RANDOM VIDEO GAME NEWS

[IndiraLightfoot]

Five years ago, I didn't know what Steam was. Now it's almost an integral part of me. It's most effective at creeping into to your home systems and your mind and just make itself at home there. I'm not surprised one bit if I have steam projected onto my shower glass wall doors the year 2015, complete with a crash to desktop splash using the killer-behind-the-shower-curtain-with-a-knife-shadow graphics from the movie Psycho.

[Keyrock]

Yeah I get preferring Steam, since they have a better selection and much better sales, but I've never understood trying to argue one is worse than the other in terms of DRM.  

 

In reality, Origin is less of a resource hog and the offline mode seems to run smoother.

For me it's all about my personal experience.  Steam has been rock solid for me going back many years now.  Uplay hasn't done me wrong yet (it was down the day Watch_Dogs released but it was kind enough to let me play the game in offline mode).  Origin has given me problems in the past, when I most recently used it (which, admittedly was quite some time ago), and GFWL was such an awful experience for me that I still, to this day, actively avoid games, even games I'd very much like to play, like Dark Souls, that require the service.

 

Plus, as a Linux user, Steam holds a certain advantage over the competition.

 

I can totally see someone who's had major problems with Steam but Origin had always worked well for them preferring Origin.  I wouldn't expect anything different.

[Gfted1]

Clash of the space titans: Star Citizen delayed, Elite: Dangerous on track.

[Malcador]

Have a feeling this will end with SC flopping and Roberts fleeing to South America.

[Helz]

I can totally see someone who's had major problems with Steam but Origin had always worked well for them preferring Origin.  I wouldn't expect anything different.

 

For me it's all about my personal experience.  Steam has been rock solid for me going back many years now.  Uplay hasn't done me wrong yet (it was down the day Watch_Dogs released but it was kind enough to let me play the game in offline mode).  Origin has given me problems in the past, when I most recently used it (which, admittedly was quite some time ago), and GFWL was such an awful experience for me that I still, to this day, actively avoid games, even games I'd very much like to play, like Dark Souls, that require the service.

 

My experiences are pretty much the same.  Steam has done well by me, the only complaint I have is that offline mode isn't always available.  Origin annoyed me in both games I've played that used it (DA:O and ME2), but it wasn't terrible.  I avoid Uplay because I don't actually want all these services on my computer, but I can't speak for it one way or another except that I wish it would go away.  If a game came out on Uplay that I wanted enough, I'd probably buy it.  OTOH, GFWL is garbage, has ruined two separate games of mine, and I have boycotted every game that has used it since Batman: AA.

[marelooke]

Yeah I get preferring Steam, since they have a better selection and much better sales, but I've never understood trying to argue one is worse than the other in terms of DRM.  

 

In reality, Origin is less of a resource hog and the offline mode seems to run smoother.

I'm guessing that most people prefer Steam because they chose to use it because it was convenient (and there were no alternatives) whereas UPlay and Origin were crammed down our throats by their respective publishers (by making their "blockbuster" games exclusive to their platform, see Dead Space 3 and Mass Effect 3 as examples in the case of Origin).

 

I avoid UPlay due to some bad experiences with limited activations on that platform, I'm not sure if they still do that crap, avoiding it has more become a matter of habit (although istr something about having to release a key for Far Cry 3 or somesuch before uninstalling so I guess they do)

 

I dislike Origin because (on top of it being forced on me by EA as stated above):

- it freezes my desktop for up to a minute when it starts

- they keep displaying my profile in French, even though it's set to Dutch in the settings. I have to switch it back every damn time I use the application. Just using English (as I do in Steam) isn't even an option (nor is using German for that matter, which is also an official language in this country).

 

That said, nowadays I tend to prefer games that are also available outside these three walled gardens though either Gog or the Humble Store. The best option is when I can get a game at once through both a direct download channel (Gog, Humble Store or download from dev site) and Steam (so I can have the convenience of Steam without necessarily being locked into it), Larian, for example, tends to hand out Steam keys on top of making their games available through their own store (eg. the Divinity Anthology box included a Steam key for all three games on top of the non-Steam installer).

Edited May 30, 2014 by marelooke

[Humanoid]

...crammed down our throats by their respective publishers [by] making their "blockbuster" games exclusive to their platform...

 

Uhh, Half-Life 2?

[Malcador]

Kind of miss the days you didn't need wrapper programs around your games.

[NOK222]

http://www.mmogames.com/gamenews/30111/mythic-entertainment-closes/ EA shuts down Mythic 

[BruceVC]

http://www.mmogames.com/gamenews/30111/mythic-entertainment-closes/ EA shuts down Mythic 

 

I got upset for a moment due to nostalgic reasons but then I read the article and its only one branch of Mythic that is closing down. You naughty boy to make people nervous !!!

[AGX-17]

Five years ago, I didn't know what Steam was. Now it's almost an integral part of me. It's most effective at creeping into to your home systems and your mind and just make itself at home there. I'm not surprised one bit if I have steam projected onto my shower glass wall doors the year 2015, complete with a crash to desktop splash using the killer-behind-the-shower-curtain-with-a-knife-shadow graphics from the movie Psycho.

I got hooked with Orange Box (re: TF2) back in October 2007 (just in time for la grande récession,) never looked back. Didn't even bother with the previous generation of consoles until The Last of Us.

If that SteamOS pans out... Well, so long, Microsoft, it's been... an experience?

Edited May 30, 2014 by AGX-17

[Zoraptor]

 

...crammed down our throats by their respective publishers [by] making their "blockbuster" games exclusive to their platform...

 

Uhh, Half-Life 2?

 

Yeah, and that's pretty much it in a nutshell.

 

I'd bet every last cent in my bank account that the vast majority of people using steam are doing so because of 'blockbuster games exclusive to the platform' rather than having optionally downloaded the client and deciding to do their purchases there in a manner completely free of influence or compulsion. Getting steam from HL2 or Skyrim or whatever is every bit as much being 'forced' to use steam as origin is for recent EA games or Uplay for Ubi games, but for some reason people seem to think it's been freely chosen because... well I'm never sure exactly why, there's certainly no logical reason for it except Valve being the first to do it and most successful at it. Defaultism is not free choice, quite the opposite.

 

The sad thing is that PC gaming was an open system, and it's largely been closed off now by 3rd party bundling of steam. At least you don't get uplay or origin bundled on 3rd party games.

[Bester]

[Bendu]

Too bad that it'll be a PS4 exclusive.

[ManifestedISO]

Who the hell, where did you get that. That was the best rewind decomposition voice-over ever. And from an Australian, sounds like. Seriously I'm tripping out right now. 

 

Calling back to a PS1 game, too. Dude did some research. Wait--all that in just the last few hours, no way, this guy has to be official to somewhere. Like a Sony Studios guy. Looks frickin' cool though.

 

Wait, oh yeah, it's E3. I bet they show that whole rest of the clip at that theatre-release thing Sony is doing. *sniff* New IP, I can smell it I think

Edited May 30, 2014 by ManifestedISO

[Nordicus]

Who the hell, where did you get that. That was the best rewind decomposition voice-over ever. And from an Australian, sounds like. Seriously I'm tripping out right now. 

 

Calling back to a PS1 game, too. Dude did some research. Wait--all that in just the last few hours, no way, this guy has to be official to somewhere. Like a Sony Studios guy. Looks frickin' cool though.

That's VaatiVidya, there's perhaps just 1 person who breathes, eats, drinks, dreams, thinks and lives Souls games more than he does. This footage also existed in picture form few weeks back, so he's had time to prepare for more concrete evidence of a Souls game spin-off by FROM Software. The Shadow Tower mentions were all over the leaked screenshots back then Edited May 30, 2014 by Nordicus

[marelooke]

 

 

...crammed down our throats by their respective publishers [by] making their "blockbuster" games exclusive to their platform...

 

Uhh, Half-Life 2?

 

Yeah, and that's pretty much it in a nutshell.

 

I'd bet every last cent in my bank account that the vast majority of people using steam are doing so because of 'blockbuster games exclusive to the platform' rather than having optionally downloaded the client and deciding to do their purchases there in a manner completely free of influence or compulsion. Getting steam from HL2 or Skyrim or whatever is every bit as much being 'forced' to use steam as origin is for recent EA games or Uplay for Ubi games, but for some reason people seem to think it's been freely chosen because... well I'm never sure exactly why, there's certainly no logical reason for it except Valve being the first to do it and most successful at it. Defaultism is not free choice, quite the opposite.

 

True, I forgot about HL2, though I can't get enough data from Steam to verify if that actually was my first Steam game (it probably was, although I remember jumping through hoops for my account details at some point early on). And I was pretty majorly annoyed by Skyrim (I especially ordered a disc to avoid any of the walled gardens, ugh, that'll teach me to do more research).

 

You forget one thing here though, Valve is a game developer (well, they were anyway), while EA/Ubisoft are publishers, so we're talking about *a lot* more games in the latter two cases (not to mention the reputation the former has vs the latter two)

 

Also my first Origin game (DA2, according to my email archive) got Origin applied to it retroactively, it wasn't an Origin game when I got it from the EA webshop. They later removed that download instead forcing the use of Origin (and installing Origin then tied my already installed game to that platform).

 

The sad thing is that PC gaming was an open system, and it's largely been closed off now by 3rd party bundling of steam.

Luckily many Kickstarters provide an option to avoid the walled gardens.

 

And as I mentioned, there's developers like Larian that regularly provide keys for multiple platforms for the same price (it's not like not doing it will help against piracy if you're releasing DRM free, so might as well make it as convenient as possible for your paying customers)

 

At least you don't get uplay or origin bundled on 3rd party games.

For now. They all want as big a piece of that same pie as they can get, after all.

[Rosbjerg]

I remember how much I hated Steam back in those brown/gray windows box times. It would crash, freeze and generally be a Steam(ing pile of poo).. Then they seriously reworked the thing and now it's actually my nr 1 go to social medal as well as gaming platform. Which why I think it's so successful - it has made online gaming sooo much easier.

[ManifestedISO]

Sorry if re-post, didn't see it anywhere. 

 

First-person RPG city builder? I wonder if I can actually pick up a hammer and hammer stuff.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpvitAQGPIg

[Bos_hybrid]

Do want ^^^.

[Agiel]

Valiant Hearts: The Great War is now open for pre-orders on Steam.

 

 

I cried a tear, or two, or maybe five.

 

Ubisoft may not be the company that introduced such seminal experiences to me like Silent Hunter III/IV, Raven Shield, and Chaos Theory (as fun as Watch Dogs and Far Cry 3 can be), but it can't be denied that they're still full of pleasant surprises.

Edited May 31, 2014 by Agiel

[BruceVC]

Valiant Hearts: The Great War is now open for pre-orders on Steam.

 

 

I cried a tear, or two, or maybe five.

 

Ubisoft may not be the company that introduced such seminal experiences to me like Silent Hunter III/IV, Raven Shield, and Chaos Theory (as fun as Watch Dogs and Far Cry 3 can be), but it can't be denied that they're still full of pleasant surprises.

 This trailer made me realize that there just aren't enough good First World War games, in fact can people name a few?

[BruceVC]

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2014/05/30/the-forest-released-steam-early-access/#more-210107

 

 

Guys this game looks great, a survival game set in a forest where you need to hunt and build shelters. But there are also creatures that try to kill you. I would like someone to play this game and give some feedback

[Keyrock]

Metro Redux screenies:

 

 

 

[Endrosz]

REAL WATCH DOG HACKS!

 

 

"Those guys are the best hiders I've neven seen!"