Favorite video games..

[DistortAMG]

I have started using an awesome bit of kit (that is free) for emulation. Called LaunchBox. It basically acts as a front end, a bit like Steam or Gamepass for your emulators and emulated games. Currently Android and Windows only.

You need to source your own emulators and your own game files and ROMs (not hard with the internet.). But once you do and you have configured each emulator which takes a few minutes but not long, all your games for each emulator automatically appear in their own folders organised by platform. It works so well. I no longer have to work out what emulator to launch based on what game I want to play. Or look at boring grey square ROM files or default Windows, yellow folder game files. I can now see the games in the app with great box art and information, double click and it will launch the emulator required. Much better than browsing non descript and identical looking default windows files when browsing emulator ROMs.

The best feature for me apart from being a one stop loader for my emulated games, is the app automatically goes online to find meta data, game information, box art and screenshots to be added to the app for each game (as seen below) to make browsing so much better.

The app looks great too, as seen below, here is my N64 library. Not a single game I have for any emulated platform come with box art, meta data, or screenshots, this app got them all, for every game (over 1000) automatically once the ROM's were neatly stored in their platform specific folder. It is amazing.


PCSX2, a PS2 emulator running one of my favourite classics, GTA: Vice City. The only way to play is through a PS2 or emulator, as newer versions of the game removed songs and messed with lighting and all sorts. The original is the best.



Launching Blood Wake, an Xbox exclusive from over 20 years ago, launching through Xemu, an original Xbox emulator.


Another classic, Resistance: Fall of Man, launching though RPCS3, a PS3 emulator. This game never came to PC, another one of my favorites from years gone by, the multiplayer was great.
View attachment 10893

A final classic, my favourite, Red Dead Redemption, 7th gen console exclusive game that had no PC release. Launching through LaunchBox and the 360 emulator, Xenia.


Can not recommend this enough, makes the process of playing emulated games so much better on PC and Android.

You find a game within your LaunchBox library, double click it and it will load the correct emulator and game to run. All the examples above, for the purpose of screenshots are launching in windowed mode, for a more seamless experience, I recommend launching them in full screen mode automatically.

A final thing to note, because emulators literally work by creating a virtual software version of whatever console is being emulated, the newer emulated consoles require quite a bit of power to run. Even older and slower PC's will run Dreamcast, GameCube, PS2, Xbox and all consoles before with ease. My fairly modern PC has a partial workout running the PS3, Switch and 360 emulators though, due to how much juice is used just by creating a virtual PS3 or Xbox. So a decent PC is a must for the modern emulators, the older ones will be fine for anyone.

But this software is a must and free! The best thing I've found this year, I must have lived under a rock for a long time!

 

[DistortAMG]

Bump.

I am back playing Elite Dangerous again. The alure of exploring the milky way with all of it's 400 billion star systems (many systems with many planets and moons) was too much.

The game and it's player base is currently fighting a war (and winning) against the in game alien race the Thargoids. I am steering clear of the front line of that war in space right now and am just having fun finding some of the many wonders and amazing sights there are to see, aswel as landing on planets and trading contraband across the stars within the human occupied region of the milky way (the bubble).

Just brought a new ship and upgraded it with many fancy things to help ship large amounts of s̶l̶a̶v̶e̶s̶ flowers across the star systems, safely. My ship now has enough weapon and protection systems to make the US goverment fighter jets look like toys. All for show of course, shipping large amounts of s̶l̶a̶v̶e̶s̶ flowers across the human occupied regions of space is a perfectly legal activity.

Although it is very lucrative, the war has increased the demand for s̶l̶a̶v̶e̶s̶ flowers, meaning if you can get them through the policed systems and through to the less than ethical factions and regions of space, prices are currently sky high. Cash in while you can eh.

It is great fun and very open ended in gameplay. You can get out of the game what you want, which is a great style of play and differs from alot of games.

 

[STEJENT]

I have started using an awesome bit of kit (that is free) for emulation. Called LaunchBox. It basically acts as a front end, a bit like Steam or Gamepass for your emulators and emulated games. Currently Android and Windows only.

You need to source your own emulators and your own game files and ROMs (not hard with the internet.). But once you do and you have configured each emulator which takes a few minutes but not long, all your games for each emulator automatically appear in their own folders organised by platform. It works so well. I no longer have to work out what emulator to launch based on what game I want to play. Or look at boring grey square ROM files or default Windows, yellow folder game files. I can now see the games in the app with great box art and information, double click and it will launch the emulator required. Much better than browsing non descript and identical looking default windows files when browsing emulator ROMs.

The best feature for me apart from being a one stop loader for my emulated games, is the app automatically goes online to find meta data, game information, box art and screenshots to be added to the app for each game (as seen below) to make browsing so much better.

The app looks great too, as seen below, here is my N64 library. Not a single game I have for any emulated platform come with box art, meta data, or screenshots, this app got them all, for every game (over 1000) automatically once the ROM's were neatly stored in their platform specific folder. It is amazing.


PCSX2, a PS2 emulator running one of my favourite classics, GTA: Vice City. The only way to play is through a PS2 or emulator, as newer versions of the game removed songs and messed with lighting and all sorts. The original is the best.



Launching Blood Wake, an Xbox exclusive from over 20 years ago, launching through Xemu, an original Xbox emulator.


Another classic, Resistance: Fall of Man, launching though RPCS3, a PS3 emulator. This game never came to PC, another one of my favorites from years gone by, the multiplayer was great.
View attachment 10893

A final classic, my favourite, Red Dead Redemption, 7th gen console exclusive game that had no PC release. Launching through LaunchBox and the 360 emulator, Xenia.


Can not recommend this enough, makes the process of playing emulated games so much better on PC and Android.

You find a game within your LaunchBox library, double click it and it will load the correct emulator and game to run. All the examples above, for the purpose of screenshots are launching in windowed mode, for a more seamless experience, I recommend launching them in full screen mode automatically.

A final thing to note, because emulators literally work by creating a virtual software version of whatever console is being emulated, the newer emulated consoles require quite a bit of power to run. Even older and slower PC's will run Dreamcast, GameCube, PS2, Xbox and all consoles before with ease. My fairly modern PC has a partial workout running the PS3, Switch and 360 emulators though, due to how much juice is used just by creating a virtual PS3 or Xbox. So a decent PC is a must for the modern emulators, the older ones will be fine for anyone.

But this software is a must and free! The best thing I've found this year, I must have lived under a rock for a long time!

I haven't used this but I will check it out. I have played PS1&2 classics using DuckStation and PCSX2 and get my games from Vimm's Lair.

 

[Ian]

I’ve just been playing Rayman M on PS2 for the first time in a while. It’s one of the games me and my sister always played together growing up (along with SSX Tricky).

Question though, does anyone else actually remember this one? I preach about it a fair bit as a really fun, pick-up put-down multiplayer game, but more often than not I’m met with blank expressions! From reading around a bit I gather it had a fairly mixed reception, but I still find it odd that a game from a pretty well known franchise seems to be fairly unknown.

Just me?

 

[DistortAMG]

PS5 Pro officially announced today. Featuring quite a beefed up graphics processor compared to the PS5.

Launching November 7th, at an eye watering £700. With no disk drive.

 

[GooseOnTheLoose]

PS5 Pro officially announced today. Featuring quite a beefed up graphics processor compared to the PS5.

Launching November 7th, at an eye watering £700. With no disk drive.

The current PS5 slim doesn't feature a disc drive either, as such, it just ships with the drive that they sell separately.

I am very much loving Astro Bot though.

We kept the look of the PS5 Pro consistent with the overall PS5 family of products. You’ll notice the height is the same size as the original PS5, and the width is the same size as the current PS5 model to accommodate higher performance specs. Players can add an Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc Drive, or swap out console covers when they become available.

PS5 Pro is available as a disc-less console, with the option to purchase the currently available Disc Drive for PS5 separately.

Source: https://blog.playstation.com/2024/0...-impressive-way-to-play-games-on-playstation/

 

[DistortAMG]

The current PS5 slim doesn't feature a disc drive either, as such, it just ships with the drive that they sell separately.

I am very much loving Astro Bot though.


Source: https://blog.playstation.com/2024/0...-impressive-way-to-play-games-on-playstation/

Yeah, but for £700 quid, which is quite a bit more expensive than the converted sale price of the machinn the USA, I would expect a disk drive included in the price.

I'll still probably get one. But it seems like Sony is trying to pull the same PS3 crap they pulled many years ago. Which didn't end well at all for console sales.

 

[The_bup]

I get that it looks great and graphical fidelity and buzz word, but £700 is quite steep for a console with not too many exclusives….

 

[GooseOnTheLoose]

Yeah, but for £700 quid, which is quite a bit more expensive than the converted sale price of the machinn the USA, I would expect a disk drive included in the price.

I'll still probably get one. But it seems like Sony is trying to pull the same PS3 crap they pulled many years ago. Which didn't end well at all for console sales.

It is shitty, but they do make a loss on every console shipped. I had rather hoped that mid-cycle upgrades were a relic of the previous generation, but it's good to see that future players won't have to sacrifice fidelity for performance.

I get that it looks great and graphical fidelity and buzz word, but £700 is quite steep for a console with not too many exclusives….

Not quite as steep as £500 and no exclusives though.

 

[The_bup]

I don’t get the whole graphics craze. Well, I say craze but it’s as old as video games itself! I actually don’t care if I can see every pore on Gordon Freemans face, or they simulate every particle of the ocean, i just want a fun game.

I’m not saying you can’t have a fun game that pushes the photorealistic look forward and also be a fun and thought out game, but if I play a game with PS1 style graphics, people say ‘the graphics are bad’ despite it completely obeying its art direction. And if I’m pumping hundreds to buy a fun game because it looks quasi-realistic, and not because of its gameplay or writing, I just don’t get it!

We can have our realistic graphics, but it seems every AAA game has to be like that. And it’s all I hear people talk about. People will go ‘Is the new fifa good’ and they’ll respond with ‘Yeah the graphics are great’ like its the only thing that matters! I don’t hear them saying ‘It’s really fun to play’ or ‘I love this one bit in the game where […]’.


This is coming from a guy who pretty much only plays RCT, Ultrakill, Planet Coaster and occasionally a one and done game like The Heilwald Loophole or Half life

I’m not pushing the graphical boundaries too far, all things considered. Am I missing something?

 

[GooseOnTheLoose]

I don’t get the whole graphics craze. Well, I say craze but it’s as old as video games itself! I actually don’t care if I can see every pore on Gordon Freemans face, or they simulate every particle of the ocean, i just want a fun game.

I’m not saying you can’t have a fun game that pushes the photorealistic look forward and also be a fun and thought out game, but if I play a game with PS1 style graphics, people say ‘the graphics are bad’ despite it completely obeying its art direction. And if I’m pumping hundreds to buy a fun game because it looks quasi-realistic, and not because of its gameplay or writing, I just don’t get it!

We can have our realistic graphics, but it seems every AAA game has to be like that. And it’s all I hear people talk about. People will go ‘Is the new fifa good’ and they’ll respond with ‘Yeah the graphics are great’ like its the only thing that matters! I don’t hear them saying ‘It’s really fun to play’ or ‘I love this one bit in the game where […]’.


This is coming from a guy who pretty much only plays RCT, Ultrakill, Planet Coaster and occasionally a one and done game like The Heilwald Loophole or Half life

I’m not pushing the graphical boundaries too far, all things considered. Am I missing something?

I can play Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart in 4K at 30fps, or I can play it in 1080p at 60fps. I can't have the best of both worlds on the current standard PS5. It's about the performance of the game at high resolution, rather than making things look realistic. When you're playing on a large screen (anything over 30"), a higher resolution really matters and you start to notice.

 

[Ian]

£700? Still cheaper than a 3DO or Neo Geo

 

[DistortAMG]

The Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion remaster has just been announced within the hour.

Made in Unreal engine 5, up to date gameplay mechanics, brand new character models and completely re made graphics....it looks amazing!! It looks like a new game from 2025. It doesnt look like a remaster.

The best part, its avaliable today!

Its on PS5, Xbox and PC, including Gamepass.

 

[Nerdsticks]

Seems like they've managed to keep the original charm of it intact too, judging by the clips I've seen on YouTube. I'll definitely give it a go once the price comes down a little.

 

[DistortAMG]

So GTA VI trailer 2 dropped today. No surprise it is breaking YouTube records again.

Set for 26 May 2026 release date, the 92nd anniversary of Bonnie and Cyldes funeral, the huge inspiration for the two main characters in this new entry.

The game seems to go way beyond the sattire of the old GTA, it's more a serious epic crime drama, set in a sprawling, massive, highly detailed open world. I am all for that change, kind of how Read Dead Redemption 2 was a more serious and grounded look at America at the turn of the 20th century, this appears to be moving in the same way for the GTA series and what a great move it appears to be. Although it still appears to retain some of the satire the series is known for, they have toned it down, in a way that appears to work very, very well. I feel this move is going to bring so many more people into the already hugely popular series.

Check the website out, it has a wealth of information introducing key characters, the amazing beauty of the open world, stunning screenshots and some nice information. This looks spectacular and is without a doubt going to be worth the wait.

GTA VI mini site..

Grand Theft Auto VI - Rockstar Games

Vice City, USA. Jason and Lucia have always known the deck is stacked against them. But when an easy score goes wrong, they find themselves on the darkest side of the sunniest place in America, in the middle of a criminal conspiracy stretching across the state of Leonida — forced to rely on each...

www.rockstargames.com

Trailer 2, all captured on a standard PS5...

 

[BSwiss]

It looks absolutely outstanding. Really excited that the Keys and Everglades are heavily featured - hoping to set up a gator-smashing outpost in Hemingway’s old gaff.

Part of me is holding out hope for some kind of Orlando parks inclusion. I appreciate it’s super on the nose for this forum, but a series of heists on a satirised MK would be sensational.

I took a few days off work for GTA5, but I was single and child-free in those days. Mulling whether to do it again.

 

[Rob]

I'm probably one of the only people who is glad that GTA VI is delayed, as it means I can wait until next year before buying a PS5 (already got a Switch 2 on pre-order for this year)!

It's certainly shaping up to be one heck of a game though.

 

[DistortAMG]

I'm probably one of the only people who is glad that GTA VI is delayed, as it means I can wait until next year before buying a PS5 (already got a Switch 2 on pre-order for this year)!

It's certainly shaping up to be one heck of a game though.

Me too! I need to buy a PS5. I was a bit gutted when the delay was announced, but after seeing what they dropped yesterday, It sort of re affirmed in my head that this will be so worth the wait. Plus, it takes the pressure off buying a PS5 in the next few months.

 

[DistortAMG]

Double post, give me a Grand Theft whipping.

A small selection of my favorite screenshots if the 70 they released. I think I am more excited to explore this AMAZING open world more than anything.

All photos are in game, captured on base PS5, this is what we can expect.

 

[GooseOnTheLoose]

There's always a bit of a concern when buying games tied to an existing IP, that they'll be cheap cash ins and only really passable as good or mediocre based on the strength of the original body of work. Hogwarts Legacy was generally this type of game. It was decent, but if it hadn't been attached to the existing IP it would have been mediocre at best.

Indiana Jones: The Great Circle, which I've been playing since the PlayStation 5 release two weeks ago, is not one of those games.

Initially, I had questions over a first player Indiana Jones game. Surely the whole idea was to see him perform near tricks and generally be Indy? After about 20 minutes of paying, I was sold.

The game is utterly brilliant and would be without the IP. I had worried it would be a pastiche of the Tomb Raider and Uncharted series, which the Indiana Jones IP had clearly both influence, but I was wrong. This is very much something new, but familiar. It does have some of the set pieces that we've come to expect from the Indy franchise, but the game plays out in the in-between moments.

You feel as though you're Indiana Jones. You feel as though you're performing the hard work, solving the puzzles and piercing everything together.

The story is a fun romp. The motion capture and voice acting is phenomenal, I could hardly believe that Harrison Ford didn't lend his voice to this. The level design is fun, the visuals are stunning.

I would very much recommend getting lost in this world for a few days, perhaps whilst waiting for GTA VI. I'm rooting for a follow up.