Random Gaming Thoughts (Read OP Before Posting)

[AnimeGamer183]

^ You may want to try cleaning the PS2 disc reader lens with rubbing alcohol and a cotton swab, some pesky dust particles can prevent it from reading discs. I thought my PS2 was dead after it wouldnt play PS2, PS1, or DVD, I cleaned the lens (after also adjusting the lens level gear that determines how far the lens is from the disc, because sometimes adjusting that is all it needs, but doing that is kind of advanced and I used a guide, but that wasnt even the issue with my PS2) and everything worked fine after that, it plays everything it used to now. That was for my PS2 fat, if its a slim it might be different.

[Calshot]

I have a third-hand fat PS2 whose laser is on the verge of dying. I softmodded mine with Free McBoot. I play games off an IDE drive connected to the PS2 with a PS2 network adaptor, thus bypassing the laser entirely. There are also other Free McBoot apps you could use. There's an app where, if you can connect your PS2 to the internet, you can link it to your computer and play the ISOs of the games from there.

[OL]

This made me laugh pretty hard. This video uses footage from my Phantom Dust review. Starting at 5:18, those next couple shots are all PD footage I played and cut together. Just seemed weird that they would swipe such low-quality footage off youtube for that.

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In regards to the interview itself, it's only made me even more wary of the new Phantom Dust. Apparently they're going into it with the same attitudes behind the recent Killer Instinct revamp, being a free-to-play game with extra stuff you can buy to add to it.
Blah.
They try to pretty it up by assuring us that it's not a business model intent on sucking money out of people, but I don't see how something like that can't be the case with a game like PD. The starting abilities will clearly be insufficient compared to the later abilities you can buy. And whoever invests the most in DLC will have the most versatility and leeway in creating competent arsenals. I don't like the sound of that at all.
Not to mention that it sounds like whoever the dev team is behind this one, it obviously is a western dev, as I'd feared. If the trailer is anything to go by, the art style is going to come off as a shallow imitation of the original, with all the right alterations to make it just modern enough to annoy longtime fans. It occurs to me that the black-haired guy in the trailer is probably supposed to be Edgar. And that hipster-looking rich kid hairstyle just doesn't cut it next to the poofy Spike Spiegle-esque one of the original. I don't doubt there'll be tons of things like that. They should have just tried to find the original team.

[Raithos]

I have a third-hand fat PS2 whose laser is on the verge of dying. I softmodded mine with Free McBoot. I play games off an IDE drive connected to the PS2 with a PS2 network adaptor, thus bypassing the laser entirely. There are also other Free McBoot apps you could use. There's an app where, if you can connect your PS2 to the internet, you can link it to your computer and play the ISOs of the games from there.

Thanks I will look into that. It would read the disc but it just won't spin anymore, makes a whine like the drive motor went out again. I replaced it once, not worth the hassle of looking for parts again. So bypassing it altogether would be awesome. Just gota find my network adapter and see if we have an old hard drive at work somewhere.

[Giorgio]

We need more of these games. Beautiful, soul soothing and calming. A game for gamers with heart, indeed. No wonder it comes from two former Journey developers. ABZU.

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[AnimeGamer183]

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Probably gonna have to pick this up, all the extra side stories about the formation of akatsuki is really tempting, and the sakimoto-san, the writer of the manga has wrote these stories himself, so its official storyline. Man, I havent even played the naruto games since the gamecube, but this one is looking pretty awesome.

And while we are on some anime games the new DBZ Xenoverse is looking pretty darn sweet too.

[Oppy]

Really enjoying Black Flag, I am only %30 through the story but I am really taking my time, and have spent hours doing extra stuff, roaming the seas in my ship with my crew of cutthroats, destroying navy bases, hijacking merchant ships and navy vessels to grow my fleet and collect recources. hunting whales and sharks to create upgrades and outfits, collecting all the animus frangments, and collecting the shantys, so I can here my crew sing different songs whils traveling.
The story is pretty good, but there is something really satisfying about sailing the seas, listning to shantys ans destroying other ships in the midst of a storm, that distracts me for hours. Definitely my favorite game from the AC series.

[Giorgio]

Great video, about women as background decoration and as objects/tools/things/powerups in games.

UPDATE: I don't find it great anymore...

[Axm]

Jesus.
Couldn't sit through the whole thing; just skipped through to get the gist (who honestly needs 31 minutes to say "OMG objectification bad!"?).
What a slanted editorial. The girl completely ignores the fact that all the violence you can (note: don't have to) commit against women in those games is committed about a thousandfold against male characters throughout the rest of the games. She ignores the fact that most of the games featuring brothels and prostitutes do so in the name of atmosphere (a brothel in the old west makes sense; a brothel in a game about scumbag criminals makes sense). She makes constant assumptions about how interaction with these female characters is carefully structured to make the player feel powerful (did I ever feel powerful when interacting with these characters, in particular? Can't say I did). She ignores the fact that the presence of the sex trade in some of these games is intended to give the player a bad impression of their surroundings (Dishonored features one specifically to make the badguys seem worse and the world seem darker, much in the same way the whorehouse in Max Payne 3 is intended). And she completely ignores the fact that practically all of these games also feature female characters who aren't sexually objectified at all.
Basically, she ignores anything that doesn't shout "videogames are misogynistic and terrible."

[Calshot]

Basically, she ignores anything that doesn't shout "videogames are misogynistic and terrible."

That's pretty much her entire schtick. She got nearly $160k out of a Kickstarter for her video series (the initial goal was $6k).

[AnimeGamer183]

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Wow, this actually doesnt look bad. Usually I dont like NIS stuff, but that looks like it has potential. Also, Uematsu composed for it, that almost in itself makes me curious about it, even if it was just because he put his name on it.

[OL]

The character design work is self-inflicted-gunshot-to-the-head-inspiring, but I guess the game itself doesn't look horrible.
But yeah, it is kind of surprising finding Uematsu working on certain games.
I kept hoping a ways back that someone would have picked up and localized this game Sakura Note (the music was also composed by Uematsu), but it never happened. Bummer, because it looked like a cool little DS experience.

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[AnimeGamer183]

I dont mind the characters designs one bit, they look similar to tales series. they look like usual anime characters, i guess that could be taken in a bad way by some, but they seem fine to me.

[OL]

Might just be the mood I'm in, but they look to me like lolita hentai game designs. Really third-tier stuff. Kosuke Fujishima's work usually has a higher air of memorability and class, I think, so it doesn't strike me as Tales-quality. But again, maybe it's just my mood.

[Henry Spencer]

Nah, it's not just you. It's developed by Compile Heart, who make really, really shitty JRPGs (some of their games are obviously aimed at pedos).

I dare either of you go type in "Compile Heart" into Google image search. Go on, I'm waiting.