by Mike Shea on 19 January 2003
Brad Myers of the BAM web empire had a good tip. Instead of spending your hard earned cash buying a game you won't play for more than 10 minutes, buy Xbox Magazine and play the demos instead. For $10 you get eight or so games, each one giving you about 10 minutes of play. It's a great way to have a little fun without breaking the bank.
It seems my attention span for games has dropped a lot. I don't have time to figure out how to throw vodka bottles at people's heads. I don't have time to watch 12 hours of bad movie wrapped around 30 minutes of gameplay. This month's xbox magazine gave me a taste of Superman (bad), Ghost Recon (not bad, but no Halo), Reign of Fire (shitty game based on a shitty movie), ATV Quad Power Racing 2 (great framerate but terrible control) and Battle Engine Aquila (a very cool FPS wrapped around a space war). It's an excellent way to play the Xbox in Xtreme gamer mode...no more than 5 minutes (or five bucks) a game...
I picked up Panzer Dragoon Orta yesterday. I've been very frustrated with the lack of action in Splinter Cell, one word seems to describe that game best...tedious. Panzer Dragoon Orta is an on-the-rails shooter that offers fast Galaga like action with a beautiful backdrop. The game's difficult enough that I am restarting on Easy, but fun none the less. It's a great looking game but if you're expecting something more than Sewer Shark for gameplay, think again.
What you learned from this article
Splinter Cell is boring bottle-throwing tedious crap. It's better to buy eight games for five bucks than one game for fifty bucks. Panzer Dragoon Orta is Galaga with a fancy background but thats not a bad thing.