Matt

I completely agree with you about BioWare - I think they are still recovering from Anthem and losing two leads.

It’s interesting to see how developers are working under Microsoft’s umbrella. Take Rare for example. I mean, the amount of time they are - and will be - taking to put Everwild in the market is, I think, possible by having a reliable source of income.

Not only that, but Sea of Thieves was a game that, a little bit like No Man’s Sky, only grew and got better with time.

Or even the case of Playground Games. The Forza Horizon series is one of my favorites, gradually becoming more important than the Forza Motorsport saga. And now they are also going to give Fable a go. I don’t think the problem with the Xbox Game Studios is their future, but more its present.

But if you want a pure narrative-driven experience, I cannot suggest What Remains of Edith Finch enough. Love that game dearly. Or Dontnod Entertainment with Life is Strange and Tell Me Why.

Speaking about games and growing up, part of my teen years was dedicated to Monkey Island and LucasArts’ excellence - I still remember the chewing gum and the gold tooth. 😄

    Related discussions

    Video Games have gotten me through some of the hardest times in my life. Lonely times. Scared times. I have a strong connection with them from when I was a kid, to now as an adult trying to navigate myself though the pandemic.

    As a kid, I had a Nintendo…but I wasn’t in love with it. It wasn’t until I had gotten a Sega Genesis with Sonic the Hedgehog 2, that I fell in love with games. The graphics, the music, the adventure, the creativity.

    As I got older and I discovered emulators and roms, I started playing SNES games. So many games on that console are timeless and genius. I never had an SNES as a kid. I didn’t know what I was missing. But I’m glad it wasn’t until I was older because I was a little more mature and I was able to appreciate how amazing they were. I think if I was a young kid playing those games, I’d have taken them all for granted. Final Fantasy III (6) and Chrono Trigger 🥰 are still amongst my all time favorite games.

    The PlayStation 1 housed a ton of memories for me that helped me through my adolescence. Metal Gear Solid, Final Fantasy 7 and 9, Final Fantasy Tactics, Chrono Cross, Grand Turismo, NFL GameDay. So many memories. All those games are attached to key points in my life that I will never forget.

    My favorite system of all time is the Gameboy Advanced. I could take it with me anywhere. Have fun any time, any place, and there were so many games to enjoy and delve deep into. Final Fantasy Tactics Advanced, Advanced Wars, Fire Emblem, all the Castlevania games, all the Zelda games (the Minish Cap), all the Metroid games (Metroid Fusion), all the classic SNES ports. I can go on and on. That system helped get me through college. The GBA was my clutch when I was alone.

    Currently, I play many games on my phone and PS4. I hadn’t played many games from 2014-2019. Then the pandemic hit and I was out of a job. Final Fantasy 7 remake was released for the PS4 and that got me back into gaming. I played the new God of War after that. Then I discovered Horizon Zero Dawn 😍.

    The game I’ve been playing most lately is Axiom Verge on the PS4 and PSvita. Its a “Metroidvania” type of game. I discovered it from a feature story on IGN about the developer. Its a touching story. So I looking into the game and it’s exactly the type of game I love to play.

      Antonio_Luis Metal Gear Solid

      Man this game for me was everything! Especially remember the use of the cardboard box, the ‘magazines’ to distract enemies and the famous ‘cheat’ when fighting Psycho Mantis blew my mind (Controller into P2 slot). This was such an epic game for so many reasons, would love to see a next gen remake.

          Cameron

          “A Resident Evil game in disguise” is a great way to describe Luigi’s Mansion. 😄

          I don’t know if you enjoy horror games, but Bloober Team has done some interesting productions. I have played Layers of Fear, Blair Witch and a little bit of The Medium, and they are not bad. Observer is another solid game from them.

          There are rumors circulating they are going to tackle Silent Hill. That, plus the rumors about a new Dead Space, can be incredible news. I mean, now we just need a new Forbidden Siren and a proper Project Zero, and horror fans will be in seventh heaven.

          You moving from the gaming industry to Nothing makes me believe even more in what’s about to come. If you saw something that was worthy, I am pretty sure we are in for a treat. 😎

          Antonio_Luis

          In a single post you mentioned: Metal Gear Solid, Final Fantasy 7, Final Fantasy Tactics, Chrono Cross, Gran Turismo, Final Fantasy Tactics, Advance Wars, Fire Emblem, Metroid. You managed to encapsulate like 70% of videogames’ pantheon in a lovely message.

          Add EarthBound to that list and it’s a solid 10/10, hehe. 🤓

          Louis ☕️

          Yes, so much this. I remember playing the game and when he started to mention the games I had been playing, I had to make a double or a triple take.

          Metal Gear Solid is full of those moments, but another example I just remembered is the section with the long stairs in Snake Eater. And I mean, looooooooong stairs, hah. I truly enjoyed that game.

                RUTHVIKi first time I played the game was on a demo from the official PlayStation magazine. The second the bad guys noticed my footprints in the snow, I was hooked. Then when I got the actual game….🤯. It was an interactive movie.

                    Antonio_Luis

                    Oh man, I still have some Official PlayStation Magazines lying around (and Xbox ones too). In their heyday, it was a monthly highlight. Since games were way more unattainable and the digital stores were still in the making, demos truly were a great way to play something new.

                    For example, I remember playing the demo for a game called Overboard over and over (and over). Never bought the full release, but I knew the demo by heart.

                    These days, however, to me the best magazine is EDGE. The combination of design with brilliant writing still makes it the reference. A new publication that caught my attention is “A Profound Waste of Time” - just take a look if you have a second. 🤓

                        Rob ⚡️

                        What a trip down memory lane. Ape Escape really should make a comeback on the PlayStation 5.

                        Inspired by your message, I was checking the shelves and found two magazines that caught my attention.

                        The first one is a good example of EDGE aesthetics and the second one is an OPM from 2002. It’s always a warm feeling seeing such a classic highlighted on a cover. I am obviously talking about Sesame Street Sports, hehe. 😆

                          Rob ⚡️ Demos were everything when I was younger

                          Absolutely! I remember also getting some gaming magazines that would feature demo discs and just remember the excitement of only being able to play 2 levels of a game 😁

                          Also, the furious occasions where I would be playing a game, i.e. Crash Bandicoot, and I didn’t actually have a memory card so would have to leave it all on overnight (poor energy bills).

                              Archive (bot)

                              Hah, the sentiment is reciprocal, I went back to the shelves and found another one.

                              This is the first edition of the Official Nintendo Magazine - Portugal. It was a short-lived version of the magazine, but I managed to get the first few editions. As you can see, it’s from 2003, the year Advance Wars 2 was released - super curious to check how Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp will turn out.

                              So many classic names on the covers you shot, Metroid Prime being one of them. I love that, just like Advance Wars, is also one of the series poised to make a return in 2021 with Metroid Dread.

                              Louis ☕️ Also, the furious occasions where I would be playing a game, i.e. Crash Bandicoot, and I didn’t actually have a memory card so would have to leave it all on overnight (poor energy bills).

                              Oh man, I still remember those days of playing PlayStation without a Memory Card. The game that finally made me invest money in one was Gran Turismo. It was a little bit tricky to progress in the game without saving it.

                              And now we have incredibly fast SSD disks on the PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series. It feels like a millennium has passed since then. 🤓

                                    Louis ☕️

                                    Heheh, imagine if Call of Duty was released for the PlayStation - I remember reading that at one point Modern Warfare was more than 200GB.

                                    Your post also reminded me about the icons we could see on the PlayStation 2 memory menu. These days people rave about the Switch menu icons (some of them are beautiful), but we had a glimpse of them with that console - or with the GameCube, for example.

                                      Cheetosdust What are your memories of playing while growing up? What are you playing right now? And what titles and/or hardware made your wishlist grow recently?

                                      Aye @Cheetosdust great to see you here with your writing skills. I see @[deleted] is here too 😄

                                      I was born in the year when the last concorde flew…but talking about video games, I remember playing Road Rash on my Intel Pentium 4 PC. The game had some amazing sound effects, I loved playing it 😁

                                          Yash Road Rash is a classic - I believe I played it on the SEGA Mega Drive at the time. If I am remembering correctly, a “spiritual successor”, Road Redemption, was released but it didn’t resonate as well as the original launch.

                                          I just remembered another “classic” I used to play in my Pentium days: driving - simulation or arcade - is one of my favorite genres, and it all started with a title named RAC Rally on PC.

                                          Look at this beauty go.

                                              8 days later

                                              @James @Rob ⚡️ Saw you commenting about the Playdate on the “Introduce Yourself” thread before and just yesterday it was announced that the pre-orders for the console will open next week, July 29th, at 10:00 AM PDT. The first ones will be shipped in “late 2021”.

                                              Panic also confirmed a few details about the process. They promised the pre-orders won’t “sell out” and that the initial batch will be around 20,000 machines. The fans who miss this window will get the Playdate in 2022.

                                              Those who are interested in pre-ordering will have to pay the pre-order in full, but they will also be able to cancel it for a full refund. And, finally, they will be limited to two Playdates per order.

                                              Another tidbit I’ve found while preparing this message is that the Playdate won’t be shipped globally. Panic says they’ll add more countries, but for now it’s only going to be sent to customers in these countries. 🤓

                                              Is anyone interested in pre-ordering one?

                                              Here’s a nice hands-on video from Engadget.

                                                Cheetosdust

                                                Ah that’s great - I wasn’t aware it was co-designed by Teenage Engineering, but looking at it, that makes a lot of sense!

                                                I think I’ll wait for a few tech-tubers to give their opinions on it - but I still love the unique, tactile interface they’ve come up with to control the games. I’m also a huge fan of the black and white low-res screen, the Gameboy nostalgia is real!

                                                    Rob ⚡️ The fine folks over at Ars Technica are feeling exactly the same nostalgia as you, hehe.

                                                    Like father, like son. 😎

                                                    (Both photos are from the Ars Technica feature)

                                                    I was not expecting it to be this tiny. I love how it makes the creators think outside the box, even if not all games take advantage of the crank. In the Engadget video, it’s mentioned a point & click adventure that doesn’t use the feature at all.

                                                      5 days later

                                                      A tiny update about the Playdate: it’s been reported that Panic sold approximately 20,000 consoles in less than 20 minutes (via TechCrunch).

                                                      With the 2021 stock already sold out, if you pre-order one right now, you’ll get it in 2022. And the company is already talking about a “2023 bucket”. Impressive numbers so far.