Perhaps the biggest (read most inescapable) news in the gaming world is that Zenimax has been bought out by Microsoft. Meaning a lotta gaming studios (Bethesda, id and others) has taken refuge under that (quite enormous) Microsoft Gaming umbrella.
'tis a big move to be sure and will result in some IP exchanging hands. The only question is, what is going to happen next...
This weekend, i went to a gaming bar.
Now that gaming has well and truly grown out of it's niche interest and into the juggernaut it is, you see this type of thing a lot: A place where gamers can gather, interact, drink grog and play some games (although not necessarily in that order).
I was told of the place beforehand and instructed to turn up early so i don't get left out. But when I did show up at the opening hour, there were very few people there.
Upon entry, I noticed a number of arcade games (Golden Axe, Galaga and TMNT among them). There was beer available and the staff were friendly.
But there were few in the way of other patrons - which was surprising as this was a Saturday evening. Therefore, one expected more numbers and more rowdiness but that was not the case.
Still, at least i can say I have been to a gaming bar
I was going through some of my Steam achievements on Age of Empires 2 and came across this:
Cause for concern maybe?
Apparently the upcoming PS5 will not be backward compatible with the PS3, PS2 or PS1 (Source).
I will, however grudgingly, accept that the PlayStation is built from unique hardware that would be difficult to replicate but seriously, do Sony want my money or not?
Well it happened: On the weekend, I made it to Level 810 on Elder Scrolls Online.
This means that, after so long, I have achieved the level cap and unlocked all the champion points for all my characters.
So I've done it: I've achieved what I set out to do. I declared that I will commit some key gaming time to ESO for the sole purpose of getting to level 810 and I did it.
But now I face a new problem: Where do I go from here?
It has been observed that once you reached the level cap in ESO then that's it: The game is over and there's nothing left to see or do. And I do agree with that: In order to reach level 810, I went through countless dungeons and traversed through all available areas (all in correct chronological order) - only to come out the other side with a sense that there's no more places to visit.
It also can't be ignored that ESO is, by far and away, the game I have sunk the most hours into. According to my Steam account it is the only game that boasts an investment of over a thousand hours. But that distinction has come because I have been playing ESO near exclusively - often at the expense of the other games in my collection.
Much like WoW before it.
So perhaps it is fitting that with nowhere left to go, the time has come to move on. I guess there was a degree of finality and inevitability to ESO once I made it to level 810 but at least i can say that this time I ended this MMORPG on a positive note (as opposed to loss of interest (WoW) or bitterness (Star Trek Online)).
So to that end I should be grateful.
So what happens when you complete everything in Borderlands 2? Well, you take a shot at the Pre-Sequel of course!
The Pre-Sequel is of interest to me: It was the final game by 2K Australia and as such, goes for an Australian setting. The music of the Vines features prominently in the opening cinematic and there's tones of Australian Accents and in jokes all around. Considering how much the Borderlands series indebted to the Mad Max movies, perhaps it is fitting that it would have an iteration built off of an Australian setting.
The problem with this game being a prequel (as indicated by the title) is the same with any prequel: We know what's going to happen. So of the Vault Hunters available, it's difficult to choose between them due to knowing beforehand what fate awaits them in Borderlands 2. So I settled for the DLC character Aurelia because a) I knew next to nothing about her and b) sniper rifles and ice powers - what's not to like?
Which is ultimately a fancy way of saying she's the only selectable character that interested me.
So here we go into the Pre-Sequel....
