A Thread In Which We Commit Gamer Assisted Suicide (Confess Unpopular Gamer Opinions)

[Rogue Nine]

It's very unlikely that Niko was Serbian

Why? Linking to Wikipedia doesn't automatically tell me why.

 

so it's assumed that he's Croatian.

Only by you. And for someone who claims 'no one can know anything for sure', you seem to be pretty set on this.

 

Wrong? Not really.

You don't work for Rockstar, so forgive me if I don't feel inclined to believe anything you say in regards to this game.

 

You can keep that.

Nope, still mine.

[True_Avery]

Niko fought during the Yugoslav Wars as an "angry" teenager, where he witnessed and committed numerous atrocities, leading to his cynical view on life. Niko was almost killed in 1998 when the fifteen man unit he was in were ambushed, with twelve of his friends killed in the attack. Only he, Florian Cravic and Darko Brevic, who had betrayed the unit, survived. He knew that he was not the betrayer, so the only two options were Darko and Florian.

[Det. Bart Lasiter]

*snort*

 

Let's see here...

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Croatian_War_of_Independence

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kosovo_War

 

How could Niko be a teenager and fight in a war that was in 1998-1999? Alternatively, it's been 17 years since the Croatian war for independence started. Niko could very well have fought in that as a teenager. It's very unlikely that Niko was Serbian, so it's assumed that he's Croatian. It makes historical sense, and him being Serbian doesn't.

 

Clarifying note: Both Serbians and Croatians are considered to be "Serbs", so this is less a discussion of ethnicity and more a discussion of nationality.

 

Wrong? Not really.

 

 

You can keep that.

 

 

 

 

i work for rockstar and niko is from panama

[Adavardes]

Niko fought during the Yugoslav Wars as an "angry" teenager, where he witnessed and committed numerous atrocities, leading to his cynical view on life. Niko was almost killed in 1998 when the fifteen man unit he was in were ambushed, with twelve of his friends killed in the attack. Only he, Florian Cravic and Darko Brevic, who had betrayed the unit, survived. He knew that he was not the betrayer, so the only two options were Darko and Florian.

 

Meaning that the middle-aged, 30-something Niko Bellic had to be from 13-19 to have fought in a war as a teenager. This means that the ambush in 1998 wasn't the first battle he fought in, meaning that, most likely, he was in the Croatian war for Independence, which was a civil war between the established Croatian government and the United Socialists of Croatia. It started in 1991, 17 years ago, meaning that a 13-19 year old soldier who fought and survived would be around 30-something today.

 

Linking to Wikipedia doesn't automatically tell me why.

 

Read the articles? Look at the dates? Compare Niko's supposed age to that of the dates of the wars?

 

Only by you. And for someone who claims 'no one can know anything for sure', you seem to be pretty set on this.

 

Oh ho, very clever. You have no basis for argument, so you indirectly insult me. Good job.

 

You don't work for Rockstar, so forgive me if I don't feel inclined to believe anything you say in regards to this game.

 

Working for Rockstar =/= knowledge of historical continuity in characters. Nice try though.

[True_Avery]

Meaning that the middle-aged, 30-something Niko Bellic had to be from 13-19 to have fought in a war as a teenager. This means that the ambush in 1998 wasn't the first battle he fought in, meaning that, most likely, he was in the Croatian war for Independence, which was a civil war between the established Croatian government and the United Socialists of Croatia. It started in 1991, 17 years ago, meaning that a 13-19 year old soldier who fought and survived would be around 30-something today.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yugoslav_Wars

 

He could be Yugoslavian, Croatian, Bosnian, Albanian, Serbian, Macedonian, etc.

 

That is all we really know. He was in one or many of the Yugoslav Wars, and he speaks Serbian, which is one of many common languages in that area.

 

They never say which war he was in, and they never say which country he was from. You can fill in the blanks if you'd like, but they would be neither right or wrong.

[Adavardes]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yugoslav_Wars

 

He could be Yugoslavian, Croatian, Bosnian, Albanian, Serbian, Macedonian, etc.

 

That is all we really know. He was in one or many of the Yugoslav Wars, and he speaks Serbian, which is one of many common languages in that area.

 

They never say which war he was in, and they never say which country he was from. You can fill in the blanks if you'd like, but they would be neither right or wrong.

 

Eh, fair enough. I suppose I was just assuming.

[Rogue Nine]

Meaning that the middle-aged, 30-something Niko Bellic had to be from 13-19 to have fought in a war as a teenager. This means that the ambush in 1998 wasn't the first battle he fought in, meaning that, most likely, he was in the Croatian war for Independence, which was a civil war between the established Croatian government and the United Socialists of Croatia. It started in 1991, 17 years ago, meaning that a 13-19 year old soldier who fought and survived would be around 30-something today.

He could have easily fought in the Bosnian War (1992-1995) as a teenage Yugoslavian soldier, so why are you so set on him being Croatian?

 

Working for Rockstar =/= knowledge of historical continuity in characters. Nice try though.

Giving people unverified information and presenting it as fact is one of my pet peeves, so I don't care if you have a doctorate in Eastern European studies. You don't work for Rockstar, so anything you say about GTA IV is conjecture and nothing more.

[Boba Rhett]

While he does speak Serbian in the game, that doesn't mean he's from Serbia as Serbian is spoken in six or seven different countries including Croatia. I don't believe they ever exactly specify which country Niko is from.

 

 

 

Edit: Oh god, a lot has been posted since I wrote this, went to lunch, and then posted. Ignore this post and in its place please accept

[Astor]

While he does speak Serbian in the game, that doesn't mean he's from Serbia as Serbian is spoken in six or seven different countries including Croatia. I don't believe they ever exactly specify which country Niko is from.

 

They don't, as far as I can recall. Speculating is pretty pointless. Why not just try and have fun?

[Det. Bart Lasiter]

i am from panama and niko is as well (i am an expert in panama)

[Adavardes]

They don't, as far as I can recall. Speculating is pretty pointless. Why not just try and have fun?

 

Agreed.

[Boba Rhett]

Back to the GAS:

 

Red Faction: This game was crap coated crap with a rich and creamy buttercrap filling. I'm not sure if this is a popular opinion or not.

 

Super Star Wars: Very few games have yet to rival the Super Star Wars series in sheer awestasticness.

 

Yoda Stories: This is a really fun game, dammit.

[Det. Bart Lasiter]

red faction 2 was ****ing awesome and that nicw rifle or whatever should be in every game

 

and the robot thing should too

 

and the nano pistols

[Ctrl Alt Del]

Mass Effect:, A fun game but how is it that Bioware took steps backward in almost every aspect when you compare this to what they accomplished in KotOR? Dialogue chains that pale in comparison to what we got in earlier stuff, boring weaponry (How many different guns does Mass Effect have? Four? And the upgrades are no fun at all.), and a lot of other aspects of this game just struck me as generic. Oh and, holy crap, I almost forgot to mention the Mako's driving around levels. I hope someone lost their job for that idea. Surprisingly, I didn't mind the fifty million elevators.

Except for the dialogue part, I agree at everything.

 

Oblivion: If played for the main quest and without any mods installed, this is one of the most boring games ever dreamed up by mankind.

Indeed. Constant feature at Bethesda games.

 

Over-the-Side-Shoulder Camera Views: Ones like in the Gears of War games, Dead Space, etc. Yeah. Borderline unplayable. They're just god-awful. I cannot wait until games stop using them.

It saved the Resident Evil series, that can't be all bad. In fact, it's the perfect use for third-person camera-views.

 

...NWN1 is dull, dull, dull, dull, dull.

That's why I never finished it.

 

Halo 1, 2, and 3 are all examples of the greatest, and absolute worst parts of modern first person shooters. Mostly worst.

Disagree to heart. Halo 1, if my memory serves right, left me astonished the first time I saw. I remember waondering if it was really gameplay or just CG concept of it. For me, it perfected every pioneering aspects of console FPSs from some other games and merged then into the title known as Halo, the very first one.

 

Halo, by the way, is overrated. But the story is not as bad as some people claim it to be after the first installment. Coincidentally, it's where the single-player aspect of the game begins to fall, focusing almost completely on multiplayer instead of a reasonbly long, solid campaing experience.

 

OBS: Playing Halo 1 via system link, with 16 or even 8 players, is to this day, my most amusing multiplayer experience ever.

 

 

Mirror's Edge is a great example of a concept being destroyed by gunfights. Freerunning got everyone's hopes up until you realized you spent most of the game inside vents shooting people.

I have finished it with the miniminal gunfire, from my part, as I could. I'm certainly I could do so again without shooting once.

 

Problem is, "most of the game", is a very short period of time.

 

Final Fantasy 7 has been hyped so hard for so long that I have promised myself that I will never, ever play the game. It cannot ever in anyone's dreams live up to what has been said, and will end up being the biggest letdown in my gaming experience. Thanks everyone.

Play it nevertheless. Then you can state it does suck instead of stating it will suck.

 

Dead Space, Resident Evil 4&5 are examples of the horrible excuses for games we now call Horror.

I agree. "Booh! I'm ugly! Booh!" scare is not horror, it's not even scary.

 

Still, they are one heck of action games and...

 

The over the shoulder, tripping over ammo system we got going to appease bad gamers has ruined the horror genre for years to come.

Bad gamers? I don't think the demand for better gameplay immediatly characterize us as bad gamers. Over the should view is, as I said, also one of best recent gameplay creations.

I have not played a genuine horror survival game in almost 10 years because American and European game makers no longer know how to make Horror.

The last horror game I've played was numbered 2. Silent Hill 2. So please, get the game back to the hands of Konami. We can endure the terrible gameplay.

 

No More Heroes was brilliant. Nuff said.

No more heroes was more trouble than it was worth.

 

Spore proved that casual gamers are slowly beating the entertainment value out of games, as well as anything intuitive that may actually require you to think for a second.

QFE.

 

God of War proved that even a mindless mash em up can be saved by an intriguing story and a -lot- of blood and boobs.

And give you true satisfaction to smash the buttons up.

 

Gears of War defies logic by being a game that has no storyline, background, or point to speak of other than to cut things in half with a chainsaw rifle, yet still being rated overall one of the best 360 games. It would make me shed a tear for video games if it wasn't so ****ing awesome.

Playstation 3 is an embarrassment to business, gaming, and to its amazing formers.

Xbox 360 is an embarrassment for how fragile the damn thing is compared to the tank like Xbox 1, Ps1, Ps2, and N64. Those 4 systems have taken enough beatings between them to kill 1000 360's, yet all of them still work. My PS2 is being held together with ducktape.

 

Wii is behind a generation in power, graphics, and ability while failing to take full control over its amazing concept. People on youtube have done things with the wii-mote that put Nintendo to shame. Hopefully the next one will live up to its name.

God, your words could have come out of my mouth.

 

Are you sure that you're not me?

 

By the way...

 

This generation consoles is proving to be the worst I've witnessed so far. While...

This generation games aren't as bad as they could be. I only feel it's too eastern RPGs lacking.

 

Quick-Time-Events: I love them

I agree so far to where I quoted you. When poorly done (AKA TFU), they suck majorly.

Horror games, especially ones involving zombies, need to die. That genre is so redundant to the point of it being a bore. I have good faith that Resident Evil 5 will be just the same at its core as Resident Evil 4, 3, 2, and 1. The same thing goes for Silent Hill and Alone in the Dark; I haven't played Left 4 Dead yet, so I'll reserve judgment. Please, stop having games where you hack through an undead horde through a building. That's not scary, that's mind-numbing boredom. The only good recent example of horror done well was Dementium: The Ward for the DS. See, that game was scary, and it wasn't all about killing meatbags, it was about exploring the setting that you were in. Another thing, it's all about the scenery. Dementium had blood on the cracking wall, a piano playing in the background, with shrieks of unknown children. Now, that's the element of horror, not shooting things; it's about being scared.

Haven't played Dementium but I heard it's good. Still, RE games are not horror anymore, despite what their devs say. They're damn fine action games.

 

Horror reference for me is Silent Hill. Until Homecoming. I guess we should both try Rule of Rose, it's said to be disturbing enough.

 

*************************************

 

TSL < KotOR I

 

Obsidian gets more praise than deserved.

 

I never played Portal. Heh.

 

Okami sucks. Never got the meaning behind it's cult status.

 

It's never too much to say that over the shoulder viewpoint is the best alternative to FPview.

 

TFU is mssing a letter that could be rearranged on: STFU. No more than an awful joke.

 

QTEs are God.

 

If unbalanced, QTEs can ruin a game.

[jawathehutt]

red faction 2 was ****ing awesome and that nicw rifle or whatever should be in every game

 

and the robot thing should too

 

and the nano pistols

 

I completely agree, a bunch of reviewers got pissy about how it was just an avarage shooter without really any new ideas, but hey, what the hell is the deal with halo then, other than the shiny graphics theyre basically the same game except RF2 had way cooler guns. The only let down for me was that the rail driver was 500X less fun because it only showed little circles instead of the full thermal images of people so I couldnt 1 hit kill with groin shots as easily. But the auto-raildriver cheat kinda made up for it.

[igyman]

The character is Croatian, not Serbian. Sorry.

Not really sure how you concluded that, considering he explicitly says right at the beginning of the game "Have you already forgotten the Serbian language?" to his cousin. If he were from Croatia, he would have said "Croatian language".

 

@Rhett: If you asked a person from Croatia what language they speak, they would say "Croatian", never "Serbian".

 

True though, that Niko's ethnicity is never explicitly stated, but he does say "Serbian language" and that narrows it down pretty well. He can be a Serb from Serbia, or Bosnia, or perhaps Montenegro (though they consider themselves Montenegrians nowadays )

 

Note: the thread said "post your opinions that can be considered unpopular, but keep it friendly". I never thought my opinion could start such a heated discussion.

[Adavardes]

Not really sure how you concluded that, considering he explicitly says right at the beginning of the game "Have you already forgotten the Serbian language?" to his cousin. If he were from Croatia, he would have said "Croatian language".

 

*points to all the posts after the post you quoted*

[Darth Avlectus]

WHOA! OKAY, uhh, look just for emphasis:

Back to the GAS:

 

While if anybody here should appreciate fawning AND ***constructively criticizing*** over the GTA series, that it should be me...

 

I think this thread has steered off course. If we want to continue this debate, then I would ask one of the moderators either to start a new thread, or find my old one on GTA4.

 

Thank you True Avery for being informative and *not* getting involved in the bantering between the princess and the greek god.

 

I'm going to interject a few last things (feel free to PM me on these subjects)

about GTA4 before I attempt to help steer this thread back on course:

There has been a distinction made about Niko Bellic. Eastern european.

Also, that there is a difference between Serbian and Croatian.

While he does speak Serbian in the game, that doesn't mean he's from Serbia as Serbian is spoken in six or seven different countries including Croatia. I don't believe they ever exactly specify which country Niko is from.

Which I think is intentional.

 

Has anybody else noticed a *slight* resemblance to "Nikola Tesla" with Niko Bellic? It's subtle and barely perceptible to be sure, but I have noticed some very small similarities:

 

Names firstly: Niko Bellic; Nikola Tesla.

 

Nikola Tesla was a Croatian with a lot of Serbian heritage and has been referred to as either one interchangeably; we're debating here which ethnicity Niko was of and it has come down to Serbian OR Croatian

(personally I think it can be, and is, both)

 

Nikola Tesla loved his pigeons dearly; while not a love situation, your "special markers/packages" are pigeons that you shoot and kill.

 

Nikola Tesla seemed to be popular with well distingushed women; Niko Bellic seemed to also attract the attentions of women with distinctions and/or strong personalities (in one way or another).

 

Nikola Tesla felt a need to do right by his mother; Niko Bellic kept in contact with his mother--Depending on your email responses you choose, Niko can send the impression of trying to do right by his mother as well. What's the big deal here? Well, no other character in the GTA franchise that I can see was both on good terms and wanting to do right by 'mom'. (Tony Cipriatti in GTA:LCS being slightly the exception--'cept that mama Cipriatti was a grouchy old witch and more of an obstacle in that game).

 

Nikola Tesla was an inventor and had a genius that he could apply to common necessity; Niko Bellic, though not a PH.D. in electrical physics is portrayed as being quite the problem solver nonetheless--certainly as the guy who figures out stuff and solves problems (if grudgingly at the end of a gun or knife).

 

OK, let's see...<snip>

GTA4 - <snip> but they should have hired a Serbian, or at least a Croatian actor to do the voice, considering all the Serbian phrases he uses during the game.

Michael Halleck is the voice actor's name For anyone who wants to know.

 

So, I dunno. It may be a weak argument BUT I cannot deny that I see...some similarities. If you want to debate me on this, feel free to *PM me*. PLEASE don't take up any more of this thread to do it.

 

 

Super Star Wars: Very few games have yet to rival the Super Star Wars series in sheer awestasticness.

Have Super EmpireS.B. and Super ROTJ. I absolutely agree. Even if it is just a few platformer/space sim titles. Very good for what they are!!!

 

Okay, I know I'm going to catch hell for this, but,

THE ORIGINAL MEGAMAN FRANCHISE KICKS ASS! Anyone who don't like it can chew on frozen rat turds! (the rest are debatable though I like 'em, and I could give a flip about the battle network/starforce series)

 

Beavis and ButtHead for SNES is 1337 PWN4G3! Beeatches!

 

Street fighter is great, but Darkstalkers is THE BOMB.

 

Power stone rules.

 

Harvey birdman was hillarious.

 

So #^&*ing what if the STRIDER series is a platformer, it RULZ, dammit!

 

Micro Machines and RC PRO AM...THE...BEST...RACING...GAMES...EVER

[TKA-001]

TFU is mssing a letter that could be rearranged on: STFU. No more than an awful joke.

I'm confused. Does this statement indicate a negative or positive opinion of TFU?

[Rabish Bini]

Final Fantasy Series: I despise it more than I do Trivium, and I really hate Trivium

 

Warlords Battlecry II was, is, and always will be the greatest game ever made. Congrats to UbiSoft

 

Halo 3 was insanely fun and addictive, online

 

Sports Games don't suck

 

Pacman is better than Pong

 

Metal Gear Solid is the best series ever made

 

Neverwinter Nights was the biggest piece of Garbage, and should replace the ET games in the landfill in New Mexico

 

MMO's suck

[Prime]

JK:JO: I haven't even beaten this game. All I can think while I play it is a combination of, "What happened to my health bar?!?!" and "DUDE!!!! WHY THE HECK DID YOU GIVE UP YOUR LIGHTSABER!!!! I NEED IT NOW, YOU IDIOT!!!!" Maybe once I get my 'saber I'll see why everyone likes it so much.

You won't regret it! JO is one of my all time fav games. Definitely worth finishing...

 

EaW - A well done game, just too repetitive to play for an extended period of time. Great in short stints. Space battles trump planet side. Playing the Rebels sucks because there are almost no recognizable ground units apart from the troops. That really detracts from the feel of the game.

 

NBA 2K > NBA Live

[Endorenna]

Okay, I just finished Tomb Raider: Underworld, and I can now sum up my opinion of it in two sentences.

 

That was the most awesome game ever!!!!! That has got to be the best Tomb Raider ever made, and it's probably the best game I own!!!!!

 

Sorry, I had to say something after finishing it. It was sad just as it finished, really--I felt just like I did after the credits came up on Revenge of the Sith.

[Adavardes]

Final Fantasy:

 

After the first two games, I fail to see how these are fun at all. I mean, I don't see any real lack of quality for what they are, but still, I play them, and I can't help but think how pointless and boring they are. Especially in the storylines. Now, don't get me wrong, I defend anyone's right to play it, and I can understand how hardcore turn-based combat gamers would love them, but to me, it's just a huge waste of time.

[Darth InSidious]

Rogue Squadron on the PC handles about as well as a JA flying mod. Except said JA flying mod doesn't run like Wipeout XL on XP or Vista: as if on amphetamines.

[igyman]

I think this thread has steered off course. If we want to continue this debate, then I would ask one of the moderators either to start a new thread, or find my old one on GTA4.

 

I completely agree. I still cannot believe such a heated discussion was started over my opinion.

 

Nikola Tesla was a Croatian with a lot of Serbian heritage and has been referred to as either one interchangeably; we're debating here which ethnicity Niko was of and it has come down to Serbian OR Croatian

(personally I think it can be, and is, both)

 

OK, while I really don't want to pick a fight with anyone, I just cannot allow someone who's not from Serbia to presume to "teach" me about my own country's history, just as I'm sure none of you would allow me to comment on your countries' histories, when I know nothing about them.

 

Nikola Tesla, was not a Croatian with a bunch of Serbian heritage. He was a Serb, born in a place called Smiljane, which was all part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the time. His parents were both Serbs, his father was a priest, in fact.

The rest of his biography is widely known and I don't need to repeat it here. In case you doubt the accuracy of what I've said, feel free to Google "Nikola Tesla" and learn for yourself (I've quoted a small part from my old history book, so there's no link I can provide, but I have done a quick peek at some Google results, to check for any discrepencies on his ethnicity and there weren't any).

 

As for Niko Bellic, I can't say which country he was born in, but if he explicitly states that his language is Serbian, then there's little doubt about his ethnic origin. If you know anyone from Croatia, feel free to ask them which is their native language - they won't say "Serbian", unless they are ethnic Serbs who live, or have lived there. You can bet on that.

 

My comment on the lack of talent in picking Serbian names stands and considering I was born in Belgrade and have lived there all my life, I think I at least know which names are Serbian and which are not - the only character name that is Serbian is that of his mother, Milica.

 

Michael Halleck is the voice actor's name For anyone who wants to know.

 

Hollick, actually and I know, thus my opinion about the choice of the voice actor. I do repeat the praise that the man did a decent job with Serbian parts of the dialogue, considering he doesn't speak Serbian. However, it would have sounded a hell of a lot better and more accurate, had they hired a Croatian, or Serbian actor.

 

PLEASE don't take up any more of this thread to do it.

 

This is the last of it here from me. Anything else I might have to say will be about other games. And as for other games...

 

Mass Effect:, A fun game but how is it that Bioware took steps backward in almost every aspect when you compare this to what they accomplished in KotOR? Dialogue chains that pale in comparison to what we got in earlier stuff, boring weaponry (How many different guns does Mass Effect have? Four? And the upgrades are no fun at all.), and a lot of other aspects of this game just struck me as generic. Oh and, holy crap, I almost forgot to mention the Mako's driving around levels. I hope someone lost their job for that idea. Surprisingly, I didn't mind the fifty million elevators.

 

I don't think they took a step back, but you do have a point about weaponry and the optional planets were utterly lifeless (except for perhaps two or three) and boring as hell. I don't mind driving the Mako, but I do mind driving it around on boring, lifeless planets with almost nothing to do. I also don't recall the fifty million elevators, though there were some on the Citadel and Noveria.

 

That was the most awesome game ever!!!!! That has got to be the best Tomb Raider ever made, and it's probably the best game I own!!!!!

 

I can't really say which Tomb Raider is the best ever, considering I haven't played all of them, but the best of what I played was definitely Anniversary. Legend and Underworld are just too short. I'm actually surprised you didn't have that impression on Underworld. Not to mention that for some reason Underworld has no Cinematics menu, which I loved in both Anniversary and Legend, nor does it have any form of freeroaming through the Croft Mansion.