What’s funny is how Sony fanboys are on the Gamepass tweet asking why anyone would pay that much for old games when Sony is specifically not putting Day 1 releases on their service and it will only be ‘old games.’ Console wars at their finest. Makes it a real chore to look through any game announcements, articles, or anything else game related online. And it feels like it’s getting worse this generation.
It's Kotaku so I have to imagine it's not even console wars tribalism (though they've always been a lot more blasé about bashing Xbox than Playstation in the past, and they are now); it's just their usual attempts to produce whatever qualifies as an earth-shattering revelation in hobbyist/enthusiast media we call "video games journalism." Even the comments point it out: the only way you can coherently make this argument is with the notion "There is too much stuff to play on Game Pass, and it's exhausting."
Effectively, it's the Netflix argument. Which is exactly why Netflix won't be around in a year, two if they're lucky, right? And that's why no one's undertaking the fool's errand of trying to compete with Netflix.
The crucial difference is that there isn't a situation where Netflix has over ten times the active subscriber base of its next closest competitor, as far as I know. That's where Microsoft is now, and even Kotaku has admitted as much; Sony has made it clear they don't want to kill off PSNow just to cannibalize their first party blockbusters....which actually makes a good deal of sense, especially from their perspective. It just means they're offering a service with 1) worse retro console emulation 2) no PC support 3) no day-one first party releases and expect you to pay slightly more for the privilege of it.
It could work. This is Sony, after all. But if it does, it's going to have this same "complaint" unless...it doesn't have as many games, or as many subscribers. Then it'll just be worse.
It's not worth spending this much energy on one of the endless "make a random hot take" articles on the internet.
I'm generally not bothered by Halo Infinite's battlepass progression being bad. I more or less burned myself out on reward systems back in high school, so for the most part I just ignore it and have a good time. I do engage with it occasionally, and the common criticisms of it being super random and slow don't really bug me either. Thousands of hours of Destiny and Warframe, tempered by XCOM, have made it so there's not a lot RNG can do to hurt me anymore. But weirdly enough, even without those problems, it's still kinda bad? Like playing with challenges in mind, even if not pursuing them completely single-mindedly, makes the game less fun to play. It makes me a bit more understanding of why people get so mad about it. I'm still of the opinion "game's good, just ignore the challenges," since the best battlepass is still never going to be more than a hollow skinner box, but it is still unusual for one to make playing the game feel worse.
Wasn't there some indie game that came out a year or two ago that was like that? The Messenger. Haven't played it nor any Ninja Gaiden, so I may be completely off the mark on this.
I think that's the one I dabbled in, maybe the other, too. And they're good!
But there's a difference between playing a game that's sort of like the game you really like, and playing an authentic entry, y'know?
If anything, these two just make me want an official Ninja Gaiden in that style even more. XD
On a semi-related note: Grabbed DOA4 in that fighting game sale, as it's the only one in the pre-5 set I don't have, and... wow. I don't think I've ever been so utterly ruinated so fast in a game before.
It’s been literal years since I’ve lacked for games, instead of time to play games. Game Pass, and the wider gamer market, has been a losing battle for me to play everything I want, followed by acceptance that it it’s ok I’ll never “catch up.” The only possible burnout is that I’ll be tempted to actually attempt the impossible task of playing everything that looks interesting and get sick of all video games. The only thing that ever slightly helped is that I stopped going to indoor music venues, so that’s a few extra free hours available every month.
Like I don’t believe anyone who says they’re out of stuff to play is lying or even exaggerating, it’s a valid point of view, but also completely alien to me. I’ve never come close.
So much this. I've given up on playing everything, and even beating games is optional now. I just take it like when I was a kid renting games: one at a time, dabble a bit as much as I want, and move on.
LBD_Nytetrayn on
Like Mega Man Legends? Then check out my story, Legends of the Halcyon Era - An Adventure in the World of Mega Man Legends on TMMN and AO3!
Wasn't there some indie game that came out a year or two ago that was like that? The Messenger. Haven't played it nor any Ninja Gaiden, so I may be completely off the mark on this.
I think that's the one I dabbled in, maybe the other, too. And they're good!
But there's a difference between playing a game that's sort of like the game you really like, and playing an authentic entry, y'know?
If anything, these two just make me want an official Ninja Gaiden in that style even more. XD
On a semi-related note: Grabbed DOA4 in that fighting game sale, as it's the only one in the pre-5 set I don't have, and... wow. I don't think I've ever been so utterly ruinated so fast in a game before.
I disagree, that's an obsession with corporate branding. Both the developer and publisher of the OG Ninja Gaidens don't exist anymore in the same way they existed when those games came out. A "real" Ninja Gaiden is a meaningless thing to say, since Contra Rogue Corps is a "real" Contra game while Blazing Chrome is "merely" an imitation. But Rogue Corps is a flaming bag of dog doo doo and Blazing Chrome is an actually well put together video game.
Is Nobody saves the world ever more than this grind? It was fun at first but now its just filling up bars to unlock a new form that sucks so I can get more forms that will probably suck
I have a podcast now. It's about video games and anime!Find it here.
Is Nobody saves the world ever more than this grind? It was fun at first but now its just filling up bars to unlock a new form that sucks so I can get more forms that will probably suck
Hmm yeah if you're not enjoying that part of it you might as well tap out. That's what hooked me.
Is Nobody saves the world ever more than this grind? It was fun at first but now its just filling up bars to unlock a new form that sucks so I can get more forms that will probably suck
Hmm yeah if you're not enjoying that part of it you might as well tap out. That's what hooked me.
I liked it for a while but I just beat the robot and its getting old. Yeah Ill probably dump it
I have a podcast now. It's about video games and anime!Find it here.
Wasn't there some indie game that came out a year or two ago that was like that? The Messenger. Haven't played it nor any Ninja Gaiden, so I may be completely off the mark on this.
I think that's the one I dabbled in, maybe the other, too. And they're good!
But there's a difference between playing a game that's sort of like the game you really like, and playing an authentic entry, y'know?
If anything, these two just make me want an official Ninja Gaiden in that style even more. XD
On a semi-related note: Grabbed DOA4 in that fighting game sale, as it's the only one in the pre-5 set I don't have, and... wow. I don't think I've ever been so utterly ruinated so fast in a game before.
I'm reminded of the Tomb Raider reboot--which, between three games (the reboot, Rise, Shadow) have by and large been pretty critically acclaimed, though they represent a fundamentally different genre shift (really, the kind of game the original Tomb Raider was doesn't really exist anymore, as far as I know, unlike how we still have a representation in the "boomer shooter*" that can exactingly replicate the experience in Doom, though perhaps not to the inane degree of not letting you jump or natively aim up).
However, the original Tomb Raider is still one of the top...twenty?...highest rated games of the original Playstation lineup, and one of the pillars of 3D gaming in general. Not to take away from the original Ninja Gaiden on NES, but everything I've seen points to it never having the same sort of cache that its 3D re-imagining on the original Xbox could boast (and frankly, Ninja Gaiden II is pretty easily overshadowed by the sequel that came out almost two decades later). Could you prefer that original 2D action adventure game? Absolutely--there are people who prefer the original Tomb Raider, for any number of reasons, and that's arguably a less jarring shift in gameplay and genre.
Fundamentally, it did come first; the character of Hayabusa originates there, became a "canon immigrant" into Dead or Alive from the same developer, and then was given a complete reimaging. That's worth something. But there doesn't seem to be much comparison of popularity and audience (even given how prolific the Famicom hardware was). That doesn't need to have remotely any influence on ones preference (I'd prefer 3D Hayabusa to 2D Hayabusa even if no one had played the Xbox title or the multiple ports that followed it).
On the subject of Dead or Alive 4, god, do I really want that came to get a resolution update for Xbox One and Series hardware so much. Framerate boost to 120 hz Gears of War 3 style would be nice too, but given how insanely exacting timing has to be in those old DOA titles, I can see it being an obvious problem and prohibited by the internal software logic, but I really, really want to play that game at 4K (which 720p does multiple perfectly too).
*I hate that term, but probably just because like many ESOL speakers I don't want to learn another word for something that already had multiple ways to describe it.
On a semi-related note: Grabbed DOA4 in that fighting game sale, as it's the only one in the pre-5 set I don't have, and... wow. I don't think I've ever been so utterly ruinated so fast in a game before.
It's not just you. DOA4 is an often savage bastard of a game in single-player and Alpha-152 can eat a dick. (It's not a coincidence that it came along in Itagaki's post-Ninja Gaiden "everything harder than everything else" philosophy phase, which is one reason DOAX2 was just ruined and un-fun.) The unlocks are generally worth the perseverance, with some awesome ending movies and plenty of characters to grab.
Two-player, though? It's a properly damn good entry in the series.
Although as Synthesis says, yeah, it really could use an up-rez, especially after seeing the incredible difference that made to DOA3.
*I hate that term [boomer shooters], but probably just because like many ESOL speakers I don't want to learn another word for something that already had multiple ways to describe it.
Again, it's not just you. It's a super dumb term, but then I guess so are many other recently(-ish) coined subgenre terms... "immersive sim", anyone? Love those types of games but that descriptor is just blargh.
On a semi-related note: Grabbed DOA4 in that fighting game sale, as it's the only one in the pre-5 set I don't have, and... wow. I don't think I've ever been so utterly ruinated so fast in a game before.
It's not just you. DOA4 is an often savage bastard of a game in single-player and Alpha-152 can eat a dick. The unlocks are generally worth the perseverance, with some awesome ending movies and plenty of characters to grab.
Two-player, though? It's a properly damn good entry in the series.
Although as Synthesis says, yeah, it really could use an up-rez, especially after seeing the incredible difference that made to DOA3.
*I hate that term [boomer shooters], but probably just because like many ESOL speakers I don't want to learn another word for something that already had multiple ways to describe it.
Again, it's not just you. It's a super dumb term, but then I guess so are many other recently(-ish) coined subgenre terms... "immersive sim", anyone? Love those types of games but that descriptor is just blargh.
Shooty bang-bang.
I once bought DOA4 started playing and noped out after three fights. Never played another fighting game. I ended up just giving it to somebody who was interested in it.
anoffdayTo be changed whenever Anoffday gets around to it.Registered Userregular
edited May 2022
I mostly listen to what you fine people say about games these days aka real people with honest answers, but if I was going to follow game journalism again kotaku would be my last choice.
On a semi-related note: Grabbed DOA4 in that fighting game sale, as it's the only one in the pre-5 set I don't have, and... wow. I don't think I've ever been so utterly ruinated so fast in a game before.
It's not just you. DOA4 is an often savage bastard of a game in single-player and Alpha-152 can eat a dick. The unlocks are generally worth the perseverance, with some awesome ending movies and plenty of characters to grab.
Two-player, though? It's a properly damn good entry in the series.
Although as Synthesis says, yeah, it really could use an up-rez, especially after seeing the incredible difference that made to DOA3.
*I hate that term [boomer shooters], but probably just because like many ESOL speakers I don't want to learn another word for something that already had multiple ways to describe it.
Again, it's not just you. It's a super dumb term, but then I guess so are many other recently(-ish) coined subgenre terms... "immersive sim", anyone? Love those types of games but that descriptor is just blargh.
Shooty bang-bang.
I once bought DOA4 started playing and noped out after three fights. Never played another fighting game. I ended up just giving it to somebody who was interested in it.
That's an interesting place to stop playing 3D fighters--though you could do a lot worse. It could've been Soulcalibur III or something.
We just established why it is, in fact, okay not to like any From Software games, whether it be for escalating difficulty, deliberately awkward/clunky controls as a gameplay element, a combination of both, etc., but it is unusual for me coming from the Neo Geo tradition of "really fucking hard boss battles that you probably won't beat until you've played a hundred hours of this game"; because Dead or Alive 4 is a world easier than that.
Of course, that doesn't make DOA4 not difficult. In fact, a hard boss probably isn't the problem, so much as DOA4 is one of the fastest, time-demanding 3D fighters ever made in a franchise that already has extremely powerful reversal/counter moves. "You're going to have a bad time!" isn't a bad way of describing it. Though it's not a coincidence in that it was one of the best selling 3D fighters to come out on the Xbox 360 through its lifetime and was easily the most successful title in the franchise up to that point. A lot of people were coming into it from the perspective of "Is this an excellent 2 to 4 player fighting game?" versus "How quickly can I clear the usual 7-round story gauntlet?" which is a pretty typical situation for a sixth generation fighting game.
So I guess the advice I can offer is: stay the fuck away from those bullshit miniboss fights in Soulcalibur VI campaign mode. Because while the actual bosses are largely push-overs, unsurprisingly Namco fucking phoned it in for their random boss generation in a way that makes Alpha-152 a walk in the park. Alpha-152 doesn't get a randomly generated rule set where she can only he harmed by reversals done on the edge of the fucking stage or some bullshit.
I mostly listen to what you fine people say about games these days aka real people with honest answers, but if I was going to follow game journalism again kotaku would be my last choice.
There is a definite spectrum, on which games journalism (which I for one contend does in fact exist) is at one end, and Kotaku is right at the other end as far away as possible.
On a semi-related note: Grabbed DOA4 in that fighting game sale, as it's the only one in the pre-5 set I don't have, and... wow. I don't think I've ever been so utterly ruinated so fast in a game before.
It's not just you. DOA4 is an often savage bastard of a game in single-player and Alpha-152 can eat a dick. The unlocks are generally worth the perseverance, with some awesome ending movies and plenty of characters to grab.
Two-player, though? It's a properly damn good entry in the series.
Although as Synthesis says, yeah, it really could use an up-rez, especially after seeing the incredible difference that made to DOA3.
*I hate that term [boomer shooters], but probably just because like many ESOL speakers I don't want to learn another word for something that already had multiple ways to describe it.
Again, it's not just you. It's a super dumb term, but then I guess so are many other recently(-ish) coined subgenre terms... "immersive sim", anyone? Love those types of games but that descriptor is just blargh.
Shooty bang-bang.
I once bought DOA4 started playing and noped out after three fights. Never played another fighting game. I ended up just giving it to somebody who was interested in it.
As opposed to military shooty bang-bang.
In fairness, DOA3 and 5 (in any of its incarnations) are much more forgiving to ease into than 4.
I've gone over my thoughts on DOA and fighting games in general. Essentially, it's a genre I enjoyed even if I was bad at it that steadily left me behind as it went on. I'm okay with that.
I've gone over my thoughts on DOA and fighting games in general. Essentially, it's a genre I enjoyed even if I was bad at it that steadily left me behind as it went on. I'm okay with that.
Honestly I feel similarly about it as a genre. If I get the itch, I'll pop in DOA3 or 5, but the genre itself left me behind and that's fine.
Tekken is simultaneously much more readily available (in terms of hardware) and slightly less accessible in terms of the entry level to the best of my knowledge (not radically so). It also, unfortunately, is really old looking on even the most recent console hardware, in part because of its arcade hardware origins and not being substantially graphically overhauled in the five years since it came out.
None of that really matters given its enormous pedigree, particularly in the "pro" space, but it's kind of a bummer. Tekken 6 was a big graphical step up when it was no longer tied to PS2, but Tekken 7 was a little dated looking even when it was new. Oh well.
Kotaku is usually fine, that article sucked though
Most every gaming site has tons of clickbait articles like that, so wherever you go you kinda have to filter them out. But it's usually kinda obvious when an article is just empty clickbait so at least it's not too hard, and the actual articles are still actual articles.
I don't get why it is that I can Bluetooth my Series controller to my PC and play Steam games just fine, but the Xbox app won't recognize it unless it's connected via USB
I don't get why it is that I can Bluetooth my Series controller to my PC and play Steam games just fine, but the Xbox app won't recognize it unless it's connected via USB
I'm not sure why that's happening either, since I don't use my spare Xbox controller with any games on Steam, just a few game pass titles, and I don't use cables to do it.
It might be worth considering that the Xbox App doesn't actually "play" games you've installed (but it does register if a gamepad is connected for purposes of cloud streaming). Does the app itself not detect a gamepad (there's a little info box that says this) or the games or both?
My gaming PC, notably, has three ways to connect an Xbox controller: wired (which I don't use, my USB-C cables are with my phone), wireless over blutooth (which I sometimes use) and wireless over Xbox receiver (which I sometimes use, since technically it has the best input latency).
I wonder if there's a setting in Windows 10 that actually controls which specific apps have access to your BT antenna, etc., in your PC, and the app has that disabled. Rather than just turning off BT entirely.
The hell? I just tried it again to see if it works in app, and it's detecting just fine this time.
Woot I guess.
Yeah, it's BT so it's connection reliability is...about as good as BT. "Good enough."
But considering the Xbox App has as high-level access, or higher, to your system functions than Steam does--and that games installed via it use the same x86 architecture but in different folders (or even the same folders)--as Steam, it's about the same as one game on Steam detecting your gamepad and another one not.
Wasn't there some indie game that came out a year or two ago that was like that? The Messenger. Haven't played it nor any Ninja Gaiden, so I may be completely off the mark on this.
I think that's the one I dabbled in, maybe the other, too. And they're good!
But there's a difference between playing a game that's sort of like the game you really like, and playing an authentic entry, y'know?
If anything, these two just make me want an official Ninja Gaiden in that style even more. XD
On a semi-related note: Grabbed DOA4 in that fighting game sale, as it's the only one in the pre-5 set I don't have, and... wow. I don't think I've ever been so utterly ruinated so fast in a game before.
I disagree, that's an obsession with corporate branding. Both the developer and publisher of the OG Ninja Gaidens don't exist anymore in the same way they existed when those games came out. A "real" Ninja Gaiden is a meaningless thing to say, since Contra Rogue Corps is a "real" Contra game while Blazing Chrome is "merely" an imitation. But Rogue Corps is a flaming bag of dog doo doo and Blazing Chrome is an actually well put together video game.
While I feel this is an entirely fair point, I can't bring myself to agree wholeheartedly, either.
To put it in less good/bad terms, I love the Gunvolt games, Luminous Avenger iX especially... but they're no replacement for Mega Man to me.
As much as I was hoping Red Ash might actually happen (before the whole Inafune dynasty came tumbling down), it was never going to be Mega Man Legends.
Bloodstained is awesome, but I still feel a certain attachment to Alucard and the Belmonts, and a certain investment in their war against Dracula that it doesn't quite replicate.
I like Yooka and Laylee, but they're not quite Banjo and Kazooie. Admittedly, I'm predisposed to liking bears, so there is that at play in some small degree as well.
I practically adore Freedom Planet, but Lilac, Carol, and Milla aren't Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles.
And Ryu Hayabusa -- the NES one, at least -- is one of those characters I feel invested in. Hell, I even hunted down and watched the anime (complete with m'boy, Robert, all up in there!) based on that.
They certainly appeal to me in many similar ways, but they just aren't interchangeable in my mind, and I don't think that's an obsession with corporate branding -- not unless we're also going to validate the "it's okay that your favorite characters aren't in Marvel vs. Capcom Infinite, we have others that serve the same gameplay function" stuff Capcom or whoever gave us a few years ago with that title.
Oh, and some successors within the company do come through -- I think Mega Man 11 was a very worthy follow-up to the games that came before it, and it's made waiting for another just that extra bit more difficult.
As an aside, that NG idea is something that's been in my mind for years, if not decades now. Enough so that the the dev/publisher of the OG still existing might not have been so farfetched. At this point, it's just wishful thinking, and I realize that, but hey - the heart wants what it wants.
On a semi-related note: Grabbed DOA4 in that fighting game sale, as it's the only one in the pre-5 set I don't have, and... wow. I don't think I've ever been so utterly ruinated so fast in a game before.
It's not just you. DOA4 is an often savage bastard of a game in single-player and Alpha-152 can eat a dick. (It's not a coincidence that it came along in Itagaki's post-Ninja Gaiden "everything harder than everything else" philosophy phase, which is one reason DOAX2 was just ruined and un-fun.) The unlocks are generally worth the perseverance, with some awesome ending movies and plenty of characters to grab.
Two-player, though? It's a properly damn good entry in the series.
Although as Synthesis says, yeah, it really could use an up-rez, especially after seeing the incredible difference that made to DOA3.
Well, that's a bit disheartening. Kinda wish Xbox had the same return policy as Steam now. Heh, and after waiting all this time to play, too.
Oh well, at least I waited for a sale. Not a HUGE sale, but enough to make it impulse-y.
Like Mega Man Legends? Then check out my story, Legends of the Halcyon Era - An Adventure in the World of Mega Man Legends on TMMN and AO3!
My point with the brand stuff is, the name isn't enough. I've been crushed too many times by "official sequels". Earthworm Jim 3, Banjo Kazooie Nuts and Bolts, Rocket Knight for X360. Of course I'm interested if a series I'm fond of puts out a new thing and it CAN go well. I liked X1 Battletoads, DKC Returns, Sonic Mania, and Metroid Dread. I've just had a much more frequent good time with successor games that take the substance of what was fun to make a new game, not just the branded assets.
Wasn't there some indie game that came out a year or two ago that was like that? The Messenger. Haven't played it nor any Ninja Gaiden, so I may be completely off the mark on this.
I think that's the one I dabbled in, maybe the other, too. And they're good!
But there's a difference between playing a game that's sort of like the game you really like, and playing an authentic entry, y'know?
If anything, these two just make me want an official Ninja Gaiden in that style even more. XD
On a semi-related note: Grabbed DOA4 in that fighting game sale, as it's the only one in the pre-5 set I don't have, and... wow. I don't think I've ever been so utterly ruinated so fast in a game before.
I disagree, that's an obsession with corporate branding. Both the developer and publisher of the OG Ninja Gaidens don't exist anymore in the same way they existed when those games came out. A "real" Ninja Gaiden is a meaningless thing to say, since Contra Rogue Corps is a "real" Contra game while Blazing Chrome is "merely" an imitation. But Rogue Corps is a flaming bag of dog doo doo and Blazing Chrome is an actually well put together video game.
While I feel this is an entirely fair point, I can't bring myself to agree wholeheartedly, either.
To put it in less good/bad terms, I love the Gunvolt games, Luminous Avenger iX especially... but they're no replacement for Mega Man to me.
As much as I was hoping Red Ash might actually happen (before the whole Inafune dynasty came tumbling down), it was never going to be Mega Man Legends.
Bloodstained is awesome, but I still feel a certain attachment to Alucard and the Belmonts, and a certain investment in their war against Dracula that it doesn't quite replicate.
I like Yooka and Laylee, but they're not quite Banjo and Kazooie. Admittedly, I'm predisposed to liking bears, so there is that at play in some small degree as well.
I practically adore Freedom Planet, but Lilac, Carol, and Milla aren't Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles.
And Ryu Hayabusa -- the NES one, at least -- is one of those characters I feel invested in. Hell, I even hunted down and watched the anime (complete with m'boy, Robert, all up in there!) based on that.
They certainly appeal to me in many similar ways, but they just aren't interchangeable in my mind, and I don't think that's an obsession with corporate branding -- not unless we're also going to validate the "it's okay that your favorite characters aren't in Marvel vs. Capcom Infinite, we have others that serve the same gameplay function" stuff Capcom or whoever gave us a few years ago with that title.
Oh, and some successors within the company do come through -- I think Mega Man 11 was a very worthy follow-up to the games that came before it, and it's made waiting for another just that extra bit more difficult.
As an aside, that NG idea is something that's been in my mind for years, if not decades now. Enough so that the the dev/publisher of the OG still existing might not have been so farfetched. At this point, it's just wishful thinking, and I realize that, but hey - the heart wants what it wants.
On a semi-related note: Grabbed DOA4 in that fighting game sale, as it's the only one in the pre-5 set I don't have, and... wow. I don't think I've ever been so utterly ruinated so fast in a game before.
It's not just you. DOA4 is an often savage bastard of a game in single-player and Alpha-152 can eat a dick. (It's not a coincidence that it came along in Itagaki's post-Ninja Gaiden "everything harder than everything else" philosophy phase, which is one reason DOAX2 was just ruined and un-fun.) The unlocks are generally worth the perseverance, with some awesome ending movies and plenty of characters to grab.
Two-player, though? It's a properly damn good entry in the series.
Although as Synthesis says, yeah, it really could use an up-rez, especially after seeing the incredible difference that made to DOA3.
Well, that's a bit disheartening. Kinda wish Xbox had the same return policy as Steam now. Heh, and after waiting all this time to play, too.
Oh well, at least I waited for a sale. Not a HUGE sale, but enough to make it impulse-y.
Stick with it if you can, it is worth it if you like the series. But yeah, it's no pushover. Nicole (aka Spartan-458) alone is worth the trouble. She's awesome.
So I dusted my Xbox 360 out of storage today, and hooked it up to try Ninety-Nine Nights which I picked up for cheap yesterday along with some other games, typical Wednesday night stuff. And after hooking it up I decided to look at what downloadable games I had on my account. I know you could do this by going to Download History but there's also a Purchase History option in the settings page and I don't remember what it did so I clicked on it. It went to 80% and would not move, and then I canceled the operation. This signed me out of the Live, and I could not log in again. I tried to fix this by deleting the profile, and then downloading it again; turns out that whatever I did also locked me out of recovering my profile. I tried to boot up my Series X, this worked fine; I could even boot up Destiny. Then I tried to play a 360 game (Banjo Kazooie) on the Series X; I could launch the game, but could not actually play it because it refused to log me in to the 360 Xbox Live container that the emulation layer uses to save games (lol). And that's when I gave up and contacted Microsoft support and they did some magic and unfucked my account. Was honestly entertained by the whole thing. I still haven't tried Ninety-Nine Nights, it better be worth it.
tldr: If you hook up your 360 again DO NOT CLICK ON PURCHASE HISTORY. It's cursed, or whatever.
So I dusted my Xbox 360 out of storage today, and hooked it up to try Ninety-Nine Nights which I picked up for cheap yesterday along with some other games, typical Wednesday night stuff. And after hooking it up I decided to look at what downloadable games I had on my account. I know you could do this by going to Download History but there's also a Purchase History option in the settings page and I don't remember what it did so I clicked on it. It went to 80% and would not move, and then I canceled the operation. This signed me out of the Live, and I could not log in again. I tried to fix this by deleting the profile, and then downloading it again; turns out that whatever I did also locked me out of recovering my profile. I tried to boot up my Series X, this worked fine; I could even boot up Destiny. Then I tried to play a 360 game (Banjo Kazooie) on the Series X; I could launch the game, but could not actually play it because it refused to log me in to the 360 Xbox Live container that the emulation layer uses to save games (lol). And that's when I gave up and contacted Microsoft support and they did some magic and unfucked my account. Was honestly entertained by the whole thing. I still haven't tried Ninety-Nine Nights, it better be worth it.
tldr: If you hook up your 360 again DO NOT CLICK ON PURCHASE HISTORY. It's cursed, or whatever.
A few months ago I hooked my 360 back up after a long hiatus and found out that logging in with an Xbox profile now requires a whole process because a 360 can’t handle two-factor authentication.
N3 is...okay. i never played a Dynaaty Warriors game and in the end, I still won't.
Dwingvatt was awesome, but only served to highlight how much slower the others were.
Not sure what the deal is with Purchase History. The last time I accidentally selected it, it also was trying to download Explorer. It needs some web-based access to display whatever used to be virwable from the dashboard. Maybe Live thinks you were an unauthorised access attempt.
My point with the brand stuff is, the name isn't enough. I've been crushed too many times by "official sequels". Earthworm Jim 3, Banjo Kazooie Nuts and Bolts, Rocket Knight for X360. Of course I'm interested if a series I'm fond of puts out a new thing and it CAN go well. I liked X1 Battletoads, DKC Returns, Sonic Mania, and Metroid Dread. I've just had a much more frequent good time with successor games that take the substance of what was fun to make a new game, not just the branded assets.
Like I said, it's an entirely fair point, and I see and agree with where you're coming from -- you can't just rely on the brand names. Heck, I'm a huge Mega Man fan, but I'll admit that X6 was a train wreck and X7 a calamity. The name on the box is never a guarantee.
But man, you get a good game in a series you love from someone who feels like they just get that series? That's always good, good stuff to feel, to experience.
Obviously, my ideal for the hypothetical dream game is that someone who played the NES Ninja Gaidens and stuff like Super Metroid and Symphony of the Night just gets it and meshes the two, but that's in no way guaranteed.
But if it happens, I'm there for it, whether the spiritual successors are there and good or not.
Wasn't there some indie game that came out a year or two ago that was like that? The Messenger. Haven't played it nor any Ninja Gaiden, so I may be completely off the mark on this.
I think that's the one I dabbled in, maybe the other, too. And they're good!
But there's a difference between playing a game that's sort of like the game you really like, and playing an authentic entry, y'know?
If anything, these two just make me want an official Ninja Gaiden in that style even more. XD
On a semi-related note: Grabbed DOA4 in that fighting game sale, as it's the only one in the pre-5 set I don't have, and... wow. I don't think I've ever been so utterly ruinated so fast in a game before.
I disagree, that's an obsession with corporate branding. Both the developer and publisher of the OG Ninja Gaidens don't exist anymore in the same way they existed when those games came out. A "real" Ninja Gaiden is a meaningless thing to say, since Contra Rogue Corps is a "real" Contra game while Blazing Chrome is "merely" an imitation. But Rogue Corps is a flaming bag of dog doo doo and Blazing Chrome is an actually well put together video game.
While I feel this is an entirely fair point, I can't bring myself to agree wholeheartedly, either.
To put it in less good/bad terms, I love the Gunvolt games, Luminous Avenger iX especially... but they're no replacement for Mega Man to me.
As much as I was hoping Red Ash might actually happen (before the whole Inafune dynasty came tumbling down), it was never going to be Mega Man Legends.
Bloodstained is awesome, but I still feel a certain attachment to Alucard and the Belmonts, and a certain investment in their war against Dracula that it doesn't quite replicate.
I like Yooka and Laylee, but they're not quite Banjo and Kazooie. Admittedly, I'm predisposed to liking bears, so there is that at play in some small degree as well.
I practically adore Freedom Planet, but Lilac, Carol, and Milla aren't Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles.
And Ryu Hayabusa -- the NES one, at least -- is one of those characters I feel invested in. Hell, I even hunted down and watched the anime (complete with m'boy, Robert, all up in there!) based on that.
They certainly appeal to me in many similar ways, but they just aren't interchangeable in my mind, and I don't think that's an obsession with corporate branding -- not unless we're also going to validate the "it's okay that your favorite characters aren't in Marvel vs. Capcom Infinite, we have others that serve the same gameplay function" stuff Capcom or whoever gave us a few years ago with that title.
Oh, and some successors within the company do come through -- I think Mega Man 11 was a very worthy follow-up to the games that came before it, and it's made waiting for another just that extra bit more difficult.
As an aside, that NG idea is something that's been in my mind for years, if not decades now. Enough so that the the dev/publisher of the OG still existing might not have been so farfetched. At this point, it's just wishful thinking, and I realize that, but hey - the heart wants what it wants.
On a semi-related note: Grabbed DOA4 in that fighting game sale, as it's the only one in the pre-5 set I don't have, and... wow. I don't think I've ever been so utterly ruinated so fast in a game before.
It's not just you. DOA4 is an often savage bastard of a game in single-player and Alpha-152 can eat a dick. (It's not a coincidence that it came along in Itagaki's post-Ninja Gaiden "everything harder than everything else" philosophy phase, which is one reason DOAX2 was just ruined and un-fun.) The unlocks are generally worth the perseverance, with some awesome ending movies and plenty of characters to grab.
Two-player, though? It's a properly damn good entry in the series.
Although as Synthesis says, yeah, it really could use an up-rez, especially after seeing the incredible difference that made to DOA3.
Well, that's a bit disheartening. Kinda wish Xbox had the same return policy as Steam now. Heh, and after waiting all this time to play, too.
Oh well, at least I waited for a sale. Not a HUGE sale, but enough to make it impulse-y.
Stick with it if you can, it is worth it if you like the series. But yeah, it's no pushover. Nicole (aka Spartan-458) alone is worth the trouble. She's awesome.
Alright, I'll give it another go at some point (I was mostly just dabbling to kill a little time when I tried it before).
I've never been as good at DOA as I have other stuff, like Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat, but I could usually at least get to (or close to) the boss before getting demolished, so this came as a shock.
...and a little bit of a disappointment, since I've always kinda preferred the pre-DOA5 aesthetic, and this was the last one (besides Dimensions, I guess) to use it.
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Like Mega Man Legends? Then check out my story, Legends of the Halcyon Era - An Adventure in the World of Mega Man Legends on TMMN and AO3!
Its so nice Multiversus reminded me today is the last day of the alpha since I havent been able to boot up the game for 3 days!
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TexiKenDammit!That fish really got me!Registered Userregular
Whatever is going on with WB Games, they have been spamming me with emails the past few weeks. I don't even know how they got my email, unless they're going from the DC Online game I last played a dozen years ago or somehow linked with Injustice 2.
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It's Kotaku so I have to imagine it's not even console wars tribalism (though they've always been a lot more blasé about bashing Xbox than Playstation in the past, and they are now); it's just their usual attempts to produce whatever qualifies as an earth-shattering revelation in hobbyist/enthusiast media we call "video games journalism." Even the comments point it out: the only way you can coherently make this argument is with the notion "There is too much stuff to play on Game Pass, and it's exhausting."
Effectively, it's the Netflix argument. Which is exactly why Netflix won't be around in a year, two if they're lucky, right? And that's why no one's undertaking the fool's errand of trying to compete with Netflix.
The crucial difference is that there isn't a situation where Netflix has over ten times the active subscriber base of its next closest competitor, as far as I know. That's where Microsoft is now, and even Kotaku has admitted as much; Sony has made it clear they don't want to kill off PSNow just to cannibalize their first party blockbusters....which actually makes a good deal of sense, especially from their perspective. It just means they're offering a service with 1) worse retro console emulation 2) no PC support 3) no day-one first party releases and expect you to pay slightly more for the privilege of it.
It could work. This is Sony, after all. But if it does, it's going to have this same "complaint" unless...it doesn't have as many games, or as many subscribers. Then it'll just be worse.
I'm generally not bothered by Halo Infinite's battlepass progression being bad. I more or less burned myself out on reward systems back in high school, so for the most part I just ignore it and have a good time. I do engage with it occasionally, and the common criticisms of it being super random and slow don't really bug me either. Thousands of hours of Destiny and Warframe, tempered by XCOM, have made it so there's not a lot RNG can do to hurt me anymore. But weirdly enough, even without those problems, it's still kinda bad? Like playing with challenges in mind, even if not pursuing them completely single-mindedly, makes the game less fun to play. It makes me a bit more understanding of why people get so mad about it. I'm still of the opinion "game's good, just ignore the challenges," since the best battlepass is still never going to be more than a hollow skinner box, but it is still unusual for one to make playing the game feel worse.
I think that's the one I dabbled in, maybe the other, too. And they're good!
But there's a difference between playing a game that's sort of like the game you really like, and playing an authentic entry, y'know?
If anything, these two just make me want an official Ninja Gaiden in that style even more. XD
On a semi-related note: Grabbed DOA4 in that fighting game sale, as it's the only one in the pre-5 set I don't have, and... wow. I don't think I've ever been so utterly ruinated so fast in a game before.
So much this. I've given up on playing everything, and even beating games is optional now. I just take it like when I was a kid renting games: one at a time, dabble a bit as much as I want, and move on.
Like Mega Man Legends? Then check out my story, Legends of the Halcyon Era - An Adventure in the World of Mega Man Legends on TMMN and AO3!
I disagree, that's an obsession with corporate branding. Both the developer and publisher of the OG Ninja Gaidens don't exist anymore in the same way they existed when those games came out. A "real" Ninja Gaiden is a meaningless thing to say, since Contra Rogue Corps is a "real" Contra game while Blazing Chrome is "merely" an imitation. But Rogue Corps is a flaming bag of dog doo doo and Blazing Chrome is an actually well put together video game.
Hmm yeah if you're not enjoying that part of it you might as well tap out. That's what hooked me.
I liked it for a while but I just beat the robot and its getting old. Yeah Ill probably dump it
I'm reminded of the Tomb Raider reboot--which, between three games (the reboot, Rise, Shadow) have by and large been pretty critically acclaimed, though they represent a fundamentally different genre shift (really, the kind of game the original Tomb Raider was doesn't really exist anymore, as far as I know, unlike how we still have a representation in the "boomer shooter*" that can exactingly replicate the experience in Doom, though perhaps not to the inane degree of not letting you jump or natively aim up).
However, the original Tomb Raider is still one of the top...twenty?...highest rated games of the original Playstation lineup, and one of the pillars of 3D gaming in general. Not to take away from the original Ninja Gaiden on NES, but everything I've seen points to it never having the same sort of cache that its 3D re-imagining on the original Xbox could boast (and frankly, Ninja Gaiden II is pretty easily overshadowed by the sequel that came out almost two decades later). Could you prefer that original 2D action adventure game? Absolutely--there are people who prefer the original Tomb Raider, for any number of reasons, and that's arguably a less jarring shift in gameplay and genre.
Fundamentally, it did come first; the character of Hayabusa originates there, became a "canon immigrant" into Dead or Alive from the same developer, and then was given a complete reimaging. That's worth something. But there doesn't seem to be much comparison of popularity and audience (even given how prolific the Famicom hardware was). That doesn't need to have remotely any influence on ones preference (I'd prefer 3D Hayabusa to 2D Hayabusa even if no one had played the Xbox title or the multiple ports that followed it).
On the subject of Dead or Alive 4, god, do I really want that came to get a resolution update for Xbox One and Series hardware so much. Framerate boost to 120 hz Gears of War 3 style would be nice too, but given how insanely exacting timing has to be in those old DOA titles, I can see it being an obvious problem and prohibited by the internal software logic, but I really, really want to play that game at 4K (which 720p does multiple perfectly too).
*I hate that term, but probably just because like many ESOL speakers I don't want to learn another word for something that already had multiple ways to describe it.
It's not just you. DOA4 is an often savage bastard of a game in single-player and Alpha-152 can eat a dick. (It's not a coincidence that it came along in Itagaki's post-Ninja Gaiden "everything harder than everything else" philosophy phase, which is one reason DOAX2 was just ruined and un-fun.) The unlocks are generally worth the perseverance, with some awesome ending movies and plenty of characters to grab.
Two-player, though? It's a properly damn good entry in the series.
Although as Synthesis says, yeah, it really could use an up-rez, especially after seeing the incredible difference that made to DOA3.
Again, it's not just you. It's a super dumb term, but then I guess so are many other recently(-ish) coined subgenre terms... "immersive sim", anyone? Love those types of games but that descriptor is just blargh.
Steam | XBL
Shooty bang-bang.
I once bought DOA4 started playing and noped out after three fights. Never played another fighting game. I ended up just giving it to somebody who was interested in it.
That's an interesting place to stop playing 3D fighters--though you could do a lot worse. It could've been Soulcalibur III or something.
We just established why it is, in fact, okay not to like any From Software games, whether it be for escalating difficulty, deliberately awkward/clunky controls as a gameplay element, a combination of both, etc., but it is unusual for me coming from the Neo Geo tradition of "really fucking hard boss battles that you probably won't beat until you've played a hundred hours of this game"; because Dead or Alive 4 is a world easier than that.
Of course, that doesn't make DOA4 not difficult. In fact, a hard boss probably isn't the problem, so much as DOA4 is one of the fastest, time-demanding 3D fighters ever made in a franchise that already has extremely powerful reversal/counter moves. "You're going to have a bad time!" isn't a bad way of describing it. Though it's not a coincidence in that it was one of the best selling 3D fighters to come out on the Xbox 360 through its lifetime and was easily the most successful title in the franchise up to that point. A lot of people were coming into it from the perspective of "Is this an excellent 2 to 4 player fighting game?" versus "How quickly can I clear the usual 7-round story gauntlet?" which is a pretty typical situation for a sixth generation fighting game.
So I guess the advice I can offer is: stay the fuck away from those bullshit miniboss fights in Soulcalibur VI campaign mode. Because while the actual bosses are largely push-overs, unsurprisingly Namco fucking phoned it in for their random boss generation in a way that makes Alpha-152 a walk in the park. Alpha-152 doesn't get a randomly generated rule set where she can only he harmed by reversals done on the edge of the fucking stage or some bullshit.
There is a definite spectrum, on which games journalism (which I for one contend does in fact exist) is at one end, and Kotaku is right at the other end as far away as possible.
Steam | XBL
As opposed to military shooty bang-bang.
In fairness, DOA3 and 5 (in any of its incarnations) are much more forgiving to ease into than 4.
Steam | XBL
Honestly I feel similarly about it as a genre. If I get the itch, I'll pop in DOA3 or 5, but the genre itself left me behind and that's fine.
Steam | XBL
None of that really matters given its enormous pedigree, particularly in the "pro" space, but it's kind of a bummer. Tekken 6 was a big graphical step up when it was no longer tied to PS2, but Tekken 7 was a little dated looking even when it was new. Oh well.
I also have less than no interest in the "pro" scene or any of that stuff.
Steam | XBL
(Singleplayer only, as with preview versions, but comes with achievements and cloud saves. Oh, and all power to the space Soviets.)
Steam ID: Good Life
I'm not sure why that's happening either, since I don't use my spare Xbox controller with any games on Steam, just a few game pass titles, and I don't use cables to do it.
It might be worth considering that the Xbox App doesn't actually "play" games you've installed (but it does register if a gamepad is connected for purposes of cloud streaming). Does the app itself not detect a gamepad (there's a little info box that says this) or the games or both?
My gaming PC, notably, has three ways to connect an Xbox controller: wired (which I don't use, my USB-C cables are with my phone), wireless over blutooth (which I sometimes use) and wireless over Xbox receiver (which I sometimes use, since technically it has the best input latency).
I wonder if there's a setting in Windows 10 that actually controls which specific apps have access to your BT antenna, etc., in your PC, and the app has that disabled. Rather than just turning off BT entirely.
Woot I guess.
Steam ID: Good Life
Yeah, it's BT so it's connection reliability is...about as good as BT. "Good enough."
But considering the Xbox App has as high-level access, or higher, to your system functions than Steam does--and that games installed via it use the same x86 architecture but in different folders (or even the same folders)--as Steam, it's about the same as one game on Steam detecting your gamepad and another one not.
While I feel this is an entirely fair point, I can't bring myself to agree wholeheartedly, either.
To put it in less good/bad terms, I love the Gunvolt games, Luminous Avenger iX especially... but they're no replacement for Mega Man to me.
As much as I was hoping Red Ash might actually happen (before the whole Inafune dynasty came tumbling down), it was never going to be Mega Man Legends.
Bloodstained is awesome, but I still feel a certain attachment to Alucard and the Belmonts, and a certain investment in their war against Dracula that it doesn't quite replicate.
I like Yooka and Laylee, but they're not quite Banjo and Kazooie. Admittedly, I'm predisposed to liking bears, so there is that at play in some small degree as well.
I practically adore Freedom Planet, but Lilac, Carol, and Milla aren't Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles.
And Ryu Hayabusa -- the NES one, at least -- is one of those characters I feel invested in. Hell, I even hunted down and watched the anime (complete with m'boy, Robert, all up in there!) based on that.
They certainly appeal to me in many similar ways, but they just aren't interchangeable in my mind, and I don't think that's an obsession with corporate branding -- not unless we're also going to validate the "it's okay that your favorite characters aren't in Marvel vs. Capcom Infinite, we have others that serve the same gameplay function" stuff Capcom or whoever gave us a few years ago with that title.
Oh, and some successors within the company do come through -- I think Mega Man 11 was a very worthy follow-up to the games that came before it, and it's made waiting for another just that extra bit more difficult.
As an aside, that NG idea is something that's been in my mind for years, if not decades now. Enough so that the the dev/publisher of the OG still existing might not have been so farfetched. At this point, it's just wishful thinking, and I realize that, but hey - the heart wants what it wants.
Well, that's a bit disheartening. Kinda wish Xbox had the same return policy as Steam now. Heh, and after waiting all this time to play, too.
Oh well, at least I waited for a sale. Not a HUGE sale, but enough to make it impulse-y.
Like Mega Man Legends? Then check out my story, Legends of the Halcyon Era - An Adventure in the World of Mega Man Legends on TMMN and AO3!
Stick with it if you can, it is worth it if you like the series. But yeah, it's no pushover. Nicole (aka Spartan-458) alone is worth the trouble. She's awesome.
Steam | XBL
Anyone? Anyone?
Probably after Indiana Jones, if ever. That last game apparently didn't do too hot, but Microsoft wants content for gamepass so they may not care.
tldr: If you hook up your 360 again DO NOT CLICK ON PURCHASE HISTORY. It's cursed, or whatever.
A few months ago I hooked my 360 back up after a long hiatus and found out that logging in with an Xbox profile now requires a whole process because a 360 can’t handle two-factor authentication.
https://support.xbox.com/en-US/help/xbox-360/security/set-up-app-password
Used that and then played way more Marvel vs Capcom 2 and Darkstalkers then I expected.
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N3 is...okay. i never played a Dynaaty Warriors game and in the end, I still won't.
Dwingvatt was awesome, but only served to highlight how much slower the others were.
Not sure what the deal is with Purchase History. The last time I accidentally selected it, it also was trying to download Explorer. It needs some web-based access to display whatever used to be virwable from the dashboard. Maybe Live thinks you were an unauthorised access attempt.
Like I said, it's an entirely fair point, and I see and agree with where you're coming from -- you can't just rely on the brand names. Heck, I'm a huge Mega Man fan, but I'll admit that X6 was a train wreck and X7 a calamity. The name on the box is never a guarantee.
But man, you get a good game in a series you love from someone who feels like they just get that series? That's always good, good stuff to feel, to experience.
Obviously, my ideal for the hypothetical dream game is that someone who played the NES Ninja Gaidens and stuff like Super Metroid and Symphony of the Night just gets it and meshes the two, but that's in no way guaranteed.
But if it happens, I'm there for it, whether the spiritual successors are there and good or not.
Alright, I'll give it another go at some point (I was mostly just dabbling to kill a little time when I tried it before).
I've never been as good at DOA as I have other stuff, like Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat, but I could usually at least get to (or close to) the boss before getting demolished, so this came as a shock.
...and a little bit of a disappointment, since I've always kinda preferred the pre-DOA5 aesthetic, and this was the last one (besides Dimensions, I guess) to use it.
Like Mega Man Legends? Then check out my story, Legends of the Halcyon Era - An Adventure in the World of Mega Man Legends on TMMN and AO3!
Not sure where to put this, but I really need to play through Vice City again.
twitch.tv/Taramoor
@TaramoorPlays
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