Virtual Balboa

Virtual Balboa

@virtualbalboa0.bsky.social

You throw yourself off the Brooklyn Bridge, traditionally.

113 followers304 following592 posts

Virtual Balboa
@virtualbalboa0.bsky.social

Had the sudden realization last night the more I sojourn through the Xbox PC app, the less accurate my Steam Wrapped end of year showcase is gonna be…so I’m thinking I need to to replay Onimusha and 007 First Light on Steam to soothe my autism. At least they’re fun games!

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Virtual Balboa
@virtualbalboa0.bsky.social

Gonna attempt to install the Xbox PC version, find the save location, copy it to the Steam install, upload it to Steam cloud, voila. I pulled off a similar scheme with Cyberpunk in 2023 moving that though via CDPRs proprietary cloud save situation. Fingers crossed.

Virtual Balboa
@virtualbalboa0.bsky.social

Yeah, this didn’t work out. Xbox PC versions seem to be unique PC SKUs that encrypt data. Unwise. Make the game files the same as the Steam edition. This can put a damper on modding and I would’ve liked to pick my save up and keep going. I remember why I use Steam for everything.

Virtual Balboa
@virtualbalboa0.bsky.social

Hilarious that Tim Sweeney is running his mouth again about Valve. As someone who gave another PC store a real college try in terms of living in another ecosystem, and now I’m regretting having CoD updates tied to a launcher that feels like it half functions. Just make something better than Steam!

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Virtual Balboa
@virtualbalboa0.bsky.social

But again, hey, GOG is offering me access to modernized classics and is using the money spent on future proofing and porting more games to PC. Xbox is offering me multiple SKUs. Steam is offering me the best all around experience. What does EGS offer me? Nothing. You can’t not compete and get mad.

Virtual Balboa
@virtualbalboa0.bsky.social

(Not to mention SteamOS being the major engine behind the unshackling of gaming to windows. These ecosystems have compelling use cases imo. EGS is famous as the launcher for the downfall of modern multiplayer shooter gaming, Fortnite)

Virtual Balboa
@virtualbalboa0.bsky.social

Hilarious that Tim Sweeney is running his mouth again about Valve. As someone who gave another PC store a real college try in terms of living in another ecosystem, and now I’m regretting having CoD updates tied to a launcher that feels like it half functions. Just make something better than Steam!

Virtual Balboa
@virtualbalboa0.bsky.social

And at least Xbox PC is offering me things that no other PC store can, console version entitlements. That’s the thing. Steam simply works best, that’s why it’s so ubiquitous. I love GOG and even tried to use that as my main store from 2019-2022. Now, I only use it for classic games.

Virtual Balboa
@virtualbalboa0.bsky.social

Had the sudden realization last night the more I sojourn through the Xbox PC app, the less accurate my Steam Wrapped end of year showcase is gonna be…so I’m thinking I need to to replay Onimusha and 007 First Light on Steam to soothe my autism. At least they’re fun games!

Virtual Balboa
@virtualbalboa0.bsky.social

I think I just got too ingratiated in the Steam ecosystem when the Steam Deck launched. It’s easy to be because it’s such a great experience to use, especially compared to any console competitor. I’m watching Onimusha download off Steam and Xbox PC concurrently and it’s faster on the former.

Virtual Balboa
@virtualbalboa0.bsky.social

I find it funny I just wrote a midterm for one my MFA classes where I mention that in 2012 I thought I wanted to write about video games and be part of the video game press, but opted out of journalism into my English degree because the scene seemed DOA then. Food for thought.

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Virtual Balboa
@virtualbalboa0.bsky.social

But I also saw the Gerstmann/Gamespot situation unfold in real time as a teenager, so perhaps I was disavowed of any notions that things were easy and good, or even worthwhile, in corporate controlled games “journalism” at a much earlier age than most.

Virtual Balboa
@virtualbalboa0.bsky.social

I find it funny I just wrote a midterm for one my MFA classes where I mention that in 2012 I thought I wanted to write about video games and be part of the video game press, but opted out of journalism into my English degree because the scene seemed DOA then. Food for thought.

Virtual Balboa
@virtualbalboa0.bsky.social

I cannot imagine surviving that long in that glorified PR stunt performer hell up to 2020 and think things are gonna be OK. But I also can’t imagine being simple enough to try and grind out a “games media” job for peanuts over the course of the 2010’s for a classic outlet.

Virtual Balboa
@virtualbalboa0.bsky.social

I have three games in my Steam cart rn that are all extra discounted because they’re on sale but also available in 2 game bundles with things I already own. Always fun to get a little discount just because they think I’m gonna enjoy one game if I already enjoy another.

Virtual Balboa
@virtualbalboa0.bsky.social

Looking at my past three purchases on my Green Man Gaming account, it’s Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Vol. 2, Silent Hill Townfall, and Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse. I wouldn’t be surprised if Konami made a Capcom like priority towards PC as a main platform for them.

Virtual Balboa
@virtualbalboa0.bsky.social

Sorry for the Art Spiegelman fans. I was somewhat gutted when Paul Schrader did the same thing. That might be worse because Schrader still makes (made) interesting art. I thought Master Gardener was pretty damn good. First Reformed might be one of his best across his oeuvre. So, I get it.

Virtual Balboa
@virtualbalboa0.bsky.social

I wonder if people who hate the idea that other people can mod video games go apoplectic when someone says the phrase “house rules”. They pull out a gun out at a table where someone suggests five card stud over draw. Games are for fun. Changing the rules of a game is fun too.

Virtual Balboa reposted

Fractal Cactus
@fractalcactus.bsky.social

Modern gaming criticism is so funny because its clearly being championed by people that like the idea of being critics and tastemakers more than they do playing video games. No one has anything nice to say at all. Its self-congratulatory and masturbatory.

Virtual Balboa
@virtualbalboa0.bsky.social

It is funny finding an account of someone having some out there wild takes when to comes to video games. Then you find a video they made and hear their voice and realize oh yeah, it all comes together. Godspeed.

Virtual Balboa
@virtualbalboa0.bsky.social

I wish everyone arguing about arcade games continues vs 1cc, was forced to pay a .25 micro transaction for every continue in an arcade game at home. It’s the only way to solve this very fake argument.

Virtual Balboa
@virtualbalboa0.bsky.social

Hmm, trying to enjoy MW4 via Xbox PC app is certainly making the case why Steam is the de facto PC marketplace. The download speeds are slow but not the internet, like the app needs so much time to think about finishing an update. Not a good look for a game like CoD that will be updated often.

Virtual Balboa
@virtualbalboa0.bsky.social

Like I’ve updated four separate games on Steam during which the 2 gig update on the Xbox PC app seems stuck at 60% and I can’t do anything to make it get back into gear. I’m not trying to even play right now, more prepare to play later and I guess it’s good I bothered to do so. Needs work.

Virtual Balboa
@virtualbalboa0.bsky.social

I think I might’ve been lucky to re-immerse myself in Xbox via XPA single player games, because this wasn’t an issue for those. I mean, newsflash, Steam is better than its potential competitors, but man they really got make an effort beyond this. Especially if your next box is a PC anyways.

Virtual Balboa
@virtualbalboa0.bsky.social

Am I missing something about Helix potentially being $1200-$1600? If it’s gonna be like the Steam Machine but considerably more powerful, what’s the issue? I figured it being a hybrid console/PC was contributing to why it would cost so much.

Virtual Balboa reposted

Chat Pile
@chatpileband.bsky.social

I still post here from time to time despite the fact that Bluesky users don't know what music is and only listen to political podcasts they disagree with

Virtual Balboa reposted

Smooth Dunk
@smoothdunk2.bsky.social
Alex Hern@hern.bsky.social

do think there's a danger of looking at extremely cool shit like a car driving upside down then doing a kickflip before landing, and convincing yourself it's actually lame because the guy funding it is a white supremacist

Virtual Balboa reposted

Vince Mancini
@vincemancini.bsky.social

I don't think it's too hyperbolic to say that we gotta shitcan all these dweebs before they kill us.

Jake Grumbach@jakemgrumbach.bsky.social

Just as a private equity firm buys out a corporation and strips it for parts, a consultant class is raiding the Democratic Party and getting “generationally wealthy” along the way New from me and @adambonica.bsky.social newrepublic.com/article/2163...

newrepublic.comHow the Consulting Class Is Eating the Democratic PartyFundraising costs gobble up most of the funds raised. Billions are spent on TV ads that have virtually no impact. Candidates may win or lose—but the consulting class always wins.
Virtual Balboa
@virtualbalboa0.bsky.social

I think it’s disingenuous to politically stratify people based on their feelings to a video game developer shutting down after a decade long “mixed” spell. BioWare and 343i both apply here. It’s not like they were strangled in the crib. They just kept shitting the bed. It’s an industry.

Virtual Balboa
@virtualbalboa0.bsky.social

And should go without saying, hearts out to all those laid off. As an outsider, I want those stories told because how else do we avoid the loss of institutions and their knowledge if we don’t understand what made these studios implode?

Virtual Balboa
@virtualbalboa0.bsky.social

Valve noticed I’ve been on Xbox a lot more lately and must’ve pushed out the Steam Achievement update just for me, since my understanding was that nobody at Valve gives a flying fuck about achievements as a system. This is a good step forward but it doesn’t seem to work quite right.

Virtual Balboa
@virtualbalboa0.bsky.social

First game I checked was Doom: The Dark Ages, a game I 100% before the DLC. I played through the DLC but didn’t complete everything. I thought with the update it would show up again under “Perfect Games” but would have a sub list for DLC achievements like the other two major platforms. No dice.

Virtual Balboa
@virtualbalboa0.bsky.social

An, a bloodless trailer of what “could have” been. I think the game in people’s head that they’re mourning is much better than any actual new Mass Effect would’ve been.

Virtual Balboa
@virtualbalboa0.bsky.social

“The studio has been fighting for survival since 2016” yeah I didn’t need an employee to tell me that, I just based my feelings on their last decade plus of games that simply didn’t hit. I’m honestly shocked EA gave them as much rope as they did.

Virtual Balboa reposted

Saskia W.
@saskiawezenaar.eurosky.social

This is a famous Japanese maple (Acer palmatum) in its autumn colors, located in the Portland Japanese Garden in Portland, Oregon (USA). The tree is a popular subject for landscape photographers. The photographer behind this particular shot is the American landscape photographer Mike Putnam.

Virtual Balboa reposted

Vince Mancini
@vincemancini.bsky.social

I don't know at what point every coffee shop added morrissey to the playlist, but I can tell you that I've evolved from mildly positive/indifferent to hating this warbling limey cornball's guts with every molecule.

Virtual Balboa
@virtualbalboa0.bsky.social

I don’t think I’ll ever understand “RDR2 horse balls” being an insult. Like wow, you spent a lot of time detailing your game world, what are you, a fucking nerd?? You just know it’ll be this 100x for GTA6 since it it’ll inevitably be one of the most detailed games of all time.