Bethesda sent out an email to all of it's PC launcher (think Steam but only Bethesda games) users about the service being shutdown this year. I'm wondering if this move is part of the fallout from the recent Microsoft acquisition as Microsoft already has a storefront and they are also very happy to use Steam as a platform alongside it. In a PC landscape where each large publisher builds it's own bespoke launcher it's nice to see some consolidation. Steam is the clear leader in the PC landscape so I don't love seeing everything move to one service entirely, I also don't mind seeing my Bethesda.net games move over to it.
Goodbye Bethesda.net PC launcher, we barely knew... Read All
Bethesda sent out an email to all of it's PC launcher (think Steam but only Bethesda games) users about the service being shutdown this year. I'm wondering if this move is part of the fallout from the recent Microsoft acquisition as Microsoft already has a storefront and they are also very happy to use Steam as a platform alongside it. In a PC landscape where each large publisher builds it's own bespoke launcher it's nice to see some consolidation. Steam is the clear leader in the PC landscape so I don't love seeing everything move to one service entirely, I also don't mind seeing my Bethesda.net games move over to it.
Goodbye Bethesda.net PC launcher, we barely knew before ye!
You can read the whole email Bethesda.net sent to it's players below:
"Weâre saying goodbye to the Bethesda.net Launcher this year. We would like to thank you for your support and assure you that all of your games are safe. If youâre not playing PC games through the Bethesda.net launcher then your work is done here. Thanks for reading! If you do have games through the Bethesda.net launcher, donât worry. Starting in early April youâll be able to migrate your games and Wallet to your Steam account. For more details on what this process will look like, read on.
You have plenty of time to plan and begin migrating your Bethesda.net library to your Steam account. The migration to Steam will include your game library and Wallet â meaning you will not lose anything from your Bethesda.net account. Many games will also have their saves migrated, with a few requiring some manual transfers. For games that require it, you will still use your Bethesda.net login to sign in to play. Your Bethesda.net account will not be lost and will still be accessible on our website and in-game, and we will continue supporting all Bethesda.net accounts with our future titles.
NEXT STEPS
In early April, you will be able to initiate the migration process following detailed instructions we will have available to you then.
We expect you to have a lot of questions and encourage you to take a look at our comprehensive FAQ. For those of you looking for questions specific to Fallout 76, we also have a Fallout 76-specific FAQ on Fallout.com.
Until May, you will still be able to access and play your games on the Bethesda.net Launcher, but we suggest that you start the migration process as soon as itâs available. "
GregoPeck Super Member
wrote on 02/23/2022 at 12:33pm
I just read that email. I don't have much to migrate, but it will be nice to be able to switch my games to Steam. I just hope to pay attention to any notifications I receive about it in April, otherwise I'll probably forget about it by then.
So I bought a Fallout 76 mule account when it was super cheap. Launching the game without signing in through the launcher would give you a Bethesda login prompt and you could login through that method. That way I could login twice and alt-tab between them. I wonder how thatâll work now, since I donât think you can sign in twice with steam.
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GregoPeck gives this a solid "Rad" on the Ghost Scale
This is fun, with very few issues, and is well worth your time.
GregoPeck gives this a "Rad" on the Ghost Scale
This is fun, with very few issues, and is well worth your time.
Monster Hunter Rise arrived on the Switch almost one year ago. I didnât pay attention to it, being a Switch exclusive, since I donât have a Switch. However, it arrived on PC last month and I decided to pick it up. This version comes with many graphical upgrades including high-res textures (up to 4K) and HDR among others. I recently dived into 1440p with a new monitor, but I found out I could actually play the game at my max (not native) resolution of 4Kx2K. I found a comparison video of the version from both systems. It actually doesnât appear to look or perform badly on the Switch.
I played MH World, so the game play isnât new to me. That was my first MH game and I... Read All
Monster Hunter Rise arrived on the Switch almost one year ago. I didnât pay attention to it, being a Switch exclusive, since I donât have a Switch. However, it arrived on PC last month and I decided to pick it up. This version comes with many graphical upgrades including high-res textures (up to 4K) and HDR among others. I recently dived into 1440p with a new monitor, but I found out I could actually play the game at my max (not native) resolution of 4Kx2K. I found a comparison video of the version from both systems. It actually doesnât appear to look or perform badly on the Switch.
I played MH World, so the game play isnât new to me. That was my first MH game and I really enjoyed it, until difficulty made me very angry and I stopped playing. I did make it far enough to where I was playing the Iceborne expansion, which added Master Rank to the game, which is the highest difficulty. This time, MHR didnât make me angry much, but I reached a point where the difficulty increased and I decided to take a break from it. I played a lot of it and now Iâm feeling a bit burned out on it. Still, itâs good.
If youâre not familiar with MH, basically itâs a game where youâre a hunter and you go about hunting monsters. Itâs really that simple. You hunt them and get parts to make new weapons and armor to hunt new monsters and repeat. There are 14 different weapon classes to choose from like the Sword & Shield (my choice), Dual Blades, and Heavy Bowgun just to name a few. Combat mostly involves two-button combos. Basically, you go to the village, you check in with whoever is giving out quests, pick one, and then youâre transported to the area to hunt one or more monsters. Monsters are often very big and powerful. There are a lot of fantasy elements to them. Some look like dinosaurs! Elements and status effects are in this, too.
As you complete quests, your Hunter Rank will increase thus enabling you to take on tougher quests and more difficult monsters. The game has a big multiplayer focus, but it has a single player side, too. You can do pretty much everything solo, but there are quests in which you can join a few other players to do. You can even send out a help request, getting a random person from the Internet to join in your hunt. Iâve read that monster difficulty will scale with the number of players. I havenât tried multiplayer, so I canât speak on this feature.
The game play may be simple, but it can be fun and even very frustrating. Monsters arenât easy to take down, even the weak ones can take a beating. Monsters are HP sponges, so a monster typically runs away eventually and youâll have to catch up to it to continue fighting it. This will happen multiple times during a hunt. They get weak after a long battle and eventually tire, which is noticeable when they quit attacking and just stand there like theyâre trying to rest a bit. In the end, you can hunt them to death, or you can capture them, which is supposed to give more rewards. Trapping them is often a good strategy for winning, because monsters will tire after a certain point and it will become obvious when you can trap them, which will finish the fight earlier than normal.
MHR has some new game play features, as does every evolving game series. I probably wonât cover them all here, but Iâd like to point some out. One of my favorite features is that even though Iâm playing solo, Iâm not fighting alone. In MHW, you have a palico, which is pretty much a cat companion. Itâs not like a IRL cat, it can walk, talk, fight, gather, and generally help. There are now different types which signifies itâs specialty. There are healers, warriors, and bombardiers just do name a few. MHR also gives us a palamute, which is a dog. You can ride palamutes, which makes map traversing much easier and more fun. It also helps perform actions which would make you stop in place and thus vulnerable. Now, instead of sharpening your weapon in this way, you can hop on your palamute and do it and run out of the way when a monster attacks. While not riding, your palamute will join you and your palico in battle. However, you can choose to have two palicos or two palamutes with you instead of one of each.
Thereâs also an owl, but you donât usually see it and it doesnât do much. Itâs explained that we can see the map weâre on and where the monsters are, because of it. There is an icon for each monster on the map and undiscovered monsters are seen with a question mark. Each map is rather big and there are no loading transitions, which is something the game did long ago. Everything moves fluidly. In fact, load times in the game were just not really there. Loading the game up took the most time, but that was mostly through logos. The load between quests is extremely small, too. Itâs so short that I donât get enough time to read the text in those screens (itâs not important anyway). It's possibly due to running the game on a NVME SSD.
I remember in MHW, there was a tool we could use like a slingshot. There were different things we could do with it. Itâs not in MHR, but is instead replaced by whatâs called a âwirebug.â You get to shoot these wires out vertically and horizontally. You can also explore the environments much easier with it. You can also use it for an attack. You can use it to get into the air to attack a monster on your descent. It does a certain kind of damage that air attacks do. This damage can bee seen with a brief blue background to identify the type of damage. When a monster receives enough of this damage, it can be ridden.
âWyvern ridingâ is a new feature where you can actually jump on to and control a monster with the wirebug. Often when other monsters start to fight each other, one will take enough damage and youâll be able to ride it. From here you can have it use a strong or light attack, evade, or launch it into another monster or a wall for damage. Youâre in control of it, but it wonât last very long and it doesnât happen very often.
One game play addition happens to be Rampage Quests. In these quests, a horde of monsters will attack the stronghold and you have to keep it defended, making sure the final wall doesnât come down. Itâs a bit like a tower defense game. There are multiple platforms on which you can install various kinds of weapons. These are mostly turrets. You have a limited number of these you can install. Some are automatic and some require you to use manually. Youâll shoot the monsters with these installations mostly, but there will be a âcounter signal,â which means your attack and defense are boosted and itâs time to fight monsters like you normally would. There are limited installations, too. These are usually a character from the village. They donât last the whole rampage, so itâs better to save them.
There are a few types of monsters in a rampage quest. There are icons on each representing what they do. The worst, I think, are the big gate crashers. You want to get rid of these ASAP. There are flying monsters that will target you. If you get hit while using turret, youâll get knocked off of it if youâre not pressing the defend button. There are a few waves and during this time your stronghold will level up, which will give you access to more and better installations. At the end is a kind of boss-like monster that needs to be defeated.
I wasnât particularly fond of rampage quests and didnât like them much. The one introducing you to the quest type is easy, but the ones after that are a bit more difficult. I failed the second one maybe twice, but I did some searching with Google and YouTube and managed to finally succeed. These are the quests done with multiplayer. However, Iâd strongly advise making sure everyoneâs chatting together so that the defense can be well coordinated.
Iâve enjoyed the game and Iâm really glad it gave me the opportunity to test out my new monitor features. At first, I was afraid it was going to make me very angry again like MHW did, but it didnât. It did get frustrating and I did get tired of it, so I am taking a break from it now. Thereâs an expansion thatâs supposed to be out perhaps this spring, so I may jump back into it. If you like MH, even if MHW was your first, I think youâll enjoy this. If this sounds interesting to you and youâd like to see it or try it out for yourself first, thereâs a demo for it both for Steam and Switch I believe.
Growing up, I loved Rescue Rangers, and the NES game is an absolute classic.
This movie... I don't know how to describe it, but it looks like it's going to be a lot of fun!
It's not a trailer that I would normally click ok, but I heard this was an experience, and I wasn't disappointed!
Growing up, I loved Rescue Rangers, and the NES game is an absolute classic.
This movie... I don't know how to describe it, but it looks like it's going to be a lot of fun!
It's not a trailer that I would normally click ok, but I heard this was an experience, and I wasn't disappointed!
Will_Ball Game Mod Super Member
wrote on 02/17/2022 at 05:48am
I'm there. I probably wouldn't go see this in the theater, but on Disney+, why not?
I just found out about Dune: Spice wars and thought I'd share the video. It's in Early Access on Steam and expected to be released this year according to it's store page. It's described as a 4X RTS. It looks to me like a a cross between Civilization and Command & Conquer. The first C&C came out after Dune 2 and I loved both games. Dune 2 also got a remake with Dune 2000, though I haven't really played it much. Spice Wars looks interesting to me. I'm curious about how it all comes together.
Let me know what you think about this. Are you interested? Do you know the history of Dune and C&C games?
I just found out about Dune: Spice wars and thought I'd share the video. It's in Early Access on Steam and expected to be released this year according to it's store page. It's described as a 4X RTS. It looks to me like a a cross between Civilization and Command & Conquer. The first C&C came out after Dune 2 and I loved both games. Dune 2 also got a remake with Dune 2000, though I haven't really played it much. Spice Wars looks interesting to me. I'm curious about how it all comes together.
Let me know what you think about this. Are you interested? Do you know the history of Dune and C&C games?
There's a hot new trailer for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and it's awesome! The movie comes out on May 6th. There's a lot in it and I don't want to spoil it, but there is a significant cameo. You only get to hear is voice, but I can't wait to see him! It seems a certain Marvel group will be shown. There's another Marvel character, I can point her out later who she might be.
It looks like this movie is going to tie to WandaVision and What If. I'm not looking forward to one part of it (I can explain later again). The overall look seems to be from what I think is one of the most dramatic episodes. This one should be more obvious.
What are your thoughts? Let... Read All
There's a hot new trailer for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and it's awesome! The movie comes out on May 6th. There's a lot in it and I don't want to spoil it, but there is a significant cameo. You only get to hear is voice, but I can't wait to see him! It seems a certain Marvel group will be shown. There's another Marvel character, I can point her out later who she might be.
It looks like this movie is going to tie to WandaVision and What If. I'm not looking forward to one part of it (I can explain later again). The overall look seems to be from what I think is one of the most dramatic episodes. This one should be more obvious.
What are your thoughts? Let me know what you think so I can reveal what I think I saw.
I am super hyped for this one! Can't wait to see all the twists and turns that will likely happen throughout!
Will_Ball Game Mod Super Member
wrote on 02/17/2022 at 05:51am
Looks great. Rumor has it that even an iron man variant shows up. The variant may be played by a certain megastar that was originally going to be iron man, way back when.
GregoPeck Super Member Post Author
wrote on 02/18/2022 at 12:20am
Yup! Captain Britain, Kang or a variant, or Reed Richards could possibly be there, too. Deadpool could show up, too.
GregoPeck Super Member Post Author
wrote on 02/24/2022 at 08:32pm
The author of the Dark Hold and the one who gave Wanda her original powers (pre-Mind stone), Cthon, is on the high-res poster of the movie. https://youtu.be/Ovpivz2TQTE
GregoPeck Super Member Post Author
wrote on 06/23/2022 at 08:40am
This is on Disney+ now. As much as I've enjoyed watching the MCU movies in theater lately (starting with Shang-Chi), this is for some odd reason the only one I want to see again, at least right now. I'm not into horror and I don't like some of the horror elements of this (especially the bloodiness and neck snap), but I really enjoyed it. I was thinking of Doctor Strange as my current favorite MCU character, but Ms. Marvel is taking that title these days.
Let me know if you've watched it or are going to and what you think about it!
I just watched it again, and do really enjoy it! It's a fun change-up from typical Marvel movies and has great rewatchability đ
GregoPeck Super Member Post Author
wrote 29 minutes ago
I'm not sure why I said it's the only one I wanted to re-watch. After watching it, I began to think, "no, I wanted to re-watch this as much as the others, which isn't much." They were all great, but I gues it's just too soon. Still, I enjoyed re-watching this, especially because I was able to watch the iMax version at 2K. It was so beautiful and crisp! ([email protected] is the highest non-native res. my new monitor I got in Dec. is able to do. My native res. is 1440p.)
Also, it took a while, but I remembered that I saw it (and Jurassic World Dominion) in 3D and really enjoyed it (some how keep going at the wrong time for the 2D shows, need to verify times).
Being a parent makes Wanda so much more relatable. I'm relating to villains too much lately. (I even decided what my Sith name is.)
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Splinter is coming as a playable character to Ninja Turtles Shredders Revenge with the original Turtle Team and April O'Neil! I hope they announce more characters you can play, personally I'd love to play as Casey Jones. That said, I imagine they might release more characters later on as DLC depending on how the games does but it would be nice to get a hefty roster at launch too.
What characters would you like to see join up?
Splinter is coming as a playable character to Ninja Turtles Shredders Revenge with the original Turtle Team and April O'Neil! I hope they announce more characters you can play, personally I'd love to play as Casey Jones. That said, I imagine they might release more characters later on as DLC depending on how the games does but it would be nice to get a hefty roster at launch too.
What characters would you like to see join up?
GregoPeck Super Member
wrote on 02/12/2022 at 06:04am
Watching Splinter kick ass is awesome!!! Thanks for sharing! Steam still says, "coming soon." I haven't expected any playable characters other than the turtles, so these extra two so far are really interesting.
Hotline Miami is one of the best indie games to come out in the last 10 years and if you wanted to know more about it's development NoClip has released a documentary about it. The retrospective covers both games in the series along with the critiques of Hotline Miami 2.
Hotline Miami is one of the best indie games to come out in the last 10 years and if you wanted to know more about it's development NoClip has released a documentary about it. The retrospective covers both games in the series along with the critiques of Hotline Miami 2.
I just wanted to share a bit of news real quick. The sequel to Chrono Trigger, Chrono Cross (from the PS1 days) is getting remastered as Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition. It's coming to consoles (all three current gen) and Steam on April 7th. Steam has it listed for $20, which I think is great.
I'm pretty much looking forward to this. I played Chrono Cross about two decades ago. It's a Square-Enix (or Squaresoft originally) JRPG with a lot of playable characters. I can't think of much else to say about it, but I did enjoy it.
Check out this link for more info: ... Read All
I just wanted to share a bit of news real quick. The sequel to Chrono Trigger, Chrono Cross (from the PS1 days) is getting remastered as Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition. It's coming to consoles (all three current gen) and Steam on April 7th. Steam has it listed for $20, which I think is great.
I'm pretty much looking forward to this. I played Chrono Cross about two decades ago. It's a Square-Enix (or Squaresoft originally) JRPG with a lot of playable characters. I can't think of much else to say about it, but I did enjoy it.
The latest Nintendo direct brought some great news for Switch fans. One new game collection to be announced was quite a welcomed surprise in the Portal: Companion Collection. Basically it's just as it sounds, Valve is releasing the Portal & Portal 2 Companion Collection on Nintendo Switch. My hope is this has a physical release, because if it doesn't i'll pick it up. I still play Portal and Portal 2 with my 5 year old son on the Series X backwards compatibility and getting a new fresh port on Switch would be awesome. My hope is Valve releases this collection on the other consoles in 4K but if this is simply a Switch port, that seems fine too. It's an interesting... Read All
The latest Nintendo direct brought some great news for Switch fans. One new game collection to be announced was quite a welcomed surprise in the Portal: Companion Collection. Basically it's just as it sounds, Valve is releasing the Portal & Portal 2 Companion Collection on Nintendo Switch. My hope is this has a physical release, because if it doesn't i'll pick it up. I still play Portal and Portal 2 with my 5 year old son on the Series X backwards compatibility and getting a new fresh port on Switch would be awesome. My hope is Valve releases this collection on the other consoles in 4K but if this is simply a Switch port, that seems fine too. It's an interesting choice considering Valve is launching it's Steam Deck handheld broadly very soon.
The next news drop I found interesting was the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe - Booster Course Pass DLC. Mario Kart 8 was originally released in 2014 for the Wii U with it's own DLC. That later was packaged up for the Switch as Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and the game is still so popular with fans Nintendo is releasing a 48 course DLC track pass that will drop 8 new tracks at a time throughout 2022. For $25 this seems like quite the deal and Nintendo has also included it as a bonus for the upgraded Nintendo Online subscription. Interesting to see how Nintendo is adding value to Nintendo Online through normally paid DLC being included for subscribers.
Nintendo Switch Sports looks to be the sequel to Wii Sports I always wanted. Recently my son played Wii bowling at he was hooked. Nintendo Switch Sports looks to bring all the Wii classic sports games to the table along with some of the best games from Wii Sports Resort (the Sword Fighting game). Switch Sports drops 4/29 and it's a day one purchase for me.
Finally, Earthbound Beginnings on NES and Earthbound for SNES are coming to Nintendo online, which should bring these classic games to a larger audience. While a bit late, it's nice to see these come to the system even if I'm letting my Nintendo Online subscription lapse.
Will_Ball Game Mod Super Member
wrote on 02/11/2022 at 02:44am
Canât wait for the new Nintendo sports. Also excited about all the new Mario kart courses.
48 dang courses. Thatâs⊠thatâs a lot. They could have easily just released that as a new game for way more money so kudos to them for doing it that way.
And yeah the new Nintendo Sports is definitely welcome news. I played so much Wii Sports back in the day, this should be a lot of fun
jdodson Admin Post Author
wrote on 02/12/2022 at 04:39am
> 48 dang courses. Thatâs⊠thatâs a lot. They could have easily just released that as a new game for way more money so kudos to them for doing it that way.
Agreed. My dream Mario Kart is one that comes with a Mario Maker style builder where you can make and download tracks. This seems to be just as good with so many tracks though.
> And yeah the new Nintendo Sports is definitely welcome news. I played so much Wii Sports back in the day, this should be a lot of fun
Hell yes.
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GregoPeck Super Member
wrote on 02/03/2022 at 12:25am
Awesome! It seems I didn't hit "post" on the comment I made earlier. You both shared awesome videos! It reminds me of the hard or floppy drive version of the Imperial Death March.
GregoPeck Super Member
wrote on 02/04/2022 at 05:12am
I just read that email. I don't have much to migrate, but it will be nice to be able to switch my games to Steam. I just hope to pay attention to any notifications I receive about it in April, otherwise I'll probably forget about it by then.
So I bought a Fallout 76 mule account when it was super cheap. Launching the game without signing in through the launcher would give you a Bethesda login prompt and you could login through that method. That way I could login twice and alt-tab between them. I wonder how thatâll work now, since I donât think you can sign in twice with steam.