Key

Mechassault 1 and 2 for the OG Xbox are great.

MicShazam

Microsoft should put some of those OG Xbox games on the XB One online store somehow. There's a few gems there that hardly anyone is playing anymore. Sudeki and Brute Force come to mind (split screen versus was super fun. Lot's of trolling with invisibility powerups and hard-to-see land mines).

The Batlord

If I ever get rich I'm totally gonna get Steel Battalion, that XBox game that you have to buy a $200 peripheral just to play.



****in' sweet.

__________________

MicShazam

I agree, I just didn't like the way Batty was framing it. A strong core mechanic is strong because of the experience it helps facilitate. Like creating tense situations, interesting situations, etc.

A lot of games I like are fairly focused in terms of mechanics. I like games that don't try to be everything to everyone, but choose something specific to do really, really well. Like arcade shoot 'em ups, for example, where it's all about that breathless mental focus on dodging every little projectile that could kill you in one hit.

I hate sounding so much like I just hate fun, but GTA is kind of a good example of what I don't like. It's the kind of game that does everything under the sun, but none of it well.

MicShazam

I have wet dreams about owning that.

The Batlord

I'm kind of the opposite, not in that I don't appreciate great mechanics, but I love GTA and Elder Scrolls because I have the attention span of a gnat and there's always something I can think of to do in any given five or ten minute span.

__________________

The Batlord

How did that game even get developed? There's no way they thought anyone was going to buy that so how did the pitch to the company even go?

__________________

MicShazam

I sometimes break the "rule" anyway. It's not generally what I gravitate towards, but I have spent probably around 200 hours combined on Saint's Row 1-4. For some reason it grabbed me more than GTA, even though it's just as broken and loosely put together.

I'm thinking cocaine. It would have made sense if the game was even older. Some of the stories you hear about old school games development are absolute chaotic madness. The story behind Street Fighter 2 is pretty fascinating, for example. Can't remember the details much though, but I read a very long article about it once. Hey... that was Capcom too!

The Batlord

Saints Row is ****ing great and I rep it over GTA. GTA 3, Vice City, and San Andreas were huge for me but are now dated, whereas Saints Row picked up from where those games left off and made them at least somewhat more mechanically engaging and definitely more cartoonishly endearing. Saints Row 1 was fun but a GTA clone that got the tone absolutely right, Saints Row 2 was ****ing brilliant with its ramped up cartoon tone and storyline that was still relatively gritty, and then 3 ****ed up with the story but went all in with the ridiculous tone and gave us **** like fighting zombies and bizarre missions inside computer games.

Saints Row 4 was just... holy **** they didn't even give a **** with that game. One of my all-time favorites and even with the world not being as engaging as GTA 5 by a mile the tone of that game was bonkers and who the **** even needs cars when you can run up buildings and glide everywhere? I also created a glorious Harley Quinn outfit that made the game even more fun to play.

__________________

MicShazam

I think Saint's Row 2 might be my favorite overall, but I've played a ridiculous amount of Saint's Row 3 and 4, if only because there was so much to **** around with.

Spent more time just editing and saving costumes than I care to admit