What Video Games Are You Currently Playing

[Squee]

In other news... no one is really talking about Google Stadia. No one except for the journalists who got it early. Did anyone here throw money at it?

[ambermonk]

A welcome but risky move by Valve to break their 12-year silence on the next Half-Life installment. My main gripe is that it's only on VR, which I haven't used but choose to avoid on account of being spendy and potentially motion sickness-inducing.

Alyx has proven her combat prowess though. Even if Valve can't count beyond the number two, so the joke goes.

EDIT: I say "risky" not in terms of sales, but PR. Lord Gaben is already filthy rich from Steam sales, so we can rule out monetary concerns. I'm just saying that HL: Alyx is gonna be a wild card in terms of public reception.

Edited November 20, 2019 by ambergonk

[Brisbot]

Well I have a VR headset so I'll be playing the fook out of the game.

I actually played and beat HL2 in VR a few years back. The game was already a 10 out of 10 on a flat monitor, but the VR and world felt so much more immersive even with my old dk2. It made the game twice as much fun.

Edited November 20, 2019 by Brisbot

[flim]

I've been sporadically playing Mega Man X Legacy Collection. I've not really been into games this year, but MMX games still make me happy, surprisingly.

There's a whole lot that I want to play, though, especially on Switch.... but this is my poorest year yet, so buying them is kind of out.

[Squee]

nice

[luke viia]

woahh... looks amazing!

and horrifying. i cannot stress enough how much scarier everything is in VR

[Silent Member]

Yeah, that looks amazing

[Enthusiast]

 

HL Alyx looks amazing. I can't wait to experience it via a youtube play thru

[ManjuShri]

Serial Cleaner steam key free from Humble for the next couple of days

https://www.humblebundle.com/store/serial-cleaner-free-game

[Brisbot]

34 minutes ago, Enthusiast said:

 

 

What I'm wondering about the whole Stadia thing, is if it is 5-10 years too early. I always thought streaming games would be a post-2030 type of thing. 2019 seems too early.

[oscillik]

3 minutes ago, Brisbot said:

What I'm wondering about the whole Stadia thing, is if it is 5-10 years too early. I always thought streaming games would be a post-2030 type of thing. 2019 seems too early.

Stadia is not the first game streaming service https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OnLive

[Joyrex]

5 minutes ago, oscillik said:

Stadia is not the first game streaming service https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OnLive

And now Amazon's rumoured to be getting ready to announce their game streaming service with Twitch integrated...

[Brisbot]

5 minutes ago, oscillik said:

Stadia is not the first game streaming service https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OnLive

Oh yeah I know, can't forget PS Now. I still feel like the streaming thing is the next evolution of this kinda gaming, but it just isn't there yet in the same way VR isn't 'there' yet. 

Now that I think about it though, it seems like PS Now is the best example of game streaming so far.

2 minutes ago, Joyrex said:

And now Amazon's rumoured to be getting ready to announce their game streaming service with Twitch integrated...

I wonder when we will start seeing (large) streaming packages show up for video and game streaming, say subscribing Netflix, Disney+, Hulu with just one package.

[Hugh Mughnus]

whatttttttttttttttttt a new half life installment was announced? =O

[Brisbot]

1 minute ago, StephenG said:

whatttttttttttttttttt a new half life installment was announced? =O

And Valve still can't count to 3 

[Enthusiast]

Quote

Is this a continuation of the events of Half-Life 2: Episode 2? Is this a full story on par with a major Half-Life title or is it episodic? 

Half-Life: Alyx is set in the aftermath of the Combine invasion of Earth, before the return of Gordon Freeman in Half-Life 2. While it does take place before the events of Half-Life 2, we actually recommend that you play through Half-Life 2: Episode 2 before you play Half-Life: Alyx, for reasons that will become clear as you progress. It’s not a side story, nor an episodic one — it’s the next part of the Half-Life story, in a game around the same length as Half-Life 2.

Does this mark a full return to the series? Should we expect more? 

Yes. It’s probably no surprise that many people at Valve have been wanting to get back to the Half-Life universe for a long time, and this experience has only reinforced that. In the process of creating Half-Life: Alyx, we’ve had to explore new ways to tell stories with these characters and this world, and we’ve discovered a lot of new gameplay experiences that go beyond what we’ve been able to do before. Of course, we’ll have to wait and see how people react to Half-Life: Alyx once it’s out, but we’d love to continue pushing forward. 

 

I've got to buy a VR hat

Edited November 21, 2019 by Enthusiast

[Hugh Mughnus]

lol I'm buying VR just to play this. 

8 minutes ago, Brisbot said:

And Valve still can't count to 3 

[markedone]

hl trailer looks really really good, it actually got me excited for a second, but then that excitement was deflated by realizing i cant almost certainly wont be playing this>

PC is pushing a decade, which has been fine for older and indie titles, but nowhere close to the minimum spec.  vr hardware and the aforementioned upgrades are prohibitively expensive where i live / compared to salary, and i have other hobbies now so dont see myself getting back into cutting edge gaming.  plus my gf gets violently motion sick from regular first person games, much less vr, so i wouldnt have anyone to enjoy it with or justify the cost.  but oh well, at least in this day and age i can just vicariously watch someone else do a playthrough 

[T3551ER]

 

5 minutes ago, markedone said:

hl trailer looks really really good, it actually got me excited for a second, but then that excitement was deflated by realizing i cant almost certainly wont be playing this>

PC is pushing a decade, which has been fine for older and indie titles, but nowhere close to the minimum spec.  vr hardware and the aforementioned upgrades are prohibitively expensive where i live / compared to salary, and i have other hobbies now so dont see myself getting back into cutting edge gaming.  plus my gf gets violently motion sick from regular first person games, much less vr, so i wouldnt have anyone to enjoy it with or justify the cost.  but oh well, at least in this day and age i can just vicariously watch someone else do a playthrough 

pretty much this. Grats to all those who have a top shelf PC and Valve Index at home, this will be amazeballs. For the rest of us . . . maybe give us Portal 3 if you can't commit to HL3?

[Squee]

Imagine there are people alive today who are allowed to drive cars who weren't even born when HL2 was shown at E3 back in 2003.

 

: (

[Enthusiast]

I don't have a pc at all. I was thinking of building one for games early next year, but I am poor now after paying my taxes. 

[Joyrex]

2 minutes ago, Squee said:

Imagine there are people alive today who are allowed to drive cars who weren't even born when HL2 was shown at E3 back in 2003.

 

: (

I've never played the Half Life series, so someone explain to me this - is a HL3 so heavily desired because:

• Half Life 2 ended on a cliffhanger
• Half Life 2 was a good game and a sequel was expected
• Valve said something to the effect they were working on or planning a third installment?

I mean, there are a lot of games that get one or two installments and that's it - and they're good games - and don't have fans acting rabid over the lack of another installment.

[Enthusiast]

Just now, Joyrex said:

• Half Life 2 ended on a cliffhanger
• Half Life 2 was a good game and a sequel was expected
• Valve said something to the effect they were working on or planning a third installment?

Yes to all three. They left the story unfinished and were actually working on the next instalment for many years.

[Squee]

15 minutes ago, Joyrex said:

I've never played the Half Life series, so someone explain to me this - is a HL3 so heavily desired because:

• Half Life 2 ended on a cliffhanger
• Half Life 2 was a good game and a sequel was expected
• Valve said something to the effect they were working on or planning a third installment?

I mean, there are a lot of games that get one or two installments and that's it - and they're good games - and don't have fans acting rabid over the lack of another installment.

Half-Life pushed storytelling in FPS games forward and it was amazing (back then) to play a game that took its world so serious even though it shit the bed near the end. Half-Life 2 took a leap forward with physics and the world-building was amazing.

Also, this was back when people were filming E3 presentations and threw them up online. It made the whole thing that much more mystical.

But yeah, they were planning three additional episodes to HL2 but ended up only releasing two and it has now been 12 years since Episode 2 and you know how gamers are... they were PROMISED three episodes so they will threaten the shit out of Gabe Newell and the rest of the Valve employees until they get some news.

[Joyrex]

10 minutes ago, Enthusiast said:

Yes to all three. They left the story unfinished and were actually working on the next instalment for many years.

Ah, okay - I probably read about all the controversy back when it was a thing (and hadn't evolved into a meme), but when you get old like me you tend to forget shit like that. Thanks!