So Far, So Good

Dragon Age: The Veilguard released on Thursday--no, I haven't purchased it (it's a potential future investment) or played it, but I'm watching the chatter on a very active Dragon Age fan page.  I've also been semi-reading at least the headlines for reviews and they seem pretty good.  I figured that if it was an absolute dog that I'd know pretty quickly--so far folks seem content.  There have been some gripes (normal release day stuff like slow downloads) but it seems like things have mostly been smooth sailing.  I'm awaiting the impressions from first playthroughs from the fans--reviews are great and all, but I like to see what actual players say too.  If you are playing, I hope you're having a great time and you get that Dragon Age fix that folks have been waiting for.

The stage plays mxmtoon's songs during the week.

Me, I'm still re-playing Dave the Diver but am about to the point where I'm getting ready to move onto something else.  It's still great--(and this playthrough has gone exponentially better since I understood the upgrade system for food and have made way more money than on my first playthrough) and there are a few new events.  One event involves a budding music star who wants to dive with Dave to find green sea urchins for a special dish.  It winds up being an escort style mission where she searched for the urchins and you have to defend her from unfriendly fish.  Completing the mission rewards a new item, a speaker and microphone that can be placed in Bancho Sushi and the singer (mxmtoon--no clue who this person is in real life) will perform on the weekends.

The best event that has been added is the Dredge crossover.  Once in awhile a red mist will show up--this allows you to play a sort of Dredge mini-game where Dave can pilot the ship to special whirlpools and dive for aberrated fish.  The fish are the same as those found in Dredge and they are aggressive, so it's similar to a regular night dive.  The best part is that those aberrated fish can be cooked into special dishes for the hooded figures who appear in Bancho Sushi--they'll pay a premium for the dishes and any extra fish can be sold to the merchant (from Dredge).  You can make a decent amount of cash from this event, but it only appears once in awhile (I've only had it pop up twice in my current playthrough).

I did purchase the DLC Pilgrim Pack for Cult of the Lamb and will probably give it a go once I'm done diving with Dave.  Happy gaming eveyone!

Geek Chic

I've decided to re-visit one of my favorite games of the last few years, Dave the Diver, and would recommend a re-play for anyone who hasn't played in awhile.  They just added in some fun crossover content with some other indies--namely Balatro!  I was surprised to see a new mission appear when Dave traveled to the Sea People village and then found myself engaged in a few bouts of Balatro with various citizens.  It's fun and rewards a new charm.  Previously, they also added in content related to the creepy, mystery game Dredge.  Apparently there's even more that I haven't encountered yet!

It's also worth mentioning for all my BioWare fan peeps out there that Dragon Age: The Veilguard releases on October 31st.  For the sake of BioWare, I'm hoping that it turns out to be a hit.  I'm worried that another flop might drive the last nail into the coffin of one of my favorite studios.  Let's all collectively cross our fingers.

Since I'm not playing anything new, I thought I would talk about geeky clothing and some options out there for folks who are looking to put their gamer status on public display.  I'm not someone who's super fashionable, but I do like a fun, gaming themed t-shirt.  Nowadays it seems like our shopping options have expanded, but it's always a bit nerve wracking to order online because you just never know if the place you are ordering from is legitimate or if their items are of a good quality.

So you want to buy some gaming themed-gear--here are some options with pros and cons.

1.) Official Merch Stores

Pros:

+ It's licensed merchandise from the studio.  You can generally expect it to be high quality.

+ If a title is popular enough there will be lots of fun designs and plenty of new stuff.

+ A variety of products--art, clothing, collectibles, etc.

+ Good sale prices for less popular titles and discontinued items.

+ Sometimes free shipping is included (if you spend a certain amount)

Cons:

- Spendy. That "official" label means you're probably going to be spending more.

- Customer service for some merch stores can be iffy.

- Less popular titles usually have fewer available items.

I've purchased items from the BioWare, Bethesda, and CD Projekt Red stores and had good experiences with each.  Mostly I purchased clothing but also some posters.  The posters all were shipped in sturdy tubes that kept them from being damaged.

One of the designs I purchased from RedBubble.

2.) RedBubble

I decided to give RedBubble a try even though I had read pretty mixed reviews online.  I ordered three t-shirts (and am currently washing them, so we'll see how they hold up)--all different designs and colors.

Pros:

+ Lots of designs and options for many games.

+ Options for many different types of items--stickers, blankets, posters, clothing...etc.

+ T-shirts can be ordered in a wide array of colors/styles

+ Website was easy to use.

+ Cheaper than official merch.

Cons:

- Designs purportedly come from "artists" but I'm skeptical.  It really feels to me that graphics are likely copied from...somewhere and then used/re-used.  (I mean, when you have multiple "artists" offering the same design...c'mon.)  If you're someone who wants to actively support artists and not just pay someone who is copying a design, look elsewhere.

- Slow shipping (unless you want to pay a small fortune for expedited shipping).  Maybe it was just my personal experience, but I was almost at the point of asking for a refund because my order took so long.  Firstly, it takes several BUSINESS days before your order is printed.  Then it actually ships--my order was UPS Mail Innovations which delivers through the USPS.  It took 3-4 days before my order was ready, then it took 4 days for my order to depart the first stop....then it took 5 days to finally make it to my house.  If you're expecting an Amazon Prime Style 2-day experience...it's not that.

- The quality of the t-shirts themselves seems mostly okay.  They are a thinner material that's soft-ish.  If you're expecting super high quality, spend more and look elsewhere.

-Many online reviews are mixed and the print quality on the shirts can be iffy.  (Mine all looked fine, so no complaints here)

- Designs can only be placed directly in the middle on the front or back of the shirt.  It's a bit plain and not as fun as shirts that feature front and back designs.

Some other options:

*I haven't ordered anything from these retailers, but I'm interested in their products and they look to have some cool items.  I thought I would just throw them out there as options for people who might be looking.

1.) Insert Coin Clothing (link)

They have a wide variety of items including clothing and accessories.  You can shop by game and there are a mix of older and newer titles to choose from.  Their prices are a bit on the higher side, but they do have some pretty cool looking stuff.

2.) fangamer (link)

If you're looking for gear from non-triple A titles, fangamer offers up a diverse array of items from some notable indies.  There are plushes, clothing, collectibles (like artbooks), and other items.  They have some awesome looking designs, but the downside is that they are probably the priciest option out there (t-shirts run around $36).

3.) Draculabyte (link)

If you want some unique t-shirts from movies and games, their designs are heavy metal inspired and very unique.  They only sell t-shirts, but I would encourage you to check out the variety of designs.  I'm keeping them bookmarked for the future.

Happily Ever After

The latest "special pack" for PowerWash Simulator features locations from a perennial favorite--the Shrek franchise.  It's one of numerous additional content packs from my favorite (and really the only) powerwashing simulator.  But is it worth spending another $7.99?

What is it?

The latest additional content features 5 locations from the Shrek movies.  Like all the "special packs" it also adds in a new player skin and washer skin (knight themed).  If you're hoping for new attachments...wish more.

Pros:

+ I love Shrek and I think there are a lot of people out there who are also fans.  Some of their other "special packs" felt like somewhat odd choices (Back to the Future is definitely one that will appeal to older gamers...which, I'm guessing is their target demographic).  There are 5 new locations to clean and they tend to fall in the range of the first and second films (the third one was a bit of a dud, so no loss there).

Each map is sprinkled with cute little details like the ogre doll.

The 5 locations are:

1.) Duloc--a large map with lots of Lord Farquad related details.  The famous Duloc information board is featured (but sadly, it doesn't play the song).

2.) Hansel's Hideaway--the location of Shrek and Fiona's honeymoon.  It's a smaller map, but there are tons of cute candy details on the cabin.  The best part--you get to wash the onion carriage!

3.) Fairy Godmother's potion factory.  This is a large map that has a ton of moving machinery (that can be stopped) and small details (the potions have fun names from the movies).  I'm fairly certain it took me the longest to clean.

4.) Shrek's Swamp.  This is a medium sized map, but is a signature location from the films.  Rather than being simply mucky, it features fun layers of different colored glitter (which is surprisingly enjoyable to clean).  All the little details from the movie are present--the jar of eyeballs that Shrek is snacking on, the bucket shower in the swamp, and all the warning signs.

Dragon's Cookbook for "Knightly Treats"

5.) Dragon's Lair.  I wasn't sure about this map at first, but even though it makes only a brief appearance in the films, they packed it with a ton of cute details.  There's a giant frog statue of King Harold (the frog king from the second movie) and an entire sparkling pile of treasure to clean up.  I enjoyed all the fun stuff they added.

+ No vehicle-only maps (which has been a gripe of some players).  All five of the maps will take you a good chunk of time to clean.

Cons:

- It might be a bug, but on two of the maps that featured the large, movable tower for cleaning, the tower would become unmovable if placed in certain locations.  In order to fix this I had to quit the map, start another one and reset items to their original position.  It's slightly annoying, but nothing too major.

- I'm sure some people will be upset that there aren't any new washer attachments.

Recommendation:

If you're a fan of Shrek or PowerWash Simulator, this pack is definitely worth your $7.99.  It was a bit of a nostalgia trip to be cleaning up the swamp--tons of fond memories of the first two films.  The maps are all good sized and packed with tons of details from the film (and added stuff that is fun).  

Cleaning up the Swamp

I've been happily tooling away at cleaning up fictional locations from the Shrek cinematic universe in PowerWash Simulator's latest special pack.  It's fun to see the settings from the film spattered with muck and then sparklingly clean.  So far I've only managed to clean one map--they start you off with Duloc and it's a big-un.  I'm looking forward to spending more time spraying away at some other Shrek themed locales and writing up a full review of all the spraying good times I'm having.

In other news:

1.) Red Dead Redemption is making its way to PC!

If you're at all familiar with how Rockstar does things, you know that PC gamers just have to be patient.  Eventually the titles will make their way onto our favorite platform...I mean, someday, right?  The news dropped this week that the OG Red Dead will be releasing October 29th.  The PC version promises all the bells and whistles that certain PC gamers clamor for--fancy-shmancy graphics settings (4k and whatnot) mostly.  For the completely non-2004 price of $49.99 you can grab the base game plus the "undead nightmare" DLC.  Red Dead Redemption 2 is one of my all time favorites, but I think I'll be waiting on this one until we start seeing a great price reduction.  ($50 for a game that came out 20 years ago!  Seems a little nuts, but I'm sure they've thrown in all the great re-mastering)

Here's the trailer--it has some real 2004 vibes, but it is a Rockstar game which means that it's gonna be worth playing:

2.) Remember:  You don't actually own any games.

If you logged into Steam at all this week you were prompted with a pop-up window to agree to a new subscriber agreement.  Did any of us actually read it?  Probably not.  Apparently though, part of the new agreement was none too gently reminding us that we don't actually own the game...just a license to play the game through Steam.  It's when these things start happening that you feel a little itchy and nervous.  Even though I've never experienced it, other distribution platforms have pulled games that people paid for and they've lost the ability to play said game.  Yeah, it's not exactly a consumer-friendly business practice, but they're holding all the cards.  If you want to own your games outright, GOG is your best option (and they were crowing about that fact when this news dropped).

Happy gaming!  Whether you're counting down to the new/old Red Dead or Dragon Age: The Veilguard, there's plenty to look forward to.

Make Singleplayer Games Great Again!

I've got nothing new to report on my own personal gaming front--I'm still just waiting in excited powerwashing anticipation of the Shrek themed special pack that releases on October 10th.  One piece of gaming news/research made me perk up this week--in 2023 a research firm surveyed gamers in many different countries about their gaming habits.  The survey largely revolved around what types of games players preferred--PvP, Co-op, PvE, or singleplayer.  Younger gamers (in the 16-24 range) definitely leaned toward PvP/online games.  Older gamers tended to lean more toward singleplayer (with the percentage drastically increasing as the age range gets higher) games.  It's maybe mildly surprising to me--the percentage of younger gamers who said they preferred singleplayer games was lower, but still about 30%.  The big takeaway is that 53% of gamers say the prefer singleplayer games--this when it seems like so many games are focused on being "live service" or multiplayer.  53% isn't an overwhelming number, but for years we've heard that singleplayer gaming is in its death throes and that doesn't seem to be the case.

Singleplayer games reign!

When I was younger, I definitely preferred multiplayer games.  I was a dedicated World of Warcraft player who leaned toward the more PvE aspects of the game and was heavily invested in raiding.  WoW was always one of those games where I felt like you had to choose a path of dedication--either you let it consume your soul or you were a filthy casual who popped on once in awhile to mess around.  To me, spending $15 a month to just mess around once in awhile didn't seem worth it (I definitely got my $15 worth).  I still have (mostly) fond memories of playing WoW and the people I raided with--they were good people from all around the U.S. (and world!).

The reality of being younger is that you have more free time to spend on gaming--you usually have fewer commitments.  It was easy for me to dedicate 2-3 hours 2 or 3 times a week to raiding (but let's be real...that time was usually greater because if you were going to do raiding RIGHT you also had to make sure you had stocked up on all the potions, food, and other consumables that were needed).  As people mature, life starts getting more complicated--people have families, they start thinking more about their careers, and that amount of seemingly endless time to game just evaporates.  Scheduling time becomes more difficult.

Now that I'm older, I spend almost all of my time gaming playing singleplayer games.  It's nice to be able to start up a game and play as much or as little as I want without inconveniencing anyone else.  I have no desire to play a multiplayer game.

My hope is that some developers or publishers see this information and start thinking more about investing in singleplayer titles.  And no, I'm not necessarily talking about whopping, AAA titles--some of the games that I've enjoyed the most and that have been unique, fun experiences have been smaller or indie titles.  It makes me really sad when I see studios like Tango Gameworks make a great game and then get shuttered (but fortunately saved by another large gaming company...we'll see how that works).  There's definitely a market for singleplayer games (even on mobile!) and I think they're due for a bit of a makeover--I think the days of the ginormous, UbiSoft map marker nightmare games might be waning and that players are looking for shorter, unique and enjoyable titles.  (*I am interested to see how Dragon Age: The Veilguard plays out)  Let the singleplayer renaissance begin!

(Here's a link to the research article)

Doom Spiral

As the spooky October 31st release date of Dragon Age: The Veilguard creeps ever closer I've been keeping my lil' peepers on any prominent news.  It feels like almost every week there's a semi-bi-polar slide between items that fans find "good" and those that are "bad" (but thanks to the general cynicism of the interwebs are painted as downright catastrophic).  I've seen excitement over the character creation options (especially the hair...which if you've ever followed any RPG you'll know is absolutely VITAL) that immediately turned into an absolute doom spiral with this piece of news--apparently, few of your decisions from Origins and Dragon Age 2 will carry over into The Veilguard.  Instead, only 3 choices you made in Inquisition will have an effect on the world state.  (Read the interview with the creative director here)  I am a member of a very well moderated Dragon Age group on social media and I would classify the reaction as a total freak out.  Is that reaction warranted?

There's a part of me that thinks, no, it's just people being overly cynical.  I think BioWare has always done a good job of making your decisions feel like they had weight and part of the fun in carrying over those decisions is seeing the outcome in a subsequent game.  But in reality, how big of an impact did those decisions really have on the world?  You might get a brief reference to someone you saved or have a slightly different character be part of something.  In reality, I think the illusion of choice is what players experience.  The main outcomes generally don't vary much and it's usually a very outcome A vs. outcome B type of scenario (think of Mass Effect 3's controversial red, blue, green ending--I mean, did many of your choices from previous games really matter there?).  It also sounds like they're trying to separate the game world from the tangled web of lore and decisions from the previous games and do something new-ish (which...given Andromeda...I don't know).

On the other hand, I can somewhat empathize with the naysayers.  Part of the fun of making even the small decisions is witnessing their outcomes.  The Keep offered players the chance to experiment with various decisions and make each new playthrough unique.  That has always been a hallmark of BioWare games and given them the ability to be massively replayable.  Are we going to be losing that factor?

I've read several articles about how the ginormous RPG's of the modern era have become so unwieldy that maybe we're due for a change in the size and scope of them.  Maybe this decision is a reflection of those changes coming to fruition?  I'm not someone who is going to be pre-ordering or playing on day 1 and I'm interested to just sit on the sidelines and see how things play out.  I would highly encourage people not to get sucked into the overly negative reactions to every piece of news that comes out and to play it first. 

We've Got Some Dates!

Two of the upcoming titles from my previous post announced their release dates this week!  Here's the lowdown:

Two Point Museum will be released on March 4, 2025.  It's a bit further off than I was hoping--I was pulling for a holiday release--but, oh well.  The announcement also offered up info on the two "editions" of the game.  There's the boring ol' regular edition and the "explorer edition"--there are plenty of goodies to tempt players into the undoubtedly more expensive edition--(see graphic below):

I've never really understood the draw of "you can play x days early," (especially in multiplayer games) but I guess if you ABSOLUTELY cannot wait.  The only part of these additional items that seems good to me is the exclusive map location--I'm assuming this means that there's one bonus museum for you to run.  The rest of it looks like cosmetics and additional items.  What I learned from Two Point Campus is that a lot of these "exclusives" will usually be offered as some kind of bonus later on anyway.  Personally, I will not be forking out the extra cash, but to each his/her/their own.  They're also offering up a bundle of Sonic themed items as a pre-order bonus.

PowerWash Simulator announced that the Shrek themed expansion pack will be releasing on October 10th!  This is great news and I'm very much looking forward to cleaning up the swamp and Duloc.

In completely non-related news, I was a bit bummed to find out that one of my favorite geeky clothing vendors, J!NX clothing, had closed down two years ago (yeah, I'm a bit behind the times).  I was hoping to buy a few new gaming themed t-shirts and I don't buy them too often.  It seems like there aren't a ton of good options out there if you're hoping not to spend a small fortune and go with official merch.  I was eyeballing some stuff on Redbubble but everything I read about the quality of their items was negative (plus, I sort of got the vibe that their stuff is basically graphics that people copy off of the internet and then print onto t-shirts).  FanGamer has some very cool items...but dang if they aren't pricy (like $36 for a t-shirt).  There's also Insert Coin, but it's a similar situation--$$$.  I'll have to keep exploring and see what I can find.