Enthusiasm for Mass Effect: Andromeda, Chatter about Call of Cthulhu, and Yakuza 5 Discussions
The Morning Inbox Asks for Advice on New Steering Wheels and Games Like Tembo The Badass Elephant
Hey there, Game Central gang! Gonna toss out some thoughts and questions today, see if we can't get a good chat going.
I've been feeling pretty bummed lately because, well, E3 was a bit of a letdown. Don't get me wrong, there were plenty of exciting announcements, but I can't help but feel a bit empty knowing that we won't see some of the bigger releases till next year. And what I'm really pumped for, you ask? Mass Effect: Andromeda, of course! But all we got was a fancy-schmancy trailer, and the game doesn't even drop till autumn. So now I'll be living and breathing that game for the next 12 months, dedicate my nights to dreaming about exploring the galaxy.
I suppose I brought this all on myself, but what really has me thinking is that Bethesda made the right call by not announcing Fallout 4 until half a year before it dropped. Despite how I feel now, I'll be all over it when it comes out, and I won't have been harassed by non-stop hype for ages like I have with certain other games.
Now, I hear some whispers that Mass Effect might be at Gamescom this year. If that's the case, I might as well hear it all now. As you can guess, I'm pretty wimpy when it comes to waiting for new games, so I'd appreciate any information on that front.
I ran across Tembo The Badass Elephant after your review and decided to give it a shot. I gotta say, I agree, it's pretty darn good! The graphics really appeal to me, and, well, I've been playing Batman: Arkham Knight recently, which as you know is pitch black all the time, so it's rad to see colors again in a game.
Now, I'm not gonna claim that Tembo is the second coming of Christ or anything, but I really liked the fact that it feels like a Sega game. I know they've gotta pay the bills and all, and if they wanna focus on PC strategy games, well, fine. But couldn't their other thing be old-school, Japanese-style games like this? It's exactly what I'm hoping we see more of in the future. Sadly, I'm worried that this might be a one-off and we won't see any more of these kinds of games in the future.
Listened to a bit of that H.P. Lovecraft stuff Bloodborne got everyone talking about, so I figured I'd bring up some old-school Lovecraft games. Call of Cthulhu: Shadow of the Comet and Prisoner of Ice just showed up on GOG.com. They're point-and-click adventures from the '90s, when publisher Infogrames seemed to have a bit of a Lovecraft obsession after the success of the first Alone in the Dark.
These games aren't LucasArts-level, but they are pretty well written and adult, and they're scarier than you'd expect given they're just point-and-clickers. I have no idea how they've resurfaced after all this time, but they're only $4 each, so I wouldn't mind anyone with a passing interest in Lovecraft giving them a shot. They really capture the atmosphere of Lovecraft's original stories and stand out from anything else currently out there.
Don't know about you guys, but I think Sony really dropped the ball with this whole PS Vita thing. Terrible marketing, expensive memory cards, withdrawing support, and porting off the best games... It's a wonder the thing even survived this long. That said, I have to admit that I think the launch line-up was pretty solid: stuff like Uncharted: Golden Abyss, MotorStorm: RC, and Super Stardust Delta were top-tier games.
Of course, things went sour after that, but they had a decent start. On a totally unrelated note, I've lately been digging MotorStorm RC. Gave it another chance recently and I gotta say, it's a whole lot of fun. I'd definitely recommend it to anyone who enjoyed the Micro Machines games back in the day.
Here's something interesting: for a narrowboat dweller like me, Internet access is pretty much non-existent. The best option seems to be a MiFi device with a mobile sim, but providers gotta be able to detect when you're tethering and tend to frown on that. Even if they don't mind the tethering, their bundles don't give you much data for your dollar, and I'd be stuck at 10GB per month. Seems like I'll have to part ways with my PlayStation 4 because of it.
So, which contemporary console works best without the Internet? I've heard that the Wii U is decent, but I'd appreciate any other suggestions. Or, better yet, are there other options I'm missing out on?
Well, as you may have heard, Project CARS for the Wii U has been cancelled. Can't say I'm surprised, just disappointed it took so long to announce it. I'm still interested in Project CARS, but I had been hoping it would work well enough on the Wii U to make it worth picking up. Guess it's back to the PlayStation 4 or Xbox One for me.
Lastly, I'm in the market for a new steering wheel for my Xbox One and saw that Logitech is releasing one soon. I'm curious, though: is it possible to adjust the rotation of the wheel? On my Fanatec wheel, you can adjust it from 90 degrees to 900. For instance, F1 cars have around 270 degrees rotation, and I'd love to lock my wheel to that to make it feel precise and realistic.
I've looked online but haven't found any concrete information, so I'm hoping someone might have some insight on this. Also, does Forza Motorsport 6 have any fun modes like car soccer or tag?
Well, that about wraps up my thoughts and questions for today! As always, I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts on the topics I brought up, and hopefully spark a lively discussion. Take care, and happy gaming!
- In the midst of feeling letdown by E3 this year, I'm hoping that Mass Effect will offer some relief, particularly Mass Effect: Andromeda which is set to be released later this year.
- Reminiscing about the hype and release of Fallout 4, I can't help but wonder if Bioware will make an early announcement for Mass Effect as Gamescom approaches, considering my eagerness to avoid extended periods of waiting for new games.
- On a lighter note, I recently discovered and enjoyed playing Tembo The Badass Elephant, as it reminded me of old-school, Japanese-style games like the Sega games I love, and it presents a refreshing change from the dark and drab graphics found in games like Batman: Arkham Knight.
