I will say that graphics and game length alone don't make a game. Nintendo does have a lot more kiddie games than PS and XBox have, but Nintendo still views themselves as more gaming platforms while PS and XBox try to draw everyone by doing everything. I've always found that Nintendo as a whole has always had a better completel collection of games than PS and XBox have had. PS and XBox do have a few standout games, (such as FF, Halo, and perhaps Fable) but most of the other games are just same style, different renditions. For example, I can't see much difference between Halo, Modern Warfare, Doom, and all the other first person shooters on those systems other than setting and creatures. The fighter games (Mortal Combat, Soul Caliber) ect are all pretty much the same as well, only with slightly better graphics as the generations go on.

Nintendo on the other hand has a history of not only making thier repeat games unique, but also having a greater collection of unique games. Each time they release a new Zelda game, it's clearly not the same as the previous one (even when comparing Majora's Mask and Ocarina of Time). Game play might be similar, but there are enough tweaks to the gameplay that makes it standout. I like Nintendo better because they have thier focus on gaming and not everything else, in which vision can be lost.

So while N64 could never compare with PS1 in terms of graphics or game length (ie compare FFVII to Zelda: OoT), Zelda still matched FFVII as those two were neck and neck in nearly every poll not only for best game of the year (released at the same time) but also still high on the list for best games of all time. Those two series are my favorites, not just due to graphics and game play, but controlability, musical scores, epic moments, and a very high replay value. I don't like games regardless of graphics that are beat one-time and that's all you need from it. I like ones you can play over and over again without it getting old. Zelda and Final Fantasy have that element: an element not many other games have.

I will say that graphics and game length alone don't make a game.

Ha! See, I never said that! The bottom line is a game should be fun regardless of its graphics, but if you have Really Fun Game #1 with improved graphics and game length and Really Fun Game #2 without, chances are most people are going to want to play Really Fun Game #1. I mean if graphics makes little to no difference in the experience we'd all still be plugging away on our Atari 2600's, yes? I do hate games that push graphics over plot development and controllability and all platforms are occasionally guilty of publishing tripe like that from time to time. I savage games like that in Amazon reviews when I see em'.

Nintendo does have a lot more kiddie games than PS and XBox have, but Nintendo still views themselves as more gaming platforms while PS and XBox try to draw everyone by doing everything.

Nintendo is the one that's appealing to everyone, not X-Box 360 or PS3. My brother Matt explained this to me perfectly one day when I mentioned I was surprised that Nintendo had such a huge following when they had so very little I wanted to play despite the Wii-chuck novelty (the platform was still in its first year at the time). And he told me "Nintendo is out there trying to attract everyone. They don't even care about you because they know you'll never break away from the PC or 360. They're going after the untapped goldmine that is new players, and they know there's more of them than there are of you". He was dead on the money, too.

Let's equate this to cars (for lack of a better comparison. Plus I just woke up and I can't think of anything better ). Nintendo is peddling the most cars, regular ones like minivans, 4-door sedans, and the usual cars which move the world. The X-Box is selling cars like Chargers and Mustangs. The PS3 is selling the same cars that the 360 is but they have provisions for selling "experimental" level vehicles that you see only at car shows. I said several years ago that the best platform is probably the PS3 but that it would take years for it to come into its own (making it more of an "investment" platform) and that the 360 was the best overall for the money, and I tend to still hold that view. The Wii's biggest weakness is its graphics...even the best Wii games tend to look like slightly advanced games from the Gamecube. Now there's nothing wrong with that if you like their game lineup, but it just doesn't really scratch that gaming itch for me. My sister has one and I enjoy playing it, but when I want to really sink my teeth into something I'd rather play the 360 or my PC.

PS and XBox do have a few standout games, (such as FF, Halo, and perhaps Fable) but most of the other games are just same style, different renditions. For example, I can't see much difference between Halo, Modern Warfare, Doom, and all the other first person shooters on those systems other than setting and creatures.

Blech...Halo. Overrated . I'm assuming by your naming those three you're referring to First Person Shooters overall because two of them aren't even available on 360 (you can play Halo on it because it was originally a regular X-Box game from back in the day but there's no Achievements available for it, and Doom hasn't been a regular platform game since PS One and even then it was an eyesore and looked and played far better on the PC). Modern Warfare is a decent game...my favorite part is where you get to fire the big guns on an AC-130 Spectre gunship, but other than that it doesn't really "talk" to me.

But to say that each FPS is a simple redress of some earlier game is like saying that your last fencing match was just a redress of some earlier match you played . You and I both know that's not the case, but coming from an outside observer with little to no knowledge it would sound rather insulting. So, let's go down this path to further expand on the theme. Far Cry is like fencing in the middle of a jungle on the set of an Errol Flynn movie. Half Life is like fencing in a rundown old factory filled with otherworldly creatures that like to interrupt the match by occasionally attacking you and your opponent. Bioshock is like juicing up with experimental performance drugs (that make your foil flame up) and fighting in an abandoned underwater dome that threatens to crash down on your head at any moment. Portal is like fencing with a foil you can point at walls with and open doorways that emerge behind your opponent. FEAR is like a fencing match with bullet-time features from the Matrix mixed in with the occasional visit by a ghost, and Fallout 3 is like a match in the apocalyptic ruins of your hometown with RPG like skills where you can upgrade and modify your existing foils, epee's, and sabers, and you have to fight your former neighbors who are now bigger, stronger, and badder than you are because they took a major hit of radiation. Now yes, this does put them all in the same category, but by no means does that make them identical to each other.

I will readily agree with you on Final Fantasy games. Like I said, FF2 (SNES) is my personal favorite overall but I think FF7 was definitely the best in terms of quality of story, graphics (for its time) music, and game length. Remember the twist where you discover Cloud's "real" history? Wow! That blew my mind the first time I saw it ! The game was way ahead of its time. I very much enjoyed FF8 although FF9 wasn't quite as good. Tactics was a fun game but spoiled by a few instances of "impossible" levels. I utterly detest FF10...the language translation issues of the past FF games were bad but they could be overlooked because the other areas of the game were so very good (I'm looking at you Barrett!). But FF10 the characters all have voices and it makes the game awkward and clunky at times. The scene where Tidus and Riku (I think that's her name) are standing there on the overlook and laughing was truly one of the most comically bad moments in gaming history. I felt like I shouldn't be watching! I heard a rumor they were thinking of rereleasing FF7 on modern systems...have you heard about this? And by the by did you ever defeat Ruby or Emerald Weapon? I almost got Ruby. Once. It was...painful.

RE FF: What you call FF2 and what the rest of the world calls FFIV are the same game. That one was the best one prior to FFVII. Do you have a DS? Get the re-released version of FFIV. It's the exact same story line with much improved graphics. While it does have voices, they are much better than FFX's. And yes, that moment between Tidus and Yuna (Rikku wasn't in the party yet) was very cheesy. A much better choice is FFXII. While I never played FFVIII, FFXII is the best game in the series since FFVII. It is the first game that breaks away from the end of the world senario into a more political background, while having very well done and deep characters.

Have I beaten Ruby or Emerald Weapon? In a word: NO!!! Even at level 99. I heard Emerald Weapon is one of the most difficult enemies of all time and I agree. And with 850,000 HP, what can you expect? The next most difficult enemy I have faced is Yazmat, the ultimate Mark in FFXII. That beast has over 50,000 HP and has a very annoying habit of casting Renew (complete restoration of HP) when he's down to his last 5% of his life. I haven't even gotten that far on him yet.

If they did a re-release of FFVII, that would be glorious. If they did what they did with FFIV (FF2 to you), and just take the exact same story and just improve the graphics, I would be there to get it as soon as possible. Plus, HOW can you argue against FFVII's ultimate sound piece, One-Winged Angel? That is the best single tune I have heard in all my video game experience and its competition in my list is very sparse.

If they did a re-release of FFVII, that would be glorious. If they did what they did with FFIV (FF2 to you), and just take the exact same story and just improve the graphics, I would be there to get it as soon as possible.

Then like me you'll find this to be of great interest! I don't have a PS3 but even this would make me think about getting one.

Have I beaten Ruby or Emerald Weapon? In a word: NO!!! Even at level 99. I heard Emerald Weapon is one of the most difficult enemies of all time and I agree. And with 850,000 HP, what can you expect?

There was a long and convoluted way to get the job done but it required a lot of legwork and a ton of patience. The simplest way was to get a Land/Sea Chocobo (this is time consuming in and of itself) and then acquire the Knights of the Round and Mimic (I think it was called Mimic...it's been a long time since I played FF7) materias, and then go to Mideel and level them up so that they'd get Master levels. Mideel always seemed like the place with the best number of monsters versus level of experience ratio to do this in, although after a while you'll want to claw your eyes out for the repetetiveness of it. After about 30 or so hours (bare minimum) you just go up to whichever Weapon, have Cloud cast Knights of the Round, and then the other two party members cast Mimic. They'll simply repeat whatever Cloud is doing. And Knights does a good 100,000 damage if you're set up right, so you can drop whichever Weapon you're fighting down to a manageable level provided you can stay alive. The problem, as I said, is that it requires a vast amount of patience...this is stuff that isn't required to beat the game and at best is a lot of sidetracking to get something done that's more or less a notch on your belt.

My best shot I managed to get Ruby Weapon down to 1/4 health before my party expired...it was epic man, truly epic.

I'm well aware of what it takes to beat these guys and yes, Knights of the Round, connected with HP-Absorb (so you gain your HP back with every blow) with a massive amount of miming (it was Mime not Mimic, but close enough) would get the job done. To get Knights of the Round, you have to get a Gold Chocobo, which of course, takes long enough till you almost beat the game to get, and it requires 500,000 points for Mastering (so put it on a Triple tech point weapon) or you will be playing a very long time. Of course, having a Final Attack connected with a Phoenix (both Mastered) is never a bad idea either.

So here was a question that came to mind as I was doing a couple chores this afternoon. What are your top 5 or 10 (pick a number) moments, battles, scenes, etc in your gaming memory? Shadowlander already mentioned one in FFVII when Cloud's true story emerged. I've mentioned one with Links' final showdown with Ganondorf in Zelda: WindWaker. So what are your top gaming moments, be it of any kind from any type of game? I'll post mine in a little bit.

So here was a question that came to mind as I was doing a couple chores this afternoon. What are your top 5 or 10 (pick a number) moments, battles, scenes, etc in your gaming memory?

Hmm...that's a tough one, but I'll give it a whirl!

1. The first time my dad plugged in Pong on the family TV in the late 70's

2. The first time I got eaten by a dragon (which looked more like a chicken) in the Atari 2600 game Adventure

3. Hearing the signature Final Fantasy theme for the first time on my old NES

4. The first time I played through my roomate's copy of StarFlight on his Sega Genesis and discovering that Endurium,

10. Storming Omaha beach while under withering machine gun fire in Medal of Honor: Allied Assault. It was pure adrenaline.

and last but not least...

11. Watching the Fallout 1 intro for the first time, which is where I got my avatar from.

Ok, so that was 11, but I did put em' in chronological order from when I was a wee young lad all the way up to modern times so it's even sequential.

I've got quite a few so here it goes more in chronological order than anything else.

1). SMB3 (NES): I remember being scared to death the first time the sun attacked you in one of the desert stages. That was pure 8-year old terrified into a dying panic (and I did die on that life). I got over it quickly, and soon beat it, but seeing that happen for the first time scared me.

2). Beating Zelda (NES) backwards. I always made challenges for myself in that game and have beaten it in a variety of ways. I'd get only the necessary items to advance, but I'd complete the temples in reverse order. I've also beaten it with no ring, the regular shield, and the wooden sword. That was a challenge.

3). Getting my SNES with Zelda: A Link to the Past. I saved up my money from a paper route I had. This was the first system I actually owned, but shortly after I got it, the N64 came out so I never got many games for it.

4). Chrono Trigger (SNES, PS1, DS): One of the best games of its generation. My two big moments in that game were and .

5). Mega Man X3 (SNES): My most memerable time in this series was beating it for a friend for the first time at his house and seeing his reaction to .

6). Final Fantasy VII (PS1): My sentiments are the same as those of Shadowlander's except I have to add one thing:

7). Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64): Several things from this game. 1. 2). And 3) .

8). Zelda: WindWaker (GameCube): Yes Zelda makes a number of apperances on my list. Two things in this game. 1) and something I've mentioned before on this game.

9). Zelda: Twilight Princess (GC, Wii): Just to make it simple, my favorite moment of this game is the first horseback battle.

10). Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World (Wii): Tales of Symphonia for GC and Wii are the two best RPG's Nintendo is known for since Squaresoft (now Square Enix) left for Playstation. What I love about the sequel to this series is the animates sword duels especially The ones in this game are so far the best animated sword duels I have seen.

I can probably dig out some more gaming memories but that will do for now.

Water temple the ocarinia of time- I can remeber when my brother first got the game he took 3 months to find this key in the water temple. He told me where it was so it didn't take me long. My favourite temple was the spirt temple, it was the most interesting.

I know this may sound ridiculous, but in four days, I beat Zelda: Spirit Tracks. For those that have played Phantom Hourglass, the game is essentially identical in terms of graphics and gameplay. There are only three similar items (boomerang, bow/arrow, and bombs) but there are also three unique items. I strongly recommend having a drink nearby when you play because you will use your breath frequently to blow into the DS' mic.

The temple set up is very similar. There are five temples along with a sixth 'super temple' that you keep revisiting. The bosses are also similar in thier game play, but they are more enjoyable this time around. The four parts to the final showdown is a blast, and I won't spoil it. But overall, the one thing that Spirit Tracks has over Phantom Hourglass is its soundtrack. PH has a lot of reused tunes, whereas ST has fun and unique tunes to each temple and boss. For fans of PH, ST is a must get. If you didn't like PH (in terms of graphics, gameplay, use of the stylus, etc) ST might not be worthwhile. I really enjoyed it and it is already up at the top of my portable Zelda Title list.

Next up is Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days. But I will wait until I actually get on the road Friday evening to start that (or I will do nothing else besides that between now and then).

IloveFauns, have you tried Master Quest? You might not like the Spirit Temple as much after you do that. It is the most difficult Temple in the entire series IMO.

I did a part of the master quest but had to return it before i got to the spirt temple. still i like the feeling and sounds of the desert.

Also you mean ishould not play spirt tracks on the bus or plane because i will looks like an idoit blowing into the mic. I will not take it on the bus thanks for telling me.

Better blowing into the mic than actually speaking into it.

On the Spirit Temple of OoT, yes, it was my favorite too. The puzzles were my favorite to solve (with the Mirror Shield) and the musical tunes were the best of all the temples. Plus the boss, Twinrova was my favorite as well to play.

The adult link temples were better then the kid link ones. shadow temple was my 2nd favourite. Couldn't you do the spirt and shadow in any order you want?. also their was that secret leavel where you could get the ice arrows.

I never tried to do the Spirit Temple before the Shadow Temple, but I think you need the Hover Boots to get across the desert. And like you, I also liked the Adult Link temples better than Kid Link temples. Part of it was the quality of items. As for the Ice Arrows, yeah, there was like a hidden temple, but I was able to get it.

The funnist part was bypassing those gards in that desert place to unlock the prisoners.

I am getting zelda spirit tracks for my birthday and i ahve been researching it to find out the storyline extra.

The storyline doe(their is one spoiler in this so thats why i had to put it in a spoiler box

I am really excited about this game. I have just finished replaying the phantom hour glass.