The Video Game thread

[backwardsvoyager]

I can't help but feel slighted as a console gamer, asking us to pay $60 for the remastered Bioshock trilogy while offering fee upgrades to Steam users. Bioshock was supposed to be backwards compatible and it was pictured in an Xbox One backwards compatibility ad. My panties are slightly bunched because I own all three of those games digitally on the 360. On the other hand, I just played through Infinite and Bioshock 2 last year and I never feel compelled to revisit games I have played too recently.

keep in mind though - you can buy a physical copy for a console and resell it after playing it through, often making back half of what you paid or more. then if you decide a year later to replay, a used copy will usually be super cheap.
personally i don't stress too much about buying games for console as long as i shop around, because you don't actually have to get your entire money's worth, unlike pretty much anything for PC since everything has some kind of one-time download code or account link involved. i bought fallout 4 for PC last year for like $50 and am still kicking myself because i dropped it after like an hour and can't resell it

[Andrew]

Gotta say though, i've happily put 4 hours into Bioshock 1 since i've come home from work. It's still worth every single penny. I've replayed Infinite many time and I honestly don't understand why it's trendy to dislike it now, but Bioshock 1 is still great. I've honeslty kind of forgotten how good it actually is...

[Strange Tales]

The new Rocket League mode is fucking hilarious. The spikes are absolute horse shit though.

[rustywire]

Most of the thrill I felt for gaming began to wane around 2009, for a number of reasons, several of which align with sentiment expressed on this page of the thread. This was prior to the renewed vigor for demonization in the industry and identity politics being used as a bludgeon for bigotry in the name of anti-bigotry.
This is a topic I intend to address in a proper think piece but... don't really want to tbh. It's complicated, best left for another day
Anyway
From 1989-2009 I could see genuine progress and advances in gameplay and fun factor, from the arcade to consoles to pc to portable gaming. Then it became an arm's race for gfx and rendering details in blades of grass and environmental diminishing returns. Like the loudness war, only for vidya

[D.o.S.]

still haven't played planescape torment. i'll get to it, one day.

Same. I've started it twice and then for whatever reason got distracted and forgot to keep playing.

You guys are fucking up. That game is still one of my favorites.

[Achtane]

I know that it's probably a good game but I hate anything requiring me to click that much.
I need movement keys and stuff.

[codetocontra]

keep in mind though - you can buy a physical copy for a console and resell it after playing it through, often making back half of what you paid or more. then if you decide a year later to replay, a used copy will usually be super cheap.
personally i don't stress too much about buying games for console as long as i shop around, because you don't actually have to get your entire money's worth, unlike pretty much anything for PC since everything has some kind of one-time download code or account link involved. i bought fallout 4 for PC last year for like $50 and am still kicking myself because i dropped it after like an hour and can't resell it

But you have all those sweet Steam sales and more access to the weirder indie game experiences. I listen to a lot of podcasts while working, half of them gaming related, so I get to hear discussion about games I will likely never play on PC, though sometimes I get to be late to the party when something gets ported. PC gaming isn't for me, as I don't have an interest in upgrading a computer or dealing with optimization and any issues that popup. We are having the most backwards (pun intended?) PC vs console argument, "No, you have it better."

I've replayed Infinite many time and I honestly don't understand why it's trendy to dislike it now, but Bioshock 1 is still great.

I played Infinite long after release and the hype had died. Columbia was a neat location. I thought there would be more rail traversal, but there were a couple of fight sequences that were really fun with it. The story's premise, ending and explanation of the story took a bit to get my head around. I didn't like the vagueness, or at least felt like I missed something. I will leave it at that, as to remain spoiler free for anyone looking to play it for the 1st time. Bioshock 1 was fantastic, and I really enjoyed Bioshock 2 despite it being wildly unpopular, and Infinite was different.

The new Rocket League mode is fucking hilarious. The spikes are absolute horse shit though.

Hey, I like my spikes. Fuck your tornado!

Most of the thrill I felt for gaming began to wane around 2009, for a number of reasons, several of which align with sentiment expressed on this page of the thread. This was prior to the renewed vigor for demonization in the industry and identity politics being used as a bludgeon for bigotry in the name of anti-bigotry.
This is a topic I intend to address in a proper think piece but... don't really want to tbh. It's complicated, best left for another day

I look forward to reading your thoughts on it. And you said "fun factor," so we are buds now.

[rfurtkamp]

I've been enjoying Rocksmith (and 2014) again, every year or so it's fun to get blasted and pretend I'm in a terrible bar bad for a while.

Doesn't help they did a Misfits song pack finally.

[backwardsvoyager]

But you have all those sweet Steam sales and more access to the weirder indie game experiences. I listen to a lot of podcasts while working, half of them gaming related, so I get to hear discussion about games I will likely never play on PC, though sometimes I get to be late to the party when something gets ported. PC gaming isn't for me, as I don't have an interest in upgrading a computer or dealing with optimization and any issues that popup. We are having the most backwards (pun intended?) PC vs console argument, "No, you have it better."

i getcha. for what it's worth i don't actually like PC gaming that much, I just think it's worthwhile to supplement console gaming with it to avoid missing stuff. most indies aren't too high spec so an average computer can still cover a decent bit of ground. i can't imagine sticking to one platform, i'm at 7 consoles now and still see things and think ' fuck, how am i gonna be able to play that'.

[rfurtkamp]

I've never been a console fan, and PC upgrades aren't terrible (especially if you already use one for digital recording). The fundamental difference between a good recording desktop and a good gaming one is "add a good video card."

And it's modular, can start smaller and just upgrade as you go. A kick-ass processor, acceptable RAM, then get a good graphics card in a few months.

You're good for 3-4 years of not caring at that point about upgrades.

[coldbrightsunlight]

still haven't played planescape torment. i'll get to it, one day.

Same. I've started it twice and then for whatever reason got distracted and forgot to keep playing.

You guys are fucking up. That game is still one of my favorites.

leaning towards fixing that failure tonight.

Would love to do the same, but wrist problems mean I can't use a keyboard and mouse much

[rfurtkamp]

Yea, no issues whatsoever, can tweak the config to get even better latency as well but I haven't needed to.

But I'm well.....over the system requirements (real i7-4770k, not a crippled laptop i7), SSDs, etc.

And the box is normally configured for 24 tracks of inbound audio.

[pd~]

I really hope Torment: Tides of Numenera turns out to be good.

[Andrew]

But you have all those sweet Steam sales and more access to the weirder indie game experiences. I listen to a lot of podcasts while working, half of them gaming related, so I get to hear discussion about games I will likely never play on PC, though sometimes I get to be late to the party when something gets ported. PC gaming isn't for me, as I don't have an interest in upgrading a computer or dealing with optimization and any issues that popup. We are having the most backwards (pun intended?) PC vs console argument, "No, you have it better."

i getcha. for what it's worth i don't actually like PC gaming that much, I just think it's worthwhile to supplement console gaming with it to avoid missing stuff. most indies aren't too high spec so an average computer can still cover a decent bit of ground. i can't imagine sticking to one platform, i'm at 7 consoles now and still see things and think ' fuck, how am i gonna be able to play that'.

It's funny because in my mind, the most popular PC games can could quite easily run on a toaster. PC gaming does excel at MMOs, RTS, FPS and the occasional RPG, everything else is generally better on Console with a controller. I probably play mostly on PC, but i've always been interested in seeing how much juice Devs can squeeze out of Consoles and i've always loved Portables too.

Finished Bioshock, i'm itching to play Infinite so I might go back to BS2 afterwards. Also, having never played the series on anything other than PC - it definitely feels better with a controller.

[GAS KING]

Don't really get how someone would need a console? Nintendo, sure.....but PS4/XBone? why? You miss out on like 4 games. lol Plus exclusivity is shitty.
I didn't really get it for a long time. I got back into gaming with the XB360. Then the PS4 for a few months.

I actually regretted building a PC at first.........but now it's great.
The difference is real.
I don't really hate on console, but I also don't really understand why they are so popular?
PCs are just as simple and can do all of the same things........but better..........
You can use a controller if that's your thing. You can have it on a TV. You can use it for media/streaming. I'm not sure what a console offers that a PC doesn't?

Building a higher end PC is around $900 (with everything). While that's more expensive than a console.........it will last at least 7 years, and then all you need to do is a few hundred in upgrades.
You can build a PC that matches console performance for much less than $900.
buying 2 consoles is equal to building 1 PC. give or take.
It's not nearly as complicated or expensive (in the long run) as you would think.
Back in 1998, sure, it might have been costly or annoying........but this is like the golden age of PC. Quality, high performance components are so cheap.
Sorry to get all PCMASTERACE on y'all.....but it's clearly better.

After I switched to PC, the only game I use controller for now is rocket league.
It was weird at first using KB/Mouse, but I can't imagine going back.
I've tried to use the Steam controller, which is super cool.....but I can't get used to it. Mostly because learning to use a new controller isn't that fun.