SplooshDmg

@NEStalgia Uhhhhh. I like Zelda game.

@NEStalgia I mean... Since you put it that way.

@BeerIsAwesome There's an argument to be made though, that governments also have to adhere to rule of law. In this matter, the CMA's math is arguably flawed, and their logic is legally untested. It's not a matter of doing away with the concept of government, it's a matter of keeping the government in check when it's trying to flex with power it doesn't actually have. Just because some people in positions of power don't like the idea of this merger, doesn't mean it was ever actually unlawful or illegal.

@NEStalgia If they can make a movie about the origin of Flamin' Hot Cheetos, they can definitely make a movie about the ABK merger. I think it's just a polite way of Hollywood saying, "We are absolutely 100% just out of ideas."

I finished this, but I'd be hard pressed to tell you I liked it much.

@NEStalgia Whoa, whoa, hey now. You leave the waifus out of this!

@mousieone Eh, don't sweat it, I'm really not going anywhere. Doc gave me some anxiolytic's and now I can tolerate the citizens of the internet in their entirety.

@mousieone Is this the part where the cage happens?

@NEStalgia That is clearly the only solution. I mean, it worked for Ragnarok, right?

Little did the CMA know, it was messing with gamers, and gamers are the craziest bunch of people in existence.

Oh, wow. This deal is 100% not dead. This is going to get interesting.

Pentiment was my favorite game of 2022, and it definitely doesn't need a sequel. Josh Sawyer is unquestionably one of my favorite creators in this industry. That guy is just crazy smart and can weave narratives like no one else.

It's improved over the years, but I don't use it much. Once my sub lapses I probably won't renew. I stream my PC to my iPad A LOT, and I just really prefer the SteamLink experience over something like Moonlight, and adding a non-Steam game to Steam to use SteamLink just isn't quite as good an experience as native Steam games. Also, the WindowsApps folder is so locked down, sometimes the effort to add a Game Pass game to Steam just isn't worth it. It's a total pain. The Xbox PC app is just miles behind Steam in terms of games, features and stability. I'd rather just buy my games on Steam, even if PC Game Pass is offering better value for certain titles.

Trying to wrap up Fire Emblem: Engage, and my soul now belongs to TOTK. My PC and PS5 probably aren't gonna get used for a while. Lol

@UltimateOtaku91 Specs aside, Zelda has some superb frame pacing. Not all 30fps is created equal. When the frames are generating at a consistent and equal pace, games like Zelda or RDR2, 30fps is plenty acceptable, especially for 3rd person games imo. You start talking 1st person games with 30fps AND poor frame pacing, and you start having problems. It's why sometimes certain 30fps games just seems smoother than others. But good frame pacing is a product of good programming, which not every game gets the benefit of having.

@PsBoxSwitchOwner I've actually thought about this a lot lately. I don't have time to play every game I already know I WANT to play. So, why am I going to scrounge around Game Pass trying to discover new games? If I wasn't interested enough to buy it, I probably wasn't ever really interested at all. I don't have time to sit around playing random games for the sake of having played them. If I fired it up for ten minutes and turned it off, its because I didn't care about it way before ever hitting the download button.

@JayJ And there's an argument to be made there, but it's two sides of the exact same issue. We either need to refine the processor side to get better performance per watt, or just run with what we have and find it more gas to guzzle. I think regardless the issue will improve in time as tech advances, but I think it's also paramount to appreciate how powerful this thing really is. When you get down to it, it really basically is just a laptop with a different form factor, and that form factor doesn't really allow for quite as chunky a battery as we can stuff inside a laptop. I sorta thought the SteamDeck was already pushing some limits and then lo and behold this thing comes barreling out the gate.

@NEStalgia Yeah, I'm not really convinced that these things are quite worth it yet. I think it's cool that companies are trying to push handheld hardware further, but I think we need some serious advancements in battery technology first. Apparently the processors, etc. are there and up to snuff, but there just doesn't seem to be a good way to power these things yet. People moan that the Switch is underpowered, but I think it's kinda obvious why.

@NEStalgia The Deck doesn't really have a long run time either. AAA games on higher settings will just murder the battery. Elden Ring can reportedly run a Deck down in an hour and a half. My buddy loves his Deck, but he seems to mostly emulates PS2 games because it's the only thing that doesn't just guzzle the battery. This thing surely has a better run time than an hour or two if the software wasn't as demanding. I think that's where the Switch sorta edges out the handheld PCs. With the PC settings, you can adjust your MPG. I kind of imagine games like DQ11, Zelda, TW3 probably drain a Switch faster, but it still seems reasonable and kinda tailored to the hardware.

@Ralizah Really though, I just watched the DF analysis of TOTK. Imagine if XC2 just ran as well as this game does. I just want to know what sort of dark Nintendo sorcery made this game run as well as it does. It's truly amazing the progress Nintendo has made over the years at squeezing every last drop of juice out of the Switch. Nintendo EPD does what Game Freak don't. Lol

@Ralizah Yeah, I'd really love to see Nintendo do BC again. Just imagine... SMTV at a solid 30fps. Dreamy.

I don't know about y'all, but I'm gonna need a nap tomorrow.

@S1ayeR74 Yeah, I kinda figure next year being year seven for the Switch, it'll finally really be time to see the successor. The Switch is slowing down, but it sure isn't stopping. I'm genuinely curious how many it will ultimately sell, because I'd like to think they will slash the price and keep cranking them out like they did the 3DS/2DS. I think it has a viable path to all-time best selling gaming device.

@Ralizah Take it as you will, "Asus claims that the Ally will be able to sustain up to two hours of gaming in performance mode before it needs to be charged, while it can go just short of seven hours in silent mode for things like watching videos or streams." Obviously, the games are scalable, and mileage is going to vary. I do think it's neat you could dock it and connect to a monitor and use it as a pretty capable gaming PC. I like the idea of this, but I really, really, really just want a Switch 2.

@mousieone Gas generator might cut it.

I sorta suspected the battery would be the Achilles heel on this thing. It looks great otherwise. Kinda feel like you basically need to be tethered to the wall to really get the most out of it.

@themightyant It was a real race to the bottom for Crossfire X and Babylon's Fall. Getting two games that terrible back to back had to just be a fluke. 😂

I could buy nine Lunchables for less than $17.99. I'd way rather have nine Lunchables.

I've heard this one before. Still though, the EU could very well actually approve it. I think the FTC and CMA reasonings for opposing it are questionable at best.

@themightyant Also, there's the problem of trying to live up to Hollow Knight. Let's not even kid here, Hollow Knight wasn't just one of the best indie games last gen, it was maybe one of the best games, period. They kinda set the bar really, really high.

@NEStalgia I think you owe Leisure Suit Larry an apology.

@NEStalgia I always took Kotick as more of a Leisure Suit Larry kinda guy.

@Markatron84 Whoa, hey now. Why we gotta bring Randy Pitchford into this? Plenty of perfectly respectable weirdos play hentai games on Steam. Not like... The other Randy Pitchford-type weirdos.

@Markatron84 Who's traumatized? I'm certainly not traumatized. I'm a grade A weirdo.

@NEStalgia You internet for the same reason I internet. Leaving the house is just an insurance claim waiting to happen. It's safer in here, and arguably less expensive.

@NEStalgia Yeah, but what about Team Steam? That'll land you right into 'SEX with HITLER'. This is an actual series of games. No, I'm not kidding. No, I don't own them. Lol

Someone remind Arkane that when you play stupid games, you win stupid prizes.

I have absolutely no idea. The regulators are itching to fight, and you can never assume to think you know how any court or government body is going to rule on something. I think it could happen, but I'd go ahead and hedge my bets that it won't.

@themightyant Very interesting. It has def seemed like more games were leaving than coming, but this confirms that. But I do think a big part of it is just perception, just that some of the bigger titles haven't really wowed us, and they just sorta stick out because you're looking at them more closely. Like you said though, it appears they are trying to slyly reduce the value of Game Pass, and that really could be a lot of why people are just less enthused with it lately. I'm one of them. I barely look at Game Pass anymore, because I'm just really not seeing as much I want to give my precious spare time to. Oh well. Good digging, though! This is certainly valuable information.

@nomither6 I want an M rated Sonic where Sonic says swear words and kills hookers.

@Sebatrox Uhhhh... I wouldn't count on that. Bethesda games had same sex romances way before Horizon.

@Chaudy While Meta isn't the be all end all, it matters wether people like it or not. Phil even said they do mock reviews before this stuff releases and expected to be like twenty points higher. So they're obviously paying attention to it. Fan boys will do mental gymnastics to cope for why blah, blah, blah. The matter is, the market at large doesn't care. If you have to explain to someone why they should try the game because x, y and z, the product failed to convince the customer on its own.

Jim Ryan is a tool, but I remember when they did the big PS showcase he said, "Enough of me, we'll let the games do the talking." The games Xbox are securing aren't doing that. There's way too much Phil talking, and not enough games talking. Starfield has got to be that game. I'm a hardcore Todd fan, and Starfield has to be that game. I really really hope that snakeoil salesman truly understands now how huge the microscope for a 1st party title is, and he delivers like he did back in gen 7. Xbox really needs it.

@FatalBubbles Oh! That's a good point. I forgot that one was $70. Yeah, you're probably right. Okay, so Redfall is probably the second worst game ever sold for $70.

@FatalBubbles I dunno, I think it's def the worst that has been sold for $70 (so far). I'm sure we could easily find some worthy $60 candidates that would give it a challenge, though. I'm also open to suggestions of what other $70 titles you think might actually be more rubbish. That $70 is supposedly reflective of all extra work and resources that went into it, and well, I'm having a hard time seeing it here.

And yup. Honestly, I don't care about Redfall. I'm not mad about Redfall itself. I'm mad about the precedent here. There are so many people proving that the critics of Game Pass aren't just blowing smoke. This is not good enough for a major 1st party title from a prestigious studio, and everyone apologizing for it are just giving credence to 'good enough for Game Pass'. I think the quality of Game Pass has really diminished lately, and a lot of the bigger titles have really underwhelmed. I'm upset because I'm a fan of Xbox and I love their studios and properties. It's makes me so freaking mad that they just keep doing stuff like this.

Rated B, for buggy.

@Sebatrox MTX's are an in game economic system, so that's a while different story and debate, and there's a debate to be had questioning the ethics of a lot of it. But we've discussed this, you aren't changing my mind, and I'm not changing yours. There's really no point to this. If it's bad enough that the head of the company basically went on an apology tour, it's bad enough for me to call it a crap game. I'm not making apologies for it, I'm not looking for the silver lining because it's on Game Pass. Until Xbox quits doing this crap, I'm going to yell at them.

@gooba Okay, and my argument is just because it's on Game Pass doesn't get it a free pass for being a piece of crap. It's a piece of crap if it were literally free, and it's a piece of crap for $70.

@gooba I'm saying if we saw the reviews and they were asking $70 for this as the only way to play it, I doubt most of us would be running to the store to buy a copy. I for one wouldn't have had the chance to see this dumpster fire first hand without being able to just install it on Game Pass. Me being able to try the game did it zero favors.

@Ralizah Yeah, I think it really is a lottery. Word is that the RX5700XT is just a particularly hot card, and I believe it. It was bonkers how hot it was, even when not really asking it to do much. It was just terrible, though. I sold it on Mercari and I shipped it off saying, "Sorry, dude in Washington. This is your problem now." Lol

The GeGorce Experience has its issue, but I mostly just use the Nvidia control panel and it works for what I need it to do. I mean, imo, it is God compared to Adrenaline.

Plus, having now used DLSS 2.0. Its not a feature I'd be willing to skip on. I really love it.

@Ralizah I moved over from an RX580, to a RX5700 XT and then to the 3080ti I have now, and I'd be hard pressed to ever go back to AMD. I hated that 5700 so, so much. The drivers were awful and needed reinstalled constantly, the fans were loud, the card was murderously hot. Truly if there is any one thing that makes me stay away from AMD, it's the software side, not as much the hardware side. I think Adrenalin is maybe software I would call 'as bad as iTunes'. So, in reality, I can't sweat the $100 because I think Nvidia is just a better overall product. A $100 is nothing compared to the grief and time I wasted fooling with those AMD cards for the last six some odd years.