So, what're you playing?

[Rasix]

Subbed to WoW, not playing it.  Not entirely sure I'm excited about it enough anymore to enjoy the xpac when it arrives.

Sounds familiar.  I just resubbed and now don't really feel like playing.  I thought about trying the new f2p EQ2 or LOTRO and figured I'd just rather pay for WoW. 

New DeathSpank next week? Awesome.

Now to find something I actually want to play until then.

[Paelos]

I tried to get back into WoW by fucking around on an alt, but it failed. I just can't give a damn about the game even though I'm subbed.

Why isn't Civ 5 here yet?

[Yegolev]

Any opinions on the Shadow Hearts series, and did they age well enough to play for the first time now? I'm thinking of picking those up off ebay/amazon. Should I skip any of them or is playing them in order worth it? Or avoid all together at this time?

If you can play PS2 games, the first two are some of the best JRPGs I have played.  Have not played the third but I hear it's less good.

Minecraft
Castlevania: Harmony of Despair
Dead Rising 2: Case 0

[Segoris]

Thanks Yegs and Riggs. I'm hearing they were good from other people as well so I think I'll pick them up and give them a shot.

[Rasix]

Any opinions on the Shadow Hearts series, and did they age well enough to play for the first time now? I'm thinking of picking those up off ebay/amazon. Should I skip any of them or is playing them in order worth it? Or avoid all together at this time?

The graphics on Shadow Hearts (SH1)are going to be a bit dated in the vein of FF7.  I think it helps to play SH1 before Shadow Hearts: Covenant (SH2), just because there's a LOT that Covenant builds on from the first.  It's a pretty solid game as well.

Shadow Hearts: Covenant is my favorite game of all time, so of course I'm going to say: yes, buy it.  It improves on Shadow Hearts 1 in almost every way possible. I had problems with SH1's judgment ring due to red/green colorblindness issues, but SH2 remedied those issues completely.  It's just a great JRPG.  It has great characters, a solid plot, plenty of drama, engaging combat, and it doesn't take itself seriously at all.  The visuals are some of the best on the system for their time.

I have a couple gripes with the series, but they're pretty minor.  SH2 does a major retcon of one of SH1's main characters and it also picks your ending from SH1 (there's a ending that's somewhat hard to get). It's pretty easy to see why they did the ending thing; it's just.. well, you'll see if you play.  Also, the side content/quests in the game can be a little difficult to find.  Don't feel bad for using gamefaqs.

Skip SH3.  It's not bad mechanically, it's just feels like a bad Shadow Hearts cover song.  I couldn't finish it.

[Segoris]

I was just reading about the judgement ring and that seems alright. It didn't mention anything about colors or changes between the games though. I'm not color blind so it doesn't effect me, I just like hearing about how games handle different issues that arise and it's good knowing that they improved.

Appreciate the info

[HaemishM]

Welp, the XBox 360 I bought off Ebay did exactly what you should expect an XBox 360 bought off of Ebay to do - went tits up with the E79 error. God, Microsoft really makes hardware like a street vendor makes a sloppy taco. Fucking clownshoes. The PS2 I bought used is probably twice as old (it's not even a Slim version) and still kicking along. Trying to get my money back and either get a more reliable XBox 360 or save up for a PS3. As a result, I booted Persona 3 up for the PS2 last night. Spent an hour trying to get to a new spot in the tower that I could port to later before dying WITHOUT FUCKING SAVING. Tried again to move forward, realized if I port out and then run back up, I recharge SP then promptly died again without having saved. BRAIN NOT WORKING. GO TO SLEEP.

Think I'll be playing the shit out of Persona 3 until my next-gen console situation is settled.

[Yoru]

I've been cramming a game of Starcraft 2 in once every day or two during the weeks. It makes a fun lunchtime game, even if my 3v3 and 4v4 groups usually get steamrolled.

When I can scrape out an hour or so, I've been playing through Recettear. It's an indie jRPG where you play the proprietor of a stereotypical jRPG item shop. You have to stock your shop appropriately to attract clientele, groom customer relationships, and go on adventures with adventurers to collect rare and lucrative treasures. Oh, and you have to repay a hefty debt each week to your finance agency (at least, until you finish the initial story mode and unlock debt-free Endless Mode).

Fun, but time seems to just slip away when playing it.

[trias_e]

Finished Amnesia after quite a few 30/45 minute sessions.  Certainly the scariest game I've ever played, although it's not perfect and kind of peters out at the end.   Highly recommended if you are the type of person to really get into the horror experience and enjoy it.  It's not a conventional game by any means, and in order to really 'get it', one should heed the devs suggestion to treat Amnesia as an immersive experience and less a 'trick/beat the AI' kind of game.

Playing:  Starcraft 2, League of Legends (why am I so terrible at this game?), KoToR (haven't played it in a good 6 years so I don't even remember the damn thing), and finally Sam and Max episode 5, which should be completed shortly.  I think I actually like Sam and Max season 2 better than season 3.  Well, maybe just Chariots of the Dogs, as that's all I really think of when I think of season 2, and it still is the best episode they've done by a good margin.

[shiznitz]

I am playing games that were old 2 years ago, but I am enjoying them.  I missed a lot involved in EQ2 for 4  years.

[Yegolev]

Brutal Legend caused me to make a "Megadeth" station on Pandora.  Reliving the childhood.

[jakonovski]

I'm finishing up Deathspank so that I can justify buying Space Invaders Infinity Gene. I also d/led and played the demos of Enslaved and Quantum Theory. The former seemed like an awesome mix of eyecandy and story, while the latter was so bad I couldn't even finish the demo.

[Rasix]

Anyone used either of the major fan patches for VTM: Bloodlines and prefer one over the other?  Both authors seem like assholes.  I just don't want something that messes with the game too much, introduces a lot of new bugs, or ends up resembling the author's fan wank dream in mod form.

[Azazel]

Following my waning interest in LotRO and disappointment with their implementation of F2P, I resubbed to WoW (using game cards we had sitting around for 2 years) to check it out before the expansion. Enjoying the hell out of it at the moment, a mix of heroic dailies which I never got to see and quests I never did.

I'd like to see some of the raids - ie run them once to see the content but PUG raids seem to be run by a chain of massive douchebags who require a GS of 5k+ and a list of achievements to prove that you've farmed the content into the ground.

I intend to finally finish those downloadable missions for Army of Two this weekend. Hopefully.

[Yegolev]

Played Deathspank today with the boy acting as Sparkles.  Not too bad, but he does like to blast things instead of heal us.

Castlevania: Harmony of Despair

Just Cause 2

[jakonovski]

Didn't buy SI:IG. Started my insanity run of ME2 as a soldier, with all the story based DLC installed and unseen. Did Kasumi's arc today, it was great.

[Bunk]

Did Kasumi a few weeks ago and quite enjoyed it. Installed a 7 day trial on City of Heroes:Going Rogue a few days ago that I picked up at PAX. Been fun to play around with a bit, not enough to make me sub though. Was really just looking to tide myself over until Tuesday.

[Sky]

It's hard to believe I've been obsessed with my current game since the end of July. We'll see how that holds up against Tuesday.

[Soulflame]

Puzzle Quest 2 and Dragon Quest IX, both on the DS, are what's mainly holding my attention.

Been playing around with a bunch of games on the PC.  Trying to finish ME, some diablo 2, torchlight, various other things.

Civ V is pre-loaded and waiting for... tomorrow.

Also been thinking about re-subbing to WoW, but I'm not sure I want to sink into a WoW induced coma again.

[Segoris]

I truly hope PSN could start a pre-load option for pre-orders. This thought is brought to you by tomorrow's release of Deathspank: Thongs of Virtue.

Current playlist is some TF2 for tonight, DS:ToV starting tomorrow, and after that Shadow Hearts 1 should arrive on my doorstep by Wed or Thurs ready for when I finish DS:ToV.

[WayAbvPar]

Clearing my schedule for Civ V tomorrow. NHL 11 is once again fundamentally broken in MP, so I am not sure how much more of that I will play. Sure wish EA could figure it out one of these years.

[HaemishM]

Broken how, exactly?

After talking to the guy I got my broke-ass XBox 360 from, he's going to be shipping me a replacement box (a newer, non-refurbed model so I shouldn't have to worry about all the Pro manufacturing issues), so until then I'm being owned by Persona 3 again. I forgot how much I enjoyed this game. Finally into the month of June and just waiting for the other shoe to drop in a week of game time.

[Minvaren]

Picked up Going Rogue over the weekend - puttering about with a new character in Praetoria.  Will probably reroll due to a poor secondary choice (for a soloer) going in.

"Ultra Mode" seems to do less than I thought it would.  Loving the customization on the powers, though... 

[bhodi]

Civ 5 Civ 5 Civ 5 Civ 5

[Velorath]

It's been a good day.  Got Civ V and got the Spartacus: Blood and Sand blu-ray set.

[Rasix]

Played some No More Heroes 2.   Suda51.. you are a weird motherfucker.

Replacing all of the jobs and Wii mini-games with retro 8 bit games is.. fucking terrible.  I'm not sure I'll be able to stomach that crap. First boss was a royal pain too.   They may have missed the mark with this one.

[WayAbvPar]

Broken how, exactly?

It is still completely a speed/sticklift game. It plays too hectic and fast. I was so fucking annoyed the other night that I wasn't sure I when I would play it again. I ended up playing my BAP offline for about 4 hours to complete a season (which unlocks a SHITLOAD of boosts). Funny thing happened- I finally learned how to score. It is much tougher online against better opponents (I was playing on Rookie to max my stats out), but I am now scoring regularly in EASHL. All the boosts I unlocked didn't hurt either.

The matching system is still a fucking joke though. I play on one of the goon teams, and we are like 10 games under .500. Yet we regularly get matched up against teams in the Elite division, like top 200 in the world teams. Seriously, it is like 3 or 4 games out of 5. The few games we actually get with someone at our experience level (people with hundreds of games played have maxed out their characters, something NONE of our team is even close to yet), we actually do pretty well, and it is really really fun. I have started quitting out of games just before they start if I see someone with more than double our average /games played...not worth the frustration. Sure wish EA would unfuck the matchups and let the catasses play each other.

That being said- Civ V. Holy shit. I am in love.

[jakonovski]

Fuck Civ 5, Deathspank: Thongs of Virtue is out today!

[Malakili]

Civ 5, Starcraft 2, Minecraft. 

Its a good time to be a gamer.

[Yegolev]

Minecraft
Castlevania: HD
LotRO
Just Cause 2

More Lego Harry Potter with the boy.  After watching the first four movies he's started a new game.  Things make a LOT more sense now.

[Segoris]

It was going to be Deathspank:ToV yesterday over Civ5....but psn store being down for hours kind of fucked that plan. So currently it's
Civ5
DS:ToV
Shadow Hearts
SC2
TF2
Trying to resist the minecraft beckoning

..and as if all that wasn't enough to keep me entertained, Spartacus:B&S is arrived in addition to a number of demos on PSN for almost all the games I took interest in for the holiday release schedule. All this during football season....wtb more hours in a day.

[cironian]

Anyone used either of the major fan patches for VTM: Bloodlines and prefer one over the other?  Both authors seem like assholes.  I just don't want something that messes with the game too much, introduces a lot of new bugs, or ends up resembling the author's fan wank dream in mod form.

I think the best choice for you would be the one called "Unofficial Patch" by Wesp. It's mostly focused on fixing bugs and restoring some of the leftover or unfinished assets on the disk. There's also some rebalancing of levelling costs, XP gains and item locations, but nothing that I remember as breaking the spirit of the game. (Considering it was always quite easy to turn yourself into an unstoppable killing machine)

I think most other mods build on this one due to the bugfixes, then add their own changes on top.

[Surlyboi]

Civ 5
Halo: Reach
SWG Emu

[Tebonas]

Got an hour of Civ5 in before work, guess there will be much more to come. Loving it so far.

[MuffinMan]

Finished Singularity yesterday. It was a perfectly adequate Bioshock...y FPS. Started up Batman: Arkham Asylum today. It's been sitting on the bookshelf since release and I've never picked it up.

Looking through my achievements I realize just how bad my video game ADD has been. Red Dead Redemption back in May was the first game I finished on my 360 out of the 18 that I've purchased since 2006. I'm now up to 3 games finished, 2 in the last week.