Turrican

For me, the price isn't so much of an issue as the practice of the developer/publisher and whether I feel they have put their heart and soul into the game or are trying to give the gamer out there real value for money. So for example, I paid £32 to pre-order Xenonauts twice and then never played it, because I appreciated what the developer was doing and what a struggle it was for them. Also, despite finding Witcher 3 a pretty boring game, I will probably buy the expansion when it comes out (whether I play it or not) because I really appreciate what CDPR are doing, the effort they put in and the updates and free-lc they provide their playerbase with. Same with the Cities: Skylines expansion. But there are other companies (such as Creative Assembly, anything by Ubisoft or EA) where I will wait until a game is deeply discounted in a sale before I buy it - just because I feel that these companies are especially cynical and don't really care about their products. Then there I companies whose games I will never buy again no matter what they produce (Bungie, Netherrealm). Then on the positive side, there are games I am definitely buying day 1, no matter the cost - anything by From, anything by Rockstar, anything by Klei, pretty much anything by Paradox, Xcom 2, Anything Elder Scrolls, etc - regardless of the price. I suppose in short, I don't mind paying for quality but I don't like feeling like I'm being bent over by liars.

Meanwhile, in other news: http://www.gamespot.com/articles/crusader-kings-developer-announces-stellaris-sci-f/1100-6429520/

I too was looking forward to this episode. Not as positive as I would have hoped but considering I've played CKII very little, I'm sure there will be a great experience waiting for me once I do have the time. As there isn't a general forum for the show for us to ask questions, I'll pose one here if you don't mind: For Rowan, why were you so scathing about Totalbiscuit recently? It seemed a little excessive. I just wondered what caused such a strong view. Other than that, keep up the good work team.

Yeah but I said the exact opposite of that mate - I said "Personally, I don't feel that gaming is too expensive (even pricing in the cost of a gaming PC and console). However, I feel that certain products and developers are exploitative." Also - play Dark Souls

You've either misunderstood me or I've not articulated myself very well. I have no problem with paying for updates, my problem is more about the way it's done. I can't help feeling that the integrity that many developers used to have with regards their products has diminished somewhat - like you say, publisher pressure could be partly to blame for this. But, take Mortal Kombat for example, in the past, much of the charm of a fighting game was completing it and unlocking the full roster of combatants. But of course now we can download data so why not just leave a load of characters out of the game on purpose and sell them back to people for SIX POUNDS a fighter! I really resent this kind of practice - to me, it shows no respect for their own product. I understand that people will say "well just don't buy it, no-one's forcing you to" but surely part of the experience of a game is owning all the content for it and enjoying it to its fullest, especially when the missing pieces are fairly keep aspects of the game. Look at a lot of EA's games these days, the single-player aspects of their sports games are stuck in a torpor of stagnation as all the creative effort is ploughed into driving the Ultimate Team model. I just feel that a lot of companies are milking the cash cow too hard these days.

The difference I see between Paradox and Bungie is that, whereas Paradox develop new content that radically improves the experience and takes time and effort, Bungie created some parts of Destiny and purposely held them back to charge the consumer again, when they should have been included in the initial experience. Added to that, the marketing budgets of some of these Triple A games are gigantic these days. I do feel the customer is paying so that companies can make nice tv ads etc to a certain extent. Maybe that's no different to many industries but I do see a stark difference between the way a company such as CD Projekt Red conducts itself and the Bungies and EAs of this world. Just my view.

I think I was the first person to raise the issue of expense. Personally, I don't feel that gaming is too expensive (even pricing in the cost of a gaming PC and console). However, I feel that certain products and developers are exploitative. Examples would include products like Destiny, Mortal Kombat or Gal Civ 3. It's these blood suckers I object to. I am reasonably wealthy and will happily drop a few hundred quid on games a month if I care to - so it's not the money for me, it's the principle. For example. I have all the dlc for CK2 and EU4 even though I've never really played them and I will often buy indie games just to support a developer. But when I see consumers being nickel and dimed by dlc that was purposely withheld from the release game or charged hundreds of pounds for "collector editions", all while the companies give away loads of free codes to anyone with a YouTube channel, then I really couldn't care less if these developers get ripped off.

I don't think you can go wrong with any of these. XCom: Enemy Within Age of Wonders 3 Sunless Sea Pillars of Eternity Anno 2070 Homeworld Don't Starve Invisible Inc. Endless Legend Shadowrun Returns Company of Heroes 2 Cities: Skylines The legend of Grimrock Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion

Well ok, I accept that there's no blanket statement that can be made on this. Maybe it's subjective. I have no problem paying £50 for Witcher 3 but when it comes to paying £45 for a half finished Gal Civ 3 only to be drip fed the rest of the game via numerous dlc or to pay hundreds of pounds to receive the entire offerings of Destiny or Mortal Kombat, then I think that is abusive. Not that this justifies any trade in shady game codes you understand.

Well, I think that people should have the right to trade on a second-hand market. Especially, if companies are going to charge so much for their games, as they do these days, and almost all endorsements are rooted in a financial incentive I suppose. However, if codes are being stolen are obtained deceitfully simply to sell on for profit, then I'm not down with that at all.

Oh, so not so legit then. I guess I'll go back to buying from Steam.

Well, as I've bought every TW game and dlc since the first Shogun game came out (imagine how scarred I am by now!) I guess I'll be buying Warhammer. From a strategy perspective there's also Xcom 2, Anno 2070, Masters of Orion and the Pillars of Eternity expansion on the horizon too. Sadly, I have too many games and too little time as it is.

The best place to get games is G2A.com. It looks dodgy but I'm fairly confident it's legit. There are many YouTubers out there who endorse the site. I've recently started using it a bit and had an excellent experience. I bought Pillars of Eternity, Gal Civ III and Grey Goo on there for £12 each. It's like a Steam sale every day of the week.

It's another short, emotive game. I would suggest picking it up and playing it through in one sitting (2.5 - 3 hours) - by the end, it's quite an experience.

Oh God, I had a bloody disaster with this game last night. First time I've played the game and after 8 hours, I was doing very nicely. Hadn't died, got myself a nice girlfriend and a swanky townhouse, uncovered 70% of the map. Aaaand I was just about to complete my best ever trip. I'd visited 6 new islands and my hold was full of rare snippets of information and rarer gems. As I turned for home, plenty of fuel and supplies, I had it all planned out; I would create a will and ensure I had a safety net - I was going to keep whatever I earned in this bleak world. 1/3 of the way back to London's docks and I was filling in bits of map during the route home. I sent the Zeebat out to stretch his wings (more out of habit than anything else) and found my curiosity piqued by an unknown island just to the north. Ah well, I can fit one more adventure in and be back in Blighty in time for tea and crumpets. Well, to cut a long story short, I ended up working for some rats in a post office, explored the basement, saw my terror raise to 100, left, undocked, lost a challenge - game over I lost everything - my map progress, my boat, my crew, my poor wee son, my bachelor's shag palace, my cargo and 8 hours of my fucking life. Screw you R Zacny and F Brown for yet again making me buy and play a game which has led me to the brink of despair. I'm not trusting either of you or playing this game ever again. Mind you, I am curious about what was out there in those black areas of the map. Hmm, maybe I'll have another go. Just 15 minutes. Yeah, just one 15 minute voyage....

Have you ever played Brothers: A Tale of two Sons?

I've been playing both this and Age of Wonders III recently. Although, I've not put much time into either so far, I'm favouring AOW. The strategic combat gives it the edge for me. When EL was first released, it was criticised for lack of an endgame and for shallow combat. When AOW was first released, it was criticised for lack of racial diversity and lack of tactics and AI competence in the city-building phase of the game. Now, both games have been heavily patched and DLC'd, I wonder which has overcome its previous drawbacks to greater effect? Anyone have an opinion on that?

DS is possibly my favourite game of the last 25 years. However, I hated DSII when it was released. When BB came out I completed it in a week but then started Scholar of the First Sin (which was released soon after BB). I never went back to BB. Scholar, I feel, drew out the true potential of DSII. I sank 200 hours into it and enjoyed almost every minute. Can't wait for DS3 now. If they manage to create a hybrid of the two it will be one of the best games ever made.

Journey. Never played it before and bought it for £9 on PS4. Absolutely sublime. I finished the game in less than 2 hours and then spent the next 6 replaying it and getting all the achievements, enjoying and understanding the story more with each play through. Just game design and execution in its highest form.

I'd love to see a new podcast on this excellent game, now that it has benefitted from several patches and expansions.

If you like historical podcasts, have you listened to "The History of Rome"? An epic and well-read account of the Roman Empire from beginning to end. Well worth a listen.

There are so many games out there nowadays that I find myself constantly pouring the contents of my wallet in my Steam account, only to then leave many of the games I've bought untouched. So, I've decided to stop playing any MMOI and to pick out around 25 games that will be the only thing I play for the forseeable future until I've really gotten everything I can out of them. Here's my list below - do you have one and, if so, what would be on it. The Witcher 3 XCom: Enemy Within Civ V Endless Legend Distant Worlds: Universe Age of Wonders 3 Panzer Corp (complete) Shadowrun Returns Company of Heroes 2 Total War: Rome 2 / Attila Anno 2070 Europa Universalis 4 Crusader Kings 2 Don't Starve Invisible Inc. Sunless Sea Homeworld Remastered Unity of Command Cities: Skylines Legend of Grimrock Men of War: Assault Squad 2 Skyrim This War of Mine Xenonauts

Have you seen the fan-made Open Xcom overhaul for the game? http://openxcom.org/

A lot of love for TF2 - I've never even played it!

Nice! I'll have to have a listen to this. A perusal of online review sites conveys a slew of negative press for the second season but I am absolutely loving it so far. I think it's as good as the first season and hopefully won't involve a damp squib ending like the first either. I don't understand why other viewers are being so critical.