Favorite video games

**Ellimist** · 06-04-2012, 09:05 PM

So, still playing Mass Effect 2, it's not quite as engaging at ME1, but in the meantime, I've finished Limbo (short, but fun), and Trine 2... which was kind of a waste of $15. I really liked the first one, and sort of expected them to step it up a bit in terms of story or difficulty or something. I certainly enjoyed Trine 2 enough to finish it, but it felt pretty empty and hack/slashy despite the minor (easy) puzzles.

Oh well.

**Ellimist** · 07-28-2012, 09:33 AM

STEAM SALE was awesome.

Bought, played, and finished:

VVVVVV - 2D gravity inverter arcade-style game - only took 4 hrs to beat.
Q.U.B.E. - Basically portal, but with block control instead of portals - 7 hours, I think.

Recently finished Machinarium, too. Point and click - puzzle-y.

Still working on Osmos and The Binding of Isaac and Mass Effect 2 (in Origin game app), but I got more games in the sale!

Fear 2,3
Alice: Madness Returns
Rage
Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet
Crysis 1,2 (and warhead)
Fallout: New Vegas
Batman: Arkham City
Orcs Must Die
Half-Life: Source (only played the original)
Vampire: The Masquerade
Thief: Deadly Shadows
Deus Ex: Human Revolution

This is going to take me a loooong time to get through.

**Slow Dog Noodle** · 07-30-2012, 06:36 AM

Still playing Dark Souls. What a great game. First game in probably 10 years that I've actually finished and kept playing. More content comes out in October too, so that should keep me busy on the gaming front. I find that the older I get the harder it is to find good games. There's a lot of crap being produced. I do want to give the Mass Effect series a try though.

**LJonesy** · 07-31-2012, 03:10 AM

Took me 343 hours. Best $8 I ever spent!

platinum god.jpg

**po-m** · 07-31-2012, 01:09 PM

I always wondered what it is about dudes and video games. I mean, I find them entertaining and all, but not to the point where I'd play them all night, or all week without showering, for that matter. Not to mention, this thread is huge and it's mostly a bunch of guys just naming video game titles. Do women have a similar affliction that I'm unaware of? Because I feel like there should be a thread dedicated to it.

**Ellimist** · 07-31-2012, 01:18 PM

I agree. Let's have girl gamers represented.

Although, those types of guys you are talking about really only list one or two games... Diablo, WoW, or Starcraft...

People who play many different games are less obsessive.

**Slow Dog Noodle** · 07-31-2012, 01:29 PM

Originally Posted by po-m

Do women have a similar affliction that I'm unaware of?

They're called shoes.

**po-m** · 07-31-2012, 01:58 PM

Ok, I knew someone would say something like "shoes", and no, that is not on the same level at all. Neither are shopping, painting each others' toenails, or brushing our hair. I'm talking legitimate time-consuming hobby here, not girly stereotype.

Originally Posted by Ellimist

People who play many different games are less obsessive.

I call bullshit. Whether you drink beer every day or you binge on every kind of alcohol you can get your hands on, you're still an alcoholic.

**Ellimist** · 07-31-2012, 02:20 PM

I think I have maybe 40 or 50 games now that I play (or have played in the last 15 years) once and uninstall.

How many books or movies or albums do you have?

It sounds more like you have some sort of prejudice against video games. I think it's a girl thing to dislike video games.

**po-m** · 07-31-2012, 03:46 PM

Heeheehee, I don't have a prejudice against them, I just don't understand them; I'm ignorant. And actually, I don't have very many albums or movies at all. I'm very selective when it comes to actually purchasing things like that. Right now, not counting my stupid required grad school readings, I probably own about ten books, and not many more CDs--I think my itunes has about 200 songs in it, total.

I could make a thread called "least favorite video games", but I'm fairly sure it would just end up being an extension of this one.

**LJonesy** · 07-31-2012, 07:30 PM

If you talked to me about this 5 years ago when I joined I could have given you a much more detailed description on why video games are so good and so obsessive and so on. Despite the massive amount of time I've sunk into that game, I don't actually play video games anywhere near as much as I used to. That game in particular is very easy to play, you open it up in a little window and start from level 1 every single time, it doesn't go full screen, so it doesn't intrude on the rest of your computer, the levels are meaningless too, so I can put it down whenever I want to no consequence whatsoever. I think because it was so easy to play I sunk so much time into it, other games are just too much of a hassle these days to get into...

**Slow Dog Noodle** · 08-01-2012, 06:52 AM

Originally Posted by po-m

Ok, I knew someone would say something like "shoes", and no, that is not on the same level at all. Neither are shopping, painting each others' toenails, or brushing our hair. I'm talking legitimate time-consuming hobby here, not girly stereotype.

I call bullshit. Whether you drink beer every day or you binge on every kind of alcohol you can get your hands on, you're still an alcoholic.

Different people take it to different levels. Shoe shopping is a girly stereotype just like videogames are a…well, not manly; let’s say guyly one. There are girls that play games obsessively and guys that shop for shoes obsessively. You know, the hot new pair of Jordans and that. But they’re both hobbies. Like putting together ships with parts from the plastic tree and tiny tubes of glue, or collecting beanie babies.
I sink anywhere from zero to five hours a week into video games. Hardly obsessive, but I enjoy it. Some dude in China keeled over and died after a 40 hour gaming marathon. Some girls have one pair of shoes while others bemoan their incomplete sets of Louboutins. There are all points in between.

**Ellimist** · 08-02-2012, 08:00 AM

Originally Posted by Ellimist

I think it's a girl thing to dislike video games.

So, I was thinking about this statement, and thought maybe it was unfounded. I found an article that addresses WHY girls tend to dislike video games. It's pretty fascinating.

http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol11/issue4/hartmann.html

This article and the references at the bottom consistently state that females are less interested in or dislike video games and then go on to explain why.

Edit: for pedantry's-sake, it should be noted that this is all generalization, and there are always exceptions

**po-m** · 08-02-2012, 09:13 AM

Hmm. I guess that may have some truth to it. Although I used to be able to play pretty much anything on the older systems and be entertained for hours, regardless of violence or competitive nature of the game. After the demise of Sega and SNES, though, I completely lost interest.

And for pedantry's sake, "gender" is the wrong word.

**MicheleVR5** · 08-24-2012, 08:54 AM

Originally Posted by Ellimist

So, I was thinking about this statement, and thought maybe it was unfounded. I found an article that addresses WHY girls tend to dislike video games. It's pretty fascinating.

http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol11/issue4/hartmann.html

This article and the references at the bottom consistently state that females are less interested in or dislike video games and then go on to explain why.

Edit: for pedantry's-sake, it should be noted that this is all generalization, and there are always exceptions

Looks like this article is pre-Facebook being in the mainstream. The Sims and Farmville have proven that game designers just haven't figured out whatever magic combination will make soccer moms (disclaimer: super broad stereotype) want to be interested in a genre of games, instead of just these exceptions. (Not counting stuff like Words With Friends/Draw Something, which have roots in family board games anyway.) Also, until those games turned heads, I don't think game designers had been trying hard enough, or maybe they were, but just kept going about it the wrong way.

We're currently attempting to get through all the Kingdom Hearts games. We've been playing smaller cult indie games - Braid, DeathSpank, I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MBIES 1N IT!!!1. Fruit Ninja! Heh. Rock Band. I don't have the time or interest to sink into those huge popular ones. Even when I do have interest, like with all the recent Mario games, I still don't make it a priority. I got through about 2/3rds of Skyward Sword but I simply didn't care about the outcome, so I stopped.

I haven't seen Limbo mentioned here, which I figured would be right up HOL readers' alley. I, uh, couldn't get past the second spider.

**CpVb006** · 09-01-2012, 12:32 PM

Originally Posted by LJonesy

Took me 343 hours. Best $8 I ever spent!

platinum god.jpg

Whoa, good going! I am a pretty avid player, but nowhere near Platinum God status. More like struggling to get more than 1/6 of the polaroid finished God.

**LJonesy** · 09-01-2012, 05:24 PM

Originally Posted by CpVb006

Whoa, good going! I am a pretty avid player, but nowhere near Platinum God status. More like struggling to get more than 1/6 of the polaroid finished God.

It just takes a lot of persistence, and a bit of skill. As long as you're not taking unnecessary hits, you'll come out with far more life than before. The only real problems for me in this game was beating The Chest with Eve and Samson. Despite common opinions, Blue Baby is actually a decent character, your spacebar item is left wide open for a good upgrade (unlike Judas) and you could easily amount a stack of health through a bit of luck. Samson shoots too slow, and needs more upgrades to improve his fire rate and damage before he becomes worthwhile. Eve is similar, except she becomes worthwhile much earlier when her dead bird launches - but that takes damage. To get the deals with the devil or the angel rooms, you really can't afford to take too much damage. Best of luck getting platinum god, hit me up for any advice

I've left The Binding of Isaac alone, mostly, since beating it. The creator of that game has released a new collection of his old games, and some new ones, called "The Basement Collection," it's good fun so far.

basement collection.jpg

**Ellimist** · 09-01-2012, 08:08 PM

Binding of Isaac is HARD. Heh. I think it takes way more practice than I have the patience to put into it.

On the other hand, I have been playing a lot of Borderlands. Up to level 25 Berserker, in New Haven now. Those antlion spider things piss me off... But it's a neat game - good mix of RPG and FPS.

**LJonesy** · 09-02-2012, 01:44 AM

Originally Posted by Ellimist

Binding of Isaac is HARD. Heh. I think it takes way more practice than I have the patience to put into it.

On the other hand, I have been playing a lot of Borderlands. Up to level 25 Berserker, in New Haven now. Those antlion spider things piss me off... But it's a neat game - good mix of RPG and FPS.

It's ALL practice. Once you know the patterns and set moves of a boss, you can do it almost without looking. I get through the basement and caves barely paying attention, put youtube on at he same time

Just pay attention to the enemy patterns and room configurations and move appropriately, it's almost mechanical.

As for borderlands, i made the mistake of choosing sniper, and am completely bored of it into the second zone

**Ellimist** · 09-02-2012, 05:16 AM

Interesting. I chose berserker (the big burly dude which you're supposed to use to get up close and pummel everyone), but I don't like losing health and shield, so I most often use a sniper rifle.

**CpVb006** · 09-02-2012, 11:50 AM

Originally Posted by LJonesy

It's ALL practice. Once you know the patterns and set moves of a boss, you can do it almost without looking. I get through the basement and caves barely paying attention, put youtube on at he same time

Just pay attention to the enemy patterns and room configurations and move appropriately, it's almost mechanical.

Yeah, definitely. The problem is that it can take so much, and so much time, to get to some of the end bosses. And by then you are all nervous. You never get a great, stress-free chance to screw around with fighting Satan or Isaac. I wish there was a practice mode.

**LJonesy** · 09-02-2012, 05:33 PM

Originally Posted by CpVb006

Yeah, definitely. The problem is that it can take so much, and so much time, to get to some of the end bosses. And by then you are all nervous. You never get a great, stress-free chance to screw around with fighting Satan or Isaac. I wish there was a practice mode.

The entire thing is a practice mode, especially considering how random and unfixed it is. The only thing you SHOULD be having difficulty with is getting the basement boy/cave boy etc achievements, since wrath of the lamb i have always taken damage on the new floors, but before the expansion, i could get through the basement and sometimes caves without a worry.

Anyway, it is simply practice and habit, the bosses are only going to do X number of things ever, sometimes you just need to push yourself, and make your safe make the movements you need to make to escape the enemy's patterns. Have you gone to the Cathedral yet? The boss there is actually easier than it looks when you really think about it. Just make sure you're taking good items, or items which compliment your build. If you've received lots of speed, range, and fire rate upgrades and then hit a book of belial, take it, you'll need the extra damage, and it'll make you well rounded. Get flying too, it really helps you if you're still learning, so does the Oujia board (i hate it personally but it's less to think about for a new player. If you keep focusing on building up these sorts of items you'll have a higher chance of winning, and the better you get, the less you rely on them. Post a specific question to me and i'll try answer it as best i can, honestly, i know the game a little too well, it's kind of worrying (I've moved onto The Basement Collection now anyway)

**CpVb006** · 09-03-2012, 08:07 AM

Yes, I've completed the Cathedral once as Isaac. My first and only time there, actually. But I had rolled (literally, with the D6) some really lucky stuff. Technology 2, a level 3 meat boy. But the thing is, I just brute forced the boss Isaac. I had a lot of health and did enough damage before he killed me. I have no real sense of his pattern (then, there being three forms only compounding the problem) and when I finally do get there again...who knows. I'll be 90 minutes in and super nervous. I wish there was a low stakes way to fight the final bosses is all. I get the whole game being "practice mode", but there's a few things I never get to practice.

I also sort of feel like I depend on over powered (in my opinion anyway) items. Technology, Ipecac, Epic Fetus, Spirit of the Night (my favorite!) etc. If I have one of those my runs go much, much further. I feel like it's them and not me who is good. : ' (

**Nezumiiro** · 09-04-2012, 08:59 AM

The Skyrim expansions breathe some new life into the game, but I have been too hung up on Dragon's Dogma as of late...

**CpVb006** · 09-08-2012, 07:21 AM

Oh man, just had the most ridiculous Cain run. Technology 2 + Chocolate Milk and a bunch of tear buffs were pretty much an instant win button. I think I killed Isaac in under 10 seconds. I have no idea how I was doing so much damage, but hot damn.

**rcarljohnson** · 09-08-2012, 09:52 AM

Originally Posted by Nezumiiro

The Skyrim expansions breathe some new life into the game, but I have been too hung up on Dragon's Dogma as of late...

I am loving everything Skyrim, although I am pretty close to completing all of the quests. I'm on PS3 so I still have to wait for the expansion pack.

Sent from my SGH-I897 using Tapatalk