Kane99

I had no idea there was a third Plants Vs Zombies game coming, but I guess it was announced all the way back in 2019. The new game is said to be going through a soft launch, and has already done so in the UK, Netherlands, Australia, and the Philippines. Eventually they plan to launch it worldwide by the end of the year. It will be going back to the tower defense style gameplay of the first game as well. Read more about the news here - https://www.gamespot.com/articles/plants-vs-zombies-3-welcome-to-zomburbia-coming-this-year/1100-6520382/

I hate cleaning my PC, every time I do it I fear I'm going to somehow break something in the process. Last time I did it, I used an electronic duster/blower thing that helped clean it out pretty good, but I haven't cleaned it in a while and it's probably due for a good cleaning. Do you guys have any fears that your PC will break when you go in to clean it? I'm just paranoid if I disconnect something like my graphics card to clean it for example, that when I put it back in it'll end up dying on me. Also, how often should you change the thermal paste on a PC?

Have you ever attempted to create your own manual to replace one that was lost? I actually tried this when I was a kid when I got a used copy of Super Mario World on the SNES from an old rental store. It came with a really shitty printed off copy of the manual. I was so hoping they'd include the original manual, but alas I had what I had. So to the best of my ability, I try to recreate the manual from the printed off manual and I use that instead going forward. I wish I still had it. I never did it again though, mainly because my art sucked and I hated my writing. These days games don't even release with a manual, hell some games don't even come with the game anymore, just a slip with the code. Maybe we should make our own manuals for those new games coming out without them. :)

We all have played games that we ended up hating, but has there ever been a game that just made you angry after playing it? Maybe it's a game you absolutely hated and in turn it made you angry. It takes me a lot to outright get pissed with a game. I mostly get mad at myself for being trash in a game, but there have been times where a video game just doesn't want to work for me, no matter what I do. What's the angriest you've ever been playing a video game? Why did it piss you off? Did any games sour your mood for the rest of your day even? I've played some trash games, but I don't think I focused that much attention on it after I was done playing it. What games made you angry the most?

I enjoyed the time had playing Hades, but damn I sucked at it. I didn't last too long before I gave up. Maybe I just suck at rogue-like games and any games with tons of challenge. Anyway, Hades 2 is happening and is coming out soon. They are supposed to be doing an early access launch sometime in Q2 of 2024. The official release date has yet to be announced, but I assume in the next couple months or so we'll know more. Gamestop wrote up a post about what they know so far on the game, you can check that out here - https://www.gamespot.com/articles/hades-2-everything-we-know-about-supergiants-upcoming-roguelike/1100-6520218/ Will Hades II be an instant buy for you when it lands in early access?

And here is the start of it. An Ubisoft executive, Philippe Tremblay said that gamers will need to get “comfortable” not owning their games in the future if they want game subscriptions to take off. He expects games to go the way movies, tv, and music has gone, where majority of people no longer buy the physical media anymore and consume it digitally. I get this is the future we're moving towards if everything is going to be digital and streaming, but it is going to suck not owning the games we buy anymore. Even the games we buy digitally now I don't expect to own in the next 20 years at the rate things are going. Do you agree with this guy though? I know we're going to get to a point where physical games will be no more, and the only way to play games is to pay a subscription or buy a license to download the game. I think as long as I can download my games to a secondary drive to play whenever, I could probably deal with this, but I have a feeling these companies will continue with DRM methods even with digital games somehow. Either that, or they're going to force online connections in order to play your "owned" games. More on this story can be found here - https://me.ign.com/en/ps5/217087/news/ubisoft-exec-says-gamers-need-to-get-comfortable-not-owning-their-games-for-subscriptions-to-take-of

I don't remember hearing about this, but I guess there is a Tomb Raider 1-3 remaster coming out February 14th, 2024 for PC, Xbox Series S/X, Switch, PS4 and PS5 and will retail for $29.99. It doesn't look like a massive overhaul, but it looks good enough. I wasn't expecting a complete remake or anything crazy like this, but they are adding modern controls. And if you want, you can switch between the old and new control schemes. The same can be said for the graphics, as you can change back and forth between the old polygon style and to the updated version. And I just heard that the game is going to have 200 trophies on PlayStation, you can read about that here - https://www.playstationlifestyle.net/2024/01/17/tomb-raider-1-2-3-remastered-new-features-trophies/

Gaming collectors will collect just about anything to do with gaming these days. Are people going to start collecting the fake gaming consoles as well? Like those knock-off ones you can buy on AliExpress or wish, where it's just a bunch of ROMs on shitty hardware trying to replicate what a raspberry pi device does. It often includes a really cheap controller, oftentimes not even being the right controller for the console design. I know bootleg games have become popular among gaming collectors, so it made me wonder if those fake consoles would become collectible one day. I'm sure there are people who already collect these devices. But would you? I think I'd only collect the ones that look like mini consoles, as I think some of them would look good on a shelf. But if I want a better experience, I'd just go the raspberry pi route with my retro games.

With the news that Microsoft was deleting gaming clips and screenshots that weren't saved after a certain period of time, it made me wonder if I had saved all of my xbox clips before I broke my xbox. Oh well, I don't think there was anything too important. I think all the clips I wanted to keep, were already saved so should still be available. Anyway, because of this news, do you now make sure to backup all of your gaming clips instead of waiting for it to possibly be deleted later? I know Xbox will sometimes autodelete a clip you take in game unless you save it to your system. Do you backup your gaming clips to YouTube or other platforms? I have used YouTube in the past to keep all of my gaming clips, at least the ones I want to keep.

Of course, you must first own a copy of Portal 2 in order to play, but it's currently available for free on the Steam marketplace here - https://store.steampowered.com/app/601360/Portal_Revolution/ It just came out this month as well. It's a fan made mod that's essentially a new game. It is said to have 8 hours of gameplay wit up to 40 new levels or so. It's also said to be a prequel to Portal 2, so it takes place after the events of the first game.

AI strikes again, this time it's Ned Luke, the voice actor for Michael in GTA V. Recently, AI company WAME decided to use his voice for an AI chatbot where users could talk to an AI using his voice. Ned Luke of course was not happy about this and had a few words to say on the matter. WAME's tweet has since been deleted. Thanks to PCGamesN for grabbing the screenshot above. I really think we're going to see some big laws coming that could block AI companies from illegally using other peoples voices going forward. I think a case is going to come where one of these AI companies is going to be sued as an example, and it'll result in new rules and maybe even laws that specify that voice actors must first give their consent to have their voice used for AI, otherwise penalties and fines should be dished out at them. If people really want their voices attached to AI, that's all well and fine, but no longer should these companies be allowed to use ANY voices they want without first asking for consent. What do you think about this? Read more on this news here - https://exputer.com/news/games/gta-5-voice-actor-ai-chatbot-garbage/

Rockstar is claiming that a new Remedy Games logo is too close to their Rockstar "R" logo and have decided to enter a trademark dispute in the UK in regards to it. From what I am seeing, I highly doubt there would be any confusion between the two logos. I don't think Rockstar has a leg to stand on here. Sure it's an R logo, but I think it's different enough. Plus, it also states "Remedy" under the R, so I doubt it would be hard to confuse the two. What do you guys think? Does Rockstar have a case here? You can read the full story about this news here - https://www.eurogamer.net/take-two-and-remedy-in-trademark-dispute-over-r-logo

The UK game store in question is GAME. It's a popular store that is close to what we have with GameStop in the US. According to staff of GAME, there are rumors that they will no longer be accepting trade-ins going forward. It probably stems from many stores outright dropping physical media, well as it goes for movies and cds, video games are still up on shelves for now. Do you see GameStop making the same move down the road? Or is GameStop forever going to stick to trade-ins? I mean, they are always prioritizing the trade-ins over new copies, but if we start to see less physical media, that means less physical games and these stores will have to adapt to either going for retro games or doing what GameStop does by selling toys and other such things. I'm sure other stores and mom & pop game shops will still offer trade-ins, but it's probably going to be less and less with the physical market dying out. Is GameStop next? Read more about this news below. https://www.msn.com/en-us/entertainment/other/uk-s-biggest-gaming-store-rumored-to-end-trade-ins/ar-AA1n13Et

Have you improved any of your skills from playing video games? Maybe you have better hand eye coordination, or you've gotten better at problem solving. Maybe you've learned how to be a team player from gaming, maybe it's helped you with your creativity and more. Has gaming in any way, helped you improve on certain things in your life?

Like Crazy Taxi without the crazy. This looks more like your usual sim game, this time you take over as a taxi driver who runs their own taxi business. I think it looks relaxing, and I can see myself playing this if it isn't too pricey. Sometimes it's nice to just sit with an easy game and relax in its world. :) Anyway, is this something you'd check out? It drops March 7th 2024 and will release for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC.

It feels like a good time to remaster the Gears of War series, and it looks like Xbox might actually be doing it. As it's been rumored to be in the making for a bit, and now it's also rumored that it's currently in the testing phase. Recent rumors state it's currently in testing, so it could be closing in on a possible release date. The collection will have the first three games, and it is said it will have a lot of what Gears of War: Ultimate Edition remaster had. Rumors also speculate that it could be revealed around the Xbox Summer Showcase along with a new Gears of war game. Would be cool if this is all true and we get a tease to the project soon. Read more on this news below. https://www.msn.com/en-us/entertainment/gaming/rumor-gears-of-war-collection-might-be-in-testing/ar-AA1mYQsx Are you psyched for a possible Gears trilogy remaster?

A new Xbox Developer Direct is happening again, this time in just a few days. Developer_Direct as it's being called, will take place January 18th 2024, starting at 12pm PT / 3pm ET / 8pm UK time. They will showcase some of the upcoming video games, some of which include the new Indiana Jones game, Avowed, Ara: History Untold, and Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II. It's also being said that the ZeniMax crew will be showing off some new stuff for The Elder Scrolls Online in their own little show to follow the Developer_Direct show. Not a big lineup of games. I doubt they will reveal any new games during this show though, seems more like a show to give us updates on these upcoming games. You can find more details on this event here - https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2024/01/09/xbox-developer-direct-2024/

I always find it beautiful when a popular video game pays respects to a deceased fan of theirs, by inserting them in the game or inserting a note or an Easter egg referencing them. I think they did something for a World of Warcraft player who had passed away. They have a memorial for him in a certain area in the world. And I think there's been cases of other games paying respects to people who had passed on. Would you like to be memorialized in a video game like that? I'd be dead so I honestly wouldn't care, but I still think it's cool, because then that persons children or family can see that this person meant something to a lot of people. Or maybe just a few, but I still feel it's special for friends and family. What do you think? Would you want a memorial in your favorite video game after you died?

With Silent Hill 2 getting a remake expected to drop this year, it made me wonder about some of the more forgotten or less known horror titles getting their own remakes or reboots. One game I remember being somewhat popular after its release, was a game called Rule of Rose. I believe it's the one with the woman and her dog fighting off creepy masked children. I saw a playthrough of it years ago and thought it was weird and crazy, and I feel with its popularity today, it would be a great idea to remake or reboot the game. Another one, though a bit more popular, would be The Suffering. I think it had a sequel, but I forget. I can see an updated take on the game going over quite well, especially if they keep it in the prison setting. One last one would probably be Cold Fear. This game was under-looked by many because they decided to release it not too soon after Resident Evil 4 came out, so they kind of shot themselves in the foot there. But it is popular among gamers who did give the game a chance. The game takes place on a Russian ship where there are human enemies along with zombies. I think this could easily work as a remake or reboot. I'd love to see this world more realized. It's Ubisoft, so maybe one day they'll dig in their back catalog and remake it. But those are just a few. Do you have any forgotten horror games that deserve a remake or reboot?

This actually looks really good. According to the games website, It's a first person driving survival game where all you have is your car. The intent of the game from what I can tell, is to go to certain areas to collect resources and parts for your car, to continue your journey. It looks like the car is the most important thing you have, and you'll have to constantly upgrade it after traveling to certain areas. Each area poses risks to the player and their car, to the point you will be repairing your car often. I just want to take the car out for a ride and relax with the music. :) Check out their website below, it's dropping February 22nd 2024. https://www.pacificdrivegame.com/

This looks like a Doom clone, but with Dinosaurs. Son and Bone was recently announced with a new trailer, showcasing what the gameplay will look like. It reminds me a lot of Doom, but also maybe a bit of Turok. But the differences here, is that there looks to be some humanoid dinosaurs too. It kind of looks dated for a PS5 game, but maybe it'll be a fun game. The studio behind it made Quantum Error, but I don't think that had great reviews. I'm not expecting this to be a hit or anything. But it looks like it'd be fun for the right price.

Do you ever have times where you lose all interest in a past game you used to love? Maybe it's a game you played the hell out of, and have tried to come back to it, but just can't. I liken it to GTA V. I used to love playing it, but after the online grind, and the way the game ended, I sort of lost interest in the game slowly. I did play it some every so often, but as of late, I won't touch the game. I have it installed, but the only person who does play it, is my brother. I don't even want to play a second of it anymore. Idk what it is, maybe it's because I'm all played out and doing the same thing over and over got to me. I just hope GTA VI isn't much of the same when it comes to the online mode and even the story, because I have a feeling I'm not going to enjoy it as much as past games.

We see many sites that save video games from being forgotten, but what about the endless amount of mobile games that come out on the app stores? We've had app stores since probably around 2007 with the first iPhone, and ever since we've had an app store with just about every mobile device. Now, what happens to the many mobile games that die and are forgotten to time. Do any of these games see life on other platforms? Or maybe do they see life on other app stores? Is there a site that lists all the defunct and dead mobile app games? Maybe a site that lists the history of mobile games from flip phones up to smart phones.

Remember the awkward E3 reveal of Wii Music, where Miyamoto and some people from Nintendo got on stage and hammed it up playing Wii Music? Or how they attempted to is how I should have put it. I just remember how awful the presentation was, and how the music didn't really sound all too great. Did anyone here play it? I guess it wasn't well received by gamers when it was released. Rerez has a good video about the game. They make some fun videos bashing bad games. Actually, I might have a copy of Wii Music that I got years ago from a friend. I'll have to look for it. :D

Source - https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/sag-aftra-signs-deal-with-voiceover-studio-for-ai-use-in-video-games/ar-AA1mHShG I did not see this one coming, considering that I thought the whole purpose of the SAG-AFTRA was to protect actors and voice actors, and this seems far from helping actors at all. But then again, I should have remembered these guys were up against the actors and voice actors recently during those recent actor/voice actor strikes. I think there is still a strike between writers and even writers in video games, so idk what's going on with them. Just sounds like bad decision after bad decision to me. Anyway, they recently signed a deal with a AI voiceover studio known as Replica Studios. The terms outlined at least sounds like it requires consent from actors and voice actors before they can create digital voice replicas of them. As well, there will be requirements for the safe storage of these digital assets. I wonder if they then own your AI voice or if the voice actor gets a say in what their voice can be used for. I hope it's the latter. They make a point in the article that AI isn't going anywhere, that it's here to stay. It almost sounded like they demand that we get on board with them using AI or something. Just the way it was put. What do you think? I am split on AI, as I know it can very well take jobs away from people if the point is to use AI as an alternative to voice acting, and I don't want that. I do like the idea of using AI in some of the NPCs in a video game, but for the main characters, protagonists and most of the side characters, all should be voiced by real life people. But I don't mind AI used in smaller doses, around smaller, less important NPCs, the ones that don't have names. But, I get that it's impeding on the lives of actual voce actors and I don't want to see any voice actor losing a job because of AI.