WHAT PLAY YOU!? Version 3.0

[Tommy!]

GTA4 was on offer and I'm stuck on Chrono Trigger so I've given it another go while I'm killing time at the PC, having not completed it first time around.

The gameplay feels good, driving is fine if not as tight as GTA5 and the shootouts feel far more tight and tactical than I remember.

I'm also being asked to go bowling a lot less than I remember. I'll see how it goes when I get to where I gave up last time (chasing a train on a bike I think it was).

The characters and setting are great in being more grounded but it is all a bit dull though, Jacob aside he's great. It's all seems so grey.

[Dr. Alan Grant]

This forum is a drain on my wallet. Mentions of knock off Lego on AliExpress spurred me on to buy a Pirates Of The Caribbean ship, with more sets to come. Now I’m a whisker away from buying a Steam Deck. I’ve been in two minds about some sort of retro console for a while, and between this thread, the retro games thread, the SNES one, I’m pretty much sold on the Steam Deck. The how-to videos on YouTube for emulation are straightforward enough, and I saw a guy playing Wind Waker and Metroid Prime. I need this console. And I can play Elden Ring on it too?! That game took 3 months of my life last year, now I can potentially do it all again whilst sat on the bog. 
 

I’ve had a look at the Steam store and there are some insane prices. Just have to decide on which memory size to go for with the Deck. Any suggestions? 

[RedRooster]

44 minutes ago, Dr. Alan Grant said:

I’ve had a look at the Steam store and there are some insane prices. Just have to decide on which memory size to go for with the Deck. Any suggestions? 

Keep in mind that you can use a microSD card to expand capacity, so it's really up to you. I went with the largest size, and then went with the largest size possible of SD card. I do tend to delete games after I finish them (knowing they're easy to redownload, if I ever want to do that), but there are certain games I like to have installed on there permanently, in case I want to dip into them. So I suppose it really depends to what extend you'd intend to do that. 

[Cousin Jim Bob]

On 1/25/2023 at 12:08 PM, 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.

 

I think he just bought some of the thousands of Chinese built ones on AliExpress and doubled the price. It looks about what goes for about £55 normally. If you can't be arsed though it will be loaded up with and play everything upto Snes/Megadrive/Neo Geo era perfectly fine. Amiga or Atari ST can have problems if they need keyboard but will play fine. 

With these though once you hit PlayStation/Saturn/arcade 3d era things can go wonky. Alot play fine, some will be really slow though, some will have huge graphics faults, some won't play at all. With Dreamcast and PSP games these problems get alot worse. As mentioned by others the controllers are usually really, really bad as well. The cheapest Chinese knock offs. 

So if all you want is a retro playing machine that is easy plug in and play with no faff it is good, if over priced but any games after the 3d era hits expect problems and nice surprise if they work.

[Merzbow]

Yeah that's almost 100% either dropshipping from China via somewhere like AliExpress or bought in bulk from there.

Edited January 26, 2023 by Merzbow

[SuperBacon]

Someone buy one from AliExpress for me and I'll add on a score on top for you

[Sphinx]

Anyone know if the Steam Deck uses battery life when plugged in/docked? I like the idea of using it for multiplayer games on the TV but don't want it to worsen what I hear is already a fairly limited battery.

[Cousin Jim Bob]

40 minutes ago, SuperBacon said:

Someone buy one from AliExpress for me and I'll add on a score on top for you

 

I know it seems a faff, my brother was in the same spot, he wanted a retro machine but not wanting to do the tech stuff. Which I completely understand. 

 

Your probably better off looking on Ebay for a "50'000 games" type box tbh. It will be half the price and exactly the same thing but probably in a different casing. £135 is taking the piss tbh.

[FLips]

1 hour ago, SuperBacon said:

Someone buy one from AliExpress for me and I'll add on a score on top for you

Honestly it’s so easy to do if you had an empty console I’d be more than happy to kit it all up with games for you. I’ve no idea where to start with the hardware though as my Pi 3 was bought for me and I just messed about with it after.

In unrelated news I got that new Hi-Fi Rush on Gamepass and it’s pretty good. It’s comic book style graphics like XIII but it’s a God of War/Devil May Cry style hack and slash all in time to the beat of the music. It’s a mix of licensed and original songs and it tries massively to get you to understand how the timing works but I have zero timing and still struggle on normal. I couldn’t do Crypt of the Necromancer or the Zelda DLC for similar reasons.

[Ironic Indie Lad]

Despite having quite a massive backlog, I decided to download the 1st Red Dead Redemption onto my Series X. 

I wasn't aware of this but the game got a backwards compatibility upgrade for the Xbox One X that makes it run in 4K and it looks stunning. It can be improved further if you dick about with the saturation too.  It really shows how well made the game was and how nice the art direction was for it to look this good well over a decade later with a few tweaks. I think its about £8 at the moment and the Undead Nightmare expansion is about £3. Well worth a go if you have a One X, Series S or X.

Strange game for me as I actually did complete it years ago but have absolutely zero memory of it. Complete and utter mental black hole. Absolutely lost in the abyss. Buried by time and dust. Not to get too grim but I know I borrowed it off someone in college around the time that my Gran was in her dying days. The only thing I remember is that I used to go to college, come home and just play it until I went to sleep. 

I really loved this playthrough though. Great world, great characters, great story and such a memorable ending. I feel like a fool for leaving it so long and now I agree that it thoroughly deserves its reputation as one of the great games of all time.

[CleetusVanDamme]

1 hour ago, Ironic Indie Lad said:

Strange game for me as I actually did complete it years ago but have absolutely zero memory of it. Complete and utter mental black hole.

This is me with the second one. It came out just as I'd been written off with a slipped disc. Just me (in zero pain when I wasn't moving), Red Dead 2 and a couple of big jars of liquid morphine for a couple of weeks. Bliss, and I remember close to nothing. Knowing that when I get round to replaying it it'll mostly feel like a first time through is a nice thought.

The X enhanced OG is great, and why I was never fussed about it getting a "remaster", there already is!

 

[Merzbow]

I got the Mayhem reference there.

[Accident Prone]

For a game that only requires the four keyboard arrow keys (and the ESC key to see the map), Vampire Survivors is fucking great, isn't it? It seems that as you keep playing and plugging away, more and more layers of gameplay reveal themselves. It's just excellent, and I'm incredibly lucky that there isn't a proper Android version or else I'd be truly fucked.

I couldn't tell you a lick about the soundtrack though, as it's also an excellent podcast game. Up there with Slay The Spire, Rogue Legacy, Dead Cells, Hades, and Binding Of Isaac as games to work on your podcast queue. And I've not even moved past the first character yet, despite unlocking more than a dozen more so far.

[Onyx2]

32 minutes ago, Accident Prone said:

For a game that only requires the four keyboard arrow keys (and the ESC key to see the map), Vampire Survivors is fucking great, isn't it? It seems that as you keep playing and plugging away, more and more layers of gameplay reveal themselves. It's just excellent, and I'm incredibly lucky that there isn't a proper Android version or else I'd be truly fucked.

I couldn't tell you a lick about the soundtrack though, as it's also an excellent podcast game. Up there with Slay The Spire, Rogue Legacy, Dead Cells, Hades, and Binding Of Isaac as games to work on your podcast queue. And I've not even moved past the first character yet, despite unlocking more than a dozen more so far.

The always brilliant Kim Justice did a piece on this last week 

 

 

Edited January 31, 2023 by Onyx2

[CleetusVanDamme]

2 hours ago, Merzbow said:

I got the Mayhem reference there.

If it's from me it was accidental. I don't know what that is. Hopefully not a VR SEX thing!