So, what're you playing?

[jakonovski]

DmC. It has Combichrist!

[Teleku]

Despite being designed for it, I found Rogue Legacy (like most side-scrolling platformers) controls really badly with a 360 pad.

I used my PS3 controller and it worked great.  I never was a fan of the Xbox controllers...

[Lantyssa]

Is there anything to make a PS3 controller easily work yet without having to jump through hoops?

[Quinton]

Sadly no.  PS4 controllers (minus the touchpad) are standard USB HID devices, so in theory they should be less painful.

[Bzalthek]

I'm so ready for this platformer fad to go away. Lots of otherwise great games being ruined by it.

BUT I'M OLD FUCK YER SNES YOU TWATS

I could not agree any more.  God fuck I hate it.  It's like they saw Minecraft went retro with graphics, what if we do it with everything else!?  Next up we'll have a spiritual successor to pong in 3D.

[Paelos]

I expressed my displeasure in the Steam thread, but I agree, it's awful how many platformer garbage games seem to have spawned ever since games like Trine became popular.

I'm over it. We made advances in gaming for a reason. Because playing something in a 3D world is better than a shitty side-scroller.

[jakonovski]

Oh hey, if anyone wants to play GT6 online I'm game. I'll recommend this game heartily, it fixes the worst faults of 5 and is extraordinarily pleasant to play.

[Kail]

I'm so ready for this platformer fad to go away. Lots of otherwise great games being ruined by it.

That's a strange way of looking at it, to me.

I mean, it's fine if you're tired of 2D platformers, but it's not like companies are throwing away fully functioning 3D worlds to jump on the 2D bandwagon.  No one's being hurt.

Like, five or ten years ago it was so common to hear oldsters like us bitching about how every game series went to shit once it went 3D, and there's no reason Sonic or Mario or Zelda has to be in 3D and how Metroid is going to suck now that they're making it 3D for no reason... now that we're seeing a trickle of 2D games, it's suddenly "holy shit, why are all our great 3D games being edged out by this 2D menace?"

IMO 2D is a great environment for smaller studios, who are mainly the ones I see using it.  The graphics are WAY more manageable than doing a full 3D setup, and it frees them up to experiment with gameplay a bit.  It's not like EA has announced that the next CoD is going to be a 2D platformer or anything.

Though if we're bitching about trends, the one that irritates the fuck out of ME is the whole "super difficult, like Meat Boy!" one.  That's not a retro thing, it's not how games "used" to be, it's fucking lazy level design.  "We couldn't think of any compelling way to make this challenge interesting, so we just put insta-kill spikes along every wall so that if you twitch in the wrong direction, you die!  Fortunately, you have infinite retries and the level is like ten seconds long so it's not like it matters, but you can still pretend to get hilariously pissed off at it for the people who are watching your playthrough on YouTube!"

[Goreschach]

Though if we're bitching about trends, the one that irritates the fuck out of ME is the whole "super difficult, like Meat Boy!" one.  That's not a retro thing, it's not how games "used" to be, it's fucking lazy level design.  "We couldn't think of any compelling way to make this challenge interesting, so we just put insta-kill spikes along every wall so that if you twitch in the wrong direction, you die!  Fortunately, you have infinite retries and the level is like ten seconds long so it's not like it matters, but you can still pretend to get hilariously pissed off at it for the people who are watching your playthrough on YouTube!"

Pixel art. Fuck pixel art. It's nothing but pure nostalgia wank. The only reason pixel art existed back in the day was because of hardware limitations. It wasn't a style, it was a defect.

[Sky]

I'm so ready for this platformer fad to go away. Lots of otherwise great games being ruined by it.

That's a strange way of looking at it, to me.

I mean, it's fine if you're tired of 2D platformers, but it's not like companies are throwing away fully functioning 3D worlds to jump on the 2D bandwagon.  No one's being hurt.

Like, five or ten years ago it was so common to hear oldsters like us bitching about how every game series went to shit once it went 3D, and there's no reason Sonic or Mario or Zelda has to be in 3D and how Metroid is going to suck now that they're making it 3D for no reason... now that we're seeing a trickle of 2D games, it's suddenly "holy shit, why are all our great 3D games being edged out by this 2D menace?"

IMO 2D is a great environment for smaller studios, who are mainly the ones I see using it.  The graphics are WAY more manageable than doing a full 3D setup, and it frees them up to experiment with gameplay a bit.  It's not like EA has announced that the next CoD is going to be a 2D platformer or anything.

Though if we're bitching about trends, the one that irritates the fuck out of ME is the whole "super difficult, like Meat Boy!" one.  That's not a retro thing, it's not how games "used" to be, it's fucking lazy level design.  "We couldn't think of any compelling way to make this challenge interesting, so we just put insta-kill spikes along every wall so that if you twitch in the wrong direction, you die!  Fortunately, you have infinite retries and the level is like ten seconds long so it's not like it matters, but you can still pretend to get hilariously pissed off at it for the people who are watching your playthrough on YouTube!"

That was a lot of effort to joust a straw man. Since I'm one who complained about the rampant nonsensicle abolishment of 2D (Civilization, HoMaM, so many great 2D games...and they still look better in 2D imo).

I just don't like platformers because I wasn't playing Mario on the NES, I was playing Ultima IV on the C64. So this trend is kind of a blind spot to those slightly younger than me, weaned on the NES/SNES and many platformer style games.

Thus the part about 'otherwise great games'. I loved Terraria until it became an NES platformer boss battle nonsense thing.

[Kail]

I just don't like platformers because I wasn't playing Mario on the NES, I was playing Ultima IV on the C64. So this trend is kind of a blind spot to those slightly younger than me, weaned on the NES/SNES and many platformer style games.

Ah, I see, sorry for missing the point.

[koro]

Though if we're bitching about trends, the one that irritates the fuck out of ME is the whole "super difficult, like Meat Boy!" one.  That's not a retro thing, it's not how games "used" to be, it's fucking lazy level design.  "We couldn't think of any compelling way to make this challenge interesting, so we just put insta-kill spikes along every wall so that if you twitch in the wrong direction, you die!  Fortunately, you have infinite retries and the level is like ten seconds long so it's not like it matters, but you can still pretend to get hilariously pissed off at it for the people who are watching your playthrough on YouTube!"

This shit right here is what's been getting my goat. It feels like for every Dust: An Elysian Tail, there's a half dozen Rogue Legacies or Risk of Rains.

The only non ball-puncher platformer on the horizon that I can think of off the top of my head is fucking Shovel Knight.

[Margalis]

I like 2D platformers well enough but the world doesn't need 100 middling 2D puzzle platformers with a novel art style.

Also "pixel art" isn't a thing to me. Old games used sprites - sprite art is a thing. Making graphics using sprites lends games a specific set of characteristics beyond low resolution. "Pixel art" is just shitty low-res art.

[Simond]

Though if we're bitching about trends, the one that irritates the fuck out of ME is the whole "super difficult, like Meat Boy!" one.  That's not a retro thing, it's not how games "used" to be, it's fucking lazy level design.  "We couldn't think of any compelling way to make this challenge interesting, so we just put insta-kill spikes along every wall so that if you twitch in the wrong direction, you die!  Fortunately, you have infinite retries and the level is like ten seconds long so it's not like it matters, but you can still pretend to get hilariously pissed off at it for the people who are watching your playthrough on YouTube!"

Pixel art. Fuck pixel art. It's nothing but pure nostalgia wank. The only reason pixel art existed back in the day was because of hardware limitations. It wasn't a style, it was a defect.

Black & white photos. Fuck black & white photos. It's nothing but pure nostalgia wank. The only reason black & white photos existed back in the day was because of hardware limitations. It wasn't a style, it was a defect.

[Goreschach]

Though if we're bitching about trends, the one that irritates the fuck out of ME is the whole "super difficult, like Meat Boy!" one.  That's not a retro thing, it's not how games "used" to be, it's fucking lazy level design.  "We couldn't think of any compelling way to make this challenge interesting, so we just put insta-kill spikes along every wall so that if you twitch in the wrong direction, you die!  Fortunately, you have infinite retries and the level is like ten seconds long so it's not like it matters, but you can still pretend to get hilariously pissed off at it for the people who are watching your playthrough on YouTube!"

Pixel art. Fuck pixel art. It's nothing but pure nostalgia wank. The only reason pixel art existed back in the day was because of hardware limitations. It wasn't a style, it was a defect.

Black & white photos. Fuck black & white photos. It's nothing but pure nostalgia wank. The only reason black & white photos existed back in the day was because of hardware limitations. It wasn't a style, it was a defect.

I agree.

[rk47]

Fuck turn based games too. Technology has surpassed that archaic limitations of the past. Games are meant to be played real time, not taking turns.
Why would anyone wait for his turn to swing a sword? Fallout fans please pay attention here, Bethesda is the only company that understands gaming.

[Nightblade]

Pixel art. Fuck pixel art. It's nothing but pure nostalgia wank. The only reason pixel art existed back in the day was because of hardware limitations. It wasn't a style, it was a defect.

 

[Rendakor]

Poe's Law all over this thread now.

[Lucas]

Purchased Formula One 2013 through Steam, and I'm surprisingly enjoying it, even with a simple 360 controller (still learning the ropes). Geoff Crammond's Grand Prix 4, although almost 15 years older, is still waaaaaaaaaay better than this (and still a must buy nowadays, with a thriving modding community), but while I wait for Crammond to move his ass over to Kickstarter (one can dream), this is enjoyable enough. Codemasters really needs to allow modding and also put in AI-only races for single-player, though (and also dramatically improve the damage mode)

[dd0029]

Pixel art. Fuck pixel art. It's nothing but pure nostalgia wank. The only reason pixel art existed back in the day was because of hardware limitations. It wasn't a style, it was a defect.

Fuck yes. I lived through it once. I like my pretty graphics.

[Pennilenko]

I picked up ANNO 2070 during the sale, the complete one that came with all of the DLC and expansion.  I normally buy these games to cheat my butt off and make big huge empires and then crush everything like a maniacal god. It's kind of my little single player guilty pleasure.  However, this one is different. It is so good, I actually care about playing it legit and trying to be better at it. I think it is designed really well, the UI is nice. The game makes lots of information available, and the campaign is much better than many I have played.

Drawbacks: It requires an Ubisoft Uplay account. Also I don't know if the steam version is Ubisoft DRM free or not.

[luckton]

Playing through Bioshock Infinite for the first time.  Kinda regret not getting this at launch (Luckton's wallet edit: No, he's not); it really is quite well done.  I have no idea how much I have left in the story...it just seems to get deeper without coming up for air.

I picked up ANNO 2070 during the sale, the complete one that came with all of the DLC and expansion.  I normally buy these games to cheat my butt off and make big huge empires and then crush everything like a maniacal god. It's kind of my little single player guilty pleasure.  However, this one is different. It is so good, I actually care about playing it legit and trying to be better at it. I think it is designed really well, the UI is nice. The game makes lots of information available, and the campaign is much better than many I have played.

Drawbacks: It requires an Ubisoft Uplay account. Also I don't know if the steam version is Ubisoft DRM free or not.

It is not, but this hasn't really concerned me.  The campaign, while nice, is stupidly short.  Wish they did more with it.

[koro]

I got Deus Ex: Human Revolution's Director's Cut version on sale the other day and finally got around to playing it.

Hhhhhng it's so good. The environments I've seen so far aren't quite as open as I'd like, and there's a lot of just visual clutter in general, but overall I'm loving the hell out of it.

[Quinton]

Did you play the original DXHR or is this your first exposure to it?

[Sky]

I got turned off ten minutes into the new Deus Ex and haven't had an urge to play it since.

[koro]

Did you play the original DXHR or is this your first exposure to it?

First exposure.

I heard about the shittastic bosses in the original release, but I've also heard that something's changed about them since?

[Viin]

Oh hey, if anyone wants to play GT6 online I'm game. I'll recommend this game heartily, it fixes the worst faults of 5 and is extraordinarily pleasant to play.

What are you using to play GT6? Just a wheel or do you have pedals too?

[Margalis]

The pixel art today is less like black and white photography and more like taking color pictures then making them black and white in photoshop.

Maybe not the best analogy, but my point is that the process is different. I think it's cool when artists use an old process or medium, but that's not how modern pixel-art games work. Most modern pixel-art games are styled after 8 and 16 bit console games, but those games didn't use pixel art, they used sprite art, which is not the same thing. Not many people have a lot of nostalgia for shitty 286 pixel art games, which is closer to what these games are replicating.

Most pixel-art games come off as pale imitations of sprite-based games because that's exactly what they are. It would be cool to see indie devs actually make sprite-based games but that requires a lot more work and talent.

As far as what I've been playing - beat Zelda: A Link Between Worlds. Very enjoyable, and one of the best examples of capturing the spirit of something old but in a new way. One of the best uses of 3D, but it still ends up feeling very similar to ALTTP.

[jakonovski]

What are you using to play GT6? Just a wheel or do you have pedals too?

Just a controller, I don't have room for a proper wheel setup. It works fine as long as you keep ABS on. The triggers just aren't sensitive enough for braking once you get to supercars and racecars.

[Stormwaltz]

Just spent three hours with my wife, trying to help our nine year-old fight the jaw-droppingly inept PC interface of Lego Lord of the Rings. Seriously, we spent as much time trying to puzzle out how the UI worked as we spent actually playing.

I have seen lazier console ports, but not in the last decade. What a pile of shit.

[Trippy]

Seems like a controller is mandatory for that game.

[Kail]

Just spent three hours with my wife, trying to help our nine year-old fight the jaw-droppingly inept PC interface of Lego Lord of the Rings. Seriously, we spent as much time trying to puzzle out how the UI worked as we spent actually playing.

I have seen lazier console ports, but not in the last decade. What a pile of shit.

My brother and I tried to co-op that game a while back... ugh.  We eventually had to plug in a second USB keyboard because the thing refused to let us assign the keyboard and the controller to different players for some reason.

Not many people have a lot of nostalgia for shitty 286 pixel art games, which is closer to what these games are replicating.

I suspect a lot of the nostalgia for pixel art/retro visuals is because of that long period when everything was in 3D.  The Playstation/N64/Dreamcast could do decent 2D graphics but almost never did, and AAA companies kept away from that market for a long time.  So for a long time, that's what the best 2D games looked like.  Then, suddenly, with 3D costs skyrocketing, people realized that 2D was a way to produce games for (relatively) cheap.  Nowadays, a lot of the people I know like retro sprite graphics because that's how "video games" look, period, and the newer 2D styles (Flash stuff especially) are associated with cheap casual games because nobody else touched this stuff for years.  There was (from their point of view) no gradual transition from one style to the next, no evolution, it just jumped from Super Mario World to Farmville.

Devs don't give a shit about palette limitations or memory limitations because those were mostly invisible to the audience (and were often specific to the platform, too), they just want to be associated more with the "good old days" of gaming than the "$0.50 to hurry this action" age modern games, and big, pixelly graphics are an easy way to establish that right up front.

[Margalis]

I suspect a lot of the nostalgia for pixel art/retro visuals is because of that long period when everything was in 3D. 

I love good sprite art. However most modern pixel art games are not good sprite art. I mean, compare Mercenary Kings to Metal Slug...most pixel art these games seem like less an imitation of actual sprite-based games of the past and more an imitation of that bad Scott Pilgrim downloadable game from a few years ago.

The Flash game look complaint is interesting - personally I hate that look. It seems almost irrational, but it just looks bad to me. But I think it ties into this point as well - sprite-based games require a certain type of authoring, Flash games require (or at least encourage) a different type of authoring, and pixel art (but not sprite based) games encourage another type of authoring. Out of those three authoring techniques two of them generally don't produce pleasing results.

Nobody makes games that look like Flash games because they like the Flash aesthetic, they make Flash-looking games because the that's what the authoring toolset produces without a lot of finagling.

[Shannow]

Since my son got a laptop for Xmas he has insisted we play Baldur's Gate 2 Co-Op, a game so old I was playing it the night before he was born. I had to change some router settings just to get it to work.

Still damn good though.

[luckton]

Finished Bioshock Infinite.  Dat ending