TS3 L&P

[Zazazu]

I use things until they break, which is close to never as long as the item isn't glass. Then, I jerryrig them. My granny cart was free because it was broken. I spent $1.05 on a part and have had it for 11 years.

[MaryH]

We're bombarded with advertising day and night to get things that will "improve" our lives-when in fact, they don't improve anything except the advertiser's and manufacturers' wallets.
I go by the saying "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." Sims 2 was and is still pretty damned good for a game (once you have it modded to your personal liking, and mine is heavy) and if EA is trying to "fix" it by putting out another game that will require even more modding if they allow it, I think most modders will just give up in frustration for not having any tools at all to work with.
"It's shiny! It's new! It has to be good!"
Sure. Buy into the hype and forget the borkedness that will reign supreme in Sims 3. Don't forget to be nice to those who can fix it properly-for they have the power of god for this. I'm sure Pescado, Delphy and the small army of modders will be just so overjoyed to hit this game with all the sticks they can find.
If only EA had spent half of the time they're wasting on Sims 3 by fixing the problems that exist in Sims 2, they would have had more people playing it and a better game. Instead, they've really dug their own grave, not learning a damned thing in the last 6 years.
Can I say it now? "I told you so!" It will fail miserably and will truly end one of the most profitable franchises in gaming history.
EA has it coming to them. I can't wait to see them go down in flames.

[xoferew]

Speaking of old stuff that's still good, yesterday I dug out my old copy of Final Fantasy VII (on four CDs) and, with a million patches, got it up and running on Vista.  Ha ha, Sephiroth, you may have beaten me twelve years ago, but now it's time for a rematch! 

[dorquemada]

Is there a patch that adds a mouse control to FF7 for PC? I once tried to get into it, good recs and all, but a keyboard-only fighter RPG? You gotta be kidding me.

[J. M. Pescado]

It's a console game. Why would it use a mouse at all?

[xoferew]

I couldn't find any mouse patches but the graphics are supposedly improved and the characters can supposedly have hands now instead of cubes.  (I couldn't get the hands patch to work and I don't remember the old graphics well enough to compare.)  But it wouldn't run at all until I downloaded patches to make the movies play.  Stuff like the motorcycle chase goes by at about 4X the speed it's supposed to.  (Thanks Vista.)

Since you can assign keys to the various commands, maybe a clever person could map them onto a mouse?  Then there is the "joystick" option.  A "joystick" is a primitive tool that apparently people in the olden days used to whittle out of wood. 

[dorquemada]

It's a console game. Why would it use a mouse at all?

I have no idea how  console controller works, but those few console-to-PC games I played did have mouse control, hence it is technically possible to make a mouse-enabled adaptation...unless that FF7 is a Dosbox type console emulation thingy rather than standalone product.

[Knukleur]

Imagine the Bella Goth theories... "If you breed Sim A and Sim B under the next full moon, and then get Sim C abducted, they'll have a little baby Bella! And if you send the mother to the hidden lot, it will be TWINZ!!1!"

In my version of the story, Sim A is the time-travelling ghost of Michael Bachelor, and he's the father and the brother of the Strangetown Bella but only the brother to Pleasantview Bella.  The Bella's would be dizygotic twins from two ova and sperm from two different fathers, perhaps by Jocasta Bachelor having simultaneous woohoo with Michael's ghost and Simis Bachelor.  Ew?

[Dark Trepie]

Is there a patch that adds a mouse control to FF7 for PC? I once tried to get into it, good recs and all, but a keyboard-only fighter RPG? You gotta be kidding me.

It's a turn based game.  It's not that hard to play with a keyboard.  The big dragon will wait patiently for it's turn to come up after you've told your characters to hit it with their swords.

[xoferew]

When strategy is not required, you can just place a heavy object on the enter key, and your presence is not required either.

[Jelenedra]

FFVIII Strategy:

1. Cast sleep.
2. Draw Magic from enemy.
3. Wrap rubber band around the O button.
4. Walk Away for two hours.
5.
6. PROFIT!

[Dark Trepie]

Yes.  This differed from the FFVII strategy though:

1.  Equip one character with Knights of the Round + HP Absorb.
2.  Equip all characters with Mime.
3.  Chain cast 5+ minute long summon spell
4. 
5.  PROFIT!!!

[nekonoai]

LOL honestly. Once you've seen a summon once, do you really need to see the same sequence every single f'n time after that? bleh.

[dorquemada]

It's a turn based game.  It's not that hard to play with a keyboard.  The big dragon will wait patiently for it's turn to come up after you've told your characters to hit it with their swords.

I've only played a couple of mouseless minutes. There was my avatar on some train, literally on, then some dudes popped up out of nowhere and started bashing the pixel guy, I couldn't find a key combination that would hit them, plus maneuvring when you can only move on two axes (as in plural for 'axis'. Not stereotypical dwarfish cutlery) is kind of tricky, plus no pause, plus truly horrifying music...so it was enough for me to decide that maybe the fabled plot wasn't really worth it.

[Insanity Prelude]

The review on Parsimonious definitely caught my interest, but especially after reading the bit about Create-A-Sim (we can't customize eyes other than color? WTF?), I'm just going to sit back and wait and see how things play out.

[jolrei]

My impression now is the TS3 is largely being marketed as the Sims game in which you can't do anything that most long-term sims players have come to count on doing.

EA: "We have heard and understood the desires and petitions of you, the gamers, and have therefore decided to deliver a new game in which you can do none of those things."

[FourCats]

My impression now is the TS3 is largely being marketed as the Sims game in which you can't do anything that most long-term sims players have come to count on doing.

EA: "We have heard and understood the desires and petitions of you, the gamers, and have therefore decided to deliver a new game in which you can do none of those things."

They did that when they ruined sim city, with simcity societies too.  They wanted to attract people who weren't into sim city, and managed to alienate most of their current simcity fan base.  You'd think they'd learn from their previous mistake?  

Fake Edit:
Never mind, I nearly forgot that we were talking about EA games.

[Havelock]

ea announces New SHIP date for the sims 3

 

Highly-Anticipated PC Game from Best-selling PC Franchise Slated to Ship June 2, 2009

 

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., February 3, 2009 - Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) today announced that The Sims™ 3, the highly-anticipated flagship game from the best-selling PC franchise, The Sims will launch across the PC, Mac, iPhone, iPod Touch and mobile devices summer 2009. The Sims 3 PC will ship to store shelves worldwide starting June 2, 2009.

 
Snipped Text was to long and boring.

see original text here

[mildlydisguised]

Oh crap.  I was looking forward to playing it later this month.  Still at least it gives them a chance to eliminate some of the worst bugs.

[Jelenedra]

Are you serious?

[jolrei]

Oh crap.  I was looking forward to playing it later this month.  Still at least it gives them a chance to eliminate some of the worst bugs...

...and create some others to take their place.

[Emma]

Actually, I'm rather glad it isn't going to be out yet. I'm not done with TS2 yet, by any means. I am still enjoying playing it and what I've seen of TS3 looks really discouraging.

[mildlydisguised]

Are you serious?

Yes, I like the sound of TS3.  The traits sound much better than the current personality system and I prefer the seamless neighbourhood.  I'm not really a micromanager and I would prefer that families, that I'm not playing, age themselves.  Obviously it does depend on exactly how they've implemented these elements and they may have fucked that up.

[Sigmund]

Well, I'm not surprised they delayed it, since I was kind of expecting one. I am surprised they delayed it all the way until June, however. Why such a long wait, I wonder? It's not like they showed a lot of concern for TS2 bugs, at least in the EPs.

[Faizah]

I'm not surprised. When you've got people saying "I wouldn't even pirate that!" it pays to take another look at it, and at least try to squash a few more bugs. (Or be seen to be trying, because that's just as good, right?)

At this point, well, I wouldn't even pirate that. They've got to do something amazing between now and then. I started out willing, nay, determined to give them the benefit of the doubt, but each new snippet of information has just ground that right into the dirt. Not worth the bandwidth.