The Miscellaneous PC & vidya Games Thread

[Drakken]

Bought Commander: The Great War, now that it is available on Steam. Elegant WW1 game in the simplicity of the rules and the UI, I find, compared to the slower, more unwieldly WW1 Gold. The AI reportedly seems to be a very tough nut to crack, even on Handicapped. When I get a hold of it I'll make an AAR.

As an aside WW1 Gold was dropped by AGEOD, to be picked by Plug-In Digital and Digital Froggies. It was repackaged and put on Steam as well under the name World War 1 : Centennial Edition, with new UI and game hardware improvements. Will eventually buy and try it out.

[mongers]

Playing some 'Master of Magic', that game never gets old. 

[Josquius]

Elite: Dangerous is looking very, very impressive.

Read about that today. Apparently you can buy a beta now but for a very large price, as the game is developed and a new beta with more features is released the price goes down. Oddly backwards.

[Syt]

I think it's because of kickstarter: the more you pledged, the sooner you got access. So they have to do the same pricing with the beta version or the kickstarter backers who paid a lot to get earlier access will be pissed.

[Caliga]

It's one of the best video games in recent years.  I think it's the kind of game that can change the paradigm of single player narrative adventures for the near future.

This game = good.

[spoiler]I enjoy seeing Boston in ruins as well.[/spoiler]

[CountDeMoney]

   Yeah, didn't break my heart either.

[grumbler]

Sony's sales for the first quarter exceeded their expectations for the entire year, before it was even available in their home market. As far as they're concerned, they're being bought.

  All that says is that their method for determining sales expectations sucked.  It says nothing whatever about whether or not the damned things are actually selling well.

[CountDeMoney]

My contacts at Sony Best Buy tell me otherwise. 

[CountDeMoney]

Jul 31, 2014 10:24 AM EDT By Russell Westerholm

PS4 vs Xbox One Sales: Sony Dominating Next-Gen Console Market With Unexpectedly High Profit

Sony's PlayStation 4 (PS4) is continuing its strong sales performance and has led the way for the company to tally a profit in the second quarter of this fiscal year.

According to USA Today, Sony announced $17.6 billion in sales in the latest quarter, which was good for a $216 million profit. Sony's sales, largely due to the PS4's dominance on the next-gen console market, increased six percent from this time last year.

In the latest quarter, Sony has sold 3.5 million video game systems, compared to 1.1 units in the same period one year ago. Released in Nov. 2013, the PS4 led the way for an astonishing 96 percent sales increase in Sony's console and network division.

Though Sony is enjoying this unexpected success, it may only soften the blow of the forecasted loss the company should be posting come the end of the fiscal year in March 2015. USA Today reported Sony's PC line shakeup, a larger scale repositioning of the company and poor smartphone sales led to the expected loss.

Since the release of the PS4 and Microsoft's Xbox One, Sony has kept a sizeable lead over all its competitors. While Nintendo has floundered with its line of Wii consoles, Microsoft has been better, but still trailing Sony significantly.

In the second quarter, Microsoft noted in a sales report it sold 1.1 million Xbox One and Xbox 360 units, the same amount Sony sold in last year's second quarter, before the PS4's release. When comparing it to Sony's report, the PlayStation outsold the Xbox three-to-one in the latest quarter.

However, despite Nintendo's recent struggles, Sony finally claimed the spot of most-selling video game systems. Nintendo had held that spot for eight years, BBC News reported.

Sony expects to sell 17 million PlayStation units by the end of the fiscal year, which would be the most in three years. As well as increased sales through the PlayStation network, Sony also predicts the PS4 will continue to drive video game sales.

That's still a shitload of platforms.

[grumbler]

My contacts at Sony Best Buy tell me otherwise.   

I was commenting on your argument, not on any sales figures.  I neither know nor care about console sales, except that I am not a customer.

Well chin-chin... do carry on with your mud pies.

[Syt]

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-08-07-godus-is-out-now-for-free-on-ios?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=socialoomph

Godus is now free for iOS.

Godus is out now for free on iOS

Populus and Black & White creator Peter Molyneux has released his latest god game, Godus, on iOS today.

The free-to-play affair puts players in the role of god, shaping a civilization and its surrounding landscape as you see fit. You'll be able to carve rivers into the terrain, rain down meteors, guide villagers on adventures, and learn more about these people's belief system.

"In Godus your hands will sculpt the mountains and carve rivers. Your touch will create pastures for your people. You will be loved by tiny worshipers that need your help to grow and your direction to progress through the ages of civilization," explained Molyneux in the release announcement.

"Power comes to you through influence, and your miracles guide the forces of nature. You must decide whether to use such awesome power for good or ill," he continued. "As you progress through the game you will find history hidden in the land through mysterious artefacts that uncover the true story behind your Followers. By journeying to far off lands to complete quests, you will bring back powerful abilities for your ever-gracious people."

Over time developer 22cans will add new features to Godus, allowing players to clash with rival gods, unlock new abilities and compete in various challenges.

Godus is still available on Steam Early Access, where a new "Settlements revamp update" will be added tomorrow. This version will be receiving a "spectacular, bonkers & undeniably amazing PC-exclusive feature," according to 22cans community manager George Kelion.

For more on Godus, our Chris Donlan took a deep dive with the PC version in April where he was less than impressed in the Dungeon Keeper creator's latest effort. "It's still hard to pin down what, if anything, 22Cans actually wants Godus to be," he said at the time. "After 70 hours of Godus, it actually sounds like blind, panicked, directionless design that chews up eager, talented developers and bores and confuses and angers the players." Hardly a glowing recommendation then, but game design is an iterative process, so perhaps this official iOS release will be better. It's free anyway, so see for yourself how you like playing god.

I feel for the Kickstart backers on this one, though.

Also, what happened with the dude who won that Cube thing where he gets to be supreme God of the game, and gets a share of the revenue?

[Razgovory]

I have a hankering to play a new Shooter.  Or maybe an old shooter.  I watched some action movies this week and now want to kill someone.  I thought it best if I do in a computer game rather then real life.

[Syt]

Well, Saints Row IV is on sale for 10 bucks. If you haven't played it, there's Call of Juarez: Gunslinger. Shadow Warrior (the new one) is supposedly pretty decent, but it's $35.

Check out this list of action games under 10 bucks with a metascore of at least 75:

http://store.steampowered.com/search/?sort_by=Released&sort_order=DESC&category1=998&price=0%2C10&genre=Action&metascore=75

[Grey Fox]

Gunslinger is worth your investment, its a fun story.

[DontSayBanana]

Ooh, the Jedi Knight games are on that list.  Those were fun.