Topics

31

General / Months with Too Many Releases?

« on: August 24, 2021, 05:54:24 pm »

I was taking a look at next month and for the first time that I can remember, there is a game coming out every week of the month that I'm wanting. I've never seen that many games release in one month or even in a three month time span with that many games that I've wanted.

 - Week 1 - F.I.S.T.
 - Week 2 - Cruis'n Blast
 - Week 3 - Kena Bridge of Spirits
 - Week 4 - Hot Wheels Unleashed

That's a busy month, but then, every fall leading up to the holiday shopping rush has had many games dropped for the season. I can recall previous years where there were a couple games that I had to choose from and then let one go until it dropped in price. That kind of predicament has happened often actually. 

What was one of the busiest gaming months for releases for you? Was there a month where you felt there was simply too much coming out and you didn't have time for it?

32

Modern Video Games / Gamescom 2021 Aug 25th - 27th

« on: August 23, 2021, 09:49:10 am »

Just a couple days away, Gamescom's opening starts at 10:30 PST / 1:30 EST. I believe Jeff Knightly is hosting it and he's been busy leaking some expectations about the opening... including an update on the new Ninja Turtles game that I've been hoping to hear more about.

Playstation is once again nowhere to be found so it's going to be up to third parties to bring any excitement to the PS4/5 userbase. Seriously.... what the hell is Sony doing aside from destroying their PR?

Meanwhile, Xbox is kicking things off a bit early.... Xbox Stream – Tuesday, August 24 at 10am - 12pm PT.

Nintendo is also absent at the moment but they've been showing off games pretty regularly.

I'm not sure what to expect so other than the Ninja Turtles update already confirmed, I'll expect nothing and then be happy if something I'm interested in is shown. Best case scenario for me is that Shenmue 4 is announced as in development. Worst case scenario as I'm expecting nothing... I get an update on the Ninja Turtles game only. This makes Gamescom a win/win for me.

What are you hoping for?

33

Modern Video Games / PS5 is FINALLY getting Internal SSD Expansion!

« on: July 29, 2021, 09:03:50 am »

When PS4 (yes PS4) launched with a 500GB HDD, I questioned if it would be enough space back in 2013. It was not. I upgrade to a 1TB pretty quick as it was easy enough to do myself. That still wasn't enough, so I bought a 4TB external. Finally... it felt like the glorious days prior to the PS3/360 era. After the initial install, I didn't have to worry about space anymore or the time to reinstall. It was simply done. Pop a game in and play. Fantastic.

Then the PS5 was announced as having only 650GB (roughly) of usable internal SSD space... in 2020. Gross. Just.... gross. With that horrible information announced, Sony decided to throw in a light at the end of the tunnel stating that internal SSD upgrades would be available and that it's easier to access than even on PS4. Ok... sure.

Nearly a year later... Sony is finally moving forward with the ability to install SSD upgrades into the PS5 starting with their next beta of the OS. There's even a new support page detailing how to install an SSD. You can see some of the images in the link below:

https://www.pushsquare.com/news/2021/07/sony_rolling_out_ps5_internal_ssd_access_in_next_beta_update

Playstation specific support page:

https://www.playstation.com/en-us/support/hardware/ps5-install-m2-ssd/

Of course, there's a catch. You can't just add in any SSD you want.... "To meet the requirements of the PS5 hardware, the M.2 SSD must use the "PCIe Gen4 x4 M.2 NVMe SSD" interface and have a capacity of at least 250GB. The largest internal SSD you'll be able to install is a 4TB one. It also must meet a certain form factor and have a sequential read speed of 5,500MB/s or faster." - PushSquare.

Sony confirmed that the Seagate FireCuda 530 series of SSDs are compatible with PS5. These released last month, I believe, and are not cheap by any margin. In US dollars, the 500GB is $150, 1TB is $255, 2TB is $515 and the 4TB runs $1000. Those are the versions that come with heatinks. Those without heatsinks are available but are basically the same cost, and with gaming, heatsinks are going to be best.

As for me... there aren't many PS5 specific games piling up for me at the moment so I have the time afforded to me to wait for price drops. I'll be getting that 4TB model with the heatsink installed eventually... but not for even half the current asking price. I'm patient.

What are your plans on upgrading your PS5's internal SSD space? Is the prepackaged 650GB enough for you?

34

Modern Video Games / Has Modern Gaming Stagnated?

« on: July 11, 2021, 09:54:29 am »

Don't get me wrong, there are always fun games in the works, but it seems that the focus over the last few years has been first person horror. Before that it was first person military shooters. Aside from FPS games, there's a large focus on games as a service and/or online only last man standing type games.

While my favorite type of games, third person narrative driven games, are still being made, it takes forever to get these released due to the amount of work that has to be done on them. Not only building the worlds and having good writing and character development but then the polish work. While I generally am really excited to play these stories, it feels like my excitement has really fallen off the scale as so many were announced super early and then when playing them, they often fail to meet the hype. There are incredible games like Ghost of Tsushima (I count it as one of the best of the PS4 gen) and then there are fails like the last few Assassin's Creed games that I would have to force myself to complete. The greats seem few and far between.

My hype for modern gaming in general is at an all time low. I don't know if I'm alone on this or not, but I find myself going back to older games to replay those far more than looking forward to anything coming out.

What are your thoughts?

35

Modern Video Games / Playstation State of Play July 8th 2021

« on: July 08, 2021, 09:32:24 am »

Not the blow out presentation many of us Playstation fans were hoping for, but it's better than a stick in the eye. Sony went ahead and set the expectations pretty low for this as the emphasis is on Deathloop.... a game I have no interest in. That said, there will be some third party/indie stuff sprinkled in as well. With the low expectations set, the best realistic info I see coming out of this is info on Ninja Turtles Shredder's Return announced for PS4/5 with a release date. That's the best case scenario I'm expecting.

Link to the Playstation Youtube page to watch:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8hWEhS7iw0

Here's the times for the show depending on where you're at:
 - North America: 2pm PDT / 3pm MDT / 4pm CDT / 5pm EDT
 - UK/Ire: 10pm BST
 - Europe: 11pm CEST / 12am EEST
 - Asia/Oceania: 6am JST / 5am AWST / 7am AEST

What are your hopes?

36

Off Topic / Netflix Resident Evil Live-Action Series

« on: June 11, 2021, 01:38:03 pm »

Link first:
https://www.gameinformer.com/e3-2021/2021/06/11/live-action-resident-evil-movie-reboot-cast-revealed-including-lance-reddick-as

So Netflix has announced the main cast of their live-action RE show as Lance Reddick (great actor), Ella Balinska, Tamara Smart, Siena Agudong, Adeline Rudolph and Paola Nunez.

It's stated that main characters Chris and Claire Redfield as well as Leon Kennedy and Jill Valentine will be in the show. Then Wesker will be played by Lance Reddick.... which makes ZERO sense as he doesn't look ANYTHING like Wesker. Then they show the main cast, but no one that could play Chris Redfield or Leon Kennedy as the rest shown are all female; unless that's what Netflix is going for now.

Now, before my opinion is seen as ugly given today's heavy political pile of crap that we're always under.... I'm one who enjoys keeping as close to original everything as possible. Take the newer 2018 Ninja Turtles cartoon as an example. They had Raph being the leader of the Turtles when it should be and always has been Leo. I was actually pissed over that.

I think had Netflix decided to make a Resident Evil spin off story and not cast any of these people in well known character slots that I'd be far more excited than I am at this point. Again, I think Lance is a great actor, but as Wesker? Not a great match.

What are your thoughts?

37

Modern Video Games / Abandoned - PS5

« on: June 02, 2021, 09:47:08 am »

Ok... Looking at the graphics of the environment alone on this, it looks fantastic. Once we see more games being specific to the new gen systems, the graphic differences will be very apparent. I know I'll be very happy with PS5 alone for the new gen.

Now, aside from environmental graphics, you can see at the very end of the trailer (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qL9pGRdCjNc) a hand holding a gun and the hand.... doesn't look great but it's still early. The trailer goes on to explain the premise which has promise. Apparently you play the role of a disengaged cult member willing to fight back to save their own skin.



Here's the problem I have. It's a first person survival horror game. Another.... first person survival horror game. I've had a problem with the first person genre being overdone when it comes to military shooters back during the PS3/360 days. Now it seems first person will be overdone with survival horror.

I'm kind of over it. I believe this is one of the reasons that I feel new IPs have nothing new to offer me and why I gravitate to existing IPs. Abandoned does look graphically phenomenal though.

38

Classic Video Games / FMV Games (90's)

« on: May 31, 2021, 02:01:32 pm »

One of my favorite retro systems is the Genesis and by extension, the Sega CD. When you look at the Sega CD's library of games, there's a rather large percentage which are FMV (full motion video) movie games. Some of my favorites are Corpse Killer, Sewer Shark, Jurassic Park, and Dragon's Lair.

Those were the fun ones. Then there were others that I hoped were good, but the controls were so poor that I couldn't even get 5 minutes into the story.... games like Supreme Warrior and Night Trap. FMV games or movie games generally had to have spot on to the millisecond timing on button presses and it made playing these unbearable. Dragon's Lair was almost on this list.

If you look above at the FMV games I listed as good vs not good, you'll notice that developers had already figured out that the FMVs should probably not be during gameplay. Sewer Shark was able to get around it via giving the player a grace period to react. Later games that had FMVs had removed them from gameplay all together and instead put them in as side videos to watch as informational or to expand on the story. The first couple Need for Speed games did a great job doing action shoots on the super cars and giving information.

I guess this topic came to mind as I just bought the PS4's 25th Anniversary edition of Corpse Killer on PSN. It was on sale for under $7... which is what I feel the game is probably worth. Great nostalgia. Horrible gameplay where it should basically be a light gun game but fun to revisit none-the-less. I would buy a remastered Sewer Shark for $7 as well.

What are your feelings on FMV games of the 90's? Did you have any favorites?

39

General / Tomb Raider 25th Anniversary

« on: April 27, 2021, 10:34:06 am »

Well, 2021 marks the series' 25th anniversary. I've been a fan for the most part. I remember renting the first game for PS1 probably 3x or so. I decided if I got Christmas money, I'd buy the 2nd game that was releasing that year. The 2nd game was my favorite until the remake of the first with Anniversary on PS2. I loved the new mechanics that Crystal Dynamics had put into the series with Legend. Then the 2013 reboot happened which changed the series pretty dynamically. The reboot has been my favorite in the series since.



I do remember the low points of the series though. When Eidos had told Core that they wanted a new TR game every year, it was bound to ware on the team. You could tell they didn't really care once they got to making TR Chronicles. Then with attempting a reboot with Angel of Darkness, it went downhill pretty quick; at least with the glitches. I couldn't even beat the game with cheats due to game breaking bugs. The low point for the modern iteration for me was Rise of the TR. The gameplay was still intact, but the story written for it was sub-par and predictable. I didn't care about Lara's quest for that game and I believe I've only played it the once.

Still, I own every game that has come to a Playstation platform. I even had the GBA game at one point which was actually pretty fun given the limitations.



So this brings us to what Square is planning for the 25th Anniversary of such a milestone series in gaming history.... and the answer is kind of disappointing to be honest.

1. They have made a deal with Netflix to create an anime based on the series.
2. Various artists are making updated wallpapers that are supposed to be reimagined box arts for the history of games.
3. There's a cookbook for the series.... yeah.... a cookbook. 
4. A 25th Anniversary collectors statue of Lara... which we don't know what it will look like but it will probably be expensive.
5. A re-release of the newer trilogy of games for last gen systems (PS4, X1, PC) with no improvements; just all DLC.
6. Then we have a ridiculous cross over with Fortnite of all things.

Much of the fan base was hoping that Square would take this as an opportunity to release the original PS1 and PS2 games in HD. We wouldn't really need a remake of the first as we already got it with TR Anniversary on PS2, but the thought of seeing an original Tomb Raider game re-imagined on the new gen of hardware does give me a bit of hope for the next game.



A new Tomb Raider game is confirmed to be in development. They won't be showing it off any time soon so it won't be revealed during the 25th anniversary time frame. The cool bit is that the developer stated that as the previous three games were showing how Lara became the Tomb Raider we knew from the original titles, the new game is set to merge the newer games with the original timeline. That in itself has me pretty excited.

So what has been your history with the franchise? What was your favorite game? What was your least favorite? Do you like the way the newer games evolved from the original series? I plan to continue buying Tomb Raider games so long as they look like they're delivering a fun adventure.

As a side note, I completed my 4th Shadowbox project which revolved around Uncharted. You can see a couple photos of it in my gallery here in my profile. Not sure why I can't link them here but oh well. My next shadowbox project will be surrounding the Tomb Raider series and TR Anniversary for PS2 will be the inspiration.

40

General / Ever Bought a Game with No Plans on Opening it?

« on: March 26, 2021, 04:43:55 pm »

So I decided to bite the bullet and pick up a copy of 3D Mario All Stars as Nintendo is stopping production on the physical editions this week. I got the last copy at my local Target and I have zero plans on opening it. I'm just going to keep it sealed and wait for the price to spike up as many Nintendo titles have shown in the past to do.... especially those that have fewer copies released.

I've never actually done this before so it feels odd. I have a little bit of interest in replaying Sunshine and maybe revisit Mario 64 for the nostalgia but it wasn't enough to make me bother opening it. I really don't have the time these days.

Have any of you done this before? Did you pick up 3D Mario All Stars?

41

Modern Video Games / Ninja Turtles Shredder's Revenge Announced

« on: March 10, 2021, 02:03:29 pm »

Incredible news for a Turtles fan like me. Looks like we're getting a 16bit brawler in the vein and apparently a direct sequel or at least inspiration from Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time. The graphics look great and the classic Turtles intro is fantastic.

Announced for both consoles and PC, this is a classic 4 player co-op side scrolling brawler. This is being developed by Tribute Games and published by Dotemu who recently released Streets of Rage 4 (which apparently is getting new DLC as well).

As with so many others, I could see this getting a Limited Run Games release, but I'm hoping that they do a retail physical release so we don't have to wait months after release to get it as I really can't wait for this one.

I've added it into the PS4 and PS5 PSN libraries on here as well as the Nintendo eShop library if you want to add it to your wish lists.


Screenshots:




Trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86JYR7bK6RU

Link:
https://www.ign.com/articles/teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-shredders-revenge-co-op-brawler-retro-pc-xbox-ps5

42

Modern Video Games / Mortal Kombat 11 - Needing Fighter Fans Thoughts

« on: March 02, 2021, 09:06:23 am »

Hey all,

I've found with the PS5 that all the games I've been interested in are either being given to me on PSN as part of Plus or have been delayed to later in the year. I have yet to have bought a physical game for my PS5 since launch when I bought AC Valhalla. I'm wanting to add to my PS5 collection and out of everything currently available, MK11 Ultimate had my attention. I've enjoyed the series, for the most part, since it started in the Arcade and on Genesis/SNES.

I was holding off for two reasons. 1. I only wanted to buy one of each fighter per gen and now with MK11 on PS5, it falls within that realm. 2. I wanted most if not all DLC fighters on the disc. It looks like with Ultimate that it's reached that point.

So here's the questions.... how does MK11 hold up to previous iterations and as a game in general? As a casual player for fighting games, would be pretty easy to pick up (I'm not planning on playing online).

43

Modern Video Games / Instinction - Spiritual Successor to Dino Crisis

« on: February 18, 2021, 05:16:39 pm »

Recently announced was a game called Instinction which for lack of a better comparison is said to be the spiritual successor of Dino Crisis. As I've been wanting Dino Crisis to be remade in the same vein of Resident Evil 2 or 3 for quite some time, this has me really excited.



Not much is known and the trailer looks to be pretty early on and not well put together. Aside from that though, this has a massive amount of potential. I'm expecting an immersive and incredible experience. I hope we get to see some of the 3rd person gameplay soon.

Some of the key points:

 - Can be played either 1st or 3rd person
 - Single player and co-op
 - Player customization (I'll probably try and remake Regina from Dino Crisis)
 - Weapons are fully customizable including skins
 - Customizable UI
 - Emphasis on next gen tech such as...
   - advanced ray-tracing
   - DLSS 2.0
   - HDRI
   - screen space effects
   - shadows and reflections
   - Dynamic resolution and frame rates
   - Target support for 8K and 120fps (not likely)
   - 3D audio
   - PS5 players get full dualsense support

Planned for release on PS5, PS4, XSeX/S, X1 and of course, PC during Q3 next year (2022).

https://www.playstationlifestyle.net/2021/02/15/instinction-dino-crisis-hashbane-dinosaurs-next-gen/#/slide/1

https://www.hashbane.com/ <-- Developer site

44

Classic Video Games / The Best Places to Find Classic Games?

« on: February 10, 2021, 11:28:06 am »

I'm currently trying to track down a copy of Micro Machines on the Sega Game Gear with an instruction manual for no more than $40-$50. Seems like a tall ask given that very few copies of the game even show as still having the manual. I'm wondering if there other places to look than what I have listed below as these are my more frequented places to shop for retro/classic games. Where do you browse for your collections?

www.ebay.com <-- Sadly, my usual go to.
www.estarland.com <-- stock can be very limited but great store.
www.etsy.com <-- blew me away they had retro stuff as I thought it was mostly a craft shop.
www.amazon.com <-- very few in comparison to the other locations.

What are your go to places?

45

Classic Video Games / Top 50 Sega Game Gear Games

« on: January 21, 2021, 08:26:49 am »

A few months ago, there was a slew of top 50-150 games for various retro systems. One that is often overlooked is the Sega Game Gear; which is my favorite handheld system. I would imagine most of us know about the history of Sega and how the rival of the Game Gear (Game Boy) obviously won out that battle, however, Game Gear still has a great library and lots to offer.

I thought it would be fun to bring back one of the "Top ##" threads for this year and start it off with a favorite of mine. If you don't have experience playing on Game Gear, I recommend you check some of the games out however you can that end up getting listed in this thread. Also, if you played the Sega Master System (SMS) and have a favorite, so long as the game is also on Game Gear in some fashion, you can list it instead. The two platforms shared most of their library.

Let's get this started....

1. Sonic Triple Trouble - Sonic was a massive pull as to why I asked for a Game Gear instead of a Game Boy and Triple Trouble was arguably the best Sonic game on the system. Sega had added in quite a bit from the Genesis versions including snowboarding which was only available on one level, but fun none-the-less. As per usual, great soundtrack as well.