Topic: What is your most recent gaming purchase?

[lolmonade]

I brought Player Unknown Battle Grounds a couple of weeks back and I can definitely recommend it; If you have friends to play it with, preferentially 3 other mates.

There is single man and pair modes but the real fun is when you coordinate with the team to pull off some really nice tactics. If you are crazy you can also play the team modes solo.

Like any other online game there are hackers but they seem pretty rare or at least not as brazen like one where they were very obviously using an aim bot wasting out team inside of 5 seconds.

One aspect of the game that can be a problem depending on how you view it is that the game discourages you fighting other players if you want to win. You do kill players to get loot that can make you stronger but most of the time this is pretty risky. Naturally the end game pushes you to engage but even then hiding is a massive part of it hoping other players detect each other first so there are less people for you to kill.

The one undeniable great thing is that the shotgun is a viable weapon unlike so many other games where they don't do enough damage or have such a ridiculous spread that reduces it to a melee weapon assuming it does enough damage in the first place. The best example of this is DOOM 3.

If you are in doubt, wait till it is 1.0.

I can strongly second your recommendation.  That said, I would encourage you to not run away from skirmishes.  If you treat every encounter as a reason to run rather than approach and try to take the opposing team out, it'll be tough to get better at strategizing and efficiently taking out opposing teams/individuals.

[oohhboy]

It really depends on what is happening and which phase of the game you are in. If you can ambush them there is little reason not to engage. Sometimes caution is the better part of valour. If you have a suppressed weapon this greatly increases your chances. If you can coordinate your squad I would highly recommend attacking.

If there are 2 teams shooting each other and you have nice clean shots definitely start picking off both teams.

When you do get a plan together and use some proper tactics it is devastating. Suppressing and moving, bounding over-watch, sniper support, room clearing, sharing information, being deliberate, driving and cornering your target.

Not to say unplanned engagements are not enjoyable.

The last unplanned fight had me and the squad in two cars going for military island. We went to the beach to see if there was a boat. We drove towards some cars ready to past them thinking they were empty as we go for bridge. As we close I start seeing people and start unloading into them. We speed past but they take out the rear tires spinning us out. We both jump out. Then the other two arrive and one gets out to join the fire fight. The other driver decides to keep driving running over people.

It ends when I face down the last guy in a car drilling his head with automatic fire from a SCAR-L. Unfortunately all the cars got busted up and eventually the blue zone got everyone since we couldn't get to the island in any reasonable timeframe.

The end game is always a weird beast. Every time I have won except the one time I had a full squad in the end hiding while looking to ambush is 100% a thing you need to do to win. This does breakdown once the circle is small enough but by then you should only have 1 or 2 other people to kill.

Randomish luck can be huge part of the game as sometimes as the circle is just not in your favour with no car/endless sprint or you land hot and can't find a gun. Maybe the loot is trash or the circle is in an area with no cover massively favouring the incumbents. You frequently run up into no win scenarios that is not your fault. If you can't get around this do not buy the game.

[lolmonade]

Honestly, the chance factor is part of the fun to me.  One round you could get close to chicken dinner.  The next round, you parachuted in the same spot as 20 other people and get punched to death.

[oohhboy]

It's a good game but you just have to be aware of the caveats of which there can be many.

It's great when you get good luck but now you have no(few) excuses as to why you lost.

If you're the type who stares at the leader board or OCD about personal stats or is coming into this competitively don't buy.

You're really here for the stories, playing with your friends and killing a bunch of people. If you get that chicken dinner that's gravy and another story with your friends.

[Ian Sane]

On Monday I had some weird compulsion to go to my local used game store.  Something in my head was telling me to go!  Apparently I have some sort of clayvoiant powers because they had Mega Bomberman for the Genesis which I had been looking for for a while.  They also had the Genesis four player adapter so how perfect was that?  The multitap is in great shape.  The box isn't sealed but it's essentially new.  The cords still have twist ties around them!

[ejamer]

On Monday I had some weird compulsion to go to my local used game store.  Something in my head was telling me to go!  Apparently I have some sort of clayvoiant powers because they had Mega Bomberman for the Genesis which I had been looking for for a while.  They also had the Genesis four player adapter so how perfect was that?  The multitap is in great shape.  The box isn't sealed but it's essentially new.  The cords still have twist ties around them!

Score!

[Stratos]

So my sister got a Switch for her birthday, so I bought her Splatoon 2 since she could borrow some of the others from me. Since the prime discount was still in effect I decided to cave and pick up a copy for myself, so I'll probably try to get in on the action this weekend.

[Mop it up]

Amazon charged me for Splatoon 2 yesterday so I'll get that sometime today.

The short version is I did not get Splatoon 2 delivered yesterday, but I now get it for free. Thanks for sucking, Amazon Logistics. Not sarcasm. Thanks for sucking since I now get a free game.

Wow, that's crazy! I've never heard of then giving out that much for a simple shipping error, usually it's like $10. I wonder what made this one so much...

Short version: I complained.

Long version: ...

Complaining is how I got the $10 to begin with. Your situation is pretty complicated though, so I guess that's why they decided to go above and beyond.

[Ian Sane]

Got another nice little retro game haul today so I might as well share it.  Went to a used game store in Mission BC that's moving so they're having a sale to clear some of the merchandise before they move - 25% off everything in the store.  Yeah!  So I got Atlantis for the Intellivision complete with box, manual and overlays.  That was really cheap: $4 before the discount.  I don't remember if I've mentioned this but a few months ago I got an Intellivision for free from a co-worker who found it in his attic while renovating his house.  It's a pretty cool system to collect for because the games are really cheap.  Though the library isn't very big so you see the same games in retro stores again and again.  I already have most of the ones I'm interested in unfortunately, aside from the truly rare and expensive ones.

I also got Taito Legends 1 & 2 for the PS2 and Popeye for the NES.  Popeye is an interesting one because it's a rare game made by Nintendo (and Miyamoto as well) that uses licensed characters and thus cannot be re-released unless they re-obtained the rights.  So if you want it you HAVE to get it on the NES.

My brother managed to score Mutant League Football, which he had been looking for for a while.  I initially looked right past it as I was looking over Genesis games because I saw a stack of EA carts and instinctively ignored them assuming it to be a bunch of old Madden and NHL games.  I then remembered Mutant League is EA and double-checked and they actually had two of them.  He also got for a mere $5 pre-discount a SuperCom Pro 1 which I can find very little info about online.  It's a bootleg device for burning roms but that's not why he got it (it uses old PC parallel ports that his current PC doesn't support anyway).  It also works as a pass through device for Super Famicom games!  And he had bought a Super Famicom version of Harvest Moon last year for a lot less money than a North American cart costs and now he's got a way to play it with modding our old SNES from childhood.

[ejamer]

... and Popeye for the NES.  Popeye is an interesting one because it's a rare game made by Nintendo (and Miyamoto as well) that uses licensed characters and thus cannot be re-released unless they re-obtained the rights.  So if you want it you HAVE to get it on the NES.
...

Checked a YouTube video for Popeye. Played a ton of that game on Atari (which replicated the first level only) back in the day. Not generally a fan of those one-screen arcade games any longer, but it really took me back. Very cool to see there was more to the game than I experienced!

[lolmonade]

I caved & got Splatoon 2.  Got it digitally because I've come to the conclusion that some games I'm just going to be compelled to play more if I don't have to swap cartridges/discs. 

[Mop it up]

I caved & got Splatoon 2.  Got it digitally because I've come to the conclusion that some games I'm just going to be compelled to play more if I don't have to swap cartridges/discs. 

"Caved"? Why did you not want it?

[lolmonade]

I caved & got Splatoon 2.  Got it digitally because I've come to the conclusion that some games I'm just going to be compelled to play more if I don't have to swap cartridges/discs. 

"Caved"? Why did you not want it?

A combination of not wanting to spend $60, having plenty of multiplayer games I already play regularly (Overwatch, PUBG), and a healthy backlog I've been doing a good job of whittling away at this summer.  Nothing to do with the quality of the game itself or my interest level, but my wife cajoled me enough based on her interest for me to download it.

The game from the 4 or 5 matches I played last night is as good as the original ever was.  I find myself doing better with motion controls with the pro controller than I did on Wii U, but I cant figure out how to pick a teleport point after you respawn.

[ejamer]

My 3DS XL is broken. It's been that way for a while, as I've been waiting for a sale or price drop to replace the unit.

While waiting, I grabbed a old DS Lite a few months ago and realized that (a) I really like the form factor and build quality of the DS Lite, (b) I like being able to play GBA games on the unit, and (c) I own way more DS games than 3DS games anyway...

So when I saw another DS Lite on Kijiji recently with a handful of (mostly unlisted) games included and in very good condition, I decided to grab it as a backup unit. Ok, $40 CAD was a bit more than I wanted to pay... but the one game listed was Mario Kart and I've never actually played a portable version since the GBA release, so maybe this was going to work out ok.


Picked it up tonight, and was all kinds of happy.

First off, the woman selling it was gorgeous. That makes me sound shallow and doesn't really enter into the story in any meaningful way... but who doesn't like chatting with good looking people? I do, and I'm ok admitting it. We talked about being game nerds (and just nerds in general) for a couple minutes, and then I left without really checking what games she had included - honestly, the games were a secondary concern for me.

However, when I opened the case later, I found out that the games inside are actually pretty awesome.
* Mario Kart DS
* Trackmania DS
* Picross 3D (yes!!)
* Brain Age
* My Fun Facts Coach
* Big Brain Academy (already own this)
* Brain Age 2 (already own this)
Ok, maybe "awesome" is a bit strong... But I am genuinely excited about at least the first 3 in that list, and there is nothing I'd label as junk.

Pretty cool night for me, all in all.

[Stratos]

I just really wanted the chance to support Two Tribes one last time.

Is RIVE Two Tribes' last game? I thought the studio shut down already? Didn't realize Rive was being made by them; all the more reason to get this game.

[ejamer]

I just really wanted the chance to support Two Tribes one last time.

Is RIVE Two Tribes' last game? I thought the studio shut down already? Didn't realize Rive was being made by them; all the more reason to get this game.

Posting this link rather than trying to do a poor recap:
http://twotribes.com/message/rive-is-our-final-game/


Short version: Yes. RIVE is their last game.


I will miss Two Tribes, because their philosophy about creating games (and the resulting experiences) were very much in line with what I want to play. Toki Tori 2 will always be remembered very fondly, and I still hope to play RIVE one day - even though no system that I own currently that can run the game.

[King of Twitch]

Holy crystal coconuts! I can't believe I just scored a SNES Classic preorder from Best Buy! I haven't been this excited for a gaming purchase in quite some time. Looking forward to not having to blow on those dang cartridges and tilting them just right to get them to work.

[lolmonade]

Holy crystal coconuts! I can't believe I just scored a SNES Classic preorder from Best Buy! I haven't been this excited for a gaming purchase in quite some time. Looking forward to not having to blow on those dang cartridges and tilting them just right to get them to work.

lol, it had to be the night I fell asleep on the couch after putting the kids to bed.

[ejamer]

Nice score! For what it's worth, I'm quite jealous.

(I've also given up hope at getting a system... which is pretty depressing since they haven't even gone on sale in Canada yet, but that's about where I'm at with Nintendo.)


---


Edit: So Canadian preorders went live at Best Buy and Amazon today. Found out 5 minutes before it happened, which seemed like good luck so gave it my best shot. Constant refresh until the page went live, got one in my cart immediately, but was denied at checkout because there was no stock available.  If preorders can't even satisfy people who are aggressively trying to order within the first minute they go live, clearly I'm not getting one.


**** it. (Subtext: **** Nintendo.)

[oohhboy]

Shadow Warrior (2013) is being given away for free today. Get it quick! PC, MASc, Linux.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/233130/Shadow_Warrior/

It is a fun solid game but if you are looking for those classic crass voice lines look else where.

[Khushrenada]

Nice score! For what it's worth, I'm quite jealous.

(I've also given up hope at getting a system... which is pretty depressing since they haven't even gone on sale in Canada yet, but that's about where I'm at with Nintendo.)


---


Edit: So Canadian preorders went live at Best Buy and Amazon today. Found out 5 minutes before it happened, which seemed like good luck so gave it my best shot. Constant refresh until the page went live, got one in my cart immediately, but was denied at checkout because there was no stock available.  If preorders can't even satisfy people who are aggressively trying to order within the first minute they go live, clearly I'm not getting one.


**** it. (Subtext: **** Nintendo.)

I'm just glad there was an option to go to a store and pre-order it in person. I've never had luck with preordering something online that there is a demand for. This goes back to tickets for concerts or sports games. Now it's special edition Nintendo products. It's all the same result. Either I miss the three minutes it goes live or as I'm trying to check out, the system keeps refreshing and slowly me down or, it's just slow loading and I miss out while in the midst of checking out a product like what happened with you. Preordering stuff online has always sucked for me and I don't know what other users have finagled with their computers and set-ups to have things work smoothly for them that they can scoop up multiple copies but I've yet to discover that secret.

Then there's the unfortunate issue of greed further increasing the demand and constraining supply. As more and more people see and hear of scalpers buying up multiple copies then they want to get in on that market and buy multiple copies to deny those that do want it in order to hopefully gouge them at a higher price and just make profit for themselves. It's a said state of affairs. If people didn't buy these products being resold at a high markup then that market would dissipate since they'd be stuck having bought multiple copies of something no one else wants or will take for them. Getting burned like that where they are desperate to unload items at cost or even take a hit and sell them for lower than cost may scare off others from buying these products for the pure purpose of selling them at a large mark-up. Unfortunately, there are still a lot of people who will desperately buy these things at a higher price so the situation just seems to be increasing and getting more exasperated as time goes on.

[ejamer]

... Then there's the unfortunate issue of greed further increasing the demand and constraining supply. As more and more people see and hear of scalpers buying up multiple copies then they want to get in on that market and buy multiple copies to deny those that do want it in order to hopefully gouge them at a higher price and just make profit for themselves. ...

Do you remember when Wii U sold relatively well initially, but then had negative sales figures for a month or two as people hoping to scalp systems were actually returning more consoles than stores were selling?


I wonder if that experience impacted Nintendo's willingness to provide decent stock levels. (Although, as a consumer it doesn't really make things any better for me or help me feel better that Nintendo continues to get worse about meeting well-telegraphed demand for special items like this.)




Recent pick-up: 
Mind Zero (Vita/PSTV) - Not sure what to think about this yet, as reviews are middling. But being called a Persona knock-off isn't damning criticism in my mind.


Still loving my PSTV that was bought super-cheap when nobody wanted them. Yes, the game selection is limited... but I've been able to dig up a handful of interesting games on the cheap and it's my go-to for video pinball with 2 seasons of The Pinball Arcade downloaded. Grabbing an extra RPG never hurts.


At some point, I'd like to see about getting rid of the whitelist so that the choice of games is expanded, but for now I've got more games to play than I have time... so not a big issue.

[Khushrenada]

... Then there's the unfortunate issue of greed further increasing the demand and constraining supply. As more and more people see and hear of scalpers buying up multiple copies then they want to get in on that market and buy multiple copies to deny those that do want it in order to hopefully gouge them at a higher price and just make profit for themselves. ...

Do you remember when Wii U sold relatively well initially, but then had negative sales figures for a month or two as people hoping to scalp systems were actually returning more consoles than stores were selling?


I wonder if that experience impacted Nintendo's willingness to provide decent stock levels. (Although, as a consumer it doesn't really make things any better for me or help me feel better that Nintendo continues to get worse about meeting well-telegraphed demand for special items like this.)

I don't remember anything about negative numbers. Unfortunately, that still doesn't stop the madness. The scalpers are able to return the system and get their money back so no real monetary loss. Now if they were charged a restocking fee or unable to return them then that would be a much greater shock to their system and could potentially scare off a lot of people from trying to speculate on whether a Nintendo product will have high demand and they can resell it. If they lose some of their profit then they may not continue in this enterprise as it could now be less money than it's worth them to pursue it.

[ejamer]

I don't think it was ever confirmed, but just speculation that spread online. Here is a link to one (maybe the original source?) article:


http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/187605/A_theory_behind_Januarys_weak_Wii_U_sales.php


At least the BestBuy sales in Canada were (supposedly) limited to 1 per user this time. I don't recall them doing that for for the NES Classic - although maybe I just missed that.

[ejamer]

Purchased new games tonight:
* Bravely Second End Layer (3DS)
* Hyrule Warriors Legends (3DS)


Why? My 3DS is broken... so why buy these games? The price was pretty decent ($20 CAD each, new) and both were on my want list, but I really need to stop giving into gaming impulse buys...


One of these days I really need to get a New 3DS console. Fingers crossed for a holiday sale this year.