The Video Game Thread

[Lutonio]

Ok I thought so but didn't want to throw out the wrong name. Sweet. Hopefully I will have it by Monday-ish.

Nice. Don't let yourself get discouraged by the steep learning curve. It's a hard game to get into. Just make sure you bring a knife, medkit, and healing syringe on every hunt.

 

[InTheZone]

Is anyone following the Last of Us 2 leaks and all the Naughty Dog rumors?

TLOU1 is a masterpiece. Naughty Dog used to make great games where every aspect of it was great. They have now gone full-****** and I won't be supporting them anymore. It is such a shame this game has been plagued by absolute trash. I won't specify since it involves politics, but I will say there's a few key individuals responsible for this new direction and they are no good to society. One of them literally abuses her power to push an agenda, you can google her easily and I have no idea why any publisher/developer would get involved with these people. Many senior level staff have quit over this trash and everyone's getting fired for expressing concern or disagreement.

And of course youtubes broken system allows for scare tactics from anyone that wants to strike down a channel for damage control. This situation hopefully leads to a cancellation or rework of the game, which I know won't happen, but it's such a shame this masterpiece has been ruined completely. And supposedly the TLOU tv show on HBO continues the end of TLOU2 and I can tell you right now that show might not last more than 1 season if it even releases.

Walking evil people that want to attach labels to anyone for disagreeing with their perspective. They are literally comparable to the guy running North Korea.

 

[InTheZone]

looks good. I haven't keeping up with the AC games ever since 4 Black Flag. I enjoyed every bit of that and hadn't played many of the new ones except a little of Origins, which was good. I'll catch up on the older releases, except Odyssey, but this new one looks on point.

 

[JohnnyTheFox]

Spoiler free

An employee leaked a significant portion of the game after a payment dispute. Apparently senior team and executives got their bonuses while grunt workers didn't. Someone said these bonuses are the major income for such workers.

This is on top of reports coming out that Baughty Dog has terrible crunch for employees and has been an increasingly terrible place to work.

The leaks included fully voiced cutscenes which have been copyright struck off platforms like YouTube. There are screenshots from the dev kit of the dev build that give away more of the game due to the names of levels and sections.

Without getting into specifics, people are mad that the plot sucks and hate the direction they went. I've looked up the spoilers and confirm I hate it. What I can't confirm is the other issue coming out of this; complicating the matter is that people are inferring from the spoilers that the game leans heavily into social justice issues and identity politics. The fact that Anita Sarkeesian has her name anywhere near the game doesn't bode well for this.

Also, the voice actor for Joel did an interview about three weeks ago where he said fans need to be open minded and let themselves be told the stort they need to be told and the story they want to be told. Barf.

Uggh, will wait for reviews before I even consider purchasing it.

 

[BigStar]

Spoiler free

An employee leaked a significant portion of the game after a payment dispute. Apparently senior team and executives got their bonuses while grunt workers didn't. Someone said these bonuses are the major income for such workers.

This is on top of reports coming out that Baughty Dog has terrible crunch for employees and has been an increasingly terrible place to work.

The leaks included fully voiced cutscenes which have been copyright struck off platforms like YouTube. There are screenshots from the dev kit of the dev build that give away more of the game due to the names of levels and sections.

Without getting into specifics, people are mad that the plot sucks and hate the direction they went. I've looked up the spoilers and confirm I hate it. What I can't confirm is the other issue coming out of this; complicating the matter is that people are inferring from the spoilers that the game leans heavily into social justice issues and identity politics. The fact that Anita Sarkeesian has her name anywhere near the game doesn't bode well for this.

Also, the voice actor for Joel did an interview about three weeks ago where he said fans need to be open minded and let themselves be told the stort they need to be told and the story they want to be told. Barf.

Huh, I looked it up and it will be different as you're saying. I wonder if the voice actress had more pull this round bc it is an odd direction for such a "can't miss" title. I'm not against it per se, but could you do it on a title people haven't been waiting a decade on? That is forcing people in a way, you want to get to what you want? that's fine, but we'll make you put up with what we want first.

 

[Juggernaut]

 

[Zordon]

Spoiler free

An employee leaked a significant portion of the game after a payment dispute. Apparently senior team and executives got their bonuses while grunt workers didn't. Someone said these bonuses are the major income for such workers.

This is on top of reports coming out that Baughty Dog has terrible crunch for employees and has been an increasingly terrible place to work.

The leaks included fully voiced cutscenes which have been copyright struck off platforms like YouTube. There are screenshots from the dev kit of the dev build that give away more of the game due to the names of levels and sections.

Without getting into specifics, people are mad that the plot sucks and hate the direction they went. I've looked up the spoilers and confirm I hate it. What I can't confirm is the other issue coming out of this; complicating the matter is that people are inferring from the spoilers that the game leans heavily into social justice issues and identity politics. The fact that Anita Sarkeesian has her name anywhere near the game doesn't bode well for this.

Also, the voice actor for Joel did an interview about three weeks ago where he said fans need to be open minded and let themselves be told the stort they need to be told and the story they want to be told. Barf.

Yeah they played themselves on several levels. I don't respect any company that doesn't do right by their employees. I hadn't read about that but I did see some of the clips. I'll probably wait to buy a used version down the line.

 

[SlammedZero]

Wonder how much of that kind of pressure is just rampant in the video game industry? I've read quite a few articles about the Activision developer branches like Treyarch and Infinity Ward really pushing their employees to meet their deadlines of their annual Call of Duty releases. There for awhile you could just tell that Activision was releasing game titles with nothing but dollar signs in their eyes as they crammed micro-transactions and loot boxes down your throat. This last COD feels much better. The micro-transactions are still there but they feel less forces in your face and the loot boxes are gone.

I love developers such as Turn 10 studios. They are the ones that help create the Forza racing series games for Xbox. When they dropped Forza 7 there was a loot box type system. The players complained and one day you load the game up after an update and that whole system is gone. They actually listened to their players. Now that's how you run a video game company.

 

[Corso]

My gaming laptop is in full disintegration mode so I haven't been gaming for a minute.
I finally bought a real beefy desktop rig a half hour ago (Alienware R9 with all the goodies) and I'm going to be on pins and needles until it's delivered!

So excited!

 

[Reality]

My gaming laptop is in full disintegration mode so I haven't been gaming for a minute.
I finally bought a real beefy desktop rig a half hour ago (Alienware R9 with all the goodies) and I'm going to be on pins and needles until it's delivered!

So excited!

Congratulations!

What specs did you go with?

I have been using gaming laptops for years, but the newest high-end gaming laptops are just too expensive for what they offer and have too many random problems, many of which require sending them off for warranty repair for 2-3 weeks only to receive it back saying nothing is wrong with it.

I have decided that going forward, I will return to building my own systems again as you can get much better quality parts for less money. Even better, if something stops working or needs an upgrade, you can replace it.

Buying a pre-built gaming desktop is a good idea for those who cannot build their own or simply do not have time to deal with it.

 

[Juggernaut]

Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) has identified the primary individuals responsible for the unauthorized release of TLOU2 assets. They are not affiliated with Naughty Dog or SIE. We are unable to comment further because the information is subject to an on-going investigation. We’re looking forward to when The Last of Us Part II will be in your hands and can’t wait for you to enjoy the full experience on June 19.

https://kotaku.com/last-of-us-ii-leaker-didn-t-work-at-naughty-dog-sony-s-1843201207

What specific vulnerability led to this Last of Us 2 leak?
Sony and Scheier's comments were both vague in how they presented the information, but PixelButts' and Kotaku's reports provide more specific context to about how the leak happened. They both revealed that a hacker group found a way to access Amazon servers that stored data for games like Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception and The Last of Us.

The group managed to take 1 TB of data from a server for The Last of Us before the end of March, and while PixelButts made Naughty Dog aware of the vulnerability in February, access to those Amazon servers wasn't fixed until "on or before April 30." This gave the leaker more than enough time to get what they needed from the server and reveal it to the public.

PixelButts told Kotaku that while this hacker group is definitely connected to the leak, "their circle is more just [Naughty Dog] enthusiasts that like development content from their games, rather than malicious actors." While the fan group itself wasn't responsible for the leak, someone cognizant of what they were doing most certainly was.

https://www.inverse.com/gaming/last-of-us-2-leaks-spoilers-controversy-explained

 

[Corso]

Congratulations!

What specs did you go with?

I have been using gaming laptops for years, but the newest high-end gaming laptops are just too expensive for what they offer and have too many random problems, many of which require sending them off for warranty repair for 2-3 weeks only to receive it back saying nothing is wrong with it.

I have decided that going forward, I will return to building my own systems again as you can get much better quality parts for less money. Even better, if something stops working or needs an upgrade, you can replace it.

Buying a pre-built gaming desktop is a good idea for those who cannot build their own or simply do not have time to deal with it.

I went with Alienware as I've read that it's the easiest to get into to replace and enhance parts.
i9 9900, Nvidia 2080ti, liquid cooling and 850W output, 64gb ram, 2tb SSD... All high end. I just went with the works so I shouldn't have to worry about it going obsolete for a good long time.

 

[SlammedZero]

I went with Alienware as I've read that it's the easiest to get into to replace and enhance parts.
i9 9900, Nvidia 2080ti, liquid cooling and 850W output, 64gb ram, 2tb SSD... All high end. I just went with the works so I shouldn't have to worry about it going obsolete for a good long time.

It's 2020. It was obsolete yesterday! Of course I'm kidding, but dang, sure does feel that way anymore with tech. Feels like I just bought my "most powerful console" and there is already another one around the corner. At any rate, not trying to rain on your parade. That is awesome and I know you will enjoy it.

 

[Corso]

It's 2020. It was obsolete yesterday! Of course I'm kidding, but dang, sure does feel that way anymore with tech. Feels like I just bought my "most powerful console" and there is already another one around the corner. At any rate, not trying to rain on your parade. That is awesome and I know you will enjoy it.

Too true homie! I'm already shopping for the next GPU and the PC hasn't been delivered yet!

I'm ready to try Cyberpunk 2077. That looks like it's going to be awesome.
I might try playing Witcher 3 again and see what it looks like on Ultra settings. I only got about a half hour into that one.

 

[SlammedZero]

Too true homie! I'm already shopping for the next GPU and the PC hasn't been delivered yet!

I'm ready to try Cyberpunk 2077. That looks like it's going to be awesome.
I might try playing Witcher 3 again and see what it looks like on Ultra settings. I only got about a half hour into that one.

I, too, am super excited about Cyberpunk 2077! Sure hope it delivers on the hype.

 

[JohnnyTheFox]

I went with Alienware as I've read that it's the easiest to get into to replace and enhance parts.
i9 9900, Nvidia 2080ti, liquid cooling and 850W output, 64gb ram, 2tb SSD... All high end. I just went with the works so I shouldn't have to worry about it going obsolete for a good long time.

Holy Guacamole!
64 GB of Ram?
And here I am still plunking along on an i7-4790K with 16 GB of DDR 3 Ram and a 1070

With all that horsepower i hope you are getting a quality 4K monitor.

 

[Corso]

Holy Guacamole!
64 GB of Ram?
And here I am still plunking along on an i7-4790K with 16 GB of DDR 3 Ram and a 1070

With all that horsepower i hope you are getting a quality 4K monitor.

Nah... regular HD. Lol! Jk.
I have a pretty nice, curved monitor that I haven't been able to use for awhile.
So ready to crank that puppy up again!

 

[JohnnyTheFox]

Nah... regular HD. Lol! Jk.
I have a pretty nice, curved monitor that I haven't been able to use for awhile.
So ready to crank that puppy up again!

Good!
I always think its funny when people spend loads of cash on a nice PC and then just have a regular 1080 monitor.
My rig pushes 4k just fine, yours should destroy it.

 

[Reality]

Holy Guacamole!
64 GB of Ram?
And here I am still plunking along on an i7-4790K with 16 GB of DDR 3 Ram and a 1070

With all that horsepower i hope you are getting a quality 4K monitor.

16GB is more than enough for gaming these days.

32GB and higher really helps with running VMs (virtual machines) and maybe a few memory-dependent productivity applications.

That said, nothing wrong with having more than you need

 

[Jammer]

Spoiler free

An employee leaked a significant portion of the game after a payment dispute. Apparently senior team and executives got their bonuses while grunt workers didn't. Someone said these bonuses are the major income for such workers.

This is on top of reports coming out that Baughty Dog has terrible crunch for employees and has been an increasingly terrible place to work.

The leaks included fully voiced cutscenes which have been copyright struck off platforms like YouTube. There are screenshots from the dev kit of the dev build that give away more of the game due to the names of levels and sections.

Without getting into specifics, people are mad that the plot sucks and hate the direction they went. I've looked up the spoilers and confirm I hate it. What I can't confirm is the other issue coming out of this; complicating the matter is that people are inferring from the spoilers that the game leans heavily into social justice issues and identity politics. The fact that Anita Sarkeesian has her name anywhere near the game doesn't bode well for this.

Also, the voice actor for Joel did an interview about three weeks ago where he said fans need to be open minded and let themselves be told the stort they need to be told and the story they want to be told. Barf.

Man, I really hope this is more overblown that it is. I've stayed away from any kind of spoilers because I had such high hopes for this game as the original is easily in my top 5 games of all time and I've been playing since the early 80's (get off my lawn! ). If there is SJW in the game I can roll with it as long as it isn't shoved down my throat and the gameplay/story telling is good.