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Gaming Thread 6/29/2014

So the Summer Games Done Quick 2014 fundraiser has come to a close and though they came up a bit short of their 750 thousand dollar goal, they still raised a good 631 grand and change for Doctors Without Borders.

Stuff below

Now this is some hardcore schilling: "Watching the trailers for Metal Gear Solid V makes you wonder if the spirits of Dostoyevsky, Stanley Kubrick, and Caravaggio entered Hideo Kojima’s body because, using the art of gaming as his canvas, he boldly goes where no one has gone before."

• Don't have much hope for this but they cut a nice initial trailer for the upcoming Space Hulk: Deathwing game

• I haven't played this and I think the price is too high but this sounds like something that the late Kenji Eno would have made

• On one hand, Legend of Korra should be getting a good game. On the other, Platinum making a game based on a IP is a bit worrying in the company's health.

• With a heavy heart, Ready at Dawn says they can't pack in quick time events every 3-4 minutes but they are planning to make the ones they have compelling, like opening a door.

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Summer Steam Sale

Last day for the Steam sale and as much as I think this one sucked (like it has for 3 years or so), I still ended up spending $60 (as of this posting).

My haul:
Age of Empires 2 HD with expansion pack - All right, I bought this on Amazon but what ever. I couldn't pass this up for $2.50 even though I wasn't a big fan of 2.

Betrayer - The Giant Bomb Quick Look made it look interesting and it was only $4 so why not.

Grim Dawn - Was planning on waiting till this game (made by the majority of people behind Titan Quest) was finished but couldn't pass it up at $12.50.

Saints Row 4 - I got a jonsing to play something and I kinda wanted to play this again, this time on the PC.

Battleblock Theater / Castle Crashers bundle - Didn't play Battleblock on my 360 before I sold it and I wanted to check it out. Couldn't pass up the two games for $3.50 or so.

FC3 Blood Dragon - Didn't get to finish it when I still had my PS3. This one was more "I want to buy something right now" and my arrow landed on that.

Banished - I followed the dude's long dev cycle (I remember reading about this game 4-5 years ago) on this and when it released, I didn't pick it up. I fixed that during the sale

Assetto Corsa - Wanted my own copy instead of "borrowing" it from a friend's library

So what did you guys buy?

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EVO 2014

2014 GSL Season 2 Finals were crap with soO bombing hard against Classic on Saturday morning but this month is a good one for eSports with EVO2014 happening on the 11-13 in Vegas. They're running:

Ultra Street Fighter IV - Don't matter which release it is, Street Fighter is always fun to watch at EVO. Hope they bring back the SF2

BlazBlue Chronophantasma - Never been able to get into any ArcSys games but they're an interesting watching on the competitive scene. And it should be interesting in seeing how it does with it being a pretty big pot.

Killer Instinct - Fun game, fun to watch but even with it being less than a year old, it's getting a bit long in the tooth with only 8 characters. Season 2 really needs to come out soon to give it some more life.

Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 - The game used to be great but it's current tech is really getting tiring. If you want a spectacle, it's still fun to watch but anything else kinda makes you a bit glad that the game is dying.

King of Fighters XIII - Last year it was one of those games that you thought could be okay at EVO but it punched above it's weight and produced a really compelling tournament. Game has disappeared outside of EVO so it should be interesting to see if it can get it's magic back.

Injustice: Gods Among Us - Hey look, an Ed Boon gam....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Ed Boon can't make a game that I care about, even in a DC Universe skin and they're always so boring to watch.

Super Smash Buttons Melee - Hey, Nintendo is actually caring this year with the mess they made last year before EVO. Small but hardcore fanbase who like a medicore game. In small doses it can be slightly amusing to watch but eh.

Tekken Tag Tournament 2 - Why this is included is anyone's guess. Even when it was released, it wasn't much popular. Feels like this addition was added just because and they needed to hit their usual 8 games featured.

The International 4
Then the following week, we have The International 4, Valve's yearly big DOTA2 tournament. This year, the prize pool is just over a staggering $10 million dollars. And the lovely Kaci Aitchison is back who IMO has quickly become a gold standard in non-gaming people to host gaming tourneys after her outstanding last year's interviewing skills which was upbeat and fun and never gave a whiff of not caring or wishing she was somewhere else. Though they've been on a tear since they won last year, I'm really hoping Alliance don't win it again. Don't get me wrong, they're arguably the best team in the world and they are fun to watch but I hope we get some newbees up there with the giant check.

League of Legends
Riot announced that this year's season championships is heading to Sangam Stadium (2002 World Cup stadium). They also announced that they're letting a BR team to play as a wild card :(

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Stuff I've been playing

Been playing Valiant Hearts, it's been pretty good so far. Dunno if I would recommend it at it's current $15 price tag though as it's apparently only 5-6 hours long and I haven't come across anything that would give me an inkling in wanting to replay it. Don't get me wrong, the game has been pretty good with some decent puzzles and some good writing (be it with the subtly of a sledgehammer) but at least so it just doesn't seem like a game that I will play it more than once.

Also bought Shovel Knight which I totally didn't know was releasing last week and this, this I totally recommend picking up at $15. If you grew up with the NES, it's imperative to pick this up as it just oozes with some 8-bit class. Other than some of the sound effects sounding like they were lifted from the MegaMan series, I haven't come across anything was a letdown. And the graphics, man are they sexy which paired with some challenging gameplay and tight controls really makes it standout. Sure, it's an indie game with an 8-Bit motif but this one is actually worth checking out.

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New Releases

Sniper Elite 3 (PC, PS3, PS4, 360, XB1) - The PC release of Rebellion's WWII testicle shooter came out on Friday, the console release comes out on Tuesday. Eh, the second game wasn't that great to be honest other than the cutscenes of the damage your bullets do to someone and the DLC where you get to shoot Hitler. To be frank, there isn't anything this week to spend your money on.

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