What game are you playing?

[DavidW]

lol yeah steam deck.  Steak deck, I didn't even remember typing that!

[DavidW]

Oh a compromise is a mini-itx build.  They have much better thermals these days.  Just a bit bigger than a console (though I will admit the current gen consoles are chunky monkeys).  My personal experience is that you have to have small hands and a delicate touch if you're going to build it.

[greg]

My hot take is that I'm not really into gaming laptops.  They are expensive, hard to upgrade, and have inferior performance and cooling to desktops.  If you really want something portable then a Steak deck or the Asus equivalent is an option.  If you really want something powerful, build or buy a desktop.  A laptop does neither well.

For most cases, yeah.

I have one, but it's a more odd scenario. My desktop PC is in a room where I can't do VR- back ~5 years ago I bought an Alienware gaming laptop that I knew would be good for gaming for quite a while, but more specifically, for VR. And wanted portability + not having another full desktop just for VR space.

Finishing up playing Half-Life Alyx on that same gaming laptop (using my old Vive), and it has been running well.



speaking of PCs, also bought this keyboard on Black Friday:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09DK9CSTQ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1



the clickiness of the keys and the feeling of impact is a million times better than a normal keyboard. It feels just like typing on a typewriter.

I'd say the only reason to ever use a normal keyboard is in office, is so you don't annoy your coworkers with the super loud clicking.

[DavidW]

I'm jealous @greg of you playing that new Half Life game!  I can't, VR makes me really, really nauseous. 

[greg]

I'm jealous @greg of you playing that new Half Life game!  I can't, VR makes me really, really nauseous. 

Yeah. There's so much variability with nausea and VR. Depends on the game, depends on the section of the game, depends on the person. There have been games I couldn't play due to nausea. And with this game, I last about 1 hour at a time before I have to take small breaks because the low-level feeling of nausea builds up over time (1 hour being much better than most VR games).

They did use point-and-click movement instead of running, also, and I think it helps a bit. The absolute worst part with any game is when it goes from normal to locking up or some loading screen, I feel instantly like I'm about to puke so I have to close my eyes.

[Ganondorf]

Final Fantasy XIV.

[DavidW]

I started The Expanse Tell Tale game.  Good of use of zero g game mechanics.  I like it so far.

[DavidW]

After The Expanse I played Far Changing Tides and Blair Witch Project, both of which proved to be tedious and I didn't finish.

I'm expecting the upcoming Xbox announcement will be MS throwing in the tale and announcing all their exclusives will no longer be exclusive.  And I expect in the long term they will continue switching to being a game platform and service across pc and ps5.  I've been an Xbox fan for a long time, but I expect I will be selling my series X and focusing completely on pc and the ps5.  To say that this generation has been a crushing disappointment for Xbox would be to express it mildly despite them spending literally billions to acquire so many studios.

[DavidW]

The new FF7 remake game is out!  I'm excited but my backlog... man...

After sitting on it for close to a month, I did decide that I am done with Xbox.  There is one last thing which is that silly Matrix demo.  I'll give it a play (it is not available anymore, but it is in my library).  And then that will be a wrap.  The ps5 will become my primary platform, and pc will be for the older gen games and pc exclusives I can't play on console.

[DavidW]

I've been (nearly) 100 percenting Chrono Trigger, and am almost done with that - don't know what I'll play after that, as I only have three things left to do: Robo's sidequest, which I am doing now, Rainbow Shell armor, and defeating Lavos (which, I can easily do right now - as all my characters are pretty much maxed out - lol). I never have trouble with end bosses.

Just saw that Final Fantasy X was on Steam, so if that game can be played on my laptop - that will be my next game. I truly want to battle Sin, as that seems like something I would heavily enjoy. :-)

You're really taking patient gaming to another level!  And I have a friend is still playing ps3 games.  That is nothing!  You're still in the 90s.

[LKB]

Still plugging along in Diablo IV.

Supposedly huge changes coming next season, which could make many of Blizzard's customers very happy. The major content creators seem to be cautiously optimistic, anyway.

But l don't trust Blizzard completely until they deliver, so well see.

[LKB]

I've stepped away from Diablo 4 for a few days ( or perhaps a few weeks... ), since Diablo 3 is into Season 31.

D3 is still a hoot. Some of the NPC dialogue is better than anything my coworkers ever come up with, and the game still look's good enough to not leave me wishing for better visuals.

Say what you like about Blizzard ( and I have certainly said enough that's been negative over the last couple years ), but I've used very few products which have given me as much value as D3 has over the years.

[LKB]

Diablo IV continues to improve, albeit at a slower pace than Blizzard's customers would be happy with. Many of the issues yet to be addressed relate more to player convenience and vanity, rather than bugs, balance or gameplay.

Season VI begins on Oct.8th, which also features the launch of D4's first expansion, Vessel of Hatred.

With the expansion and the new season, a major rework also comes into play. Max level goes from 100 to 60, mercenaries become available, a new class comes into being, and " runewords " can be socketed into gear which will provide powers from various classes.

The Mythic Unique collection grows, with one in particular looking likely to be in a much demand as the famous Shako.

I'm looking forward to it all, which might have embarrassed me a bit years ago but no longer... we are what we are, and l no longer worry about being a "respectable " senior citizen.

[DavidW]

I've had a lot of trouble getting back into gaming, but I finally found a game I enjoy. Funny enough, it is pretty mediocre; it just hits right: AC Mirage. It is marketed as trying to get back to the roots of AC, but it actually still plays, just like the recent RPG hybrids. Mirage takes a smaller scope, though; it is set in Baghdad only with a smaller runtime and a more compact world.

[hopefullytrusting]

Reorienting to one of the greatest series ever: Max Payne

[DavidW]

Reorienting to one of the greatest series ever: Max Payne

Not complete if you don't play Alan Wake 2!

Actually, Sam Lake goes into character later in the game.

Oh, and here is the 20th anniversary:

Those games are fantastic, and I think everyone acknowledges the greatness of the first two, but I think the third one is undeservedly underrated. It is awesome.

[hopefullytrusting]

Not complete if you don't play Alan Wake 2!

Actually, Sam Lake goes into character later in the game.

Oh, and here is the 20th anniversary:

Those games are fantastic, and I think everyone acknowledges the greatness of the first two, but I think the third one is undeservedly underrated. It is awesome.

Sam Lake is such a treat, save with Remedy. I love that they are still around making games.

For me, the third one is the best. It was a daring game, and I cannot see any company taking such a risk again, which is sad.

Instead of bold innovation, we've been ubisofted.

[DavidW]

So I finished Mirage. There was a good plot twist at the end and a decent game. I bought it on Black Friday. It was worth it at a deep discount.

I started Hellblade 2, but I've had so many crashes. It is a known issue on their FAQ with the proposal to disable overclocking in the bios... but I don't overclock anything. Whatever, the game is photorealistic, but lacking in gameplay with a much weaker story than the first one and just doesn't have the charm of the first one.

So now I am playing Silent Hill 2 Remake. It is SO GOOD. It is faithful to the original. I'm loving it so far.

[Ganondorf]

Silent Hill 2 is such a masterpiece. The atmosphere and writing is top-notch and of course after all the monsters, all the horror, the player finds out that he is the monster. Pyramid Head is just a manifestation of his guilty subconscious: desire to be punished, pent-up sexual aggressions, the guilt... There is no other horror game quite like Silent Hill 2 although I really love 1 as well. I actually prefer Silent Hill to Biohazard/Resident Evil.

"James, you made me happy..."

[hopefullytrusting]

Currently: No Greater Glory (been feeling like I wanted to play a civil war strategy game) - I'll also be picking up Forge of Freedom when it goes on sale, as I'm not confident I'll be able to get it to run, but that seems like my dream strategy game.

I'm also on the lookout for a calvary game, so if anyone has any recommendations, please do tell.