PixlBit

Heh, was just thinking this myself. I wouldn't even say it's above average. Game offers no challenge, game mechanics and story are at odds with each other, the optional tombs in this Tomb raider game are ridiculously simple to navigate, full of QTEs that contribute nothing of substance to play, feels like it was designed by shareholders instead of creative designers, checks all the tired current gen AAA shooter boxes, gunplay is been there/done that, and the origin story is no more interesting than what was already established. 

Man, marketing is really effective these days.  Do you honestly think this going to be as good or better than Wasteland 2, BIoshock Infinite, Company of Heroes 2, GTAV, Total War Rome 2?  I'd say Heart of the Swarm is already more of a contender.

They chose to go with a 'serious' story, that they undermine at every turn?  Seems like it was pointless if they are going to play the "B-b-but games are about fun!" card.  It doesn't seem like they were thinking about fun when they dreamt up an attempted rape and traumatic stress for a game about killing faceless goons by the hundreds.  They can't have their cake and eat it too. It doesn't hold up to the lightest of scrutiny. Making the character the equivalent of Arnold in Commando is at odds with humanization and being this regular person the publisher and the press are trying to sell her as.

You take the combat out of alot of games and you have nothing else. No combat in Uncharted leaves you with trivial puzzles and platforming that might as well not be in the game for how unchallenging or interesting they are.  I only played the demo of Journey, but it seemed pointless. I didn't see much worth finding, so exploration isn't there. Didn't seem to be much game there at all.

For RPGs, Obsidian is the only developer I can think of that can pull off minimal combat,  on the strength of their writers (see Planescape:Torment).  I've been told that you can get through New Vegas without killing anyone.  There is always the adventure genre.  Amnesia: The Dark Descent requires avoidance instead of confrontation, as do many others.  But I do like combat in my RPGs and adventure games. Volence is inherent in heroic adventure. I can't think of any good adventure ever told where someone didn't die or have to fight.

I must be playing a different version.  She is not a regular woman by any stretch of the imagination. Maybe in the cutscenes, but the ludonarrative dissonance  sets in while you're killing scores of generic thugs with Jason Voorhees like ease and aplomb, and surviving injuries and implementing tactics that would impress Rambo.  Of course this is mere hours after the game makes a big deal about her never having killed someone before.  

I still feel guilt over putting my dog to sleep, 17 years later. But he was in such bad shape, and according to the vets, with no chance of recovey.   It kills me when I think about the light going out of his eyes as the chemicals take effect, and when I think that he didn't know these were his last moments or didn't understand why.  Who the hell are we to decide when it's time for others to die?  I feel like a thief in the night.

Anyway, video games used to be a programmer's medium. Now it's an executive's medium. In fact, when it comes to most projects these days you'll hear from everyone else working on it but the programmer(s).  I like visual art, but the artists are not more important than the programmer, but I just saw a promo video where the art director , story writer and project leads were interviewed and not the programmer. Nor the project lead (unless they're the programmer too), director, cutscene makers, level designers, 3D modelers, composer, etc.  Video games are closer to engineering than they are to creative art.  Game mechanics are an engineering problem more than creativity. When it's not tackled as an engineering problem, you get the kind of games we get in the AAA sphere these days: focus on everyting else besides the actual play.  Focus on "story" and cutscenes and "immershun" and revenue streams.  Sorry, but Cave Story is a better GAME than 95% of AAA "games" made today.

I think the type of women ActivisionStoleMy360 is talking about aren't really smart. They're "educated" but utterly vapid, the waters run shallow when it comes to atypical thinking. They do everything right according to the status quo which, along with being attractive, opens up doors for them, makes them accepted and seen as really together, but it's all rote.  Smile at the right time, nod their head at the right time, say the right things in the right tone of voice (all these girls have the same speech patterns ), have the right opinions, listen to the right music, watch the right shows, etc. Conform in every aspect.

 Well, that's my interpretation at least.

Is 'Man of Constant Sorrow' considred folk?  I liked the songs they had in 'O Brother Where Art Thou' even though the whole country lifestyle isn't my thing, but I don't know what genre they belong to.  Also 'Oh Death' by Ralph Stanley.

All I can tell people is to stay off that in-game chat shit. Unless it's among friends, nothing good can come of it.  There is really no need to interact vocally with strangers in 99% of all video games ever made.  I think the first ARMA game is the only time I willingly used mic and headset, and that's only because the game is serioulsy tactical and lethal.

What 'hood you moving to?  Logan's Square? Humboldt?  Bucktown?

I'm really skeptical about Newmb Rader. Looks like typical current gen cover shooter.  Hope there are still some tricky jumps and death traps in there.  Failing that, I hope it's not too easy.  Survival in a survival game should be rough.

Wizardry (and first person "blobber" RPGs in general) is timeless.  I had a blast not too long ago playing Labyrinth of souls on PS3.  These game inspire the imagination.

First game I remember playing is Haunted House on Atari 2600. I'm sure I played games before that, but that one crystalized everything for me.  Then when saw and heard Castlevania on my friend's NES, that was it: stone cold game fanatic for life.