The Gaming Lounge: Beyond - Part 6

[Nathan]

GTA is overrated. Yes, there, I said it! I never finished one of their games.

 

[SpideyVille]

 

[Havok83]

I thought GTA V wasn't being released for another few months.

It ain't out yet so it doesn't qualify

 

[Nathan]

You are only angry because you know it to be true.

 

[SpideyVille]

You are only angry because you know it to be true.

You take that back, sir!

It ain't out yet so it doesn't qualify

I was going to suggest Watch Dogs at first, but I guess that would also be considered next-gen, so it wouldn't have qualified either.

But in all seriousness, I'm kinda bummed because I won't be playing TLOU for a while. My friend was supposed to get it and I was going to borrow it when he was done, but he's opting to spend his money on watching Man of Steel with his girlfriend, so I'll probably end up trying to get it from Gamefly in August when some other games I'm interested in are scheduled to come out. It's going to be really tough to avoid spoilers though.

 

[Spidey-Bat]

in case you didnt know, I heard that the best game of this generation is released today

I wouldn't call any Naughty Dog game "the best game of this generation" after their last turd.

 

[Nathan]

You take that back, sir!

Nevah!

 

[Havok83]

I wouldn't call any Naughty Dog game "the best game of this generation" after their last turd.

ND doesn't make turds and even if their last game was, that should have absolutely no bearing on this new one

 

[Iceman]

What was the last Naughty Dog game that you're talking about?

 

[Spidey-Bat]

ND doesn't make turds and even if their last game was

They made Uncharted 3 which was one of the most disappointing games I've played.

that should have absolutely no bearing on this new one

I would strongly disagree with this point. I have less faith in a developer after they've made a bad game and less interest to play future titles by them. That said, Last of Us looks interesting and I'll probably play it at some point.

What was the last Naughty Dog game that you're talking about?

Uncharted 3.

 

[Nathan]

Ubisoft Has Three Assassin's Creeds in Development, Vows Innovation

Ubisoft is committed to making a new Assassin's Creed game every year and is determined not to see the series collapse from franchise fatigue. How?

"We are making sure the teams who are creating the different iterations have enough time—two years, three years, so that they can take risk and they can change the concept enough so that it can be appealing and fresh," Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot told me this week during E3.

He said Ubisoft currently has three Assassin's Creed games in development. He didn't say anything about them, but it's easy to make some safe guesses. Presumably the count of three refers to 1) this year's game, Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, 2) next year's game (Assassin's Creed V? Assassin's Creed Brotherhood II?), which should be well into development now and, 3) unless he was referring to a mobile spin-off or something, 2015's Assassin's Creed.

"Really, what we see is that we can have the capacity to regularly come with innovation," Guillemot told me. "That is, for me, the formula: if you can really change the game on a regular basis and bring in innovation your fans want a product very regularly. Our job is to make sure the teams have enough power, enough energy and enough time to take the necessary steps to create a high quality game."

Historically, these games have been made by multiple teams and by rotating teams, with different groups within Ubisoft Montreal leading the development of the games' campaigns, while satellite studios make everything from multiplayer to specific side missions.

Ubisoft is releasing Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag this year which does, in fact, appear to be quite different from last year's ACIII. Last year's game was a a game mostly set on land with a focus on a new, conflicted half-British/half-Native-American assassin. This year's is set largely across the islands of the Caribbean sea with a focus on a new assassin who still often behaves more like a pirate. Last year's game had some naval combat. This year's game is essentially an open-world sailing/exploration adventure.

ACIII may have had its flaws and it's impossible to say how good ACIV will be, but it's at least clear that the latter is no rush job, is brimming with ideas and content and that, yes, somehow, Ubisoft really is able to make a gargantuan new AC every year. Pretty impressive.

Source

Can you say over-saturation?

 

[Iceman]

Uncharted 3.

Oh. I loved it & thought most people did. One of my favourite PS3 games although maybe Uncharted 2 is better for its time. Don't want to derail your discussion so feel free to ignore this question but if you want, would be interested to know what you didn't like about it.

 

[Iceman]

Source

Can you say over-saturation?

If they ever go to any frequency worse than annual I think people will react very badly. If they have completely separate teams working on all these games over a number of years and they can keep up the quality it could work out.

 

[Spidey-Bat]

Source

Can you say over-saturation?

I'm done with the series unless the settings are really interesting, which means they don't take place in America. Fingers crossed for France or Russia.

Oh. I loved it & thought most people did. One of my favourite PS3 games although maybe Uncharted 2 is better for its time. Don't want to derail your discussion so feel free to ignore this question but if you want, would be interested to know what you didn't like about it.

I found the story to be very good in both UC1 and UC2, but it was all over the place in 3. The trailers made it seem like it would focus on T.E. Lawrence like 1 was about Francis Drake and 2 Marco Polo, but stuff about him was only in the beginning and just related back to Drake (I found this disappointing as a WWI buff). I felt that the storylines that were the most interesting were never fleshed out more or concluded either. The ending was also pretty meh.

The firefights were imbalanced. It was as bad as UC1 where guys just absorbed bullets. If you didn't have the right gun or weren't in the right spot in a fight, you were screwed. The melee was really awful as well, I remember Drake would pickup weapons when I meant to hit someone (though I played it after Arkham City which has an awesome fighting system so that didn't help). The plane sequence looked like it was going to be like the train, but it was over quickly, most of the exciting parts were cutscenes, and its followed by a chapter of just wandering the desert which should have just been a cutscene. The sections when you're under the influence of the drug were just weird and completely forced in even worse than the mutants in UC1.

Also, there were no fun cheats to use after beating the game like in UC2.

It wasn't an awful game by an objective sense like a movie-tie in game often is, but it wasn't up to their standards. I just didn't enjoy playing it at all and would have sold my copy immediately after beating it but I like having every game in a series.

 

[Nathan]

The Oculus Rift Now Does 1080p

If there was one complaint about the early development kits for virtual reality headset Oculus Rift, it's that the low-res display gave everything a kind of "screen door" effect.

Fixed.

Newer units of the headset now feature full 1080p support, doubling the number of pixels available, which is quite the feat considering how close these screens are to your eyeballs.

These improved units will be playable at "upcoming shows".

Oculus At E3 [Site]

Source

That thing will be so sweet.

 

[StrainedEyes]

Serious Auto-Save Problems Plague The Last of Us

Seems to be wide spread.

WARNING: The Last of Us has an autosave glitch which blocks saves.


Not a great way to launch, hopefully they fix it soon.

 

[Nathan]

I think I've seen someone say that you need to sign out of PSN, as a temporary fix for the auto-save problem.

 

[Havok83]

I think I've seen someone say that you need to sign out of PSN, as a temporary fix for the auto-save problem.

or dont download the patch. Thanks Strainedeyes for posting that. Ill keep that in mind later

 

[Nathan]

I guess it's a good thing that it'll be at least a week till I get to play the game. By that time they should have fixed any bugs.

 

[StrainedEyes]

Christophe Balestra ‏@cbalestra

The autosave issue was a problem w/ our servers. No patch needed to fix it, just re-launch the game. Thanks again

Neil Druckmann ‏@Neil_Druckmann

Auto-save issue is fixed. No patch needed. Simply restart the game and continue campaign. Apologies to anyone who lost progress.

Naughty Dog ‏@Naughty_Dog

We've addressed the autosave issue, it was related to servers on our end. Please quit to XMB and restart the game. SP and MP are OK to play!

 

[Iceman]

I'm done with the series unless the settings are really interesting, which means they don't take place in America. Fingers crossed for France or Russia.

France or Russia would both be very interesting. Some Ubisoft guys did a list of potential future AC settings (about 8 or 9) a year or so ago & I was thinking I want to see all of those! I'll happily see a few (maybe 3) games in the exotic Edward Kenway universe but otherwise I need new settings to keep up the interest, particuarly if they go annual.

I found the story to be very good in both UC1 and UC2, but it was all over the place in 3. The trailers made it seem like it would focus on T.E. Lawrence like 1 was about Francis Drake and 2 Marco Polo, but stuff about him was only in the beginning and just related back to Drake (I found this disappointing as a WWI buff). I felt that the storylines that were the most interesting were never fleshed out more or concluded either. The ending was also pretty meh.

The firefights were imbalanced. It was as bad as UC1 where guys just absorbed bullets. If you didn't have the right gun or weren't in the right spot in a fight, you were screwed. The melee was really awful as well, I remember Drake would pickup weapons when I meant to hit someone (though I played it after Arkham City which has an awesome fighting system so that didn't help). The plane sequence looked like it was going to be like the train, but it was over quickly, most of the exciting parts were cutscenes, and its followed by a chapter of just wandering the desert which should have just been a cutscene. The sections when you're under the influence of the drug were just weird and completely forced in even worse than the mutants in UC1.

Also, there were no fun cheats to use after beating the game like in UC2.

It wasn't an awful game by an objective sense like a movie-tie in game often is, but it wasn't up to their standards. I just didn't enjoy playing it at all and would have sold my copy immediately after beating it but I like having every game in a series.

Good response

I think I get caught up in the atmosphere of games when I'm having a good enough time that I can forgive and overlook a lot of other issues. I can see your point in every one of the things you mention and they would probably piss me off in a lesser game. As it happens I was having such a good time that they didn't detract from it at all. Would you have any interest in an Uncharted 4 then given that you like 1 & 2?

 

[Iceman]

Source

That thing will be so sweet.

Can't wait to try this thing. Wonder how long it will actually be before I can get one in my living room.

 

[Nathan]

Imagine playing Destiny with the Oculus Rift. I hope it will be compatible. But what I want to play most is a great Fantasy MMO, designed for the Oculus Rift.

 

[The Squirrel]

I really have no interest in the rift.

 

[Iceman]

Imagine playing Destiny with the Oculus Rift. I hope it will be compatible. But what I want to play most is a great Fantasy MMO, designed for the Oculus Rift.

First I thought you said a Final Fantasy MMO & I thought wow that would be bloody weird. But exploring a classic fantasy world would be amazing. Might work well with Kinect/Move technology also. I don't know if I'd want an MMO though..you like the interacting with real people using the Rift aspect?