Random Gaming Talk Thread

[archnemesis]

I'm only level 9, so I guess I have another 20 hours or so before I get there.

[Raban]

I rearranged my shelf and felt like sharing.

I should probably get a new one, this one's really bowed out.

[ToxicAdam]

Look at all that shit I would Ebay if I owned it.

[demi]

Look at all that shit I would Ebay if I owned it.

You're welcome to drool over my shelves...

[Beezy]

I have more games and dvds on only 2 shelves than you have on your whole bookshelf.

[Raban]

I put away a lot of my games into drawers and boxes because of how unruly it was getting. I still regularly play my GC, DS, and PSP, so those games stay out, but only a handful of PS2, 360, and Wii games are out in my room and they're on a carousel next to my TV. Also there are two compartments below those with movie and television DVD box sets, but this is the gaming forum

I had over 150 DVDs that I boxed up and stored because... who even watches video on DVD anymore? Digital future

[Himu]

Objectively speaking DQ7 is the be-all end-all of DQ games.

 

[Positive Touch]

borys

[demi]

Because DQ8 is a more complete package than 9 was.

[Himu]

I love 8, but it's flawed as shit and hard to play now. I'd rather play 4,5, or 9.

Personally, I want Borys to back up 7 being objectively the best in the series despite its horrible pacing, shard system, class system, extreme length.

[Positive Touch]

that sucks, green man

my 80gb died a couple weeks ago. had barely touched the thing in years, and it decided to go while i was watching a dvd of all things.

[bork]

I think my launch PS3 might be about to go too...it just froze on the PS3 menu screen and lately I've been experiencing it locking up here and there.   

[tiesto]

I really liked M&L3, which is rare for me, because I don't really like Mario RPGs very much.  The music sucked, but it's Shimomura so that's a given.  She's also responsible for the weakest part of Radiant Historia, the music.

I still think M&L1 was the best installment. Maybe because of the difficulty? I remember having most fun in the first game. 2nd felt forced and the 3rd one was just way too short for me.

8 was just so amazing for me, seeing the world come alive, with the awesome music and really great characterization.

Word, my polish nicca. DQ8 along with Wind Waker are two of the most beautiful games ever created.

5 > 4 > 8 > 7 > 3 > 6 > |...| > 9 > 1 > 2

You put DQ9 real low Why is that? It is like DQ8 only for handhelds! The whole premise was pretty stupid for me (Celestials) but I enjoyed it.

-Thought the storyline and vignettes were the weakest yet
-Music was Sugiyama's weakest in the series
-Didn't like how the class system worked, hated having to start over at level 1 (and lose all my spells) if I wanted to change jobs.
-Annoying sidequests that relied much more on luck than skill (i.e. "kill 3 metals with the one-hit-kill skill)

[Himu]

Haha, I forgot how dq9 reuses ENTIRE songs from past DQ's like DQ4's sail theme.

Who is going to replace Sugiyama-sama after he retires/passes away?

[Raban]

No chance of a torch-passing?

[chronovore]

I rearranged my shelf and felt like sharing.
(Image removed from quote.)
I should probably get a new one, this one's really bowed out.

Raban, I forget on which side of the GTA IV fence you sit. You bought the LE? Did you feel pissed off that you'd invested in that?

I feel like GTA IV is to GTA as Phantom Menace is to Star Wars.

I don't think he's going to ever retire (he's 81 now, if he hasn't retired yet, he won't), but yeah, he's probably going to be dead between 10 and 20 years from now.  I expect he's got two or three more DQs left in him, as long as they aren't as long in development as DQ7 was.  After that... well, they'll have to find some other old racist genius to write the music, I guess.  Yuji Horii is almost 60 now, so by the time Sugiyama croaks, he'll be in his 70s, and Akira Toriyama will be the same, so who knows, maybe they'll just call the whole thing quits at that point.

Does Toriyama actually do his character stuff anymore, or is he just pawning this shit off on his studio of underpaid Bird Studio slaves.

[Raban]

Raban, I forget on which side of the GTA IV fence you sit. You bought the LE? Did you feel pissed off that you'd invested in that?

I feel like GTA IV is to GTA as Phantom Menace is to Star Wars.

GTA IV is my favorite game in the series, actually. I understand why it turned some people away, and I even felt the same way at first. But after spending a bunch of time with it I eventually fell in love and I still play it almost every day. I didn't actually get the LE at first, but after becoming a megafan of it I decided to get one and it turns out Rockstar still sells them from their website for $60 brand new.

I can't imagine who he'd pass it to.  I also don't think the series could bear losing everyone important to it at once.  Replacing one would be a hard enough sell on the public, let alone all three.  And that's assuming Horii allows them to continue with it after he's finished.  He might not.

All fair points. I guess personally I want to see a completely fresh take on DQ, but I didn't take the public's reaction into consideration.

[chronovore]

Raban, I forget on which side of the GTA IV fence you sit. You bought the LE? Did you feel pissed off that you'd invested in that?

I feel like GTA IV is to GTA as Phantom Menace is to Star Wars.

GTA IV is my favorite game in the series, actually. I understand why it turned some people away, and I even felt the same way at first. But after spending a bunch of time with it I eventually fell in love and I still play it almost every day. I didn't actually get the LE at first, but after becoming a megafan of it I decided to get one and it turns out Rockstar still sells them from their website for $60 brand new.

Oh, yes, I think I recall now from a different thread. Yeah, you're welcome to it. I was just hoping for more of GTA3-era goodness, and multiplayer within it. I was not prepared to have my R3 missions gutted.

What did you think of Red Dead Redemption?

[Himu]

RDR is GTAIV done right. Hell, TLAD is GTAIV done right. A lot of people assume that "realism" is the problem with GTAIV; it isn't. It's all in execution. TLAD was far more gritty than IV and still the far better game.

[archnemesis]

The House of the Dead games are on sale on the European PSN. Are you guys telling me they're playable without a light gun? I only have very vague memories of playing the PC version of the first game with keyboard controls.

[Raban]

Oh, yes, I think I recall now from a different thread. Yeah, you're welcome to it. I was just hoping for more of GTA3-era goodness, and multiplayer within it. I was not prepared to have my R3 missions gutted.

What did you think of Red Dead Redemption?

I definitely liked the more robust side-content, but I actually didn't like Red Dead Redemption in the end. It tried hard to have an emotional story and humanize its characters, but then every other mission is sitting on the back of a carriage filleting a thousand dudes with a wild west minigun.

I understand GTA IV did this too, but I felt that game did a better job of setting up Liberty City as the kinda place where that shit happens, Red Dead Redemption starts out with peaceful cattle herding in the plains (which was fun) and descends into mindless bloodletting until the finale. Speaking of which, I don't understand why they didn't implement choices about who you kill in the missions the way IV did. I would've loved if

spoiler (click to show/hide)

I was able to walk away from duel with Ross at the very end.

[close]

The horse racing was cool, though.

I'm getting weary of Dan Houser + cronies' writing. It's the only thing I worry about with V, if it's another "Oh, I'm trying to piece my family together *commits mass murder*", I'm going to be infuriated. I don't want a return to the PS2 games, or anything near Saints Row, but just make the character a piece of shit, make him someone who you could imagine willingly murdering people. Niko gets the pass from me by being this cold-blooded, "Leon"-esque hitman, but they still played up the "family" angle a lot.

[Himu]

The thing is, they already DID do that in both IV expansions.

Saints Row topped them in the psychopath Tommy Vercetti route. The only route I can see them going in that works is the Michael Mann route, and they tried that with IV  and fucked it up. Which is why I REALLY want the new GTA to be about undercover cops. They need something new.

[cool breeze]

The House of the Dead games are on sale on the European PSN. Are you guys telling me they're playable without a light gun? I only have very vague memories of playing the PC version of the first game with keyboard controls.

I'm pretty sure HotD3 and 4 can be played with standard PS3 pad.  I've only ever used the Move with those two but I remember seeing the DS3 in the options menu.  I can double-check later.

No clue about Overkill or other lightgun/rail shooters on PSN.

[chronovore]

I definitely liked the more robust side-content, but I actually didn't like Red Dead Redemption in the end. It tried hard to have an emotional story and humanize its characters, but then every other mission is sitting on the back of a carriage filleting a thousand dudes with a wild west minigun.

Yeah, but there are enough other clues that RDR is the same excess-driven lambasting of American culture which has consistently been the hallmark of Rockstar's open world games. GTA started it, BULLY continued it, and RDR carried it forward. For me, it actually succeeded in telling a human story with John and his family, than in any previous R* game.

[Himu]

wrong thread

[cool breeze]

Both the PS3 and 360 had updates when I turned them on today.

PS3 took around 30 minutes.  Now shows Vita trophies on PS3.
360 took about 3 minutes.  Whole new UI.

It's not a big deal, but still.  Well, it kinda is since these are mandatory updates.

[chronovore]

Both the PS3 and 360 had updates when I turned them on today.

PS3 took around 30 minutes.  Now shows Vita trophies on PS3.
360 took about 3 minutes.  Whole new UI.

It's not a big deal, but still.  Well, it kinda is since these are mandatory updates.

I think the last time I tried to play a game on PS3, it decided it HAD to update, and it ran through 5 or 6 of them, basically taking a few hours. I mean, I sat down in front of a game machine, put a game in, and then it made itself unavailable for ANYTHING for the evening.

Now, apparently if I pay for Playstation Plus, I can get it to download in the background so it doesn't hijack my system for hours? COME ON.

[Himu]

Yeah, I don't understand Raban's point. This is pretty standard wild west hijinks.

[demi]

Raban is mad there are no ladyboys.

[Stoney Mason]

Yeah, I don't understand Raban's point. This is pretty standard wild west hijinks.

I think Raban and I are the only ones on this board who like GTA 4 but yeah I don't quite agree either. Red Dead Redemption rocked in pretty much every way possible.

[Raban]

I don't expect many people are going to feel the way I do about Red Dead. It's a fine game, it just never clicked with me. I played a ton of GTA IV and got all my open-world desires covered by the time I got around to Red Dead, I was done killing people for crooked assholes. Y'all have a point about it getting darker to set up what happens later, but I actually remember that my enjoyment of the game took a nosedive as soon as this started happening. Right around when

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Bonnie is captured and presumably raped/beaten.

[close]

Before then it had been mostly about being a peaceful farmhand, which sounded more exciting to me than just another game with a lot of dude-shootin'.

EDIT: And if nothing else, the driving in GTA IV is what pushes that game so far past any open world game. The insane variety of cars, each with their own handling, and the feeling of exploring the city in them, deftly avoiding collisions as you speed down the street blasting Fat Joe on the radio. Nothing beats that in my book.

[Joe Molotov]

Before then it had been mostly about being a peaceful farmhand, which sounded more exciting to me than just another game with a lot of dude-shootin'.

Raban, pre-order Farming Simulator 2013 with me and we'll play co-op!

[Himu]

You start the game out going to a place and getting almost shot to death. The game never hints at being a farm hand for too long and just a few hours into the game, like literally two hours, you're already in town picking up bounties and stopping bandits. Something tells me you've played less than 5 hours of RDR.

[Raban]

I can photograph my completion stats if you want, also my Xbox profile is there for you to snoop.

I was honestly charmed by the quieter moments of that game, and you can't bullshit that it was only at the beginning. They do it again towards the end of the game, and I was hoping it'd end on that note. I was wrong, more shooting.

Raban, pre-order Farming Simulator 2013 with me and we'll play co-op! (Image removed from quote.)

[Stoney Mason]

That's what's good/great about it though. It starts off with the slower moments. Amps up. Slows down at the end again. Then kicks up again. It has highs and lows which is kinda the perfect way to do it for what is ultimately a mainstream game. Not to mention the extra side mission stuff (Which I've always detested in the GTA games but loved in that one for some reason) also adds to the slower moments. You don't have to play it balls to the wall. You can kinda create your own pace.

Now I will agree that within Red Dead are the seeds of a brilliant co-op or multiplayer experience which they kinda half realized which could strictly be almost like the sims meets day z kinda experience where you could just live out roles. If you want to be a farmer. Be a farmer. If you want to be sheriff, or a bandit, or whatever, do that too. That also would be a kick ass game if someone would make it.

[Great Rumbler]

gtaiv sucks

[Raban]

EDIT: And if nothing else, the driving in GTA IV is what pushes that game so far past any open world game. The insane variety of cars, each with their own handling, and the feeling of exploring the city in them, deftly avoiding collisions as you speed down the street blasting Fat Joe on the radio. Nothing beats that in my book.

Disagreed and most definitely on the bolded. So i guess its just due to different game tastes.

definitely. I'm not saying RDR is a bad game, I'm just trying to explain why it didn't sweep me off my feet the way GTA IV did. I mean, you're talking to someone who loved Jurassic Park: Trespasser, let there be no question that my taste is total ass.

That's what's good/great about it though. It starts off with the slower moments. Amps up. Slows down at the end again. Then kicks up again. It has highs and lows which is kinda the perfect way to do it for what is ultimately a mainstream game. Not to mention the extra side mission stuff (Which I've always detested in the GTA games but loved in that one for some reason) also adds to the slower moments. You don't have to play it balls to the wall. You can kinda create your own pace.

Now I will agree that within Red Dead are the seeds of a brilliant co-op or multiplayer experience which they kinda half realized which could strictly be almost like the sims meets day z kinda experience where you could just live out roles. If you want to be a farmer. Be a farmer. If you want to be sheriff, or a bandit, or whatever, do that too. That also would be a kick ass game if someone would make it.

I know I tried to break up the monotony with the optional content, but nothing really stuck, and I never touched the multiplayer. I'm not a big fan of the GTA side missions either, which is why I didn't miss their absence from IV.

You have a point about a good story having highs and lows, but I feel like the story for a video game has different demands. Like if I could consume the story of RDR without playing it, I would surely enjoy it. And if I could do the reverse, gameplay without story, I'm certain I'd enjoy that too. But when they're mixed together, something just doesn't sit right. I'm willing to bet many people feel this way about GTA IV, but somehow I enjoyed the game from start to finish.

At least I was able to finish Red Dead. The list of open world games I've actually finished is much shorter than the ones I haven't, so that counts for something.

[cool breeze]

Yeah, I don't understand Raban's point. This is pretty standard wild west hijinks.

I think Raban and I are the only ones on this board who like GTA 4 but yeah I don't quite agree either. Red Dead Redemption rocked in pretty much every way possible.

I like GTA4 (assuming we're talking vanilla here--because I really liked Lost and Damned) but I still think it failed to do a lot of what it was trying to do.  And in general, the mechanics couldn't keep up with the mission design later in the game.  RDR was pretty much the opposite case and felt like a well realized vision.

And this about more games than just GTA4, but I wish open world games would give players more freedom to complete missions.  It's always an open world until you enter the mission, then it might as well be mission-to-mission action game (which is basically what Mafia 1 and 2 do).  More like Hitman in an open world, is what I'm saying. 

[Raban]

Another good example is Deus Ex, and yes, I wish for the same thing. More freedom within missions.

GTA IV actually did this, though. Many of the later missions (specifically the ones in Alderney) give you alternate routes and even show you them before the mission starts. There's one mission in particular where you have to blow up a bunch of parked vans, and you can either climb up and snipe everyone from above, lob grenades in the garages or just run in guns blazing. Another mission, the one in the abandoned hospital, has a little boat hidden in the back you can escape with, or fight your way through the NOOSE to do a car chase.

I'd still like more though. It'd be great if instead of failing out of missions, you just complete them in a way that opens up alternate missions, or mixes the order, or something like that.

[Stoney Mason]

Yeah, I don't understand Raban's point. This is pretty standard wild west hijinks.

I think Raban and I are the only ones on this board who like GTA 4 but yeah I don't quite agree either. Red Dead Redemption rocked in pretty much every way possible.

I like GTA4 (assuming we're talking vanilla here--because I really liked Lost and Damned) but I still think it failed to do a lot of what it was trying to do.  And in general, the mechanics couldn't keep up with the mission design later in the game.  RDR was pretty much the opposite case and felt like a well realized vision.

And this about more games than just GTA4, but I wish open world games would give players more freedom to complete missions.  It's always an open world until you enter the mission, then it might as well be mission-to-mission action game (which is basically what Mafia 1 and 2 do).  More like Hitman in an open world, is what I'm saying.

Most people on here and a very vocal minority on GAF detest GTA 4. Saints Row is the series they now back.

I liked it. Not as much as San Andreas or indeed Lost and the Damned which was the highpoint of GTA 4 and the expansions to me.

The divide essentially comes from what you are looking for in those games. For me it was never about the side activity stuff in GTA so when they removed it in GTA 4 I didn't miss it one bit. Others were really into it, which is fine.

I agree with what you say about GTA 4 and RDR though. RDR is the more complete and refined vision on how to do a game like that from nearly every aspect. The controls while not great are acceptable. The story is entertaining and the immersion is through the roof.

Where GTA always stumbles is that the actual mechanics tend to suck. I mean shooting, and running around and stuff like that. They were wretched in the old days and GTA 4 while an advancement was still way behind where it should be. I'm fine with the driving controls (especially once they fixed the bikes in the lost and the damned) but if you go back and play GTA 4 now, the shooting parts are nearly unplayable.

[Great Rumbler]

I really liked GTAIV at first, but the more I played it the less I liked it. Even playing the expansions couldn't push past my boredom with what the game ultimately stood for.

[Raban]

That is precisely how I felt about RDR.

[Great Rumbler]

I absolutely respect your right to be wrong.

[Himu]

Another good example is Deus Ex, and yes, I wish for the same thing. More freedom within missions.

GTA IV actually did this, though. Many of the later missions (specifically the ones in Alderney) give you alternate routes and even show you them before the mission starts. There's one mission in particular where you have to blow up a bunch of parked vans, and you can either climb up and snipe everyone from above, lob grenades in the garages or just run in guns blazing. Another mission, the one in the abandoned hospital, has a little boat hidden in the back you can escape with, or fight your way through the NOOSE to do a car chase.

I'd still like more though. It'd be great if instead of failing out of missions, you just complete them in a way that opens up alternate missions, or mixes the order, or something like that.

Open mission design is not what I think of when I think of GTAIV. When I think of GTAIV, I think of scripted bullshit.

[Stoney Mason]

LIVE Activity for week of October 15

Xbox 360 Top LIVE Titles (based on UU’s)

1.) Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition
2.) Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
3.) EA Sports FIFA Soccer 13
4.) Call of Duty: Black Ops
5.) Borderlands 2
6.) Halo: Reach
7.) Battlefield 3
8.) Modern Warfare 2
9.) Madden NFL 13
10.) NBA 2K13
11.) Happy Wars
12.) Skyrim
13.) Gears of War 3
14.) RESIDENT EVIL 6
15.) GTA IV 
16.) FIFA 12 
17.) Forza Motorsport 4
18.) Dishonored
19.) EA SPORTS NHL13
20.) Halo 3

Jesus Christ Microsoft was brilliant to sign up Minecraft. First time a non Halo or COD title has topped the activity list in years I would guess.

[Himu]

Haha told you RE6 would bomb, Raban. Suck my cheeseburger dick

[naff]

I did enjoy GTAIV but it's definitely the weakest GTA I've ever played bar GTA1. Must go back to the DLC sometime

[Raban]

Haha told you RE6 would bomb, Raban. Suck my cheeseburger dick

Yeah, Xbox is totally the premiere console for RE sales

[CajoleJuice]

yeah well i didn't like either GTAIV or RDR so there

[Raban]

In the conversation he's referring to, we were talking worldwide sales. Do you think RE6 will outsell 5?

[Raban]

[Himu]

Nooooooooooooooo 

Bomb you piece of shit!

[demi]

Why? It's better than RE5. Still salty that you were wrong?

[Joe Molotov]

Nooooooooooooooo 

Bomb you piece of shit!

Owned.

[chronovore]

I did enjoy GTAIV but it's definitely the weakest GTA I've ever played bar GTA1. Must go back to the DLC sometime

The two DLC packs recapture some of the GTA3 magic, but not completely. The writing and mission design in Ballad of Gay Tony is more wacky and unbelievable, such as you'd have in last-gen's GTAs, and both of them feature more robust side-missions, which were the main thing I was missing.

[The Sceneman]

does anyone have any XBL Gold trial codes etc. kicking around that they arent using? i.e 48 hour trial codes etc.

I want to play some Dark Souls but cant afford Gold right now...

[Arbys Roast Beef Sandwich]

are we just not talking about that eurogamer mess with that cunt that was caught shilling for square or something?  GOOD.

[The Sceneman]

Are gold codes region free?

pretty sure they are

[demi]

are we just not talking about that eurogamer mess with that cunt that was caught shilling for square or something?  GOOD.

We already know about Kagari.

[Stoney Mason]

http://kotaku.com/5955223/what-went-wrong-with-silicon-knights-x+men-destiny