What is the last video game you played?

[Koray Savas 2,260]

Skyrim is quality. Odd how you put in 100 hours more than me to complete it all. Perhaps you have the DLCs? PS3 still didn't get them but I recall reading the the next one will be and that they're still trying to make the others work.

[BLUMENKOHL 1,110]

Eh. Once you become arch-mage of the college of Winterhold and the AI's are still telling you to consider signing up at the college of Winterhold, you realize it's a game that was made with a lot of man hours and not much else. There isn't much substance in the gameplay.

The last 2/3s of the game are just grinding to get story. Rinse and repeat.

[King Mark 3,975]

I also did all the scripted quests. I played about a total of 150 hours. I enjoyed Kingdoms of Amalur a bit more than Skyrim

I feel bad I sold my copy before the new DLC Dragonborn though

[Koray Savas 2,260]

Eh. Once you become arch-mage of the college of Winterhold and the AI's are still telling you to consider signing up at the college of Winterhold, you realize it's a game that was made with a lot of man hours and not much else. There isn't much substance in the gameplay.

The last 2/3s of the game are just grinding to get story. Rinse and repeat.

That's part of the Bethesda charm for me.

[Quintus 6,496]

Hey KM, were you never tempted by Okami HD? I'd love to find the time to play and finish it at some point. It looks stupendously beautiful and it's apparently a really, REALLY big game (which I know you like).

[King Mark 3,975]

hmm, seems interesting

[Quintus 6,496]

Great review at EG: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-10-30-okami-hd-review

Damnit I might have to bite the bullet myself.

[Koray Savas 2,260]

Yeah I plan on getting that at one point, the $20 put me off when it first hit the PS Store. I'd rather own it on a disc but it's digital only.

[King Mark 3,975]

I haven't felt like playing games for the past 2 weeks

[Koray Savas 2,260]

I forgot about Sly Cooper: Thieves In Time, which is out in a few weeks. That dropped to a mere $40, so I pre-ordered it. Guess they aren't expecting a ton of sales for it, which is strange. Might have something to do with the sales of All-Stars Battle Royale, as Sly is featured in that one and I think the developers are the same.

[Rachael Foley 10,162]

I played The Hobbit Vivendi, gosh I forgot how I love this game.

[crocodile 9,724]

I'm playing Arkham City, which is really, really, really good. Much better than the predecessor (which was very good in itself).

Karol

[Quintus 6,496]

Finished it and its DLC. Brilliant game, on par with Asylum for me.

[Marian Schedenig 11,694]

I'm playing Arkham City, which is really, really, really good. Much better than the predecessor (which was very good in itself).

I liked the gameplay of Asylum, but quickly got bored with the game. Would City sustain my interest?

[KK 3,313]

Finished it and its DLC. Brilliant game, on par with Asylum for me.

This.

Great games.

[Red 75]

The DLC was a bit disappointing. They didn't do enough with it I thought.

[Quintus 6,496]

The Harliquin one was half price when I bought it so I was satisfied with the extra couple of hours of new missions, and Robin was badass. I'd play a full game with him.

I'm playing Arkham City, which is really, really, really good. Much better than the predecessor (which was very good in itself).

I liked the gameplay of Asylum, but quickly got bored with the game. Would City sustain my interest?

Probably not.

[Jay 46,244]

Wow - PS3 overtakes XBox360 for second place in sales this generation (Wii is still easily #1)

http://www.technobuffalo.com/2013/01/14/playstation-3-overtakes-xbox-360-lifetime-global-sales/

[Quintus 6,496]

Good for Sony, if genuine. Microsoft have been idiots during the second half of the gen cycle and PS3s bluray player is probably another big factor.

Lee - wondering why the big sites aren't reporting this story.

[Marian Schedenig 11,694]

I liked the gameplay of Asylum, but quickly got bored with the game. Would City sustain my interest?

Probably not.

Feared so. Because I really liked the concept.

In other news, Ron Gilbert/Double Fine's The Cave is coming out on all major and minor systems these days (including Macs and Linux via Steam).

[crocodile 9,724]

I'm playing Arkham City, which is really, really, really good. Much better than the predecessor (which was very good in itself).

I liked the gameplay of Asylum, but quickly got bored with the game. Would City sustain my interest?

City is a bit more "open" and has quite a broad scope.

and Robin was badass. I'd play a full game with him.

Who would have thought, eh?

Karol

[Quintus 6,496]

Infrikkin deed. Have you tried him out? He controls absolutely brilliantly.

Such a waste.

[crocodile 9,724]

Nope, but will do.

Karol

[Quintus 6,496]

Wait for it to drop in price again. It's only a couple of hours long. Cost me 400Msp

[Koray Savas 2,260]

Good for Sony, if genuine. Microsoft have been idiots during the second half of the gen cycle and PS3s bluray player is probably another big factor.

Lee - wondering why the big sites aren't reporting this story.

It was on IGN. That article also showed total sales stats for all consoles, and Sony's three PlayStations were in the Top 4. I think it went PS2, PS, Wii, PS3, 360.

[Quintus 6,496]

PS and PS2 were previous gens, though.

Oh hang on you mean all time.

I checked ign at the time and couldn't see it but never mind

[Jay 46,244]

Good for Sony, if genuine. Microsoft have been idiots during the second half of the gen cycle and PS3s bluray player is probably another big factor.

Lee - wondering why the big sites aren't reporting this story.

It was on IGN. That article also showed total sales stats for all consoles, and Sony's three PlayStations were in the Top 4. I think it went PS2, PS, Wii, PS3, 360.

Correct

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_game_consoles#Video_game_consoles_.28not_including_handhelds.29

[Koray Savas 2,260]

Yeah. I mentioned it to show just how much the Sony PlayStation is essential to the gaming market. There has been talk lately about how Sony is slipping up with the failed Vita and their recent CES (?) show which pushed themselves as a brand name more than pushing their products. I don't think they're going anywhere anytime soon.

[Jay 46,244]

All those sales figures tell you is what happened in the past. It doesn't tell you the future

[Rachael Foley 10,162]

Just beat the two EA LOTR games, forgot how much fun they were.

[King Mark 3,975]

Finished Trinity Universe. Pretty crappy game, but it took so long to find a copy I finished it.

now it's either Dragon's Dogma or Darksiders 2...hmmm

[Quintus 6,496]

I'd rather play the first suggestion. The demo was brill, but screen tear was a major issue. Did they ever patch that?

[King Mark 3,975]

I dunno, stuff like that never bothered me too much

Eurogamer review of Wrath of the White Witch :9/10

http://www.eurogamer...te-witch-review

And IGN rates it 9.4

Hmm, I'll go buy it this week and play that as my next game. JRPG's rarely have game breaking bugs that need patching. I'll use part of my store credit from selling all those games

[Quintus 6,496]

Yeah I saw that. I like the look of it, but I hate the idea of turn based battle mechanics in anything other than strategy games and Dungeon Master clones. It's one of the reasons I never played the Final Fantasy series.

Also, does this game have annoying random map traversal battles (like FF does)?

[King Mark 3,975]

Also, does this game have annoying random map traversal battles (like FF does)?

I doubt that.. only a few recent low budget RPG's had that. Enchanted Arms and the last one I played Trinity Universe.

Usually you see the enemies and bump into them to initiate battle.

My hope is that it's 3rd person camera and not fixed landscapes.

[King Mark 3,975]

i have Ni No Kuni reserved for tomorrow in store

The 3 Atelier games+ Trinity Universe netted me 65$ in store credit to pay for it

[Quintus 6,496]

Hmm, Kingdoms of Amalur is £4.99 on Origin. Mmm, tempted, especially by the silky 60fps. Is this game better than Fable but less stodgy than Skyrim? I hate it when RPGs become tedious after the halfway point. Game of Thrones RPG is on sale too.

[Koray Savas 2,260]

That Games Of Thrones game got horrid reviews.

[King Mark 3,975]

Hmm, Kingdoms of Amalur is £4.99 on Origin. Mmm, tempted, especially by the silky 60fps. Is this game better than Fable but less stodgy than Skyrim? I hate it when RPGs become tedious after the halfway point.

I liked it somewhat better than Skyrim. The different sections of the game have different look so it's not always winter and snow like Skyrim. Combat is a lot better than Skyrim too

it's a very long game though

[Quintus 6,496]

I got it. Always really liked the demo last year when I tried it, but just put the game on the back burner due to my ever growing backlog. Hopefully I'll get around to playing it when I'm done with Bioshock 2.

[King Mark 3,975]

One recommendation. I would stick to the armor found in treasure chests and NOT use the crafting system. The crafting makes you over-powered like in Skyrim and sucks out the fun of the chest loots. I'd just stick by this rule as I start the game

[Quintus 6,496]

Noted. Crafting/Alchemy etc etc is avoided at all costs in RPGs ever since I realised I was wasting hours upon hours on it in Skyrim.

[Koray Savas 2,260]

For me that's where a lot of the joy is derived from. I didn't like crafting in Skyrim for awhile until I more or less figured out how to exploit it/easily make armor. Never did get into the Alchemy part, with all that badass armor, never needed those crazy potions.

Speaking of which, Bethesda and Sony announced that all the DLC will be heading to the PS3 in February. It'll be like getting 3 new games in one.

Elder Scrolls and Fallout kick your ass in the beginning when you're still ranking up, so it only makes sense that you can ultimately become an invincible scourge of humanity to go get payback on those fucking Deathclaws! (which will still kick your ass in 2 seconds anyway )

[crocodile 9,724]

Finished Arkham City. The main story is quite short, actually. I was surprised by the ending, though.

Karol

[Quintus 6,496]

Your short is my long. Arkham City (and Asylum) were ideally proportioned for me.

For me that's where a lot of the joy is derived from. I didn't like crafting in Skyrim for awhile until I more or less figured out how to exploit it/easily make armor.

It's the exploits which undermine those elements for me. I feel like I'm cheating.

[Koray Savas 2,260]

Not for me, cause I went out and scrounged for all the materials to make those damn iron ingots that boosted my skill.

I did more literally cheat by exploiting that skill boosting book that you get from one of the Daedric demons. It's supposed to destroy itself after one use but there was a way to get around it and infinitely boost all of your skills. I did this after I had completed every quest though so I had no qualms about it. I'm actually very serious when it comes to hacking/cheating in games.

I'm all giddy just thinking of Fallout 4. Bethesda developed, possibly next gen, at the very least on the Skyrim engine...

[King Mark 3,975]

Wow, Ni No Kuni is one of the most beautiful game I've seen on this generation console, if not the most beautiful. The environments are gorgeous, even better than Final Fantasy 13.

The combat is not really "turned based",you have to move around and hit the monsters. I'm sure there will be quite some skill involved once the game progresses.

Plus you get the 3rd person controllable camera in dungeons and towns instead of static environments (except the for the prologue). The other JRPG's I played with those beautiful cell shade graphics had no camera control , only fixed 3 D views (Tales of Vesperia, Tales of Graces F, Eternal Sonata ...)

I think I'll be playing this one to death

[Koray Savas 2,260]

Glad to hear it, I've yet to play mine.

[Jay 46,244]

Playstation 4 specs and controller leaked

http://www.technobuffalo.com/2013/01/23/playstation-4-specs-controller-leak/

[Quintus 6,496]

Aye, read this a few days ago. Apparently the gpu is significantly better than the one which is said to be powering the next Xbox.

How that pans out in real life practical terms though is possibly another matter entirely. They said the same about Cell...