2019 VIDEO GAME CATCH-ALL THREAD

[AxB]

So Psyonix (makers of Rocket League) were bought by Epic games (makers of Fortnite), and everyone thinks RL is going Free to Play soon because of that. The entire PC Rocket league scene is being massive bitches about it. I however welcome the thought of a huge influx of untalented newbie players. Loads of easy wins if I'm the only one not ball chasing.

[Death From Above]

It's possible the game goes free, it is 4 years old now, and it seems like a game that's pretty heavy on the reskin game as a big deal. And it's not like Epic won't make a ton of money off of that.

Doesn't hurt the game is actually good. Rocket League is the only e-sport I ever catch myself watching from time to time.

[AxB]

In terms of appearance customisation, RL has more options than Fortnite. FN you just have your skin and your backpack. RL you have your car (affects play, in terms of how some are longer, wider or taller than others; All have identical speed and handling), your paintjob, your wheels, your topper (hat), your aerial or flag, your boost trail, your wheel trails, and your goal explosion. Some people play the game just to collect and trade stuff. A lot of the try hards insist that just using basic default stuff identifies them as a serious player.

[Doc Townsend]

I'm on an action adventure kick.  Probably play mostly longer (?) action adventures through the summer.

Games I've picked up lately in that vein (or already owned and haven't played much):

Bayonetta 1 & 2; Dark Souls 1, 2, 3; Darksiders 1 & 2; pretty much every God of War game (definitely playing III and the PS4 game this summer); Enslaved: Odyssey to the West; last couple Tomb Raiders; Bloodborne; Sekiro; Otogi 1 & 2; a few others. 

I generally stick to shorter games these days, so it will be interesting to see how much progress I make with these games.

Edited May 8, 2019 by Doc Townsend

[dragonzombie]

[SirSmUgly]

I got Saints Row the Third on Switch because I've been waiting for a good open-world action-adventure game on the Switch that I could play on the go, and I played BotW already. Since Rockstar won't just port GTAV already, SRTT seemed like a good stopgap. It's no SR2, but it's still a kick playing 360-era games on handheld. I always knew the day where home console-quality games could be played on handheld would come. 

[dragonzombie]

Developer Commentary about NES Castlevania's.

http://shmuplations.com/castlevania/

Edited May 10, 2019 by D.Z

[AxB]

OK. so with Watch Dogs, it turns out the key to finding all the sidequests and hidden things on the map is to hack the Towers. But there's nothing I've found in story mode that tells you "Hacking the towers, that's a good idea". If I hadn't wondered what the red splodge on the mini-map was, I'd never have known it was even a thing you could do. And it runs out there's a serial killer and some arms smugglers and a bunch of conspiracy backstory stuff going on, and it looks like an awful lot of people who played and completed the game never scratched the surface of any of that.

[SirSmUgly]

13 minutes ago, AxB said:

OK. so with Watch Dogs, it turns out the key to finding all the sidequests and hidden things on the map is to hack the Towers. But there's nothing I've found in story mode that tells you "Hacking the towers, that's a good idea". If I hadn't wondered what the red splodge on the mini-map was, I'd never have known it was even a thing you could do. And it runs out there's a serial killer and some arms smugglers and a bunch of conspiracy backstory stuff going on, and it looks like an awful lot of people who played and completed the game never scratched the surface of any of that.

I actually think that's kinda cool. In your typical Ubi open-world games, there are lots of activities to do, but basically they make your numbers go up (maybe helpfully sometimes in order to help you craft things, but otherwise, it's about collecting and watching your collectibles found numbers go up more than anything).

Here, you seem to be saying that they actually leave some interesting backstory in their myriad activities. It sort of cleverly plays on the idea that you can just plow through Ubi open-world games because the collectibles are just there and everywhere and can probably be mostly ignored. 

Mind you, I got bored with Watch.Dogs after about three hours and never really came back to it, but this information almost makes me want to give it a shot again. 

[AxB]

Yeah, basically everything is available throughout the game, but you'd have no idea where anything is except story missions, and crime events that pop up on your phone. But once you hack a Tower, all the mysteries and side quest locations are marked on your map and you can just go and do them. And a lot of them do contain audio logs that give backstory or sidestories, and I think if you collect all the evidence for any one story, it then opens a mission to resolve it. Like the paper scraps in GTA5 let you find who the serial killer is, and kill him.

[Doc Townsend]

Got a chance to buy a new PS4 at a good price (about $200, new in box), but not sure I should.  I own a PS3, Xbox 360, and PS Vita (as well as a Wii U), but I've kept those systems offline - no firmware updates, game patches, or eshops.  Can I even set up a PS4 without hooking it to the internet or downloading the latest firmware?  I've read that the Xbox One requires an internet connection to complete set-up.

I have a wireless network in the house and Comcast internet service, but I'm not too keen to get into having to download large patches regularly before I play.  I can do it, but have no real interest in going that route, at least right now.  Never had an interest in online play or digital games (I'm a collector; give me a disc and a box or we don't need to talk).  I know some games are improved by patches, but, so long as bugs aren't game-breaking, I'm not too bothered.  I'd like to keep the PS4 entirely offline, at least at first, but I also don't want to invest a few hundred into the endeavor then find out it's not realistic.

Mostly, I'm considering a PS4 for God of War, Bloodborne, and Sekiro.  The majority of the other games on my want list are indy games from Limited Run or remasters of PS2/3 games.  Kinda doubt those need patches to be playable.  A lot of those titles are also available on the PS Vita/TV or the PS3.

Thoughts?  i know keeping a PS4 offline has some disadvantages and isn't ideal, but I kinda think i could get enough us out of it to satisfy me.  Am I going to be able to play most disc-based games out of the box or am I going to have to update the firmware first (I'm assuming the game would install whatever system updates it needed along with the game files)?

 Also, how big are updates?  My internet speed isn't crap,l but it's one of the slowest/cheapest tiers - maybe the slowest (don't remember).  i'd have to look.  We don't stream much or download large files, so we've never needed anything better.  Would updates be larger than, say, a really large iphone update?  Those download and install themselves fairly quickly.

Thanks.

[Lamp, broken circa 1988]

The updates are several gigabytes and sony's data centers are fucking garbage so they're slow for everyone no matter how fast their internet is. I don't know how reassuring that may or may not be. As for system firmware, I believe the game discs can occasionally have the firmware on there, so install the newest game first and go from there. As for those games you mentioned, I remember God of War got patched pretty much daily during the first week of release so I'm morbidly curious as to what that game looks like unpatched.

[BurningBeard]

Just got the Witness in the latest PS4 sale. Do the plaudits still hold up for this game? I remember it being universally fawned over at launch but then just seemed to never get a mention again

[John E. Dynamite]

I friggin' loved The Witness. Mainlined it, didn't sleep much for a few days. As pure of a puzzle game as I've come across. Just don't expect any of the narrative vagaries to come together into anything comprehensible. I also imagine about 4 out of 5 people will hate it.

[Tromatagon]

I totally slept on Shakedown: Hawaii's release last week.  Gonna have to fix that.

[Jiji]

6 hours ago, Tromatagon said:

I totally slept on Shakedown: Hawaii's release last week.  Gonna have to fix that.

Looks like fun. Thanks for the heads up.

[AxB]

http://Chrono.gg/Phil for 42% off 'The Messenger' until 9AM (Eastern I think). Apparently it's NinjaMetroidVania. Supposed to be very good.

[SirSmUgly]

Bruh, The Witness was free a couple months ago on PS+. Did you not download it?

Anyway, I love perspective puzzles and line puzzles, and this game had a bunch of really dope ones. Just ignore the fact that Jon Blow is a complete idiot who happens to be a savant at puzzles and also ignore the pretentious crap that he likes to add to his awesome puzzle games. 

[John E. Dynamite]

I was gonna write about something else but this post became a big ol' rant about all the retro gaming stores that I've frequented over the years. This is the brick-and-mortar supporting, Baltimore City residing, physical copy buying geek's take on things.

Time Warp Media in Old Ellicott City shut down during the first flood, although it still maintains a strong (and underrated) presence in the indestructible antique shop at the bottom of the hill.  That's where I bought the copy of Balloon Kid that I've currently got on pause next to me. The Nerdporium in Hampden  no longer has a brick-and-mortar location, they got booted by some greedy landlords who still haven't turned their old space into anything worthwhile. I still support them when they open a stall during any local festivals. Pandora's Closet in College Park is the most atrociously priced store I've ever been to outside of Manhattan, a damn shame because their location is great and their stock is hefty. If you dig around you might find a deal on something that's shot up in price and they haven't bothered to update, at least. Collector's Corner have some great comic book shops but their video games are an afterthought and they've sold me bootlegs. I only discovered the brilliance of GamerZ Paradise at the Joppatowne Flea Market recently. They literally share a wall with the Maryland Championship Wrestling (MCW) training center/home base, so not only do I get to dig through their heinously ample stock, but I get to hear a bunch of dudes taking bumps while I do it. Both times I went I was on a bit of a budget but was able to find a ton of stuff I couldn't get anywhere else. PSP game and general gaming accessories fell into my lap up there. It might wind up my favorite store in the state if I get to know it any better.

My most frequented shop now is re:gen in the White Marsh mall. They get picked over pretty clean since it's the only legit retro game store in the Baltimore beltway area, but if you spend enough time there they're very shoppable. Prices are usually exactly what eBay's asking and they've got deep stocks of every generation - one of the few places I can consistently find Dreamcast and DS games. Play Raven in Eldersburg is probably my favorite stop in the state these days, despite being a little bit out of the way. They always seem to have something I didn't know I was looking for - my last three trips, I bough a copy of Roland's Curse for GB, Lunar Silver Star Story Complete for PS1, and Robot Alchemic Drive for PS2. They've got a Boktai II cartridge, last time I checked... very very good for the obscure. The original Play Raven (which was easily the best store in the state) merged with the pretty damned good Cartridges Galore, a somewhat-chain in Northern Appalachia with stores in Altoona (where I bought my copy of Crystalis, busted battery, fuck you), Hagerstown (significantly underpriced LRG Vita games, love you), Cumberland (went to college out there, always show up when they're closed, owe you), State College, Morgantown, and Johnstown (haven't been).

Speaking of Pennsylvania, I have a lot a love for the Just Press Play stores up there. Two or three of them are centered around the Lancaster area, but I usually go to the one in York. They've got a pretty active social media presence and I've called them a few times to drive games out to the York store and they're enthusiastically cool about doing it. The crown jewel of that operation is their Lancaster Shopping Center location, I think? They're all very well organized. I liked The Vault in Hanover, PA the last time I went, but their York location was a bit of a bust the last time I checked. That one's around the corner from a good arcade and a good tap house, so at least the location's decent. Complete In Box way out in Ephrata was the real deal, but I've only been once. It's a big space, kinda daunting, and I was only buying GBA stuff that day. One of those good-deal-bad-deal places where I wasn't sure if multiple employees were deciding what things cost, but the selection was so big that there were enough good deals to be happy about. Still need to hit up a few joints (jawns? how does that word even work...) north of Philly. Classic Game Junkie in particular is on my shortlist. Finally want to give credit to VGH in Augusta, Georgia for having all the stuff my younger cousin was looking for the last time I was down there and Videogamesnewyork in NoHo for having the most insanely great shit every damn time. Last time they had five import Beatmania games for PS1 + the turntable controller and I didn't bite cause I don't have a CRT for old music games. The shame! Every time I go there I walk out with an armful of great shit and somehow still regret what could have been

If anybody's got some cool spots near them, let's hear it. I go on enough vacations. It might come in handy?

[twiztor]

46 minutes ago, John E. Dynamite said:

If anybody's got some cool spots near them, let's hear it. I go on enough vacations. It might come in handy?

really wish i could add to this conversation. The only store in my area is called Video Games Etc.  prices are generally in line with eBay, sometimes a bit less, but the selection isn't the greatest. I still swing through once a month or so to look for gems.

[JLSigman]

I had unfollowed THQ Nordic after the 8chan debacle, so this came as a surprise when I opened Steam this morning. Apparently they have another add-on for Titan Quest, called Atlantis. According to the reviews, however, they're charging $13 - $15 for about 6 hours of gameplay which may or may not work if you've already finished Ragnarok. 

Also, I am just not feeling the "Forgotten Gods" expansion of Grim Dawn. It's... boring. You get a quest and it's 3 areas away. Then you talk to someone and get the next part, which is 2 areas away. All I'm doing is walking maps to talk to someone, then walking more maps to talk to someone else. 

[NikoBaltimore]

7 hours ago, John E. Dynamite said:

I was gonna write about something else but this post became a big ol' rant about all the retro gaming stores that I've frequented over the years. This is the brick-and-mortar supporting, Baltimore City residing, physical copy buying geek's take on things.

Time Warp Media in Old Ellicott City shut down during the first flood, although it still maintains a strong (and underrated) presence in the indestructible antique shop at the bottom of the hill.  That's where I bought the copy of Balloon Kid that I've currently got on pause next to me. The Nerdporium in Hampden  no longer has a brick-and-mortar location, they got booted by some greedy landlords who still haven't turned their old space into anything worthwhile. I still support them when they open a stall during any local festivals. Pandora's Closet in College Park is the most atrociously priced store I've ever been to outside of Manhattan, a damn shame because their location is great and their stock is hefty. If you dig around you might find a deal on something that's shot up in price and they haven't bothered to update, at least. Collector's Corner have some great comic book shops but their video games are an afterthought and they've sold me bootlegs. I only discovered the brilliance of GamerZ Paradise at the Joppatowne Flea Market recently. They literally share a wall with the Maryland Championship Wrestling (MCW) training center/home base, so not only do I get to dig through their heinously ample stock, but I get to hear a bunch of dudes taking bumps while I do it. Both times I went I was on a bit of a budget but was able to find a ton of stuff I couldn't get anywhere else. PSP game and general gaming accessories fell into my lap up there. It might wind up my favorite store in the state if I get to know it any better.

My most frequented shop now is re:gen in the White Marsh mall. They get picked over pretty clean since it's the only legit retro game store in the Baltimore beltway area, but if you spend enough time there they're very shoppable. Prices are usually exactly what eBay's asking and they've got deep stocks of every generation - one of the few places I can consistently find Dreamcast and DS games. Play Raven in Eldersburg is probably my favorite stop in the state these days, despite being a little bit out of the way. They always seem to have something I didn't know I was looking for - my last three trips, I bough a copy of Roland's Curse for GB, Lunar Silver Star Story Complete for PS1, and Robot Alchemic Drive for PS2. They've got a Boktai II cartridge, last time I checked... very very good for the obscure. The original Play Raven (which was easily the best store in the state) merged with the pretty damned good Cartridges Galore, a somewhat-chain in Northern Appalachia with stores in Altoona (where I bought my copy of Crystalis, busted battery, fuck you), Hagerstown (significantly underpriced LRG Vita games, love you), Cumberland (went to college out there, always show up when they're closed, owe you), State College, Morgantown, and Johnstown (haven't been).

Speaking of Pennsylvania, I have a lot a love for the Just Press Play stores up there. Two or three of them are centered around the Lancaster area, but I usually go to the one in York. They've got a pretty active social media presence and I've called them a few times to drive games out to the York store and they're enthusiastically cool about doing it. The crown jewel of that operation is their Lancaster Shopping Center location, I think? They're all very well organized. I liked The Vault in Hanover, PA the last time I went, but their York location was a bit of a bust the last time I checked. That one's around the corner from a good arcade and a good tap house, so at least the location's decent. Complete In Box way out in Ephrata was the real deal, but I've only been once. It's a big space, kinda daunting, and I was only buying GBA stuff that day. One of those good-deal-bad-deal places where I wasn't sure if multiple employees were deciding what things cost, but the selection was so big that there were enough good deals to be happy about. Still need to hit up a few joints (jawns? how does that word even work...) north of Philly. Classic Game Junkie in particular is on my shortlist. Finally want to give credit to VGH in Augusta, Georgia for having all the stuff my younger cousin was looking for the last time I was down there and Videogamesnewyork in NoHo for having the most insanely great shit every damn time. Last time they had five import Beatmania games for PS1 + the turntable controller and I didn't bite cause I don't have a CRT for old music games. The shame! Every time I go there I walk out with an armful of great shit and somehow still regret what could have been

If anybody's got some cool spots near them, let's hear it. I go on enough vacations. It might come in handy?

Damn, that's a lot to unpack there.  Some stores I never heard of though I may have to check out.

Time Warp I went into a couple times and assumed they got out of the historic part of EC.  Glad to see they're still around there.  Collector's Corner is much more of a comic shop than anything else though we did pick up some old NES games there on a whim.  I like the selection at Gamerz Paradise and did find some good stuff awhile ago.  It's been awhile so I may have to swing up there this weekend.  And while I initially liked re:gen a lot I'm not a fan of the person running it (long story that's not worth getting into).  If I'm really bored I'll swing up there and play one of the arcades there but other than that I'm okay without it.

As for York I absolutely love Just Press Play and wish they were closer to Baltimore.  They're always super cool and the selection is pretty damn great.  We don't go to York as much as we like to due to it being an hour away, but when we do we make sure to go there.  Haven't tried the Lancaster one though so we may have to  swing up there.  As for Vault I only went to the one in York and was not impressed though time permitting may have to check the Hanover location.  I do wholeheartedly agree on the arcade as you can't go wrong with all those games for a decent price.  And if the taphouse you're referring to is  Holy Hound then that place is indeed really great.

[Tromatagon]

14 hours ago, Oyaji said:

Looks like fun. Thanks for the heads up.

I like it a lot so far.  Shaking down stores is pretty fun.

I miss the nostalgia gimmick from the first game a bit, but really love the whole aesthetic the game has going for it.

I mean look at that fucking Halloween store man

 

[Gonzo]

We've got a place in the mall about 45 minutes from here called World 1-1 Games. It's got a ton of game stuff (Funko figures and other collectables) and a ton of old school games and systems for sale. They've started adding a lot of multi-player arcade cabinets recently, too. I know they have one of the Street Fighter games and X-Men and the old Simpsons cabinet, among others.

Last year, and I can't remember the date, they had something for "World Video Game Day." The first 100 people got free video games. Not, like, new games or anything, but people lined up and got tickets when they entered the store. When they left the store, they stopped at a table outside and specified which system they wanted a game for. Then, they were given a brown paper bag with a random game for that system in it. Obviously, the PS4 and XBox one games went first, and by the time I finished looking around the store and got to the table, they were down to a lot of the older systems. I got two NES games. . .Wizards and Warriors (which my best friend and I played the hell out of in our younger days) and Days of Thunder.

It's a neat little place. I hope they stay in business for a long time, because the people that run the place seem like genuinely decent folks.

[jaedmc]

I'm doing a show later this year set in Hawaii and we all speak in pidgin. I play a drug dealer. Maybe I can pick up Shakedown Hawaii as research and make it a tax write off.

Been playing TEW 2016 again. Went back to the 1994 mod that I enjoy. I'm playing as Arnold Schwarzenegger if he bought Herb Abrams UWF. I love all the random shit that happens. Like Virgil and Bushwacker Butch just formed a tag team called Team Explosion, and Antonio Inoki just got busted with a lot of prostitutes so he might get ousted from New Japan.

I made it so Ultimate Warrior would come back instead of being on hiatus. Vince immediately dropped Bret as their ace and hired Ultimate Warrior to be the face of the company instead.