Strider Hiryu

Hmmm, that trailer has my interests fully peaked. Really want to see this now, especially since that video confirmed that Medivh, Garona, and Gul'Dan are in it. Sadly I don't think I'll be able to see Travis Fimmel as Lothar, I'm just going to continually think Ragnar is on screen.

I'm sure they would have to approve it but considering the fact that Konami considers the game a flop they might give the rights up (I doubt it due to their relationship with Kojima being what it is) because I don't see them making another ZOE without him behind the helm. Sony is a lot smarter then Konami, they're willing to give a developer the time needed to make a game especially if they have a series of hit games backing them (which Kojima has). With PS4 doing so well this generation Sony has more wiggle room then they did last generation so that might be another reason why they aren't going to push Kojima. Once he releases his new game, whenever that may be, they might change their stance but that's a few years from now.

ZOE was a great game though sadly extremely underrated because most people only bought it for the MGS2 demo that came with it (I really had no choice as it was one of the only games out when the PS2 launched and it came with my PS2). Sure it was extremely easy to beat (I beat it in under 5 hours on normal difficulty the day after I got my PS2) even on the hardest difficulty but the story was amazing and the relationship between ADA (Jehuty's onboard AI) and Leo was extremely well done (with Leo teaching ADA what it meant to be human). ZOE2 was somewhat of a let down (the art style sucked as it was back when Cel Shading started to become a thing) but was still an amazing game. Had some of the most epic boss fights in the series, especially that epic final showdown with Anubis (Jehuty's sister frame). Kojima really wanted to do a third game after the HD re-release of both titles but sadly it didn't do as well as he hoped it would and that idea was scrapped (I think mostly on Konami's end, I've read numerous articles stating that Kojima really was looking forward to making another ZOE). The OST was also amazing. It's been a really long time since I've played a game with such an awesome soundtrack. I really had no idea Sony scooped him up, I thought he was still a free agent. I hope whatever he's working on does great because maybe, just maybe Sony will greenlight another ZOE game. Also that video is hilarious, it really does show Kojima's fun side (like I said no problem with the man, I think he has an inflated ego but you can definitely tell he loves his job).

It's easier then you think to publish your own games these days. Fuck Steam has made it so easy you're almost stupid if you don't take advantage of it. Yes this is only for computers but honestly most, if not all, indie games are solely created for PC now (and really you're not underselling you're game, yea the money steam takes off the top sucks but you can honestly make a good penny using them (look at the sole developer for Stardew Valley, the guy is rolling in money with the overnight success of his game). Plus Sony has made it relatively easy for you to publish you're own games on their platform while Microsoft is behind the times on it (they're getting better but nowhere near where Sony is and neither can touch Steam). Lets not forget Kickstarter. It's probably the biggest platform to get you're game independently funded and off the ground (fuck look at Star Citizen, the amount of money that game has raised is ridiculous). While the headaches of still managing this whole process is enormous it's helps keep you out of the shit you got away from. This is the main reason why most of these guys, when they get out of the industry, go into making mobile games. Most of my teachers were actually making mobile games in their off time when they weren't teaching and the head of the program, at the time, said it's where most of the good talent is going these days. Not only are the demands not their you get to make what you want and how you want, everything you hoped for when you went into the industry. I do agree with all you said but Bungie is a bad example. They made some very bad choices when Halo was being made, the biggest of which was selling all the rights to Microsoft. Halo was probably one of the best breakout titles of its time and cemented Bungie's appeal to both gamers and the industry at whole. Sadly their ego's were inflated and they fucked up with Halo 2, somewhat redeemed themselves with 3, made ODST which was both a great game and a surprise, and then made Reach (while I personally loved Reach but most gamers did not). I won't mention Destiny because that's a whole different can of worms that was heavily influenced by their supreme Activision overlords and extremely bad decisions. I won't touch the Kojima topic, mostly because I have no real experience with his games outside of ZOE and what little I played of MGS2 (I still haven't played 5 yet even though I own it). However, I feel people make him out to be more then he actually is (don't get me wrong, great game designer and he made one of my all time favorite franchises with ZOE but I think he has a bigger ego then he should (but then again Konami made a huge mistake cutting him loose)). All in all this industry is extremely cutthroat which is why you don't run into many developers actually loving their jobs. Most developers don't even play games anymore due to the stress from making them and their hatred for the conditions they work in. Plus if being in the industry isn't considered an actual job then what is? Most jobs now-a-days have you sitting behind a desk pushing a mouse around (which can be extremely bad for you're health).

It does damage to everything that it's front of her when it goes off. I did notice it's a little buggy in MP but I never played her in story so I'm not sure if it's a story bug or if something just wasn't working right for you. I've generally had not trouble with it (hell 90% of my player kills with her are from her ultimate). The helix upgrades are a great system and I actually like that it's permanent once you choose it (for the round), it actually makes you think before you randomly choose something. Yea it sucks if the choice works against you but I like it. For MP it's key to make the proper choices so you contribute to the group as a whole (and for someone like Orendi there really is no wrong choice as she's full on DPS, I usually went the glass cannon route with all helix upgrades being spent on dmg increases, faster recast times, and life steal (plus I had 3 epic quality equipment pieces that increased my damage, health and shield regen (plus health received from healing abilities) and increased attack speed)). For the story aspect of the game being able to retrain you talents would be nice but considering how this game is entirely balanced with MP in mind (yea I know story can be soloed but it's obvious that it's balanced for MP play) which is why they I think they made choices permanent. The story is kind of generic but that's most likely due to the cast of characters. With that many characters to choose from it'd be a nightmare and extremely pricey to record lines for different character reactions. Kind of a ball drop but I was more interested in the MP feature of this game because, while I love it, Siege gets extremely boring when you play by yourself and get in shitty teams (and I'm not the best Siege player in the world) so I need a new MP game to play (and I'm bored of play BF4 and The Division just isn't as fun as I was hoping it'd be, its a great game but in only shines when playing with others and now that I'm endgame I lost pretty much all interest I had in it). Plus the random comments that come out of characters mouths when you're in MP is hilarious (Orendi is by far the best, she's a bloodthirsty little maniac and I love every bit of it). Also the lore section of every character is meant to give you the characters insights into whats going on (the ones I've unlocked for Orendi are hilarious). I also never ran into the time being a problem aspect that you had. I played the story missions with others so we pretty much decimated the missions well before time ran out. Honestly this probably isn't the best game out there for this type of play style but for me it works. Overwatch looks great but I've been burned by Blizzard to much over the last 10 years that as much as I want to play this game I feel it'll be a disappointment for me (I'll reserve full judgement for the open beta). I like slower TTK games if they're done right and Battleborn was done right (like Siege). It's not to fast but it's not too slow (depending on what character you play you can kill other characters extremely fast (Orendi absolutely slaughters and can one shot people, Marquis is probably the best dps character in the game with his cane sniper rifle (I've seen players absolutely slaughter the entire enemy team with him), Thorn is a beast if you take the right Helix upgrades and understand what role she plays in the game (I like her but I will admit she has a steep learning curve), and I can't say much about the others as I really didn't get to try them)). It has a story based aspect to it which has me sold because I don't like buying games for multiplayer alone as I feel I'm not getting my money's worth (which is why I quit buying COD besides it completely sucking now, the story/sp always sucks) which is one reason why I'm skeptical about Overwatch. I also like that you can't have more then one of the same hero on the same side, it actually adds balance to the game. Sure it sucks when you can't play you're favorite hero or the hero you are absolutely great at playing but it forces you to try other characters. If it wasn't for that I would never have tried Orendi, Galilea (tank), or Reyna (support). I absolutely suck at playing a tank in MOBA's but I did extremely well playing as Galilea the other day (mostly because she's more of a dps tank then an actual tank). I also suck at support classes but the best match I had throughout the entire beta was when I played as Reyna. I was made to go outside my comfort zone and found that it's actually fun to play as a different role and made me get good with other characters so I don't rage quit like my old days of DotA (I always rage quit when I couldn't be the Drow Ranger, mostly because most people wouldn't let me play as her do to my reputation of steamrolling entire teams when I played as her). Like I said not for everyone but I enjoy Battleborn, sadly I won't be able to buy it for awhile.

I'll admit I do agree with him on some of the points in that article because if you're good enough to program for games or make art for games then you are definitely good enough to strike out on your own and make yourself a success. I know quite a few people who have the programming and artistic chops to start up their own company and make their own games (or even get into more promising careers). Sadly this does not excuse the fact that the industry overworks it's talent, sometimes to the point where people up and leave the industry for good (I've read and seen this happen more often then not, the industry has lost a lot of it's great talent because of the work conditions). This is also the problem with making most of your workforce salary. You can force your workers to work unpaid overtime because their contracts only specify pay for 40 hours a week (a problem I see happening with my father at his job, as a salaried member of management he only gets paid for 40 hours a week but he puts in more than 50 hours most weeks). Programmers, Designers, Producers, and pretty much every job with the exception of Concept artists (unless you work for the company) and most artists in general are salary (almost all art jobs, with the exception of the modelers, are contract based so they're only on the project for 6 months at best to get art done and are left to find another contract. The exception, as I stated, is if you actually work for the developer). Sadly, if they went to school for this job, the were warned or should of been warned. The teachers I had in college (industry professionals that left to teach) warned us early on that the job was not all people make it out to be. They pretty much said that you have to love making video games to get through all the crap you have to go through. Hell they told us about crunch time, how 80-90 hour work weeks were the norm when you're in the final stretch. Honestly that's part of the reason I haven't pursued a career in the industry. I love video games and I love the creation process but I don't want to get a job making them if it means I lose my love for the very thing I'm making.

I saw that today, I'll probably end up buying it once I get the 160 PC for it. I just hope RNGesus is on my side and gives me a near perfect roll for it because I do not have the tools or parts to build more than one at the moment. I have fabric for days though since most drops are better than the armor you can craft (in the low levels, I've never really used fabric while leveling up). My chances of even finding a First Wave M1A, HE or Superior, are slim to none with the way my luck is in this game. On a side note I find it funny that you don't get a HE items when you kill Bliss on HM. Technically that chopper should be considered a named enemy. Was so disappointed to kill him tonight (for the hell of it, I wanted to see if you actually did get an HE for every named mob you kill) and see only 4 purples on the ground.

I noticed this with the HE drops from HM Missions, everything that drops is pretty much crap unless you happen to need something as an upgrade for an existing piece of gear (I got an HE chest piece which was an upgrade but I got kneepads from the other that were worse then the ones I got for that CM mission I ran with you). They're really pushing the DZ which sucks for solo players like me who are under geared (after that chest upgrade I'm sitting at 149 GS) and can't kill those 31-32 elites with ease (I won't attempt the DZ01-03 named mobs, I have trouble killing their guards). Plus, now that HE's are guaranteed on named kills, people are going to be going rogue all the time to kill other players for their loot (if they know said person killed a name). Shit, the last time I was in the DZ before the patch and guy just killed me for the hell of it. Had no gear on me but the bastard just decided to kill me every time I entered the DZ completely ruining my experience and pretty much cementing my stance on no DZ. The Daily's and Weekly's are a nice touch but with the emphasis on going into the DZ for some of these challenges makes it difficult to complete for those who don't want to step into the DZ. Again this emphasis on the DZ is a turn away. My major dispute is the increased prices with the Special Vendor. Before stuff was a lot more affordable but good lord the increased prices suck. I want that HE M44 he's selling but I'll never get the required PC for it before he resets (870 PC is a lot for a solo gamer with no means to farm PC). Sigh, while the changes are a good step forward for this game they alienated some of their player base with these changes.

That'll depend on the demand for another FFVII game. Crisis Core did well on the PSP but I think that mostly has to do with the fact that you got to play as Zach and learn more about the inner workings of the Soldier program (plus learning more about Seph before he went nuts was probably another selling point). DoC was complete shit by what I've heard. I never played it but most people I talked to say it was a complete waste of time and money. Advent Children was an interesting venture for SE, something they never did and it worked very well for them. Even I liked the movie even if I didn't like the source material. Fans are fickle and FF7 fans are the most fickle ones I know of. If they do this right, make minor changes to the story, keep the combat system engaging and easy to understand (since they're scrapping the original), and keep the characters as they were they'll probably have all the demand in the world for another group of sequels. While that's good for some that will mean less, more meaningful titles for other fans. As much as I know it'll never happen I want an old school FF to be made. I really am not a fan of these real-time battle systems and linear ass maps. I want an old school JRPG with an open world to explore and an engaging original story (which I don't have time to play but I'd like to see it come back), not another game sequel that uses an already established story to bring in more money (FFX-2 wasn't that great of a game and FFXIII-2 and 3 were complete garbage from what I've seen and heard).

It's in the title of the video, all three platforms are getting it. Eh, until I see actual gameplay I won't get to hyped about it or even consider getting it. I never played the original due to the XBox exclusivity and it never actually interested me much to begin with (yea I know, the huge ass mech fan didn't get excited about a game with mechs in it). Something about the whole concept just doesn't appeal to me. I like shooters and I like mech games but I don't like both being mixed together, messes with the natural order of things.

My major problem with this approach is you know SE is going to charge you $60 a pop for each installment, that's a $120 investment if they keep the game a trilogy (which you better hope they do). That's a lot of money considering you can just dig your PS2 out of storage and play the original game (or boot up your Steam version if you own it). While I understand they're doing a lot of change to this game I just don't understand why they can't release it in one installment (considering BD storage capacity). Yea, more work but honestly if this is the next core installment of the FF series it's not like they have teams developing 16 then (if 16 will ever come to pass, the success of 15 pretty much determines the fate of that). This is the reason I don't like companies remaking their old games unless it's just a graphical overhaul. SE is just trying to cash in on an established game because they've been making some extremely bad choices the last few years (the FFXIII series and the original FFXIV). It's the only explanation for a company that has refused to remake this title every time they were asked in the past. I hope for the sake of all you FFVII fans that they do right by you and give you an awesome game (you know the fans will crucify SE if they don't) because as I said before I won't be picking it up as the original wasn't the great game everyone bragged to me it was (for me, like I said the plot was meh and the characters were pretty bland (I do like Red and Vincent)). My only fear if this does do extremely well they'll go back and revisit other FF titles (I love IX to death and I highly doubt they'll remake it as most FF fans hate the game but I would hate to see a remake of it).

I'm not that surprised, they're really the only faction that can be of any significant threat to what we accomplished at the end of the main story (even with their leader dead). The Rikerss were never really rallied behind a leader (at best Laurae was just the one they feared the most) and the Cleaners will pretty much be lost without Joe and lets be honest the Thugs are no threat what-so-ever. Keener probably won't be making an appearance until the first DLC hits so I'm not expecting much storyline wise until then (and I hope we get new factions to fight). I honestly don't think I'll be trying to do Falcon Lost, mostly because you need a group of people you work well with and you need the gear (which I'm lacking on both ends, though with the guaranteed High-End drops from named enemies I don't think it'll take me long to get geared). Plus I guess the lead designer for Falcon Lost can't even beat it, a bad sign if you ask me (that's fucking difficult if the guy who designed the encounter can't even beat it). I'm looking forward to the Daily and Weekly assignments as well as loot trading (though I don't like what they're doing to crafting but the guaranteed HE drops form named enemies makes up for it). I just hope they fix the Daily Hard and Challenging missions because I've missed 2 days of guaranteed PC because they fucked something up.

The more I play this the more I want it. I started playing as Orendi (the little multi-armed caster) tonight and she's a hoot. She's bat shit crazy (and I mean bat shit crazy, some of the things she says are down right nuts (and completely hilarious)), her ultimate can damn near one shot most heroes if it hits just right (hell I got a double kill with it the first time I used her), and all of her abilities complement her play style so well (she's pretty much a glass cannon on crack as she moves extremely fast and has little to no health (though she does have shields, the one thing Thorn does not have)). I forgot to mention I tried out Montana in one of the story missions. While he's probably not going to be my first choice of character to use (even if he is extremely funny) he's just to slow and cumbersome for my tastes. Plus he does little to no damage (even though that minigun puts out a lot of rounds before it overheats) but then again he is a tank. With the right player he can be devastating but for me I just end up getting surrounded and slaughtered when I play him. I think the Beta is going that long because PS4 users got it first while everyone else gets it on the 13th. Good for us, bad for everyone else.

I did both of the campaign missions earlier and they're nowhere near what Titanfall's were. They're in the style of a horde based game mode that has you taking out waves of enemies, fighting mini-bosses (that are extremely fun and extremely funny, I almost died laughing during the Geoff fight in the first mission), taking care of objectives, and fighting one major boss at the end of the level. Difficulty is ramped up based on how many people you play with so you can do it alone no problem or with 4 others for more difficulty (and there is a hardcore mode for missions that does not allow respawning once you die (which believe me will make it rather difficult the first time you run through). You can definitely tell the missions were built with teamwork in mind health drops, while plentiful, seem to always be lacking during hard fights so a healer is a must and with the massive waves of enemies having a tank is a must as well. Gearbox did a very good job balancing this game around that concept for the campaign. Honestly I'm impressed with this game. If I wasn't in the bad financial situation I'm currently in I'd definitely pre-order it.

There is a campaign and you can play the first two missions in the beta. I personally haven't done the two story missions yet (probably tomorrow) but it's multiplayer based (like Titanfall) or you could go private and do it yourself but I think they're really pushing the whole mp thing so it's probably balanced around a party of 5 (and by what I could tell it is a horde mode based thing but like I said I won't really know more until I give it a try). I think they're going to push the PVP aspect more because it's a hero arena but at least they included a campaign to give you the basic premise of the story and whats going on, which I believe will be absent from Overwatch (and is absent from every other MOBA out there, they have backstories and what have you but they don't have a campaign to help explain it and you're hero's role in that story). This trailer actually give you a better look at the background story and actually introduces the whole cast of characters unlike that other character video. I'm honestly considering getting it but only if I'm not satisfied with the gameplay Overwatch has to offer. Its been along time since I've been into a MOBA type game like this and this reminds me a lot of the original DotA with a first person twist (and the ability to build, upgrade, and maintain turrets and AI mobs (DotA never had this nor do any other MOBA's that I know of)).

I noticed how quick the auto-embed feature is now when I made that Battleborn topic. Good lord you barely put the link in and bam the video is right there (really nice feature). Eh, the mobile view is going to take some time to get used to. I tried the site on my phone about an hour ago and was kinda lost (then again I didn't really explore how to get around I just wanted to see if the update was done or not).

Don't know if any of you have been following this game or are interested in it but I tried the open beta out for it today. I'm actually impressed with this game based on what little time I actually spent playing it (it might help that the team I played on completely smashed the other team). It's fun, the characters are hilarious (they say random shit during matches when they meet certain characters and what not), it's quite easy to understand, and honestly I love the art style (which is weird because I normally don't like this type of art). This, I think, will be Overwatch's major competitor for players until Lawbreakers hits the scene but I'm going to reserve my final judgement until I play the Overwatch Open Beta to see which one is better in my opinion. I'd suggest, if you have the time, to dl and try out the beta. It runs until Tuesday if I'm not mistaken. Thorn, the only character I played, is awesome btw. She wrecks face once you get here up to level 7 and above. Trailers:

Interesting change, it's definitely going to take some time to get used to this new look (though I do like how sleek it makes the forums look). Boo for the no friends, it took me a long time to get 6 friends here and now they're gone ;_; (j/k)

I'm officially hyped about this movie. Jaw dropped when I saw the trailer two days ago. Can't wait to see what this movie actually entails and what it will mean for more Star Wars movies in the future.

Honestly I don't know. Considering Thrawn was the only Chiss that served in the Empire (well Palpatine's Empire, there were plenty that served the Sith Empire during TOR's time) and considering he was the only Chiss we'd ever met prior to The Old Republic being released I'm pretty sure his species and Thrawn himself were thrown out with the rest of the EL (also, Thrawn was never mentioned in the movies so as far as Disney would be concerned he doesn't exist in the new canon. He was only in the books and games (serving under him in Tie Fighter was awesome)). It'd be completely awesome if Thrawn just randomly shows up in the next movie, bitch slaps Snoke, takes control over the First Order and then completely wipes the floor with the Resistance (yea, I'm an Imperial groupie). Yea it won't happen but a man can dream can't he? I've never really read the books so I only know his personality and characteristics from Wookiepedia and what my friend told me about him. I know his men followed him unconditionally due to the respect they had for him, he was a true Imperial and would do anything to bring it back to prominence and his men understood this. Plus he always rewarded those who tried, as you said, to follow there orders to the best of there ability. He never outright killed anyone for disobeying or failing him like Vader did (which is why Vader had complete control, as awesome as Vader was he wasn't exactly the more inspiring man in the galaxy). My thing is that considering how the EL was thrown out the door the Empire at the time of it's defeat was extremely xenophobic which is why you never saw any alien officers or stormtroopers (Thrawn was the one exception). By the time of his rise to power what was left of the Empire was more accepting and allowing aliens to freely join which is why I think he became the figurehead they all were drawn too (plus the whole being awesome thing helped a lot). Hell the 501st legion, a legion made up of entirely clone troopers that had served with Vader during the Clone Wars and after, started letting in aliens and rank and file humans into it's ranks around this time but that's neither here nor there. At the time of Palpatine's and Vader's deaths no one would of followed him except those under his direct command which is why he'd of had to of been more ruthless then he actually was to take control of the Empire.

I just finished watching a podcast where they spent the majority of it talking about BvS and they pretty much said the same things you did about Affleck's portrayal so I'm really looking forward to seeing him don the cape. I'm actually happy they're taking this darker spin on Batman, it's about time we finally see what (I guess this movie takes place after he's been fighting crime for 20 years) mentally and emotionally changes in a man when you fight crime for so long. I might actually have to go see this on Friday (if I can get my ass out of my computer chair long enough).