Shagger

I am not kidding, that is literally how it works. Here's a clip of me doing so. And as you can see, the tutorial didn't mention that QTE was going to happen either, so I actually failed it the first time because I was caught totally off guard.

Is it possible they were claimed through games with gold by the previous owner? I think there was a time when games that were claimed through GWG remained yours even if you ended your subscription.

I'm actually inclined to agree. The main character is brutish douche that kind of reminds me of Duke Nukem, but in a bad way. He's without the humour and obvious over the top persona, so it feels like you meant to take him seriously and that just bleeds away all of the charm he would have had if the character had been more of a joke. And yes, that "GI Joe" American accent is a big part of the problem. Maybe there is reason for that the story just hasn't explained yet, like maybe it turns out he's a defector or something like that and whilst that would be a pretty cheap way of tying that together, I would take that, just anything to explain why I'm playing as Sgt Jack Texas-Semper-Fi-Mutha-Fucka (OK, that's not his name, but it may as well be) in an alternate version of the USSR in the 1950's. That would be tolerable, if the game was fun to control, but like you did, I find it's not. I was using a keyboard and programmable mouse, so OK, it's not fair for me to blame the game entirely before I've tweaked my settings and button mapping, but the methods of selection for the weapons and items and the actions within combat do not feel intuitive at all. Same is true of that dodge function. Now, I'm not really a fan of dodge mechanics in a first person game anyway, it just feels disorientating and I find blocks and parry's way more satisfying in this perspective, but in this game it's made worse by the controls. If feels loose and vague and I have no confidence in it actually working whenever it's time to use it. Then there's the stealth. Here's how it works, you hit the stealth kill control (which is mapped to the general action button, like for opening doors and talking to NPC's and even that seems weird to me) to then do to a quick time event whare you bash the stealth kill button as fast as possible to execute the stealth kill. Who thought that was a good idea? First, the game gives you just barley enough actually do this anyway, but more importantly it's frantic and blunt control input that doesn't fit the action of stealth at all. Something like the override mechanic from Horizon Zero Dawn whare you hold the button making the challenge about timing the attack right, that would be ok, but that button mashing bullshit should only apply to a "build up of strength" or a super attack whare you're trying to score as many hits as possible in a limited amount of time. The point is, it does not suit a subtle, silent action. It is too early for me to judge the game yet, I'm only about an hour or two in, but it already feels like a poor man's BioShock infinite.

Being on Gamepass, I was going to give this a try, by the critic reviews were worrying enough, and now that people have got thier hands on it, on my god, it's even worse than I though. Check this one out from Skill Up on YouTube . I haven't played this yet, and likely now won't bother, but from what I've seen here and in other videos, it's clear we not dealing with something like Jedi Survivor or The Last of Us Part I on PC, those games are bad because they're buggy and poor technically. What we're dealing with here is a really bad game, that's also buggy and poor technically. At least when Jedi Survivor or The Last of Us Part I on PC get fixed, people will end up with a good game. And normally, that's the right thing for a developer to do. Forget about DLC or the next game, get this one fixed first. However, with this I feel there's no hope. He said as much in the review, and I agree, there is no amount of patches that can bring this botched experiment of a game to point whare it wouldn't be cruel to keep it alive. Just mercy kill it. Refund the poor saps who actually bought it, pull it from sale, pull it from gamepass, drive a wooden stake through it's heart and bury it in an unmarked, soggy ditch in the middle of nowhere and forget about it. Forget about any long term plans to support the game and add patches and new content, or whatever it was you had planned. Let it die, take the loss with dignity, and move on to whatever you have coming next as I'm certain that's whare the efforts of good developer like Arcane are better spent. Again, I haven't played, so take my word for anything. Check out the video above as well as ACG; Angry Joe; And whatever other sources you trust, and the message is clear. Avoid Redfall, even as a gamepass subscriber.

Forgot all about this. Well, I'm downloading through Gamepass now.

I think there is a topic either on F1 or motorsport buried in the threads somewhere, but I'll just leave it and keep this thread open as I don't think anyone has posted to it in ages. And yes, big F1 fan here. Mostly a Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton fan, even though it's been a rough couple of years, but enjoy good racing. Loving this resurgence for Aston Martin and Fernando Alonso and It's nice to see Ferrari topping the times sheets again. Really not a fan of Max Verstappen though. I'm not denying that he's amazing in the car, truly a once in a generation talent, but I hate his attitude. He's disrespectful, selfish and he just bitches and moans about everything. Even his massive success has done nothing to subdue his manners, if anything he's actually gotten worse the last 2-3 years. At least he has that success to justify his ego. The only thing anyone remembers his dad for was being set on fire, and his attitude is, well, let's just say with Max, it's clear whare it comes from.

Don't worry about that, you already explained it all.

Welcome back.

Maybe it's just me, but groping people together in an environment whare it's easy for someone hide and find tactically advantageous places to shoot from when they know that the person they're looking for is armed and willing to kill and/or injure en mass doesn't sound like that brilliant of an idea.

I can't claim to understand the law completely, but trade is international law with an international trading standard that exists where all nations abide by an agreement within international law. If one of those regions fails to permit the trade agreement within the bounds of that international law, that would normally be OK, such business could still work. Take alcohol. It is illegal in Saudi Arabia, but trade for all sorts of other things still happens. We in Scotland may not be able to sell them whisky, buy maybe we can sell them snoods. The problem here is that the video game trade is to ingrained into the everyday lives of everyone. If Xbox and Activision-Blizzard go through with this merger without the approval of all the international unions of trade except one, it simply can't happen because the nature of the business is too engrained into the market as it is. People already own games from Xbox and Activision-Blizzard, but yet they would have to tell those customers, "No new games, no new updates on live services" and may even have to tell those customers they can no longer access those games. They can't go ahead on this deal without having to pay millions of people fair compensation for not being permitted to access Gamepass and thier digital copies of Activision games. Not to mention Trading Standards in the UK would sue these companies into oblivion for cutting of services and access to thier games in the UK. Let's face it, the CMA have Xbox and Activision-Blizzard over a barrel, they need to get down on thier knees and fucking beg for this deal to happen.

An update on this deal, or perhaps no deal. The UK's business watchdog the Competition and Markets Authority (The CMA) has sensationally blocked the proposed merger between Xbox and Activision-Blizzard. The CMA were concerned over how this move would affect innovation and competition going forward into a future of cloud based gaming. Read the full brief on the the UK Government Website. Basically, the CMA feel Microsoft have such a head start in the field of cloud gaming through Gamepass that having control of Activision-Blizzard on top of what they already have would make it difficult for other companies to compete in that market, leading to Microsoft lagging innovation in this market to better the consumer. Difficult to argue against those points, I suppose. As you might imagine, Microsoft and Activision are not pleased. Responding in a statement, Microsoft president Brad Smith said; “We remain fully committed to this acquisition and will appeal. The CMA’s decision rejects a pragmatic path to address competition concerns and discourages technology innovation and investment in the United Kingdom. We have already signed contracts to make Activision Blizzard’s popular games available on 150 million more devices, and we remain committed to reinforcing these agreements through regulatory remedies. We’re especially disappointed that after lengthy deliberations, this decision appears to reflect a flawed understanding of this market and the way the relevant cloud technology actually works.” An Activision Blizzard spokesperson was even more savage; “The CMA’s report contradicts the ambitions of the U.K. to become an attractive country to build technology businesses,” it said. “We will work aggressively with Microsoft to reverse this on appeal. The report’s conclusions are a disservice to U.K. citizens, who face increasingly dire economic prospects. We will reassess our growth plans for the U.K. Global innovators large and small will take note that - despite all its rhetoric - the U.K. is clearly closed for business.” (Both Quotes found on Polygon) So whilst there will almost certainly be an appeal, the history of the CMA does not bode well for Xbox and Activision-Blizzard for that working in thier favour as appeals to the CMA tend to get rejected. And if what the CMA have said in thier statement is true and they have worked with the parties involved to try and alleviate those concerns and yet they still came to this conclusion, it seems unlikely that there is anything that Microsoft and Activision-Blizzard can say now to change thier mind. I wouldn't say the deal is dead, but there is no point sugar coating this, this is a disaster for Xbox and Activision-Blizzard.

Now that we have had the long awaited launch of Dead Island 2, I suppose it's inevitable that we would have promotions and offers come along with it. But let's face it, skins on promotional packs of energy drink and corn snacks are stale and boring, why not have something a little different.? Like, you own wake, for example. Yes, Deep silver have partnered with the eccentric UK based life insurance provider Dead Happy as a set option for it's last will and testament instructions, what they call a Deathwish (Like I said, eccentric), to hold a Dead Island/zombie apocalypse themed wake for your friends and family. Just to show I am not making this up, here is the details from Dead Happy's website. Credit to Gamerant for first alerting me to this story. There are times when I see something and desperately hope it's a joke, this is NOT one of those times. Dead Happy are known for taking a more light hearted approach in the serious business of helping people plan for the future after the inevitable happens, but even by thier standards this is comical. I don't know if this is going to help either Deep Silver or Dead Happy sell more games or polices respectively, and in a way I hope not because anybody who would buy a life insurance policy just because the company partnered with a video game should not be in charge of thier own financial decisions, but I don't feel like this was the point here. In the end, it's a bit of fun and that we can all appreciate that... or be horrified by it, depending on your point of view.

Seen the game gat mostly positive reviews from outlets, publications and youtubers around the end of January and as late as the beginning of March, like this from Angry Joe: But it's been almost three months since the game came out, so obviously people were going to stop talking about it. It was busy period as well with games like Forespoken and Hogwarts Legacy coming out around the same time as well, so that was a part of the reason why the conversation around Dead Space quickly fizzling out. Give it a month or two, and people will have stopped talking about Resident Evil 4 remake as well, unless Capcom make another stupid move.

Been playing World of Warships for the final days of my free premium trial from Epic. It's been a fun time, but I don't know if I'll keep playing.

Post apocalypse. I have always enjoyed seeing new worlds grow from the ashes of the old world. When done right, it can be truly fascinating to see how this new world survives, grows and evolves in term of social structure, laws, beliefs, traditions and so on. I also really enjoy seeing old tech' meeting new tech' in a creative way, something that goes hand in hand with post apocalyptic themes. Having ancient technology actually being more advanced is just cool idea that opens up a lot of possibilities.

Horizon Zero Dawn doesn't tell a simple story. It has a fair amount of complexity with a lot of details about the past and the political situation of the game's present as well as, of course, the actual plot that I feel do need known to get the best out of Forbidden West. Forbidden West features a great tutorial that offers great instruction to both players new to the franchise and Zero Dawn veterans alike, but the game only offers up so much information about "the story thus far" for new plays and, to be honest, doesn't do a great job a expositing those details. If feels like it was there to remind veteran plays of the events rather than inform new players and catch them up. So sadly, I have to agree with what others have said, and would recommend playing Zero Dawn first or watching a detailed recap or let's play of it. I found this video from Gamespot that might help.

Are we even worth the effort?

This DLC has been out now for a couple of days and whilst it has been received well by critics, it is getting review bombed on Metacritic for the DUMBEST reason. And no, it's not because the DLC is PS5 only, even though that is both a common and legitimate complaint. Because this is a spoiler, I'm warning you now and will scroll down a bit before saying it, so if you don't want to know, click away now. Spoiler Alert ... It's because Aloy acquires a female love interest. Full story from Push Square. Here's a link to the Metacritic Page for Burning Shores if you want to check it out. Yes, Aloy now has a possible and entirely optional female love interest for the game, and as we've sadly come to expect, here comes the bigots. Why is it in 2023 gamers keep doing this? This is frustrating because we know most gamers aren't like this. Most of us, even amongst those of us that are cisgender male aren't bothered by this sort of thing because we're secure in who are and can't see inclusion as threat. Let's go through the inevitable excuses that will come to justly this one buy one, because we these man-babies have no imagination: It's pandering to a gay agenda! There is no social/political agenda, gay people want nothing but to live thier lives in a way that doesn't hurt you. Inclusion is nothing more than a reflection of reality, a realty that most of us aren't threatened by. If you are threatened by that reality that wishes you no harm, then that's on you. They're trying to indoctrinate people into being gay! There is no indoctrination. How the f**k would that even work through a video game? Just because these man-babies are stupid, impressionable and prone to manipulation doesn't make the rest of us as easily sculpted. There're stifling creative freedom in exchange for pandering! Regardless of why LGBTQ+ themes in games, movies, TV shows or whatever are included, that IS thier creators creative freedom. I don't see a game developer's choice to have thier game star Stg-Jack-Awesome-Straight-White-Man-Penis as any less of a free creative choice than choosing to have a game star a character on the spectrum. Aloy didn't need to gay (and if fact, doesn't, like I said the lesbian romance is entirely optional), that's true and that is kind of the point I'm bringing, it's barley even a factor. It's still the same character. The gameplay and story quality of the DLC is not affected by this, so only an obsessive hatred of LGBTQ+ people would bring this kind stuff out of people over something this trivial. The only reason you would get upset over this is if you are a bigot, simple as that and it's pathetic. Aloy was never gay! This next point is just my opinion, but I feel Aloy did show signs of being gay as far back as the very first game. She never took kindly to attention from males, even the good guys like Avad and Errand, and just got along much better with woman. And then there was Petra, she and Aloy basically flited outrageously to almost rom-com level of entertainment. I remember having a discussion with somebody on discord a couple of years back contemplating the possibility that Aloy was gay before the second game came out (No pun intended) based on the way she interacted with people. It sort of ended with a agreement that it was possible, but more importantly "unexplored" area of her character. It could just as easily lead to her being straight, but ultimately a non factor. When the second game came out, the case for Aloy being gay, if anything, strengthened. It was revealed Elisabet Sobeck was in a relationship with a woman, and Aloy is of course genetically identical to her (Another reason one can't be "indoctrinated" into being gay, it's something you're born with). Whatever though, it doesn't matter, I'm not trying to convince anyone whether Aloy is or isn't gay, just pointing out that it always on the cards. And if you don't believe she is or just don't want to believe she is, than that's fine. However, I feel compelled to help you steer a course away from the path anger on this issue. All you just have to do is follow my two step program; Step 1: Choose one of the options on the right. Step 2: Grow up.

So wait, I'm a little confused. Do you like start a railway in the 1800's then run it to the present day?

Magic Carpet 2 (With a HD mod). The game is a childhood favourite, but I decided to try out a mod to sharpen up the textures and hopefully improve stability. It was a nightmare to install and had to contact the mod's developer directly to get it to work, who is going to adjust the installation instructions based on our interaction. It certainly looks good, but it does come with it's own set of bugs in it's current version.

This is worrying indeed. I would like to think that young people today are smart enough and well informed enough to not be easily influenced by this kind of propaganda, but anyone can be conned and manipulated. There is a difference between free speech and hate speech and I do hope Discord steps in.

The only one I've really played is Hogwarts Legacy, and whilst I'm not exactly an expert on the Harry Potter franchise, one thing I do know is RPG's and Hogwarts Legacy is a peach.

An explanation from Microsoft. At the very basic level, a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) is anti-tampering hardware implemented in conjunction and made to work with specific software. It doesn't look like something any normal computer user needs to concern themselves with.

Beat the game last night with a few collectables and side quest still to go. I loved the game. Great story, interesting side missions (especially the relationship quests) and very enjoyable combat, even if the game was a little on the easy side. Well, until the final boss, then the game was a certifiable nightmare. Don't get be wrong is was brilliant; Thank you, Ron. Overall, I would recommend it. It is still a shame that buy buying the game you are supporting a crazy TERF, but judging the game on it's own merits, it is fantastic.