General gaming discussion

[Ian]

Saw this (about BG3) in a Discord I'm on:

Glorious story of unintended consequences from my brother just now. He’s been storing his valuables in a rat corpse that he picked up at some point (no, I don’t know why either).
Apparently just now an enemy had a critical miss when firing a necromancy spell at him, which instead of hitting him hit the dead rat full of valuables, which then promptly ran away.

Incredible.

[Raoul Duke]

Does anyone play Age Of Empires? Saw that 4 is out on GamePass on Xbox and was thinking of giving it a whirl

[Ian]

Who was it that used to beast me (and Cord, and Benny) in the glory days of The Third Hard? CJay ?

[Ian]

I'd be there all pleased to have taught my peasants how to point a pitchfork the right way round and then my first scout would find his fucking fortress because he was already in the Castle Age or whatever.

[Shindig]

Finally decided to put some time into Metal Gear. About a third of the way through it and it's scary how much of it was remade two times over.

[Mazuuurk]

Done with FFXVI now.

All in all it was good and all, but it did feel a little unpolished all around. The environments were kind of bland, enemies just the same everywhere. Things like giving you different Magics (as usual in FF) but not having elemental affinities is just a little weird.

Like firing Fire magic at a clearly burning Bomb enemy always used to heal them, not hurt them, in previous FF games. I'm not sure why you would forego mechanics for instance.

The story was good but a little odd in the sense that most of the game was sort of this war-of-nations theme which was essentially a manga version of Game of Thrones - which really was quite interesting - but then had very little to do with the main antagonist Ultima. The game itself suffered a little bit from trying to be dark and serious and lightweight and quirky at the same time in a way that it didn't always pull off.

Compared to some of the antagonist greats of FF (Sephiroth, Kefka, Kuja...) who all were intertwined into the stories better, Ultima felt a lot more forced upon this universe. That said, as a character, he was well designed and fantastically voiced.

Cid was a great character, but I couldn't get over the fact that the voice actor was the same as Lorath in Diablo 4, and that he looked like David Beckham, which was just a completely oddball combo.

Also on the ending:
I'm really not a fan of these Inception-style 50-50 "make up your own mind of how it went!". Just tell me what the ending was, whoever wrote it clearly has an idea of what did actually happen, so just god damn tell us [that Clive is still alive, obviously].

[Ian]

Mimimi (Shadow Tactics, Desperados 3 and the new game Shadow Gambit which I haven't got to yet) closing down. :(

[Mazuuurk]

So for lack of anything to play while waiting on BG3, I downloaded Remnant 2.

It's pretty fun, but it's fucking difficult, even on the easiest setting. Yesterday I must have died maybe 30 times doing a pretty early game boss that was just a bunch of big ass cubes. In God of War, for instance, I only died that many times when doing the Valkyries / Berserkers.

The shooting is fantastic. But the movement and dodging is frustratingly slow, which I suppose is the point. Anyway, I'm not sure if I'll stick with it, but I do enjoy it when I seem to have a bit of tail wind in the game.

[Ian]

Baldurs Gate 3, cold take inbound, loses a little of its lustre as you get to the back of act 2 and starting act 3. Little things, but the dialogue doesn't tie in quite as neatly to stuff you've done, some quest weirdness, stuff that feels a bit half baked and some VERY weirdly balanced fights.

It remains very good, and probably on balance their best game yet when you factor in it being Larians best ever writing / characters but I remain to be convinced I'm having as much FUN as I was in DOS2.

[Adramelch]

For me the main thing that brought it right above DOS2 is the freedom in terms of where your story goes. Obviously the overarching story kinda remains the same-ish (endings aside), but the main story arcs within the Acts can differ a lot.

For example opting to side with Minratha and burn down the grove instead.

Act 3 does need a lot more work indeed (which shows that their decision to push it forward a month was a very weird one - Starfield proximity aside), but it's not as much of a mess as DOS2 Act 4 (or whatever Arx was) was on launch.

[Shindig]

So I picked up The Making of Karateka a couple of days back. It's quite staggering how much stuff Digital Eclipse has got a hold of. Plenty of interviews, a daft amount of letters, design documents, playable prototypes and a couple of unreleased games that aren't Karateka.

For a game that's 15 minutes long, they've rung every bit out of it. Hopefully more collections take this archival approach.

[Dark Soldier]

So Ive had more joy with the first three hours of BG3 than with any other game this year. Superb stuff. I'll admit to being on easiest, my first proper stab at a game of this type but I've lolled about five times already.

[Mazuuurk]

OK I had to give Remnant II up because it is just too damn hard. I'm not sure if I'm getting the mechanics of the game wrong or something and if I should just do a lot more levelling before taking on any bosses, but that seems a little inane and not quite like how it's intended to play out.

It's a shame, because for the most part I enjoy the gameplay and the setting is fantastic (even if the story does seem very bland). But for every boss I face it seems more and more impossible, and the one I'm at now I can't even get the HP down by 15% before dying.


So now I'm instead trying Sea of Stars, which is a hommage to FFVI and Chrono Trigger, and so far for being exactly that it looks marvelous (but - it's just it feels a little dated with no voice acting etc).

[Ian]

So Ive had more joy with the first three hours of BG3 than with any other game this year. Superb stuff. I'll admit to being on easiest, my first proper stab at a game of this type but I've lolled about five times already.

Top man.

What you playing as?

A very very minor spoiler for a funny moment later but I'll pop it in tags anyway:
Just got one of my party temporarily turned into a wheel of cheese by an angry djinn when I caught him trying to cheat me at a circus. When I then nicked his means of cheating and won the game and called him a cheat again for good measure he teleported me to a jungle full of angry dinosaurs. :D

[Dark Soldier]

I've gone for a dwarf barbarian who answers everything with fists. I punched fuck out of a book last night, proper laughed when it let me do it.

Now I've ditched Starfield BG3 will be my main game going forward.

[Ian]

I just want to say to you that as a barbarian you're gonna have a great time lobbing people into chasms or at each other because I certainly do with the barbarian party member.

[Adramelch]

Barb is a ton of fun indeed. Which forces me to post this gem of a video (several spoilers for act 1, so proceed with caution):


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmZFxAqZKuU

[Baz]

Queuing to join a World of Warcraft [Classic] server in 2023 is so funny to me. 37 mins to go. :youpi:

Hardcore really got the buzz back, huh.

[Ian]

When I was just exploring act 3 in Baldur's Gate 3 and mopping up the less consequential side stuff I was starting to feel the magic wear off. But I'm on the home straight now, just doing the big companion quest stuff and there's some properly good stuff in there.

And what's more, it's not even you're this late in an RPG of this sort and I still feel like as many as three of my companions might turn on me/ leave / force me to put them down depending on what choices I make.

[Adramelch]

Oh yeah act 3 is still a great game. It just lacks the polish and consistency of the first two. I'd still really enjoy it if the full game was of the same quality as act 3, it's just that they set the bar very high with the first two and the last one doesn't quite hit that mark. It has some of the best parts of the game in my opinion:

House of Hope and Astarion's questline spring to mind

They've also already fixed a lot of things, to an extent that you rarely see in the industry:

Such as the Karlach questline, where they even called the VA in to record new lines and whatnot, just a few weeks after the release

and with their track record with definitive editions (both DOS1 and 2 got massive updates), I can't wait to see how it all turns out.

[Ian]

Only issue with finishing up House of Hope and Astarion's questline is that I did those back to back and there's a fair bit of crossover in the sort of vibe of those sections.

[Ian]

Aaaand done. I think it all hangs together fairly well at the end, really. And I got to lob a barrel of firewine at a giant neon brain so really I dunno what more you could ask for.

[phonics]

It turns out I missed like half of Act 1 in my MP playthrough that fell apart because one of the players had absolute main character syndrome and got furious if someone else did something they didn't want.

There's a dragon!

[Ian]

That dude sounds like a dickhead who should not be playing multiplayer.

[Ian]

Having decided Starfield is too boring to live I'm onto Shadow Gambit. Off to a good start but I'm just playing it sad that Mimimi have closed their doors.

[SincereTheRebel]

Ive took a week off work to play F1 23. Quest for Elite rank. Its damm near impossible as other online players, cant take being overtook and use their car as a missile causing DNFs for you both

[phonics]

Interesting interaction on Twitter today.

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/270326079648956433/1155237971998548079/image.png

I legitimately don't know how he found my tweet as this doesn't seem to be something in the news.

[phonics]

An absolute hall of fame bio though

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/270326079648956433/1155238662980780042/image.png

[Baz]

He's done you there. Twice, really.

Thrice, if you count his location.

[Bam]

:D So true.

[wullie]

What's the word BA*****SH that he's not happy about?

[Baz]

He really hated The Rock vs Goldberg at WWE Backlash.

[phonics]

What's the word BA*****SH that he's not happy about?

I asked. He didn't reply. 4-0 Elite-Force Cinema.

[Baz]

5-0, account no longer exists.

[Shindig]

Some mysteries are best left unsolved.

[Baz]

My level 20 Druid died on Hardcore WoW. :(

Especially sickening because he was well geared and carrying 3 gold.

Will main my 13 Mage for a while, I think, to try and farm some gold.

[SincereTheRebel]

Ive took a week off work to play F1 23. Quest for Elite rank. Its damm near impossible as other online players, cant take being overtook and use their car as a missile causing DNFs for you both

So the game is fucked. Basically, you have ranks. From Bronze 3,2,1, Silver, Gold, Elite. At the end of each week. Is when you either get promoted if you have enough points or face relegation.

At the end of each season. About 30-40 days. You get reset and everyone gets relegated. Its been brought to my attention, The people who were in gold 3 last season. If they got into elite the exact moment the season ends. It does not count because everyone gets reset. So at this point, im currently in elite but I have to wait until the end of the week for promotion and relegation. Because the season ends on Monday. It will not count that ive made it to elite. It will just relegated me from gold 3 back to gold 2.

Silly system. If you could just get promotion at anytime duuring the week, once you have enough points like they do in FIFA. It would be fine.

[Baz]

Anyone want a free Steam key for PGA Tour 2K21?

[Gray Fox]

My Retroid(2S) device surprisingly came yesterday. Thought I'd go and quickly set it up but boy was I wrong. I can see why people just buy the cards with it all set up now.

Device feels a lot better than I thought it would considering it was $99. Build quality seems great on it. I just need to go and build a ROM library now. I wasn't expecting it til early next week so I didn't think I'd have to do it yet.

[Baz]

My Retroid(2S) device surprisingly came yesterday. Thought I'd go and quickly set it up but boy was I wrong. I can see why people just buy the cards with it all set up now.

Device feels a lot better than I thought it would considering it was $99. Build quality seems great on it. I just need to go and build a ROM library now. I wasn't expecting it til early next week so I didn't think I'd have to do it yet.
If you can get on back-ups.me and search for BAZPACK there’s quite a lot to get you started. :baz:

https://i.imgur.com/tCDDnwg.jpg

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Affiliate ROM library :drool:

[Shindig]

archive.org tends to have a few as well.

[Gray Fox]

Baz :cool:

[Baz]

archive.org tends to have a few as well.

Torrents > * though

[Bernanke]

BG3 is so absurdly good.

[Dark Soldier]

If you want roms lads, full sets for every system is here. Its what I use:

https://r-roms.github.io/

[Gray Fox]

Cheers DS. Reddit had pointed me there as well so I've downloaded some absolute favourites. Just need to get my hands on the BIOS and I'll be good to go when I get in later.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Disco Elysium will be a PS+ game in October. If you haven't played it and have PS+ it's a must.

[Shindig]

Cool. It's one of those games I think about but then the genre has me at arms length.

Also, where's your source? The October games were already announced. I have a copy of Callisto Protocol and you can't take that away from me.

[Dark Soldier]

I think he means the ones coming to Premium tier

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Sorry, it's part of the EXTRA tier.

[Shindig]

I thought that might be the case.

[Ian]

Shadow Gambit done (bar the post-story side stuff / busywork. ) it's not as good as Desperados 3 or Shadow Tactics but it's good and they're playing with the formula a bit. RIP Mimimi. :(

Onto Jedi Survivor now. It's mostly "if you like Fallen Order you'll like this" so far I'd say. Which I d8d, so I am. I love that the Empire are scared of people growing beards that they hide this forbidden knowledge inside their crates.

[CJay]

Who was it that used to beast me (and Cord, and Benny) in the glory days of The Third Hard? CJay ?

Had forgotten all about this. :D

That feels like a lifetime ago. Must have been 2015 or 2016.

[Ian]

Truly the glory days of The Third Hard.

[Ian]

I love the non-event ways you discover the lightsaber stances in Jedi Survivor.
Your new merc mate: "Hey Cal, have a gun"
Cal: "My master disapproved of guns"
Merc: "Yeah but take the gun"
Cal: "Good pooint, I'll do it"

All of the ways he starts using them are a bit lol but I do like that they feel.appreciably different and situational.

[Shindig]

I don't care much for Lords of the Fallen's first boss. Far too much health for where it's at.

[Baz]

Decided to try my hand at “AoE farming” in hardcore WoW Classic and quickly realised I am not good at it, after nearly dying to two raptors, 6 levels lower than me. :D Will stick to single target Frost Bolt blasting for the foreseeable. Invested far too much gold already at level 22 to die so avoidably.

[phonics]

Good: Got in the Tekken 8 Beta

Bad: My controller stopped working last week

[Shindig]

I'm about to put a bullet through Lords of the Fallen. It has some amazing ideas completely ruined by the fact it thinks Dark Souls 2 needed MORE ENEMIES in their encounters. Combat feels nice but I found myself doing anything to avoid it. A fucking struggle.

[Pepe]

Good: Got in the Tekken 8 Beta

Bad: My controller stopped working last week

Get the crack.

[phonics]

It's linked to my Steam account with a couple hundred games. Can't risk the ban.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Just played the intro of Spider-Man 2 and it looks and feels great.

Can't wait to get stuck in later today.

[wullie]

After Miles Morales got me back into the series I'm definitely getting this once I've cleared out my current little backlog. Looks stunning

[Ian]

I'll definitely be playing Spider-Man 2 whenever they get it on PC.

What you playing at the moment wullie ?

[wullie]

New FM and FIFA, EA PGA, Lego Star Wars, Red Dead, still on Snooker 19 and Two Point Campus. All games I can dip in and out of but I'm waiting until I've got nothing calling my name and I can get properly into Spiderman as that's why I went off the first one

[phonics]

New FM and FIFA, EA PGA, Lego Star Wars, Red Dead, still on Snooker 19 and Two Point Campus. All games I can dip in and out of but I'm waiting until I've got nothing calling my name and I can get properly into Spiderman as that's why I went off the first one

One of the Devs have said that the main story of this one is much shorter to hopefully fix this issue. I felt similarly with the first one by the 3rd or 4th time I realised, "Wait, this guy I've been fighting for 12 isn't the main bad guy?"

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

1715492086462701635

It looks sooooooooo shit.

[phonics]

Bought a PC, first one in close to a decade. Was 10 series when I bought my last.

Now:
CPU (Processor): Intel® Core™ i5-12400F ™ 6 Core [6P @ 2.50GHz-4.40GHz] - 18MB Cache
Graphics Card (GPU): GeForce® RTX 4060 8GB - Ray Tracing Technology, DX12®, VR Ready, HDMI, DP - 4 MIN. Monitor Support (Single Card)
CPU Cooling: INTEL Standard CPU Cooler
Motherboard: ASUS PRIME B660M-K D4: mATX w/ USB 3.2, 2x M.2
Memory (RAM): 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4/3200MHz Kingston Fury Beast Memory

[Gray Fox]

Pretty well balanced system there. How much did it set you back?

[phonics]

Was Cyberpower so it was prebuilt. About 800 quid pre-VAT.

[Ian]

Can't remember if any/many people here liked FTL but if you did Crying Suns is well worth a go. It's a little different but it's ultimately lifting a lot of the same ideas, and the stuff that's different I'm enjoying, it isn't just making me want to go play FTL instead.

[phonics]

4K monitor has arrived. Pc master race battle station achieved.

[randomlegend]

4060 can't really handle 4k can it?

[Gray Fox]

Assuming he's gone 60hz he should be okay. Won't be playing everything on max settings, but good enough to look glorious.

[phonics]

Cyberpunk runs everything at 1440 on High with Raytracing at 60 so seems to do the trick.

[randomlegend]

Do you not want to run it at 4k having shelled out on a 4k monitor?

[phonics]

I use it as a television.

[Baz]

A hardcore WoW dualling tournament starts today. 134 participants dialling today and then the finals tomorrow.

Info: https://www.wowhead.com/classic/news/otk-hardcore-makgora-tournament-starts-october-6-hardcore-wow-classic-335345

Hoping for some drama.

[Dark Soldier]

Alan Wake 2 is a glorious thing. I fucking love Remedy though, their whole style and setting fits my tastes.

[Baz]

A hardcore WoW dualling tournament starts today. 134 participants dialling today and then the finals tomorrow.

Info: https://www.wowhead.com/classic/news/otk-hardcore-makgora-tournament-starts-october-6-hardcore-wow-classic-335345

Hoping for some drama.
This is incredible so far.

Honestly if you’re bored, give it a watched https://twitch.tv/esfandtv

[Adramelch]

I imagine it's one of those things that are really interesting if you are actually playing/following hardcore classic but not otherwise. I've played an unhealthy amount of WoW across the years and the little I watched yesterday did nothing for me.

[Pepe]

I am sure that former members of The Third Hard will be surprised, but I am arse at the new Mario game.

[Baz]

I imagine it's one of those things that are really interesting if you are actually playing/following hardcore classic but not otherwise. I've played an unhealthy amount of WoW across the years and the little I watched yesterday did nothing for me.I guess so. I stayed up til past midnight (and missed Big Brother) to see who’d win. Loved all 18 hours of it.

[phonics]

The problem with new PC means I spend more time trying to decide what to play than playing. Currently 30 minutes into Remnant 2, Cyberpunk and Dead Space Remaster.

[Ben]

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2201940/Ship_Graveyard_Simulator_2/

This is right up my street.

[Ian]

I am sure that former members of The Third Hard will be surprised, but I am arse at the new Mario game.

VERY surprised.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

At least you can't be double crossed, Pep.

[phonics]

Dead Space is so scary :(

[Baz]

Blizzcon is on right now. :cool:

[Shindig]

"Hi, I'm Phil Spencer and I am wearing a gaming t-shirt. We love you, the players." <rapturous whooping>

[phonics]

If it gets me Starcraft 3 he can wear a fucking fedora for all I care.

[Baz]

Load of shite. Mage healers? What.

[phonics]

Recap of the Blizzcon I saw was the only mention of Starcraft being a guy in the crowd at the end shouting "What about Starcraft?" so thats nice.

[Shindig]

Half-Life is turning 25 next week. Dario Casali's doing a developer commentary/walkthrough. There are also rumours something's getting released but that could be fancy talk.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGWEZO0XeZw

[Disco]

Does he play it with the really out of place banging music? That reminds me of all the stuff people made around it, like Freemans Mind and Concerned.

[Shindig]

I hope so. There's a part 0 where he talks about Valve in 1996 and runs the hazard course. I had no idea they were working on something else other than Half-Life at the time.

[Shindig]

Half-Life is now free on steam until the 20th.

[Disco]

It also worked faultlessly on modern systems last time I played it, something which Bioware in particular could take note of.

[phonics]

Its funny that Steam has now been around long enough that people who have Steam wouldn't have Half Life by default. My account was set-up to install Half-Life 2 and you got Half Life 1 for free with it.

[Shindig]

I think the first time I used steam was to get Counter Strike patched up to 1.6. Steam's patch delivery days are so distant. Like when Amazon was exclusively an online bookstore. Or when Netflix was DVDs in the post.

[Disco]

Its funny that Steam has now been around long enough that people who have Steam wouldn't have Half Life by default. My account was set-up to install Half-Life 2 and you got Half Life 1 for free with it.

Yup, the Orange Box, Half Life 1 & 2 with Portal just casually tacked on for the hell of it. I remember being quite annoyed that I had to have this completely separate program installed just to play Half Life.

[Shindig]

Well, I'm replaying it since the anniversary patch. Nothing too fancy but the Barneys and Scientists seem to follow you better. Also, the Uplink demo is part of the package, if you've never played that. The rest of the changes look like multiplayer stuff. And there's a documentary out.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbZ3HzvFEto

[Disco]

I never did much of the actual Half Life multiplayer, it was all people killing you through walls with the spinny gun thing. Team Fortress Classic was my jam, I reckon most of the bandwidth in our halls at uni was taken up with playing that.

[Shindig]

Same here. I took the opportunity to finally get a legit copy of Half-Life 2 on my PC. And Half-Life: Source which .... I remember also pirating. It looked weird then, it looks weird now.

[Gray Fox]

I see they're remastering The Last of Us 2 already. From the trailer footage it doesn't look much better than it looked on PS4 Pro, so I can only assume this is to get in on the popularity of the TV show.

[Shindig]

I thought remastering the first one again was to capitalise on the show? Get back to what matters, Naughty Dog: A Way of the Warrior reboot with a quippy protagonist.

[Pepe]

Currently flying through Mario RPG. As good as I remember it to be.

[Gray Fox]

I thought remastering the first one again was to capitalise on the show? Get back to what matters, Naughty Dog: A Way of the Warrior reboot with a quippy protagonist.

It seems to be coming out in late January, so I'm going to assume season two of the show will be up then. They're going to do well to cast a good Abby.

[Disco]

The entire series can't be 10 years old, what is there to remaster?

[wullie]

They've completely remade the first one for PS5 which looks the business but there's a certain level of madness involved in paying £70 for a shinier version of something you've already played through.

[Disco]

If you're stupid enough to buy that then you deserve to be taken to the cleaners.

[Shindig]

Aye and I suspect anyone that into the Last of Us is trying to prove a really misguided point.

[Disco]

And anyone citing graphical fidelity can do one too, it has to be one of the biggest scams going. Rivalled only by 'games as a service' and season passes.

[Shindig]

It's splitting hairs at this point. Maybe raytracing gets more ubiquitous but the jump from 1080p to 4K is minor.

[Disco]

A coherent style and proper art direction are far more important, the last 10 years of graphical 'improvements' were little more than hardware based willy waving they don't actually make any games better.

[Ian]

As long as idiots keep buying them they're just going to keep remastering and remaking TLOU games every three months.

[phonics]

My hater got so mad that he had to log off for a month but he's back.

1726252115813941628

[wullie]

The one remaster thing I did like was GTA V adding the first person mode, suddenly the usual Rockstar clunkiness of the way every character controls was gone. I hope it's in VI as well but I suspect they won't include it as they want you to notice the buttock animations they've had a team of 6 working on for a decade.

[Baz]

He really hated The Rock vs Goldberg at WWE Backlash.

Close enough.

[Disco]

Just got Elite 2 working, or rather there's a version you can download which just works immediately. Plays in a tiny window which is a bit of an issue but not so much as it being balls hard and me forgetting how anything works.

[Adramelch]

Dragon's Dogma 2 release date was announced for the 22nd of March. I didn't even know it was planned until a few months ago, so I definitely didn't expect it to come that soon. The first one was good fun, even if a bit unconventional, so I'm mildly hyped.

[Shindig]

I've still got to play the first one. Had it in my steam library for ages.

[Adramelch]

I've also started playing Last Epoch (in early access, full release in February) and it's good fun. It's obviously less polished than the Diablos of the world, but its actual gameplay really puts Diablo 4 to shame.

[Bam]

The new GTA trailer is released tomorrow at 2pm UK time. :swing:

[Mike]

Apparently its a massive 91 seconds long.

[Shindig]

Trailer's already leaked. Sign me up.

[phonics]

I've qualified.

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/270326079648956433/1182111609955561552/image.png

I need to win 2 games against a guy who I haven't won a single match against in a year worth of attempts to become an official pro gamer.

[hfswjyr]

What are your go-to strats? Where can I watch your matches?

[Yevrah]

Impressive stuff Phonics.

[phonics]

What are your go-to strats? Where can I watch your matches?

Pro-gamer is overstating it. I just want to be able to earn even a quid so I can submit myself on esportsearnings.com

PvP = Proxy Robo or Stargate to freak em out and win a match and then take advantage of their fear in the rest of the series with some greedy economic play.
PvT = Pretty standard 2 base collosus opener into High Templar + 3rd base.
PvZ = Lose every game

[Pepe]

Ian, you are into strategy games, right? I am thinking of giving Desperados 3, Shadow Tactics, or Hard West a try. Opinions? Any other worth checking out instead?

[phonics]

Shadow Tactics was my favourite but Hard West was probably more 'fun' not in gameplay specifically but the world was more fun.

[Pepe]

None of them is on Gamepass but Shadow Tactics is on sale, so I'll probably go with that. I do prefer the wild west setting though.

[Ian]

Ian, you are into strategy games, right? I am thinking of giving Desperados 3, Shadow Tactics, or Hard West a try. Opinions? Any other worth checking out instead?

I haven't played Hard West, but as real time tactics-y things go (that's what these are rather than XCOM-like or a more trad strategy, just to be clear) but Shadow Tactics (plus the DLC) and Desperados 3. Shadow Gambit by the same dev is also good but structured quite differently so I'd probably do one or both of the other two go onto that. I've never touched Hard West so I'll defer to Phonics' experience on that.

WarTales is also meant to be good, though a bit more open and make-your-own-fun-y I think.

[Ian]

Actually ignore WarTales, it's a different sort of thing.

[Pepe]

I prefer turn based, to be honest. One mission in, Shadow Tactics looks fun.

[Ian]

I remain gutted that Mimimi really made the genre their own and then shut down after Shadow Gambit.

[Pepe]

Started on Red Dead Redemption 2 a few days ago. Fun so far, but the lack of quick save/load is driving me crazy. I've shot or robbed too many people by accident and it is just a drag to have to either deal with the consequences or alt f4 my way out.

[Mike]

Have you started saying "easy boy/girl" as you go about your business yet?

[Pepe]

Been doing that for years, boy.

[Shindig]

https://www.twitch.tv/theromero

John Romero and John Carmack are minutes away from talking about Doom. A game which is 30 today.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvAkaJsvAXs

[Pepe]

Started on Red Dead Redemption 2 a few days ago. Fun so far, but the lack of quick save/load is driving me crazy. I've shot or robbed too many people by accident and it is just a drag to have to either deal with the consequences or alt f4 my way out.

Just trampled a woman to death while trying to stop my horse in order to help her. Had to pay $5 to clear my name.

[phonics]

Impressive stuff Phonics.

Average game of Starcraft is about 10-12 minutes.

I lost in the first round Best of Three in a total of 7 minutes.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

The Third Hard way.

[Gray Fox]

Can you at least take the moral victory?

[Shindig]

It's a fitness victory.

[Lofty]

https://www.twitch.tv/theromero

John Romero and John Carmack are minutes away from talking about Doom. A game which is 30 today.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvAkaJsvAXs

https://i.ibb.co/ZXNzH14/Screenshot-20231214-080018-Whats-App.jpg

I actually managed to frag him once in the following Quake 2 deathmatch bonanza.

[phonics]

You look like his large adult son.

[Shindig]

I could watch Lofty standing next to normal people for hours.

[Dark Soldier]

Bought a G Pro X Superlight. 50% off. Fucking incredible mouse, suits my clawgrip brilliantly. Back in love with PC gaming.

[Ian]

For anybody who liked Return of the Obra Dinn, you should definitely give Case of the Golden Idol a go. Not quite the same sort of thing and not quite as good, but it's definitely scratching the exact same itch.

[Mike]

Decided, after finding out about mods to fix some things in the recently released collection, to play MGS1 again, I imagine I'll then go onto 2 and 3.
I'd forgot how instantly good it is.
https://i.imgur.com/pNs05cL.jpeg

https://i.imgur.com/LIU39ew.jpeg

Sorry for the massive screenshots!

[Gray Fox]

Metal Gear?! It can't be!

You should never apologise for posting Metal Gear content.

[Shindig]

I might pick that up once it gets slashed in a steam sale.

[Mike]

Metal Gear?! It can't be!

You should never apologise for posting Metal Gear content.

I’ve patched up the first three, it just fixed the resolution and frame rate in the first, but makes the next two wide screen and higher quality in graphics and sounds too (I think)
Even set up RPCS3 to play number 4!

[Mike]

Always; took down my mate Revolver Ocelot and got out the cargo doors last night.

[Disco]

Metal Gear is a weird series, the first four make no sense, are full of overwrought dialogue and all the moralising is like some 13 year olds sociology essay, not to mention all the creepy misogyny. You get the impression that Kojima is a complete hack who fills his technically interesting games with weird mechanics (porno mags that make people cluck like chickens, a smoking monkey in a nappy etc) then you get to 5 when he was kicked out and it all falls apart into something with almost no direction and endless woolly bullshit without a coherent narrative.

The fight with Ocelot at the end of 4 remains a classic and it really should have been the final moment in the 'Solid' series.

[wullie]

I've got high hopes for the Snake Eater remake, although I was hoping that Solid would get the same treatment as that's my all-timer.

[Ian]

I was really enjoying Phantom Pain (excruciating opening hour or so aside) right up until all the Kojimaness started happening then lost interest.

[Shindig]

I always felt Kojima was the bigger problem with V. Not just what's there on the page but all the extra bullshit he went on to promote. "Here's an exclusive clothing line, Squishable Quiet Dolls!, WE'VE DONE A DEAL WITH RAY-BAN FOR EXCLUSIVE SUPER SUNGLASSES! WE GOT KEIFFER SUTHERLAND!" And then for him to go all Hollywood with Silent Hills. Konami had to stop him. That thing was spiralling out of control and probably needed another year.

Don't get me started on the rape scenes. Plural.

[Gray Fox]

Metal Gear is a weird series, the first four make no sense, are full of overwrought dialogue and all the moralising is like some 13 year olds sociology essay, not to mention all the creepy misogyny. You get the impression that Kojima is a complete hack who fills his technically interesting games with weird mechanics (porno mags that make people cluck like chickens, a smoking monkey in a nappy etc) then you get to 5 when he was kicked out and it all falls apart into something with almost no direction and endless woolly bullshit without a coherent narrative.

The fight with Ocelot at the end of 4 remains a classic and it really should have been the final moment in the 'Solid' series.

You watch your tone with words like that.

In seriousness though, the MGS series is just batshit all over. Though if you believe the rumours, he only wanted to make from MG1 to MGS3 and be done with it. Fan and Sony/Konami pressure lead him to go on to make 4. I think you can tell because the tone of it changes drastically as if he had to come up with a new idea for the game. All the stuff about the WAR ECONOMY and such came pretty much from nowhere.

Same for 5. While he probably wouldn't get away with the Quiet shenanigans now, the vocal cord parasites driving the story, only to never be mentioned again in future games is very odd. There are certain things good with this game. Huey with the ultimate heel turn was great and showing how Snake/Zero did take drastically different ideals of The Boss' vision. The gameplay itself was also fantastic and the FOX engine at the time was stunning stuff. Then you get into the things like the game not actually being finished, no matter what Kojima insists.
The whole hypnotherapy thing never really did it for me with Liquid Ocelot and even less so with Big Medic.

[Shindig]

I always figured the Medic stuff would've made more sense if your character was in the know. There's nothing unusual about body doubles. Especially when Big Boss has a target on him. Have the reveal at the end make more sense than, "HYPNOTHERAPY MADE HIM ME!"

Kojima does that shit a lot when an easier explanation is available to him. Paz is a 20 year old superspy masquerading as a peace-loving schoolgirl for Zero. When her cover's blown, she is all, "I HATE PEACE! DIE!" The easier explanation is to have her as an actual peace-loving schoolgirl. One that is horrified her new death cult friends are building a nuclear weapon. So she squeals.

[Disco]

Oh, and the central conceit of the entire series (Metal Gears) is idiotic and would have been completely obsolete years before they were invented, but I will concede that big silly robots that are for some reason able to roar like a dinosaur are good videogame fun. Revengeance is also the best game out of all of them.

[Shindig]

They moo and piss in 4

[Shindig]

Another year down, not much inroads made out on my backlog. Here's the 47 I've beaten this year:

Duke Nukem 3D
Spongebob Squarepants: The Cosmic Shake
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3
Mighty Math
Strider (2014)
Mafia Remastered
Scars Above
Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty
WWE 2K23
Twin Robots
Monster Energy Supercross 6
Melon Journey
Saga of Sins
Deceive Inc
Strayed Lights
Isle of Man TT: Ride on the Edge 3
Warhammer 40K Boltgun
Descenders
Island Saver (NatWest made this happen)
MotoGP 23
Halo: Anniversary Edition
Amnesia: The Bunker
Trek to Yomi
AEW Fight Forever
Destroy All Humans 2: Reprobed
Modern Warfare 2 Remastered
Double Dragon Gaiden: The New Fighters
Burnout Paradise - because I wanted to replay it
Quake 2 64
Metal Gear
Tetris Effect - another replay
The Making of Karateka
Ad Infinitum
Shuyan Saga
Assassins Creed Mirage
Overpass 2
Cats and the Other Lives
Wreckfest
Wildshade: Unicorn Champions
Achilles: Legends Untold
Hiveswap Friendsim
Pesterquest
Half-Life (again)
Toe Jam and Earl: Back in the Groove
Gangs of Sherwood
Adventure
Beast Busters

Taking the Christmas break as a reason to get back into Zelda: Breath of the Wild. I need to finish more Switch stuff.

[Ian]

Well done on Trek to Yomi. It's beautiful (gorgeous) but fucking boring.

[Ian]

Just spotted ToeJam and Earl. :cool:

[Shindig]

Well done on Trek to Yomi. It's beautiful (gorgeous) but fucking boring.

It's short which is the one reasons why I stuck it out. Plus I've played worse this year. My tolerance for bland experiences has gone way up since I've been obligated to review mostly 6/10's.

[Dark Soldier]

Buying this tomorrow lads #masterrace

https://www.scan.co.uk/products/3xs-gamer-rtx-amd-ryzen-7-7800x3d-32gb-ddr5-24gb-nvidia-rtx-4090-2tb-m2-ssd-win-11

[randomlegend]

I love building a PC, I could never buy a prebuilt. Looks a beast obviously.

[Dark Soldier]

I love building a PC, I could never buy a prebuilt. Looks a beast obviously.

I built one once. My brain doesn't work that way so I got proper pissed off. I'd probably save about 300-400 building myself but I'm that fucking lazy I'd rather pay the small premium.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

I've always bought prebuilt.

I'm worried that I'd fuck something up when building it myself.

[randomlegend]

It really is straightforward. I just like having something to obsess over, researching what parts to buy, etc.

[Shindig]

If I wanted a PC to be at the forefront of my gaming, sure. I just don't care enough to put my own rig together.

Still, I'd love to go through the process (outside of those three months working for nowt in a PC shop cobbling together whatever parts they had) just once.

[Mike]

Buying this tomorrow lads #masterrace

https://www.scan.co.uk/products/3xs-gamer-rtx-amd-ryzen-7-7800x3d-32gb-ddr5-24gb-nvidia-rtx-4090-2tb-m2-ssd-win-11

I thought you also had a decent build?
Give me your old card ;)

[Dark Soldier]

I thought you also had a decent build?
Give me your old card ;)

i79700k and a 2080Ti. Got a buyer for it already.

[Gray Fox]

I also bought the parts and built mine. It is very rewarding but that first time CPU install can be nervy.

[hfswjyr]

I understand it can be completely daunting first time round, but once you've got through a tutorial or seen someone build one, it really is plug and play.
Hardest part is doing the research to make sure you're getting compatible components.

[Shindig]

At this point, my biggest barrier is cost. I've got an old i5 in this thing and a 960. It's (just about) enough. If I wanted to make any kind of meaningful bump, I'd be putting down £600. For that money, I'd rather by a new console every 5-7 years.

RTX still hasn't moved the needle much for me. Although I am thinking about getting a bigger SSD for this thing. 256GBs is a pittance and my SATA drive is sloooooooooooow.

[Bam]

Very tempted to invest in one of these PS portals.

[Mike]

I’ve a AMD Ryzen 9 3900X which is still pretty great, but it’s for a 1060 with it which is creaking along.
I’ve a Lenovo Legion 7 laptop with a Ryzen 7 5900HX and a 3070 in and it blows the desktop away for games.

[Adramelch]

I’ve a AMD Ryzen 9 3900X which is still pretty great, but it’s for a 1060 with it which is creaking along.
I’ve a Lenovo Legion 7 laptop with a Ryzen 7 5900HX and a 3070 in and it blows the desktop away for games.

I'm assuming it sounds like an airplane taking off when you play though, as gaming laptops are wont to do.

[Mike]

It isns't too bad. Not quiet, but the one I had a few years ago was stupidly loud, and compared to that it's brilliant. It mostly plays FM, but had bashed out the Hogwarts game and Starfield this year.

[Bam]

Been playing Red Dead 2 this morning, picked it up in chapter 3. You forget how good this game is.

[Lofty]

Lads I'm a fucking calamity when it comes to stuff like this and I managed to build my own pc, just follow along to one of the many tutorials on youtube.

[Dark Soldier]

PC has arrived. Working 8-5 next two days as I owe 2 hours. Fuck my life.

[Dark Soldier]

Lads

150fps on Cyberpunk 1440p maxed Ray and path tracing. Beyond moist.

[Dark Soldier]

Sorry for yet another post in here (hey I'm excited!) but fuck me frame gen is utterly insane tech. Literally cannot tell a difference and I'm double/tripling my FPS. Absolute madness. Thought it was a gimmick but it's one of the biggest gaming tech leaps I've ever seen.

[Giggles]

Does a top level PC, like described above, do games better than something dedicated like a console? Genuinely interested in why one would go for one over the latter. Or is it that there’s titles on PC that can only be got on PC?

[Mike]

100% they do them better.
Not at all jealous here DS

[Dark Soldier]

Does a top level PC, like described above, do games better than something dedicated like a console? Genuinely interested in why one would go for one over the latter. Or is it that there’s titles on PC that can only be got on PC?

There's console and PC exclusives. But a high end PC, like silly money, is leaps and bounds ahead of consoles in frame rate, graphics etc. If you're just happy plugging in a console and playing then you're set essentially, my PC is basically in dickhead enthusiast territory

I've gravitated more to PC gaming last 18 months or so despite having an Xbox, PS5 and Switch.

[Giggles]

Sounds good, I didn’t realise that they’d be so far ahead of a console when a console only has one job. I’d love to see one in action in comparison.

[Dark Soldier]

Sounds good, I didn’t realise that they’d be so far ahead of a console when a console only has one job. I’d love to see one in action in comparison.

Cyberpunk full ray tracing etc maxed out will melt your eyeballs.

You can also do Switch, PS3, Xbox 360 emulation etc. 4k, higher frame rates, mods and so on.

Downside is sometimes games can be fiddly bastards so you need to troubleshoot, if that frustrates you you're gonna punt it through a window lol

[Pepe]

I didn’t realise that they’d be so far ahead of a console when a console only has one job.

Well, they also cost like 5x more.

I am not really much into graphics, so my not so great PC will do for at least a few more years.

[Gray Fox]

The job of the console is to provide everyone with an affordable package that still performs well. The current gen have Sony and Microsoft selling theirs for a loss, in order to get them into your homes. The added benefit here is that everyone with a PS5 has the same PS5. Everyone with a Series X has the same etc. Much easier for devs to work towards a goal there.

However, when you see a flashy new game trailer that looks the bollocks, you're seeing it played on a top end PC. That's why the copy you play at eventual release doesn't look quite the same. The downside as DS has said though is the cost. The graphics card he has in his new one by itself will cost you over £1.6k. Whereas the current console cost seems to be £400 or so.

Whether it's worth the extra money on top will be down to you.
You also have the added bonus with a PC of choosing your entry point. If you want something that can match a console for performance, you can get that and it probably wouldn't be much more in the way of cost.
However you can spend a little bit more than that to get things like a stable frame rate over 60fps, higher resolution or maybe both. 1440p and 120fps is probably the sweet spot for price and performance now. The high end 4k stuff is drool worthy but probably isn't for most people.

Another bonus is being able to upgrade. Should you get an entry level system and find you want the bells and whistles, you can go and upgrade parts over time.

[Dark Soldier]

I genuinely can't stress enough how fucking mad and vastly beyond anything else in gaming the 4090 is, but it is fucking stupid money. Each game I put on it just blows my mind with the performance, but it's 1.5k to 2.2k dependent on which one ya get. 3-5x the cost of a fucking PS5 for one component.

Also ran a test sim on FM24 and did a 12 league, 120k player database and it blitzed a season and a half in under 30 minutes. Madness.

[Lofty]

I have a 4070 I'm happy enough with but considering a 4090 next Christmas if prices settle a bit.

The other benefit of pc gaming is the games are cheaper quicker, in my experience.

[Gray Fox]

Consoles having the resale aspect of games is also dying.
My local GAME store has been thoroughly Mike Ashley'd. It's inside a sports direct shoved into the corner and they now no longer accept trade ins.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

They're paying for being overpriced wankers.

£5 collection charge? Fuck off.

[Dark Soldier]

Yeah the GAME nearest me is about 60% funkopops and tat and like 40% games now. Everytime I go by, or in, there's barely anyone there. I remember these stores used to be fucking rammed with kids etc.

I bought an Xbox game there about a year back, and the cashier tried to push me to add on about 10 fucking things. I know it's their job, can't blame them, but no wonder its on its arse. Just let me pay 30 quid and fuck off.

[Shindig]

Consoles having the resale aspect of games is also dying.
My local GAME store has been thoroughly Mike Ashley'd. It's inside a sports direct shoved into the corner and they now no longer accept trade ins.

I walked into my local one and half of the shelves were taken up by toys. It might as well be a slightly less awful Be More Geek.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Mine is also largely toys, board games and Funkos.

[Gray Fox]

They put a sign up last time I went in. It says this store no longer offers trade ins, pre owned games, pre orders, gift cards, digital content, game rewards or game elite rewards.

It's pretty much pointless it being open now.

[Shindig]

That's usually the first sign of a closure.

[Lofty]

Tesco was a great place to hoover up cheap physical game releases but has since ditched their game section (in my store anyway).

[Clunge]

We used to spend SO much time in Electronics Boutique in the early 2000s hunting through hundreds of niche PC games for gems.

[Shindig]

CeX is the only place with any kind of niche left. I still remember losing my mind when I spotted a copy of IK+ on the Playstation at Grainger Games. Or getting my 99p copy of Championship Manager 01-02 from Gamestation.

[Dark Soldier]

We used to spend SO much time in Electronics Boutique in the early 2000s hunting through hundreds of niche PC games for gems.

I owe EB my lifelong FM addiction. My bro bought me some proper cheap knock off shitty football game for my 10th birthday, I went to exchange it at EB and ended up picking up CM2. Addiction swiftly followed.

[Gray Fox]

Ghostrunner is free on the Epic store today.

[Shindig]

Lies of P has finally won me over. Turns out my first save was ruined by many, many daft decisions. Game of the Year.

[Adramelch]

It has its flaws I'd say, but it's one of the best souls-like games really and they captured the Bloodborne theme really well.

[Shindig]

It's a bit more hopeful than Bloodborne. I like how it handles lying and it characterises it as a very human trait. Whereas the original story is about lying getting in the way of the puppet becoming a real boy.

Can't wait for the sequel.

[Shindig]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuJ5UuknsHU

High level Tetris is peak savant madness.

[Gray Fox]

Marvels Guardians of the Galaxy is free on the Epic store today only.

[Pepe]

Started a new Disco Elysium run. :drool:

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Batter Cuno.

[Pepe]

I don't have the balls to try.

[phonics]

I was talking to a friend recently how much I was enjoying Disco Elysium but dropped the game when I got stuck. Finding out almost 2 years later that the solution was 'Go to Bed' was horrific. Not sure I can just go back though and I've tried restarting a few times but that first run felt like MY character and any decisions I make are false choices.

[Disco]

You could always role play as someone who is enjoying the game.

[Ian]

Marvels Guardians of the Galaxy is free on the Epic store today only.

A really fun, 7.5/10 sort of game this. Good vibes, actually fairly funny, decent set pieces and doesn't hang about for 40 hours.

Well worth a punt for free.

[Shindig]

I took six of those Epic freebies over the break. (Guardians of the Galaxy, 20 Minutes Til Dawn, Ghostrunner, Snakebird, The Outer Worlds, Ghostwire Tokyo and Art of Rally)

I should play that last one when I've got free time.

[Pepe]

Art of Rally is good. I fire it up on the Switch when I have a few minutes to kill.

[Shindig]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRIOVeirAa0

Money well spent.

[Yevrah]

Has Brian Cox got a terminal disease or something and looking to get his affairs in order ala Bruce Willis? He's put his name to a lot of shit lately.

[Shindig]

He's lent his voice to five games over the years. This is not out of character.

[hfswjyr]

I wonder what character Brian mains?

[Shindig]

Heichachi would be a safe bet. Or maybe he's really into Marshall Law and Paul Pheonix's attempts at running a small business.

[Gray Fox]

Got an email today informing me GAME as a company will not be accepting any trade ins at any of their stores as of 16/02.

Surely the beginning of the end.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Trade-ins (which I then used on PSN credit) was the only reason I entered Game stores.

They're done, I doubt they last the year.

Why would you want to pay full price for a console/game in store?

[Shindig]

I haven't bought a game at retail in .... well, since the PS5 launched. Even that was a used copy of Demon's Souls.

[Adramelch]

I don't even remember when the last time was for me. It must be close to 10 years if not more.

I'm going through my backlog of games I've bought and never played and I'm now at Horizon Zero Dawn. I'm having fun, but surely at some point they have to realize that filling the map with collectibles just for them to be there is just not good game design. Granted, I don't much care for collectibles and 100%-ing etc myself, but I don't mind them being a thing, I just don't get what the point is if all of them are a case of "go where I show you on the map to pick item"?

[Shindig]

Services giving away stuff for free has covered off some of the games I've been tempted to buy. Plus I've been really, really lucky with getting review codes of games I'm actually keen on. Just looking at my digital libraries is a bit terrifying.

524 on PS4/5 (Even without the review codes, that's probably 200+ PS Plus games.
Probably 6 digitally on the PS3
61 on EGS
71 on Steam
Oh, and 5 XBLA titles. And that game Fry Crayola made :D

[Mike]

I’m in that game Fry made. I say “oi oi” as you pass me. :cool2:

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Surprised you didn't win awards for that.

[Bam]

What was that game of Fry's called?

[Shindig]

Rasternauts. You can still buy it on itch.io for like $3.

[Mike]

Surprised you didn't win awards for that.
Outrageous that I didn’t.

[Lofty]

There is hardly any games in Game anyway, last time I went in with my nephew it was wall to wall tat.

[Shindig]

There's like a couple of shelves for the main platforms and then the rest is FuncoPops and their dead, dead stares.

[phonics]

I needed to buy a battery recharger and had no idea that GAME was now in a corner of SportsDirect and House of Fraser

[Gray Fox]

Mine is too. Tucked away at the back. It's gone from a decent sized shop with a team running it, to one bloke on. Maybe a second for when he needs a day off.

It's a shame, but Amazon will drive everyone out of business.

[Lofty]

I don't think it's just Amazon that have had their pants down. Physical sales of all media are declining unless your a pervert like me who hoards it and annoys me wife.

Game seemed unwilling or unable to adapt to that, continuing with laughably high prices. They needed to find a niche to evolve into but they bet the farm on funkopops and being a shit alternative CEX without the second hand media.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Their online shit was laughable.

£5 delivery fee, even for click and collect? Shambolic.

[Gray Fox]

What I still cannot understand is the premium the consoles put on digital games. It should be cheaper to sell it digital, not more expensive.

If they sold your AAA game for say £45 digitally when physical copies are £60-70 they'd do much better.

[phonics]

What I still cannot understand is the premium the consoles put on digital games. It should be cheaper to sell it digital, not more expensive.

If they sold your AAA game for say £45 digitally when physical copies are £60-70 they'd do much better.

Games were 70 quid in 1998 made with 10% of the people working over a shorter period of the time and you think not having to burn a DVD is worth a 20 quid discount?

[Shindig]

And then they'll sell digital deluxe editions for £10-£30 dearer. I still think the services side of things is more damaging. "I'll wait til it drops to £30." is now "I'll wait til it's on Gamepass.

[Gray Fox]

Games were 70 quid in 1998 made with 10% of the people working over a shorter period of the time and you think not having to burn a DVD is worth a 20 quid discount?

In my mind they were a solid £40 until just around this gen released and they went up towards the £60 or so we have now.

And yes I do, considering they also wouldn't have to pay for any shipping, the people to staff the stores that sell you the games and the cost of renting the store itself. They should be cheaper than their physical counterparts and then not being so is mind boggling.

[phonics]

In my mind they were a solid £40 until just around this gen released and they went up towards the £60 or so we have now.

And yes I do, considering they also wouldn't have to pay for any shipping, the people to staff the stores that sell you the games and the cost of renting the store itself. They should be cheaper than their physical counterparts and then not being so is mind boggling.

Playstation doesn't pay for GAMES staff. They do pay for the servers that you download a 120GB video game they spent 200 million dollars developing.

[Shindig]

I probably paid around £45 for a copy of Silent Hill back in the day. The idea that pricing largely stayed that for 20 years (whilst the cost of development ballooned) is wild.