Video Games Thread - Gamertags in 1st post

[CaptainHenreh]

^is doable, though i'd have to buy some servos or something to move/fire the nerf gun...not sure who I could sell it to, but I could probably get a job with a government contractor...oh wait

Sorry, didn't realize you were trying to milk us for your million dollar business idea, thought you were just goofing off.

Godspeed, Tony Stark. *salutes*

edit:

If you really want to make millions, program the kinect for a COTS automapper. Something man-portable that will map in real time & 3d an operator's surroundings back to C&C.

[D_Eclipse9916]

Hey Rex, want to sell ME2 to me?

You can borrow it if you like.

I will happily hand it to you when you pick up your lights. :|

Yes absolutely

I am really debating driving down sunday anyway for the autox, depends on how much I get done saturday.

[HAULN-SS]

^is doable, though i'd have to buy some servos or something to move/fire the nerf gun...not sure who I could sell it to, but I could probably get a job with a government contractor...oh wait

Sorry, didn't realize you were trying to milk us for your million dollar business idea, thought you were just goofing off.

Godspeed, Tony Stark. *salutes*

edit:

If you really want to make millions, program the kinect for a COTS automapper. Something man-portable that will map in real time & 3d an operator's surroundings back to C&C.

Nah, I mean, realistically i'll probably sell zero of anything. I was mostly looking for a cheapish way to get into Computer Vision programming. ive never done it before, and its hard to just learn something like that by the book - helps to actually make some apps. THe only reason i was looking for more-than-goofing off ideas is because a lot of the "silly" shit you see in demos is basically available right out of the box with little thinking about how it works. You learn more having real problems that are harder to solve.

Your edit is definitely do-able. Good idea.

[CaptainHenreh]

Your edit is definitely do-able. Good idea.

I've seen 2 or 3 RFP's and SBR's about that. If you can get it done cheaply, it's definitely marketable.

Hell, at the very least, it's pretty damned impressive.

The other thing I was thinking about for a kinect would be an Augmented Reality helmet. Take a motorbike helmet or whatever, replace the screen with a display, and toss a kinect on top. The kinect maps out the room, processor displays room information inside helmet. Visor down = augmented reality.

[CaptainHenreh]

Soooooooooo Mass Effect 3.

I realize I am quite possibly the only person who cares about the SP campaign, but just the same, I'll wait until the end of the month to spoil anything.

However, if the ending of ME3 is *the end*, as it appears to be, then I have officially purchased my last Bioware product. (And believe me, I've bought plenty of 'em). After 5 years and countless (ok, 200+) hours invested in this franchise, to leave it like this sucks on ice.

[JustinG]

Soooooooooo Mass Effect 3.

I realize I am quite possibly the only person who cares about the SP campaign, but just the same, I'll wait until the end of the month to spoil anything.

However, if the ending of ME3 is *the end*, as it appears to be, then I have officially purchased my last Bioware product. (And believe me, I've bought plenty of 'em). After 5 years and countless (ok, 200+) hours invested in this franchise, to leave it like this sucks on ice.

Keep your damn mouth shut. The MP sucked when I played with you and Derecola that one time, only reason I bought it was for the SP, so no spoilers.

[CaptainHenreh]

Yeah, won't spoil anything until the end of the month. If you haven't finished it in this time, well, stay out the thread I guess.

[Apoc]

Four weeks to complete a campaign isn't nearly enough time. I think you're the only person I know that will have done it by the end of April.

[CaptainHenreh]

Four weeks to complete a campaign isn't nearly enough time. I think you're the only person I know that will have done it by the end of April.

20 hours dude. Should be easy to do in 10 days, if you've already started. But if no one else has finished, obviously I'll keep it to myself.

[Apoc]

I'm about an hour in... but I only ever play if I sit down to a grind session and there's no one online to MP with.

20 hours takes forever if you play video games 5 hours/week and 90% of that is online. (I just did the math, and that comes out to 1 hour since release... so I guess that's about right.) At this rate, I'm only 38 weeks away until completing it... although I suspect the % MP will decrease over time. </stat nerd>

[Apoc]

I'm about an hour in... but I only ever play if I sit down to a grind session and there's no one online to MP with.

20 hours takes forever if you play video games 5 hours/week and 90% of that is online. (I just did the math, and that comes out to 1 hour since release... so I guess that's about right.) At this rate, I'm only 38 weeks away until completing it... although I suspect the % MP will decrease over time. </stat nerd>

Mikey only beats SP when the next version of the game is set to release within a month. :lol:

[Mike]

I'm about an hour in... but I only ever play if I sit down to a grind session and there's no one online to MP with.

20 hours takes forever if you play video games 5 hours/week and 90% of that is online. (I just did the math, and that comes out to 1 hour since release... so I guess that's about right.) At this rate, I'm only 38 weeks away until completing it... although I suspect the % MP will decrease over time. </stat nerd>

Mikey only beats SP when the next version of the game is set to release within a month. :lol:

i'm 5x beyond you, dickwad.

[Apoc]

So much hostility.

[CaptainHenreh]

So the Co-Founder of Bioware had this to say: (no spoilers)

itÔÇÖs incredibly painful to receive feedback from our core fans that the gameÔÇÖs endings were not up to their expectations

I will remain optimistic. It is a little bizarre to me that *nobody* at bioware saw this coming. The ending goes (quite literally) against the very base philosophy of the entire saga, and to call a set of palette-swapped 'splosions (I don't think I am spoiling anything here) the "endings" of a 5 year epic is just, well, absurdly disappointing.

So Mr. Muzyaka has asked his "Core Fans" (of which I think I can safely say after buying all 3 games, all the ME2 DLC, and mass effect books for Odin's sake that is a category I fall in) to give feedback of the game "as a whole" and not concentrate overmuch on the ending. So, that I will do. Maybe in the process you'll understand why I was so let down by the ending.

But we'd have to start at the beginning. Mass Effect was actually one of the first games I purchased for Xbox 360. I'd played Bioware games in the past and enjoyed them immensely. I loved Kotor, Baldur's Gate, and even Shattered Steel, although I didn't make the connection until a lot later. I loved pretty much everything about it. Even driving that silly truck over planetary surfaces, trying to avoid being eaten by spaceworms (thresher maw). It reminded me of everything I loved about KOTOR, but free of any weird dancing around lucas, and with better combat. (Although I admit, I enjoyed the turn based combat of Kotor). Played through twice. Once as BroShep, Paragon Knight Errant of the Galaxy. Women wanted him and men wanted to be him. He'd track down Saren and bring him to Space Justice because it was The Right Thing To Do. I enjoyed this so much, I decided to playthrough again and FemShep was born. Queen Bitch of the Universe. She was a woman in a man's galaxy, she didn't play by the rules, and that's why she was so successful. Strong, independent, with a tough exterior. Deep inside I think lurked some doubts and insecurities, so maybe she overcompensated just a little.

You guys know me, I'm a story teller. Given a medium like this, I can't *not* get into my character's heads, seeking out their motivations, their secret fears and desires. After all, *I* have to justify the actions I choose them to make. And I could do it in a way that felt a lot more organic than previous RPG's. It was awesome, and I loved pretty much every second of it.

So natch, I bought ME2 on release day. Something you should know about me, I don't buy shit on release day. I think video games are waaaaaaaay to expensive (a relic left over from the days when I got shit for $free) and so it's a pretty rare day I spend 60 bucks on release day. I can probably count on one hand how many times I've done that. (Fallout 3, Black Ops, ME2/ME3 and...that's about it.) I've got a wishlist on amazon full of games I'm waiting to drop below some threshold known only to me that designates an appropriate price. But after the first, I didn't blink, didn't hesitate to drop my hard earned cash on Mass Effect 2 the day it came out. Aaaaaaaaaand it was awesome! Broshep dumped that weirdo Ashley for some hawt Miranda action (cue dat ass pic) and saved the human race from the Collectors By The Book. Femshep had a harder time, keeping a picture of her beloved on her desk, and secretly waiting for the day the Galaxy would be safe, and she could rest. The burden was heavy, maybe more than she could bear. But she did what she had to do, the beautiful reluctant hero. I ate, slept, breathed this game. I loved Legion and the whole divided Geth. I thought the "test tube Krogan" was a great idea, and I loved Mordin's guilt and regret over his involvement with the Genophage. Great story, even a good ending. Big reveals without taking away a lot of the mystery that made it great. And the back and forth between the Shepards and TIM, the dynamic of who is using who was a brilliant piece of writing. Just, great great stuff. And then the DLC! Wow. Just wow. Mass Effect 1's DLC was mostly shit, but ME2...hit the nail on the head, and if you ask me, kind of set the bar for DLC. I don't mind paying for extra content, as long as the price point is reasonable and the content is *actually good*. Too many software companies release this kind of halfass bullshit for DLC and then expect me to pay out the nose for it. Nah son, I'm good. But ME2 DLC? Awesome. A great addition to the series while not being required.

So naturally, ME3 has been greatly and hotly anticipated by myself. I preordered (something i never ever ever ever do) and when it arrived at my doorstep I damn near hurt myself getting the box open.

And you know what? It's really really really good. Everything I loved about ME2 is there, but more. Everything I didn't like about ME2 is pretty much gone. Some of the things I liked about ME1 that were missing in ME2 are back. Combat is smoother, the "power tree" is a great way to manage your skillset, and the story is fantastic. All the themes that have pervaded the whole series are still there: What it means to be "human", cultural tolerance, strength in diversity, the needs of the many vs the needs of the few, righting old wrongs...it's all there, beautifully rendered. And ME3 felt like a good "ending". The "meat" of the game is spent tying up loose ends, righting old wrongs, making peace...and it all feels good. You get to see your "friends" grow up and grow old. You see them look death right in the eye and not blink. Hell, even the Multiplayer, while a little vanilla (definitely could use more map variety) it isn't bad. A not wholly-unwelcome addition to the series, and a good reason to "keep playing" after you'd normally quit your playthroughs.

I guess, in short, knowing the ending would I still buy it? The answer is yes. It's a great, great game with an unfortunate last few minutes. I still maintain if you "bought it for the multiplayer" you picked the wroooooooooooong game, and if you're not a big sci-fi nerd (did you jizz your pants over the Prometheus trailer? If not, you're not that big of a sci-fi nerd) you will definitely NOT enjoy it as much as I did. Does it have it's problems other than the ending? You bet. There definitely seemed to be chunks "missing". I kept talking to Aria in the citadel waiting for her to be like "Alright Shepard, you want my army? Saddle up and help me retake Omega." And instead, nothin'. And add into that the whole running into people on the Citadel: "Oh my, the reapers have taken my home planet and I forgot to bring with me the Ancient Toaster of Power...sure wish I had that about now." Then I go to find the AToP, and the game doesn't make me fight reapers for it, or a thresher maw, or maybe cerberus had unlocked the secrets of the AToP and were going to use it to control the reapers and I had to stop them...nope! It was just "oh, were you looking for this? Yeah, it's down in docking bay D24. YOU'RE WELCOME." A bit lame.

But those are just little warts on an otherwise flawless game. (again, excepting the last 20 minutes)

Yeah, I know. tl;dr. Still, it's the XBOX 360 thread, so maybe someone was on the fence about buying ME3, or playing through the others (AND TAKING THEIR TIME, MIKEY) maybe this will tip you over the edge.

[Apoc]

Am I supposed to be putting that much thought into my video games? If so, I'm doing it seriously wrong.

[CaptainHenreh]

Am I supposed to be putting that much thought into my video games? If so, I'm doing it seriously wrong.

Not all of 'em, obviously. But ones that hold their entertainment value in the story? Yeah, kind of. (If you ask me.)

For some games the story is the tracks that lead you from Shit Blows Up 1 to Shit Blows Up 2. For others the story is the focus, and the action enhances the story.

For example. I thought that the Black Ops story was decent. Not great, but decent. But, if it had just been "Are you a bad enough dude to kill Fidel Castro? Let's find out!" that would have been fine too. Different game, different focus. But an RPG is all about, uh, you know, playing a role. Tough to do without putting some thought into it. And less enjoyable without the effort, maybe? I think this may be the difference between myself and Lee when we talk about Skyrim vs Fallout. Lee is all "ZOMG Skyrim is just Fallout 3 with Swords and Magic." And I'm like "WTF are you serious? Same engine, sure, but totally different otherwise."

[WRXtranceformed]

Haha I mean yeah dude you really get into it! I just like playing Skyrim because I can run around and make my guy look tight with pimp armor and fuck shit up. The only reason I never take the evil routes is it gets annoying getting attacked at every city or getting thrown in jail.

[CaptainHenreh]

Haha I mean yeah dude you really get into it! I just like playing Skyrim because I can run around and make my guy look tight with pimp armor and fuck shit up. The only reason I never take the evil routes is it gets annoying getting attacked at every city or getting thrown in jail.

Yeah. See, I'm not gonna say Lee is doing it wrong. Because whatever, play how you want. But he's definitely not getting the whole experience the developers intended for him to receive.

[WRXtranceformed]

I think this may be the difference between myself and Lee when we talk about Skyrim vs Fallout. Lee is all "ZOMG Skyrim is just Fallout 3 with Swords and Magic." And I'm like "WTF are you serious? Same engine, sure, but totally different otherwise."

Lol you beat me to it! I am a sci fi nerd but I don't get into sci fi / fantasy stories as much. Even when I wasted 193 days of my life on Everquest, I never got into the storylines behind the bosses we killed, or the reason for progressing through zones...I just always wanted the sweetest armor and weapons and to be able to dominate NPCs AND PCs.

[D_Eclipse9916]

I did not follow along with any of this....stopping by gamestop this weekend to pick up Mass Effect 1 and then getting ME2.

Im not a sci-fi nerd in the sense I have no fl***ing clue some of what you were talking about, but I enjoyed BattleStar Galactica (and really enjoyed Caprica).
But until puppy is old enough to spend time alone i'll be playing plenty of video games .