Random Gaming Thoughts (Read OP Before Posting)

(Gaming discussion not related to Shenmue)

Re: Random Gaming Thoughts (Read OP Before Posting)

Postby FlagshipFighter » Tue Jul 04, 2017 5:28 pm

I stumbled across this game the other day having just only heard of it. Looks amazing tbf, I hope the return of AA games stabilises (also, this is the first I've heard of a game developed from Belgium).

Past Cure Story Trailer:
https://youtu.be/mHBPgx4csnE
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Re: Random Gaming Thoughts (Read OP Before Posting)

Postby shredingskin » Sun Jul 09, 2017 1:04 am

I think I've already said this in this forum before, but it's incredible how the first Broken Sword does really have that je ne sais quoi, about it.

It didn't matter that other games just had better graphics, 3d mechanics (that kinda hindered it), better voice acting, more puzzles, less puzzles, trying to match the music cues, trying to not match them, adding more content... There's something the first one did it just right.

I can't really get my head into it, and maybe it's nostalgia (when I was a kid it crashed before starting the second disk), but FUCK I just boot it, and there it is, it's fucking there. You just feel engaged by the fucking thing the second you start it. And it keeps you feeding stuff to make you love it even more.

I do really owe broken sword for the love I have for adventure games, really. It's just an unique genre.

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Re: Random Gaming Thoughts (Read OP Before Posting)

Postby shredingskin » Sun Jul 09, 2017 1:38 am

shredingskin wrote: I think I've already said this in this forum before, but it's incredible how the first Broken Sword does really have that je ne sais quoi, about it.

It didn't matter that other games just had better graphics, 3d mechanics (that kinda hindered it), better voice acting, more puzzles, less puzzles, trying to match the music cues, trying to not match them, adding more content... There's something the first one did it just right.

I can't really get my head into it, and maybe it's nostalgia (when I was a kid it crashed before starting the second disk), but FUCK I just boot it, and there it is, it's fucking there. You just feel engaged by the fucking thing the second you start it. And it keeps you feeding stuff to make you love it even more.

I do really owe broken sword for the love I have for adventure games, really. It's just an unique genre.


And this post made me buy the revolution documentary... Well done.

The steam player it's pretty meh.
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Re: Random Gaming Thoughts (Read OP Before Posting)

Postby FlagshipFighter » Sun Jul 09, 2017 8:33 am

shredingskin wrote: I think I've already said this in this forum before, but it's incredible how the first Broken Sword does really have that je ne sais quoi, about it.

It didn't matter that other games just had better graphics, 3d mechanics (that kinda hindered it), better voice acting, more puzzles, less puzzles, trying to match the music cues, trying to not match them, adding more content... There's something the first one did it just right.

I can't really get my head into it, and maybe it's nostalgia (when I was a kid it crashed before starting the second disk), but FUCK I just boot it, and there it is, it's fucking there. You just feel engaged by the fucking thing the second you start it. And it keeps you feeding stuff to make you love it even more.

I do really owe broken sword for the love I have for adventure games, really. It's just an unique genre.


Completely agree, I too have so many great memories with the first two broken sword games (and monkey island 3). Love the super memorable characters (and goat!), rich atmosphere and craft in the environment and soundtrack, witty dialogue and a page-turning story. I'll admit I needed walk through in at certain parts when I first played them though lol.

I couldn't get into 3 and I stopped a third of the way into 4. I appreciated the level of ambition that they had at the time transitioning in the 3D era, but they never really engaged me in the same way (I heard 3 in particular had some pretty terrible stealth segments). Love Broken Sword 5 though, it was satisfying to play, looks beautiful and all-round was a really successful kickstarter.

I was kinda fascinated and happy to hear that the first/second port of the game on iOS sold a 2-ish million copies (I think the timing was perfect for them as it was the birth of the app store so things were relatively new, app prices weren't really defined via microtransactions and the dreamcast-equivalent power of the first/second iPhone was capable).

Also, I wasn't aware there was a documentary on it. Sweet thanks for letting me know, gonna check it out! Also i still have the save file for Broken Sword 4, I'm going to try to get back to where I left off last time (it's developed by sumo digital I believe, and the intro did show promise!).
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Re: Random Gaming Thoughts (Read OP Before Posting)

Postby shredingskin » Sun Jul 09, 2017 9:12 am

I think it's a paramount example of what adventure games are, in the sense that the genre doesn't relies on strong mechanics, so the difference between a good and a bad GA is pretty much "everything else".

Take for example the second game, it has pretty much everything the first one has, but it isn't nearly as good as the first one, even when you try to dissect it saying "better puzzles, better story" is quite an intangible feeling, and not really something you can actually point to because puzzles and story are so correlated (or at least should be).

Even the Director's cut, everything is in there, and even some more. But it just doesn't click the same, the new scenes are ok, but I think that lose the flow that the original had, and just suggesting that Nico was investigating that stuff ended up being more powerful and give the game a more focused direction than filling the blanks. Even if the original cutscene was there moved a little further in the game, kinda makes it lose the punch it packed.

Adventure games are such an amazing genre, that everything has to be there working in synchronicity: the dialogue, the music, the graphics, the locations, the puzzles, the story. Miss one beat and you have just a sprite walking around in a background, get it right and have some of the best examples of storytelling in any medium.

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Re: Random Gaming Thoughts (Read OP Before Posting)

Postby AnimeGamer183 » Wed Jul 12, 2017 11:25 pm

Reading reviews for Final Fantasy XII Zodiac Age and I think its safe to say the game was ahead of its time/could have been a PS3 game. I feel like everyone is looking back on it like its aged like fine wine, and this version is the best version to date. I do wanna buy it and check it out one day, its Collectors Edition should not be $200 though.
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Re: Random Gaming Thoughts (Read OP Before Posting)

Postby KiBa » Mon Jul 17, 2017 7:33 am

FlagshipFighter wrote:(also, this is the first I've heard of a game developed from Belgium).


Belgium has produced one all-time classic masterpiece of action-adventure gaming plus its recent complete remake by the original team due out this fall: Outcast and Outcast: Second Contact. It was the big sci-fi Zelda back in 1999. It was supposed to be a big title on the Dreamcast, but it got canceled at the last minute just like Shenmue 2. It had unique voxel-based graphics and has an amazing look and story. I will never forget exploring the planet Adelpha. It felt like a living world. I carried both a Shenmue cutout and an Outcast cutout from a 1999 EGM in my wallet for years. Those were the two games I was most excited about at the time and the top reasons I bought a Dreamcast. Ultimately, I got Outcast on PC, and loved it, so it all worked out. Still would've preferred a Dreamcast version.

The game is full of self-deprecating jokes about Belgium because its the only game the country ever produced. Till now, apparently. That's why I remembered it when you mentioned you'd never heard of a Belgian game. Outcast has some of the best openworld gameplay of all time, especially considering its age, and in many ways remains unsurpassed. The script is great, story is great, music is incredible. I can't say enough good things about it. I'd highly recommend the PC+PS4+XB1 remake coming out soon, assuming its just a graphics update as advertized. Every gaming convention I've ever been in, to this day, has someone in the iconic
orange Ulukai shirt. It's a cult classic. Now you know. The Yods will be with you, always.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outcast_(video_game)

phpBB [video]


In many ways, the cult status and troubled development of the Outcast franchise mirrored the Shenmue series. Outcast 2 was infamously cancelled just before release, leaving one of the worst cliffhangers in video game history forever unresolved. At least Shenmue was resurrected, and I'm glad between the two, the one dearer to my little heart was saved from the universal ash in my lifetime. Still, it's a shame we didn't get Outcast 2. All my favorite games were not profitable enough back before the gaming market diversified via crowdfunding and better use of the internet as a market. Those that lived on over the last decade were completely reimagined till they appealed to many different segments of gamers, and are no longer recognizable (Deus Ex). So, it's lucky Shenmue stayed dead long enough to come back as itself instead of being transformed into something else we never wanted. Maybe the same will happen to Outcast, should the remake make a profit.

phpBB [video]

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Re: Random Gaming Thoughts (Read OP Before Posting)

Postby FlagshipFighter » Mon Jul 17, 2017 11:45 am

KiBa wrote:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outcast_(video_game)
phpBB [video]


Kiba this has got to be one of the best reply posts I've ever received and was an absolute pleasure to read, thank you!

The first time I heard of this game was when the kickstarter for the HD remake came about. It looked mesmerising and just reading about the tech behind it was super fascinating. I was thinking of backing it, but sadly I think the whole thing fell through.

Completely forgotten about it since, if it had stealthily came out I still think I would have given it one glance and a miss since these days it's hard to judge a game without a demo/trial + the overwhelming amount of stuff that comes out. But after reading your post I am totally sold and curious to find out more about it when it hits consoles. The game looks stunning in that trailer and looks to be a very faithful remake too. It's fascinating to hear how much of a community there has been for this game over the years as well as their accomplishments in terms of patching/improving the game experience and making entirely newer version. Looking forward to it!

Also, love the music in your signature dude, what a great game that is! Still need to play the 3rd entry that came on console a few months ago though.

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Re: Random Gaming Thoughts (Read OP Before Posting)

Postby KiBa » Tue Jul 18, 2017 11:32 am

I have not yet played the next TLJ/Dreamfall either. I have high hopes. And, yes, the Outcast community isn't as big as Shenmue's, but they have done a good job keeping it alive. Version 1.1 is solid for running the original on new hardware, but the remake should obsolete that. I hope.

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Random Gaming Thoughts (Read OP Before Posting)

Postby Axm » Mon Jul 24, 2017 4:37 am

Turned my Xbox One on today just to make sure its still working..pfft.. stupid $500 pos.

You know it's really quite sad that I've had an Xbox One since midnight launch and I have a total of 3 exclusive games I've cared to play on it. Forza 5, Sunset Overdrive and Halo 5.
It's almost laughable that I've had a Switch for only 3 weeks and already have more games for it than my XBO and it's a Switch! Haha It has hardly any games and already its stolen more of my time away from the PS4 than the Xbox did in over 3 years!

The state of Xbox is sad. Who the hell even cares about the Xbox One Xxx420BlazexxX here? Do you even 1st party bro?

And what the HELL is still up with this UI? You know after 3 years it seems to have gotten just WORSE over time. I mean am I on twitter or the freaking Microsoft Surface tablet? This is still a game system right? Why am I still struggling to find where my games are hidden... oh! right there a tiny box next to the Pre-order Call of Duty WWII advert. Oh am I supposed to like "pin" it to the bottom of the rows of other bullshit? Fuuuuck this system.
Give me one more year without any worth while exclusive and its sold to another baka gaijin for a PSVR and some paper towels.
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Re: Random Gaming Thoughts (Read OP Before Posting)

Postby Amir » Mon Jul 24, 2017 6:11 am

Axm wrote:
Give me one more year without any worth while exclusive and its sold to another baka gaijin for a PSVR and some paper towels.


Sell it now before the Xbox One X comes out and get a PS VR + Rez Infinite.

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Re: Random Gaming Thoughts (Read OP Before Posting)

Postby FlagshipFighter » Mon Jul 24, 2017 8:05 am

[Apologies, repost error]
Last edited by FlagshipFighter on Mon Jul 24, 2017 8:07 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Random Gaming Thoughts (Read OP Before Posting)

Postby FlagshipFighter » Mon Jul 24, 2017 8:06 am

Axm wrote: Turned my Xbox One on today just to make sure its still working..pfft.. stupid $500 pos.

You know it's really quite sad that I've had an Xbox One since midnight launch and I have a total of 3 exclusive games I've cared to play on it. Forza 5, Sunset Overdrive and Halo 5.
It's almost laughable that I've had a Switch for only 3 weeks and already have more games for it than my XBO and it's a Switch! Haha It has hardly any games and already its stolen more of my time away from the PS4 than the Xbox did in over 3 years!

The state of Xbox is sad. Who the hell even cares about the Xbox One Xxx420BlazexxX here? Do you even 1st party bro?

And what the HELL is still up with this UI? You know after 3 years it seems to have gotten just WORSE over time. I mean am I on twitter or the freaking Microsoft Surface tablet? This is still a game system right? Why am I still struggling to find where my games are hidden... oh! right there a tiny box next to the Pre-order Call of Duty WWII advert. Oh am I supposed to like "pin" it to the bottom of the rows of other bullshit? Fuuuuck this system.
Give me one more year without any worth while exclusive and its sold to another baka gaijin for a PSVR and some paper towels.


Ahh man that sucks to hear dude... but nice to see the other consoles doing you proud!

I'd actually politely disagree with you on the OS/Interface front. I actually think the Xbox OS currently is more robust, feature-full and on the whole front, stable. They've been consistent with adding a lot of cool QOL improvements too. I think the Metro/Modern design language gets a lot of flack because of all the stigma it got during the Windows 8 era. It's super versatile and a lot of things flow really nicely and are laid out in a well ordered/organised way. The PS4 OS is considerably more inferior in my opinion, the design language is so outdated, inconsistent and places it's focus in the wrong areas liek dynamic themes instead of improve the operation/features/performance/stability, espeically for rest mode/instances it takes to do things liek move icons/going to storage etc. I don't want to keep going on about it as a whole (I know it isn't Sony's forte) but I really think they need to step it up in that regard (saying that, I appreciate the remote play on android phones feature a lot). Hopefully v5.0 by the end of the year introduces a lot of improvements on all fronts. The switch UI design language and performance is very nice imo, it's just at a very early state with a lot of obvious features lacking so it doesn't really tell the whole tale. Being in a designer and very much in the UI scene etc I could go on with tech jargon and instances but I'll save you having to hear that xD).

I agree that one doesn't necessarily need to own both an xbone and a ps4, i think much of that comes down to personal taste/preference and what they currently own. I don't have a desktop pc, as i prefer laptops but use it mainly for work and surfing) so for me to play the MS titles it made more sense for me to own on. The service front has been really great, not just with the OS but with games with gold, backwards compatibility, xbox/pc play anywhere and mp features (it also helps that buying Xbox games are really cheap here in the UK, you can often buy £25 xbox credit for £17.99). I agree in that if you have a PS4 and prefer those titles compared to xbox + have a decent pc then there's not much reason to own an xbox because so much of it is accessible there now.

The xbone controller is a huge appeal to me over the ds4 too, the later which I find really uncomfortable for some genres of games (like fighting games) but this angle is for the most part subjective (other than triggers/battery?/build quality) but i do like sixaxis/speaker for some games that utilise it because it's endearing/unqiue/cheerful (how would anyone feel about them in shenmue 3? :p)

The only area for me in which the xbox is massively lacking this gen are the Japanese titles sadly, this to me is what has made the PS4 an essential console to own and I'm sure if a put-off for many. PS4 as a result has the edge on a diverse range of games, but for me all the Sony western titles are really unappealing, which too much of a focus on narrative story with the same-ish tone with really safe and stale gameplay mechanics without leveraging the technology available, placing genre or multiplayer aside for visuals. Thankfully Sony Japan (and to a smaller extent, Europe) have been providing some more fresh experiences this gen. And of course, props to Sony on Shenmue 3's e3 reveal.

I'd say sell the xbone for them too (or for further investing into switch/ps4 games) before the value dips too. The PSVR made me really ill when I tried it at an event (it didn't help that the game I played was RIGS) as cool as the novelty of it all was it still felt like preliminary tech that hasn't matured, and I think that'll only become more apparent day by day with the amount of technical limitations it has on every dimension. Also, I kinda don't trust Sony with supporting anything adequately outside of the console, camera and phone-space. Saying that, Rez Infinite looks really cool (but I'm content with the DC/360 versions and Child of Eden tbf) and there's that crazy awesome japan-only game (well, experience*) where you can look at all sorts of scenery around the world with ambience and just chill (+allows you to use your phone without taking the headset off).

Sorry if I rambled for too long, you found your comment interesting and wanted to share my experience with this gen. I definitely prefer playing third party and the experience with playing on xbox the most atm and the service they provide, but I do think by the end of the generation PS4 will have the most pivotal games for me (for Shenmue 3/Yakuza games alone). On the VR side, if you really want to invest in a headset I'd choose the PC variants (oculus/vive) over PS4VR so that you're not in a walled garden/dealing with the burdens of restrictive tech/spec limitations/limited software library. I think this all brings a discussion for what's important these days, first parties definitely are, but they're also just one aspect of things, service matters too. Wow, consoles have really grown up since the DC days...)

(P.S. What's 'Xxx420BlazexxX'? The scorpio? I'm skipping on the iterative hardware this gen (except for switch because i'm pretty sure the revisions for that will be drastically superior to the OG version and more beneficial to the end user because it's a handheld) hoping when next gen arrives all the manufacturers are backwards compatible out of the gate (please sony, it sucks having the ps1, ps2 classics purchased on ps3 and ps3 titles no longer supported, don't do this again! Ninty too!)

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Random Gaming Thoughts (Read OP Before Posting)

Postby Axm » Mon Jul 24, 2017 10:01 am

Hot dang.
Well first off about the UI I'm surprised someone who is so into UI design can agree with ie. the "My Games" library icon being right next to multiple adverts.

Then take that top row and basically scrap it all and call it the Store, because thats basically all its acting as. Just constant buy that, look at this, sign up for whatever. The whole system UI is just so blatantly geared towards making you buy shit. It's not only annoying but offensive. The PS4 and Switch put all that stuff in clearly designated areas. They don't constantly bombard you and you can get where you want to be in 1-2 QUICK steps tops.

Also the loading from page to page in the Xbox UI is just plain slow and laggy. I always experience this half second delay with a button press. You would almost think its input lag but then you realize everything in the whole UI is slow altogether too. Maybe load less bullshit on the front end so we can just have a nice simple interface like we did with the first gen Xbox 360 blade style UI. Now that was a good UI. Then they went and fucked that one up and it's never been the same since.

It's like they realized at one point they could turn a games console into a advertising and sales machine and had a field day in seeing how far they could go. With the constant balancing act of attempting to listen to user feedback with UI updates to "streamline" while then adding 10 more sales icons into the mix like we wouldn't notice.

And the side bar? It would be great if you didn't need to do so many additional presses to still get what you want. And its ofcourse crazy slow too.
tbh just scrap the entire UI besides the side bar because that's basically all we need to operate the system. Then put it front and center with no other distractions. Maybe that would speed things up and make it look like a games console again.

And ya the controller is great though. Favorite thing about the console and its something I use more often to play PC games than with the Xbox.. >_>

Ya they better reboot Mech Assault or Crimson Skies before I permanently replace its space with the Dreamcast.
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Re: Random Gaming Thoughts (Read OP Before Posting)

Postby FlagshipFighter » Tue Jul 25, 2017 7:45 am

Axm wrote: Hot dang.
Well first off about the UI I'm surprised someone who is so into UI design can agree with ie. the "My Games" library icon being right next to multiple adverts.

Then take that top row and basically scrap it all and call it the Store, because that's basically all its acting as. Just constant buy that, look at this, sign up for whatever. The whole system UI is just so blatantly geared towards making you buy shit. It's not only annoying but offensive. The PS4 and Switch put all that stuff in clearly designated areas. They don't constantly bombard you and you can get where you want to be in 1-2 QUICK steps tops.

Also the loading from page to page in the Xbox UI is just plain slow and laggy. I always experience this half second delay with a button press. You would almost think its input lag but then you realise everything in the whole UI is slow altogether too. Maybe load less bullshit on the front end so we can just have a nice simple interface like we did with the first gen Xbox 360 blade style UI. Now that was a good UI. Then they went and fucked that one up and it's never been the same since.

It's like they realised at one point they could turn a games console into a advertising and sales machine and had a field day in seeing how far they could go. With the constant balancing act of attempting to listen to user feedback with UI updates to "streamline" while then adding 10 more sales icons into the mix like we wouldn't notice.

And the side bar? It would be great if you didn't need to do so many additional presses to still get what you want. And its of course crazy slow too.
tbh just scrap the entire UI besides the side bar because that's basically all we need to operate the system. Then put it front and center with no other distractions. Maybe that would speed things up and make it look like a games console again.

And ya the controller is great though. Favourite thing about the console and its something I use more often to play PC games than with the Xbox.. >_>

Ya they better reboot Mech Assault or Crimson Skies before I permanently replace its space with the Dreamcast.


Thanks for the reply dood, there's a lot of salient points here too. I hope I can do justice to this without imagery.

The whole 'ad' thing doesn't really both me because the majority (except one on the bottom right) is informing of features/shortcuts (like gold), new games and as a whole I quite like the appearance it all elegantly put together as well as the 'live' presence of it all, it doesn't feel like an desolate/arid place to be). And honestly i have never taken issue with the fact that ad's still there when having a gold subscription, it seems like complaining

The PS4 menu welcomes the idea of all these dynamic themes (which I think is cool and I can appreciate) but the inconsistency of it is what drives me nuts: If you're going to allow these theme devs to drastically alter the look of the OS, you have to go the whole way. It's unreasonable to expect that all apps should have an icon of their own, but most of the stock ones should (i'm looking at you 'PS Store' and 'What's New') because they look so jarring when you have a see-through icon and then a big blue ps store icon that you are not allowed to alter in anyway.

Also, there's just too much noise in the current layout and the way they've listed everything. If you press options on a game tile you get a whole list of jargon, most of which is never applicable.

Then there's the amount of steps it takes to order any of your games in folders. If you want to move things around you have to press options, go down to edit folder, go down again to the icon you want to move, press X, and move one one by one... waaaaaay to clumsily implemented. To do the same thing with Xbox pins (after first assigning pins either through your recent played list/games folder or online/app)

The actual Sony aesthetic stands out too, because unlike Apple, Google, MS they didn't really incorporate flat design. Fair enough, I prefer flat design but I don't want to dictate to others what their tastes should be. If people like gradients and all these wavy lines in the background will all this bizarre sombre music that plays in the background: power to them. But things ought to be clearer (which they've just did in the last update to incorporate some flat/vector-y icons, cool!) but they still don't really follow the principles like the golden rule.

Setting up the thing felt liek a pain as well, waaay too many questions for waaay too many thing like they're not confident on setting up a default that the user can then further tweak.

Also, please Sony: Don't be stingy with not allowing auto updates for games when the console is on standby when not on PS+, this is waaay too much of an inconvenience/nuisance, people hardly have enough time as it is for setting up all this. They're the only one's out of all Steam/Nintendo/Xbox that do this.

In terms of things to come, there's going to be refunds and gifting on the xbone which I'm hoping Ninty/Sony adopt. Unlike sony, xbox is still lacking a basket feature for the store atm... :/

I want to be optimistic here as a whole. I'm glad Sony added external HDD's because I've never liked the thought of swapping the internal unless the internal one was going to have a use elsewhere. PS4 is 500gb atm and my xbone is 1tb (w/ 4tb HDD). Also, we're past the days of the PS3 interface (which I'm still a little gutted they never fixed aspects of). I have nostalgia for the blades/XMB interface too, but the limitations of that interface obviously couldn't handle the load as features/lists grew more prominent. The Ps3 especially (with all this vita card applicatioon, sing star etc etc) is a mess man.

We live in a time now where all the corporate empires like Google, Apple and (depending where you go) MS have really advanced UI with using clean/consistent/legible icons and with design principles/guidelines all organised and considered, the expectation have just skyrocketed.

Sure, the Xbox One UI had big issues when it started, and the majority of that came with the fact that the OS was designed to be navigated primarily with Kinect voices > controller. Whether people liked that or not (i quite liked it for 360, never owned a kinect for XB1), they've shifted away from all that to improve the UI/experience for controller only users as they started selling xbones without kinect. And xbox dashboard atm isn't perfect either (going from game window to home doesn't feel seamless at all + the reduction of some features like snap for favouring performance did upset a few owners).

I totally understand your point of view though and it's totally valid of course, I bought an xbox about a year and a half later after launch? I actually thought the xbone had decent title releases for every year since it launched with the big exception on this year (halo wars 2 and crackdown 3?) scalebound did hit hard for us too but there was a bunch of cool stuff this year I got to try (phantom dust hd) overall though the japanese releases on PS4 earlier in the year did pretty much decimate everything else. I'm just saying overall there's a lot to like about the xbone UI and it's the one I prefer as a whole. Hopefully I explained my perspective of the OS adequately enough.

...

That's enough UI discussion from me today xD. Remember the days DVD's use to have slick/super awesome UI? And now they're all just a jpeg (and often not a good one) with arial font options? What happened? Disc space? The decline of DVD sales? Emphasis placed on blu-rays?

Discussing hardware design is fun too. Personally I like the one I have (OG Xbox, entire matt finish so non of that gloss scuffing) because it's just super robust, silent and ventilates very well. I kinda wanted that after, you know, the early 360 years xD. I understood the advantages of having external power supplies but they are kind of a nuisance I suppose. The very PS4 OG with the totally illegible icons for eject/power and ventilation was a bit of a disappointment and one of the bigger reasons I waited (along with the 2.4ghz only wifi chip because i'm nowhere near my ethernet) but the slim made up for it. The tactile buttons, the removable of that huge-ass LED tunnel on top of the console are things I favour. I can see how people like changing their faceplates prior though...

For controllers, imo both xbox/ps4 had issues with out of the gate. Xbox had super-stubborn shoulder buttons and a lack of 3.5mm headphone jack port. PS4 had the dodgy thumbsticks coating, weirder triggers and low battery life of the controller. Both seem fine now after their revisions though. Overall I prefer the xbone controller as a whole on the ergonomics side/grip, but I think it's subjective for the most part.

Which leads to the switch... oh my words. Interested to hear you hardware experience here @Axm. First of, the engineering of the handheld and joycons is incredible. And let's praise nintendo for adopting a modular design for the handheld innards/components and use of screws (non of this glue guff you see everywhere else, pushing away from planned obsolescence and no chances of proper user repair that you see for every other bit of tech).

I don't own a switch but I borrowed my brother in law's for a while and hardware wise it's currently has the most fundamental flaws out there. Skipping all the wifi/bluetooth/battery reading/plastic stand/ventilation/gyroscope/docking on samsung/LG tv's/plastic build warping issues all aside, the design ethos for this console just wasn't properly considered. They tried going for an omni design approach with the analogue and buttons being totally vertical on the joycon for the sake of 'sharing the joy' (of which I did with street fighter 2... and damn did it not feel right in that setup at all :/). Sad thing though is that the ergonomics side was apparent during the early prototypes for the WiiU controller, which they corrected later for the retail units. They clearly know and are aware of all this.

The lack of a proper dpad in normal mode wasn't as much of a huge letdown, that probably would just take some adjustment for that game. And the sharing the joy-mode clips are just clumsy, impractical and unconsidered additions.
But the analog/buttons need to be diagonal for me to even use it for a standard amount of time. All the 'fixes' for this seem to resort to either buying more accessories like a joypad (which kinda defeats the purpose, also 'dat price dough') and resorting to 3D printing components (as Ben Heck on youtube demonstrated).

So yeah, all I'll say is in true nintendo fashion: I'm sure all their future iterative console designs (XL/mini/*new*) are going to much much more considered on the whole. I think they're working on this quicker than we think, with all the WSJ reports added with the versatility/scaleability of manufacturing these components. I'd have though Nintendo learned the hardway about hardware gimmicks after star fox. Nintendo IP's aren't really a big on their own for me, but I'm super intrigued on the games that could come as well as the game Nagoshi is working on for it atm. Is it a monkey ball game, or a handheld yakuza spinoff? Exciting stuff!

(P.S. Never played crimson skies or mech assault :( I do own the former somewhere though). Also, apologies for anyone reading if I sounded too harsh on anything, again just my critiquing, hopefully it's balanced. But if I did any of the mistakes when i was at uni my tutors would have publicly shot me down for it (as they do) this shyte is taken seriously as is always up for scrutiny! xD

Have you decided on what you're planning to get? :)

(P.P.S. has anyone tried the steam controller? I've never tried one)
(P.P.P.S. Gamescom hype!)
(P.P.P.P.S. yes I wrote all this during my break-time. No regrets xD)
Last edited by FlagshipFighter on Tue Jul 25, 2017 10:38 am, edited 1 time in total.

FlagshipFighter has received 2 thanks from: Aimless Gamer, Axm
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FlagshipFighter
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