[Your thoughts on Unity / Unreal games?]

I guess that's true. And there would have been the modding scene on top of that as well now that I think about it. I grew up console gaming so these things things were out of my zeitgeist. 

Though it should go without saying that they weren't anywhere near as prevalent or accessible as the engines around today.

[Backwards Compatibility]

I didn't get rid of my PS3 when I got my PS4 but I still find it annoying having to unplug / replug the consoles whenever I want to play my old ones.

If they didn't want to do via hardware they could take the Xbox One approach and give you a digital copies of the PS3 games you own.

The biggest problem I can think of is that the PS3 had a number of SPUs that the PS4 doesn't have, making it better at doing certain tasks. If a game is heavy on those tasks then they may run worse on PS4. 

[Best Character-Driven Games?]

I find Japanese games often have compelling stories and characters. JRPGs and visual novels especially. I'm currently playing Octopath Traveler and one of the characters, Primrose, has one of the best game backstories I've come across. 

Visual novels are text-heavy like traditional novels but they also have visuals and audio. Hence, "visual novel". A number of these have gameplay as well. Some of the best game-y visual novels I've come across are Ace Attorney, Zero Escape and Danganronpa. They all have great stories and characters. 

[Your thoughts on Unity / Unreal games?]

It's been the last decade-or-so that it's really picked up. That's new in the timeline of commercial game development. 😛

I agree with you on almost all fronts. I think it's usually a better use of your time to learn one of these engines and build your game on top of that because, as you say, engines take a really long time to make. Plus they're tried and true because hundreds of studios use them around the world. If you roll with your own you have to deal with bugs that these engines probably resolved years ago. 

However, I also acknowledge that there are some good reasons to roll with your own engine. If you have very specific requirements that the licensed ones can't meet then you have to go your own. I worked for a sports game company that rolled with their own because they had very specific ball physics requirements that would require lots of customisation from Unreal and Unity would straight up not be able to deal with it. 

If you roll with your own you can also tailor it to your own needs. For instance, you could build it so you can deploy to modern consoles, but also a SNES cart if you wanted to. 

[Game Merchandise]

Do you own any game merchandise? What sorts of stuff do you have? 

Some of the things I have:

- Mountains of plushies from Mario, Pokémon, miscellaneous Nintendo, Sonic, etc

- About 30-40 Amiibo

- Persona 4 art book

- Hyrule Historia 

- Ace Attorney manga 

- Custom artwork from vendors at conventions

How about you? 

[Where do you buy your PC games?]

Where do you buy your PC games? I buy digital exclusively, mainly from Steam and Humble Bundle. I haven't bought a physical PC game since Sims 3 almost 10 years ago. 

I have also picked up Steam keys from resellers like Green Man Gaming before. I guess I like to look around for the best deal. 

How about you? 

[Xbox Game Pass]

Do you have Xbox Game Pass on your Xbox One? It seems like a really sweet deal if you ask me. 

For those not aware, Xbox Game Pass is a Games on Demand subscription service on the Xbox One. It offers you unlimited access to over 100 Xbox One and Xbox 360 titles. This includes brand new titles like Sea of Thieves as well. It's basically a game version of Netflix. 

I haven't had a chance to check it out yet because I lent my XB1 to my brother. When I get it back I'll give it a look. 

[PS4 Doesn't Play CDs]

While I was on holiday in Japan I picked up some CDs of some local bands. It was the first time I'd bought physical music in years. In any case, when I got home I went to play them in my PS4, only to learn they had dropped support for CDs. 

What the heck? The hardware should already be able to do it given basically every DVD / Blu-ray player can play them - including the PS3. Sounds to me like they locked it out using software to push people towards their digital music service. 

The whole experience was frustrating and I ended up needing to dig out my PS3 from storage just to listen to them. 

Are you surprised by this as well? What are your thoughts? 

[Nintendo 64 Mini]

Do you think there will be a Nintendo 64 Mini like the NES and SNES? Would you want one? 

Nintendo 64 was my favourite console so I'd definitely like one with all my top games on it. The problem is, so many classics were Rare titles and not having them would be a huge miss. 

Also the controller is a lot bigger than NES / SNES, with an analogue stick that pokes out. That would make it difficult to make a 'mini' version. I guess you could use a thumbstick but I don't know what other options you'd have. 

What are your thoughts? 

[Amiibo]

Here is a thread for discussing Amiibos. What ones do you have? Which ones do you want? Which ones are you excited for? 

I've got a heap on my shelf, about 40 of them ranging from Smash, Mario, Splatoon and Yoshi Woolly World collections. I don't care about getting them all, I just want characters that I like. 

The upcoming Smash Wolf Amiibo looks really cool but that's the only upcoming one that I'm excited for. 

How about you? 

[Super Mario Maker]

Who here played Super Mario Maker? What were your thoughts? Do you consider yourself more of a level designer or a player? 

I found I was a bit if both. I think I prefer level designing but checking out the 100 Mario Challenge and friend's levels were a great way to change things up and get new ideas. 

Also, share your bookmark profile here so we can check out each other's levels! This is mine:

https://supermariomakerbookmark.nintendo.net/profile/fantanoice

[What Wii U games should be ported to Switch?]

So there have been a number of Wii U titles ported to the Switch, including Captain Toad, Mario Kart 8 and Hyrule Warriors to name a few. What other ones would you like to see? 

I'd personally like to see Yoshi's Woolly World and Super Mario Maker ported over.

YWW was a super cute title that I don't think many people got to try. Plus have two controllers avaliable out the gate means it will be a lot easier for people to play it multiplayer.

SMM has heaps of content already and you could combine the online connectivity of the Wii U version along with the local sharing of the 3DS version. 

Those are my thoughts, how about you? 

[Dreamcast]

Did you ever own or play a Dreamcast? What were some of your favourite games on it? 

I picked one up recently but haven't played it much yet. I've grabbed Shenmue 1 and 2 which I'm excited to try before the third installment comes out. There are a few other titles like Skies of Arcadia that I want to try out as well. 

How about you? What were your Dreamcast experiences? 

[Your thoughts on Unity / Unreal games?]

Unity and Unreal Engine 4 (UE4) are both game engines that a studio can license out to make their own video games. This is a pretty new concept. Not to long ago every studio needed to develop their own engine and build their game on top of that. 

What are your thoughts on this? Do you think it's good that these engines are so readily avaliable or do you think it's cheating? Let us know.

[Game Development]

Have you ever tried working on your own video game? What was your experience like? 

I'm a programmer and in a previous job worked some number 1 games here in Australia. I'm hoping to one day open my own studio and work for myself, but I have a few things to sort out before that's possible. 

How about you? 

[Which video game comforts you?]

Animal Crossing as well. It's so charming and always thing puts me at ease. Chatting to the cute animals, going fishing, it's all so relaxing. 

I also get a lot of comfort from games I played as a kid, like Super Mario 64 and Banjo Kazooie. Sometimes it's nice to just play something you're familiar with. 

[Your favorite Star Wars game?]

Mine is probably "Star Wars: Episode 1:: Racer" on Nintendo 64. I think I made some good time trials times on it, though I didn't spend anywhere near as much time on it as I did Mario Kart. XD

There was "Star Wars" on the NES that I played as a kid and I couldn't understand it at all. I think it was my most hated game for a long time. It was a similar deal with "Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire" on Nintendo 64.

As for other Star Wars games, I did try the Kinect one at a friend's house. The hand movements barely worked but it was kinda entertaining. I played another Ep1 Pod Racer game at an arcade once. It was fun but I don't remember the name of it. I think it was 2p co-op iirc? 

[Oldest Game you Own?]

My NES at my parent's house has like Super Mario Bros and some other oldies. In my current place I have a SNES Mini with a heap of games but I guess we're not counting that? Also have a Star Wing (PAL regions, weeoo) cart and my partner has Secret of Mana. I'm not sure which is older between the two. 

[Anyone wanna jump on the No Man's Sky HYPE TRAIN again?]

I actually found the game quite relaxing at launch. A little sandbox of stuff to explore~. I didn't mind not having set things to do. I think what bugged me was the guy who kept promising things (eg: 'you will be able to see other players') that weren't delivered on. I can only imagine the team during that time being like, "Dude, shut up, please." 

I haven't played much since launch so I don't know what has been added in updates. I should give it a revisit sometime. 

[We Happy Few]

Anybody interested in this game? I watched the trailer and it looks really neat. It's a survival-horror game where you live in a town that is trying to escape the past by taking, "Joy," a drug that leaves them in a blissful state, oblivious to the horror around them. 

Unsure if I'll get it at launch because I'd like to see if it gets ported to Switch. If I do get it at launch or it doesn't get ported then I will probably play on PS4. 

[PS Vita Owners]

8 hours ago, Aimee Hart said:

I really want to get into the Persona franchise so I've been trying to steer my dad into letting me borrow it so I can play Persona 4. As for charging, is it the cable that's the issue of the PS Vita?

No, it's the port itself. I've tried multiple charging cables to no avail. I've tried cleaning it as well. Nothing works. 

[PS Vita Owners]

I've got one but it won't charge any more and I can't find anyone who can repair it. It's really frustrating because I was a few endings deep in Stein's Gate and still need to play Danganronpa 3 (I know it's on PS4 and Steam but it's a VN, damn it). 

It had some decent games like Persona 4: The Golden and Danganronpa series but on the whole the library is pretty underwhelming. I think you get a better experience on the Switch, even after just a year. Hopefully a lot of those neat games get ported over because they work so much better portably than on TV. 

[Competitive Super Smash Bros.]

Does anyone keep up with competitive Smash? I find Melee to be incredibly entertaining because it's been around so long that everything is so well optimised. Smash 4 is decent as well but with Ultimate coming out, I can't see it sticking around long.

My favourite players are Spud (up-and-coming player from Aus/NZ), Leffen and Armada.

So, what are your thoughts on competitive Smash? Do you enjoy watching it as well?

[Refund on a game?]

I had to return Super Smash Bros Brawl because my Wii had that problem where it couldn't read dual layered disks. Re-bought it when I got the problem fixed.

I also occasionally traded in games for store credit, the most recent being Arms for Pokemon: Let's Go Eevee

[How Do the Infected Not Starve to Death in the Last of Us?]

Iirc the infected aren't dead, they're living people with... well... an infection. :v

The game depicts them eating people a lot. Also, maybe now that they're part plant they can eat through the process of photosynthesis. 😛