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STEAM | June 2014 - Enhanced Electronics Edition

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Grief.exe

Member
Damn man, I don't know why Yaiba is till on my wish list. I know I'm going to be in for HUGE disappointment, maybe. But I'm the kind of guy that enjoyed a low-end action game like Gungrave, so I'm guessing I won't be in for a great deal of disappointment. I am kind of off put buy the game still having a $60.00 price tag. Thief came out around the same time and it's already at a $30.00 base price.

If you buy it, then Ninja Gaiden Black will come.
 
How does Blacklist stand up in comparison to other Splinter Cell games? I remember there being a big hubbub about it being less stealth-centric than the rest of the seres... it pan out that way or not?

Aside from one section of forced guns blazing the game has some interesting wide open level design that encourages whatever style of play you like. I played mostly stealth with an eye on aggressive take downs if the situation wwas fluid. Really fun coop levels. I rather enjoyed this game.
 

Sajjaja

Member
How does Blacklist stand up in comparison to other Splinter Cell games? I remember there being a big hubbub about it being less stealth-centric than the rest of the seres... it pan out that way or not?

It's absolutely fantastic. You can play it Ghost (no killing), Predator (stealth kills), Assault (loud) and all are absolutely viable.
Definitely worth it.
 

Momentary

Banned
If you buy it, then Ninja Gaiden Black will come.

Heh heh. If it does come then I'll feel like I've done my part by purchasing this game. I wonder how well DW8 sold. That could help other Tecmo games come on board. Quite frankly, people who run these companies make some pretty stupid decisions about what to bring to Steam first to try and test the waters.
 

Grief.exe

Member
Heh heh. If it does come then I'll feel like I've done my part by purchasing this game. I wonder how well DW8 sold. That could help other Tecmo games come on board. Quite frankly, people who run these companies make some pretty stupid decisions about what to bring to Steam first to try and test the waters.

They are set on bringing these mediocre games over that probably have a tepid reception at best.
 

JaseC

gave away the keys to the kingdom.
Disney Interactive selling digital versions of its games on Amazon but literally nowhere else will never cease to be profoundly baffling.
 

Arthea

Member
Most likely Tecmo thinks that successful games are already success, why bother, while those that are less so, may still find some audience, or something like that.
 

Momentary

Banned
Most likely Tecmo thinks that successful games are already success, why bother, while those that are less so, may still find some audience, or something like that.

Man. I really hope that's not how they think, but it sure looks like that's what goes through their heads.
 

Tizoc

Member
Damn man, I don't know why Yaiba is till on my wish list. I know I'm going to be in for HUGE disappointment, maybe. But I'm the kind of guy that enjoyed a low-end action game like Gungrave, so I'm guessing I won't be in for a great deal of disappointment. I am kind of off put buy the game still having a $60.00 price tag. Thief came out around the same time and it's already at a $30.00 base price.

I'd recommend Yaiba for oh $15 or less. It's a short game though the higher difficulties can provide a little extra replaybility, though I find it needlessly hard and the timing on counters is pretty tricky.
It runs at 60 FPS though despite the cutscenes being 30 FPS. I find it's style Musou-ish personally.
 

Casimir

Unconfirmed Member
I can't speak for that specific game because I've never played it myself, but I've noticed that people often complain about a stealth game that also includes action mechanics even if the stealth is still good, calling it "unstealthy".


Action and stealth mechanics are often diametrically opposed. Nuance in the mechanics will be lost as the developer reconciles the level design, AI, and general pacing of a map that has to handle both action and stealth playthroughs.

Additionally, when a developer has a limited budget, and especially if the game needs to be playable on a controller, and possibly on a standard TV with the player sitting ~6 feet from the audio source, are all aspects that dictate which mechanics are prioritized and which are discarded.


I think the problem is that a certain percentage of players of stealth games find themselves forced into using the stealth mechanics unconsciously by how shit their character is in a stand up fight. Give them an option to fight effectively and they'll naturally take the past of least resistance, blow throught the game loud and actiony, then understandably say the game had shit stealth.

Unfortunately, there hasn't been a study on the subject so all we can offer is anecdotal evidence. So, that being the paradigm, I wouldn't agree that your premise is a prominent problem. The majority of people's opinion in my experience, tend toward two main types. One that enjoys the hardcore stealth mechanics and those that approach stealth with a more casual paradigm. That is, they enjoy stealth, but become annoyed if they make a wrong move and have to completely restart the level/segment; often referred to as an "automatic fail state". Instead they prefer a system that allows the resolution of the immediate conflict with violence then continuing on using stealth. Most mainstream reviewers tend to follow the latter ideology when it comes to stealth games.

How does Blacklist stand up in comparison to other Splinter Cell games? I remember there being a big hubbub about it being less stealth-centric than the rest of the seres... it pan out that way or not?

The last ~10-15 pages has the bulk of discussion on Blacklist. But a quick summary would be that the game is a decent, if streamlined, entry into the traditional Splinter Cell library. Ubisoft caused all the contention because they marketed the game as an action title with superficial stealth mechanics.
 

JaseC

gave away the keys to the kingdom.
They just go with the leader. No need to do business with small-time platforms like Steam.

I was hoping the Lucasfilm acquisition would finally put it into a Disney execs head that releasing games on Steam is a good idea, but alas it didn't (or at least hasn't) happened.
 

Ryne

Member
Forced won't get any cheaper during the steam sale (I'm assuming)? I already blew my steam budget buying Blackguards and Divinity: Original Sin using keys today.

Although 5 bucks definitely won't break the bank, but I can't help but feel cheap.
 

~~Hasan~~

Junior Member
i have a question. I am trying to invest in PC only and go away from my ps4 and xbox one. and to do so, I am trying to convince my self that if I have a lot of games on PC, those games will never vanish even if I upgrade my pc unlike how I lost the value of my ps3 games when I traded them for ps4 because my ps4 can't play ps3 games.

now, I found splinter cell black list for 10$. is it worth it ?

I love single player games like MGS " speaking of that is MGS5 coming to PC ? "


anyway so yeah, how is splinter cell ?
 

Casimir

Unconfirmed Member
Forced won't get any cheaper during the steam sale (I'm assuming)? I already blew my steam budget buying Blackguards and Divinity: Original Sin using keys today.

giphy.gif
.

i have a question. I am trying to invest in PC only and go away from my ps4 and xbox one. and to do so, I am trying to convince my self that if I have a lot of games on PC, those games will never vanish even if I upgrade my pc unlike how I lost the value of my ps3 games when I traded them for ps4 because my ps4 can't play ps3 games.

now, I found splinter cell black list for 10$. is it worth it ?

I love single player games like MGS " speaking of that is MGS5 coming to PC ? "


anyway so yeah, how is splinter cell ?

The last ~10-15 pages has the bulk of discussion on Blacklist. But a quick summary would be that the game is a decent, if streamlined, entry into the traditional Splinter Cell library. Ubisoft caused all the contention because they marketed the game as an action title with superficial stealth mechanics.

~$10 is a great price for the title.
 

Stumpokapow

listen to the mad man
Disney Interactive selling digital versions of its games on Amazon but literally nowhere else will never cease to be profoundly baffling.

Blame Valve. Amazon has people out there actually doing business development. Microsoft and Sony and even Nintendo have people out there doing business development. Valve seems pretty receptive to people that ask them questions... I really haven't heard any developer who's on Steam and isn't satisfied with the help they get from their contacts at Valve... but there's no evidence they have any capacity or willingness to get out there and convince skeptics and recruit people and cut deals to convince curmudgeons and all that. Valve is very much "If we build it, they will come." Amazon has the exact opposite approach, every single category of product they have they have marketing managers reaching out to secure product.

For Disney, passive income of catalogue PC titles is not even going to be a grain of sand on the beach. I'm sure they'd be willing to do it, but they're not going to invest effort to get it done. The ROI isn't there. Like, if they release their catalogue titles and sell say, a very respectable 100,000 of each at $20... that's literally a rounding error on their balance sheet that year. It'd be a little different if they already had people invested in this for new release titles, but they're basically out of that business entirely.

I highly doubt there's any significant contention on Disney's part, like they have a stated reason for why they would not could not release stuff on Steam at all cost. It's more just that they haven't and they don't really care to change.
 

MRORANGE

Member
I imagine most games don't support that aspect ratio. How would those games look like then? Stretched or black borders on the sides. Either way seems very distracting as total black is not possible.

WTF kind of resolution/refresh rate is that thing?

Either way, ECKSBAWKS HUUUUUUUUUUUUGE black borders for the vast majority of games = no, but thanks anyway.

Not really a problem the benefit of support 1440/1080 keeps your game looking perfect at non native resolution with black bars, having played on a 21:9 screen with a game at 16:9 is not a problem and the focus on black bars disappears within a minute or two.

Of course you can always fix most games to support that resolution:





Pictures from Stallion Free and Dr Dogg.
 

TheSeks

Blinded by the luminous glory that is David Bowie's physical manifestation.
Geez, reached the second island of Far Cry 3 and I'm... just... burned out. Why wasn't this island the way to reach it unlocked earlier? 26 singleplayer missions of 38 missions and the damn thing just feels like it's padding at this point.

Kill the Mohawk dude/Vaas that's advertised on the cover. You think it's over? NOPE! SAY GOODBYE TO THE FRIENDS YOU SAVED IN SIX HOURS! NOW GO KILL THIS ONE LAST DUDE!
Like... really? That's no longer my problem, I got what I went through hell for. Goodbye? :/

Also the writing is a bit over the place IMO. Probably because I'm doing all the singleplayer missions back to back instead of padding the game out beyond getting the towers up for free guns. Maybe doing the side missions means more exposition, but I kinda doubt it.
 

JaseC

gave away the keys to the kingdom.
I love single player games like MGS " speaking of that is MGS5 coming to PC ? "

Probably. Maybe. Here's my take:

A year ago, Kojima said that a PC port wasn't on the cards but could appear later; consequently, I've long believed that Konami ported Revengeance to the PC to get a sense of how well a traditional Metal Gear Solid game would do -- it wanted to ascertain and hopefully build upon pre-existing brand awareness, in other words. As far as I'm aware Konami's yet to comment on the performance of the PC version, but it shot up Steam's Top Sellers list when the Winter Sale kicked off and Cheers Tony said that pre-orders quickly exceeded "[his] already high expectations", so it's undoubtedly done well.

But then I'm also the guy who firmly believes that RDR PC is going to happen and WB will get around to re-releasing Wheelman. ;)
 

~~Hasan~~

Junior Member
giphy.gif
.



The last ~10-15 pages has the bulk of discussion on Blacklist. But a quick summary would be that the game is a decent, if streamlined, entry into the traditional Splinter Cell library. Ubisoft caused all the contention because they marketed the game as an action title with superficial stealth mechanics.

~$10 is a great price for the title.

alright great. bought it. thank you bro. now I need to figure out how to add friends :)
 

Tizoc

Member
For Disney, passive income of catalogue PC titles is not even going to be a grain of sand on the beach. I'm sure they'd be willing to do it, but they're not going to invest effort to get it done. The ROI isn't there. Like, if they release their catalogue titles and sell say, a very respectable 100,000 of each at $20... that's literally a rounding error on their balance sheet that year.
This would make it different to a company like say SEGA or Capcom though right?
 

DogMeat77

Member
alright great. bought it. thank you bro. now I need to figure out how to add friends :)

Be careful now. Once you start on the crack, it is hard to get off it. Especially jumping in right before the Summer Sale. Good luck, and just say no
thing because you're already addicted. It is too late.
 

JaseC

gave away the keys to the kingdom.
Blame Valve.

Oh, I definitely agree that Valve could be more proactive. But at this point it's undeniable that Disney is aware of Steam's existence, and with digital versions of its games already being available the matter of getting them up on Steam would be something a single employee could do in the space of a day.

I highly doubt there's any significant contention on Disney's part, like they have a stated reason for why they would not could not release stuff on Steam at all cost. It's more just that they haven't and they don't really care to change.

Yeah, I wasn't trying to suggest that the disinterest is tinged with malice. Evidently Disney's current distribution chain is "good enough", and as you say suggest in the part I excised, its bread and butter lies in film production, merchandising and IP licensing rather than video games (well, Infinity aside).
 

Teeth

Member
I really haven't heard any developer who's on Steam and isn't satisfied with the help they get from their contacts at Valve... but there's no evidence they have any capacity or willingness to get out there and convince skeptics and recruit people

They do with unsigned indies, I can say that.

I have no idea with bigger publishers.
 

Grief.exe

Member
I was just doing some reading on Max Payne 3's New York Minute Hardcore.

That sounds like a frustrating achievement. For those that don't know, you have to beat the entire game, in one sitting, without dying, on the hardest difficulty, while conforming to their 'minute' arcade mode. If you die or fail a mission, you start over.
 

JaseC

gave away the keys to the kingdom.
Agreed, but the chances of that ever happening are very slim. Especially with that open formula they're planning.

Yeah, it's one of those things that would have happened already if it were going to happen at all. Steam moving to a sort of Google Playesque app publishing system is going to catch a lot of small fish but I hardly think it's going to grab the attention of a multimedia juggernaut like Disney.
 

Newblade

Member
.

ModBot said:
Instructions for participants:
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JaseC

gave away the keys to the kingdom.
This would make it different to a company like say SEGA or Capcom though right?

Capcom and Sega are entirely dependent upon the video game industry whereas Disney's the exact opposite, which is why it began pulling out circa the Lucasfilm acquisition as just about everything it had released in recent years failed to take off. Inifnity's obviously done very well, of course, but outside of that Disney's doubling down on licensing opportunities (e.g. EA and Star Wars) rather than pursuing publishing ventures itself (hence WB publishing Lego Marvel).

Talking about Divinity: Original Sin Digital Collectors Edition. Is it region locked?

Yes. The regular edition is region-free, though.
 
Blame Valve. Amazon has people out there actually doing business development. Microsoft and Sony and even Nintendo have people out there doing business development. Valve seems pretty receptive to people that ask them questions... I really haven't heard any developer who's on Steam and isn't satisfied with the help they get from their contacts at Valve... but there's no evidence they have any capacity or willingness to get out there and convince skeptics and recruit people and cut deals to convince curmudgeons and all that. Valve is very much "If we build it, they will come." Amazon has the exact opposite approach, every single category of product they have they have marketing managers reaching out to secure product.

Can I abbreviate this as "Valve needs a Tony"?
Because to me, they definitely do. But since Amazon misplaced their Tony, only real competition to the Steam Summer Sales, aka peak of Steam sales, is GMG with their playfire initiative and they blew their load too early.
The personality cult of GabeN is losing steam and Valve needs somebody who actively handles both the buyers and the seller if they want Steam to be the marketplace of digital goods as GabeN imagines it.
So far Steam is just a vending machine in Japan that sells all the interesting stuff when you put in the right amount of money but if there is ever an error you'll end up with a bottle of wasabi soda in the middle of nowhere instead of your coke.

I was just doing some reading on Max Payne 3's New York Minute Hardcore.

That sounds like a frustrating achievement. For those that don't know, you have to beat the entire game, in one sitting, without dying, on the hardest difficulty, while conforming to their 'minute' arcade mode. If you die or fail a mission, you start over.

And they say the masochism is dead. I expect you need to buy it at full price to add to the effect.
 

Salsa

Member
I was just doing some reading on Max Payne 3's New York Minute Hardcore.

That sounds like a frustrating achievement. For those that don't know, you have to beat the entire game, in one sitting, without dying, on the hardest difficulty, while conforming to their 'minute' arcade mode. If you die or fail a mission, you start over.

but being at the airport shootout when HEALTH kicks in and you know that if you die you gotta do it all over again

so worth it

DUNDUNDUNDUNDUNDUNDUNDUNDUN
 

Rhaknar

The Steam equivalent of the drunk friend who keeps offering to pay your tab all night.
yo Marlow Briggs is pretty cool, this came out at what? 15 bucks?

this aint no Garshap let me tell you (if we are comparing god of war clones that is)
 
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