Gaming thoughts, bite-size chewables - new orange flavor!

[richleader]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnmjJObPBPI


Some people call Antirad/Rad Warrior one of the earliest Metroidvania games. I think it grabbed me because

1. I could afford it: the Epyx print was cheap and the manual was one of those ones that really let you grab onto the lore so you'd feel like there was more game than the game actually delivered

2. While the map is pitiful in size compared to what Metroid would be, everything was hand crafted to a larger extent with some cool spritework of twisted demon trees and olympian statues holding up masonry. That really sold me on it despite unlike Metroid, you died on basic tasks often enough that you had to re-run things over and over again which was where the game's length came from.

At any rate, it's only of those 4/10 games that was an 8/10 for me because it was doing things I didn't know I wanted from games. I think what did it is there's a point at the very beginning where you have to run past the room with the power armor to go get the ability to actually use it elsewhere, but that formed both story/progression in a way that I had never really seen before, tantalizing you with possibility instead of just handing you a power pellet or whatever.

 

[Demento]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnmjJObPBPI


Some people call Antirad/Rad Warrior one of the earliest Metroidvania games. I think it grabbed me because

1. I could afford it: the Epyx print was cheap and the manual was one of those ones that really let you grab onto the lore so you'd feel like there was more game than the game actually delivered

2. While the map is pitiful in size compared to what Metroid would be, everything was hand crafted to a larger extent with some cool spritework of twisted demon trees and olympian statues holding up masonry. That really sold me on it despite unlike Metroid, you died on basic tasks often enough that you had to re-run things over and over again which was where the game's length came from.

At any rate, it's only of those 4/10 games that was an 8/10 for me because it was doing things I didn't know I wanted from games. I think what did it is there's a point at the very beginning where you have to run past the room with the power armor to go get the ability to actually use it elsewhere, but that formed both story/progression in a way that I had never really seen before, tantalizing you with possibility instead of just handing you a power pellet or whatever.

I'd actually never heard of it, despite being a massive C=>64 nerd in the day.

I'd call Below the Root the spiritual ancestor of such things, before they split into action (like above) and adventure (like Maniac Mansion). I wasted soooo much time in that world.

 

[grommit!]

More cuts at eurogamer and it's sister sites:
https://www.videogameschronicle.com...-as-ign-owned-eurogamer-cuts-editorial-staff/

That’s understood to include the brand’s most experienced editors and its entire four-person video team, though at least one position will be transferred to IGN, according to people with knowledge of the situation.

Interesting note about how the current eurogamer crew were all transplants from vg247, which has been left to rot as a guides site.

 

[Diabolical]

I recently started reading jank.cool.

It's a three-person outfit featuring some Rock Paper Shotgun escapees. Not news focused, definitely more editorial. But it's part of an ever-expanding sea of independent media I hope can stay afloat given the bloodletting at the traditional (and now corporate) outlets.

 

[Xavin]

I was maybe a bit optimistic when I chose the difficulty level for Air Combat 7. It took me a good number of tries to get through mission 5. I'm having fun though.

I really like those games in general, but 7 in particular had a few gimmick missions that played more like puzzles than the "kill all the things" the game is supposed to be. I just got frustrated and stopped at some point.

 

[swiftdraw]

I recently started reading jank.cool.

It's a three-person outfit featuring some Rock Paper Shotgun escapees. Not news focused, definitely more editorial. But it's part of an ever-expanding sea of independent media I hope can stay afloat given the bloodletting at the traditional (and now corporate) outlets.

The problem is that I think we’re reaching, if not reached, market saturation with all the small independents. There is a lot of former IGN, Gamespot, Giant Bomb, and GameInformer folks out their vying for patreon money or similar.

 

[rtrefz]

I really like those games in general, but 7 in particular had a few gimmick missions that played more like puzzles than the "kill all the things" the game is supposed to be. I just got frustrated and stopped at some point.

I suspect my issue is choosing the wrong plane. I'm trying to get through a ground attack mission using a warthog because it's made for blowing up stuff on the ground. However, air support keeps taking me out. I probably need to restart using a more balanced aircraft.

 

[GloatingSwine]

Yeah, I don't remember 7 having a giant air-to-ground mission where the warthog really gets to play.

 

[Diabolical]

The problem is that I think we’re reaching, if not reached, market saturation with all the small independents. There is a lot of former IGN, Gamespot, Giant Bomb, and GameInformer folks out their vying for patreon money or similar.

Yeah. Which means trying to find the right outlet to support. Or rotate through. I paid for a year (and only a year) of Unwinnable, and am now sifting for where I’m going to put that patreon money next.

 

[Demento]

I recently started reading jank.cool.

It's a three-person outfit featuring some Rock Paper Shotgun escapees. Not news focused, definitely more editorial. But it's part of an ever-expanding sea of independent media I hope can stay afloat given the bloodletting at the traditional (and now corporate) outlets.

If your Morrowind playthrough doesn't end with you hurtling through the sky and vapourising enemies with merely a wink and a grin, are you even playing Morrowind?

From the article about game creators' favourite occurrences of "jank".

 

[Diabolical]

From the article about game creators' favourite occurrences of "jank".

See why I like their writing?

 

[richleader]

I'd actually never heard of it, despite being a massive C=>64 nerd in the day.

I'd call Below the Root the spiritual ancestor of such things, before they split into action (like above) and adventure (like Maniac Mansion). I wasted soooo much time in that world.

Loved that too. And Alice in Wonderland. The other Windham Classics didn't really grab me. It's crazy that the company only existed for one year...

 

[swiftdraw]

Yeah, I don't remember 7 having a giant air-to-ground mission where the warthog really gets to play.

Mission 6: Long Day. But, TBF, that’s most Ace Combat games. There will be an A2G mission, but there will be a mission update 3/4 of the way through and you’re fighting that entry’s Ace or something. Long Day kinda sucked because not only did you get jumped by a drone swarm, you were also on a timer, which made it difficult to use the slow-as-molasses A-10. I think 5 and 6 saw the most viable A-10 use. 5 had the mission where you were defending Sand Island from a naval invasion (though I preferred the A-6 for this) and the mission where you were supporting a naval landing. 6 the A-10 got those gods forsaken rocket pods in such numbers you could take out an air cruiser in one pass with them. The rockets were ridiculous and the A-10 got to carry the most, so it clapped anything that wasn’t a fighter.

Other than that, the A-10 is kind of marginally useful at best in the series. Sort of like real life

 

[Frosty Grin]

The problem is that I think we’re reaching, if not reached, market saturation with all the small independents. There is a lot of former IGN, Gamespot, Giant Bomb, and GameInformer folks out their vying for patreon money or similar.

The actual problem is that media lose significance when they're small - especially if they're locking content behind paywalls. You're not a journalist if almost nobody is reading you - and, of course, it's not limited to gaming journalism. You'd first need to make a name for yourself, so that you have a big audience even with a paywall - and even then there's no guarantee it's going to hold.

 

[GloatingSwine]

Mission 6: Long Day. But, TBF, that’s most Ace Combat games. There will be an A2G mission, but there will be a mission update 3/4 of the way through and you’re fighting that entry’s Ace or something.

Nah, most of them have a purer A2G mission where there might be some enemy air units but they're usually also ground attackers (A-10s or Tornados are common) or they're an obstacle whilst you do the ground attack not an objective you have to deal with (unless you want to scoremax).

The other alternative is a fleet attack mission with few to no air assets.

 

[rtrefz]

Mission 6: Long Day. But, TBF, that’s most Ace Combat games. There will be an A2G mission, but there will be a mission update 3/4 of the way through and you’re fighting that entry’s Ace or something. Long Day kinda sucked because not only did you get jumped by a drone swarm, you were also on a timer, which made it difficult to use the slow-as-molasses A-10. I think 5 and 6 saw the most viable A-10 use. 5 had the mission where you were defending Sand Island from a naval invasion (though I preferred the A-6 for this) and the mission where you were supporting a naval landing. 6 the A-10 got those gods forsaken rocket pods in such numbers you could take out an air cruiser in one pass with them. The rockets were ridiculous and the A-10 got to carry the most, so it clapped anything that wasn’t a fighter.

Other than that, the A-10 is kind of marginally useful at best in the series. Sort of like real life

Yeah, I'm stuck on long day.

 

[Thorvard]

I suspect my issue is choosing the wrong plane. I'm trying to get through a ground attack mission using a warthog because it's made for blowing up stuff on the ground. However, air support keeps taking me out. I probably need to restart using a more balanced aircraft.

I don't think I ever used the Warthog. I'd just make sure that my special weapon was a good air to ground missle.

 

[grommit!]

As one of the replies notes, videogamer laid off most of it's staff recently

View: https://bsky.app/profile/apzonerunner.com/post/3mfrinl5yuc2h
(edit) for those slow on the uptake, it's an AI generated review.

 

[senan79]

Anyone tried Bungie's Marathon Server Slam ? Opinions ?

 

[chimricholds]

Anyone tried Bungie's Marathon Server Slam ? Opinions ?

My brother and I put some time into it last night. As huge fans of Bungie's previous titles, we both found it to be a little disappointing.

The game runs well on my PC (4080 Super, 5800x3D), but the art style isn't my cup of tea and the UI (particularly the menus) has a sort of friction to it that I found to be grating, if that makes sense.

As far as gameplay is concerned, the movement is slower and more deliberate than Bungie's more recent titles, and you have a stamina bar that is rapidly depleted when sprinting. The shooting feels good. The game has heroes/classes that have unique abilities (handheld shields, invisibility, etc.) on fairly long cooldown timers.

The PVE enemies are relatively interesting the first few times you engage with them (or avoid them), but I have yet to fight anything that mirrors the quality of the encounters of the Halo and Destiny franchises. The loot seems to be mostly worthless junk with technobabble descriptions that are automatically sold when you successfully extract. Weapons, ammo, consumables, and shields seem to be pretty scarce.

PVP encounters can be frustrating due to the game's low TTK, so an enemy team getting the drop on you means almost certain death, at least at this point in the game's life cycle. Future gear and builds may change this, but that remains to be seen.

The game also has some skill trees/upgrades that I haven't had time to really interact with yet.

The game has factions and optional contracts/quests that seem to be telling an overarching narrative, but the game is mostly aimless wandering while scavenging for the aforementioned loot.

Perhaps I'm just not a fan of the extraction genre, but I have a hard time envisioning this game achieving the longevity of some of Bungie's previous titles. I hope I'm wrong.

 

[Xavin]

Perhaps I'm just not a fan of the extraction genre, but I have a hard time envisioning this game achieving the longevity of some of Bungie's previous titles. I hope I'm wrong.

It's possible it will find an audience but honestly I don't have a lot of faith. Destiny was able to remain pretty successful by picking a niche (PvE console-style shooter live service almost MMO) that they got to first and nobody competently tried to compete with. They never really figured out how to run a live service game well, constantly thrashed around with their plans and progression systems, and generally just dropped the ball. Despite all that they pulled a rabbit out of their hat every few years and kept it going.

Marathon OTOH is trying to muscle into a mature niche and so far fumbling it pretty hard. While there's certainly room for a Fortnite type polished game to appear and take over, nothing Bungie has done in the past 15 years leads me to believe they have the capability to be that game. I also have a lot of doubt over whether extraction shooters will ever be really mainstream. Getting past it and playing again after getting sniped and losing your stuff is a mental barrier a lot of people are never going to get past, especially the PvE people that are Bungie's core fanbase.

 

[CommanderJameson]

I also have a lot of doubt over whether extraction shooters will ever be really mainstream.

Warzone is huge. Millions of players.

 

[LordDaMan]

So I got cloverpit the other day. Didn't know it has the same exact vibe as Shotgun Roulette.

So is this the start of new genre?

 

[Xavin]

Warzone is huge. Millions of players.

Warzone, as far as I am aware, is a Battle Royale, which is an entirely different thing.

 

[SportivoA]

If I weren't so busy this weekend (partly out of town), I might have tried it to see how much I'd bounce off the genre. And maybe try to get in with the Destiny 2 folks I've played with in less recent years. Maybe it'll have emergent coop-between-squads behavior for meeting the PvE objectives (e.g. have to lay down fire in four directions simultaneously on squads of three or BIG bosses). But I have no ambition for learning how much you'll get shot in the face/back as soon as the loot goes down. Or on the way out. The emergent behavior of today seems to include camping the early game quest objectives since trolling is more interesting than advancing in this playtest for someones.

Note that the Marathon Thread seems to have fallen off, but is still there.

 

[Aleamapper]

Warzone, as far as I am aware, is a Battle Royale, which is an entirely different thing.

Warzone is battle royale, yeah. The more apt comparison from that franchise would be DMZ, which was excellent, imho.

Marathon's competition is Arc Raiders, which has it beaten by any measure I can think of. The only advantage Marathon has it's unique art style, but even that is very marmite and can look sort of cheap, previous-gen and unfinished at the best of times. Also, like other posters have said, the low TTK versus players means you're nearly always going to lose fights you don't start, and that's going to make it really frustrating for casuals.

Arc Raiders also had similar issues, but the relatively chill lobbies for solo players made it way more palatable. Marathon doesn't have that.

 

[CommanderJameson]

Warzone, as far as I am aware, is a Battle Royale, which is an entirely different thing.

And it's an extraction shooter, as in you can leave with your gear in the DMZ mode.

I’ve played it. Have you?

 

[Mister E. Meat]

I'd actually never heard of it, despite being a massive C=>64 nerd in the day.

I'd call Below the Root the spiritual ancestor of such things, before they split into action (like above) and adventure (like Maniac Mansion). I wasted soooo much time in that world.

I loved Below the Root so much. The game got me to read the books. I was pretty obsessed with that world.

 

[richleader]

^ I had this crazy idea where I wanted to have the maps printed into segmented posters and use it for seamless wallpaper in my computer room. Never did it though.

https://blog.stahlmandesign.com/content/images/2015/07/belowTheRootMasterMap.png

http://www.thegreatness.com/belowtheroot/belowtheroot.png

 

[Artichoke Sap]

And it's an extraction shooter, as in you can leave with your gear in the DMZ mode.

I’ve played it. Have you?

What % of the millions of Warzone players are DMZ players? Serious question, not a gotcha. Wondering how it compares to total and concurrent players of Hunt: Showdown or Escape From Tarkov, the extraction shooters with the largest mindshare.

 

[CommanderJameson]

No idea. But another data point is Arc Raiders.

Currently playing: 133k (per https://tracker.gg/population/steam/1808500)

Tarkov is 14K right now (https://steamdb.info/app/3932890/charts/)

Hunt: Showdown has 17K (https://steamcharts.com/app/594650)

No idea on the accuracy of the data in those links.

 

[CommanderJameson]

By way of comparison from a surface-level search:

Regular COD : 641K
Fortnite: 2.5M
PUBG: 351K
Destiny 2: 200K

Extraction shooters are big, but regular BR shooters are bigger, and Fortnite is biggest.

I tried Tarkov and Hunt Showdown, and they’re both just so visually bleak. Look, I live on the northern coast in the UK and it’s February. If I want endless depressing grey, I can just go outside. It’s been a while, though. Maybe they’ve added some more cheerful maps and weather.

 

[grommit!]

Wondering how it compares to total and concurrent players of Hunt: Showdown or Escape From Tarkov, the extraction shooters with the largest mindshare.

Do those games have a custom launcher or something? Because they haven't even broken into six digit all-time peak. Arc Raiders on the other hand:

 

[Artichoke Sap]

Tarkov used to have a custom launcher, but I thought they moved to Steam, so they should show if they're on the board. I certainly didn't know that Arc Raiders still had those numbers!

Interestingly, the Marathon Server Slam (which started this sub-discussion) at least got in the ballpark.

...and now I have to see what "Bongo Cat" is, but juuust in case, I'll wait until I'm not at work.

 

[MrLiNcH]

I agree with @Xavin that DMZ is the apt comparison here. Warzone doesn't have PVE as far as I remember, which is a big part of the extraction shooter definition. COD devs stopped developing new stuff for DMZ so I bet player count dropped way off, but hard to measure. Delta Force kinda picked up DMZ's feel for a COD type combat with extraction shooter stuff (loot, shoot, skoot!).

Tarkov still has a custom launcher, and I believe the Steam version just launches that. It was a big thing that the devs (BSG) didn't automatically hand out Steam keys and were making people buy a second copy.

 

[CommanderJameson]

Oh and BTW CODBLOPS7 has the Endgame mode, which is 100% PvE Extraction fun. Seems to average around 60-90K online players.

 

[whoisit]

Picked up Dredge and it's expansions on the cheap. At first I wasn't sure what all the fuss was about, then I started catching messed up fish and fishing at night. Thus far, pulling off chill and creepy is a heck of a trick.

 

[IceStorm]

Only $80? I would have assumed they'd call it an even $100. But how much storage does the PS5 Pro have? A measly terabyte, I'll bet? Or did they go crazy and put a 2 TB SSD in (now that they might as well be made with inset diamonds)?

The PS5 Pro has a 2TB SSD as standard. It was $650 during Black Friday season. It and its optical drive were $730, total. I did not bother with a vertical stand as I installed the optical drive.

There is little point to the regular PS5 now that storage prices have gone the way of DRAM prices. Just get a Pro.

 

[Thorvard]

There is little point to the regular PS5 now that storage prices have gone the way of DRAM prices. Just get a Pro.

Basically my thought as well. I haven't even had a chance to set it up yet

 

[LordDaMan]

View attachment 129335

Picked up Dredge and it's expansions on the cheap. At first I wasn't sure what all the fuss was about, then I started catching messed up fish and fishing at night. Thus far, pulling off chill and creepy is a heck of a trick.

You would think slow burn horror fishing game would never be a combo worth plying