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Video Games: It's On Like Donkey Kong


Inigima

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Beat Bowser in Super Mario Odyssey; the ending of that game really is something special. I started going back to collect more moons from the levels, but I think I already got basically all the ones that aren't incredibly frustrating to discover (and the new ones that unlock post-game seem to all be mind-numbingly easy to get). Still, I want to see what happens when I get the 240 or so that I need for some sort of final unlock (and I haven't explored the post-game kingdom much yet), so I'll keep at it for now.

I'm also around 20 hours into Zelda: BotW. That's a very relaxing game, and its satisfying to play in small chunks when I'm out and about, have some free time, and taking advantage of the Switch's portability. But it gets pretty dull just sitting there playing it like a regular video game.

And for unclear reasons, I've started playing Final Fantasy VII on PC (it's the old, original port, still no idea when that new remake is coming). I haven't played it in at least 15 years, probably closer to 18, but damn is nostalgia a hell of a thing. I only vaguely remember the plot specifics, but scene-to-scene a whole lot of memories are flooding back to me as I play it. The character models look way worse than I remembered; but some of the pre-rendered backgrounds, especially the interiors of buildings, actually look pretty good (albeit quite blurry). I think because I was so young when I last played it, I didn't appreciate how good some of the background world-building was. Although on the other hand, I also didn't notice how badly translated some dialog is, and how insensitive some parts are (e.g. Tifa calling Barrett "a retard" and the entire Cloud cross-dressing sequence).

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I finished Celeste. It is an okay platformer that is way too impressed with its own story and ham-handed exploration of mental health issues. I don't think I'd buy it again knowing what I know now.

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19 hours ago, The Anti-Targ said:

Was it wrong of me that I gamed the game by seeing where the conversation went, and when it went in to that end I just reloaded from a slightly earlier save and took in in a safer direction?

Haha nah. I was damn close to doing that myself. I was pissed when I realized I missed out on the trophy (and that was pretty early in the game). When playing games like that I try to keep with the decisions I make, even if it's an unfavorable consequence. Makes it more real for me. 

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I know I'm a bit late on this, but the recent Bioware news has made me very sad. Whether or not Anthem fails or succeeds, I see it as being the end of the road for the Bioware I love. If it fails, EA will probably shut Bioware down. If it succeeds, they'll force Bioware to become the Anthem studio, and so much of the company will be invested in updating it, preparing Anthem 2, etc... I'm also pretty worried about the news that Dragon Age 4 has been rebooted to have more "live elements." Still, I hope Bioware has one last great, or at least very good, RPG left in them. They haven't had a classic since Mass Effect 2, but Mass Effect 3 and Dragon Age: Inquisition are both very good games, and Andromeda is mediocre, not bad. The studio still seems to have plenty of good ideas left. And Bioware makes a unique type of RPG (though The Witcher 2/3 were close). It will be a very shitty day for the RPG world if they close.

I got Darkest Dungeon for the Switch, mainly because my girlfriend loves it and the idea of playing it portable. It seems like a fun dungeon crawler, though I'm not sure how long it will hold my attention. All the talk of Witcher 3 in this thread also got me to start a new game recently- I've just met the Bloody Baron and am very excited to replay that questline.

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On 1/31/2018 at 9:10 AM, Caligula_K3 said:

I know I'm a bit late on this, but the recent Bioware news has made me very sad. Whether or not Anthem fails or succeeds, I see it as being the end of the road for the Bioware I love. If it fails, EA will probably shut Bioware down. If it succeeds, they'll force Bioware to become the Anthem studio, and so much of the company will be invested in updating it, preparing Anthem 2, etc... I'm also pretty worried about the news that Dragon Age 4 has been rebooted to have more "live elements." Still, I hope Bioware has one last great, or at least very good, RPG left in them. They haven't had a classic since Mass Effect 2, but Mass Effect 3 and Dragon Age: Inquisition are both very good games, and Andromeda is mediocre, not bad. The studio still seems to have plenty of good ideas left. And Bioware makes a unique type of RPG (though The Witcher 2/3 were close). It will be a very shitty day for the RPG world if they close.

I got Darkest Dungeon for the Switch, mainly because my girlfriend loves it and the idea of playing it portable. It seems like a fun dungeon crawler, though I'm not sure how long it will hold my attention. All the talk of Witcher 3 in this thread also got me to start a new game recently- I've just met the Bloody Baron and am very excited to replay that questline.

I'm committed to the Baldur's Gate trilogy right now, and I'm just getting into the second game. This is a new experience for me, and it feels like an old experience in some ways. It feels like other old Bioware games I played. But honestly? Bioware hasn't been "Bioware" in a long time. What I'm seeing in BG2, (or KOTOR, or even ME to some extent) is not what we've seen since DA2, ME3, DAI, etc. The Bioware people remember is gone, I think.

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10 hours ago, Simon Steele said:

I'm committed to the Baldur's Gate trilogy right now, and I'm just getting into the second game. This is a new experience for me, and it feels like an old experience in some ways. It feels like other old Bioware games I played. But honestly? Bioware hasn't been "Bioware" in a long time. What I'm seeing in BG2, (or KOTOR, or even ME to some extent) is not what we've seen since DA2, ME3, DAI, etc. The Bioware people remember is gone, I think.

Granted that I've never played the Baldur's Gate games (I never played them growing up, and I've had trouble getting into them when I tried them out), but I'm not sure I'm as pessimistic as you. ME2 aside, every Bioware game I've played has had flaws of some kind: Jade Empire's gameplay system, KOTOR's really uninteresting first five hours, Mass Effect's terrible combat and inventory system, Dragon Age Origin's lack of pacing, never ending dungeon crawls, and uninteresting plot, etc... Despite those flaws, all of these games are of course excellent in other ways, and I don't think DA2, DAI, and ME3 are any different, though of course DA2's flaws are more massive due to its rushed development. Bioware still feels pretty Bioware to me: even Andromeda had some great moments, quests, and companions.

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Decided to play some Kerbal Space Program, and it's going well so far. Jeb's landed twice on the Mun, and has done a flyby of Minmus with no problems. I'm going to throw up a few more communication satellites and do a half dozen more Mun landings to gain cash and research before I bother landing on Minmus.

Edit: Now I'm not saying I forgot to add parachutes to a Kerbals craft before launching them into space. But I forgot to add parachutes to a Kerbals craft before launching them into space.

Chances of a successful rescue are slim. 

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So, it looks like loot boxes might be out as the mechanism for persistent monetisation of console and PC video games. But as good as that sounds (to me), it seems like it might be replaced by something altogether more sinister sounding.

It is interesting that some of what's presented as the new way, looks back at loot boxes and pretty mucgh admits the industry regarded it as gambling in every way but the legal definition. Of course this is a presentation being made by a company that want's to usurp loot boxes with its own monetisation system, so it's in their interests to bad mouth loot box gambling systems, which is not hard to do.

Also, $61,000 paid for an "autographed" CS:GO gun skin. Incredible. https://www.cinemablend.com/games/2306371/somebody-spent-61000-on-a-csgo-weapon-skin

That someone is prepared to pay a ridiculous amount of money on some stylishly presented 1s and 0s is their own choice. I just find it amazing that anyone would regard such a virtual item as being worth this much money.

OTOH, how much does a rare autographed sports item or baseball card go for? It's comparable, even if only virtual. I just hope the gun skin will continue to exist if / when CS:GO ever goes off line. Perhaps the person could get permission to have the gun skin 3D printed, and authenticated by Valve, if CS:GO is discontinued. I think I would try to do that.

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On 2/3/2018 at 9:30 AM, Werthead said:

I'm looking forward to it. I like the idea that you can actually conduct a war of attrition, which is how warfare often went in that period.

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Just caught up with the fact that Valve only implemented game refunds on Steam because the Aussie Commerce Commission took them to court (before the implemented refunds), and Valve lost and got fined $3 million. Against which Valve appealed, and lost again confirmed just in December 2017.

If anyone thought valve was being nice to customers, or that it was a response to customer pressure, I guess they can be disabused of either of those notions. Valve only did it because a regulator and a court forced them to do it.

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Microsoft are apparently considering buying either EA or Valve because they've realised they need a decent curated store, and either Origin or Steam would be better than the shit they've got now. In addition, they also get a ton of gaming franchises they can turn into X-Box and PC exclusives (so fans of EA franchises on PS4 better hope they don't go after them).

Valve I could see happening. They're no longer making games, they're all about Steam and Gabe Newell is sitting around doing jack shit. I can see him taking a couple of billion to head off into retirement. At least then we'd get Half-Life 3 (in some form, at least).

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7 minutes ago, Werthead said:

Microsoft are apparently considering buying either EA or Valve because they've realised they need a decent curated store, and either Origin or Steam would be better than the shit they've got now. In addition, they also get a ton of gaming franchises they can turn into X-Box and PC exclusives (so fans of EA franchises on PS4 better hope they don't go after them).

Valve I could see happening. They're no longer making games, they're all about Steam and Gabe Newell is sitting around doing jack shit. I can see him taking a couple of billion to head off into retirement. At least then we'd get Half-Life 3 (in some form, at least).

I agree that the Valve acquisition is the likelier of the two, but maybe if they buy EA, they'll start making great games again, and maybe even Bioware will be saved. One can hope.

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11 minutes ago, Werthead said:

Microsoft are apparently considering buying either EA or Valve because they've realised they need a decent curated store, and either Origin or Steam would be better than the shit they've got now. In addition, they also get a ton of gaming franchises they can turn into X-Box and PC exclusives (so fans of EA franchises on PS4 better hope they don't go after them).

Valve I could see happening. They're no longer making games, they're all about Steam and Gabe Newell is sitting around doing jack shit. I can see him taking a couple of billion to head off into retirement. At least then we'd get Half-Life 3 (in some form, at least).

EA would be surprising. I bet all those sports licenses they got have clauses about releasing multi-platform games, and the penalties/buyouts to go Microsoft exclusive would likely be astronomical when added all up.

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13 minutes ago, Werthead said:

Microsoft are apparently considering buying either EA or Valve because they've realised they need a decent curated store, and either Origin or Steam would be better than the shit they've got now. In addition, they also get a ton of gaming franchises they can turn into X-Box and PC exclusives (so fans of EA franchises on PS4 better hope they don't go after them).

Valve I could see happening. They're no longer making games, they're all about Steam and Gabe Newell is sitting around doing jack shit. I can see him taking a couple of billion to head off into retirement. At least then we'd get Half-Life 3 (in some form, at least).

EA wouldn't make much sense from an exclusive acquisition standpoint would it? I can't see their biggest licenses (NFL, Star Wars, FIFA, etc.) being very happy about console exclusivity and they could very well tell them to fuck off and go with another big publisher next time contracts are up.

As for Valve, maybe I just don't understand business (and I don't) but why would you want to sell a money factory? Gabe can sit back, do nothing and rake in them Steam Bucks for the rest of his life as it is. He's already a multi-billionaire. 

I don't get why they can't just, you know, make the Windows Store not shit? Valve, EA, GOG, Blizzard, all managed to build quality digital distribution systems with much smaller teams and way less resources than MS have at their disposal. It can't possibly be that hard for them to fix their own store. 

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7 minutes ago, KiDisaster said:

EA wouldn't make much sense from an exclusive acquisition standpoint would it? I can't see their biggest licenses (NFL, Star Wars, FIFA, etc.) being very happy about console exclusivity and they could very well tell them to fuck off and go with another big publisher next time contracts are up.

As for Valve, maybe I just don't understand business (and I don't) but why would you want to sell a money factory? Gabe can sit back, do nothing and rake in them Steam Bucks for the rest of his life as it is. He's already a multi-billionaire. 

I don't get why they can't just, you know, make the Windows Store not shit? Valve, EA, GOG, Blizzard, all managed to build quality digital distribution systems with much smaller teams and way less resources than MS have at their disposal. It can't possibly be that hard for them to fix their own store. 

Yeah, I really don't see why Newell would bother selling Valve.  For one, he already made himself rich from Microsoft once, and he's only gotten more rich since then with Valve's success.  Valve is basically his own little toy box that he can use to research whatever new tech catches his eye, and at this point it's basically just, as you said, a money factory that continues to fund all of that research easily.

I mean, the dude's estimated to already be worth over five billion.  Why would he even need more Microsoft money?

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That's the George Lucas/Lucasfilm in 2012 argument though, and he sold up when someone offered him enough money. Microsoft putting $10 or $15 billion on the table would be eye-opening to Newell, and he could go off and do VR or whatever he wanted with all that money and leave Microsoft/Valve to their own thing (that's what Mojang did with Minecraft, after all, although in that case it was because it was rather clear that Mojang had massively lucked out with that one good idea and is never going to do anything remotely on the same level again).

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32 minutes ago, Werthead said:

That's the George Lucas/Lucasfilm in 2012 argument though, and he sold up when someone offered him enough money. Microsoft putting $10 or $15 billion on the table would be eye-opening to Newell, and he could go off and do VR or whatever he wanted with all that money and leave Microsoft/Valve to their own thing (that's what Mojang did with Minecraft, after all, although in that case it was because it was rather clear that Mojang had massively lucked out with that one good idea and is never going to do anything remotely on the same level again).

I think the difference there is that the hatred for the prequels had burnt Lucas out on Star Wars, and even then it certainly seems like he regrets the decision now that he's seeing other people make Star Wars movies.

Newell, on the other hand, already has all the money he could ever want to work on whatever creative endeavor he's interested in, and he has a brand name attached to it that will essentially guarantee it sells if he ever gets it to market.  Unless he's just planning to straight up retire, it's hard to imagine him selling Valve.  Hell, even if he wanted to retire he could keep his stake in Valve and simply put someone he trusts in charge and keep collecting free checks for selling competitors' games. 

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53 minutes ago, Werthead said:

(that's what Mojang did with Minecraft, after all, although in that case it was because it was rather clear that Mojang had massively lucked out with that one good idea and is never going to do anything remotely on the same level again).

It wasn't even really their good idea. It was based on some game called Infiniminer that was abandoned by it's developer.  

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My wife and I have been playing a lot of BOTW lately and really enjoy it. I can only play a few hours at a time but those hours are pretty enjoyable and I like the story enough to want to see it through. Will need to get another Switch game after this. Any recommendations?

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