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mikeszekely

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Everything posted by mikeszekely

  1. mikeszekely
    Two DudeBro games I can totally live without, or at the very least buy on PC or current-gen console? Yeah, I'm thinking the video is spot on.
  2. mikeszekely
    I feel like Hanukkah came early this year... Hard enough. Most of my customers can't even figure out how to turn the computer off now. And knowing that you have a desktop "app" doesn't save you from going back to the start screen whenever you need to find an app (unless you want to clutter your desktop/taskbar with icons), nor does it save you from Modern apps or Microsoft's stupid charms. Pointing out that Windows 8 is more than just the Start Screen doesn't mean that Windows 8 isn't a failure in usability design. Calling Microsoft out on bad UX design isn't pathetic, quietly accepting it as "good enough" is.
  3. mikeszekely
    Ugh. I think you have us mistaken for another forum. Not really. Was that a thing? I never had a problem with Chris Evans. On the other hand, I've never liked Ben Affleck.
  4. mikeszekely
    I really liked Queensrÿche when I was in middle school/high school. They started to go downhill when they released Promised Land, though, and after Hear in the Now Frontier I quit listening to them altogether. A7's review isn't really doing anything to change my mind on that. While I could pop on Rage for Order now and love it, I love it because it was cool at the time. Music's moved on since the hair metal of the '80s, and when I see a couple of sad old guys past their prime playing a genre that hasn't really popular in 25-30 years, instead of being "Sweet, new Queensrÿche!" I think it's just sad.
  5. mikeszekely
    So... I got an Nvidia Shield. I'm not sure how I feel about it yet. My initial impression is that it's pretty big and heavy for a portable device. But once you start playing with it, it's comfortable in a way that the 3DS and Vita never will be, with loud speakers and a great screen. But what to do with that screen? It's obviously not the sort of Android device you're going to check your email on. The controller gets in the way, making touchscreen interactions awkward. Of course, there's Android gaming... which is a decidedly mixed bag. Games optimized for the Shield are fantastic, and stuff like Dead Trigger is way more fun with real controls. But then you play something that seems perfect for hardware controls that flat out doesn't support them, like Final Fantasy III, and you get bummed out because you realize that stuff like the Shield and Ouya are being held back because of developers' half-assed Android support. One thing Shield really excels at, though, is emulation. I've got it to run NES, SNES, N64, and Game Boy games without a hitch. Gameboy Advance seems doable, but the emulator I tried wouldn't let me map controls to the Shield's physical buttons. Likewise, I found a PSX emulator that let me play Ace Combat 3, but didn't support the analog sticks. There are two others in the Play Store I want to try, but they're not freebies. Oh, and PSP. I found a PSP emulator that started ok, but compatibility isn't really there yet. I got the character creation on Gundam Assault Survive, but it froze while I was looking for my notes on getting a tech god. And it seemed like it was going to run Macross Triangle Frontier, but it freezes at the title screen. I think the Shield's most interesting feature is the PC streaming thing, but that's a mixed bag too. I guess mostly because it's still in beta. While there are only a handful of games officially supported, you can try almost anything that uses a controller. The catch is, it has to be launched through Steam. Not too big a deal, since most of my games are Steam anyway, but a bit of a pain when you want to play something like Crysis 3, which uses Origin, and you have to set it up so Steam launches it. Oh, and do NOT bring up the Steam overlay. It might be ok in Big Picture Mode, which I didn't try, but there's no way I could find to close it from the Shield. As far as playing a game goes, when it works it's awesome. I've got a pretty decent rig (Ivy Bridge Core i7, 16GB of RAM, GeForce GTX 660ti), so I can set most of my games to run at or near the maximum settings, and the Shield's screen does a good job of showing that. I did one race in Grid 2 in my living room (where my router is), and the game ran smoothly without any noticeable lag on the input. But when I moved away from the router a bit (to the bathroom... hey, it's important to know how well you can game there!), even though the Shield still showed a strong Wi-Fi connection, the game started to stutter. Eventually, I lost control, hit a wall, and the game seemed to freeze. I exited out of the Shield app on the Shield, went down to the man-cave, and checked on my computer. The game was still running, and apparently thought it was still receiving input, as my car was stuck spinning in a circle. So when PC streaming doesn't work, it really doesn't work. I had to force-close the Nvidia app on the computer and the game. In the Shield's defense, Nvidia does recommend a dual-band N router. While my router is an N, it's an older single band that's already shown plenty of signs of being over-taxed by the number of devices on my network. I'm planning to upgrade to an AC1750 in the near future, so maybe that'll help.
  6. mikeszekely
    No, it's stupid to charge more than $120 just to create the illusion that it's somehow better/more collectible/more exclusive than it is.
  7. mikeszekely
    What excuse? In any case, I'm a fan of CryEngine. In general, I think the handful of games and demos that have been made with it tend to look way better than the much more ubiquitous Unreal Engine. That said, I almost hope they don't make another Crysis. I loved the first one, but each sequel got progressively worse.
  8. mikeszekely
    So your solution to scalping is to cut out the middle man and just have Hasbro charge us more? I mean, in general it's not fair to compare prices in the States to prices in Japan. A variety of factors usually lead to things like toys being more expensive in Japan before you even factor in the costs of importing. And you may be right about Takara catering to more of a collector's market than Hasbro, but they're not doing anyone any favors by doing so, they're just taking advantage of adult collectors. Looking at threads for Takara releases of MP-10, MP-12, and MP-13 show plenty of people with QC problems, so there goes the theory that smaller runs improves quality. And, believe it or not, not everyone is willing to pay $200+ for a toy, collectible or not. I know I wouldn't; it's why the only Takara toy I've imported was MP-05 (and I paid around $100 for him). If Hasbro did more limited runs and charged more, I can honestly say the only Hasbro MP I'd have bought was Prime. And I don't think your solution would really reduce scalping at any rate. A more limited run means reducing supply and increasing demand among collectors who are willing to pay more. So the people like me who were willing to pay around $100 are even less likely to find one in stores and wouldn't pay what the stores are asking even if he did, and the scalpers who do find them are now charging $300-$400. All for, what, a better box to stuff in my closet? (What was wrong with Hasbro's MP-13 packaging anyway?) If you really want to defeat scalpers, you need an even bigger run... as many people as possible need to be able to buy one in stores. I noticed that when TRU started restocking Soundwave eBay prices dropped from around $250-$300 to $150-$180. For the record, I don't think the Takara version of Grimlock's sharper teeth and claws were ever on the table for a US release. Even if Hasbro jacked up the price and called it an adult collectible, I don't think they'd be able to skirt US toy safety regulations.
  9. mikeszekely
    Really? I'd never heard of this game before today, and I have ZERO interest in playing any shooters without a mouse and keyboard. The only Xbone exclusive I want to play is Forza 5, and as much as I enjoy the Forza series, I don't want Forza 5 enough to buy an Xbone. Not that the PS4's super wowing me, either. But there are enough games, usually Japanese, that never make it to PC, so I have to own one. Might as well be the one that's $100 less. Besides, while I prefer Forza to Gran Turismo, on the whole I like Sony's first and second party stuff better than Microsoft's.
  10. mikeszekely
    Mostly grad school. Seriously, though, I'm like 90% a PC gamer. Even the stuff that's developed on consoles then shoddily ported to PC later. When I got married, I discovered that it was easier to make my own space at my computer desk than to compete for the living room television. As I got more into it, I got a 27" monitor, surround sound speakers, and built myself a nice gaming rig. Nice enough that when my buddy's wife talked me into playing Halo 4 with her on her birthday I was a little shocked at how poor the graphics looked. Some of the remaining 10% is handheld gaming, because it's easier to fit in with my work/school/wife schedule. Persona 4 Golden would have been my pick for GotY last year, had I not disqualified it on the grounds that it originally came out in 2008, and the last two games I finished were Project Cross Zone and Shin Megami Tensei IV on the 3DS. Actually... my love of PC games and my admiration of a handheld's convenience made me curious enough to order Nvidia's Shield. Should be here tomorrow.
  11. mikeszekely
    I'm... substantially less excited. I'm sticking with my earlier assertions that if I see one in stores and have $400 to burn I'll probably pick one up, but I'm not preordering one, and I'm not waiting in line, camping out, or doing a midnight launch. I haven't even played a PlayStation 3 game since God of War: Ascension (and the last 360 game I played seriously was Forza Horizon). I'm just not the console gamer I used to be.
  12. mikeszekely
    That'd be awesome news if the game weren't so mediocre in the first place.
  13. mikeszekely
    Oh, I got one. And this is one I really like, but as a dude in his 30s is kind of embarrassing to tell other people. I like Fall Out Boy. And I don't mean that in a turn up the radio when "Dance, Dance" is playing. I mean in a have all their albums (including Patrick Stump's solo stuff), one of my favorite bands kind of way.
  14. mikeszekely
    So there's a new third-party Shockwave in the works, and this one's more Voyager scale than Masterpiece. He's got some big, obvious gaps on his arms and legs, but aside from that he's better than pretty much every Shockwave Hasbro's given us. I'd be tempted, assuming the price is right.
  15. mikeszekely
    I've seen third party toys range from crap to pretty good, but this new Bruticus is amazing. Of course, he also looks really freaking expensive...
  16. mikeszekely
    Ok... there's pleasures you shamefully admit to liking, and then there's secret likes you take to your grave without ever admitting to anyone you like. I think this is the latter.
  17. mikeszekely
    I'm still planning on passing on the XBone. The only announced exclusive I'm interested in is Forza 5.
  18. mikeszekely
    I...huh. That was kind of awesome, actually.
  19. mikeszekely
    So, my local TRU is next door to my local Best Buy. And by local, I mean on the other side of town from where I work and really nowhere near where I live. Hunting for a TRU exclusive toy like Soundwave has become a chore. And yet, even after I managed to snag my Soundwave, I'm still in that area more than I should be, trying to hunt down a Chromecast at that stupid Best Buy. Irony.
  20. mikeszekely
    This. I feel pretty much the same way about the original Tron. It's funny that this thread got necroed today, the day I bought Sadako 3D on blu-ray. I think Ring counts as a guilty pleasure for me. I mean, the original Japanese movie and the American remake were both pretty good, but aside from a few scenes in Ring 2, the sequels have ranged from bad to really bad. And yet, I love them anyway, so much that I have both of the American Ring movies on DVD, the Ring: Anthology of Terror DVD box set of the Japanese films, and now Sadako 3D on blu-ray. And that's in addition to owning the Vertical Inc English editions of Ring, Spiral, Loop, and Birthday. And I hear that Sadako 3D is getting a sequel this month in Japan. Awesome.
  21. mikeszekely
    There's no "Mega Man" in front of "X"? I'm out.
  22. mikeszekely
    Then the list is dumb, because Rumble is blue. TV doesn't lie. Well, of the Masterpieces of I have... I guess I wouldn't mind if they did used the new Starscream mold for Starscream and Skywarp in the US. I really have no interest in another Hot Rod, Soundwave, or Grimlock, though. Oh, but I would so buy a Pepsi Prime from the MP-10 mold. I would work two jobs and pay more than I was willing to for MP-10 in the first place. Well, just because I wouldn't buy one doesn't mean they shouldn't do it. They totally should, just for Mike. I mean, how can you say no to that face...?
  23. mikeszekely
    I went to my Target last night. Looks like they moved everything around and restocked the Transformers, which is pretty cool. They had that Legends class Abominus, which seemed pretty cool except for the fact that the combined size is maybe around a Voyager class. Unfortunately, the only new Generations guys they had were pieces of the Wreckers repaint of Bruticus.
  24. mikeszekely
    Not really, since Gakken85 told us like six or seven posts ago. My favorite part is how the seller is pretty much begging for good reviews. "Yes, I'm likely the reason you can't find this in stores, and I bought them all up so I can resell them to you with a $65 markup! If you like how I've ripped you off, please give me five stars!"
  25. mikeszekely
    I guess Prime isn't getting along with his new roommate...
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