Re: Gaming Chat Thread

[ajapam]

Was that the matrix game where you "hack" it to enter cheat codes, and you can get swords which are totally badass but break the vampire levels? I had a ton of fun with that game.

Also, SSX

[Motinator]

Haha, I'm actually having trouble remembering. Probably though, there were definitely lots of weapons and random things that didn't follow the movie. Just got even more excited to play it!

Also my friend was disappointed that I didn't get SSX 3, which he thinks is the best. That's the one I've never really ever seen. Is it good?

[ajapam]

I think the general consensus is that either Tricky or 3 is the best. I prefer 3. It's a full mountain like in On Tour but it's bigger if I remember correctly.

[ajapam]

I got 3 download codes for the Tri-Force Heroes demo. I don't really have time for it so I'll give them all to whoever wants them

[ajapam]

So I picked up a Steam Controller yesterday. I'll write some in-depth thoughts later after I try it with more games, but right now I'm not sure how many games I'll actually use it for. And it's not because of the touchpads. I'm really impressed by them so far. You can set them to work like trackball mice, which feels awesome. The amount of options you can set is absurd. Do want to use the left analog stick like a mouse? Now you can, you monster

What the controller really needs is games that are designed with it in mind to make it easier on the player and bring out it's full potential. My main complaint about the controller itself is just the ABXY placement. I keep pressing B when I want to press A.

[TripOpt55]

Random thought. I think Photo Modes are neat, but I never find myself using them. Just feels like time I could be spending playing the game I guess. Do you guys use these?

[BretBaber]

I used them in inFamous Second Son, but I was mainly taking pictures of things related to Nirvana.

[SanAndreasX]

For any Dragon Quest fans out there, I picked up Dragon Quest Heroes (PS4). It is awesome. It has characters and music from past Dragon Quest games, all the familiar monsters, and it plays a lot differently than your usual Musou game. You can tell Square Enix had a big hand in guiding Omega Force on its development. Plus the graphics are awesome.

[Motinator]

Yeah, I never really use photo modes.

Sometimes I'll start, but I just end up with a bunch of photos where it's like, "what's the real point of having these?"

I do wish I'd played through The Last of Us: Left Behind on PS4, so I could've saved the replay of that final fight. Beat it first try!

[ajapam]

I used photo mode a fair bit in Tearaway and Gran Turismo. Had some fun faking ghost pictures with the former

[BretBaber]

I snapped a couple of photos in Tearaway as well.

[TripOpt55]

Sony has a Press Conference at Paris Games Week on Tuesday. I know Dreams will be shown. They skipped Gamescom in favor of this and that usually had pretty good announcements, so I expect some other cool stuff. Hoping Uncharted 4 multiplayer is shown. I suppose maybe Quantic Dream might have a new game to show for those who like them. Not sure what else. I am looking forward to seeing what will be shown.

[BretBaber]

I'm expecting them to tell me straight up to just start spending my mobile gaming time on a 3DS.

[volvocrusher]

Fun fact: Dreamcast got more retail games than the Vita this year. Maybe Wii U too, not sure on that one though.

Edit:Okay looking at the Vita's games this year, it did slightly edge out the Dreamcast. But still, that system is 16 years old

[ajapam]

I hope they are amazing and they get ported to new consoles just so I can feel smug about not owning a Ps4 or Xbox One. If only people put that much effort into making new Wii-U games, though.

[BretBaber]

They still make Dreamcast games? Or were you referring to one specific year Dreamcast had more games?

[volvocrusher]

No, there are still Dreamcast games made in factories by small developers. Most are shmups and all are pretty low budget, but the system is pretty popular for low budget retail games. Think like thirteen games were released for it this year.

[BretBaber]

Well that right there is a fact of the day!

I'll still probably always play my Vita more, but that's mainly due to the ability to play PS1 classics. Because even if I knew going into it that there would be no games made specifically for the Vita, being able to play these games...

Final Fantasy I, II, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, and Metal Gear Solid any where I want make it worth it for me personally. Those are games I'm always going to be playing, no matter what age I am. Not to mention all of the other great PS1 classics, they just need to get the Crash games on there and some other games they never released (Dragon Quest VII, Brave Fencer Musashi, and I'd really like to see the first Ape Escape game on there as well). It might sound silly, but being able to play PS1 classics on the go would be reason enough for me to pay $300. I just really like being able to take them places (toilet, work).

[TripOpt55]

I hope Rime makes an appearance at the conference. It feels like with its recent disappearing act they are perhaps taking a bit too much inspiration from Team Ico.

[BretBaber]

Yeah, that game looked really good just from the video I saw at my store.

[Motinator]

Okay this might be a stupid question, but I'm getting pumped for a PS4 with those Ratchet and Clank and Uncharted 4 trailers: is there any quality difference between games on disc and downloaded?

I kind of went overboard on buying games for PS3, so I want my PS4 collection to be perfect. I want to either go download only or get all games, that come out on blu-ray, on blu-ray.

[TripOpt55]

No difference that I know of. All PS4 disc games install on the system anyway. You still need the disc to launch them, but they take up the same amount of space I believe (someone correct me if I'm wrong). So it is really about whether you want the disc/box. Whether you feel like downloading which can obviously be time consuming depending on the connection (I imagine if you are school it is pretty fast though?). Stuff like that I guess.

[ajapam]

Weren't all installs supposed to be optional on the Ps4?

[TripOpt55]

Has this gen been disappointing so far? I really feel it has been, but I haven't exactly done a thorough comparison to previous gens during the same time periods. I'm not sure if it is the right time to bring this up either, but we are about 2 years into the PS4 and Xbox One's life and 3 years into the Wii U's so here I am bringing it up. Might be an interesting discussion.

[Krubixcube]

I feel like there are games, and they look good but it's not preceded with the same excitement it used to be. Maybe that's just me getting older, who knows.

[volvocrusher]

I don't think it is just us getting old. Most games we're seeing are just more of the same really. There's no new ideas like Gears of War and Portal or big jumps in a franchise like MGS4 (for all its faults) had. I feel like half the games touted as the next big thing are either falling flat like Knack or not causing the splash they were claiming to like Watchdogs. Even the ones delivering have their share of bullshit like Arkham Knight PC/$40 season pass and MGSV's unfinished story and mictotransactions.

[ajapam]

It's the games. Especially exclusives. The Ps3 had more notable ones (many of which were new, unique franchises) than either the Ps4 or Xbox One... maybe both combined if I'm not missing any cult-hits. And for years people said that system had no games.

In terms of multiplatform games, the freshest feeling games so far have been Alien Isolation and MGSV. Both of which are on old consoles. Maybe Rocket League, but that's more because somebody finally figured out how to perfect car soccer.

[SanAndreasX]

Has this gen been disappointing so far? I really feel it has been, but I haven't exactly done a thorough comparison to previous gens during the same time periods. I'm not sure if it is the right time to bring this up either, but we are about 2 years into the PS4 and Xbox One's life and 3 years into the Wii U's so here I am bringing it up. Might be an interesting discussion.

Yes and no.

On the one hand, this generation started out on a tide of the usual EA/Activision/Ubisoft stuff that I don't really care about anyway. I don't really care much about gritty shooters or online play outside of fighting games.  There also seem to be fewer developers than I've seen since the 1983 video game crash. I know there's plenty of indies out there but those are incredibly hit or miss. Konami and Sega are focusing on mobile games and pachislot machines, and particularly since Sega made a lot of my favorite games last gen, that sucks.

On the other hand, Konami and Sega aside, I'm really happy to see a lot more Japanese presence on PS4. Namco, Square Enix, Koei Tecmo in particular are really stepping up to the plate this time around. I think Namco could potentially knock Ubisoft out of the big three third party developers with a good mix of Japanese and Western content, which I'm good with since I like Namco far more than Ubisoft, and they seem a lot more open to bringing their Japanese RPGs regularly to the US than they did on PS3 and 360, where it was always hit or miss whether the next Tales game would come out. Square Enix still has a lot of work to do but they're showing promising signs of rededicating themselves to console RPGs. Hopefully Dragon Quest Heroes will bring the Dragon Quest series back to the US, especially if DQXI does turn out to be an offline traditional RPG. Koei Tecmo has been a pleasant surprise in the past couple of years. We also have companies like NISA, XSeed, and Aksys bringing over smaller Japanese titles. I'd love to have a new concept like Valkyria Chronicles, but there is good, too. I've used my PS4 a lot more over the past six months than I did when I first got it.

As for Nintendo, I definitely like their output on Wii U better over all than I did games like Wii Sports/Fit/Music. It sucks that the Wii U is struggling, but I've really enjoyed that system. But then, my favorite Nintendo system was the Gamecube. Nintendo has been my favorite developer this gen.

[TripOpt55]

Yeah I think you guys hit on the things that have made it a letdown at least compared to last gen. So many intriguing new series last gen at this point. That might be easier to swallow if some of my favorite series had shown up, but thinking through them they have been absent too for the most part. Obviously some of them are coming but they haven't arrived yet. Sony is my favorite publisher too and they have been really boring so far. I also think the extended cross-gen period has hurt things a bit.

I mean the hardware is better. I love the Wii U compared to the Wii. The controller is so awesome. MS didn't shit out some garbage hardware this time to make it to market first. The PS4 doesn't seem as problematic to develop for. Yet neither delivered the power jump that last gen did, so it is perhaps not as wow-worthy this gen. And I fear for how the short the Wii U's life cycle will be and what franchises won't appear on the system.

Still it all about the games and they just haven't been delivering as much this gen I think (for me at least).

[BretBaber]

I'm shocked Nintendo didn't lower the price of their system this holiday season. It's only $50 cheaper than the competition. That's mind blowing to me. I was hoping to pick up one this year for a lower price, but now I'm not too sure.

[Sponsored content]