tuckerm
Here to talk about fighting games, self hosting web apps, and easy weeknight recipes.
My mastodon account: @tuckerm
My blog: https://tuckerm.us
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GRID: I absolutely loved the original Grid (I think it was called Racedriver: Grid in Europe) when it came out.
Project CARS 2 and Assetto Corsa Competizione: A while ago I tried using a PS5 controller on PC and using the gyroscope to steer left and right by tilting the controller. It works well enough when you get used to it. It gives you more granular control than an analog stick. You really can’t tilt an analog stick 15 degrees consistently, but you can tilt the controller like that consistently. I’m not saying its as good as a racing wheel, but if you don’t have one, it’ll at least let you play games that might otherwise need a wheel. I played a decent amount of Project CARS 2 and Assetto Corsa Competizione that way.
Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed is a fun kart racing game. If you don’t have a Switch and you want something like Mario Kart, you should pick it up. It isn’t just a Mario Kart knockoff with Sega characters. Wait no… that’s exactly what it is, but it’s a good one.
Meta: [email protected] is a community here.
This is one of many reasons why I’ve been trying to buy physical PC games lately.
I found a boxed copy of the GTA Trilogy recently. It was for Mac, and had probably been sitting on a shelf in some office supply store for 15 years. I don’t even have a Mac, but I bought it since I figured that, not only would it be the original, non-remade version, but it should (hopefully) have the original music as well.
I haven’t opened it yet. I’ll probably post a thread here when I do. Maybe it’ll run in a virtual machine.
Right now, a kind of weird one: the Bridget MX, from SGF Devices. It’s a 3D printed, all-button controller for fighting games. They don’t make that specific model now (it was a very early one), but this is the closest to it: https://sgfdevices.com/products/bridget-pe
At first I thought that not having a joystick would make games kind of boring. Like, too practical, not enjoyable. But no, it’s actually fun. Kind of like tapping out notes on a piano. It uses low-profile mechanical keyboard switches, and I have some stiffer, clickier switches on the way right now.
It’s meant for fighting games (Street Fighter, etc.), but I’ve used it for some 2D platformers and it worked great for those, too.
A non-3D-printed, less cheapo one would probably be even more fun to use, but I think I’ll stick with this one for now.
Same. And especially for a live service game, it’s just gone. If someone made some great 3D models and animations for an offline game, even if the game doesn’t sell very well, their work is still out there. But with a live service game, that’s just it. No one else gets to see it for more than a few days.
I also hate the fact that the dev studio will face the consequences of this, while whatever braindead exec with a master’s in bullshit administration will probably still be employed.
But at the same time… I can’t help but enjoy the spectacular failures of these anti-consumer products lately.
I was watching a livestream of this game’s reveal trailer. The chat was excited at first during the cinematic trailer. Sure, it looked like a Malt-O-Meal Guardians of the Galaxy, but it still looked like it could be fun. Then as soon as they said “5 v 5 live service game” there was a giant, collective “oh nevermind lol” from the chat.
The Dead Cells soundtrack. Especially:
- Prisoner’s Awakening (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzK3z8MLSpA&list=PLombWqRALIZDwEsPJuGvD6soVFA46I7f2&index=3)
- Clocktower (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZ1Pk8HBYJU&list=PLombWqRALIZDwEsPJuGvD6soVFA46I7f2&index=21)
- Temple (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fg0R4w7LvG4&list=PLombWqRALIZDwEsPJuGvD6soVFA46I7f2&index=20)
- Lighthouse (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fqHBOTFgcI&list=PLombWqRALIZDwEsPJuGvD6soVFA46I7f2&index=41)
This article brings up a great point.
In addition, I’ve always thought that video games work the way we were told the world worked. (At least, the way we were told it worked in the 90s in America.) Work hard to get some resources so that you can use those resources to build more stuff to get more resources, etc.
Kids today can work as hard as they want, only to still have no chance of paying for college and still have no chance of buying a house. Video games at least provide that “strategy -> effort -> reward -> next level” cycle that our brains find very rewarding, which, for far too many people, does not exist in real life.
That’s probably what makes modern games so disappointing, too. Games were one area that actually was a meritocracy… until pay-to-win messed that up.
Sonic and Dr. Robotnik are codependent. They don’t actually want to defeat each other. That’s why Robotnik is always building these elaborate bases that, for some reason, have a bunch of perfectly Sonic-sized tubes for getting around in. And it’s why there’s always that moment at the end where Sonic is chasing Robotnik but doesn’t catch him.
Cool! I’m not a hardcore sim racing fan, but I got a little into them when I realized that you can play them without a wheel if you use the gyroscope in a PS5 controller for steering. It’s not perfect, but it’s accurate enough to play these games that are otherwise unplayable with an analog stick.
BTW if anyone is reading this and thinks you might want to try it, Assetto Corsa is two dollars on the Steam sale right now. It came out a while ago, but there are graphics mods that make it look nice. https://store.steampowered.com/app/244210/Assetto_Corsa/
In case anyone doesn’t know, this game is basically Devil May Cry but in the Metal Gear Solid universe.
I’m telling you that because I didn’t know that when I bought it. I had played MGS 1 and 2 before buying this game, and it took a couple of hours for me to realize, I don’t think I’ll be sneaking up on anybody in this one. It’s a good Devil May Cry game, though!
Yeah, it definitely needs trackpads that are easy to reach in order to be a Steam Deck controller. (And I’m saying “easy to each” because the awkwardly placed Playstation touchpad doesn’t count.)
I’m curious about this part, though:
Gyro in the “Steam mode”. With the sticks having a touch sensor too.
That sounds like an advantage over a Playstation or Switch controller. I’m guessing that means you could enable the gyro just by touching the analog stick, without having to press a button. That’s like what most people did on the Steam controller, where the gyro would enable when you touched the trackpad.
copy-pasting what I posted on !pcgaming for some that are $5 or less:
A few super cheap, not-new games I’ve played that aren’t on the main promo banner:
- Aragami - $3 - Pretty challenging stealth game. The sequel is also on sale, but I hear it’s more action-oriented, less stealth-oriented than the original.
- Anomaly: Warzone Earth - $2 - Strategy game.
- Bastion - $3 - Same developer that made Hades.
- Mount & Blade: Warband - $5 - Sid Meier’s Pirates, but with horses. (This is not the newest game, Bannerlord)
- Sid Meier’s Pirates - $2.50 - Mount & Blade, but with ships.
- X3: Reunion - $2 - Sid Meier’s Mount & Blade, but in spaaaaaaace. (I’ve only played the sequel, X4. But this one looks kind of similar, and is two dollars.)
- Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six - $2.50 - Tactical FPS. Been a while since I’ve played it. Was definitely cool when it came out.
- Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon - $3 - Ditto. This one probably holds up better.
- Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell - $2.50 - Who do you think would win in a fight, Tom Clancy or Sid Meier? I think Sid Meier.
- BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger - $1.50 - Fighting game. Combos are not as timing-sensitive as games like Street Fighter or Tekken.
- Rayman 2 - $1.50 - 3D platformer.
I’ve never been excited for DLC before, but Street Fighter 6 adding Terry and Mai, from King of Fighters, was very unexpected. I think that was my favorite.
I’ve been playing Capcom vs. SNK 2 whenver I have a few minutes to spare these days: https://saltylike.us/@tuckerm/112482256002789207.
Aw, I was looking forward to this one. But also, meh, my unplayed backlog is huge.
I’m gonna put on my casual-observer-business-analyst hat real quick: it seems weird that Sony is making so many decisions that they know will piss off customers with their brand lately. Microsoft has been striking out hard with underwhelming exclusives, whereas at least Sony has had a few hits. Sony could take advantage of that and use this generation to crush the Xbox brand pretty hard. The payoff would be huge later on.
Business execs always fancy themselves as military generals; I’m sure they’ve heard that Napoleon quote, “Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.” Instead, they seem to be taking advantage of Microsoft’s blunders to just knowingly make their own blunders.
Like, even from a cutthroat business exec mindset, there is a profit-motivated reason to just chill out with the anti-consumer stuff right now. Your biggest competitor has been absolutely unloading a clip into their own foot for like two years. Quit drawing attention to yourself.
Their Infinitybook models – both the 14 and 16 inch – disappeared from their site recently. It was their slim, lightweight model, and I thought that was their flagship computer, too. I’m wondering if the Stellaris Slim is the new Infinitybook, or if there’s a new Infinitybook coming that they haven’t announced yet.
I’ve heard this argument before, but I’m not sure that the numbers support it. Despite the Dreamcast having a head start, the PS2 started eclipsing the DC’s sales almost immediately, and that’s even with the PS2 having some supply problems early on.
If piracy was the main problem, I would expect to see huge system sales and small game sales. Instead, the DC just didn’t sell very well outside of its initial launch.
I’m not saying piracy didn’t exist, but Sega had lost so much support from customers and developers with the 32X, Sega CD, and Saturn, I suspect those are more to blame. They’d have been able to handle the problem of game copying better if they didn’t have a dozen other problems at the same time. Heck, it was the first console with built-in online services, and that’s the industry’s main way of dealing with piracy now.
I suppose they only did it now due to some license agreement expiring?
Yep, if I understand it right, Denuvo charges an annual fee to be used. That’s why you always see it getting removed after the game loses relevance, when sales aren’t enough to justify paying for Denuvo anymore.
Kind of weird how, because Bethesda (and other publishers) are Denuvo’s consumer, this particular anti-consumer license agreement is actually benefiting the players, haha.
I’m late to the party with Hades, but am enjoying the first game right now.
Also, wow, there’s a familiar face in that video! I remember watching Greg Kasavin do reviews for Gamespot back when video reviews were still a pretty new thing. (found one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uhb9ZpfU-mQ)
MK9 is also the start of the modern game mechanics, in addition to the story. They established the current gameplay formula in MK9, and have been iterating on it since then.
Unless you really want to play the classic games, I think MK9 is the best starting point.
edit: Wait wtf am I talking about you obviously start with the movie from 1995.
I’m not sure what kind of disagreement went on behind the scenes, but just as someone who enjoyed the game, this seems fine to me. Five years of post-release content is better than what you usually get, especially considering that they were all good updates and none were hasty cash grabs. The base game by itself was endlessly replayable, then they kept adding variety. It’s not like people aren’t going to get their money’s worth, now that this game with near-infinite replayability isn’t getting even more new content.
The article mentions the studio is a co-op; I was not aware of that before. From the studio’s Wikipedia article:
Motion Twin is run as an anarcho-syndicalist workers cooperative with equal salary and decision-making power between its members.
WELL DAMN I already loved the game, now I love it all over again.
Absolutely. I mean, I love the fact that GOG has DRM-free games. It’s really incredible how many games are available without DRM because of them.
But I’m not going to make Valve out to be the bad guy here. Valve is like 99% of the reason why gaming on Linux is viable right now.
Valve seems like a great example of how, if you don’t sell your company to venture capitalists, you can just be cool nerds that make good products. As much as I want DRM-free to be the norm, I’m also not going to vilify a company that is one of the best examples of not enshittifying right now.