It's the cereal aisle conundrum. I can never decide what cereal to buy. You walk into this massive aisle of delicious, grainy goodness, and there are so many choices, what do you pick?
I was faced with this recently with Steam. I finally broke down and started organizing things into categories: Currently playing, coming up next, waiting for DLC, stuff I'll never stop playing, Completed, Meh, etc. This is far less daunting. I put everything I have a currently open game in under "currently playing," and it almost immediately became far less daunting. Thinking about what I wanted to play soon and getting a small category makes me look forward to the next few months.
Coming home from work, wanting to unwind, and being greeted by a massive alphabetical list presents a decision you have to make, which takes away from the fun a bit.
I do think this was better when we were kids. One, NES games were generally short. I've cut SMB1 down to an under 7 minutes speedrun (certainly not worthy of the near sub-5 minute mark speedruns), and even the substantial SMB3 can be completed in a day without warping. Games these days are massive undertakings, which means you don't really play many of them more than once. Plus, there weren't Steam sales back in the day, and we weren't working for our money, so we had to depend on allowances or gifts for our games.
I'm beginning to ramble a bit, but I'll use an argument my history teacher used in high school to explain the efficiency of laws-- they're like tomatoes. When everyone around grows their own tomatoes, and the weather is perfect, nobody will pay more than a few cents for a tomato. When the weather is bad, crops aren't great, and fewer people grow them, their value increases. The same can be said for laws-- a few really good laws will be respected far more than a complex maelstrom of legal red tape and vague speech. The same can also be said for games-- if you have a few good games, you'll appreciate them far more than if you have your pick of whatever is available.
Also, I want that entire wall of games pictured. *drool*
Tell me about it. I only recently started paying attention to Steam sales and I know I went overboard last summer. One of these days, I'll quit acquiring games faster than I can play through them... Or not.
*raises hand*
Guilty as well.
Thanks to the Humble Bundles and the Steam seasonal sales, I have a glut of games, many of which I will probably never play. On the PS3, Sony throws older titles, and occasionally some newer ones, at PS+ subscribers, so that collection has grown.
GameStop has been my friend and nemesis for years. I have this mantra: "No matter how amazing the game at launch, one day it will be $30." While true, when 40 of those titles go to $30 in the same week, this would leave me staring at the used games wall blankly for 30-45 minutes unable to decide what I would take home.
@panickedthumb Thank you for the tip on organizing my library in Steam. That'll help a lot.
Your point about gameplay time is a great one. It's one that I've been ranting about to my wife lately. Sometime in the last 15 years, hours of gameplay became a marketing term; a number to be used to let us know THIS game was better. Some recent examples I can give: Mass Effect 3, Assassins Creed: Brotherhood, Batman: Arkham City and Darksiders II. All three of those titles require logging several hours of gameplay WITHOUT engaging side quests. Need for Speed: Most Wanted has a challenge, for all 41 (46 with DLC) vehicles, awarded after 10 hours of driving.
So, it's tough to find time to play them all. For the most part, I play one big title at a time until I've completed it.
@beanismyname I agree, it is hard to find time to play them all. I usually set aside a few hours per week, but this week wasn't kind to that. :D
After finding too many barely played games on my computer some time ago I seriously cut back on game spending. And I'm finding my time very precious now a days, this limits the amount I'm willing to allocate to computer games.
@MoonWyrd I'm there right now. I have more than enough games to keep me busy for the next few years solid. Time to put the spending on hold.
Spending on hold?? Dude, how will publishers get that 5th yacht?
By selling off a development studio that made a game we all enjoyed 6 months ago...or that was released a week ago. That's worked for EA.
EA.... yeah don't get me started on them.
I've been rather curious as to how Valve intended to implement a Steambox. Realistically, it's not too hard to convert a game over from win to linux, but will it be worth it for the game producers? Of course there is always the very outside chance that Valve will be building a custom emulator on the back end of Steam. That would be tricky as all hell, but for the price of a Steambox (which isn't looking too cheap) it could be feasible. No matter which way it falls, as a PC gamer this situation will work out to my benefit.
Oh. Obligatory Half Life 3 comment.
Steambox in 2013. 2+0+1+3=6. 6/2=3. Half-Life 3 confirmed!
Seriously though, one thing they could do for *some* Windows games is to have custom Wine configs. Not all games would work like this, of course. It would be similar to what GOG does with DOSBox, and what gogonlinux does for GOG games as well, but on a bigger scale. I think they're pushing pretty hard for native Linux support though (or at least developer supported Wine support, like with Psychonauts) from comments I've read from Gabe.
I feel like they're holding their cards until an official Dota 2 release and another large release so they can turn around and say, "Look what we can do. Work with us and this will all be yours."
I seriously wouldn't be surprised if it was Half-Life 3. I would squeal like a little schoolgirl, but I wouldn't be surprised. A Blue Box would be awesome. Half-Life 3, Portal 3, Team Fortress 3, and Left 4 Dead 3, but that's surely far off.
What would be highly likely is "Buy this and receive our entire catalog for free."
Its really about if the platform gains traction enough to warrant attention for a developer or publisher. In reality, the PS3 is a low powered PC with Open GL etc and some Sony stuff included. It isn't too nuts to port that kind of game to Linux beyond how hard it would be to port it to the PS3 or XBox or whatever. I mean games now days are written with PC, PS3, Xbox & Mac in mind.
My bet is that the Steam box will gain traction because Steam is THE platform for PC games. Why not the console too? It makes a obligatory PSX or XBox 1080 less relevant if gamers have a PC and a Steam box. In a way, I wonder if Valve will obliterate the competition. I mean, it is a possibility I guess.
Anyways also consider making the game available on PC and Steam box might not mean Desktop Linux to a publisher. Especially if Valve ships a non x86 chip in the Steam box. But whatevs in most cases I bet a Linux port would come too. Or maybe I just hope :D
The next few years should be awesome and right now I am holding off on ANY console choices until I see what Valve does. Even if its just a way to get Portal 3 and music, it might be good enough for me.
This: http://cheerfulghost.com/panickedthumb/posts/881
But also: Starbound. Imagine Terraria with multiple planets to explore.
Hmm...
Probably...
Sir You Are Being Hunted, Routine, Watch Dogs, The Witness, Among the Sleep, Last of Us, Spy Party (fucking FINALLY), Lifeless Planet, Mech Warrior Online (even though you can play it now, it's still technically only in beta),
I could probably do this all day. Those. We'll stick with that list for now.
I forgot about Sir You Are Being Hunted. That looks like such a blast.
Dark Souls 2, first and foremost, then the Edmund McMillen stuff.
Planetary Annihilation. Other than that, we'll have to wait and see.
Awesome, good list of things coming out for sure. Doom 4 might be a stretch but it would be awesome if iD could pull it off.
Perhaps some Fallout news soon?
http://i.imgur.com/DawSi.jpg
Ohhhh, that's good news. Hopefully they get someone good on Fallout 4.
I'm curious as to what that Fallout news actually means. Realistically I will play whatever Fallout game they put infront of me because I'm a huge Fallout fanboy. However I'd like a new, distinct and fresh location. So either they better have a good reason for him to be in this new location or we're back in DC, which I don't really want.
I have heard rumblings about Fallout Boston... Let me see...
Here is the bit:
http://cheerfulghost.com/jdodson/posts/483
@SignalWarden, I agree, DC was awesome but I am looking forward to some new awesome location.
I've heard today that it may be news about a movie, not a new game. Don't know how I feel about that.
To me, the writers are more important than the location. It's my favorite game world, I love it. I want to drink it up. But it needs better writing than Fallout 3, I think.
A movie? Interesting, not sure I am interested in that...
But, you know, I am watching In the Name of the King the Dungeon Siege Movie and its not terrible, just pretty bad. I mean, they used a good camera but the dialog is really sub par.
Haven't seen Burt Reynolds in a film in quite some time....
Keep in mind, I actually loved Fallout 3. I just like 1, 2 and New Vegas more. I'd watch a movie, hopefully it wouldn't be a Uwe Bowl nightmare.
I am going to save the majority of my Dungeon Siege Movie review for a later post(OH YES, PREPARE YOURSELF) but its not technically a nightmare if you dig camp and OH BOY this movie has camp. Unintentionally I am sure, but wow, its so... Laugh out loud funny at times and then at other times the visuals are stunning.
Oh and and I have planned to Dive into New Vegas this year, totally in my Steam queue and on my list.
I am torn between 3 and New Vegas. I think whichever one I'm playing is my favorite of the two. The factions and plot are better in New Vegas (far better) but the world of Fallout 3 is so incredible. If Obsidian had set up all the quests and plot and such, and then Bethesda built the world around it, it would be perfect.
I wish the world of Fallout 3 wasn't 60% subway tunnel. The other thing New Vegas has going for it is companions/characters. The companions in FO3 were trash. In New Vegas, each was an interesting character.
I did like exploring DC, however.
Fawkes in F3 was awesome. I loved his story and how overpowered he is. His story was one of the most compelling game elements to me in the last few years. It was awesome.
I really liked Dogmeat my only minor quip is that he was a dog and barked and growled all the time, that said loved having him in my party.
There has still been talk about the Fallout MMO but I don't think this is related. I would be really surprised if this info were related to a movie, simply because Erik Dellums wouldn't make sense to actually play Three Dog on film. There is also speculation that this game will take the Final Fantasy route and be Fallout 3 II and not Fallout 4, which would explain why it is back in DC, instead of a new location.
I could totally handle Fallout 3 II.
Fawkes was the only companion with any development in that game. Fawkes is neat but I actually don't like how overpowered he is. Compare, however, the bandit you meet in the first town with anyone from New Vegas. Actually, you haven't played New Vegas! Imagine 8 companions with as much depth and nuance as Fawkes, with the added benefit of quests attached to each of them that upgrade them.
The only issue with the companions in New Vegas was that so many of their quests were buggy. I loved it but never being able to upgrade Raul in multiple games was really disappointing. I think if Obsidian had another 4 or 5 months to iron out some issues it would have been so much better.
But yeah, each of the companions is awesome in his/her/it's own way, and the quest lines are complex and interesting. I also like that, unless you're playing on Hardcore, the companions are marked as essential so they just get knocked out rather than dying. And the companion wheel adds so much more control. I was annoyed with the functionality of the companions in Fallout 3 so I never used them. I never go without companions in New Vegas (except in Casinos since they can permanently delete companions' default weapons).
I rolled with Fawkes some, but opted out because of how OP he was. Dogmeat and I went through the whole game together but it was janky at times.
One thing that got me about Dogmeat, Rex, and every dog in Skyrim (yes, it's been a problem for that long) is that they ALWAYS stand in doorways. I once had to reload a save in Skyrim because of a stupid dog.
Yeah they do that. I think I did it mostly because I liked the company. The Capitol wasteland was pretty large and going into tunnels by myself wasn't awesome.
Ooooh shiny. I like what I'm hearing there.
Those are interesting world building bits but dialog/writing is still super important. I can imagine that being great but I can also imagine it being clumsy. I think about something like the PS2 spinoff Fallout game which was fine from a lore perspective but the writing was atrocious and it got disavowed quick.
SimCity is the first big game of 2013 for me. The multiplayer looks like it will be a blast and I have some friends that I think will get a lot of fun out of working on a region together.
SimCity does look really great. I still haven't made the leap to Origins yet but for this game I may very well.
Hadn't heard about the multi-player, that sounds really fun, co-op building would be fun.
This game is totally strange. That said, if one was on some hardcore drugs on the way into a club I could see it playing out like this. Interesting mechanics and game.
I don't think you would see this from EA so its good Indie Games exist :D
Yeah. I like to do quick plays for games that aren't really deep enough to warrant a review. I just needed to do something with this game because it was so damn weird. Effective, but weird. Honestly, I kind of loved it.
That makes sense. The game is totally unique.
I sort of feel that way about stepping back to play FF2(US) this year. I kind of just have to do it again.
That was kinda rad.
I wonder what kind of drugs the player was on? Acid or some such?
Quite enjoyable. It would be a bit pretentious to complain about paradoxes in this wouldn't it ;)
No. That's totally geek-ceptible.
I liked how she was "I can't tell you about the future" and then immediately did. That's prob how that would work with most people and I generally don't like that mechanic in other shows/films.
How have I never seen this? It's on my IGN channel on Plex too. Dammit. Time to watch the whole first season.
:D It definitely opens up over the season to something really fun.
Yeah, Signal, be prepared for some slow moving at first, but the third episode (I think) it starts getting really good.
Awesome video @SignalWarden, thanks for posting! Hawker looks totally badass, I just put it on my radar. Like many I haven't played a Mech shooter since Mechwarrior on PC and SNES.
I was pretty impressed that you mentioned the people online were nice. That would definitely put Hawken in a place above other muiltiplayer games if that was how the game community was compared to other games like DoTA 2 :)
Also interesting they went with live action cut scenes, they looked well filmed but I don't see that a lot these days.
Looking forward to your next video!
Thanks! The live action is actually from an upcoming web series. They don't have much story in game. They are relying on a web series (which I think is being produced by Warner) and some graphic novels (I think the same team that did the GoW graphics) to tell the back story. I'm looking forward to it, but it is kind of a poor way to get story attached to a game.
And yeah, there is no community as vile as the Dota/HoN/LoL community. And I am a longtime DotA/LoL/Dota 2 player, so it's experience talking.
Thanks for explaining that, the way you cut it into the video it was pretty seamless :D
I agree with you, I would weave the narrative in the game as well.
That was a super cool interview. As a music lover, I totally enjoyed reading about how he experimented and created! Now I have to check out the games that he's scored!
Sword & Sworcery is available on Android now and its fantastic.
Here is "The Cloud" from S&S:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a03Urc-8XOA
I thought about looking up some of the songs, but I decided to wait and experience the songs for the first time in the experience of the game :)
But thanks!
That's a better plan :D
Started playing Sword & Sworcery last night. Very interesting. Took me a few mins to get used to it visually, but the sound is excellent!
It really is, on both counts. A call back to the point and click adventures of old with a really unique visual style.
Wow Gary that was fantastic, that really helps me understand the depth of the game and some basic strategy that I didn't quite get by "armchairing" Isaac.
Watching this game is hella awesome but I realize how far I have to go to actually beat it in a run as it gets REALLY hard later on. Awesome though, looks fun.
I just wanted to say again, more of these please :D
Thanks, Jon! I think I might be addicted. I recorded another one tonight. Upload happening right now!
Awesome, the public demands more Issac. And by public I mean me.... But I mean you pumped over 300 hrs into this game and it shows.
Personally I am interested in a bad Isaac run and if you can complete it.
I'm going to put one up each friday, I think, til I get sick of it. Stay tuned!
I think that's a good idea. Haven't seen the newes yet but it looked like it was another good run.
Here's to a bad one for the cameras!
Just made two Isaac runs. Nowhere as beefy as you were by floor 3. That and floor 3 stopped me each time. Used your strats to find the secret rooms and bombs blowing two spaces. Helps quite a bit, way more powerful that I was starting Isaac totally fresh.
That said, I unlocked Magdeline and she seems not as good as Isaac. Recommend?
If you find yourself taking a lot of damage, Maggie can be really helpful until you unlock Cain. Try Maggie a few times. More health, as much damage, yum heart. The only disadvantage is she's slower but speed upgrades are plentiful.
I have noticed speed upgrades are pretty plentiful. I dig Issac because he is Isaac but I find I really do appreciate the speed boost to start. Ill incorporate her more into my play though.
Cain is sort of by the books next steps. Cain is a straight upgrade in every way other than starting with only 2 health, which you can make up quickly. The other Maggie strategy is to liberally make deals with the devil. 4 hearts can make a huge difference there. An early brimstone can make or break your run.
Awesome, thanks Gary.
