Hyper 192 Feedback Thread

[Darren]

"Boiled bull's testicle."

Those three words can be seen early in Hyper 192's pages, and it only gets better from there. To start with, we've got a massive hands-on preview of Starcraft 2, a very randy session with Borderlands, a THWAK-BAK-SOKing review of Batman: Arkham Asylum, and an interview with the man who's taking the videogame musical scene by storm.

Along the way you'll find plenty of other names filling out the preview and review ranks. For the former we check out Guitar Hero 5, Dead Space: Extraction, Darksiders, Scribblenauts, and Halo 3: OSDT -- and plenty of others -- while for the latter we review the likes of Wolfenstein, Shadow Complex, King of Fighters XII, Cross Edge and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra.

We also take a moment to remember things that sucked. Dan Staines rounds up seven terrible, terrible games and explains why they nonetheless deserve to be played, while Jickle decides to get acquainted with a game that doesn't deserve to be played, and just stands as an example of something terrible.

Let's see, what else is there... hmm... we've got a roundup of the local indie games scene, a caption about lighting farts, and eight gaming videocards that get put through the wringer for the sake of benchmarks and numbers.

Oh, and it has one more line that I'd like to quote out of context: "Inter-generational paradox-creating incest".

Want all that and more? Get Hyper 192, on sale from Wednesday 2nd September!

http://img60.imageshack.us/img60/190/hypercover192small2.jpg

[Stevorooni]

Must remember to buy this...



... even though I subscribed last month!

[Twisted Conspiracy]

Hey, cool cover...

Seven crap games you should play...? Sounds great. :D

[Lazlow]

King of Fighters XII

Hoping for the best, expecting the worst. A lot of the reviews I've read seem really short sighted.

[Watchers]

Hyper needs more cod-pieces on covers, really.

[FX-GTZ]

You guys love those red/orange-ish covers huh?
http://img18.imageshack.us/img18/1501/hyper191cover2.jpg

http://img339.imageshack.us/img339/2310/hyp1902.jpg

But the white has balanced those two out nicely.

[Stevorooni]

woohoo my issue arrived in the mail today, this subscribing scam really works!

[Jickle]

Looking at Staines' feature, that's seven games I can never cover now. :p

I actually have a copy of Jaws Unleashed, given to me by the great Wilks himself. Ultimately I didn't think it was bad enough to actually write a BOTB column about, because it's sort of fun. Somehow.

Also sort of freaked out that the first two words in the Scribblenauts preview are 'Monster Truck'. I was thinking about the game earlier today and thought "I wonder if you can summon a monster truck in the game, or whether it would just bring up a normal truck?".

Edit: Oh, just found the bull's testicle bit. Ha!

[Space_Monkey]

I actually have a copy of Jaws Unleashed, given to me by the great Wilks himself. Ultimately I didn't think it was bad enough to actually write a BOTB column about, because it's sort of fun. Somehow.

I had a friend who worked at a video store and had the amazing perk of being able to take home games at night for free. He'd always grab a handful of games but Jaws was the only recurring selection each week.

I didn't play much as I didn't have the interest but I have vivid memory of him rolling on the floor in tears of laughter. I even saw his girlfriend wrestle him to the ground because he wouldn't let her have the TV to play Bioshock. :p

[RunningMild]

Also sort of freaked out that the first two words in the Scribblenauts preview are 'Monster Truck'. I was thinking about the game earlier today and thought "I wonder if you can summon a monster truck in the game, or whether it would just bring up a normal truck?".

You know that famous 'using a T-Rex to kill zombie robots' story? One time, I was trying of think of how I would solve it if I had to use a different solution. I came up with 'Steamroller' and 'Monster Truck'.

So it better be in the damn game! :p

[Jickle]

You know that famous 'using a T-Rex to kill zombie robots' story? One time, I was trying of think of how I would solve it if I had to use a different solution. I came up with 'Steamroller' and 'Monster Truck'.

So it better be in the damn game! :p

Well according to the preview, it's in there. All good!

[Meg]

Haven't read it properly yet but I enjoyed what Ive read so far. Was expecting to have written on the cover somewhere "The extra $ is for the bear tax" but to no avail. :(

[AranchineD]

Haven't read it properly yet but I enjoyed what Ive read so far. Was expecting to have written on the cover somewhere "The extra $ is for the bear tax" but to no avail. :(

Maybe next issue it will. >_>



On another note, why is it that everytime I see a different publication looking at Scribblenauts I get all excited inside despite the fact I've seen about a dozen in depth previews of it?

[RunningMild]

Maybe next issue it will. >_>



On another note, why is it that everytime I see a different publication looking at Scribblenauts I get all excited inside despite the fact I've seen about a dozen in depth previews of it?

Because every single preview is completely different? ;)

[AranchineD]

Well that went without saying, of course. >_>

[mageman84]

Thanks for picking my caption this :)

[JubeiSaotome]

AVCon this issue?

[Jickle]

AVCon this issue?

Yep. Not really coverage of the show itself though, just the Indie Games room.

[AranchineD]

Also I can't remember whether or not you guys have reviewed movies that are currently out at the cinemas before, but still, I quite liked it.

[Daniel]

We got lucky with a bunch of long lead screenings tht actually fit into our deadlines. We're trying to do it more.

[jawsy]

I don't think I've even pondered this question since The Change, but I'm interested to know what W&W would have given Batman: Arkham Asylum if we were still offering scores out of 100.

Gentlemen?

[Daniel]

Mid to high 90s - say 95-97.

[jawsy]

You're a sly one! Giving us a range as a means of avoiding that definitive meaning embedded within a Hyper score of 97.

:p

[RunningMild]

I don't think I've even pondered this question since The Change, but I'm interested to know what W&W would have given Batman: Arkham Asylum if we were still offering scores out of 100.

Gentlemen?

91-100 obviously. That's what a score out of 10 represents. :p

[BB2K]

I thought it was 95-100, M?

[AranchineD]

I thought it was 95-100, M?

That was my understanding.

[RunningMild]

I was under the impression that if you're going in tens, 10 would be 91-100, 9 would be 81-90...

Oh well, I'm sure Daniel will clear this up for us.

[AranchineD]

I was under the impression that if you're going in tens, 10 would be 91-100, 9 would be 81-90...

Oh well, I'm sure Daniel will clear this up for us.

Think about it though, why would you have, for example, a '9' represent a score range that only actually includes one score in the 90s? Besides, I think 10 can generally be thought to be representative of a game that is almost perfect, which you'd think would be more suited to a mark of 95-100 in the old system, rather than 91-100.

That said the above is just all game score wank, really. >_>

[punkgorilla]

I think I've figured it out.

1 = 1
2 = 2
3 = 3
4 = 4
5 = 5
6 = 5
7 = 7
8 = 8
9 = 9
10 = 10

[AranchineD]

You're wrong and bad and you should feel wrong and bad.

[Lazlow]

Well I read the King of Fighters XII review, and was disappointed.

While I am holding final judgement until my copy arrives, I can't even agree with it in principle. It just seems you're expecting way too much from it.

Its a massive revamp to the series, a reboot of sorts due to redrawing every character from scratch, including more frames, with some of the lushest backgrounds I've ever seen in a fighter, and you still feel 20 characters is a limited roster?!? KoF94 featured 24 (in locked teams IIRC) and SFIV only has one more at 25.

BlazBlue, the other hot new 2D fighter this year, only has 12 playable characters going on wikipedia's info.

Seems a little rich to call 20 characters a limited roster. Stripped back from previous KoF's sure, but as I said this is like being back at square one. Four characters shy of '94's total is nothing to sneeze at.

Secondly, you seemed to actually like the fighting system. So it boggles the mind that a seemingly competent game gets hung out to dry like that.

I'll give you the online problems, given all the negative reports I've heard. But this should not stifle local multi. Online is not the be all and end all.

Finally, maybe its just me, but I find story modes and survival modes superfluous addons. You can simply run your own survival mode by challenging yourself to finish the single player mode without losing a round. The stories have always been laughably bad. Call me cynical, but no doubt if some story mode were included, you would've hung shit on it or called it pointless, if it continued in the same vein as previous games.

For all intents and purposes, KoFXII is a platform to breath new life into the series and welcome it into the HD era. Much like '94 was to welcome it to world.

[jawsy]

Oh, for the love of God.

I understand that a score of 10 is equivalent to a particular range. I'm actually interested to see how they (W&W) rank it alongside those reviews of games from yesteryear that were awarded a score of 97, keeping in mind that in the broader context of Hyper reviews that score means something. The move to the new system has made such a debate basically impossible (and we never really learn anything from the debate, but such an argument is, at the least, usually fun).

My question, really, has very little to do with the actual number itself.

[Tukenstein]

It's good to see Amos back even if it is under the alias Amos Hong.

Or was Hong the original that Wong bumped off? Maybe Wong is using the Hong alias to throw us off the scent. Maybe Hong faked his own death for the insurance claim, had been assuming the Wong name to dodge the fuzz and has once again claimed the Hong name now that all the heat has died off! To the tinfoil hats!

[RunningMild]

Who the **** is Amos Wong? It was always Hong AFAI can remember.

[BB2K]

All I know is he worked for Total Gamer before and that makes him awesome.

[Twisted Conspiracy]

And he made the cover discs for PC Whiz... Which was a while ago...

[Daniel]

Was always Hong. I don't know where this Wong thing came from.

[Jickle]

It's a pretty easy name to get wong. No need to get hong up about it.

[AranchineD]

Right, this particular line of posting has gone on wong enough.

[Jickle]

Not quite, although I think we've amos used every lame wordplay we can...

...ok, that's all of them.

[fearofthesky]

There was another Amos who wrote for NMS back in the day. Before it was CRUSHED by the awesomeness that is Hyper. I remember Amos Wong (for that was his name) was sort of the butt of that magazine's in-jokes (they did an Amos dart-board if I recall).

So I was kinda surprised when Cam Shea era Hyper announced their new mascot, the loveable Amos Hong! I wondered whether it was the same guy, but I do remember someone writing into Hyper and asking this. They are not the same guy sadly...

OR IS IT?

[Ryan Hayward]

Its a shame about King of Fighters XII as anticipation was at fever pitch. Why oh why did they not include a survivor mode and perhaps a mode where you had to beat all the fighters to win? If the stingy modes weren't bad enough, they left out Mai, one of the iconic fighters of the series and then totally stuffed up online play to put a boot in the face of their fans. Then there's the fact they halved the amount of fighters normally available.
SNK can be so frustratingly lazy like 3D Realms, I doubt they really give a shit about us fans....

[JubeiSaotome]

If it's any consolation, if anyone's been keeping up with the KoF12 official facebook, the publisher has contacted SNK Playmore about what the players want. Much like Capcom Unity's been doing. We may see an update with Mai and the like.

[Azzaman]

When did Hyper get to $10? Shit dawg, get some cover dvd in that, stat!

[Ryan Hayward]

Subscribe and save a fortune.

[Lazlow]

SNK can be so frustratingly lazy

You're calling KoFXII lazy!?!?

Get out.

[Ryan Hayward]

Yes, I do sir. Yes, I do. Biggest disappointment of 2009.
Its like thinking you're about to score with the nicest chick you've ever set eyes on and she reveals a penis.

[Lazlow]

Anyone expecting KoFXII to feature 30+ redrawn characters, with twice as may frames as before, to be released this decade, is seriously deluded.

[Afrogamer]

[Its like thinking you're about to score with the nicest chick you've ever set eyes on and she reveals a penis.

Pep..

Anyway, hell excited for starcraft even though its a while away. The whole idea of space cowboys sold it to me :D

[Ryan Hayward]

Lazlow, it was more to do with the fact that the game had stingy few modes and totally shit laggy online play. It may be fun with a mate for a few hours but would you seriously pay full price for it?
Would have been better if they released it for around 30 bucks, like many of their games with seriously limited longterm appeal such as previous versions and their archive collections. For around 90 bucks+, I would much prefer the new Batman game!

[Lazlow]

Online is the only valid complaint I see there, and even then its coming from someone who is not forming their opinion from actual experience. Jubei would be pretty much the only authoritative voice on the PS3 online performance. Hopefully I can give an indication of what the current state is like on 360.

Extra modes like survival or time attack is of no consequence to me. Set your own challenges.

I've already ordered it from the link in my sig. I see KoFXII not as a continuation but a new beginning, as I explained in my previous post.

[grimace06]

Online is the only valid complaint I see there, and even then its coming from someone who is not forming their opinion from actual experience. Jubei would be pretty much the only authoritative voice on the PS3 online performance. Hopefully I can give an indication of what the current state is like on 360.

Extra modes like survival or time attack is of no consequence to me. Set your own challenges.

I've already ordered it from the link in my sig. I see KoFXII not as a continuation but a new beginning, as I explained in my previous post.

Re-releasing KoF 98' so close to XII didn't help it much.

The reason a lot of people have a problem with only 24 characters is that they think there will be a lack of variety because of the teams of three.

I'm not huge on KoF but I've played XII and I think it's solid.

The sprites are lacklustre, though.

[Lazlow]

22 characters* (KoF '94 had 24). I was wrong before, as there are apparently 2 home version only characters. Another point I've also picked up; there may technically be no new characters, but Raiden has never been in a KoF game before.

Street Fighter is not exactly the best example for variety either. Half of IV's roster can be played pretty much the same way (until you get up to higher level competition of course).

Alas, I'm still reserving final judgment on KoFXII until I've actually played it. The changed movesets are a concern, but it might simply be different as opposed to terrible.

[RunningMild]

I read part of the Arkham Asylum review, and noticed a comment about how Poison Ivy's redesign washed out the bad taste of her Batman and Robin costume. I understand why you didn't like the film, but complaining about the costume? Come on, how can you not like skin tight spandex wrapped around Uma Thurman? Best part of the film IMO. ;)

[AranchineD]

Because its Uma Thurman.

The woman just looks plain weird!

[Lazlow]

Agreed.

Now let us never speak of this again.

[JubeiSaotome]

I agree with Laz, half of Street Fighters roster is usually comprised of Shoto variations.

[Ryan Hayward]

God, don't even get me started on Dan. How the hell has he survived the rosters of so many SF2 games? That and Sakura.....
I know they can be lethal in the right hands, but only the most hardcore of players.

[Daniel]

Basically for the same reason Ryo survived in KoF - one franchise taking the piss out of the other.

[Lazlow]

Except Ryo's not shit :D

EDIT:

In case anyone thinks I'm talking out of my arse;

SNK Overseas Manager Yoshihito Koyama revealed that the game was going to be "3D mixed with 2D"; this led to speculation that the game could use cel-shading to give the game a 2D look, but it was later revealed at AOU 2008 that KOF XII would use newly-drawn 2D sprites on detailed 2D backgrounds. Producer Masaaki Kukino informed Kotaku that the game is one hundred percent hand drawn, there being zero cell shading in the game. He has also stated that the main goal of the game is to give a new "rebirth" to the series. They have no intention of changing the main series into 3D in the future. The staff decided to create the new graphics during 2005 and 2006, and commented that they spent triple the amount of time developing it than the previous game.

In an interview with Fighters Front Line, Kukino replies that each character took 16~17 months to complete with a team of 10 different designers. Additionally, the sprites were personally checked by Nona for quality. Due to the time demands of drawing such detailed frames of animation, as well as the decision not to incorporate older assets as previous games in the series have, there are only 20 playable characters, the lowest number ever in a game from this series. An interview with Kukino revealed that there would be console exclusive characters.

[Australian Ninja]

I'm glad KOF finally has a modern game with a new engine. Don't know if I will buy it, as I have no one to play it with. 98 and 2000 were my previous favourites of the KOF series. Gave up after about 2002/03 on PS2 seeing as the whole KOF range from the last few years has been too similar to each other to justify buying them all, and they end up un-played in the closet gathering dust.

Did KOf 98 ever make it out here on Xbox Live or PSN? If so, what is it like - does it have online VS. play?

[Jickle]

I ran into one of the developers of Wheeler's Treasure tonight. Apparently I refer to the game as Wheeler's Fortune twice. I blame the fact that I'm writing an essay that deals with Boethius' concept of the Wheel of Fortune.

[duffmanslim]

My one comment this month, is Why the heck was TWEWY not mentioned in the game music article???

[Australian Ninja]

I ran into one of the developers of Wheeler's Treasure tonight. Apparently I refer to the game as Wheeler's Fortune twice. I blame the fact that I'm writing an essay that deals with Boethius' concept of the Wheel of Fortune.


Lies! It's really going to be a BOTB feature about "wheel of fortune" video games.

[Jickle]

http://www.uvlist.net/cdn/l/y2007/03/35741.jpg

We'll see.

[Australian Ninja]

Ohhh, ohhh I know this.... it's ........... it'sssss....

SQUIRREL SAUSAGES!!

What did i win?

[Gameboffin]

Naggers!

[Twisted Conspiracy]

Lol, I got the issue today. Just thought I'd say.

[punkgorilla]

I'm really liking what Tracey has been doing with the news section. She seems to be putting a bit of effort into researching, checking sources etc. It's actually quite interesting to read.

[Australian Ninja]

Christ on a bike I hope my sub arrvives today. Already browsed it in the newsagent and getting impatient!!!!!

[Ingenue_Em]

Great issue guys; totally agree with the Batman Arkham Asylum review!

[madara]

hey guys great issue. Loved the way halo 3 ODST was invented. Batman Arkham Asylum review was great, just to bad the games a little short. But in all another great issue. wouldnt expect anything else from HYPER :)

[Hyperblau]

Is it just me or did the latest games wank cover something that has been covered at least once before in another one of the editorial sections. Not to mention Linear hasn't really been a dirty word for some time now, the article seemed a bit late to the party to me.

[Cake]

I'm really liking what Tracey has been doing with the news section. She seems to be putting a bit of effort into researching, checking sources etc. It's actually quite interesting to read.

Thaaaaaaanks dude! I has big smile. :D

- Tracey

[SOX]

Haven't read the rest of the thread but what's with the dodgy photoshop of batman's ears sticking out the top of the page? Just looks sloppy :/

Rest of the magazine seems pretty good and unlike Lazlow I agree with the review of KOFXII, good for a game against friends on your couch but horrible alone and online.

[Darren]

Haven't read the rest of the thread but what's with the dodgy photoshop of batman's ears sticking out the top of the page? Just looks sloppy :/
http://www.cosmiccomix.com/newblog/wp-content/uploads/FishBatman.jpg

[Lazlow]

unlike Lazlow I agree with the review of KOFXII, good for a game against friends on your couch but horrible alone and online.

As my copy still hasn't arrived, I'm not commenting on the gameplay. Just the lofty expectations people seemed to have that it would be as full featured as KoFXI, despite being a completely new, redrawn game.

They didn't cop out like Capcom, and make it 2.5D >_>

[SOX]

As my copy still hasn't arrived, I'm not commenting on the gameplay. Just the lofty expectations people seemed to have that it would be as full featured as KoFXI, despite being a completely new, redrawn game.

They didn't cop out like Capcom, and make it 2.5D >_>

The engine is fun enough it's just everything around it is very bare and with a weak online + single player I doubt enough people will stick around to build a community to support it.

[punkgorilla]

Just the lofty expectations people seemed to have that it would be as full featured as KoFXI, despite being a completely new, redrawn game.

They didn't cop out like Capcom, and make it 2.5D >_>

I don't think it's unreasonable to expect that a sequel would be better than the original.

[AranchineD]

I guess Lazlow's point is more how do you define 'better', in this case, if the point of the game is to be different to the rest of the series and take it in a new direction.

And also if the game went under a completely different name and characters, would it have gotten rated higher, seeing as people keep comparing it to previous games in the franchise?

[Lazlow]

I don't think it's unreasonable to expect that a sequel would be better than the original.


It is when KoFXI reuses sprites that SNK had been rehashing for 10 years. By reusing sprites they are able to steadily increase the character count over each edition. With each edition they also had the ability to fall back on the previous game's engine; King of Fighters XI had 10 years worth of previous titles to perfect the game. King of Fighters XII doesn't have this luxury, like I've said before, they are essentially starting all over again.

As I posted before;

In an interview with Fighters Front Line, Kukino replies that each character took 16~17 months to complete with a team of 10 different designers. Additionally, the sprites were personally checked by Nona for quality. Due to the time demands of drawing such detailed frames of animation, as well as the decision not to incorporate older assets as previous games in the series have, there are only 20 playable characters, the lowest number ever in a game from this series. An interview with Kukino revealed that there would be console exclusive characters.

KoFXII is completely new, HD, widescreen artwork, redrawn by hand. To expect it to have anywhere near the 47 characters KoFXI had is foolish. Hell it still has a sizeable roster at 20... BlazBlue the current golden child of 2D fighting only has 12. Like I said before, KoF'94 had 24 total, kept in locked teams of three.

Again, I'm only critiquing statements regarding the game's content; not gameplay. Whether it plays better or worse I'll judge for myself when I get it. But when people call the roster weak, they clearly fail to acknowledge the huge amount of work that goes into drawing 2D characters, with many times more frames than they previously had.

I will acknowledge that poor netcode is damaging; I haven't denied this. In this day and age it seems a game has to have a killer online mode (with a few exceptions for more narrative, or unique titles ie Bioshock, Mirror's Edge), or it's instantly a below par title. Here's hoping its something that gets worked on through patches.

[punkgorilla]

KoFXII is completely new, HD, widescreen artwork, redrawn by hand. To expect it to have anywhere near the 47 characters KoFXI had is foolish.
That doesn't excuse the lack of single player modes or the online functionality. Besides, the fact that characters like Mai and Geese are absent is inexcusable when there are other characters in KOFXII that no one really cares about.

BlazBlue the current golden child of 2D fighting only has 12.
Don't forget BlazBlue received a pretty average review in Hyper. It may be flavour of the month in other circles, but it never was in Hyper.

In this day and age it seems a game has to have a killer online mode (with a few exceptions for more narrative, or unique titles ie Bioshock, Mirror's Edge), or it's instantly a below par title.
KOFXII is a game based around competition. It needs a strong online service. These days there is no excuse not to have one.

[dinopoke]

If the game is based around competition then a strong online service is not as important.

[JONO RANDOM H3RO]

Don't forget BlazBlue received a pretty average review in Hyper. It may be flavour of the month in other circles, but it never was in Hyper.



BlazBlue was reviewed in Hyper?

[punkgorilla]

Just had a check through some older issues. Looks like it wasn't reviewed in Hyper. Sorry bout that, must have been thinking about something else.

If the game is based around competition then a strong online service is not as important.
Having the option to compete with people around the world isn't important to a competitive game? How so?

[Lazlow]

That doesn't excuse the lack of single player modes or the online functionality. Besides, the fact that characters like Mai and Geese are absent is inexcusable when there are other characters in KOFXII that no one really cares about.

1) I've already presented my opinion on those points
2) Everyone has different favourite characters, and in all seriousness there's barely anyone I'd cut from XII's roster to accommodate Mai or Geese. Don't forget as well that Geese hasn't appeared in every KoF;
- 96
- 2000 (as a striker)
- 2002 (console exclusive)
- Neowave (boss)
- XI (PS2 exclusive)

and then retroactively added to 98 and 2002 in their recent re-releases.

A fair few characters have sporadic appearances throughout the series.

KOFXII is a game based around competition. It needs a strong online service. These days there is no excuse not to have one.

Nice working paraphrasing there, removing the bits where I don't deny the importance of strong online multiplayer gaming today. I was merely commenting that these days it seems every game has to have online multiplayer shoe-horned in for it to be successful. (ie people who dismissed Bioshock due to its lack on online play)

Whilst it does the game no favours to have dodgy netcode, in the face of games like SFIV and Blazblue, 2D fighters did survive before online console gaming became commonplace.

[dinopoke]

Having the option to compete with people around the world isn't important to a competitive game? How so?

Because of lag. The average person won't mind it, but if you're competitive, you'll probably be sticking to local games. KOFXII was released in the arcades as well, and that's where the competitive scene usually should lie.

[Lazlow]

Whilst a lot of the reports of laggy online have come out of the US, here's hoping the pressure Ignition are putting on SNK to sort out their netcode results in a better performance when its released locally, and that local matches are an improvement.

[Mr.Mew]

I found Eleanor Eiffe's '"Linear" is Not a Dirty Word' to be a continuation of an earlier article in 184, 'Invisible Walls...', which was cool. It elaborated on the whole open enviroment/linear path debate for thee.

[Australian Ninja]

Christ on a bike I hope my sub arrvives today. Already browsed it in the newsagent and getting impatient!!!!!

Yes I'm quoting myself....again.

Anyhow, my sub issue NEVER arrived this month, so I contacted the subs department (oh thanks to whoever added the number into the mag credits in nice big type, saved me endlessly flicking to find the random usual page with sub info) and they verified that YES, one was sent out, there were NO delays,

But for whatever reason it did not arrive. So they have said they will send out another issue. Has anyone else had this happen this month?

If you are a subscriber and have not received one, you should call them to confirm if an issue has been posted out.

It's funny, seeing as this is about my third year of sub to hyper and it has always arrived, this is the first time it has failed to appear, and I'd say Australian Post are to be blamed, certainly not... Woolly Next Imaginary Media or whatever they are called.

Hell, I even had a DVD from ebay this month that went on a detour to NEW ZEALAND for F's sake. No wonder it took about 6 weeks to arrive. It was returned and posted to the ACTUAL address, the one that had big letters that said "AUSTRALIA" on it. Well, it may have been US post and not OZ, but either way it's an amazingly stupid thing to happen, but it DOES happen.

**I should get a prize (or random creative insult) for resisting the temptation to buy that delicious shiny new hyper at the newsagent, I browsed it for a bit.... but not too much.

*Oh and Lazlow makes some totally valid points RE: KOF XII so far in this forum;), particularly about the new sprites being drawn from scratch and the size of the character roster. I can only imagine things will improve with the next update, at least KOF is finally moving FORWARDS, rather than backwards after all the hullabaloo with SNK / Playmore / Ignition in recent years.

[Hotaru_oz]

That's actually happened to me earlier this year when my sub was coming to an end.
All I did was ring up and got sent out a new one so it was all good in the end :)

[Australian Ninja]

My sub is in the "middle" or 2nd quarter, so it's something different than that

[Super Sleuth]

The piece about the Eminence Symphony Orchestra was great. As was the 'Indies in Adelaide' piece. Great work guys.

Looking at Staines' feature, that's seven games I can never cover now. :p

If you ever run out of ideas for games to 'review'...Ben Hur - Blood of Braves of PS2 (http://au.gamespot.com/ps2/driving/benhur/index.html) was hilariously bad. Well, I got an ex rental copy for $6 from Blockbuster with no manual. I had no idea what I wa doing. But it provided many nights of laughter.

Then I traded it in with my Ps2 (and 9 other games I got for free/under $10) to get a Ps3. They gave me $40 credit for it!

[Australian Ninja]

My sub is in the "middle" or 2nd quarter, so it's something different than that

Attention Wilks / Wells PLEASE pass on my thanks to the sub derpartment for my "replacement" issue which arrived this week.

It seems that australia post has lost about 3 items (possibly more) this month that were meant to arrive in my letter box, and hyper was one of them.

[dinopoke]

I'm wondering why Cross Edge got a 5? According to the review, pretty much everything was awful yet the rating implies that the game is average. WHERE IS THE CONSISTENCY?

[Ryan Hayward]

Mate, if you were to sleep with an ugly as hell chick, she could still mildly put out for you. There's your consistency right there.

[REQUIEM]

I havent read a hyper since my subscription ran out and the PRICE HIKE wasnt justified IMO.

New owners = price hike = walk away from subscription.

[BB2K]

Oh, get over it, it's one dollar. The new owners haven't impacted on the substance of the magazine, anyway.

[Ryan Hayward]

Yes, a 50 dollar increase for a 2 year sub is probably just a little past justified inflation.
Mind you, it still works out to around $6.50 a magazine. If you read it every month, its still a pretty good saving.

[REQUIEM]

Yes, a 50 dollar increase for a 2 year sub is probably just a little past justified inflation.
Mind you, it still works out to around $6.50 a magazine. If you read it every month, its still a pretty good saving.

I had read it since mag 1..


Edit: dam my principles.

[ScToTeE]

The magazine is easily worth the price increase. I've been through plenty of competing games magazines over the years and most of them have sucked beyond belief. Hyper has that elusive quality of being able to intelligently critique games, put together interesting articles - some which I've used as sources in Uni essays - and has a collection of reviewers who are actually very good with words. That last point is shockingly quite a rarity...

*removes lips from Hyper team's rear-end*

[REQUIEM]

Bar the spelling errors I agree with you, however with the increase of delays on reviews etc compared to the current gaming sites that are out there I just as originally stated a $50 increase for my regular 2 year subscription just wasnt a viable option as I wasnt recieving anymore mag for the money.

[ScToTeE]

Yeah. The general threat gaming news n' views sites pose to print-based forms is the main reason why I would consider not re-subscribing to Hyper. Some of the feature articles, and the overall critical thinking behind the reviews and articles, are what keeps me loyal. For example, the piece criticising the notion of 'moral choice' in video games a few issues back was fantastic and thoughtful. I highly doubt such an article would appear in many of the other games magazines I've purchased. Plus several years of reading Hyper has led to me trusting certain reviewers that have recommended games I went on to really enjoy. I don't have that trust for anonymous reviewers on the Internet.

[Australian Ninja]

I really fail to understand how anyone can keep/drop a magazine because of a price increase? It stands to reason that if you buy any kind of printed media that is published on a monthly basis (magazines, comic books etc) that over the years the price is going to go up, and up, and UP. As does just about everything else in the world.

Considering what you can buy for less than $10 these days, Hyper is still great value for money. And I'm not defending the magazine so much as saying "DUH!" - there will always be bloody price increases - but I'm kind of sick of people using such a weak excuse time and again on the forums.

*I'm not trying to pick on Requiem, it's just the latest example of this, so PLEASE don't take offense, as none is intended*

[Mark]

i don't understand the "review delay" argument. if you're that hyped for a game, you've more than likely already read every scrap of news online anyway..

i buy hyper every month because it's a thought provoking and entertaining read, as well as having consistently great features rarely found elsewhere.

[Super Sleuth]

I'm wondering why Cross Edge got a 5? According to the review, pretty much everything was awful yet the rating implies that the game is average. WHERE IS THE CONSISTENCY?

I came here to post this very point. I was scratching my head.

And shut up ryan.

[Australian Ninja]

I'd barely finished enjoying the interview with Hiroaki Yura, then the new hyper arrived in the mail box. It's not even a new month yet, heck there's not even a thread for the new one. It's like hyper has stolen the scribblenauts time machine, and sent itself exta early for my convenience.

Anyway, really enjoyed the review with Yura - he's so straight forward and uncomplicated that it's a joy to listen to what he has to say.

I've only been to one Eminence performance a couple years back, but it was excellent and the way the hosts/performers addressed the audience informally, and just chatted about stuff was great - no pretentiousness whatsoever - just a friendly relaxed atmosphere with some amazingly talented hard working individuals.

[Darren]

Subscribers are getting 193 already? Damn. Time for the new feedback thread...

[Stevorooni]

Australian Ninja's mailbox broke the magazine street date! My mailbox didn't :(

[aubergine]

Took me a while to buy this issue as I'm very poor right now. Content/writing wise I think it's the best issue I've read for a while! It helps that there's a lot more games of interest coming out in the near future/now so I'm actually reading more of the magazine.

Was amused at the flashback to Wilk's "Poor Me I have a job and have to travel the world" rant from years back. I'm pretty sure the "unprecedented amount of hate mail" he refers to in the editorial this issue was just me.

If we dug up that article (which I could do if I hadn't recently donated my Hyper collection) I think it would be a good measure of how much Wilk's writing has changed over the years. My main problem with that article was:


I was cash-poor and had spent money on someone complaining about his vastly more interesting job.
I spent money to find out things about games, not about the personal life of some dude.
For some reason he thought it would be interesting to describe a minor part of his work which bored him. But it wasn't interesting, it was boring.

If you look at the editorial here, years later, he actually says all the things he said in that original article, but does it economically, does it from the perspective of explaining why it's now exciting to him to go overseas and justifies it in the context of the magazine and his consumer base by explaining how it will result in rewards for the purchasers of the magazine.

"Undoubtedly I'll have something special to share with you" is the key line, which is the entirety of what the magazine has to offer its clientele - interesting news. It kind of sounds a bit naff, and I can't imagine the Wilks of several years back using a line like that, but it shows he takes the customer service responsibility seriously (regardless of whatever mouthy love he might espouse for readers like me behind closed doors!) and has been a really good influence on the magazine since taking over from Cam Shea, an editor who, while probably not a complete arsehole, I felt was more interested in how witty he thought he was than actually working on what his readers actually wanted.

Through whatever turns of fate have led to it, you seem to have a really strong line up of contributors at the moment too. In this issue, the businesslike approach to the news article about NZ under 18's (an issue I had not heard of via the internet yet of great interest to me) is exactly what I personally like. The Starcraft II article contains some really interesting writing and thinking on the current state of the industry and how Blizzard relates - or more importantly doesn't relate - to the prevailing attitudes. It was gratifying to read a powerful, Activision-near developer saying "We don't see it as Hardcore vs Casual, we see it as Quality" (or words-to-that-effect.)

[Australian Ninja]

Australian Ninja's mailbox broke the magazine street date! My mailbox didn't :(

Maybe it was some instant karma.
After the delay / lost in mail previous issue, I ended up getting the replacement #192 about 1 week before #193 arrived early. So two issues of hyper to read read in the same week = excellent.