What game are you playing?

[lisa needs braces]

Indeedie, after seeing online gameplay I picked it up hoping for something with the feel that Soldier of Fortune 2 had online (not that anybody took that game seriously, but it was actually amazing, like a more accessable Counterstrike with far nicer graphics).

Worryingly, a friend said that as a rule of thumb: if changing resolution improves framerate, then it's the card, if it remains bad no matter what resolution, then it's the CPU (my problem was the first - but even lowest ran poorly). I was hoping it was the CPU because a Radeon HD 5750 really should run the thing at over 15fps.

According to this chart you should always be getting a frame rate at least in the 30s with that card:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gts-450-gf106-radeon-hd-5750,2734-11.html

And those benchmarks are for higher resolutions as well.

[DavidW]

I'm replaying Bioshock 2.

[Jaakko Keskinen]

L.A. Noire finished. I loved it, even though truth/doubt/lie-system wasn't always perfect. They should make sequel starring Roy Earle: Dirty cop edition. That magnificent bastard rose quickly to my top 10 Rockstar game characters. Loved Biggs and Rusty also and homicide cases were easily the best ones.

[DavidW]

My reaction for LA Noire ended up being meh because you didn't really do anything besides collect clues and read facial expressions.  I would have preferred real mystery solving.  I didn't play completely through the game, but on most mysteries I could figure out what happened before I left the first scene.  Not fun enough.  If it gets much more challenging, or the murders less predictable, than they were taking too long to get there.  But A+ on atmosphere, music, and acting.

[Mirror Image]

L.A. Noire finished. I loved it, even though truth/doubt/lie-system wasn't always perfect. They should make sequel starring Roy Earle: Dirty cop edition. That magnificent bastard rose quickly to my top 10 Rockstar game characters. Loved Biggs and Rusty also and homicide cases were easily the best ones.

L.A. Noire didn't seem like a good game to me. I haven't played it, but many of reviews I've read called it "boring." Now reading David's opinion of the game only reinforces this fact.

[Lethevich]

Diablo 3: well gee, yet another game I can't buy if I wish to retain any dignity. It's truly impressive how developers are managing to make games unplayable due to biohazard levels of monetisation and intrusive "features" - Blizzard have actually managed to take these damaging trends to new lows, including a real-world money auction house in which they take a cut of the profit at three seperate stages not including Paypal's fees. Spectacularly this manages to simultaneously make such an endeavor unprofitable for anybody who might want to use it, yet retain the "this ruins the entire game" experience for those who won't.

[Jaakko Keskinen]

Nostalgia boost after so many years. It's even better than I remembered! About halfway through disc 3 right now.

[lisa needs braces]

Diablo 3: well gee, yet another game I can't buy if I wish to retain any dignity. It's truly impressive how developers are managing to make games unplayable due to biohazard levels of monetisation and intrusive "features" - Blizzard have actually managed to take these damaging trends to new lows, including a real-world money auction house in which they take a cut of the profit at three seperate stages not including Paypal's fees. Spectacularly this manages to simultaneously make such an endeavor unprofitable for anybody who might want to use it, yet retain the "this ruins the entire game" experience for those who won't.

I heard about this.

Can't you just play the game and ignore that aspect of it all together?

I play "League of Legends" and manage to have a lot of fun without spending a cent.

[Lethevich]

The difference between this and LoL is that the people I play can buy power in Diablo 3. I can get beaten by rich kids who can just buy all the gear they like. Why should people put up with this behaviour from developers when it will only get worse? What's so unacceptable about a game being luck or skill-based nowadays.

[DavidW]

As Extra Credits had to say:

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/extra-credits/3689-Microtransactions

Never, ever sell power.  And they explained exactly what happens when you do, people stop playing.

[ibanezmonster]

L.A. Noire didn't seem like a good game to me. I haven't played it, but many of reviews I've read called it "boring." Now reading David's opinion of the game only reinforces this fact.

It looks cool to me:
http://www.youtube.com/v/jeYym1U226M

though who knows... never played it...

[Lethevich]

n__n More nostalgia'ing:

http://www.youtube.com/v/ggB33d0BLcY http://www.youtube.com/v/HtvIYRrgZ04

[DavidW]

I like the Leroy Jenkins thing, but that's so well known I don't think I even have to post a link.

I've been playing Lego Harry Potter years 1-4, pretty fun... easily the most polished lego game yet.  Have not run into any frustrations, just fun.

[ibanezmonster]

Sampling some games in a batch of 299 Nintendo 64 games...



Surprisingly not bad, but if this gameplay keeps on, it will be repetitive very quickly.



I've known about this game, but didn't know it was an RPG. I would play through it if I really loved the Mario series. Looks like potentially a really good game.

[Coco]

^_^ Paper Mario is so fun — more lighthearted than most JRPGs (duh, it's Mario), but it has to be one of my favorite games. The sequel for GameCube was great too.

Currently about halfway (I think?) through FFVI — liking this a lot more than I had expected. Definitely up there with Chrono Trigger and EarthBound for me as far as 2D RPGs go.

[DavidW]

I played half of Lego Harry Potter until I got bored.  It's actually pretty fun... just to repetitive.

[lisa needs braces]

You astound me, Greg. How old most of the games you play are!

In that spirit, I'm playing the original Max Payne for the first time.

[Coco]

Old games are better. They just are. 

[DavidW]

Old games are better. They just are. 

You old farts!   Give me the newer games anyday, they are much more polished and balanced in design.

[Lethevich]

You old farts!   Give me the newer games anyday, they are much more polished and balanced in design.

The thing that often stops me when I go through pre-2000s games is super repetitive mechanics. A lot of modern games are bad like that too, but at least have been forced to be visually interesting and diversified.