Re: Gaming Chat Thread

[avidacridjam]

So I got a super sweet cheap deal on a 3DS XL. This is not the "New" model. Feels good to own one of these. I may actually start playing Pokemon. Maybe.

[TheMatt]

I bought my wife a new 3DS XL for her birthday in October. Every time she plays it I get super jealous, because I just have the original 3DS... which works totally fine... the bigger screen is so nice though! You'll have a really awesome backlog of games to go through. She's been playing through all of my old DS and 3DS games lately. So much good stuff! Enjoy, sir!

[avidacridjam]

Will do. Thanks!

[avidacridjam]

My Nintendo ID is AvidAcridJam. Friend code is 4743-0382-0046.

[volvocrusher]

Bleh, after hearing about Bioware stopping their Mass Effect Andromeda patches I'm so happy I didn't buy the game. Hate what my favorite developer has become, but between that and what their new IP sounds like, I get the feeling that developer is dead to me.

[ajapam]

Apparently Alan Wake is getting removed from digital storefronts because of some music licensing issues. Might come back eventually but if you're interested, now is the time to check it out. It's $3 on Steam until it disappears in a few days.

I always hate when this happens. A similar thing happened to Re-volt on GOG and I still regret not picking it up while it was available.

[BretBaber]

I'm always tired.  My feet have been bothering me at work so when I get home and want to play games at night I'm exhausted and my legs ache, so when I try to play Final Fantasy IX I just get really tired and nod off like a heroin addict.  It doesn't help that the music is so damn soothing, it's like a lullaby which doesn't help at all. I can only seem to stay awake during Destiny 2 and FIFA because you're constantly doing something.  

I'm not looking for answers, just crying like a bitch.  It sucks.

[Krubixcube]

Has anyone here bought a PS4 Pro? Just curious. I have very mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, I think we've reached a point in graphics technology where most games are like little PC's at this point anyway. But on the other hand having it so you have to buy the WHOLE console instead of a discounted upgrade seems odd to me.

I think we've spoken about it in the past before, just curious to see if people's opinions have changed or where you all stand.

[ajapam]

4K on affordable consoles isn't a very realistic proposition and I'm really annoyed by this continued push for more power when the results are often so small, especially mid-generation.

That said, reading up a bit on some of the tricks it uses to squeeze out a higher resolution gave me some respect for it, even if it's not *really* 4K in many games. It can sort of "fake" higher resolutions with some well-hidden compromises. Only select, really new PC games do the things the pro does as far as I know.

[Krubixcube]

I've been watching a play through of Sonic Forces...what the actual hell am I watching? Which fan fiction writer got this job?!

It's very entertaining, maybe not for the right reasons. But hearing a bunch of animals talk about destroying munitions factories for Eggman's war effort is super funny.

[volvocrusher]

That last part kind of excites me actually because it reminds me of the Sonic SATAM cartoon as well as the premise in general, but I don't have enough faith in Sonic Team to make a well written story out of it. Especially when they're still putting Silver the Hedgehog into the story.

[Krubixcube]

I never understood why Sonic was a series that necessitated a story above Mario-level.

[volvocrusher]

Because Sonic had the Archie comics and the SATAM cartoon in the 90's which were much better than they had any right to be while Mario had the Mario Super Show and the SMB Movie which were terrible. And I say this as someone who loves the SMB movie. But Sonic has fans who enjoy his stories as a huge selling point, though IMO, only two game stories that rose above mediocrity was Adventure 1 which was decent and Battle which was surprisingly really good.

Plus, there is a niche for kid friendly games which still have story as a major role. Pokemon is the most story heavy outside there, so there is a hole to fill for platformers with the Jak/Ratchet/Sly levels of storytelling.

[Krubixcube]

I know I'm always on the side of emulation but someone brought this up at our house recently and I thought it was interesting so I'll pose the same question to the group:

Do you think if a company shuts off the servers of an online game, or stop printing new copies of it it should become public domain within a certain number of years?

On the one hand - if it truly isn't going to turn up at a store any more it's a way to preserve a beloved game for new audiences. On the other hand, companies wouldn't necessarily have as much incentive to make remasters.

It's pretty clear where I fall on the debate but I'm curious what y'all think. Discuss.

[volvocrusher]

I'm in favor of preservation, but wouldn't say it should stop at right when they stop printing new copies. If the servers are shut off to an online game, public domain all the way. But with offline games, I think it should wait a while longer, to the point where the physical media is recorded as deteriorating. There still are used game shops and retailers hoping that they can make a living off of retro media and I think they should be able to as long as it's in working condition. But through no fault of their own, that media will deteriorate eventually, which is when it should be available for everyone as long as that's the only way to get it since it shouldn't get lost to time.

[BretBaber]

This is basically a PC related topic right, I can't think of many situations on consoles where situations like this would arise. I know there's been console games where they shut down the servers (MAG being my biggest heartbreak, Resistance 3), but I'd have no idea how to remedy that for console users. I should also point out I"m totally clueless to how people do that emulating, modding, etc... Basically I have no idea what you guys are talking about.

[ajapam]

emulating is super easy for lots of older cartridge based consoles on PC but I've never had the patience to figure it out on anything new. There are people emulating Ps3 and Wii-U games at this point but I think it takes lots of power and some expertise.

I feel like any online game should have the ability to host your own servers. I don't care if it's not as good or has cheaters, at least it keeps the game alive.

On the topic of preservation, I feel like they should just start porting everything to PC down the line if consoles are going to keep straying away from backwards compatibility. I don't mind if the games come late, I just want to be able to keep my favorites without keeping a million systems or having to rebuy them every gen like Nintendo wants us to do.

[BretBaber]

Krub and I had a brilliant idea for Sony to make a backwards compatible system. We never told them our brilliant idea and they never listened to our untold brilliant idea. It was brilliant though.

Hopefully he remembers more than I do, but it was good. He posted about it on here somewhere, I just don't remember under which topic.

[volvocrusher]

The thing is, I get why PS4 didn't launch with BC. Making it $400 was more important and they weren't in the financial situation to sell it at a loss. But now that we have it cheaper to produce, I wish we'd have a BC PS4 model. Hell, make that a feature in the Pro, that would be a damn great selling point.

[Krubixcube]

We did have that thought, I remember! Instead of releasing the "SNES" classic or whatever release the NES-SNES machine. And it has the ability to play cartridges AND digital content.

Anyway...thank you for reminding me of our brilliance Bret.

[BretBaber]

The end of March Guerrilla Games is shutting down their Killzone 2 and 3 servers. That makes me sad, I loved playing those games. Killzone 3 is my favorite shooter, and although I know that 2 is a better game, most of my friends at the time were playing Call of Duty so I didn't play that one as much, but still loved it. I might have to spend some more time with my PS3 the upcoming months to say goodbye to these games.

[TripOpt55]

I'm going to post the year-end survey things on the 31st.

I was thinking about paring down the subforums here since we only use a handful of threads anymore. I'll just throw the most-used threads in one spot for ease of browsing. Move the rest to the archive for now. Would that be easier for everyone?

[volvocrusher]

That's fine by me

[Krubixcube]

Saw this on reddit today and it made me think of our previous conversation. Interesting stuff:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXnkAoiek2E&ab_channel=JAPANmania

[Krubixcube]

Did you guys see the news that we're getting a new Crash game? That's pretty neat!

[volvocrusher]

That and the possibility of Crash on the Switch and PC. Oh fuck yes

[Krubixcube]

Would probably want it on the Switch (if I had one) over the PC. Just feels...wrong somehow on the PC.

[volvocrusher]

But Crash in full 4K.......

[Krubixcube]

Has anyone played the new Monster Hunter? It LOOKS cool but I'm worried it's too much of a collectathon.

[volvocrusher]

The "What would you like this dev to work on" thread is gone, but I was thinking of how cool it could be if Naughty Dog's next game after TLOU2 is a pirate game. Have a bunch of levels set up similarly to that open world level in Uncharted: TLL where you'll have a ship and be traveling between islands to find a bunch of small treasures and one bigger treasure. Seeing as Uncharted 4 had a pirate themed treasure I think that could be a very cool development.

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