Quoting: 1mHfoksd1ZThe GOG hyperlink you posted is getting blocked by both uBlock Origin and by PiHole, as a dangerous/tracker link

Don't worry, it's not dangerous, and the site is very transparent about it. From the bottom of the article;

QuoteWe do often include affiliate links to earn us some pennies. We are currently affiliated with GOG and Humble Store. See more here.

I always use GOL's affiliate links when I'm purchasing from those sites, myself.

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Quoting: TheSHEEEPI don't agree with including modes like that, but among implementations of story-like modes that I can't stand, this is really the least devaluing option possible. And they did that years after the game first came out - at this point, the exclusive club has been open for years and whoever was in it more than likely had their share by now.

Stuff like this is handy if you share games with younger relatives, though. Obviously that specific use-case doesn't apply to this specific game since it's rated 16, but a good range of difficulty options is useful in other games that are known for high difficulty but can have broader appeal. I seem to recall hearing that Capcom did something like that for one of their titles, I think it was one of the Mega Man ones, and it helped there since they'd put those games on ice for so long that they had to cultivate a new audience who didn't have decades of gaming experience, as well as bring back their old crowd.

That said, I fully get where you're coming from with regard to earning skill by investing time/talent/patience/etc. into it, as I used to play some stuff competitively, and would often find myself rolling my eyes at excuses and/or poor conduct from those who felt that spending extra money (be that on DLC, peripherals, or whatever) entitled them to success even if they didn't put forth any other effort. But for me I only apply that thinking to competitive events - I'd rather chill with a single-player experience however I feel like at any given time, and I'm happy to see others do the same. (Disclaimer: I'm one of those folks who are completely nonplussed by those "achievement" texts, though. )

Quoting: M@GOidIn my youth I had finished a couple games people often include in the list of "most difficult games ever", like the NES Battletoads. But the older I get, the less patience I have to play games with sadistic levels of difficulty. There is just too many games out there, for me to spend money on something that don't bring you joy.

I'm in this boat, too, I must admit - I'm not always in the mood, or don't always have the time, for that sort of time-investment nowadays, so I appreciate having a range of options for when I don't, or for the above use-case where the younger crowd takes an interest. Video games are a hobby descended from toys, after all.

Games being time-respectful wasn't usually a major consideration in my youth, but it will sometimes influence the priority that I put on a game purchase now. The ones that I've revisited the most always had this property, too.

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Quoting: dibzTo each their own, I thought their giveaways were phenomenal this sale. Not all of them were point and clicks, yesterday was Flashback. About a month ago they gave away Shantae and the Pirate's Curse too.

I don't know if it was part of this sale or if they're always free, but I grabbed the Jill of the Jungle Trilogy, Bio Menace, and Stargunner (all Linux-compatible) during this one, too.

Of course, I grabbed VirtuaVerse as well because I'm currently trying to sort out some suitable games for my GPD MicroPC (running Xubuntu, the same as my other machines), and a point-and-click title should be very well-suited to its tiny clicky metal-film thumb-keyboard and miniature trackpad. Hopefully it'll read well on the dinky display!

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Quoting: elmapuli hope that dont split the atention of their fans between two products

I wouldn't worry too much about that - they're for two different market segments, as far as I can tell, since one product isn't an alternative for the other.

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Quoting: dosWhy does pocket money like this grant Microsoft so much PR fuss? There are companies out there that fund GNOME development with multiplies of that amount *each month*.

It reminds me of them investing money in competitors in the past in order to show that they really truly weren't a monopoly honest, so if I had to guess, maybe it's somehow related to the antitrust issues of old?

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Quoting: slaapliedjeAs I grew up on the Ultima series, and never really had a NES, I have not played any of the Final Fantasy games. Even during that era I had a Sega Master System, so Phantasy Star was what I played (though I never did finish it).

If you're from a PAL region, Final Fantasy never came here until 7 anyway.

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It's got a 10% launch discount until June 23rd, too, which makes it even better!

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Just got a Steam e-mail to confirm that the game is now out. Looks like there's a 10%-off launch offer too, leaving it at £20.24 until June 23rd, instead of the usual £22.49.

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Quoting: Purple Library GuyHeh. Technically, that would be amazing assonance.
Anyhow, I do my alliteration in classic Old English poetry style, where you alliterate the first syllable with the next stressed syllable: Packing . . . pal.

... Is it bad that the "pal" part made me read your entire post in the style of Detective Gumshoe from Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney?

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Quoting: Purple Library GuyHuh. Where does Digimon fit into this history?

As eldaking notes, it started off as a "For Boys"-labelled equivalent to the more neutral Tamagotchi (both are by Bandai, and the first Digimon play out very similarly to the first Tamagotchis), with the addition of two metal contacts on the top of the device so that they could connect and battle. Obviously this was a bit of a response to the then-new-in-Japan Pokemon, which pre-dated Digimon, too. Digimon's later TV adaptation ended up outshining the original virtual pets (and overtaking the early lore, which the PlayStation Digimon World games were tied to, though I gather that they may have reconnected it all later on), and it then went as eldaking described, with all the gadgets.

Virtual pets have been one of my favourite game-genres since their prototypical era with Activision's Little Computer People for the Commodore 64, so I actually have some of these little guys sitting on my desk right now.

Quoting: eldakingApparently they even tried smartwatches and smartphones with later entries, though I wasn't really following digimon by then.

There's currently a phone-app-connected fitness-band called the "Digimon Vital Bracelet" as well, which is very recent, though it's remained Japan-only thus far.

Quoting: Purple Library GuyPacking some gorgeous alliteration there, pal.

Amazing alliteration, surely?

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