[T-Ricks]

We just got a PS4 Pro and 4K TV for Christmas. I don't do video games (John does) but would consider it if I could find a good Tank Battle simulator game. Any suggestions? For what it's worth, we also have the Xbox 360 and Xbox One set ups as well.

[flrazor]

We just got a PS4 Pro and 4K TV for Christmas. I don't do video games (John does) but would consider it if I could find a good Tank Battle simulator game. Any suggestions? For what it's worth, we also have the Xbox 360 and Xbox One set ups as well.

If money is flexible, your definition of tank is a little broad, and you like your simulators unforgiving: Steel Battalion. It's original Xbox and requires a dedicated controller (see article), also if you die in the game without ejecting it erases your save file.

Apart from that, if anyone visits Minnesota (or GenCon for that matter) I would be very happy to introduce them to some classic simulator gaming.

[Latok]

I got Verdun and Obra Dinn for Christmas... but somehow have racked up like 8 hours playing Heat Signature this week instead (a game I played almost not at all since I got it last year).

Heat Signature is great, so many cool ways to kill characters and steal their ships in that game.

I play a lot of different games but one I'd suggest to any casual gamer is FTL: Faster Than Light, it's cheap, single player and amazing. Into the Breach made by the same people is also very good, but newer so more expensive generally.

[BCSWowbagger]

Apart from that, if anyone visits Minnesota (or GenCon for that matter) I would be very happy to introduce them to some classic simulator gaming.

TAKE HIM UP ON THIS. Dude knows his stuff and has the hardware to impress.

Heat Signature is great, so many cool ways to kill characters and steal their ships in that game.

Yeah, I just did a defector mission with a Longsword and a Self-Charging Long-Range Visitor and I had no idea how amazing the Visitor could be. "Ope! Good one! Yep, you shot me! I'm unconscious! But my body just snapped back to a different part of the ship and I'll be back on my feet stabbin' your dudes DAYS before you find it!"

Such a thrill.

And, yes, I second FTL. Enormously fun game -- although you have to accept going in that it'll be a while before you're good enough (and lucky enough!) to win.

[Boffo97]

The Steam front page is always kind of depressing the day after a sale ends.

[AllenGould]

And, yes, I second FTL. Enormously fun game -- although you have to accept going in that it'll be a while before you're good enough (and lucky enough!) to win.

I'll third FTL, and add that it has a pretty good selection of mods too, so you can fly your favored flavor of starship. (The balance can suffer a bit though - Firefly is a nice ride, but starting with eight crew makes life reaaally sweet. )

[Se7enofMine]

I played WoW for a few years solid but am just an occasional player now. I'll play for 6 months, then stop for a year. It's just TOO grind-y now.

I have a PS4 and dabble in games every now and then. Nothing hardcore but I enjoy a good brainless gaming session from time to time. Next games I wanna try for PS4: Spider-Man, Red Dead Redemption, the most recent God of War. I usually wait until they are NOT $80CAD.

[Clerasil ToB]

With an accounted list of 252 PC games I have to say:

All LEGO games are great.

Right now I'm quite addicted to "Graveyard Keeper"...

And my wife hates me because I'm better in playing CoD: World War II than she is

[Jono]

I started playing video games as a kid with an Intellivision back around 1980. I bought a Sega Genesis in college so my roommates and I could play NHL 93 (and other games).

I became a Sony guy with the first PlayStation and have had a PS2, PSP, PS3, PS Vita and PS4.

I play a lot of action adventure games (Uncharted, Arkham, Spider-Man, Infamous, Tomb Raider, Horizon: Zero Dawn, Assassin's Creed), some action-RPG (Dragon Age, Witcher III, Skyrim), and some Lego games.

I'm currently playing Spider-Man (great game). Games I want to get are Red Dead Redemption II, Assassin's Creed: Odyssey and Star Trek: Bridge Crew (I already got PSVR but it will be better with the 4KTV and PS4 Pro I got for Christmas).

FYI, my PlayStation handle is Jonotrek.

[AllenGould]

Star Trek: Bridge Crew (I already got PSVR but it will be better with the 4KTV and PS4 Pro I got for Christmas).

I have Bridge Crew for PC (no VR), and it's hilarious playing with VR folks. (Also a lot of people seem to like commanding starships while stoned?)

[Boffo97]

Video game fail story time...

So a while back, I was playing The Sims 2. Specifically, I made a new "Young Adult" Sim to use the content of the expansion pack "University". So my new Sim enters the dorm, claims a room and is all set to learn and be college-y.

I decide that my Sim wants a little extra cash, so I send him to the dorm's kitchen to work there. With no cooking skill, he manages to immediately start a fire. This kicks in the sprinklers (sadly missing from subsequent games) to take care of the fire, but the combination of panicking at the fire and being sprinkled on just PLUNGE every motive the Sim has into the red.

Now I have a problem. I figure I should send my Sim to bed for a while first, then once that's not a crisis, I can wake up, eat and go to the bathroom and that should get me to a more manageable situation. But just as I'm about to enter my room, my Sim collapses and dies. The Grim Reaper comes for him and since he's never so much as said "Hello" to anyone, no one pleads for his life and he's taken.

So, all in all, we have a college student who died of exhaustion a few hours into his first day at college without attending a single class. How do you even eulogize that without laughing?

[Boffo97]

So the Star Control games have all been pulled from Steam and GOG, other than some DLC for Star Control: Origins.

Long complicated story as short as possible: Stardock bought IP rights from Atari when they went bankrupt which included IP rights from Accolade, a game publisher from back in the day. These rights included ownership of the game Star Control III (aka Star Control: The Kessari Quadrant) and the name Star Control. The rights to Star Control and Star Control II as programs, as well as all the aliens, ship designs, etc. belonged to creators Paul Reiche III and Fred Ford (aka Toys For Bob).

Basically, Stardock tried to entice Reiche and Ford to either work for them and/or license their rights to Star Control's IP to them, and Reiche and Ford refused. Stardock then announced Star Control Origins, which had gameplay similarities to and some of the aliens from Star Control II. They also filed for an injunction against Reiche and Ford to prevent Reiche and Ford for filing DMCA claims on the game and getting it removed from the stores citing irrevocable financial harm if they ended up winning the case.

The judge ruled just prior to the New Year that Stardock created any potential financial harm themselves by announcing and releasing a game they knew could have disputed copyrights in it, and that the status quo that injunctions were meant to protect was the last undisputed state of affairs, not what it happened to be the second an injunction was filed.

So with the injunction denied, Reiche and Ford did file their claim, and apparently both storefronts have removed the series altogether until this is ironed out. However, you can (presumably) still buy Star Control Origins directly from Stardock, and Star Control 2 has been made free and open source by Reiche and Ford several years ago under the new title The Ur-Quan Masters.

[Dukat]

I've been playing video games since I was 6, back then, using the good old Game Boy. The grey brick.
I've played probably almost a thousand games or so, idk.

Just finished Witcher 3 a few months ago and Mafia III a month or so ago.
At any given time, I have 5 to 10 games installed on my PC, for relaxation.


A short while ago, I grabbed Titan Quest during the sales period on gog.com.
I also play Homefront: Revolution these days.

[Clerasil ToB]

I've been playing video games since I was 6, back then, using the good old Game Boy. The grey brick.
I've played probably almost a thousand games or so, idk.

Just finished Witcher 3 a few months ago and Mafia III a month or so ago.
At any given time, I have 5 to 10 games installed on my PC, for relaxation.


A short while ago, I grabbed Titan Quest during the sales period on gog.com.
I also play Homefront: Revolution these days.

My good old grey brick is still working

[Dukat]

The old grey brick is perhaps the most resilient and versatile piece of technology of the past 30 years.

Did you know that there is a selfie-addon, a camera-addon and a printer for the brick?
That and more ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEzJH90h3aA