo in two dramatically different ways, and ending up with such similar results, I have to infer that the game will still kinda work "on rails" for the most part, but will allow me to understand more of it the more I do the "right things". For example, when I questioned the girl "incorrectly" I got pretty much no information out of her vs handling her delicately and getting everything. Also, losing the fight with that guy results in essentially the same thing, with slightly different meaningless banter.

So, post-demo I'm still intreagued, but knowing how poorly "Indigo Prophecy" did and seeing how similar this is, I'm convinced this is going to fail miserably on the market. So, this is no longer the "day one" purchase I've been psyched about for more than a year now. I'm thinking if I wait out the hype and ignore all the spoilers for a couple months, I'll be able to dig this out of a bargain bin for $20 come summertime.

Yeah, nothing was significantly different by the end of the demo, but what I'm wondering is how differently things will unfold in the full version if you decide to let her get her ass kicked, or just meet her and don't get any real info out of her. I think that's going to be one of the key factors that determines how much I enjoy the game, the variety of possible outcomes from the choices presented. I'm still on board day-1 so far since I'm gameflying it anyway. I'll let you know how it works out.

Wow, I just noticed that misplaced post from last month. Anyway, the reviews are in and they're very positive.

http://kotaku.com/5468585/heavy-rain-review-no-wrong-conclusion

http://ps3.ign.com/articles/106/1067755p1.html