Gaming Chat

[LeMarchand]

Just bought Stranded Deep for the PS4. I’m a sucker for survival games! Enjoying it so far, nice and chilled game.

 

Outlast is £2.94 - don't think it's "chilled", though!

[thimon]

Outlast is £2.94 - don't think it's "chilled", though!

 

A very different kind of ‘survival’ game [emoji1]

[sted]

im just playing xenoblade x on my wiiu (unplugged the ps4 as it has probably 2 games left in it both next year)

[simpsonj]

I wish PSN would stop reducing stuff to such low prices that I buy them despite having little time for play at the moment.

 

Just got:

Erica £4.49

Cat Quest £2.49

Sherlock Holmes: The Devil's Daughter £1.59

 

Might try Erica at the weekend. Currently on Witcher 3, but I'm finding it a bit too big and getting sick of playing Gwent. Anyone know if you have to beat the guys at the party you crash with Triss?

 

No, pretty sure you don't, the reward if you win the tournament is, IIRC, a hard to get Gwent card (and probably a Trophy), so probably not worth pursuing!

[LeMarchand]

No, pretty sure you don't, the reward if you win the tournament is, IIRC, a hard to get Gwent card (and probably a Trophy), so probably not worth pursuing!

 

Cheers. Maybe if I'd bothered playing at every opportunity I'd have better cards, but I just saw it as one of those things that was supposed to be a fun distraction rather than an important part of the game. As a consequence, now when I think "OK, I'll play a game" the other players seem to have ridiculously powerful cards.

[paulkerton]

After owning the collection for 4 years, and 19 years since the first one came out - I'm now FINALLY working my way through Halo: The Master Chief Collection.

 

So far, I'm nearly complete on Halo - and I can see why it was revolutionary when it came out, but it's REALLY showing it's age now. The level design is not good, too much backtracking and similar looking corridors. But - The AI even today is quite impressive, and the story is enjoyable. Looking forward to ploughing through all of them, especially once my Series X turns up.

 

Not sure that I needed it to turn into a zombie shooter half way through though, though again - it was 2001. I'm currently working through The Library, which I'm reading was the most hated level when Halo was originally released - and I can see why!

[ICTDirect_Dave]

The reason Halo's levels are quite repetitive was an issue of time & storage space in the end.

 

They had the story they wanted to tell but couldn't get it all done without reusing a lot of the mid-game level assets.

I hate the library level (its phenomenally difficuly without a shotgun), but I do so love the introduction of The Flood, it changes the whole dynamic of the game and builds into the lroe for the rest to come.

You're right, though. The AI is brilliant. Especially on the tougher levels.

 

The gem of the collection, for me, was the Remastered Halo 2. It's undeniably gorgeous and more fun to play through as some of the murkier levels are easier to follow.

Edited November 5, 2020 by ICTDirect_Dave

[paulkerton]

The reason Halo's levels are quite repetitive was an issue of time & storage space in the end.

 

It's definitely got that feel, but you can also tell why it was also revolutionary for it's time. Especially on console. Narratively, when you think back to 2001, it was absolutely head and shoulders above anything in the FPS genre.

I remember before the Xbox launched, I went to an event which was a showcase of what Xbox had coming, and they were demoing some Halo content that we got to play. Just having your ammo count on the back of the rifle blew my mind back then

Edited November 5, 2020 by paulkerton

[Patrick]

I'm currently playing through MCC as I played halo on PC way back in 2001 and never played the rest! Currently on ODST, but not enjoying that at all. Probably going to go straight to Halo 4 once it's released.

[ICTDirect_Dave]

I'm currently playing through MCC as I played halo on PC way back in 2001 and never played the rest! Currently on ODST, but not enjoying that at all. Probably going to go straight to Halo 4 once it's released.

I was actualy a fan of odst. It was a very different game compared to playing as the Chief. You were considerably more fragile!

It certainly took more thought to get through

[Patrick]

I'm playing the whole MCC Coop with a friend and we both don't seem to like it, I prefer the traditional gameplay of Halo. Gutted that Infinite was delayed

[DaveTheTech]

A group of us recently spun up a Call of Duty 4 server. It was the first game that I bought for multiplayer!

Found some of the remastered maps - I forgot how much fun that game was.

[sted]

ive been playing through the master chief collection as they release on pc got a few levels into odst though and just gave up boy that game is not great.

[bald_pig]

Anyone who has Youtube premium can get a free chromecast ultra and a stadia controller by signing up for a stadia trial here:

 

https://stadia.google.com/SdFGljSduV5z

[thimon]

Anyone who has Youtube premium can get a free chromecast ultra and a stadia controller by signing up for a stadia trial here:

 

https://stadia.google.com/SdFGljSduV5z

 

What happens if you sign up to a trial of YouTube Premium to do this...? [emoji846]

[bald_pig]

What happens if you sign up to a trial of YouTube Premium to do this...? [emoji846]

 

not a clue, the wife has yt premium so used her account

[CHiLL]

What happens if you sign up to a trial of YouTube Premium to do this...? [emoji846]

I just signed up for a free trial of premium to see. I'm getting a "Sorry, looks like you're not eligible for this offer. Please make sure that you’re logged in with an eligible YouTube Premium account." message. Either the premium status hasn't replicated correctly yet, or (most likely) it's not eligible for trial users.

[simpsonj]

I think you had to a member as of November 6th.

Also, if you're a Google One Member, it turns the 1 month trial into a 3 month trial...

[LeMarchand]

Just finished Erica, which PSN had on offer. Actually preferred it to Bandersnatch. Having looked at the alternative endings, I think I got the one I wanted. Don't think I'm likely to revisit it, though.

[simpsonj]

For those that missed the Stadia Premier offer, preorder Cyberpunk 2077 and get Stadia Premier for free

Edit - Nevermind US residents only, despite what twitter says 🙁

Edited November 19, 2020 by simpsonj

[DalekSec]

For those that missed the Stadia Premier offer, preorder Cyberpunk 2077 and get Stadia Premier for free

Edit - Nevermind US residents only, despite what twitter says 🙁

 

Is anyone actually using Stadia*

 

 

*Who doesn't work for Google

[simpsonj]

Thanks to @bald_pig I got the Premier version of Stadia with Pro until February.

 

It's not bad on my 40-50mbs line, provided I use a ethernet lead rather than wireless. But the games library for it, for me at least, isn't particularly exciting. A lot of older games, some indie hits, and the odd exclusive, but nothing like a Halo/Final Fantasy/Metal Gear/Mario/Zelda etc

 

However, now the playing field is levelled out a bit, as no one has a massive range of next gen games, the Stadia might be about to come into it's own. It is a full fledged, next gen console, for free* that will play at 4k with HDR. So it's worth looking at. Along with Amazon Luna, X-Cloud and Geforce Now.

 

For me, the litmus test is going to be Cyberpunk 2077, as it's the first (and possible only!) game I'll be buying for Stadia. I'm hoping the experience will be better than the PS4 Pro can provide (especially around loading times) or my laptop, which won't handle 4k graphics.

 

*You need something to play it on, and you need to buy a game, but otherwise there's no upfront cost, unlike a PS5 or Xbox Series X

Edited November 20, 2020 by simpsonj
typo

[sted]

Is anyone actually using Stadia*

 

 

*Who doesn't work for Google

 

i used it to try immortals phoenix rising. worked surprisngly well (for reference i have 900mb internet and was running it on a pixelbook with an xbox 1 controller) only had 1 issue one time the stick kept the character/camera rotating after id let go of it but other than that i was impressed but tech has never been stadias issue its the library and the fact there is no download option so when google inevitably shutter it you lose access to your games

[sted]

*You need something to play it on, and you need to buy a game, but otherwise there's no upfront cost, unlike a PS5 or Xbox Series X

not 100% true you can play xbox games on your phone (and pc /possibly browser support coming soon) with just a subscription (and a controller) no box required

[simpsonj]

The fact there is no download option so when google inevitably shutter it you lose access to your games

 

Yes, this is the most worrying aspect, and my biggest barrier to greater adoption of Stadia. I would prefer that they went down the rental option, that way I can test a game on Stadia, and buy it on another platform if it's a game I think I'll want to play 5-10 years down the line. I think, though I'm not sure, this is how Amazon's Luna is likely to work.