bigsocrates

@judaspete: It's certainly a plausible scenario.

Atari has been making some interesting moves recently, like buying Digital Eclipse and putting out a 2600 emulation console. They've put out some software that makes sense (like yet ANOTHER take on Haunted House) and some that makes no sense at all (an apparently mediocre original IP called Days of Doom that seems completely outside their niche) so at least something related to the Yars series makes some sense from them.

But it's also not really using that series' lore (at least upon initial inspection) and why is this a 2D platformer of all genres?

"We want to revive the Yars series because we love those games."

"You want to make a shoot 'em up about a space fly but in the modern style?"

"No, we want to make a platformer about a hacker girl. You know. A Yars game!"

@nuttism: No discourse around Beacon Pines? The WORLD FAMOUS Game Pass Gameclub picked it as a game!

World famous.

World. Famous.

I totally get what you mean about games slipping outside the discourse and about how fundamental Giant Bomb used to be in surfacing stuff. Cook, Serve, Delicious is a big series now but Ryan Davis had a HUGE part in popularizing the first game. To the point where the series itself contains nods to him. That was a really fun time in the site.

I think part of the problem is that for a lot of people who like live service stuff they are fans of A game, not fans of games in general. So they're not that interested in having this kind of stuff surfaced because...they wouldn't play it even if it was up their alley because they only play one game.

@brian_: I can appreciate the artistry of a game like Gris but I don't really consider that spectacle because it's not really bombastic or...intense in a 'big' way. Gris's big moments are frequently the exact opposite, kind of gentle and contemplative. It does have some really cool moments and I guess some that have elements that are "big" in a literal sense, but they stick with you precisely because they're not just big popcorn moments. They're art. There are indie games that do what I'd call spectacle, like Inside, and those moments can be pretty amazing, but most don't have the budget to even try.

@imunbeatable80: Ah yes. You do love your obscure indies. Who can forget you waxing rhapsodic over All Walls Must Fall or Flying Soldiers? Remember The Mahjong Huntress? She captured your heart!

I kid, I kid. Look, obviously a lot of AAA games rely on their budgets (and/or licenses or franchises) to paper over tired or boring gameplay and lots of indie games have the opportunity to be more creative and interesting. I also play some very obscure games where I can literally see the trophy percentages on PSN change while I progress (The aforementioned In Stars and Time being one. I also platinumed C.A.R.L. You should play C.A.R.L. so I have someone to talk about it with. I guarantee you'll like it more than Flying Soldiers.) I'm not saying that Indie games aren't great, I'm saying that AAA games do things they don't. Just like indies do things that AAAs can't. Like allow you to fall in love with the huntress of mahjong.

Where I don't agree with you is about discourse. There's plenty of discourse still around for the big games I like. My favorite games last year were things like Tears of the Kingdom, Mario Wonder, and Spider-Man 2. There are more videos and articles on those games than I could ever watch or read. Yes these forums are kind of dead now, but Reddit exists if I wanted to go there (I don't, really.) I am well aware that I am getting too old to be catered to like I used to, but my favorite critics have aged with me and most are still doing their thing.

I think the bigger difference is that there are SO many games now that nobody can cover them all and a lot of really good games fall by the wayside. That really couldn't happen back when every game needed a physical release, or when Microsoft was limiting slots on XBLA. I, personally, could keep track of almost everything releasing (Steam was more closed too at that point.) Now it's completely different.

Hello and thanks for your interest in the Unsanctioned Unofficial Game Pass Game Club. If you don't know what it is you can see more about the Game Club here. There is also where you can suggest games for future cycles, though this current vote will stay with the games listed below.

To vote in this thread simply list your top two choices with one labeled choice 1 and the other labeled choice 2. Choice 1 gets 3 points and choice 2 gets 1 point. The game with the highest point count wins. If there is a tie then I will break it, but I will not be voting otherwise.

You can vote even if you have not participated in the Game Club (and voting does not obligate you to participate but we ask that you not vote if you have no interest in participating) and you do not need to vote to participate in this or future cycles. You are also free to vote for games you are interested in and not participate if that game does not win, though it's more fun if people are willing to try games they may not be initially interested in.

Voting will close on April 22, when the results will be announced. I will tabulate the votes then so you may change your vote at any time prior by editing your post. Please do not make multiple voting posts in this thread, though discussion is encouraged. You can feel free to campaign for the game you want to win and make arguments why it is the best choice.

Games for which there appears to be interest will remain on the list in subsequent weeks but may be cycled out if we reach a point where there are too many nominated game for orderly voting. Games removed from the list will remain eligible to be nominated for future cycles at which point they will be put back on the list.

NOMINATED GAMES:

You Suck at Parking Vehicle obstacle racing game where the goal is to park. (Approximately 9 hours long.)

Amnesia: The Bunker: The latest in the Amnesia series of games where you hide from things that go bump or sploosh in the night and try to escape with your life and your sanity (Approximately 5 hours long)

The Big Con: An adventure game where you scam and steal your way across the American landscape of the 1990s. Will there be Zima? Probably not. (Approximately 4 hours long.)

Eastern Exorcist: 2D action combat game based on Chinese mythology. Somewhat janky with a dodgy translation. (Approximately 5 hours long.)

Broforce: Action platformer with destructible levels starring parodies of famous action heroes. (approximately 7 hours long.)

Serious Sam Siberian Mayhem: Throwback FPS featuring tons of enemies and creative weapons. (approximately 4.5 hours long.)

Close to the Sun: First person horror adventure game about a journalist trying to find her sister in an alternate history steampunk world. (Approximately 4 hours long.)

Figment: An isometric action-adventure game with puzzles and combat set in a surreal world based around music. (Approximately 5 hours long.)

Spirit of the North: An adventure game about a fox based on Icelandic lore. (Approximately 5 hours long.)

Tin Hearts: A story focused puzzle game where you move the environment to help a tin soldier cross environments and guide him to his goal. (Approximately 12-15 hours long.)

Bramble: The Mountain King: Adventure game about two young Scandinavian siblings exploring a dark and spooky mountainside at night. (Approximately 4.5 hours long.)

Li'l Gator Game: A 3D exploration/platformer game where you play a little gator on an adventure of imagination! (Approximately 3 hours)

Botany Manor: A puzzle exploration adventure game where you explore your manor and experiment and learn about the plants within (Approximately 3 hours)

No More Heroes III: Travis Touchdown returns to take on more assassins in Santa Destroy in another zany action game (Approximately 12 hours.)

Never got around to this one but I do have a copy...

#GuessTheGame #703

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#VisualVirtuoso

https://GuessThe.Game/p/703

@thepanzini: I think the playing/spending issue is important because pulling something down because people weren't playing seems a lot less greedy than pulling it down if people were playing (a game they paid for, mind you) but not spending enough additional money.

I give Ubisoft absolutely no benefit of the doubt given their history and recent statements. That quote is fine if you know nothing about the person or institution you are making attributions to, but we know enough about Ubisoft to press X to doubt that they don't know exactly what they're doing when they make games unplayable without online controlled by them.

Insomniac randomly added a new weapon to this game for the 8th anniversary. That's...a strange choice but I really hope it means they're prototyping new stuff for Ratchet & Clank. I think I like Ratchet & Clank at least as much as the Spider-Man games.

@thepanzini: It's never about the number of people playing it's about the number of people spending. If people are booting up the game just to enjoy it but not buying microtransactions that just costs them money.

I award zero credit for it being hard to build an offline patch. It might, in fact, be really really hard, but they chose to make the game the way they did. It's like building a nightclub with very thin walls and then when neighbors complain it's too loud arguing that it would be hard and expensive to add sound dampening. Ubisoft created this problem. Which, of course, they don't see as a problem because this was always the intent. If they wanted to make a game people could keep playing with the servers off they would have built it the way the Forza Horizon games were built.

But none of this excuses revoking people's licenses. That's nearly unprecedented for paid games on a digital marketplace.

Should have guessed the one that propagated to the top of the list.

#GuessTheGame #702

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#VisualVirtuoso

https://GuessThe.Game/p/702

@chamurai: Uh oh. You know they can smell it, right?