deanb

Yeah, I'm not sure there's much to redeem it at this point. The price is quite high at the moment (at least on Origin, and even if that was lowered you've still got the always-online component. If the always online component was removed you've still got the issue of the small cities. If the cities were enlarged you've still got the issue of the really dumb AI. And that could take a fair chunk of work that should have been done during development. I'm really confused on the dumb AI actually as everything else I can understand, but it's SimCity, Sim for simulation. That's the part that no matter what is meant to rock. To a large degree it seems more like it was built to be "The SimsCity". A proper naming actually could elevate a lot of the complaints folks have as it. SimCity Regions, SimCity Online, The Sims City, etc. Though of course that immediately carries the stigma of Societies, but there's less expectations on it being a full and true ten years in the waiting/making sequel to SimCity 4.

Wow, it has been some years since these wee announced wasn't it, cos I'm having flash backs to discussion about it being expandalone (as in a "it should be" than anything as announced at the time).

Distraction tactics on the part of their leader. Gives something to talk about pre-election, if they're standing up to the British makes her come off as a strong leader n all that stuff.

Apparently three people voted against Falklands remaining part of the British Empire Overseas Territories. They were given a row boat and pointed towards Argentina. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-21750909

Waaayyyy too much New Vegas. But I'm now beyond where I got last time. Dunno if I want to let Benny escape to Legion or kill him yet. I could do with triggering the event that neutrals Legion though as I can't currently explore parts of the map without their assassins constantly after me. I think I've managed to get hold of all the companions this time too, which is nice. Mainly to Arcade I was missing before now. Should probably try n trigger their quests since I've only half done Cassidy's n Veronicas before now. Cassidy has an awkward quest though that meshes directly into another quest chain so I'm just having to let them pause for now. Also hopped onto Endless Space again last night. Might do some more hopping onto it as I remembered how much I enjoyed the game (despite/because of the complexity). Iv'e kind of drifted away from procedural games for a while though, I've been wanting to get completable story-based games out of the way first. Oh and Simpsons Tapped Out, which is quite tastefully done. Don't really need to pay for anything, it pretty much plays at its own pace. Only need to buy doughnuts if you want the specialist buildings.

And EG have now being corrected with Valve pointing out they're not associated with the Xi3 Piston, though EG is still keeping that headlines :/

Could do with someone going through and fixing the volume between clips.

Because other people also do it, thus reinforcing the idea it's okay/not a terrible thing. Another line of thinking would be "it is only a video of a dog going down stairs, not citizen kane after all".

Endless Space is half off on Steam from today (somepoint in time) to 18th to celebrate 300K sales. I actually quite enjoyed it, quite a disservice to the game I've not set aside more time to test the intricacies. Oh and a 4th free DLC pack coming for it too. http://store.steampowered.com/app/208140/

It's a modern FPS, of course it's short. Also means it pulled you in at least, which I can't say for ACIII.

It's because they're taking video with the same device used to make photos, and photos can be portrait. If videos were still made on stuff like this then you'd find people less likely to hold it 90o off. That and 50% of people are of below average intelligence.

So you can now pre-order Piston for $900 ($1000 if you do it later) http://xi3.com/buy_now-piston.php Nice looking spec sheets . Not sure if I should even be throwing it in here as apart from Xi3s own words, Valves official word is Steambox news is months away, this isn't the/a "steambox". Which also means should it be on some standardised system of CPU/GPU/RAM then this is likely to not match it. It's also as expensive as expected. $1000 for a linux PC is asking a lot, unless you specifically want it really small, but *looks at PS3* people have put much larger things under their TV before now (and funnily/worse, cheaper...). If you or a friend can build a PC, it's still very much the way to go at this stage. Basically it seems they're trying to pull in people in for pre-orders before official Steambox news hits and destroys any and all momentum third parties might have. Also from the EG article: It's proprietary motherboards http://xi3.com/xi3_backplanes.php Sure it's upgradable, but you're not gonna go on ebuyer/bestbuy and pick up parts for this. (Also somewhat annoyed EG are reporting it as "Valve backed", it isn't. For one Xi3 would proudly be flaunting thier partnership, and have a few Valve and Steam logos plastered on their pre-order page.)

I'd classify them as Marvel Avengers. They're sold in boxsets as such.

Good haul. Somehow I've only managed to watch the start of Stardust like 3 times, all I hear for it is praise though so really should invest some time in fully watching it one day.

http://marvel.com/comics/unlimited This is pretty neat, seems a good deal too.

Oh god it uses shortest route path-finding. This kind of AI was supposed to die out last generation, not be in a game in 2013. It's fun because apart from being exceedingly simplistic (in a simulator too) it breaks traffic, since it won't flow along denser roads, and also emergency services since they target one emergency closest and with then entire force. He didn't know it but Chris Nolan made a SimCity V joke in TDKR. NeoGAF also got a bit of fun when they found a Maxis/EA sockpuppet in their threads. edit: Also seems it's tiered too, those with DLC and those without: Fuck it, I've Tropico, I've still got SimCity 3000 working. SimCity 6 may tempt my gaze but price drop and whatever ain't making me touch this game.

Still not so sure on making the companion the mystery, since once mystery is solved then companion becomes less worthwhile. But it'll be enjoyable to follow anyway.

http://www.destructoid.com/you-should-feel-bad-but-games-don-t-want-you-to-247794.phtml Read this the other day, thought it pretty good fit for this thread. It is something that kicks in the back of my mind quite frequently. Many games make it hard to be a good guy/pacifist. Even if game states otherwise in the story. But I can see the argument that gamers find it exciting, and having long periods of non-excitement can turn players off. Though I'd say it's a case of finding something else to fill in the gaps, or replace it altogether. Or at least create a game where violence is (somewhat) optional. I would hope that Watch_Dogs will feature a pacifist mode in some way and the stuff shown so far is for excitement factor. Kinda like the Three Pillars thing DXHR had.

@misterjack: I've not played it recently enough to say, i'd guess so. Actually 3000 works on my win7 netbook so 4 should. @dee no doubt many will say "you're getting something free, they didn't have to so be happy with whatever". The problem being EA have now decided to take the path of giving gifts to appease, and I'm pretty sure after a scrap with other half a drooping bouquet of forecourt flowers only leads to making things worse. I don't expect they'll be giving away Crysis 3, but a game from their discount bin will likely only further enrage. And in two weeks when it'll likely have calmed down. (Should really give it now, pulls people from the game n speeds up server recovery)

I take screenshots with a grain of salt. Inspect Element and Firebug do exist. I quite like 3000, not much experience of 4. 1 and 2000 are a bit too old I'd say. 4 is a lot more recent and Mod supported as GOH says. In modern sense, depends what you want. Tropico is pretty fun and currently on sale, even smaller than SimCity, but also more economically driven (since you build the specific farms, rather than them being auto-picked by your taxes/quality of life n all that as in Simcity games). There's CitiesXL, but it's kind of a cheap knock-off. But it's also kind of the proto-Simcity 5 in that it came out first with bendy roads and linked towns in MP, but it dropped that (and..well the entire publisher and developer) very quickly so latest version is SP-only. It's also not TownsXL. Also in SimCity V news; they've stopped advertising campaigns of it and told affiliates to stop promoting it (alongside Amazon already not selling it). The whole refund side of things is pretty murky though. Some reckon they've got refunds, many don't, some it's through Origin some through Amazon.

Two interview pieces up on PAR with Rhianna Pratchett http://penny-arcade.com/report/editorial-article/tomb-raiders-writer-discusses-the-press-gender-and-lara-crofts-body-count http://penny-arcade.com/report/editorial-article/tomb-writers-writer-talks-impalement-downtown-abbey-and-whether-were-revisi Interesting on the whole gun aspect. It's something that popped up on here with Watch_dogs too.

Simcity Societies 2?

Of note is that most of the 91-rating comes from sites that got and reviewed pre-release code at a review event hosted by LA. The lower scores coming from those that held off and reviewed post-launch (either principle or because the game isn't out in their region yet).