OT: Video Games/Computers/Gadgets/Gizmos

[Prez]

Tbh kinda wish Fromsoft went in a different direction, I'll take more Elden Ring content but hoping for a new Soulslike a la Bloodborne or Sekiro. Although it seems like this might not be from their main team and with a different director than Miyazaki? Hoping that's the case and the main team is already looking ahead to their next game.

Witcher 4 should be dope (when it comes out a decade from now lol). Wonder how they nerf Ciri because she was godlike at the end of Witcher 3

[FrieAaron]

Anyone into board games? We've been playing a lot of two-person board games at the house. We've enjoyed 7 Wonders Duel, Jaipur, and Rivals for Catan. We tried Carcassonne and it didn't really stick after a couple tries, but we'll probably give it another go eventually.

We just picked up Pandemic when it was on sale on Black Friday. It's a fun but challenging cooperative game. We've played it through five times and only won once. Yet we keep going back.

Anyone have any favorites they'd like to recommend? I'd love recs for two player games, but open to all.

Edit - I see I asked this question a couple years ago in the OT thread. Apologies for not searching beforehand. It looks like I added a couple of your recommendations, but I'd be down for any others. Or just to nerd out about Pandemic.

Wife and I are big fans of Robinson Crusoe: Adventures on the Cursed Island, another very hard coop game. But it's a little pricier and heavier than the games you mentioned depending on how far you want to take that (a weight of 3.8/5 on boardgamegeek if you're familiar with the website).

[jschligs]

Can’t really say any of the announcements excite me from the Game Awards. Maybe I’m just getting old and senile.

[averageposter]

I used to be a avid console gamer, my time for gaming dwindled a little before the launch of PS5 and I just kind of stopped. I bought a few short term summer rental cabins, we got a few dogs and managing the rental changeovers and playing/training with the pups just kind of stopped having the time. When I did have time I was usually up at one of the cabins and web connectivity was limited to DSL. In the years since I put starlink at the rentals so now there is a more reliable connectivity, and we installed some BDAs to improve cellular and it seems like I am getting 5G at 2 of them as well, gaming up there in my overnights seems plausible. When steamdeck launched it piqued my interest, seemed like an interesting option, travel between the properties hauling a console or consoles around seemed like work if I spent a day at one and moved to another etc. Friend of mine gave me a vitture AR Pro smart glasses bundle, won it as a xmas party prize and he had one already, wanted me to have it for fixing his truck. Pretty cool a floating 135 inch display when hooked to the phone for watching netflix on the road. So now I am thinking gaming on that with a handheld might be just what gets me back to some quality gaming time. Only now I see a few options for handheld PC gaming devices, So I guess I am wondering what should I get, anybody playing on steamdeck, Rog Ally, Legion go etc. Anybody using that and smart glasses or cross platforming with friends on console?

I have a SD. Played it a ton when I first got it. Then realized I never travel and when I do I'm too busy to play so it's been collecting dust ever since. That said, it is so easy to get up and running that I think for someone in your situation it's perfect. Heck, I was playing Red Dead Redemption 2 on it and it was running well. There are thousands of compatible games and to me, seemed like the easiest to play right out of the box.

That said, I also have seen the prices of some of the gaming laptops lately and those seem like a pretty good deal. If $100-200 more gets you a better long term solution I'd consider that. It's not that much bigger and will be able to do more.

I picked up a used Steamdeck LCD in trade figuring as you pointed out it is targeted to that console style turn it on and more or less go. Not knowing I was going to get that opportunity I bought a Legion go on ebay, it went pretty cheap all things considered. So I guess I'll try them both and see if the frustration of a windows 11 mobile gaming device is worth the ability to play some AAA titles if not there is the deck.

[TroyD92]

Little late to the party but Marvel Rivals is pretty fun. I don't really care about Marvel IP, but fun game

[StickeeFingaz]

Started a witch minion build and it’s pretty damn strong so far.

[MikeIsGood]

Started a witch minion build and it’s pretty damn strong so far.

Is this the SRS firewall build, or cooking up something of your own? That SRS build looks fun.

[StickeeFingaz]

It’s turning into the SRS firewall build; should be getting firewall shortly.

[Siefer]

Little late to the party but Marvel Rivals is pretty fun. I don't really care about Marvel IP, but fun game

I played it for a few hours last weekend. Balance issues for a new multiplayer game are to be expected, and the game is gorgeous, but I bounced pretty hard off the game feel. It was just not enjoyable to actually play the game. Floaty and clumsy movement, unintuitive map design, and muddy UI are all big drags on experience. I might check back in a few months, but it's way behind Overwatch at present.

[MikeIsGood]

Made it to maps and am having fun so far. My build really came online once I unlocked Archmage - as expected, as I had otherwise been mana stacking for funsies.

I've got two long-term concerns I'll be interested to keep an eye on during EA:

1. I know a lot of people hate the campaign in POE1, but I don't. It doesn't take more than ~10 hours for me to get through, and I'm on the slower side. I also find gearing along the way fun. In POE2, I am not sure I see the pathway for it to be cut down to something that tight. Gearing can feel pretty rough without trading, which I prefer to do minimally, though hopefully that keeps getting better.

2. The game is pretty ruthless (pun not intended). I've called POE1 my cozy game before; this is far from it. There will be power creep over time, but the amount of time you have to be "on" right now - which is to say, all the time - can be taxing. I often play POE1 while multitasking, listning to a podcast, whatever. But if I'm not fully focused on POE2, I am **** toast. And I actually enjoy this different style of play and have largely had a good time (some EA frustrations aside), but I won't be able to play this way as much as I do POE1 as a result. So I am skeptical how much of it I'll experience each league.

ETA: All of this said I've apparently played over 60 hours

[jschligs]

Really wish VR was in a better place. I want one but know I’d get bored of the few actually good games.

[ReasonablySober]

2. The game is pretty ruthless (pun not intended). I've called POE1 my cozy game before; this is far from it. There will be power creep over time, but the amount of time you have to be "on" right now - which is to say, all the time - can be taxing. I often play POE1 while multitasking, listning to a podcast, whatever. But if I'm not fully focused on POE2, I am **** toast. And I actually enjoy this different style of play and have largely had a good time (some EA frustrations aside), but I won't be able to play this way as much as I do POE1 as a result. So I am skeptical how much of it I'll experience each league.

ETA: All of this said I've apparently played over 60 hours

I've had a two spots in the first two acts where I had to go create a party and get some help. Wolf Boss and the Engineer. This game isn't at the Soulsborne level where beating some of the tougher bosses feels like an accomplishment. Losing in POE2 to me feels like a math problem and not a skill problem and if I have to spend more than 20 minutes on a boss I'm just gonna look for reinforcements. The Engineer I just got annoyed at playing a little game of atritition only to get one-shot. Annoying.

[MikeIsGood]

2. The game is pretty ruthless (pun not intended). I've called POE1 my cozy game before; this is far from it. There will be power creep over time, but the amount of time you have to be "on" right now - which is to say, all the time - can be taxing. I often play POE1 while multitasking, listning to a podcast, whatever. But if I'm not fully focused on POE2, I am **** toast. And I actually enjoy this different style of play and have largely had a good time (some EA frustrations aside), but I won't be able to play this way as much as I do POE1 as a result. So I am skeptical how much of it I'll experience each league.

ETA: All of this said I've apparently played over 60 hours

I've had a two spots in the first two acts where I had to go create a party and get some help. Wolf Boss and the Engineer. This game isn't at the Soulsborne level where beating some of the tougher bosses feels like an accomplishment. Losing in POE2 to me feels like a math problem and not a skill problem and if I have to spend more than 20 minutes on a boss I'm just gonna look for reinforcements. The Engineer I just got annoyed at playing a little game of atritition only to get one-shot. Annoying.

POE is big time math, 1 included, and a lot of the math comes in gear and passive tree optimization to make sure your build isn't bricked. Playing POE1 without a build guide as a new player is virtually impossible without extreme patience. I think they tried to address this with 2, but it's not suddenly perfect. This is all to say - warning that struggling like that may be a sign that your build just flat-out does not work and it's only going to get worse.

Not trying to discourage you at all. You do you. Just felt worthy of warning given you are brand new to POE.

[ReasonablySober]

This is all to say - warning that struggling like that may be a sign that your build just flat-out does not work and it's only going to get worse..

I think in this case ignorance is bliss in a way that I'm not really playing to steamroll through the levels, I'm just looking for something to kill time while sports are on my second screen. So far levels and most bosses have been easy enough. I haven't watched any build videos or used any guides because they're all long as hell.

But yea, when I get to the point where just getting to bosses is a pain in the ass I'm sure I'll have to get serious about my build. Right now I'm just playing what looks cool (Witches! Flames! Little Alien MF'rs running around all over the place!)

[ReasonablySober]

Honestly my only issue with the game is I've been playing a ton and I don't feel like I've gotten a good loot drop in days.

[ACGB]

Currently destroying everything with a Witchhunter using gas grenades. Got my hands on the unique helmet that ignites nearby enemies to turn it into a 1 button combo.

[jschligs]

Shameless plug of my buddies game he just launched on Steam: Dungeons and Ducklings. Easier Roguelite game that's $7.99 right now.

[jschligs]

Gonna try something new in the holiday spirit. My buddies at Logitech sent me an absolute **** load of keyboards and mice for no real reason other than they always do this. I want to give away a G502 X Plus mouse to one of you (MD remove if you want if you're the grinch). Just tell me your favorite gaming memory by end of day Friday and I'll pick a random winner and send it to ya.

[MikeIsGood]

Gonna try something new in the holiday spirit. My buddies at Logitech sent me an absolute **** load of keyboards and mice for no real reason other than they always do this. I want to give away a G502 X Plus mouse to one of you (MD remove if you want if you're the grinch). Just tell me your favorite gaming memory by end of day Friday and I'll pick a random winner and send it to ya.

Haha, this is awesome j. Good on you.

Childhood: I very truly remember watching the scene of Aeris dying the first time I played FF7. None of my friends had gotten that far yet and I had no idea it was coming. It's such an iconic video game moment, and in retrospect it feels even more special or unique becasue it almost feels impossible to experience something like that purely anymore. It would be so hard to recreate something as emotionally charged as that without the internet completely ruining it.

Modern: I love POE so much, as you all are surely aware, and I got my first Mageblood two leagues ago. It's become *the* item of Path of Exile, and it's very expensive. Despite how much I play, I tend to play slow (as I do with all games) and don't accrue currency in the end game as fast as many power players; amongst those with as many hours as I've played, I'd be more of a casual my currency standards. So getting that item was really memorable, and it's one of the few screenshots in my Steam catalog.

[ReasonablySober]

Gonna try something new in the holiday spirit. My buddies at Logitech sent me an absolute **** load of keyboards and mice for no real reason other than they always do this. I want to give away a G502 X Plus mouse to one of you (MD remove if you want if you're the grinch). Just tell me your favorite gaming memory by end of day Friday and I'll pick a random winner and send it to ya.

Haha, this is awesome j. Good on you.

Childhood: I very truly remember watching the scene of Aeris dying the first time I played FF7. None of my friends had gotten that far yet and I had no idea it was coming. It's such an iconic video game moment, and in retrospect it feels even more special or unique becasue it almost feels impossible to experience something like that purely anymore. It would be so hard to recreate something as emotionally charged as that without the internet completely ruining it.

Modern: I love POE so much, as you all are surely aware, and I got my first Mageblood two leagues ago. It's become *the* item of Path of Exile, and it's very expensive. Despite how much I play, I tend to play slow (as I do with all games) and don't accrue currency in the end game as fast as many power players; amongst those with as many hours as I've played, I'd be more of a casual my currency standards. So getting that item was really memorable, and it's one of the few screenshots in my Steam catalog.

Very nice of you. Don't include me, it would be wasted, but I want to join in.

Earliest memories I still love (I have a lot):

• Playing original Commando and Ikari Warriors on the NES with an uncle who got us games for the system
• Staying up all night playing Castlevania II and III at my cousin's place with the help of Nintendo Guide
• Becoming way too into Ninja Gaiden I and II and obsessing over the story. I loved this book:

It's possible Irene Lew was a WAIFU of mine when I was like nine years old.
• Playing the Final Fight arcade whenever my mom would shop at Walmart
• Tecmo Super Bowl with a different uncle, who would go on to get a Genesis and we graduated to NBA Jam and Sega NFL
• Being mistakenly delivered an early EGM magazine and subsequently getting a subscription that completely boosted my gaming interest into hyperdrive
• Getting incredibly good at Street Fighter II on SNES, then beating ass against older kids in arcades

Didn't play as much videogames in junior high and high school, was always playing sports, but I definitely remember being awed by Symphony of the Night. I also bought Final Fantasy Tactics because I also had FF VII, but I only ever got into Tactics. It was my first RPG and I remember bringing the playstation on a vacation up north in the winter. I did nothing but play Tactics while everyone else ice fished.

Still played relatively few games in college. One that stood out was Crazy Taxi on the Dreamcast. Our floor would endlessly play the mini-games, trying to get the fastest times. The other was Ninja Gaiden (original, not Black) on Xbox. Maybe the happiest I've ever been while playing a game. Was a total miracle for me. Drove from Stout to Best Buy in Eau Claire on the morning it was released, and I doubt I left my room in our college house for the whole weekend.