sdharrison

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#1 Posted by sdharrison (234 posts) - 1 day, 20 hours ago

I'm going to get one console at or near launch, and had owned a 360 exclusively prior to both these announcements. Now I plan on getting a PS4. The Xbox One seems like a device hostile to consumers, and designed for people who want to watch cable TV. Sony's presentation actually made me excited to experience their new product. Microsoft's made me feel alienated.

And clearly OP is asking if you will actively NOT purchase one because of Microsoft's vision. Everyone getting hung up on the "Boycott" terminology needs to fucking relax.

#2 Posted by sdharrison (234 posts) - 3 days, 3 hours ago

How could they be so tonedeaf?

#3 Posted by sdharrison (234 posts) - 3 days, 3 hours ago

I'm stunned at how utterly wretched this has been. It's going to take some time to really even put it down into words.

#4 Posted by sdharrison (234 posts) - 24 days, 14 hours ago

I use and love Final Cut 7. Has anyone here worked with Final Cut X? It's so baffling and confusing I feel like a senior citizen using the library computer.

#5 Posted by sdharrison (234 posts) - 1 month, 22 days ago

Where do you find these?

#6 Posted by sdharrison (234 posts) - 1 month, 23 days ago

Nostalgia got the best of me and I decided to try a "free shard" for Ultima Online.

Settled on Ultima Online Forever at uoforever.com

After a marathon session, I forgot what year it was. I really encourage any MMO or sandbox fans out there to give it a try. The install is 3 clicks, everything is free and the game is a blast to play.

It's a reminder of the promise early UO had for the industry. Hopefully we see more sandbox experiences down the road. For now, I can honestly say the game holds up in this form.

#7 Edited by sdharrison (234 posts) - 1 month, 23 days ago

@brokemack said:

The gaming community's refusal to accomodate contrary opinions holds back the medium and, most importantly, makes gamers look like a bunch of idiots. As long as legitimate arguments are presented, criticism of a game (or movie, album, book, etc.) is never trolling. The biggest trolls are you lemmings who defensively label all critics as "haters" while having nothing of value to offer to any discussion of the game, aside from it being "SO F'N AWESOME DUDE".

Bioshock Infinite is a good game that a lot of people love, and it's being rewarded with big sales. Analyzing where it fell short and where it could have been better doesn't hurt anyone except for you and your foolish pride. Gaming is a relatively new and evolving medium that also happens to make more money than any other form of entertainment. AAA titles deserve thoughtful, even harsh criticism. Sales won't be dented regardless, and game quality will only be improved.

No one in this thread is calling the OP a hater or dismissing his opinions because they don't agree with him. The problem people have with the OP is not that he didn't like the game, but that he presented his opinions in a condescending manner, offered anecdotal evidence that contradicts the actual public opinion of the game, and seems to regard anyone that likes the game as some sort of unrefined plebeian incapable of recognizing a good game.

I think this community is mature enough to engage in actual discussion about the merits and flaws of any game (even ones nearly everyone loves), but this is not what the OP tried to do. He brought mostly nitpicks and flaws that don't exist (has he ever heard of rebinding keys?) and the legitimate complaints he had were buried under a tone of elitist superiority veiled in a thread title "question" he only ever had the intention of answering with an emphatic "YES", as opposed to actually sparking discussion.

It also doesn't help one's argument when in the process of poorly deconstructing why they don't like an extremely well received game, they proceed to name other extremely well received games and dismiss them as terrible (in this instance The Walking Dead and Mass Effect) without giving any real reasons and again using ridiculous anecdotal evidence that everyone hates Mass Effect (really???) and that it sold poorly (again, really???).

I guarantee everyone on this forum is here because they want to discuss video games, but they want to do it in an intelligent manner, and the OP did not do that.

That is absolutely what many in this thread have done.

#8 Posted by sdharrison (234 posts) - 1 month, 24 days ago

Shout outs to Seppli and Fredchuckdave for actually responding to the topic thoughtfully.

The Bioshock series has always hung its hat on being mechanically sound and atmospherically rich. If it isn't broke, don't fix it. But it is a totally fair criticism to say that the trick, for many, has worn thin. And it does seem a bit of a shame now to see all that atmosphere and production value put in service of a shooting gallery.

And as far as the disparity in reviews goes, that is just a way of life in this industry. AAA games have to really, really fuck the pooch to get below an 8. Most reviews are done in the spirit of "should you buy this?" as opposed to offering a more nuanced critique of the game. It generally takes several months to a year after a game's release for a general critical narrative to form. At release it's all backslapping and superlatives.

#9 Posted by sdharrison (234 posts) - 1 month, 25 days ago

ME 1 had the promise of being a better game than 2 ended up being. If that makes any sense.

After ME 1, I had a sense of wonder and excitement about how amazing 2 would be. How much bigger, deeper, richer, etc. What I didn't understand at the time was, developers had essentially tapped out what was possible for a cross platform game in this generation. The only way to add MORE, was to remove something somewhere else. In the case of ME 2, it added richer story missions in exchange for removing RPG mechanics and exploration.

The promise of Mass Effect 1 was that it put you in command of your own ship, and set you loose in a vast galaxy to explore, fight, loot and become engrossed in a deep overarching story. Not everything worked quite right (planet landings and exploration) but it seemed to do enough right to ensure that future sequels would realize the dream.

2 and 3 dialed down the freedom and put a premium on story and drama. That's just the kind of game it ended up being. It's a fabulously entertaining series, but I don't think the promise of the original can be fulfilled until we have new consoles with a lot more options technically.

#10 Posted by sdharrison (234 posts) - 1 month, 25 days ago

Why start this thread and pose a rhetorical question? Obviously from your post, you have already made up your mind in terms of the game (that you think its "overrated") so why not just say"Why i think Bioshock: Infinite is overrated" or something like that? Posing that question in the title and then proceed to explain why you think its "overrated" (whatever the hell that means) makes you post sound a bit childish.

Why does that make OP "childish"? He made a thread with a question then posted his thoughts.

This board redefines the term "Butthurt"

Use your keyboard!

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