Video Games

RelentlessImp · Post by **RelentlessImp** » Wed May 06, 2015 7:44 am

Stahlseele wrote:"OK, everybody who wanted it bought it for full price by now, now we can forbid them from doing the one thing that's most important on a PC and ban them and then make them buy the game again so they can play online again!"

Funny part is a not-insignificant number of them knew this was a possibility so they both bought and pirated the game, using a crack to play offline with mods. All they're doing is banning people that would have otherwise kept the community alive, now down to playing their cracked version and encouraging more people to pirate the game. It's fuckin' stupid. With hope Rockstar North will stop the knee-jerk reaction reminiscent of Nintendo and Youtube and start being sensible.

tussock · Post by **tussock** » Wed May 06, 2015 8:50 am

What games companies try to do with all this bullshit is twofold.

[*] They don't want to let old games survive forever. Planned obsolescence is a big deal in all modern industry, if you were allowed to play PS1 games on your PS3, people wouldn't buy as many PS3 games or even as many PS3 consoles. Turning off the servers is the ultimate form of that, though often companies realise how few people are still playing and will patch a game to let it run without servers before doing that, because obviously unofficial patches already exist for that since day 1 and they don't really want people having to find out how easy that is.

[*] They're "stopping piracy". Really they're promoting a black market of zero-priced digital content, but people sell idiot executives, who went to management school and know almost nothing of computers, the idea that piracy is killing their business and can be stopped by making all the users run a bunch of bullshit custom compression tools and spyware that fucks your load times and makes the patches ten thousand times larger, running up server costs and so on. It's a very successful racket.

RelentlessImp · Post by **RelentlessImp** » Wed May 06, 2015 8:53 am

if you were allowed to play PS1 games on your PS3

I think you mean PS2 games on the PS3, the PS3 has always supported the PSX games. Even the slim models. All software emulation; the PS2 games required some hardware emulation (emotion engine emulation IIRC) that only certain models (first shipping, 80GB model) supported.

name_here · Post by **name_here** » Wed May 06, 2015 9:03 am

There were sound technical reasons for the lack of backwards compatibility on the PS3 and PS4, namely that the PS3 architecture is a bottomless well of madness.

Koumei · Post by **Koumei** » Fri May 08, 2015 2:44 am

So, I actually have a collection of dating sims on Steam. Sakura Angels and Sakura Spirit (they were on special and are just well-drawn cheesecake stuff with pretty characters, not hardcore porn) for a start. Oblivious Garden (it has a tea party simulation mini-game, of course I bought it), Dragon Age Origins (OH YES I WENT THERE).

But I'm going to talk about Hunie Pop. It's actually an interesting game, and is generally done well. Make sure you play it with headphones on, and also make sure you get the uncensor patch from the developer. Basically, the conversation thing is the same "Please do not use this as advice for dating in real life" as most games where you fill them with booze, give them gifts they want, then ask questions about them so they can quiz you later and then they ask questions about you and you give the answer they want to hear.

But the actual dates are an advanced match-3 (Bejewelled) game, with items you can use to change the grid, and where different characters react better to certain gem types (and you can spend XP from conversations so as to boost the pay-off of various gem colours), gradually growing in difficulty. Even the "sex scenes" involve a variant of that, and it's actually a fun game in its own right. The nipples are just a perk.

Also, it's fully voice acted, yes including the sex-noises (remember what I said about headphones), and most of the characters swear a huge amount, like actual people. The game adds a bit of a story behind each character and tries not to just make them "Traits A, B and C", but at the end of the day you're still going to refer to them as "the busty MILF", "the hikikomori gamer girl" (fujoshi?), "the cheerleader" and so on.

If you like dating sims/eroge, I'd say it's worth checking out. If you like puzzle games and always felt "This would be better if people said fuck a lot and there were boobs", check it out. If neither of the above statements applies to you, I would suggest not giving it time of day.

Oh also, it's not sexist, guys, because it passes the Bechdel test!

name_here · Post by **name_here** » Fri May 08, 2015 5:47 am

Got KOTOR 2 in a steam sale, and right now am in the B4D4 section, which is absolutely hilarious. I am at the part where you talk to a droid to tell it that it has already violated its behavioral restrictions and therefore can do whatever.

"No, there is nothing stopping you from going into the Czerka offices and opening fire indiscriminately with your stun ray."

Shiritai · Post by **Shiritai** » Fri May 08, 2015 6:17 am

Koumei wrote:Oh also, it's not sexist, guys, because it passes the Bechdel test!

I noticed.

Koumei · Post by **Koumei** » Mon May 11, 2015 4:29 am

Someone had actually started a thread of "I find the idea interesting, but I am worried it might be sexist. Does it pass the Bechdel test?" and it seems more people seriously think that is a good judge of fucking anything ever.

A question about Steam: if I'm using a VPN or something else which says I'm totally honestly in (insert country here), then it typically charges me in (local currency) and my bank just converts it and adds a $2.50 surcharge for all the effort involved in converting currency. But I did register Steam as an Australian user.

Is it treating me as an Australian user, paying inflated Australian prices (soon with GST added! Thanks, Abbot!) in (local currency), or does it just look at where your VPN says you are and charge you locally for that? Can this be used to buy games at whatever the cheapest rate happens to be (presumably from the US or UK, you lucky fucks)?

(I'll pay GST instead of finding workarounds the moment massive companies pay all the tax they owe... and the moment the government starts spending revenue on health and education rather than foreign wars, gifts for big companies, and police overreach.)

Shady314 · Post by **Shady314** » Mon May 11, 2015 4:43 am

Koumei wrote:Someone had actually started a thread of "I find the idea interesting, but I am worried it might be sexist. Does it pass the Bechdel test?" and it seems more people seriously think that is a good judge of fucking anything ever.

It reduces a complex issue requiring careful thought and analysis into a yes/no question. Litmus tests have always appealed to idiots and those seeking ideological purity. Not that the two are usually different people.

Not to derail the video game thread. I had a similar issue when using TOR once. Steam kept displaying in Russian.

PhoneLobster · Post by **PhoneLobster** » Mon May 11, 2015 7:22 am

Koumei wrote:I'll pay GST instead of finding workarounds the moment...

The moment they ban VPNs.

Which they are totally introducing at least two different pieces of stealth legislation in order to do that right now.

And here is the thing, the internet GST thing... is one of those things that is an attempt to stealth ban VPNs.

Because right now using a VPN isn't breaking any law.

But the moment you (a non rich person) use it for tax avoidance... bam, your VPN just got banned and now you get the shitty Australian internet TV selection.

I mean why the hell else would they try to put through this tax that their previous departmental advice has told them will cost more to administer than it will collect?

Longes · Post by **Longes** » Mon May 11, 2015 7:40 am

Koumei wrote:A question about Steam: if I'm using a VPN or something else which says I'm totally honestly in (insert country here), then it typically charges me in (local currency) and my bank just converts it and adds a $2.50 surcharge for all the effort involved in converting currency. But I did register Steam as an Australian user.

Is it treating me as an Australian user, paying inflated Australian prices (soon with GST added! Thanks, Abbot!) in (local currency), or does it just look at where your VPN says you are and charge you locally for that? Can this be used to buy games at whatever the cheapest rate happens to be (presumably from the US or UK, you lucky fucks)?

(I'll pay GST instead of finding workarounds the moment massive companies pay all the tax they owe... and the moment the government starts spending revenue on health and education rather than foreign wars, gifts for big companies, and police overreach.)

I have this problem too, Koumei. Steam gives you prices based on where you registered (unless you use some browser-based workarounds) and, more importantly, it requires your credit/debit card/paypal to be from the same place as your store prices. This is a major problem for me right now, because I'm in Germany, my card is Russian, and Steam completely flips out when I try to pay for anything.

Koumei · Post by **Koumei** » Mon May 11, 2015 8:52 am

PhoneLobster wrote:
Koumei wrote:I'll pay GST instead of finding workarounds the moment...
The moment they ban VPNs.

Nah, then I'll just send money orders to my girlfriend and get her to purchase and gift them.

Edit: ...though going by what Longes says, I should just start doing that now.

Edit: Wait, never mind, they have 25% VAT there. Though I am tempted to do this anyway, just because the Swedish government is more worthy of money than Abbot.

CapnTthePirateG · Post by **CapnTthePirateG** » Wed May 20, 2015 3:57 am

Has anyone else tried Invisible, Inc? I'm liking it so far, though I'm really bad at it.

Longes · Post by **Longes** » Wed May 20, 2015 11:01 am

CapnTthePirateG wrote:Has anyone else tried Invisible, Inc? I'm liking it so far, though I'm really bad at it.

It's awesome, but ballbreakingly hard. I'm now on my tenth attempt, and I think I may finally succeed. On the final mission right now, and sheesh...

My prefered team is Internationalle and Archived!Banks, but my current team is Sharp, Internationalle, Decker and Xu. I got really lucky with the augmentations I got, and Sharp currently has between 20 and 30 AP in a round.

Longes · Post by **Longes** » Wed May 20, 2015 11:12 am

Protips:

* Don't knock out people, unless you absolutely have to. It's better to spend an extra turn sitting in cover, letting the patrole pass, then to knock a guy out and have him run around the level alerted.

* Raid detention centers early, or don't raid them at all. Getting an agent late is usually not worth it, unless you have spare cash and an extra paralyser in the stash.

* Shalem 11 is the worst agent.

* Detention centers never have last two agents, Sharp, Prism, or archived versions in them. Tony Xu is the best one to get in a detention center, because his item is meh, but his augment is awesome.

* Know your hacking tools. Rapier is the worst program. Fusion is better than Power Drip in the long run, but is vulnerable to Daemons and you forgetting to use it.

Count Arioch the 28th · Wed May 20, 2015 11:57 am

Replayed Breath of Fire 3 for the hell of it. Not bad for a PSX RPG old enough to vote. As a lark, I built the characters for different roles than they were assigned.

Begin BoF3 stat info:

Ryu become gamebreakingly powerful statted as a mage. I would never spec him as a warrior again. It's harder early on, but starting at about mid-level being able to stay in Dragon Form spamming high-end spells or aura more than makes up for it. True Kaiser form becomes completely viable when you have 200+ AP

Garr is actually decent as a mage. His high natural stats and great equipment still make him a beast of a melee dude, except now you have a decent fire mage. He does takes a LONG time to get going though, and even then his AP pool isn't great.

Nina will never be a warrior. Her equipment and stats are in the toilet. However, I would recommend raising her on Fahl for a while early one so she gets HP and Defense boosts, makes her less squishy.

Momo becomes a rabbit-girl death goddess if you stat her as a warrior. Plus she has enough AP to make use of Shadowalk, Super Combo, Aura, etc. which bypasses her crappy accuracy.

Peco is useless as anything but a warrior. You CAN make it a mage, but I feel like it's a waste to not utilize its high reprisal rate.

Rei I didn't take too far out of his role as his best ability makes him auto-attack randomly. I went against the guides I read and instead of boosting his speed I made him a warrior. The result is he still gets EX turns on nearly everything, but he actually holds his own in a fight, doesn't die in one hit, and weretiger kills everything (I'm talking goo kings in 2 hits...) You have to burn a turn casting Influence, but since Influence lasts until the target dies or the caster dies/transforms it's not as bad as it sounds.

RelentlessImp · Post by **RelentlessImp** » Wed May 20, 2015 1:12 pm

Breath of Fire 3 is really good in letting you do whatever you want with the characters. It's why most people who want to break the game play the Childhood portion of the game with Ryu dead to keep him at level 1 so that you can maximize his potential with Masters, and keep Nina at as low a level as possible.

As an aside, Nina CAN be made into a Warrior but it involves super micro-management of her Masters and level-ups, and is more trouble than it's worth. Turning her into a tank, however, is kind of hilarious.

Longes · Post by **Longes** » Sat May 23, 2015 1:03 pm

So, Life is Strange episode 3 came out, and did nothing to reduce my disgust towards Chloe. In fact it cemented her as a self-centered jerk.

shau · Post by **shau** » Sun May 24, 2015 2:50 am

Breath of fire 3 is one of my old favorites. My best strategy was to take Rei and combine him with the formation that gives everyone the leader's speed so he gave everyone EX turns. I kept Ryu in the warrior form for the auto critical spell, and Momo was my leader/shadow walker/ healer person. Absolutely just tore shit up.

I did not like 4 nearly as much, and dragon quarter I did not even finish.

Count Arioch the 28th · Sun May 24, 2015 6:03 pm

I tried the chain formation, and I don't like it. Even in my file where Rei as has the second or third highest defense I still ate it when the monsters got their turns, and I'd typically spend my EX turns rezzing everyone and healing. Worth it for Archmage and Berserker since they're likely to one-shot you regardless but I don't much care for it.

I didn't do much except Normal formation, except when I had Peco I would use attack with Peco at point so he could counter stuff.

Stahlseele · Post by **Stahlseele** » Sun May 24, 2015 8:45 pm

i managed to finish GTA V Story Mode . . that was surprisingly hard to do, but enjoyable nonetheless . .

Maxus · Post by **Maxus** » Sun May 24, 2015 9:43 pm

Stahlseele wrote:i managed to finish GTA V Story Mode . . that was surprisingly hard to do, but enjoyable nonetheless . .

Really? I found the last height to be pretty damn easy, and the final mission (well, I chose the fun ending) wasn't so bad...Well, okay, I blew myself up once but that's it.

I had a much harder getting a good result from earlier heists or big missions.

Stahlseele · Post by **Stahlseele** » Sun May 24, 2015 11:34 pm

i am probably losing my touch, becoming one of these casual [EDITED] gamers i read about everywhere. the fun ending? chosing death wish? yeah, i did that.

yeah, the beginning missions are harder somehow, especially if you try to be sneaky about it . . going bruteforce proved to be surprisingly successfull . .

Count Arioch the 28th · Fri May 29, 2015 9:55 am

I've been playing the DS remake of FF4 again. I like how they rebalanced the characters, and the game does NOT fuck around. I like it a lot, and from a gameplay perspective I like it better than FF4 snes.

maglag · Post by **maglag** » Sat May 30, 2015 9:54 pm

Somewhat old news, but I just discovered that Starcraft II: Legacy of the Void will be a standalone game.

I consider that's Blizzard way of saying "We admit Wings of Liberty and Heart of the Swarm are kinda shit, please forgive us".

Combined with the fact that Blizzard actually seems to be bothering with balance this time around, I may just buy it. I skipped Heart of the Swarm because... Well, Joe Pereira said it better than I could, and added an illustration to boot:

"Ignore revenge, acquire zerg infested ass.

I'm sure Fenix and all fools who followed Raynor to their deaths are spinning in their graves."