Hells

Here's a few more:

UltraKill -- a fast paced FPS with old school graphics with satisfying gameplay

Minit -- a minimalist Zelda-like with a unique twist

Slay the Spire -- a roguelike and deck builder card game that is surprisingly deep

Celeste -- a challenging platformer with a great accompanying soundtrack and story

Did a little bit of digging and found a Interview of CEO of Take-Two Stauss Zelnick talking specifically about the price increase on NBA 2K21 for next gen consoles.

Why was your 2K basketball game the right product for making the leap to a $70 price point on the next generation after $60 has long been the norm?

The bottom line is that we haven't seen a front-line price increase for nearly 15 years, and production costs have gone up 200 to 300%. But more to the point since no one really cares what your production costs are, what consumers are able to do with the product has completely changed.

We deliver a much, much bigger game for $60 or $70 than we delivered for $60 10 years ago. The opportunity to spend money online is completely optional, and it's not a free-to-play title. It's a complete, incredibly robust experience even if you never spend another penny after your initial purchase.

(source: https://www.protocol.com/take-two-strauss-zelnick)

While people who buy and play games think there isn't a need to increase the price of games, there are various examples of why the cost of some games are increasing. And this feels all to similar to when the price of games was increased starting with the launch Xbox 360; specifically the title Activision (under CEO Bobby Kotick) Call of Duty 2--other games started following this trend in the months afterwards. The price of games has improved or gotten worse depending on which games you like to play, but you cant deny there are plenty more affordable options now than there was 10-15 years ago in comparison. And the reason for games costing more is a bit deeper than "They just want more money" as an excuse.

This article www.theringer.com/2020/10/23/21530092/rising-video-game-prices-70-dollars-call-of-duty-ps5-xbox-series-x goes over the cost of games with quotes from various people within the industry if you want to read further into games pricing.

Bumping this thread since Derek Yu posted the Steam release date on his twitter today.https://twitter.com/mossmouth/status/1301947321291124738

2 Weeks after the PS4 release.

Here's my list.

1. The Last of Us-- This game is truly a master piece from beginning to end.
2. Skyrim-- Would have been my number 1 if the main story line was more memorable.
3. XCOM: Enemy Unknown-- One of the best modern tactical RPG games.
4. Hitman-- Have you ever killed someone by tossing a Exploding Golf ball at them? Fantastic stealth game.
5. Super Mario Maker-- A great toolkit for making and playing custom 2D Mario levels... because Nintendo isn't going to make another true 2D side scroller in the Mario franchise anytime soon. (The 2D sections of Odyssey don't count and neither does that Super Mario Run mobile trash, I want the whole game 2D from beginning to end...)
6. Uncharted 2, GTA 4, Shadow of Mordor-- I am indifferent towards these games, they are great games but not exceptional enough to be separated from each other.
7. Mass Effect 2-- I did not enjoy any of the time i spent with this game and quit within the first hour.
8. PUBG-- Where do I start with this game... The first time I boot, the game gives me a black screen instead of the main menu-- Off to a good start. Quick google search, apparently I need to edit a file with Notepad to disable some setting that my GPU doesn't like for whatever reason. No big deal. Get in game finally, first game I get into I am immediately welcomed by some terrible server side lag for the first minute or two. Then game finally runs acceptably but then I get gunned down from behind and am dead instantly. I give the game a few more tries only to have it end with more Server side lag, server kicking me, weird hit detection where i appear to have been shot through a wall that shouldn't have had bullets go through it. Needless to say I uninstall that night and decide to give it a month or so to get patched and hopefully its better. I play again a month later, a recent patch made the game a bit more bearable, played with friends and got a couple chicken dinners, but over the course of the couple weeks playing with friends it wasn't a ground breaking experience to me. I found myself constantly irritated and annoyed by the bugs, glitches, cheaters, and performance of the game. None of the games I played above made me feel this way. I did have some fun moments with PUBG but the sheer amount of bad experiences put a sour taste in my mouth. I will gladly never play it again.

Whoops kind of turned into a PUBG rant piece, my bad.

My hopes/dreams/Pseudo-Analysis for E3 2018: *long read sorry*

I want Cyberpunk 2033 to blow me away-- Graphics, Gameplay, Immersion, Everything. I want to see CD Projekt Red go hard on this game and show that they can completely surpass the Witcher 3/Skyrim/GTA V in terms of Open-World SandBox games. I want it to be the type of game that makes me want to build a new PC or buy a new console just to be able to experience it at its full potential.

Nintendo needs to show off Smash in action at E3, but Smash won't be enough. Nintendo needs to bring a new IP or reboot of a previous IP to the show, maybe even give Waluigi his own full featured game?!?! Also they need to show off the new online service and give reason for people to pay for it. Nintendo just slapping Virtual Console in won't be enough, they need to add leader boards / rewards to add incentive for buying and playing the old games. I don't know about you but having a Emulated Rom with save states just isn't cutting it anymore. Nintendo needs to come out guns blazing to prove that this year could be just as good (OR BETTER) than last year. Since Nintendo probably won't release a successor to the 3DS any time soon, I will gladly accept a GameBoy Classic for Holiday 2018. If we really want to get crazy with things that can be brought to E3/Nintendo Direct, they can reveal a Mother/Earthbound Compilation for Switch with a localized version of Mother 3 for NA/EU so Reggie can finally not have to answer the eternal question of "What About Mother 3?"

Sony isn't going to have much in terms of new content or surprises from their 1st Party teams, but 3rd Party Devs are going to lead the way in terms of showcasing the dominance of the Playstation Brand. From Software is going to reveal their next title that will most likely be PS4 exclusive, Rockstar will show just enough of Red Dead Redemption 2 that will make people want it even more than they do now and it would be in Sony's best interest to get that on their stage during their press conference, SquareEnix will most likely be shifting gears from Final Fantasy XV to Kingdom Hearts 3 and Final Fantasy 7-- both games need to be shown and given targeted release windows; KH 3 Q3/Q4 this year and Final Fantasy 7 in 2019. Shenmue 3 will be shown and tagged with Q1/Q2 2019 release window with Sega releasing ports of Shenmue 1 and 2 in late summer/early fall 2018. And lastly we will get another Death Stranding teaser trailer and it will be hinted that the game is being developed to take advantage of the power of the next-generation PlayStation hardware. (Yes new hardware, hopefully by 2020 at the very latest. Thats a discussion for next year...)

Microsoft is the biggest mystery in terms of what they are going to do at E3 this year. They recently started to refocus on 1st Party Studios, but do they have anything thats far enough along to show off that will impress people. Besides a Halo, Gears or Forza announcement what can Microsoft announce that will make people want to play games on their Xbox Platform? Having the most powerful console in the Xbox One X is great but they need to take that same motivation to make the most powerful console and get the developers to make games that will impress people enough to want to switch from PS4 (and PS4 Pro) back to Xbox. Microsoft can lean on the likes of Blue Hole, Bethesda and CD Projekt Red to ensure they get the best console performance from their upcoming titles, but they need at least one stellar title of their own to swing people on to Xbox rather than PlayStation. My other side hope is for Sea of Thieves to be a runaway hit in terms of Rare fleshing out the core game in ways that keep people coming back for more-- things like new Islands or Islands that are change over time, new and exciting Voyages or quest types, a end game that changes or evolves over the development of the game, and the ability to turn on Squad Friendly fire (because sometimes you might just want to shoot your fellow squad mates or throw them over board lol)

Rapid Fire Hopes and Dreams for 3rd Party Developers:

• Ubisoft-- More of the Beyond Good & Evil tech demo will be shown off.
• EA-- For the love of god show a New Burnout or SKATE 4 please!
• SquareEnix-- Dragon Quest XI 2018 release date for 3DS, PS4.... and SWITCH.
• Gearbox-- Borderlands 3. Don't you dare try to bring anything but this game to E3 Randy Pitchford.
• Bungie-- Destiny 2 DLC that the developers will proclaim is a ground breaking new experience. (lol)
• Sega/Atlus-- Persona 3/5 Dancing Moon/Star Night booth providing some good vibes for the people attending the show.
• Bethesda-- New Open-World Sandbox game based off a brand new IP by Bethesda Game Studios and Co-op Multiplayer will be a key feature.

Realistically this year's E3 should be fairly tame. Developers will be returning to past reveals and giving them release windows by the end of this year or early 2019. Expect a few early glimpses or mentions of "Next-Generation" games. Microsoft and Nintendo have the most to gain this year with bringing big new games and IP reveals while Sony just needs to get out the games that they have been promising for the last few years while leaning on 3rd Party support to carry them through the next year or two before its time for new hardware again.

This is a great gift to anyone who skipped out on the NES or wasn't alive to experience these games back in the 80s and 90s. It also makes a neat collectible or something to display on a shelf (like an Amiibo).

With this and the popularity of Pokemon Go, Nintendo really needs to leverage the media attention they are getting and tell everyone what this NX thing really is. Nintendo had a rough past few years in the dedicated game console business it would be nice to see them have some success next year when the NX comes out.

The display ratio is intentional.

A monitor is typically going to give you better image quality, but a TV is going to have more versatility especially when you consider audio output and use with other media devices. Also you can change inputs with a remote versus using the buttons on a monitor. If you do go the monitor route, make sure you have a good solution for routing audio from your PS4 since most Monitors have garbage built in speakers and sound options in general.

Nuclear Throne does have a steep learning curve and high skill level. The game really forces you to learn enemy capabilities and patterns, and there will be plenty of deaths (especially when you are first beginning) that seem unavoidable and cheap. It is very much like Spelunky in that the levels generated can and should be played through quickly and death can come quick and unexpected. The game clearly does not want you to beat it every single time, and you shouldn't expect to without putting in the time.

My first 5-10 hrs of Nuclear Throne were very frustrating, there were several times I would put it down for days or weeks because of bad luck with the runs i was given. But once you find a character and weapon type that fits your style the game will start becoming more fun if you give it the chance.

Just an FYI for those who haven't been keeping tabs on this DLC, it will be releasing tomorrow (Oct 30th).

It is still on sale for $6.66 till release (then it goes to its normal $10.99 price) and the main game is also on sale as part of the Steam Halloween Sale for $8.99. http://store.steampowered.com/app/250900/