Tanukitsune

Meh, so far nothing seems cheaper than fall sale, I supposed the snowglobe thing is like the summer sale, the more you spend, they more cards you get?

I'm still debating whether to get one or not, the odds seems to be against me, I'm likely to get only one game I don't own which I'll probably be able to get for the same price as the bundle?

So Comixology is having an essential graphic novel sale. Although it's 90% Batman graphic novels... Should I pick up the Long Halloween and The Killer Joke? Apart from the obvious ones (Sandman, V for Vendetta..), which ones do you think are actually worth picking up?

I know I'm not the only one who says game genres can be... problematic. Gaming is evolving constantly, and genres themselves to be evolving, splitting into other sub-genres and generally giving everybody a big headache when trying to classify them. Genres for other media tend to specific the world's setting (fantasy, sci-fi), or how people in that world interact with each other (romance, drama, comedy). But with games we classify them by how we, the player, can interact with the world, at least when it was more simple at the beginning. You jump? It's a platform game! You punch? It's a brawler! You control units? Strategy! Stats? RPG! But as games have evolved it's quite easy for a game to have several ways to interact with the world, you can have puzzle elements, strategy elements, RPG elements, we even have "hybrid games" that practically let you play the game in one "genre", like RPGs that let you play non-violently and turn the game into an adventure game or brawler/shooters that you play with only one style if you want. Also, as gaming has evolved, we tend to go from saying "X is a clone of Y" to saying "Y is a game in the X" genre. We've seen it before with survival horror and now... has the "God of War clone" officially got it's own name yet? Let's admit... this is a total mess... but is it a necessary mess? I'm afraid so... Explaining a genre now is complicated specially since so many sub-genres and hybrids have emerged. I think the problem is that the genre definition might need refinement and be more malleable in some cases and strict in others. What is an adventure game? You click and stuff and solve puzzles, right! Wait, that would technically make gem swap games adventures. OK, they have an inventory? Wait, some puzzle games have inventory... in fact almost every game has them now. Hmm, how about it's a genre were you solve a specific type of puzzles? Conversation puzzles, logic puzzles and inventory puzzles! No, we do those in RPGs! Oh, but the adventure genre was born from RPGs, so it's normal... Wait... how about we call adventure games anything were it's like an RPG were you rely more on you intellect than on your strength, but that doesn't necessarily mean that combat is optional. Ok, that's a bit messy, but it's a start.... so....What's an RPG? Yeah.... I can't help to notice that genres seem to defined in a way to differentiate them from others now, but are kinda dependent from others? But still, we need them to know what we're facing. The difference between RTS and turned based strategy is big enough that people HAVE to be this specific. I'm pretty sure we could argue on what we think each genre is to each of us for ages, but what do you guys think? Are they still necessary? Do we need a "reboot"? Do we need to be more specific or less?

I don't know if this counts as game of the year content, by my "Saddest moment in gaming this year" is that I just realized the fact that Cheetahman II's Kickstarter managed to reach it's goal when so many better games didn't... Heck, even Boogerman deserved to reach it's goal more than Cheetahman II.

It's a tough thing for me to see, since I enjoyed the game, it's hard for me to know or say how forgotten they are, but Lone Survivor's Director's Cut went by as unnoticed as the original, the thread here is pretty much dead. :|

Can you get it if you have a Droid that's not Kindle? Hmm, I can't remember if it lasts two or three weeks, but you're probably right.

I've beaten Gun Commando, the very first Playstation Mobile game I'd recommend, it's like a very early FPS graphics and gameplay wise, except for one mechanic. You have a "level" bar for your gun, the more you hit without missing, the more it rises until it levels up, it goes from gun to golden gun, to shotgun, machine gun, magnum and even a bazooka at the end so it really rewards you to play well, because you'll need all the help you can as the enemies become more numerous and tougher. It has NO savepoints, so you have to beat the level in one go, the game is relatively fair, it has traps in the sense the a door might lock up or open to prevent you escaping or to let enemies in, Also there is a certain jumping enemy that can be only hit when jumping which can be very tense if a swarm approaches you. It also kinda sucks that upgrading the weapons only increases damage, you'd think a bazooka would damage more than one enemy, but I guess it would be too easy then since there is no ammo limit. I got it for free with the recent deal they had, I don't think it's going on, but how expensive can a PSM game be?

"AAA historical scifi epic" isn't even a game "genre", "AAA historical scifi epic action game" doesn't tell you much more about AC, but at least it can no longer be applied to Civ V, The Bureau or Eternal Champions. And yet the coffee comparison is apt. Some people are just happy with a strong black coffee in the same way some people just want an action game, while some people want a mocchafrappachinolatte with hazelnut, chocolate syrup. To me the extra granular stuff can mean the world of difference, like whether the game is turned based or not, the reason we have to differentiate between a scrolling shmup and a bullet hell is because some people would rather play one instead of the other, even though some can't really see the difference. We know use the term "cover based shooter" because the simple act of adding cover changed the game play mechanic and it's usually slower than a faster paced FPS like Doom or Serious Sam, and people will want to know that because maybe they prefer one over the other.

Yeah, there are many games we don't play to "win" so I find this whole "not a game" genre amusing, special when people try on purpose to make a "not a game".

Well, I just read the whole of Terry Moore's Echo and I couldn't put it down... it was just amazing! I'm not sure but I think I saw characters from the end of Strangers in Paradise? I haven't read it a while, but I'm pretty sure one of those agents that only appeared for an issue was a friend of Katchoo. I haven't read Rachel Rising, I wonder if all of his stories have some sort of connection?

I really don't like the idea of "mystery games", I don't think I own and Squenix games on Steam except for Tomb Raider and Deus Ex. At first I thought it was just one game at random from four. I wonder if the four games will be the same for everyone. If it's just four of their most popular ones, I'm likely to get Tomb Raider and Deus Ex again and probably one of the Final Fantasy games. Rodi, didn't you say they now have an option to play fully leveled up? That might make it worth playing again. Oh, I also just remembered that they own Hitman... Man, the chances of getting a game I don't own are really slim now. :|

I already said I don't know, but it looks like some mod removed or merged the threads?

I finished Fist of the North Star DD and it was hilarious to the end... I also started to watch Watamote and I'm in the "OH GOD! I was just like Tomoko! I'm probably a still a bit like her..." stage. Is it strange that this is the one series that has made me feel the most uncomfortable? I guess because it's hitting home, as they say...

Well, before I list every Webcomic I read ever... I'll give two: Widdershins: If you get the name you'll understand the inspiration for the comic. Menage a 3..... is one of the few webcomic I laugh AT and not with... This pandering harem comic is hilarious for all the wrong reason... does this make me a hipster? D: Oh what the hell: Scarygoround/Bobbins/Bad Machinery: It's actually better if you read it chapter by chapter, but I love it! Gastrophobia: If Xena had a kid... and lots of weird friends? Shortpacked or anything by David Willis: He killed my favorite character once... I think he's one of the best at comedy-drama "life" comics.

What? How on Earth did that happen? I guess I can't delete it now that it has a reply. Adventure sounds pretty right to me too, it's all about discovery, finding a new world and getting immersed in it... mechanically it doesn't work that well though. AAA should be it's own genre since it has unique mechanics that don't really appear in other genres like: -Day one patch -Day one DLC -Waiting a couple months until the game actually works or until some fan fixes it in 24 hours. -Aesthetic unessential content, that should be free behind a pay wall -The oh so joyful filler collectible that does nothing to the game. -Bureaucratic gameplay! Remember when you had to go to window A, for a keycard and that was it? That's for pussies! Now we'll have you running around in circles doing meaningless fetch quests because AAA games means our game must be infinity hours long and we can't be bothered to make it long in a proper way. ... Sorry, AAA gaming is real sour spot for me now. In a way need both the "indie" and "AAA" genre, for the sad reason that nobody would buy a game that doesn't have a "AAA" unless it's indie and nobody would pay a "AAA" price unless it's a "AAA" game.

It's strange that nobody has tried to make "moral ambiguity" or "tough decisions" a genre, specially since some games use this as their main trait. And every game is practically three genres at the same time, would it be that different to call Mass Effect a "morally ambiguous RPG FPS with dating aspects" from "RPG FPS with dating aspects"?

It's hard to say... but I'm sure To Be Or Not To Be: A Choosable Path Adventure would be on my list for sure.

I'm sorry, but you already missed that Android Humble Bundle... Will the new one be out on Android too?

I haven't been paying too much attention to the free PSN Mobile game thing, but at this moment, Super Crate Box is free.

I care so little for Vincent that I don't even remember how he joins.... I'm pretty sure none of them are miss-able though.

Oh, right! The audience gets to decide what happens next, more or less? Since we're pimping artist working on the game, I'll pimp out Ashley Davis, who is doing the Valkyrie comic at Shiftylook and Audra Furuichi's Nemu Nemu!

Man, and here I was going to ask whether to bother give the comic a chance, but reading this make me want to never even start... I did like the previous MSPaint Adventures, the one with the detectives?

It kinda sucks since I'm pretty sure Homestuck had a game Kickstarter and they made a mint... I really hope they didn't add Homestuck characters just to get more people to buy it....

Ooops, I have no idea how that link thing happened... Fixed! As much I don't get Homestuck... I can't help but to notice that the average Homestuck fan is a very VERY enthusiastic "shipper", so in a way it makes sense to have them in a dating game, since it's about "shipping", but still... This is truly bizarre, the Venn Diagram of Homestuck fans, dating sims fans and extremely obscure Namco characters... does it even cross?