Video Games - Sequels of Dread and Anticipation

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

3 minutes ago, Ran said:

This fires up some real nostalgia. Remember playing the first game in the series in the arcade with my brother and friends.

And yes, this sort of retro-ish, cartoony 2d graphics is perfectly fine because it looks good!

Hell yeah! Arcades were largely gone when I was a kid, or at least there weren't many in my area, but the local community center and roller rink had a number of arcade games and this and NBA Jam always had the longest lines.  

[Rhom]

18 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

Hell yeah! Arcades were largely gone when I was a kid, or at least there weren't many in my area, but the local community center and roller rink had a number of arcade games and this and NBA Jam always had the longest lines.  

I've got a patient who restores old arcade games.  I mentioned in passing months ago that I'm interested in getting a couple for my basement and that I want to get a representative of the major genres of my youth.  The 4 player beat 'em up (like TMNT or XMen), a fighter (like Mortal Kombat or Street Fighter), and my wife wants a sit down Ms Pac Man. 

I specifically said that I would love to find a 6 player XMen cabinet.  He tracked one down in southern Indiana and is getting it refurbished for me.  I didn't tell my wife how big it is...

[Rhom]

On 3/9/2021 at 8:49 AM, aceluby said:

Gotta dodge those guys.  I don't think I really needed to do anything except dodge until after the first 1/3rd of the game.  IMO, max out your stance that deals w/ shields and then use the hold triangle and perform multiple slashes on any of the early enemies.  Then go after the multiplier for showdowns so you can get 3 in a row.  After you've done that, max out your parry tree, which will help out with guys w/ spears.  Then focus on your stealth skills.  Also, be sure to do a few of the early main missions first so you get some very important skills.  If you're like me and do a bunch of the early side missions, it shouldn't take you long to amass a ton of skill points.

I ran into a group of Mongols and had the showdown.  A tip popped up that some enemies will feint and not to release the button until you know its the real attack... Any advice on how I know which is real and which isn't?

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

10 minutes ago, Rhom said:

I've got a patient who restores old arcade games.  I mentioned in passing months ago that I'm interested in getting a couple for my basement and that I want to get a representative of the major genres of my youth.  The 4 player beat 'em up (like TMNT or XMen), a fighter (like Mortal Kombat or Street Fighter), and my wife wants a sit down Ms Pac Man. 

I specifically said that I would love to find a 6 player XMen cabinet.  He tracked one down in southern Indiana and is getting it refurbished for me.  I didn't tell my wife how big it is...

I guess I now technically own a home, but when I eventually buy the one I want to settle down in I plan on buying a few arcade games. The prices I've seen vary a lot though. Can you remember the name of the game where you sit down and roll a ball trying to break through a bunch of shit up top while grabbing power up pills? Def want that one if it's not too expensive.

[Rhom]

1 minute ago, Tywin et al. said:

I guess I now technically own a home, but when I eventually buy the one I want to settle down in I plan on buying a few arcade games. The prices I've seen vary a lot though. Can you remember the name of the game where you sit down and roll a ball trying to break through a bunch of shit up top while grabbing power up pills? Def want that one if it's not too expensive.

Not ringing a bell on that one... And yes, my six player Xmen will not be cheap.

I've had people say "You know you can get one that plays like 1,000 games, don't you?"

I don't want one that can play 1000 games.  I have a PC for that.  I want an authentic cabinet that plays one game.

[Ran]

 

6 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

Can you remember the name of the game where you sit down and roll a ball trying to break through a bunch of shit up top while grabbing power up pills? Def want that one if it's not too expensive.

Arkanoid almost certainly.

[aceluby]

18 minutes ago, Rhom said:

I ran into a group of Mongols and had the showdown.  A tip popped up that some enemies will feint and not to release the button until you know its the real attack... Any advice on how I know which is real and which isn't?

That tip messed me up.  I was doing showdowns just fine, that tip showed up, and all of a sudden I was overthinking them.  Basically, just wait until right before the sword/spear hits you and don't worry too much about the feints.  The regular mongols aren't so bad, but once you get to the next area there are some trickier enemies (IMO) that up the ante when it comes to showdowns.

[aceluby]

6 minutes ago, Rhom said:

Not ringing a bell on that one... And yes, my six player Xmen will not be cheap.

I've had people say "You know you can get one that plays like 1,000 games, don't you?"

I don't want one that can play 1000 games.  I have a PC for that.  I want an authentic cabinet that plays one game.

I'm gonna build myself a cabinet w/ one of those ones that plays 1,000 games once my kids are a bit older.  

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

33 minutes ago, Ran said:

 

Arkanoid almost certainly.

Thanks!!! I loved this game as a kid. My parents went to two different restaurants a lot that both had them.

32 minutes ago, aceluby said:

I'm gonna build myself a cabinet w/ one of those ones that plays 1,000 games once my kids are a bit older.  

Sorry Rhom, but after looking at the prices of some of these things, the 1,000 game setup might be the way to go and then just get your Xmen game.

[Rhom]

4 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

Thanks!!! I loved this game as a kid. My parents went to two different restaurants a lot that both had them.

Sorry Rhom, but after looking at the prices of some of these things, the 1,000 game setup might be the way to go and then just get your Xmen game.

But its authentic.

They're real... and they're wonderful.

[RumHam]

Those raspberry pi arcade kits are pretty easy to set up. Most of them just have a board that converts all the arcade buttons and joystick inputs to a USB HID device that you can use as standard PC controller. Just make sure to get one with good reviews sometimes the buttons are really cheap and don't feel right.

I've got one sitting on a shelf somewhere but I never built the cabinet for it beyond the front piece where the screen and buttons are. Carpentry is hard if you want it to look nice. I was never able to find a good "insert coin" slot either. Adafruit sells one but it doesn't look like this. 

Anyway a real cabinet is obviously cooler, if less practical. 

[Slurktan]

7 minutes ago, Rhom said:

But its authentic.

They're real... and they're wonderful.

I mean... so?  Are you having it as a collectors piece to never be touch or to be played?  If so authentic then all the way, if not why not be able to play all suitable games? I've also been looking but the only authentic ones I might even want would be the Afterburner one with the moving cockpit or Star Wars sit down because it has the special controller.

[Poobah]

There's a humble bundle going at the moment for Stellaris and a bunch of its expansions/DLCs I picked it up even though I already owned all but 2 of the DLCs there and still saved a lot over buying them full price (and even a bit over getting them at the usual sale prices) on steam. Stellaris is a pretty fun game that plays with pretty much every sci-fi trope and allows for a lot of emergent storytelling if you get in to the RP of it all, albeit one PDX seem to have a habit of totally redesigning enormous amounts of the core systems of and which I've said before I rather preferred on earlier patches (though the cost of that of course is lack of mods, bug fixes, and new content, alas for a lost time).

I'll note that the default split for how much the charity got vs how much Paradox and Humble got was not to my tastes so those interested in the game might wanna check the little widget that customises where your money goes if that concerns you.

[Rhom]

17 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

Thanks!!! I loved this game as a kid. My parents went to two different restaurants a lot that both had them.

Sorry Rhom, but after looking at the prices of some of these things, the 1,000 game setup might be the way to go and then just get your Xmen game.

 

7 minutes ago, RumHam said:

Those raspberry pi arcade kits are pretty easy to set up. Most of them just have a board that converts all the arcade buttons and joystick inputs to a USB HID device that you can use as standard PC controller. Just make sure to get one with good reviews sometimes the buttons are really cheap and don't feel right.

I've got one sitting on a shelf somewhere but I never built the cabinet for it beyond the front piece where the screen and buttons are. Carpentry is hard if you want it to look nice. I was never able to find a good "insert coin" slot either. Adafruit sells one but it doesn't look like this. 

Anyway a real cabinet is obviously cooler, if less practical. 

 

3 minutes ago, Slurktan said:

I mean... so?  Are you having it as a collectors piece to never be touch or to be played?  If so authentic then all the way, if not why not be able to play all suitable games? I've also been looking but the only authentic ones I might even want would be the Afterburner one with the moving cockpit or Star Wars sit down because it has the special controller.

Arcade 1Up is a good option for licensed new "vintage" units  They are usually a couple hundred bucks I think and the cabinets are a little smaller than the original.

As to the authentic collector vs playable.  I mean... yeah?  It would obviously be a bit of a collector piece.  I don't anticipate spending 1000 hours finding five other people to play a 30 year old game.  

[Kalbear]

Among Us, FTL, Roblox should all indicate that graphics really aren't the killer thing that people think that they are as far as gameplay goes. 

And I love how Cyberpunk looks - absolutely love it and loved playing in that world. But Not all games need that or even will be benefitted from that. 

[briantw]

1 hour ago, Tywin et al. said:

Hell yeah! Arcades were largely gone when I was a kid, or at least there weren't many in my area, but the local community center and roller rink had a number of arcade games and this and NBA Jam always had the longest lines.  

Right before the pandemic started, this awesome bar opened nearby that is basically a retro arcade bar.  They've got most of the classic arcade games, a shitload of pinball machines, and plenty of other things like giant Jenga, giant beer pong (played with trash cans), duckpin bowling, skeeball, a bunch of older game consoles loaded with classic games, and more.

Shame that social distancing became the norm right after they opened.  Only been there once since it started, as they've got all the games shut down so it's effectively just a bar.  The only reason I went that one time is because they have a nice rooftop area.

We played a ton of NBA Jam and Turtles in Time (I think that was it) when the games were available.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

1 hour ago, Rhom said:

Arcade 1Up is a good option for licensed new "vintage" units  They are usually a couple hundred bucks I think and the cabinets are a little smaller than the original.

As to the authentic collector vs playable.  I mean... yeah?  It would obviously be a bit of a collector piece.  I don't anticipate spending 1000 hours finding five other people to play a 30 year old game.  

This one please:

https://arcade1up.com/collections/all-arcade1up-game-machines/products/mortal-kombat

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

49 minutes ago, briantw said:

Right before the pandemic started, this awesome bar opened nearby that is basically a retro arcade bar.  They've got most of the classic arcade games, a shitload of pinball machines, and plenty of other things like giant Jenga, giant beer pong (played with trash cans), duckpin bowling, skeeball, a bunch of older game consoles loaded with classic games, and more.

Shame that social distancing became the norm right after they opened.  Only been there once since it started, as they've got all the games shut down so it's effectively just a bar.  The only reason I went that one time is because they have a nice rooftop area.

We played a ton of NBA Jam and Turtles in Time (I think that was it) when the games were available.

Popular spot here:

https://www.updownarcadebar.com/minneapolis/

It's got Rhom's X-Men 6 player, but the place you're describing sounds a lot bigger.

[Gusguson]

I enjoyed Fallout 4, but I never could get into the settlements - even with mods, I found the UI to be so clunky that it didn't feel worth my time, even though I know you can do cool things with it. Combine that with the lack of role-playing and I don't think it's a game I'll ever revisit. But I am so bored of all these offline games that now I play only online games with my friends. Now Escape From Tarkov it is my favorite and with a little help from https://battlelog.co/eft-escape-from-tarkov-hacks-cheats-aimbot/, I became a very good player.

[IlyaP]

2 hours ago, Gusguson said:

I enjoyed Fallout 4, but I never could get into the settlements - even with mods, I found the UI to be so clunky that it didn't feel worth my time, even though I know you can do cool things with it.

Meet the Fallout 4 UI mod of your dreams.