WHAT PLAY YOU!? Version 3.0

[Merzbow]

10 hours ago, DavidB6937 said:

I'm sure we had a Steam Deck topic but I can't find it so..

I've started buying a few games in Steam sales while I finish saving up for a Steam Deck.

Just wondered if there were any other ways of getting cheaper Steam games?

Humble Bundle if you want cheap bundles of games, they have different selections each month or so.

https://www.humblebundle.com/games

CDKeys sometimes have great deals too.

https://www.cdkeys.com/pc

[RedRooster]

11 hours ago, DavidB6937 said:

I'm sure we had a Steam Deck topic but I can't find it so..

I've started buying a few games in Steam sales while I finish saving up for a Steam Deck.

Just wondered if there were any other ways of getting cheaper Steam games?

Fanatical is frequently cheaper than Steam, and when you buy a game there, you get a 5% discount voucher for your next purchase. Humble Bundle has some solid deals too, but the real star of the show is the Humble Choice selection - which gives you a good number of games each month for £8.99 (with the option to skip a month, if you're not interested in the games they're offering). This month's games include Doom Eternal, Oli Oli World and Grow: Song of the Evertree - so the price point here saves you quite a lot of money if you're interested in any of them. 

[DavidB6937]

Thanks both  now I just need to try and not spend too much..

[Chris B]

I got a Steam Deck the other week. Outside of a small emulator, it's the first games console I've bought since the Wii, and I'm really enjoying it. I had a mid-range laptop, so I'd been doing some gaming, but just being able to pick up and play makes such a difference - and the fact that the games don't just fill up my hard drive.

One thing that's rather impressed me - I downloaded the Steam Link app onto my Fire Stick, and it lets me stream onto the TV while I'm playing. We don't have a great connection, but it still works pretty well. There's a very slight lag with the controls and the picture quality is a bit less good... but it's far from unplayable and still looks decent enough. I'm unlikely to use it much, but it wasn't something I was expecting to be able to do. 

[SuperBacon]

Right, that's it I've had enough and I want in. After the above post, @FelatioLipsmaking me all nostalgic (nonce) and reading all the memories I want in.

I don't care much for new games so I want to play all my beloved old ones. I have no technical nous (please don't tell me I could do this myself, I couldn't even if you came to my house and told me and guided me step by step)

I've seen these on Facebook and the guy has really good reviews, so I need one or some of you nerds to tell me it its worth it. 

https://www.nbelectronix.com/product-page/i12-tws-wireless-bluetooth-5-0-earphones

"But SuperBacon with a bit of time and a YouTube walkthro...." NO! It will not happen.

I assume he's just put an emulator in a case and cost him twenty quid, but I'm fine with that.

1.) Good deal?

2.) Can I just plug it in to my TV and play? Please don't tell me I have to download or upload anything as I really CBA.

Cheers lads.

[Keith Houchen]

My girlfriend is a big big Harry Potter fan and has been excited about Hogwarts Legacy since it was announced. She’s also more of a gamer than I am so it’s time to upgrade to an Xbox X. We looked at the S but figured if you needed to get extra memory, you might as well shell out for the X. Is that right?

[Tommy!]

15 minutes ago, SuperBacon said:

1.) Good deal?

2.) Can I just plug it in to my TV and play? Please don't tell me I have to download or upload anything as I really CBA.

1 - no idea

2- yes, if it's anything like what I bought a few years back (it certainly looks like it, just that's got a nicer case than my black box) it was just a hdmi to the TV and a plug in the wall. You only need to do more if you want more games on it, but to date I've never found the need.

I bought a new controller as the one I got with mine was shit, but the kits been grand. If you do go for a change in controllers you might need to map it in, but even I could do that so you'll be grand. 

Edited January 25, 2023 by Tommy!

[DavidB6937]

11 minutes ago, Keith Houchen said:

My girlfriend is a big big Harry Potter fan and has been excited about Hogwarts Legacy since it was announced. She’s also more of a gamer than I am so it’s time to upgrade to an Xbox X. We looked at the S but figured if you needed to get extra memory, you might as well shell out for the X. Is that right?

The S seems to be okay but some things are already pushing it to its limits so depending on what you want to play and how you want to play it, it could certainly be worth investing in the X more long term. I think the S is a nice short term cheap option.

[Merzbow]

I was watching someone play the latest MDickie wrestling game and the career mode has the most batshit free roam mechanic added to it, I think I might have to pick it up on Switch when it's next on sale.

Regarding the S Vs X, if you have older Xbox and 360 discs lying around that you may want to continue playing then that's another point for the X as the S has no optical drive and out misses a few of the enhancements, too.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_backward-compatible_games_for_Xbox_One_and_Series_X/S

I've been contemplating picking up a second hand Xbox One X and using it for that, plus it can run some good emulators.

Edited January 25, 2023 by Merzbow

[BomberPat]

I have it on Steam almost entirely because I was won over by newLEGACY videos. It's mental, but I can never bring myself to really get into it - they're not that much fun to play on your own, as so much of the humour comes from how janky and ridiculous they are. I get far more enjoyment out of watching nL play them than I would ever get myself. I keep thinking about streaming it myself, though.

[FLips]

27 minutes ago, SuperBacon said:

Right, that's it I've had enough and I want in. After the above post, @FelatioLipsmaking me all nostalgic (nonce) and reading all the memories I want in.

I don't care much for new games so I want to play all my beloved old ones. I have no technical nous (please don't tell me I could do this myself, I couldn't even if you came to my house and told me and guided me step by step)

I've seen these on Facebook and the guy has really good reviews, so I need one or some of you nerds to tell me it its worth it. 

https://www.nbelectronix.com/product-page/i12-tws-wireless-bluetooth-5-0-earphones

"But SuperBacon with a bit of time and a YouTube walkthro...." NO! It will not happen.

I assume he's just put an emulator in a case and cost him twenty quid, but I'm fine with that.

1.) Good deal?

2.) Can I just plug it in to my TV and play? Please don't tell me I have to download or upload anything as I really CBA.

Cheers lads.

1. I'm not sure. I've never heard of the model but I'm not 100% clued up on the world of emulation so can't judge on that. What I'm judging it on is a few things; the amount of games sounds good on paper but a lot of them will either be duplicates or outright not work. The N64 for example is notoriously difficult to emulate and a lot of the games outright just won't work or function properly. Similarly the Amiga when I played it months back on PC was a pain in the arse to get to run properly, they also have a lot of ROMs down as "NES Hacks" which god knows what that is.
I also come from a mindset of having a Raspberry Pi 3 which is similar to this, and emulating a fair bit on PC. I know you're not interested in doing that but it is really simple to put games and emulators on something like this, and those bluetooth controllers will be junk, so the price is making me blush a bit. As someone who wants something there and now though, I'd look at those reviews and judge for yourself. If you think you'll play it a bunch and everyone else says it's spot on then go for it.

2. Yeah should be able to. You'd only need to download extra games if you wanted but it's easy enough and I'm happy to help if you ever want to!

 

18 minutes ago, Keith Houchen said:

My girlfriend is a big big Harry Potter fan and has been excited about Hogwarts Legacy since it was announced. She’s also more of a gamer than I am so it’s time to upgrade to an Xbox X. We looked at the S but figured if you needed to get extra memory, you might as well shell out for the X. Is that right?

I got an S because the X was like gold dust and it was perfect for what I needed it for. If you plan on wanting more memory then definitely get the X as I believe it's almost the same price for an S+memory as an X.
I got an X a couple of months ago and now my wife uses the S and we can barely tell much difference. The X loads a little faster and does 4K, has better memory but that's about it. We didn't notice any games running better or worse, but we're still near the start of the console's life so I would imagine a better long term investment would be the X.

[Cousin Jim Bob]

23 minutes ago, Keith Houchen said:

My girlfriend is a big big Harry Potter fan and has been excited about Hogwarts Legacy since it was announced. She’s also more of a gamer than I am so it’s time to upgrade to an Xbox X. We looked at the S but figured if you needed to get extra memory, you might as well shell out for the X. Is that right?

 

I've got a Series S and never had a problem with memory space. I just delete games I'm not playing anymore. The bigger deal is the disc drive. If you want to buy physical copies of games second hand or sell games when your done the X is the way to go. 

The price difference is hefty too. You can get a second hand S from CEX for £160. The X even second hand is going for £400+. I did the 3 year Game Pass conversion deal and just buy the odd game digitally. There is always sales going on the digital store so you can get some very good savings. Game Pass has tons of content though so I hardly buy many. 

[Keith Houchen]

Thanks for all the feedback, guys, it’s very much appreciated!

[DavidB6937]

1 hour ago, Keith Houchen said:

Thanks for all the feedback, guys, it’s very much appreciated!

Interested to hear what the game is like. My wife isn't much of a gamer but she likes Harry Potter. Not splashing out that much if it's shit though.

[Chris B]

2 hours ago, SuperBacon said:

I've seen these on Facebook and the guy has really good reviews, so I need one or some of you nerds to tell me it its worth it. 

https://www.nbelectronix.com/product-page/i12-tws-wireless-bluetooth-5-0-earphones

"But SuperBacon with a bit of time and a YouTube walkthro...." NO! It will not happen.

I assume he's just put an emulator in a case and cost him twenty quid, but I'm fine with that.

1.) Good deal?

2.) Can I just plug it in to my TV and play? Please don't tell me I have to download or upload anything as I really CBA.

Cheers lads.

1 - I'd go by reviews from people that have bought that specific one, as the quality can vary dramatically. I bought a handheld emulator from Droix for £130, and was very, very happy with it, so in terms of price point and what it's promising, it looks like it should basically be fine.

2 - In terms of games on it, etc, it should be fine, yes. The way it worked with my emulator was that they were loaded onto a micro-SD card, along with an easy navigation system. When I chose one, it loaded, and that was it. All the games were ready to go. I downloaded some specific extra ones, but that was it. Had issues with very, very few games (mainly N64 ones, due to control mapping and some slight delays).

I've also loaded an emulator onto the Steam Deck, and it works really nicely - few things to figure out in terms of controls, but it basically works out. Could be more intuitive, but it's fun.