G-pinions

Or - Random Thoughts in the World of Gaming

First up, the always enjoyable Electronic's Boutique online. Today is the day that F-Zero GX for the Gamecube finally drops in price from $40 to $20. Joy! Upon browsing EBGames I laughed when I saw a brand new copy of F-Zero retails for a mere $20, while a used copy goes for $27. Good job EB.

Have I ever mentioned how much I hate them? Well, I will now. Up until 2001, EB was the only place I would buy games. They used to have this great program where you could return a game, for whatever reason, after 10 days. 10 whole days of being able to play around with a game before you had to decide if you liked it enough to actually buy it. That was genius. Pure genius. I assume people abused the policy, buying a game only to return it a week later when they won it. But I used it like I was supposed to… for the most part. There was that time I bought Shadows of the Empire for the weekend when Blockbuster was sold out. And another when I bought Marvel vs. Capcom 2 and Street Fighter Alpha 3 at the same time, knowing full well I was going to return one of them in a week.

But, by having that policy, they made much money from me. I probably bought 40-50 games from them over the years. Anything I got on the Super Nintendo, Genesis, Nintendo 64 and PlayStation I got from EB. I was such a blind loyalist that when I moved from Michigan to Illinois I went online beforehand to see just how close the nearest EB was. I was a little bit crazy.

But then, it all went wrong. The EB closest to my house, in Gurnee Mills, is run by Satanist. In January 2001, when I decided I would need a Gamecube when it launched in November, I ran to EB to preorder it. I had preordered a Dreamcast from that very same store less than 2 years earlier and recieved good service and a cool Dreamcast shirt for my trouble. So, with little hesitation, I asked them if I could give them money to ensure I could get a Gamecube the day it came out. They refused. Like a poor man passing off cupcakes for cash, they said I should take my business elsewhere because the Gamecube was going to be delayed until 2002. Obviously, this pissed me off. I marched right over to Babbages where they gladly accepted my money. Oh, the GC never was delayed.

I've had a few more instances with them - once I returned an Xbox game and asked for NBA2K3 in exchange. They handed me the PS2 version and were surprised when I told them I wanted the Xbox version. Did I mention they are all blind Sony loyalists at that store? I know it's not fair to lambaste an entire corporation for one crappy store, but that's how I am. They should have just hired me a few years ago when I applied. Though combining my hatred of mainstream with a store who wants to make money could be trouble.

Let's see, what else is going on...?

Nintendo just announced a few new details about Paper Mario 2. I know it's boring to talk about RPGs before they come out, but this little tidbit seemed cool. You're much more 'paper' in this version than the N64 original. Now you can slide under doors and through cracks... and make yourself into a paper airplane to fly across large gaps. That just sounds so awesome. I'm not really planning on buying this game, but a Mario Air Plane? I may just have to rethink.

I should write about Metroid Prime some, since I've been playing it many hours the past few days. It's actually really good. Maybe even great. The deeper I get in the game the farther the game gets away from the mindless wandering around. I don't think I've had to suffer through that for many, many hours now. The game has a built in hint feature which pretty much tells you where to go next. So now, instead of wishing I could do something fun, I'm fighting and exploring all the time. And I'm having a blast.


I can understand where Nick is coming from with the bad control comment. The game doesn't control like Goldeneye or Halo or any other FPS. It actually controls like Metroid set in a 3D environment. Sure, it's annoying sometimes not being able to strafe around corners like I've been doing since Wolfenstein 3D, but the lock on fighting is actually quite enjoyable. My only problem is the lack of quick movement. There are many times when I'm hit because Samus just won't move fast enough. Other than that, it's a very enjoyable alternative to the norm.

I figure that the multiplayer mode in Metroid Prime 2 will be very different from the standard deathmatch mode. Unless they completely change the controls, which I think would hurt the one player mode, it will have to be a game that focuses more on evasion than fighting. With a grappling hook and morph ball you should be able to quickly travel around the environment. The mode might work best if the ultimate goal is to find an object or complete a task rather than kill the most people. I have high hopes that Prime 2 will kick ass.

My only real problem with the original Prime is the length. It's a bloody long game. I'm at 46% and almost 10 hours in. Back in the day I used to wake up, play through the original NES Metroid in its entirety, eat lunch, then play through again. I liked how Metroid was short and you tried to beat your old record time or win without getting all the weapons. Now, it's like an actual, full-length adventure. It's pure fun, but I miss the old style.

Oh, I almost forgot. Rare just released some new pictures of Conker - Live and Uncut. Man, this game looks so awesome.

There are too many good games. As soon as I finish Prime I'm finally going to start Viewtiful Joe. Might have to put school on the backburner for awhile.