New Video Games/ Movies

[Evil Tim]

Well to be fair, adjusted for inflation a copy of Turok 1 when it came out would cost something like 120 dollars.

The argument they put forward is they make no money on resales, which is stupid because neither does any other company that makes any other consumer product in the entire world. It seems to be based on the assumption that everyone who'd buy a second hand copy would be willing to pay full price if they didn't have the option of getting it second hand, when often people only buy second hand because it's cheap. It's like that thing they do where they imagine everyone who pirated a game would have bought it.

I think it's mostly because of games most people are fed up of within a week like the copies of Medal of Honor that are still knocking around in bargain bins the world over. They're also basically trying to kill the rental market so you have to buy a game to figure out it's turgid garbage.

[funkychinaman]

Originally Posted by Evil Tim

Well to be fair, adjusted for inflation a copy of Turok 1 when it came out would cost something like 120 dollars.

The argument they put forward is they make no money on resales, which is stupid because neither does any other company that makes any other consumer product in the entire world. It seems to be based on the assumption that everyone who'd buy a second hand copy would be willing to pay full price if they didn't have the option of getting it second hand, when often people only buy second hand because it's cheap. It's like that thing they do where they imagine everyone who pirated a game would have bought it.

I think it's mostly because of games most people are fed up of within a week like the copies of Medal of Honor that are still knocking around in bargain bins the world over. They're also basically trying to kill the rental market so you have to buy a game to figure out it's turgid garbage.

If I may play devil's advocate, downloadable demos can take the place of rentals in the try before you buy scenario.

But yeah, if they want to keep prices up, control distribution a bit better and make a good game.

I'm perfectly okay with the currently system of buying online licenses. If they wanted to double the price of online licenses, I'd be fine with it, because online play are the meat and potatoes of most games now. (On the flip side, if I pay for the right to play online, then that means every time the servers for an old game are decommissioned, they're stealing from ME.)

[BlackIce_GTS]

Wish I'd rented Medal of Honour: Beardfighter.
It was sitting on my shelf for... a year? Installed it, picked second highest difficulty, beat it in 4 hours, uninstalled it.
I guess it's about the same money/time/level of entertainment as if I watched Act of Valour and Behind Enemy Lines 3 in theatres (which I didn't), but I have the preconception that I should not be finished with a game I started after lunch before it's time for supper.
And now I can't get rid of it, because it's got that single-owner registration code. Or, if it doesn't(?), many games do, so nobody buys used PC games anymore. Which means nobody sells used PC games. Which means I don't play as many PC games.

[Excalibur]

Originally Posted by funkychinaman

If I may play devil's advocate, downloadable demos can take the place of rentals in the try before you buy scenario.

Not every game has a demo. Only the most popular and corporate backed ones are. I couldn't even play the Dead Space 3 demo without renewing my Xbox Live Gold.

[Evil Tim]

Something that bugs me is bad console conversions with no FOV settings. Like Crysis 2, which I was playing though yesterday. It's always annoyed me how big the guns appear in that game, so I figured I'd try to get the guns about the same size in screenshots from it and its predecessor and see what that got me.



And if anything I'm being too nice to Crysis 2 there because the SCAR is still bigger. Supposedly this is because console gamers sit on the other side of the room rather than in front of the monitor. Actually this is because they want to draw as little as possible to take the load off the hardware and made a halfassed PC conversion.

[Excalibur]

Originally Posted by Evil Tim

And if anything I'm being too nice to Crysis 2 there because the SCAR is still bigger. Supposedly this is because console gamers sit on the other side of the room rather than in front of the monitor

I tend to sit dead center of my screen.

[Evil Tim]

Playing through again I'm very much reminded of how dumb the plot is, especially given it was written by a professional sci-fi author with an absurdly high opinion of himself. Starting with claiming the US government could somehow cover up an incident which happened right in front of observers from the UN and China, had extensive radio coverage and debate, and ended with a nuclear strike and the loss of the KPA and US' entire taskforces and two whole carrier battlegroups with all hands. And thousands of alien gunships streaming away from the island in all directions. Apparently neither North Korea, the UN, the actual natives of the Lingshan Islands, or the families of any of the deceased servicemen cared to enquire what had happened and nobody cared why a nuclear strike was ordered or why a -200 degree sphere of absolute coldness appeared just beforehand

TL:DR: Richard K. Morgan is a hack.

[funkychinaman]

Originally Posted by Evil Tim

Playing through again I'm very much reminded of how dumb the plot is, especially given it was written by a professional sci-fi author with an absurdly high opinion of himself. Starting with claiming the US government could somehow cover up an incident which happened right in front of observers from the UN and China, had extensive radio coverage and debate, and ended with a nuclear strike and the loss of the KPA and US' entire taskforces and two whole carrier battlegroups with all hands. And thousands of alien gunships streaming away from the island in all directions. Apparently neither North Korea, the UN, the actual natives of the Lingshan Islands, or the families of any of the deceased servicemen cared to enquire what had happened and nobody cared why a nuclear strike was ordered or why a -200 degree sphere of absolute coldness appeared just beforehand

TLR: Richard K. Morgan is a hack.

This is Crysis 2? I played a bit of Crysis 2, but I just couldn't get into it. I just remember fighting aliens in NYC. There must be a lot more game after that.