150°

July is officially the worst month to be a console gamer

MMGN writes: Last night I spent five hours playing a game on my iPad. Five. Hours. So bad was my addiction to Civilization Revolution 2 that I lost track of time (read: forgot) and left my girlfriend waiting in the cold at the train station. I’m an awful boyfriend but, evidently, a really good Civ player, so I think it balances out.

There’s a reason why I dedicated so much time to my iPad, and it’s not only because the game I was playing was so addictive: it’s also because, as a console gamer, there’s nothing to play.

JBSleek3612d ago

Better get on those Steam Sales in June and have tons of games to play throughout the summer and beyond.

alexkoepp3612d ago

July does suck. Best game is TLoU remake? Super weak. I don't know why people don't make summer games... Sure people spend more time outdoors, but we also have more free time than ever, and we don't have any games worth playing. Summer time is a gem devs just don't take advantage of.

XiYakushijuAkeginuXi3612d ago (Edited 3612d ago )

@Alex

At least if your a PS4 owner you have games to play for July, not so much for Xbox One

Eonjay3612d ago

Its actually kinda smart for them to release the game during July. There is literally no competition (even weaker) and the only other thing going on is a the Destiny beta.

dcj05243612d ago

There's such an absurd amount of games thatvwere made between 1985(my limit) and now that you have to be the pickiest person in the world to not find something to play. For me what I do is catch up on franchises. This summer I'm doin Ys games. Last summer was all of the metal gear franchise. 2012 Was rachet&clank, 2011 was most of the final fantasy games. Ect....
And if you have a decent PC you can emulate ALOT of games for low-cost. Hell my S3 can emulate anything pre-32 bit era. Games are freaking everywhere Bro. Sometimes I wonder if i'll ever get to play all the games people reccomend to me lol.

guitarded773612d ago

July is always the weakest month of the year... that and December. You have the summer lull, and then everything comes out before Christmas, so July and December are lame. We should all be used to it by now.

kratoz12093612d ago

Unless you have never played the last of us than consider it one of your most cherished months

TankCrossing3612d ago (Edited 3612d ago )

Lots of people put this theory forward that releasing games in the summer would assure great sales, but you can be certain that the publishers that avoid releasing games in that window do so because of cold hard numbers.

Having said that, the Steam summer sales seem to do OK so there is a hungry audience that probably would chow down on the right game. Or better yet, a console summer sale. Give us last year's launch titles for about $10-20, that'd make summers a good time for most gamers :)

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 3612d ago
combatcash3612d ago

If you're a gamer, there's always something to play. The re-release of rise of nations has kept me busy lately along with SC blacklist both on pc.

XStation3612d ago (Edited 3612d ago )

@XiYakushijuAkeginuXi

Congratulations!
https://www.youtube.com/wat...

johndoe112113612d ago

I'm sorry author, but i'm a ps4 owner and i have TLOU Remastered to play in july so i have no idea what the hell you're talking about.

XiYakushijuAkeginuXi3612d ago (Edited 3612d ago )

What do you expect, it is a Microsoft website. Xbox players are the only ones who will have it the worst in July

masterfox3612d ago

same here I haven't played TLOU.

Scatpants3612d ago

You are in for a treat. I wish I could erase my memory and play it again for the first time.

pandehz3612d ago

Umm what if someone already played TLOU?

johndoe112113612d ago

I have it hardcopy and digital for the ps3 and finished it 3 times already. What's your point?

XiYakushijuAkeginuXi3612d ago

What if someone already played Halo?

kratoz12093612d ago

Than your in for a treat cause you can catch up on games you have not completed yet

TheDevKit3612d ago

Hey, at least console gamers are finally getting a game that runs at 1080p and 60 fps.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 3612d ago
secretcode3612d ago

Whatever. More downtime for me to save money for when the game releases get insane.

LightDiego3612d ago

My dear blog.
Play some games that you missed, classics, it's only one month.

Soldierone3612d ago

July always sucks. Last game I bought was Wolfenstein. Next game I plan to buy is Destiny, so that's a pretty large gap. Normally I'm buying at least one game a month :/

Show all comments (35)
90°

15 Great Games Where Every Minute of the Experience Feels Earned

GB: "We take a look at 15 amazing games that had the perfect length."

Read Full Story >>
gamingbolt.com
1d 12h ago
coolbeans23h ago

Pretty good list. Botany Manor would be the newest addition that encapsulates that title.

400°

Anyone else not blown away with graphics these days? Me neither

Talal writes: "I'm talking about having that rush of excitement - that feeling you get when you know you've just made a memory for a lifetime."

Read Full Story >>
videogamer.com
OptimusDK4d ago

There are different games. Some have gamplay at it highest priority, some have the story, some have the replay value and choices... There are a lot of different game experiences.

It is laughable that just now graphics does not have anything to do with that experiene. We have had many games of that type over time. This is just the one that have come closest to feel like playing an actual movie. Just look the the Digital foundry walkthrough it is a masterpiece in that perspective and hence wrth trying. But yes do not do it for the gameplay - but that was never the goal of this experience.

GamerRN3d ago

It's because it's on Xbox. When Xbox has amazing graphics, they don't matter. When PlayStation does, it's a game changer!

Lightning773d ago

Pretty much my thoughts. They were technical marvel's on PS and still are. The moment Xbox puts out a graphically intense game is doesn't matter suddenly.

4 years ago this month would the UE5 tech demo debut with the girl flying (tech demo said it was only possible on PS5 because of the SSD. Glad to finally see it in its glory.

fr0sty3d ago

FFS, gaming journalism has really gone downhill. At least hire people with a basic grasp of grammar... "Me neither" means the exact opposite of what the "author" is trying to say. That's like saying "I could care less"... lol.

S2Killinit3d ago

Maybe because the gameplay being dull allowed it to have the amazing graphics and people are not as impressed by graphics alone anymore? I mean there is a lot of sites saying the story and the gameplay are lackluster. So what are we supposed to enjoy then? Cgi graphics are beautiful but since they arent interactive, they dont impress me as much as they used to. Thats an extreme example, but you get my drift.

Terry_B3d ago

When Playstation (Sony) does it..its usually a great game and not a cinematic experience..or at least something new at the time..like Until Dawn back in 2015.

1Victor3d ago

@gamer:” It's because it's on Xbox. When Xbox has amazing graphics, they don't matter. When PlayStation does, it's a game changer!”

The game looks as good as any other PlayStation game in my eyes why can’t you and the other hardcore Xbox be happy about it and drag PlayStation into every conversation and force PlayStation hardcore to look into the game and find flaw that most games have in one way or another.
@light: “ 4 years ago this month would the UE5 tech demo debut with the girl flying (tech demo said it was only possible on PS5 because of the SSD. ”
Yes at that time it was only possible on PlayStation SSD how ignorant of you to think that after 4 years the technology wouldn’t evolved and move to a industry standard 🤦🏿I wish your mentality wasn’t so naive and narrow to post stuff like that 😩 in a year or 2 a new game will come out that might look better, it’s the nature of the industry.

Now that the distraction is gone I feel that is a good thing that the graphics in games are starting to hit the rooftop and hopefully the developers will put more thoughts into story and gameplay mechanics than just the next shiny oily skin of old.

Reaper22_3d ago

So true. Not surprised by all the negativity. It's a really good game and looks better than any game I've ever seen. GOTY nominee for sure. Like I said before, sony screwed up big time by not purchasing Ninja Theory.

Asplundh3d ago

Pretty much. It's like how the Switch and Steam controller using haptic feedback in their controllers wasn't a big deal but then Sony did it and it was then a "game changer".

fr0sty3d ago

The game runs at as low as 21fps... That isn't much to brag about no matter how good it looks.

+ Show (5) more repliesLast reply 3d ago
MajorLazer3d ago (Edited 3d ago )

We've had graphical gamechangers before, such as Crysis but those games still had gameplay to compliment it. Hellblade pretty much has none, and only achieved such graphics through being incredibly linear and having very small, closed off environments where very little is happening.

Vx_3d ago (Edited 3d ago )

GFX does not mean anything if the game is boring. It is simple like that and these major companies need to understand this simple concept.

Games are like your lady, she may be beautiful to look at for a while but then it gets boring if her character isn't interesting and fun to be with.

4d ago Replies(7)
Kneetos4d ago

Mario kart 8 ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Sonic18814d ago

Horizon forbidden West has great graphics and great gameplay

GamerRN3d ago

Yeah but graphics don't matter, remember?

anast3d ago

@RN

I've been pretty consistent in saying that we need both.

GamerRN1d 22h ago

So until dawn, too human, or whatever those series of games were... Graphic masterpieces it garbage with no gameplay?

VincentVanBro3d ago

I agree and I actually think Forbidden West looks better than Hellblade 2. I easily prefer looking at it at least.

Sonic18813d ago

It does look better in my opinion as well. I don't know why it looks better but there's something about the Decima engine or that guerrilla games is using tricks that we don't know of

Abear213d ago

Can you fly a mount under water in Hellblade 2? I think not! One of the best moments this Gen

Show all comments (111)
90°

Two Decades Later, the Original Splinter Cell is Still a Masterpiece

They don't make games like this anymore.

Read Full Story >>
gamingbolt.com
vgvill12d ago

Too dated in my book. The AI is way too unpredictable to be acceptable today. It's definitely a game of its time.

Jingsing12d ago (Edited 12d ago )

Agreed with those sentiments. The quality of the CPU controlled characters make or break a stealth game and they are pretty poor in all the Splinter Cell games by today's standard. This is what led me to playing Spies vs Mercs all the time in later games just to get a better stealth experience from a real person. Arguably Sony are making better stealth games albeit not Tom Clancy stuff.

TheProfessional12d ago (Edited 12d ago )

You should stick with fortnite or one of the countless bloodborne style games then. What a joke.

rlow112d ago

I had a good time with the game. It is a product of its time. But when it came out it was a must have game for a lot of people. I wish Ubisoft would make another game in the series or at least a reboot.

vgvill12d ago

They are making a remake, I think. I loved the original game when it was released, but I tried to play it again in recent years and just couldn't get on with it. The same with the older Hitman games.

PrecursorOrb12d ago

Yeah chaos theory still holds up though I gotta say. If you’re a fan of the series I highly suggest you go back to that one. Ubi has said they are remaking sc for “modern audiences”. I don’t have a lot of faith for the future of that company

Chocoburger11d ago (Edited 11d ago )

Due to the lack of modern stealth games, and me constantly playing the MGS series, I've been looking for alternative stealth games to play, and went back and re-played the SC series recently. I wouldn't call SC1 or SC:PT masterpieces, there are AI issues, they're very much trial-and-error games, and that can lead to a lot of frustration. I also found the stories in this series to be boring, uninteresting, and just sloppily told. Cinematics are also of poor quality for both in-game scenes and CG cut-scenes, the soundtrack didn't leave any impression on me either.

Chaos Theory is better, but there was still a lot of room for improvement, and Double Agent (old gen ver.) was a sloppy mess that ended up a regression from CT. But still, at least they tried back then, these days Ubi-junk doesn't even try to make good games!

HvNzSoul3d ago

Everyone needs to quit with all of the unnessacery Ubi-hate. SC Conviction and Blacklist are both still good games.

HvNzSoul3d ago

Everyone needs to quit with all of the unnecessary Ubi-hate. SC Conviction and Blacklist are both still good games, they just weren't 100% focused on stealth with Conviction and they remedied that in Blacklist. The only thing they have released recently that I was disappointed with was Watch Dogs Legion, and Skull & Bones. Everyone seems to be salty about the misleading trailer for the original Watch Dogs and The Division. Which are also, both good games, and actually Watch Dogs seems like it was ahead of its time even with all the trailer drama (having gone back and played recently, can say the game didnt deserve all the flak). Yeah the misleading E3 trailer that had better graphics than release is understandable to a very small degree, when most Teaser Trailers, or Game Demo's only have that portion of the game developed so they use the highest quality assets of w/e they have being showed, or what they are showing was made purely for the showing, allowing for extra polish . As to the gripes about minor game design changes, or cut features upon a games release just goes to show how unknowledgeable most gamers are in terms of how game development works or to even understand what what the hell a WIP, let alone titles still in early development.

Good games from Ubi since 2014 (Year that SC Blacklist Released) include:

Watch Dogs 1 & 2
The Division 1 & 2 (Although I had a hard time getting into The Division 2 at first)
R6 Siege
Ghost Recon Wildlands & Breakpoint
Immortals Fenyx Rising
AC Origins, Odyssey, MIrage (Haven't finished Valhalla games too damn long)
Far Cry Primal, and 5 (6 also has a length issue)
Avatar Frontiers of Pandora
Prince Of Persia The Lost Crown

Haven't played a couple of titles those being For Honor (played at launch but didn't honestly give it an actual go), The Crew, R6 Extraction and at the time of writing this xDefiant.

Even if you absolutely hated any of the above titles, they aren't inherently bad games, they're just good, but not always top quality either.

I say give Ubi credit where credit is due, they at least fix games post launch if they start out rough, Breakpoint is an excellent example this and is such an enjoyable experience now compared to it's launch.