What Are You Playing?

Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
Walter said:
For me these days, time is more valuable than money. If someone crafts a $60 6 hour long game that's not to be missed, I am not going to complain about it.

What's funny after my little rant is I'm in the exact same demographic. I don't have time for a 30 hour game, let alone 80 hours (I preordered GTAV and I'm absolutely dreading it!). For that reason I really liked the minimal(ist =) experience of Ground Zeroes, but I got it for $14. $40, on the other hand, for what amounts to a tech demo or advertisement for MGS5? No thanks, motherfuckers. Just because we're bereft (of time) doesn't make us SAPS!
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
Griffith said:
For that reason I really liked the minimal(ist =) experience of Ground Zeroes, but I got it for $14. $40, on the other hand, for what amounts to a tech demo or advertisement for MGS5? No thanks, motherfuckers. Just because we're bereft (of time) doesn't make us SAPS!

Absolutely. Ground Zeroes was a blast. But $14 was the right price for that game. $40 is just absurd.
 
Griffith said:
I wouldn't say that length's irrelevant, particularly as it concerns the business side. Play time is uniquely relevent in gaming, but in almost all media time is used as a classifer (EP vs LP, feature length vs short film, novel vs short story), so selling one like it's another is definitely relevent, and if there's risk of it becoming a stupid (like a XOF) trend in the game industry, I'd rather not incentivize publishers to get more bang for THEIR buck and dissuade developers and artists from creating longform experiences. Or, to put it another way, don't let $10 an hour become the norm in gaming, it's already expensive enough as it is.

That's what i think. Irrelevant wasn't the correct word to convey my thoughts.
From years now, I have the opportunity to borrow or order (for free) the majority of games from the Montreal national library. I'll only buy games i really want to own and/or if it's digital only.
So for me, consuming games is totally influence by that fact.

Walter said:
If anyone after reading all the terrible reviews is still interested in playing this, then don't get it now. Pretty simple. Get it when it costs $18.86

Agreed.Consumers have a choice not to buy at the retail price.There's plenty of ways to get a game at a cheaper price now or later.

Walter said:
Absolutely. Ground Zeroes was a blast. But $14 was the right price for that game. $40 is just absurd.

When i got my PS4, since i bought the MGS4 PS3 bundle, that was the first game i bought for 6.80$ on the PSN.
 

Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
ryOtoha said:
From years now, I have the opportunity to borrow or order (for free) the majority of games from the Montreal national library. I'll only buy games i really want to own and/or if it's digital only.
So for me, consuming games is totally influence by that fact.

...

*starts calling libraries*

ryOtoha said:
Agreed.Consumers have a choice not to buy at the retail price.There's plenty of ways to get a game at a cheaper price now or later.

Well, I'm glad we're all on the same page, but that doesn't help me decide which Club Nintendo games I should claim!? I was leaning towards getting a major title I don't already have for value, like Wonderful 101, but now I'm leaning towards three of the classics; EarthBound (I plan to ebay my complete copy for boku bucks) & Super Metroid for sure, and then probably a classic Mario game or Zelda 3. If I didn't already have Mario 3D Land that would be the no brainer pick on there. Maybe I'll decide based on what the local library already has. :ganishka:
 
Walter said:
If anyone after reading all the terrible reviews is still interested in playing this, then don't get it now. Pretty simple. Get it when it costs $18.86.

For me these days, time is more valuable than money. If someone crafts a $60 6 hour long game that's not to be missed, I am not going to complain about it. That's clearly not what happened with The Order though, so it's not even worth arguing...

For the order I'm not sure I'd pick it up for 18.86. ;) I'm in the opposite boat these days. I have a lot of free time. The issue from a consumer point of view could be seen many ways. I bet I eat more fast food in a month than a new game costs, but I still can't justify it. The new trend of short games with little content (cough titanfall cough) or no campaign is more or less discouraging to me. A short game is by no means a bad thing, just the price tag. Take souls dlc. 10 bucks for 5 hrs of content (even if its dying on a boss multiple times) makes me scratch my head. There are more and more games that come out that feel like full priced dlc. This is why I can't support it. There will always be the exception, but just like crappy movies, if we don't pay for it, they won't make them....cause that'll happen. :serpico:
 
Griffith said:
...

*starts calling libraries*

:ganishka:

I feel really lucky :iva:

Griffith said:
Well, I'm glad we're all on the same page, but that doesn't help me decide which Club Nintendo games I should claim!? I was leaning towards getting a major title I don't already have for value, like Wonderful 101, but now I'm leaning towards three of the classics; EarthBound (I plan to ebay my complete copy for boku bucks) & Super Metroid for sure, and then probably a classic Mario game or Zelda 3. If I didn't already have Mario 3D Land that would be the no brainer pick on there. Maybe I'll decide based on what the local library already has.

Three nintendo classic seems a better a deal to me instead of one major exclusivity that you can easily buy for a cheap price, sell it if you want or even rent it.
Honestly, Super Metroid is only available for WiiU and not for 3DS ? :schierke: That's a strange business decision. I'd love to play it on the go.

Nintendo better get things right with a real ecosystem within the so called ''projet fusion''.
 
Picked up Resident Evil HD. Haven't had this much fun with this franchise in a long time. Can't tell you what exactly they changed since the gamecube remake, but I've beat it 3 times and did a speed run. I can't believe I forgot how great this was. Bought Ori And The Blind Forest last night and can't wait to soak up some metroidvania. I'll let you all know how similar a feel it has to that style as I'm a total sucker for it. Got it on pc and just picked up a new projector screen, so game on. :ganishka:
 
Ori and the blind forest is a top game in its genre. If you enjoy metroidvania style games pick this up immediately. I'm halfway through and haven't had this much fun since symphony of the night.
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
Salem said:
Ori and the blind forest is a top game in its genre. If you enjoy metroidvania style games pick this up immediately. I'm halfway through and haven't had this much fun since symphony of the night.

It does look very nice. It had already caught my eye at E3 last year.

P.S. Wish the word Metroidvania would go away forever.
 
So, got home and convinced my wife she had to give it a shot this evening. She wasn't having it (pregnant lady attitude) but finally got her on it. An hour and a half later I'm trying to get her to stop so we can get our little girl to bed. We got a winner.
 

Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
Bioshock Infinite, AKA Half-Life 2 painted red, white, and blue crossed with Lost (except with a redeeming conclusion). Yeah, that about sums it up. I was ready to absolutely excoriate it for the standard FPS gameplay (with literal rail shooter option), typical genre tropes and clichés that undermined the supposed medium transcending themes, which actually amounted to video game Oscar bait (fascist cult leader, mysterious guides with ulterior motives, reality is just, like, an illusion maaaan, and you don't even get to fight the bird), the unvalidated use of racism to punch it up and the unjustified equivalency between violent oppression and violent resistance (I'm sure they didn't mean to say that race based apartheid, slavery, and potentially even genocide are less than or equal to the death of one white child, but they sort of do =), which in their defense might just be a symptom of the messy, disjointed plot and plain sloppy execution, "Elizabeth, I'm taking on two armies and an entire civilization to kidnap you so I can avoid taking on my bookie. I inexplicably told you this for no good reason after originally having the good sense to lie, but in my defense you only got upset when you found out a second time (!?), so now I have to crash an airship so we can get... another airship? Oh, and multiple worlds blah blah blah we can just do or make up anything we want, so you better make this BS worthwhile," BUT... they sort of do! The ending pretty much either explained or just made those points moot. So, good game! I guess.

P.S. Cool Americana.
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
I really liked the opening sequence (seeing the city) and the ending sequence. That's about it.

For what it's worth, the game sunk the entire company.
 
I am so happy you both didn't think it was all that. I loved bioshock, not the sequels. All the praise that third got for what reason exactly? That is the last critically acclaimed game I forced myself to play through with little to no enjoyment.

Was it that bad of a year in gaming, were the old head editors moving on and we got a casual camp of newbs, or wtf man? A few of my buddies played it and " oh the story" "oh the twist." Please.

Someone wake me up from that overrated :rickert: talked up :rickert: hack of a sequel. Sorry, I was quite annoyed with Bioshock Infinite.
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
Well, I don't think it's a terrible game. I enjoyed my time with it, all told. Plenty of missed opportunities in there, for sure. The middle certainly dragged, but it came through by the end for me.

It didn't surprise me that it won so many accolades that year, because even if it wasn't as impactful as the first in the series (which, btw I didn't enjoy...) it was a gorgeous game, full of amazing, thoughtful designs. It had grand ambitions. It just lacked in execution, which is more than one can say for most FPS these days.
 

Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
Walter said:
I really liked the opening sequence (seeing the city) and the ending sequence. That's about it.

Yeah, I liked all the Americana and thought that was fun and different, but the gameplay was nothing special and it really dragged after a while.

Walter said:
For what it's worth, the game sunk the entire company.

Ouch, well I didn't think it was that bad, and was under the impression it was successful, at least critically.

Salem said:
I am so happy you both didn't think it was all that. I loved bioshock, not the sequels. All the praise that third got for what reason exactly? That is the last critically acclaimed game I forced myself to play through with little to no enjoyment.

That's pretty much how I felt by the second half of the game, though I at least enjoyed the themes they chose to touch on, I just wish they'd done more with them.

Salem said:
Was it that bad of a year in gaming, were the old head editors moving on and we got a casual camp of newbs, or wtf man? A few of my buddies played it and " oh the story" "oh the twist." Please.

Haha, well the twist is all that justifies the thrashing around the story does. What's more troublesome was I heard some thought the ending sucked/ruined it, inferring that everything up until then was actually good, hmmmm.

Walter said:
Well, I don't think it's a terrible game. I enjoyed my time with it, all told. Plenty of missed opportunities in there, for sure. The middle certainly dragged, but it came through by the end for me.

It didn't surprise me that it won so many accolades that year, because even if it wasn't as impactful as the first in the series (which, btw I didn't enjoy...) it was a gorgeous game, full of amazing, thoughtful designs. It had grand ambitions. It just lacked in execution, which is more than one can say for most FPS these days.

Agreed, the game still occupies my mind thanks mainly to the iconography and how the ending makes you reconsider everything leading to it.
 

NightCrawler

Aeons gone, vast, mad and deathless
Funny you guys are talking about it, because it was probably the last single player game i played. I don't have any strong feelings for or against it, and didn't know it was so polarizing. Haven't finished it, and after reading your views on it, maybe i shouldn't.
 

Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
NightCrawler said:
Funny you guys are talking about it, because it was probably the last single player game i played. I don't have any strong feelings for or against it, and didn't know it was so polarizing. Haven't finished it, and after reading your views on it, maybe i shouldn't.

Well, the finish was the best part aside from the grand opening, so if you're otherwise neutral I'd be curious to see your reaction (could it have gone somewhere better?). Rushing it may not have helped my experience since racing for the end often makes you resent the wait rather than enjoy the ride.

On the other hand, I could have played the Tomb Raider reboot forever. Its gameplay should be mandatory for every 3rd person action/adventure/shooter game (it already sort of is, but I really enjoyed this particular take on it). Resident Evil needs to adopt it immediately; it makes the modern RE engine looks as clunky as the old school tank controls.
 

Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
Not GTA V for PC! There's a litany of weird bugs and fuckups impeding even getting the game going for a lot of people, and I'm afflicted by at least two of them. This launch is making Diablo III look good. Of course, even while outlets like PC Gamer print lengthy articles about potential fixes and workarounds, it's presented with zero criticism of the process and right next to articles touting how gorgeous the game looks at 90fps 4000x6000 res (you know, if it starts). And OMG d00dz the exclusive Rockstar video editor will blow your dick off and make creating obnoxious youtube play videos nobody wants easier than ever (if the game works)! After lengthy development and delays Rockstar clearly screwed the pooch here, which is strange since they're selling it for like the 3rd time now. I'd like to see something resembling accountability, an explanation, a patch fix (so I don't have to disable my nvidia card and other BS because they couldn't provide a working launcher) or at least when I can expect one, but all I'm getting is that they're aware of it and the people that can play it are really having a good time. =)

If only there was a reputable movememt to hold the industry more accountable...
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
Rockstar's PC ports are notoriously shoddy. I still haven't played more than a few hours of 4 due to terrible PC performance.

There was hope that the repeated delays of this port meant that they were working on making it more rock-solid. Alas...
 
Hello. I've been playing a neat indie game called ExAnima, which is the prelude to a Kickstarter game, Sui Generis.

Wait, what?

So the kicker here is that the developers sorta ran through their Kickstarter funds (about $250,000) and missed their deadline of May 2014. So this game is a smaller rogue-like version that gives everyone a taste of the full game. It's confined to a dungeon about 20 years before the full game which will be based in an open world. Lots of criticisms have been leveled at the team because they want to make a unique and immersive experience. Anyways, enough about that and onto the game.

It's an isometric RPG with a physics driven engine; everything has been designed and programmed by their lead programmer, Madoc. Everything is persistent. Dead bodies stay where they are (unless moved) and begin to rot; necromancers need physical bodies to resurrect. Combat is visceral and engaging, easy to learn but difficult to master. Thaumaturgy (magic) has scientific rules which are intrinsic to furthering your character's understanding, thus mastery. And there's a lot more going on than what I've mentioned.

https://youtu.be/jiuVNSr8uO4

Edit: This is another video that shows off some Arena combat
https://youtu.be/toAmpOG5lyg

If anyone is interested, you can check out more on their website: www.baremettle.com

Other than this game, I've been playing MH4U on my New 3DS. It's incredible.
 

Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
Walter said:
Rockstar's PC ports are notoriously shoddy. I still haven't played more than a few hours of 4 due to terrible PC performance.

There was hope that the repeated delays of this port meant that they were working on making it more rock-solid. Alas...

Yeah, I had no idea Rockstar was such a shitty performer on the PC stage (haven't bought anything from them since San Andreas). It's too bad because I'd give 4 a try as well since I have quite a fondness for Liberty City going back to my GTAIII days (still my favorite). So, were they doing us a favor by not porting Red Dead Redemption (not letting it go) or is that just part of the "fuck you" factor here?
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
Griffith said:
Yeah, I had no idea Rockstar was such a shitty performer on the PC stage (haven't bought anything from them since San Andreas). It's too bad because I'd give 4 a try as well since I have quite a fondness for Liberty City going back to my GTAIII days (still my favorite).

Apparently GTA4 can be made to work "okay" with a series of mods. But I never bothered.

So, were they doing us a favor by not porting Red Dead Redemption (not letting it go) or is that just part of the "fuck you" factor here?

I think that's Rockstar acting like rockstars. "6-8 million potential sales? Fuck off, I'm no sellout."
 

Rhombaad

Video Game Time Traveler
I finished playing Final Fantasy X | X-2 HD Remaster last night. I'll probably start playing Final Fantasy XII this week or weekend.
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
Rhombaad said:
I finished playing Final Fantasy X | X-2 HD Remaster last night.

"HA. HA. HA. HA. HA. HA. HA." :ganishka: (seriously, that's all I really remember from that game)

How does it hold up?
 
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