Not everyone has a suitable internet connection. One year I was capped at 3 GB of downloads a month, and the next - I had only wireless internet, and couldn't afford the £50 for a 360 wireless adapter. It's more than a little annoying to spend what little disposable income you have on a game, only to find it's not the full package. If you've spent a long time finishing a game and getting all of the achievements, for example, but it refuses to acknowledge you've completed it because of something that's not available to you? That's annoying.
It's the same reason I hate multiplayer achievements, the ship-broke-and-patch mentality, no offline split-screen and these ridiculous codes that you have to use online to unlock the full game you just paid for.
Outside of actually playing online, you shouldn't have to suffer a lesser game just because your internet isn't up to speed.
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I refuse to buy DLC.
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"But how is this obsession with achievements and trophies affecting gamers’ interaction with story?"
If the story is genuinely compelling and well-written, I don't think it has any effect whatsoever. Achievements just highlight how weak that aspect is. Whilst playing Tales of Vesperia, for example, I knew there was a tonne of pre-final-dungeon content to explore, with hundreds of acheivement points up for grabs, but I just couldn't. I was genuinely compelled to save the world above all else. If other games could do that, I don't think achievements would detract from their storytelling at all.
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I always feel like I have way too many games, and perhaps I do, but my brother quite overshadows my 'accomplishments'. He has about 300 Xbox 360 games. The to-the-ceiling towers they've formed in the corner impose themselves upon you as soon as you enter the room, and half of them remain unplayed.
He recognised that he was spending too much money on them, so he started collecting playstation games. The bargains which prompted his heavy spending were everywhere, and although he was still buying as many games - if not, more - he was spending less.
The thing is, these games weren't new; they weren't must haves; there was nothing convincing him that he had to buy them, and his spending dropped considerably. By trimming the media fat and getting down to the base-instinct of bargain-hunting, the 'great deals' lost a lot of their allure.
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Gaming has been such a big part of my life for so long, I wish I could say that it will continue to be so.
But I've got less time and more responsibilities than I've ever had, and this combination has seen the likes of Zuma and Sonic replace those RPGs which I'd usually be more than happy to rack up 100 hours on. Without XBLA games and Minesweeper, I wouldn't be doing much gaming at all.
With that said, I'm way more interested in gaming than I've ever been. I think about it more than I do it, that's for sure, but I think about it a lot. I've a diary-of-sorts with over 1,500 entries which are specifically related to video games.
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I was inspired by this article into thinking of my own ten-year retrospective, but then I realised my memory sucks at anything to do with timing and became kind of envious. I've had my own personal 'forum' for the past few years just so I can pinpoint when these memories actually occurred. I certainly couldn't tell you when I played Final Fantasy IX, for example, nor what affected me ten years ago. Not without significant research. I look forward to the next instalments.
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To be honest, I'd be fine with a 1v1 which didn't further punish the victims of rage-quitters. I still haven't won an online game of FIFA this generation, because every time I take the lead the opposition mysteriously disconnects.
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I don't know, I'm still not convinced. I don't belong to either of those groups, but I've had a great year of gaming. Civilisation V, Resonance of Fate, Alien Swarm, Heavy Rain, Just Cause 2, Football Manager 2011, Metro 2033, Mount&Blade: Warband, Starcraft 2... Amnesia: The Dark Descent. These are all great games that cater to different audiences, and that's just the ones I can personally recommend that haven't already been listed. Only a handful were released at the start of the year.
I'm sure some gamers did miss out, I'm just not sure it's that many. Personally I'm concerned about the lack of JRPGs for consoles this year, particularly in the latter half, but I don't know many people that strictly limit themselves to just the one genre, so I do believe those that missed out are part of an unlucky few.
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Between Black Ops, Enslaved, MoH, Gran Turismo and Hot Pursuit, I really can't see the issue. With Vanquish
I've also got to agree - kind of - with Rob. One of my biggest pet peeves with the video game industry is how front-loaded individual games are. MMO's aside, most games make most of their sales within the first month, week, or even day. Why do great games all of a sudden become old hat? I've never understood it, and it's something I don't particularly like being a part of. Why does New Vegas's release mean you can't play Fallout 3 any more?
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I, too, prefer more subjective reviews. I don't think that objectivity is the name of the reviewing game, and although I understand professionals having mental checklists to cover, I don't believe reviews citing barely-noticeable jagged edges or an ever-so-slightly insensitive reticule are all that helpful.
As Richard says above, if something really stands out, then by all means bring it up; if the graphics and voice acting are some of the best on the console, feel free to dedicate a paragraph or two to just those, but it's the game I'm interested in, and I'd love to see much less technicalities.
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I wish they left the RAI system as it was. Part of what makes Oblivion great is those little 'wow, that really happened?' moments that are so few and far between. All of the instances you quoted which were "broken" just made me want to play a version without those locks.
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My daughter was definitely alive. I took her to work on the final day. Then I topped myself.
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