General Discussion [ Page 66 ]

More PS4 announcements teaser

http://webassets.scea.com/ps4/media/fw_20may_bg_header.jpg

Sony is emailing today that there will be a "big announcement" about the PS4 at their E3 presentation. You can live stream it...

http://us.playstation.com/ps4/

There is also a teaser trailer showing an out of focus black box...

Card Hunter - FANTASy tacTICal browser goodness

See what I did there, with the word within words? I know... *sigh

The first time I got to play Card Hunter was at PAX Prime last year, and it was a polished treat. Turn-based, tactical RPG, designed as a board game, but played in your browser. It runs on Flash, and it's silky smooth. The team at Blue Manchu have been in closed beta since January this year, and are currently accepting beta applications.

www.cardhunter.com

I love the digitization of physical board games, but only when developed with great care. Card Hunter isn't a physical game (yet, I'm assuming), but it has that same tangible presence. The hand drawn, 3-Dimensional game pieces, and the pen & paper... Read All

The Firehose: Wolfenstein, Crawl + Risk of Rain

Kotaku released some very detailed images of Wolfenstein World Order. They look great and one image of a robot dog thing kind of reminds me of the mousers from Ninja Turtles, it might just be me though. :D

http://kotaku.com/new-wolfenstein-screens-show-that-life-is-hell-when-naz-505599439

Crawl is a interesting and free new Minecraft meets Legend of Grimrock style game. You play a physician put into someone's mind to help treat trauma thus proving that geek minds really are a maze of dungeons.

http://www.indiedb.com/games/crawl

Chucklefish is now publishing the new 2D sidescrolling rouge-like "Risk of Rain." Interesting to see the Starbound team take on the role of... Read All

A Boatload of Free PC Games

I'll admit, I am a sucker for free stuff. Not that free is always good mind you, but the price is right. Recently I stumbled across a game site that catalogs all the good free games on PC called Freeware Games. I wanted to share it with you because I had forgotten about some of the games on the list and I know some of you somewhat new to PC gaming and might want to try a few games on the list.

Some awesome games of notes:

Black Mesa(The Fan Recreation of the original Half-Life.), CaveStory, Super Mario Bros. X, Team Fortress 2, The Original Grand Theft Auto, DOTA 2, League of Legends, Dwarf Fortress, Lord of the Rings Online, Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall & Kings... Read All

Watch Out For Fireballs Kickstarter

Back this on Kickstarter!

Are you in Portland? We're going to do a live show at the PRGE! We need help to do it! I won't be obnoxious about this but consider helping out!

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/53695366/watch-out-for-fireballs-live-at-prge

Steam trading cards are a thing now

http://media.steampowered.com/steamcommunity/public//updates/tradingcards/02.png?v=2

It's been joked about for years that Steam is a game in and of itself-- much like Pokemon, you gotta catch em all. They had little contests around the major sales that helped support this claim, but now that's being kicked up a notch.

Currently in beta, Steam Trading Cards are virtual cards you earn while playing Steam games. Once you collect a set, you can turn them into a profile badge (like the "Pillar of the Community" badge from one of last year's sales) that will get you virtual items and XP toward your Steam level. Leveling up earns you other virtual items. Also, you can win coupons for other games, which is what's driving my interest.

It looks interesting. Steam... Read All

jdodson Admin wrote on 05/16/2013 at 01:02am

I think this is pretty neat. At some point hopefully you can play a game with these?

vdogmr25 wrote on 05/16/2013 at 01:39am

I'm not too big on the idea of a gamerscore. I generally don't care either way, but the ability to turn that into coupons or in-game items now and then actually makes me willing to work for these a bit.

scrypt Supporter wrote on 05/16/2013 at 03:28pm

This is something along the lines of what I thought Microsoft was initially going to do with their Gamerscore system. My local friends are very much completionists, though they aren't on Steam much, or at all. In either case, I don't think this would be something that would attract them, or compel them to play more. It seems a definite progression toward their living room experience, and if someone was to play toward 'leveling up' their profile, why not play on the system that gives you something for that, rather than just a number?

I think it's a cool idea, but will have to spend some time with it.
(just updated my Steam with a beta token/invite thingy. Nice that they assign a level based on what you've already accomplished, so you don't have to start from scratch. About to jump into Team Fortress 2 to see if any magic happens...)

scrypt Supporter wrote on 05/21/2013 at 04:46am

Okay, I've collected a few cards in the games that are available for collecting. Traded, and purchased from the Steam Market, some cards that I needed to complete a set... The whole system seems pretty damn cool. Play the games, and cards "drop" into your inventory while you are playing, up to a certain limit. Trade extras that you have, or sell on the Steam Market. When you have collected enough to have a set, you push a button to craft a badge for that card set. This crafting unlocks other items, such as graphic backdrops for your Steam profile, chat emoticons, even coupons for discounts on Steam games. I don't know if this will show up properly, but I'm linking a copy of my profile here, as a preview (check the "Favorite Group" unlock!):

http://steamcommunity.com/id/neverhouse/

Very interested to see what else they do with this. If (when) other developers jump on board with cards for their games, it's going to explode. So far, I'm impressed.

jdodson Admin wrote on 05/21/2013 at 06:37am

Awesome scrypt, what games does it drop cards for to start? Half-Life and Portal 2 only?

scrypt Supporter wrote on 05/21/2013 at 07:25am

Half Life 2, Portal 2, Counter Strike:GO, Team Fortress 2 and Don't Starve. For now, at least.

jdodson Admin wrote on 05/21/2013 at 03:02pm

Don't Starve huh? That may accelerate my acquisition of that one...

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 05/21/2013 at 05:32pm

Don't Starve is interesting. It's a roguelike-like survival world-building game.

jdodson Admin wrote on 05/21/2013 at 06:48pm

Yeah, I played it on a friends computer, it really is fun.

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 01/25/2014 at 05:16am

It is interesting. I'm probably a bit of a newb when it comes to Steam as I only have two games, Portal and Terraria. Guess how much I paid for both games.....that's right $0. I got Portal when I found out it was free. I spent 3 hours on it, I think, that's it. Terraria on the other hand, well I spent 159 hours on. It was interesting once I started playing Terraria that I noticed I had earn some of these cards based on Terraria. I may have but a few and it doesn't seem like I've earned any since. I'm really not sure what they're for, but it is interesting.

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 01/25/2014 at 02:31pm

How did you manage to only spend 3 hours on Portal?

jdodson Admin wrote on 01/25/2014 at 04:04pm

I think the game can be completed in three hours. That said, my first play through was much more than that.

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 01/25/2014 at 10:06pm

Hahaha, Travis, probably because I got so frustrated with it. Sometimes puzzle games make me feel so stupid.

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The Firehose: Planetary Annihilation, NES & PS2

Uber recently posted a livestream about the upcoming Planetary Annihilation. They talk about the game and show it off if you were interested in how it was shaping up!

http://uberent.com

To celebrate 25 years of Mega Man, Platinumfungi built a special tricked out backlit NES with the Blue Bombers theme.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.517465208290043.1073741828.305139316189301&type=1

Gamestop won't take any more PS2 trade-ins after June 1st. My only question is why they take them now, surely the used market on the PS2 is lessened or is it now a retro system?

http://www.joystiq.com/2013/05/05/gamestop-will-stop-taking-ps2-trade-ins-as-of-june-1/

An experiment: Best game of all time?

I'm going through a bit of a gaming funk. I honestly think I blame Bioshock Infinite for that a little bit for setting the bar too high. I just can't seem to get into any game I try to play these days.

So I ask you. What is your favorite game of all time? And please elaborate on why it's your favorite. I'll then start going down the list, playing each of your favorites that I can get access to. Even if I've just played it recently I'll replay it. I'll try to get the original version of anything that's been remade, and avoid emulators when possible to recreate the original experience. I also invite you all to join in the fun and play these with me, then we can have a... Read All

jdodson Admin wrote on 05/11/2013 at 04:52pm

E.T. heh. I had that on Atari, it was kind of fun except it only held my interest for minutes. Still, kind of a crappy charm to it.

I have thought much about the best game of all time, for me. I think the best game of all time has to be Tetris but I don't love Tetris, its only very good.

I guess it would have to be a game I come back to with regularity. Something that hit me and left and impression I can't shake. I guess... it would have to be.

The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening. Its like a good blend of short and good. Had some awesome bugs that let you warp around, the whole Thief/stealing items business was cool.

Second place is Final Fantasy IV. Same ish reasons for the most part.

scrypt Supporter wrote on 05/12/2013 at 07:57pm

This question (all time favorite game/music/book/movie...) always gives me a case of mild anxiety, in as much as I can never really decide, because of taste changes and my desire to focus on the present rather than the past. Then I think, "A favorite all-time game should be able to transcend change in taste/time," but I don't know if that's something I can cope with :). It's much easier for me to try to isolate games of a specific genre that stand out as favorites, but even then, the list would be too long for this project.

Uuuuuaaaaagh...! I'm going to have to go with Journey, as a singular all-time favorite. It embodies everything that I love about what video games can give. It gives you a sense of spacial freedom and discovery, and it wraps it all up in an eternal, unspoken story of time and community. Journey also has this great impression of classic games that I grew up with, while offering an absolutely beautiful, high-definition landscape. That, tied with Austin Wintory's musical scores, make this game very much a living, breathing thing.

Some of the games that I was weighing against, for the sake of perspective, in no particular order:

Fable 2
X-Wing
Bionic Commando (original NES, not the crappy remakes)
Ico
Beyond Good & Evil
Portal
World of Warcraft
Civilization (I or V)
Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
Warhammer 40K: Space Marine (seriously, I love this game)
Halo 3: ODST & Halo 4 (for multiplayer)
Skyrim

scrypt Supporter wrote on 05/12/2013 at 08:13pm

I forgot MYST!! Dammit! I had intentionally left off Bioshock Infinite, but that should be in there, too. And EVE online...

Thanks, Travis!!

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 05/12/2013 at 11:07pm

So, I may pick a few more out of your list because now I want to replay Portal, but so far Link's Awakening and Journey. I'm looking forward to those.

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 05/12/2013 at 11:07pm

I've played Journey before, but I'd certainly welcome replaying it. Such a beautiful game.

scrypt Supporter wrote on 05/13/2013 at 12:20am

I'll be going back to play it again, too. I also want to tackle Link's Awakening somehow. Don't think I ever actually played that one.

jdodson Admin wrote on 05/13/2013 at 12:24am

scrypt: Do it, Link's Awakening is great. Let me know how it turns out when you do :D

scrypt Supporter wrote on 05/13/2013 at 03:09am

Forgot that Link's Awakening was a Gameboy game. Is the 3DS version just as good?

jdodson Admin wrote on 05/13/2013 at 03:12am

I bet its based on Link's Awakening DX, which added a color dungeon and some other special stuff.

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 05/13/2013 at 04:53pm

Yes, the version on 3DS is a direct port of Link's Awakening DX.

scrypt Supporter wrote on 05/13/2013 at 11:06pm

Cool. I've been thinking of picking up a 3DS anyway!

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 05/15/2013 at 11:31pm

I had to think about this for a while, but one of my favorite games that I had forgotten about is Goldeneye 007 (for the 64). Really for the multiplayer though. The game was good enough, but the 4 player deathmatch games were so much fun back in the day!

jdodson Admin wrote on 05/16/2013 at 01:00am

Its a good game Adym!

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Ray's The Dead: Build Your Zombie Army!

Back this on Kickstarter!

"Ray’s the Dead is a game where YOU are the leader of the zombie army. It’s story driven gameplay will challenge you with a satisfying blend of action, tactics, puzzle, stealth, and adventure, all rolled into one fresh gaming experience. Sneak, smash, laugh, and moan your way through the last hurrah of the 1980’s as you take on the role of Ray, the newly risen zombie."

I like the idea of controlling a Zombie army and using it strategically to overcome challenges. Kind of cringed when I saw a Zombie bite a guys face but then again.... it was stylized cuteness :D

Top 25 Sports Games (Ranked by ESPN)

http://25.media.tumblr.com/ea9d308426d373c715f2a2138212aab0/tumblr_mhrm3qq8n91qa8sljo1_r2_500.jpg

http://espn.go.com/espn/playbook/story/_/id/9236225/jon-robinson-ranks-best-sports-video-games-all

There are some great games on this list!

I'm a little disappointed Bill Lambeer's Combat Basketball was left off the list though lol.