Stopharage

Game of the Year

A1. Hollow Knight (Switch)

A2. Return of the Obra Dinn (PC)

A3. Spiderman (PS4)

A4. Gorogoa (PS4)

A5. God of War (PS4)

Biggest Disappointment of the Year (game, hardware, or anything else)

Z1. The all-pervasive proliferation of Fortnite dances into the real world.

Z2. Lack of decent XB1 exclusives

Z3. Fallout 76

Z4. Playstation Classic

Z5. Sea of Thieves

Sound Design of the Year

S1. Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice

S2. Hollow Knight

S3. Tetris Effect

Visual Design of the Year

V1. Return of the Obra Dinn

V2. Gris

V3. Gorogoa

Writing of the Year

W1. Florence

W2. Spiderman

W3.

Gaming Format (System) of the Year

F1. PS4

Publisher or Developer of the Year

P1. Team Cherry

Best Supported Game (released pre 2018) of the Year

B1. Fortnite

Your game of the year that didn't come out this year (basically what is your favourite game you played this year that came out in 2017 or earlier)

X1. What Remains of Edith Finch

Best game character of the year

C1. Mimir (GOW)

C2. Kassandra (AC:O)

C3. 

Is there any more consistently useless player in the Premier League than Christian Atsu? He's been rubbish for years across at least 3 clubs so far. He's been very poor in the United v United game. 

Thanks for all the advice. I've picked up Ultrawings and will get the rest when I grab some Move controllers, which are very pricey. 

Really enjoying it at the moment, thought I'd feel a lot more giddy from the experience but seems fine so far. Headmaster is ridiculously addictive though. Just. One. More. Go.

I love Vardy. He's such an unpleasant scrote and every time I start to doubt him and think he's beginning to wane, he scores another. Must be horrible to play against him, just doesn't let up and there's always the threat of a snide challenge. 

5 minutes ago, ryodi said:

But of the title winning side only two important players left, Kante and Drinkwater, the latter of which is probably regretting leaving at this point. Mahrez was still there the next season so it wasn't like Bayern in Germany who would always buy Dortmund'd best player at the end of each season.

Drinkwater was there the next season as well. 

Watched this yesterday and thought it was absolutely brilliant. The first fight in the collider with Osborne was as close as I'd experienced a comic being translated into moving images. 40 minutes in and my son said this was the best film he'd ever seen. A great way to end the year. 

Got the megapack version of this from shopto for £186 earlier in the week, which comes with Astrobot, Doom VFR, Skyrim VR and Wipeout. Wasn't due to arrive until the 4th January but has turned up this afternoon, which is ideal for NYE entertainment. I gameshare with a guy who already has one so I'd already dl'ed a load of the games he'd bought. Are there are any obvious essentials missing from the list (his purchases)below:

- Batman:Arkham VR

- Carnival Games VR

- Creed - Rise to Glory

- Keep talking and nobody explodes

- Rigs

- Rollercoaster Dreams

- Spiderman Homecoming

- Statik

- Stranger Things

- Surgeon Simulator

- The Playroom

- Tumble VR

- Until Dawn: Rush of Blood

I've just bought these:-

- Thumper

- Headmaster

- Moss

- Star Wars Battlefront

- Polybius

-Everest VR

Going to wait on a price drop on Tetris and Beat Sabre. 

I may have thought about the cost per hour of games in the past when I didn't have the budget to get that many games. Now with the proliferation of game reductions and formats open to me, value for money comes down to whether the gaming experience was an enjoyable one and whether I appreciate the workmanship involved. Although I can see the value of games such as Fifa, COD etc. from a cost per hour POV,  the annual iterations are often just updates than wholesale new experiences. As such I don't see a great deal of value, in terms of excitement and new experiences. Am I missing out on not playing them? Undoubtably, no. 

It is the experience aspect that is key for me. I purchased Spiderman earlier in the year and paid £60 for the PSN version. I had no real desire to play it but the guy I gameshare with was having a rough time, was skint and had been looking forward to it. So I paid over the odds for a game that I wasn't fussed about. Yet, playing through the game with my youngest was one of the best gaming experiences of my life. I'd get back from work and he'd be desperate to spend another couple of hours a-swinging, a-webbing and abounding. No idea how long we spent on the game but the value of that gaming experience was immense. We're now looking to play through the Arkham games; the first 2 are a tenner on XBL. I know we'll love them and whilst significantly cheaper than Spiderman, their value for money/cost per hour will be better, I'm not sure they can close to the valued experience (gateway drug) that Spiderman has proven to be.  

Brink. 

Genuinely thought it would be a decent MP experience and it was broken from day one. The truly aggravating factor behind my frustration with it was there were occasional glimpses of the promise. The net code was abysmal though and it resonates as one of those miserable gaming experiences. 

That I convinced my wife to buy it for me, and that she laughed at how poor it was, adds further humiliation to the mix. 

Lovely, appreciate the reply. 

A Wrinkle in Time. 

An abject waste of 90 minutes. The worst film I've seen this year by some distance. Extremely dull to the point that the family had a cushion fight some 60 minutes in. Please avoid this at all costs, even sticking Sade on the soundtrack can't rescue this. A ghastly experience. 0.5/5. 

14 minutes ago, gospvg said:

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Seagate-ST2000LX001-FireCuda-Internal-Drive/dp/B01M1UQQT5/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1546002574&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=ssshd

 

I upgraded to a Hybrid drive.

Thanks, was that into a PS4 Pro? If so, did it speed it up noticeably? 

Need to upgrade the hard-drive in my PS4 Pro. Anyone got any recommendations? 

The ending of Spec-Ops:The Line. 

I liked the breaking of the 4th wall and the way that they weave previous episodes into this. The Metalhead references were blatant throughout (same director) but I liked the regular use of the White Bear logo and how it naturally fitted into the branching storyline image. Then the USS Callister cast mentions on the newsfeed. And more. 

There's also got to be another successful phone code you can input. 

Old school BBC documentary that includes the original Bandersnatch game. 

3 minutes ago, bradigor said:

Can't wait to get the kids to bed tonight so me and Lo can watch. How long do we realistically need to set aside?

90 minutes, although there is 150 minutes worth of footage in 250 different sections. 

Pretty decent read on Wired on his this came to be. 

Finished watching now and was more impressed by the mechanics than the actual story but still a fantastic piece of entertainment. 

Comments about ending below:-

I’m tempted to give Birdbox a go, as I can’t believe it’s as bad as the book. I know quite a few people on here liked the book but I thought the plot was interminable, the characterisation hackneyed and the writing was inconsistent. 

Anyway, the Christmas Chronicles was ideal Christmas Eve family fodder. 

99p on Kindle today.

Here.

Kindle 12 days of Xmas is up now. Some decent bargains to be had. 

Borne by Jeff VanderMeer - down to 99p. By the writer of Annihilation et al. 

Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman - down to £1.29

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman - down to £1.99. A few people on here talked this up. 

Pillars of Earth by Ken Follett. 99p Not my cup of tea, but may be some on here who've enjoyed the game.

Dogs of War by Adrian Tchaikovsky - 99p. Winner of the Arthur C Clarke Award.  

In your Defence by Sarah Langford - £1.99. Insight into life as a barrister

The Wandering Earth by Cixin Liu.  - 99p. From the author of the Three Body Problem. Short story collection. 

Science(ish) - The Peculiar Science behind the movies - 99p. Lightweight frippery,

A no qualms purchase today - The Fifth Season: The Broken Earth Book 1 by N.K.Jemisin

A bargain at 99p. I think the trilogy has picked up the last 3 Hugo Awards. I'm not a massive fantasy fan at all, but I really enjoyed this. Not going to waffle on about it; but if you're into sci-fi and/or fantasy, just buy it. 

Big Fat Sam to the rescue! 

I read a lot of sci-fi, especially dystopian novels. Need some lightness after reading about Brexit. 

Buy American War by Omar El Akkad. It’s one of the best books I’ve read in a fair few years. Follows the aftermath of a Second American Civil War in 2074. It’s grounded in a certain amount of realism which makes it essential reading. It was written prior to Trump but seems to have become even more relevant since. It shows how division happens so easily, how radicalisation occurs and the impact on the society it occurs in. The impact of global warming, WMDs, radical approaches to migration and discrimination all play a huge role in the plot. It’s also beautifully written and has received an awful lot of worthwhile plaudits. 

Could suggest a load of others when Im back home but that one jumps to mind immediately. Same with Station Eleven by Emily St Mandel. Somewhat softer in tone but a good read.

There's a few SF Masterworks books at 99p today:-

Dispossed by Ursula Le Guin

Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke

Roadside Picnic by Arkady Strugatsky

Lathe of Heaven by Ursula Le Guin

The third Altered Carbon book is a daily deal too. Roadside Picnic is worth a read if you enjoyed Annihilation.