[Sony start mandating PSN accounts for Helldivers 2, anger community]

I feel like the reason Sony has decided to do this is to stop players who were previous banned from the game for whatever reason on PlayStation from re-joining the game on PC.  Given the game is cross platform, I can actually understand this at least to some extent.  So whilst I think there was no ill intent, Sony have clearly not thought this through.  The fact this might effectively bar people from playing the game because PSN is not available in countries whare Steam is a huge oversight.  If this was always the plan, they should have shown people the big, flashing sign with the siren saying "You WILL eventually need to link a PSN account to your Steam account to keep playing" before people bought the game.  That's the part that really bothers me.

[What are you listening to right now?]

This is without doubt the best song title I have ever heard.

 

 

[Longer or shorter games, which one do you prefer?]

Quality over quantity.  I get the feeling ripped off by a game because it lacks content, especially for a single player, but judging the quality of a game by it's length is a ludicrous trend.  I would rather have a few hours of engaging, interesting content that has an impact over 60 hours of grind and pointless padding.

[Favorite Video Game Villains: What Makes Them Compelling?]

On 4/18/2024 at 4:48 AM, Reality vs Adventure said:

I don't praise villains. 

 

You should.

 

1 hour ago, Kennysplash said:

😅 I opened the topic to say this. If I find them compelling then they are not villains anymore. If I like them then I will find it hard to win. I want to win. 

 

And I can't help but feel you have both missed the point.  The best villains not only have a lot to admire about them, I'd got so far to say they kind of have to actually work.  Who wouldn't want to be as tenacious as the Terminator, as intelligent as Hannibal Lector or have the power of Darth Vader.  It's the fact they use (or perhaps miss use) thier talents to do evil things when they could have done a lot of good with those said talents is what makes them villains.  Without that choice, a villain is little more than a force of nature.  Nobody get's mad at the iceberg that sank the Titanic, so the movie needed a bad guy, and they got one.  A man who is clearly industrious and successful, but also controlling, selfish and ruthless.  One obviously doesn't have to agree with or condone what a villain does and says, but it is important to understand thier motivations.  Without that, a story has no drive, no conflict and just isn't interesting.  

 

So it's OK to find a villain compelling and even admirable to some extend.  All that means is that they are a well written character, not that you are flawed and amoral as a person.

 

Anyway, favourite video game villains.  Sylens from Horizon Zero Dawn/Forbidden west in certainly up thier.    A wonderfully written and deeply complex character performed with charisma and dignity by the late Lance Reddick.  The man is so begrudgingly useful yet about as selfish as a person can get.  It goes back to those admirable qualities I spoke of earlier.  The man is so intelligent, creative and brutally honest to a fault, but not at all trustworthy and in the end he only serves his own purpose and if that means being on your side one minute then against you the next, then so be it.  His very existence is an absolute frustration, I love to hate him.

[Why are Koei Tecmo games so unknown?]

I've played a handful of thier games over the years, usually the more obscure ones as it turns out.  It's just another developer/publisher to me in the end.  And to be honest, I'm not sure that they have really earned more good will and success because they have been known for dodgy DLC practices, poor posts (Especially on PC) and a general decline in the quality of thier games in recent years.

 

I do find the comment you made about same-sex shipping in fan fictions written about thier games, well, let's say "interesting".  First, Koei Tecmo has no control over that and why would that a be problem anyway?  Koei Tecmo has actually been behind a number of games themed around same-sex romace such as Nights of Azure and Blue Reflection (The Atelier may have dealt with similar themes before as well, but I'm not 100% sure), so I don't see Koei Tecmo taking issue with that anyway.  I just thought that was a really weird detail to bring up and focus on.

[Bitcraft's official gameplay game trailer]

I've always been sceptical of game that try and take a single mechanic and expand it into being the whole game.  In this case, it's the crafting/gathering mechanics that are in lots of MMO's.  However, I do find myself more optimistic with this one.  It may not be the most complicated game in the world, but I like it's style and that roots in-game success in cooperation, unlike other survival MMO's that are beacon calling all ass-holes.  This is one worth keeping an eye on.

[The Gaming Mod Thread]

A quick heads up. It is strongly advised that if you mod Fallout 4 on PC to NOT install the "Next Gen" update. The will break modded saves and some mods might not work after the update. If you have bought the game through a DRM free platform like GOG, not updating the game shouldn't be a problem, but on Steam updates are forced with no way to turn them off.  Thankfully, there is a way explained in this video:

 

 

[Mount Everest or Deep Sea Diving? What's Your Pick?]

It comes down to a choice.  If one had to do one or the other knowing it was going to go wrong, how would you rather die?  Outside of a sudden accident that will kill you quick, one of these two fates await you. A Pulmonary Edema or Decompression Sickness.

 

Neither of them are at all pleasant, but I'd prefer the Pulmonary Edema.  I've had Pneumonia, so at least I would be somewhat prepared for what it's like. So Mt Everest, please.  OK, with Mt Everest your body would never be removed, but given what happens to the body is sever cases of Decompression Sickness, I'd rather mv loved ones not have a body to bury that have what's left after a deep sea mishap.

[Trap, A New M. Night Shyamalan Film]

Weird, it was just a few days ago I was talking about N. Night Shyamalan about M. Night Shamalan. More specifically, how he is one of if the worst director ever.

 

 

Still, I'm not going to miss a chance to dump on that cinematic cancer, so let's watch the trailer and bring out the Shyamalan checklist:

 

• Actors staring blankly into the camera? Check
• Hokey acting? Check
• The adult acting like a child? Check
• The child acting like an adult? Check
• An open ended, innocuous plot set up that tricks idiots into thinking it's inevitable, hard-to-guess twist is smart when it's actually just plain cheap? Check (Well, almost certainly. The father will NOT be "The Butcher", I'm calling it now.)
• Pointless tracking shots? Check
• The crazy, superstitious weirdo that for some reason is the one that's actually right? Probably, yes
• Plastering Shyamalan's name all over like that's a selling point and he was not the man behind Devil, After Earth, The Happening and that god awful The Last Airbender live action movie? Check

 

Yep, this is a Shyamalan movie. It will be shit.

[Who's a Character in a Movie That Deserved a Better Actor?]

14 minutes ago, The Blackangel said:

The worst I've seen was Hayden Christiansen as Anakin Skywalker. He destroyed the role and just made me sick.

M. Night Shymalan is the worst director in cinema history. It doesn't matter who the actors are, his movies are career enders. The only movie he ever did that was even half decent was The Sixth Sense. Everything else is in the toilet with Adolf trump's integrity.

 

Couldn't agree more. What a director is supposed to is immerse the audience in the story being told in a movie or TV show.  Work in service to that story, but Shyamalan has no interest in that.

 

In the process of making a movie or TV show, nothing is accidental.  Directors employ actors wearing specific costumes to play specific characters with specific actions, reactions and traits with specific dialogue spoken with a specific delivery in a specific setting with specific lighting while filming with specific shots at a specific range with a specific perspective and a specific focus and with specific editing and filters with specific sound, music and ambiance.  Everything, and I do mean everything, is deliberate. They do this direct (Yes, they call them directors for a reason) the attention of the audience to whare it needs to be to create the right emotional investment from said audience.  It sounds ridiculous, but when a director does thier job well, you forget that there is a director.  You forget are you are even watching a movie or TV show at all.  This might not inflate many people ego's, but when you enjoy a movie, it has tricked you, but that's OK. It's a good thing.

 

I've always despised M. Night Shamalan's movies because he does the opposite. With those same tools of casting, costuming, editing, shot options, lighting, set designs, actor direction and script writing he is constantly trying to remind the audience that they are not only watching a movie, but more importantly, watching his movie. That's what's important to him. It doesn't matter if a scene was awkward, slow, didn't convince anyone of the emotional state of a character, was unrealistic or made any kind of logical sense. If he believes it will remind the audience who directed the movie, that will be fine.  Why else would he so often write in small roles for himself in his films?  Because the fucker can't help himself, that's why!  He has to be the centre of attention.

 

He like a pompous, arrogant artist who won't let anyone admire his work unless they ask why he used that one brush stroke somewhere of the canvas. If you need to explain what kind of a reaction a scene is meant to provoke, that mean the scene didn't work. If you asked him him why he had a guy with one muscular arm stare blankly right into the cameras for several minutes and talk about why he only works out that one arm, he's probably spend all night giving a synopsis about it (I'm not kidding, that actually happens in Lady in the Water).

[Oops! Dropped My Phone in the Toilet! What To Do?]

21 minutes ago, The Blackangel said:

Thankfully it was a tracfone. I just left it and bought a new one because it was sticking out of a fresh pile of shit that I hadn't flushed yet.

 

And I'm done eating for the next couple of days.

[The Fallout TV Series is Awesome!]

 

Before I get started:

 

1. This review will be spoiler free, but I will open the discussion below to spoilers, you have been warned.
2. @The Blackangel I can't say for sure, but I think is is possible that some of the images in this show, trailer and contained in this review might be triggering for you. I'd have somebody take a look at the media in this post before you read just to be sure.

 

A television series published by Amazon based of the Fallout series on video games released April 11nth viewable on Amazon Prime Video. Me and my better half binged the series yesterday and I decided to share my thoughts.

 

See the trailer below.

 

 

I've been a fan of the games since Fallout 3 and whilst games vary in strength from a storytelling perspective, it was always going to be a challenge to tell a story in this universe from the more uninvolved perspective one has merely watching said story as apposed to role playing it. A very different challenge as, say, the Last of US TV series on HBO because even though one controlled Joel in the The Last of Us video game, the story was was still told from an observers perspective. Adapting a video game whare the player has full control over what a character says, whare they go and what they do right down to the base morals was never going to be easy.  Maybe impossible to do in a way that pleases everyone.

 

However, I've got to give Amazon, MGM Studios and Kitler films thier props because I think they absolutely nailed it!

 

First, the story. Shades of Fallout 3 with the naïve, but courageous Lucy Maclain (Ella Purnell) as she leaves the sanctuary of a nuclear survivor's shelter called Vault 33 to search for her father, the Vault's overseer, kidnapped by a mysterious raider named Moldaver (Sarita Cloudhury). Meanwhile, a defected Enclave Scientist is pursued by a pre-war actor named Cooper Howard turned bounty hunter now known as "The Ghoul" (Walton Goggins) and an opportunistic Brotherhood of Steel Squire named Maximus (Aaron Moten).  This is a complex, yet deeply compelling story with a great drive, great energy, great pacing with lots of unexpected twists and turns. As the viewer, you are always kept guessing as the full story behind not just the motivations of our characters, but the origins of the great war itself unravel.  The show pulled no punches with the violence and with a surprising amount of superb comedy thrown in for free along with all the drama.  I absolutely loved it.

 

The aesthetics are absolutely nailed.  This looks exactly as fans of the show would hope with authentic looking costumes and sets. The pre-war and Vault settings in particular I liked, especially the pre-war cars, many of which actually appeared to be fully functional, a nice touch.  What creative liberties were taken, they were smart about. Nothing felt out of place. The effects, both practical and CGI were also really good.

 

However, one thing I wasn't so sure about was Walton Goggins make up as "The Ghoul". Compared to the other ghouls in the series and, indeed, the games, he skin looked a little to "complete" in the sense that it didn't really look like it was hanging off like it should with a very monotone look to the colour.  He looked less like a ghoul and more like a burn victim with a spray-on tan. Here's a side-by-side of Walton Goggins as "The Ghoul" and a Ghoul from Fallout 3 and I just think that the Ghoul from Fallout 3 looks better with a varied colour pallet and more varied textures going on. 

 

 

The characters themselves are well fleshed out and very well performed by all the cast, no complaints here. Whether you agree with thier motivations and goals or not, you are always given a chance to relate to them and understand them.  The show never gets bogged down with exposition, we learn about these characters through the story in a vey easy to digest yet exiting way.  This doesn't mean I like all the characters though, more specifically Maximus. The guy was traitorous, selfish, stupid and incompetent. That would have bene fine if it weren't for two serious issues:

 

1. I didn't feel like this character really learned or grew much at all through the story.  He was pretty much the same self-centred glory hound at the end that was at the start.
2. The show tried a little too hard to make one empathise with him, even when he was at his worst, and that was annoying.

 

Still, Maximus aside, these characters really grew on me.  I loved Lucy for her sincere compassion as well as her courage and admire the way she refused to let this harsh, merciless world re-shape her principles.  A clever contrast to The Ghoul/Cooper who left me wanting more of the heart that has clearly been buried and hardened by decades of life in this world and the tragedies' in his life. And even without that, he would still be ruthlessly fucking cool. And I must say, I want The Ghoul's Gun modded into Fallout 4 immediately.

 

 The only other thing I didn't like was Amazon and thier stupid video player. Not only did it glitch out frequently blackening the screen in whole or in part several times while watched, we still had to put up with ads even though we pay for Amazon Prime. Sorry, but that's not good enough. I'd actually feel inclined to download this show if I wanted to rewatch it to avoid this nonsense.

 

But that's nothing against the show itself. It was entertaining, compelling, respected the source material and was well produced. I am even temped to say this was better than HBO's The Last of Us as an adaptation, and that is saying something. A much watch for both fans and newcomers alike.

 

9/10

[Are you a church goer?]

There's nothing righteous about keeping up a religious schedule.  It's, well, just that, keeping up schedule. It's a routine. Just because somebody surrenders a hour or so of one day a week to listen to some deluded zealot read from a story book doesn't make them better than other people.  It means they can set an alarm and get up before 9am on a Sunday and that's about it.

 

I've said if before in this topic and I'll say it again, religion is for people who want to relinquish responsibility for how they behave, what they say and even how they think and feel to something else.  It's for the weak minded who can't be bothered to establish a moral compass of thier own.  I'm not saying the practicing religion makes one evil.  On the contrary, most religious scripture promotes a positive way to live and treat other people with love and respect, all I'm saying is that it doesn't automatically make people good either.  

 

Having said that, religion is not innocuous.  It's archaic and open to twisted interpretations that people use to justify heinous acts, attitudes and behaviour that anyone with a moral compass that they themselves developed through reason, logic, experience even thier own mistakes would find completely deplorable.  But like I said, religion is for people who want to relinquish responsibility for how they behave, what they say and even how they think and feel to something else, even if that includes rape and murder.

[Last Game Played]

14 minutes ago, HowHammerYou said:

Ok, here's how things went: There was no installed data on the HDD for either game beyond save data, so that was a no-go. I did decide to update the console, which thankfully went smoothly, but didn't fix the issue. Both games are on their latest version (pretty sure they were never even updated post-release). I did try plugging my PS4 controller into my PS3, and both analogs worked fine. So it's got to be an issue with that 3rd-party controller. I have a hunch that either when I dropped the controller a couple times, or maybe when I was doing Lulu's overdrives in FFX (which require rapidly spinning the left analog), that stick may have been slightly messed up. Another reason I think this is that the issue seems to only affect the left stick. I'm planning to take it apart and see if any of the sensors came loose.

 

Yeah, it's looking more and more like the controller. Best of luck with the inspection and be sure to let me know.

[Last Game Played]

53 minutes ago, HowHammerYou said:

Thanks, I'll try reinstalling the games and see if that fixes anything. I've had the console disconnected from the internet for years and I don't want to update it because of a bug where updating will brick PS3s that have dying bluetooth or wifi parts (and I suspect mine does), but I'll see if reinstalling does anything.

 

It should still be possible to download PS3 firmware onto a USB drive using a PC then install it onto the console.

[Last Game Played]

20 minutes ago, HowHammerYou said:

I was playing all of these games on the PS3, and the controller is made by Auroce (never heard of the company before, but the controller seemed really solid and worked for both FFX and FFX-2). I also tried Demon's Souls and Red Dead Redemption with that controller, and both games worked fine.

 

I think this is some sort of issue with the game. I've come across stories of similar control issues on both PS3 and PS4. If you haven't done so, try reinstalling the game and, if possible (I don't know if the PS3 is still supported like this) make sure the game and system software is up[ to date.

 

[Last Game Played]

31 minutes ago, HowHammerYou said:

Just finished FFX-2. I was planning to play Kingdom Hearts 1 and 2 next, but unfortunately it seems that those games won't properly read diagonal input from my new 3rd-party controller's analog sticks. Whenever I try to move diagonally, Sora slows to a walk. The games are nearly unplayable with this bug, so I've shelved them until I can get yet another new controller.

 

Could you please tell me what platform you playing this on and what controller this is? I just want to do a little troubleshooting as I've had a lot of experience with 3rd party controllers and know that there can be solutions to these issues that don't involve having to buy a new controller. On the contrary, I find that that doesn't really work on most occasions.

[Who's a Character in a Movie That Deserved a Better Actor?]

I tend to place blame for bad performances on directors and those in charge of casting before the actors themselves. Obviously whitewashing, casting cisgender actors in trans roles and casting actors for roles whare the characters have certain disabilities when the actors don't (Looking at you Music (2021) ) can cause huge problems, but even that isn't the fault of the actor.  Ultimately, it all comes back to the director. It's thier responsibility to cast the right actors for the right roles.  If the director isn't up to snuff, replacing the actor will do little to help. Take M. Night Shyamalan, he can take a great actor like Mark Wahlberg and make him look like a complete plank.

[Which Video Games Have You Bought Several Times?]

I bought FFX multiple times because, for reason, the disk for that particular PS2 game kept going wrong. Other PS2 disks got damaged from time to time and needed replacing, but nothing like as often as FFX did. I also bought the remaster for both PC and console, so count those and I must have bought the game on 5 or 6 separate occasions.

 

Then there some of the usual suspects that launched again and again on new hardware with new updates like Skyrim, but I think my buy count for that sits at 4, which isn't bad.

[Remakes/Remasters You Want To See.]

On 3/14/2024 at 7:57 PM, HowHammerYou said:

Resident Evil Code Veronica X Remake: Capcom has been knocking it out of the park with their remakes of classic RE games lately, and I really hope they follow the same path with Code Veronica. I'll be pissed if 5 and 6 get remakes before this.

 

+1 on that.

I thought Code Veronica X was really underrated.  True, there wasn't much of a leap in terms of gameplay improvements from the PS1 that probably should have been there.  Capcom did try to evolve Resident Evil but then just decided to turn those projects into thier own games not once, but twice (Onimusha: Warlords and Devil May Cry, both of which came just one year after Cove Veronica X).  It seems to me Capcom wanted to move Resident Evil forward but didn't really know how they wanted to do it.  So I suppose it's little surprise that they ended up making what was basically RE2 again with updated graphics, but that ruined this game's reputation. The world was seeing what this new generation of console (The PS2 especially) as well as what Capcom themselves were capable of at the time, so I can understand why some people felt let down by Code Veronica X.

 

However, give this game the remake treatment that the other RE games have been given and I'm all for it.

 

2 hours ago, Ravenfreak said:

Legend of Legaia deserves a remake more than any other game IMO. It's the best RPG on the Playstation 1 IMO, and it got completely overshadowed by Final Fantasy VIII. It's also not playable on any modern console, you can't finish the game on a PS3 because the emulator doesn't emulate the game properly. I know there's a fan remaking the game now, and at least someone is tackling such a project because it'll probably never get an official remake nor a port to modern Playstation consoles because as far as I'm aware, the trademark for the name is long gone.

 

According to my research, Sony Computer Entertainment still owns the IP. They're obviously just sitting on it, which is disappointing. Again according to my research, the game actually sold quite well, close to 1M copies, which isn't bad for a PS1 JRPG released near the same time of FFVII, but the sequel sold like veal chops at a vegan market and the IP hasn't been touched since. The game has pretty much fallen out of memory and I don't think a remake would sell enough to justify the cost of making it. There just isn't enough interest.

 

On 3/26/2024 at 1:33 AM, killamch89 said:

MGS 3 Remaster is coming out in the near future. I think it's next year - hopefully, Konami doesn't mess this up.

 

Sorry, but the question of today's version of Konami messing up the MGS3 remake does not start with a " Will they", it starts with a "How badly will they".

[Resident Evil 9 could be open-world?]

Personally, I'm a long way from convinced this would work.  A player approaches an open world with ambition and a keenness to explore, not with the kind of apprehension and dread that one would associate with horror. Horror is told very much through the environment and that environment is meant to make you feel trapped and desperate.  An open world is all about empowerment and opportunity. It's meant to make the player feel important and powerful, not what one want's to feel in horror game.

 

To me, this more likely to work if Capcom focused less on the horror in this open world Resident Evil game and for the game to be like the more action orientated games in the series, like 4.  The obvious problem with that is that at least a significant portion of the fanbase would be put off by that after seen some great horror games and remasters from the series in recent years.  A Resident Evil open world has another more indigenous problem.  Unlike other companies like Ubisoft or Bethesda, Capcom isn't exactly known for it's open worlds.  When they have given it a go, it's been to mixed success. Sorry, but I do see Capcom making a mess of it, especially if they do try to squeeze the square block that is survival-horror into the round hole of an open world.

 

 

[Nostalgia Waves: What Songs Take You Back Instantly?]

Any can answer this question with a long-drawn explanation, most will be able to answer this question with a sentence. Many will be able to answer this with a single sentence, or even single word.

 

Me, I answer this with a single letter;

 

A

 

 

A were the band that introduced to the truth that there was something better than than the nonsense the we call "pop". 

 

From Rammstein to OOMPH!, Sabaton to Nitghwish, Iron Maiden to Judas Priest, Metallica to Testament, X Japan to Lovebites, In Flames to Scar Symmerty, Linkin Park to Falling in Reverse, it all started with this, sadly mostly forgotten, post-punk band from London. Thier album Hi-Fi Serious changed my life.

[Parents Sue Gaming Giants for 'Addictive' Game Design]

3 hours ago, Reality vs Adventure said:

 ...Are they those far right freaks that hate pink candy and pink pop tarts thinking it turns people gay? Beware, the USA is full of crazies who are hyper paranoid. Be careful, your music may have subliminal messages too. Bwahahahaha. 

 

 

Before I get started with my own post on this, @Reality vs Adventure, you have got to stop trying to bring politics into topics like this.  Is it not fair on this family to imply this about them just for filing this lawsuit no matter how stupid you feel it is.  Even if it turns out this family are literal Nazis it wouldn't matter because social-political bias has nothing to with this situation, so why make that connection?  This family could to be liberals and this would make as much sense.

 

More importantly, you know perfectly well whare to go on this forum if you want to discuss politics.  Create a thread there to share your thoughts how these idoligies are affecting modern society (That actually would be an interesting topic) referencing these situations if you want, but stop bringing these arguments into threads whare this is clearly not relevant.

 

Anyway, before coming to this thread I saw another article this morning from PC Gamer that goes into the details and definitions of these "dark patterns" a lot more closely that the article @killamch89 posted. To be fair, that article was more focused in this specic lawsuit. So there's nothing wrong with that article, it just had a different focus. 

 

Back to the point, and having read both articles, I don't think this lawsuit is so ridiculous.  Most of us are aware of how damaging lootboxes are due to the phycological tics they employ to keep people spending, but that's not the only form of phycological manipulation game companies employ. Again, please read the PC Gamer article for a better description of the examples then I could offer. Game companies use this manipulation to achieve what they would call "player retention", but I think we can see that as "to get them addicted" in other words.

 

This manipulation may not work on you reading this, likely an adult devoid of mental disabilities, but these tactics are not meant for you. They are ment for people who, for one reason or another, are more vulnerable, like the autistic child at the centre of this lawsuit. Children as well as adults with mental disabilies are protected by law from gambling for a reason, the same reason why games doing shit like this should also bear this criticism, especially if they are rated for children to play.

 

Yes, the parents have a role to play to protect thier children from these things, but they can't be expected to be able to do so if organizations like the FTC and ESRB aren't doing enough to warm them of the dangers these business practices pose. Parents are having to deal with this almost completely blind, only learning the dangers of the manipulative design of these games when it's already too late.

 

So to this family and thier lawyers, I say go get 'em!  Bleed these companies not just for yourselves, but for every other victim and for all of us who are sick to death of these business practices.

[What’s your first thought when you wake up?]

[Man, Star Wars Battlefront Fans Just Can't Catch a Break...]

42 minutes ago, killamch89 said:

See? I told you in another thread that there's every possibility that EA screws this up. That's why I kept my expectations in check - I'm not even surprised. It seems like Capcom is the only major gaming company that can do a proper remaster.

 

Actually, at least as far as I can tell, EA have nothing to do with The Star Wars Battlefront Classic Collection. As much as we would all like to, we can't blame EA for this.