Messages

1

General / Re: Your Own Opinion About Collecting Today

« on: January 28, 2024, 11:17:25 am »

Gonna start this with saying What's up GF? Haven't seen you post in a while!!! I've always said f*ck MS. 

As far as the actual topic here, I've completed collecting. There is not a single item out there that I have been after that I haven't found and acquired eventually. I liquidated a lot of my collection also to make room for what really matters to me. Which is -

Falcom games and stuff
Dragon quest stuff
PlayStation consoles, controllers, and stuff
All the retro RPGs I enjoyed in my younger years.
F4F statues and the like.

I have a bit more stuff to eliminate from my storage but after that, it's only looking to the future for new stuff I want.

What's up bud?!  I lurk the forums but my work schedule, family and lack of access to an actual keyboard keeps me from posting. Hate typing on my phone!

I've got a pretty decent, but way too bulky collection. I've been mulling over selling and/or trading quite a bit of it. The main hurdles are time to do it and where to actually sell the stuff. Ebay has become an absolute nightmare with ridiculous fees, hoops to jump through and a ton of scammers. There is a local used game store with a nice selection that does buy, sell & trade. I've considered loading up a haul of Xbox stuff to take in, get some money and maybe some older games that are a bit pricey. It would make room for me and I'd be able to pick up some stuff I actually DO want.

My main collecting these days focuses on Nintendo and Playstation. I tend to stick to Nintendo-published games and Sony-published games unless it's something 3rd party that's  really, really good such as Cyberpunk or Baldur's Gate.

I spend more on merchandise than the actual games. I've actively been buying Amiibos since many of them have been re-released. The European ones are pretty easy to snag for $20-25 which is ok for one here & there.

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Modern Video Games / Re: What are your plans when everything goes digital only?

« on: January 25, 2024, 12:19:42 pm »

As each manufacturer goes digital only whether game-by-game or the entire console being digital-only,  they are saving me money. As a collector, I buy many games and related merchandise. I'm old fashioned and want that tangible item. I've seen too many times how movies, shows, games, etc. get removed where you can no longer access them. Yeah, my copy of Overwatch may be defunct now and essentially a coaster, but I still have that book, statue, etc. that it came with.

Microsoft is pulling the trigger mid-gen it seems with the updated Series X releasing later this year sans disc drive. Their intentions are clear, especially given that they've had retailers pulling Starfield from stores (but not the DLC in the Steelbook), announced Senua's Saga as digital-only and being mum whether Indiana Jones will have a physical version. I'll keep Gamepass to play the few games I want such as future Halo games, but other than that they can kiss my hairy ass.

The same will apply for Sony and Nintendo if/when they follow. I really wanted to play Baldur's Gate III, but refused to pay $60 for a digital fart. Same for Alan Wake 2. Since BGIII has a physical edition finally coming, I ordered it. If Alan Wake 2 gets an eventual physical release,  I'll buy it then and only then.

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General / Re: Your Own Opinion About Collecting Today

« on: January 25, 2024, 11:43:13 am »

As far as finding games for past generations,  I've pretty much given up. The prices are beyond unreasonable and hoarders with no interest in video games are snatching everything up to turn a quick buck. Trying to get anything new is a nightmare now as well. Collector's Edition games and new consoles get snatched up by resellers and rheir bots before the fans even get a chance to snag one. My wife spent an entire day tring to get Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Special Edition went on sale.  As a fan, I wanted the game but greedy a-holes make it a nightmare where I don't even want to bother. Things only got worse when Covid struck.

Now, I tend to focus on certain games or franchises I really love cZelda is probably my biggest. Microsoft was so nice to help me save money in their move to all-digital this gen. Man...I love Halo for the last 22 years but f*ck MS for all the shit they are pulling.

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General / Re: 2024 Gaming/Collecting Goals

« on: January 25, 2024, 11:13:40 am »

A few goals to tackle in the new year!

1 - Work on finishing my Amiibo collection! 164 down, 61 left to go!
2 - Sell off some Xbox stuff
3 - Get the new Nintendo system (whatever they end up calling it)
4 - Continue to refuse to buy digital-only games
5 - Collect the new Dark Horse Cyberpunk figues...if they ever come out!
6 - Beat Tears of the Kingdom. After the Phantom Liberty and 2.1 update, I finally went back to Cyberpunk and have around 100 hours in so far.

5

Video Game Database Discussion / Xbox Series Accessories

« on: November 13, 2023, 04:32:45 pm »

Just noticed that all Xbox Series controllers and accessories have been moved to the Xbox One section. Is there a particular reasoning behind this? 

If its due to them being backward compatible with the Xbox One, then items such as the PS5 Pulse headsets need to be moved to the PS4 accessories section as they are clearly labeled as compatible with the PS4 on the packaging.

At this rate, shouldn't the Series X and PS5 consoles be listed under Xbox One and PS4 since they natively play these last generation games and games and accessories that are cross generation are being moved into older categories?

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Modern Video Games / PlayStation VR 2: Where we are now & where we COULD be

« on: April 01, 2023, 09:14:09 pm »

I jumped on the PSVR 2 during it's launch window and can say that it is a very impressive piece of hardware.  and I've been reading how Sony has had to lower sales forecasts, it's not moving units or software, etc.  And there are some very specific problems right now that is hampering adoption of the tech.  Here's my thoughts.

1.  The hardware is only available online through Sony.  It's pretty hard to expect to sell and bunch of units when the only place to buy them are on a single website.  Why are they not available at retail?  Pretty easy to understand.  Sony isn't selling to a middle-man (ie retailer), thus minimizing costs and maximizing profits.  Unfortunately, they aren't moving units this way.  They need to have a physical presence and be offered through more online retailers.

2.  There aren't very many PSVR 2 games, and even less in stores.  I'm a collector and a fan of physical games.  Along with zero hardware at retail, there are currently zero games at retail.  Sorry, I'm not spending $60 for Horizon Call of the Mountain to download or pretty much any other game.  I bought the Moss I & II set digital so I had something to play that was new-ish, but that was forty bucks and not $60 or more.  Which brings me to my next point.

3.  Since Moss I & II was ported (fairly) easily to the PSVR 2, why hasn't Sony issued patches for ANY of their VR games to run on the new hardware?  Or released "remastered" versions of any of them?  Astro Bot Rescue Mission was a fantastic game that I had a lot of fun playing.  Astro's Playroom on the PS5 was one of the best games I have played on the PS5.  Why not update this or reissue this for the VR2?  It seems to be more about laziness and forcing people into a digital-only route to me.

With these issues, my PSVR 2 while quite fun, has seen limited use.  I would love to play Horizon Call of the Mountain, Dark Pictures Switchback and several more upcoming games.  But I'm not paying full price for digital downloads.  Not gonna happen.  In the meantime, I play Moss I & II and Gran Turismo 7 and am going to update No Man's Sky to play in VR.

Gran Turismo 7 for all it's wonky sensibilities like the cafe and elevator music, is sublime in VR.  The racing is pure bliss.  And it's just gonna have to do for now at least.  Sony really needs to get to work releasing PHYSICAL games and getting the hardware into stores if they want it to succeed.  Get cracking on making original VR games compatible and advertise this stuff.

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Modern Video Games / Re: Games in 2022

« on: November 20, 2021, 08:52:06 pm »

I've been focused on current games and there aren't all that many already announced that I'm really excited about. But here's the ones I am most looking forward to.

Starfield
Breath of the Wild 2
Horizon Forbidden West

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Modern Video Games / Re: PlayStation5 1st Anniversary

« on: November 19, 2021, 10:26:04 pm »

Fair point. I consider it more critical opinions of obvious issues than bashing, especially in light of the fact that I own the system, the games and have first hand experience. Unlike fanboy trolls who have sworn a blood oath to their favorite plastic box.

In any event, I am and always have been a multiplatform gamer. I'm looking forward to my copies of Kena and Deathloop ($24.99 @ GameStop!!!) to arrive.

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Modern Video Games / Re: PlayStation5 1st Anniversary

« on: November 18, 2021, 11:17:19 pm »

Your entire post history this year is just bashing the PS5. I think you got your point across.

I don't consider criticism of faults bashing. Just stating my opinions. I tore the 360 and Xbox One up one side and down the other for their faults.

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Modern Video Games / Re: Xbox 20th Anniversary

« on: November 18, 2021, 09:28:26 pm »

Xbox Series X is my favorite system currently. I love the backward compatibility,  smart delivery, interface and of course the games. The controller is the most comfortable for me and the system downloads much faster than my PS5 or Switch for that matter.

I still have an original Xbox. Great system that pushed gaming forward with the best graphics, the leader in online play and a HDD as standard.

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Modern Video Games / Re: PlayStation5 1st Anniversary

« on: November 14, 2021, 10:31:15 am »

I enjoy the exclusives on it the little amount I get to play these days.  Because of the ridiculously long install times compared to my Series X, I cancelled my preorder for Guardians of the Galaxy  and picked up the Series X version instead. The only true PS5 exclusive I have on it is Returnal,  but I guess I'm future-proof for whatever eventually comes along that's not available elsewhere.

The storage situation still hasn't improved, the system is huge and the controller is the most uncomfortable to me compared to Xbox and Switch Pro controllers. The Sony Exclusives are great as usual, but I enjoy Nintendo exclusives more, play pretty much all 3rd party games on Series X and Xbox exclusives like Forza Horizon 5, Gears 5, Ori and soon Halo Infinite get more playtime than the PS5 games.

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Modern Video Games / Re: IMO...the PS5 is a POS

« on: October 04, 2021, 10:33:57 pm »

Update:  At 6AM CST this morning, Ghost of Tsushima was at about 53.5 gigs downloaded out of 59.083 with three hours left. It is now 9:27PM CST and it is at 55.673/59.083 and says...three hours left.

It's pretty pathetic that I've been waiting a week and can't play the damn game. The PS5 itself is not at all helpful since I can't find anywhere to show historic bandwidth usage, whereas I can see everything my Series X has been doing each hour. And can anyone tell me how to put the controller to sleep and not the system too?

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Modern Video Games / Re: IMO...the PS5 is a POS

« on: October 04, 2021, 09:53:50 pm »

Aren't they all on PSNow?  Which would be the only way you could do the same thing on PS4.

It's disappointing that Sony doesn't have the backward compatibility of Xbox. Streaming isn't viable for me.

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Modern Video Games / Re: IMO...the PS5 is a POS

« on: October 04, 2021, 09:50:01 pm »

The best big-hitters they have this holiday are ports of PS4 games and Horizon Forbidden West is pushed back to next year. The announcement of the Uncharted collection feels like a slap in the face including only two of six games in the series and aquiring Blue Point just "points" to more re-releases/ports of older games.

Why does it matter what games they release in the Holiday season when their focus is often Spring and Summer? Sony has skipped the Holiday timeframe year after year. If you look at the PS4 gen excluding 2020 very few of their big games launched in the Holiday season.

Bluepoint's last two games were complete remakes and they have already said they are working on an original game.

I'm glad games are on the way with vague release schedules or none at all besides Horizon Forbidden West,  but it doesn't give much options right now.

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Modern Video Games / Re: IMO...the PS5 is a POS

« on: October 04, 2021, 09:47:26 pm »

I have used my PS5 quite a bit this year and have had little to no issues. I have had a couple of crashes (mostly Cyberpunk, which I don't think was the fault of the PS5) and I had that weird downloading issue where in the middle of installing a game/downloading a patch it would just stop and I'd have to uninstall and try again but this has not happened to me in months.

I just played through Ratchet and really enjoyed it, and now I'm playing through Returnal and Lost Judgment. I have had zero issues and really enjoyed my experience with the console so far.  I think COVID and tech shortages have caused significant game development delays and while I am disappointed that more is not coming out this year, I have so many other games to play and am not concerned.

There is noticeable room for improvement for the PS5 interface and other features. I also seem to recall the PS4 being rather basic the first few years- I think in the next few years, the PS5 will really develop into something special.

The download issue is my biggest complaint right now. Ghost of Tsushima has been literally going for a week because...reasons I guess. I have a piss poor internet connection with no viable alternatives at the moment. But shit, even huge games like the Master Chief Collection downloaded in under 24 hours.

I've had issues and going online, I'm not alone. From controllers that won't sync requiring a hard reset to game crashes to downloads taking an eternity, there seems to be problems out there. I intentionally waited to get a PS5 to play some of the PS4 games I missed so I guess in that respect I'm playing them at their best. But it is supremely disappointing to have hiccups and crap with the system that is supposed to be the best. And the interface now keeps popping up at startup with some girls grinning all toothy. Why can't it just show the game currently running, or a bsckground picture...anything besides what looks like a big non-gaming related advertisement.