you know damn well that gay marriage is now legal in Skyrim (videogames)

[DCDave]

I'm buying a new processor for my computer that I just peeled out of the closet so I can play Diablo III

[davy]

If I ever play another PC game, it'll be the last installment of the STALKER series. I daydream about those games all the time. I was fuckin' immersed, as they say.

Then again, if this Chernobyl Diaries movie does well, maybe there will be enough stateside interest in the subject to finally move the franchise over to XBox and Playstation.

[alistarr*]

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but STALKER 2 isn't going to happen any more - they announced it last month. The money ran out so the people involved have started a new studio and are making an MMO instead which supposedly will be similar in tone/setting.

[davy]

This one's been out for a while: http://www.amazon.com/Viva-Media-V00574-S-T-A-L-K-E-R-Pripyat/dp/B003ZULWQI/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1337535380&sr=8-2

And that's the third installment I know of. I've already played through Shadow of Chernobyl and Clear Sky. I mean, maybe these sequels are just expansion packs, but Clear Sky seemed more substantial than that.

[alistarr*]

Oh right! Well that one obviously still exists for you to play :-)

I still haven't played more than 5 hours of the first one.

[davy]

I loved it. Granted, I've always been interested in the Chernobyl/Pripyat story, but I thought it was a really interesting, unsettling twist on the FPS genre.

[Ah_Pook]

heres a thing that i want to buy



going to cost $149.99, which is a pretty damn good price for what you get. im trying to resist but... well... i do love me some street fighter.



anyway in video game news max payne 3 isnt great, but its alright enough i guess.

[dieblucasdie]

I went ahead and bought Diablo III. It's sort of ridiculously easy on the normal difficulty setting so far; I've barely even had to use a potion, and I don't even use the followers. The whole thing has a "Baby's First Diablo" vibe. I sure hope shit gets crazy later though. I mean, it better.

[Ignatius]

While I understand your dissatisfaction, playing through Diablo as a guy doing the story isn't really the thing, is it? I don't remember Diablo II being at all difficult until you fought Diablo himself, and even then it was just a matter of determining strategy.

Which. How is the story?

You're here to find special items, buddy.

[Good Intentions]

I've heard that the game doesn't really start till you get to Nightmare difficulty (ie your second playthrough). On the one hand I want to play it, having had ltos of fun with I and II. On the other, I recognise that it is an evil, vile, exploitative machine which feeds on human vulnerability, like slot machines but with more art assets.

[alistarr*]

I'm not into that SF boxset. Where is the game that's actually 25 years old? The only one I haven't bought? What is the point of a box full of DLC codes? Why is there a bunch of Tekken in it?

[Dick]

I have never understood the appeal of Diablo.

[Good Intentions]

Do you listen to Roguelike Radio, Dick? It's a podcast by a bunch of old-school roguelike grognards (including one of the very few people to finish ADOM as Platinum Man), and their last episode was on Diablo. They roundly dismissed it as a flashy treadmill with surprisingly little depth, a genuine time-waster (and this from people who beat NetHack multiple times!). Sounds like you might agree.

[Dick]

Beating nethack multiple times was absolutely not a waste of time.  I learned many valuable skills.  Shit, the last time I beat nethack it was while I should have been doing work, which was an actively harmful waste of time.

Meanwhile, Notch's recently-announced project, 0x10^c, has me positively giddy.  It sounds sort of like the parts of Eve Online I liked (spreadsheets!  in space!) only more so and without all the annoying bits like having to interact with people.

[Good Intentions]

NetHack is both extraordinarily complex and rewarding, as well as as bloated and malevolent as the Baron Harkonnen. A guy told me once how he was killed out of the blue three steps into the Gnomish Mines. He was so impressed/disgusted, he saved the logfile, and later figured out what had happened: a gnome spawned on top of a magic lantern; picked it up (one turn); used it, got a wish, wished for a wand of death (two turns); and zapped the player (three turns). That there is NetHack.

[dieblucasdie]

Whenever you guys start talking about this, I want to quit life and do nothing but play roguelikes.

[Ashley]

me too!

[jebreject]

Played some Portal 2 co-op with my brother last night and it was probably the most fun I've ever had playing video games not by myself

[dieblucasdie]

While I understand your dissatisfaction, playing through Diablo as a guy doing the story isn't really the thing, is it? I don't remember Diablo II being at all difficult until you fought Diablo himself, and even then it was just a matter of determining strategy.

Which. How is the story?

You're here to find special items, buddy.

The story is whatever.  I like how, in this iteration, there are magic items where the only magic property is that they increase your odds of finding more magic items.

Yeah, I mean, it's not that Diablo II was overly difficult, but at least you'd have to use potions and spells and whatnot. Diablo III has a relatively complex skill tree, but like, there's nothing you don't need it at all, all you have to do is hit things with your primary attack a couple times.

[Thermofusion]

Played some Portal 2 co-op with my brother last night and it was probably the most fun I've ever had playing video games not by myself

Portal 2 co-op is incredible fun!

[Chet]

oh, so there's this zombie mod called Day Z for a game called Arma 2? Anyway, it sounds like the most amazing thing ever and I want to buy a good PC just to play it

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-05-25-day-z-the-best-zombie-game-ever-made

[Thermofusion]

Damn that sounds great

[Dick]

I'm on that day z shit.  It is an impressive thing so far.  Following overhead powerlines through the forest, scared and lost and alone.  

[Chet]

I just watched an hour of a guy basically just running, exploring, lootin and shooting the odd zombie. It was strangely engrossing and tense.

[dieblucasdie]

Whenever you guys start talking about this, I want to quit life and do nothing but play roguelikes.

Instead of playing more Diablo III I just downloaded the Dwarf Fortress Mac Newbie thing and watched a bunch of tutorials. Gonna waste a bunch of my summer on this