Shacknews Holiday Game Guide

rosewood writes "Shacknews' Jason Bergman, aka loonyboi has his 'Holiday Buying Guide 2002' up and ready to read. PC, Gamecube, PS2, Xbox, and Gameboy Advance and over 70 games are covered! You can also look up how other games have rated each game at Shackreviews." Not every game is touched on in-depth, but it's a great resource to narrow down the choices for that special gamer in your life.

Nethack?

[LittleBigScript]

Yes, but do they have a review of nethack or moria or any other rogue-like?

Does this mean that Nethack nor nogue was ever ported to the Gameboy? ...

Gamecube is the console to get this season

[wobedraggled]

I'll probably get yelled at from the ps2/xbox fan base but screw it, both systems are lacking in any real innovation. I only need so many fps and run-n-gun games. The cube has one of the best and original video game lineups in years, and I hope people can see that.

Re:Gamecube is the console to get this season

[peculiarmethod]

i hate you for saying it, but I agree.. I only invested in a ps2 thinking it would take the great lead with its year head start (and lot more titles).. alas.. it's starting to look like the same mistake pc games had back when vesa drivers exploded and simple 3d walk-around mazes flurried the download screens.. made me sick of them, and almost kept me from checking out doom (THANK GOD I reconsidered.. this was after castle wolfenstein).. in my opinion the PC games market didnt really pull itself out either.. the platform wars did that .. and it seems ps2 is killing itself off with the unfortunate release of DOZENS of clonish games.. I'll still be hanging on to sony until the ps/3 specs come out.. if they seem weird, I'll look to other platforms.

Pm

Adventure and puzzle games

[octalgirl]

I'm glad there's something for me on the list. Adventure games Syberia and The Longest Journey ring a bell so maybe I'll try them out this year. I started with Wolfenstien and Doom, went through Quake etc, but then games just got too violent for me. I remember a Game mag edition where every ad was for a violent game, bragging about 'exit wounds' and 'blood and gore'. All I could think was what a waste of good graphic programming talent.

Although I never cared for MYST (that flat screen, jump forward thing gave me a headache) I'll take the clones. I really liked Riven. The gaming was a bit weak, but some of the puzzles were pretty good, and the scenery was amazing for it's time. And what ever happend to 7th Guest? That's more my kind of game, although I could do without the raunchy videos which really spoil it as a family game. I just got Harry Potter for my niece, and after setting it up for her, I wanted one for myself. More my style. You get the levels, the graphics, the secrets and the puzzles. Harry can climb and jump and swim, etc, but he sort of runs around with magic wand and makes the monsters disappear. Def more my style.

Re:No Macintosh games?

[loonyboi]

For the record, I'm a Mac user. A Mac gamer, too. I left Mac games out because Mac users make up a very small portion of our audience, and those who *are* Mac users, like myself, have a second Windows PC for games. It's the same reason we don't have Mac games in our ShackReviews.

Re:No Macintosh games?

[LordNimon]

I think you're confusing cause and effect. Maybe Mac users make up a small percentage of your audience specifically because you leave them out! At the very least, you could team up with a Mac-specific gaming web site (like IMG or Macgamers.com) and just include their list and reviews.

Re:Gamecube is the console to get this season

[Sludge]

Metroid is hardly a run and gun. When you leave a room, enemies reappear. Holding down the L button locks on to the nearest enemy to your crosshair. You then press the fire button as fast as you care to, to destroy the creature.

It's hardly linear, and it's hardly an FPS in the conventional sense. It's more an adventure game with non linear exploration. For example, when I was five hours (17%) into the game, I was brought full circle to the initial place of my dropship. I then spent the next hour exploring the places I had already been, trying out my new suit powerups in old circumstances and finding new secrets and even the way to go.

Sure, you use guns to immobilize threats, but that does not make this a conventional FPS.

Re:Consume!

[Fantastic Lad]

I love how holidays are synonymous with buying now.

Not just buying, but buying things that distract everybody from the real show playing live right outside our 'windows'.

-Fantastic Lad

3 game cubes that can run Linux (and 1 that can't)

[yerricde]

So you want "Linux for game cube". You didn't specify "Nintendo" or capitalize "GameCube". Thus, any generic "game cube" is OK.

First of all, a "game cube" with a similar architecture to Nintendo's, the Power Macintosh G4 Cube, can run Yellow Dog Linux [everymac.com].

This roughly cube-shaped gaming PC [tomshardware.com] and this even smaller PC [thinkgeek.com] can probably run Mandrake.

Now, if you're looking for Linux on a Nintendo GameCube console, you're out of luck: that's the only one that can boot only from a completely proprietary storage medium. There's currently no way to get homebrew code to run on the thing. If it could boot off one of the ports on the bottom (like the GBA can), the situation would be somewhat different.

something i think people are overlooking...

[zonker]

one of the things i enjoy about my gamecube is that my girlfriend plays games with me. in fact there are a lot of games she likes a lot. part of the problem with the xbox lineup is that for her, there isn't much that she would like to play. the ps2 is the only real competition to the gamecube for games she enjoys playing (both as a team/competition or single player).

this is a general problem with the gaming industry, that is, ignoring girls, who i see as a huge untapped market potential. i know a LOT of girls who dig games. it is unfortunate there aren't more interesting titles targeting girls (and i don't mean barbie titles) and women gamers as the gaming audience is expanding in age range. i'll bet you know a few girl gamers too (or am i underestimated the /. crowd's ability to socialize beyond their computer?).