The Video Game Thread - what are you playing?

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 02 Oct 2007, 14:14

Give it a try:-
http://www.fileplanet.com/promotions/crysis/beta/

IronMonkey · Post by **IronMonkey** » 02 Oct 2007, 17:18

Damnit, I just got in from work, clicked that Web page, & the open Beta is now closed.

gasteropod · Post by **gasteropod** » 02 Oct 2007, 19:54

Has anyone here played the Jericho demo yet? I hadn't heard of the game till I downloaded the demo, it's well good!

Impressive graphics too.

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 03 Oct 2007, 10:37

gasteropod wrote:Has anyone here played the Jericho demo yet? I hadn't heard of the game till I downloaded the demo, it's well good! Impressive graphics too.

I'm going to grab the demo off of Marketplace at the end of next week, I usually save my heavy downloading until the last few days of my internet bill period. It's much preferable to blow my datacap at the end of the period rather than in the middle.

gasteropod · Post by **gasteropod** » 06 Oct 2007, 03:23

I'm currently playing the Fear Effect games. I owned the first one when it originally came out on the PlayStation, but never did get the second one. Well the other week I got both of them pre-owned (like new) and good God the second one has mental puzzles lol, it acts like you need to be a rocket scientist to get through them or something! Great games, though

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 06 Oct 2007, 03:42

The 2nd one also has lesbians.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 06 Oct 2007, 10:16

Yoshi's Island GBA on DS. Classic platforming, but bloody hell crying Mario (and crying Luigi) are really REALLY annoying

It's harder than I remember too (possibly as I havent played it in over a decade and there's the smaller screen as well).

gasteropod · Post by **gasteropod** » 06 Oct 2007, 18:38

EvaUnit02 wrote:The 2nd one also has lesbians.

It sure does, have you seen the bit where Rain is strapped to a... lovebug?! I can't believe that was allowed in the game, haha

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 07 Oct 2007, 03:34

Nope, never played the Fear Effect games.

gasteropod · Post by **gasteropod** » 07 Oct 2007, 17:42

Well a woman is strapped to a wall, in her underwear, with a big bug thing pulsating on her crotch. And she is moaning.

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 21 Oct 2007, 13:49

Anyone want a Hellgate London beta key?

The client is 4GB+ and I don't want to waste my data cap on something that big.

The game is pretty much a modern Diablo 2 (made by ex-Blizzard North employees). BTW there is also "Marksman" class that is played from a first person perspective.

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 23 Oct 2007, 16:49

I'm presently playing Half-Life 2 Episode 2. I bought the Orange Box after thoroughly enjoying HL2 & Ep.1 (many thanks to Lourdes for those games).

It's annoying how my FPS frequently keeps fluctuating from 60ish to 30ish. A video card upgrade is definitely in order. I have my eye on the G92 chipset aka the Nvidia Geforce 8800GT 512MB out very soon - a significantly beefed up version of last year's 8800GTS.

I'm very much looking forward to playing Portal (after finishing Ep.2). It's received nothing but universal praise. The gameplay looks amazing; apparently it has plenty of dark humour too. Definitely seems like the crown jewel of the Orange Box.

I'm not too interested in TF2. Unless I can score the GCFs off of someone, it'll probably remain uninstalled. The Pixar-esque art-style seems really good though. Apparently all the classes are perfectly balanced too.

Yi-Long · Post by **Yi-Long** » 23 Oct 2007, 19:37

Did you try 2d Flash Portal yet, Eva? It's in the internet games thread. Alot of fun!

I'll order Orange Box as soon as I get a 360. I'm waiting for a nice bundle to come out. In the USA you now get 2 free games when you buy a Pro or an Elite, but here in Holland it's still 450 EURO(!) for a barebones Elite. So that just sucks. Way too expensive.

IronMonkey · Post by **IronMonkey** » 23 Oct 2007, 19:43

I've heard the 2 free games bundle is coming to the UK so I'm waiting for that before I get my Elite...

I'm itching to get it now though as I've just received a brand new sealed copy of Perfect Dark Zero: Limited Collector's Edition for just £10.99 delivered from E-Bay.

IronMonkey · Post by **IronMonkey** » 23 Oct 2007, 19:46

Oh yeah, & I can't decide whether to get The Orange Box for PC or 360.

PC version:

+ Much cheaper.
+ 1680x1050 resolution.
+ 22" monitor.
+ Free multiplayer.
- Stereo sound.

360 version:

+ 37" HD plasma screen.
+ Achievements.
+ Dolby Digital 5.1.
- XBox Live costs money.

Decisions, decisions...

Yi-Long · Post by **Yi-Long** » 23 Oct 2007, 20:50

I'll definately get it for 360, but that's mostly cause I cant really enjoy PC gaming as much. On a console, I can really sit down and play it for a long while. Plus you dont have shit like installing and de-installing and patches and updates etc to cope with.

Although I do feel console gaming and Xbox Live is just wayyyy too expensive.

And I dont like all the DLC that you have to pay for. That's a scam.

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 24 Oct 2007, 02:58

BTW IronMonkey, AFAIK the PC versions of Ep.2, Portal DO have achievements. Also they'll be added to HL2 and Ep.1 via a patch in the near future. (I dunno about TF2 though, as I haven't played it.)

The only thing you're losing is gamer points. That's just trivial bragging rights anyway.

Also meh at 5.1 sound. Stop running shithouse onboard sound and buy a true Soundblaster X-fi (just DO NOT get the XtremeAudio, as it's not a true X-fi. Just software emulated crap.). Matrixed 5.1 is fine. Eg Doom 3 and Quake 4 are night and day with EAX 4.0 turned on, compared to the console versions that sound really flat.

Yi-Long wrote:Plus you dont have shit like installing and de-installing and patches and updates etc to cope with.

Not with Steam, you just obtain the relevant GCFs (whether you've downloaded them or gotten them off of a friend), shove them into your steamapps directory, buy the game and play them straight away.

BTW 360 games do have patches (also updates to the dashboard and backward compat. w/ Xbox1 games). You can't play Gears of War online unless it's patched.

Also I like loading an entire game onto an HDD, because long load times suck ass. Xbox 360 has long load times, because it doesn't do any hard drive caching at all (unlike Xbox1 and PS3). Everything is streamed off of the disc. All 360 games have to be compatible with all SKUs, including the Core and Arcade SKUs that don't have HDDs.

And I dont like all the DLC that you have to pay for. That's a scam.

For microtransactions like extra tracks, maps, cars, etc. I'll agree with you. (a lot of this will be made free eventually, like the Gears of War map packs have been.)

But for entire games? Idiot, entire full version games aren't microtransactions. You should pay for Xbox Live Arcade games and full blown expansion packs like 'Shivering Isles' for Oblivion: Elder Scrolls 4.

Although I do feel console gaming and

Console games are more expensive than those for PC because publishers have to pay licensing fees to MS, Sony, etc.

Xbox Live is just wayyyy too expensive.

No it isn't. A 12-month Xbox Live subscription is just $60 NZ per year. That cost goes to towards maintaining the service and providing content. There's a reason why XBL is lightyears ahead of Playstation Network. Without the subscription fee, the service would be worse and on a whole XBLA games would be more expensive.

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 24 Oct 2007, 07:37

Let's also not forget that the console versions won't be able to play mods. How could not want to play Black Mesa Source?

Also the controls are much better. A mouse (Especially a bad arse one like mine, the Razer Deathadder. )kicks the arse of dual analogue any day of the week. Analogue stick movement is slow and aiming is unprecise for FPS.

Lourdes · Post by **Lourdes** » 24 Oct 2007, 11:27

lol @ console FPS. Autoaim and analogue sticks.

IronMonkey · Post by **IronMonkey** » 24 Oct 2007, 12:11

Yi-Long wrote:I'll definately get it for 360, but that's mostly cause I cant really enjoy PC gaming as much. On a console, I can really sit down and play it for a long while. Plus you dont have shit like installing and de-installing and patches and updates etc to cope with.

Although I do feel console gaming and Xbox Live is just wayyyy too expensive.
And I dont like all the DLC that you have to pay for. That's a scam.

I enjoy sitting down in my comfy chair & using a controller too. I have Half-Life 2 for both PC & XBox - when I want to play with high resolution graphics (& silky smooth motion!) I play on the PC, but when I want to just have a quick shoot around on a big screen, I'll play it on my XBox with the controller.

Installing & uninstalling stuff really doesn't bother me at all. Patches are seamless in Steam - it does it all itself, so thats not a worry.

EvaUnit02 wrote:BTW IronMonkey, AFAIK the PC versions of Ep.2, Portal DO have achievements. Also they'll be added to HL2 and Ep.1 via a patch in the near future. (I dunno about TF2 though, as I haven't played it.)

Ah cheers, I didn't know that.

EvaUnit02 wrote:Also meh at 5.1 sound. Stop running shithouse onboard sound and buy a true Soundblaster X-fi (just DO NOT get the XtremeAudio, as it's not a true X-fi. Just software emulated crap.). Matrixed 5.1 is fine. Eg Doom 3 and Quake 4 are night and day with EAX 4.0 turned on, compared to the console versions that sound really flat.

Who says I don't have a Soundblaster X-Fi? I've got the Soundblaster X-Fi Xtreme Gamer actually. I just don't have the room to put in 5.1 speakers where the PC is situated. The only place I have room for 5.1 is in my bedroom. I have to make do with 2.0 channel stereo or headphones on my PC.

EvaUnit02 wrote:BTW 360 games do have patches (also updates to the dashboard and backward compat. w/ Xbox1 games). You can't play Gears of War online unless it's patched.

As I said, I really don't mind patches. Am I the only one who thinks patches are a good idea?!

EvaUnit02 wrote:A 12-month Xbox Live subscription is just $60 NZ per year. That cost goes to towards maintaining the service and providing content. There's a reason why XBL is lightyears ahead of Playstation Network. Without the subscription fee, the service would be worse and on a whole XBLA games would be more expensive.

I agree with EvaUnit02, XBox Live is an excellent service which is miles ahead of anything Sony & Nintendo have to offer. I just think that they could charge half the price & still make a tidy profit. Over in the UK, its £39.99 for a year. I reckon that if they charged £19.99 they would still make a huge profit & they would probably get more subscribers too.

EvaUnit02 wrote:Let's also not forget that the console versions won't be able to play mods. How could not want to play Black Mesa Source?

Yeah but we've been waiting forever for that mod. And it is essentially Half-Life, which I know like the back of my hand now.

EvaUnit02 wrote:Also the controls are much better. A mouse (Especially a bad arse one like mine, the Razer Deathadder. )kicks the arse of dual analogue any day of the week. Analogue stick movement is slow and aiming is unprecise for FPS.

Well, I'm one of the few it seems who doesn't mind either control method. For a fast paced FPS like UT3, I will probably buy the PC version - I have a Logitech MX510 gaming mouse & it is very accurate.

BUT I also like playing FPS games on the XBox. I believe that if done right, movement & aiming can be great on console games. Take for example, Project Snowblind - excellent game I recently completed & very responsive controls. Just to reiterate, I love my FPS gaming whether it is PC or console based.

Lourdes wrote:lol @ console FPS. Autoaim and analogue sticks.

There's nothing wrong with analog sticks, once you get used to them, although I do tend to turn autoaim off.

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 26 Oct 2007, 01:46

So Yi-long, you don't like patches? So you'd rather that bugs, glitches, balance issues, cheating exploits don't get fixed at all? Patches for popular games occasionally had new features too, like entirely new multiplayer modes, support for features of newer hardware.
Eg. Soon Half-Life 2 and HL2: Ep.1 will be patched with the new Source engine graphical enhancements introduced in Ep.2, with the Achievements added too. Also all of HL2's levels will have HDR/bloom effects added via an optional free addon.

As I pointed out before, console games see patches too.

Yi-Long · Post by **Yi-Long** » 26 Oct 2007, 03:36

Yeah, but console gaming doesnt require you to go searching for the patches, downloading them, unpacking them, installing them, etc

Plus for PC gaming you will need new patches for your graphics cars, direct X, soundcard, the game itself, etc etc etc blah blah blah...

You KNOW what I mean. Console games generally require much less hassle.
And I really hope it stays that way.

And the whole DLC scam that some developers have going on, like now the Forza 2 track for 400 MS points... (!)
It kinda annoys me.

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 30 Oct 2007, 16:17

I've almost finished the main portion of Portal, it nothing short of fantastic.

Episode 2's cliffhanger is predictable, but it's still a good one. Also Ep.2 is way better than Ep.1

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 04 Nov 2007, 02:06

I started playing Yakuza (for PS2) last night. It's pretty good thus far, with a compelling story and solid gameplay mechanics.

The game very much follows in the tradition of Shenmue, where you have a semi-sandbox adventure game with linear story progression. You can wander around the streets of Tokyo doing side-quests; discovering lost locker keys that unlock items for use in combat or winning the affection over girls at the hostess bars. People (eg underling Yakuza, street toughs, etc) randomly walk over to you pick fights with you, after you've kicked their arses you'll get some cash or an item.

Combat has a simple button masher friendly system, you can still string together combos and the like though. I was never reallly a huge fan of Shenmue's combat model, which was the very same highly-technical one imported from Virtua Fighter 3 (The VF series has a reputation for having the most accurate/realistic models of real world martial arts styles.). The simplified combat model was a very welcome change for me, as I'm not into fighting games. You can pick up objects (tables, chairs... even bikes and signposts) and use them to bash in enemies. You can even drag enemies over to wall and where Kazuma will unleash some sweet animations. I.e. bashing their skull repetitively against a wall; pinning them against a wall and repetitively kneeing them in the chest.

The English dub is decent, featuring slightly-above average performances from character actors such as Mark Hamill (who was terrific as the Joker in the outstanding 1990's Batman animated series) and Michael Madsen. Obviously their performances are limited by the written material at hand. It comes off as pretty faithful, as they've kept all the Japanese honourifics (like -san and -chan) and Yakuza jargon such as Aniki and Oyabun. Yakuza's dub is academy award material in comparison to Shenmue 2's OOT or utterly wooden dub (depending on the character).

Obviously I would've preferred the original Japanese track + subs, but given the space constraints of the DVD format, I know that wouldn't have been possible (without multiple disc spanning of course). Thankfully Yakuza 3 is PS3 exclusive, so they won't have any excuse for not having both the Jap track and the dub, thanks to the space available on Blu-ray. (Yakuza 3 is looking pretty sweet, it's set in the Edo period, so you'd likely have wandering Ronin and shit. 8) )

romerojpg · Post by **romerojpg** » 04 Nov 2007, 15:28

Yi-Long wrote:Yeah, but console gaming doesnt require you to go searching for the patches, downloading them, unpacking them, installing them, etc

Plus for PC gaming you will need new patches for your graphics cars, direct X, soundcard, the game itself, etc etc etc blah blah blah...

You KNOW what I mean. Console games generally require much less hassle.
And I really hope it stays that way.

And the whole DLC scam that some developers have going on, like now the Forza 2 track for 400 MS points... (!)
It kinda annoys me.

Well theres another way to look at it, Console games need pateched a lot of the time, yet dont get them and you have to live with the crappy bugs and problems. At least with PC's you can fix the crap stuff.