Official Off Topic Thread

[Phanto]

Prrrfffft. Consoles. Thank god for the PC gaming renaissance with Kickstarter and digital distribution spawning upcoming games like Wasteland 2 and Project Eternity. If it wasn't for that I might just have given up on gaming (and become a lot more productive... the horror).

 

[Sauna]

^--- I use a PC for gaming quite a bit as well, but I wouldn't survive without at least one console per generation. Too much good stuff would be missed.

I agree. I feel that in order for Nintendo to compete, they're going to either have to match (or come close to) the technical specs of the next Sony and Microsoft generation consoles,

I'm pretty sure they're not even trying to do that. As far as I know the goal was to top the specs of the current gen and leave it at that, and judging by the price tag, I'll be glad if they did even that.

or have a lot of exclusive games that attract hardcore as well as casual gamers. The Wii succeeded despite this, but as you said, it's losing steam.

The whole "losing steam" thing is probably not a concern for Nintendo (in terms of this generation) since their lead in sales is so wide at this point. They probably think they "won" this gen already, and unless something totally unprecedented happens, it's true.

Even though I'm a person who's definitely going to get a WiiU at some point, I'm not sure the sales will have much of an effect on my enjoyment of it either way. After all, the Wii was a huge success while the Gamecube did really bad and they still had roughly the same amount of really good games.

 

[Marwen]

I just check in occasionally in the hope that there's some news of an upcoming Australian tour that has somehow slipped under my radar. Still no luck as yet though.

Hi Dan

I really don't understand why they still won't go there. I mean the Australian metal scene is most probably better than that of some of the countries they've been to (eg. mine, Israel, etc). I'm sure they'll make it happen eventually, the question is when...

 

[Kenneth R.]

I like console games. Why? Because I don't spend a lot of money updating a desktop PC to game with. I never have and never will. If I ever play a PC game, it's on my shitty laptop. (As contrasted with my siiiiick new laptop, that cannot be soiled by games). My desktop PC is rigged up for audio recording and mixing only and it's going to stay that way too.

I've no interest in Wii. Nintendo's lost my business since N64. That was the last awesome console they made. I'm the kind of customer who buys only ~10 games per console, TOPS, so it has to be the console with those 10 games I want on it, and with the controls that are the most sensible. In the past few years, that's been XBOX, XBOX360, PS2. That's all I've bought since N64. Each one I've got 5-10 games only, but they're the best each console offers. I'm waiting to see what MS and Sony have for offer next, because what games are in the catalog determines if I support or not. Especially really good adventure/RPG games. I have only passing interest in FPS games. Stuff like Halo 1 was fun. Or Unreal Tournament. But I really dislike all the realistic military shit. It's just not for me. No interest in dance/music games either. I'd rather play real instruments. All of my friends are musicians too anyway.

PS I'm less frequently on here now that I am in the middle of two huge projects in Montreal and several others around the world before end of year.

 

[Wander]

My biggest gaming period was in the playstation 1 times when I was a kid and we didn't even have a computer at home. I have since done my fair share of PC gaming, but the truth is that there is much more hassle that comes with it compared to concoles, especially as I only have a laptop at the moment. PS2 was great and I had a huge pile of games for that too, but I actually only bought a concole from the latest generation this autumn when a friend offered his old 360 to me with a decent prize.

Still, the amount of gaming I do now compared to when I was a teenager (I'm now 21) is probably about 10% of that. Some Soul Calibur 5 online and the odd shot at some decent story based game like Mafia II. I still have interest in games, but it's weird how picky I've become. I absolutely will not stand games that waste my time with filler bullshit anymore (JRPGs, I'm looking at you). I like simracing so I will probably eventually get a wheel for the xbox to see what the Forzas and others have to offer.

 

[Sauna]

Just because a game has a ton of pointless sidetasks for you to do doesn't mean you have to do them all. JRPGs can be some of the most emotionally rewarding games, even with all the melodrama.

My thoughts on gaming are actually somewhat close to Ken's middle paragraph, except that I do use a PC for gaming too, and therefore I still go for Nintendo as my number one choice for a console since a lot of the stuff the others offer can also be played on a PC.

 

[Phanto]

I like console games. Why? Because I don't spend a lot of money updating a desktop PC to game with. I never have and never will. If I ever play a PC game, it's on my shitty laptop. (As contrasted with my siiiiick new laptop, that cannot be soiled by games). My desktop PC is rigged up for audio recording and mixing only and it's going to stay that way too.

My PC is 8 years old and I've only upgraded the graphics card (that was 2 years ago, cost ~200 dollars).
Then again, like movies and music, what I entertain myself with is rarely something new.

I watch new movies, I listen to new albums, I play new games. But what I regularly watch, listen to and play is very often "old". 50s-60s movies, 60s-90s music, 90s-00s games.

So I play old games. RPGs and strategy games. The Call of Dutys and shit can suck my balls. I don't need a modern monster rig
Also, PC technology in terms of "what's needed" or "minimum requirements" has been pretty much the same for the last 5+ years.

 

[Wander]

Just because a game has a ton of pointless sidetasks for you to do doesn't mean you have to do them all. JRPGs can be some of the most emotionally rewarding games, even with all the melodrama.

Lol, my comment had nothing to do with sidetasks, but rather the fact that 90% of your typical JRPG content is pointless running and repetition fighting by nature. That is not to say they all totally suck. As far as I can remember, Final Fantasy Tactics was pretty great.

 

[Kenneth R.]

Thing is, until recently, JRPGs were the only games with a decent story. (N64 and previous gen not included). Even now, yeah, it's still mostly JRPGs with a few exceptions. You all know I'm a literary savant so that stuff really makes or breaks it for me.

Call of Duty is to me what happens after a visit to Taco Bell.

 

[Detective Clarence Beauregard]

I like console games. Why? Because I don't spend a lot of money updating a desktop PC to game with.

That's how I see it, too. I used to prefer PC games for the better controls and mods, but at this point in my life I'm too busy to constantly mess around with updating hardware. Console games may not have the sleek graphics that PC games do, but the far fewer amount of glitches is easily worth the trade-off.

I really dislike all the realistic military shit. It's just not for me.

Same here. I have a few Call of Duty games, but I grew tired of them very quickly. The ever-growing amount of generic shooters due to other developers wanting to get a piece of the Call of Duty pie annoys me, too. If you've seen one "realistic" military shooter, you've pretty much seen them all. I say throw some monsters or aliens or something in there, because killing people gets boring very quickly.

 

[Sauna]

Just throwing monsters/aliens in there won't make a shooter any less boring, you're still just shooting at stuff until it dies. Like most kinds of games, it's why you're doing things, what the world in the game feels like and what interesting things are going on in it that ultimately make a shooter good or bad. It's why, for example, Half-Life is infinitely better than Crysis even though they might appear similar on the surface.

Edit: Then again, Crysis is still more interesting than Call of Duty, so maybe you're onto something there.

 

[Detective Clarence Beauregard]

Then again, Crysis is still more interesting than Call of Duty, so maybe you're onto something there.

Hilariously enough, I like the levels in Crysis where you shoot people more than the ones where you shoot aliens. Huh.

 

[Marwen]

Never really been into consoles. PC all the way. Used to love fantasy RPG's the most (Diablo, Baldur's Gate, etc), also strategy/wargames. When it comes to realistic gun stuff the only ones I liked were stealth games (Metal Gear Solid, Splinter Cell...). I don't like any of this modern military FPS stuff either. Boring.

But if I were to go back to gaming I'd probably just get a console that has the most games I like. I wouldn't want to spend a fortune on a good PC just to have to update it later on. None of this will probably happen anyway because whenever I have time to waste unproductively I spend it on music.

 

[Kenneth R.]

Just throwing monsters/aliens in there won't make a shooter any less boring, you're still just shooting at stuff until it dies. Like most kinds of games, it's why you're doing things, what the world in the game feels like and what interesting things are going on in it that ultimately make a shooter good or bad. It's why, for example, Half-Life is infinitely better than Crysis even though they might appear similar on the surface.

Edit: Then again, Crysis is still more interesting than Call of Duty, so maybe you're onto something there.

Definitely Half Life. Complexity of story & game mechanics trump "realism" any day for me. When they used to make games with historical battles, it still didn't interest me but I could understand why someone would want to play it. Like Roman seiges, WW2, etc. More recently with "Battlefield" and everything since, it's just a generic rehash like the Microsoft flight sims.

 

[donKyle]

I've never played any PC games that demanded a lot, but I'm saving a little money so I can build a decent rig to play The Elder Scrolls Online. I'll also finally get to play Morrowind since I've never had an Xbox. I also want to try out the zombie thing in Arma2.

 

[Phanto]

If was to get a console today, I would go for like a Nintendo 3DS and buy a dungeon-crawler or castlevania or something. It's a handheld, yes, but TV consoles don't interest me in the slightest. Shit, even the i-Devices/Android have more interesting games than TV consoles IMO.

 

[Detective Clarence Beauregard]

I loved the original Half-Life. The sequel was decent, but also somewhat responsible for the lack of variety we have today.

 

[Wander]

If was to get a console today, I would go for like a Nintendo 3DS and buy a dungeon-crawler or castlevania or something. It's a handheld, yes, but TV consoles don't interest me in the slightest. Shit, even the i-Devices/Android have more interesting games than TV consoles IMO.

It depends entirely on what you're into. TV consoles aren't the optimal hardware for dungeon crawlers, that's for sure. But for some things, namely fighting games, it is the only viable option.

 

[Sauna]

I loved the original Half-Life. The sequel was decent, but also somewhat responsible for the lack of variety we have today.

The (still unfinished) sequel is the greatest FPS ever and deserves no blame for anything. To me it makes a lot more sense to point the finger at the ones who did it wrong instead of the ones who got it right.

 

[Kenneth R.]

greatest FPS ever is clearly duckhunt.