@TristanPR77 Buy a mid-range PC, let all your games auto-detect your graphics settings, have fun not caring about specs for the next 5-7 years while still having superior visual fidelity over a console.
"Well Jeff. We've tried countless times now to establish a link between real world violence and video games but every time we've conducted research into the matter we've come back with nothing. You know what that means don't you?"
"That we should conclude that there is no real link between violence and video games, sir?"
"No you imbecile! Find a scientist and throw money at him until he gives us the results we want! Now get out of my office!"
@maitkarro Pretty sure people went batshit about both GTA and God of War, but I'd argue that the difference is the context in which it's presented.
Although the mini-games in God of War are tacky as Hell, the series is based off of Greek mythology which is pretty sexually charged stuff to begin with so at least it's staying true to the source material.
GTA parodies modern society where once again, sexualization is rife. Strip clubs and hookers are a part of that society and so are included in the game as a satirical nod to the state of American/Western culture.
On the other hand, Kojima's created a female warrior character in highly impractical, skimpy battle dress because in more or less his own words, tits push merchandise.
@Darkhacker1811 @Apathy4Marmite I haven't played Blacklight Retribution, but from your post I believe that you may not be disagreeing with my point at all but instead making an entirely new one.
If it uses a free-to-play model similar to Hawken where everything is purchasable with real money as well as in-game money (except cosmetic items that have no effect on actual gameplay) then it's not crossing the line into manipulation because the fact that if I invest enough time into the game to unlock all the exact same gear as those who have used microtransaction short-cuts means that they never truly have a permanent edge on me.
On a game like Candy Crush: "Unfortunately, your luck wasn't good enough to trigger a massive cascade in order to reach the goal and finish the level so you've run out of lives. Now give us money or go away until you have our permission to continue playing!"
I've never spent money on a free-to-play game and I intend to keep it that way.
As far as I'm concerned, buying an Eagle in Angry Birds would be like if DICE let you buy an aimbot that was good for one round of conquest. They're cheats.
If the game is designed so that you can complete it without having to buy power-ups, then you shouldn't be buying them because needing that much help to complete it means you shouldn't be playing it.
If the game is designed so that you need to buy power-ups to complete it, it's a game designed purely on manipulation and greed and you should stay the Hell away from it.
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