StaceyPowers

Portal itself offers more Liminal spaces than it can be explained, when it can pull you to a whole different dimension that's new to your existence. 

This is an interesting question because I didn't even know what liminal was. But thinking on it, is really a deep question. Game wise, I really liked the safe houses in the recent Evil Within 2 game I've played. You enter a mirror that takes you to some state of mind or realm where you can enhance abilities and weapons, and even talk to your subconscious therapist strapped to a crazy chair. Just being in that safe zone gives a feeling of relief from the evil outside. You even can drink a cup of coffee to regain health. That little perk I thought was cool. I think that counts as liminal because it really is a sort of transition state.
On a more physical transition area, I love hallways in scary games. And I love walking down streets in a creepy town. I think every time we put in a game we enter a liminal space because we are about to go through an experience. 

If I'm in the habit of gaming at a certain time, then it does help regulate the mood. If I game for an extended period and completely shut out my pets from existence, then I feel a sense of regret; so it deregulates me. Imagine what goes on in a pet's mind while we game. They think we entered the world of insanity and half dead. To pets, it's like an old person staring at the wall twiddling their thumbs. 

I notice I almost always have to lower the default volume of music and effects in games, or I miss a lot of dialogue and have to strain to hear. Does anyone else consistently have the same problem with audio volume defaults?

Honestly, I don't think game difficulty can be an accessibility issue because that is not where accessibility issues exist when they do. Problems with accessibility don't really come form video games themselves, but from some form of incompatibility from the individual playing the game. Difficulty is different, that is something developed within the core design of the game itself. Just because your reaction times, level of practice or stratagems aren't effective in one's efforts to succeed at a game, that does not make it an accessibility issue. All that really means is that you're... well... just not very good at that game or you have you difficulty set to high (I'll get back to that point).
 
Accessibility, as well as the quality and compatibility of said accessibility, is all about how good and suitable the user interface (UI) is. That is how one physically recognises and interacts with the game. This interface comprises of two base elements, input and feedback. Input is, obviously, whatever one physically uses to actually control the game along with the software that tells the game how to respond to said control inputs made of what device it is. Feedback are the methods that a game will employ to show the player what effects thier control inputs are having as well as providing the information the player needs to make the decisions to make those inputs.
 
Now, if one of those systems, input of feedback, has a flaw or fault, that is a problem to directly associate with UI itself. This could be a hardware issue like faulty control device (Werther it be mouse, keyboard, gamepad, racing wheel or whatever), a faulty monitor/TV or an issue with sound playback. It could also be a UI issue software if a game was to have bad graphics that don't convey the information accurately or in a way that's easy to understand of if the game is buggy or doesn't run well.
 
This becomes a problem with accessibility when the UI works as specified, but has a compatibility problem with players with some form of impairment indigenous to themselves. A typical controller may work fine, but can only really be used by somebody with two functional hands, so that's an accessibility issue for someone who only has the full use of one hand. The solution of that comes from somebody developing controllers that can be used buy people accurately with only one hand.
 
Likewise, the display and graphics may be very clear and conveys all the information accurately, but if someone has issues with thier sight or there's a language issue, that's not a problem with the game, that's an accessibility issue. That's where game developers can take steps to improve accessibility as part of the process to develop a game. Colour blind friendly options, subtitles, larger text displays, audio cues and so on.
 
Getting back to the point I left at the start, I can think of one exception to rule that difficulty in games can't be an accessibility issue, and that would be difficulty settings in games. Like it or not, there are people who play games just to experience them as a narrative to explore. It is perfectly possible that thier reason for this could tie into a physical or metal ailment they have. So an argument could be made that difficulty is an accessibility issue when single player games only offer one difficulty option. That's another good reason games with one difficulty setting should not exist. This is especially true when the game is only interested in being as hard as possible (Looking at YOU the so-called "Soulsborne" games and all the hacks that copy them). There are obviously exceptions, I'd say certain platformers and interactive narratives can't really apply for example, but exceptions aside multiple difficulty options can help make a game accessible to wider variety of players and is a good thing. It doesn't actually take difficulty away either. If anything, it opens the door to more challenging experiences to those that want them. I know I said that stuff before, but there are folk in the gaming world who desperately need this drummed into thier skull, so I'll keep saying it until I'm cold and blue. Multiple difficulty settings in single player games are a good thing and should always be included minus some exceptions.

Pretty much took the words out my mouth. I tend to play fantasy games or games otherwise detected from reality. I'm not sure even EA are shameless enough to have a barbarian warrior charge at you, stop just before he swings his battle-axe, smile and then say "Drink Pepsi". Outside of sports sims and sports emulation, a world that whores itself out so constantly to the point where having no adds could even spoil the immersion, the only real way to promote things in games is through skins and themed items. Marvels Avengers was regarded as being infinitely shameless having, for example, Version Media themed skins in that game. I mean, what the fuck?
 
I don't mind it when it's at least done with at least some tact. For example, I started playing a game called Two Point Hospital on steam a few days back. The game is published by SEGA, who are celebrating the 30th anniversary of thier most famous icon Sonic, and boy do they want the people playing TPH to know it. You can decorate the Hospital with Sonic rugs, Sonic plants, Sonic wall art and even Sonic rings on pedestals, it's complete madness! I've also been playing Tales of Arise that's been really pushing DLC costume packs themed around what I think is Sword Art Online, then there was the free Phantasy Star 2 and Nier Automata skins in Gravity Rush 2. Outside of sport sims, it's far more subtle because it has to be, but @StaceyPowers, it IS there, more often than you think.

If you play sports or auto racing games, ads in games and billboards and the like are more common.

The other day, a friend said that after he fails a video game task a certain large number of times (i.e. a few dozen), he would prefer if the game offers to skip him past it or offer a workaround. Would you want a feature like this, or would you not?

I wouldn’t necessarily call them followers, but my favorite gang members in RDR2 are Lenny, Hosea, and Charles. You do several independent jobs where it’s just the 2 of you. And I wouldn’t want anyone else. They’re the best men in the gang, and the game as a whole. I still think Hosea should have been the head of the gang instead of Dutch, but that’s just me. They would have fared so much better if they were the Matthews gang instead of the van der Linde gang.

The latest Call of Duty Vanguard that would be out soon is definitely filled with lots of propaganda in game government acts written all over it with the game picturing the World War 2 battle systems. 

RDR2 has some in it. The Pinkertons were a real government agency to hunt down outlaws and other major criminals. There is also mention of the president all around. They also drew inspiration for some of the legendary outlaws from real life. The goofy guy in Valentine that is writing the book about Jim “Boy” Calloway that asks you for pics and stories from other gunslingers gives you names of several outlaws. Some were real, like Black Belle. Others I’m not sure about. I’d have to look into it.
There’s also a lot of Army involvement in the game, and a lot of references to the American civil war. Some of the language they use in the game didn’t carry the same connotation then that it does now.
There’s a lot of propaganda in the game if you just take the time to look for it.

This is really cool! I am lucky I am in the US and can enter 🙂

Sometimes in TLOU 2 and in Left Behind, there are parts where you can turn Infected and human opponents against each other strategically. What are some other games that include this feature?

What are some games that feature major inconsistencies in lore? For example, between Dragon Age: Origins and Inquisition, there are some inconsistencies regarding the information about whether Templars do or do not require lyrium to access their abilities.

What games feature weather that is more than cosmetic in nature, and actually affects gameplay?

In a word, framerates.  Most PS3 and even PS4 games were locked to 30 fps.  The PS5 is easily capable of playing these games at 60 fps or more should the devs choose to release a patch that allows it, like Guerrilla recently did with Horizon Zero Dawn.
 
At this point we have kind of a plateau in terms of graphical fidelity, so now gamer's have shifted their focus to getting smoother gameplay with higher framerates.  So naturally devs and publishers have responded.

Continuous upgrades to their software engines increase their graphical quality and also the upgrade to the power of the devices that allow you to play said games. For instance, Unreal Engine 5 has some ray-tracing element in it (at least what they showed in one of the demos) so the graphical improvements are very noticeable.

Thanks for the kind words 🙂

If you play games where there are breaks in the action, do you spend much time sitting around (or walking around) and just staring at the scenery, listening to the atmospheric sounds of the environment, and imagining you are really there? I suspect I spend way more time doing this than the average gamer (considering how many more hours I seem to take to finish games than the “average” for those games), but I wonder if other people do it too.
I do this because I just can’t bring myself to rush past what amounts to beautiful artwork—but also because taking some time to smell the roses makes the experience feel more real and “lived in” to me.

Ok, here we go, this is my first ever review so bear with me. I'm reviewing The Legend of Zelda: A Link To The Past on SNES.
    
    The game has a lot of interesting traits for a 16 bit game, and some serious differences from other entries in the series.

Prologue
    To start with it is the first one where Zelda calls out telepathically for a hero. Your uncle, (whom you apparently live with despite there only being one bed in your house) is heading out, sword and shield in hand expecting to save her telling you to wait at home and that he will be back in the morning. You instead head out, having all paths blocked by castle soldiers except your path to the castle. Along the eastern side of the castle, all the way to the north there is a bush you can pull up to reveal a way in. You find your uncle there, defeated. He gives you his sword and shield, and thus begins the story.
    As you enter the castle, you need to start making your way down through the lower levels. You will encounter a lot of guards down there, but they are not particularly hard to defeat. The blue boomerang is down there, which is a very helpful item at least at this point in the game, and one of my personal favorites in the game as a whole. There are floors on the way down that are a single room that will make you think the scripters were drunk when writing the game. They have absolutely no logical purpose, but I digress.
    At the bottom floor, you will see Zelda locked in a cell being guarded by a gray ball and chain trooper. Stunning him with the boomerang is pointless as he instantly starts waking up. So wait for him to swing his chain then go in for a strike and back out before he starts swinging again. If I remember correctly it takes eight hits to kill him. He drops the big key which unlocks the cell so you can get Zelda out.
    On the way here you will have encountered 3 chests. One in your house, one in the room right after you got your sword from your uncle, and one in Zelda's cell. The first one you open will have the lamp, the others a blue rupee. If you didn't get the lamp you will not be able to go any further from here.
    The two of you must then make it to the throne room on the main floor, to escape the castle to get to what Zelda calls "sanctuary", but is simply a church. It takes the two of you pushing the shelf behind the throne from the left to open the secret passage. You enter a darkened room with only your lamp to guide you. There are a lot of rats and keese on your way so you'll have to deal with that. The good thing is that for some reason that even I can't figure out, rats tend to have a lot of money on them.
    Once you make it through the lower rooms and sewers, you will come through a sliding display in the sanctuary. The priest is there. After a bit of discussion you can open the chest there and get a heart container. You can then continue on with your quest.
Part One
    The game is very straight forward in its objectives, like pretty much any other Zelda game, not counting some of the spinoffs and ROM-Hacks. Your objective as always is to save Zelda and defeat Ganon.
    If you have never played the game before, the map is your best friend. It always has something marked on it, telling you where you need to go. So there's that. Another good thing, is that once you know your path, you don't have to follow the map if you don't want to.
    There are a few things you can do prior to attacking your first dungeon. I would recommend collecting some heart pieces to give yourself a little more life. These are easy to find. There is one in the cave on the east side of Kakariko village. Another is in the hedge maze just to the southwest of the village. South of Link's house, there is a ruin. If you go inside of it and pull the lever to let the water through you will reveal a heart piece in the dry waterbed outside with a few fish flopping around. If you pick up a fish and go one screen up and throw it in the water it will give you 20 rupees. Or you can carry the fish to town and sell it to the bottle guy for a lot of goodies. There is another in the Lost Woods in the thieves hideout. You need to drop down from the bushes just above the entrance. One more that you can get now, is in the desert. If you go north just after entering the desert you will find a small cave. Follow it into the room with the old man. Most would easily miss this, but the bottom wall is bombable, and inside is a chest with a heart piece.
    Another item you should pick up is the mushroom in the Lost Woods. If you take it east, to the witches hut and give it to her, then leave the screen and come back in, her assistant will have the magic powder for you. It has no real use, except for one time later in the game, but it is comical if you sprinkle it on Buzz Blobs. Doing so will turn it into a Cukeman. You can talk to them, but they will still hurt Link if you touch them. If you freeze them with the ice rod or Ether, then hit them with the hammer, they will turn int regular Buzz Blobs again.

I don't touch it once I go up to harder difficulties, unless I'm raising the difficulty. It's why I use a game genie on a lot of my old games. I put in codes that put me at a disadvantage to make the games more challenging because after playing some for 30+ years I've just gotten too good at them to the point that they're just boring as hell. So I put in some codes to tweak the program, put myself under some new settings that leave me weaker and my enemies stronger, and the games run anew.

To be honest, the first time I saw my girl playing it, I asked her what movie she was watching.

Thank you for your kind words, and for following VGR's articles so closely! You are awesome 🙂