PixlBit

I had a feeling this was going to be quite a bit like Crackdown. Now I'll need to secure a copy of the ultimate edition of Saints Row 4 and give it a go.

Try out pixlbit.dyndns.org. It's unlikely to be blocked and it'll route you to the site just fine. Works for quite a few of the staff members (and has worked for me in the past as well).

Love that East Greenbush store. It's definitely the best in the Albany area. It is smaller like you said, but most of their stuff is in great condition and the people who work at the store are usually very friendly.

I tend to enjoy games that focus more on mechanics than anything else. If the mechanics are solid and feel good, I can get invested enough to stick around and do pretty much anything the game asks of me. That might mean collecting all of the widgets or fighting all of the bosses (and putting in the time to grind up to be able to fight them).

I totally agree with you that there's some aspect of a Skinner Box in almost all games. But I think that some don't try to even obscure it (mobile is notorious about this). I think with many games, people get invested in some other part of the experience, whether it's the gameplay or the story or the world, and want to be a part of that, even if it means doing stuff that's nonsense padding.

So, it's kind of a fine line. When I think Skinner Box, I think that it more applies to something that literally lays something out that's not fun (or is barely so) and relies very heavily on the reward. With most games, people might say they are striving for the reward, but in reality they're doing it because they enjoy the thing that gets them there so much.

Personally, stuff like trophy/achievement hunting does nothing for me. I've never platinumed a game and the only game I've gotten all the achievements in is Banjo-Kazooie and that's because I have the whole game memorized at this point as it's one of my favs. Those constructs are total Skinner Boxes in my opinion.

Back in the day there was a bit more tangible of a reward for achieving in the game, like a special power or unlocked modes. I find that since the dawn of achievements and trophies, we see less and less of that, in favor of the actual achievement being the reward. As such, there are fewer and fewer games I'll invest in to that extent. If I'm going to go through some amount of effort, I need a reward that's worth that effort.

tldr: I think all games employ Skinner Box techniques, most have more going on and there are other factors at play providing less tangible and unstated rewards while you strive towards the obvious goal. Many games like MMOs, F2P, and mobile games barely try to obscure this. The stuff that's an obvious Skinner Box is not for me. If you don't respect my time, I don't play your game.

Personally, I have no interest in the types of games described in this article. Virtual Skinner Boxes are always pretty apparent to me and something in my brain just rejects them on sight. Never got into WoW, hate F2P games, don't do flash or mobile stuff.

Much rather play a real game that has an end and move on to something else.

N64 was definitely my jam. The JRPGs of the PlayStation era never did much for me and still don't really today. There were a few gems in there though, but I was (and still am) crazy for 3D platformers and the N64 delivered them in spades.

Truly devastating news. While not everyone liked the decisions he made, I thought he was a phenomenal influence at Nintendo and brought a sense of lighthearted joy that has driven the company for a long time now.

I have no idea how they go about replacing him - his sense of presence was enormous and he clearly had a sense of humor that made him endearing to the gaming community. I just hope whoever takes his place truly carries his legacy and doesn't drive Nintendo down the same road being charted by Sony and Microsoft. I appreciate Nintendo's uniqueness and truly attribute that to Iwata.

Don't even know what to say about this. So sad.

In a weird way, I feel like he's responsible for giving me the opportunity to make video games. An idea like that just seems like something he'd encourage from a corporate level.

Can barely imagine the next Nintendo Direct without him there. Man, I'm so sad about this.

Thanks for the heads up! I'll check out the East Greenbush store today and see if I can grab one. That's fairly close to my job.

Just curious - where in NY are you? I want me some Ness action and would love to grab one if you found it somewhere close to Albany!