League of Legends goddammit! I want to get a premade put together to do 5v5 ranked. Ahri is fucking awesome but I need a decent team to really carry and solo queue sucks balls. Also everyone who plays this should set their qwer to smartcast their skills automatically. Harder to learn because you cant see the range as you aim, but it makes combos, especially for casters, a million times smoother and faster. Point-click Malzahar I was going2/x/10+ and with smartcast on I was mostly getting kills because the QEWR combo is so much easier - literally as fast as you can push the buttons rather than push-aim-click.
So we got our copies of Twisted Metal in today at work. I fully plan to play it on Monday when I get a little bit of free time. They also gave me the free download code for Twisted Metal: Black. That, my friends, is why I love my job.
Picked up Twisted Metal and decided to pick up God of War 3 as I had never played it before. Not enough time into TM to give much detail. Still behind the curve as far as controls and seems overly hectic. There is a new single player game mode where you have to stay within little squares of the over all map lest you want your energy drained. Im meh on it for now. Popped in GoW3 and in the first ten minutes was like, "Right, I remember now why these games were bad ass."
Twisted Metal is awesome. They changed the storyline from just a series of deathmatches to actual challenges. I like it. The controls are hectic at first, but once you learn the layouts of the maps, the game gets easier. Your best asset is learning how to use the E-brake and do hard turns. Because all you do is drive past someone, e-break for 180, and unload what you got, then run for more ammo + health. Yeah God of War 3 is the fucking shit.
I'm going to throw my opinion into the ring on the whole console/PC gamer thing. I've always been both to an extent, and think that the distinction between the two is a little silly. I tend to go back and forth over varying periods of time in which I'll play almost exclusively console games, and then after a while it will change to the point that I will play almost exclusively PC games. At this point I am playing mostly PC games, except for MW3, for a few key reasons. 1. I have a wired xbox 360 controller that I can plug into my PC, and my main PC monitor is the same 42" TV that I play xbox/ps3 on. Most PC games these days that are multiplatform and are designed to be played with a controller work seamlessly on the PC with an xbox controller. I can plug it in/unplug it right in the middle of gameplay whenever I want, and a lot of games will even automatically change the UI stuff to match either the keyboard buttons or the xbox buttons, depending on if it's plugged in or not. I played Skyrim and Darksiders that way, and am playing Saints Row 3 that way right now, and plan on doing it for Reckoning and a few other things. 2. Steam. Such a great platform, in my opinion. I can buy games with 1-2 clicks, and everything I own is organized right there in my games library, with built in social features. That's one of the biggest reasons I don't pirate games, because it's just too easy to buy them on steam and play them with no issues. Now I know that steam does have some of it's own DRM pieces, but for me it's all completely transparent. I am of the idea that the best way to combat piracy is to evolve to make the consumption of the media effortless for the consumer. 3. I'm a PC junky, and I've built my own PC that is currently much more powerful than consoles. Doesn't always make that much of a difference, but when it does it's worth it. Am I the only one that is getting completely burned out on Bioware RPG's? Dragon Age 2 was very disappointing in my opinion, and I am honestly not that excited for ME3 at all.
Dragon Age 2 was underwhelming compared to DA: Origins. Origins just seemed to have a much more sweeping scope and just seemed like a bigger game. DA2, on the other hand, continually recycled maps and enemies to the point where quests became even more repetitive than they are in most RPGs. I felt the combat in DA2 was aimed at action gamers, while in DA it was aimed at RPG players. I really just think that RPG makers are trying really hard to gear their games towards action gamers to expand their base. Reckoning is one such example. Every review I've read has said the same thing. "Story and characters are underwhelming, fighting can be really fun." I just finished Final Fantasy XIII-2, and I have to say that I had more fun with this game than I had with XIII. The missions were good, gathering fragments was rewarding, finding monsters is fun, and now I am going to be working my way through all of the alternate endings (apparently there are a lot). I honestly haven't really enjoyed playing a game this much in a while.
Whoa, that shit has barely been out. Did you just blow through the story? There is usually a lot of Final Fantasy to play unless you got straight through the story.
I'm about 30 hours in. The game isn't that long, but there is a LOT of post-game stuff to do. Of the 30 hours that I am into the game, about 20 of them have been story, while 10 have been doing a lot of side quest stuff (which you can do post-game, also) before finishing up. Again, this game isn't long, story-wise. If you do side-quests as you go and level up a lot (which I did) it makes the battles fairly easy to get through. I don't think I've gotten less than 5-stars on a battle since the very first boss. However, after you beat it, there are something like 9 alternative endings to find, more fragments to find, and downloadable content. There are 160 fragments, and a bunch of monsters to find and customize (which I haven't done a lot of), and even more side quests and major monsters (more powerful than the final boss) to fight. Overall, to get the Platinum trophy, it would probably take me a good 60 to 70 hours if I decide to go that route. I don't know if I will, though.
I heard the 'true' ending is fucking terrible, with Spoiler Serah dead, Lightning crystalized, etc Thats kept me back. As much as I didn't like how linear FF13 was Spoiler I really got attached to the characters, and I don't want to make it feel like so much of that was a waste Also prior to release there was some banter about Spoiler Fang and Vanille cameoing or something, as they're still iced right? Can you expand as I'm curious for plot details but am probably not going to shell out for the game itself
Well, I've been under a rock for a while catching up on shows like OZ and Lost so I missed out on the Twisted Metal demo. Deus Ex: HR was on sale for 25 bucks, so I picked that up instead. I'm excited for Mass Effect 3, but I think I'll wait to see if there's a bundle in the future that includes all the DLC. Hopefully the extra content will be as good as Lair of the Shadow Broker. Would this be doable for someone who has very little knowledge about computers or should I just buy the computer parts I want and pay Geek Squad to assemble it? I'm planning to get a new TV and computer in a couple months, but pre-assembled desktops don't seem to have everything I want.
DO NOT GET GEEK SQUAD! No! Bad! My brother worked for Geek Squad for a few years, and the stories I he told me about how inept his coworkers were scared me from ever using them. They suck. More often than not, geek squad is just a guy that did good at sales and knows how to hook a monitor up to a computer. Their job is to sell you shit, not hook stuff up or fix anything, so most of their "geek squad" people are really sales people who don't know shit about fixing computers or hooking things up. Find a good computer guy who knows what they're doing and have them put it together.
Anyone watching IPL Team Arena? I figured Startale would crush TSL easily, and so far they have. But Symbol took Ace out and he's in a game that is absolutely bananas against Virus.
I'm about as senior as you can get in an IT office and still actually use tools. Anything above my level is pure management and planning. I still can't be fucked assembling hardware myself. I'll swap a disk or add ram to a build or something. But buying a bunch of parts and putting them all together? Consumer grade poorly built mickey mouse clone part bullshit at that? Fuck. That. Noise. Pay the extra $50 or whatever it costs to have someone else do that shit for you and let them deal with dead components or paying for replacement components if they fuck something up. If geek squad are the cheapest and easiest set of monkeys in your area who can plug shit in, burn it in, bench mark it and assure you that the product you take out of the shop is correctly assembled and going to work when you get it home? Fuck it, use them. Really, all you're doing is paying them for the use of their static safe work bench, an adequate set of tools and utilities, and the assurance that the hardware is all fit together correctly, and so that if they do get a dead component - they'll have all the diagnostic tools needed to identify it and they'll deal with swapping it with the vendor. If you avoid diagnosing and fixing one fault - they're more than worth it. I usually just use whoever I'm buying the hardware from for that shit. As a consumer/end user - I think it's more than worth the likely cost of the work to have a single throat to choke if anything goes bad. The fact that they're unlikely to be anything more than borderline competent is beside the point. You aren't paying them to do something difficult. You're paying them to be the ones who deal with the pain if something goes wrong.
The problem is Geek Squad will charge you an extra $50 per component and then charge you an assembly fee, while not knowing what the parts actually do. CBC ran an investigative journalism report on them trying to get them to fix a 'dead' computer - it was dead because they removed the RAM. The Best Buy reps, without fail, reccomended either buying a new hard drive or buying a new motherboard.
Geek Squad is the only name that came to mind, I don't have any experience with them. I thought it was going to be 50 bucks for the whole job, but if its 50 for each component I'll have to look elsewhere. PC gaming has never been much of an option for me and I'd like to be able to play shooters. The aim is to build a high middle-tier or low high-tier machine. I have a general idea of what I want but haven't identified specific parts yet. The plan was to choose a bare-bones kit and buy a couple of extra things (wifi, USB 3.0 ports) to round out the package. I want to use a solid state drive as the primary hard drive and run all of my applications off of it. The secondary hard drive will be used to store all of my music and videos. I'm not sure about what processor, graphics card, or amount of ram to get, but getting a bare-bones kit should make the task easier by ensuring that parts are compatible.
You're in Canada - go to ncix.com, price out a computer build, and on the cart page they'll offer $50 to throw it together and install the OS for you.
I'll put this in spoilers, as it is all about the story of FFXIII-2. Do not read if you don't want a LOT of the game spoiled. You have been warned. Spoiler Yes, at the end, Serah is dead, Lightning is crystalized, and you realize that, basically, you were fucked no matter what. There was no way for the bad guy, Caius, to lose. All that said, the last thing on the screen is "to be continued..." so I assume Final Fantasy XIII-3 is coming down the pipeline. As for major characters, here is a quick rundown: Hope is a major, major character in this game, albeit a supporting one. Basically, Hope becomes a major world leader, and assists you along the way. He is also not an annoying whinny twat this time. Snow becomes a l'cie again in the hopes of getting powerful enough to defeat Caius. He really only makes small cameos, although he does fight with you at one point. Sazh doesn't show up until the end. Not really much explanation as to why he is there or how he got there, but he just sorta shows up. Now, I'm not completely done (still have about 30 fragments left to get), so it may be explained later. Fang and Vanille are both mentioned a lot, as the central tenet of the game is that the crystal pillar that Fang and Vanille are in is going to collapse and break, sending Cocoon down to Pulse and basically ending the world, while Serah, Noel, and Hope try to prevent it. They show up briefly in a sort of dream-sequence, and they each get about five lines of dialogue. That is it. At the end, they're still in crystal. Overall, at the end of the game, a LOT of stuff is left up in the air. One character, who fucks over Noel and Serah in a major way, gives no explanation as to why they do it. There is no explanation as to how Snow became a l'Cie again, although the game alludes to the fact that he 'asked' to be branded so he could have the power to save Lightning and Serah. There is no explanation as to how Sazh ended up in the year 500, although I guess if Snow, Hope, Serah and Noel can time travel, why not Sazh, too? Oh, and then there is the fact that the ENTIRE WORLD ENDS at the end of the game, and the bad guy wins. All of this comes with the caveat that I haven't seen the 'secret' ending, which I assume will hint strongly at the sequel that is no doubt coming. I just don't think they'd leave it at that. "Oh, yeah, the world ended and time ceased to exist. Awesome, right?" I really think they're going for a "Star Wars" kind of trilogy, where the second episode ends on a really down note to bring people in for the third and final installment.
My girlfriend's brother bought a PC through http://www.ibuypower.com/, and he has been very happy with it. They basically let you choose all the parts you want, and then they assemble it and send it to you. I'm not going to take the time to compare their prices to what it would cost for you to buy all the parts and do it yourself, but if you don't know how to do it on your own, they are probably worth it. I build mine myself because at this point, after assembling ~3-4 for myself and my friend and at least 10 identical PC's at work, I know what I'm doing. Doing all the assembling and wire management myself is half of the fun, and it feels very satisfying when you build and overclock a system on your own. EDIT: For anyone that ever decides to try building their own PC, the BuildaPC subreddit is an excellent resource.
I really doubt that Geek Squad is going to take ownership if you bring stuff in and you got a DOA motherboard. More than likely, they're going to hand you the shit back and say "return it." Usually shops will only take ownership if you bought the parts there. And you're going to pay a 50% premium to buy the parts at Best Buy. Performance-wise, there is nothing to be gained by building your own. There are simply too many pre-built options these days (like the aforementioned "ibuypower" site), so you can really hit any level of performance you want. There are two reasons to build your own: utmost control over parts selection (which is why I do it), or because you want to learn. If you want to learn, you aren't going to learn by handing it over to a shop to build anyway. It's really not that hard. Motherboard goes in the case tray. Power supply bolts to case. Everything else plugs in to the ports that fit and the trays that hold it. Do you have a friend who might know anything about computers, or a coworker you can bribe?