The Gaming Box

[risingdawn]

We actually have a 3DS in the house now. My boyfriend exchanged his Xbox for one on Gumtree. I got to try it out before he got home. I used the 3D feature but for some reason I can't get on with it. Even wearing glasses it literally feels like my eyes are blurry so when I get one I definitely won't be using the feature that much unless I can really get used to it. Definitely still gonna buy my own though as I do really want AC:NL and I've played every Pokemon game (don't count mystery dungeon etc) and I can't miss out on X and Y.

[Karsa Orlong]

Just had The Last of Us through the post, so shall give that a go this weekend

[bobblybear]

We actually have a 3DS in the house now. My boyfriend exchanged his Xbox for one on Gumtree. I got to try it out before he got home. I used the 3D feature but for some reason I can't get on with it. Even wearing glasses it literally feels like my eyes are blurry so when I get one I definitely won't be using the feature that much unless I can really get used to it. Definitely still gonna buy my own though as I do really want AC:NL and I've played every Pokemon game (don't count mystery dungeon etc) and I can't miss out on X and Y.

 

I got AC:NL yesterday and I'm so hooked already.   It's so much fun, an impressive improvement on WW, even though that was brilliant!! I hope you get it soon.

 

I do find the 3D a bit distracting, but it looks good on AC:NL - it doesn't strain the eyes as much. But I do actually play with 3D off.

 

 

 

Just had The Last of Us through the post, so shall give that a go this weekend

 

Oooh, I just came on here to post about this. I only heard of it a couple of days ago - it looks freaking amazing!!! How is it? Any good??

[Athena]

I'm thinking of getting a 3DS in a few months (when Pokémon X and Y will be out). I might have to look into AC:NL, any other 3DS (or DS) games that anyone recommends? I should point out I don't like to play first person shooters these days, nor am I really into action-adventure (I do like to watch other people play these games, ie. my boyfriend). I'm more into "easier" games (if I fail a few times I'm likely to give up on the game, as it's too frustrating to redo too much progress, I have enough stress and tiredness in my life as it is). Role-playing games (RPGs) and tower defense games (TDs) are my favourite genre. For the DS I own some puzzle games, RPGs and Mario games. I'm not overly keen on the 3D and would prefer games that can be played with the 3D off, since it gives me a headache if I use it for a bit (and playing a game is already pretty tiring as it is so..). I'm looking forward to play a new Pokémon game, I'm quite far into Pokémon Sapphire now so it shouldn't be a lot of time playing anymore before that's done (well, before the story is done, I could go and try to collect more Pokémon but I've got a lot of the easy and slightly harder ones already).

 

I've heard good things about The Last of Us (though mainly from people I don't know personally, ie. from websites), I hope you enjoy it, Steve .

[Karsa Orlong]

Oooh, I just came on here to post about this. I only heard of it a couple of days ago - it looks freaking amazing!!! How is it? Any good??

 

It's okay.  Quite tense (the Clickers are scarily deadly, one wrong move and you've had it - I've died, a lot! ).  Graphics/sounds/voice acting are all top notch.  The gameplay doesn't seem all that different, though, so far.  A mixture of stealth and survival horror games.  I'm hoping that will change.

[Devi]

I'm still waiting for my copy of the last of us to get here from New Zealand

 

I played the demo and thought it was pretty darn good.

 

I also have metro last light on my shelf - the second to the book series. Which reminds me, I should see if the book is out in English yet.

 

Oh and I put down a deposit on a ps4

Edited June 17, 2013 by Devi

[Athena]

I've heard that the PS4 will have a lot of nice features (and some I'm less pleased with), compared with the new Xbox (is it called Xbox One? Or did I misunderstand that). It made me more interested in the PS4 (even though there aren't many games coming out these days that I want to play). I think my boyfriend will be getting one when the time comes. If he does, I can play on his console if there'll be games that interest me. I look forward to hear/read what you think of it when you have yours. Do you know when it'll be released? A quick Google search told me in November but I don't know if this is true or not.

 

@ Steve

I hope that it gets better later on!

[vodkafan]

I don't play very much at all , I like Brutal Doom on my PC and sometimes get roped in to play something or other with Small Son on his 360 but half hour is enough for me. However a friend of mine at work is a big time gamer and he is all outraged about the new xbox One thing. The fact that Microsoft seem to be intent on destroying the second hand game market. He will not buy one on principle, he says it is the thin end of a wedge. After he explained the implications to me I can see why he is worried (along with a lot of other people!) 

I wondered if any gamers on here had any opinion on it? Sorry if it has been talked about before I did not read the whole thread...

He also said that at the recent game Expo The Sony rep got a standing ovation when he said that the PS4 will not be doing the same thing as Microsoft.. 

[Athena]

We haven't talked much about it yet, though there is a seperate topic for I think the PS4.

 

Here's some thoughts / a rant on the Xbox One (and PS4 a bit too): (warning, a long post )

 

Well for me personally, if I have the option to buy a game new I'll generally buy the new game rather than a used one (unless the price difference would be like 90%). I would rather my money go to the creators of the game rather than a shop. If the game isn't available new, ie. a ten-year-old game then I'd buy it used. (I hardly play any games these days but.. I'd hope I'd still be qualified as gamer). So while it may not bother me a lot that you can't use used games (still a bit though) on the Xbox One, I think it's a bad decision and the consumer will be limited in it.

 

The whole thing of having to check-in every 24 hours with Microsoft, is ridiculous. I don't know how it works if you don't check in, what if there happen to be days where I don't play the game at all (ie. a lot of the time)? Does that count? I think with that in place I'd just feel as if I'm being treated as a criminal beforehand (though this isn't different from what some PC games do, ie. Starcraft II) and I don't like that. I'm absolutely against piracy (I feel quite strongly about this subject) and I don't like to be treated as if I can't be trusted. Admittedly some PC games do this too and I never like it.

 

When my internet connection isn't good, which happens now and then where we live, rural, with a low connection speed, or several people are using it, I don't want to have to be online to play a game. If my parents are using the internet to work then I can't play a game that requires online because it lags their work. Our internet connection isn't so fast so it can't do all these things at once without slowing down. Btw, I don't mean to sound ungrateful about my internet connection. 10 years ago, everyone had cable or ADSL and we had dial-up. I'm already very glad I can do most of the daily things !

 

Several single player games that require an always on connection I've not played because of this. An example is Diablo 3. I was interested in the game, but there were a lot of server issues. I don't think I'd even want it as a gift now, I'm just not willing to put up with the online restrictions. I did play the demo and it was laggy and when I wanted to pause it I wasn't able to. ie. I need to go to the bathroom and then when you exit and reload you have to play the whole bit over again.

 

Anyway.. I don't like that Microsoft forces you to be online every 24 hours. I only play single-player games (co-op on occasion) so I don't want to have to check in online. Sometimes I put up with it on the PC, because I really want to play the game, ie. Starcraft II, however sometimes I do not. When I want to play the game and the internet isn't working, it won't work and then generally what happens is that I don't play the game anymore if it happens too often.

 

I don't like Microsoft's focus on things that have nothing to do with gaming. For me a game console is a game console. Our internet is too slow to watch films with, we don't have Netflix or anything here anyway yet, I think?, anyway it'd be too slow even if we did have it. For me a games console is a games console, I don't really need most of the other features. Of course, if in the future I move and the internet will be quicker, then I might be inclined to change my mind in some way. I generally don't watch a lot of TV anyway, if I watch things it's usually a DVD or Blu-ray. I believe in supporting the shows and films I really like.

 

I'm also not comfortable with having Kinect on all the time. I don't like Kinect anyway period, I much prefer a controller over the whole wave your hands in the air approach. Admittedly I haven't actually ever used Kinect, I've never owned a Microsoft system though I've played on my boyfriends' Xbox360 (he doesn't have Kinect). I don't like the idea of having a camera being always on me or the possibility that I could be recorded. These things don't need to be in my single player games. One of the reasons I like to play games is to escape. That means I don't want to be confronted with my picture, my voice, a video of me or whatever.

 

I didn't like the Social Media focus of neither Sony nor Microsoft, I don't want to share stuff with people so when it comes to it, I'll not link facebook, twitter, youtube, whatever, so even if I accidentally click on it, not much will happen.

 

Backwards compatibility, I get why the console manufacturers (except Nintendo) would choose not to include it, since it'll cost money to do so, however I do find it a shame. It'll be very awkward if you have to have all these different consoles under your TV. There aren't many games I'll go out and buy just after they're released, often I like to wait a bit for the price to come down and for some reviews to be available (I don't always play them straight after I bought them either). Sometimes I don't play a game until a few years later, so this isn't very convenient for me. The console manufacturers might add the ability later perhaps, but I don't doubt that they'll likely make you want to pay for the game again and download it. I'm not comfortable with digital downloads on consoles (ie. you can only download 5 times before you have to buy it again), so I don't think I'd buy the game again, I'll most likely not bother with the whole thing and just go do something else (play another game or read a book).

 

I should point out, I used to play quite a few games quite a few years ago and I used to follow many game news sites and I had subscriptions to game magazines (I was also on some gaming forums). Then slowly they started to tire me too much and playing got harder and harder. These days I don't like the direction in which the game industry is heading. There aren't many games coming out that I think I'd like to play, or that I think are worth putting up with the pain for. The kind of games I like aren't made much anymore. On the PC a lot of the games I bought two years ago were indie games rather than AAA-titles. The past year I've tried not to buy many games, because I was buying a lot and not able to play much. So I restricted myself and only bought what I felt I really wanted to buy and would be worth playing, I struggle to think of any games I've bought the past year. So, I've changed and the games industry has too.

 

I don't miss gaming that much really, I've always liked reading more. Though I do like to watch certain games being played and their story, I find the gameplay interests me less and less, because it's so tiring (there are a few exceptions). I do like to watch my boyfriend play certain games. I do plan on playing Pokémon X, I've agreed with my boyfriend that if it does come out around my birthday ish then he'll buy it for me as a gift (and I'll buy the 3DS to play it). Pokémon RPGs (main ones) are nice and easy to play, I enjoy them and they don't tire me so much. Maybe once I'm graduated and rested I can try to play more games. I'd love to play some more Skyrim for example. I don't know, maybe.

 

I don't know if this was interesting to anyone , but I hope at least one of you didn't mind reading all my rambling . This could well be the longest posts (words wise) I've ever made on this forum (not counting the lists of books read this year etc.)

 

tl;dr

I think the Xbox One has some bad features and much prefer the PlayStation 4.

[Devi]

I don't play very much at all , I like Brutal Doom on my PC and sometimes get roped in to play something or other with Small Son on his 360 but half hour is enough for me. However a friend of mine at work is a big time gamer and he is all outraged about the new xbox One thing. The fact that Microsoft seem to be intent on destroying the second hand game market. He will not buy one on principle, he says it is the thin end of a wedge. After he explained the implications to me I can see why he is worried (along with a lot of other people!) 

I wondered if any gamers on here had any opinion on it? Sorry if it has been talked about before I did not read the whole thread...

He also said that at the recent game Expo The Sony rep got a standing ovation when he said that the PS4 will not be doing the same thing as Microsoft.. 

 

You are correct on all accounts. I own a 360 and ps3, so am not a fanboy of any brand, but when I heard what MS were doing I was pretty annoyed but not surprised. I for one wont be buying an xbox one because of the no second hand thing - which means you can't borrow games off friends either. Now I rarely ever buy second hand games, but I draw the line when you can't borrow a friends copy of a game (which within my group of gamer friends, we do a lot of), because I think its just being greedy and is very. I was brought up to share - unlike MS it seems.

Edited June 18, 2013 by Devi

[Karsa Orlong]

Great post, Athena

 

I won't be going anywhere near the Xbox One.  Forgetting all the online stuff and the used games debacle, new games are going to cost £55, and that's effectively just to buy a license that allows you to play the game.  At least with Steam, even though I'm not getting a physical product, I'm paying under £10 for a game, on average, and most will still look as good, if not better, on my pc than on the new console.  Microsoft have got this so completely wrong, but people will still buy it, so MS will feel vindicated    The only way to stop this sort of nonsense is to vote with your wallet.

 

There's a good article about it here.

 

Having said that, I won't be going near the PS4 either.  I jumped in on the last generation on release day, but this time I'm going to hang back and wait for the prices to drop - that's if I buy one at all. 

[Karsa Orlong]

You are correct on all accounts. I own a 360 and ps3, so am not a fanboy of any brand, but when I heard what MS were doing I was pretty annoyed but not surprised. I for one wont be buying an xbox one because of the no second hand thing - which means you can't borrow games off friends either. Now I rarely ever buy second hand games, but I draw the line when you can't borrow a friends copy of a game (which within my group of gamer friends, we do a lot of), because I think its just being greedy and is very. I was brought up to share - unlike MS it seems.

 

It's an interesting point.  I mean, most books contain the 'this cannot be re-sold, lent, hired or circulated without the permission of the publisher' warning, but we all do it.  If they tried to enforce that, secondhand bookshops and charity shops would be in big trouble!

[Karsa Orlong]

So Microsoft have done a U-turn over the ownership of games:

 

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-06-20-after-xbox-one-uturn-preowned-is-back-on-the-table-but-at-what-cost

 

 

 

ETA: And they've changed their minds about the online requirement, too:

 

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-06-19-microsoft-will-reverse-position-on-xbox-one-drm-today-report

 

 

 

Sony's E3 announcements obviously scared the proverbial out of them   

Edited June 20, 2013 by Karsa Orlong

[Athena]

I heard about it, it's great news!

[Matwek]

I've been playing Dark Souls a lot recently (trying to finish it before Dark Souls 2).

 

Finally starting to get to grips with the game now and managed to take down one of the Bosses first try with no prep before hand (I accidently walked right into it).

Its tough but fun.

[Kylie]

Have you all seen the trailer for GTA V? It looks so awesome! I'm not as much of a gamer as I'd like to be and I've been considering selling my PS3 for a while because it hardly gets used, but I'd love to play GTA V!

[Hayley]

I just saw it Kylie and it does look amazing. GTA has never been one of favourites, I think the story lines get a bit boring half way through. But maybe the ability to change between players in this one will help to keep the story more interesting, and the map looks huge!

 

I'm a bit addicted to playing Trine 2 with my boyfriend at the moment. It's the most beautiful game I've ever seen, the painted backgrounds are incredible. It is actually a little bit glitchy in online co-op, but it's still worth it! And even better, it was in the summer sale on Steam, so it was only £5.59 for the complete story version!

[Karsa Orlong]

I'm a bit addicted to playing Trine 2 with my boyfriend at the moment. It's the most beautiful game I've ever seen, the painted backgrounds are incredible. It is actually a little bit glitchy in online co-op, but it's still worth it! And even better, it was in the summer sale on Steam, so it was only £5.59 for the complete story version!

 

Oh yes, Trine 2 is rather gorgeous

[Monyx]

Hey all if you are into turn based strategy games i love the game Poxnora....made by SOE....you can find it here www.poxnora.com. check it out my game name there is Monyx as well. later!

[Athena]

So I caved and ordered Animal Crossing: New Leaf to play on holidays, and perhaps before then. I haven't played any games lately, so it'll be nice to play a nice game, I hope I like it.

[bobblybear]

Awesome Athena!! I hope you enjoy it. Have you played any of the Animal Crossing games before?

[Athena]

No, I haven't. I've only watched some trailers and read a bit on several sites on the internet (ie. Wikipedia). So we'll have to see how I get on! It hasn't been shipped yet but hopefully will be here in a while.

[bobblybear]

Just bumping up this thread. Once my exams are over I'm thinking of rewarding myself with a game. A few of you have played The Last of Us and Bioshock Infinite? Are they any good? They look good on YouTube videos, but I'm just wondering about actual playability, etc.

[Athena]

I've been playing Pokémon X a bit lately. I stopped playing Animal Crossing: New Leaf after I'd played it for a while, because I didn't play for a few days and suddenly people moved out. This upset me, I don't like it when games tell me how often I should play them. Pokémon X is very fun, I'm quite enjoying that, but due to input issues I only play it now and then and not too often. I've been playing it for about 22 hours total and have one badge.

 

I hope you find a nice game, Bobblybear! I'm sure a few people have played the games you mentioned, I think they liked them but hopefully they'll see this thread and answer you in person .

[bobblybear]

Thanks Athena, I've looked up reviews and YouTube clips but sometimes it can be quite hard to judge a game. Really, what I'm looking for is a game that gripped me like Fallout 3 and New Vegas did.

 

I still play Animal Crossing: New Leaf when I get the chance, but to avoid the problem you had, I change the time on my DS to the last time I played it, so I don't miss anything (as it's all real time).