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Cake day: Jun 12, 2023

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Its gameplay is similar to Vampire Survivors. I actually prefer it because it has more characters, upgrades and synergies.


Anecdotally Fifa (EA FC or whatever they’re calling it now) would have to be up there. Hadn’t played it in years but gave it a go last season as it was free on Game Pass.

They’ve combined the addictiveness of card collecting with loot box mechanics, FOMO and moving the goalposts (pun intended) to get the best players. The gameplay also seemed pretty rigged to prevent grinding rewards out.

Then when the new game is out, rather than dishing out all the rewards to those still playing it instead becomes infeasible to unlock any more decent players so you’re pretty much stuck with what you have.

Even if you pay full price for the next game you’ll have to use low stat players as they only seem to start releasing decent ones half way through the season.


  1. Yeah good shout, I just know certain fans/pundits don’t like complicated rules so tried to keep it simple but your method is better.

  2. Sorry, I think I was unclear… Above the end of the sleeve meaning on the sleeve is fine. I don’t think that’s the current rule as I’ve seen many recent decisions when they’ve given handball for the ball hitting the sleeve. If that’s not the case, I refer back to #1.


  1. VAR has the potential to make the game much better. The refs’ interpretations of the subjective rules are the issue. The whole rulebook needs to be rewritten with the aim to eliminate grey areas.

  2. Offside lines should be drawn from the back foot of the attacker. It was designed to stop goalhanging, not to penalise attackers who gain no advantage from being a centimetre offside.

  3. This one I’m not even sure I agree with but here goes… Headers should be banned because repeated knocks to the head are not good. In exchange, anything above the sleeves of the shirt should not be classed as handball.



Hard disagree. Most trailblazing console ever with one of the strongest lineups of first/second party games we’ve ever seen. Yes there were some shoddy third party ports but you didn’t buy it for those.

People moan about the controller but forget it was the first time a joystick was used and the only real issue was the redundant left prong. Loved the feel of the Z button for shooting games coupled with the Rumble Pak.


Oh right I see it’s like a quality vs quantity thing. To me I’d pick quality (as that is what triggers my nostalgia).

If I want quantity there are thousands of modern indie games I’d rather play.


I agree, not common, which is why I don’t understand the “only 20 or so great games” take.



Yep, chuck Rumble Pak in there too.

Did platform fighters exist before Smash?

Did proper 3D platforming with free camera exist before Mario 64?

Did third person adventure games exist before OoT and has anything drastically changed the formula since?

Not to mention all these games shipped fully built with no updates and amazingly few bugs.

It seems as though OP didn’t actually experience these things at the time so making a post about nostalgia for them is strange. Firing up an emulator and going “These games don’t hold up now.” is entirely missing the point.


Pretty sure the aforementioned list makes up for one mid Castlvania game.


We referred to Rare as a “second-party” developer at the time. So sad when they got bought by M$.

To answer your question on third-party games, some of my favourites were…

Star Wars: Rogue Squadron

Star Wars: Episode 1 Racer

Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire

Vigilante 8

Extreme-G

Snowboard Kids

Turok

Bomberman 64

Resident Evil 2

San Francisco Rush


This doesn’t track, Rare were banging out so many good games and as others have mentioned the Star Wars games were also awesome.

I feel you are also still missing the point about trailblazing. There was more gameplay innovation than anything since.


Yes my list was not exhaustive either and tried to focus on exclusives to make the point.



Unlikely many of the games of the current gen will hold up in 25-30 years…

Many of the first party games on those systems broke new ground and much of modern gaming wouldn’t exist without them.


Woodwork dweller here, you seem to have forgotten:

Majora’s Mask

Star Fox 64

Jet Force Gemini

Donkey Kong 64

Diddy Kong Racing

Excite Bike 64

Paper Mario

Paper Mario: Thousand Year Door

Pokémon Stadium

Yoshi’s Story

Pokémon Snap

Mario Party

Felt at the time that there was always a high quality “AAA” release on the horizon interspersed with some of the greatest games ever made. Many of the gameplay techniques these games pioneered during the transition from 2D to 3D are still used to this day.

Obviously a lot of them don’t stand the test of time a quarter of a century on but we haven’t had a system with the same consistent quality of games for a long time, if ever, IMO.


That’s why I mentioned those other console exclusive features. Anyway the original point was about cost and I think the Series X was the best value for money at launch this gen…

  • Half the price of building a similar PC at launch.

  • Rewards are higher on console so recoup the cost more than PC.

  • I use Game Pass on both PC and Xbox with a single account to play multiplayer so cheaper on that front.

We’re half way through the generation now though. PC parts have got cheaper, Game Pass Ultimate conversion ratio has dropped and rewards are drying up so probably wouldn’t advocate it anymore. PC likely to be better value next gen.


I always gamed predominantly on PC but this generation I did the maths as PC parts had become over-inflated so decided to give console a try. I still think it was a decent decision for this generation…

Game Pass can be had waaaaaay cheaper than that and you can get it all back and more in rewards points.

I spent £450ish on the console at launch including controller and a game. Equivalent GPU was £500 or more at the time.

Spent £150ish on Game Pass sub from November 2020 to July 2026 which has allowed me to play countless games I never would have bought outright.

I’ve made over £700 back in vouchers with over 2 years left to accumulate more. Spent half of it on games, and controllers, headset, etc. all of which I can use on my PC. Plan on saving the remaining vouchers to put towards my next PC build.

This is without mentioning other console benefits like low maintenance, Quick Resume and the fact I can use one copy of a game to play with two players online.

eXpLaIN hOw im OuT oF pOcKeT.


As always, it’s a trade-off between convenience and ability to tweak.

When it comes to gaming, the convenience slightly edges it for me at the mo. Enjoying Game Pass, play anywhere, Quick Resume and have made all the money back I spent on the Series X through Microsoft Rewards twice over.

Next upgrade will be a tough call though.


Surely you still have to update drivers and OS?!

I dual boot Linux on my PC and run it on Raspberry Pis. Let’s not pretend it requires zero maintenance.


You are correct by the technical definition, I apologise for suggesting the Steam Deck is not a PC lol.

What sort of things do you run on yours? I’d have thought it being a handheld it wouldn’t be that useful for anything I’d want to run on it as it wouldn’t be always on or connected.

My preference is a dedicated desktop box I can upgrade and potentially run some services like DNS, PiHole and some automated scripts on. I’d rather spend the money on that and keep using the Switch or cloud gaming when I’m on the go.


Yes hence why I corrected to desktop. Sorry, just always used to using PC and desktop as interchangeable terms but see why you’d want to differentiate these days.

My point is I don’t want a handheld that I have to plug in. If I’m going the PC route I’d prefer a desktop box I can upgrade so although the Deck is great, it doesn’t suit literally all use cases.


True, but if I’m spending thousands on a machine, I tend to want to be able to do other things on it so unfortunately Windows usually enters the equation.

Will consider a dedicated SteamOS box when I next refresh.


I mean desktop, wouldn’t really class the Deck as a PC.

Been tempted to get one but I use the Switch or cloud gaming on the go so have most bases covered already.


Ok but most of my games use Quick Resume so I am playing in under 15 seconds. To be honest the Switch has taken the crown for picking up where you left off since 2017.

I’ve used Moonlight but prefer not to stream really. Would be interested in how the latency is these days.

In the past I’d have said PC all the way but these days I’m glad both options exist. Biggest draw to the PC for me is mods. Would be tempted to make a dedicated SteamOS box next gen.


Having been predominantly a PC gamer for 30 years… PCs more hassle to update and maintain. When I finish work I want to sit on my sofa and play with as little inconvenience as possible.

Consoles fit nicely in a living room and are better for local multiplayer. This generation they were also cheaper than buying the equivalent PC hardware at launch.


Yeah that’s what I’m hopeful for, was going to suggest the same.

Only reason I bought a Series X was because it was cheaper and nicer form factor than upgrading my PC. Tbh ended up liking it more than I expected due to Game Pass, Microsoft Rewards and QoL stuff like Quick Resume but will likely just go back to PC if these rumours turn out to be true.


For most, I think It’s due to the rumours that Microsoft could pull out of making Xbox hardware altogether, not because people don’t want others enjoying Xbox games.

That would enable Sony to form a monopoly over the high-end console market, which is never good for consumers. Xbox users also have concerns surrounding how they would be able to access their 20+ years of games, friends, achievements, clips, etc. if that were to happen.





+1 for the S23.

I’ve been a Nexus/Pixel fan since the beginning but performance/battery is much better now the Samsungs have the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 in them.

Camera is decent (marginally worse than Pixel for stills but better for video) and OneUI is far much more customisable and less obtuse than it was in the past.