imthesoldier

I think he needs more...Eharmony in his life...

A classic 2000s one (although nothing fancy) would be playing RE4 using only the weapons you find in the game. So your normal pistol, the upgraded pistol, the Broken butterfly, and the shotgun. It's surprisingly not as difficult as you'd think, but you do have to be more calculating in some instances. And you can make it even more difficult if you do not upgrade those weapons...and play on Professional mode. An even more classic alternative one that is as old as the oldest Millennials is of course playing Zelda with only 3 hearts. Can't say I've done that one though...

I'm surprised I haven't seen someone try to super overclock an old Pentium 4 processor to crazy frequencies, and see if you get comparable performance with a modern CPU using the same modern GPU. Probably be running on DDR2 though...

Doesn't appear to be: That's CIRCM settings at 1080p. It doesn't appear even on Cry Engine 4 that it's properly multi-core supported, which is a shame. That said, the game with that guys setup does run quite well (I mean, I think it runs well). Makes me wonder how the game would run on Intel's new low-end Dual-Core Alder Lake CPUs with a good overclock such as this: Intel's $64 Pentium Gold G7400T Alder Lake CPU Overclocked to 5.8 GHz | Tom's Hardware WWW.TOMSHARDWARE.COM One of the fastest dual-core CPUs ever.

2007-2020: "Can It Run Crysis?" 2020-Present: "Can It Run CyberPunk 2077?" Crytek in 2022: "Time to reclaim the throne!"

True, though we can make some fairly accurate assessments based on their past history. We do know they tend to rely on withered technology aka readily available, and cheap. So things such as Ray Tracing, and VR? Fat chance next-gen Switch will have it. But 4K, and perhaps DLSS, provided they stick with nVidia? It's possible.

It reminds me of my old GeForce 7800 GS I had in my previous rig (which I upgraded from a Radeon X850XT). I remember playing the demo of Crysis at like 20fps with my Pentium 4. Those were the glory days before multi-core...

It was also a perfect storm for Nintendo because while the Tegra X1 may have been "underpowered" for a mobile SoC, there was literally nothing else on the market they could've used for the amount of chips they needed for the price. Nintendo knew they had to go beyond PowerPC, especially when they were using a chip that was originally built in the late 90s. Like you said, it wasn't state-of-the-art, but what it did provide was cheap, powerful, and readily available. In a perfect world, the kind of leap in hardware for next-gen Switch would be akin to what the Wii to Wii U was rather than GCN to Wii, which is how I look at going from Wii U to Switch.

So as long as 343 doesn't get their hands on it, we'll be peachy then.

This'd be a good thing, no?

Interestingly, I am surprised Nintendo hasn't created a Docked-Only version of the Switch, especially since the handheld-only Lite exists. You'd think it'd be a shoe-in for another SKU. You could sell it at the same price as the Lite, and bundle it with the Pro Controller. For next-gen Switch, I anticipate they'll continue with the hybrid design, though I'm questioning if they'll go with another off-the-shelf part such as Tegra Xavier, or Orin. Given their past history, I wonder if the next-gen Switch will end up being a custom SoC using the X1 as a base, but with souped up components, so maybe double, or triple the CPU cores (could even use newer A7x Cortex cores), and RAM, and a more powerful GPU core. This would help them I think reach full backwards compatibility. Even with a custom SoC, you could expect at least PS4-level performance, plus added feature sets, and the holy grail would be DLSS. This of course is provided they stick with nVidia, which given the current success of the Switch, they probably want that relationship to continue.

I just want them to re-release the Rogue Squadron games that were cancelled on Wii. And then throw in the first game to complete it as a Trilogy pack.

I did get Yojimbo, but none of the other bonus Aeons. I missed Anima because I was missing some items that I could only get upon beating a Dark Aeon (I think Dark Valefor?) And yeah, getting the PC version, and using mods would be great for that sort of thing.

As my previous post mentioned, I didn't really have issues with the combat system. I felt it was pretty streamlined, and since it was turn-based, but with the added benefit of being able to determine which character/monster attacks next is nice. Not to mention swapping out characters at will is nice, though In almost every single encounter, I would swap out characters in order to help them level up. That part got old after awhile. And the reason why I didn't care for the Sphere Grid is it just felt like it added a solution to a problem that didn't exist. I get that it allows a more dynamic approach to leveling up, so I'll give it that. You can sort of pick and choose how you want to progress. I guess for me, it would've been cooler if each character had their own bespoke sphere grids, but that would've also changed some of the fundamentals. The ability of having every character having the same abilities kind of breaks some of the strategies over time, but that's just me. I should've mentioned this earlier, so apologies, but I originally started this playthrough of FFX HD back in 2015 (not a typo), and only late last year I got back into it. I left off at the Calm Lands, which over time I felt I wasn't as far as I really was. So I was already 2/3rds to 3/4ths done with the game. Perhaps if I had restarted the game from the beginning, then it might've turned out differently? I still maintain that for an HD remaster, a New Game Plus mode should've been added (FFX-2 has it, so why not X?), plus the ability to skip-cut-scenes. I'm also kind of spoiled because of Xenoblade because in that I can save practically whenever, and wherever. It makes a more compelling case for pick-up and play, and since my ability to play games for extended periods isn't really a thing nowadays. That's where the bulk of my complaints come from concerning the "feeling dated" aspect. In that regard, it still feels old-school, and it's in line with other FF titles. Like I said, I love the music, I actually like the story (I'm getting Dan Simmons' Hyperion vibes actually now that I'm reading through those books), and the locations are cool. And thinking about it, from a traversing perspective, having the Airship late in the game to allow you to go to any previous area is a nice touch, and gives an overall nice sense of openworld-esque progression. I think I may want to sell my PS3 copy, and get it for PC, so if I want to go back to it, I can do on my future Steam Deck. I realize with my Switch, playing JRPGs in handheld, and/or laying on the couch is very relaxing. Maybe something I'll continue with other titles? Booting up my PS3 to play these for some reason just feel like a chore for some odd reason. I don't know. That's enough reflecting, and ranting for this thread. I'll continue progressing in FFX-2 for now.

Are you from the future?!

Love it.

I don't know how this'll be received among Final Fantasy fans, but after finishing FFX HD this past weekend, I doubt I'll play it again. I thoroughly enjoyed this back in the day on PS2, but nowadays, some of its mechanics have aged quite a bit, chief among which is the lack of a New Game + mode, which would've been hugely beneficial for completionists. Not to mention the fact you cannot skip cut-scenes are a massive drawback in this game (something I hadn't considered back then). There were several times where you save your game, walk several steps or more, reach a cut-scene that could last several minutes, fight a boss that kills you, and now you must restart the game from where you last saved, and go through the cut-scenes all over again. Lady Yunalesca was a bitch because of this. I think the battle system is good (I tend to prefer turn-based systems, though Xenoblade's I am a huge fan of), love the locales, and the music. The storyline is decent enough, but voice acting is typical 2000s acting in video games. Part of my issue is the lack of incentives. I wanted to get the Celestial weapons, but I apparently ended up far enough into the story when I got to the Airship, that it practically renders that almost impossible, or incredibly difficult because you'll then have to fight some Dark Aeons to even get some of the items. I was disappointed that if I got some of those items earlier, I would bypass those Dark Aeons. I even skipped the Omega Ruins compared to my PS2 playthrough because fuck that trying to beat the Omega Weapon with a shit ton more HP compared to OG NA release. There's also the Monster Arena, which just sounds like a huge undertaking without much benefit. The Celestial Weapons would be my only real thing that I would like to get (mostly for breaking the damage limit), but it just appears if you don't do certain things on time, you'll miss out on other opportunities, and the game becomes much harder to grind. I don't know. Am I completely out of line, or do some of you share a similar feeling? I just started playing FFX-2, another game I enjoyed back then, so we'll see if this is better received. At least level progression is more traditional compared to the Sphere Grid, which I am also not a huge fan of.

That does appear a bit worrying, given the Deck is suppose to launch next month. Then again, we could be seeing more of this in the coming weeks leading up to the launch of Deck, plus a steady increase in Steam Deck verifications throughout 2022. Interestingly, I'm curious why NONE of Valve's own titles are on this list. I guess my next question is how accurate is this list? That said, I have no intention on cancelling my reservation, and even if I do end up anyway, I'd wait until my queue comes up. Even if launch lineup of Steam Deck verified titles is small, maybe by Q2, compatibility will be much better. And besides, I expect tinkerers, homebrewers, and modders to have guides for installing Windows on it, Emulators, and of course the official Steam library for Proton will get better over time. I also can't wait to see how this'll work in terms of productivity for something like video editing, or photoshop because, why not? "Running Davinci Resolve on the Steam Deck!"

I almost forgot about that. I think it was 24 or 48 hours prior that verified Steam users who have had an account for at least 6 months or something before it was open to the public. So the likelihood of scalpers, at least initially might be reduced. I seem to recall some folks who previously did not have a Steam account were upset they could not get first dibs (probably because they were going to scalp it). And to top that off, your reservation is limited to one Deck per account, and I think even per address, so creating multiple accounts wouldn't work. I can't remember all the details off hand, but it appeared that Valve understood how to minimize scalpers/bots to at least give actual gamers first blood at reserving one. If only other companies did this for their GPUs... (outside of EVGA of course)

Better than listening to Elon Musk talking about his release dates for products...

The delay occurred due to the chip shortage, at least according to Valve themselves, which I'm inclined to believe in that. At the same time, it would allow them more time for compatibility with Proton, which has been the whole point of the system with SteamOS 3.0. I preordered a 512GB model, and mine was marked for Q1 2022, but once the delayed happened, that got bumped back to Q2 2022. I do believe there will be a fair amount of folks who will opt out of their reservation once their slot comes up, minus the scalpers whose only intention is to purchase one to flip it at a profit.

Reading up on the Aya Neo NEXT Advance, it looks fairly competitive on paper compared to the Deck, although it does have its own limitations. Using a Ryzen 7 5800U, it does sport double the cores/threads, but uses Vega 8 graphics, which is GCN architecture. In contrast, the Deck uses RDNA 2. On top that, the NEXT Advance uses LPDDR4X memory in dual-channel whereas the Deck is LPDDR5 in quad-channel (same quantity of ram at 16GB). That said, the top spec Next Pro does have a 32GB option. It does appear to have better bluetooth, newer Wifi module, the use of Hall effect sensors for the joysticks, fingerprint unlock, and like you mentioned a lot more storage space (not to mention it uses the standard 2280 nvme m.2 instead of the Deck's 2230), but at over twice the price, I find it difficult to prefer the Neo NEXT Advance over the Deck in this case. No doubt the extra CPU horsepower will help more open-world titles I'm sure, or strategy-based games, but in general, I think they'll be closer in real world power than not. It also does have more features, plus I think it has more I/O as well. Aya Neo feels more like a complete package as it comes across as a handheld gaming PC that could also be used for productivity. The Deck feels more like the Switch in that it's intended purpose is gaming. Either way, both devices look cool, and will undoubtedly perform very well. 2022 is looking exciting for handheld gaming-centric PCs.

Agreed. Not to say SS4 was bad as it had a lot of good moments, but it felt a step back compared to BFE. That said, I would argue if SS4 was simply a more optimized game, it would've been more fun, at least for me anyway. With that, I hope this standalone expansion has more optimizations in place.

Still on Q2 2022 for me. I've concluded there are three possible scenarios here: 1) I receive my Steam Deck before my queue position for an RTX 3060 ti 2) I receive an email notification for the RTX 3060 ti before my reservation for the Steam Deck 3) Through sheer luck, I win a Newegg shuffle for a new GPU before either of those I have no idea which one would happen first. I did, however, win a Newegg shuffle for a Core i7 12700k + DDR5 memory over a week ago, but I realized I didn't want that (plus the price was too high). So if I won the shuffle once, it's possible I could be selected again for a new GPU later on down the road. And this time, I'll only select GPUs (AMD or nVidia...or Intel if that gets added to the shuffle), and no CPUs. In the meantime, I'll keep on cracking with my backlog of games in anticipation.