Ben-DutkaThis fall is going to be awfully interesting…and that's one hell of an understatement. 😉
At least now it's more of a contest
Now that Microsoft has ditched its ridiculous policies concerning used games and the "24-hour check-in," the next-generation console war is now a lot closer.
However, it's interesting to note that the bitterness Microsoft instilled in many gamers has remained, at least in some capacity. Many, including myself, have no intention of buying the Xbox One because we believe that MS has already tipped their hand; we know what they're all about, and we're not interested in giving them our money. At the same time, this country has always been hugely pro-Xbox. The casual gamers vastly outnumber the hardcore and as we all know, the casual flock to Microsoft. That's why Michael Pachter says initial sales of the PS4 and Xbox will be just about even .
But as far as I'm concerned, that's still a big win for Sony. Pachter is referring to this country; globally, the PS4 probably would've outsold the Xbox One without this whole fiasco. It's really only in the US Microsoft can hope to have a significant lead. And if Pachter is only predicting an even keel for this country…well, then Microsoft has lost tremendous market share. Remember, the Xbox 360 has outsold the PS3 in the US for 29 straight months to date. And if Sony has found a way to draw even right off the bat, that's pretty darn impressive.
Make sure to pre-order the PS4 if you haven't already!
Wait…The Last Of Us was going to be bigger?!
Naughty Dog says their latest masterpiece was supposed to be a much bigger game . They had to cut quite a bit, including the idea of allowing a another AI partner (a dog) to join Joel and Ellie. That was hardly the only original idea that didn't make the cut due to time constraints. I find that amazing . I really do. In an industry where 8-10 hour single-player adventures are the norm, to have what amounts to about a 20-hour game (I'd say on average, depending on if you really take your time) is pretty special. I actually think this is the longest non-RPG I've played in a while . In fact, can anyone recall a game with a longer campaign this entire generation? One that doesn't qualify as role-playing? I can't.
I can only imagine what The Last Of Us would've been like had Naughty Dog been able to deliver their full vision. I mean, it's epic now . Then again, in some ways, I'm happy it didn't get that far. There's a fine line to walk in game development: As great as something can be, adding more elements and mechanics is just begging for trouble. With every new one, the chances of a flaw popping up increases. Naughty Dog doesn't really do "flaws." And as talented as that team is, if The Last Of Us got too cluttered, I think there would've been ample potential for screw-ups. Then again, if everything had been as fantastic as what we see here…well…damn.
Personal gaming update
I really am attempting to savor The Last Of Us , especially because there isn't much on the immediate horizon that I want to play. Time and Eternity is worth looking into if you're a JRPG fan (review coming soon), but other than that, I'm not really playing much. When I've got some spare time to kill, I usually relax with Journey , echochrome or Rock Band Blitz . Got 20 five golden star ratings in the latter, by the way. 😉 I'm also considering trading in my Xbox 360 and all its games to make way for the PS4. Thing is, I have zero intention of going back to play any of my 360 games and I'm afraid the system would just gather dust. There certainly aren't any 360 titles coming out that I want in the future, either.
I am hoping we get a date for Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD some time soon. If it manages to come out later this year, that could be a huge problem. I'll have all these next-gen games I'll want to play and yet, there's FFX in beautiful high-def, just beckoning…
I pretty much have zero interest in that. This is in part because I just don't watch much of anything. The last new thing I've seen is half of the new Les Miserable with my wife (I'll finish it later) and before that it was the Hobbit.
It's sad Studio Liverpool is no more. Wipeout had given me the adrenaline rush like no other since '95, and it's one of the big reasons that kept me loyal to PS brand all these years.
Respawn's Titan Fall (exclusive to PC and xbone) is looking pretty impressive. Kinda of like a next gen StarHawk + COD w/free running. I wish it was on the PS4.
Man its been a LONG time since my last psxe post…
With that said, microsoft shoukd have never even had the thoight of the once a day manditory online check-in, and they for sure shoukd not have had the DRM to begin with…
But since they did have those 2 things and then retracted those 2 things well, to me, and IMO it seems like a sell out move.
Was it the right thing to do? Yes it was. But for them to push for those 2 things and THEN retract them, be it "because of gamestop" or "because sony didnt do it too" or because of the seriousness of the fan backlash and loss of profits, makes them sell outs in my eyes.
Listen MS, if you believe in something and push for it to be so, than no matter what, FOLLOW IT THROUGH.
That being said, Ive read about TLOU many times on this wonderful site, and about the many perfect scores the game received. But to be honest, I was not interested in it. Untik my wife took me too a fathers day viewing of Man of Steel (excellent movie IMO). Before the previews started, they shiwed a trailer for the game, the first that I had seen. And it got me hooked. After the movie, we stoppedb a walmart and i got a copy. Needless to say, the game is FREAKING AMAZING so fad, and im not even that far into it yet.
As for FF X-HD, it was originallh one of only 2 games I was looking forward to until I got my PS4 which i pre-ordered. (until I saw TLOU trailer at the movies).
I cant wait for a release date for this and KH3.
PGU: Been playing a lot of Pokemon White v2. And just started getting in to IV/EV training and competetitive battleing.
I cant wait for X and Y.
Also, finishing up the KH series and working on TLOU.
Take your time and enjoy the environments while searching for supplies and collectables. You can easly get 20+ hours of gameplay out of it.
Nothing really new for me, been playing the reboot of Medal of Honor online, (the campaign was short) the guns sounds are probably the best out of all the FPS games out there. I usually get my a** kicked time to time, I would say MOH online is better the COD MP.
Last edited by AcHiLLiA on 6/23/2013 1:18:37 AM
2 different approaches but I agree to an extent. I didnt invest the amount of time into MoH that I do CoD but I certainly had a great time with it.
Haha, I guess it's hard for the masses to turn away from COD. Luckily for me I only own 3 COD this gen, and don't play the newer COD games, lol, my relatives own almost all of them, so no biggie.
Yeah defiantley need to take your time on TLOU, this game will always have strong place in my heart its that damn good an I can't stop playing it,
Thinking of trading my xbox 360 in for a ps4 as theres no games I play on it anymore, only got for the mass effect an bioshock series but they came to ps3.
Not interested in halo or gears of war, so my 360 is now collecting dust lol
Taking my time with this emotional ride fondly know as The Last of Us. Baby steps. Og crap INFECTED!!!! MEDIC!! Oh wait.
My reflection in the window. Sheesh! Looking a bit scruffy.
Keep Playing!
I finally ordered a copy of The Last of Us. It should be here by Thursday. I got a little more information than I wanted to know by reading the comments section in the "Naughty Dog: The Last Of Us Was Initially "Too Big Of A Game" article. It wasn't bad, but now I have a pretty good idea about the fate of a few characters.
I haven't finished Tomb Raider yet. It seems like every time I want to play, something comes up. When the TLoU arrives in the mail, Tomb Raider will most likely be put on hold.
sorry aboot that
It wasn't real bad and it wasn't you. No need for an apology from you or anyone. I only mentioned it because it made me decide to go ahead and get the game. The longer I wait, the more I'll end up reading and basically spoiling it for myself. So the blame lies with me.
Well its settled then. Enjoy TLOU 🙂
I know it's too much to hope for, but it'd be great if Square Enix took the time to fix the insane impossibility of getting the 100% ending in Final Fantasy X-2.
I thought it was easy to get. I know that if you pick a different option you are pretty much screwed and left at 99%. Never had that problem.
That doesn't actually make it easy because you got lucky.
Last edited by WorldEndsWithMe on 6/23/2013 2:50:12 PM
Not lucky at all. It is a lot harder to get true 100% in ffx than it is for ffx-2.
Considering the fact that there are numerous spots where you if you miss a single dialogue option you are stuck at 99% and can never go back and recover that, it's a flaw in the game that you were lucky to avoid. Either that or you used a guide. Also you don't need 100% in FFX to get the right ending since there's only one.
Last edited by WorldEndsWithMe on 6/23/2013 6:23:20 PM
In two playthrough's it's not as tough. Just by switching who you join (new yevon or youth league) you get access to other cutscenes. It's impossible without a guide to get it one playthrough, I'm convinced. I did it, but I needed the internet… even using official guides, they miss stuff. The BradyGames guide would mention some stuff in the walkthrough section, and the 100% section would list other stuff not mentioned in walkthrough and vice versa… just… terrible. lol
But like… even all those hot springs scenes are too plentiful to get them -ALL-.
But in two, thanks to new game+, if you do everything, you can actually get 110%
Last edited by Underdog15 on 6/23/2013 8:31:54 PM
PGU: I just finished the last of us last night and wow I'm awestrucked In my eyes, it's a 10/10 game Not because it's perfect, because it's not But the whole experience and the writing, storytelling and emotion it invokes is astounding
My favorite game Uncharted 2 has just been topped imho. Naughty Dog outdid themselves
I'm waiting on Deadpool for the tuesday release. After that is all money saving for this ridiculous fall
A 10/10 isn't perfect. I don't know why some people argue about that. It just means that they excel in what they brought to the table and I agree with you. This game just topples over U2 completely. I think I prefer this team better, they were the ones that did U2 and their other team was tasked in taking over U3. Although it was a good game it had its problems. Still wondering of their new game for ps4 or are they just going to jump into Jak 4.
Well, my wife put The Last of Us into perspective for me. She's about done her playthrough and we chatted about it. And while I feel the game does nothing particularly new or out of the box in the realm of gaming, she asked me if I like her spaghetti. And I said "You I think it's the best." And she replied "I didn't invent spaghetti." So that was my big 'OOOOOHHHH' moment when it comes to The Last of Us. I still have issues with Naughty Dog not going far enough with the gameplay to fit the narrative, lack of variety, and the AI being spotty, but it was a great experience. Not changing my life as a gamer, but it was just a hair shy of a masterpiece for me. I'd give it a solid 9 out of 10.
I finished Remember Me earlier this week. I can honestly say, I dug that game from start to finish. I don't think there has ever been a more superbly animated female in gaming than Nilin. The graphics astound. I really bought into the narrative and I was satisfied with the overall conclusion. Dialogue was bit on the verbose side but I enjoyed it more than the forced swearing in The Last of Us. And remixing memories is definitely a pretty fun and NEW idea.
I scored an early copy of Deadpool so I'm going to try to finish that up tonight. Absolutely hilarious and very fun to play. Not Arkham City/Asylum, but on par with Raven's Wolverine, except with more stuff you can do. It's another great one from High Moon, in my opinion. I've been a fan of theirs since Darkwatch and they've never really let me down yet. 4 (now 5) solid games this gen. I love those workhorse devs like High Moon, Visceral, Raven and Radical. Sad to see those last two closing…. Not setting the world on fire, but it's nice to be cradled in the bosom of one of their entertaining games for a weekend.
Early Deadpool huh, now your positions make more sense.
Dead Pool is GODAWFUL. I have terribly low standards when it comes to games, but I could barely handle how hard they were trying when you are exploring his apartment. Oh boy then the gameplay started, I recommend anyone to avoid Dead Pool.
And yeah yeah, opinions and what not. but everything you've described about the last of us negatively like ai, gameplay etc is dead wrong. Go play on survivor mode without the listening ability. then we can talk.
Last edited by SayWord on 6/23/2013 9:46:23 PM
If The Last Of us is only a 9, Halo 4 is a 5.
yyyeeaaaaaahhhhhh….
okay…..