Messages

26

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Watch_Dogs officially delayed... on Wii U

« on: February 11, 2014, 10:59:55 PM »

Must have been a pretty big doorway to drive all those dump trucks under it.

I'm still very interested in Watch Dogs, though, now it's more of a fascination to see how it turns out.  Before the initial delay, we couldn't go very long without mention of the title, but since, we've heard almost nothing.  I hope the delay does the game some good, especially after seeing how some of the games during the holiday season turned out after being rushed to launch.  I remember a time when game delays seemed like the normal way of things.

27

General Gaming / Re: XboxOne ~News/Rumor/Speculation~ Biggest Console Released This Gen!!

« on: February 11, 2014, 10:30:32 PM »

Didn't want to make a new thread for this, but it's sorta pertinent, so...

Titanfall beta is announced for this weekend running from the 14th for 4 days.  You can sign up at the Titanfall website for either the Xbox One or the PC version.  Unfortunately, they seem to be getting hammered at the moment, so you may be trying for a while.  I couldn't login to Origin for a while, perhaps that was just a coincidence.  Got signed up for the PC beta after a few attempts, wasn't too painful.  I'm actually looking forward to playing this, even though I still really suck at competitive multiplayer.

28

General Gaming / Re: What is your most recent gaming purchase?

« on: February 10, 2014, 04:57:20 PM »

Debt is like most other things in our world.  It is a tool.  When used appropriately, it can be a very useful.

Anyway, I picked up Bravely Default off the eShop and played a couple of hours.  I really like the game so far, the visual style is very pleasing, and the sound is great.  I'm having some issues with the 3D where if I look away from the screen and look back, it takes my eyes a while longer to readjust.  Surprisingly, I enjoy the V.O in the game, despite how horribly cheesy it sounds at times.  I think this is SE's real comfort zone, where they have a bit more artistic license to ham it up a bit compared to games like FFXIII.  It feels like the game takes itself a little bit less seriously, so some of the bad lines are easier to forgive.

29

General Gaming / Re: What are you playing?

« on: February 04, 2014, 11:39:08 AM »

Lol, I just got that.  Will the infected be feeding on party-sized subs?

30

General Gaming / Re: What are you playing?

« on: February 03, 2014, 09:20:54 PM »

Hurrrrr...

So, EA/DICE decided that it would be a good idea to run a player appreciation event during the entire month of February, y'know, since they've fixed everything.  They're probably trying to drum up sales of BF4/Premium, as well as get some people back into the game who left during the shitty launch.  Pachter speculated, and EA said as much, that the troubles they've had with the BF4 launch have not affected sales, but I'm sure the higher-ups at EA are smelling another worst company in America(however deserving they may be) award.

So, like a sucker, I decided to give it another shot.  Played a few matches over the weekend, and things went pretty well.  I mean, I still suck, but the game seemed fairly stable.  I didn't encounter much rubberbanding, or anything out of the ordinary.  So, today, I figured I'd get my frag on.  First match went well, but the last few have been frustrating.  I've had crash-to-desktops(with the lovely error message that "something went wrong"), sound glitches, textures not being drawn properly, and for a while I was unable to connect at all until I restarted the Battlelog client.  Not a great way to try to promote your game.

Gads, the game is so bloody fun when it's working, it is really tragic that the game is still having issues 3/4 months after launch.

The Last of Us - With the Left Behind DLC coming out on the 14th, I've gone back to revisit one of my favourite games of 2013(and the generation).  It's actually kind of a strange feeling playing a game like this when you are already familiar with its various systems.  I find myself moving with much more purpose through all the stealth portions, and spending much more time trying to enjoy the environment and stumble upon any little tidbits I may have missed on my previous runs.

I made it to the hotel, just after leaving Bill, and I hit a bit of a roadblock, much like I did the first time I played it.  I didn't like this section before, and it seems I still don't like it.

31

General Gaming / Re: XboxOne ~News/Rumor/Speculation~ Biggest Console Released This Gen!!

« on: February 01, 2014, 02:15:57 PM »

One of the rumors that came out of the major leaks this week was that MS are working on a cheaper console with no disc drive.  At first, I thought it was strange that MS would be thinking about a hardware revision so early in to this generation, but it might make sense to at least start planning for a release and price drop in the holiday season.  What makes MS look bad is that the info was leaked so early.

A lot of the griping I'm seeing on the internet has to do with the fact that the hardware revision is a disc-less, 1 TB system instead of a Kinect-less SKU.  Personally, I thought a disc-less system is what they should have had ready for launch if they wanted to go with their original DRM schemes, though, I get why they didn't go that route.  1 TB is nice, and with the Xbone's automatic file-management(which I admit I have no first-hand account of) it is what the original system should have.  Dead Rising auto-downloading 13 GB patches, and taking up ~50 GB to begin with shows just how fast 500 GB can get eaten up.

If these rumors turn out to be true, what kind of price point are we talking?  Blu-ray drives aren't exactly expensive, and I'm sure the license fee per console doesn't amount to much.  Would MS be able to come in at a lower price point than the PS4?  And wouldn't Sony just be able to undercut them again(if they even need to at that point)?  I was on Best Buy's website trying to score a PS4(I got one in my cart, and by the time I got through the PayPal interface, they told me it was unavailable), and I didn't even bother checking out the Xbone stock.  Why would I buy an Xbone now with the potential of a cheaper SKU in the near future?  It'll be interesting to see if the rumor gains any traction, and to see if it has any impact on Xbone sales.

32

General Gaming / Re: XboxOne ~News/Rumor/Speculation~ Biggest Console Released This Gen!!

« on: January 29, 2014, 06:44:44 PM »

I think the Gears franchise is suffering from some serious fatigue.  They only apparently started working on it last week, so by the time it's released, it'll have a bit more buzz.

Windows also doesn't have an equivalent of Xbox Live does it.

Didn't MS try that **** on PC with Games for Windows Live?

33

General Gaming / Re: What is the last game you beat? Thoughts/impressions?

« on: January 26, 2014, 05:23:19 PM »

I just finished my replay of Uncharted 2.  I played the game on the lowest difficulty this time because I just wanted to blow through it.  After playing TLoU, there were plenty of moments in this game that made me wish I could throw a bottle or a brick to distract a sentry.

I had forgotten just how impressive this game was from almost all technical aspects.  Visuals are stunning, audio and superb, and the narrative is just another example of how far ahead of the competition Naughty Dog can be.  There are obvious flaws with some of the gameplay decisions, but most of those end up being minor quibbles.  For instance, at times, despite some superb level design that does a really good job of indicating where you need to go, I never really have a good grasp on just what the limits of Nate's jumping abilities are.  Instead, it seems like there are some jumps that you are allowed to make, and some you aren't, regardless of whether the physics of it work.  In some cases, a jump looks like it will fall short, but Nate gets some magical extension of the jump and he reaches the ledge.  Some of the puzzles would have been much easier to solve if that wasn't such a guessing game.

I think someone here mentioned that they wished there were more contextual animations for things like running into walls.  I am inclined to agree with this, as going through the game again, those animations are far too limited in their triggers.  There also happens to be a lot of sliding when you need to activate a lever or a switch and Nate's character model isn't in exactly the right location to begin the animation.  Obviously, there are limits to what the PS3 can do, so hopefully a PS4 iteration can increase that level of immersion.

Combat is the area that I can imagine being the most divisive.  It works well enough, but, and this might have to do with the controller, I never fell in love with it.  Melee is fun enough, but the gunplay never felt quite as empowering as it should.  Enemies are bullet-sponges, and it is really pronounced in the last 30ish minutes of gameplay when you have to fight the blue smurf-guardians.  There are far too many encounters that start with 4 or 5 enemies, and then grow every time you dispatch the first wave.  After playing Tomb Raider on PC, and experimenting with mouse + keyboard, I really miss the precision aiming afforded by that setup.

The standout of the series is presentation and narrative, and this game really nails it.  I really enjoy the interactions between the characters.  Voice acting(performance capture?) is top notch, really solidifying the cinematic experience of the game.  I like that characters continue to converse during lulls in combat, something that I think BioWare got away from in Mass Effect 2 and 3.  The personalities of all the characters have been meticulously crafted, and everybody feels fairly consistent.

After finishing Uncharted 2, it's really neat to see just how much they improved on the first game.  Still having TLoU relatively fresh in my mind, it's incredible to see just how much they've managed to build on their formula.  I look forward to whatever it is Naughty Dog brings to the PS4(Uncharted 4 by all estimations) and seeing just what steps they take to improve on an already great formula.

34

General Gaming / Re: Thinking of getting PS4...

« on: January 24, 2014, 08:05:57 PM »

My weaknesses for PS4 right now are Drive Club and MLB The Show.  I loved the MLB games on PS3 and hearing that they'll be implementing a way to carry your franchises/players through different iterations of the games just makes me wet.  We haven't heard much about Drive Club, but some of the footage that's been trickling out is looking really nice.  If the game turns out well, and supports my wheel, it'll be a must-have.

I'm curious to know how BF4 is on PS4, now.  The game launch was a mess across all platforms, and I eventually gave up on it on PC.  I hear DICE are running some sort of stress test(post-launch stress test, WTF?), so I assume some of the rubberbanding/lag issues are still prevalent.

35

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Wii U in Review (News & Rumor Consolidation)

« on: January 24, 2014, 04:20:55 PM »

Wasn't planning on playing Watch Dogs on Wii U anyway, so I guess I was part of the problem, but that really sucks if true.

36

General Gaming / Re: What is your most recent gaming purchase?

« on: January 22, 2014, 06:44:54 PM »

I gotta say, even though I really didn't enjoy FFXIII and XIII-2, the whole dress-up aspect of Lightning Returns is really appealing to me, in a totally non-pervy way.

I just picked up Blackguards and The Banner Saga on Steam(Blackguards through 25% off coupon at GMG).  Times like these, I start to realize how sucky it can be when you have to wait several hours to download your "impulse" purchases.

37

General Gaming / Re: What are you playing?

« on: January 19, 2014, 03:53:58 AM »

I downloaded Warframe on PC the other night, and gave that a quick shot.  The game is barely competent.  The jumps are typical MMO-floaty, and the targetting feels really loose.  Presentation is acceptable, but I don't really know what's going on.  As it stands, the game dropped me from a tutorial mission, into a mission, and I'm not exactly clear on what's going on.  So far, it seems like all I need to worry about is shooting at things that move.  I did notice the chatlog being spammed by WTS and WTB requests, so it felt just like any other MMO in that regard.  I think the devs really took advantage of teh F2P model, since the game already feels single-minded in its determination to get you attached to the loot-grinding system.  Not sure if I'll give this another shot, since I don't have anybody to play it with right now.

Kunos just released a new update for the Assetto Corsa early access, which, along with several tweaks to the gameplay, added a new BMW as well as some AI events.  In total, there are 4 races that have AI in them now, none of which you are able to change the options(number of laps, time of day, etc...) for, with the exception of AI difficulty of course.  I think the number of AI is limited to 11 as of now, but that may change in the future. 

The AI is, for the most part, ok.  At best, it doesn't match up to the best human drivers, but for a novice like myself, that isn't the biggest concern.  I prefer an AI that is more interested in providing a solid racing experience, and for me, that means they aren't perfect, and that they do follow some amount of racing etiquette(even if I don't).  So far, in that sense, the AI is on the right track.  I've seen AI opponents push too hard, and brake really late, locking up the wheels and sending smoke everywhere, losing precious time.  I've seen some AI miss an apex and hit kerbs hard enough to balance on two wheels for a few seconds before landing and continuing on their way.  I've tried to pass AI, and sometimes, it feels like they actually try to defend their positions.  I've even had the impression that some AI were actively making the effort to not send me into the wall(Shift 2 Unleashed, and the Gran Turismos are really bad for this).  All in all, there's plenty of room for improvement, but the potential is definitely there.

On top of those additions, the team at Kunos have added a new tire model, and it definitely feels like they've tweaked the FFB for wheels.  I also feel like the graphics have been further optimized, as I'm noticing less and less detail pop-in during replays.  The framerate also feels like it's more solid now than ever.

38

General Gaming / Re: XboxOne ~News/Rumor/Speculation~ Biggest Console Released This Gen!!

« on: January 09, 2014, 08:09:45 PM »

With all of EA's missteps over the last little while, I've heard a lot of resentment toward their future releases... except for Titanfall, which I find odd.  I understand that EA is just a publishing partner, but imo, if you are going to hold a grudge, you should at least do it right.

6v6 is all well and good, honestly.  You can have plenty of fun with that player count.  But for a full-priced, multiplayer-only title, I wonder how many people would have been expecting a bigger scale, or at least the option.  Though, with the issues that Battlefield 4 has had since launch, especially in larger player-count games(rubber-banding, hit detection, etc) perhaps limiting matches to 6v6 is a good thing.

39

General Gaming / Re: What is your most recent gaming purchase?

« on: January 09, 2014, 07:53:48 PM »

Hope you enjoy your Wii U; I've enjoyed mine, despite the shortage of games.

Ever since Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance was released, I had some irrational expectation that it would eventually find its way to the PC.  Today, my faith was rewarded, as it was finally released on Steam.  I couldn't preload the game, since my C drive is pretty cramped as it is, and I didn't feel arsed to bother with circumventing the default preload location, so I'm downloading it now.

40

General Gaming / Re: What are you playing?

« on: December 28, 2013, 04:35:49 PM »

Started playing a point-and-click adventure game called The Dark Eye: Chains of Satinav.  The art style is beautiful, and the animation, while somewhat "incomplete", fits the art style once you get used to it.  The dialogue is fairly well-written, and the voice acting is mostly good.  I have encountered a few lines that don't really match the context of the game, but so far it has been a positive experience.

The puzzles are pretty well-integrated, with plenty of clues to point you in the right direction.  I've found myself stumped a few times, but that's nothing unusual for this genre.  I haven't played many "modern" p&c adventure games, but the increased graphical fidelity makes pixel-hunting much more of a chore.  I find myself just automatically hitting the "highlight everything you can interact with" button instead of just waving my cursor around aimlessly.

41

General Gaming / Re: What is your most recent gaming purchase?

« on: December 28, 2013, 04:20:55 PM »

I picked up Memoria, a point-and-click style adventure game earlier during the Steam winter sale.  I was going to install it, but I found out it was a sequel to a game called The Dark Eye: Chains of Satinav.  So, I looked that up, and Steam was offering it as a part of a package of adventure games for $30.  I picked that up, too.

42

General Gaming / Re: What is your most recent gaming purchase?

« on: December 26, 2013, 06:34:47 PM »

Picked up The King of Fighters XIII Steam Edition during the sale.  Had a bit of trouble since the game won't work if you install it on a drive that is bigger than 2TB, so I had to reinstall to a different drive(only one of my drives is smaller than that).  I really dig the look of the game, and I wish Street Fighter and MvC would go back to that artstyle(at least once in a while).  Spent a bunch more money picking up things I skipped earlier, mostly indie stuff like Guacamelee.

43

General Gaming / Re: What are you playing?

« on: December 24, 2013, 10:53:00 PM »

Gran Turismo 6
It's been a few weeks since I booted the game up, but the changes that PD made to the economy got me back in.  I'm happy to see the daily log-in boosts reinstated.  The game still feels really good, though I feel like the tire model is a bit spotty.  The AI is the weakest part of the game, still, and I hope that any future iterations work on that aspect of the game above adding new cars.  The AI has a tendency to be far too conservative when they're ahead, and far too aggressive when they're behind.  They seem to completely disregard me when they are trying to pass me, and I've often been plowed into by AI hell-bent on making the pass.  I've heard a few people in various podcasts describe the early game in the GT series as a perfect tutorial for beginner drivers, and I couldn't disagree more.  While the system is great for helping beginners come to grips with the handling model and the various physics systems, the short duration of the races, and the motivation to finish first is much more likely to teach beginners to be overly aggressive instead of proper race etiquette, imo.  The fact that they've gated online behind these early races just makes that more of an issue.  To me, I'm more interested in race strategy then in divebombing and sliding through corners.

Call of Juarez: Gunslinger
I've got a few days off work for the holiday season, and, as such, I've decided to clear out some of the games I started and never finished.  CoJ was one of those games since, at the time, my mouse was really crap and it really hindered my performance.  I jumped back in this morning, and I remembered just how awesome this game was.  For an ADS shooter, the gunplay is remarkably crisp and satisfying.  The game is fast-paced, and the scoring system is rewarding.  I think I'm close to the end, since it's starting to feel repetitive, and from all accounts, the game doesn't overstay its welcome.

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General Gaming / Re: Why aren't game consoles cross-compatible?

« on: December 24, 2013, 10:35:52 PM »

I'd settle for being able to play online with different platforms, where possible.  There have been a few games that have attempted this, but I'd love for that to grow, especially with co-op.

45

General Gaming / Re: What are you playing?

« on: December 21, 2013, 10:44:40 PM »

Finally picked up Tearaway during the PSN sale for $17.  The game is full of charm and personality, and I can see why so many people have fallen in love with it.  The creation aspect of the game is integrated really well, and is actually a lot of fun.  At first, I didn't think I'd care for it, but it's quickly become my favourite part of the game.  The camera integration hasn't done much for me, though, but maybe that changes later in the game.  I've heard a lot of praise for the rear touchpad integration, but to me, it's a bit inconsistent.  Maybe it's my Vita, but I'm having trouble getting it to consistently register my touches, especially on inputs that require me to press and hold the touchpad.  The actual gameplay, so far, is ok/good at best.  I don't feel all that connected to the gameworld, and I'm having some difficulty feeling the motivation to keep moving forward.  The levels are mostly seamless, but they feel disjointed, and somehow just disparate.  To me, the creation system is where I've had the most fun.  It feels like a system that becomes more rewarding as you put more effort into it.  Penis-snowflakes are great and all, but as soon as you step out of your twelve year-old self, seeing your imagination rewarded so immediately is a great joy.

46

General Gaming / Re: What are you playing?

« on: December 12, 2013, 07:36:50 PM »

I'm weak.  I said I wouldn't, that I had enough racing sims on PC to get me through.  But I went and bought Gran Turismo 6 digitally.  It's a bit of a departure from the handling models in the PC games I've been playing, but it's a lot of fun.  The menus are much quicker and responsive than GT5, and load times in general are vastly improved.  The game looks and runs pretty well, and I haven't run into too many framerate issues.  I really like the new suspension model, even though it has some serious issues(braking downhill tends to send the ass-end of cars airborne).  The AI is... special.  When you're behind them, they are fairly tame and waiting to be passed.  As soon as you make your move, they become much more aggressive and seem to disregard racing etiquette altogether.

The nature of these games(in early career mode, at least) is to provide a decent racing experience in short bursts.  A lot of the early races are short, 2-3 lap affairs.  In these situations, the AI can't be too realistic, or else you wouldn't have much chance since you always start in last.  The way these events are structured tends to encourage racers to exploit the handling system which has always favoured overly-aggressive driving, and practically drifting through turns.  It all makes for a much more immediately rewarding racing experience than some of the more realistic sims out there.  I found myself dive-bombing the AI through corners that no real racer would ever dare make a pass attempt and loving every second of it.

47

General Gaming / Re: What have been your favorite game soundtracks this year?

« on: December 08, 2013, 11:34:57 PM »

Super Mario 3D World and A Link Between Worlds are both great.  I don't normally notice game soundtracks unless they are really good, or really bad, and I don't think I'm alone in that.

The Last of Us had a really subtle and appropriate soundtrack for me.  It wasn't ever flashy or the center of attention, but it really stood out for me(probably for that reason).

And I think Remember Me's soundtrack is very deserving of a mention.  The game won't be remember fondly by many people, but I really enjoyed it, and the soundtrack has a very cinematic feel to it.

48

General Gaming / Re: What are you playing?

« on: December 08, 2013, 07:43:41 PM »

That's funny, for my own nostalgic kick, I went and installed UT2004 last night and had a blast playing Face3 instagib + low-grav against bots.  It's no match for the original Face, but boy did I miss that style of game.

49

General Gaming / Re: What are you playing?

« on: December 07, 2013, 06:38:19 PM »

Picked up the DLC episode for Phoenix Wright. I've only just started it, and already my brain is all "WTF?!"  Really digging the wackiness in the episode so far.

I found out how to "unlock" photo mode in Assetto Corsa, and, while it was something I only played with in Gran Turismo 5 in passing, I feel like the options presented in AC might help make it a bigger feature for me.  Being able to change the time of day, and even the position of the sun really provides a new dimension to take really killer pictures.  When Kunos add a livery feature, I can see myself losing hours just trying to find that perfect shot.  The devs released their 0.3 update on Friday, which added two new tracks, including the big-boy layout at Silverstone, and I think two new cars, including the McLaren MP4.  My favourite combo right now is running the P4/5 Competizione on Silverstone GP, those S-curves are just too much fun.

Picked up Injustice Ultimate Edition for $25ish from the Steam VGX sale last night.  It's a fun fighter, I'm liking it more than MK so far.  I really like the interactive sets.  Didn't get to play it much last night, so I'm looking forward to getting deeper into it.

50

General Gaming / Re: What are you playing?

« on: December 04, 2013, 10:21:15 PM »

Oh sweet merciful Jesus, I just hopped back into Assetto Corsa's early access, and WOW, what a difference a few weeks makes.  Kunos have promised to keep updating the game on a regular schedule, and so far they have delivered. Anti-aliasing options have been improved and the effect on the game's visuals is dramatic.  They've also seemingly further optimized the visuals and improved the framerate on a lot of people's rigs.  The game looks fantastic, though, it will be interesting to see how it performs when you are doing more than just time-trials.

I feel they've made some improvements to the force-feedback through my G27 setup.  In a lot of sims, I feel like the FF is far too... stiff, I guess, but here, it all seems to feel appropriate to the driving conditions.  Whether you're eating too much of the kerb, or locking the wheels, it feels like everything is being transferred to your hands.  I'm having a hard time deciding which game does it better right now, this or Game Stock Car.

They've added a few new tracks, and some new cars.  I think there are 15 cars now, and maybe 9 tracks or so.  Each car they've decided to introduce to the game has been pretty different, so that everybody can have a car to suit their own tastes.

That said, the game still is just in early access.  I'm not sure when exactly the team have targetted a final release, nor do I know what level of completion the game is in.  There are still a few rough edges that need tending.  I noticed during replays, that shadows and reflections have a tendency to pop in and out, randomly, which is a little jarring.  Many of the off-track details seem unfinished.


Need for Speed Rivals PC - picked this one up during one of the Black Friday online deals for $25.  I heard that there was a command line entry you could input to force the game to run at 60 fps, but I forgot to do so and ended up playing at 30 fps.  To be honest, I was underwhelmed with the graphics.  It doesn't seem to be much of a progression from Most Wanted, but I'm looking forward to bumping up the fps to see if that doesn't help things a bit.  The unskippable tutorials at the beginning of the game are atrocious, and put Nintendo tutorials to shame.  They take so long, especially when you just want to jump in and wreck ****.  Once they're out of the way, though, the game is a lot of fun to play.  It was kind of fun to know that the cops that were chasing me right out of the gate were live players, and matching wits with them was a lot of fun.  It was very fitting for me when I managed to escape my first few chases, and gain some SP, only to lose them all wrecking in normal traffic on my way to a hideout.