NeoGAF

- Buy games you want, not games that other people tell you you should want

This is also Bullshit, most of us would never have expanded outside of our comfort zones had we not taken some advice or read other's impressions on games we had never played before. I never would have discovered games like Phoenix Wright without Gaf telling me how amazing it was.

Originally Posted by The Smoking Bun

Realize that your system of choice doesn't matter and stuff like FPS and Resolution need only be at a playable level say locked 30 @ 720p. Only fun matters.

You had me til you said 30 @ 720p. You can play games from any generation regardless of graphics and still have a lot of fun.

Originally Posted by Hoo-doo

I have to do what now?

Something about playing with your prostate and doing the Antonio Banderas. Or just doing Banderas in the prostate. Maybe both.

Dont let poor reviews diminish any sort of excitement you had for a game. Reviews are simply opinions. There is a point though where you may want to begin getting worried.

I generally think around the 50 metacritic point is when you begin to realize the product has real issues. You may be able to overlook them and still enjoy the product ( which is how something like Knack can get 3/10's from one opinion and 8.5/10 from another ), or you may not be able to.

don't rush. take your time :) ...

Originally Posted by IAmRandom31

You may be able to overlook them and still enjoy the product ( which is how something like Knack can get 3/10's from one opinion and 8.5/10 from another ), or you may not be able to.

There's a lot of enjoyment to be had if you can overlook flaws in games. For example, even though almost everything about Dragon Age 2 is terrible, I still enjoy its extremely flawed combat a lot. The combat has multiple massive, unforgivable flaws, but it's still interesting and relatively unique in today's gaming landscape, to the point where I sometimes play the game just for the combat.

Similarly, World of Warcraft has jumped about 18 sharks since its launch, but the raiding is still awesome.

Whoa at the whole surround sound vs headphones thing. Whynotboth.jpg

I have this one problem and I hope this the right thread for it:
I don't know if it has something to do with becoming older (I'm 23) or because of my studies, but I don't seem to enjoy games as much as I did before. Don't get me wrong: I love the whole industry, with its ups and downs, with its glory or its shameful rants or fanboyism sometimes. I find myself everyday on Neogaf (even if I just officially joined recently), I read a lot of news and consider myself as someone who knows a thing or two about videogames (gaming since '94 - first game: Donald Duck's Playground on the C64:). However I don't seem as immersed in videogames themselves as before anymore, I quickly get bored and don't finish games as much as in my early youth. It seems like at the time, when I did not have the financials to buy nearly every game I want, I was happier and explored every inch of that one game I had (f.ex I played nearly every god damn day James Bond: Tomorrow never dies on my ps1 because I could not afford a Memory Card haha:) Now I just play some games for a couple of days and lose interest. Very rarely a game peakes my absolute interest, like for example Red Dead Redemption..Has it to do something with the games' quality? Have I played too many generic shooters? I don't know! I even have games in my huge backlog which I did not bother to unpack. Maybe some suggestions of you fellow Gaffers could help me getting my appetite back! I don't want to quit my hobby, I am way too interested into the whole industry, however it seems that the actual news and discussions tend to interest me more than the games themselves. Maybe there are some of you who feel the same. Thanks & Let me know!

I think OP covered everything I would have. Good list.

Originally Posted by BHZ Mayor

Don't be Derrick01.

I feel the need to apologize to Derrick cause this made laugh pretty hard.

Every owned game is not a backlog game. A backlog game is a game you have, that you really want to play, but haven't gotten to. If someone gifts you game on Steam, it's not neccesarly a backlog game. If you buy a bundle of 20 games because of one game, your backlog doesn't grow with 20.

Originally Posted by Alvarez

[B]
- Play what you want when you want. Do not torture yourself over the idea of a "backlog". Meticulously planning your video game adventures may bring you a sense of satisfaction, but does it bring you fun? If not, then allow yourself to jump from game to game on a whim. Enjoy the ride, even if it involves trying five different games before you hone in on the one you really want to settle in with.

Man, this is what I needed to read right here. I always chain myself to specific games in my backlog even when they aren't so much fun. I need to try a few games before deciding what I want to play. I think I'll have more fun that way.

Originally Posted by MoHappyRobot

I have this one problem and I hope this the right thread for it:
I don't know if it has something to do with becoming older (I'm 23) or because of my studies, but I don't seem to enjoy games as much as I did before. Don't get me wrong: I love the whole industry, with its ups and downs, with its glory or its shameful rants or fanboyism sometimes. I find myself everyday on Neogaf (even if I just officially joined recently), I read a lot of news and consider myself as someone who knows a thing or two about videogames (gaming since '94 - first game: Donald Duck's Playground on the C64:). However I don't seem as immersed in videogames themselves as before anymore, I quickly get bored and don't finish games as much as in my early youth. It seems like at the time, when I did not have the financials to buy nearly every game I want, I was happier and explored every inch of that one game I had (f.ex I played nearly every god damn day James Bond: Tomorrow never dies on my ps1 because I could not afford a Memory Card haha:) Now I just play some games for a couple of days and lose interest. Very rarely a game peakes my absolute interest, like for example Red Dead Redemption..Has it to do something with the games' quality? Have I played too many generic shooters? I don't know! I even have games in my huge backlog which I did not bother to unpack. Maybe some suggestions of you fellow Gaffers could help me getting my appetite back! I don't want to quit my hobby, I am way too interested into the whole industry, however it seems that the actual news and discussions tend to interest me more than the games themselves. Maybe there are some of you who feel the same. Thanks & Let me know!

How do you feel about other hobbies?

I think a big part of it is just the inevitable part of growing up and becoming jaded. When I look over a list of video games, movies, books, or even food, my usual response is, "Most of this looks boring. I've seen this before. I'm not interested in that. Ugh, I suppose this one will be the least boring, so I'll take it."

South Park did a great episode about this.

Balance out your gaming with another hobby

Originally Posted by BHZ Mayor

Don't be Derrick01.

I don't get it.

Originally Posted by MoHappyRobot

Has it to do something with the games' quality?

Nope, it's you. There are tons of quality games.

Don't buy that many games, and buy different games, and figure what you actually like. No one likes every hyped game.

Originally Posted by MoHappyRobot

I have this one problem and I hope this the right thread for it:
I don't know if it has something to do with becoming older (I'm 23) or because of my studies, but I don't seem to enjoy games as much as I did before. Don't get me wrong: I love the whole industry, with its ups and downs, with its glory or its shameful rants or fanboyism sometimes. I find myself everyday on Neogaf (even if I just officially joined recently), I read a lot of news and consider myself as someone who knows a thing or two about videogames (gaming since '94 - first game: Donald Duck's Playground on the C64:). However I don't seem as immersed in videogames themselves as before anymore, I quickly get bored and don't finish games as much as in my early youth. It seems like at the time, when I did not have the financials to buy nearly every game I want, I was happier and explored every inch of that one game I had (f.ex I played nearly every god damn day James Bond: Tomorrow never dies on my ps1 because I could not afford a Memory Card haha:) Now I just play some games for a couple of days and lose interest. Very rarely a game peakes my absolute interest, like for example Red Dead Redemption..Has it to do something with the games' quality? Have I played too many generic shooters? I don't know! I even have games in my huge backlog which I did not bother to unpack. Maybe some suggestions of you fellow Gaffers could help me getting my appetite back! I don't want to quit my hobby, I am way too interested into the whole industry, however it seems that the actual news and discussions tend to interest me more than the games themselves. Maybe there are some of you who feel the same. Thanks & Let me know!

I think it has a lot to do with the number of experiences you have in life. I agree with a lot of what you said, I think games like Red Dead are good because it was a new experience that we hadn't really seen much in the gaming world. As we get older, we experience a lot more, we've seen a lot more of other media, we realize how shallow and aweful story telling is in games, so we dont appreciate it or feel as immersed in it as we did when we were kids. I had far more tolerance for bad games when I was younger than I do now. Before I could tolerate bad VO, bad scripts, and cliche plot points. Now I basically roll my eyes at them and switch the game off. Couldn't finished Sleeping Dogs because of how bad the VO and story was. At the same time gameplay is becoming more important as I can get my good stories from books and films, now I turn to games for the pure enjoyment of DOING SOMETHING. So games like Black Flag I am loving because the ship combat is so addictively fun. The story you can throw away (in fact its pissing me off everytime I do a story mission, learning to ignore them).


Basically: When we are younger we haven't experienced as much so all these new gaming experiences are awesome and great. When we are older we have seen a lot more an are harder to impress, more critical, and desire more from our invested time.

Originally Posted by Beelzebubs

You had me til you said 30 @ 720p. You can play games from any generation regardless of graphics and still have a lot of fun.

Was giving a modern example to be honest but yes. I still play Chrono Trigger and have more fun with that than all you Dragon Age and Dogma's combined

Play what you like, use online resources to get a general feel for how people are receiving a game if you're unsure, and enjoy yourself. If you wonder why you're playing something, it might be time to take a break or drop the game entirely.

Don't read GAF. Take your time and don't rush through games.

Because of your past behavior you can't Xbox live gold is required.

So watch your behavior or you won't be allowed to maximize your enjoyment.

Do not play more than one game at a time. Focusing on one helps the immersion. Bouncing around destroys that and in the end makes all the games feel less enjoyable

Don't let mixed reviews stop you from buying a game you were hyped for. Always make sure to check why a game has a certain MC score. Did everyone gave the game a shit rating indicating it might have serious issues or is just one half very negative on it while other reviewers liked it averaging out at a score MC calls "mixed" ? Because then it is just a divisive game that likely isn't broken at all. Read some of the positive reviews and see if their arguments match up with the reasons you were hyped for the game.

Originally Posted by Pagusas

Bullshit to the headphones idea. I'll take the surround system with the full proper range produced in a proper environment over having something plastered to my head any day. Crank it up and actually get to feel the sound instead of isolating it.


Now that I'm married I've played Black Flag and GTA5 a few nights with headphones on so my wife can sleep, its a true REMOVAL of the experience. This using a pair of HD650's from my work studio. You can not recreate that stage and power in headphones, you just cant. Who ever says you can has not had there whole house shaking with the sounds of canons firing from every direction.

Murrrica, where for many audio just has to be loud and boomy. Look at ma HT, it maka boom from every direkshan and shakalaka the house. I hope your "proper environment" also includes acoustic treatment.

This is a reason why gaming audio is in its current state. People think as long as bullets come from somewhere outside the stereo image (aka, behind, "through the room" etc) and explosions shake their house it's all cool. I'm glad that Dolby and Datasat do not sleep on that notion and AMD is bringing proper rendering back so that bullets that pass you can be accurately rendered in the 3D space, realistically depending on your FoV, change of direction etc.. Something that worked years ago, now while still simple compared to complex algorithms that can cost you thousands of dollars it was more accurate than what we have today.

And if binaural audio makes its comeback rendered through those Tensilica cores with a good audio engineer behind the mastering then I hope people do not listen through the congested and slow HD650.

Never buy more than one game at a time, seriously. You'd end up not playing either. I have a 300 game backlog because of this.

Never buy a new game until you are tired with the one you just bought. Didn't like it? Fine, buy a new one, but never have two or more games on your plate at any given time.

Watch the least amount of screens and trailers as possible.

When you're playing the game avoid threads about the game and such. Not only might they have spoilers, other people's opinions' might influence your enjoyment of the game.

Enjoy the game for what it is and sets out to do, not for whatever wishes you had.

Don't switch to your phone or tablet every five seconds. The world won't go anywhere, people don't give a fuck if you just finished the first level or if you did an achievement. Valid for all other situations in life.

Originally Posted by Alvarez

How do you feel about other hobbies?

I think a big part of it is just the inevitable part of growing up and becoming jaded. When I look over a list of video games, movies, books, or even food, my usual response is, "Most of this looks boring. I've seen this before. I'm not interested in that. Ugh, I suppose this one will be the least boring, so I'll take it."

South Park did a great episode about this.

Yes true. I tend to get bored very quickly with nearly everything. As quickly as I get interested into something, I can also lose complete interest in something in a very short period of time.
I actually have quite a few hobbies (music, drawing, etc.) but it seems I am more relaxed in these fields since I can go and come back to them whenever I feel like it. With games it's different.
Maybe it has also something to do with fact that I see games as art, and I want to experience them anyways, even if they don't appeal to me. I want to have that fine collection of games, I am by no definition a vivid collector, however I like the idea of having a fine library of games which shows, that I had a taste from everything. And maybe I tend to overdo this and lose sight of the actual idea of games: playing them and having fun.

Originally Posted by Dahaka

Murrrica, where for many audio just has to be loud and boomy. Look at ma HT, it maka boom from every direkshan and shakalaka the house. I hope your "proper environment" also includes acoustic treatment.

This is a reason why gaming audio is in its current state. People think as long as bullets come from somewhere outside the stereo image (aka, behind, "through the room" etc) and explosions shake their house it's all cool. I'm glad that Dolby and Datasat do not sleep on that notion and AMD is bringing proper rendering back so that bullets that pass you can be accurately rendered in the 3D space, realistically depending on your FoV, change of direction etc.. Something that worked years ago, now while still simple compared to complex algorithms that can cost you thousands of dollars it was more accurate than what we have today.

And if binaural audio makes its comeback rendered through those Tensilica cores with a good audio engineer behind the mastering then I hope people do not listen through the congested and slow HD650.

It always makes me super sad when games mess up audio recording/editing. Really annoying for someone's voice to be completely on the left channel just because they're standing to the left, for example, as if my right ear cannot pick it up as well.

Audio problems are very noticeable on headphones, that's for sure.

Get high as fuck before playing.

Media Blackouts. Enjoy your product as it was intended, and get the full experience you've paid to have.

Originally Posted by Pagusas

I think it has a lot to do with the number of experiences you have in life. I agree with a lot of what you said, I think games like Red Dead are good because it was a new experience that we hadn't really seen much in the gaming world. As we get older, we experience a lot more, we've seen a lot more of other media, we realize how shallow and aweful story telling is in games, so we dont appreciate it or feel as immersed in it as we did when we were kids. I had far more tolerance for bad games when I was younger than I do now. Before I could tolerate bad VO, bad scripts, and cliche plot points. Now I basically roll my eyes at them and switch the game off. Couldn't finished Sleeping Dogs because of how bad the VO and story was. At the same time gameplay is becoming more important as I can get my good stories from books and films, now I turn to games for the pure enjoyment of DOING SOMETHING. So games like Black Flag I am loving because the ship combat is so addictively fun. The story you can throw away (in fact its pissing me off everytime I do a story mission, learning to ignore them).


Basically: When we are younger we haven't experienced as much so all these new gaming experiences are awesome and great. When we are older we have seen a lot more an are harder to impress, more critical, and desire more from our invested time.

Yes this too! Of course we're getting older and there is less and less new stuff under the sun. I agree completely withwhat you said: that when we're older we want more for our short free time, anything else seems like a waste of time.
RDR was so special to me, because it captured perfectly the world, and besides of really liking the Wild West setting, it was just overall such a great game, with amazing characters and that special feeling which I can't quite describe. It's one of the few games I come back to play them once in a while.
I have not played the new AC yet, but since I am also a big pirate fan, I certainly will try it out, even if it's just for the wonderful setting again.

Always be as self-conscious as possible and base your tastes based on others' opinions. Does someone on NeoGAF really hate a game you like? It might be time to re-evaluate why you like that game and consider changing your stance on it to avoid having an incorrect opinion.

I mean, if you like EO and someone says "Etrian Odyssey is for pedophiles," you pretty much have no choice but to renounce any interest in the series lest you be seen as a pedophile yourself. It sucks sometimes, but it's the only reasonable thing to do. I thought I loved Borderlands 2 until someone told me it was a boring piece of shit and made me realize I liked something bad and was only having artificial fun when I played it.

Now I only play games that no one has ever said anything bad about, which is to say that I don't play video games any more.

/sarcasm

It's a fine line to tread. I hate Steam achievement announcements and being bothered while I'm in an engaging game but I absolutely miss alt tab and friends when I'm on console. Particularly during installs, patches and loading.

The backlog point kills me. Still haven't brought myself to finish AC II. I guess that means I stay fuck it all my other games and just play the last of us and borderlands ii?

Originally Posted by reKon

The backlog point kills me. Still haven't brought myself to finish AC II. I guess that means I stay fuck it all my other games and just play the last of us and borderlands ii?

Play what you want.

If any of you are particularly troubled by a backlog or perfectionism, you may want to read up on OCD or take a test:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obsessi...lsive_disorder

Stop reading Kotaku GAF Polygon GiantBomb and just start playing!

I find myself reading more than playing. Not cool, self.

if you are above 45 you really should get yourself checked for prostate cancer.

Originally Posted by Diprosalic

if you are above 45 you really should get yourself checked for prostate cancer.

Hell, men have died from prostate cancer in their 30s. You can check on your own; the prostate is only 1.5 inches in (and if you're afraid of checking... you probably need to get more fiber in your diet!). And always be on the lookout for testicular abnormalities, too. My friend in his 20s fought (and won) a battle with testicular cancer.

What was this thread about again?

Originally Posted by Mr. Serious Business

I don't think I want to worship his prostate!

Prostrate I meant. Auto correct never fails to provide the lolz.

Ignore achievements and trophies.

Originally Posted by MoHappyRobot

, I am way too interested into the whole industry, however it seems that the actual news and discussions tend to interest me more than the games themselves. Maybe there are some of you who feel the same. Thanks & Let me know!

your problem seems to be in fact that you started taking games more seriously. And you shouldn't do that. Games are freedom. A glimpse into another world, a perfect distraction, an entertainment. It's not a "waste of time" or "unproductive way to spend the day". Stuff like this only drags you down. It's a fun and engaging way to kill boredom and spend time. Doesn't matter if it's a generic shooter or an rpg, if it's fun then it's all that matters. You should relax, take your time and forget about everything while playing.

Ignorance is bliss.

Originally Posted by The Smoking Bun

Realize that your system of choice doesn't matter and stuff like FPS and Resolution need only be at a playable level say locked 30 @ 720p. Only fun matters.

I don't think I agree with this because different things are important to different people.

I really, really enjoyed Dear Esther. I wouldn't have enjoyed it nearly as much at 720p/30fps. The resolution and visuals were absolutely essential to the experience.

Different people take different things from games and I can appreciate games on a visual level separate from a purely gameplay level, as well as audio, control feel, etc etc.

We don't have to only come to games for gameplay, and I don't. So I think it absolutely can matter and affect your enjoyment of a game.

Originally Posted by Monado Blade

Don't read GAF till you're done

And here it is.

I was expecting this in the OP to be honest :P

Originally Posted by mantidor

And here it is.

I was expecting this in the OP to be honest :P

Technically it would fall under "Avoid game publicity and media", I suppose.