ShreddieMercury

Day 0 patch?

I realized I had $5 on the Microsoft store so I went ahead and got Fallout 3 anyway. It feels incredibly dated, but there is something really compelling about it and I've had a lot of fun with it today. I might not stick it out but I've definitely been enjoying it. I guess I'm craving some sort of action/rpg/adventure game to lose time in as it's getting colder and drearier but I don't know what to play. Any recommendations for games that scratch this same itch but that people still really like? Ideally something without complex stats/character builds/hardcore RPG elements, because I find that overwhelming and not a whole lot of fun. I appreciate the recommendations in this thread so far but I don't have a PC to game on, and I'm not big into base building/settlement/mgmt stuff as much.

I really appreciated the bit in that interview about GAAS, where he essentially says that he thinks non-GAAS games are likely healthier for game pass overall because he doesn't want to be selling a WoW-like subscription for one game. This is music to my ears, especially as the industry seems to be trending hard in that direction. It remains to be seen how microtransactions and battle-pass bullshit will creep into next-gen, but that's a hopeful outlook for single-player games as far as game pass goes.

I saw that these were steeply discounted on the Microsoft store (and New Vegas is on game pass) and was curious how they hold up. I played a little bit of Fallout 3 when it was released and enjoyed it but have never really sunk my teeth into these games. Are the backwards-compatible 360 versions of these games worth playing?

I'd be more excited if I was able to pre-order one, but even more than that if there was something essential to play. At this point I just really want to try the back-compatibility enhancements to see how SSX 3 looks.

I'm baffled by how it's somehow an issue to... think that racist online behavior is an issue? Rather than recognize that the insane, toxic, racist, misogynist, etc. environment of online video games should not be tolerated? What in the fuck is this thread. I don't give a shit how old they are, fuck racists, and more generally, fuck gamers.

Are the restocks just totally random, or has there been any warning from Microsoft or retailers about availability?

Dang, I'm wanting to get one but I just see "coming soon" now. @JPDunks4 Thanks for the heads up, I was wondering when pre-orders would be available again. I'll keep checking.

So... is this only in theaters? Or VOD also? I wanted to note that the director of this film made an exceptional short called AM1200 that you can watch for free: https://vimeo.com/102372269.

Funny you say that, because this last time I played it was on a PS4 Pro on "performance boost" mode. It is literally the only time I've ever been like, "oh holy shit, 60 fps". I can't think of any other time that a frame rate impressed me. I think it has to do with the sense of weight and scale maybe.

My experience mirrors @Bloodporne somewhat. I worked at Gamestop about a year after this came out. I remember that we only had one used copy and it still went for about $50. I took it home and played until about the 6th or 7th colossus and then put it down. I thought it was pretty great but it just didn't really make an impact. I tried to play it again a couple of years later and the same thing happened. Fast forward to the remake, and I quit after the 4th colossus, don't know why. Finally for some reason I picked it up again last year, played through the whole thing and became sort of obsessed with it - I beat it twice in a row and cleared many of the speed trials as well. I read just about everything I could about its development and theories about certain aspects of the world and the story. I now consider it near the top of my all-time favorite games. I think the reason for the false starts is that it requires a very particular mood to get into. It's basically an anti-modern game, which strips away every possible detail, and then refuses to empower the player at every turn. The point of the game is the pervasive sense of melancholy and solitude, mixed with moments of awe and wonder. I don't fault people for putting it down, but I will say that I was rewarded more for pushing through that initial barrier than I have been for any other game, even though it took 10+ years.

I did, I got it for Switch and it's pretty fun. It's well designed and feels good to play, but it's somewhat shallow and repetitive overall. It has a great art style and soundtrack, but I found that it wore thin towards the end. I would say go for it if you're interested, but probably wait for a sale if you can.

I just find it embarrassing that Jason Shreier is viewed as one of the premier games journalists when the quality of his writing is so poor. Even laying aside the fact that he's a pissy little baby that takes to the comments in his own articles to defend every perceived slight or disagreement, he's just a really mediocre writer rushing into scoops with abandon.

I haven't had the joy con drift, but I play primarily docked with a Pro Controller so I maybe just haven't used them enough. Like @Zaku3 I have definitely had connectivity problems, basically from day one. Also, random, weird battery readings sometimes where they'll say they are drained and then when I plug them back in they're full and it's fine. The joy con are definitely not as robustly built as the majority of Nintendo's hardware. Also, not joy con related, but my Switch's fan goes ham for a minute or two on startup and then calms down, but it's LOUD for the first little bit when I wake it up.

Prey, Dishonored 2, and Doom are on the shortlist of best games this generation, and other stuff like Wolfenstein and Evil Within 2 are similarly excellent if not quite top-tier. Having games of this caliber as exclusives/day-one for Gamepass Subscribers is monumental for MS.

Damn, this is insane. I thought that the long game Xbox has been playing was already starting to pay off handsomely, but this essentially makes Sony's next-gen strategy look like Blockbuster Video in comparison.

Great film. I'm friends with some of the filmmakers, and am actually in the credits NBD. The cut I saw was from about 6 months ago, and it sounds like lots of COVID-specific content was added before the official release, so I'll have to watch it again now that it's streaming.

I'm not sure, I've only been using the Shudder app. I have a Roku TV and an Apple TV, and it's part of the app on both. I haven't tried it through Prime, but I assume that it only shows up in the app.

I subscribed to Shudder recently, and first off I cannot recommend it enough if you enjoy horror/thriller/suspense movies. They have a really deep and well curated catalogue of great stuff, with some excellent original programming as well. But perhaps the best thing about it is "Shudder TV", which is essentially just a few tabs of their interface where they are constantly streaming something. This is an incredible feature, and lets you get sucked into a movie without the paralysis of choice that's so common to streaming. I don't have cable anymore, so the ability to just have something playing that I can check out has been fantastic, and has lead to me watching a few things that I definitely wouldn't have otherwise. Why haven't all streaming services done something similar? I feel like it's a no-brainer, and I'm sure they could plug in their original content or elevate stuff that they want people to see when they boot it up.

All of the recent PS5 information has made me realize how strong Microsoft's position may be going into this next generation. The expense of new games, controllers, and consoles makes Game Pass that much more appealing. Couple that with it being the most powerful possible way to play the majority of games on consoles, and I'm thinking that an Xbox is a much more solid proposition than it has been for years. Sony will of course have a handful of dynamite exclusives, but big picture wise, an Xbox Series X may be a savvier purchase. I don't really need a console at launch, but the past several days has me thinking much harder about what I'll eventually get.

Anybody playing on Switch? I'm tempted but am curious about performance.

Is the combat in this game more fun than in Bastion and Transistor? I didn't enjoy those games too much.

It's weird, I think games haven't ever been better, but I'm also not feeling too great about the future. The split between indie and AAAA is growing more severe, MTX and GaaS will continue to ramp up, and the homogenization of most big-budget narrative/open-world games makes them feel interchangeable. I've had some of my best experiences gaming in the past 5-6 years, but also portend a rather bleak future for where games might go as they continue to overtake other forms of media in popularity and revenue. I think the best stuff will likely come from unexpected places next-gen. The messy and creative spirit of video games is still alive, it's just a bit harder to find now.

Lots of really fun announcements in this Direct, out of nowhere.

available later today?? wtf is happening