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Tacitus's Avatar
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The People's Republic of Clogher
06-07-19
Google Stadia anyone?



I was very intrigued at the initial reveal but now I'll probably try it for a 9.99 month to see what it's like, depending on the games offered in that tier - Destiny 2 is the only one announced so far.

If Microsoft and Sony's streaming offerings match Google's speed requirements (my rural arse internet should be able to, just about, do 4k/60 with Stadia) I'll be a lot more interested in seeing what they have to offer. Game Pass is an excellent deal right now and if they could offer that kind of selection with a Streaming subscription, my next gen purchase might well be an Xbox Two.
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06-07-19
I have the same reaction to this as I did to the concept of streaming video: that seems impossible! But since the limit is only processing power and bandwidth, however viable it is now, it's clearly going to be viable, which means this is smart and will probably be a big deal before long.

The better argument than the technical, I think, is the trend towards software (games, in this case) as a service. Which has advantages, but a lot of little downsides that really owning a game doesn't. But yeah, this is probably either The Future or A Pretty Big Part of the Future.



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That elusive hide-and-seek cow is at it again
06-07-19
So tac. Do you mind if I call you tac? The lower case isn't meaningful at all. It's just that I'm lazy =\

Anyway. What are your thoughts on streaming services as opposed to physical copies of a game? There was an article on NPR the other day discussing the breakdown of Apple's iTunes and its role in the transition between physical media and downloads. Now the transition is from downloading a digital copy to simply streaming at will. I suppose movies and games are on the same path, if at different stages, of that evolution.

I personally like having a physical copy of something. I suppose it's wasteful in a growing context, but it is tangible and shows maybe some idealist take on growth or history. I mean, having an album from the 70s next to a CD from the 90s in a way says, "Hey. I existed in these milestones of history, whether it's sentimental or technological, it feels progressive." Games may not have such an emotional grip for me, but they're close. I do still have an Atari 2600 and a small case of cartridges. I do still have my old Sega Master System, Genesis, and SNES. My PS original still sits on my shelf, though the CD door's locking mechanism no longer catches correctly. I've recently migrated to the PS4 and I imagine the PS3 will hang around too, though I don't think I will play much more on it as games seems to be available on the PS4 too, should I wish to revisit. A few years ago I bought a digital copy of Phantasy Star II and Out of this World. While nostalgic, I haven't put much time at all into either. Same for a digital copy of Final Fantasy VIII. So I guess there is something to be said, at least to clutter, for having digital content that I will rarely touch keeping my shelf space relatively empty.

All that said, I have Spotify streaming Bowie maybe 12 hours a day so there's that.
iderno, yo.
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The Adventure Starts Here!
06-07-19
I remember Yoda telling me many years ago that streaming things would become the norm: everything in the cloud somewhere instead of physically owning it (songs, movies, TV shows, games, books). I would have argued with him at that point, but he's been right about such things more often than not.

And even I, the middle-aged semi-hoarder, have almost stopped buying physical DVDs or CDs or games (except print books and also board games, which ironically are making a comeback). I can often just find what I want to watch or play online somewhere (this is the best site for finding where your favorite thing is streaming: https://www.justwatch.com/us ).

I'm relieved that I've stopped buying DVDs and CDs. They take up a lot of room after a while and I only watch each movie or show periodically. And I put all my music on the iPods immediately or stream songs through Alexa. Despite still buying print books at an alarming rate, I also have owned Kindles since the first generation ones.

There are still things I buy in physical form without even thinking about them, but mainly they are things I desperately want to have access to without worrying if this or that service is currently streaming them. Or they're things by people whose work I cherish or collect (certain authors, artists, show series, actors, etc.). Other than that, anything else can just be found online... or not.

I still have the floppy disks of various games I've owned way back when. I think I still have disks for games like Riven. Might even have my original Myst CD here somewhere... But I haven't bought a physical *game* in years. Not since getting on Steam, I think. Well, except for things like the Myst 25th Anniversary collection (as well as the earlier 10th anniversary collection).

But I think my view on all these things has shifted a little. I seem to reserve physical purchases for collecting (or completing collections). I don't see that part changing, except if such things just become completely obsolete. "Weird Al" Yankovic, for one, has said that Mandatory Fun was his last physically produced album, which saddens me a little, though I totally understand why he's doing it.

But hey, there are always playlists, right?



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The People's Republic of Clogher
06-07-19
Originally Posted by ynwtf
So tac. Do you mind if I call you tac? The lower case isn't meaningful at all. It's just that I'm lazy =\

Anyway. What are your thoughts on streaming services as opposed to physical copies of a game? There was an article on NPR the other day discussing the breakdown of Apple's iTunes and its role in the transition between physical media and downloads. Now the transition is from downloading a digital copy to simply streaming at will. I suppose movies and games are on the same path, if at different stages, of that evolution.

I personally like having a physical copy of something. I suppose it's wasteful in a growing context, but it is tangible and shows maybe some idealist take on growth or history. I mean, having an album from the 70s next to a CD from the 90s in a way says, "Hey. I existed in these milestones of history, whether it's sentimental or technological, it feels progressive." Games may not have such an emotional grip for me, but they're close. I do still have an Atari 2600 and a small case of cartridges. I do still have my old Sega Master System, Genesis, and SNES. My PS original still sits on my shelf, though the CD door's locking mechanism no longer catches correctly. I've recently migrated to the PS4 and I imagine the PS3 will hang around too, though I don't think I will play much more on it as games seems to be available on the PS4 too, should I wish to revisit. A few years ago I bought a digital copy of Phantasy Star II and Out of this World. While nostalgic, I haven't put much time at all into either. Same for a digital copy of Final Fantasy VIII. So I guess there is something to be said, at least to clutter, for having digital content that I will rarely touch keeping my shelf space relatively empty.

All that said, I have Spotify streaming Bowie maybe 12 hours a day so there's that.
iderno, yo.
When this console generation started I told myself that I'd buy as much stuff as possible digitally and, now that we're entering its final year, I've probably got only 30% of my PS4 and Xbone games on disc. Tellingly though, I've bought a lot more physical copies recently, including Days Gone today. The factor is price.

I don't think any current gen games actually run from the disc, especially not the big releases. The media is only there to dump the files to the hard drive and provide an anti-piracy measure, so the pull to own them in the days of constant patches is low for me. You rarely even get instruction booklets, maps etc in cases these days.

My PS2 collection is ripped to my modded console's hard drive so I never need to load a disc, same with my OG Xbox.

I don't have a problem with game streaming in the main but it'll never be a replacement service in my house. The Stadia stuff appeals to me least out of the three (presuming that Sony and MS announce their plans soon) because it's really only a replacement for the PC. It'll never get console exclusives and, most importantly to me, you won't be able to mod anything.

Do I trust Google not to shut the whole thing down in a few years if uptake isn't stellar? Nope.

The next generation of consoles seems key as Microsoft has already spoken of its streaming plans and has even launched a (weird) discless Xbox One.Can't see the big two going all-in any time soon though, seeing as internet speeds and bandwidth caps vary hugely around the world. I can see it being the norm for consoles in the next decade, however.



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The People's Republic of Clogher
06-07-19
Talking of physical media - Days Gone, a very recent release, had a 15GB patch as soon as I popped the disc in and, with my speeds, I couldn't even start the game for an hour.

Stick a Fallout 76 disc in your machine and you'll be faced with a 60GB patch, the entire game again.

Streaming seems, on the surface, a lot neater - everything is patched and ready to go - but I'd love to see the arguments over bandwidth taking place in households when someone's playing at 4k/60 for a few hours straight and no one else can even watch YouTube.



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That elusive hide-and-seek cow is at it again
06-07-19
^yes.
My nephew, with his XBOX1 is always bottle-necking dad's internet which gives a monthly cap of 10Gb. Thanks for the lengthy reply! I half expected to come back to a simple, "Yes, you can." That would have brought tears of joy to my eye, but I will accept what I've been given.

I cannot run RDR2 on PS4 without the disc. What did I do wrong?! Same with MH:W. so far those are the only discs I have though. The three or four other titles were downloads but I noticed my drive is already half full too. Eh.



Tacitus's Avatar
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The People's Republic of Clogher
06-07-19
The disc is just there as an anti-piracy protection now, nothing more. It stops you installing it then selling the disc. We need no-cd cracks for consoles.



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That elusive hide-and-seek cow is at it again
06-07-19
Originally Posted by Tacitus
The disc is just there as an anti-piracy protection now, nothing more. It stops you installing it then selling the disc. We need no-cd cracks for consoles.
Ah, I misread. I was getting excited that I just missed a setting lol. I guess that is kind of a slap in the face to my earlier posts, but I can want convenience AND archived hard copies!!!



Tacitus's Avatar
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The People's Republic of Clogher
06-07-19
Originally Posted by ynwtf
Ah, I misread. I was getting excited that I just missed a setting lol. I guess that is kind of a slap in the face to my earlier posts, but I can want convenience AND archived hard copies!!!
I guess you could get a usb hard drive (in addition to any that you already have hooked up) and transfer the games from the console drive to it, then store. You then need to install the games to your console all over again but you've got a backup.

Then again, I don't know how different that actually is to just using a usb drive for your games.



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there's a frog in my snake oil
06-09-19
This partially applies to classic FO4 too, so I'm sticking it here. And you cannot stop me

Originally Posted by Golgot
Fallout: Eeeeeee



I know this image doesn't look that compelling, but it capped off a great run of Fallout fun. Getting a lift in the bird over the city, 'one handing' a mini-gun out the window to clear out the mutant welcome committee. Watching Cait, highlighted in Power-Armour red, leap like a janky idiot into the sea, for no particularly good reason. And then on to some old ultra-violence amongst the latest corridor twists, all of it a kinetic counterpoint to the lore-soaking on the floating ship just before.

Honestly, I can just get lost in this for ages again, now I've wrestled myself out of the 'Must Build Another Base Populated By Bowler-Hatted Assassins' thing. I'd never done the Brotherhood of Steel line, so visiting the corners of their ship was all great. And feeling a load of storylines and set pieces overlapping out there in the middle-distance, waiting for me to elect them, is increasingly grand. No single aspect is superlative in F4, for sure, but together some of it really does take wing in VR. Partially it's the way Beth tries to fill in the space between engagements that's really getting me though. The whirly-bird that gets taken down overhead and flings shrapnel straight past your face. The sudden roaming monster that's 3x your size hoving into view. The wry comment from your companion that fits the local mood.

Some of this is good just because there's not enough of it about in VR gaming. But to paraphrase the song, it's also because, in VR: "The birds are the birdiest, the people the peopliest...". Umm. It's because all these elements are more 'present', that bit more 'real'. The crows look daft close up, but damn does a flock of them startling past you, or brooding noisily on a house top, add a lot to the game. Dammit if these silly characters don't feel more memorable for the fact that they barge you out of the way, clanking noisely as they pass, or just say something apposite behind your right ear while you're out in the ruins.

TLDR: I'm loving this again. In part it's because of giant 3D explosions, lore-infused environments, and its delicious tradition of functional jank. But also because made-for-VR games just aren't replete like this. Not one of them has a hidden perk for running around naked. Not one...
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Last edited by Golgot; 06-09-19 at 10:59 AM.



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06-10-19
These 60 years was kind to him. Didn't age much at all.
Can't wait for game!



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“I was cured, all right!”
06-10-19
It's a shame we'll have to wait until next year, but hey, at least the date is real, one month after FF VIII REMAKE. 2020 will be a great year for gaming.



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06-10-19
Cool stuff from Bethesda at E3, most of the rumors about Fallout 76 ended up being true:

- Human NPCs
- Dialogue trees
- New questline
- Battle Royale mode

It's the most predictable stuff ever: it was a messy as hell at launch, they spent months squashing bugs and adding new stuff, and it's rounded into a pretty good game six months later that looks like it could get a lot better. Tedious to live through, but so far it's all pretty standard for a game like this, I think, mostly just amplified by the goofy tech support and nylon bag issues, which made the whole thing seem worse but weren't related to the game itself.

I did take a month or two off at one point, hopped back in after some updates, and I've found myself gravitating back to it more since then, playing a few times every week. I was kind of wondering why, and I think it's because the core loop just feels a lot better. It's still an MMORPG, so obviously I'm repeating a lot of actions and grinding up and all that, but it's at least at the point where I don't feel like I'm fighting the game, because having to grind and having to fight the game to do it is awful. But I don't mind grinding in that world a bit if it's smooth, and it's definitely gotten smooth enough to be fun.

The players are shockingly nice, too. Overwhelmingly the people I run into are ridiculously friendly and helpful.

Hard to say if I'll ever want to spend a lot of time in it the way I did at launch, and the way I have with other Fallout games (where they basically take over my brain for half a year, it seems like), but for now I find it to be a pleasant bit of gaming for an hour here or there on a semi-regular basis, and I look forward to trying the new stuff.



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06-10-19
Cool premise, the fact that it's by the Dishonored people is super cool. I'm happy to have them try a new IP before making another one of those, as great as they are:




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I had 5 Swatches on my arm…
06-10-19
That FFVII release date was chosen specifically bc of my birthday

Disclaimer: I will not come back to edit this post when the release date is changed to after my b-day.



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A system of cells interlinked
06-10-19
Progressing along nicely on my second play of The Witcher III. Went with the cat school this time around, which has me using a bit more of a twitchy play style with lots of dodging and rolling, and I went with a Pyro build as far as signs are concerned. Quite a bit different that my previous play. I've also run into a little problem with over-leveling this time around, and I have gotten out in front of the difficulty curve on the main quest. Next session, I think I will blast through a bunch of the main line to get it caught up, now that it will be providing little or no XP.

Even though I have spent over 200 hours in this game, I still find myself wandering around Novigrad, taking in all the sights. The city pulses with life, which has me pretty psyched to see the city in Cyberpunk 2077. Pretty sure that's the game that will have me finally upgrading my processor...

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Last edited by Sedai; 06-10-19 at 11:24 AM.



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06-10-19
I still need to play that. I've been "saving" so many amazing games. I think this fall/winter is when I'll finally dive into most of them, and that'll be one of them. But I don't wanna start it while I'm busy because it looks like the kind of thing you can lose yourself in.

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