2013 Video Games Thread

[mckerney]

Originally Posted by Vince, Pt. II

Yeah, 2K is doing a lot of shady pre-release marketing. Stuff that's normally only reserved for crap games. Which is worrisome. This is a franchise that will be a good sell on name alone...why do you need to do all this other stuff?

Only thing I can think of is maybe they want to see if it will help them sell the DLC season passes. I agree, it's weird to see this kind of promotion unless they think the game is going to tank. Though if this sort of thing becomes the new norm for big releases I certainly wouldn't complain.

[Thomkal]

Originally Posted by JetsIn06

I heard good things about this game, also.

Hannah from the Yogcast gang takes a look at the game if you are interested:

Saturday Special: Organ Trail! (Oregon Trail with Zombies!) - YouTube

[mckerney]

[SirFozzie]

The Ducktales Remastered game brought back the voice actors from the series, including 94 year old Alan Young (Scrooge McDuck), who's had a 67 year career in TV, including being Wilbur in the classic show Mr Ed...

Mega Respect.

[Peregrine]

Guns of Icarus Online - grab it now on Steam for 5 bucks - you will not have more fun for 5 bucks. It's an online multiplayer deathmatch game where everyone is crew on these sort of skyships - trying to blast each other out of the sky. Get it now, you can't go wrong for this price.

[Vince, Pt. II]

Just finished Dead Space. The final battle was horribly underwhelming. Just strafe left and right a bunch and shoot. That's it. No use of environment, no use of clever mechanics, no use of the very cool zero-gravity OR vacuum mechanics, just point and shoot.

That being said, the dismal final battle did very little to dissuade me from calling this a fantastic game. Easily a 9/10, possibly even a 9.5/10. If you haven't played it, go pick it up. Easily worth the $20 on Steam.

[MizzouRah]

It's that time again.. Baseball Mogul 2014 is out..

I usually pick up Baseball Mogul for the simple fact I use it to sim like crazy while OOTP takes me a month or so to complete a season due to its depth.

Much like my support for Markus, I also like to support Clay.

Some pretty neat features this year...

*The Game Designer: Baseball Mogul 2014: New Feature Descriptions

Quote:

Stat-Based Scouting

Player Ratings in Baseball Mogul are now based entirely on statistics that the player has already accrued. In other words, ratings are not a magical window into a player's "true ability level". Like a modern-day General Manager, you must predict a player's future performance from his past performance. Luckily, Baseball Mogul does the hard work for you, translating each player's stats into Major League Equivalencies, and then combining those to create a single-season Projection.

Quote:

Player Projections

You can now view single-season projections for each player without having to use Commissioner Mode. Choose "Projections" from the Lineup Dialog, Defense Dialog, Pitching Dialog, Free Agents Dialog, Leaders Page, etc.
Unlike Commissioner Mode (which shows the secret statistics used by the simulation engine), the "Projections" line shows a statistical forecast calculated from the player's past performance, and adjusted for player age and position.

Quote:

The Player Strategy dialog also includes a "Pitch Count" option for pitchers, allowing you to set a hard pitch count limit for one or more of your pitchers without affecting your entire pitching staff.

And for those like me who like a little bit of animation...

New Animations and Playe Uniforms

We know that you don't play Baseball Mogul for the graphics. But it gets annoying when every batter and pitcher in the game is the same pale white guy in a blue uniform. So we finally updated the game to reflect each player's height, weight and skin color. You can also edit the home and away uniform colors (and alternate uniforms) for each team.

[mckerney]

Picked up Bioshock Infinite just before it came out last night after seeing all of the outstanding reviews on it. Managed to play about the first hour and I must say Columbia is very impressive. Great design and atmosphere and it looks incredible.

[Vince, Pt. II]

Originally Posted by mckerney

Picked up Bioshock Infinite just before it came out last night after seeing all of the outstanding reviews on it. Managed to play about the first hour and I must say Columbia is very impressive. Great design and atmosphere and it looks incredible.

Watched my roommate play this for a little while last night and I was similarly impressed. It's a beautiful game.

[mckerney]

Was also playing The Witcher 2 last night and have to say I'm really tired of the win a difficult boss battle only to lose in a cutscene situation in games. So unsatisfying.

[mckerney]

Gamasutra - News - Sony kills concept approval, makes moves to get indies onto PS4

Sony is making it easier for small developers to get their games on the PS4, could be another leg up for them over Microsoft if they don't change their online platform on Durango. Indie devs have hated the process of releasing and updating on the 360.

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by mckerney

Picked up Bioshock Infinite just before it came out last night after seeing all of the outstanding reviews on it. Managed to play about the first hour and I must say Columbia is very impressive. Great design and atmosphere and it looks incredible.

I'm grabbing it today.. my daughter loves this series, she will be so happy tonight.

Do you know if we both play, can we have separate saves or does she have to use her own gamertag to play?

[mckerney]

Originally Posted by MizzouRah

I'm grabbing it today.. my daughter loves this series, she will be so happy tonight.

Do you know if we both play, can we have separate saves or does she have to use her own gamertag to play?

Not really sure. It uses autosaves only, though i didn't look to see if there was an option for different save profiles. Also not really sure how the save game system works on the 360 either, so can't really speculate there.

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by mckerney

Not really sure. It uses autosaves only, though i didn't look to see if there was an option for different save profiles. Also not really sure how the save game system works on the 360 either, so can't really speculate there.

Thanks, I know you can in BS 2, I just have her log in with her gamertag and play, separate from my gamertag.

[MizzouRah]

Bioshock: Infinite

What a fantastic game.. a game that defines this generation of console gaming.

I'm about 3 hours in and it's just so well done. It's an experience that you just need to purchase the game and experience for yourself.

It's funny though, my favorite thing is being able to press up on the d-pad when I'm stuck to see where I need to go, genius!

The controls are great, Columbia is such a beautiful, yet scary place at times. I will say, in my gaming history, the Bioshock series is one of THE top series ever released.

I urge those of you who like FPS games to run out to the store today and pick up this game, or download to your PC and play it!

[CleBrownsfan]

My wallet hates you MizzouRah!!

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by CleBrownsfan

My wallet hates you MizzouRah!!

[MizzouRah]

17 minutes of Battlefield 4

[CleBrownsfan]

I played the 1st Bioshock (didn't beat it and have forgot the story) and didn't play Bio 2... will I be lost in the story playing Infinite?

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by CleBrownsfan

I played the 1st Bioshock (didn't beat it and have forgot the story) and didn't play Bio 2... will I be lost in the story playing Infinite?

No sir, it's not a part of the storyline from the first two.

[heybrad]

Originally Posted by MizzouRah

It's that time again.. Baseball Mogul 2014 is out..

I've always enjoyed Baseball Mogul for the same reasons you posted. This sucked my in and I'm giving 2014 a try now.

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by heybrad

I've always enjoyed Baseball Mogul for the same reasons you posted. This sucked my in and I'm giving 2014 a try now.

Read the forums.. some issues with the build so Clay has some patches coming out today and tomorrow. He had an issue with the time on his W7 and U8 boxes, so the initial build was messed up.

Let me know what you think!

[heybrad]

Originally Posted by MizzouRah

Read the forums.. some issues with the build so Clay has some patches coming out today and tomorrow. He had an issue with the time on his W7 and U8 boxes, so the initial build was messed up.

WELL NOW YOU TELL ME!!!

Actually I've just messed around with it so far, but as usual, I love the simplicity and speed.

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by heybrad

WELL NOW YOU TELL ME!!!

Actually I've just messed around with it so far, but as usual, I love the simplicity and speed.

Sorry.. right before I was going to purchase I peeked in the forum and saw that there are some issues with the released build.

I'd like to know how the new rating system works, is that working as advertised?

[chinaski]

Finished the new Tomb Raider.... what a great game, but it was a tad bit short. I think I finished the story line in about 25 hours, with a 71% completion score. I doubt ill go back through and find all the hidden tombs and whatnot, but I definitely put this one up there as one of the better single player games ive ever played. 9/10 easy.

[mckerney]

[jeff061]

Originally Posted by chinaski

Finished the new Tomb Raider.... what a great game, but it was a tad bit short. I think I finished the story line in about 25 hours, with a 71% completion score. I doubt ill go back through and find all the hidden tombs and whatnot, but I definitely put this one up there as one of the better single player games ive ever played. 9/10 easy.

25 hours is short? These days I'm happy if I can get north of 10.

[chinaski]

Originally Posted by jeff061

25 hours is short? These days I'm happy if I can get north of 10.

I probably spent half that time looking for tombs and collectables. From what im seeing from most review sites its about 8-10 if you stick just to the main story. Im slow

Really hated seeing that game end, I hope a single player DLC comes out soon.

[chinaski]

new GTA V screenshots, looking pretty spiffy..
Sunsets, Seas, Skies and So On... | Rockstar Games

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by chinaski

new GTA V screenshots, looking pretty spiffy..
Sunsets, Seas, Skies and So On... | Rockstar Games

Little surprised they didn't hold this off as a launch title on the new consoles. Could still sell it for old console, but would really move installation of new generation.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Really like the looks of these games.

Blacklight and Primal Carnage, PS4's newest games, in motion | Joystiq

If Sony holds to making it easier to get indie material on the PS4 and they can produce this kind of visual quality, we could see a iPhone-like shift on the consoles where lower priced alternatives take market share from the big developers. That would be a fantastic change of pace that would help the consoles tremendously.

[mckerney]

Originally Posted by chinaski

I probably spent half that time looking for tombs and collectables. From what im seeing from most review sites its about 8-10 if you stick just to the main story. Im slow

Really hated seeing that game end, I hope a single player DLC comes out soon.

I finished it I'm around 13 hours and thought it was a pretty good length.

As far as DLC goes Crystal Dynamics has said they aren't planning any for single player and any they release will be for multiplayer. Why exactly Tomb Raider needed multiplayer in the first place is a bit of a mystery to me though.

[mckerney]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

Really like the looks of these games.

Blacklight and Primal Carnage, PS4's newest games, in motion | Joystiq

If Sony holds to making it easier to get indie material on the PS4 and they can produce this kind of visual quality, we could see a iPhone-like shift on the consoles where lower priced alternatives take market share from the big developers. That would be a fantastic change of pace that would help the consoles tremendously.

I'm not sure we'll see them take a while lot of market share from big AAA titles, but there's definitely a good market for indie games and consoles haven't exactly been friendly to them. I'm going that on the next gen consoles developers don't have to go through certification of patches and can put updates out whenever they want. That and lack of store front on online stores are the biggest things holding indie devs back on the current consoles.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

Little surprised they didn't hold this off as a launch title on the new consoles. Could still sell it for old console, but would really move installation of new generation.

I thought that too but I guess I wonder if the current generation has so many consoles out there, that it would just sell in higher volume.

[mckerney]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

I thought that too but I guess I wonder if the current generation has so many consoles out there, that it would just sell in higher volume.

Given how long they've probably been working on GTAV it's probably not worthwhile to scrap all they've done on current gen consoles. I'm not sure how long this has been in development, but RDR took something like 5 years. Plus it's a big enough title to sell on whatever systems they release on.

I'm just hoping it comes to PC without to long of a delay.

[Matthean]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

Really like the looks of these games.

Blacklight and Primal Carnage, PS4's newest games, in motion | Joystiq

If Sony holds to making it easier to get indie material on the PS4 and they can produce this kind of visual quality, we could see a iPhone-like shift on the consoles where lower priced alternatives take market share from the big developers. That would be a fantastic change of pace that would help the consoles tremendously.

As awesome as those look from a graphic standpoint, it does bring up the issue that the leap in graphics is small as ever.

[mckerney]

Originally Posted by Matthean

As awesome as those look from a graphic standpoint, it does bring up the issue that the leap in graphics is small as ever.

One of the biggest difference right away will probably be true quality which will be a really nice improvement as on current consoles you get some downright atrocious textures. Rendering at 1080 and at 60 fps will also be a big step up, I don't think either of those will be small leaps. Current gen console hardware is really holding things back graphics wise.

Also they're Just scratching the surface of what the systems are capable of. Just look at the difference between Oblivion and Skyrim on the same hardware.

[mckerney]

Not to mention games like Far Cry 3 and Dishonored suffer performance issues in some areas on consoles.

[Atocep]

Started playing Heart of the Swarm. So far it's exactly what I'd expect from a Blizzard title. The story is shallow and simplistic and the voice acting ranges from acceptable to really bad, but the gameplay is outstanding.

[jeff061]

Originally Posted by Atocep

Started playing Heart of the Swarm. So far it's exactly what I'd expect from a Blizzard title. The story is shallow and simplistic and the voice acting ranges from acceptable to really bad, but the gameplay is outstanding.

haha. I really don't think Wings of Liberty fit that model at all. However Heart of the Swarm I agree is a step down pretty much everywhere outside of gameplay.

[IlliniCub]

One of the perks of working in education are the holliday breaks so I decided to rent Bioshock:Infinite to see if I could get through the main story for 5 bucks instead of paying the full 60, and all I have to say is Wow! Great story, great way of telling the story. Amazing gameplay.

[Atocep]

Who the fuck let this happen?

[Abe Sargent]

That is so awesome

[Neon_Chaos]

The Double Blaster was cool.

[Jughead Spock]

So I'm not as blown away by BioShock Infinite as some. This review is pretty much exactly what I think -

Bioshock Infinite Review - NowGamer

It's absolutely awesome in its visuals and imagination, and that's playing it on the 'Very Low' settings (works on an HD 4000 just fine, in case you're wondering). But the game overall just doesn't grab me like the original. It's very linear, and very assisted. The vigors (plasmids), so far, feel more trouble than they're worth in actual combat. Whole lot of scavenging, searching trash cans, picking up money/ammo - neither of which is ever in short supply.

Sticking with it, because the visuals and the story I'm sure will be worth it, but it's not a classic like the original yet.

Will be interesting to see what the DLC does for it, they seem to be hanging a lot on that. I realize it's mostly a money-grab, but if they can provide quality, I'm in.

[MrBug708]

Lords of Football

Anyone read anything on this one? Seems like a Sims meets FM meets GTA?

[Abe Sargent]

Wow


News - Introducing: The Retromator 4000 - GOG.com


Gotta be april fools

[spleen1015]

Really looking forward to GTA V.

[MizzouRah]

Never too early to start talking NCAA football..

[JonInMiddleGA]

Disney Shuts Down LucasArts, Cancels Star Wars 1313 And Star Wars: First Assault