Unpopular Gaming Opinions

Retr0gamer

pixelburp wrote: »

Aside from things like battery use issues, I just can't stand touchscreens as a gaming UI; a smudged, greasy screen feels like a singularly unappealing way to play a game. I get over it for texts and browsing as they're fairly passive activities, but gaming? Yuck, no thanks. No idea if its a feeling shared with others mind you...

When a game is made with touch screen in mind then it's fantastic. The problem is most game designers seem to make games for touch screen with virtual controllers which is just stupid. Also I feel it's one of the best places for visual novels.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

aren't all novels visual novels?

Retr0gamer

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar wrote: »

aren't all novels visual novels?

Not really, visual novels are a bit different. Sound novels like Higurahi, Kira Kira or Banshee's last call use images, music and sound effects to set the mood. It might not sound like much but play Higurashi, the sound effects really add to the atmosphere.

Some also allow you to make decisions that affect the story as well.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Not really, visual novels are a bit different. Sound novels like Higurahi, Kira Kira or Banshee's last call use images, music and sound effects to set the mood. It might not sound like much but play Higurashi, the sound effects really add to the atmosphere.

Some also allow you to make decisions that affect the story as well.

just let me have my joke

jaykhunter

C14N wrote: »

Mobile and handheld gaming is a waste of time.

I'm with ya. No time for toilet games and every game I've enjoyed on handheld I wish was on a console instead. Hate small screens. There are some excellent handheld games though.

C14N

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

And as for a grubby screen, no different than a grubby controller, just pause and give it a wipe!!

Two major differences though:

1. My controllers are made of dull plastic, they aren't nearly as glossy as my phone/tablet screen so smudges don't show up as much
2. I don't actively look at my controller when playing the games or really ever, unlike a phone where I'm actually smudging the monitor that I will then use for other stuff afterward.

Also, I've noticed that whenever I did play mobile games (nothing intense, just stuff like Angry Birds or Templerun), my phone (Galaxy S3) tended to become uncomfortably hot in my hands. Has anyone else had this problem?

jaykhunter wrote: »

I'm with ya. No time for toilet games and every game I've enjoyed on handheld I wish was on a console instead. Hate small screens. There are some excellent handheld games though.

Yay, a fellow ignoramus :P The idea of "toilet games" never really worked for me, I poop way too fast.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar wrote: »

aren't all novels visual novels?

Not if they don't have pictures?

johnny_ultimate

Not sure I'd consider a grubby screen anywhere near a deal breaker, TBH! Most smartphone games aren't any more involved than more general use (typing etc...) and nothing an occasional wipe won't take care of. Maybe my fingers are just cleaner :P

The touch screen has actually liberated developers in a really positive way, IMO. It's forced them to develop completely new sorts of experiences, and not be betrothed to familiar input methods (virtual d-pads and buttons are pretty much the worst thing, after all). Along with the incredible freedom of mobile publishing - although obviously this has the unfortunate side effect of increased noise - the format has actually seen an explosion in design creativity at least on par with some of the more interesting things happening in the PC indie community.

Some examples:
Ciderman mentioned The Room, and that's a great example. Manipulating its devious & terrifying machinery by touch leads to a nearly unmatched tactile involvement and immersion. Play it with headphones and staring intently at the screen is a simply incredible experience. Monument Valley is similar. Zack and Wiki and a few rare other Wii games are the only other game I can think of off the top of my head that manage something similar, but TBH a touch screen is vastly more reliable than a Wiimote.
Papa Sangre 2 is a game based entirely on stereo sound (there's no visual element to the game), basic screen tapping and 360 degree accelerometer controls. It's an immensely rich and inventive experience, and would be more or less impossible on any other format. It's not exactly 'mobile' though, as it's not really playable in public :pac:
Device 6 uses the versatility and adaptability of a mobile device to present a gaming narrative in a completely original and exciting way, again nearly impossible anywhere else. Deep stereo sound, twisting text, sliding secrets and other fun experiments abound!
Ridiculous Fishing uses simple 'on/off' and tilt controls to create an a challenging and thoroughly enjoyable twist on that old past-time. The vertical screen mode also allows a much more appropriate aesthetic approach for the game. And with mechanics that are extremely easy to understand, the developers can instead add depth (literally, given some of the last levels) and variety in a whole lot of other ways. That's an incredibly refreshing thing when many AAA games are still throwing tutorial messages at you in hour ten. Mobile gaming is a great home for new takes on the no-nonsense sort of game design of the 8 and 16 bit eras.
Distilling familiar genres and even franchises down to their most basic and accessible elements can give them new life. To me Joe Danger mobile games are a much purer and engrossing experience than the console equivalents, and the Rayman games are equally great (although not quite the tour de force the recent console outings have been) - platforming at its simplest and most happily accessible, through swipes and taps. I'd wager the recently released Hitman Go (which looks absolutely fantastic with its diorama based graphics) is a more appropriate take on the franchise's origins than Absolution.
I will never get bored of how satisfying the sliding mechanics of Threes are. Never, I tells you!

Not everything works on mobiles, no doubt about that. Some genres translate surprisingly well - as a shmup fan, I'm frequently amazed at how fantastic some of the iOS efforts are, especially from Cave, considering it's a genre based on pinpoint accuracy. Point and click is a natural fit, as are certain types of strategy games and anything slow moving. Many genres and game types don't work at all. But the fact that a lot of old reliable can't be depended on is actually one of the format's key strengths. If you have a smartphone you don't use, at least try a couple of the games mentioned above and see if it can't change your mind - the various app stores really do have an embarrassment of riches if you're willing to approach them with an open mind.

C14N

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

Not sure I'd consider a grubby screen anywhere near a deal breaker, TBH! Most smartphone games aren't any more involved than more general use (typing etc...) and nothing an occasional wipe won't take care of. Maybe my fingers are just cleaner :P

...

The touch screen has actually liberated developers in a really positive way, IMO. It's forced them to develop completely new sorts of experiences, and not be betrothed to familiar input methods (virtual d-pads and buttons are pretty much the worst thing, after all). Along with the incredible freedom of mobile publishing - although obviously this has the unfortunate side effect of increased noise - the format has actually seen an explosion in design creativity at least on par with some of the more interesting things happening in the PC indie community.

Not everything works on mobiles, no doubt about that. Some genres translate surprisingly well - as a shmup fan, I'm frequently amazed at how fantastic some of the iOS efforts are, especially from Cave, considering it's a genre based on pinpoint accuracy. Point and click is a natural fit, as are certain types of strategy games and anything slow moving. Many genres and game types don't work at all. But the fact that a lot of old reliable can't be depended on is actually one of the format's key strengths. If you have a smartphone you don't use, at least try a couple of the games mentioned above and see if it can't change your mind - the various app stores really do have an embarrassment of riches if you're willing to approach them with an open mind.

It's not so much the idea of touch that bothers me as much as the mess; if I could have immaculate fingers or some kind of pen I'd probably be far more inclined to play on mobile. Parhaps I just have particularly sweaty hands. Maybe this is a wear an tear thing but I've found my screen gets grubby very fast lately and rubbing it on my shirt doesn't clear it up like it used to.

Do most of these work well on tablets too? I get a fair bit more battery life out of my Nexus tablet than out of my phone. I might be more inclined to play on it instead.

bur

The Last of Us is just Gears of War with a way better script. In terms of game-play it's as generic as every other third-person cover based shooter.

johnny_ultimate

Yeah, most Android and Apple tablets have access to the entirety of their respective App Stores, perhaps even with some extra titles unavailable for phones A few games might be upscaled rather than universally supportive, though.

C14N

bur wrote: »

The Last of Us is just Gears of War with a way better script. In terms of game-play it's as generic as every other third-person cover based shooter.

The actual mechanics of shooting might be similar (although the fact that TLOU starts you off with such bad aiming even affects it) but they're very different in how you play them. Gears of War has mountains of ammo and regenerating health which basically encourages you to just go all out shooting the place up. I'm not saying that's necessarily worse but I'd have considered TLOU to be more of a stealth/survival game, maybe like Resident Evil or Splinter Cell.

CiDeRmAn

bur wrote: »

The Last of Us is just Gears of War with a way better script. In terms of game-play it's as generic as every other third-person cover based shooter.

I understand you are not honestly saying that TLOU is the same as GoW but, you're right, TLOU game play is, often, simply off the peg 3rd person and cover based.
Reminds me of Second Sight back in the day.
Now, the setting is stunning and they do lots with the tools, from action to being sneaky, bothin larger areas and enclosed spaces but, ultimately it is all near identical to Uncharted.
The story makes it though, as does the production values along with a willingness to take the player and make them party to pain and suffering, make them uncomfortable, in this regard the game has a lot in common with Spec Ops the Line.
Last year would certainly have been a poorer one without having played it though, that and Bioshock Infinite, another game where a superb setting and story was offset by a nothing special gameplay.

Pac1Man

The bullet damage in TLOU is worth another play through alone for me. I can't remember another game where I felt as capable and dangerous with a handgun. There's just something perverse about a bolt-action rifle too. CRACK!-click-click-click-CRACK!

Anyone care to recommend other console games with satisfying bullet damage? The Brothers in Arms series comes to mind.

pixelburp

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

Play something like The Room and you'll realise that the game, and it's a nice game at that, is pretty much unplayable with anything other than a touchscreen.
And as for a grubby screen, no different than a grubby controller, just pause and give it a wipe!!

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

Not sure I'd consider a grubby screen anywhere near a deal breaker, TBH! Most smartphone games aren't any more involved than more general use (typing etc...) and nothing an occasional wipe won't take care of. Maybe my fingers are just cleaner :P

[...]

Well la dee da Mr. Frenchman with his spotless fingers I don't necessarily disagree with the rest of what you say Johnny, I appreciate touch controls have opened up new possibilities for developers and I did admit that much of my own prejudice for the games themselves comes from the big names in mobile/FB gaming sullying things up for the rest of the industry; when it comes to the actual physical interaction however, as a personal preference, there's just something about touchscreens I find slightly ... well, gross for want of a better word. A screen and UI constantly covered in oils from my fingers and ear. Ick.

I'm not that much of a clean freak tbh, nor suffer from OCD or the like, so it's not like the slightest smudge has me speed-dialling my therapist I should hasten to add. And honestly CiDeRmAn, I don't find myself having to clean my controller all that often. Meh, I dunno, 'my loss' I can hear you say - though I do intend giving some of the recommendations a go, Monument Valley looks absolutely gorgeous - but I've just never taken to touchscreens as much as others

pablomakaveli

Pac1Man wrote: »

The bullet damage in TLOU is worth another play through alone for me. I can't remember another game where I felt as capable and dangerous with a handgun. There's just something perverse about a bolt-action rifle too. CRACK!-click-click-click-CRACK!

Anyone care to recommend other console games with satisfying bullet damage? The Brothers in Arms series comes to mind.

If your after a game with good bullet damage try Sniper Elite V2. It has an x-ray killcam that shows bullet ripping through your target which even after seeing it 100 times never gets old.

Portal 2 is a clever game but by God doesn't it know it.

Pac1Man

pablomakaveli wrote: »

If your after a game with good bullet damage try Sniper Elite V2. It has an x-ray killcam that shows bullet ripping through your target which even after seeing it 100 times never gets old.

Yes, I dismissed it on release due to the overly linear looking gameplay but it may be worth a pickup at the current price. The new sequel is looking interesting though.

pablomakaveli

Pac1Man wrote: »

Yes, I dismissed it on release due to the overly linear looking gameplay but it may be worth a pickup at the current price. The new sequel is looking interesting though.

Yes i dismissed it originally for the same reason but changed my mind when i saw a friend playing it when he got it. I had a lot of fun playing it.

ShadowHearth

So is Sniper Elite 2 is actually good? I think there were few sniper games and one series were really pants. So I pretty much ignored the whole "sniper genre".
I wonder if I did a mistake.

BobbyPropane

ShadowHearth wrote: »

So is Sniper Elite 2 is actually good? I think there were few sniper games and one series were really pants. So I pretty much ignored the whole "sniper genre".
I wonder if I did a mistake.

It's actually really fun. That said the ai can be dreadful and some of the level design is also ****e but for graphics and that bullet cam it's actually a pretty good game.

pablomakaveli

ShadowHearth wrote: »

So is Sniper Elite 2 is actually good? I think there were few sniper games and one series were really pants. So I pretty much ignored the whole "sniper genre".
I wonder if I did a mistake.

The whole sniping part of the game is done really well. Clever little things like being able to shoot a grenade on a soldiers waist or using background noise to disguise your shots make it enjoyable. The other aspects of the game, like the boring forgettable story, aren't but it doesn't ruin the game.

It goes on sale every now and again on steam for a good pirce and im sure a console copy could be purchased cheaply as well.

C14N

The Zelda, Metroid and Mario franchises have put out some of my all-time favourite games, but if Nintendo announced tomorrow that they were going to permanently retire all of them I wouldn't object at all.

CiDeRmAn

The first series of Need for Speed games was the best, from the original on the 3DO to Hot pursuit 2 on the PS2, discounting the awful NfS2.
After that it became firstly a car modding Sim and later an extension of the Midnight Club series.

ShadowHearth

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

The first series of Need for Speed games was the best, from the original on the 3DO to Hot pursuit 2 on the PS2, discounting the awful NfS2.
After that it became firstly a car modding Sim and later an extension of the Midnight Club series.

Get out! Underground 1 and 2 were awesome!!! Original most wanted was epic too. Yes, external car moding in real life got cheesy lately, but those are still awesome games!

On top of that: Nfs rivals is a very good Nfs game and it's sad to see its Developed being axed by EA.

CiDeRmAn

Well, the thread is unpopular opinions after all.
I have them all so far, aside from the odd Wii game Nitro.
And the best, for me, were the first on the 3DO, Road Challenge on the PS, Porsche Unleashed on the PC and Hot Pursuit 2 on the PS2.
After that there was a complete change in direction, from Super cars to Suped up cars, and I think it suffered.
I just didn't enjoy the neo lit night time of the Underground titles.
Most Wanted on the 360 seemed to claw it back a bit but Carbon sent it straight back again.
The recent Hot Pursuit and Most Wanted titles are decent and I haven't spent time with Rivals as yet.
I don't know, the shift to the Burnout developers Criterion has made it all competent but a bit bland, at least to me.

Potatoeman

pablomakaveli wrote: »

The whole sniping part of the game is done really well. Clever little things like being able to shoot a grenade on a soldiers waist or using background noise to disguise your shots make it enjoyable. The other aspects of the game, like the boring forgettable story, aren't but it doesn't ruin the game.

It goes on sale every now and again on steam for a good pirce and im sure a console copy could be purchased cheaply as well.

The sniping parts are great fun but some of he level design and routes are pants. It forces you into some fps situations that dont fit with the game mechanics. Like the first large building full of soldiers you have to get to the top of.

C14N

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

The first series of Need for Speed games was the best, from the original on the 3DO to Hot pursuit 2 on the PS2, discounting the awful NfS2.
After that it became firstly a car modding Sim and later an extension of the Midnight Club series.

I don't know if you've played any of the recent ones but they got rid of the car modding and turned it into a game very much like Burnout, although with less emphasis on crashes. I liked Underground 2 a lot, but I was about 10 so that doesn't indicate much. I thought Carbon was dreadful though.

CiDeRmAn

And that's the problem.
If I want to play Burnout or, more accurately, the car smashing game the series became with the 3rd title, I'll buy Burnout.
I know what I want from Need for Speed, having played the series and even the Test Drive titles on the Megadrive and computers of the time.
It was a driving simulator more than a racing simulator. It was you, on the open road racing point to point in fabulous cars.
In fact, Test Drive Unlimited, the first one rather than the horror story of the sequel, is the closest thing to the genius and spirit of the original series.
All of this is, of course, my opinion and, naturally, unpopular.

C14N

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

And that's the problem.
If I want to play Burnout or, more accurately, the car smashing game the series became with the 3rd title, I'll buy Burnout.
I know what I want from Need for Speed, having played the series and even the Test Drive titles on the Megadrive and computers of the time.
It was a driving simulator more than a racing simulator. It was you, on the open road racing point to point in fabulous cars.
In fact, Test Drive Unlimited, the first one rather than the horror story of the sequel, is the closest thing to the genius and spirit of the original series.
All of this is, of course, my opinion and, naturally, unpopular.

Yeah I can see where you're coming from. At the same time, it seems like the Burnout series stopped a few years ago and EA stuck the devs onto the Need for Speed series instead. I assume they just don't want to compete with the likes of Forza or Gran Turismo for realistic racing. I haven't really played any of them since Carbon turned me off, but my younger brother has taken an interest in racing games lately and bought a load of recent NFS games and I was surprised how different it was from when I played it.

zero19

NFS was at its peak with the original hot pursuit and road challenge for me. Still enjoyed later games but it lost something for me.