Zak

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1178220/ICBM/ ICBM is a real-time strategy game of nuclear destruction. Research new technologies, build up your nuclear stockpile and use a combination of ships, planes and missiles to strike at the heart of your opponents’ cities while keeping your population safe from harm. Did you ever play DEFCON? This looks like the spiritual successor to that game with more units and greater depth. Anyone tried it yet? What did you think? It's cheap at £15.49 but I'm gonna hold out for a deal at sale.

Coming soon to a digital distributor near you. The Steam Autumn (Black Friday) Sale 2020 will (likely) start on November 24th and end on December 1st. Epic will probably offer a similar sale or special offers over the Black Friday period. What are you hoping will end up on sale during this period? Anything you have got your eye on? I want to pick up They Are Billions. The game has been on sale before but never with a huge discount. Hoping that this time around its too good a deal to pass on.

Ever had a parent or similar lament your choice of hobby? Ever had someone say that you'll suffer for a focus on videogames? Feel free to send them this and tell them to STFU. Video gaming can benefit mental health. https://www.theguardian.com/games/2020/nov/16/video-gaming-can-benefit-mental-health-find-oxford-academics The study was done in the realm of videogame addiction and the researchers found that “if you play four hours a day of Animal Crossing, you’re a much happier human being," and I'm sure you could apply that to any other game too. Other than a sense of wellbeing, what other benefits are there to be gained from gaming?

Just being Devil's Advocate here, but if you have reported an issue on a popular game, it is likely others have had the same experience and reported the same issue too. Therefore, it is worth assuming they were working on a fix for that issue due to all the reports coming in. So rather than dealing with your specific experience they simply got on with the job of fixing the issue for all who had experienced it and - consequently - for all who would experience it in the future. That seems like a fairly efficient method of dealing with the problem.

How did they fix the problem then? Seems a bit of a strange thing to say, "they didn't help me but they fixed the issue." That suggests they did help you. Or am I missing something?

Steam made $4.3 billion in 2017. That's not including their cut from microtransations and DLC. Fortnite is a freak occurrence. In general, free to play is not as successful as a business model as paid games.

Ha! At the ripe old age of 43, and a veteran of gaming back to an Amstrad CPC 464, a 486 DOS machine and megadrive, you can be sure I'm comfortable with dated graphics and gameplay. I'll check out the sequels; see if I can find some way to play them.

When buying 'out the box' issues such as upgrades etc are obviously considered. With my machine there is no issue with upgrades. First thing I did was stick more RAM in. Also, on the subject of warranty, if something goes wrong I can send the box back for repair/replacement. I don't need a degree in computer science to diagnose and identify the specific component which is at fault.

Can anyone recommend some RTS streams for me to look over? I'm more comfortable with RTS and turn-based games than any other genre and enjoy watching people play. What are some popular ones?

I considered building my own but in the end opted for a HP Omen out-the-box machine. Just added an extra 16gb ram to the standard machine. I don't think there is much of an advantage in building your own.

I'm terribly addicted to Adventure Capitalist. SO much that I am usually in the top three worldwide for the challenge modes.

The Tropico series would be an obvious starter here. You play as President of your own island nation. Pretty fun games.

I loved the original Driver. Played it to death on the PS1. I would spend hours editing replay videos purely for my own enjoyment as there was no function for sharing them 'back in the day'. Sadly never played the sequels.

What's your favourite city building game? I've ploughed over a 1000 hours into Cities Skylines. It is far more accessible than Sim City series. Do you have a favourite? If so what and why?

My son wants an new Xbox for Christmas and he's yammering on about the X being superior. Whilst I get that it is superior I do wonder if there is any real point in paying the extra money for it over the S. Other than the 4K feature (we don't have a 4K TV) I can't see any reason to buy the more expensive machine. Change my mind?

I can't see that ever happening. Steam has such a strong market position and Epic relies mostly on Fortnite. Whilst I understand Fortnite is hugely popular it is also free. Free to play has never been an overly successful business model. The few Epic exclusives outside of Fortnite are insufficient to give them an advantage over Steam.

Launching in direct competition with Google Stadia, the xCloud service is now available on Android but not on Apple. Do you think this'll be a clever move for MS with the next generation of consoles just around the corner? Or could making Xbox games available without the requisite hardware be like shooting themselves in the foot?

That's really the crunch isn't it? Cost. PC gaming didn't really take off until the price came down to something affordable by Joe Public. The same is going to apply to VR. Until it becomes accessible it'll always be a specialism.

My introduction to gaming was via the local arcade. Games like Golden Axe and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, later Street Fighter, Outrun and Afterburner. I spent a small fortune chasing high scores. Seems as though there are few arcades these days, primarily because you can play anything like from the arcade in the comfort of your home. Does anyone still choose to go to the arcade?

Probably the best GTA game to ever hit stores. San Andreas and Vice City were both quality GTA titles.

I'd probably go for the S over the X. It's significantly cheaper and there's very little difference between them. The lack of a disc tray isn't an issue for me as I don't often buy physical media. I don't have a 4K TV so that's pointless too. The X is more powerful but not overly. As an entry level machine, Microsoft might have seen a way to beat Sony for once.

Has anyone played much in the way of VR games? I have seen a lot of new titles which are VR. The HL Alyx game is tempting but I don't know enough about the technology and interface to take the plunge. Seems like a heavy investment to test it out. Exmple: Oculus Rift is £400 here in the UK. What are your thoughts and experiences of VR gaming?

Indie is the only place to go if you want originality. There's very little in the AAA world which breaks new ground. Perhaps the increase in uptake in VR will change that a bit. Fingers crossed.

User reviews would be a great addition. User reviews are the first thing I look at when considering buying a game. With them not being on Epic I find myself looking elsewhere for reviews before making a purchase. Seems silly they don't have them.

We all have a game which either escaped notice at point of release or that we never got around to playing despite it being hugely popular. Mine is Star Craft 2. As a massive RTS fan its inconceivable that I missed this huge title when it was released. I always meant to give it a blast but never got around to it. Newer titles always tempted me away from it. Which game have you never played but really, really, wished that you did?