Random Gaming Thoughts

[Forlorn Drifter]

God, I have the trophy hunting bug again. Luckily it hit while I'm playing MGS, that will cure me if it real quick.

[RCBH928]

God, I have the trophy hunting bug again. Luckily it hit while I'm playing MGS, that will cure me if it real quick.

achievements still a thing? It was exciting to show off on the online world in a younger age but as they got simpler (achievement unlocked for completing a level) and ridiculous (shoot 1000 pigeons) the novelty wore off.

[noiseredux]

RGT: I used to be really super picky about my games being CIB. But now that I have a daughter and thus less time and money for the hobby, I'm finding them I'm sort of okay with getting whatever I can find. With some caveats.

Switch games need to be in original cases, and this is mostly because they're new and easy to find complete anyway.

Wii U games need to be in original cases, because I'm kinda sorta collecting Wii U so I want them to look nice. I don't really pay much attention to manuals, and I'm not sure every Wii U game even came with a manual anyway.

Wii, Gamecube, 3DS and DS games I'd prefer complete, but missing manuals is fine, and really - if I found a good deal on any of these loose, I'd be cool with picking them up and printing replacement covers for them.

NES, SNES, N64 I'm fine with cart only.

GB, GBC, GBA are all cart-only right now. Someday I'd like to put them in replacement cases, but again, time/money so right now I'm fine with them being loose.

On the latter retro stuff, the price difference between loose and CIB is so large that ultimately I'm happier with having access to more cheap games instead of less games that look nice displayed on a shelf.

[isiolia]

achievements still a thing? It was exciting to show off on the online world in a younger age but as they got simpler (achievement unlocked for completing a level) and ridiculous (shoot 1000 pigeons) the novelty wore off.

There have been simple achievements since the start, and they make sense on multiple levels. First, more on the player end, the system is established. The majority of first levels, first enemy encounters, etc are very basic, but they lay the groundwork for future, more complicated ones. Achievements can be considered to be doing the same. The game is establishing a precedent of rewarding achievements for doing stuff - initially for things they'd do anyway, but as a demonstration of reward for going out of their way for less common ones. Figure, it's also "starting" their collection. Those inclined to go for that Platinum trophy might be more inclined to do so if they're "already" at 40% completion or whatever.
Some players do use those basic achievements to boost their overall score, but to your point, I think fairly few really care about that comparison anymore.

The second big factor there is metrics. Trophy data is shared, right? So, as a developer, handing out trophies for basic game milestones can provide you with all sorts of data. Something like "finished the tutorial" may well translate fairly closely to how many people have installed/played the game, accounting for borrowed or secondhand copies that sales data wouldn't. They can extrapolate how far players got, if they stalled out on a particular level/boss, or things like what weapons or classes they favored, depending on what trophies are there. Those boring cheevos are effectively a lengthy questionnaire about your time with the game, and may well help future projects.

None of that means that everyone is going to be excited about the various achievement systems, of course. To me, they're more just there to give me things to shoot for in the endgame or during a replay, if I feel like continuing to play.

[bmoc]

Apparently a lot of people related to the Xenoblade games have been retweeting tonight's Nintendo Direct. Got my fingers crossed for some sort of Xenoblade announcement. I'd take a Switch port of Xenoblade Chronicles, Xenoblade Chronicles X, or Monolithsoft's new IP. I guess it could also be a Smash DLC character as well.

I think those are all realistic possibilities. If we cross over into pipe dreamland, I also wouldn't mind seeing a remake of Xenogears or the Xenosaga trilogy. The new KOS-MOS statue just went up for pre-order so I suppose it could be something related to Xenosaga. Maybe KOS-MOS in Smash Bros? I'd be pretty ok with that.

[MrPopo]

I think those are all realistic possibilities. If we cross over into pipe dreamland, I also wouldn't mind seeing a remake of Xenogears or the Xenosaga trilogy. The new KOS-MOS statue just went up for pre-order so I suppose it could be something related to Xenosaga. Maybe KOS-MOS in Smash Bros? I'd be pretty ok with that.

The real pipe dream is to get all the other episodes of Xenogears (the game we got is V).

But man, that statue is pretty. Fortunately I'm full up on statues or I would have to snag it.

[bmoc]

Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Forlorn Drifter]

Trophies/Achievements are just a problem for me because I have pretty much unlimited time right now, so I end up focusing on getting them rather than enjoying the game, which is stupid.

I'm also getting into a gaming slump, it seems like. I feel kinda burned out. I need something new. Doom comes out in November, but I have no idea what I'm going to play until then.

[RCBH928]

The second big factor there is metrics. Trophy data is shared, right? So, as a developer, handing out trophies for basic game milestones can provide you with all sorts of data. Something like "finished the tutorial" may well translate fairly closely to how many people have installed/played the game, accounting for borrowed or secondhand copies that sales data wouldn't. They can extrapolate how far players got, if they stalled out on a particular level/boss, or things like what weapons or classes they favored, depending on what trophies are there. Those boring cheevos are effectively a lengthy questionnaire about your time with the game, and may well help future projects.

.

Thats very sly, I never thought of it that way...

[BoneSnapDeez]

This is apparently an actually compilation released in Europe for the Atari ST. Quite the selection there!