The Gaming Chat Café

[Craigsters]

48 hours left in Steams winter sale, it ends January 5th

[Lock n' Stock]

Picked up one of these lately (a Steam Deck). Loving it. Comfortable to use, heavily customisable and a fairly decent performance on recent titles (depending on what settings you compromise). Older games take some amount of tinkering to get them to work but otherwise I'm satisfied.

 

Edited January 8 by Lock n' Stock

[Algonquin Assassin]

On 1/9/2023 at 7:49 AM, Lock n' Stock said:

Picked up one of these lately (a Steam Deck). Loving it. Comfortable to use, heavily customisable and a fairly decent performance on recent titles (depending on what settings you compromise). Older games take some amount of tinkering to get them to work but otherwise I'm satisfied.

 

 

I wish these were available in Australia.

 

Not much of a PC gamer, but I think one of these would be cool as the gap between consoles and PC. I'd get one for sure.

[Lock n' Stock]

3 hours ago, Algonquin Assassin said:

I wish these were available in Australia.

 

Not much of a PC gamer, but I think one of these would be cool as the gap between consoles and PC. I'd get one for sure.

Certainly not from Valve directly, I'm guessing because it's a niche item and Australia is pretty isolated, whereas I got mine shipped from the Netherlands. It appears that there's some online retailers over there selling them though (abet in limited quantities), but they aren't cheap. Certainly more than I paid for my 512GB model (even when accounting for currency differences).

 

But yea, it's a game-changer for sure. Certainly not for everyone and probably too much for some to justify paying a large amount for. However, I don't regret a single dime I spent on mine.

Edited January 10 by Lock n' Stock

[Jason]

I think the Deck shines best when you either don't play a lot of high end AAA games or have another piece of hardware for those games, it can play the latest games but I think it shines the most as something to play older games on, or indie scale stuff. It's nice to see it doing well though, think it's at over a million sales now and there's growing support for it by developers, it seems to have quickly established its self as a proper way to play PC games and while it wasn't the first handheld PC perhaps it's biggest achievement will be properly establishing that whole market. Not many will be able to compete with Valve when it comes to price/performance, at least for now, but competition in the handheld PC space can only be a good thing.

[Craigsters]

I've been playing mad max from 2015 for the last week  and finished it several times sense getting it in 2015,  it's a fun game and has wwe  like fighting moves in it, owe and it's stable and never crashes, the car engine sound get's on your nerves after a while, but just turn the volume down

Edited January 10 by Craigsters

[lndex]

At this point they might aswell just scrap it, looks to be pretty clear it's gonna be DOA.

 

 

Edited January 11 by lndex

[Jason]

Ubisoft is a complete mess. Seriously, ask your self, outside of AC name one succesful game they've released in the past 5 years. I can't. I went through the list of their recent games earlier with someone and they're all flops.

 

The Division had potential but was mismanaged and has faded into nothingness, Ghost Recon was mismanaged into a commerical and critical flop, BG&E2 is in dev hell, Riders Republic was a failure, The Crew series did alright but ultimately failed to capture the magic (and with it the players) of franchises like TDU (which a lot of its devs worked on) or Forza Horizon. They have made multiple attempts at BR's and the ones they've released so far have all failed, they canned one mid-beta and the next one seems to be taking an awfully long time (dev hell, anyone?).  Rainbow Six Extraction was a giant flop that that went from af ull price title to a not full price title to GP day 1, shows how much hope they had for that. Far Cry has done alright as a franchise but they've basically copy and pasted the same game over and over since FC3 to the point that if you squint you genuinely couldn't tell the difference between any of them.

 

Numerous and constant canned projects like Splinter Cell, Prince of Persia, etc, hell, they announced a PoP remaster that was so bad that despite it being literally finished (it leaked lol) they still canned it and started again. Avatar has been littered with delays too not to mention it's been in development for absolutely ages. Watch Dogs had potential but ultimately was mismanaged into the mess we got with 3, which was one of the most soulless video games I've ever played.

 

Beyond AC which has had success (despite alienating many OG fans with their new RPG-lite direction) their only other truly successful game in the past DECADE has been Rainbow Six Siege, which is so old now that it's hit the problem where it can't really attract any more new players and is basically in it's twilight years before a replacement is required.

 

As for Skull & Bones, who the f*ck knows. I hope the insane delays since the last reveal are because they've gone back to the drawing board are adding on-foot stuff like exploration, combat, walking around your ship, proper on-foot on ship combat, boarding, etc. All the things people expected cause, ya'know, the game was made as a result of Black Flag's success.

 

They went from a studio who in the 2000's and very early 2010's were pumping out new IP, doing new things and generally putting out good games to a studio whose sole existence basically now hinges on Assassin's Creed. I doubt they're even an attractive acquisition, in an industry dominated by acquistions, cause who wants to acquire a 20k strong company that's a complete and utter mess in so many ways (the sexual harassment and general work conditions stuff hasn't improved apparently).

 

It also doesn't help that every single game of theirs literally had to be a service game. Online, offline, single player, co-op, all of them had to have a service element and in most cases it only hurt the game, even in their rare good games. Plus the insane amount of trend chasing they['ve been doing of course, it is mind boggling to see how many attempts they've made at getting a piece of the battle royale pie lol.

 

They seriously just need to go back to their roots, new IP, new ideas, make up some new ideas, revisit some beloved franchises they've not touched in yonks, dial the monetisation way back in their online stuff, strip it entirely out of their single player stuff. Back to basics.

 

Anyway that's my Ubi rant over. I've always had a soft spot for them cause historically they had that very French thing of being quirky and weird and doing weird but interesting things so it's just frustrating to see them in such a gigantic mess.

[Frabbi 01]

The only thing I like from them is Far Cry, but I think they need to pull a Rockstar and give it a 10 year rest. I heard FC6 is boring. Yet to play it, and if it comes to Steam I might pick it up on sale.

3 was the best, and I don't think it will be topped anytime soon.

 

Everything else from them is completely uninteresting.

Played AC1, found it pretty boring. Downloaded AC2, played 30 minutes and deleted it. Didn't feel like getting into another series with 50 sequels. Just don't have the time anyway.

Same with Watchdogs.... and I figured, we have GTA, so why bother.

Not into stealth or racing games. No idea what Skull & Bones is either, but I can definitely tell you I don't want to play a game about pirates...

[Craigsters]

 

 

Just a heads up the achievement  called "Up To The Task" is unattainable, because  wonder brothers shut down there  online servers for the game two years ago, the Up To The Task  can only be obtained online at there servers and now you can only get  the achievement  from someone else's  save game on the  mad max steam hub discussion  boards 

Edited January 11 by Craigsters

[Covered Wagon Fan]

I am thrilled with my Logitech G920 racing wheel.  It's made a massive improvement to my driving, especially in a game like Dirt Rally 2.0 (a fantastic game).

[TwistOfLime21]

It took two years but finally PS5s are being sold in store here in NZ. 

[Craigsters]

Check out this nintendo switch living room, even has  every nintendo console  ever built  and they all move and hide away,   and the living room even has a huge   cassette  deck walkman coffee table, see link below,  sorry couldn't find a youtube video

 

 

https://imgur.com/gallery/AFu60QS    <------When an Engineer gets bored and is a huge Nintendo fan

Edited January 19 by Craigsters

[Jason]

Forspoken at 69/100 on OpenCritic after 53 handpicked reviews, as they were picky with who got early review code, and all reviews are on PS5... and there's enough reason from the PS5 version to speculate that the PC version might be technically troubled. On top of being a £65 game.

 

Oof. I still think the gameplay (combat/parkour stuff) looks enjoyable but yea looks like I'll be waiting for a deep sale + no doubt PC patches if I'm to buy it. It doesn't look like it's pre-ordering well on PC so far so, though I imagine people have went to 3rd party key sellers to avoid paying the full price on Steam, so going by GoTG sales I imagine this will be £25 or less by Spring lol.

[lndex]

Fair to say I had a little giggle at the games dialogue.

 

 

[Craigsters]

Ubisoft is having a Lunar New sale and some titles are 80% at there store

 

And steam is having a base builder fest tell the end of the month, a couple of games are 72% and 80% off but have  low ratings or mixed reviews

[Jason]

8 hours ago, lndex said:

Fair to say I had a little giggle at the games dialogue.

 

 

 

I've seen people sh*tting all over the writing and while I'm not saying it's Oscar worthy or anything idm it my self lol. It's very YA type writing in terms of tone and language used, I'm all for it something like that now and again.

 

I think my main worry with the writing would be less the actual dialogue and more so the talk that the story is just not very good or very well paced sadly.

[Craigsters]

I have the steam deck on my steamwish list, but I'm worried the axis thumbstick  might be  cheap plastic and no   metal/ Aluminium alloy  materials would be   used in the joystick  making?

 

I can go through a Xbox one controller  for the PC every  2 month's or less , the joysticks axis  bust  easily and goes limp  and is no long usable  or the A button  spring jams stuck and  wont  work anymore

Edited January 24 by Craigsters

[Jason]

Forspoken demo finally on PC. Get the demo complaints that it sorta throws too much at you at once so it's hard to get to grips with the combat but I did sorta like what I was playing and wanted to play more.

 

Performance isn't great though. Averaged about 60fps in the open world but combat was tanking it down to the 40's or even 30's, even in just basic fights, and that's on DLSS balanced with RT turned off all on high. Wasn't unplayable, just not great, and while the spells are flashy and cool, the games visuals overall don't really justify the performance.

 

Lil I played made me wanna pick it up at some point, but waiting for patches and a good sale seems like the way to go with this.

[Craigsters]

On 1/23/2023 at 11:53 AM, Jason said:

Forspoken at 69/100 on OpenCritic after 53 handpicked reviews, as they were picky with who got early review code, and all reviews are on PS5... and there's enough reason from the PS5 version to speculate that the PC version might be technically troubled. On top of being a £65 game.

 

Oof. I still think the gameplay (combat/parkour stuff) looks enjoyable but yea looks like I'll be waiting for a deep sale + no doubt PC patches if I'm to buy it. It doesn't look like it's pre-ordering well on PC so far so, though I imagine people have went to 3rd party key sellers to avoid paying the full price on Steam, so going by GoTG sales I imagine this will be £25 or less by Spring lol.

 

 

geesh that games expensive  $93.49 CAD  for the basic game and  $126.49 CAD  for Forspoken Digital Deluxe Edition, and  they may  lose out on those that don't like playing as a female

Edited January 24 by Craigsters

[tony da boss]

I just downloaded Rocket League for free on Ps5 and it's really fun. If anyone has any recomendations for any other good free games I would apprecieate it.

[Craigsters]

 

 

 

I'm playing Days Gone  again and installed a new mod for it  called St. John Marston 1907

[Failed Again]

Coming to PC April 6

looks to be available on PC Gamepass

Xbox/PS5 summer 23

 

[Jason]

Yea it's been in Game Preview on GP for a while now. Might give it a whirl now when it launches proper, I do like the look of those sort of games.

[Failed Again]

Can we post Board Games here?

Skyrim is now an endlessly playable board game, and it’s great - Polygon

 

Edited February 13 by Failed Again

[Failed Again]

https://www.pcgamer.com/this-fan-remake-of-a-star-trek-text-game-from-1978-is-way-better-than-it-has-any-right-to-be/#comment-jump

 

This fan remake of a Star Trek text game from 1978 is way better than it has any right to be

Looks really good.

 

Edited February 22 by Failed Again

[Jason]

 

 

Poor Rocksteady. Going from making games that completely revitalized comic book games and whose influence in those games is still felt today to a video game that looks like it was designed almost entirely by suits that saw co-op GaaS games as the way to go when the game started development all those years ago.

 

The problem is the landscape has changed and GaaS over extended it's hand and now people are fed up with them and the ones who still play them are sticking to the established juggernauts, like Destiny. There aint no room in the inn for Suicide Squad, it's likely going to die pretty quick after launch.

 

Also for all the justified criticism the Avengers game got it at least did the characters justice with their combat and traversal, where as here they all play very samey, jumping and hovering about and shooting people with machine guns. It's a game that looks so competently put together and yet so generic at the same time lol.

 

 

[Hazzardtohimself]

Kerbal Space Program 2 released today (about three years late) under the Early Access banner. 

Costs vary depending on your location, but it's $50ish - high, but likely to get higher as the game continues development. 

 

Reviews are mixed, with some folks experiencing successive crashes (or the game refusing to start up without reinstalling), performance tanking, and other bugs that would make a closed pre-alpha blush. 

 

Take Two Interactive might be regretting their decision to ditch most of the original development team in their rumoured hostile takeover... or they might be laughing all the way to the bank if things improve! 

(inb4 Kerbal Cards and other paywalls) 

[Jason]

I swear, Destiny 2 is a complete and utter f*cking mess of a game.

 

Thought I'd install it and give it another try, haven't played it for more than a total of a few hours, but the shootings good so I fancied giving it another go. Load up my old character, power level 400, and it dumps me in a random mission where enemies are power level 1600. Good start. So I leave that mission and return to the menu, but as far as I could see there's no real story for me to do, the OG campaigns have all been removed from the game (cause that's pro-consumer lol) and the expansions are all premium.

 

So I figure start a new character, that'll probably put me on a path that makes more sense. Now all of a sudden I'm in Destiny 1's starting area, which looks like sh*t visually it has to be said. As you'd sorta expect, the content of Destiny 1 has aged pretty poorly yet it's what I'm stuck doing it seems? I'm also immediately met with bounties and patrols and all that very basic, repetitive grind content, and UI is so dodgy, especially the map, that navigating and getting about is a pain in the arse too.

 

It honestly makes Warframe look straight forward, and that game has one of the worst new player experiences of any MMO-lite out there lol.

[Failed Again]

From past devs of EVE online

Greater the danger Greater the rewards...lol gank incoming

 

Highlight -Unreal 5

PC release first)

Will be multiplat--see handheld tablet(using touch control with Xbox type control icons)

Like Eve, player driven building structures and Zones.

 

 

\

Interesting comments on procedural generated armors ^^^

more here:

Fantasy MMO Pax Dei is coming to PC and cloud gaming platforms | Windows Central

 

Mainframe Industries is made up of a team of gaming veterans who have worked for other big gaming studios such as CCP, Remedy, Next Games, Ninja Theory, Blizzard Entertainment, Ubisoft, Rovio, and more.

Great DNA

 

 

 

My wife and I played Eve online for 10 years...

it's a hostile territory.. 

The potential for this game is enormous..

Eve is still here...this may have that long-term commitment and development.

 

From the Dev's more in depth

 

Former EVE Online developers announce fantasy sandbox MMO Pax Dei | PC Gamer

 

Play Test sign-up

Pax Dei - Social Sandbox MMO (playpaxdei.com)

Edited March 1 by Failed Again