Official video game thread - Gamers unite!

[VL3X]

I recently started talking video games with @Eagle7 and @Leonard and decided to create a dedicated off-topic thread for us gamers. This is a place to talk favorites, currently playing, and anticipated future releases. Back in my Subaru NASIOC forum days, I used to host in-person and online Forza events. Some friends have since upgraded to some pretty serious racing sims, so I leave the hosting up to them. I've been a gamer since the NES days, but now I mostly play PS4 and have a Xbox One X that I rarely use (only for Forza). Survival horror is my favorite genre.

Currently playing:

• Horizon Forbidden West
• TMNT: Shredder's Revenge (new 90s arcade style Turtles game on PlayStation)

Some of my favorite all-time games:

• Final Fantasy (VII + X are my favorites)
• Resident Evil (I've played and enjoyed them all, but 2, 4, and 7 stand out. I can't wait for the RE:4 remake!)
• Silent Hill 2
• Bioshock
• Ghost of Tsushima
• Assassin's Creed (Origins and 2 are my faves)
• Destiny (I rarely game online, but this one got me clocked @ 500 hours!)
• DOOM
• The Last of Us
• Uncharted 4 (loved all, but 4 was amazing - possibly my favorite game of all-time)
• Super Mario World (ok, this is actually my favorite game of all-time)

There's so many more great games like Spider-Man, Tomb Raider, Halo, Infamous, Hitman, Evil Within, Batman, etc... what are your favorites?

 

[Mickle]

I play Gran Turismo occasionally with some online friends, have a nice setup too! Funnily enough, one of them works at Lotus and we got to say hello in person when I did the factory tour a month or two ago!

Seems to be a bit of a void at the moment in terms of new releases, so I haven't been playing much recently.

 

[Mangoose]

I don't have as much time to play games anymore, but I invested a couple years back in a mid-range driving simulator set up and a VR headset. I'm on Assetto Corsa a few times a week, and in fact, I just downloaded the Lotus Emira model a couple of days ago and I've been using it. It was created by a random user and quality is not great, but fun nonetheless.

I like open-wheel racing, so I'll likely be purchasing F1 2022 when it releases on Jul 1st, but it's more arcade-ish than a simulator.

As for past games, FFVII is also one of my favorites along with FFVIII and FFX. The only AC I played is Black Flag but I thought it was amazing. I still annoy my wife by singing sea shanties around the house.

 

[VL3X]

one of them works at Lotus and we got to say hello in person when I did the factory tour a month or two ago!

That's awesome! I haven't played Turismo since the PS2 days, but the trailers for the new one looks amazing. Did it come out yet? Funny story.. I remember there were theses insanely long endurance races (I'm talking days to complete). Me and a buddy finally had that game ~99% done and one day my buddy came home to find his dog chewed up the memory card and we lost everything.

 

[VL3X]

The only AC I played is Black Flag but I thought it was amazing. I still annoy my wife by singing sea shanties around the house.

Lol! Black Flag was fun with the ship battles. I loved all those games, but 2 holds a special place in my heart since I visited Italy and specifiaclly thought of Ezio Auditore da Firenze when climbing the duomo in Florcence! I remember seeing a making of segment on G4's X-Play and how they recreated 15th Century Renaissance Italy and it just blew my mind back then.

You should check out AC Origins. It's my favorite and led to me into deep dive into ancient Egyptian history. The way these games are written and how they reference actual historical events is really fun!

 

[Mangoose]

Lol! Black Flag was fun with the ship battles. I loved all those games, but 2 holds a special place in my heart since I visited Italy and specifiaclly thought of Ezio Auditore da Firenze when climbing the duomo in Florcence! I remember seeing a making of segment on G4's X-Play and how they recreated 15th Century Renaissance Italy and it just blew my mind back then.

You should check out AC Origins. It's my favorite and led to me into deep dive into ancient Egyptian history. The way these games are written and how they reference actual historical events is really fun!

Thanks for the recommendation! I've been interested in getting back into an action-RPG type of game, and I might just give AC Origins a shot. I had FF7 Remake Part II in mind but it seems that Square Enix are even slower than Lotus with their new releases, so I'd probably be waiting a while.

 

[Porter]

Back in my Subaru NASIOC forum days, I used to...

Wait just a damn minute here. What's your handle on NASIOC? I was a serious early OG over there, low 3 digit member number. And know a bunch of old-schoolers in the Mid-A.

 

[VL3X]

Wait just a damn minute here. What's your handle on NASIOC? I was a serious early OG over there, low 3 digit member number. And know a bunch of old-schoolers in the Mid-A.

AlxSTi - I'm not one of the OG members, but I had the first 2004 java black pearl STI in the states and then an '06 aspen white hawkeye STI for years. Agile tuned!

I did have something crazy like ~7k posts there, but they deleted one of our old Delaware spotting threads and wiped out 2k.

 

[Leonard]

I go a long way back with games (to pong #I'm47)
But faves include:
Jet Set Willy- ZX Spectrum
Roland on the Ropes - Amstrad 464
Bubble Bobble - C64
Lotus challenge...... - Amigo 500
Grand Turismo - PS2
N64 - Golden Eye
Xbox - Call of Duty
Halo -Xbox One
PS4 - Fortnite
PS5 - Still playing Fortnite with folk way too young

 

[VL3X]

I go a long way back with games (to pong #I'm47)
But faves include:
Jet Set Willy- ZX Spectrum
Roland on the Ropes - Amstrad 464
Bubble Bobble - C64
Lotus challenge...... - Amigo 500
Grand Turismo - PS2
N64 - Golden Eye
Xbox - Call of Duty
Halo -Xbox One
PS4 - Fortnite
PS5 - Still playing Fortnite with folk way too young

Golden Eye and Halo were responsible for so many rage quits among my friends! I miss the Halo days.

Bubble Bobble was great too! There was a local barcade in Philly that had that one and a bunch of other great classics. In fact, I specifically remember playing Bubble Bobble and some Spider-Man aracde game at a barcade in Dublin a few years ago too.

 

[Leonard]

Golden Eye and Halo were responsible for so many rage quits among my friends! I miss the Halo days.

Bubble Bobble was great too! There was a local barcade in Philly that had that one and a bunch of other great classics. In fact, I specifically remember playing Bubble Bobble and some Spider-Man aracde game at a barcade in Dublin a few years ago too.

I shouldn't forget about Outrun, Spy Hunter and Kung Fu Master in the arcade and Elite and more importantly... Counter Strike on PC!

 

[Mangoose]

I shouldn't forget about Outrun, Spy Hunter and Kung Fu Master in the arcade and Elite and more importantly... Counter Strike on PC!

Ah yes Counter Strike. I never played the new one, but I still have good old CS Source installed on my PC! I started back at version 1.3 and no doubt sunk hundreds of hours playing that game. de_dust2, cs_italy and cs_office for the win!

 

[Leonard]

Ah yes Counter Strike. I never played the new one, but I still have good old CS Source installed on my PC! I started back at version 1.3 and no doubt sunk hundreds of hours playing that game. de_dust2, cs_italy and cs_office for the win!

Yes!!! Same. Probably the last time I was ever competitive at a computer game

 

[VL3X]

I haven't played any PC games since Mech Warrior and the original Unreal Tournaments.

Mobile games have come a really long way too! I discovered CSR2 when a developer leaked some Emira footage last year. I've been hooked ever since. It's a basic drag racing game, but it's fun to upgrade your cars and compete with a crew.

 

[Evotion]

Alas, I am now too old to play video games. I was a big gamer but mostly FPS.
I had to give up when my young boys (at that time) were completely pwning me (that was the vernacular at the time I believe) and I had to give my crown up.

I had a few claims to fame though.

• I was very good at COD3 and Rainbow 6 on PlayStation, maybe even globally well known
• I owned and ran the largest COD3 online Battle site (Ladders, tournaments, etc)
• I bought the company that made the platform and then became the world's largest suppler of online video game battle platforms

That was so long ago.
I can't even see the other players on the screens anymore.
Getting completely slaughtered by little kids screaming on the mic was too much for me.
It is a young mans game.

Okay, okay. There is a PS4 to the left of me. Not switched it on for 18 months.
I used it to try out the Ride game to get acclimatised for Brands Hatch on a track bike.

I will do the same for the Emira when I take it to the 'Ring.
If anybody knows a good PS4 game that has this track down to a tee... let me know.

 

[VL3X]

I bought the company that made the platform and then became the world's largest suppler of online video game battle platforms

Whoa! That's amazing!!

As far as the ring in video games... I know Forza is the GOAT, but that's Xbox only AFAIK. Gran Turismo 7 has it too:

 

[Off The Shelf]

I'm contemplating getting back on the horse... Riding out with Dutch and the boys like old times

 

[Mickle]

That's awesome! I haven't played Turismo since the PS2 days, but the trailers for the new one looks amazing. Did it come out yet? Funny story.. I remember there were theses insanely long endurance races (I'm talking days to complete). Me and a buddy finally had that game ~99% done and one day my buddy came home to find his dog chewed up the memory card and we lost everything.

I remember those races very well! What a nightmare
The new one, GT7 is out and is a great game, at the moment the custom multiplayer lobbies are a bit painful though as you can’t change the track/car restrictions on the fly. Hopefully will be sorted soon as I really enjoy online racing a lot more than single player content.

 

[Mickle]

I will do the same for the Emira when I take it to the 'Ring.
If anybody knows a good PS4 game that has this track down to a tee... let me know.

The three worth looking at would be:

1. Gran Turismo 7 - No Lotus cars unfortunately but a big selection, dynamic weather & time of day looks great at the ring.
2. Gran Turismo Sport - The previous GT game, no dynamic weather but should be pretty cheap by now if you don’t want to splash out.
3. Assetto Corsa - Much more sim-oriented and less forgiving on a controller, not as impressive visually as it’s quite an old game now. But does include a variety of Lotus cars, the Nordschleife and has a nice “road” track set in Scotland which is nice to cruise around too!

This just prompted me to check the car list on Assetto Corsa, I'll definitely be loading it up again tomorrow, look at that list!

 

[Eagle7]

I go back to the early days of games before there were graphics. I remember the text-based games like Zork, and that style. I played the classic arcade games in the 80's too. I remember Pole Position was one of my favorites. The first break-through computer graphics game for me was MYST on the Macintosh. It had such a great feel and sense of mystery, and the soundtrack matched the mood.

Got the first Playstation, and been a Playstation user ever since. One of the early games I liked was Parasite Eve, the original Diablo, Silent Hill and pretty much any rpg. I got started on MMO's with World of Warcraft when it first came out. Nothing like getting 40 people together in a raid group for a 4 hour dungeon run into Molten Core. We did that one for years. I also liked the first Gran Turismo, and played almost all the versions since. I did some of the Resident Evils, Bioshock, and others I can't remember now. I was always looking for something new.

On the computer I was into Baldur's Gate, and some others I can't remember now. Then I got into Morrowind and the Elder Scrolls on the Playstation, which led to Skyrim which was like a second career.

I did the Dark Souls series, but my favorite was Dark Souls 3. Bloodborne was okay, but I still liked DS3 better. As far as those kinds of games that are long and involved but not really mmo's, I really liked Witcher3 The Wild Hunt which I played completely through twice. I got Demons Souls with my PS5 when it came out, played that through twice, and just recently went through Elden Ring which is incredible. If you haven't been through any of the Dark Souls games, I can imagine how it must have felt for newbies to start on Elden Ring. I saw where somebody had made a meme that said "Is it normal to die on the main screen?" and the answer was "Yes" lol. It's brutal but has such pastoral ambient music that it's quite an experience. The world and environment is stunning.

Right now I go back and forth between Black Desert Online (an mmo) and Gran Turismo 7. I just like the open world concept games where you can go anywhere you want, explore, go at your own pace and do what you want if you don't want to follow the main story line all the time. BDO even has boats, ships, sailing, fishing, and sea monsters!

I'm always on the lookout for something new though. I don't really watch TV anymore, so gaming is my entertainment.