Is everyone off playing GTA IV? :)

[billb]

It has been slow here the past few days -- I know I've been "busy" playing Grand Theft Auto IV!

[ppietro]

It has been slow here the past few days -- I know I've been "busy" playing Grand Theft Auto IV!

Oddly enough - I've been playing .hack/G.U. part 2 on the PS3 (via PS2 emulator).

But - that might explain why it's been so quiet around here lately.

Cheers,
Paul

[billb]

Oddly enough - I've been playing .hack/G.U. part 2 on the PS3 (via PS2 emulator).

I hadn't seen that one -- looks cool.

I never got a PS2 so I have a lot of catching up to do! During that time I was "enjoying" the constant upgrades, driver issues, fun with Windows / DirectX, unfinished games, patches, bugs, copy protection issues, etc. of the PC gaming world.

[mj]

It has been slow here the past few days -- I know I've been "busy" playing Grand Theft Auto IV!

Yep, me too. I had to put my Yellow Dog to bed for a while.

My wife thinks she's gonna be a video game widow again.

I gotta say, it is very impressive so far.

[uncholowapo]

I have been off taking care of my daughter. She is sick right now. I would be playing GTA IV but I didn't reserve it.

[ppietro]

Oddly enough - I've been playing .hack/G.U. part 2 on the PS3 (via PS2 emulator).

I hadn't seen that one -- looks cool.

I never got a PS2 so I have a lot of catching up to do! During that time I was "enjoying" the constant upgrades, driver issues, fun with Windows / DirectX, unfinished games, patches, bugs, copy protection issues, etc. of the PC gaming world.

So - let me explain .hack (pronounced "dot hack") a little.

It started out as an effort by Bandai to bring several fields together: dot hack incorporates Anime, PS2 games, card games, manga & figurines. They all are based on a story concept by a respected author named Kazunori Ito.

Of most interest to me are the Anime and PS2 Game series, so I'll discuss those.

There are two main series that occur in slightly different time frames.

The first is Project .hack. This includes 4 volumes of a PS2 game: .hack//Infection, .hack//Mutation, .hack//Outbreak, and .hack//Quarantine. Included in each volume of the game is an anime OVA series called .hack//Liminality (total of 4 volumes).

There's a companion stand alone anime series called .hack//Sign that dovetails with the game. Even though the anime precedes the game in the timeline, I actually played the game before I watched this. I have to say - it was extremely cool seeing the characters in the anime go thru areas that I had spent a lot of time exploring in "real life".

Then, there's an anime series called .hack//Legend of the Twilight that occurs post game, and is geared towards younger audiences.

The second series is called .hack Conglomerate, and is based on a series of three PS2 games called .hack/G.U.: Vol.1 Rebirth, Vol.2 Reminisce and Vol.3 Redemption.

The anime series that dovetails with the G.U. series of games is called .hack//Roots. Again, the anime series precedes the games.

You can find a great overview of the whole project here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.hack

and there's a Wiki here:
http://dothack.wikia.com/wiki/.hack//Wiki

The game itself is cool. It's an MMORPG simulator - there are pieces that take place "in game" and pieces that take place at your simulated computer terminal. It's all very "meta"

Cheers,
Paul

P.S. A particularly cool thing is that save games move forwards thru the games and unlock special features. So - there are some benefits to playing the games in order.

[uncholowapo]

Those are alot of dot hacks.

[mj]

Still at GTA - it is very impressive, and immersive.

Funny though, months of not much to do, then when GTA finally comes out I seem to be directed away from the PS3 at every oppertunity.

Evil forces at work no doubt.

[billb]

The first is Project .hack. This includes 4 volumes of a PS2 game: .hack//Infection, .hack//Mutation, .hack//Outbreak, and .hack//Quarantine. Included in each volume of the game is an anime OVA series called .hack//Liminality (total of 4 volumes).

I saw .hack/Infection at Gamestop the other day so I grabbed it ... of course, being a used game from Gamestop, it looks like someone used the disc to play frisbee with a pit bull at the beach. I guess those guys will take anything as a trade-in as long as it's in one piece! I was in the habit of checking them before I left the store, but forgot to this time. Hopefully it will still work OK ... the anime DVD looks to be in much better condition that the game itself.

[CronoCloud]

I've got dotHack Infection around here someplace, never actually booted it yet because I have too many games. FFXI and EQOA didn't help much when I was still playing them.

Ron Rogers Jr. (CronoCloud)