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thesameguy
March 4th, 2015, 11:26 AM
A while back this was featured on the XBL Gold discounts:

http://neveralonegame.com/

and I bought it.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFOJwGIFi00

I had expiring discounts at Dell so I ended up getting a second xbone controller, and last night me & the girl did a little co-op Eskimo-ing.

It's a like Limbo in that it's a melancholy, side-scrolling, easy-moderate puzzle solver. The addition of a second playable character is fun, and being very low pressure it's a good deal to share with a total non-gamer. We played for a couple hours last night and it's been enjoyable. There are little mini-documentaries included as unlocks that talk about Inuit culture, legend as well as the challenges of living in arctic wastelands. It's neat and well done. I think it was on sale for $9, but normal price is $15. Having played it a little, I would have paid the $15 for it. :)

Random
March 4th, 2015, 01:17 PM
As someone who is totally not in the gamer scene, those graphics look pretty amazing.

thesameguy
March 4th, 2015, 03:08 PM
They are simple and elegant with an excellent sense of style. They aren't technically jaw-dropping, but it's pretty and immersive.

One thing I forgot: The story is narrated in what I presume is Inuktitut, with subtitles. It adds to the experience, but sometimes it's really tough to pay attention to what you're doing and read the subtitles!

Cam
March 4th, 2015, 03:12 PM
Thanks for the recommendation. I'll check it out.

Oh wait, it's a Xbone game. :(

thesameguy
March 4th, 2015, 04:54 PM
It's also on PS4 and PC. :)

Rare White Ape
March 5th, 2015, 02:21 AM
It's amazing how the WiiU is nearly shunned as a console, yet there's a huge proliferation of simpler Nintendo-like games on PS4Bone and Steam.

thesameguy
March 5th, 2015, 02:40 AM
Funny you mention that - my girl brought up the Wii when we were playing Never Alone. The Wii might as well have invented casual gaming, but its lack of more complex & advanced games left a bad taste in peoples' mouths. She wanted to play Mario Kart, but I just wouldn't take the risk on a Wii again. :(

Rare White Ape
March 5th, 2015, 04:28 AM
That might be the missing link. They went the quirky route, and so lost the mainstream audience, which meant the quality casual games, and the deep 2.5D games went chasing the money on the better supported platforms.

Now Nintendo Land is full of cheap party and fitness shovelware made in bulk in Chinese sweatshops. And Nintendo IP.

How long can this last?

Another tangent (thinking out loud here); this is the first time we've seen a sustained, almost symbiotic console war between two makers. In the beginning, Atari neglected the market and left it open for Sega and Nintendo to take over. After two generations, Sony came in and ate both Sega and Nintendo - Sega ceased to make consoles shortly thereafter. The next generation saw Microsoft meet Sony and they took it to them.

Now we're up to the third generation of Xbox and the fourth of PlayStation. That's unprecedented. They've somehow managed to build two brands that exist side-by-side. Apart from a short-lived resurgence from Nintendo with the Wii, that's been the status quo since 2001.

thesameguy
March 5th, 2015, 04:47 AM
There are some interesting things on the horizon - Microsoft purportedly wants out of Xbox and has been looking for a buyer. At the very least, they'll spin it off. That could have some undesirable funding consequences. OTOH, Sony was in the red for *years* and only managed to "barely" turn a profit in 2014; there have been lots of predictions that Sony will BK in the next two years, and that '14 was buoyed by PS4 sales. If Xbox loses access to MS coffers and Sony's recovery is short-lived once the PS4 sales slow, we may all be buying Wiis next time around. :lol:

novicius
March 5th, 2015, 06:48 AM
Greaaat -- then my "console" price tag will jump from $400 to $2000 when I'm forced to buy a PC to get my digital gaming fix. What a fuckin' waste... :thppt:

thesameguy
March 5th, 2015, 07:29 AM
Everything old is new again.