Video Game News and Miscellany

GasBandit

Staff member
When EA announces a game is free-to-play out of the gate, I take it as a bad sign though.

If they thought they could sell it, they would.
 
Because what we learned from the disaster that was C&C4 is, that players want more multiplayer focus. Djeezus. They really hate my money, don't they?
 
It's funny, Rock Paper Shotgun called the PC version of Darksiders 2 a shitty, barebones console port. Everywhere else is calling the PC version the best because since it's so barebones, it runs really well unlike the 360 and PS3 versions which suffer some shitty framerate issues.
 
It's funny, Rock Paper Shotgun called the PC version of Darksiders 2 a shitty, barebones console port. Everywhere else is calling the PC version the best because since it's so barebones, it runs really well unlike the 360 and PS3 versions which suffer some shitty framerate issues.
I've looked at the pc port. For a pc game, it's shitty, but still has a better framerate due to being on pc
 
"As 1980s sci-fi's vision of space is awesome, so permadeath is terrifying. Combine the two and you have Routine, a first-person exploration game set aboard a lunar base where something has gone terribly, terribly wrong and you're the poor sap who has to figure out what. Take care, as there are no health packs and death is permanent."
Whelp. I'm probably never playing it then. I love the idea of that kind of thing but I hate it in reality. I don't want to play 3/4 of a game then die and have to start over.

Because guess what, I probably never will.
 
"As 1980s sci-fi's vision of space is awesome, so permadeath is terrifying. Combine the two and you have Routine, a first-person exploration game set aboard a lunar base where something has gone terribly, terribly wrong and you're the poor sap who has to figure out what. Take care, as there are no health packs and death is permanent."
Whelp. I'm probably never playing it then. I love the idea of that kind of thing but I hate it in reality. I don't want to play 3/4 of a game then die and have to start over.

Because guess what, I probably never will.
At least make it an option that you can turn off. The old school games with permadeath were fine because the game was short. If you had to start over, you didn't lose a few dozen hours of your life. Nowadays that would be aggravating as all hell.
 
O

Overflight

http://gameological.com/2012/08/partners-in-arms/

But EA takes the realism factor further by allowing players to test out a photorealistic replica of, for example, the TAC-300 sniper rifle. Like the way the gun drops terrorists or racks up headshots in multiplayer? Feel free to visit Warfighter’s official website and click on a sponsored link that will take you to McMillan, the manufacturer of the gun. There you may purchase a real-life TAC-300to your own specification (night-vision kit is optional!) and have it shipped to your local federally licensed gun dealer for pickup.
There are a host of other guns, knives, scopes, and weapon accessory companies listed as “partners” onthe website for Warfighter. (There are 11 listed at time of writing, and EA says they’re revealing a new partner each week.) In October, you’ll be able to purchase a limited editionMedal Of Honor: Warfighter tomahawkfor $75 from SOG Knives that features “an extended cutting head.” It’s certainly a bit more intense than, say, the pewter dragon from theSkyrim Collector’s Edition.
In EA’s defense, the company has created Project Honor, a program that promises to donate money from Medal Of Honor-themed merchandise sold in their partners’ respective stores to charities like the Navy SEAL Foundation and the Special Operations Warrior Foundation. Honoring the military is a worthy cause, but EA is still doing so by promoting weapons that lead to 10,000 homicides on average a year in the United States.
Of course, the realism that military shooters portray tends to be an aesthetic one. The shooting galleries ofMedal Of HonorandCall Of Dutyaren’t much like real soldiering—as pointed out by theOnionparody “Ultra-Realistic Modern Warfare Game Features Awaiting Orders, Repairing Trucks.”
But try telling that to my 13-year-old nephew, who got kicked out of school after getting caught with a semi-automatic BB gun in his backpack. It’s not a coincidence that the gun resembles his favorite weapon fromModern Warfare 3. Call Of Dutyhas fostered an obsession with all things guns and military for him. He can rattle off obscure details about the clip size and firing range of assault rifles, and he says he wants to serve as a Navy SEAL after graduating high school. Sure, his parents shouldn’t have let him start playing M-rated military shooters at age 10, but listening to all of the prepubescent squeals during a usual multiplayer match, I know he’s not the exception to the rule.
Goddamn it EA. It's shit like this that causes guys like Jack Thompson to run amuck.:facepalm::facepalm::facepalm::facepalm::facepalm::facepalm:
 
http://gameological.com/2012/08/partners-in-arms/
Goddamn it EA. It's shit like this that causes guys like Jack Thompson to run amuck.:facepalm::facepalm::facepalm::facepalm::facepalm::facepalm:
Yeah, that's a bit much. If the only people who played M-rated games were truly 18 or older, it would just seem kind of a tasteless money-grab, but as long as that isn't the case, I think more discerning advertising touch would be much more appropriate.

Not to mention, now it just feels like they're making Warfighter to sell guns and military-wannabe gear instead of the game.
 
At least make it an option that you can turn off. The old school games with permadeath were fine because the game was short. If you had to start over, you didn't lose a few dozen hours of your life. Nowadays that would be aggravating as all hell.
That is exactly how I feel about it. Give me an option. I play games for enjoyment not because I hate myself and have tons of time to kill.
 
What exactly is shitty about it?
The game is almost identical to the console version. This means that it isn't "worse" than that version, but if compared to real pc games, it doesn't hold up. Poor mouse support, textures stuck at 720p (and half the game won't even,upscale), no config options to speak of, even v-sync doesn't work unless you force it through your video card. The only saving grace is remappable keys, so I can't say they didn't do -anything- for the port, just that it's a standard poorly ported console game.

Compare that to, say, Sleeping Dogs, which launched with a fully configurable graphics options, full mouse and keyboard support (even if the game does still benefit from an analog stick) and a downloadable high res texture pack from SquareEnix right out of the gate.
 
Hmm, that's disappointing. I don't care so much about keyboard/mouse for an action RPG (just like how KBM will always be better for shooters, dual-stick analog controllers seem far and away superior for 3rd-person action platformers, so I have a gamepad), but not bothering to release a PC version of the game that actually takes advantage of what PC gaming is good for just seems lazy.
 
The game is almost identical to the console version. This means that it isn't "worse" than that version, but if compared to real pc games, it doesn't hold up. Poor mouse support, textures stuck at 720p (and half the game won't even,upscale), no config options to speak of, even v-sync doesn't work unless you force it through your video card. The only saving grace is remappable keys, so I can't say they didn't do -anything- for the port, just that it's a standard poorly ported console game.

Compare that to, say, Sleeping Dogs, which launched with a fully configurable graphics options, full mouse and keyboard support (even if the game does still benefit from an analog stick) and a downloadable high res texture pack from SquareEnix right out of the gate.
Given the cartoonish style of the game, I would argue that adding those features would not add anything, graphics-wise. Shitty is FAR to strong a word. Compare to ME 1 which WAS a shitty port with horrible textures.

As for mouse and keyboard support I would say that a console based game such as this is really meant to be played with a gamepad anyway.
 
Given the cartoonish style of the game, I would argue that adding those features would not add anything, graphics-wise. Shitty is FAR to strong a word. Compare to ME 1 which WAS a shitty port with horrible textures.

As for mouse and keyboard support I would say that a console based game such as this is really meant to be played with a gamepad anyway.
The game has a beautiful aesthetic, but it's marred by the low res textures. Cartoony style is not enhanced by blurry picture and artifacting. See: Okami HD
 
Given the cartoonish style of the game, I would argue that adding those features would not add anything, graphics-wise. Shitty is FAR to strong a word. Compare to ME 1 which WAS a shitty port with horrible textures.

As for mouse and keyboard support I would say that a console based game such as this is really meant to be played with a gamepad anyway.
Mass Effect had a redesigned UI and other than the Garrus face bug, which they never fucking fixed, the textures were way better than the 360's. So, it wasn't a great port, but man, after the technical mess ME was on 360, it was nice.
 
Well, as someone who's logged about 7 hours into it, it looks gorgeous .
I'm glad you like it. It's a good game. I just think it's a shitty effort for the PC port.

The last Zelda game on Wii looked really good for a Wii game, but if it were ever released on PS3 (Yeah, I know, that would never happen) people would be pissed if it looked exactly the same.
 
3DS xl came out today. I will say the screen is intimidating in size for a Nintendo handheld. The "Home" music reminds me of the save room music from the first Resident Evil game.

Nintendo seems to have wisely coordinated their handheld and console interfaces like Sony did with the PSP and PS3. This thing is like having a little Wii in your pocket... only more powerful. Wow, that's pathetic.

3D is stupid on both normal and xl size. You have to hold this thing perfectly still or else the LCD fucks up. Better to just have it turned off.

My cousins better not lose these when they go on vacation today, but then, it was their money and their moms', not mine.
 
They're getting pretty advanced, so I wouldn't be surprised.

I know there are hack-cartridges that you can fill with emulators and roms and then put into the 3DS like a regular game.
 
I've never had any trouble using the 3D on a 3DS. The viewing angle is pretty forgivable, so long as you can sit relatively still. If you can't go 10 seconds without Michael J Foxing, then yeah, might as well turn it off.

Now, as for whether that 3D ever adds anything to the game, that's debatable. It does look really nice in some cases, but like all new things, some developers have a tendency of overusing their new toy.
 
Here's how I see the 3D in-game with Zelda:

Cool during cutscenes. Pointless during regular stuff. Dizzying when doing jumping parts. Eyebleed-feeling 100% of the time.
 
Here's how I see the 3D in-game with Zelda:

Cool during cutscenes. Pointless during regular stuff. Dizzying when doing jumping parts. Eyebleed-feeling 100% of the time.
I actually really liked the 3D in Ocarina of Time. It never hurt my eyes or made me dizzy, so maybe we just have differing thresholds for 3D comfort. I can turn the slider nearly all the way up without ever feeling any eyestrain.

My number one complaint is that turning on the 3D turns off the anti-aliasing. Why can't we have both :(
 
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