Side note: the new co-op mode in TF2 is nice but....match connection is a bitch and it's hard to get good teams of people who understand that three Engineers is TOO MANY. And damned if it isn't a pain in the ass if you're a Pyro. You're amazingly useful but outside of a Heavy, you're wading into the storm more than anyone. And if there is a Heavy...well, Medic's are not going to be helping you.
Speaking of GTA.
http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/08/...-v-screenshots
I hope they bring back the gameplay that was prevalent in Vice City and San Andreas. And by that, I mean fun. I'm all for a well written story, but I want katanas and mayhem side quests.
EDIT: None of these things has to be part of the main storyline. Make the story dead serious and allow people to just use pistols and shotguns. I wouldn't mind that at all. I just liked it when the series was over the top, I guess.
Last edited by BrainRotMenacer; August 20, 2012 at 8:50 AM.
I have been blessed with incredible teams, and awful teams. Jonas Polsky posted a great review on his tumblr yesterday of all of the pit falls of playing co-op mode.Originally Posted by Alex Mac
http://jonaspolsky.tumblr.com/post/2...ccording-to-my
The worst is in when you're on a later wave, say 6 of 7, and a bunch of the original guys disconnected and the new guys vote to restart the mission because they cant see that being a scout isn't helping to destroy two tanks.
It's also anti climatic when you win. "Ok, you won! You'll get booted in 2 minutes." and that's it.
SoA may be my favorite video game ever! I've literally thought about buying a GameCube just so I can play their port of SoA and see the new features.
Crazy Taxi 2 for Dreamcast was also pretty great. Like GTA but your car is indestructible and you can't really kill anybody.
Edit: I'm dumb, I don't know how acronyms work.
I'm in.
A Gamecube is about $10 used! Super cheap. Shit, I can send you my old one if A) you really want it and B) I can actually find out where it's packed away. (Basically, this means I probably won't send it to you because I don't remember where it is.)
Picked up Rage and Dj Hero 2 for PS3 this weekend for $16. Pretty excited. Now just trying to get a replacement DJ controller since my dog ate the old one. If you need to get rid of one (or two!) let me know.
If you guys love Skies of Arcadia, I would say give Xenoblade (Wii) a try. It's probably my second favorite JRPG after Skies.
Also, nice GTA V shots. I'm still holding out hope that we can pilot an airliner, but yeah... chances are pretty slim due to that thing that happened.
I just play it all on my old Dreamcast. Shenmue and Heavy Rain are my once a year dramas. Like a good movie you always watch. Skies? Well, Skies is magic. Adventure, charm. At a time when so many other games were trying to deconstruct what a jRPG or even just and RPG was, Skies embraced it. I have a love for stories about heroes. Skies? It's just the best of the bunch.
you people and your extra time to replay games
nathan smart!
http://www.nathansmart.com
Aw yeah
This will be an odd cross over from my postings in the depression thread but since this is about games, let's talk for a moment. This flash game was featured on an episode of Extra Credits, a show found at Penny Arcade. It takes about three minutes to play. All you do is move around and try to head forward until it ends. Now, nominally, it's about a certain thing. The artist made it for a specific reason but...
If you play, try and think about the game mechanics. There's not many. And there's not really detailed art. Figure out what you think is happening and what certain groups represent. Then sit back and realize that this is one of the ways that games can be different than movies or music or other artforms in terms of how they communicate to the player. Largely, in movies or books for instance, we follow the experience as outsiders. Or, at most, certain things have more significance to us because of a love of a character or sometimes, a real world experience.
Then consider this game. The entire experience as we are playing it (ie. what it symbolizes to us individually, what certain groups of dots are, why we attempt certain actions) is defined completely by us projecting our self and our experiences into the game.
It can be found here. Analyze your actions afterwards, figure out why you did what you did and what each thing meant to you. That's how games can communicate differently.
For my part, it is also a way to communicate with you, AST. To invite you to share, perhaps, in some of my own feelings. But games can do that too. Which is probably one of the reasons so many of us LOVE games.
So what pills did you take before you posted this, and how many of them did you take?
I actually don't think that's true. The game is far more defined by it's title and the music and than it is our own self. And what we attempt to do in the game is completely dictated by what we would do in similar games, not real life experiences.
That's because you're confusing what I'm saying with tone and theme, somewhat, I'd say.
I'm not saying that we suddenly get to choose to make this into a game about a dog (although if you wanted to pretend the dot was a stray dog looking for a home, you probably could do that). Nor am I suggesting that we can change its fundamental theme. But that dot over there that's leaving as you get close? Who are they? I can promise you that if you've personified any of these dots, you've not personified them as I have. If personification occurs, it will make the experience unique.
A few dots might be lovers you had. One group is all the old people you used to be close with from college but aren't anymore. Another might be a dead parent or friend that you wish you could somehow see again but can't. That's what I mean by projection. The only true context you are given is at the end of the game. Before that, all you have is a title and music. Sure, that contextualized the experience to an extent but at some point, the player offers their own context to their actions. And it doesn't have to be consciously done. Because the metaphors build themselves.
Similarly, it is reflected in our behavior because the mechanics, while seemingly non existent (ie. you can move around and that's it) allow the player to choose how to act nevertheless and how the player acts is a reflection of the player. Some people will try to reach every single dot. Some will try, realize they are failing, and then give up future attempts. Some will try to avoid them. Some people will turn off the game entirely.
Every single one of those actions tells us something about ourselves or the individual player.
Now, does this always happen in modern games? Not always. Usually there's a story context. But look at something like Spec Ops: the Line or BioShock, for instance. Those games continually seek to redefine and play with the projections and mindset of the player by letting them build those things up and then re-contextualizing or outright changing everything.
As for this:
None. You cunt.
Seriously though. It's a game thread. Let's also talk about what games might or might not do. Hell, we can disagree. But talking's fun. As a side note: Sleeping Dogs is pretty good. A bit repetitive but I'm surprised by how much I'm actually enjoying the narrative. And the gameplay is pretty good although the melee stuff feels more "right" than gunplay.
My only minor gripe with it is the radio in the game. Their classical music station sucks. Lullaby and Sabre Dance? Rigoletto? Did they try to find the most boring stuff they could?
Last edited by Alex Mac; August 22, 2012 at 10:32 AM. Reason: Sleeping Dogs!
I didn't understand that Flash game at all. There was one group of dots that reminded me of Yellow Submarine, though.
On the subject of replaying games, I redid Arkham City a couple weeks ago. It wasn't as much fun as replaying Arkham Asylum.
Mysterious Exhortations | @monty_ashley on Twitter
What I got out of the Loneliness flash game:
You make a great deal of effort to move towards groups of squares who move away from you. After a while you stop trying to move towards those squares and just forge ahead. Then you die. Alone.
You misunderstood me, but that's my fault. I only played the game for a minute (didn't get to the final message), and thought your post didn't make any sense. So I asked you how many pills you took as a joke, like, "what the hell kind of drugs are you on to care so much about this dumb game?"As for this:
None. You cunt.
Seriously though. It's a game thread. Let's also talk about what games might or might not do. Hell, we can disagree. But talking's fun. As a side note: Sleeping Dogs is pretty good. A bit repetitive but I'm surprised by how much I'm actually enjoying the narrative. And the gameplay is pretty good although the melee stuff feels more "right" than gunplay.
My only minor gripe with it is the radio in the game. Their classical music station sucks. Lullaby and Sabre Dance? Rigoletto? Did they try to find the most boring stuff they could?
Now that I've played it to completion, I realize my post came off like a, "you are trying to commit suicide with pills!" joke. Not my intention. Sorry.
On to other things!
Who's day one perching Dark Souls for the PC this week?
I am so excited to finally play a Souls game, there's almost no way I won't be disappointed haha. Still.. who's in?
Nah. No worries. I just wanted an excuse to use one of my favorite words. Really I posted it because I'd seen it used as a jumping off point to talk about games and mechanics as metaphors and thought it'd be interesting to see if people had any thoughts. Heck, even the one about not getting it and Yellow Submarine was interesting. And for Steve, I find the feedback interesting because he eventually let the other dots alone. I didn't.
As for games now: Guild Wars 2 is doing early access on the 25th and while the game's good, their stress tests have been less than confidence inducing. I hope they can pull it off well.
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