G - Did you not like it? I heard some issues with the gameplay. That is 40 that can go towards toys if the game isn't goo, haha.

I still have one original DS that can play GBA games, perhaps I'll pick up TMNT. Did you ever play the console version of that same game? I recall KIDS saying it was good, but I don't know that it's as good as the GBA version if you're truly digging that. I remember getting Batman: Vengeance for Gamecube years ago... loved that for a street rumbler game!

I wish I'd never heard of or seen those Dolphin pics. Now I sort of want to use it, but all we have at home is an 02 iMac, 08 Macbook Pro, and a Macbook & Macbook Air we bought last year. AKA no power for gaming in this house, beyond running some 8BIT/16BIT/MAME emulators I got Skyward Sword for Christmas and still haven't taken it out of the case - too much Dark Souls going on here.

TMNT is a good game but not a great one. In the pantheon of GBA brawlers I'd say it outclasses Final Fight One, Double Dragon Advance and the DBZ games handily but falls shy of River City Ransom EX by a fair margin. Worth about $10 if you come across it but if you had to pick just one brawler, RCREX is the one. I never played the console version but I'd imagine the difference between the console and handheld versions is roughly analogous to the Thor home console and DS games.

Finished Metal Gear Solid 1 from like November. Now we're going to be switching off between Mega Man X collection and the Metal Gear HD collection.

I bought this cheap controller thing at Target with all the Sonic the hedgehog games and some others loaded on it. Freaking awesome!! Brings back good memories.

Never one to mince words, here's what I posted Bert:

Pardon my language but NHL 12 is a piece of shit game! I'm glad I just got this as a christmas gift but I don't think I'll ever buy another version of this series and I've been a fan since NHL 93.

I don't buy the 'new version' every year because lets be honest how much better is it year to year really? When there is a marked up visual or actual gameplay development then I think about it. Having said that expectations were pretty high for this game and it's almost unplayable! I mean simple things like saving and autosave it can't even do? I truly wish EA would lose all the stupid bells and whistles and just make a really solid engine for this game. I could care less about a million and one foreign country teams, be a player, etc etc. I just want the NHL. Maybe have some oldskool teams from the 70's through 00'. When you can't even play a season without getting corrupt data someone should be fired over this...

So online and in stores right now best buy has buy 2 get 2 free on all used games. Not a bad deal. Most games are online, but you'd have to pick them up in a store for most of them.

SWTOR currently

I played the beta and wasn't sold. It felt too much like WoW to me, but I really only played an hour or so. Did you play WoW before and if so how true were my initial reactions? I've thought about picking it up, Amazon even knocked $11 off of it.

played WoW for years (actually still subbed)... SWTOR is WoW like, but it's different cause I've never done these quests for the 9th time over and over... it's like buying the same set of shoes you have now, you like how they look and feel, but the new ones look better...

I love how on the EA forums, there are people that believe that a lot of gaming companies do not employ testers. Please tell me there is no one here that believes that.

^I would say every gaming company employs testers. Usually they're part time/hourly and only employed when needed by the company.

There was this game released today called Abobo's Big Adventure. Free browser game but it's amazing. There's an option to play on a gamepad and I think that's the way to go if you've got one - I dug out my USB Famicom controller for this. It's basically a romp through the 8-bit glory days in control of Abobo from Double Dragon. I don't want to give away spoilers as they're half the fun of the game but just know that if you lose all your lives you just have to restart the level and the Konami code will come in helpful in a big way down the line. The last boss and the ending sequence are incredible. Highly recommended!

Anyone going to get Twisted Metal next month?

This is the game I am most looking froward to this year, and it comes out Feb. 7!

It looks like a mix of Fable x Elder Scrolls with God of War style fighting!

I paid my preoder in full!

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lhzDkaKi1w

Anyone else still going strong on Dark Souls? only got to get into it towards the end of the Christmas holidays and it's totally consumed me. Slogging through Sen's tower right now must be hitting it for the 6th time.

I am still on my first playthrough - I only can play once a week for a couple of hours and I am really taking my time. I just did the painted world of Ariamis . . . and did not have the heart to attack Priscilla though I really wanted the dagger for my Dex built . . . I wished there was a little more backstory for this area . . . Demons Souls had at least one NPC for every area that would give you a little story . . .
I still did not do much online - whenever I get invaded people are much stronger (or more experienced) in PvP so I never stand a chance . . . I will give it a try when I am on NG+.

I've just stared playing through NG++, the four kings in NG+ we're nothing short of crazy. Overall NG+ was fun though and I got to kill every NPC (except for the undead merchant in the burg that ran away after the first hit), pick up their drops and give 30 humanity to the chaos covenant for the pyro fire storm. Running through ++ to add a +5 to my boss soul weapons and then I guess I can call it a day with Dark Souls Well not before some PVP I haven't much of yet
I must admit though, I've never played any other game so much, not even Demon's Souls on which I spent over 100 hrs.

After Sen (which is one of those tough areas I loved) you'll reach Anor Londo, great grinding ground and overall excellent level. Well, DS is pretty much great all over but I found Anor to be a place I've gone back to a lot. Keep it up, you'll wipe out Sen in no time. Another tough area at least imho is New Londo. Ghost mobs are sometimes seriously overwhelming.

bought my first console system(xbox360) since owning a ps1 a million years ago. just finished dead island and i started playing red dead redemption. i liked dead island.. all different flavors of zombies.

... all day, every day. Wish I was joking

Any chance you play on the NA servers, or are you staying native? I only play NA, but if you're on my servers we can definitely hook up for whatever help you need. I'm getting bored, and now I just spend all day invading others and awaiting invasions. Sometimes if it's slow, I'll hit "invade" and go make a drink or snack while waiting, only to have my girlfriend call me back to the room "you're being invaded / you're being summoned!"

a.tom: are you on Euro servers, or NA?

Also, regarding upgrading your boss-soul weapons to +5 - you're only needing Demon Titanite. Get yourself at/over 10 Humanity and equip the Gold Serpent Ring. With 410 item discovery, you will be able to just kill the Titanite Demon that respawns in Lost Izalith (the only one who respawns) until you have enough to finish your weaps off. Which weapons are you using anyway? Didn't realize you were using unique's, thought you were using elementals.

Finished Batman a while ago, well as much as I wanted to, and I'm taking a short break from games with extensive plots. I'm currently revisiting old favorites like Vib Ribon and Curry House CoCo Ichibaniya. After reading the latest information about Bioshock Infinite it's time to reinstall System Shock 2. Not sure if it's going to work anymore but why not give it try.

I am on the European server. Unfortunately.

I too just recently switched to a boss weapon. Abandoned my Scimitar for Queelag's fury sword. It is at +4 but I need more practice before I can up it to 5 - these last two prowling titanite demons at Sen's Fortress are still taking me apart . . .