Kane99

I originally wanted to get my hands on the Meta Quest 2 since my nephew got one last Christmas, but haven't bothered to save up for one yet. But then I saw the Meta Quest 3 and honestly I like it more for it's AR uses. I mainly want to be able to screenshare my PC to my headset and do work from it. The last quest had a black & white camera, while the new one lets you see in actual color when using the built in cameras. Anyway, has anyone here gotten their hands on the Quest 3? I want to buy one, and honestly the price sounds fair for what you're getting. Or should I try to save up for a more powerful headset, maybe their Meta Quest Pro which currently costs $999.99, so maybe not that haha.

If you haven't heard yet, Sony and PlayStation have been in the news recently where they have had to remove digital movies from people's libraries due to copyright issues. The catalog of stuff Sony has removed, involves around Discovery content. Here's a post for example: https://lifehacker.com/entertainment/you-dont-own-digital-media I believe you may be safe if you have something like movies anywhere, which lets you merge your digital movie/tv show libraries into one, as well, you can then watch all of your owned movies on each platform (YouTube, Amazon, Vudu, etc). But my worries now go to video games. I don't know if it'll end up being the same situation with video games, but who's to say this won't happen there as well? We don't technically own the digital games and movies we purchase, so any day they could remove your rights to them. We have a safety net right now when it comes to games we buy, as any downloaded can be re-downloaded later, but things can change. Licensing and copyright is a messy thing, and it's already had an affect on video games in terms of music licensing and other such things. Is there any bit of worry about the digital future?

I purchased an Xbox GamePass Ultimate code back in October, a 1 month card to be exact and I purchased it from a third party seller on G2A. The seller had good ratings, but I wish I had looked at them before purchasing. After I purchased, I went in and redeemed, had a hiccup at first, but it went through. Now when you redeem Gamepass codes these days, Xbox seems to force you into the auto renewal payment option, but I always go in after to turn that off. Well I did this, but when I was in there, it shows a different service to manage my subscription. It shows up as "Purchased with BT/EE". And when I click on manage, it brings me to this other site where I have no account. So some bit of research later, I check the guys reviews and there are a bunch of users having the same issue. Reached out to the seller and he said it would drop off that month. As of today, I still have it. More research tells me that people who have this really can't do anything but wait it out. One post I found online stated they contacted MS and the BT or EE company and neither could do anything. So I reached out to Xbox first, and they said they can't do anything from their end. So I contacted EE and they said that only the account holder who gave me the code could cancel this, so all they said was to reach out to who gave me the code, and I doubt the seller remembers who gave him the code. So essentially I am stuck with this. The upside is I get free gamepass until this person cancels, but the downside is I hope this doesn't end up banning me. The xbox rep I spoke to said that would not happen. But yeah, just a word of warning, I know it's been said here before by a few others, but don't buy from G2A and maybe not even from other third party sellers. Go with Amazon or the actual site itself. Has this sort of thing happened to you when buying a third party code?

Has anyone here played the new game called Lethal Company? I've been seeing it played all over YouTube and Twitch as of late and am curious if any of you know it? It's currently an early access game, and from what I saw it kind of reminds me of Phasmophobia a lot. From the streams I have watched, it's a co-op game where you are tasked with collecting scrap and junk on industrialized moons as they say, all the while there are monsters hanging about that could come and attack you at any time. I believe you can buy items like you can in Phasmophobia and you can lose those items if left behind. Or so that's what I heard. I haven't dug deep into what the game fully is, just I know it's blowing up right now. And the fact it's only $10 on steam is even better. Steam Page - https://store.steampowered.com/app/1966720/Lethal_Company/ Does anyone here play this? How is it going for you so far?

This game is said to be developed by just one person, and looks to be inspired by games like PT and Phasmophobia. Especially the look and feel of PT, but includes the ability to speak with ghosts and such with your mic like in phasmo. I hope this turns out to be as crazy as PT was, with the way you can get different outcomes, but I'm doubting it's that sophisticated. Check the trailer out below and give your thoughts on the game. The game comes out in January!

So I've noticed my PC can't play the newer Cyberpunk DLC due to being required to have an SSD, same with Starfield. I have an SSD, but I don't have enough space on it. I want to get an external SSD since I don't think I have another slot for an SSD. Are external SSDs worth it? I want to pick one up soon so I can play some games. I don't expect to be able to play all new games though, my PC is started to get dated when it comes to newer gen gaming. I doubt I could play something like GTA VI on my current setup. Are external SSD's just as good as internal SSDs?

AI is getting more advanced, so much so that popular videos games are starting to adopt AI chatbots right into their game to give more character to their NPCs. I heard a while back someone made a mod for Skyrim to make all NPCs talk with AI and it is getting better and better. Soon enough we're going to see games where all NPCs can talk with the aid of AI. I downloaded a tech demo a while ago on steam called Origins, and it had NPCs that utilized AI so that each conversation you have seems different. You use your voice to question witnesses to an explosion I think it was. And you're supposed to question the NPCs in the area. I'll leave you with the video Moist critical posted on it below, it's fun to see what direction gaming might be going. There is another game called Vaudeville that is an AI detective game. I haven't watched anything on that, but here it's okay. I hope to see more games that feature AI chatbots in the near future.

I found this interesting reddit post in r/gamecollecting the other day and had to share it. I didn't know this was a thing. But according to a reddit user, renaming of consoles was a loophole in order to sell Japanese made products in foreign markets. The image you see above is an renamed NES that came out in India. I guess after WWII, certain countries didn't allow the sale of Japanese made products, so to get around those rules and laws, they renamed the console to Samuari Electronic TV game. The same redditor also stated that the Nintendo in South Korea for example was called the Hyundai Comboy. Makes you wonder what other NES consoles are out there with different names. I thought it was cool that they did this. I'm guessing Nintendo did this themselves in order to sell as many places as they could.

VI's trailer is expected to drop tomorrow. It's crazy that we're finally at the point where we get to full on witness what the next installment is going to be. GTA VI has been in the works forever now, having GTA V out for 10+ years now. I don't know when we can expect GTA VI, but I assume either late 2024 or early 2025 for release. Now this isn't about GTA VI necessarily, but more about what will happen to GTA V after GTA VI drops. Do you expect the numbers to fall off big time once GTA VI drops? Or will is somehow survive with the community of role players out there? GTA IV for example wasn't very popular longer after V came out, so my guess is V will suffer the same fate once GTA VI drops. What do you think?

It's being reported that Naughty Dog's next game is in the works, but they made no mention of what the game could be. It could be the third in the series for The Last of Us, or it could be a whole new IP. The good news though, is that they are also hard at work on the multiplayer mode that has been making fans wait since 2020. The MP mode was supposed to drop with the second game, but never came out. Druckman himself said that they will have more to share later in the year. Do you think they will ever release the MP mode? Or will they end up coming out with a third game before that? Read more about it below: https://mp1st.com/news/naughty-dog-next-game-already-decided-on-by-studio-last-of-us-multiplayer-game-info-coming-later-this-year

That's kinda what I do, have my games set aside based on console type, but I've gotten lazy over the years where I don't bother to put them in alphabetical order. Ok, so system > genre > then Alphabetical? And damn, that's a lot of games, haha. I wouldn't want to deal with alphabetizing all of those, but the way you have your set up, it might not be so bad.

There was no way to use the console online. He may be able to re-format it and all that, but the console itself would still be banned, which means it can't be used online even after formatting. The guy requested they unban the console after they found out he wasn't the one to do it, but they still kept the ban active. Oh for sure, you can never be too safe when it comes to buying used consoles, especially if they can be banned and rendered unusable. That's why whenever I buy a used console in person, I ask to test it first. Just to be on the safe side.

I looked through the other options they have in terms of console selection, and they still rent out games from Xbox, PS2, PS3, Xbox 360, and even have GBA & Gamecube listed. GBA and Gamecube dont' have anything under them, so no idea why they still have them up. They still have a fair deal of PS3, and 360 games. But for the price point, I don't think it's worth renting any of these older games haha. But, kinda cool they have older games you can rent still.

They kind of already did something similar with Shaolin Monks I believe it was. In that game I believe you could play co-op. It was essentially a beat 'em up where you played as either Liu Kang and or Kung Lao. Supposedly the story takes place during MKII. I remember hearing about it and from the looks of it, is kind of similar to the sub-zero game, but this time it's actually good. I watched a playthrough of it years ago and I think it's also more open, as you can walk in all directions instead of left and right. But I may be wrong, it's been a long time. As for future games like that, I'm all for it. More single player/co-op beat 'em ups would be nice.

Did the updates stop or was it because they weren't marketing the game enough? Because when it first came out, I felt like even then they weren't putting much effort into marketing it, and I think that too could have been a reason it failed. And, if they updated the game to fix the gripes people had, it might've even done better.

What are your feelings on modders who mod retro consoles and games? Like those who use real parts. Like recycling the shell and carts to make ROM hacks, or to mod the console to play on newer hardware (HDMI modded in). How do you feel when someone donates what was once a Super Mario Bros 3 to be used as a ROM hack? I could maybe understand an old sports game, but NES sports games are popular and some are regarded as classics in their own right. Essentially the question is, how do you feel when someone mods a retro game, and possibly ruins its original retail value and worth?

When it comes to your gaming collection, how do you usually store it, or shall I say show it off? For me I tend to just put my games on a shelf, for their own consoles. So PS2 in their own section, Xbox in its own, etc. I used to alphabetize my collections, but I got a bit lazy, so I would usually just store my favorites to one side and the rest I have below that kinda. What about you though? Do you like to store it alphabetically? Or maybe by its franchise? So Call of Duty games will get its own section, Madden gets its own section, etc. Or you could go based off of the genre of game, so shooters, fighters, etc get their own respective sections.

I subscribed to Gamefly back in the mid 2010s or so, and liked what it offered. But ever since, I never bothered with the service again. I think now, with services like GamePass and what PSN Plus offers, it's going to eventually kill off GameFly and other rental services. It's still crazy to me that rental services like this still exist. Much like Netflix (who I hear still sends out DVDs). Anyway, does anyone here use Gamefly to play their games? Their prices for subscriptions don't look too bad, and I could see myself affording it. But with Gamepass I don't see a point, at least for me. But would anyone here still consider GameFly and other rental services?

You gotta be careful with any sites that sell keys/codes etc, including CDKeys. I don't know Joltfun, so I can't judge on that. But I believe some people have gotten away with selling used/fake keys on CDkeys before. Much like G2A and other sites. Especially if they allow people to sell codes themselves. CDkeys and Joltfun may be more reliable, but there are still risks. Yeah I believe some said you could gift them to people, but I think there were some that couldn't. I forget as I haven't gotten a humble bundle in a while. I think it's more to do with people selling the codes second hand, like they recognize you didn't redeem the game on your account and get you that way. I may be wrong on that though, but that's how I see it. I don't see why it'd be a problem to gift any codes you get. Even to resell them, they should be yours to do with as you please.

If I use a laptop, I'm usually using it plugged into the outlet. I will sometimes use my laptop unplugged, but it's rare. I mean, I sit in the same spot with it anyway, and I don't take it out of the house ever, so I don't see a point in unplugging it unless I am on the go. As for screen brightness, I tend to turn that down low, for one, when I do unplug it, it saves on battery life, and two, it's better on the eyes. I also use the night light mode where it turns your screen a yellow tint to help with the blue lights.

Right? Like damn, let the devs work. I get having a deadline, but maybe if there are problems reaching said deadline, and it's been a problem for a bit, maybe extend the deadline a bit later next time. But that's what these big studio heads do. They push and prod their developers in making the games as fast as they can to meet a street date. But, I think these studios are taking notice to the amount of failures that have come out, and are hopefully going to wait until a game is "ready" before actually shipping it. If another Cyberpunk 2077 happens, it's going to end that game. I think the actual developers need to be the leaders going forward. No more of these rich CEOs running the whole show.

Ah that makes sense. I wish I knew all of that stuff myself, to be able to code my own game would be so cool. But I don't have the patience to learn it. Back on Windows XP, I can see it being vastly different. And that's fair. Game development has changed a lot, some for the better and some not, but I think we're going into a good direction where more people can code games with the many tools available to them now. Have you considered messing with modern tools/programs to make a game? Like Unity for example? I hear they make these engines easy to work on, so more people can potentially make their own games.

I have never played the Fatal Frame series, though I have watched playthroughs of some of the games. It's one of those games I am not good with. Some horror I can handle, but this type of horror is not my thing. Looks like the game is getting an updated re-release on pretty much all consoles, including the Nintendo Switch. It's a remake of the original game that came out on the Nintendo Wii back in 2008. Is anyone playing this? It dropped on the 9th.

Has anyone here played the demo for the games opening? It's essentially the same opening we know, but amped up. I saw a playthrough of the demo, and damn was it intense, much more intense than when I played the VR version on the meta quest 2 recently. I can only imagine how much tougher this will be in VR. I can't wait to play it. :D

Imagine if we got what The Office did as a tablet. The Pyramid! Imagine what gaming on something like that would be like.😄 But yeah, this is in no way something I'd want, but it was clearly a joke about how companies will try any gimmick to get sales. Now what I could see working, is if it was half of the device, the other half connects at the bottom making it into a bigger tablet, one actually resembling a real tablet. Like what I posted below. Not the greatest, but it's an idea I suppose, and I kinda got it from the Office and a mix of those newer flip phones.