What games will you be playing over christmas?

Well, if Lionhead releases a patch for Fable2 might get another copy of that. GTAIV... maybe. MASS Effect. PGR4. Perfect Dark coz its a budget online multiplayer that still kicks ass in XBox live. Hmm, there seems to be a common thread here - you might have guessed I like the clarity of my XBox 360 on my HD telly - clang - sorry.

*Edit* Lionhead did not need to release a patch - I needed a replacement XBox360 - My initial XBox360 was bought at the same time as Fable 2. Lesson number 1 - even with a brand new console the hardware can be faulty.


Anyway, the Wii has taken a substantial backseat. My PC is for code dev of sorts these days.

None.

I might sit down and finish up Fallout 3. Most likely go back and install The Witcher and the 1GB+ extended version patch, try out the two short quests they released since I last played it a year ago.

I'll be playing loads and loads - I am taking a couple of months off after Christmas and will totally Large myself.

A couple of months off what?

Stealing your media's.

I'd like to (re)play the extended version of The Witcher, but due to New Zealand's crap broadband caps the download size is a problem - hoping it might turn up on a mag DVD but guess that's unlikely.

Have played FarCry2 and Fallout3. Fallout3 has been the highlight, but am getting to the end of its content. Looking forward to the DLC.

I enjoyed parts of Farcry2, but did not find it the amazing experience most reviewers seemed to find it - perhaps after FallOut3, FC2's repetitive quest mechanics were a bit too 'exposed' for my taste. Driving became tedious as well. Some good firefights though.

Have played the latest COD game. Every review gushes about it, but it's basically like consuming a bag of chips - gaming's equivalent of fast food. And the game mechanics seem to have gone backwards since COD2 (the last COD game I played). The enemy often run past everyone to get to the player. So there's your teammates firing at a distant target and there's a jap soldier standing next to them, firing at you. Then there's the grenade spamming - no 'clink' noise, just an icon followed by a mad run around trying to make sense of where the grenade is usually followed by insta-death.

I still have the latest Band of Brothers game to get through but have been frankly repelled by its treacly jingoism. WW2 was a catastrophe for Europe, but watching the intro to this game, you'd think it was a wonderful and holy event for the american soldiers.

Would like to try GTA4 but have been turned off by the reported activation requirements (2 accounts to set up and have to be on-line to save and load - wtf??!!) and bugs.

So I don't know.

Well I finished Fallout 3 last night, somewhat unexpectedly, so I do have to go back to an older saved game and complete a few missions I hadn't finished and get those last two level ups, but that's basically completed now.

I'll probably go back and finish Saints Row 2 next, if I can get past the annoying need to do "power up" missions inbetween the real missions. So assuming I'm through with that by Christmas, I'll be playing one of Dead Space, Far Cry 2, Fable 2, Tomb Raider Underworld, Infinite Undiscovery, Gears of War 2 and The Last Remnant, all of which are currently unopened.

Having spent a good sixty or seventy hours in Fallout 3, I'm thinking that I'll probably go for something a bit lighter and more arcadey. So probably TR:U or GoW2.

But more than likely, most of my playing time will be spent playtesting my own game.

Microsoft Flight Simulator X Gold Edition sounds to me like the ultimate x-mas game. Something completely different, something relaxing :)

Sam & Max season 2 and/or Vampyre Story

bought the kids banjo nuts & bolts, just so i can drool over the graphics, then play them at halo 3 and get my ass kicked again, thinking of buying gears of war 2 for myself

I have Fallout 3 (which doesn't work) and Farcry 2 (which I love) but most of my time will be spend developing.

My own stuff.

Tomb Raider Underworld (PS3)

Fable 2, turned up from my rental service a week ago and I do like it a lot, the GFX area much better than expected and there have been a few "magical" moments. The first time a forest Troll erupted out of the ground and started hurling rocks at me I was like "Wow!".

I need to finish Ninja Gaiden 2 and GTA IV (although it will be tough because I can only play them after the kids are in bed). I would also like to finish at least some of the remaining galaxies (about 40) in Super Mario Galaxy that are still available after I completed it for the first time.

I have SSX Blur for the Wii (rental service again) and need to spend some time with it to see if I really like it or not. At the moment I really don't like the new controls but I will see if I can adapt.

Finally I expect to be playing Gears of War 2 (hopefully via rental) sometime soon and am really looking forward to that.


Darkheart

I want to take couple of months off too! I'm already having two weeks off around christmas, but I'm wondering if it will be enough for anything. Instead of playing, I'd be working my *** off. Coding, finishing up my home theater, doing some home improvements and other projects I have unfinished...

Two weeks is nothing - you need at least three just to get the bad taste of work out of your system...

Hmm i guess i might play just some iPod stuff. If you haven't already then christmas time might be the perfect time for A Vampyre Story. I also was considering, if i find the time to, buying Bioshock, they sell it for €10 now but sadly still with the internet activation. Was the game good?

Loads! I have recently got an XBox and a small stack of games that remain untouched (Gears of War, Halo 3, Perfect Dark, PGR3, Strangle Hold (free with XBox), Dark Sector (free with Xbox)). Also there's some neat stuff on Live Arcade I want to play more.

Anyone played Penny Arcade? It looks like a Monkey Island game.

Also if I get my UK Wii and PS2 working I'll play on them. Plus I've got a stack of PC games to play. So many games and so little time! I've got a week off but I know it'll pass ultra quickly.

It's basically a 3d scroller with turn based combat, some mild adventure elements and Penny Arcade's brand of juvenile humour. Quite fun, although I found the last one starting to outlast its welcome.

Fallout 3 and I'll build my LEGO Star Destroyer... ;)

Sudoku! Couldn't resist... :O)

I'm taking notes.

Played Fallout 3 a lot lately but I have a feeling the end gets near.

Going to buy GTAIV probably...

Played through all Sam&Max adventures of first season last days, and last one almost finished too... (Too easy and too short too bad)

For the rest I'm playing Rappelz hoping to reach lvl 100 before 2009

Hello.

Larn.
VPV (Vodka Projectile Vomitting)
RTTBAFP (Race to the bog after food poisoning)
KTSOYF (Keep the smile on your face [for afternoons spent with hideous relatives] - the follow up to Bite Your Tongue)
SAFASDD - (Sleep and fart and slowly digest dinner.)
NPG - (Nudey Prod Games)
Guitar Hero and Rock Band

Goodbye.

Left 4 Dead.

Best game I've played in months.

Lol, as long as you aren't playing it Single Player, I find Co-op to be best, as for Deathmatch, don't even go there!

Fallout 3, Far Cry 2, Oblivion

No GTA4 as it doesnt run on my machine even though I can run all the others on max settings.

Probably a few casual games (likely on the Wii) with family, maybe game/code brainstorming..

Left 4 Dead
Team Fortress 2
Rock Band 2

I think I'm set.

I will start a full season in NBA 2K9 (PC) :D

Halo 3 fairly picks up once you get past the initial levels.... Lots of flying around blasting stuff, quite a lot of diverse gameplay.

resident evil 4 ps2 i like it

@Panno, hmmm, I've got RE4 on the Wii that I've only got as far as the tower in the village - forgot about that one. Need to add that to my list.

I still lurve PGR4 on my XBox360, so much so that I've currently 2 log ins on my XBox , an online log in and an offline one. I restarted PGR4 with a separate save but using different cars from my first save... the eye candy is great.

I've one minor concern, during the first race (of the three in the series), the scenery seemed to stutter ever so slightly - i.e. it was not the smooth scenery that I became accustommed to. In the 2nd and third race - no problem however. I do not know whether this may just 'happen' from time to time - or if my (still quite new) XBox360 has a slightly wobbly DVD Reader. Not so wobbly as to cause drastic failure - but bad enough to render Oblivion and Fable2 unplayable. Hmm, maybe I've answered my own question?

COD5 -World at war - multiplayer only. If you get killed by "Dirt" you can blame me.

That's a big improvement. COD5 doesn't allow duplicate names. There is ONLY ONE "Dirt".

I will mostly be playing Fallout 3, because it's one of only 3 titles I currently own for Xbox. The other two are Kung Fu Panda and Lego Indiana Jones (they came free with a wireless controller).

I've put about 5 or 6 hours into it, so far. I think there's a lot more to see and do. One of the best RPG's I've ever played. To think, I was going to get Mirror's Edge instead!

Once completed, I'm going to play Fallout 1 and 2 on PC.

I heard its only 5 hours long (and that you die a ridiculous number of times).

I don't buy, or play, games from EA anymore.. SecuROM has been their curse.

I don't have time in my life to worry about which publisher I should or shouldn't be morally against. Nothing in this world will stop me buying a game I want to play.

I've no great love for EA, but that's more to do with the quality of the majority of their titles. Pump and dump seems to be their modus operandi.

Played the demo of Mirrors Edge. It's different, it looks good and it has some interesting elements but it doesn't have anything overly compelling about it. Nice, in it's way, but I don't see it is a full-price title. It's quite a simplistic game, somewhat reminiscent of a Source-based mod made in someone's bedroom that I'd expect to see going for $9.99 on Steam.

GTA IV until I get fed up with the ridiculously poor frame rate.

Well, I was replaying FF12, but then got sidetracked with Medieval 2 Total War, then got sidetracked again with Age of Booty for PS3 (PSN), so it could be any of those for the next few weeks.

EDIT : Oh oh, of course the final episode of Strong Bad's Cool Game For Attractive People will likely keep me busy for a couple of hours sometime soon too.

If you love Half-life2, you will love Left 4 Dead, too.

Warhammer Online on my side.

new XBox, Oblivion is running like a dream, 2min to 6 min loads are now literally only 1-2seconds. Cool.

halo3,forza2,portal,ace combat 6. mostly live on halo,anybody play live?

Probably Time Splitters 2, Giest, and Relentless (a really cool DOS game). Since I'll be going home, I'll also be able to play Baldur's Gate, Lords of Magic, and DOF2 (as soon as I finish it) in 62 inch HD glory.

@mtnhome3d, I play PGR4 on live, but I've temporarily lost my gamertag - xbox transitioning and all. I recovered both my kids gamer tags successfully though.

I've Halo 3 as well, however my nine year old is wooping me big style on that at the moment - I need more practice me thinks. Or am i getting old.... nah - I just need more practice. Yeah - thats it, more practice.

Well Ep5 of SBCG4AP has come and gone. Gotta love episodic crap.

Sadly StrongBad isn't an adventure i'm interested in, too casual, too cheap.

I don't see the difference between it and Sam n Max?

Well the festive season draws to a close, we ended up mainly playing:

Fable 2 : my son has finished with the evil strain....I'm still in the early stages of the good strain. I wish Lionhead did not have so many condomns to be found all over the shop though....

PGR4: I was racing in eastern America recently, one of the best racing events, a roughly 12 minute race of 3 laps roughly 4 mins each. It amazes me how much video games are coming on, I'm watching The Fantastic Four at the moment and an early scene is on one of the bridges I've raced upon on my XBox 360 in PGR4.

Spartan: A first generation Total War game that was very well implemented. Had some good fun on this today - not compatible with XBox360 however.

LIPS: fantastic family oriented fun of the karaoke style that gives tone deaf people the opportunity to experience the fun of singing. Also makes you realise how hard it is to sing a Nirvana song on tune for a whole song....

The Witcher: is on my To Do list when it pops below £20. Fable 2 is one of the very few titles that made me break my golden rule....

@ DarkHeart: GTA IV (although it will be tough because I can only play them after the kids are in bed). - Yep my problem.

I have been mostly playing Wii Sports Bowling. I'm quite good at Golf now, too. Pity it only has nine holes.

@Gfk, apparently you can do Wii online stuff akin to the XBox360, are you willing to prove your proficiency at golf? Although I must confess my Wii has not made it online yet.....

Just had a Wii for Christmas, so Wii Sports and Tiger Woods golf.

Maybe one day. I have no idea how to do all that online console gaming malarkey.

@Gfk, yep its malarkey esh indeed - the only reason my new Xbox is doing it coz I'd just to plug in a LAN lead and it worked. Apparently the Wii has an in-built wireless detecatable thingy - and I've got a wireless router (that I've recently changed the password on thankyou very much Mr German virus person).

Oh yeah, I forgot I also got Spy vs Spy for the original Xbox - a fantastically comical evolution of the orignal 2d esque spy series on older platforms.

Yeah just been reading up - already got a wireless router so I might have a play tomorrow and see what happens - didn't even know the Wii had built in wifi til google just told me. Thought you'd have to buy a "Wii-Fi(tm)" or something.

Yeah I plugged the Wii in but at the time found all the old games that you could get in an emulator uninspiring. The most interesting thing was the weather channel...

Well turns out Loco Roco 2 was released and I just discovered Patapon, so these have been taking more of my time than the things I said earlier.

Well, I got it connected to my router pretty quickly.

I thought there'd at least be some nice free stuff in there but I couldn't find anything, and you have to pay to even get the internet channel. At this stage I've no idea how to play games online (such as Golf).

I had a good 20 minutes playing on that!

puki

gfk

puki

so your taking time off taking notes to play video games? so that means you are
a> a secretary
b> a bank robber ;)

got portal and ace combat 6 done. i still have a week left so i will see how far i get in oblivion. oh and that free game that was given away on xbla. the dash of destruction game, that was quite fun.

Starwars: Force Unleashed
Oblivion
Super Paper Mario
SSBB

:D

@Yahfree, yes, I got StarWars Force unleashed from Santa, tiz a good game. Just on the lava pit things myself. Was playing Colin Macrae Dirt (1) tonight with the kids. Its the first driving simulator thats grabbed my son - and I'm a big racing game fan - although the cone challenges on PGR4 on normal are putting me of now. Maybe I should start playing it on easy.

I wish I'd still had a week left - 1st day back at the grindstone today.