Video Games General

[Pokaris]

Anyone in the DotA 2 beta? I've been playing a little but crappy teams versus a 5 man is just frustrating.

[White Thunder]

I realize I'm 5 years late to the party, but Uncharted is really fun.

[Gretyl]

2 is better, but #3 dips back towards the mush that is the end of #1.

[J-Dogg]

The end of both part 1 and 2 is horrible.

[Gretyl]

But #2 doesn't devolve into a strictly timed shooting gallery.

[White Thunder]

Yeah the very last 'boss' fight was a little dumb. I died 15 times before I figured out I should wait for him to reload before trying to shoot his friends.

[J-Dogg]

I totally forgot about that part. I just hated the overpowered monsters in both.

[Toilet of Sadness]

Going to stump for a game that I haven't seen get any mention in this thread: Sonic Generations. Beat the game over the weekend and enjoyed the hell out of it. Granted it is short (a competent player could probably finish it in about 6 hours), but it was a nice little nostalgia rush.

The game takes the gameplay style that was developed for Sonic Unleashed and perfected in Colors and takes the setting back to memorable stages from the entire Sonic series. On top of that, it also adds a 2D "classic" gameplay style to the same settings. So, for each redone level, you have a 3D take on the setting and a 2D take. What I found by the end of the game is that was enjoying the 3D levels more than the 2D ones. I thought the boss fights were all very fun, with the exception of the final boss.

Definitely worth a rental or pickup on a Steam sale.

[Gretyl]

What was your opinion of the final boss though?

[Toilet of Sadness]

also, gertyl: you were right on that sonic generations final boss fight. what an infuriating piece of shit. Even preparing myself by watching a couple walkthrough videos didn't help all that much. Still died 10 or so times before I got the stars to align and I got lucky enough to beat the thing.

To expand: my problem was keeping enough rings through the 3 boss stages to make it to the final hit. And really that's the shitty part of the fight is because I was hammering on the boost button so damn hard to get my hit in that I didn't give myself a chance to collect any rings (except for maybe after I scored a hit on the boss). When I finally beat the boss, it was because I took things a little slower to give myself a remote chance to get in line to collect some rings and keep my count up.

That final fight seems to boil down to:
1. Moderate your use of the boost button so you can line up to collect rings.
2. The 3D/2D switching gimmick is completely useless--I didn't find it ever accomplishing anything, though some walkthroughs said it made it easier to dodge the 3rd stage's laser shots.
3. The incessant chatter of Sonic's retard friends was really grating.
4. The send off your double to hit debris mechanic wasn't all that useful/helpful either.

When we talked about this in the LTE I expected it to be annoying just because that was my experience having played the Sonic Adventure games and watching LPs of the newer 3D games, but it was worse than I expected.

[Gretyl]

Especially when compared to the rest of the game, which was mostly delishous nostalgia beats, like you said.

I had gripes with the last 5% of that 2D lava/city stage, mostly because it reminded me of shitty Sonic 4 jumping physics when I fell down the same infinite deathpit (again and again!) due to my own mistiming.

[Toilet of Sadness]

Well, the experience kind of took me back to the first time I took on Perfect Chaos in SA1 at about 9 in the morning trying to muffle angry screams (as to not wake up my asshole dorm-mate).

Yeah, there was one section in classic Crisis City right near the end and Rooftop Run (the level after it) where I had some problems with the jumping myself. In comparison to the Genesis Sonic games, "classic" Sonic doesn't jump nearly high enough, so you have these weird areas where you have to try and build up enough momentum over about 3 or 4 steps to get high enough to make the next jump. I suspect the some of the unlockable skills probably work around it for subsequent play-throughs/S-rank collecting. I think that's why I eneded up liking the "modern" 3D levels in the end more than the "classic" ones--less reliance on frame perfect timing in the platforming sections.

Also, for those nerdy enough to care about video game music, Generations has an absolutely excellent soundtrack. All of the classic track remixes are quite good.

[MarkK]

Tribes: Ascend beta access for a little facebook whoring

http://www.facebook.com/tribesascend

basically, like them, click redeem key, give them email, download, profit

[MarcusAurelius]

my beta kept crashing and couldn't find any servers when i tried it a week or two ago =/

[Trevelyan]

Happy Mass Effect 3 demo day to all you Shepards that have been struck by Cupids blue, alien sex arrow.

[White Thunder]

I totally forgot about that part. I just hated the overpowered monsters in both.

I just finished Uncharted 2 last night. The monsters weren't *too* bad, especially if I had a crossbow or gauss cannon. There was only one part where I didn't and that did take awhile to kill the damn thing. Overall a great game and I look forward to buying #3 at some point.

[nithos]

Finally fired up Red Dead Redemption yesterday. 6 hours quickly disappeared.

[nippletwister]

Now I'm finished with Mass Effect 2. It's a much better game.

I'm left with this nonplussed, bummed out feeling. My ending was good but not great. But I feel as though my ending is not genuine. When there are a few options, I feel that they all exist simultaneously and I have only seen a fragment of the real content (for example, my Yeoman Chambers died, but I also know that she can live at the end of the game, making my outcome less ... meaningful I guess). Similar to how I felt at the end of KOTOR I and II, and at the ends of the Fallouts 3 and NV, I don't want to do 98% of the same stuff all over again just to experience the other 2% that I missed on a single run through. Sigh. I guess that's just part of the interactive medium. The Fallouts, however, leave you with the feeling that you existed in a world and made choices and shaped that world in a unique way. The Mass Effect games, on the other hand, don't allow enough freedom to feel as though each playthrough is unique. More like one of four or five possible outcomes, the same pre scripted ending we've been getting for over a decade.

[Talenos]

Anyone else drop any cash on Double Fine's Kickstarter campaign?

[Gretyl]

Nah, I believe Telltale & Hothead have done their damnedest to re-kill the adventure game, but I hope Tim Schafer ends up proving me wrong.

[Talenos]

Not familiar with Hothead. What have they done for me lately?

[Gretyl]

The first two PA otters' pod games.

[Cody]

Anyone else drop any cash on Double Fine's Kickstarter campaign?

$30.01. I like Tim Schafer, I think there's a good chance that I'll get my money's worth out of the game and bonus material.

[Cody]

Also I suspect Ron Gilbert is involved in this project, and I am super-excited by the prospect of Tim Schafer and Ron Gilbert working together again.

[nippletwister]

Deathspank was a chore.

[Cody]

I don't even know what that means, but if Ron Gilbert had anything to do with a shitty game, I suspect he's learned his lesson, especially with Tim Schafer keeping him in line.

[Gretyl]

Except Tim Schafer made Brutal Legend. How do two un-fun game designs balance out to wicked awesome hopes & dreams?

[Cody]

I liked Brutal Legend. I never got into multiplayer, but the singleplayer campaign was a good time. It was unique.

Let me give you a short list of games that Tim Schafer and Ron Gilbert have worked on together:

Maniac Mansion 1 and 2
Monkey Island 1 and 2
Full Throttle
Grim Fandango

Also, you say Tim Schafer made Brutal Legend, but let me remind you that he also made Psychonauts.

[Gretyl]

Now playin' Asura's Wrath.

[Wycked]

Finally fired up Red Dead Redemption yesterday. 6 hours quickly disappeared.

It was my digital crack for a good long while. One of my roommates finally got it recently, and he also got sucked in. I got Undead Nightmare a while back... For me, changing the AI so the bad guys just run at you and you can only kill them with a headshot kinda kills it for me.

In other behind-the-times gaming, I got the full Warhawk set, and Arkham Asylum. I like Warhawk's fast pace, and it never feels like I'm being cheated by hacks and/or bots. If I'm getting my ass kicked it's because I'm just not as good as the ass-kickers, but I can actually start turning it around mid-match. A couple of my friends, hardcore CoD/Battlefield fanatics, played a few splitscreen rounds with me online and agreed that the ease in picking the game up, the range of vehicles, and the pace make them kinda wish they had PS3s.

I dig AA. I haven't played a good Batman game since the NES.

In more current gaming, the new Resident Evil on the 3DS isn't too bad.

[Toilet of Sadness]

So, continuing through my games backlog, I decided to play through the first/tutorial level of Psychonauts. The platforming seems solid (though I got fucked over by perspective a couple of times) and I kind of like the bizarre story they have going so far. Unfortunately, I'm getting heavy readings on my Rare collectathon meter. There's like 4 different types of macguffins to collect in each level plus the 3 different macguffin types in the overworld. Is combing the world and each level essential for items essential to progress in the story? Or can I breeze past that shit and just jump from level to level?

[Gretyl]

can I breeze past that shit and just jump from level to level?

yes

I kind of like the bizarre story they have going so far.

just you wait

[Gretyl]

psychonauts spoiler: Milk Man is the original Scarecrow

[Toilet of Sadness]

can I breeze past that shit and just jump from level to level?

yes

That's very reassuring. Guess I'll continue on with it, then.

[nippletwister]

It's such a good game. It's one of my favorites ever, ever.

I wish there were more levels like the milkman level - but there are still so so so many good levels.

[nippletwister]

And ignore the collecting shit and just enjoy the game. At least on your first play through.

[Cody]

Recently finished Ass Creed 2. With Ass Creed 3 coming out in October, I think that's about enough time to be ready to play another one. Does anyone highly recommend Brotherhood/Revelations, or can I just skip them and catch up on the story via Wikipedia? To be honest I'm not sure I really want to sit through another 80 hours of Ezio, unless those games really bring something fresh to the series.

[Thinine]

I found both to be enjoyable. I haven't played 2 but the addition of other assassins under your control was pretty cool. Revelation's hookblade added a few nice mechanics and some nice new kill animations. The animus stuff in revelations was definitely weak, but the puzzles in Brotherhood were kind of cool.

[nippletwister]

I liked Brotherhood - not as much as 2, but the stories. Not Ezio's story as much as Desmond's and ... uh ... the Protheans'). Just started Revelations ... I'm like an hour in, and it's more of the same.

[Gretyl]

by this time tomorrow, the wife & I will have started Silent Hill Downpour.

*giggity*

[nippletwister]

Super interesting conversation on PATV Extra Credits this week. Topics discussed: Day 1 DLC

http://penny-arcade.com/patv/episode/mass-effect-3-dlc

[Trevelyan]

Interesting, he brings up a few things I never really would've thought about, as far as the release time frame is concerned

[nippletwister]

Yeah, exactly. I hadn't thought of that.

[Cody]

I think the argument that people only buy DLC if it's released soon after the game is released is self-fulfilling because most DLC is released soon after the game is released, thus achieves higher sales. They show that handy graph saying that X units of DLC sold within Y months of the release, but don't give any indication as to the sample size of the variously-timed releases.

Ballad of Tony Gay was released almost 2 years to the day after GTA4 was released. I cannot for the life of me find any kind of sales figures on it, but I'm hoping that they'll prove my point, that good DLC will sell regardless of the release date.

[Gretyl]

Can (should) a bad game get good DLC?

Not being snarky at GTA 4 in particular, but why does it matter to you that DLC be released later in the cycle?

[Cody]

Because DLC released early in the cycle reeks. Take the Mass Effect DLC. There are character models and animations on the disc. That shit was planned, and it smells like it was specifically removed from the game to sell later. Take the Sim City 5 DLC. More than a year out, they're already planning to nickle-and-dime us. Late-term DLC just looks, smells, and feels legitimate. If I can get a complete gaming experience, and then later have the option to add to that; that's the way things should be. This day 1 DLC shit just doesn't feel right. And this idea that day 1 DLC sells because day 1 DLC sells is just aggravating. It's not real statistics, it's just greed supporting more greed.

[MarcusAurelius]

Can (should) a bad game get good DLC?

Not being snarky at GTA 4 in particular, but why does it matter to you that DLC be released later in the cycle?

you keep ignoring the real, emotional aspect that cody (and i) complain about. some companies (EA, activision, etc) treat their customers like complete shit and manage to get away with it. companies like valve that released tons of fresh, free content for games like tf2 years after release earn customer support. i stopped buying EA games entirely because of their awful support for games post-release.

[Gretyl]

We both agree that bad actors exist. I just don't see an argument for blindly endorsing a "do like Valve does, don't do as EA does" policy without examining the subtler question of "does doing this screw over our customers?".

Early DLC can still be good. Late DLC can still be bad.

Fuck EA, yay Valve, don't blindly hate/love either.

[Santa]

DLC really just boils down to price/value. Every valve game I can remember has used the content to add value. It wasn't a surprise cost, but a gift.

When a company sneaks in a DLC model, especially early, on something I perceived I should already have? Even more so, when I've paid the hefty up front price for a game, only to suddenly not be up to date due to a new DLC pack, it pisses me the fuck off.

[Talenos]

So if they just waited to release the DLC, it would be all cool? I mean, I kind of get the outrage, but don't understand how launch DLC is so much worse than DLC 3 months down the line.

[Santa]

It's really all PR for me. If I buy a game and they're upfront and say "Here's the game you're getting for this price" followed with, "Next week, we'll be releasing x for $". I'm honestly fine. I've made a decision to buy a game, knowing their business model. In that case, I really don't give a shit what or when they release DLC.

If I feel they're not up front about their DLC model when I buy a game, early DLC can definitely piss me off more than late DLC. Realizing the latter would be effectively only misleading me, I do believe my perception would be different.

[Gretyl]

The parable of Nintendo

Nintendo bet on the 3DS to reboot the franchise. The 3DS product does show the characteristic initial spike in adoption but the level it launched at is far lower than the level of the iPad. Nintendo has a big hill to climb to even recover the volumes it held in 2009. In contrast, the usurper Apple’s volumes are doubling each year.

When products are compared as “ramps” in terms of growth post-launch the story becomes even clearer.

For the past couple years, I've been of the (unsubstantiated) personal opinion that iOS devices were crushing the handheld gaming market. That ramp chart really drives the point home.

[nithos]

For the past couple years, I've been of the (unsubstantiated) personal opinion that iOS devices were crushing the handheld gaming market. That ramp chart really drives the point home.

The 3DS is doing that well? I thought it got mediocre reviews when it launched? Was that just because of lack of games?

Gaming on a iPad is good in a pinch, but it's hard to compete with physical hard buttons and minimal input delay.

[Gretyl]

Do you mean input feedback? I don't think there's much delay in input at all.

[nithos]

My 2nd Gen iPod Touch is probably just a little long in the tooth, so it's more likely the processing delay than input delay.

On the iPad, it's really noticeable when taking hand written notes.

[Santa]

The parable of Nintendo

Nintendo bet on the 3DS to reboot the franchise. The 3DS product does show the characteristic initial spike in adoption but the level it launched at is far lower than the level of the iPad. Nintendo has a big hill to climb to even recover the volumes it held in 2009. In contrast, the usurper Apple’s volumes are doubling each year.

When products are compared as “ramps” in terms of growth post-launch the story becomes even clearer.

For the past couple years, I've been of the (unsubstantiated) personal opinion that iOS devices were crushing the handheld gaming market. That ramp chart really drives the point home.

I think the future really has three tiers:

High performance gaming
Mobile/Tablet gaming
Streaming gaming

I don't see another generation of low performance hardware like the Wii working. They beat everyone to the market with motion control and that sold the platform. They'll need something revolutionary to do it again.

Streaming gaming should ultimately centralize hardware and phase out High performance consoles. edit:// Also bring high performance gaming to tablets/mobile.

[Toilet of Sadness]

The 3DS is doing that well? I thought it got mediocre reviews when it launched? Was that just because of lack of games?

They had an early price cut and have basically shot out all their big franchises onto the system within the first year.

[Wycked]

Does anyone here still have a 3DS? I have zero friends registered on the damn thing, but I'd like to fix that. Also, anyone else get the new Kid Icarus? I "preordered" it the day before it came out, so I could get the free DL of the 3D Classics version of the original NES game. I'm definitely satisfied with both. Also, the 3DS Stand and Kid Icarus AR cards are... interesting.

My Friend Code is 4940 - 5554 - 3569. My name should show up as "Will." I like to jump into some Mario Kart 7 and Kid Icarus online from time to time.

[White Thunder]

Finished Crysis 2 last night. Very similar to the first game with an awful story but pretty visuals. Fucking with the suit powers on the regular soldiers was still much more fun than fighting the aliens. Oh well.

[floor punching mummy]

Borderlands 2 preview: http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2012 ... mpaign=rss

i still play the first one sometimes. new one sounds sweet.

[Gretyl]

http://www.kerbalspaceprogram.com

[Thinine]

Way ahead of you. Found out about it from Sips:

I was pleasantly surprised to find it had a Mac version now.

[Thinine]

I've also been playing Towns, also introduced to me by Sips:

[Wycked]

Picked up a PS Vita a couple days ago. Anyone else?

[Gretyl]

I fully expect that platform to perform worse in the market than the PSP did.