What games are you playing now?

Fluent, how exactly did you get your old man to play? I've been trying to explain to my parents that they're missing out on something great, a new art form. The answer of such people is usually that they don't have time, but then they continue to play Farmville or some crap for the whole evening.

My dad has played video games his whole life. It's funny though, he always played simple stuff, like Atari pinball, or some NES games. He never thought he was skilled enough to control something as advanced as an original Xbox controller. It was always "too much" for him.

He hadn't played games in years but he would buy me games for my Xbox. One day he purchased Morrowind used from a kid at a yard sale for $5. He said he thought I would like it because it was an RPG. We started playing (he would watch me play) and were blown away.

When I reached Balmora I handed the controller to him and asked him to see what he could find. He immediately picked it up and a huge smile came across his face. He was realizing that he could actually play these games instead of just watching me.

After that it advanced to buying 2 player RPG games that we can both play at the same time. We picked up Gauntlet: Legends and Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance, and since then it's been a wrap.

Since then he's been an RPG addict and we're constantly looking for couch co-op RPGs to play together. He can manuever with a control well enough but games that require heavy stick skills are out of his realm. But for games like Morrowind and many others, he can play them for hours on end. We have very similar tastes when it comes to games too, so it works out well for us.

My advice would be - find a fancy new game that is interesting to you and may be interesting to your parents. Something like Skyrim would probably be fine. Hand them the controller midway through you playing it and see if it grabs them. Tell them to look around and take their time and check it out a little. Help them along and point them in the right direction.

If they are like my dad they will be hooked for life :) .
 
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Im now convinced Sacred 2 is a better game than Diablo 3.

It pains me to type those words, and i do enjoy Diablo3, but when the rubber hits the road Sacred2 has far more customization, better and more varied ranged combat, more camera options, far more weapon and armor styles, mounted combat, open exploration, more well-designed areas and impressive terrain... It's just a better game experience.

Now it takes longer to get going in Sacred, the game starts out painfully slow and clunky, and theres zero hand-holding so youre going to be googling a lot. Beginning a game in Diablo 3 will initially sweep you off your feet and the mix of nostalgia and nice graphics and sound will carry you thru the easy process of getting started in what amounts ti a very simple game design. But if you stick with it, Sacred i belive is a far deeper and more satisfying arpg overall.
 
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Fluent, how exactly did you get your old man to play? I've been trying to explain to my parents that they're missing out on something great, a new art form. The answer of such people is usually that they don't have time, but then they continue to play Farmville or some crap for the whole evening.

The cool thing about this forum is that you have many people who have been playing video games for a very long time ... probably many older than your 'old man'. :) I bought myself an Apple ][+ 32 years ago and have been a gamer ever since ...

You are battling a mindset implanted on parts of our generation about games being a waste, a toy, and so on ... and then as we had kids there was Columbine and other opportunities to blame everything on the new media. Those things definitely push middle aged folks away from 'real' gaming, while they are happy to play SongPop or Angry Birds or whatever ...
 
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txa1265, fair enough. I didn't play any MMOs or FPSs in my formative years and therefore can't really understand them.

My problem here though is people wasting their time when clearly a superior form of entertainment exists. In a hundred years they will write popular books and documentaries on the history of games, read by everyone. The people who refuse to accept games now will be even more clueless and alienated in several decades.

I don't like FPSs or some popular hits like FO3 or WoW, but I make a conscious effort to try them. In most cases I do come to like games that I previously disliked. So when someone chooses to play Farmville or sit in front of a TV when they're aware that such great technology is available, it pisses me off with no end. Sometimes when you show them a good game, they're naturally impressed (as we all are, curiosity should start a storm in the brain), but then immediately go to another room to watch a shitty sitcom. These people would fail to discover fire if they would get burnt by it.
 
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My problem here though is people wasting their time when clearly a superior form of entertainment exists..

That is an assumption based on personal bias ... I mean, it would be pretty easy to state that since music as an art has been shown to have positive impact on society, as well as on the cognitive, spatial and reasoning abilities of individuals that IT is superior, and that by playing ANY game rather than engaging in music you are wasting time.

Thing is, while I think it is possible to debate artistic merit (and many would disagree), debating entertainment value is ... um, wrong. Entertainment value is based solely on how much one is entertained, and is a wholly subjective metric. I tend towards 'high brow' in music and books, but have never considered my taste in movies and TV at all on the artsy side. For games, I like everything from hidden object & tower defense to the biggest sprawling RPGs and FPS games.

Trying to assign labels of superiority on what one finds entertaining is not just a waste of time, it is insulting and wrong.
 
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That is an assumption based on personal bias … I mean, it would be pretty easy to state that since music as an art has been shown to have positive impact on society, as well as on the cognitive, spatial and reasoning abilities of individuals that IT is superior, and that by playing ANY game rather than engaging in music you are wasting time.

Thing is, while I think it is possible to debate artistic merit (and many would disagree), debating entertainment value is … um, wrong. Entertainment value is based solely on how much one is entertained, and is a wholly subjective metric. I tend towards 'high brow' in music and books, but have never considered my taste in movies and TV at all on the artsy side. For games, I like everything from hidden object & tower defense to the biggest sprawling RPGs and FPS games.

Trying to assign labels of superiority on what one finds entertaining is not just a waste of time, it is insulting and wrong.

I agree completely :)

Gaming is certainly not an inherently superior form of entertainment. That's just stupid.

I love it and I find it superior to pretty much all forms of consumption-based entertainment - but that's just me.
 
I find games to be superior because they combine all previous forms of arts. Writing, art, music - all contribute to the whole. Furthermore, your brain is constantly challenged and involved. This is the simple reason why anyone and everyone can enjoy games, while a field of art separately requires a specific interest. However, a person who is interested in some field of art can nevertheless find a goldmine in games, as confirmed by countless game music vidoes on youtube.

Particularly game music is appreciated by gamers since it evokes emotions and memories of an actual world they experienced - of characters that they "talked" with. When you combine different art forms, not only is the whole strengthened, but the separate arts are enhanced, too.
 
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I find games to be superior because they combine all previous forms of arts. Writing, art, music - all contribute to the whole. Furthermore, your brain is constantly challenged and involved. This is the simple reason why anyone and everyone can enjoy games, while a field of art separately requires a specific interest. However, a person who is interested in some field of art can nevertheless find a goldmine in games, as confirmed by countless game music vidoes on youtube.

Particularly game music is appreciated by gamers since it evokes emotions and memories of an actual world they experienced - of characters that they "talked" with. When you combine different art forms, not only is the whole strengthened, but the separate arts are enhanced, too.

It's ok that you think that having forms of art combined is better than experiencing forms of art separately, but unfortunately it's not an objectively proven fact - and that's why you could never call gaming objectively superior without being ignorant.

Personally, I don't think games are as moving as books or movies can be - because as opposed to movies - they're not dealing with actual human beings and therefore will be harder to make a direct connection with, and as opposed to books - your imagination is a lesser factor, and it tends to be the most powerful factor when it comes to giving weight to an experience that's not based in reality.

But games are more entertaining to me, because they're cerebrally engaging on a very high level - and I love being challenged and I love the process of making many decisions in a short amount of time, which is basically what gameplay tends to be about. That can keep me engaged for much longer and stay interesting.

However, I know people who're NOT entertained by that kind of challenge and who're not interested in constant decision-making. Those people are not inferior or "wrong" because they don't enjoy what I enjoy, they're simply different.

So, it's really arrogant and ignorant to claim gaming as an inherently superior form of entertainment.
 
Personally, I don't think games are as moving as books or movies can be - because as opposed to movies - they're not dealing with actual human beings and therefore will be harder to make a direct connection with, and as opposed to books - your imagination is a lesser factor, and it tends to be the most powerful factor when it comes to giving weight to an experience that's not based in reality..

Further to this, while gaming combines various media and art types, they are all in service of a gameplay experience. When you love game music, it is ALWAYS because it evokes the gameplay elements and situations you loved. Same for the story, characters and so on.

Most of these are fairly thin compared to books, 'real' musical compositions and even movies - but when combined into an interactive and occasionally evolving scenario produce an incredibly satisfying experience.

Like DArtagnan, I love gaming - and as I mentioned I was playing games on an Apple ][+ as the 80s were just dawning ... but they are just one form of entertainment and enrichment. I certainly don't believe they are a source of evil as some would like to portray them, but neither are they 'better' than anything else.

I do love how the social elements have evolved (even if I seldom use them) - my son and his best friend were video calling over FaceTime while simultaneously playing together on XBOX Live ... cool stuff.
 
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not to derail this good conversation, but just thought i'd let people know that chivalry: medieval warfare is a lot of fun which i've been playing some over the last couple of days. for those fans of gothic, mount and blade or even blade of darkness i'd highly recommend checking this out. you can plat with bots by yourself though it is a multiplayer game at its core. the objective based modes are truly amazing/long and hard fought. its on a flash sale again on steam for $12.50
 
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not to derail this good conversation, but just thought i'd let people know that chivalry: medieval warfare is a lot of fun which i've been playing some over the last couple of days. for those fans of gothic, mount and blade or even blade of darkness i'd highly recommend checking this out. you can plat with bots by yourself though it is a multiplayer game at its core. the objective based modes are truly amazing/long and hard fought. its on a flash sale again on steam for $12.50

Thanks Curious. Just one question: can you play the objective based modes solo with bots as well in addition to the other modes, or playing with bots is only limited to certain mode(s)?
 
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Player FEAR 2 project origin which was short and dissapointing (don't know why it requires 12GB of hard disk space?). Levels are large but linear. There are not many scares, and the enemy AI is a step back from FEAR and FEAR 3. One good thing about this game is data disks scattered throughout the levels and give a pretty good story about ALMA, her origins, her sons and so on.

Then replayed FEAR 3, and all I can say that it is my favourite FPS shooter for many years now. The shooting mechanics (and dismembering!) are solid and very satisfying, the melee combat is excellent, and the enemy AI is the best that I have seen in any FPS so far (enemy squad members shout your location to each other: 'hiding behind a crate/wall' .. etc., work together to flush you out, climb walls/structures and roll to avoid your bullets, call for help .. etc.). Enemy AI is probably the most overlooked feature in any FPS which gives a real reply value to games when utilised properly. The co-op modes are the best that I have seen as well. The co-op modes are all unique and heart stoppingly fun, and can all be played solo in practice mode. Now replying on 'Fearless' difficulty and I can't just get enough of it.
 
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I have been working through Baldur's Gate EE on PC and iPad, and then just restarted Jedi Knight II ... still (along with Gothic II) my fave game ever.
 
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Thanks Curious. Just one question: can you play the objective based modes solo with bots as well in addition to the other modes, or playing with bots is only limited to certain mode(s)?

i believe you can if you play as defender because many of the objective in attacker require two people two activate objectives at the same time. opening sluice gates, tearing down trebuchets, etc
 
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We launched Borderlands 2 yesterday with me as the Mechromancer. Will probably play an Anarchist build focused to deal impulsive damage in short range but still make the Deathtrap useful for backup.
 
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I'm playing Krater, and I love it. I doubt anyone who has not grown up with the Swedish pen & paper RPG Mutant will love it nearly as much as I do (it is basically a love letter to it).

Also this song from the game's soundtrack is in fact from a fan film that was made by a small group of people who really loved the old pen & paper RPG. A rather obscure and small budget film that was sold in incredibly limited quantities.
you can watch (and listen to) it here. A rather ambitious piece of film to do on such a small budget.
 
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uninstalled some stuff so i could reinstall Left4dead, thinking i could re-capture the L4d magic.
Nope. Played it really hard a while back and loved it, but I just cant get into it anymore.

Once you burn out on L4D, i think it's permanent.
 
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Finished my epic Fallout New Vegas run so am playing something lighter, the (modern) Prince of Persia series.

SoT is done (although I'd played it before I forgot how annoying that lift battle was) and am now on WW, I actually like the gloomy vibe but the combat is a bit annoying - I've never been a fan of lots of combos. After this I'll play TT and Forgotten Sands, I played the 2008 reboot last year (it was OK but nothing special).
 
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I've been playing the first King's Bounty for like a week now, the most fun I've had with a game since LoG. I'll most likely be getting the sequels at some point, as this series is really hitting the spot for me.


-Carn
 
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