Tumgik
#but anyways i think i mentioned i know nothing about horizon zero dawn except that the visuals look SO pretty
Hiii i am not sure if this will work but I think you can create a account on PlayStation site and "buy" Horizon Zero Dawn (today is the last day that it's for free) and when you get the PlayStation you can login and download it! It's worth a try!
oh thanks for letting me know!! honestly a large chunk of my ~gaming~ experience is downloading games i can’t play when they’re free or on sale so they can sit in my library and i can look at the titles longingly and think about buying an actual console one day lmao
11 notes · View notes
littledonkeyburrito · 6 years
Text
My neopets account is old enough to drive
1. Why are you at home? Because it’s 2am and I’m not working tonight 2. This time last year, were you single? Sort of, leaning towards yes
3. What are you listening to? "Big Tings” by Skindred 4. Do you think someone is thinking about you right now? Nope 5. Are you a big fan of thunderstorms? Yeah, that’s one thing I missed when I was living in Spain - tropical thunderstorms
6. Is there anyone you would do anything for? Sure 7. When will your next kiss be? Depends if I end up going on that date tomorrow night and how well it goes. Otherwise idk, sometime in the next month probs. 8. Are you satisfied with what you currently have in life? Yeah. I’d rather be living in a different country but I can deal 9. Do people ever think you’re older/younger than you actually are? People usually think I’m younger, like 16. 10. Have you ever liked someone way older than you? Yeah but he liked me too so it worked out fine 11. How many texts are in your inbox? I don’t text except to the work phone. I prefer messenger/whatsapp. 12. Who last left you a wallpost on Facebook? First thing that came up on my page was Patrick who tagged me on a screenshot of when I said “I don’t know anything about politics but I sure am drunk and have opinions”. That counts. 13. Assuming you have various kinds of electronics (phone, camera, iPod, etc.), are you currently charging any of them? Laptop is currently plugged in.  14. How are you wearing your hair today? Messy. Got out of the bath and towel dried it. Didn’t bother combing or styling because I’m going to bed soon. 15. What are you eating/drinking? Chips and Pepsi 16. What will your outfit be today? Was wearing a stripey shirt and jeans earlier. Now in my jimjams 17. When’s the next time you’ll be traveling somewhere (anywhere) and where will you go? Maybe going out on a date tomorrow night. If not, will be hanging with a friend. Maybe at my place, maybe out at some bars. Also working on Sunday night.
18. Do you ever sit indoors and wear sunglasses or a hat? Sometimes wear sunnies inside at work because I’ll be staring out the window the whole time.
19. Are you putting off doing something right now? If so, what is it? Nope. I do what I want.
20. What’s the most daring thing you have ever done? Idk, probably moving to a foreign country on my own and barely knowing the language.
21. Do you like playing video games? If so, what do you usually play? Currently playing Horizon Zero Dawn on PS4. Whenever my PC is working again I’ll eventually finish playing Dragon Age Inquisition.
22. Are you sitting in front of or by a window? What can you see out there? Blinds are closed but all I’d see is the construction site next door.
23. Do you ever dance to the song playing in your head? Sometimes
24. How long have you had an online presence for? I think my first account was on Neopets. I just logged into that old account (god knows how I still remember the password) and the account was made in 2002. So, 16 years ago. Oh my god my neopets account is old enough to drive
25. If you got a chance to go to space, would you? Depends on the situation but yeah probably!
26. What’s something we do every day but they don’t depict in movies? The cleanup after sex. Okay not really every day but still. They always just roll over and go to sleep. Like, bro you still got a condom on your dick, and you’re just gonna sleep like that??
27. Do you enjoy travelling? Definitely
28. Where’s the most beautiful place you’ve been to so far? There are many beautiful places I’ve been to. Although I think I have to give an honourable mention to the High Atlas Mountains in Morocco for being so beautiful that I was actually speechless.
29. What’s something cool about the city/town you live in? River got sharks
30. Is your style feminine, masculine or somewhere in the middle? Masculine side of neutral
31. Do you usually carry a backpack, a shoulder bag or something else? I don’t carry a bag unless I’m at work and then it’s a duffel bag, or I’m travelling then it’s a backpack
32. What smell brings back a memory for you? Woodfires make me think of winter at my grandparents’ house when I was a kid, even though we never had fires there. Also sawdust reminds me of my dad’s workshop
33. When was the last time you went in the car past midnight? Couple of nights ago when I last did a nightshift 34. Who was the last person to message you?  Maggie
35. What did you do today? Played PS4, Maggie came over, went to Dan Murphy’s, watched some Will & Grace, had a bath with a lime coconut bathbomb and now all my skin is lovely and smooth 36. Why did you last laugh really hard? Okay so I bought a pack of tiny squeaky rubber pigs online and I have an ongoing treasure hunt in my apartment with Maggie. We re-hide the ones we find. Anyway, I laughed a lot when she adjusted her position in the beanbag and the piggy under it squeaked 37. Would you be able to name everyone you kissed? Nah, I’ve kissed one or two people I don’t know the name of 38. Where is the last person you kissed? No idea 39. What color shirt are you wearing? Navy blue 40. Did you have a fling this summer but it didn’t really go anywhere? I only had half a summer because I moved back from europe. I slept with an ex a few times. Does that count as a fling? Probably not. 41. Why did you kiss the last person you kissed? About to bang 42. What was the last thing you bought? Bottle of rum and a case of beer 43. Ever kissed anyone with a nipple piercing? I have no idea. Maybe..? 44. What about a lip piercing? I don’t think so 45. Nose piercing? Again, I don’t think so but it’s possible 46. Have you ever kissed someone who had a boyfriend/girlfriend? Lmao yeah made out with both of them  47. Did you like kissing the last person you kissed or the one before that more? The one before 48. Ever made out in a pool? Uhh I don’t think so? 49. When was the last time you went shopping for new clothes? Do you remember what you bought? I bought undies and singlets a couple of days ago. Not as glamorous as you were expecting I’m sure 50. What sort of compliments make you feel the best? An acknowledgement of something I put effort into
51. What would you say to a twenty year old version of yourself? idk she was pretty much already on the right course 52. Name a few things that make you happy? My lil squeaky pigs drinking/hanging out with friends making plans to travel again 53. If you were going camping for a few days (or to a fancy hotel for those that dislike camping), who would you want to bring with you? Friends that would actually enjoy the camping 54. How long have you been living where you are now? Is this somewhere you intend to stay for a while, or is a move in your future? I’ve been in this apartment for 5 months. I’ll renew for a second year so long as they don’t try to bump the rent up too high. After that idk. I want to move overseas again at some point 55. What was the last thing you put away? I put the towel back on the rack 56. When was the last time you were near a large body of water? I was along the river the last shift I had 57. How much time do you spend in your bedroom? Only when I’m sleeping 58. Do you secretly like to go grocery shopping? No, I put it off until I basically have no food
59. Breakfast; yay or nay? I have vegemite on toast before work but if I don’t have a shift I forget to have breakfast 60. What’s the most creepy experience you’ve ever had? Nothing in particular comes to mind 61. Yay, you’re going out on a date! What do you wear? Fuck I hadn’t even thought about that -_- 62. What’s the last movie you saw in theatre? Was it good? It was either Antman or Deadpool 63. On average, how long would you saw your on the computer per week? When my desktop is broken (now) I usually just use my phone. Laptop is pretty slow. 64. Do you like your music loud? No 65. If you had to lose one of your five senses, which would it be? Smell 66. Would you rather have no computer or no cellphone for a week? Computer. 67. What’s you favourite thing to have for dessert? I don’t really eat dessert at home. I just eat whatever I’m in the mood for whenever. I guess sweet stuff I usually go for timtams or a nutella sandwich 68. Do you tend to straighten or curl your hair more? Neither 69. What’s your favourite summer sport? Sitting inside with the AC blasting. 70. Can you dance, or do you just completely fail at it? I cannot dance. 71. Do you get nervous when you’re about to get a haircut? Yes! And I don’t know why 72. Choose one: Hanging out at the beach, or playing some winter sports? SKIING 73. What’s the coolest place that you ever been to? What’d you do there? Oh man I’ve seen some cool shit. The roundhouses in Tulou village in China were rad. Varanasi in India was a weirdly spiritual experience and I am very much not a spiritual person. Ziplining through the jungle in Panama was fun. Sagrada Familia in Barcelona was super cool in the afternoon with the sun coming in through all the yellow/orange windows. And I’m sure I have more to see in the future 74. What’s the earliest time you ever had to wake up? Was it hard for you? I often wake up at crazy times for work so there is no “earliest” because it loops back around to late 75. What radio station do you listen to most? I have 97.3 playing in the car 76. Whenever you take pictures, do they always end up posted on Facebook? The good ones go on instagram
77. You have unlimited money, what do you do with your life? Travel indefinitely. Pay for friends to travel with me. Give away money. Basically just do whatever I want and hope that nobody tries to kill me for my money. 78. What was the last thing you spent under $5 on? Hmm I have no idea. I can’t think of anything recently. According to my bank statement it was the icecreams I bought from Woolies a couple of weeks ago when I was with some friends 79. How many times have you cried in the past week? None, I don’t really cry 80. Have you ever used your cell phone as a light source in the dark? I need it to see if there’s anything in my mailbox. For some reason I always check the post when it’s dark. 81. Is there anything written on the shirt you’re wearing? “Max Rager” it’s the energy drink from iZombie
82. Where were you living in 1997? I think my family and I had just moved to australia 83. How was your first kiss? eh 84. Do you still talk to the person you shared it with? No 85. How long has it been since you showered? I showered this morning and had a bath a couple of hours ago 86. Have you ever dated someone who had kids? Not dated 87. Have you kissed someone 4 or more years older than you? Several 88. How about younger? Not that I’m aware of 89. Were your parents married when you were born? No 90. Are there any candles in the room with you? No, I don’t like candles, they make me anxious 91. Does the last person you kissed have tattoos? No 92. Do you live within 20 miles of where you were born? Nooooo. more like 10,000 miles 93. Has anyone seen you naked in the last week? Nope 94. Where was your current profile picture taken? In a camping ground in southern Spain. I was visiting my dad’s friends
1 note · View note
schraubd · 6 years
Text
David's Personal Top Ten Video Games
This is something I've been wanting to do for a long time. It is a personal list, reflecting the games that have stuck with me the most over the years. I'm not enough of a gamer to claim it is anything comprehensive, and it has a strong bias to the sorts of genres that I like. Nonetheless, I'd stack these games against any that have been made in my lifetime. Anyway, without further adieu ....
Honorable Mentions:
Portal 2: How can a game with virtually no “dialogue” (if that means conversations between two characters) have some of the best spoken lines in all video game history? I have both the original and a capella versions of the Turret Opera on my iTunes (yes, I have “Still Alive” as well).
Railroad Tycoon II: A brilliant simulator that makes you actually feel like a turn-of-the-century robber baron (by far, the game is most fun to play when set in the late 19th century). If every man goes through his “trains!” phase, this was mine. As in real life, I am not good at playing the stock market.
Horizon: Zero Dawn: Robot dinosaurs! Incredibly, Horizon: Zero Dawn takes a core concept that sounds like word association from an over-caffeinated twelve-year boy and makes an entirely serious game about it—and it works. It works so well, in fact, that I loved it despite the fact that the plot and entire world-building background centers around my single greatest phobia (no, not that—being alive for the extinction of humanity).
10. Sid Meier’s Gettysburg: I find it odd that very few games have sought to replicate Gettysburg’s spin on an RTS—focusing combat around regiments rather than individual units and prioritizing morale over raw numbers. But the thing I like best about Gettysburg—and sadly it’s mostly unique too—is in how it concentrates on controlling territory (and terrain). Many RTS games, for me, might as well have a blank screen over 80% of the map between my base and my opponent’s base. You build up your force, and then try to swarm your opponent before he or she swarms you. But in Gettysburg, the goal of missions is not “wipe out your opposition”. It’s to capture and hold a ridge, or dig in and hold an exposed farmhouse.
My only critiques are that I want this game to be bigger. I want it to encompass dozens of map spanning the entirety of the Civil War. I want to be able memorize even more obscure Union and Confederate generals and wonder if they really were “mediocre” or if that was just a game balance decision. The random battle generator is okay, but this game screams for user-created expansions which I’ve never been able to find.
9. Crimson Skies: A pulpy fun flight simulator taking place in an alternate history 1930s where America has fractured and Zeppelin travel rules the day. The game doesn’t hesitate to lean into its concept (phrases like “broad” and “floozy” abound), and it does a great job world-building in a relatively short period of time. Somehow, I could meet an enemy “ace” for the first time in the middle of a mission and yet still feel like we had a history of epic dogfights together of which this was only the latest. Meanwhile, each of the locations the game takes you to (Hawaii, the Pacific Northwest, Hollywood, the Rocky Mountains, and New York City) are a blast and a half.
A sequel, High Road to Revenge, was released on Xbox and leaned a little too hard into the arcade-y elements (power-ups, automatic evasive maneuvers with the press of a button, and so on). But the original PC game was just right—planes flew exactly like how someone who knows nothing about planes thinks planes fly, which is just perfect. You felt like an ace pilot because of your skill (even though behind the hood the game is really holding your hand). Piloting a gyrocopter through half-built New York City skyscrapers, or a prototype single-engine through the Hollywood "O", is great. Doing it to evade local security, then doing a loop and turning both guns on them -- well, that's the cat's meow.
8. Mass Effect (Trilogy and Andromeda): As far as I’m concerned, the definitive space opera (even muscling out Halo). Fabulous voice acting (listening to Martin Sheen play evil Jed Bartlett is one of the great joys of my life) and memorable plot lines pair with a morality system that at least inches away from “basically decent person or utter asshole.” The universe feels genuinely alive, like there’s an ecosystem and civilization that you’re very much apart, but also moves in your absence.
I can’t really separate out the core trilogy games from one another (each sequel seemed to simultaneously step slightly forward and back), which is not I think an uncommon position. What may be more uncommon is that I think Andromeda stands right in there with the core series. Yes, it was disappointing that it took us to a brand new galaxy and only gave us two new species (while eliminating many of the more backgrounded Milky Way aliens). But I was much more disappointed that there will be no DLC or sequels to continue the story and tie up loose ends.
7. N and N++: There can’t be any serious controversy that N is the greatest Flash game ever made. While Flash demands simplicity, N is not so much simple as it is elegant. It is the perfect balance of speed and control, thoughtfulness and twitch-trigger reflexes, serene relaxation and butt-clenching tension. Once you master the floaty physics and the unique enemy styles, you will truly feel like a ninja—stripped to its core essence and deprived of all the usual but unnecessary bells and whistles. A virtually unlimited supply of levels guarantees you endless gameplay.
And so it is unsurprising that N was one of the rare flash games that made a successful jump to a full true game (in the form of N++), one that has a strong claim on being the greatest platformer ever made. The developers were wise not to disturb the basic formula: run, jump, and slide around a level, dodge obstacles and traps that will kill you instantly, reach the exit. Repeat ad infinitum. But N++ adds just a splash of additional flavors and spices into the mix. A perfect trip-trance soundtrack that sets the mood perfectly (and may single-handedly stave off keyboard-smashing frustration). A few new enemy types that deepen the game without ruining its austere grace. And perhaps most importantly, it adds a bunch of extra, semi-secret challenges (which can be used to unlock still more levels) waiting for the very best-of-best players.
Of all the games on this list, I might be in absolute terms “best” at N++ (there are a non-trivial number of levels in the game where I have a top 100 or even top 10 score on the global leaderboards). And yet there is not the slightest chance that I will ever perfect this game, or even come close to it. Nor is there any chance I will become permanently sick of it. A simple concept, executed brilliantly. The perfect N++ level is also the perfect description of the game.
6. Final Fantasy IX: The question was never whether a Final Fantasy game would make this list, only which one. I’ve long had a soft-spot for FFIX, which I feel is often overlooked inside the series (in part because even on release it seemed players were already looking ahead to the Playstation 2). Yet it’s hard to find fault in Final Fantasy IX as an emblem of a straight-forward JRPG. It has a moving story, fun gameplay, beautiful music, loads of quests to do and places to explore, a fabulous supporting cast (Vivi might be my favorite Final Fantasy character ever written), and a lead character you don’t want to punch (*cough* Final Fantasy X).
Final Fantasy IX is often described as “nostalgic”, and despite the fact that it was only the second game in the series I had ever played, I got that feeling instantly. Try listening to the soundtrack for “Frontier Village Dali” without feeling a little melancholic. You don’t even have to have played. But I recommend that you do.
For the record, my ranking of Final Fantasy games that I’ve played goes: IX, VII, XII, XV, X, XIII.
5. Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood: One difficulty in judging games within a series is how to compare an earlier game which still had some rough edges but represented a quantum leap forward versus a later game which didn’t do anything super-novel but tweaked the formula to perfection. That, in a nutshell, is the difference between Assassin’s Creed II and Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood. Now, for me, this is an easy call for idiosyncratic reasons—I played AC:B before AC II, and so I experienced the former as both the perfected model and the quantum leap forward as compared to the original game. But I respect that for those who played the series in order, this is a harder call.
What should be easy for anyone is to agree that together, Assassin’s Creed II and Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood represented the AC series reaching its full potential. Ezio continues to be the best protagonist the series has seen to date. Renaissance Italy likewise is the ideal setting for both AC’s vertical and horizontal platforming elements and its shadowy-conspiracy/secret-history plotline. As a franchise, Assassin’s Creed really launched the parkour/open-world exploration genre, and Brotherhood was the first game where every single element of what that genre could be came together. Other more recent games have been tons of fun (Black Flag and Syndicate are I think highlights), but these two games are the reason this series is so iconic.
4. Might and Magic VI: The same problem posed by AC2 versus Brotherhood emerges with Might and Magic VI and VII—except here, I did play them in order. Like the previous entry, I do think that VII ultimately improves upon the formula set out in Might and Magic VI. It’s more versatile, has more replay value, a touch more balanced (and that’s not getting into ArcoMage) … all in all, probably a better technical game.
But Might and Magic VI is for me iconic—it may well be the first RPG I’ve ever truly loved (and given the way this list is stacked in that direction, that’s saying a lot). Virtually all the things that characterize what I love in games today, it had in at least skeletal form. Open world exploration? Check: It was the first game where I felt like I was a true pathfinder—meticulously crawling over every corner of the map to find each obscure bandit’s cave and goblin fortress. To this day I still have the lay of the land in Enroth basically memorized. Overly detailed worldbuilding text to read? Absolutely: my obsessive-streak came out in reading every single artifact description, conversational option, and quest backgrounder (it is canon that Enroth, and the entire planet it resides upon, was blown up in a magical explosion—a fact I’m still resentful towards 3DO for long after it disappeared into bankruptcy). Slight genre-bending? The splash of Sci-Fi onto the fantasy setting was delightful to discover for someone who had never played any of the prior entries in the series. And some of the music—well, the White Cap theme is a thing of beauty, and on my computer “Adagio in G Minor for Strings and Organ” is still listed as “Church Dungeon Music.”
3. Heroes of Might and Magic III: If comparing earlier, more revolutionary games against newer more polished ones presents a problem in the Assassin’s Creed and Might and Magic series, it presents no trouble at all in Heroes of Might & Magic. That’s because the third installation in the series both represented a huge jump forward from what came before and is unquestionably the best entry in the overall sequence.
Sure, some of the expansions are a bit goofy, but they still work—sharpshooters and enchanters are massively overpowered, but they’re generally used in missions that would otherwise be impossible. But the main campaign is fabulous—a surprisingly intricate and interwoven plot that bridges Might and Magic VI and VII compliments outstanding strategy gameplay. And that doesn’t even get into the acre of standalone maps provided, plus countless more available on the web thanks to a map editor so intuitive, even I can use it (I’m terrible with map editors).
As a result of all of this, Heroes III is maybe the only game on this list that can compete with N++ regarding infinite replayability. This is fortunate, because—given the fact that Heroes III was a full-budget release and was not supposed to be “simple”—it ages incredibly well. Even the graphics hold up (no need for that remastered remake—which doesn’t even include the expansions!).
2. Witcher III: As you may have noticed, this list has a strong bias towards RPGs. My preference is toward “Western” RPGs (which have a go-anywhere/do-anything exploration mentality) compared to “Japanese” RPGs (which are more linear and story-driven), but Witcher III does an incredible job of synthesizing the best of both. It has a huge open world to explore, one that feels alive and dynamic—but there is also an incredibly rich story filled with deep, well-written characters (of which Geralt—the player character—is but one).
Gameplay-wise, Witcher III really hits the perfect balance. I simultaneously felt like the biggest bad-ass in the room, but also like a single slip in concentration or bit of overconfidence and my corpse would unceremoniously end up at the bottom of whatever cave I was in. But Witcher III particularly stands out in how it subverts certain common RPG tropes. You are a hero, but you’re not particularly well-liked. You’re a powerful warrior, but you’re still ultimately treated as a pawn in larger political machinations. Your interventions do not always save the day, and sometimes don’t even make things better. If a mission starts with a villager worrying that their beloved has gone missing, nine times out of ten that person has been devoured by a monster well before you ever get there. While many games claim to place the hero in difficult moral dilemmas, Witcher III is a rare case of following through (some games might give you the choice to let a trio of witches eat a group of kids whom you recently played hide-and-seek with, but few make it so that might actually be the more moral of the options in front of you). There’s even a quest where you help a knight rescue a lady in distress from a curse, then lecture him that he’s not entitled to her romantic attention as a reward (talk about a timely intervention in the video game genre!). Over and over again, the game reinforces the message that being really powerful and doing “the right thing” isn’t enough to fix a fundamentally broken system.
Most impressive is the emotional impact that Witcher III dishes out. Sometimes this is a result of rich character development that pays off over the course of the entire game (as in “The Last Wish” quest). But sometimes it shows up in even relatively minor sidequests—the epilogue of the “Black Pearl” quest was one of the more brutal emotional gut-punches I’ve experienced in a video game. Ultimately, this was a game where one always felt like each character was a person—they were imperfect, they had their own interests, hopes, dreams, strengths and foibles, and while you were a little better with a sword and gifted with some preternatural abilities, you were still only one player in a much bigger narrative. As a result, Witcher III might well be, in my estimation, the perfect RPG.
Oh, and Gwent is ludicrously addictive. Let’s not forget that.
1. TIE Fighter: I don’t think this list has a particularly “modern” bias. Still, there’s something impressive about the number one game on this list also being the oldest by some measure. TIE Fighter originally came out in 1994, and the definitive Collector’s Edition was released in 1995. It is, to this day, one of the best games ever made. And that’s not a retrospective assessment. Star Wars: Tie Fighter holds up even played right now.
For starters, it is one of the few elements of the Star Wars universe to get the Empire right. I’m not saying that the Empire is the real protagonist of the series. I am saying that they wouldn’t view themselves as evil—as much as naming spacecraft “Executor” and “Death Star” might suggest otherwise. TIE Fighter is quite self-assured in presenting you as being a force for law and order in the galaxy, battling not just seditious rebels but pirates, smugglers, and other anarchic forces that threaten to tear civilized life apart.
Let’s start with something often overlooked in TIE Fighter: the music. It’s probably the only context that the phrase “kick-ass MIDI soundtrack” makes sense. But that’s not even the half of it. The iMuse system dynamically and seamlessly arranges the musical cues to reflect what’s going on around you in the mission—you can literally follow important mission updates (e.g., a wingman being shot down, or reinforcements arriving) simply by the way the melody shifts. I’m not sure I’ve ever encountered anything quite like it since. To this day, the number that accompanies an incoming enemy capital ship fills me with exhilarated dread.
Gameplay-wise, TIE Fighter is almost shockingly rich. The core mission requirements are challenging, but by no means out of reach. But embedded in each level are a series of secondary and secret bonus objectives. These unlock a parallel plot of the Emperor’s Secret Order—but always present a brutal risk/reward calculus. That’s not unrelated to the fact that you’re often flying, well, TIE fighters (not noted for their durability)—but the challenge extends well beyond physical peril. TIE Fighter actually gives you an “invincibility” option if you want it, and yet even with it on some of the later missions and bonus objectives will strain every piloting skill you’ve ever developed.
Most importantly, the secret objectives usually are more involved than “blow up everything in sight.” They reward initiative and exploration. Maybe your primary mission objective is to destroy a rebel space station. But just before it goes down, you spot an escape shuttle fleeing the station. Take it out? Maybe—but maybe the occupants are VIPs best taken alive. So you switch to ion cannons and disable it for capture. Yet that extra time you just spent has given the rebels enough breathing room to summon reinforcements—now an enemy cruiser is bearing down on you. Take out its missile launchers and clear path for bombers while praying that your own Star Destroyer will arrive soon to back you up. All on the fly. All while dogfighting starfighters, dodging mines, giving your wingmen orders … it’s insanely, beautifully chaotic.
Did I mention this is all happening in 1995? 90% of games released today don’t have that kind of depth or spontaneity. In terms of playability, replayability, and just plain fun, TIE Fighter stands alone, and unchallenged.
via The Debate Link https://ift.tt/2HbDTEl
2 notes · View notes
justinharst · 7 years
Link
PLEASE NOTE: The main GameCentral team are out at a press event today, so there will be no evening Inbox. All the weekend updates will be as normal though, including new Reader’s Features and the Hot Topic.
Secret features
The one thing I’ve always got to congratulate Nintendo on is that they always provide entertainment: in both their games and the bizarre way they run their business. The thing that fascinates me is whether they realise how odd they’re being or if, as I suspect, they think it’s everyone else that’s being strange. Remember that oddness is in the eye of the beholder, and if you think someone is odd they probably think the same of you for the opposite reasons.
That attempt at seeing their perspective aside though, I just cannot begin to understand what they’re playing at. Even assuming we start getting proper previews next week, that’s barely a week before release! And we still know nothing definitive about the eShop, how the online will work, controller compatibility, the specs of the machine, third party support, the Virtual Console… basically anything other than what it looks like and the launch line-up.
How can they possibly not think this is damaging? I don’t even see any evidence of there being a Nintendo Direct before launch, which I would’ve thought impossible given the situation. I just can’t think of any possible reason why these things are being kept a secret. I just hope I’m not going to end up being more entertained by the circus surrounding the Switch rather than the console itself (naturally, I’ve pre-ordered one). Station
Real money
I was interested to see that Halo Wars 2 is yet another full price, big budget game with microtransactions in it. I don’t actually have a problem with the idea myself, as it doesn’t seem to interfere with any of my online play and I would certainly prefer to have microtransactions and free DLC than season passes (and probably microtransactions as well anyway).
What I cannot fathom though is who actually pays for them? Who cares so much about what hat their character is wearing (that they can’t see because it’s first person) or that they haven’t got all the cards in a virtual card game that they’re willing to pay real money for them. I read that someone paid $1,000 in microtransactions in Fire Emblem Heroes and still didn’t get the character they wanted!
Is anyone reading this willing to admit they pay for microtransactions? I haven’t paid as much as a penny for them my whole life and the idea of spending thousands just seems incomprehensible to me. I’m curious what the most is anywhere here is willing to admit to. Ron Orange
Small applause
Apparently the day one patch for Horizon Zero Dawn is just 250GB. I know we’re always happy to complain about ridiculous patches that seem to be half the game but can we get a show of appreciation for a developer that actually seems to be doing things right for once? Especially as such a small patch implies that the game is properly finished and not very buggy.
To me this is one thing Nintendo definitely gets right and there’s no excuse for it from other developers. If your game’s not finished don’t release, end of story. Just add an extra month’s grace at the end of your schedule and that’s all you need. Maybe yearly sequels like FIFA and Call Of Duty don’t have that luxury but everything else should realise that first impressions count. Rex
Ultimate disappointment
Has anyone else seen the first person mode on Ultimate Street Fighter II? It, um, looks rubbish? I know it was never intended to be anything but a throwaway mini-game but it looks almost embarrassingly bad. The thing that really worries me though is that the motion controls seem to be really unreliable. It looks like you’ve only got three moves (Ryu’s specials) and yet the Joy-Con controllers are only catching them half the time.
The whole mini-game (you could argue that the whole of Ultimate Street Fighter II) looks like it was knocked up in someone’s lunch break but that’s no excuse. I don’t see how Nintendo can be happy having this footage out there. Or what Capcom were thinking releasing this video. I mean watch this and bear in mind someone looked at it, edited it all up, and thought, ‘Yeah, this looks cool. This will make someone buy the game’. Crazy. Willis
Monthly budget
I wonder if anyone else has a gaming budget they try to stick to? I guess some (rich) people just buy stuff as it comes out, but I have £30 a month I afford myself that I spend the best way I can. I can carry over money to the next month, and I make special exceptions for new consoles (but not the Switch, sorry Nintendo) but otherwise I stick pretty strictly to that budget.
I find it works out pretty good on a number of levels. It makes me think harder about which new game to get, it cuts down on my backlog, and it stops me from wasting money on launch day when I could get two or three games for the same price. It also has the side benefit that if I’m buying games a few months after they were out then they’re all in working condition and properly patched.
But is this just me being too organised, or do other people do it too? Temble
Front row seat
So it seems we are getting an earlier day for the E3 Briefing this year from Microsoft. Instead of it being on a Monday it is now happening on a Sunday, on the 11th June this year.
I wonder what Microsoft has up its sleeve, to be doing something as unexpected and unheard of such as this? Considering we don’t know all of what is coming to Xbox One/Scorpio in the near future this is going to be very interesting to see what gets announced, and what surprises Microsoft and developers have for us.
I will be looking forward to seeing what their Scorpio will show at the event and to see if the existing games run well on it, as well as future releases. Regardless of which platform anyone supports this is at least going to be worth a watch, which I will be watching. I would like to ask will the community at GameCentral and the GameCentral team be watching this live or after the event has been recorded? gaz be rotten (gamertag)
GC: We’ll be in the audience in L.A.
Fictional release
Did a new BlazBlue come out not too long ago? Or are my memories becoming untrustworthy?
Some will probably find her irritating, but Taokaka is my favourite character by far. Is she still adorable in the new game? If there is a new game, that is?
‘I’m looking for Rawgnya…’ DMR
GC: BlazBlue: Central Fiction came out in November. We prefer Makoto, because she looks a bit like Squirrel Girl. Although we do wish she’d put some clothes on.
Space Control
I feel I have to challenge the comments Gary Bannister made about Dead Space. Yes, the games are slightly generic but most mainstream games are derivative of other pieces of media, it’s how the developer/publisher attracts sales – by reminding their potential customers of a game or movie franchise they may have already bought into.
The much-heralded Dark Souls, for instance, is very generic and influenced by the fantasy genre in its presentation. Do these generic aspects make Dark Souls a bad game?
My main point of disagreement with Gary is his mention of mediocre controls. I thought both Dead Space 1 and 2 were expertly designed in this respect. I particularly liked the ‘idiot button’ which put a line on the floor to show you where to go.
If we’re bringing up poor controls, how about mentioning Resident Evil 5 which (if I remember correctly) was compared unfavourably to Dead Space due to its general awkwardness and the fact that you couldn’t move and shoot.
I’d be interested in hearing what game Gary thinks has good controls. Control issues are a complaint that doesn’t seem to be mentioned much these days. Am I right in thinking controls are one aspect of gaming that has only become better? msv858 (Twitter)
GC: In general, yes. But there’s still a huge range in quality.
Inbox also-rans
Is it possible to work a little Inbox magic and get Samba De Amigo on the Switch? It would work great with the Joy-Cons and the HD rumble should be able to simulate the maracas. Pparker
GC: That’s actually a pretty good idea. Which with Sega and Nintendo involved means it’ll never happen.
Came across this today on Gameseek.co.uk do you think it is worth a pre-order? Anon
GC: We’d maybe wait until the release date gets a bit closer…
This week’s Hot Topic
The subject for this weekend’s Inbox was suggested by reader Gannet, who asks what’s the worst game you’ve ever beaten?
Why did you carry on playing the game if you didn’t think it was any good? Was it because it only got worse as it went along, did the story kept you going, or where you simply trying to get your money’s worth? How often do you usually try to beat a game’s story campaign and what usually makes you not bother?
Do you get obsessed by completing a game and how seriously do you take 100% completion, Trophies, and Achievements? Do you generally keep your games when you’re finished with them and if so how often do you go back to them once completed?
The small printNew Inbox updates appear twice daily, every weekday morning and afternoon. Letters are used on merit and may be edited for length.
You can also submit your own 500 to 600-word 4Player viewer features at any time, which if used will be shown in the next available weekend slot.
0 notes
grabey · 7 years
Link
PLEASE NOTE: The main GameCentral team are out at a press event today, so there will be no evening Inbox. All the weekend updates will be as normal though, including new Reader’s Features and the Hot Topic.
Secret features
The one thing I’ve always got to congratulate Nintendo on is that they always provide entertainment: in both their games and the bizarre way they run their business. The thing that fascinates me is whether they realise how odd they’re being or if, as I suspect, they think it’s everyone else that’s being strange. Remember that oddness is in the eye of the beholder, and if you think someone is odd they probably think the same of you for the opposite reasons.
That attempt at seeing their perspective aside though, I just cannot begin to understand what they’re playing at. Even assuming we start getting proper previews next week, that’s barely a week before release! And we still know nothing definitive about the eShop, how the online will work, controller compatibility, the specs of the machine, third party support, the Virtual Console… basically anything other than what it looks like and the launch line-up.
How can they possibly not think this is damaging? I don’t even see any evidence of there being a Nintendo Direct before launch, which I would’ve thought impossible given the situation. I just can’t think of any possible reason why these things are being kept a secret. I just hope I’m not going to end up being more entertained by the circus surrounding the Switch rather than the console itself (naturally, I’ve pre-ordered one). Station
Real money
I was interested to see that Halo Wars 2 is yet another full price, big budget game with microtransactions in it. I don’t actually have a problem with the idea myself, as it doesn’t seem to interfere with any of my online play and I would certainly prefer to have microtransactions and free DLC than season passes (and probably microtransactions as well anyway).
What I cannot fathom though is who actually pays for them? Who cares so much about what hat their character is wearing (that they can’t see because it’s first person) or that they haven’t got all the cards in a virtual card game that they’re willing to pay real money for them. I read that someone paid $1,000 in microtransactions in Fire Emblem Heroes and still didn’t get the character they wanted!
Is anyone reading this willing to admit they pay for microtransactions? I haven’t paid as much as a penny for them my whole life and the idea of spending thousands just seems incomprehensible to me. I’m curious what the most is anywhere here is willing to admit to. Ron Orange
Small applause
Apparently the day one patch for Horizon Zero Dawn is just 250GB. I know we’re always happy to complain about ridiculous patches that seem to be half the game but can we get a show of appreciation for a developer that actually seems to be doing things right for once? Especially as such a small patch implies that the game is properly finished and not very buggy.
To me this is one thing Nintendo definitely gets right and there’s no excuse for it from other developers. If your game’s not finished don’t release, end of story. Just add an extra month’s grace at the end of your schedule and that’s all you need. Maybe yearly sequels like FIFA and Call Of Duty don’t have that luxury but everything else should realise that first impressions count. Rex
Ultimate disappointment
Has anyone else seen the first person mode on Ultimate Street Fighter II? It, um, looks rubbish? I know it was never intended to be anything but a throwaway mini-game but it looks almost embarrassingly bad. The thing that really worries me though is that the motion controls seem to be really unreliable. It looks like you’ve only got three moves (Ryu’s specials) and yet the Joy-Con controllers are only catching them half the time.
The whole mini-game (you could argue that the whole of Ultimate Street Fighter II) looks like it was knocked up in someone’s lunch break but that’s no excuse. I don’t see how Nintendo can be happy having this footage out there. Or what Capcom were thinking releasing this video. I mean watch this and bear in mind someone looked at it, edited it all up, and thought, ‘Yeah, this looks cool. This will make someone buy the game’. Crazy. Willis
Monthly budget
I wonder if anyone else has a gaming budget they try to stick to? I guess some (rich) people just buy stuff as it comes out, but I have £30 a month I afford myself that I spend the best way I can. I can carry over money to the next month, and I make special exceptions for new consoles (but not the Switch, sorry Nintendo) but otherwise I stick pretty strictly to that budget.
I find it works out pretty good on a number of levels. It makes me think harder about which new game to get, it cuts down on my backlog, and it stops me from wasting money on launch day when I could get two or three games for the same price. It also has the side benefit that if I’m buying games a few months after they were out then they’re all in working condition and properly patched.
But is this just me being too organised, or do other people do it too? Temble
Front row seat
So it seems we are getting an earlier day for the E3 Briefing this year from Microsoft. Instead of it being on a Monday it is now happening on a Sunday, on the 11th June this year.
I wonder what Microsoft has up its sleeve, to be doing something as unexpected and unheard of such as this? Considering we don’t know all of what is coming to Xbox One/Scorpio in the near future this is going to be very interesting to see what gets announced, and what surprises Microsoft and developers have for us.
I will be looking forward to seeing what their Scorpio will show at the event and to see if the existing games run well on it, as well as future releases. Regardless of which platform anyone supports this is at least going to be worth a watch, which I will be watching. I would like to ask will the community at GameCentral and the GameCentral team be watching this live or after the event has been recorded? gaz be rotten (gamertag)
GC: We’ll be in the audience in L.A.
Fictional release
Did a new BlazBlue come out not too long ago? Or are my memories becoming untrustworthy?
Some will probably find her irritating, but Taokaka is my favourite character by far. Is she still adorable in the new game? If there is a new game, that is?
‘I’m looking for Rawgnya…’ DMR
GC: BlazBlue: Central Fiction came out in November. We prefer Makoto, because she looks a bit like Squirrel Girl. Although we do wish she’d put some clothes on.
Space Control
I feel I have to challenge the comments Gary Bannister made about Dead Space. Yes, the games are slightly generic but most mainstream games are derivative of other pieces of media, it’s how the developer/publisher attracts sales – by reminding their potential customers of a game or movie franchise they may have already bought into.
The much-heralded Dark Souls, for instance, is very generic and influenced by the fantasy genre in its presentation. Do these generic aspects make Dark Souls a bad game?
My main point of disagreement with Gary is his mention of mediocre controls. I thought both Dead Space 1 and 2 were expertly designed in this respect. I particularly liked the ‘idiot button’ which put a line on the floor to show you where to go.
If we’re bringing up poor controls, how about mentioning Resident Evil 5 which (if I remember correctly) was compared unfavourably to Dead Space due to its general awkwardness and the fact that you couldn’t move and shoot.
I’d be interested in hearing what game Gary thinks has good controls. Control issues are a complaint that doesn’t seem to be mentioned much these days. Am I right in thinking controls are one aspect of gaming that has only become better? msv858 (Twitter)
GC: In general, yes. But there’s still a huge range in quality.
Inbox also-rans
Is it possible to work a little Inbox magic and get Samba De Amigo on the Switch? It would work great with the Joy-Cons and the HD rumble should be able to simulate the maracas. Pparker
GC: That’s actually a pretty good idea. Which with Sega and Nintendo involved means it’ll never happen.
Came across this today on Gameseek.co.uk do you think it is worth a pre-order? Anon
GC: We’d maybe wait until the release date gets a bit closer…
This week’s Hot Topic
The subject for this weekend’s Inbox was suggested by reader Gannet, who asks what’s the worst game you’ve ever beaten?
Why did you carry on playing the game if you didn’t think it was any good? Was it because it only got worse as it went along, did the story kept you going, or where you simply trying to get your money’s worth? How often do you usually try to beat a game’s story campaign and what usually makes you not bother?
Do you get obsessed by completing a game and how seriously do you take 100% completion, Trophies, and Achievements? Do you generally keep your games when you’re finished with them and if so how often do you go back to them once completed?
The small printNew Inbox updates appear twice daily, every weekday morning and afternoon. Letters are used on merit and may be edited for length.
You can also submit your own 500 to 600-word 4Player viewer features at any time, which if used will be shown in the next available weekend slot.
0 notes