StaceyPowers

You mentioned something about being "asperger-y" in another thread. Do you have ASD, if you don't mind me asking?

I can't imagine who you heard that from ... =D

I've been reading the same thing. Following the press for the game leading up to its release though, it seems like the reviews are basically a confirmation of what people were anticipating--and therefore potentially influenced by it. I know a lot of people are also bemoaning "another zombie game." I think I'll just watch and wait and see how the game holds up over time.

I do think that goes a long ways. It's refreshing, and the game's weird sense of humour allows it to express itself through striking visuals and also lets the devs play around with some surreal events and features each season.

@The Blackangel Never played that game (or heard of it, actually). I found most NES games pretty hard though. I don't know if that is because games back then were simply harder, or if I was just too uncoordinated as a kid to play them well. Or it might've been the gamepad--I still think that thing would give me grief today.

If you could redesign RL in the aesthetic style of any game ... We’ve already talked about “If you could live in any game universe/city,” I think. Here’s a related question. If you could simply take the aesthetics from any video game and make-over the place where you live now visually in that style (without changing anything else about the place), what game/location would you pick? I would pick the aesthetics of Columbia or Rapture as my top choice (big surprise, right). As my second choice, I’d go with Fallout’s streamline moderne style. Tagging @DylanC, @LadyDay, @Alyxx because I'm curious of your answers.

I sometimes get RSI in my wrists from my job. I thankfully haven’t had a flare in a while (knock on plastic), but when I do, it can make gaming a little awkward. Mouse use usually is right out, and keyboard use isn’t great either. DualShock isn’t too bad—mostly—but it can still be a bit much at times. I wondered if anyone here has issues like this, and if so, what you do for them? I use some soft wrist braces which help out a lot.

What do you look for in terms of features when you are playing a space game? Hoping @SpaceExplorer will weigh in.

Sometimes I see people complain about what they perceive of as a game being “more of a movie than a game.” I suppose I can see the complaint if a movie-you-play-a-part-of simply isn’t what one is looking for in a game, but often disdain is expressed at the entire concept. I rather like the “game as a movie.” To me it is just another way to tell a story, and it can potentially create a stronger empathetic link than a passively-viewed film. Thoughts?

I hope so. I just don't see why they wouldn't have announced it along with the PS4 compatibility.

What are some games that you really enjoyed, but which were over way too fast?

I think @The Blackangel has a good idea here. I imagine @UleTheVee and others could make great use out of a blogging feature.

Yeah, I saw that too. It'll just make me angrier if it isn't compatible with anything but PS4 :/

There is so much buzz these days around the topic of “video game addiction,” with parents dragging their kids to psychologists for treatment and everything. Do you think video game addiction is really a type of “addiction?” Or do you think that is an exaggeration (or just not accurate)? I found this article insightful: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/media-spotlight/201707/does-video-game-addiction-really-exist I think I’d rather call it “problem gaming,” since I tend to view “addiction” in specific physiological terms. Where to draw the line is hard to say, and I think it varies depending on the person. But I would say if gaming gets to the point of uncontrollably disrupting grades, relationships, day job, etc, that is “problem gaming.” I do agree with the author that this type of behaviour probably can be placed in context of other psychological issues which underlie it (i.e. anxiety, depression, or even just other life problems). What are your thoughts?

I read this story once—I can’t remember what game it was about. But this guy in a shooter was annoyed at a tree on a map, and wrote in the developer to explain why the placement of the tree was giving him problems tactically. In the next patch, the very last patch note was something like “Removed one particular tree from (location).” I love that story, because they really took his complaint seriously, and bothered to make the change, despite it being extremely specific and requested by just this one guy. Has anyone ever personally had a great customer service experience like this with a game developer or publisher?

I didn't see that in the Wired article :/

Do you listen to your favorite game soundtracks much? I like listening to the soundtrack for Skyrim while I’m working. It makes my job feel like questing! It also gets bonus points for not being too distracting.

That's what I saw. I'm just wondering if that means we can count out backwards compatibility with PS3, PS2, PS1.

Is there a video game which has music you particularly love in the main menu? My favorite is Bioshock Infinite: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rDVb8q8KWw This game was so atmospheric. Even the menu was atmospheric. Sometimes I’d literally just sit there through the entire song before loading the game. I love that it’s a real historical recording and the way it seems to echo from another age and place. But mostly I love how the words of the song end up being so perfect for the story. What are your favorite menu songs in games?

I have kind of a fascination with Fortnite. Most recently I saw that Apex Legends has been losing steam on Twitch, but Fortnite views are holding steady. My theory about Fortnite enduring is that it ultimately has less to do with the specifics of the game, and more to do with the particular way in which Epic approaches community relations. I think that their commitment to keeping the game continuously fresh and evolving stands in sharp contrast to a lot of poorly-supported multiplayer games today. They seem to work hard to gather community feedback and respond to it. The game's odd sense of humor probably has some role to play in its continued success as well. What are your thoughts?

When playing a game where you have a lot of plot-altering decision points, do you usually change your choices on replays, or do you make a lot of the same choices repeatedly? If something doesn’t go the way I hoped, I will often try changing my choice to see if it leads to an improved outcome. I also sometimes will change my decisions just to see what will happen. But often I wind up making the same choices every time, because the other choices just don’t feel right (in situations that are clear-cut to me, anyway). Changing them out of mere curiosity breaks my immersion. What about you?

I nominate @The Blackangel @kingpotato @DylanC @UleTheVee @xXInfectedXx @Alyxx @Executor Akamia @killamch89 @LadyDay All have been very active contributing to conversation this month!

While playing video games, did any of your virtual experiences ever change the way you saw some issue in real life (i.e. a social or political issue)?

Did you ever play a game that was driving you crazy, and you weren’t enjoying yourself, but you were so angry at it that you powered through it just to say you finally beat it?

What's funny is that those chairs don't look particularly comfortable to me. Especially that top one, which looks like it doesn't provide much upper back support (it leans back way too far for me). I have chronic back/neck/shoulder problems, but I feel comfortable playing on my couch with my knees pulled up against my chest or sitting cross-legged. A PT told me that changing positions frequently is as important (if not more important in some ways) than the specific position(s) you sit in.