What games are you playing now?

danutz_plusplus said:

I'm enjoying Anno 1404. The gameplay seems very similar to the other installments, which isn't bad at all, but where it really shines is graphics. It looks amazing with everything set on max. Your settlements really look amazing.

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I picked up the DS version last night when I had to be in the mall anyway ... just got the PC version installed and will be interesting to see how they compare. Oh, and in the NA versions there is no trace of the 'Anno' name, it is all 'Dawn of Discovery'.

txa1265 said:

Oh, and in the NA versions there is no trace of the 'Anno' name, it is all 'Dawn of Discovery'.

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Maybe the publisher thought NA people were tooo stupid to unbderstand that "Anno" thing ? There were even plenty of questions what "Ego Draconis" means ...

I find it often really strange that titles often get changed for the NA market, whereas English titles almost always stay that way in the EU market - even German developers chose English titles for German games !

It's because we don't like any of that fancy spanish stuff in our titles, Alrik! We're 'muricans!

Alrik Fassbauer said:

Maybe the publisher thought NA people were tooo stupid to unbderstand that "Anno" thing ? There were even plenty of questions what "Ego Draconis" means ...

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Well, with 1701 they tried '1701 A.D.' for the PC version and 'Anno 1701: Dawn of Discovery' with the DS version - perhaps the 'Dawn of Discovery' thing hit the market mindset better? Dunno.

"Dawn of Discovery" sounds ... Hm, imho stupid. A discovery cannot dawn ... Or dawn upon someone ... It sounds to me as if someone had been trying to translate a German saying into the English language ... A "Dawn(ing) of the Discovery Age" would have sounded much, much better, imho ...

txa1265 said:

Well, with 1701 they tried '1701 A.D.' for the PC version and 'Anno 1701: Dawn of Discovery' with the DS version - perhaps the 'Dawn of Discovery' thing hit the market mindset better? Dunno.

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1701 A.D.? Everyone knows that it's NCC-1701 plus or without suffix.

Okay, that was a bit random. Move along, nothing to see here.

Actually I think it is the sort of evocative title that works pretty well for general marketing - even though Dawn of Discovery is essentially meaningless since discovery was dawning since the dawn of time ...

Busy gaming weekend:

* PC: (Anno 1404) Dawn of Discovery -I know it is called ‘Dawn of Discovery’ here but in the rest of the world it is ‘Anno 1404′ as the Anno franchise carries weight there. Classic world-building strategy adventure game.
* PC: Red Faction 1 & 2 – was pleased to find that these are both ‘netbook friendly’, but it is a reminder that the first one was only an average shooter with a gimmick (you could blow up parts of the world), whereas the second one is just lousy.
* PC: Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines – one of my favorite sayings – there is never a bad time to replay a great game, and it is free to replay games as well!
* PC: Tales of Monkey Island Chapter 1: Launch of the Screaming Narwhal – probably took me 4-5 hours to run through, with loads of laughs and plenty of great classic fun.
* PC: Trine – solid game with plenty of fun, but I like their earlier ‘Shadowgrounds’ games better.
* DS: (Anno 1404) Dawn of Discovery – the same basic game but with a very different presentation … much lighter and more friendly, but not as deep.

(note - this is from my new home at Gear Diary where I'm doing a weekly 'GearGames Weekly' article. I'm no longer doing anything with GamerDad.)

Oh - another interesting aside - the premise for the DS & PC Anno games differ: in the PC game the King is mortally ill and his chief aide is building a temple in his honor and you need to exploit islands and peasants to pay for it and give supplies. In the DS game the plague is wiping out the kingdom and you need to establish a new colony to provide resources and help rebuild.

Yesterday I believe I did "the rest" of Fallout 3. I found the remaining locations, had a look at the eastereggs, found some more unique items.

I also got myself these:

Large Teddy Bear:


Giant Teddy Bear:

Has anyone else played any of the digital download version of Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines? I'm into Chinatown, and have found the indicators for interaction (e.g. opening a chest, etc) rather tricky in terms of getting them to appear. Heck, I failed the opening stealth kill sequence in the tutorial twice because I couldn't get it to show up. Don't ever remember this with the CD version. Anyone else?

txa1265 said:

Don't ever remember this with the CD version. Anyone else?

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I just played VtMB a few months ago (CD version), and I don't recall ever having that problem. So your assumption of it having something to do with the DD version is probably correct.


Playing an RTS called Armies of Exigo right now, I picked it out of the bargain bin this past weekend. My first impression echoes that of the lone review I read on it... that it's basically a fantasy clone of Starcraft.

Now playing: Blood Bowl pc game.
I loved the tabltop game and I love the pc version.

Now I'd like some new title on the same line:
Man o' War (a tabletop naval battle simulation in Warhammer fantasy setting)
PcRpg based on Warhammer Fantasy Rpg.

Mayb one day someone will deveolp suche games.

I tried the new version of Monkey Island (SE). The updated game have it's up and downs. Actually, almost everything with this remake is good. It's a almost exact copy of the original game, except for new graphics and sound. Since you can swap between the new and the old game with F10 you can really see the improvement.

Just comparing the new and the old area in front of the SCUMM bar where you start the game and I could spot many differences between the background and even the foreground compared to the original. For example, the background now shows a dock, and there's a large tree standing in the foreground, complete with falling leaves. When entering the SCUMM bar I at once noticed an ambient sound of a filled bar.

I remember that the back of the PC/Amiga version of Monkey Island showed an image of a dog face that wasn't actually used in the game, so I decided to speak to the dog. Cool enough, the SE finally have the zoomed in face of the dog when speaking to it!

But the game also have a few downs... Some voice acting stands out from the rest as emotionless, such as the Swords Master. The major problem though is the faces. Some faces even made me want to switch back to the original. Guybrush have this glaring stare with perfectly round eyes that I just cannot stand.

Governor Marley really looks like crap compared to the original (in which she was stunningly beautiful IMO), and I didn't like her voice acting either. I even prefer her looks/voice in the 3rd game over this SE version.



This might sound a bit odd, but I wouldn't mind a few improvements to the classic game, such as the option of playing with the old graphics but with sound from the new game, or the option of using filter to smooth the graphics. Especially the faces of the old MI still look very good.

Finally the controls in MISE actually feels WORSE than the original game. You can no longer click on a menu to select your action, instead you must either rotate actions with your mousewheel or push keys on the keyboard. Really bad idea IMO and very clunky when you need to do sequences in which the right options matter, like unlocking the safe or swapping grogmugs.

JDR13 said:

I just played VtMB a few months ago (CD version), and I don't recall ever having that problem. So your assumption of it having something to do with the DD version is probably correct.

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That is good and bad news. Good because I never remember it before, bad because I'm planning to do a 5-year retro ... so I'll have to reinstall the CD's for my Malk and Nosf plays ...

JemyM said:

I remember that the back of the PC/Amiga version of Monkey Island showed an image of a dog face that wasn't actually used in the game, so I decided to speak to the dog. Cool enough, the SE finally have the zoomed in face of the dog when speaking to it!

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Well, I do remember letting Guybrush talk to that dog !

I found it quite nice, then.

Today I wanted to play Drakensang again - and I couldn't find the DVD anymore ! How embarassing !

I really can't remember anymore where I've put it to ...

I've just finished Drakensang - I (unintentionally) stopped playing it in... uh... March(?) and have been finishing it up in the last few days. And, wow, it turned out to be quite a long-ish game, didn't it? Well, anyway, the whole game was a very enjoyable experience, I'm definitely looking forward to the next one.

Hm, what now?
*looks at list of unfinished games*
...Nnnnah. I think I'd rather start yet another one.

Today I finally got the chance to play Force Unleashed. I have heard those who said it's a Star Wars version of God of War, and that might be true, but while it looks better, the game isn't. I am playing it for the story however, as it's supposed to bridge the gap between Episode III and IV.

JemyM said:

Today I finally got the chance to play Force Unleashed.

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What platform? Did they ever make a PC version of that?

JDR13 said:

What platform? Did they ever make a PC version of that?

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I have the PS3 version, which I incidentally got for free. They never made a PC version.

JDR13 said:

What platform? Did they ever make a PC version of that?

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JemyM said:

I have the PS3 version, which I incidentally got for free. They never made a PC version.

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No ... and it is just as well. Very mediocre, and I didn't think the story was anything special. Random typical angsty teen type 'hero' in a cliched story just happening to be set in the Star Wars universe. Over-the-top force powers are the only attraction ... and a limited one at that.

That's pretty much the impression I got from reading reviews and seeing some video footage.