Video Game Thread 2.0

[RavynousHunter]

and teaches little children that these people are evil and makes fucking soldiers out of them to fight for his cause.

In fairness, the Jedi as a whole do that. These kids are trained from the age of 6 (I think) to be super soldiers. Super soldiers that fight for a specific ideology, no less. Really, Yoda's no worse than any other Jedi teacher.

True, but if I'm remembering right, he's the de facto leader of the entire order.  At the end of the day, he's the one handing out the orders, he's the one responsible.  A general is as culpable for his army's actions as the lowliest footslogger, if not moreso.

[Witchyjoshy]

Nothing has ever indicated to me that the Jedi have had a singular leader until Luke Skywalker, and even then, only out of necessity.

The Jedi always seem to stick to councils, to prevent any one man from having too much power.  I will say that at least there are media that explores the possibility of a Jedi trying to gain control of the governments, even in the name of greater good - they invariably end up becoming Dark Jedi because, because even if it's benign reasons, a lust for power is still a lust for power.

Also, there are plenty of media that explore the morality of the Mind Trick - the Jedi are generally not supposed to use it unless absolutely necessary, and even then, they're absolutely required to consider every moral ramification of their actions - after all, Imperial soldiers, guards, and so forth have families, have lives, and have responsibilities - and a Jedi could accidentally ruin any of those without putting much thought into his Mind Trick.

Though one has to wonder - if a Jedi Mind Trick ends up objectively improving someone's lot in life ("You don't want to sell me death sticks.  You want to go home and think about your life.") then is it less morally questionable?

[RavynousHunter]

I'm not implying that Yoda is the supreme leader of all Jedi, more that he's the one to whom all the other Jedi defer, what's why I said de facto leader, and not just leader.  Going just by the movies, yes even the prequels, every decision goes in line with what Yoda says or what Yoda wants, with very few exceptions.

[Witchyjoshy]

I'm not implying that Yoda is the supreme leader of all Jedi, more that he's the one to whom all the other Jedi defer, what's why I said de facto leader, and not just leader.  Going just by the movies, yes even the prequels, every decision goes in line with what Yoda says or what Yoda wants, with very few exceptions.

Yes.

One of the good things about Episode 7, though...

...is that Yoda is dead, and hopefully, Luke is going to be a Greyer Jedi than the previous council.

Though I will say that Yoda was wrong about Luke going to confront Darth Vader to rescue his friends, so hmm...

Regardless, as far as being the de facto leader, I've always thought of him as sort of the Light Side's response to Palpatine.  Palpatine demands authority, Yoda is given it.  Palpatine flaunts his power anytime he doesn't need to hide it, Yoda hides his power anytime he doesn't need it.  Palpatine cackles and yells and boasts every time he fights, Yoda stays silent in battle.

Palpatine is overly coherent, Yoda is overly incoherent.

[RavynousHunter]

Aye, Episode VII does sound like its got plenty of potential.  Any movie that doesn't have Yoda being either a semi-sane old coot or an overly pious arse is welcome.

[Søren]

I got the forest, its still very broken, but ill give it three things.

The ambiance is perfect
The AI is disturbing, they will watch and stalk you and its absolutely terrifying
It has fuckloads of potential

[Sleepy]

Mario Kart is out for the Wii U and I've played all the tracks. Some comments:

-Overall, the game is better than the Wii version because it has many more enjoyable tracks, better physics, better item distribution, and better AI.

-The sound is a real problem. The music overpowers all the item and character sounds, so you never notice if an item is approaching you. My friend and I thought we could maybe adjust this in the settings menu, but there was no such thing. This is probably because they expect you to use the Wii remote for racing, so they use its crappy speakers for the item sounds. That's just stupid.

-The screen is split differently now, and there's no way to change it (that I've seen). I really don't like the vertical split.

-Rainbow Road was really disappointing. It didn't seem like Rainbow Road at all, more like a nonspecific outer space track.

-The parasails are used too frequently. I think it's more fun to free fall, rather than gently glide through the air.

-The better physics really improve the game because they were so terrible in the Wii version. If you were a small character, larger characters could gently bump you and send you flying off the track. Also, scraping the corner of a wall would send you flying the other direction. Now, bumps exist but are toned down so the beginning of a race isn't a giant pinball fest.

-The graphics are much improved and the levels are more detailed, finally making them nice to look at.

[IanC]

Vertical split is the only sensible split for HDTVs. I haven't had any problem with the sound.

New Rainbow Road is merely okay, but N64 Rainbow Road is a blast. They made the worst version into one of the best, mostly by taking away the side rails so its more dangerous, and making it a single lap instead of three. Plus the remixed music is amazing.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWYQd94X_Wk" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWYQd94X_Wk</a>

I love the MKtv feature.

edit - hope it didn't seem like i was just dismissing your point RE: 2 player split. Its just how companies handle it now, if they bother to include split screen. Which most don't, because online.

[Askold]

The newest Wolfenstein does seem like a fun shooter but nothing special apart from being visually pretty.

But I do like the tiny details in the story. Like the Beatles changing their name and songs into german after the nazies have conquered Britain.

And delicious irony of Nazi superweapons and science being

(click to show/hide)

reverse engineered from centuries or millenia old technology of the secret Jewish organisation.

[Dakota Bob]

I heard the developers of Chronicles of Riddick made that game, and I fuckin' loved the Riddick game so I'm looking forward to finally playing the new Wolfenstein.

[Commissar Kaz]

Mario Kart is out for the Wii U and I've played all the tracks. Some comments:

-Overall, the game is better than the Wii version because it has many more enjoyable tracks, better physics, better item distribution, and better AI.

-The sound is a real problem. The music overpowers all the item and character sounds, so you never notice if an item is approaching you. My friend and I thought we could maybe adjust this in the settings menu, but there was no such thing. This is probably because they expect you to use the Wii remote for racing, so they use its crappy speakers for the item sounds. That's just stupid.

-The screen is split differently now, and there's no way to change it (that I've seen). I really don't like the vertical split.

-Rainbow Road was really disappointing. It didn't seem like Rainbow Road at all, more like a nonspecific outer space track.

-The parasails are used too frequently. I think it's more fun to free fall, rather than gently glide through the air.

-The better physics really improve the game because they were so terrible in the Wii version. If you were a small character, larger characters could gently bump you and send you flying off the track. Also, scraping the corner of a wall would send you flying the other direction. Now, bumps exist but are toned down so the beginning of a race isn't a giant pinball fest.

-The graphics are much improved and the levels are more detailed, finally making them nice to look at.

Have they toned down the rubberbanding AI this time around? I remember playing Mario Kart for the Wii and getting frustrated a lot after the nth time of getting hit by 3 consecutive blue and red shells while inches from the finish line.

[chitoryu12]

Mario Kart is out for the Wii U and I've played all the tracks. Some comments:

-Overall, the game is better than the Wii version because it has many more enjoyable tracks, better physics, better item distribution, and better AI.

-The sound is a real problem. The music overpowers all the item and character sounds, so you never notice if an item is approaching you. My friend and I thought we could maybe adjust this in the settings menu, but there was no such thing. This is probably because they expect you to use the Wii remote for racing, so they use its crappy speakers for the item sounds. That's just stupid.

-The screen is split differently now, and there's no way to change it (that I've seen). I really don't like the vertical split.

-Rainbow Road was really disappointing. It didn't seem like Rainbow Road at all, more like a nonspecific outer space track.

-The parasails are used too frequently. I think it's more fun to free fall, rather than gently glide through the air.

-The better physics really improve the game because they were so terrible in the Wii version. If you were a small character, larger characters could gently bump you and send you flying off the track. Also, scraping the corner of a wall would send you flying the other direction. Now, bumps exist but are toned down so the beginning of a race isn't a giant pinball fest.

-The graphics are much improved and the levels are more detailed, finally making them nice to look at.

Have they toned down the rubberbanding AI this time around? I remember playing Mario Kart for the Wii and getting frustrated a lot after the nth time of getting hit by 3 consecutive blue and red shells while inches from the finish line.

Honestly, the games probably would fall apart without cheating AI. They're not usually difficult games to beat, and experienced players would take almost no time at all to start getting first place over and over again; they're made so that even kids can have a relatively easy time playing them. Without rubberband AI or sudden shell attacks right before the finish line, races without human opponents would become pointless.

[RavynousHunter]

Then, the designers should invest their money in improving the AI so it isn't completely braindead.  The "fake difficulty" thing should've died with cartridge-based games.

[Cerim Treascair]

Personally, I'm tired of rubberband AI.  If I'm on a decent difficulty setting, and I'm FAR out front (like, half a lap ahead), then I've raced well enough that I shouldn't get slaughtered within sight of the finish line by the best items in the game from four AI players concurrently, finally recover, and wind up getting fifth.  I've earned first place, dammit, let me fucking have it!

[Askold]

There is one thing about Wolfenstein New Order that I wish to complain about.

I can suspend my disbelief on some things like the Nazi superweapons and such but how does a man who has spent 14 years paralyzed still have all his muscles? No one comes out still shaped like (young) Hulk Hogan after spending over a dozen years lying on a bed.