General gaming discussion

Retr0gamer

Dungeon Crawlers that aren't Etrian Odyssey or an automap require you to get the graph paper out.

Jordan 199

I was looking at photos from the 1993 F1 season, and Sega sponsored the Williams F1 team for that season only. Below is Alain Prost and Damon Hill with Sonic:



They also sponsored the 1993 European Grand Prix at Donington Park. Here is race winner Ayrton Senna with a Sonic trophy:

wotzgoingon

Back when Sega were making money.

What's the story with them now. I remember back on the 360 there was a few Sega games.

Retr0gamer

wotzgoingon wrote: »

Back when Sega were making money.

What's the story with them now. I remember back on the 360 there was a few Sega games.

Still making games and making some pretty good ones at that.

Gamer Bhoy 89

wotzgoingon wrote: »

Back when Sega were making money.

What's the story with them now. I remember back on the 360 there was a few Sega games.

As a lone developer their biggest franchise is probably Yakuza, with new instalments still being released.

They've acquired a lot of studios over the years as well so they've been a rather successful publisher on top of that. Notable games published by SEGA for me are the Total War series.

And obviously they're still pumping out Sonic games to this day - that will never stop while they (and Sonic Team) are still going, but I'd say that franchise is not nearly as big as it used to be (if it ever was after Sonic 3&K (Yes, I will say it, Sonic Adventure is dog shíte - it was then and it is now)). The best Sonic game to ever come out in the last 25 years was ironically not even developed by SEGA (though they still published it).

Dave1711

wotzgoingon wrote: »

Back when Sega were making money.

What's the story with them now. I remember back on the 360 there was a few Sega games.

Football Manager
Total War rts games
Warhammer
Valkyria Chronicles
Yakuza
Persona
Company of Heroes
Alien Isolation

And im sure Sonic still does really well sales wise if maybe not the best games.

Sega honestly make some of the best strategy and rpg games out there these days spend most of my time playing the above games tbh they keep knocking out good games one of the best publishers and developers out there atm imo

wotzgoingon

Dave1711 wrote: »

Football Manager
Total War rts games
Warhammer
Valkyria Chronicles
Yakuza
Persona
Company of Heroes
Alien Isolation

And im sure Sonic still does really well sales wise if maybe not the best games.

Sega honestly make some of the best strategy and rpg games out there these days spend most of my time playing the above games tbh they keep knocking out good games one of the best publishers and developers out there atm imo

Never played any of them. The last game I played that had a Sega logo was The Cave. It was a arcade game on the Xbox 360 but played it on my Series X due to backwards compatibility. I found it really good mind you.

Dave1711

wotzgoingon wrote: »

Never played any of them. The last game I played that had a Sega logo was The Cave. It was a arcade game on the Xbox 360 but played it on my Series X due to backwards compatibility. I found it really good mind you.

Thats fair, a lot of their titles largely come out on pc now so if your not playing pc you probably dont see them as much

Markitron

wotzgoingon wrote: »

Never played any of them.

Playing Alien Isolation should be legal requirement, game is essential.

The Raging Bile Duct

Markitron wrote: »

Playing Alien Isolation should be legal requirement, game is essential.

I enjoyed the game but it's got some major issues that would stop me from ever replaying. It takes an age to get to the point where the alien appears, when you have to navigate through the stages with the androids, it's a major pain in the hole and the game is so long that by the end, the alien didn't scare me anymore, they just pissed me off because they were just getting in the way and I wanted to be done with the game.

Don't get me wrong, the atmosphere when the alien is stalking you during the middle stretch of the game is unbelievably tense and was handled so well. It's just a pity that all the other stuff detracts from it. If the game had been half the length it was, it would have been perfect.

Zero-Cool

I can't remember where I quit the game but it was definitely a section where I had to sneak around robots and became bored to tears. It annoyed me how much I couldn't get into Isolation.

Retr0gamer

Isolation's biggest flaw is that it's just way too long. The concept just isn't good enough to carry it for it's excessive length. It would be an incredible 6 to 8 hour game.

Markitron

The Raging Bile Duct wrote: »

I enjoyed the game but it's got some major issues that would stop me from ever replaying. It takes an age to get to the point where the alien appears, when you have to navigate through the stages with the androids, it's a major pain in the hole and the game is so long that by the end, the alien didn't scare me anymore, they just pissed me off because they were just getting in the way and I wanted to be done with the game.

Don't get me wrong, the atmosphere when the alien is stalking you during the middle stretch of the game is unbelievably tense and was handled so well. It's just a pity that all the other stuff detracts from it. If the game had been half the length it was, it would have been perfect.

Nothing you mentioned there was a problem for me personally. I LOVED the fact that it built up to the Alien appearing. I was expecting it to appear soon after getting on to the station and they keep raising the tension gradually as you keep expecting it any second. By the time it does show up I was actually relaxed and not expecting it anymore. The whole opening was an effective show of restraint and tension-building IMO.

As far as the Androids go, I thought they were extremely effective. They were very creepy, gave you a bit of a challenge and their integration into the overall plot was very well done. The section where you are dealing with them exclusively is a great bit of misdirection as well, considering what happens before and after.

I do get the complaints against the length, especially if you are not enjoying the game, but I really did so I appreciated how the game was really pushing your character to the limit. By the end of it I was mentally exhausted from the last few hours - but in a good way if that makes sense. I felt like that was the aim of the developers.

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Isolation's biggest flaw is that it's just way too long. The concept just isn't good enough to carry it for it's excessive length. It would be an incredible 6 to 8 hour game.

I don't think that would be long enough to do justice to Sevastopol station, exploring that environment is easily the best part of that game. Environmental storytelling done perfectly. I wouldn't want to be rushed through any of those areas.

pixelburp

I also loved the delay in the Alien appearing. We all knew it was coming, we were all there for the Xeno and expected it at some stage; so the manner in which they dragged out that first appearance was toe-curlingly perfect. There were lots of red herrings, ambient audio all over the shop that made you wonder "shít, is that it, somewhere up ahead?" I was constantly looking over my shoulder at every turn. Then when it actually made the entrance? Boom, completely ballsed up the immediate section after and got killed by the xeno, purely from when the overbearing tension mutated into blind panic

Markitron

pixelburp wrote: »

I also loved the delay in the Alien appearing. We all knew it was coming, we were all there for the Xeno and expected it at some stage; so the manner in which they dragged out that first appearance was toe-curlingly perfect. There were lots of red herrings, ambient audio all over the shop that made you wonder "shít, is that it, somewhere up ahead?" I was constantly looking over my shoulder at every turn. Then when it actually made the entrance? Boom, completely ballsed up the immediate section after and got killed by the xeno, purely from when the overbearing tension mutated into blind panic

The section where you are waiting for the lift just after it killed that NPC was the most tense/scared I have ever been whilst playing a game. The Alien doesn't show up for at least an hour afterwards, but when I replay it I am still tense as ****.

gizmo

The Raging Bile Duct wrote: »

I enjoyed the game but it's got some major issues that would stop me from ever replaying. It takes an age to get to the point where the alien appears, when you have to navigate through the stages with the androids, it's a major pain in the hole and the game is so long that by the end, the alien didn't scare me anymore, they just pissed me off because they were just getting in the way and I wanted to be done with the game.

Don't get me wrong, the atmosphere when the alien is stalking you during the middle stretch of the game is unbelievably tense and was handled so well. It's just a pity that all the other stuff detracts from it. If the game had been half the length it was, it would have been perfect.

I mentioned my thoughts on the length of the game earlier in the thread but one aspect which I felt helped with the pacing was how my attitude changed to the Alien as the game went on. Borne from both prior experience with the creature and the increased toolset available as I went on, my feelings went from Nostromo levels of fear of the dark around every corner and vent to this...

It was still tense as all hell but I felt ready for it at least...even if that feeling quite often bordered on foolhardiness. :pac:

Markitron

gizmo wrote: »

I mentioned my thoughts on the length of the game earlier in the thread but one aspect which I felt helped with the pacing was how my attitude changed to the Alien as the game went on. Borne from both prior experience with the creature and the increased toolset available as I went on, my feelings went from Nostromo levels of fear of the dark around every corner and vent to this...

It was still tense as all hell but I felt ready for it at least...even if that feeling quite often bordered on foolhardiness. :pac:

That is exactly how I felt, they do throw the Alien at you more often towards the end but its fair as they give you the tools to deal with him. IMO the last few hours are more about resource management than just distracting and manipulating the environment to get around him, and I really enjoyed that subtle change-up.

AlmightyCushion

The problem I had with Isolation was that the alien was glued to you. You would spend ages navigating and sneaking around a section the alien was patrolling. Then once you got past it and move further along the area you are in, the alien would just sprint over to where you where and start patrolling that section. It was obvious there were "gates" that once you passed through the alien would move to the next area.

Markitron

AlmightyCushion wrote: »

The problem I had with Isolation was that the alien was glued to you. You would spend ages navigating and sneaking around a section the alien was patrolling. Then once you got past it and move further along the area you are in, the alien would just sprint over to where you where and start patrolling that section. It was obvious there were "gates" that once you passed through the alien would move to the next area.

This isn't really the case, but it depends on how you look at it. You can never lose the Alien completely, and this is by design. Aside from specific sections where the Alien 100% cannot appear, it is ALWAYS possible for him to show up at random, in some sections he is more aggressive than others. The chance of him showing up is then also affected by the players actions. If you play the game a certain way and minimise your contacts and noise, there are entire sections where you won't see him at all.

This randomness is what makes him so effective IMO, it is also great for replays.

gizmo

Aye, there's some interesting info in these two videos if you're interested to know more about what's going on behind the scenes...

Retr0gamer

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Isolation's biggest flaw is that it's just way too long. The concept just isn't good enough to carry it for it's excessive length. It would be an incredible 6 to 8 hour game.

You are spot on there. I really loved this game but it was far too long.

AlmightyCushion

Markitron wrote: »

This isn't really the case, but it depends on how you look at it. You can never lose the Alien completely, and this is by design. Aside from specific sections where the Alien 100% cannot appear, it is ALWAYS possible for him to show up at random, in some sections he is more aggressive than others. The chance of him showing up is then also affected by the players actions. If you play the game a certain way and minimise your contacts and noise, there are entire sections where you won't see him at all.

This randomness is what makes him so effective IMO, it is also great for replays.

It definitely was the case for me. I snuck through a section the alien was patrolling without make a sound. Then I went through a door and after a few steps the alien jumped into the vents, scuttled through them and dropped into the new room/area I was in. If I went back through the door again and walked a few steps into that room/area, the alien would come back in to that room/area.

J Mysterio

wotzgoingon wrote: »

That reminds me of some games cannot remember which ones where you have to remember a sequence played out in front of you and you have to repeat it and they can be a long sequence at times so I would scribble down the sequence and then get it right when I enter it.

You had to take notes for Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade on PC. The 'skull piano' was a nightmare.

Zero-Cool

EA Play has an offer of 1 euro for first month (even if you signed up before) that ends 9th march. Use it too get 10% discount on upcoming ea games like Mass Effect Trilogy Remaster or just play games like star Wars fallen order for a euro.

https://twitter.com/EAPlay/status/1367508423743569935?s=19

dreamers75

Zero-Cool wrote: »

EA Play has an offer of 1 euro for first month (even if you signed up before) that ends 9th march. Use it too get 10% discount on upcoming ea games like Mass Effect Trilogy Remaster or just play games like star Wars fallen order for a euro.

https://twitter.com/EAPlay/status/1367508423743569935?s=19

I get it for a month when an SP games comes out, last got it for Fallen Order, nothing coming that makes me want to get it again.

Do the same for Uplay altho I may buy Far Cry 6 if it ever gets a release date.

pixelburp

I quite like the People Make Games channel; as the name suggests it focuses on the human stories behind games rather than game mechanics or the logistics of game dev. The presenter has a relaxed, quiet demeanour.

Their latest focuses on something I hadn't considered really: for all the talk of crunch (and with that, some folks will immediately click away), it rarely talks of the outsourcing companies that bulk out development. Noteworthy because while the main studio can talk big of reducing crunch, the outsourcing companies rarely can or will. Two Asian companies are the focus of the video, with Lemon Sky having a huge footprint across the industry.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bm7KUE1Kwts

ERG89

Zero-Cool wrote: »

EA Play has an offer of 1 euro for first month (even if you signed up before) that ends 9th march. Use it too get 10% discount on upcoming ea games like Mass Effect Trilogy Remaster or just play games like star Wars fallen order for a euro.

https://twitter.com/EAPlay/status/1367508423743569935?s=19

Star Wars Squadron is being put on EA Play at some time this month so I'm holding off until the 8th to avail of that 99c deal.

Dave1711

ERG89 wrote: »

Star Wars Squadron is being put on EA Play at some time this month so I'm holding off until the 8th to avail of that 99c deal.

Its coming to xbox game pass also.

Vicxas

Has anyone played the console version of stellaris?

Its on sale on PS Store at the moment, i need a good strategy game and my PC is out of commission for a while.

Dave1711

Vicxas wrote: »

Has anyone played the console version of stellaris?

Its on sale on PS Store at the moment, i need a good strategy game and my PC is out of commission for a while.

No i imagine it would be a bit awkward though