Whatcha Been Playing?

This is where you can deliberate anything relating to videogames - past, present and future
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Flabyo
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Flabyo »

Pretty much the only place where *component* is significantly better than an RGB scart is once you reach the 360 and ps3 in the HD era, where component begins to edge it (but you’re still better using hdmi)
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KSubzero1000
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by KSubzero1000 »

Suits wrote: October 14th, 2019, 12:25 pm
KSubzero1000 wrote: October 14th, 2019, 11:56 am Really sorry mate, but what did I do wrong here? :(
Honestly, it feels like you’re over-analysing what I’m saying, applying it in the wrong context - then digging me out about it.

SCART is cheaper, more readily available and for me - gives the better reliable performance overall of the RGB options.
No mate, we're just talking past one another, there is no need for any of this beef!

I was telling ThirdMan that component might be the best choice on an LCD and you responded with a complete breakdown as to what makes RGB superior to composite on a CRT. This is just a misunderstanding!! :(


PS: I would greatly appreciate it if somebody with a solid understanding of the distinction between composite and component could re-read the last page and chime in. I don't think anybody was in the wrong here, just inadvertently talking about two different things...
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Suits
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Suits »

Flabyo wrote: October 14th, 2019, 12:28 pm Pretty much the only place where *component* is significantly better than an RGB scart is once you reach the 360 and ps3 in the HD era, where component begins to edge it (but you’re still better using hdmi)
Like the original Xbox 360 Premier Edition.

That’s the only time, and the only TV I’ve ever had that took component.
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Alex79
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Alex79 »

ThirdMan wrote: October 13th, 2019, 11:09 pm
ratsoalbion wrote: October 13th, 2019, 8:45 pm The save state and rewind features of the NES Online can help to 'soften' the experience somewhat, compared to the purist choice of tackling the original cart.
I've been flying through Super Mario Bros. by making heavy use of the save states (I'm awful at platformers). I felt guilty for almost a full 60 seconds before cracking on with the next world.

I think it's a great feature. I'm simply not going to play through these old games raw for the the first time in 2019. I've no real love or nostalgia for the series (although I vaguely remember playing this first game in the series). It's a great way to open those games up to a new audience.
It is a great feature. I try not to use it, but there are occasions it's just so much easier than trying again. In Link To The Past there's a little bit where someone challenges you to run to a place in 15 seconds. I failed a couple of times, then remembered about the rewind feature so I didn't have to keep walking back to the start.

:lol:

And yeah, when I was playing Super Metroid I used save states directly after saving for real in the game, for the sole reason its much quicker to load a saved state when you return to the game than wait for the title screen, select your save, go through the little animation etc.
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Alex79
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Alex79 »

Suits wrote: October 14th, 2019, 12:48 pm
Flabyo wrote: October 14th, 2019, 12:28 pm Pretty much the only place where *component* is significantly better than an RGB scart is once you reach the 360 and ps3 in the HD era, where component begins to edge it (but you’re still better using hdmi)
Like the original Xbox 360 Premier Edition.

That’s the only time, and the only TV I’ve ever had that took component.
The Wii was definitely worth getting the component cable for as well. You could get 480p instead of 480i (or 576i if you were a madman).
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ReprobateGamer
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by ReprobateGamer »

The great thing about video standards is that there are so many to pick from!

I'm not a video engineer but I do dabble in larger projection from the day job (just helped set-up a 21K lumen Panasonic for an event tomorrow as it happens, for a series of Powerpoint presentations on mac and PC for around 600 attendees). You all seem to be agreeing but at different levels.

Broadly it would go composite < s-video < scart < dvi-a < component < dvi-d < hdmi but there is always a margin for error based on a cables internal width, length and resistance, the source output, the refresh rate, the resolution, the weather, the latency, the codec, if I've had chocolate, the condition of every item, possibly the power cycle, and the roll of a die.

As a rule of thumb when starting down this path, choose first party products, match output resolution from your source (console) to your image (monitor) and keep cable runs as short and direct as possible. And allow longer than you think to properly set it up, ideally with a second pair of eyeballs or the ability to quickly swop from original image to adjusted image.

Enough shop talk here.

Over the weekend, we introduced the in-laws to Monopoly gamer edition:

https://www.nintendo.com.au/hasbro-and- ... y-monopoly

Mother-in-law sat this one out but my two monsters (both below ten) and father in-law (around 80) both were fine at this. Never particularly liked Monopoly but this version has a definite end point, allows someone to carry on playing even if bankrupt (they just won't win but don't have to actually stop) and doesn't have auction rules ...
You can also buy additional characters for both this and the Mario kart version so easy to cater for having an odd number of players (think there are nine characters in total)

Mother in law had also never played Cluedo so we all of us plus wife number one playing a few games of the vanilla version of that.

And to go back to video games, I've put a few hours into Chaosbane this weekend as it was Free to Play on Xbox. This is a Warhammer skinned Diablo clone but whereas I've always found Diablo to be a little po-faced, Chaosbane revels in it's setting. As seems typical for a Games Workshop licensed games, it fills a little like it's been restrained by a tight budget and can be a little rough round the edges (the menus are so generic, and some of the voice acting is not good) but the online play largely works as a drop-in/drop-out and it's reasonably enjoyable to play - though I'm not tempted enough to put money on it at this time
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by ReprobateGamer »

Sorry - I know I said no shop talk but realised I did miss one thing I wanted to add.

I think some of the confusion in the thread around video stuffs is that everyone has been talking about 'Scart'

SCART is a type of connector whereas component and composite are different video formats. A SCART connector can be used for both formats and indeed for any signal that runs on a similar voltage. It's actually an acronym from the French organisation that came up with the (hideous) design in the 1970's. I've used SCART to audio only, SCART to VGA, SCART to both flavours of component signals using both phono and BNC plugs and SCART to composite on both tail outs and on inline adaptors (including options to swop the signal path for input/output back in the days when you have to convert the signal from the analogue TV antenna into these new fangled SCART things ...)

It's possible as well to transmit composite signal on component cables, or on one part of it, particularly on the non RGB flavour of phono/bnc to SCART.

That SCART can carry multiple signal types is why some only have 8 pins whilst others have all 21. And it adds to the confusion between component and composite, which happens every where. My particular favorite (!) instance was the point after I had run 100m of composite down one storey, through a sweltering basement going over several doors and a fire extinguisher graveyard then up a three storey ladder to be told that 'oh sorry we do need it to be component after all'

...

To say I was just a little irate ...
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

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Been on a bit of a beat 'em up kick in between the 'bigger' games I'm playing for the podcast.

Current one I'm getting into is the Saturn port of Capcom's Tenchi O Kurau II. Bloody mayhem, but it's got some really cool progressive systems and branching combo paths, especially for the time it came out in. For as much you get swarmed, you can dole out ridiculous damage as well! So basically you play as one out of five mangafied versions of these historical Chinese generals, who in the game just take on armies without seeing the need to bring in any manpower themselves. Two of these geezers even go into battle bare handed against, swords, axes, maces, clubs, spears and arrows!
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DeadpoolNegative
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

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Superman Returns- ooooooof, this game has finally become real slog. I've mentioned before about how there were a lot of production problems. There seem to be mutated creatures with weird names that were created by a mad scientist (Or Bizarro?) That Superman never actually confronts.

The dialogue they stuck Brandon Routh with is just atrocious, I don't blame him for phoning it in. "Maybe they can make you in a machine... Metallo... to clean up this MESS." "Cut it out, Bizarro!"

Getting to play as Bizarro is kind of a disappointment, I never bothered when I played it on PS2 but I tried it here and, well, I found myself creating a lot of collateral damage while playing Superman, so intentionally causing it? Not that much different.

Gears of War 4- Thanks, Games With Gold! I've never been 100% sure where I fall on Gears. I like playing it, and there's a lot about its design and world I like, but the writing has always driven me slightly crazy, even more so since the writers have actually tried to make an effort most of the time.

in 4, it's been 25 years since massive ecological devastation hit Sera in the wake of the defeat of the the Locusts. And yet in that time, somehow the economy has been revived, and there's enough raw materials and energy to make hundreds, possibly THOUSANDS of robots for security purposes. Several walled cities have been immaculately constructed to house the remaining population, not that anyone at the Coalition has ever watched Attack on Titan, it's just a coincidence! the COG has become a fascist police force trying to contain the population of Sera within these cities. Which, I'm sorry, needs more explanation than the game is willing to give. We're just supposed to assume the COG wants to suppress the outsiders just because. Sure there may be an issue of supplies, but look how the robot economy is booming! (what IS the economy like on Sera at this point?) Or that living on the outside is a viable option, which quite frankly, after Sera has went through, sounds insane to me.

I like this idea in theory- this time, our heroes are the Stranded! But that ignores the fact hat the Stranded made even less sense. I totally understand that people would be resentful of the COG and blame them for what happened (which is technically true) but the first game makes clear that staying out there alone means certain death, so why not stick with the COG? And In this game, the storms look deadly enough that being in the cities seems like the much better option. Anyway, the game doesn't really fill in the blanks as to why JD deserted the COG, why Marcus is apparently angry at him for joining up with the COG AND deserting the COG, who the hell Del even IS, why JD dislikes a certain character, or how he threw in with Kait and Reyna.

I'm told Gears 5 does explain what happened with JD and the COG more clearly, so I'll back off of that, but man, he's one of the more bland protagonists to come along in a game in quite a while. I wish the Coalition hadn't kept his backstory so vague, since Liam MacIntyre is given very little, and he does very little with it. The entire performance amounts to an amalgam of Troy Baker and Brandon Routh mannerisms and his attempts at wit and emoting land with a thud. Or a squish as it were. Some of this may have been intentional, since the trick is they're setting up Kait as this trilogy's true protagonist (played by Laura Bailey in full bailey form) but c'mon, I have to spend 9 hours with this guy.

The liveliest character in the game is Oscar, played by Jimmy Smits, which is the first time I think he's done game voice acting. He's a horrific, goofy stereotype, and Smits REALLY gets into the role, his enthusiasm is infectious and it also makes me uncomfortable. But he's not in the game very long.

Okay, okay, let me get to some of the positive stuff. I really liked the monster design in this game. There's something far, far grosser about the Swarm as opposed to the Locust that my inner 9 year old really enjoyed. It's all creepy blobs that you get to blow up for fun, half human half locust hybrids that look super gross, and yay I don't need to seal up grub holes anymore! The robots are also pretty effective antagonists. And the bigger monsters? Niiiiiiice.

The set pieces are also aces- it's great that after hours upon hours of clomping through abandoned houses, then abandoned mine shafts, then abandoned train cars, then abandoned caves, that for a brief time they just put you in a GIANT ROBOT. What a nice thing for them to do.

The Coalition didn't really bother reinventing the wheel in terms of gameplay. there's no weapon that is super-different or any game changing stuff. The one thing that really feels new, the tower defense stuff, is pretty fleeting.

Overall I'd call this game good to play, but the story is difficult to get invested in because I feel like I'm being told the stakes instead of actually feeling them. The conflict between the outsiders and the COG feels too gratuitous and manufactured. For the majority of the game the goal is to save Reyna but we only see her briefly. However, the game does end on a "What the shit?" moment that makes me mildly interested in the sequel, if I ever get around to it.

Planet of the Apes: Last Frontier: I picked up this Telltale-alike when it was on sale a few weeks ago, just started it. I enjoyed Rise of the Planet of the Apes but have not gotten into the Matt Reeves directed sequels- probably because one critic said "I've had more fun at funerals." But the actual motion capture tech in the movies is phenomenal, and Last Frontier, which I assume uses this tech (Andy Serkis is listed as a producer), is a stunningly beautiful game, although the human faces look a little weird when speaking.

The game tells the story of a conflict between an ape tribe that split off from Caesar and a small settlement, in the year 2027 (it looks to be somewhere in the northwest, possibly wyoming). The story jumps between the Ape faction, where you play Bryn, the son of the tribe leader, and Jess, the newly widowed leader of the settlement.

Bryn is not the only son of his Ape tribe's leader; he's also got Tola, the asshole one, and Juno, the scaredy cat weak one. Bryn is of course, the average one, the character can project their own choices on. It's kind of embarrassing how much of a type the three of them are. I'm only a quarter through the game, but gee, what are the odds their stern but loving father will die, leaving a power struggle between Bryn and Tola, with Juno caught in the middle?

Over on the humans' side, we have Jess, who's mourning the death of her husband, who was the leader of their settlement. Now she's in charge, and she has to deal with a teenage son that resents her, and Rainey, her second in command who implies in every exchange he doesn't think she's quite fit for the job of running the settlement. This struck me as odd: why should she be in charge, simply because she was married to the guy who was? Why aren't they taking a vote? There's no indication that he named her his successor. It's just wassumed that she's the boss now. Even though Rainey is practically about to scream at her "IF YOU DON'T WANT THIS JOB I CAN TAKE OVER YOU KNOW"

The human settlement segments also play like the game's writers have watched a LOT of late period Walking Dead, as two Mysterious Strangers arrive who are Not Totally Honest About Their Intentions. All this is well acted, but it's also very familiar.

The whole tone of the game so far is, well, unsurprisingly relentlessly grim. Winter is coming, and the Apes in their tribe on the mountain is running out of food. The settlement is trying to farm, but it also finds its food scarce. Tola convinces Bryn and Juno not to hunt on the mountain one night, but instead go down to the human plains, and there they find some livestock... and their human guards. Things don't go smoothly.

The game has only one real mechanic: choosing what you can say in several conversations. You only have two choices, which boil down to "Mean" or "not mean". There are also some button prompts on occasion. I'm not really slagging the game off for this: it's very up front about the fact that it's an interactive movie, and not much more than that. You don't get to move around like in Telltale's games. (So I guess it's not a Telltalealike?)

So it's not that bad so far, it's just... it's really bleak. And it comes with one of the saddest, most haunting scores I've ever heard in a game, by a guy I hadn't heard of, named Stephen Coltart.

Bolt- thanks again, Games With Gold? I've not seen it, but apparently Bolt is a 2008 Disney animated film about a dog and his pre-teen owner who are actors on a TV show. For some reason they convince the dog that the TV show is real, and when he gets lost somehow, he believes his owner, Penny, has been kidnapped by the bad guys and he must save her.

The video game takes a different tack, as you're playing a series of episodes of the movie's fictional TV show. A hamster comes on in the opening cinematic and puts the DVD in to watch it, and makes jokes whenever you pause the game about "going to commercial" or "my bladder is full!"

This is the standard sort of Disney platformer they used to put out like clockwork with every movie. You get to play Bolt himself, karateing evil ninjas (Led my Malcolm McDowell!) and while I didn't have too much difficulty with it, I think the camera is often placed too far away, and Bolt himself can look to small. This becomes a problem when the action gets particularly chaotic.

The Penny Sequences aren't as long but they're actually more entertaining, as they're concentrated on stealth sequences and block puzzles. There's also a hacking mini game which bears similarities to... and I can't believe I'm going to type this... NiER Automata's hacking mini game.

I'm a few hours into it and while it's not particularly exciting or innovative, it's a pleasant enough time waster and I'll probably finish it.
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by DomsBeard »

Neocab

Played the first evening on Apple Arcade. It is alright, nothing outstanding so far and some interesting ideas. You play as a futuristic uber driver who travels to a big city to catch up with an old friend you have fallen out with. It plays like a text adventure really.

You get given a bracelet early on which relays your emotions to whoever is in your cab. So if you have a conversation that is annoying your character(you get fed her life and beliefs/agenda early on) the bracelet turns red, happy green and so on. Your job relies on you keeping your rating above a 4*. I finished the first night and all my rides had a 5* rating.
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Chopper
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

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On a whim, I decided to check out Nauticrawl, another game in the Objects in Space mould where you must fly/drive a ship/machine via instrument feedback and buttons and levers without ever seeing the outside world. It has been described as
Let us imagine...that David Lynch, fresh from making Dune in 1984, decided to make a game. And that his premise for said game was a sort of escape room, controlled by a cantankerous virtual reimagining of the Steel Battalion controller.
Just getting the damn thing moving is tough, as there is no help whatsoever, and I'm not sure it's what I want right now.
Spoiler: show
Image


Image
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KSubzero1000
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by KSubzero1000 »

Now that is a graph! :lol:


Meanwhile, I've gone back to the God of War reboot, this time on NG+ on the highest difficulty.

I like this game a lot. I also think it's very flawed in many respects. But it has a... sincerity that is doing wonders for me and making me overlook a lot of the issues I would be less tolerant of in most other games.

Between the mainstream consensus praising it as the greatest thing since sliced bread and purist circles widely deriding it as irredeemable fluff, it feels a bit weird to be so out of lockstep with everyone else. Anyway, I'm having fun.
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Chopper
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

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KSubzero1000 wrote: October 16th, 2019, 12:48 pm Meanwhile, I've gone back to the God of War reboot, this time on NG+ on the highest difficulty.

I like this game a lot. I also think it's very flawed in many respects. But it has a... sincerity that is doing wonders for me and making me overlook a lot of the issues I would be less tolerant of in most other games.

Between the mainstream consensus praising it as the greatest thing since sliced bread and purist circles widely deriding it as irredeemable fluff, it feels a bit weird to be so out of lockstep with everyone else. Anyway, I'm having fun.
Theory: you love your AAA games, or at least games with Triple A production values - they are your natural metier. However, you have not come to terms with their hollow core, their inherent boringness and need to play it safe, their lack of a soul.

:lol: I'm just messing around; I don't want to have to defend this statement.
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KSubzero1000
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by KSubzero1000 »

Chopper wrote: October 16th, 2019, 3:20 pm Theory: you love your AAA games, or at least games with Triple A production values - they are your natural metier. However, you have not come to terms with their hollow core, their inherent boringness and need to play it safe, their lack of a soul.

:lol: I'm just messing around; I don't want to have to defend this statement.
DEFEND THIS STATEMENT NAOW
Spoiler: show
:lol: :lol:

Actually, I do love AAA production values, so you're only half-joking anyway. It's obvious how much effort and care went into a lot of the presentation and technical aspects, and it would not be very fair to just dismiss them out of hand. I just don't really like a lot of the other stuff that they come bundled with these days! :P

This game, however, is rather special. In my humble opinion. :oops:
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by macstat »

I bought Disco Elysium yesterday. So far im in love with that game. When i read RPS review that said its very Torment-like i was instantly sold. I havent seen too much of the game (so far only dialogues, no combat or anything) but i already love the writing and how you can shape your characters through the dialogues.
What a surprise considering i learned about it last week.
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Stanshall »

DomsBeard wrote: October 15th, 2019, 12:59 pm I finished the first night and all my rides had a 5* rating.
Wahey! (39 years old)
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Alex79
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Alex79 »

:lol:
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Chopper
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Chopper »

macstat wrote: October 16th, 2019, 5:17 pm I bought Disco Elysium yesterday. So far im in love with that game. When i read RPS review that said its very Torment-like i was instantly sold. I havent seen too much of the game (so far only dialogues, no combat or anything) but i already love the writing and how you can shape your characters through the dialogues.
What a surprise considering i learned about it last week.
Let us know how you get on with this, please! I considered it, but the 60-hour campaign (as reported) put me off. I found this background overview quite intriguing.
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by Alex79 »

Yeah it's on my radar too. The IGN podcast crew were loving it on last week's episode.
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macstat
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Re: Whatcha Been Playing?

Post by macstat »

Im 11 hours in and its quickly rising to be my GotY. Its definitely heavily influenced by old RPGs (like Torment or Fallout 1 and 2), with the way dialogues shape your character and how you can use your stats to form a meaningful narrative. Game is also pretty funny but in a smart way. Cheeky characters, unexpected responses from your characters made me chuckle on multiple occasions. This is what ive been missing in games for a long time now and im taking my time savoring it ;)

Unfortunately Im definitely biased. Because i value narrative, characters and world building over everything i probably will let other transgressions fly. Having said that so far i havent noticed any significant problems with it, but im still doing basically walking around and talking (so that may be considered a problem to some).
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