OMFG. OMFG. Valve to announce Steambox - steam console

[MrMatthews]

Zoltor, I've been wondering something for a year or so now, and I'm hoping you can enlighten me. Does it even register in your mind when you are proven wrong time and time again? It's gotta be embarrassing for you...

[Phosis]

Tactic genre, you know, things like Civ, age of empires, exc(and way too many spin-offs/clones to count).

I'm a PC gamer(not strictly PC, but I play tons of PC games), never saw Stalker anywhere, didn't even see it listed in forums until now(lol how loved could it have been), but I'm a real PC gamer, so I don't pine over the smut companies are releasing these days. If I missed Stalker, and It's actually good, then it slipped under the radar(which is "common" in the PC world, as very few games get any real advertising), it happens.

Yes, a noticeable drop in quality=subpar, which inturn means not worth playing. Why should I play subpar crap, when I could just replay the older games, and to make matters better, the older games have better replay value too, so It's not like they would get boring(and when that does happen eventually, you just cycle through the long list of oldet, yet awesome PC games).

High quality lol, doubtful, overhyped is what you meant.

I do agree that old games are more enjoyable, but that is a personal preference; you always talk as if your opinions are some objective truth, and you are dismissive and rude about everything else.

In short I get what you are saying, but I also think you are a childish troll who is good for nothing else than a laugh at the expense of yourself for the rest of us. And the reason is because of how you present your opinions, and the outlandish claims you make that are specifically yours.

[TheSonicRetard]

To Sonic:

Why are they simplistic, small scale games then? Just because some Siera staff are involved with development again, doesn't mean they are still releasing high end quality games.

Oh really, unless something all of a sudden changed(like the Sim City thing, certainly took their damn sweet time sigh, it was basically an abandoned franchise/concept), the King's Quest Series was discontinued(people have been begging for another one for ages now). Some fans created a freeware remake of KQ 1, and 2, but that's about it(I looked all over the internet for a hint the series may be revived just a couple of months ago, and found nothing).

...

http://www.joystiq.com/2011/02/18/ki...y-of-telltale/

From less than 2 weeks ago.

How can you call the games simplistic? You haven't played them. You hadn't even heard of them until a few hours ago. Do you honestly think anyone gives your uninformed opinion the time of day? You can't even keep your complaints in check - STALKER (IGN, 1up, Gamespot, PC Gamer, and GT's 2009 PC game of the year) is somehow obscure and unheard of... so it sucks. But Crysis (IGN, 1up, Gamespot, PC Gamer, and GT's 2007 PC game of the year) is "overhyped" and over exposed... so it sucks.

And Sam & Max is 16 episodes long. That's almost 3 times bigger than the biggest adventure games from the 90's. How is that simplistic?

basically, every zoltar post ever "Um If I haven't played it or if I don't like it, it's "a POS" sigh"

[Zoltor]

I do agree that old games are more enjoyable, but that is a personal preference; you always talk as if your opinions are some objective truth, and you are dismissive and rude about everything else.

In short I get what you are saying, but I also think you are a childish troll who is good for nothing else than a laugh at the expense of yourself for the rest of us. And the reason is because of how you present your opinions, and the outlandish claims you make that are specifically yours.

I just don't beat around the bush, and be gentle. I'm not being mean, but at the same time I'm not gonna be a yes man, when someone brings up/suggests a lower quality game(and then they try to claim that X gaming scene is as good as ever, if not better).

Just because standerds have dropped for the most part, I don't feel I should just conform to the new standard, I'm not trying to be mean, I'm just stating such in the most direct way.

[kokujin]

I just don't beat around the bush, and be gentle. I'm not being mean, but at the same time I'm not gonna be a yes man, when someone brings up/suggests a lower quality game(and then they try to claim that X gaming scene is as good as ever, if not better).

Just because standerds have dropped for the most part, I don't feel I should just conform to the new standard, I'm not trying to be mean, I'm just stating such in the most direct way.

While I agree with you on some things, you do sometimes come off as rude.Just respond more tactfully, you can show your conviction without being coarse.

[TheSonicRetard]

I just don't beat around the bush, and be gentle. I'm not being mean, but at the same time I'm not gonna be a yes man, when someone brings up/suggests a lower quality game(and then they try to claim that X gaming scene is as good as ever, if not better).

Just because standerds have dropped for the most part, I don't feel I should just conform to the new standard, I'm not trying to be mean, I'm just stating such in the most direct way.

The problem is that your criteria for 'good' and 'bad' isn't universal. It's not even widely shared along this board. What you consider good or bad is not objective in the least, it boils down to "a game is good because I say it's good" and your decision on what is good or bad is arbitrary. You don't critique, you attack. It's immature and superficial.

Do you think I like every game out there? No, but if I don't like a game because of it's genre or conventions, I won't completely write it off as "a pos" and go out of my way to talk in depth about it, especially if I haven't played the game myself. The very reason I come to forums like these are to avoid these sort of emotionally charged conversations. I don't give a shit what you like or don't like. that's not what gets discussed on sites like this. The posts I pay attention to and give weight to are the ones with critical analysis and indepth, insightful reflection. There are numerous people on this board whose criticisms I will appreciate, even if I don't share them. You are not one of them. And it gets old hearing about how shitty a game is because Zoltor hasn't heard of it before.

[Zoltor]

The problem is that your criteria for 'good' and 'bad' isn't universal. It's not even widely shared along this board. What you consider good or bad is not objective in the least, it boils down to "a game is good because I say it's good" and your decision on what is good or bad is arbitrary. You don't critique, you attack. It's immature and superficial.

Do you think I like every game out there? No, but if I don't like a game because of it's genre or conventions, I won't completely write it off as "a pos" and go out of my way to talk in depth about it, especially if I haven't played the game myself. The very reason I come to forums like these are to avoid these sort of emotionally charged conversations. I don't give a shit what you like or don't like. that's not what gets discussed on sites like this. The posts I pay attention to and give weight to are the ones with critical analysis and indepth, insightful reflection. There are numerous people on this board whose criticisms I will appreciate, even if I don't share them. You are not one of them. And it gets old hearing about how shitty a game is because Zoltor hasn't heard of it before.

In other worlds, you want me to list every bad aspect about a game I deem to be crap, got you, just remember you asked for it.

Just so you know, I am objective, I just don't feel the need to itemize every aspect of the game, on every forum/topic, X game gets brought up.

To kokujin: I'll try.

[TheSonicRetard]

In other worlds, you want me to list every bad aspect about a game I deem to be crap, got you, just remember you asked for it.

Just so you know, I am objective, I just don't feel the need to itemize every aspect of the game, on every forum/topic, X game gets brought up.

To kokujin: I'll try.

No, I want you to be smarter about your criticisms. which, I realize, is likely far too much to ask of you.

[Knuckle Duster]

In other worlds, you want me to list every bad aspect about a game I deem to be crap, got you, just remember you asked for it.

Just so you know, I am objective, I just don't feel the need to itemize every aspect of the game, on every forum/topic, X game gets brought up.

Yes. List every bad aspect about a game you hate. It's HOW you are SUPPOSED to discuss things when you inject your opinion on something.
You argue your opinions on the games you hate, and blame outside influence for 99% of the reason you hate it.

"I hate FPS games! People who buy them are dumb! They are ruining my dice-rolling simulators! They are making my godly rpgs stupider by stealing attention to the greatness!"
Most here don't agree with your opinions, just sometimes with the conclusions to your flawed logic.

You have no objectivity, and if you do, you're never showing it. You just spew bullshit, and think you're contributing to a dialog. Whereas, most people here see you say something foolish, and are split between those who laugh and ignore you, and those who laugh at you and ask you what is wrong with you.

You're a joke, Zoltor.

[NeoZeedeater]

Various opinions on games being mentioned:

Telltale's adventures do tend to be more simplistic than old-school ones, and the episodic format has resulted in a lot of reusing of assets, but they're still pretty good (Sam & Max and Monkey Island, anyway; I haven't played Back to the Future yet). If anyone wants a more '90s style approach, they should check out Gemini Rue. I love Machinarium and consider it worthy of mention alongside the classics of the genre. And aside from some iffy voices, A Vampyre Story is a solid adventure.

The Crysis games might be a bit overhyped but that's not a reason to ignore them. Plus, they vary in design style. The first game offers a lot of freedom of approaches with its vast levels, Warhead is similar but more linear, and Crysis 2 is more mainstream in design (I would say somewhat CoD-ish but not so generic).

I got a good laugh at STALKER being called obscure. I haven't played part 3 yet but I enjoyed the first two for their bleak atmosphere and vaguely Deus Ex-like choice moments.

Metro 2033 also has that post-apocalyptic Eastern European vibe but I lost interest after a while. I think it was the weapons. They lacked punch but, unlike STALKER, there wasn't much else to the gameplay to make for that.

[TheSonicRetard]

Various opinions on games being mentioned:

Telltale's adventures do tend to be more simplistic than old-school ones, and the episodic format has resulted in a lot of reusing of assets, but they're still pretty good (Sam & Max and Monkey Island, anyway; I haven't played Back to the Future yet). If anyone wants a more '90s style approach, they should check out Gemini Rue. I love Machinarium and consider it worthy of mention alongside the classics of the genre. And aside from some iffy voices, A Vampyre Story is a solid adventure.

I don't see them as any more simplistic than most other late era adventure games, like Beyond a Steel Sky.

In any case, Zoltar's point is that there is no companies out there on the PC who are pumping out quality adventure games, and that is just flat out wrong. Telltale is probably the biggest adventure game makers out there at the moment, and they're rapidly getting bigger. The jump in quality with Back to the Future is noticable, and with all the big name franchises they've picked up, they're only going to get bigger.

Outside of, say, Quadratic Dreams (If you count Indigo Prophecy and Heavy Rain as adventure games), no one really makes bigger budget Adventure games than they do at the moment. And it was an even dumber comment when he was unknowingly comparing them to themselves, and claiming they're not nearly as talented.

He claims there are no platformers on the PC... when were there ever platformers? Outside of super old stuff like Jazz Jackrabbit, there hasn't been a real platformer market for PCs in ages, outside of mostly console ports. In which case the PC still has those old school platformers in titles like Cave Story and Braid, and the console platformer ports have even stepped up - Sonic Generation was heads and shoulders better on the PC than any console.

Add in stuff like Zoltor bitching about the lack of sequels to games which have had mega-huge sequels announced recently, and his complete oblivion to STALKER, and that he didn't try Crysis at all... and it just totals out to someone who is very clearly NOT a PC gamer, coming in and boldly calling the entire market shit, and contrasting views as "lowered standards." Which is ridiculous.

Frankly, I expect much more from boards like this. Half of this topic, between Eddiespruce and Zoltor, has read like a damn gamefaqs topic.

[Guyjin]

I wish Valve success, but - I honestly can't see myself buying a steam box. At least not for a while. I have a gaming class PC already, and I intend to keep it up to date as long as I can. If they're still around when my current computer is beyond upgrading, then I'll get one.

[old man]

Anybody played "Gray Matter"? It was designed by Jane Jensen. I've heard it's really good, but I haven't gotten to play it yet.

[Knuckle Duster]

I'm in the market to build a gaming HTPC right now. I am anxious for news on this and hope it's shown at GDC.

[kokujin]

I'm in the market to build a gaming HTPC right now. I am anxious for news on this and hope it's shown at GDC.

How much you want to spend, and what do you want to do with it besides media.