OT: 2016 Video Gaming Thread

[jschligs]

I mean, god forbid I just have 30 minutes to kill and I wanna get in a quick game of "basketball" along with my serving of digital Shaq and EJ pregame show and cheerleaders awkwardly moving to terrible electronic dance music...

That and having Spike Lee direct the MyPlayer mode killed it for me, I still play it for MyGM. I'm like 6 years deep with my Bucks squad. But the MyPlayer has you play HS, which you make everything, play for one of 8 schools, and then listen to stupid cutscenes you can't skip.

[humanrefutation]

I didn't buy 2K16 last year. It was free on the PSN a couple months ago and I picked it up then, right around the finals IIRC. It's a fun game. I like playing with the classic squads especially.

But while I actually appreciate the cutscenes and pre-post game stuff, I wish you could skip past more of that more quickly if you don't want to watch it all.

[Ron Swanson]

The player animations and overall gameplay have devolved as well. The controls feel incredibly sluggish and slow compared to even last-gen titles. For instance, using the shot-stick on long jumpers is incredibly difficult when you don't know what "un-interuptable" animation your player is going to do. Will he spot up right away or will he dribble the ball and take a step-back jumper that requires an extra 2 seconds to complete?

They just desperately need to simplify the controls and improve the reaction time of the player animations. I find myself having to adjust the shooting sliders constantly to even make the game playable. I just wish that the devs spent nearly as much time tweaking and fixing the gameplay as they do on making the game "look" pretty.

[MikeIsGood]

I had totally forgotten my Deus Ex mentality. I've already had a few moments where I've been like 'damn, I didn't even think to come in from the ceiling.' Hah.

[ReasonablySober]

Picked it up today, starting it now. I normally play games on casual mode, but based on the Kotaku review I'll probably start it on the hardest.

[VooDoo7]

Anybody pick up Madden?

*crickets*

[jmuelly]

Anybody pick up Madden?

*crickets*

I did and already feel it was better money spent than No Mans Sky which I’ve grown bored with.

I was hesitant but did after hearing positive feedback this weekend from several X1 users. The trade up promo best buy had again w/ preorder bonus and GCU bring it to like $15 net. While not perfect it’s a giant step in the right direction. Commentary is the first noticeable upgrade, and it’s quite good. Special teams seems to have had an overhaul. Kicking alone is more challenging, you must hold the position and use a 3 click system, if you carelessly miss on accuracy you can shank quite easily, either that or I’m just not used to it. But it felt like I had to be more precise. They’ve added the ability to sky kick and put spin on the kick for greater control when kicking to corner/avoid returns etc. Only complain punt returns felt a bit easy, only played 2 games but 15 yards seems easy to get on many returns, most noticeable when punter had 50+ yard punts. Doing the trainer of new things, blocked kicks are of emphasis as are a load of new fake punt/fg options.

Line play feels more fluid and impactful. The addition of gap assignments is quite noticeable if our patient as a runner or even attacking defender you’ll see lanes open/close, pockets collapse a bit more naturally as opposed to a mob of guys on screen who more or less are just bodies. In years past they had other issues going on in pass rush and qb hit/release mechanisms. It feels more fluid this year, last year to compensate for their increased pass rush if you threw when qb got hit it was just incomplete. The times I tried to quickly while being hit release I was prone to fumbling which felt rewarding. It forced me to escape, throw it away or just give myself up (which is an option this year).

AI both on user and CPU feels smarter specifically on defense. AI attacks the ball more aggressively this year. Throwing balls into tight coverage feels risky whereas in the past it was easy to power through and make the catch, and maybe once I get myself back into game shape it will be again. Tipped balls feel and look improved.

I should note I began on All-Pro no slider changes. Usually I’ll play all-madden but I prefer to find a All-pro slider set as it’s the most balanced, AM offers the CPU unexplained boosts to counter skill. What’s not cool is the AI ground game at times seems nonexistent. Peterson was held in check much of the game. 1 yard per carry, 2-3 bigger runs balanced his stats out but often he was a loss or 1-2 yards. The pass/run glitch has to get fixed, it makes MP unplayable until. The devs are aware of this already from the X1 EA access. I have more positive than negative right now, I’ve gotten every madden since madden 94. I’ve been hugely disappointed since 05 (Ray Lewis cover), honestly can say early impressions are mostly positive.

Tonight I am going to start a test CFM to experiment the new additions and give the “play the moment” feature a try.

[Matches Malone]

then listen to stupid cutscenes you can't skip.

Hitting the start (options) button will allow you to skip cut scenes.

[Gianstoppable]

The player animations and overall gameplay have devolved as well. The controls feel incredibly sluggish and slow compared to even last-gen titles. For instance, using the shot-stick on long jumpers is incredibly difficult when you don't know what "un-interuptable" animation your player is going to do. Will he spot up right away or will he dribble the ball and take a step-back jumper that requires an extra 2 seconds to complete?

They just desperately need to simplify the controls and improve the reaction time of the player animations. I find myself having to adjust the shooting sliders constantly to even make the game playable. I just wish that the devs spent nearly as much time tweaking and fixing the gameplay as they do on making the game "look" pretty.

Just use the shoot button instead of the shot-stick then instead of adjusting sliders?

[jschligs]

then listen to stupid cutscenes you can't skip.

Hitting the start (options) button will allow you to skip cut scenes.

Really? I swear I hit every button like a million times haha man I feel dumb

[Ron Swanson]

The player animations and overall gameplay have devolved as well. The controls feel incredibly sluggish and slow compared to even last-gen titles. For instance, using the shot-stick on long jumpers is incredibly difficult when you don't know what "un-interuptable" animation your player is going to do. Will he spot up right away or will he dribble the ball and take a step-back jumper that requires an extra 2 seconds to complete?

They just desperately need to simplify the controls and improve the reaction time of the player animations. I find myself having to adjust the shooting sliders constantly to even make the game playable. I just wish that the devs spent nearly as much time tweaking and fixing the gameplay as they do on making the game "look" pretty.

Just use the shoot button instead of the shot-stick then instead of adjusting sliders?

It doesn't really solve the problem as determining how long you hold down the button to get the green "perfect release" shot meter still relies on the speed of the shot animation. I did read that they've changed the shot meter mechanics in 2K17 though, so I'm definitely going to give it a try.

[VooDoo7]

then listen to stupid cutscenes you can't skip.

Hitting the start (options) button will allow you to skip cut scenes.

No it doesn't. On 2K16??

It just goes to the pause/menu screen. And once you hit it again, it goes back to the cut-scene that you still have to wait on. It's ridiculous.

[ReasonablySober]

At one point MLB: The Show was the only reason I owned a PS3. I've gotten annoyed with the barely incremental improvements they've made over the last half-decade, to the point where I don't buy it anymore. But to their credit, the gameplay was already perfect, and what changes they have made lately have been great. You can skip anything you like, and get in and out of games without ever having to exit to a menu.

[jschligs]

then listen to stupid cutscenes you can't skip.

Hitting the start (options) button will allow you to skip cut scenes.

No it doesn't. On 2K16??

It just goes to the pause/menu screen. And once you hit it again, it goes back to the cut-scene that you still have to wait on. It's ridiculous.

I didn't think it did either and thought I was crazy. Tried again last night. Does not allow you to skip through the cutscenes on PS4. Oh well!

For those who have Madden, how's the franchise mode? I always thought they did a pretty shabby job with this in recent years. Is it any better now?

[Matches Malone]

Hitting the start (options) button will allow you to skip cut scenes.

No it doesn't. On 2K16??

It just goes to the pause/menu screen. And once you hit it again, it goes back to the cut-scene that you still have to wait on. It's ridiculous.

I didn't think it did either and thought I was crazy. Tried again last night. Does not allow you to skip through the cutscenes on PS4. Oh well!

For those who have Madden, how's the franchise mode? I always thought they did a pretty shabby job with this in recent years. Is it any better now?

It absolutely does. I've played multiple times on the PS4 and it prompts a screen that asks if you want to skip and you select either yes or no. You have to do it for each cut scene. It might be the X button instead of the options button. But you absolutely can skip scenes.

Edit: Just looked it up so I know I wasn't going crazy. From 2k Support itself:

"How do I skip cutscenes?

In order to skip a cutscene, you have to have watched the intro with that profile. After you've watched the intro once with that profile, you can skip a cutscene by pressing X (on your PlayStation controller) or A (on your Xbox controller). You'll receive a message asking if you want to skip the scene, but will be able to access them later on. "

[humanrefutation]

No it doesn't. On 2K16??

It just goes to the pause/menu screen. And once you hit it again, it goes back to the cut-scene that you still have to wait on. It's ridiculous.

I didn't think it did either and thought I was crazy. Tried again last night. Does not allow you to skip through the cutscenes on PS4. Oh well!

For those who have Madden, how's the franchise mode? I always thought they did a pretty shabby job with this in recent years. Is it any better now?

It absolutely does. I've played multiple times on the PS4 and it prompts a screen that asks if you want to skip and you select either yes or no. You have to do it for each cut scene. It might be the X button instead of the options button. But you absolutely can skip scenes.

Edit: Just looked it up so I know I wasn't going crazy. From 2k Support itself:

"How do I skip cutscenes?

In order to skip a cutscene, you have to have watched the intro with that profile. After you've watched the intro once with that profile, you can skip a cutscene by pressing X (on your PlayStation controller) or A (on your Xbox controller). You'll receive a message asking if you want to skip the scene, but will be able to access them later on. "

You can definitely skip through certain cut scenes, but sometimes even if you press x, it doesn't register your desire to skip right away. For example, it won't skip halftime shows immediately, or the little cut scenes during TOs as players head to the bench immediately, etc. It will move on eventually, but you'll have to keep mashing x until it actually skips it.

[VooDoo7]

I didn't think it did either and thought I was crazy. Tried again last night. Does not allow you to skip through the cutscenes on PS4. Oh well!

For those who have Madden, how's the franchise mode? I always thought they did a pretty shabby job with this in recent years. Is it any better now?

It absolutely does. I've played multiple times on the PS4 and it prompts a screen that asks if you want to skip and you select either yes or no. You have to do it for each cut scene. It might be the X button instead of the options button. But you absolutely can skip scenes.

Edit: Just looked it up so I know I wasn't going crazy. From 2k Support itself:

"How do I skip cutscenes?

In order to skip a cutscene, you have to have watched the intro with that profile. After you've watched the intro once with that profile, you can skip a cutscene by pressing X (on your PlayStation controller) or A (on your Xbox controller). You'll receive a message asking if you want to skip the scene, but will be able to access them later on. "

You can definitely skip through certain cut scenes, but sometimes even if you press x, it doesn't register your desire to skip right away. For example, it won't skip halftime shows immediately, or the little cut scenes during TOs as players head to the bench immediately, etc. It will move on eventually, but you'll have to keep mashing x until it actually skips it.

Yeah, this is my experience as well. Maybe I should've clarified.

It still makes you watch a good portion of these cutscenes. I wanna be able to hit a button right away and get back to the game.

[Wiscfan92]

Anyone get Madden 17 for PS3 (I know, I'm outdated) and is it any different than the last few years? Gameplay hasn't changed in the last few years so I don't see the need to buy it unless there are some drastic changes.

[AntetokounMVPo]

Hey guys, I'm just a lurker around here, but I'm part of an online sim basketball league that is looking for some more members. I figured who better to ask than the guys that discuss how to run a real team?

It's called RBSL (it stands for Raptors Board Sim League, as it started out of the Raptors RealGM forums, actually) and is generally very active, with 30 teams when at full membership, running on Fast Break Basketball 3 (http://www.fbbgames.com/fbb/index.htm). We will provide you with the software (it can run on Macs but is easier on Windows). The game is along the same lines of Football Manager, or Franchise mode in the 2k games (except you don't play the actual games, but the simulation is much more in-depth).

Some of the of GMs have been around for over 10 years, and some of the GMs have even met up for drinking nights in real life. There's also a social WhatsApp chat for those who wish to join in.

We sim Tuesday/Thursday/Sunday, so the "ideal" is to check the game about 3 times a week, but if life gets in the way it's 100% not a problem. The offseason is a bit faster - draft and FA days happen every day. A full season and offseason takes about two months.
http://rbslforums.phillyarena.net/index.php is the forum
http://rbsl.phillyarena.net/rbsl/html/ is the game output

If anyone is interested or has any questions let me know, it's something I really enjoy and I think it fits right in with the type of stuff people who are on this forum would like.

[humanrefutation]

Man, I remember like 12-15 years ago when I was in several online sim leagues at once. Those were all the rage back then.