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Quake II Remastered: Of Course It's Incredible

Last year Will and I attended the Portland Retro Game Expo and went to the Night Dive Studios panel. During the Q&A at the panel I noted that the Quake remake might be the best video game remake of all time. I followed up that with a question about a Quake 2 remake. The CEO of Night Dive said he couldn't say about that but he did note that he just picked up a copy of Quake 2 at the Portland Retro Game Expo and was excited about playing it. Will and I took that as good news that we'd get a proper Night Dive port of Quake II and we were both happy to hear it recently released.

First off, if you had Quake II on Steam or GOG it will automagically upgrade to the new... Read All Last year Will and I attended the Portland Retro Game Expo and went to the Night Dive Studios panel. During the Q&A at the panel I noted that the Quake remake might be the best video game remake of all time. I followed up that with a question about a Quake 2 remake. The CEO of Night Dive said he couldn't say about that but he did note that he just picked up a copy of Quake 2 at the Portland Retro Game Expo and was excited about playing it. Will and I took that as good news that we'd get a proper Night Dive port of Quake II and we were both happy to hear it recently released.

First off, if you had Quake II on Steam or GOG it will automagically upgrade to the new Night Dive remaster. If you don't have it, you can get it on nearly every platform such as Switch, XBox, PC, Playstation and Gamespass. Like all past Night Dive remasters they add a ton of stuff into the mix making it an incredible prospect such as...

"Experience the Military Sci-fi FPS, Enhanced
Get the Original Mission Packs: The Reckoning and Ground Zero
Play the All-New Expansion “Call of the Machine”
Get Quake II 64 for Free
Enjoy Online & Local Multiplayer/CO-OP
Play Together with Crossplay "

The only suggestion I have is to play the game with texture smoothing off to see all the games gloriously jaggy pixels just like the Strogg intended. I've tried Quake 2 on PC and the Steam Deck and the game runs incredibly well on both.

As with all Night Dive releases you can get the physical version from Limited Run Games as well. https://limitedrungames.com/collections/quake-ii

With the incredible Quake and Quake II remakes I imagine folks are curious about Quake III. I've played Quake IV but it's not a game I plan to return to though a remake could bring it to a bigger audience. That said, I've hoped for some time that these Quake remakes would help iD get closer to announcing a proper single player Quake V. And now after the smash Success of Doom 2016 and Doom Eternal anything seems possible for iD and it's well time for us to hear what the studio is up to next.

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 08/12/2023 at 03:48pm

These days, I think I'd play the RTX version if I were going to replay the game. I'm assuming compatibility. I think it is really interesting that happened. I remember playing the game when it was fresh.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 08/12/2023 at 10:27pm

I have a card that supports RTX but haven’t gotten any RTX games to run. No idea what’s up.

Travis Admin wrote on 08/21/2023 at 05:20pm

The quake 2 rtx version is pretty nice but you can’t do mission packs and you have to put some work into getting the whole game to work rather than this having everything in a nice package.

I launched it and poked around but didn’t go far with it, just basically wanted to confirm it’s like the quake 1 remaster which was… masterful. And the new machine games developed mission pack was perhaps the best part.

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 08/21/2023 at 06:56pm

Thanks, Travis!

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The Steam Deck Is Just What PC Gaming Needed

I've been a PC gamer since I was a wee lad starting out on a Commodore VIC-20. The VIC wasn't called a PC, but it had a monitor a keyboard and played awesome games. Fast forward to 2023 and PC gaming has evolved a lot and if you can afford the hardware, is the cutting edge of graphics and performance. All that said, my profession is Software Engineering so at the end of the day I don't want to spend a lot more time at my desk playing games. I've preferred the Switch or more recently the XBox because I can kick back on the couch. I was excited when Valve announced Steam Machines but I was waiting a bit to see how folks were using them and even though Steam Machines... Read All I've been a PC gamer since I was a wee lad starting out on a Commodore VIC-20. The VIC wasn't called a PC, but it had a monitor a keyboard and played awesome games. Fast forward to 2023 and PC gaming has evolved a lot and if you can afford the hardware, is the cutting edge of graphics and performance. All that said, my profession is Software Engineering so at the end of the day I don't want to spend a lot more time at my desk playing games. I've preferred the Switch or more recently the XBox because I can kick back on the couch. I was excited when Valve announced Steam Machines but I was waiting a bit to see how folks were using them and even though Steam Machines were a great idea, they didn't catch on. Apparently Valve didn't give up on Steam in the living room because even after the Steam box streamer they came hot to the market with the Steam Deck, a premium Linux handheld that has quite a bit of PC power. I didn't pick one up at launch because I wasn't sure what to make of it. The initial reviews were good, but who knows how well they'd hold up? Well after waiting a while when the Deck recently went on sale I picked it up.

For me the Steam Deck is a shot in the arm to PC gaming and bringing me back to it to play games in my back catalog. Plus the Steam Deck runs Linux so you can do whatever else with it you want. Want to play Nintendo games you've already bought from Nintendo 5 times already? They will run. Want to play those free games you got on the Epic Games Store? Most will run. Want to play your incredible Steam back catalog? Most will work too.

Since the Steam Deck is running Linux and using Proton as the Wine emulation layer I expected things to be janky and I'm surprised it's as seamless as it is. I've been a Linux Desktop user and gamer for years and nothing in the past is this easy to use. Valve has done a ton of work and them owning all the hardware, drivers and Proton stack really adds up to a magical device that just works. Now all Steam games don't work, but I don't care much about that because I have thousands of games I'll never get around to playing anyway.

I got the official Steam Deck Dock and that works great on my TV and am currently replaying Borderlands that way. Bouncing between the Deck and my TV is seamless and occasionally there are issues, but it's nothing game breaking. The Steam Deck is so great I'll most likely purchase most new games digitally on PC because this really seems like the best way to play games.

Civilization Revolution Is A Great Game From The Age of Consoles Past!

Back in 2008 Civilization games were complicated because gamers wanted the franchise to go deeper. The balance in turn based strategy games where you advance through the Ages is making the game deep enough for long time fans but accessible enough for new fans to get into it. When Civilization Revolution launched on XBox 360 and PS3 it was a stripped down and simplified game for a console audience. Some have argued the game is too easy or takes away too many things from the main series (which it does) but I'd say that Civilization Revolution is a more streamlined game that gets you in and out and makes the game easy to understand if you haven't kept up with each entry... Read All Back in 2008 Civilization games were complicated because gamers wanted the franchise to go deeper. The balance in turn based strategy games where you advance through the Ages is making the game deep enough for long time fans but accessible enough for new fans to get into it. When Civilization Revolution launched on XBox 360 and PS3 it was a stripped down and simplified game for a console audience. Some have argued the game is too easy or takes away too many things from the main series (which it does) but I'd say that Civilization Revolution is a more streamlined game that gets you in and out and makes the game easy to understand if you haven't kept up with each entry in the Civ franchise.

I played a whole lot of Civilization Revolution on my Playstation 3 and lamented the fact that it's hard to play Playstation 3 games (no backwards compatibility on modern Playstations). Once I bought an XBox Series X I was excited to try out the 360 compatibility and was really happy to learn Civilization Revolution was a game you could play. Recently I popped the game in and was off conquering the world again like it's 2008.

Some critiques of the game are valid though. The easiest mode is quite easy but that's also a great way to learn the game. Learning the mechanics of a game where it doesn't punish you mercilessly for your mistakes is handy. That said, I quickly upped the difficulty and keep doing that as I feel like I've masted where I am.

One awesome part of Civilization Revolution is that you can download a few free DLC map scenarios that can extend the life of the game. That said, if you simply want to play a few rounds and run through a Cultural, Military and all the other victories, you can do that too.

If you have the means to play Civilization Revolution and you are looking for a fun turn based strategy game, I'd recommend picking it up. I didn't pay more than a handful of dollars for my game at a Retro Game store or you can buy it on the XBox Store for way more money.

Stray Comes to XBox Aug 10

Azurephile gives this a solid "Rad" on the Ghost Scale

This is fun, with very few issues, and is well worth your time.

Azurephile gives this a "Rad" on the Ghost Scale

This is fun, with very few issues, and is well worth your time.

Do you like cats? Have you ever thought about what it would be like to be a cat? Lying around all day, chasing your own tail, knocking things off of ledges (or tables), and leaving your mark on everything with your claws sounds good, right? Well if you’ve ever entertained such fantasies in your own mind, you can now see them realized with Stray, one of the most adorable games that came out last year on Steam and PlayStation. It’s headed to Xbox on August 10.

It’s a great little game, but it’s too short. I finished the game in under 6 hours. It probably would have taken me longer to figure everything out, but I had already watched Paul Soares, Jr. play through much of... Read All

Hilarious Chaos Unleashed: DougDoug's AI Ventures Into Pajama Sam

In one of the funniest videos I've seen in a long time, YouTuber DougDoug created an AI to play through the game Pajama Sam. The original stream on Twitch was around 8 hours long, but it's been edited down here to *just* 2.5 hours lol.

I can't really put into words the insane hilarity that ensues, but here's a quality comment on the video:

AI Sam: Talks about crab secret, golden sword and Elgrim the Demon Lord, killing trees in a terrorist attack, putting communist carrots in a concentration camp and rambles about eldritch horrors in a British pirate accent while chugging an unhealthy amount of energy drinks and making creepy noises like he is possesed by a demon.
Chat:... Read All

Nintendo Got My Letters Because They Are Releasing a Brand New Mario Platformer!

To date my favorite entries in the Super Mario franchise are the more traditional side scrolling platformers and Super Mario Maker. The New Super Mario Bros. games are thematically similar but different enough through each release to be a lot of fun. That said, after the New Super Mario Bros. achieved it's final form in New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe on Switch and I wasn't sure what direction the game could go to keep things fresh. Then Nintendo announced Super Mario Bros. Wonder today and it made sense. The new direction is here and New Super Mario Bros. Wonder looks incredible. It also looks like it's not a proper New Super Mario Bros. sequel, it looks to be doing... Read All

Nintendo Will Release A Remake To Super Mario RPG November 17th!

Super Mario RPG is one of Nintendo's most beloved Super Nintendo Mario games and a classic RPG. The game is replayed by many fans and very popular in the Speedrun community as well as the retro game collector community. Since Nintendo seems hot to release remakes of their classic games the next game to join them is SUPER MARIO RPG! It's not a game I thought Nintendo would remake, but a welcome choice as it's a great game that deserves a new coat of paint and a fresh new audience. Plus many fans would love to come back and play this classic game in an all new way.

It looks like Nintendo is upgrading the battle system which fans think is a good idea considering the... Read All

Starfield is the Most Hyped For A Game I've Been In Years

XBox had a direct recently and it was one of their best. That said, it was the first deep dive we've received for Starfield and it feels like the most in depth deep dive I've ever seen for a video game before launch. In fact, I've heard some video game pundits say it may have gone too deep and some of what they showed should have been better experienced by playing the game, but honestly in a world where game launches go so badly, it's good to see most of the game beforehand. All that said, the game looks incredible and I'm going to play it on launch day.

True story, I don't believe I've picked up a Triple A big release since Fallout 4 which launched back in 2015.... Read All

McDonald's Goes Back To The 90's With Grimace's Birthday On Gameboy Color!

In partnership with Krool Games, McDonalds released Grimace's Birthday a themed game that ties in with the Gimace's Birthday meal celebrating everyone favorite purple McNugget. That sentence might sound like it's entirely made up, but it's not and Grimace's Birthday on Gameboy Color is actually really really good. It's only a handful of levels long, and not very hard, but why does every game have to be Dark Souls and 5,000 hours long? Grimace's Birthday isn't and it's so fun my seven year old son likes playing it. I was happy to have been able to beat it in my second setting in 4m33s. Currently as of me writing this the Speedrun record for Grimace's Birthday is by... Read All

TMNT: Shredder's Revenge DLC Coming

I just found an announcement that Shredder's Revenge is getting a DLC. It says "new game mode," "new character colors," and even "new playable characters," although the only one listed is Usagi Yojimbo. You can wish list it and get more details on Steam. There isn't a release date or price announced yet, though.

Let me know what you think.

jdodson Admin wrote on 06/10/2023 at 12:08am

This is really great news and odd because I don’t usually buy DLC but I’m totally going to get this.

I play Shredders Revenge often so more content sounds great to me!

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 07/13/2023 at 06:27pm

This new trailer has new info, shows off new stage(s) and game mechanics: https://youtu.be/JaimweNyxZM

jdodson Admin wrote on 07/16/2023 at 12:27am

Yeah, it's shaping up to be quite a good amount of DLC. Hopefully they do a few more and release a physical edition wrapping it all up. That said, they didn't do that for Street of Rage 4 that I know of.

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 08/31/2023 at 08:19pm

Out now! Launch trailer: https://youtu.be/26N_cP2Cycc?si=td18AFIGc_xK2983

jdodson Admin wrote on 09/04/2023 at 08:58pm

🐢🗡️

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