Dcubed

Very meh night in terms of performance, but a fun one nonetheless

Yeah, I would've much preferred something more like a traditional Lego set than this "prescribed" set with a single expected "solution". The fun of Lego is in building something of your own; not really in following instructions to just build a given set.

Well work has been fun recently! Exciting time to be working in a hospital! I think what has been far scarier than the virus though is the spread of sinophobia... Whole lotta racism coming outta the woodwork as of late against Chinese people and it’s really sad to see

This is well worth mentioning as well. LOTS of industry defining decisions and business deals are made behind closed doors at the E3 event itself... This loss will end up significantly changing the dynamics of the industry (and GDC can only absorb so much of that).

I’m interested in it from an industry dynamics perspective. Couldn’t care less for the console itself, but what it means for the dynamics of the industry as a whole? I’m VERY interested! And it’s a very interesting time for both Sony and the industry as a whole. Right now, Sony’s behaviour is outright bizzare for them; and the potential knock on effects of a PS5 launch delay could change the entire way the industry functions. It’s all fascinating and well worth discussing, even if I’m not all that enamoured by the console itself personally.

They have literally ZERO games announced as upcoming after these last ones come out in a few months; not even undated releases. They have a console that is supposed to launch around November this year and they continue to say nothing. This is NOT a normal situation for Sony at all. It’s very out of character for them; and it’s one that is completely without precedent. It does imply that something has gone horribly wrong behind the scenes; and the coronavirus situation does NOT help matters.

It is sad. The modern version of E3, and the ESA, is a horrible, disgraceful monster that needed to die though. E3 now is not the E3 we used to know and love anymore. Truth be told, E3 died years ago; around the time that Nintendo got out of it and started up their Nintendo Directs, as it became something else entierly. This is just the formal execution now; and it needed to happen. The question now is; how do game publishers and developers adapt?

I know that we’re all having fun kicking a dead horse at this point. But really? This is very sad... E3 was always like Christmas for me growing up. It was always my favourite time of the year. I have so, SO many fond memories of the insanity of each yearly event. To think that it is actually, legitimately dead now, is very sad. E3 may have become a shadow of its former self in recent years; but to see it actually die? Just makes me lament its loss all the more... The industry really is falling apart now.

FF7 is not first party. Sony also have nothing left after TLOU 2 that has been announced. Once that game comes out, that’s it. There’s nothing left. It’s clear that they’re looking to move fully onto PS5, but none of their first party studios are ready to announce anything else now; not unless the PS5 is coming out this year... which is looking increasingly unlikely...

Sony’s silence is also absolutely deafening at this point... They’ve basically run out of first party games now and yet they’ve got nothing to say... ... I’m very confident that Sony will fail to get the PS5 out of the door this year. Their silence is a strong indication that they’ve got nothing to show... even without the coronavirus decimating their manufacturing plans. I would also think that Microsoft would struggle to get the Series X out this year; but their continued marketing push is giving me pause for thought here... It’s possible that they decided to copy Nintendo and move their manufacturing over to Vietnam; which means that they’d be able to bypass the coronavirus problem. The whole thing with the Xbox One All Digital as well, also gives them a manufacturing advantage over Sony too (since they’re literally ripping UHD BD drives out of Xbox One S consoles and just re-selling & rebranding the consoles - while stockpiling the UHD BD Drives for Xbox One X/Series X); so they don’t have to source a big stockpile of UHD BD drives... unlike Sony... Whatever the situation, it seems that Microsoft are in a better position regarding manufacturing and timeframes of release than Sony right now. I’m not confident in PS5 hitting 2020 at all now, but I think Series X still has a chance. Worth noting though that March is actually the historic launch window for handheld consoles; which is why Nintendo were able to get away with it for Switch. Sony however? I can’t see them taking the risk of launching outside of the traditional stationary console launch window of November (pre-Black Friday). It’s just not in their company culture to take a risk like that. I actually think that they might consider delaying all the way until November 2021. This would give them time for GPU/CPU/Memory tech to improve and for prices to come down; which puts them in a better position against the Series X going forward into the new generation. It also gives them time to actually get games made for the new console and time to regroup, especially during their big restructuring upheaval. In the mean time? They could probably get away with coasting on the PS4 for one more year with multiplatform releases, and occasional PC releases of their first party games (which they’re starting to do now).

Starting to get this sneaking suspicion that PS5 is getting delayed until next year...

This is a mercy killing at this point. We probably won’t get an E3 2021 at all I reckon. RIP E3 (1994-2019). You had a good run.

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2020-03-10-horizon-zero-dawn-confirmed-for-pc And there it is! Sony have officially gone 3rd party! Nintendo gives up on dedicated handhelds and consoles, Microsoft starts releasing their games on Nintendo consoles, and Sony are now a PC game developer. What a crazy generation!

The fundamental problem is that they’re packing too much into too small a space. If the sticks weren’t clickable (or were clickable but bigger), they probably wouldn’t be grinding away and drifting. It’s a fundamental design flaw that they currently have no solution for. Else they would’ve fixed it years ago. Their next console will have to fundamentally redesign the analog stick to get around the problem. Either it’ll be bigger, non-clickable, or it’ll have to use an entirely new mechanism.

Well, we can say with certainty that some sort of announcement HAS to be happening within the next week or so; because Nintendo currently have zero first party titles with a release date after Animal Crossing New Horizons launches... They aren't going to leave their Switch audience hanging with literally nothing to look forward to. Even if it isn't a full blown Direct, I fully expect something to be announced very shortly (probably a release date for Xenoblade Definitive Edition next - and I'm gonna guess that it's slated for May).

Depends what mood I'm in Yeah, they are. They are really the exception though; and Nintendo aren't producing nearly as much original content as in previous generations (even with the merging of their handheld and console game development)... and it's only going to get worse in that regard... Does make their original output all the more precious though. Ring Fit Adventure is exactly the kind of game I want to see from them. Bonkers Nintendo is best Nintendo

Kecleon is literally the very last Pokemon in the game you recruit though. It's basically just for bragging rights at that point, but yeah; it's the single best Pokemon in the entire series (and it's basically a running gag throughout the whole series; as Kecleon is pretty much absolute trash in the mainline games).

What can I say? I'm a grumpy old bastard

Err... https://venturebeat.com/2020/03/09/reggie-fils-aime-gamestop/ What a plot twist! I guess he sees it as a fun challenge? I mean, if anyone can turn them around; it's this guy.

I'm not really a big fan of the Lemmings style Mario VS DK (post-Mario VS DK 2), but I can appreciate that they're solid games for what they are. It always struck me as a bit weird that they stuck with the Mario VS DK naming, considering that they're basically an entierly different genre from the original DK 94 (and its GBA sequel); I totally get why people were put off by the DS games in that regard. @Hero-of-Time If you do go back to play the original GBA Mario VS DK, keep in mind that it is a sequel to the original Donkey Kong 94 on the original GB in particular (Which I'm assuming you've played before). It's not really like the DS games at all and the gameplay is much more similar to DK94. And yes, I absolutely agree with you about these kinds of games being sadly absent from Switch... While there are still a few games like that being released (like Sushi Striker, Brain Training and Boxboy + Boxgirl), they are sadly far and few inbetween... In fact, outside of the occassional surprise like Ring Fit Adventure, Nintendo have seemingly given up on making original games altogether (and from what I've heard? It's only gonna get worse... Let's just say that Nintendo is going full on HAM with the remasters now, and is not producing much new at all anymore, from what I've been hearing...).

Oh right, I get you now. Didn’t quite get where you were at in the level...

Seriously, guys. If you haven't played Radiant Historia before, do not hesitate! Get that game RIGHT NOW! That price is insane!! Glen-i is not joking when he says that it's the best traditional RPG on the DS. I'd even go so far as to say that it's the only truely great one; it was such a tragedy that it never got a European release originally, up until the 3DS port anyway. Very unique RPG that does something a bit different with the time travel concept.

Right! Played them all. Let's see what I think of them... Overall, @Glen-i and @RedShell are the runaway winners for me; their levels were way better than mine this time as well! It's really tough to pick between the two... but I think I'm gonna have to say that RedShell''s just barely clinches it for me.