ShreddieMercury

Have you considered addressing the issue with her directly? I know that it'll be very uncomfortable, but that's probably your best bet. If you're considerate about how you approach the conversation, she'll probably adjust her behavior (or at least be more cognizant about when and where she does it), and you likely won't have to disrupt or threaten your working relationship with her. If you're stuck sitting where you are for the near future, the least productive thing would be to do something that could breed hostility in your work environment. You could also request to be moved, but it sounds like that might not be an option.

This contradicts what Quantum Break taught me about time, which is that time is an egg and the time egg is fucked.

I replayed Alan Wake last year and really loved it all over again. I actually found it less flawed upon reply than I did initially.

I don't think this needs to be an either/or distinction - there have been plenty of incredible AAA games this gen. I've absolutely loved Wolfenstein, Dishonored, Resident Evil 2, God of War, Batman, etc. I think the general point that @JosephManderley and others are making is that there are lots of unique experiences and risks taken in the indie space that aren't necessarily translated to the AAA arena, and many people have begun to prefer these kinds of games. Sure, there are too many pixel-art-2D-metroidvania games to count, but there are also indie games of astounding emotional and creative depth, the likes of which I haven't seen in any big-budget game. I view it similarly to the film business - the market for middle budget movies is evaporating, so you're left choosing between big-budget (often times) run-of-the-mill spectacle, and micro-budget indie fare. A good game is a good game regardless of its budget, so we don't necessarily need to pick sides. The topic is very relatable to me because I began to feel this way even towards the end of the last generation. Oddly enough the Wii-U rekindled my love for games, which I don't believe is an opinion lots of people share.

Definitely not just you. Outside of Nintendo's first party offerings, AAA games generally feel the same to me as they did 10 years ago, only more polished and graphically detailed. I also think that games are more heavily padded now, meaning that you might have to spend 20+ hours to finish something that has about 10 hours of truly interesting content. The excessive padding has really driven me towards shorter, more concise experiences. Something like Inside, for example, is an incredible experience that ends as soon as it exhausts its best ideas. As far as recent indies, I'll also plug Outer Wilds again, because that is an astonishing game that I can't believe is only $25. One of, if not the best, gaming experience that I think I've ever had.

I was going to create a separate thread to express how good I think Outer Wilds is, but I suppose I'll just put my thoughts here. I agree with Jason Shreier, and I really don't think that this sort of praise is exaggerated or plagued by recency bias. Outer Wilds is perhaps the most captivating video game I've ever played, and I would place it high on the list of best pieces of art I've ever experienced. It's a shame that the conversation is dominated by the fact that this is an EGS exclusive, because this game deserves as wide of an audience as possible. I'm guessing that it's not clicking with people because it is completely self-guided, and it can be frustrating and overwhelming at the start. But it takes barely any time at all to understand how special it is - pick a planet to explore, and you will soon find something (a physical phenomenon, a piece of story, or a captivating clue) that snaps perfectly into this clockwork universe. It's reminiscent of Breath of the Wild in the sense that no matter where you go, you will stumble upon something fascinating along the way. I don't want to spoil anything here, but I've had more moments of awe, terror, and emotional resonance in Outer Wilds than I ever have playing a video game. I doubt that there will be a better game than Outer Wilds this year, and we'd be lucky to get another game of this caliber any time soon.

I'm a huge fan of Remedy's games. Max Payne 2 and Alan Wake are high up on my all-time favorites list. I haven't played Quantum Break, but I just got an Xbox so I'll remedy that soon.

Luigi's Mansion 3 Control Sayonara Wild Hearts

I watched the first episode of this over the weekend, and it's essentially what you'd expect Refn to do with around 15 hours and seemingly tons of creative control. If you didn't like Only God Forgives, you will not enjoy this at all, because it's an extension of Refn's languorous and oppressive style. It's extremely slow, beautifully shot, and most of the characters are expressionless outside of the intense bursts of violence. It's reminiscent of the Twin Peaks reboot, but stripped of any camp or humor. It's amazing, is what I'm saying.

Spider-Man is a bunch of games you've already played but with Spider-Man in it. Tropical Freeze is one of the best platformers ever made, and is a complete audio/visual/aesthetic triumph. If I didn't still have it on Wii-U, I would buy it again for $60 on Switch without batting an eye.

I love that the first reply is someone concerned about "moral guardians encroaching on my hobbies". Fucking gamers. Thanks for sharing these, because I think they do a good job of highlighting the effects that "modern warfare" has on people besides making them feel slightly pensive during the next loading screen. The more realistic games get, the less I find myself wanting to play shooters. I remember being fairly turned off by Max Payne 3 because the damage and physics were so realistic that it began to make me queasy. Maybe there is a way to challenge perceptions of warfare and combat via a video game, but I have my doubts about CoD being the franchise to do it.

It's sort of ambiguous at this point, but what is the likelihood of being able to play "next-gen" games on current Xbox hardware? I don't care much about specs or frame rate, because most stuff I see is indistinguishable to my eye, save for the tiniest details. If I can conceivably play games in the future via a combination of Game Pass and X Cloud, then I'll just get a One S and be done with it.

Devolver has an incredible track record, so I'm interested in anything that they put out. Almost cut myself on all of that edge in the Devolver Direct.

Game Pass will be the reason that I get an Xbox instead of a Playstation the next time I buy a console. Most of my favorite games are third party, so exclusive games don't do a lot for me, and I usually only play through games once before selling/trading them. Being able to drop $10 a month to play one or two games that might cost $30 or $60 if I purchased them at retail is a no-brainer, and the influx of interesting indie games is a huge plus - that's what I primarily play anyway.

I live in Colorado and am offended by how interesting they made Colorado Springs look.

I don't have an Xbox but Game Pass has me considering getting one - everything that I want to play seems to be on there.

Can somebody with game pass confirm if it's as amazing a deal as it seems?

Keanu Reeves saying "CYBERPUNNNNK!!" is the video game highlight of the year.

Is the issue that there are leaks, or that the people complaining about them have the self control of a child? How hard is it to just not look at this stuff?

It's a good game. I played it without knowledge of the first two, and it does a really great job of recapping the story in way that feels natural and cinematic. The gameplay can be rough around the edges, and the shooting I found to be sluggish overall, but the environment and the atmosphere are really top-notch, and despite the awkward and stilted dialogue, it's an interesting and well-told story. If you approach it with the understanding that it's an ambitious and creative but flawed game, you'll have a great time.

This is equal parts fascinating and depressing. Left 4 Dead and Portal are two of my absolute favorite games, and I'd long considered myself an acolyte of Valve before they discovered where the real money was. I just read another article about this for an organizational design class that I'm taking, and the impression is very similar to what the previous employee relayed about their structure - the lack of formal authority or control masks a very real power structure that's exploited at the whims of a few powerful individuals. The article also mentions that this flat hierarchy tends to produce higher rates of sexual harassment, and asserts that the same flexible org structures may contribute to the culture of predation that's so prevalent in the entertainment industry at large.

Wait, is this supposed to happen?? I love The Evil Within 2!

There's seemingly a dearth of interesting news at this year's E3, but I'm always in interested in what sort of surprise/shadow releases might happen during the conference. What are everybody's bets on this? Do you anticipate any exciting releases that coincide with any of the presentations? There's a rumor that Cadence of Hyrule may be released, and I'd be super excited about that.

Have you played Ape Out? It's a top down action game and plays similarly to Hotline, but I liked it much, much more.

I just finished another replay of Wolfenstein: The New Order, and am now onto The New Colossus again. I saved Wyatt this time, because in my initial playthroughs I chose Fergus. I was again amazed at how moving I find the story, music, and performances in these games. Lots of modern games strive for realism to deliver a cinematic experience, but end up feeling less like video games and more like mediocre movies that you occasionally get to control (The Last of Us). Wolfenstein wholeheartedly embraces that it's a video game and is not afraid to lean into its own absurdity, but at the same time treats its characters and story in a very grounded and emotionally mature manner. This gives the games an incredibly bizarre tone, and it's miraculous that Machinegames is in total control of it the entire way through. The Coen brothers remarked in an interview that successful direction really boils down to tone control, and by that metric, these games are as successful as it gets. I've seen others remark about the gameplay not being up to par, and I have to say I disagree. I find the gunplay to be beefy, tactical, and very fun. The level design is sometimes a bit too simple, but I think both games feel great to play. They are on my shortlist for favorite games this gen.