Withywarlock

Oof finally got around and beated The council played through late in the night yesterday, only to begin today with the same thing some puzzles were brutal and for one i had to look up a guide online, others toke me a few hours to figure out, you get plenty of hints here and there, only problem in my case was you have to understand the hints the game throws at you, toke me a while to figure the hints out. I got a pretty decent ending altough couldn't save everybody but all in all well worth the 20+hours i putted into the game eventough the story is sometimes hard to follow early on, but it all falls into place into the last 2 episodes. Had to mop up a few achievements i've missed but with these type of games it's fairly easy since there is a chapter select and you can skip all the dialogue. I'd say a job well done and the perfect way to conlude my 3 week vacation, off to work we go tommorow.
 
 

If I were good, Quake Champions. Though I'm not =D

I don't mean the "AI" we know now which is just a preset bot or CPU programmed with a set range of actions and responses. I mean AI that are able to think for themselves used for gaming purposes. AI being implemented in the future to enhance the gaming experience.
 
By this I mean AI in place of preset NPCs, AI dialogue, AI cities, AI used to determine how NPCs fight you, AI being used to give games dozens of story paths which differ greatly depending on what you do. The possibilities are endless. I think this would really bring games to life and console makers and devs alike should invest in this. 

i don't even really understand the purpose of an ai. why do we need them in gaming?

I do. Much like Skylanders and co. they were played through a devices connected via USB, and they'd have mini-games and some overarching story. Each Funkey came with their own world and minigames I believe. I bought a load (all sealed) for £15, but it wasn't really worth it as the software to play it requires some reverse engineering to get going.
Correct. I struggle to find any earlier examples of Toys to Life as we know them quite like U.B Funkeys. Until proven otherwise I say they're the first, and the Toys to Life genre enjoyed a nice holiday before Skylanders came along.

Who remembered U.B Funkeys? It's supposedly seen as the first Toy to Life game that dated all back to 2007 if got that right. Mattel and Radica are the two toy manufacturing companies in collaboration for creating the game. 

Given nurses in the UK make on average ~£34k a year for a significantly more stressful job, requires greater physical activity, and is - let's be honest - significantly more important... no, esports players are not underpaid by any stretch of the imagination.
But what can really be done about it, if anything needs to be done about it? A lot of esports money will be generated from sponserships and advertising deals; the amount of teams kitted out in jerseys with Monster logos ironed on is innumerable, so it's got to go somewhere. Viewership and ticket prices will also generate their salary, with people paying to fill up seats at stadiums or with virtual/digital tickets. Merch in games being sold based on the teams playing the game from Overwatch to SplitGate will, again, get them a healthy cut and go towards hiring the venue to play.
The only way I could see esports players being underpaid was if they couldn't afford to do their jobs, but if they can't afford to play video games on $75k per annum, what are they doing wrong?

To the OP: I used to buy nothing but physical games. I have embraced digital purchasing and I only have one physical game in my possession and that's Animal Crossing New Horizons. I also have the digital version of that game. One can never be too careful with a favorite game. *Grins* It's just handier to buy online instead of having to traipse to the store only to discover it's out of stock. I can order games in my jammies, download and play them. LOL!
The only thing I don't like is that I can't play them offline. No wifi...no games.

This is an amiibo of KK Slider. These went with the Animal Crossing New Leaf game on the 3DS. You would open the menu at the prompt and place your Amiibo on the spot. It would then invite these characters to your campsite to so you could purchase things from them. Now they are just nick nacks.

You also don't want to waste too much time in one division because competitive play for games outside of fighting games can often have several limitations. Several years ago, most of the COD tournaments in the Advanced Warfare era really just focused on one type of gameplay mode. Fighting games generally let you pick whoever you want, with whatever tools you want, and you're aloud to play any way you want.
 
Some newer people might think that they can just cheese their way through an elite tournament with spamming but that doesn't work because fighting games are based on math and frame data. There's math involved in throwing out a fireball or projectile, for example, and all a pro has to do is know how to counter that math with better math and touch you one time with a full combo punish that could result in 40% damage or more each time they touch you just single time (depending on the fighting game). That means that someone could just open you up 2 or 3 times clean and your entire bar is gone, whether you try to spam or not. So in that sense spamming is generally welcomed in tournaments, but frowned down upon in certain circumstances as people are looking for a showcase of skill and its quite frankly easier to beat people with combos.

$75 thousand dollars per year is more than an aircraft mechanic makes on average, and mid tier competitors are pretty easy to beat in some competitions. So if mid tier video game players are earning $75 grand a year for basically being in average territory, then they are over paid.

Nope. You can pop into a tournament with a $15 thousand dollar jackpot entirely unannounced (aside from registration) and after having started training 2 weeks prior to the tournament and take the entire prize home right on the spot. E-sports experience can build up skill and experience, or it could quite frankly create negative characteristics in a person such as boredom, exhaustion, depression, etc.

The thing with the switch and why it works so well, is because of Nintendo and their exclusives. Their first party titles. And of course their hybrid console that makes it easier to play all of your games on the go. I think if Nintendo just made another console with no gimmicks, it probably would have failed like the wii u did. 
But being hybrid helped a ton. Having a handheld and console in one was a game changer. But future consoles will obviously need to upgrade the hardware to at least come close to current or new gen consoles.

The OLED version is a nice touch and all, but I can't see myself spending extra for it. If I am to pay extra, I would prefer they made a new version with better hardware altogether. Then I could see it being worth the price. 

I don't know much about streaming, but I do know how quickly the novelty of lockdowns wore off, and now people are desperate for physical interaction. For example, no longer is D&D something just done over Roll20 and Discord and Twitch; people are buying physical box sets. Board games boomed in about 2017 and naturally would've halted unless they could be delivered to the house or played through Tabletop Simulator, but just today while out with my partner I've seen so many board games in stores that don't normally stock them like they do now (namely HMV, GAME, and Waterstones).
So I definitely think it's mostly down to Covid restrictions being reduced. They've played their games, they've watched people play games and now they perhaps crave interaction in some form or another, physical or digital.
It's all just guesses on my end, but I'm not surprised streaming has come down from its high.
Thanks for sharing the article, it's an interesting read.

It's not asking for much to actually go and read the original post, or do like @kingpotato suggested and do a little research. Stop being so lazy.

If I start talking about it, I'll have a panic attack. Besides, I've already said.

I would like to see some things geared towards classic gaming. Maybe an NES cartridge or something.

Personally I'd just want some games that don't require steam to play.

I used to play this game a lot. It reminds me a lot of peggle in a way, which is another fun game where you shoot a ball to delete other balls on the screen. I really need to check both games out again. 

The last three Assassin's Creed games: Origins, Odyssey, and Valhalla each have a separate Discovery Tour gameplay option. The Discovery Tour is fact based history that helps guide you to learn about culture, religion, people, and places. On the main title screen instead of playing the main game, click on DT to learn more. What it is, is the same entire map but with icons you can fast travel to and have a guided tour explain history of that location. There is no fighting or anything, but you can still climb on everything and explore using all sorts of different characters you can play which unlocks.
In the main game, when you arrive at a new location, check the Discovery Tour to see if there is some history you can learn about first before progressing more in the game. That way you can play region by region or city by city and learn what you can. For example, I've started a new game for AC Origins. I've come to the city of Alexandria and did a few quests and explored a bit. Then I exited the main game and checked the DT which had around 10 or so tours for the city of Alexandria learning about the pharos, battles, Gods, art, education and philosophy, etc. which is spread around the city. Then when I've completed those, I went back to the main game and traveled to another region where I checked again Discovery Tours there and found history on fauna, animals, agriculture, beer making, etc. And now I'm ready to move on to the pyramids where there are tons of history tours there. 
Playing this way has enriched my gameplay. I've learned a great deal and it's just amazing. Many people who play those games really don't appreciate the historical aspect of it. So that's why I've made this topic as the best way to play these games. This literally can be taught in schools if there was even more focus on history. Cause like I said, the tour allows you to traverse the same map as in regular gameplay and you can fly your eagle around and soak it all up and go into forts and absolutely everywhere w/o worrying about getting attacked. 
 
 
 
 
 

Blur, I've never played it but I can tell that it's a fun game. A combat filled racing game is something I've been wanting and Blur looks like it's exactly what I wanted.

Unfortunately I don't think those kinks could be worked out. You're eyes are facing a screen for hours on end, it's most likely going to cause eye strain at some point. I know looking at a TV screen or computer screen for a long time can be bad for your eyes, especially if it's blue light. If they made it possible to add options to protect your eyes, that would help, like with the night light option on windows to tint your screen a bit yellow to help stop blue light from bothering you. 
Some people can probably last longer in VR than others, but there will probably always be some eye strain due to playing long enough. 

You what I really hate, it's when people say "It's always the last place you look". Well, of course it is! Why would anyone once they finally find something then keep looking for it?

Hunting over here isn't really the same as in America, people who hunt here are usually the upper rich class who have there own private hunting territority don't know how it's in the rest of europe but my guess is other europeans here can relate to that hunting is a rich persons hobby.
The only reason i can think of is why i keep getting these hunting games is for the exploration of the map. Hiking is my second passion besides video games and collecting and i feel like walking trough these maps would give me a sense of what an American or Australian national park looks like for example. Pretty much the same @Empire said above as i too wouldn't mind just exploring the map without the hunting.
Makes me wonder does anybody remember the game Africa on ps3 where you have to photgraph animals? They should make something like this but with a national park setting instead.