Still enjoying your reviews! Through these series, you paint a rather nuanced view of your country, and many of it's idiosyncrasies. This coupled with a lot of video game history unknown to me makes for very interesting reads. Keep it going! 

I thought the whole point of this was that you didn't have an internet connection in that part of the house!  You mean, this whole time you've had WiFi?!

Sorry about the misinterpretation! I should have elaborated, I didn't know wireless Blu-ray players were that common. Also, I have a - some may call it dumb, I call it safe - tendency to shut down my wireless signal whenever I can. I don't want to go into a debate about the believers and non-believers of wireless signals and their effects on health, but suffice to say I rather play it safe, especially with small kids nearby.

So yes, I have a wifi signal in that part of the house, but no cable.

Thanks for the replies all. I must say I'm quite dismayed that everyone here says firmware updates are here to stay... I guess I could look for a wireless Blu-ray player, but still... With the risk of sounding like a simpleton, I can't say I'm impressed with this evolution, and would rather have a stable format (with some fewer options I guess) than a constantly upgrading one.

At least they could have all the firmware drivers on the Blu-ray disk itself. I know this isn't simple with 1000's of drivers, but I can't believe consumers have to do this. Anyways, thanks for the replies.

You realize a PS3 IS a wireless player, right?

No, I didn't know it was wireless actually. Thanks for the heads-up!

Thanks for the replies all. I must say I'm quite dismayed that everyone here says firmware updates are here to stay... I guess I could look for a wireless Blu-ray player, but still... With the risk of sounding like a simpleton, I can't say I'm impressed with this evolution, and would rather have a stable format (with some fewer options I guess) than a constantly upgrading one.

At least they could have all the firmware drivers on the Blu-ray disk itself. I know this isn't simple with 1000's of drivers, but I can't believe consumers have to do this. Anyways, thanks for the replies.

I have a samsung Bluray that's not very good. It loads many discs very slowly (Game of Thrones can take a minute), and some it can't even play (The Avengers, latest Spiderman...) . Also, there haven't been many firmware updates for it lately, and I've grown sick of the thing.

Is there a good Bluray player that doesn't need a lot of firmware upgrading? I hate hate hate that they make consumers go through this hassle, can't really call it progress!! Since I have no internet connection in that part of the house, I always have to mess around with usb sticks etc.

I have the option of getting a playstation 3 for free. Is that a good player? I wouldn't be using it for games, just movies.

Will Arnett joins TMNT cast

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/will-arnett-joining-megan-fox-432515

Will Arnett has joined Megan Fox as one of the leads in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, being made by Paramount and Michael Bay's Platinum Dunes production banner.

His... jaw...? It's freaking me out.

Work in a relatively small non-profit organization which helps contractors and various experts with the complicated Flemish (= part of Belgium) Environmental Laws concerning the excavation and utilisation of (often polluted) soil.

Sort of like my hero Captain Planet, but with more paperwork involved. And significantly weaker superpowers.

My gaming pc runs windows 8. I don't like 8 much, but it's been just fine for gaming.

Same here; I upgraded for X-Com. I chose Windows 8 because it's a lot cheaper.

And I don't know if this is objectively true, but I do feel that a lot of programs (Steam especially) and games run A LOT faster on Win8 than on WinXP.

Finished this up myself.  never has a game left me feeling as drained as this one has.  one of those ones I wish I could get my wife to play through, but she's decidedly anti-zombie.  won't watch the show either. 

I hear you! (http://gamingtrend.com/forums/console-gaming/non-gamers-dont-understand-games/)

Oh, and if you've finished the game, look for the end credits song on youtube ("Take us back" by Alela Diane) and weep until you have no tears left.

Arch Rivals

Hm, that game has reminded me of one of my NES (or rather: gameboy) favorites I owned: Nintendo World Cup. That was a soccer game where you could also punch or kick your opponents, permanently disabling them. Whenever I played this with a friend, it would turn out into a bloody melee game. But then, even when I played the NES game 'Tennis' it would quickly dissolve into a fake fight.

I hope - just as you - that the subgenre of the sports-game-in-which-you-can-beat-up-your-opponents will return!

Has anyone tried the Paths of Exile open Beta yet? It's a Diablo 3-game from an indie-developer, and it's totally free. Well, you can pay for cosmetic stuff, but otherwise it's supposed to be free.
The twist is that apparantly it's a very flexible skill system: all skills are available to all classes, and you can alter skills with gems you find.

My download crashed so I haven't tried it yet, but I am very curious if anyone here has given it a spin!

Here's a nice write-up to bring you up to speed: http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/02/27/path-of-exile-hack-and-slash-for-free

Just finished it.

I raise my angry little fist at the writers for making me suffer like this. For making me feel like shit, for hurting me, for causing me to think an entire weekend about "what if I just could have...", for making me care so much about these characters I'm almost crying, for hating the world...


Bloody fantastic game.

I have a young nephew who's 17 or so (I'm 32), and he suffers from autism. I've always had some difficulties communicating with him, finding topics of interest to talk about... Until last christmas, we started talking about gaming, and suddenly we had an hour-long conversation in which I could offer my gaming wisdom (Baldur's Gate! UFO: enemy unknown! NES games!) and he was soaking it up like a sponge, but meanwhile trying to convert me to japanese RPG's!

So yeah, gaming is a great topic to talk about, if you find someone at least...

Yeah, but that wouldn't work. And I didn't write this specifically about my girlfriend, she's often very understanding when it comes to pc gaming. it was just a general example of the frustration I feel when I try to talk about my hobby. It's just... weird... that people have such biased and wrong views about gaming.

I hate this with a fiery passion!
My internet connection is often shaky, and there's nothing worse than thinking you have half an hour of spare time, logging in, and seeing the dreaded "downloading latest patch" message appearing! Aaargh, at least give me an option for a single-player game!

[feel]

I’m sure many of you feel the same way. Talking to a colleague, friend or family member that has never played a pc game, is often very frustrating. They think all games are bloody and violent, and this hobby is not understood, found to be childish, frowned upon... Sometimes even despised.

Because this has been my experience for the last 20 years, I don’t even bother trying to explain or talk about games to non-gamers anymore. But every so often, I talk about a peculiar trend or something that has impressed me to my non-gamer girlfriend.

Last weekend I was talking about the Walking Dead-game, and though I haven’t finished it yet, I’m simply in awe about what the creators make me –as a gamer – feel. I have honest, sincere emotions. The stuff real gamers talk about in revered tones of when they talk about Planescape: Torment for example.

I won’t spoil it for those who haven’t played it, but here’s a comic which has a similar scene (last panel):

http://penny-arcade.com/comic/2008/05/26

And for those who have played episode 3:

Spoiler for Hiden:

the part where you have the option of shooting Duck.

To give some background: as a player you’re given the option of ending someone’s pain, and basically committing murder on a defenseless creature. You even have to ‘click’ to shoot.

So I was trying to explain to my girlfriend how utterly devastated this made me feel, but I didn’t properly explain it I guess, because she had this disgusted look on her face, and thought it was a horrible game for having players commit these kinds of terrible acts. The game does indeed make you (or makes you choose to) do these atrocities, but it’s not for kicks, or fun, or even pleasure! It makes you do these things because it’s telling an intricate story, and wants you to feel the same way as the main character. But she didn’t see it this way, and having these acts made interactive somehow made it much worse.

When I said I didn’t see a moral difference between seeing a movie or reading a book with similar scenes, she disagreed firmly. The interactivity offered by games made all the difference for her.

So even though I tried to explain the difference between for example Carmageddon*, in which the point of the game is killing pedestrians by car, and the Walking Dead, which offers you an emotional story, it was a moot point for her.

Now, she (and every other non-gamer) is wrong I think. But they don’t understand this medium, and fear it. She often says she wouldn’t like our 2-year old son growing up with video games; and I agree that I won’t force it to him. But if he does share an interest later, I don’t think games are a bad influence. The Walking Dead made me think and made me feel - in this case: made me feel sick! -, and gave me total immersion and escapism; it might even have broadened my horizon. Isn’t that why we also read books or see movies? And I’d much rather play this, than watch silly tv shows…  And I hope the same for my kid later!

It's just quite frustrating sometimes...

*By the way, this is not a diss on Carmageddon, I liked it a lot when it came out!

Are there any plans to release this in a box with Wings of Liberty? I haven't played any Starcraft game yet, but I'm suddenly very anxious on playing this since I now own (and enjoy) the boardgame, and would like to know more about the story and it's units.

To answer my own question: yes, the blizzard store sells a package of these 2 games for $60 or so. But that's not much of a discount I think. We're talking about a 2,5 year old game, and they're still asking a lot of money for it. I'll see if I can find a boxed copy for cheap somewhere.

You can grab Wings of Liberty for 20 bucks now on Blizzard or from Amazon.

Thanks, but I got impatient and got it last week In the cheapest store around it was still €30. But I've been playing it last week and enjoying it for what it is. I've never been a huge RTS fan - I played pretty much all the C&C's and Red Alert's, but that's it - but it's a very polished product. I especially like the way you can talk to crew members on the Hyperion between missions, that's a nice Wing Commander-retro-thing to do!

I tried one mission on brutal though (Zero Hour, the 3rd one where you have to survive the Zerg for the first time) but that's a bit too difficult for me. If anyone has any pointers to help, feel free to share your wisdom. Like how many SCV's to build, what units to focus on...

Are there any plans to release this in a box with Wings of Liberty? I haven't played any Starcraft game yet, but I'm suddenly very anxious on playing this since I now own (and enjoy) the boardgame, and would like to know more about the story and it's units.

To answer my own question: yes, the blizzard store sells a package of these 2 games for $60 or so. But that's not much of a discount I think. We're talking about a 2,5 year old game, and they're still asking a lot of money for it. I'll see if I can find a boxed copy for cheap somewhere.

what about the Call to Power games, since they are technically Civilization without the name? 

Get out.

I actually bought Civilization: Call to Power because I was young and stupid. Towards the endgame, everything turned into wars against the super-powered lawyer units. Just like real life!

What's wrong with them? I've never played a civilisation game, I only had Call to Power 2. But I liked it a lot. Was I foolish to like it and should I deny ever having played it?

Are there any plans to release this in a box with Wings of Liberty? I haven't played any Starcraft game yet, but I'm suddenly very anxious on playing this since I now own (and enjoy) the boardgame, and would like to know more about the story and it's units.

[live]

Well, he has a point. I love Elder Scrolls, but I don't remember many stories, and the characters are unremarkable. But that's okay. The point of the Elder Scrolls is to be able to live in this huge world, and Bethesda gloriously succeed in creating a believable world.

But if I think of memorable characters and stories in an open world, I think of games like Zelda the Wind Waker, or Batman Arkham City.

It's just a different emphasis. I prefer an emphasis on story, but I completely understand that this isn't the Elder Scrolls' first objective.

I have now played this game 1,5 times. The first 0,5 time was a couple of turns to get a feel, and then my friend had to leave. Yesterday evening I played it again, and won with the terrans in about 5 turns. Completely blitzed the Protoss player with marines and vultures. Fun!

I'm now the proud owner of the expansion pack as well! But I may not yet introduce this, because it adds some complexity to the game.

[only]

Congratulations! Did you play with the minis at all yet? That was the first thing I did, putting them on the table and imagining the character sounds in my head.

  Eeehm...

It's probably the only way this game is going to get played soon...

So now I'm sitting in my chair, with the Starcraft manual, ready for some thorough reading! (= pure bliss)
Quest completed!

That reminds me that I should really replay The Witcher 2, and try out the "other" storyline. I wonder how many people actually played this game twice, and wonder if that's a smart decision... If most of your players are only going to see half your content, is it really worth it? I get it for small quests, but for an entire part of a game...?

I've been thinking about it some more, and I really think the swap-skills-freely gameplay is fantastic. If you think about it, it's a really old-fashioned mechanic to have players choose a skill (based on a vague description), without allowing them to try it out first.

But of course, this leads to the fact that you don't really 'build' your character, since after all, everyone can change his skills to be completely the same as the next guy.

So I think they really should have compensated this with their items. Have more diverse characteristics here, instead of extra stats / damage. Have items influence individual skill changes, cooldown timers, add extra skills (why not from other classes? I had a D2 elemental druid with a teleport skill-staff which was awesome), and more stuff to flesh out your character. And they could have used the jeweller and smith for this.

Right now damage is pretty much the most interesting stat, coupled with your core stat (vitality, intelligence...). You don't choose much more than that, except the occasional crit chance build or some such thing. Not very interesting at all.

Just my 2 cents.

I agree, once a week is fine. I love reading about it, but right now it's dosed perfectly. Just a little bit of NES nostalgia every week, I love it!

[Spoiler]

Finished. Enjoyed the game immensely. it did get rather easy near the end, but open world games where you can upgrade your skills, weapons and health often have that side-effect. That would actually be my biggest gripe: I played the game on the hardest difficulty, and it wasn't very hard at all. I mean, a silenced sniper rifle is really all you need to clear outposts without alerting anyone. So for me the high point in the game would be the moment that you're still struggling. You only carry 2 weapons, don't have a lot of ammo or health, and suddenly the alarm goes off and a truckload of bad guys arrive. Surviving those moments were pure gaming fun!

I was also rather impressed by the AI actually. The way they run and slide behind cover was very lifelike and immersive. For me a first person shooter is only fun if there's a smart AI playing against you, and this game delivers.

Overall, a fantastic experience.

Now, as to the story...

Spoiler for Hiden:

I don't think I *get* the story either. I thought it was rather curious that Vaas as well as that doctor that helps you had a scar over their head. I reckoned they could be one and the same person perhaps, but that didn't really manifest in the ending.

Also, the way you kill these important characters, like Vaas and Hoyt, is very abstract. You enter a hallucigenic (is that a word?) state, and when you wake up, they're all dead. You also often escape miracously from Vaas who tries to burn you, drown you, shoot you and stab you.

I think if they tried to make this into a don't-believe-everything-you-see story, they should have done a bit more than use hallucinations and inexplicable facts. Cause right now, I don't get it, other than to take it literal.

Yeah, nice find
I've posted my quest on the Belgian boards, but not in a funny-geeklist way. It really is the best place to look for, and like I posted above, I'm quite close to securing a copy myself. If only the seller would answer mails within 48hrs, sigh... 

7 PM: get home from work, dinner will be ready when I arrive

9 PM: finish dinner, cleaning and putting kid to bed

till 10:30:
- Half the time: play a pc game, feel guilty about not spending enough time with girlfriend
- Other half the time: watch a tv show with girlfriend, feeling guilty about not spending enough time with video game

11 PM: read a book in bed
11.01 PM: fall asleep

And soon even that precious bit of pc gaming time will be gone, since kid number 2 will be here in 2 months time

Actually, I may have found a copy...!
I spammed all Belgian Boardgamegeek users who had rated Starcraft rather low, and asked if they wanted to sell it to me. And I found one who's willing to part with his copy, so right now I'm hassling for the price.

[why]

Btw, I've been to Brussels a few years back. Lovely city!

Well, I'm typing this from a lovely office in Brussels, and I often wonder why people would willingly go here
Was it part of a sentence you had to serve?

Anyways, if you ever plan to visit Belgium again, bring Starcraft, and you'll have a free place to stay! (Well, you can stay in the office, but don't move a muscle at night, or the alarm will go off).

I have Starcraft the Board game 

<skip>

I would never give it away or trade it though. The units are just too cool looking, the map tiles are awesome and its frakkin Starcraft. Sorry .

Apology accepted

I hope Volition will be given the chance to make a new Freespace, but the odds of succesfully navigating an asteroid field creating a new non-kickstarter space sim are approximately 3,720 to 1.

Steam has it as a daily offer. I really really loved Daedelic's other adventure 'The Whispered World', but I think this one is part of a trilogy (3rd game is in the make I think). Has anyone played it? And do you need the (universally lower rated) prequel to enjoy the most out of it?

It has happened again, and of course it's an out-of-print game. Obviously 

This time, I'm trying to get my grubby hands on Starcraft the boardgame. I've read a post on BoardgameGeek claiming it to be Pure Strategy Perfection, and I need this game, now! I'm talking about the Fantasyflight game, not the Risk-game that's been published recently.

Now, this isn't a call for anyone to send me a free copy*, but if anyone has this game, what are your thoughts? Is it really a good game? I know it's hardcore, with typical FFG rules and exceptions, but what's the gut feeling here? Game good? Or game bad?


_{* please send me a free copy. I live in Belgium, which is not very far at all from wherever you live. I'll send you beer and chocolates in return. And some sprouts.}

Sure, post your ideas, I'm very interested in the general thought process! I'm building an alternative set of rules myself for the long-gone Rackham boardgame 'hybrid', and have created a more streamlined version for 'Star Warriors' for my friends, so I might have a few thoughts.

I have a 6year old pc (with a 1year old graphics card), and it runs great, except when the entire island is burning to the ground, which I like to try in pretty much every fight.

I always wish I have more medikits, but I completed it on Classic with 1 support guy. So not necessary, but always handy.
A shiv might be interesting, because there might be just a bit of mind control fun going on
1 psi soldier is enough, just be sure to protect him/her!

I'll try to post more as well. I've been a regular since the day this site was born, but because I'm not that good at expressing myself in english I don't post that much.

And I'd hate to see this site go, it's my daily escape to read about pc games (since almost none of my friends are gamers).