Behold, the body of Adonis and the brain of a squirrel.

[Chozon1]

Doing pretty well. Been super busy this past week because of mid-terms. I have a little time to breathe this week, but finals are coming up soon so I'll be busy again for a couple weeks. Trying to find a job, and I really need to apply at schools for transfer.

Do your ears hang low?

The important question is...how long before Christmas do your finals fall?

It's a trait I inherited from my father's side, actually. When he was younger he could tie them in a knot and a bow. I never got that skill though.

I want to give you more context, since I doubt you will ever play the game for yourself (And I wouldn't necessarily blame you, the content is...extreme in some ways), but I don't think I can do it justice. So I'll just leave it at that. XD


There is actually a second opening song to the game. The one I showed you is what was used for the PlayStation release of the game. But originally, the game came out on Xbox One (Which, shockingly, was not localized for America) and had a different opening song. I don't like it as much as the PS opening, but I do kinda like it.

(Ignore the Vietnamese subtitles, this was the only version I could find, lol)



Thoughts?

It's weird sauce, but I think I like that one better. It's more upbeat for one, but it also feels distinctly...Japanese, I guess. It's going to get stuck in my head, at any rate. I'ma blame you for that if it's not gone in a few days. XD

[Deepfreeze32]

Hee hee.

It's a good song. Definitely has a more upbeat vibe to it.

Ever been interested in a game based solely on the staff?

I recently became interested in a game called The Caligula Effect because it was written by Tadashi Satomi (Who wrote Persona 1 and 2) and composed by Tsukasa Masuko (Who composed the early Shin Megami Tensei games). If it weren't them, the game would otherwise look kinda generic, but now I'm giving it a second look based on that.

[Chozon1]

Companies, moreso than staff. But I've bought games for years because they had "Satoru Iwata" and/or "Shigeru Miyamoto" in the credits.

Also, Steve Jackson. Dude makes good board games.

[Deepfreeze32]

I mean, I guess they're similar. I tend to at least consider anything internally developed by Atlus, just because their pedigree is so solid IMO.

What is your thought on companies who enable scalping by way of not producing sufficient quantities of an item?

[Chozon1]

I do love Atlus. In that case, yes. I have bought games just for the Double Fine label. Used to be that way with Capcom, back in the early 2000's. XD

What is your thought on companies who enable scalping by way of not producing sufficient quantities of an item?

Again, I'm a Nintendo fan. Question already answered. >_>

OK, honestly, I think that's a skewing of the problem. Companies can't be blamed for 'enabling scalping' any more than knife makers can be blamed for 'enabling stabbing'. Or car companies for 'enabling insurance scams'.

Companies make X number of an item for X reasons. Those reasons can be economical in nature, market testing, whatever. It isn't their fault idiots buy multiples of an item to sell at a higher price later. They can't control that. It would theoretically be a problem even if there was unlimited quantity of X item. There's always someone in a bind that scalpers take advantage of. No, the problem is with the idiots; not the companies.

Besides, who creates the arbitrary number of 'sufficient quantity'? To take Ninty for an example, I have only to look to the NES classic. It sold out almost instantly, scalpers made out like bandits. The internet ran wild with screeching that Nintendo set up some diabolical plot to rob people of a product that 'WOULD OBVIOUSLY BE SUCCESSFUL--'

Let me stop you there, rhetorical McRanty. Nintendo, in a world of 'just download the files and emulate it', in a world of 'this game is already on sale to everyone who has bought a Nintendo console in the last decade', in a world of 'if I don't have save points and unlimited lives the game is impossible to beat', had no possible way of knowing the NES classic would be the market success that it was. They simply did not. I did not. I wanted one, but I grew up with the NES. I figured I could just grab one when it dropped in price.

So was it Ninty's fault that turds were selling it on Ebay a week later for hundreds of bucks? No. Not even kinda. I wish they had done a second run, I think it would have sold out just as much...but eh.

If anyone is to blame, it's retailers, not the manufacturer. Maybe they should stop shady people who try to buy a dozen of whatever is the flavor of the month.

My thoughts...are grumpy. XD

[Deepfreeze32]

I was thinking more along the lines of Limited Run Games, who create limited physical printings of games already available digitally, and only digitally. Nintendo is nothing compared to these people. They are effectively impossible to get at retail price. If you want one, be prepared to spend five times the price on ebay because they released it at a time when you had other stuff to do and it sold out within seconds. I've never been able to get a single one, even when I showed up at the online store in time. But rather than do something to try and control the prices, they more or less encourage scalping by refusing to print more of them, refusing to have any sort of randomized batching system that makes it harder for people to swipe them all at once, and then they more or less taunt people on twitter about it when they complain that this is little better than dealing with Ticketmaster (Who ALSO enables scalping). I freaking hate Limited Run Games. XD



How would you feel if you were blackmailed into choosing a college degree you didn't really want (Without incurring student debt), then working in a field you didn't really want to, and then realizing that you made a terrible mistake? Because I'm more or less realizing I never wanted to get a CS degree, I only did it because my parents more or less blackmailed me into choosing a degree with "Career prospects" and CS was the one I thought i hated the least.

[Chozon1]

Eh...still not the companies problem. It's the idiot scalpers. There's only so much account validation a website can do before it begins to feel like you're giving your information to Russian hackers. I actually remember reading about that company in Game Informer. Seemed like a good idea at the time, but now I'm glad I keep forgetting about them. XD

I had a conversation with my dad once when I was in college. I was going to class with kids (I mean...three or four years younger than me. Might as well have been in diapers. >_>) that didn't pay attention, didn't study, and showed up to class late...and were still passing. I was breaking my back and mind to do my best, and the frustration was compounded by the fact that everything I was learning in class I could get for free in a library, with the benefit of not having to deal with tests or crippling debt, or an hour commute. Or other people.

"Why should I bother getting a degree when I can learn everything they'd teach my in a library? I'm paying for free knowledge that's on the internet. It's about learning, right?"

"Son. Getting a college degree is not about showing companies that you know what you're talking about. It's not about knowing what you're talking about. You're going to have to learn more no matter what job you get. That's life. Getting a degree is about showing people, showing companies, that you are determined. That you can be relied upon to complete a difficult task. That you are willing to be a hard worker."

That piece of paper is a badge of honor and dedication amigo. No matter the circumstances behind how you got it. It's a sign that you don't quit, even when you want to.

[Deepfreeze32]

Well yes, I understand that, but I feel like my career prospects are now sorely limited because I chose Computer Science as my degree, and I never want to program professionally again. XD I feel like people are going to see my degree, and assume I want to program when that couldn't be further from the truth. It just sucks, y'know?

When you play a game you want to be good, but the gameplay is just rubbish?

[Chozon1]

That's true. But it follows that the inverse would be true too, right? A landscaping major could walk into a development company and stand a fair chance at getting a job because he has a degree.

Not that I'm suggesting you go into landscaping.

It's interesting, because I tend to be very forgiving if I like the game itself. I loved Red Steel, after all. Not liked; loved. So the game that makes that list has to have a fatal flaw of some kind and a supremely excellent quality. More often it's the story that kills a game for me, while the gameplay is good.

Unless you mean a game that looks awesome, and I've wanted it for awhile, and then I play it and realize I can't stand it. In that case the list is sadly long. Alpha Centauri comes to mind immediately. It's a classic, I couldn't wait to play it...it's just...age has not treated the RTS/4X genre as kindly as others.

Psychonauts is another. Missed it in the original era, toyed with getting it for PC every time it was on sale, finally got it for free a few months back...only to find that the game is incredibly disturbing. XD

Also, DOTA. Yeah, I know. I really do. But I can't stand that game.

[Deepfreeze32]

I'm with you on Dota, but that also extends to League of Legends. I just don't get that kind of MOBA, at all. I dunno, I just don't like the RTS setup for anything other than RTS games. XD

When you try to air your frustrations with something, and end up composing an essay of your grievances that looks like a manifesto to rival the declaration of independence?

[Chozon1]

I was fine with top down RTS flavored MOBA's...until I played a third-person MOBA (Paragon, in my case). I can't go back, honestly. The fine character control and ease of use guarantees I get dead'd because I screwed up or got outplayed; not because of terrible controls and camera. Much less frustrating. <3 Now I want to play Paragon again...

You have seen my rants, amigo. I'm not just that verbose for fun complaints.

But I will admit there comes a point where I just give up because the list is too long. I've been defeated by my own wall of text.

Plus, it's a great way to get angry at someone. You start off writing a genteel 'I have a problem, and I'd like to talk to you about it' and, after the fifteenth bullet point, it turns into 'OH MY GOSH WHY DID I LET THIS KEEP GOING FOR SO LONG I WOULD SLAP YOU IF YOU WERE RIGHT HERE'. XD

[Deepfreeze32]

Yeah, I feel ya there. XD

I have a real short video for you this time.



Anything relatable there?

[Chozon1]

And he's speaking into a PSP at the end. XD

All of it. Every sad, completely realistic, part. -_- I don't ask for gaming help on the internet anymore; I google for some other poor scrub who has foolishly done it for me.

I just don't understand why idiot gamers do that. XD And I know I've done it before myself when I was an angry twelve year old, and I had no idea why at the time.

[Deepfreeze32]

Yeah, I definitely understand that.

So I went ahead and joined the Future War Cult in Destiny 2 because, well, I chose mostly at random. XD

How about the new Battlefro-I mean Star Wars Gamblefront II?

[Chozon1]

Bleh. Bleh, I say. New Monarchy FTW. It's the only faction with fluff that didn't come from an emo-kid.

Terrible guns, though. XD And the armor is...I like it. I think it's the best. But it's definitely not for everyone. XD

As for Star Wars, I am...bilious, I 'spose. Firstly, as a personal peeve, I tend to be of the mindset that, if a product bothers you, you don't buy it. You do not buy it and then spend countless hours on the internet whining about it. EA's micro transaction stuff was on the internet raising a ruckus for months. The majority of people who are now writhing on the ground pretending EA stabbed them in the back should just get over themselves. Seriously.

/angrynerd

On the other hand, terrible as the micro-transaction system is (and I do think it's terrible. There's no pooping way I'm paying full price for a game in which I have to pay to progress. That's called 'how to be a mobile game'. And those have the sense to be free in the first place.), I'm pleasantly surprised at EA's reaction to the poop storm. Last I heard, they shut the system down after radically dropping the prices. Granted, they've said the system will be making a return...but I have my doubts. They've already seriously hurt their launch with their shenanigans, and I don't imagine they will want to kill the game completely. Angry gamer's have a very long memory.

But I don't deny that I am baffled and annoyed that this idiocy happened in the first place. Really EA? It's hard enough to get me to buy game-length, content laden, digital world changing, Destiny 2 expansions for a one-time purchase. If a game starts nickel and dimeing me after a $60 purchase, for ludicrous things which should be free in the first place, then I just won't buy the dirty game in the first place. That's a lot of money. Especially when it's basically a digital TCG you can pay to win.

/rageynerd