Leaderboard

4 retro games and none of them are Dreamcast games might be a first for me I've never actually played the original Onimusha, I could see me playing the port rather than this version but it's a PS2 classic so I thought I'd buy it Tunnel B1 is apparently better than I've always assumed. Die Hard Trilogy I bought for my lightgun collection, I'll have to give it a go at some point Lunar: Silver Star Story. I've always wanted to try a Lunar game. I forgot the collection was coming out, although it's a bit expensive atm whereas this was really cheap. It'd be nice to play through this version but I suspect if I ever play any it'll be the modern port

I finally got my Retro Game and PC room running and setup as I want it. Its a tiny bit Bigger than my last room but not much so. All The Retro Pre PS1 including Arcade runs on the Custom FPGA Mister system which is hooked up to both the TV and CRT. With Gaming PC on the Main Monitor. Under the TV PS4,3,2,1, Wii and 2600 Plus. The PS2 Soft modded with Free McBoot and all my PS2 games Installed to Hard Disk. I have made custom NFC Cards for all the Retro Games, All you have to do is tap them on the console and it boots straight into the game. Plus gives me a Way to Have a physical collection without taking up loads of space. And then Just the PS Games Collection, that continues to grow steadily. Got cable management solution for under desk coming in next few days.

Birthday gift from my mum, so technically not a purchase I suppose.

I said I could be tempted at ~ £600. Well one popped up brand new with a disc drive on eBay for £600 so here we are. Sold my old PS5 for £275. Using a bit of man logic in that the prices will likely rise some time soon with the tariffs and whatnot it’s a good deal… lol.

More goodies have arrived

Cyberpunk just arrived in the post from Currys.

Very monotonous topic: Picked up mine during lunch break, so Eliot, the red dragon, couldn't pose with it.

@Maf the Saturn collection is a bit more spread out across shelves, but here's the Dreamcast stuff, and I've even turned the lights on for you

No games all year then two in one week...

I’ve just removed 4 years worth of unused restores from our database, so we’ve gone down from a 10gb to just over 1gb. I imagine this might mean we have some speed improvements, but also stops us from being put on a premium sql plan as well

Here are some Switch games I bought this year

*insert heavy metal*

Just got back from the midnight launch. Was around 75 people there, I reckon. Time for bed.

A bit of a cross post with gaming room, but my up to date collection, Not sure the custom cards count 😄

I caved.

In all honesty this is the first game I've played on Game Pass where I thought the devs really do deserve my cash... I'll save this for a rainy day.

That was early for a change. Weirdly the seal was broken on mine. Everything seems in order and the MK code worked so… 🤷🏼‍♂️

Was too tired to post last night lol

Going to an SF6 tournament later. Fully expect to end up at last place because I barely play this game and it just doesn't fit me anyway, but I enjoyed the last offline experience a lot so I kind of wanted to see that part again. It will be streamed over at https://www.twitch.tv/fightingcornerlux at around 12:00 if anyone wants to tune in, but as I said, can't guarantee I'll pop up on stream (but if I do it'll be under the handle Jo-El because I don't want to torture the commentators with Maryokutai).

HELL YEA!!! Really putting that pro through its paces.

And Gaming related. For my games room in my new place (nearly got it setup how I want. But I think this will be the icing on the cake.

Yeah this looks cool. By the way, in case anyone didn’t know, aphelion refers to point in its orbit when a body is farthest from whatever its orbiting (the opposite of perihelion). I only know this because I’m obsessed with space and learning about space.

Street Fighter 6 arrived yesterday from Amazon.

Actual Christmas.

It's almost happening!

My partner won’t go out alone at midnight and walk 15 minutes to smyths through the most deprived area of Rotherham to pick up my new toy. Some people are so selfish. update: Sod it. I’ve booked the time off work from 23:30 to get a taxi to the launch hehe

I need to put my new desk together tomorrow and the speakers aren't plugged in just wanted to try it out but ta-daa

One series that often gets overlooked IMO is Splinter Cell, presumably because it came after Metal Gear and also is rather dry and devoid of Kojima's silly charm. But mechanically it was quite superior initially by incorporating light and noise into its mechanics, at least until Kojima caught up with Snake Eater. Its influence I think can be felt in every stealth section in every triple-A game since then which usually is an, albeit very diluted, version of the Sam Fischer template. On a more personal note for me Oblivion and Mass Effect were quite pivotal moments because I was very much just a JRPG person before those and had at most dabbled with Morrowind and Gothic 2 on PC for a few minutes. But those two really opened up the whole genre for me, despite, or maybe because, they traded complexity for accessibility compared to their direct or indirect predecessors. In a sense they were the FF7s for western RPGs to me. And to an extent they also kind of set the course for both Bethesda and BioWare, so maybe it's not just a subjectively defining moment.

Played up to chapter 5. Think I'm about to ride the dragon So far I quite like it. I'm playing on the easiest difficulty with all the sliders all the way down to try give myself a chance with M&KB. It feels a bit cheap earning achievements like this because I've not been in danger at all so far. But still feel like this is the right choice because when there's lots happening I'm still getting lost with the controls The biggest improvement to me so far is the level design and how they do secrets. They kind of feel more just off the side to the main path instead of Doom 2016 or Eternal where it was like figuring out a platformer style level puzzle which killed the pace of those games and I never thought was very good. I think it's better here simply because it keeps the pace of the game up. There's no stopping for 15 minutes looking over every ledge or trying to jump on every box to see a bit higher Although I have to say just like the other games, every time I complete a level and it offers me a chance to select the next one, I do feel exhausted and it takes effort to want to play more. In terms of the combat, I think playing on easy is not giving me a real sense of it, but I'm doing what I have too to try enjoy the game. I wish this game had a strafe button. Or double tap to the side. Luckily on easy the speed of the green projectiles is very slow but when enemies are shooting them left and right, if this was faster I don't know how you would do it One thing I really like is the story. I don't fully understand what's going on. But just the idea that the Slayer is on a leash and he's getting stronger all the time. It's a bit Incredible Hulk but I like it. My plan is to play the game like this until I get used to it, and if I get in to it bump it up to normal on a second playthrough. So far I'm liking it but getting a bit tilted with the controls as well (determined not to use the weapon wheel). This is not a review but just in terms of my enjoyment I would say it's hovering around a 7/10. The shield is cool and I like the sense of power, I think this game is better paced and the story is interesting. It's still kind of exhausting and obviously my own experience is a bit tilted because of the buttons. But it's all right. I definitely like it more than the previous 2 so far.

This game looks awesome.

Finished this last night too, sounds like I enjoyed it more than most here, overall enjoyed it, but do agree with most of the complaints too, it’s too long, the second half of the game doesn’t really change things up so is quite samey. I still thought the combat was mostly fun though, and having good pad controls/auto aim is nice to see. it sort of reminds me of a cod style action game with set pieces and the flying and mechs and stuff. im not a fan of the style of the graphics but technically it runs really well and looks impressive.

Updates to N64 classics on Switch 2.

I really liked bomb rush but think the reception was a bit mixed. Yeah final shape is destiny dlc

in Space Marine news, Boltgun, which is good and on PS+ this month, has a Typing of the Dead spin off out today and it's free on Steam! https://store.steampowered.com/app/3533730/Warhammer_40000_Boltgun__Words_of_Vengeance/

Deliver At All Costs is out today, free for the first week on Epic store. https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/deliver-at-all-costs-a30c8d

What do we think sick or not sick I did well by buying one of these boxes to hide all the plugs But I need to get one of those under desk wire racks for spaghetti junction My only problem is Tuesdays I work from home but where is the laptop going to go 😭

Oh wow, ports!! Also, that stuff about the WiiU at the start made me roll my eyes. Nintendo fans are so odd, the company absolutely must be defended from even the smallest or fairest criticism. They ported WiiU games to pad out their library, it went on to long, done

One of the reasons that I'll now just give it a year or so then pick up a 'complete' edition - had my fill of getting something new, then going back a couple of months later, to either play a 2-4 hr DLC or, as you say, not actually play it, as the impetus of the original play through has been lost.

yeah i don't often play dlc for this reason really

Games could really do with finding a good way of bringing you back in for end game DLC after an extended period of time. Just started the DLC for Sea of Stars. My last save was from November 2023. I don’t remember a fucking thing, I can’t remember who most of the characters are or how to do anything. Timing of attacks has completely gone. Part of it is my own problem due to my absolutely terrible memory but surely I’m not the only one who struggles with this stuff? Just give me an optional quick recap and tutorial. Please.

😑 😑

Whoa, Metaphor. I just started playing that again

CoD 4 for numerous reasons. It’s basically the blueprint for all shooters whether FPS or TPS and online progression since its launch. Edit - I also want to add one I think should be genre defining but isn’t. Yet anyway. FFVII Remake. I think the combat in that should be the basis for all action RPGs. It’s such a perfect hybrid of action and turn based. It should be how they all are going forward.

You do know there's nobody stopping you from playing an easier difficulty? You have nothing to prove. Nobody gives a fuck how hard you swing that digital dick because it means nothing.

The audacitiy of calling an almost empty disc a Premium Edition.

Besides the environment impact, a thing I worry with AI is its impact on knowledge as Shiny mentions. Maybe 'knowledge' isn't the right word, moreso critical thinking and curiosity. Cause it yields to you so easily information on any subject you give it, any point in history or science subject or whatever, easier than wikipedia ever did. But it will collate this info without telling you its sources, unless you ask it which it'll happily do and you can confirm yourself if what it's saying is accurate. Most of the time though you're probably still operating on a sense of trust that it knows what it's talking about, and the thing with it is that it generally makes it sound like it really does. But what about when it doesn't, will the average user even be able to tell? I think future generations will just take whatever an AI says and think it's gospel without actually reading anything themselves. Hell, we're already there, probably. But I feel like when wikipedia was 'this', people generally agreed that you couldn't take everything on it at face value as anyone could edit it. But now that we've outsourced what wiki used to be to an LLM, we're more accepting of it despite even less transparency with where it generates the things it 'knows' Maybe what I'm saying here doesn't matter that much and I'm losing the forest for the trees (perhaps literally). I'd hate to be a lecturer right now

He’s training your t-shirts to create aura

Tonight, on Mastermind (about 10 mins in if you want to skip on iPlayer). Questions were really quite hard !