bin.pol.social

TheOgreChef, do games w Best Co-Op Games?

My 1 seed for the PS2 is Cookies and Cream. It’s a split screen co-op game for 2 players where each side will have obstacles that only the other side can solve. Very fun and very addictive, but it also has a solid control scheme that is easy to pick up.

My wife and I played it a lot when we were first dating and she loved it even though she rarely, if ever, plays video games. Still have the original copy and I’ll never part with it 😊

a_wild_mimic_appears, do games w After More Layoffs, Unionized IGN Workers Are Done Picking Up The Slack: "We feel greatly understaffed and undervalued"

I’m happy to see that all around the games industry and the surrounding areas like game journalism the value of unions is rediscovered. Work to rule is very effective against these insidious tactics of one layoff round after another while announcing record profits, because if noone cares that work piles up because of not enough hands, it hurts the owners in the only way they understand - in their finances.

This greedy thinking of only next quarter’s numbers must end.

tburkhol,

I suspect that tech management & executive culture has learned & become accustomed to exploit the mental health of their employees. Software and tech are stereotypically jobs well suited to neurodiversity and ADHD, and those people are prone to hyperfocus & long hours and may benefit from tight timelines. If management just gets used to recruiting for autism/adhd, then develops management strategies that work well with that population, it’s going to be difficult as the field matures and attracts more neurotypical people.

I used to tell my mentees that no one was going to explicitly tell them that 10, 12, 14 hour days were mandatory. That long hours were not a metric for success. It was that they would be competing for jobs with people who really did want their life to be their job and would happily spend that much time working, because that’s all they want to do. It’s only when the pool of available jobs grows beyond the number of those obsessive workaholics that they have to start hiring people who have any interest in work-life balance or collective bargaining.

other_cat,

Tough times for that. Every interview or recruiter I’ve spoken with lately, I say the words “PTO” and/or “work life balance” and they act like I said a dirty word.

dwemthy, do games w Day 407 of posting a Daily Screenshot from the games I've been playing

Been playing this with my kid, going for all 120 stars. I played it when it came out and it’s been a blast to dust it off after a long time on the shelf. Going to get the sequel from my local used game store after we 100% it.

Fuck the spring power up

MyNameIsAtticus,
@MyNameIsAtticus@lemmy.world avatar

The spring drives me nuts. Good luck on that 100% btw. It drove me crazy trying to get it when I was younger

Jumbie, do gaming w My thoughts on Elden Ring

Man, you are way out of line with number 1. It made me skip the rest.

Those games start with fun and try very hard to remove frustration, not lean into it like any Souls or Soulslike.

RunjamboJenkin, do games w Best Co-Op Games?

Some of my favourites…

  • TimeSplitters: Future Perfect - PS2
  • Sunset Riders - Arcade
  • Cadillacs and Dinosaurs - Arcade
thermal_shock,

Man I loved sunset riders and area 51 on the arcade.

moakley, do games w Best Co-Op Games?

I have three recommendations.

Split Fiction is a master class in game design. The split screen is so integrated into the experience that even online multiplayer is in split screen. The screens are a part of the story.

The gameplay is constantly changing to the point that discovering new mechanics becomes the gameplay loop.

The level designs are so clever that you’ll have several moments that feel scripted but were actually just inevitable because of how we play games.

To give a snapshot of the experience: there was one scene where my character was driving a motorcycle along the sides of skyscrapers, doing the craziest stunts imaginable, and my wife’s character was sitting on the back frantically trying to solve a series of CAPTCHAs on her phone. She was so focused on keeping a steady hand that she barely noticed the death-defying stunts happening literally out of the corner of her eye.

By the end of it I was like, “Did you see that??” and it turns out she did not. It was absurd and hilarious, and it’s the kind of storytelling that only works in a video game.

My current obsession is UFO 50, which is a collection of 50 “retro” games. In real life they’re all new, but the story of the game is that they’re from a company from the 80s called UFOsoft, and then there’s a dark meta narrative hidden in the background.

Which is all just a framing device for 50 games, most of which are good, some of which are amazing, and half of which are couch co-op multiplayer. It’s like exploring the Switch’s retro NES collection for hidden gems, except there’s a lot more gems.

There are beat 'em ups, obscure sports games, some platformers, tactics games, a little bit of everything.

I’ve enlisted my wife to help me, because a lot of these games are just begging to be grinded out in co-op.

I got the game when I saw someone describe it as “a master class in game design”, and I thought, “that’s the phrase I’ve just been using to describe Split Fiction.”

And finally, I recommend Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime, because that’s the multiplayer game I’ve been recommending for almost ten years.

You each play as adorable creatures in an adorable space ship that you customize as you go. The ship has several stations that need to be manned, including the captain’s seat, navigation, a directional shield, and multiple weapons.

But you each can only man one station at a time. So if you need to stay on the shield but a new enemy is approaching from the other side, then that means the captain is going to have to jump on a weapon and leave the ship adrift.

You may have arguments over which type of weapons to add to your ship or over who’s better at piloting which kind of engine. Or maybe you’ll work together in perfect harmony, relying on each other’s strengths and covering each other’s weaknesses as you adapt to every new challenge. Both ways are fun.

Also great for up to 4 players.

bunnyBoy,

Big second for Lovers In a Dangerous Spacetime. Purely co-op, very simple controls so even people who aren’t super into games can play, and a super cute aesthetic make it a great ‘We wanna play a game, but don’t want to sweat’ kinda game.

Zoomboingding,
@Zoomboingding@lemmy.world avatar

3 solid picks. Still need to play UFO50

moakley,

It’s insanely good. At some point I want to make a post just about UFO 50, just to spread the word, but I don’t even know where to start.

Fifty is just an insane number of games, and so many of them are so god damn good.

Even now I want to be like, Porgy would be worth the cost on its own! But then I’m like, should I say Porgy or Avianos? Or Mini and Max? Or Grimstone? No, Rail Heist! Fuck it, I’m just going to go back to playing the damn thing.

LoafedBurrito, do games w Day 407 of posting a Daily Screenshot from the games I've been playing

Dang, now i really want to play Super Mario Galaxy. It’s been about 10 years, i’m due for another runthrough. Thanks for the reminder!

MyNameIsAtticus,
@MyNameIsAtticus@lemmy.world avatar

I had a lot of good emulating it on PC with a PS5/4 Controller emulating the Cursor with the touchpad. I bet you could use Gyro to also reproduce the same controls 3D all stars though

celeste, do gaming w Who plays Animal Crossings New Horizons?
@celeste@kbin.earth avatar

If no one else opens up their island for you, I'll open mine after work (6-8 hrs from now). I haven't played in ages but my island does have all the fruit.

Geodad,

That would be amazing.

As soon as I saw peach trees on that island last night, I started eating some and digging up the trees for transplant. 🤣

celeste,
@celeste@kbin.earth avatar

Shoot, I got home and the switch has zero charge. I'll let it charge and then if you're still fruitless I'll try again tomorrow.

Geodad,

I’m not sure what all else I’m missing.

celeste,
@celeste@kbin.earth avatar

You need oranges and cherries? I just loaded up my island

Geodad,

Yeah, I think those are the ones I’m missing.

celeste, (edited )
@celeste@kbin.earth avatar

If you send me a code, i can pop over and drop fruit and some extra recipes. Probably 5-6 pm est?

Geodad,

5T2N2

celeste,
@celeste@kbin.earth avatar

Send me another code and I'll go right now!

Nikls94, do games w Best Co-Op Games?

Couch Coop?

  • Smash bros
  • Castle crashers
  • mario Kart 64 versus mode
  • frantics
  • rabbits party of legends (only good the first time, so make it count!)
  • mario kart double dash
  • bud Spencer & Terrence hill slaps and beans
  • a Pokémon nutzlocke soullock challange
  • playing any game where one has the right and the other one the left joy con (fun if 5 people and 2 are gaming pros and they are forced to share one controller)
  • screen cheat
  • lovers in a dangerous space time
  • bayblade V-Force
  • digimon rumble arena 2
  • digimon world 4
Zoomboingding,
@Zoomboingding@lemmy.world avatar

Coop mario Kart 64 versus mode

lol

Anyway, here’s a second for Soullock challenge. Can be very hilarious. Have to add Lego Star Wars: Skywalker Saga and Lego Harry Potter, awesome couch co-op.

Glytch, do games w Best Co-Op Games?

If you’re up for a 90’s classic you could try Goof Troop for the SNES.

Endymion_Mallorn, do games w After More Layoffs, Unionized IGN Workers Are Done Picking Up The Slack: "We feel greatly understaffed and undervalued"
@Endymion_Mallorn@kbin.melroy.org avatar

Okay. so it'll be amusing when IGN decides to pivot to 1099 contractors and terminate these employees as well.

MurrayL,

Weird that worker exploitation is so amusing to you

Endymion_Mallorn,
@Endymion_Mallorn@kbin.melroy.org avatar

You're probably right that it's weird. I think most of my amusement comes from the way that those of us who are powerless delude ourselves into believing that we can be powerful - but no matter how you count it, zero times two is still zero. And I've just realized, they probably won't hire that many contractors, they'll test out LLM slop first. If it sells ads at the same rate, they'll "phase out" the human side over time. The corp ideals will put profits over people, always. They'll take the obvious path, because they care about one metric: profit.

LainTrain,

But if they fail, the union will have collective bargaining power

Endymion_Mallorn,
@Endymion_Mallorn@kbin.melroy.org avatar

Like the Spartans said, "If."

NewDayRocks,

Question for you - what do you think produces the profit for IGN? Is it the quality of their content or just their branding?

Are they too big to fail? That no matter what content they put out it will continue to produce the same profit regardless of how good it is?

Do you believe that a contractor at lower salary and benefits armed with AI will be able to handle the 2-3x workload that current employees are doing at comparable competency?

Do you believe that IGN will also be backfill all these positions that suddenly opened up and provide training without suffering a noticeable dip in productivity?

If you believe all that then sure, these employees have little to no power. Let’s see if IGN shares this sentiment and, if they do, let’s see if it works out for them.

Endymion_Mallorn,
@Endymion_Mallorn@kbin.melroy.org avatar

I have a very dim view of their content and that of their staff past and present. That's just a note to begin with, so my own bias is clear. IGN isn't an independent reviewer, they'll gladly say anything that gives them ad rev - and the few times that they don't need to cozy up to a certain publisher, you get scores like their infamous God Hand review, which is wildly inaccurate. They're in the business of marketing and advertising, not meaningfully independent journalism.

I believe that they're big enough that the games industry executive teams believe they're too big to fail, and they will continue to receive ad rev as long as they keep Metacritic scores where the publisher wishes them to be. I believe that the "AAA" studios are deluded into thinking that there's any relevance to review scores that aren't the Steam reviews from 6 months after the game releases, or the appropriate storefront page per platform. That group of greed-driven suits are their real audience, not the people who aren't paying. Remember - if you aren't paying, you're the product.

I do believe that they will be able to have a contractor write a prompt along the lines of, "Write a 1500 word article in the style of IGN's game reporting based on [game press package], which will lead the reader to consider a score of [x] to be justified.", yes. And as long as it keeps the Metacritic score where the publisher is happy, the ad rev rolls in.

And that's all that matters to them. Only if the ads stop selling will they even begin to take notice.

prole,

Lol so funny

ampersandrew,
@ampersandrew@lemmy.world avatar

If people were powerless to the whims of a corporation, Kinda Funny wouldn’t exist, but if you believe you’re powerless, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Endymion_Mallorn,
@Endymion_Mallorn@kbin.melroy.org avatar

I've never heard of that company. What's their quarterly ad revenue? I don't mean their minor hobby nonsense on Patreon or the scraps they get from Google & Amazon, I mean direct ad rev from studios or the like. Also, what's their average visibility on Metacritic? Do they get counted as a "professional" outlet with pull quotes, or are they in a category that doesn't count?

ampersandrew,
@ampersandrew@lemmy.world avatar

See, that’s just it. This entire business doesn’t survive on ad revenue anymore. Everything that isn’t Gamespot and IGN have folded, because the money that used to be there in ads isn’t there anymore. Subscriptions are what keep companies like this sustainable and afloat. Kinda Funny came from former IGN employees, and they knew the power they had to bring their audience to them rather than surrendering to the whims of IGN. Digital Foundry, Giant Bomb, Video Games Chronicle, MinnMax, GamesBeat, Aftermath…they all transitioned to doing this.

Endymion_Mallorn,
@Endymion_Mallorn@kbin.melroy.org avatar

Oh. Good for them, I guess. I've never heard of them. Heck, the only one of those i ever heard about was Giant Bomb, and what I knew was that they died and got rebooted.

I guess it's a good thing that some people are willing to whale for media figures. I won't bother, because I don't give enough meaningful data to be part of a valuable product in the older world - then again, I also still watch TV by antenna and listen to terrestrial radio most of the time.

ampersandrew,
@ampersandrew@lemmy.world avatar

“Whaling for media figures” is just paying for the quality product you want.

Endymion_Mallorn,
@Endymion_Mallorn@kbin.melroy.org avatar

I've already paid for it. I bought a TV, a radio, multiple computers, and I pay a subscription (much to my chagrin) to access the Internet and the Web. And yes, I have looked into the cost of a single-purchase backbone, but it didn't work out in my favor.

ampersandrew,
@ampersandrew@lemmy.world avatar

Well, the difference is that now you’re paying for it by viewing ads and, down to personal preference, a worse product. With commercial interruptions, you’re saying how much your time is worth, if nothing else. In any case, yes, that’s worth it to a lot of people, and it gives niche creators power over their current or former bosses.

RightHandOfIkaros, do games w Best Co-Op Games?

games with little to no internet

This is kinda vague and I dont exactly know what you mean by this. Do you mean games that you can play on a single screen? Or games with LAN or private server capability such as Minecraft?

For local co-op games:

  • Gauntlet Legends & Dark Legacy
  • Halo 1-Reach
  • Dragon’s Crown
  • Helldivers 1 (broken in RPCS3 unfortunately, but if you have a PS3 can be played offline)
  • The Legend of Zelda Four Sword Adventure
  • Any Call of Duty Zombies (beginning with World At War)
Blackmist, do games w Best Co-Op Games?

Kuri Kuri Mix. PS2. FromSoft’s forgotten game.

Baldurs Gate Dark Alliance was good too. Felt like Gauntlet.

gusgalarnyk, do games w Best Co-Op Games?

Crawl - technically pvp, arcade game Overcooked - try to manage a kitchen together Duck Game - completely pvp, ducks with guns, very fun

bunnyBoy,

I always bring up Crawl in these threads because it’s so good, and I rarely ever see anyone talking about it! The way that players are always ‘switching teams’ is so fun!

mysticpickle, do games w Best Co-Op Games?

If you’re taking about couch co-op games these are pretty great:

  • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge (6p)
  • Boomerang-fu (6p)
  • Overcooked (4p)
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