agparrot • Comments

• This is how Xbox One game trade-ins will work, apparently

• agparrot 24/05/2013

  @Bertie Sorry, my swearing was not necessary, but Parfitt's nonchalance about how his conclusions were basically arrived at by not receiving denial is spurious and not very journalist-like in my humble opinion. Reply +1

• agparrot 24/05/2013

  Seriously though, fuck MCV and the 'journalism' that Ben Parfitt engaged in to source this 'story'. It's tantamount to trolling.
  
  https://twitter.com/BenParfitt/status/337886220795387904
  
  From which Parfitt writes: "Could one or both of our Xbox One stories be wrong? It's possible, of course. Microsoft need simply put us straight. We gave them the chance"
  
  This odious behaviour reflects very poorly on EG for repeating it, in my humble opinion.
  
  Also, I've surmised the Xbox One is made out of cheese, and so long as Microsoft don't deny it, I'm sticking with that as fact.
  
  Dumb fucks. Reply -12

• It's the Xbox One Eurogamer Podcast special!

• agparrot 22/05/2013

  Would also like to register my approval of Mr Higson's video - the best things about the Xbox One reveal for me have been the funnies that have cropped up as a result. While I've also enjoyed the serious analysis of game writers who remain as clueless as the rest of us about what the next generation is bringing, the stupid stuff is very entertaining, in this case particularly your No Russian Scooby, and Xbox Off finisher. Reply 0

• EA to discontinue Online Passes

• agparrot 16/05/2013

  Excellent, this means they'll be able to continue their program of regularly closing down as many servers for their games as possible, without accusations from gamers that the Online Pass means that those services have been paid for.
  
  No wait, not Excellent, the other thing... very annoying. Reply +1

• Next Xbox to be called Xbox Infinity - report

• agparrot 10/05/2013

  I'm going to call it Xbox 8.
  
  As will everyone else, eventually. Especially people who don't know that sideways 8 - Infinity.
  
  If this is even true. Reply +3

• Will Wright's next game to be "built around the player's life"

• agparrot 08/05/2013

  A new Manhunter game?
  
  Brilliant! Reply +7

• Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon sequel possible, says Michael Biehn

• agparrot 07/05/2013

  @zootle This is a standalone game, downloadable from Steam, XBLA or PSN. Reply +2

• agparrot 07/05/2013

  @Der_tolle_Emil The 'Far Cry 3' titles is interesting - the game is clearly made in the same engine, and implemented by the same team and features many of the same gameplay mechanics.
  
  As well as ribbing films, the Far Cry 3 prefix has allowed the writers to make a few loving jokes at the expense of games generally, and about Far Cry 3 specifically - players of the original game will recognise where the dialogue and mission stuff has been lifted from, just in order to be mercilessly, if affectionately mocked.
  
  To my mind, though, there is a joke in retaining Far Cry 3, tipping a nodding hat to the numbered 80s films it incorporates - thinks like Rocky I, II, III, IV and so on, and things like "Terminator 2: Judgement Day" Reply +1

• agparrot 07/05/2013

  Thanks, Michael Biehn!
  
  The work of Mr Biehn on Blood Dragon really cements the whole game together - it sets the tone perfectly, balancing a kind of loving appreciation of 80s films with a knowing, gentle mockery of the action genre.
  
  It works because of Dwayne Hicks and Kyle Reese and whether news of a sequel is a wind-up or not, I'd happily pay a similar price for a similar thing, or perhaps even stump up money for DLC for Blood Dragon.
  
  Mark IV style. Reply +7

• UK charts: Dead Island: Riptide remains in top spot

• agparrot 07/05/2013

  @Whizzo Yes - it'll be interesting to see if we get any Blood Dragon numbers.
  
  I really feel as if I've been spoiled for games that are focused on FUN, with Riptide and Blood Dragon. Riptide has many little alterations in the weapons, skills and loot-collecting mechanics that make it much cleaner than the first Dead Island in many ways.
  
  Riptide is also an absolute riot in co-op, and I'm starting to believe that the scripts for the story missions were written in much the same tongue-in-cheek way as those in Blood Dragon. The more missions you play, the harder it is to hold on to the idea that Dead Island takes itself seriously - a common but I now think inaccurate complaint in reviews.
  
  I can't quite get my head around the critical response to Dead Island, when, as others have mentioned so many other franchises are guilty of the same quality and stagnation issues, but somehow escape the damping of review scores that Dead Island seems to incur. Reply +2

• Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition boxed release dated

• agparrot 01/05/2013

  Including a 48-hour Gold subscription seems a little bit strange.
  
  If you can get online to use the subscription, why not just download the game?
  
  Perhaps there are pricing considerations, though. Reply +5

• "The next generation is going to be, possibly for the very first time, the next generation of game design"

• agparrot 30/04/2013

  (He says the real limiting factor in current-generation machines wasn't the power, "it was the memory". "Give me the same processor but give me 8GB of memory; you would see games on 360 or PS3 you would not believe," he said. "We get that next generation.")

  Well, the comfortable thing about being a gamer is that all we have to do is sit back, and wait to see whether this is the case or not.
  
  I certainly hope that he is right, I really enjoy stuff that has a little more depth or more complex systems. As others in the comments have already said, though, it is hard to see anybody, even larger indies backed by console manufacturers, deviating too far from what have become the developments of rather generic titles if they want to sell their games in huge numbers. Reply +3

• Test Drive Unlimited retrospective

• agparrot 28/04/2013

  Much of the trouble with the handling wasn't really to do with the driving models of the cars. - which is actually a better model than appears in the sequel. The problems really arose from the way that the roads were pieced together from flat 'panels' that are stitched together almost like a scalextric set. Where these pieces met,.there was an angular join rather than a smooth change of elevation.
  
  Sadly, the sequel addressed the problem of these sections but having a smooth, undulating road world, and then throwing away the handling of the first game in favour of something much less 'realistic' which ultimately didn't ever give the same, satisfying driving feel.
  
  Nevertheless, this article is completely right about the communities that formed, whether temporarily with like -minded strangers or through an attempt to get a group of friends together. That Drive Club game from the PS4 reveal offered hope that perhaps someone was going to put driving ahead of the gaming, but I suppose only time will tell if we're to be fortunate enough to receive another open world driver.
  
  Can't quite believe they've turned the tdu servers off, either - I'm sure I was playing online with others as recently as 6 to 9 months ago. Reply +1

• Despite Kickstarter shortfall, Defense Grid 2 development now under way

• agparrot 26/04/2013

  @Peter_LIAR_Molyneux
  
  The original kickstarter was not for Defense Grid 2, it was for a Defense Grid expansion, and they have in fact reached the funding goal for that target.
  
  If they hadn't got the mystery investor, it seems fairly clear that instead of making DG2, they would have progressed instead with the hefty DG expansion that the kickstarter was for. Reply +6

• agparrot 26/04/2013

  I bet the mystery partner is Frontier Games.
  
  Kickstartception. Reply -1

• Battlefield 4: more evidence of Commander Mode, Battlelog 2.0, release date

• agparrot 25/04/2013

  I've put something around 450 hours into BF3, and I spent a great deal of time in BC2, but I'm sorry - I'm not getting this one.
  
  Maybe I'll have a peek at an eventual next-gen version, but despite how much fun I've had with '3, I'm a bit burnt out on the whole thing, and the thought of needing to buy another premium pass for the next game makes me feel a bit ill, if I'm honest. I already had my perceived 'savings' scuppered in BFPr3mium by really not liking Armoured Kill - an expansion I wouldn't even have bothered buying if I'd realised how little I would like it, personally.
  
  Plus, as stupid as I know it is, there's another reason I'm not getting it: EA. I'm just not buying any of their full price stuff while they continue to be so business, money focused. It should be In The Game, not In The DLC or MTX or Annual Reports.
  
  Yeah, Go me. Reply +4

• Saturday Soapbox: Leave me alone

• agparrot 20/04/2013

  @scuffpuppies and others - there is an option in the Xbox dashboard to turn off notifications. I use it frequently for single-player games where I feel that immersion is important.
  
  Hit the guide button, tab over to the right until you find Preferences > Notifications, and untick them. You can specify whether it notifies you of nothing at all, or only disable the popups for movie playback.
  
  I can't imagine playing Bioshock Infinite with popups enabled... so I didn't! Reply +4

• Julian Gollop reveals how the original X-Com was nearly cancelled - twice

• agparrot 28/03/2013

  @bristolmunkeh Haha - Did you? I did too! I once got my friend's mum to drive me up there to drop off a job application when I was much, much younger. As we pulled back out of the T-Junction from the Wickwar road, back into the High Street, a man in a hurry to get to a meeting at Microprose drove into my friend's mums car.
  
  I didn't get a job there, either. Lose-lose. Reply +4

• BioShock Infinite review

• agparrot 25/03/2013

  Sounds great.
  
  Here's another link, like the one at the bottom of the review, for the Eurogamer Scoring Policy
  
  Where it quite clearly states in black and white that a 10/10 is not equivalent to perfection, for all those people too set in the thrust of their argument to read it for themselves. Reply +20

• This is what top-level COD competition ****ing looks like

• agparrot 21/03/2013

  I wish to register my displeasure at this foul-mouthed video, by calling all the people involved in it really, really offensive names.
  
  Congratulations, EG commenters. Reply +10

• Lord British thinks "most game designers really just suck"

• agparrot 20/03/2013

  I think a few years ago I'd have jumped to the defence of other designers, and to some extent, if I had the energy, I would here, too.
  
  Then things like Aliens: Colonial Marines happen. And Walking Dead: Survival Instinct happen, and I wonder whether Lord British might have a point.
  
  He doesn't, of course, as the other, wonderful games we are regularly spoiled with prove.
  
  Perhaps amid the apparent lunacy of his claims though, there might be a shred of truth that applies to some designers.
  
  The egomania certainly doesn't help his argument, I'll grant you. Reply +19

• Next Xbox games run from hard drive, discs not supported post-install - report

• agparrot 20/03/2013

  I have no idea whether this will, or will not happen. Nor does the article itself:
  

  The one caveat to this is that, while apparently genuine, the information is dated from last year. It's no surprise that Microsoft is exploring methods of blocking used-games. What remains to be seen is whether such technology makes it into the final machine.

  As Machiavellian mentions, nobody really knows what the final approach of Sony will be either.
  
  The sooner that the speculation gives way to actual facts, the sooner we can all stop making idiots of ourselves by basing our claimed next-gen purchases on this kind of non-information. Reply -1

• BioShock Infinite, Walking Dead: Survival Instinct headed to PSN Store

• agparrot 20/03/2013

  Let us just establish, here and now that anybody who spends money on The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct is going to get exactly what they deserve.
  
  A very, very bad game.
  
  Do not reward Activision for this cynical travesty. Reply +9

• Tomb Raider DLC will be entirely multiplayer-based

• agparrot 20/03/2013

  I haven't sampled the joys of Tomb Raider yet, but I do have to ask whether anyone is actually playing the multiplayer? The few comments here that refer to it certainly don't make it sound like, erm, the games strongest area?
  
  This seems like a big missed opportunity, given how my limited reading on it seems to suggest that even the people who loved the game seemed to be in favour of a sequel having more exploration, and more tombs.
  
  A very kind chum of mine has offered to lend me his Tomb Raider, so I'll hopefully have a better handle on whether this decision is more crazy than it already sounds. Reply +2

• Watch five of us play Gears of War: Judgment live from 8.30pm GMT

• agparrot 19/03/2013

  E-HOLE UNDER ATTACK Reply 0