The Bard

I actually think the style and art is one of the most visually offensive things I've ever been subject to, but the way the game plays is an absolute dream. Second only to the first Ninja Gaiden in terms of character action games, and mechanically might be superior (witch time is the best thing to happen to the genre in years). It could more aptly have been titled "Japan: The Game"

I think they'd restrict bluetooth DS4 compatibility to their own Android phones though. The DS3 is compatible with most Android phones via OTG cables, but you can connect it to Xperia phones via bluetooth. I imagine Sony would want to keep that as a feature exclusive to phones that are either their own, or Playstation certified.

The samples are a little Andrew Ryanish . The thing I love most about the late 90s alt hip hop scene is the tendency to rely on organic, analog instruments rather than samples - which have their own charm - but give the music a totally different character. Loving the booming, resounding drum sounds here, the Marima and Violin are obviously highlights, give it a dreamy, surreal quality for some reason.

Metroid Prime, full HD, texture, model and environment overhauls. I would never play anything else ever again.

I hope they figure it out. I recently read a feature, might have been Eurogamer or Edge, where the guy dropped from a ledge to the ground in City 17 and it was the most disorienting thing ever. I can see how it might be; you're tricking your brain into thinking you're moving with the speed and agility that you do in FPS' when it's not used to that.

That looks horrifying. Is it really one of the most popular though, or is it just something this company are using to advertise their treadmill? And the nature of the game is that it's supposed to be really fast, which is why it didn't work on consoles - I can't really see it being that much fun on the Rift after the novelty wears off, I'd rather games were made specifically for VR.

Lol The point isn't whether it's easy or not, it's the ridiculous idea that AI routines become more sophisticated; they don't. They just become more accurate, and have more health, which lets them live longer - which, perhaps for players that are a little better at Halo, allows them more time to express their programming. A person of average skill is likely to have a similar experience on normal as a skilled player will on Heroic.

Have you tried any of the Stalker games? They're significantly less linear (and seeing as they're a bit older, not quite as pretty) and have the same fudge thick atmosphere, and the illusion of a perfectly contained world. I think that's sort of a du jour thing with Ukrainian games, which I completely love. They arrive at a sense of place and visual narrative so much stronger than western games which tend to be more focused on mechanical function. My copy of Metro 2033 stopped working for some fucked up reason, want to finish that before starting Last Light. For me... Sequel to the best RTS ever made. Mechanically, very similar, visually superior. Still the best RTS ever made. This is such a perfect explanation for your Nintendo fixation dude

Watching the Chuck Jones Tom and Jerry run from the 80s. Might be the most visually expressive animation I've ever seen, I love so much.

Anyone into hiphop wil become rapturous at the first listen

People are always more interesting when you have enough of a window into their lives to fill in the rest and get an overall sense for their personality, but it's always tarnished when they divulge more and then you realise that everyone is just boring as shit. I kid. I'm just in a bad mood because I ran out of teabags and I haven't had my daily dose of caffeine.

Lol. I feel as if I'm being trolled. Also, I don't buy the whole idea that Heroic or Legendary present greater AI challenges, because if you're going to put a great deal of effort of into superior AI programming, you'd want the entirety of your player base to experience it. Bungie do what literally everyone else does on higher difficulties, which is increase enemy accuracy and health, while the AI routines remain absolutely identical, which allows enemies to remain alive longer, but it does fuck all to the way they behave. Literally nobody designs their game on the basis that only a minute fraction of their audience will get an authentic, full experience out of it. That's not to say that the meta-narratives that emerge from playing the game are negligible; they're actually the best thing about it (the same goes for any other game based largely on arena combat). I just think it's silly to insist that those narratives only emerge on Heroic upwards. The sort of person that typically makes that sort of statement is the 13 year old Xbox and Halo fanboy, who by sheer insistence and the drudgery of repeating this on every forum he can find, has somehow caused it to pass into accepted fact, when, really, it's just his way of thwarting argument by telling people who complain about the game that they didn't play it right unless they played it on Heroic or Legendary, and furthermore to state that they're somehow more of a man because in their infantile minds, completing a sci-fi shooter on a higher difficulty is a sign of cojones. The actual narrative is mired within an unconvincing, rectilinear purple world, with daft shit like Gravemind (I literally could not get "FEED ME SEYMOUR" out of my mind through that entire section), and narrative devices like Sargeant Dickthroat (or whatever his name is) yelling at you at regular intervals to propel you to the next arena battle. I call bullshit dude. I thought I'd dreamed the whole shrieking thing. You know, I thought the whole twist at the end of Condemned was absurd, like, that the dude I was after was a serial killer of serial killers. Boy was I in for a treat with the sequel. The bumfights were amazing doe.

Do any of you peeps play Planetside 2 at all? I am totally in love with the game.

Oh man, really? The only bit that I found boring was Route Canal and that was only because it was so fucking long. I think that's one of the games that I can literally imagine the entire floor plan for from beginning to end, from when you arrive in City 17, to Breen's monologue, to the tenements, all the way to fucking Nova Prospekt and the Citadel. That whole game was made out of unbelievably anecdotal moments that made for awesome stories. Although I've played it four times through, so I suppose that's why . I don't tend to remember games that have a lot of written narrative, just because I don't like reading in games. I also hate cut scenes, so shit like Metal Gear is just without narrative for me, although I remember pretty much everything that happens from a gameplay, interactive standpoint. Shit I don't remember much of... Skyrim: I've absolutely no idea how I spent 200 hours on this game and got to level 70, seeing as I remember very little in terms of the quests and actual scripted moments. I do remember the wonder of exploring the Dwemer ruins, especially Blackreach, which was the most awe inspiring thing in that whole game. Condemned 2: What the fuck was this game? GTAIV: I really dislike this whole series, so it was always going to be in one ear and out the other. Batman - Arkham City: Once again, no idea what occurred from a narrative standpoint, since I spent most of the game hunting for collectables and beating the shit out of mobs.

I pretty much want nothing more from the world of videogames than to get my hands on the Oculus Rift, but I suspect that no game out at the moment will translate well to it, because they just weren't designed for virtual reality. Imagine playing something as hyper kinetic as TF2 in virtual reality. You'd barf your stomach lining.

Yeah, I think it's the fact that fundamental base level identifications in character, like being introverted or extroverted are more important in getting along with a person than ostensible traits like loving the same books or films or music will ever be. The girl I'm going out with now likes pretty much all the same stuff I do, but she's extroverted where I'm introverted, and amicable where I'm argumentative. Yeah. Maybe it's just that she's been abroad for a few months, and using technology to conduct a relationship is awful. I feel bad. I can't really just say "I'm out," because I'd feel like a lazy asshole. I don't know, we'll see.

All that made me do is want to listen to The Pixies. I suppose finding the balance in being a massive introvert in a relationship with a complete extrovert is a tough thing. Or maybe I just don't like this girl as much as I thought. Well, I've had varying experiences with girls in the past. Every single time, each party has to make a varying effort to adapt to and accommodate the other. Sometimes it's just harder than other times. I'm not a cynic, I'm a sceptic.

@drahkon, I mean precisely the idea of spending every conceivable moment together. I enjoy spending time with her, doing things, whatever, but when I'm sat in my room trying to read a book amidst a deluge of skype calls and annoying texts, it grates.

That's pretty much the most saccharine fairytale boilerplate of a relationship. I like being in a relationship with someone who fires my imagination and my interest, and for whom I can do the same, and who doesn't use me as a repository for trivia like what cereal they had for breakfast that morning or what they bought at the mall. Leave me alone with that shit. I don't understand wanting to be around someone all the time. I need my own space to recharge and think about things on my own terms. It's sort of like the difference between watching a film by yourself, and with other people. When it's with other people, you tend to drift into hypothesising what the other parties are thinking, how they're responding to certain moments in the film based on your perception of their mentalities. You lose touch with your own relationship to the film. Both experiences have their own merits, and both have their own time. It's the same with real life. Don't you want someone who enriches your experience rather than diminishing it by filling your brain with anecdotes that you don't even have the patience to think about when it happens in your own life? I'm not cynical about relationships, but I've grown up enough that I don't shroud the idea of them in sepia like every one else seems to. Yeah. I like the idea of sharing big experiences, of mutual emotional support. But if you're so much of a baby that your day consists of ruminating over the rad frozen yoghurt you copped at snog on your lunch break, I don't want to hear shit you have to say.

I am dealing with it. By bitching.

This thread has devolved into a collection of shitty, annoying gifs that make me feel like an epileptic at a Duran Duran laser show. Obviously the only appropriate response to my complaint is a gif. Does anyone ever feel that most people want to be in a relationship because they want someone from whom they can reap vicarious emotions about the tiny boring minutia of their day to day lives? Coming from someone who neither has any talent nor patience for small talk, there's nothing more tedious than being updated every day on the little things that happen in your significant other's life. Edit: I feel as if I'm putting a dampener on this whole thread

The bears look like the ones from Triple Town.

That looks pretty rad, but I bet it's pissy with rain 80% of the year. Jersey has some great beaches, but that's not on the mainland. Anyway I was more talking about dank pits like Southend.

Yeah, I thought the Dirt games were pretty great, but I haven't really gotten acquainted with proper, hardcore racing sims. I've been looking for something like Forza or GT on PC and I figure it would be a cool genre to try and wrap my head around. Never played the TOCA games either. I don't understand why, but the PC market seems to be pretty scant on Racing sims, which is bizarre since there's a huge selection of sims for practically every other niche. I'll give the original GRID a spin, and see where to go from there.