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Posts

  • JusticeJustice Registered User regular
    Death is only the end if you assume the story is about you.

    I've never heard this before. I like it.

    On another only vaguely related topic, what sites do you guys read? I'm dissatisfied with my selection of Destructoid, Polygon, and *shudders* Kotaku. Anything better out there? Non-gaming is fine too if it's nerdy. Basically just too weak not to stare at my phone but absolutely not looking at the news as a matter of protecting my sparse remaining mental health.

  • shoeboxjeddyshoeboxjeddy Registered User regular
    edited May 2022
    So I finally went back and got to some unfinished business. I played this entire game, getting 100% of the collectibles/challenges/achievements until the very last section, which I hit like a brick wall, then it was removed from Gamepass before I gathered myself to give the last part another try. I recently got back access to it (thanks to the library and physical copies of this game surprisingly being made).

    This is immediately after escaping the titular Impossible Lair of Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair. I should have taken a more interesting screenshot just post clear, but I was vibrating too hard to think of it until the sequence was completely over. If you haven't played this, suffice to say the title isn't much of an exaggeration, it's a monster of a gauntlet, the achievement clear stats are well under 1%. It essentially turns the game from a fun DKC-esque platforming game with some tough sections to 100% to a mini-Kaizo punishment run of three distinct platforming sections with 4 boss fights and then a Metroid-esque timed escape section, with all of the help aids from the rest of the game gone, save the ability to get up to 48 defenses (any hit or pitfall costs you 1 of these). I came in to the Lair with the full 48 and somehow bumbled my way to the final boss with exactly... zero left. Meaning I had to clear the final boss fight + the escape with only DKC health rules left.


    My clear stats just for funsies. If you're curious, the 62nd tonic is for beating the Impossible Lair without the ability to retry at each boss (which they added post launch as... essentially no one was beating it at all). That one doesn't count towards achievements/percentage and I'm not even mildly interested in going for it. I am thinking I should go back to the original Yooka-Laylee and finish that, though...

    shoeboxjeddy on
  • LBD_NytetraynLBD_Nytetrayn TorontoRegistered User regular
    I still need to play that on stream sometime... missed doing it on Game Pass, but fortunately, there was a pretty good sale not long after.
    Justice wrote: »
    Death is only the end if you assume the story is about you.

    I've never heard this before. I like it.

    On another only vaguely related topic, what sites do you guys read? I'm dissatisfied with my selection of Destructoid, Polygon, and *shudders* Kotaku. Anything better out there? Non-gaming is fine too if it's nerdy. Basically just too weak not to stare at my phone but absolutely not looking at the news as a matter of protecting my sparse remaining mental health.

    TBH, I've largely fallen out of following gaming news sites after USgamer was unceremoniously shuttered. I pick up the odd story from places like this or Twitter or Discord, but I'm rarely ever looking for news these days.

    qjWUWdm.gif1edr1cF.gifJZuC7sH.png
    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!
  • ShadowfireShadowfire Vermont, in the middle of nowhereRegistered User regular
    Justice wrote: »
    Death is only the end if you assume the story is about you.

    I've never heard this before. I like it.

    On another only vaguely related topic, what sites do you guys read? I'm dissatisfied with my selection of Destructoid, Polygon, and *shudders* Kotaku. Anything better out there? Non-gaming is fine too if it's nerdy. Basically just too weak not to stare at my phone but absolutely not looking at the news as a matter of protecting my sparse remaining mental health.

    I don't read a while lot of strictly gaming sites. Waypoint has some decent essays that I like, and Rock Paper Shotgun is still decent. I still read Ars Technica some twenty+ years on, as well, though that's only partly gaming.

    WiiU: Windrunner ; Guild Wars 2: Shadowfire.3940 ; PSN: Bradcopter
  • OptyOpty Registered User regular
    edited May 2022
    Shadowfire wrote: »
    Instead of a tool like this, they could have done a better job of putting a diverse crew into the creative and leadership posts within the company. But that would involve cleaning up the rest of what's going on in that company, so tech bro solution it is!

    You can push for more diverse and equitable hiring practices and outreach while also creating tools to evaluate the diversity levels of video game characters at an academic level, they're not mutually exclusive. Especially when it's very likely the people who pushed for this tool's creation and/or who made it are very likely to not be white male techbros but a diverse crew of folks trying to increase diversity in the gaming industry.

    Opty on
  • JazzJazz Registered User regular
    edited May 2022
    Synthesis wrote: »
    Jazz wrote: »
    Synthesis wrote: »
    Mulletude wrote: »
    Demo disks from when I was in the my twenties. God that makes me feel old

    I was 16, so I feel better. :wink:

    When I was 16, demo disks were still 3.5" floppies. :lol:

    Well, now I feel even better!
    :blush:

    ...and fewer years than you'd think before that, they weren't disks at all... they were cassettes! :lol:

    syndalis wrote: »
    Jazz wrote: »
    Synthesis wrote: »
    Mulletude wrote: »
    Demo disks from when I was in the my twenties. God that makes me feel old

    I was 16, so I feel better. :wink:

    When I was 16, demo disks were still 3.5" floppies. :lol:

    "Demo disks" were downloads off of local bulletin boards. I got commander keen, wolfenstein, jazz jackrabbit, doom and so many other shareware games through good old fashioned BBSs.

    I sent a money order to iD so that I could get the full version of doom.

    BBSes were more niche here... at that time you still got charged by the minute for phone calls so anything online was either brief and sporadic, or expensive. Eventually we got an ISP here that offered free off-peak usage, so that's when I finally got a modem. It was years later than those games, though, and sadly too late for me to see BBS culture first-hand.

    I got shareware versions from cover disks - and after playing the hell (heh) out of shareware Doom, I got a legit boxed copy of the full game from a computer show a few months later on.

    Jazz on
  • Santa ClaustrophobiaSanta Claustrophobia Ho Ho Ho Disconnecting from Xbox LIVERegistered User regular
    Justice wrote: »
    Death is only the end if you assume the story is about you.

    I've never heard this before. I like it.

    Welcome to Night Vale.

  • JazzJazz Registered User regular
    Justice wrote: »
    Death is only the end if you assume the story is about you.

    I've never heard this before. I like it.

    On another only vaguely related topic, what sites do you guys read? I'm dissatisfied with my selection of Destructoid, Polygon, and *shudders* Kotaku. Anything better out there? Non-gaming is fine too if it's nerdy. Basically just too weak not to stare at my phone but absolutely not looking at the news as a matter of protecting my sparse remaining mental health.

    Eurogamer (plus their spinoff Digital Foundry) and Rock Paper Shotgun are my go-to's these days, and PC Gamer has a lot of good content too.

  • NosfNosf Registered User regular
    edited May 2022
    Ars Technica and Digital Foundry, largely for technical reasons and I hit up Paul Tassi's Forbes page every couple of days. I skim r/games for headlines. I don't really hit any gaming sites any more; mostly regurgitated stuff or just ... dumb articles like, "We hate Elon so here's us shitting on his Elden Ring build!". The other one that grates on my nerve is the 6 paragraphs about a topic that says / adds nothing and really is just a link to another news site.

    Nosf on
  • SynthesisSynthesis Honda Today! Registered User regular
    Justice wrote: »
    Death is only the end if you assume the story is about you.

    I've never heard this before. I like it.

    On another only vaguely related topic, what sites do you guys read? I'm dissatisfied with my selection of Destructoid, Polygon, and *shudders* Kotaku. Anything better out there? Non-gaming is fine too if it's nerdy. Basically just too weak not to stare at my phone but absolutely not looking at the news as a matter of protecting my sparse remaining mental health.

    There are probably not a lot of good choices. I would absolutely take Polygon over Kotaku, if only because...no one is as overtly chasing click-bait statistics the way Kotaku's gaming discussion seems to be; even when they're trying to offer some sort of deep, comprehensive social commentary--something that's a dubious endeavor in hobbyist "journalism", if not necessarily always a bad thing--you get things like their Flight Simulator "review" that decides to die on the hill of failing to find an Indonesian copper mine in the game (spoiler: it's in the game, it just appears the writer didn't know how to follow VFR or other ways to find things in a 1:1 scale world) and deliberately argued the case that it was social and economic implications of the game that mattered, instead of some abstract concept of flying...simulation, as their audience doesn't play video games to fly planes that aren't published by Rockstar (though that in of itself might be true).

    I literally have not read a review as bad as that in recent memory (probably because I avoid them). How bad is Kotaku? They invented the term "PSFro". That's right, that's where I heard it from.

    It's hardly just Kotaku; for that complaint above, it's not like they had to morally justifying doxxing social media employees at CD Projekt Red after some boneheaded PR move. As with some cases in other areas of mass media, sometimes specialty websites do a better job of it; I've complained about Digital Foundry in the past, but even hilariously short-sighted behavior (like when they were paid to sell mediocre LG Nanocell LCD televisions after spending a year bragging about how amazing OLED panel televisions were and that nothing was really worth purchasing by comparison, which coincidentally were all either manufactured directly or indirectly by LG) isn't quite that bad. I grew up reading imports of PC Gamer courtesy of my father, though only though their physical editions; I drifted away around the time those stopped being a thing (and they were getting humorously up-in-arms about "those console gamers" around the time of the original Xbox launch). Maybe they're still quite good. It still seems like we're being better served by specialty, rather than broad-reach, websites like True Achievements (Achievements and Gamerscore), Digital Foundry (implementation of technology), and even Windows Central (Microsoft's various publishing arms), even as flawed as they are.

    On more chipper news, MVG has decided to also bless us with a very specific form of nostaliga.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axhl2ofjrA8

    I'm reminded about the discussion back in the days of the NES and SNES mini console releases (I own one of the later, which is a fun if limited to), when it was considered that even the oldest Xbox console was too young to have a "nostalgic library"--a completely arbitrary distinction, though one I can sympathize with (go to the [Retro] thread, and you can find people who are on the fence about whether Playstation 1 launch titles are "retro" either).

  • ShadowfireShadowfire Vermont, in the middle of nowhereRegistered User regular
    360 consoles are nothing. Gimme those limited edition face plates.

    WiiU: Windrunner ; Guild Wars 2: Shadowfire.3940 ; PSN: Bradcopter
  • NosfNosf Registered User regular
    The diversity tool seemed to waaaaaay overthink the problem; "Whaddya give me for a robot with no legs that has a soul vs a black woman who can't hear too good without her hearing aids?"

    What poor bastard had to assign a score those things?

  • shoeboxjeddyshoeboxjeddy Registered User regular
    Nosf wrote: »
    The diversity tool seemed to waaaaaay overthink the problem; "Whaddya give me for a robot with no legs that has a soul vs a black woman who can't hear too good without her hearing aids?"

    What poor bastard had to assign a score those things?


    Actual billable work hours over at ABK.

  • tastydonutstastydonuts Registered User regular
    edited May 2022
    Nosf wrote: »
    The diversity tool seemed to waaaaaay overthink the problem; "Whaddya give me for a robot with no legs that has a soul vs a black woman who can't hear too good without her hearing aids?"

    What poor bastard had to assign a score those things?

    The numbers that were used in the metric were crafted in conjunction with diversity, equity and inclusion experts. The scores were likely crafted using statistics.
    “The Diversity Space Tool is a measurement device, to help identify how diverse a set of character traits are and in turn how diverse that character and casts are when compared to the ‘norm’,” explains Chomatas. Once it establishes a baseline for typical character traits (which is done by the creative team working closely with DE&I experts), it can then weigh new character designs against it to measure their diversity. During this process, the tool can also uncover unconscious bias, such as why certain traits are seen as “male” vs. “female,” or why characters from certain ethnic backgrounds are given similar personalities or behaviors.

    This tool that they're talking about had its origins in 2016 with the MIT Game Labs, whom they worked with to build the foundation. It's not just a new random thing so much as a poorly timed PR article or whatever.

    A major failing with DEI efforts for many years now continues to be a quantifiable means of measuring it. You cannot gauge progress with just opinions and feels. Simply hiring more minorities or adding minority characters (meeting quotas), while necessary, is not enough because it does not ensure equity. Diversity analytics is an ongoing thing that is meant to quantify DEI in a means that is actionable and addressable.

    tastydonuts on
    “I used to draw, hard to admit that I used to draw...”
  • Undead ScottsmanUndead Scottsman Registered User regular
    edited May 2022
    Nosf wrote: »
    The diversity tool seemed to waaaaaay overthink the problem; "Whaddya give me for a robot with no legs that has a soul vs a black woman who can't hear too good without her hearing aids?"

    What poor bastard had to assign a score those things?


    Actual billable work hours over at ABK.

    Actually it was done by vollenteers for free, for an extra cherry on the shit Sunday.

    Undead Scottsman on
  • tastydonutstastydonuts Registered User regular
    edited May 2022
    Nosf wrote: »
    The diversity tool seemed to waaaaaay overthink the problem; "Whaddya give me for a robot with no legs that has a soul vs a black woman who can't hear too good without her hearing aids?"

    What poor bastard had to assign a score those things?


    Actual billable work hours over at ABK.

    Actually it was done by vollenteers for free, for an extra cherry on the hit Sunday.

    See:

    w74onaj8arfu.png


    FFS though, I understand that Activision BAD but this is just giving me a headache. -_-


    edit: also, the reason why diversity analytics isn't widely discussed or spoken of and the like is because for companies that are doing poorly in the area of DEI, it potentially puts them in a situation where they are basically giving lawyers ammunition to sue them. Quantifying/presenting DEI is a double-edged sword in that respect.

    tastydonuts on
    “I used to draw, hard to admit that I used to draw...”
  • Crippl3Crippl3 oh noRegistered User regular
    edited May 2022
    Here's a game that didn't require a character alignment chart and a team of experts and engineers to make fun and diverse characters:

    https://youtu.be/pLn2ViEn8Bk
    https://youtu.be/yHNjK3oQ5U4

    Fall Guys is finally coming to Xbox (and Switch) June 21st, and will be free-to-play as well, with full crossplay and cross-progression between all platforms (Switch, Xbox, PC, PlayStation)
    Game Pass members will get a free new costume every month for the first three months, as well. Performance stats:
    1. Xbox One: 1080p 30fps
    2. One X: 1080p 60fps
    3. Series S: 1440p 60fps
    4. Series X: 4K 60fps

    Crippl3 on
  • Undead ScottsmanUndead Scottsman Registered User regular
    I really wished I liked Fall Guys more than I did. I was so hyped for that game.

  • FuriousJodoFuriousJodo Seattle, WARegistered User regular
    edited May 2022
    It was a lot of fun for a bit when it first came out but I kind of spent my time with it and doubt I'll ever go back. The lack of split-screen made it really hard to enjoy with my kids.

    FuriousJodo on
    FuriousJodo on Twitch/PSN/XBL/Whatever else
  • ElkiElki get busy Moderator, ClubPA mod
    Not as excited about Fall Guys as I once was, but for free I’ll try it with some friends.

    smCQ5WE.jpg
  • Local H JayLocal H Jay Registered User regular
    It's just cumbersome to play with friends, atleast at launch. I played a fair bit but almost every time I was gonna grab a crown I fumbled the Grab button

    I only ever won matches on the honeycomb finale

  • bloodatonementbloodatonement Registered User regular
    The move from monthly print mags to 24/7 online content has ruined game coverage. Instead of having time to make solid content to satisfy subscribers, it's crap to generate clicks and views.

    Anyway. Tunic is wonderful. I want to Eternal Sunshine it from my memory when I finish and play it again.

    Zdy0pmg.jpg
    Steam ID: Good Life
  • SynthesisSynthesis Honda Today! Registered User regular
    edited May 2022
    I might just be learning about this after everyone else, but apparently Forza Motorsport 8 will drop the number, suggesting a soft reboot of sorts? Granted, that's a very subtle distinction in a encyclopedic racing simulation and all, but still...

    FM7 is still an outstanding game (even if you can't buy it digitally anymore); I'm still more excited about Motorsport than Horizon personally, so I'm not exactly worried, but surprised. Flight Simulator did something similar, albeit after a much longer absence.

    Synthesis on
  • Undead ScottsmanUndead Scottsman Registered User regular
    I think the speculation is that the new Motorsport was planned to be like Halo Infinite, in that it's going to be the platform they launch future motorsport content on, rather than putting out a sequel in a few years.

    Given how Halo has gone, I dunno if they'd stick to that plan.

  • ElkiElki get busy Moderator, ClubPA mod
    Synthesis wrote: »
    I might just be learning about this after everyone else, but apparently Forza Motorsport 8 will drop the number, suggesting a soft reboot of sorts? Granted, that's a very subtle distinction in a encyclopedic racing simulation and all, but still...

    FM7 is still an outstanding game (even if you can't buy it digitally anymore); I'm still more excited about Motorsport than Horizon personally, so I'm not exactly worried, but surprised. Flight Simulator did something similar, albeit after a much longer absence.

    I knew/assumed that from the initial reveal.

    Before FH5, I was more excited about FH5 than the next Motorsport. And FH5 has been excellent, but now that I’ve had my fill of it…

    n743jOl.png

    .. I’m more than ready to switch up and spend time with the Motorsport reboot.

    smCQ5WE.jpg
  • NosfNosf Registered User regular
    edited May 2022
    Nosf wrote: »
    The diversity tool seemed to waaaaaay overthink the problem; "Whaddya give me for a robot with no legs that has a soul vs a black woman who can't hear too good without her hearing aids?"

    What poor bastard had to assign a score those things?


    Actual billable work hours over at ABK.

    Actually it was done by vollenteers for free, for an extra cherry on the hit Sunday.

    See:

    w74onaj8arfu.png


    FFS though, I understand that Activision BAD but this is just giving me a headache. -_-


    edit: also, the reason why diversity analytics isn't widely discussed or spoken of and the like is because for companies that are doing poorly in the area of DEI, it potentially puts them in a situation where they are basically giving lawyers ammunition to sue them. Quantifying/presenting DEI is a double-edged sword in that respect.

    Curious if it really was experts or by volunteers or volunteer experts. If they were going to go through all the effort, why not... hire a professional to do this for them? I understand *King is a small indie dev with no money*, but surely they could have scraped together some cash to hire someone who knows what they're doing. I mean, if you're committed to doing the right thing, then why not do it... the right way? I'd guess the employees were into it, but management wasn't?
    Elki wrote: »
    Before FH5, I was more excited about FH5 than the next Motorsport. And FH5 has been excellent, but now that I’ve had my fill of it…

    n743jOl.png

    .. I’m more than ready to switch up and spend time with the Motorsport reboot.

    I misread the d as an h and thought, 'those seem like rookie numbers for Elki...' but upon closer inspection, carry on.

    Nosf on
  • tastydonutstastydonuts Registered User regular
    edited May 2022
    Nosf wrote: »
    Nosf wrote: »
    The diversity tool seemed to waaaaaay overthink the problem; "Whaddya give me for a robot with no legs that has a soul vs a black woman who can't hear too good without her hearing aids?"

    What poor bastard had to assign a score those things?


    Actual billable work hours over at ABK.

    Actually it was done by vollenteers for free, for an extra cherry on the hit Sunday.

    See:

    w74onaj8arfu.png


    FFS though, I understand that Activision BAD but this is just giving me a headache. -_-


    edit: also, the reason why diversity analytics isn't widely discussed or spoken of and the like is because for companies that are doing poorly in the area of DEI, it potentially puts them in a situation where they are basically giving lawyers ammunition to sue them. Quantifying/presenting DEI is a double-edged sword in that respect.

    Curious if it really was experts or by volunteers or volunteer experts. If they were going to go through all the effort, why not... hire a professional to do this for them? I understand *King is a small indie dev with no money*, but surely they could have scraped together some cash to hire someone who knows what they're doing. I mean, if you're committed to doing the right thing, then why not do it... the right way? I'd guess the employees were into it, but management wasn't?

    Diversity Equity, and Inclusion (DEI or as they call them DE&I) experts were stated to be involved in the process of defining the values/worked closely with, and would be involved in other aspects of defining their metric.

    edit: For a large company, DEI people would be their own department, though I guess it could be part of their HR too? IDK. either way, they would be professionals in that area.

    edit2: On Glassdoor's 5 point diversity rating scale, King has a 3.9 rating. The extent to which their company's culture seems to be focused on diversity such that they would make a tool like this is also very high.

    2017 article re Diversity from King's diversity person
    Case Study of their diversity efforts using mentoring software
    Desirée Brathwaite, Candy Crush producer on diversity, 2020.
    Interview about Crash Bandicoot that also digs into diversity and King

    This tool again, started in 2016, is very consistent with a focused effort on DEI from people who are very focused on that thing.

    tastydonuts on
    “I used to draw, hard to admit that I used to draw...”
  • OptyOpty Registered User regular
    Honestly the backlash against this academic tool existing feels like a reverse version of the backlash against Critical Race Theory

  • tastydonutstastydonuts Registered User regular
    edited May 2022
    Opty wrote: »
    Honestly the backlash against this academic tool existing feels like a reverse version of the backlash against Critical Race Theory

    definitely felt similar vibes reading chatter in other places dealing with this, and there's undoubtedly a few people out there who see the tool for what it actually is and are railing against it in earnest , but the vast majority of the people are just dog-pile memeing without having even read the PR piece or looked into the studio that did it because Activision and all. idk. sucks for King for sure to have your project get put in this situation.

    tastydonuts on
    “I used to draw, hard to admit that I used to draw...”
  • anoffdayanoffday To be changed whenever Anoffday gets around to it. Registered User regular
    edited May 2022
    I'm late but want to chime in and say demo discs are awesome and still a cool way to spend a Friday night while eating stuffed crust pizza.

    anoffday on
    Steam: offday
  • NosfNosf Registered User regular
    The one demo I remember well is Magic Carpet or Magic Carpet 2. I oddly played a lot of that demo, it was pretty full featured if I remember it right.

  • Local H JayLocal H Jay Registered User regular
    I replayed the Dead Rising 1 demo over and over to the point I was content if the game never actually came out

  • bloodatonementbloodatonement Registered User regular
    I replayed the Dead Rising 1 demo over and over to the point I was content if the game never actually came out

    I played the Dark Forces demo for years. When I finally got game was surprised to find that the demo level had more content than the version in the game.

    Zdy0pmg.jpg
    Steam ID: Good Life
  • Forever ZefiroForever Zefiro cloaked in the midnight glory of an event horizonRegistered User regular
    I had some PC demo disc with a timed demo (10 minutes?) of the very original Grand Theft Auto and I must have played it a hundred times

    2fbg9lin3kdl.jpg
    XBL - Foreverender | 3DS FC - 1418 6696 1012 | Steam ID | LoL
  • ArteenArteen Adept ValeRegistered User regular
    I played the heck out of the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater demo. I never even bought the original game, though I eventually got THPS2.

  • Local H JayLocal H Jay Registered User regular
    Was that the one on the Pizza Hut disc? Because same

  • CarpyCarpy Registered User regular
    I must have put over 100 hours into Escape Velocity off of one of those demo disks with a zillion different demos on it.

  • NosfNosf Registered User regular
    Dead Rising is more or less what drove me to buy a 360. I played quite a bit of that game - shame about the last one.

  • ProhassProhass Registered User regular
    Damnit I can’t believe warhammer space marine isn’t backwards compatible. They need to release a hd update or something for modern consoles. It’s criminal!

  • SynthesisSynthesis Honda Today! Registered User regular
    Nosf wrote: »
    Dead Rising is more or less what drove me to buy a 360. I played quite a bit of that game - shame about the last one.

    I was never able to get into Dead Rising for more than thirty minutes, except for the second one that I did actually beat (I'm not completely sure why; I revisited a few years later and didn't enjoy it either).

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