Withywarlock

Not sure how many people would be interested in this, but in case you missed it, here's a link or you can see the screenshot below: What interests me is the dominant stats: the vast majority of Steam users have Nvidia cards to say I've noticed a lot of the games I play have AMD features (including my monitor, but I have a Nvidia 1070). It's interesting that in terms of OS, Windows 11 hasn't made a dent in the stats unless that's considered 'other' (1.54% as of this time). Intel processors are again heavily in the lead, to say AMD have apparently greatly improved what with the Ryzen brand. I don't quite get Macs myself, so you'll forgive my ignorance when it comes to why most people on Apple hardware would be doing so on a MacPro other than the better hardware. It's of no surprise that Oculus is in the lead when it comes to being the most popular VR headset. Most of the stats in the bottom box are unsurprising: 16GB RAM is the standard, 1920x1080 isn't going away any time soon, and 1TB+ HDDs are quite common (I don't know if that's including SSDs). One thing I did find interesting is that 8GB VRAM graphics cards are the majority. Despite all the developments, sales and shortages, it really does appear that most of them are going to other things besides playing on Steam. I know this will be GPU Mining, but the figures being that low are staggering. Anyway, I just thought this might be a nice novelty. Enjoy!

Huh, I never would've known that. Was there any particular reason why other people did quests in MUDs like material rewards or XP, or just for story? ~ In Hell Let Loose, you have to do things that may be out of your comfort zone. The first thing is communication: voice is preferred but text is somewhat OK. I'm rarely in a talkative mood so I try to join squads that're silent. Then there's learning new roles: you will one day have to be an Engineer or Support to help with the logistics, required to level the playing field. Your squad leader may leave, and so you have to take an Officer role so you can put down spawn points to save you running all across the map. The game itself is decent but the best parts about are learning how everything comes together. Knowing your team won because you put down the resource nodes, destroyed garrisons, placed an outpost behind enemy lines, commanded that tank and frequently gave updates to the other 49 players is such a rewarding feeling. It's as much a shame to see people just main Rifleman or whatever fully-automatic weapon-using classes they can scavenge when they can provide so much more in such little time. Hell Let Loose is a game that requires taking initiative, and given its price tag, you learn very quickly how to take initiative.

I don't think Microsoft will change a whole lot unless they're in dire straits, more on that soon. Put yourself in their shoes: why bother changing things up and risk losing money (which will be a pittance compared to the silly amounts of profit even if properly taxed)? Most changes have so far been unwelcome, from the campaigns of Cold War and Vanguard found wanting compared to their traditional war stories, to Zombies and Multiplayer doing things to repeatedly piss people off (an incendiary grenade that's measurably better than Thermite... in the battle pass? Really?!). They're right on the money by calling the next game Modern Warfare 2, and people will continue to pay for it. Sony Brazil recently said Microsoft's acquisition of Activision-Blizzard makes Call of Duty impossible to compete against, that the game is "essential." No gaming outlet or YouTuber can top that level of praise, as unintentional as it is. That's surely worth all the customers who complain whilst failing to change their purchasing habits year in, year out. But while we're on the subject of Microsoft's acquisition of Activision-Blizzard, what do we want to see them do? I'd say Vietnam, but I think they've done just about all they wanted to between World at War and Black Ops. The Winter War? The Korean War? Perhaps even The Great War? Or would we like to see more futuristic happenings like Advanced/Infinite Warfare?

Warren Zevon's Excitable Boy album, as well as the title song, is really upbeat and it's easy to miss the lyrics. The more times you listen to it, the more grisly details you discover. I won't mention them myself, but listen at your own risk. If you've seen the video I linked about Harvester a few weeks back, well, you know what to expect:

Most of my nominations are two words slapped together to make one, so I hope the likes of these count: Painkiller - Judas Priest: Hellraiser - Motörhead: Hellfighters - Sabaton: Overdose - AC/DC: Those're my contributions. My scroll bar's already getting small enough!

Oh dear, I knew I'd find the phrase "British accent" in here. Never fails to grind my gears. Oh well! My accent is a mix of South and West Yorkshire, with something of a Birmingham ("Brummy")/Dudley twang (all three are English dialects). When my partner and I stayed a week in Birmingham, I started speaking more with that accent because I was born near that area and have parents who come from there. Even having lived in South and West Yorkshire all my life, my dialect changes ever so slightly depending on whereabouts I am. I'll give an phonetic example of how Yorkshire and Brum sounds, to the sentence "The rain in spain falls mainly on the plane" from the film My Fair Lady: Yorkshire: Thuh rairn en Spairn forls mairnly un t'plairn. Birmingham: Tha royn in Spoin fouls moinly on tha ploin. An example of both can be found in Hogs of War, by comedian Rik Mayall, may he rest in peace. You'll hear the Yorkshire accent first with the character Nobby, and then the Brum accent with Ginger (Mayall also played the character Kevin Turvey, an investigative journalist with a Birmingham accent).

Not music necessarily, but I usually have something going on in the background. I suffered DOOM (2016) considerably less thanks to the original two games' soundtrack in the background; I can't stand much of Mick Gordon's music. I'm currently listening to audiobooks though, the Gaunt's Ghosts series from Warhammer 40,000.

I like Quordle, which gives you a lot more chances to get the right word... but you've got to get four words, and each attempt goes counts against all four words. There's also Dundle, a Dungeons & Dragons version of Wordle. I never would've guessed the AD&D monster 'Gator'(man) for my first go at it. Much as I'd like to play the game numerous times a day, I think the scarcity works better. When my mum, her partner and I play it to compete it evens the terms out. It's a marathon, not a sprint for us. ^^

I can only speak to the Multiplayer but I feel just about the same way. The highest praise I can give it is that it's not terrible. I used to say "it works" as a compliment, but between the desync, animation bugs, difficulty interacting with some objects (the Oddball for instance) and dysfunctional weekly missions makes me say otherwise nowadays. Not to mention we have to wait 6 months between major updates thanks to its wonky season design.

This is starting to go around in circles now. Let's assume for the moment that Netflix starts making bigger budget titles: what would we want to see them make? I for one don't know much about the world of Stranger Things, but I'd like to play in that setting's open world a la Deadly Premonition. It may require some creative liberties for the action-oriented audiences who want to fight things every now and again, but otherwise a kids-on-bikes detective style game might well work. I'd also like a Lucifer game in the Telltale style: compelling people to tell the truth for better or worse, managing work-life balance, solving crimes and guyliner galore. The Wolf Among Us has shown it can be done well enough, and I don't think it would break the bank (which sort of goes against the original question, my apologies).

The esports scene exists but I can't speak to its popularity: see the SplitGate Pro Series with prize pools going up to $500k. They're currently selling the team weapon skins, so that's how I found out. I doubt the e-sports scene is all that big given the size of the playerbase, but I hope that'll change as time goes on. The game is only getting better.

That's something I don't particularly like in any game. Lately I've played Warhammer: Vermintide 2 and despite the second coming of the end times, a rotund öatbrother has survived all the carnage with the skaven and the Chaos warriors. Of all the death animations, theirs is the most disturbingly real. I make a point of protecting the piggies now. As amusing as that is, I don't think being mildly annoyed is quite the same as traumatised! Then again, the controls were the biggest reason why The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance - Tactics is my least favourite game of all time, and that's after years of Crash Bash having taken that place.

Thanks for the kind words all, I hope do right by you and the forum. We must be as unsleeping in vigilance, swift in judgement, merciless in deed. - Warhammer 40,000 (OK, no need to be that hardline... I don't think? 😅)

Tell me about it. Yesterday I'd unlocked a new skin from my sniper rifle which was overly animated with a wavy purple effect. As nice as it was it was very distracting, and I couldn't use the weapon from the hip like I prefer (which in this game is surprisingly effective). There is an appeal to the toy and action figure-like character design for me, but it's hit and miss, and even then it's hard to tell character skins apart in the heat of a fight (especially in modes like Flying Splitball, Zombie VIP or Laser Tag) Agreed. The sound and other feedback is fine, I feel like I'm hitting things in those instances, but getting hit doesn't feel at all punchy. It's particularly dissatisfying when in the faster paced modes like Flying Splitball you're zooming all over the map only to get wafted by a bat and that be the end of your go. 😞

As the OP and Kane above me have said, it's hard to say. I have just over 2,000 games on Steam and I've not played a great many of them due to impulse purchases, download speeds and general disinterest. When it comes to physical media though? The soonest I can play it. Rarely did I wait long to play something on a disc or cartridge.

Pot Noodle is my new go-to. Original Curry flavour with a baguette to tear and dip into is bliss. I used to enjoy Bachelors' Super Noodles (especially for their Call of Duty competitions) but they took too long between adding hot water and microwaving for five minutes. Not very instant, are they? But they were a lot more filling and flavoursome.

I strongly disagree, I think it looks rather bad especially because it was cobbled together in Unreal Engine 5. Grand Theft Auto V and Red Dead Redemption 2's style works because Rockstar know their engine - Rockstar Advanced Game Engine (R.A.G.E) - inside out. They made it, and had been given sufficient time to work with it. That's not the case with this game: someone decided to jump on the UE[X]-remake train and produced this. Of all the engines, sure, maybe Unreal is one of the better ones for making a fan project of Bully. I think Source would suit it better, but that's not as fancy, new, and ultimately wouldn't get as many clicks (unless of course it was playable and there was a download link, which I think is much more likely with Source). I agree with Shagger's assessment: this, along with nearly all [engine] remakes, is a nothingburger. It's not the worst I've seen but that's hardly glowing praise. I'm not having a go at you personally Kane, I'm glad you've shared this news because it reminded me I must replay the original as I hadn't given it the chance it deserved. It's just that I fail to see the point other than ad-revenue. It definitely needs more time in the oven before I begin to be impressed.

I've not played it but I think the most shocking twist in games history came from Doki-Doki Literature Club? The problem is that in saying that it sort of defeats the point of playing it given that's the whole point of the game. 'The less you know the better it is' tells me what little I need to know about it. Ahem, sorry, going on one of my rants. My nomination would be Valkyria Chronicles. Without spoiling too much, a character who had played a more important role than appreciated dies in such a dramatic way that it sours the mood for the rest of the game. For me it went from a jolly anime tank romp to deathly serious in record time. @StaceyPowers What games would you choose for this category?

Ghosthunter on the Playstation 2. I was never really into survival horror games though I had dabbled in Resident Evil 3: Nemesis on the previous system. I was basically jumping at my own shadow because I was anticipating a jump scare so greatly that I had analysis paralysis and ultimately had to return the game to the shopping centre I bought it from the following day. The thing is it was rated 12+ by PEGI (thus age appropriate), so I shouldn't have as upset as I was. The thing is, were I to play it today I'd probably be fine with it. Maybe it's high time I conquered my fears with exposure therapy... @StaceyPowers do you have any games that traumatised or otherwise disturbed you?

Could they directly help with climate change? I don't think so. I believe there's better mediums for showing that, and even they can't probably help us all that much besides raising awareness. Action is required, and choosing not to play the video game would probably be better for the environment (albeit not by much in the grand scale of things) than playing for it. Don't get me wrong, I look at games like Frostpunk and think the scenario is dreadful but not entirely inaccurate, but it doesn't really have global warming at the heart of its message. Games can absolutely inspire awareness and action, but making a game specifically about global warming is still adding to the problem if that makes sense. I'm afraid so. Electronics are getting more energy efficient especially compared with each decade, and even when they do have a greater wattage the power consumed is worth the cost (though perhaps not the cost to the environment). Even so, it's not as clean as we think it is. Cloud computing from what I understand uses 3% of the globe's electricity (the figures differ with each publication), and a lot of the cloud is metadata: advert preferences, private information, tracking, et cetera. I think electricity's one of those things where because we can't see it as well as gasses or polluted water, it's not contributing that great a problem. Like the cloud: out of sight, out of mind.

I'll begin by saying that I agree with all of your post, but this part in particular rings the most true. What was the rush, according to Sony? This wasn't one of their mainline consoles, nor a handheld nor a peripheral to either. It was just some toy with poor emulation ability and limited intellectual property. If there is to be a PS2C - and I would like there to be if done properly - they'd have to fix the previous issues which is easier said than done. I imagine their biggest problem of not having very good games before was due to licensing: what games do they own and can reliably put onto an emulator? I doubt there's all that many, let alone good, instantly recognisable and nostalgic titles. Most of all I want them to take their time with it. Nobody needs this thing so badly that it requires cut corners, and Sony isn't exactly short on cash. In answer to the question, I'm unsure if there will be one. Critical or consumer opinion doesn't seem to steer Sony's course, so if they think there's money in a Playstation 2 Classic it's probably going to happen. But then I don't know if it made them enough money even with more sales via the rapid discounts offered. It's a head scratcher.

This isn't something I've done when I was new to gaming as such, rather the opposite. Just recently I'd completed Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War for the first time, making sure I'd carefully uncovered all of the map of fog of war, destroyed every shred of the enemy presence and finished all secondary objectives. As satisfying as it was to steamroll the enemy and ensure xeno/Chaos influence was eradicated from each map... I eventually found out it was really all for nought. Unlike its sequel and expansions the ending doesn't change if you manage to liberate points of interest or save the Imperial Guard or whatever other goals the game has in mind. I don't want to count how many hours were lost to that, but like I say, playing the game and hearing its hilarious voice acting is rewarding enough.

Is there any particular reason why Microsoft can't get a foothold in Japan? The only reasoning I'm finding, which seems to line up with fact, is this reader's contribution to Metro newspaper's Games Corner, quote: You know better than I do: what else can Microsoft do to gain ground? Is there anything they can offer that differs from Sony and Nintendo (like GamePass)? ~ As to the main question itself, I'm not really bothered myself and as far as I can tell it has little impact on the industry at large. I care most of all about people having good experiences; consumers with cheap games; and developers in good working conditions.

I'm That Guy™ (AKA Herald of the Amethyst Drake), but in all seriousness there's not a whole lot you can do mechanics-wise. The elemental breaths introduced in Enter the Dragonfly were at their best in in the next instalment A Hero's Tail. Enhancing his core abilities was done in The Legend of Spyro trilogy and in Skylanders especially. Any new ideas mostly involve vehicles (Enter the Dragonfly, Spyro: Fusion/The Cortex Conspiracy) or new characters (...so not a Spyro game). The most you can do with Spyro today is more of the same which isn't necessarily bad like in the sense of my earlier nomination with Space Hulk which is literally the same ruleset repeated. As you go on to say with Crash Bandicoot, you can't take the characters further but the level design and challenges you absolutely can. Why there's not been more in the way of DLC for their respective remasters I've no idea.

I'd mentioned this in the other thread, but it fits here just as well: Space Hulk. The idea being that you play as the Imperium of Man's Terminator-armoured Space Marines. They are the best of the best of the Adeptus Astartes or so we're told, but in all of the Space Hulk games save for two (Vengeance of the Blood Angels and Deathwing) they get shredded to pieces as easily as the genestealers they're supposed to go up against. That's all Space Hulk is: board floating debris in the vastness of space and burn aliens in righteous promethium fire. Be it in first person or in a turn-based tactics game, it's been done to death and for long enough. If you try do anything else with it, it's just a Warhammer game, and not Space Hulk.