The General Videogame Thread

[Draconifors]

I got a tip that GOG was having a puzzle sale (1 day left), so I checked out what was available. Ended up grabbing four games for 7 euro (regular price total would have been 70). Not bad!

The games are Deponia 1 through 4, of which I had never even heard but that sounded good.

Currently two hours into the first one, and am loving the humour and writing. I even had to use pen and paper to solve a puzzle, which is super rare and at least in this case a bonus.

One of the main characters has the same voice actor as Vesemir, which feels quite odd due to this guy's being about as far from a witcher as is possible.

 

[pliskards]

Random upcoming video game predictions as PS Showcase, XBox Event and Summer Games Fest draw closer.

• Starfield will disappoint the vast majority of fans. Because there is so much space in it rather than a single land mass the 'feature' of wandering around while exploring will be gone and people will realize how big of a part of previous Bethesda titles that was. However, the people who really like the game will love it and those who enjoy modded content will consider it one of the greatest games ever made.
• Phantom Liberty will restore a lot of faith in CDPR. I think that the expansion is going to be good and a large percentage of the fan base is going to enjoy it - though they will never have the level of adoration from fans that they had after The Witcher 3.
• Baldurs Gate 3 will be the best game of 2023 and be absolutely massive in terms of the amount of content it offers. It will set a new standard for similar RPGs that will be almost impossible to live up to.
• Avowed will end up being a better overall game than Starfield and receive higher review scores upon release.
• inXile or Obsidian are working on a Fallout game or remake that will release before Fallout 5. No clue if it will be announced in the coming weeks, but I cannot see Microsoft sitting on the IP for another 8-15 years while Bethesda makes ES6.
• The new Armored Core will not be a very good game. It will not receive the praise that Souls games have been getting.

 

[LeKill3rFou]

Unrecord on Unreal 5 is quite impressive (it probably require high-end PC to run these kind of graphics, but still...)
So "too" realistic ?

 

[sonofsnow]

Unrecord on Unreal 5 is quite impressive (it probably require high-end PC to run these kind of graphics, but still...)
So "too" realistic ?

The NPCs still give it away for me, but eventually... yeah potentially too realistic haha. Not sure how it would feel playing something that looks so close to real life. What do you think?

 

[LeKill3rFou]

Not sure how it would feel playing something that looks so close to real life. What do you think?

Not sure either.
If a game seem "too" real, it's possible that I could feel a bit uncomfortable (like unrecord^^). But for me, it's not only matter of graphics. I mean, a game with realist graphics but which take place in a fantasy world for example, no problem
On side note, I don't have any doubt that the next witcher game will look outstanding with UE 5.

 

[Shafir]

Probably in the future people will get used to it and in a few years they will look back at today's titles like they look back at the titles from 5 to 10 years ago. Just as likely, it will continue to be an art form that will also produce less realistic graphics.

 

[Sunsibar]

I don't think that I would have problems with too realistic graphics. Interesting question non the less.

Basic gaming is still the key here and how the games has been otherwise made. I can see myself enjoying equally as much with realistic graphics, cartoon graphics and something in between graphics if the game itself is to my liking.

 

[Spockprime]

Not sure either.
If a game seem "too" real, it's possible that I could feel a bit uncomfortable (like unrecord^^). But for me, it's not only matter of graphics. I mean, a game with realist graphics but which take place in a fantasy world for example, no problem
On side note, I don't have any doubt that the next witcher game will look outstanding with UE 5.

I think the potential issue with lifelike graphics is the type of game. In this one, the character is running around in a realistic looking environment, shooting realistic looking other people in the head. Or at least trying to.

We watch first person perspective movies in which the viewer is seeing something equivalent to this, or worse (thinking of Hardcore Henry, for instance). I don't know if actually pulling the trigger in a realistic setting makes it any different, and I haven't kept up with the psych studies on the topic (if there are any). However, as a practical matter, I can see super realistic graphics in shooters getting nailed hard by regulators, who have to maintain the appearance of doing "something", even if it's counterproductive. For that reason alone, I think investing in action games with lifelike graphics is a high risk proposal. I can envision it in other types of games, but I'm skeptical that any major publisher will want to be the first to try it with an action game.

 

[SigilFey]

I think the potential issue with lifelike graphics is the type of game. In this one, the character is running around in a realistic looking environment, shooting realistic looking other people in the head. Or at least trying to.

We watch first person perspective movies in which the viewer is seeing something equivalent to this, or worse (thinking of Hardcore Henry, for instance). I don't know if actually pulling the trigger in a realistic setting makes it any different, and I haven't kept up with the psych studies on the topic (if there are any). However, as a practical matter, I can see super realistic graphics in shooters getting nailed hard by regulators, who have to maintain the appearance of doing "something", even if it's counterproductive. For that reason alone, I think investing in action games with lifelike graphics is a high risk proposal. I can envision it in other types of games, but I'm skeptical that any major publisher will want to be the first to try it with an action game.

This is a time-honored argument, but one that I imagine will continue to come back to the same conclusions, regardless of how advanced the technology becomes. The realism of a fabricated experience has never been shown to have even the slightest impact on a person's psyche. The person they are is determined by the type of person they are, not by how realistic the movies and video games they engage with are. As the realism increases, people remain largely the same.

Hence, if anything, especially video games will help to identify individuals that are suffering from violent or destructive tendencies. Being influenced by a fabricated experience shows that there's something inherently wrong with that person's psyche at their core. If anything else were true, then all of the studies already conducted would have shown that the vast majority of people were influenced by it. But that isn't what the results have shown: instead, they have shown that, for example, extremely violent and aggressive video games, movies, music, cartoons, comic books, novels, etc. have absolutely no discernible effect on the vast majority of people.

For those that do show an increase in negative tendencies, their history is almost invariably riddled with other, real life accounts of violence, aggression, etc. In general, most human beings can absolutely tell the difference between what is ethical and what is harmful, and they can easily tell the difference between fiction and reality. Those that can't simply have existing, personal issues that are manifested by exposing them to such media. (In a way, it's largely better that they reveal that sort of thing through video games...rather than real life.)

 

[LeKill3rFou]

This is a time-honored argument, but one that I imagine will continue to come back to the same conclusions, regardless of how advanced the technology becomes. The realism of a fabricated experience has never been shown to have even the slightest impact on a person's psyche. The person they are is determined by the type of person they are, not by how realistic the movies and video games they engage with are. As the realism increases, people remain largely the same.

Hence, if anything, especially video games will help to identify individuals that are suffering from violent or destructive tendencies. Being influenced by a fabricated experience shows that there's something inherently wrong with that person's psyche at their core. If anything else were true, then all of the studies already conducted would have shown that the vast majority of people were influenced by it. But that isn't what the results have shown: instead, they have shown that, for example, extremely violent and aggressive video games, movies, music, cartoons, comic books, novels, etc. have absolutely no discernible effect on the vast majority of people.

For those that do show an increase in negative tendencies, their history is almost invariably riddled with other, real life accounts of violence, aggression, etc. In general, most human beings can absolutely tell the difference between what is ethical and what is harmful, and they can easily tell the difference between fiction and reality. Those that can't simply have existing, personal issues that are manifested by exposing them to such media. (In a way, it's largely better that they reveal that sort of thing through video games...rather than real life.)

Not sure in other country, but in France, a good while ago, some (even in national news, so it was serious^^) pointed out video games (GTA in particular) which "would" incitate young and influcable players to be violent...
Completely stupid idea, which came without any doubt from "respectable" people who never once played video games

 

[SigilFey]

Not sure in other country, but in France, a good while ago, some (even in national news, so it was serious^^) pointed out video games (GTA in particular) which "would" incitate young and influcable players to be violent...
Completely stupid idea, which came without any doubt from "respectable" people who never once played video games

A lot of the doomsayers and critics have always been largely people with no, actual experience with the media, yes. They are largely drawing from assumption and second-hand argumentation.

 

[Gilrond-i-Virdan]

System Shock remake looks pretty good so far. Quite nice cyberpunk style.

 

[Spockprime]

This is a time-honored argument, but one that I imagine will continue to come back to the same conclusions, regardless of how advanced the technology becomes. The realism of a fabricated experience has never been shown to have even the slightest impact on a person's psyche. The person they are is determined by the type of person they are, not by how realistic the movies and video games they engage with are. As the realism increases, people remain largely the same.

Hence, if anything, especially video games will help to identify individuals that are suffering from violent or destructive tendencies. Being influenced by a fabricated experience shows that there's something inherently wrong with that person's psyche at their core. If anything else were true, then all of the studies already conducted would have shown that the vast majority of people were influenced by it. But that isn't what the results have shown: instead, they have shown that, for example, extremely violent and aggressive video games, movies, music, cartoons, comic books, novels, etc. have absolutely no discernible effect on the vast majority of people.

For those that do show an increase in negative tendencies, their history is almost invariably riddled with other, real life accounts of violence, aggression, etc. In general, most human beings can absolutely tell the difference between what is ethical and what is harmful, and they can easily tell the difference between fiction and reality. Those that can't simply have existing, personal issues that are manifested by exposing them to such media. (In a way, it's largely better that they reveal that sort of thing through video games...rather than real life.)

I don't disagree with your conclusions. My point was more about not wanting to incur the wrath of regulators, who need things that they can bluster against, to maintain the appearance of doing something productive. Hyper-realistic shooters seem like low hanging fruit for that.

Post automatically merged: May 31, 2023

And on the general topic of video games, has anyone kept up with Paradox' new life sim called "Life by you"? I just ran across it this weekend. I grew up on The Sims, migrated to The Sims 2, enjoyed (and still enjoy) The Sims 3, and gave up on the series after about 7 years of The Sims 4. The new Paradox game looks really cool, and the company has a history of being good at these types of games.

 

[Sunsibar]

And on the general topic of video games, has anyone kept up with Paradox' new life sim called "Life by you"?

I saw it mentioned somewhere a while back. I may have to give it a go if I happen to bump into it.

Last year I was so addicted to Sims 4 and few months ago I lost my soul to Cities Skylines. And I still can't understand how games like these can make you totally forget that (real) life exists

 

[Restlessdingo32]

I don't know if actually pulling the trigger in a realistic setting makes it any different, and I haven't kept up with the psych studies on the topic (if there are any).

Based on what I've seen, which admittedly isn't a lot, knowledge in this area is at best inconclusive. That holds true for whether there is any link to behavioural changes from games and whether any of those links, if they do exist, become more pronounced with added realism.

I'm not really taking a stance on the topic either. If I'm being totally honest, I don't really give a shit. Whether pew pewing make believe pixels in a make believe pixel environment influences behavior or not isn't going to stop me from playing games.

In the case of that early Unrecord footage I don't know what the fuss is about either. Sure, visually it looks decent. It's not exactly a massive leap from some existing games.

 

[Gilrond-i-Virdan]

Gameplay of cyberpace in System Shock is actually more fun than in CP2077. In the latter we barely get a chance to see cyberpace in a few sequences, but not really to do much in it (not counting hacking terminals and walking around in the finale / Johnny dialogue). Kind of surprising if you think of it.

 

[pliskards]

Looks like the reviews are in for Diablo 4.

Seems like the people who really loved Diablo 3 really, really loved Diablo 4.

The people who really loved Diablo 2 and thought Diablo 3 was pretty meh seem to think Diablo 4 is also pretty meh.

 

[Spockprime]

Feeling nostalgic, so I'm contemplating re-playing Baldur's Gate II, assuming I can get it running. I'm curious. Do you remember which companions you ended the game with? I loved Keldorn, but dismissed him to be with his family.

Imoen is my sister, so she was in the party. Minsc/Boo were always in the party, because I figured I was better off with a miniature space hamster than without. Anomen is an excellent fighter/cleric, depending on how you allow his character to develop, and becomes much less annoying about half way through the game. Viconia seems like she has nowhere else to go, and fits with my party (which is fortunate, because of Keldorn). Jan Jansen rounds out my party, except when Throne of Bhaal kicks in, where I replace him with Sarevok. I can't stand Aerie (who I call Airy), I really can't stand Cernd, Jaheira is unfixably broken without a mod respec, and the only use I can think of for Edwin/Edwina and Korgan is to put them in a pit fight and hope that neither walks out. I like Valgar and Mazzy but they don't fit my party composition, I can't play a Blade character, and Nalia is a reworked and annoying version of Imoen. I keep her until I get Imoen.

So, I usually finish the basic game with Imoen, Minsc, Viconia, Anomen, and Jan; and the expansion with Sarevok (hands down the best fighter in the game) replacing Jan. I do usually cheat and respect Imoen as a pure thief, rather than thief/mage.

 

[Jesting-Jack]

 

[Iszdope]

Seriously considering trading in my PGA tour games. I haven't traded a game for around two decades now I'd reckon.

It's serious and it sucks because I am loving the Road to the Masters (2K23 was a big letdown for me). So much so that I am at the point of changing to the right stick for my swing as my thumb is caning.

This (sketchy, behind the back) decision to merge tours has truly shocked me.

At the moment, I, in all conscience cannot continue. Diablo IV it is.

Not. Happy. Jan (Greg).

Fair Dinkum.