Finished Half-life (the game was shorter than I remembered, especially the Xen levels... or maybe I rushed through the game this time, played on Hard level though), so now I'm playing Opposing Force.

I also tried out Serious Sam HD. The overall graphics overhaul is nice, but as I recall the original looked damn impressive considering its age so there was no big WOW! effect. It is improved from "nice" to "very nice" as far as I can tell. I probably should play them side by side to see the differences, but I think the biggest differences are in more detailed enemy models, and some cool water effects and such?

One thing I didn't care in the HD remake is the dunes on the starting desert. I kinda liked the vast pool table design of the original starting level, now the dunes obstruct the view a bit when you are running towards that secret oasis.

But the most important thing is that it still feels like Serious Sam. I am interested to see the ending boss in HD detail.

Playing it on Ultra details at 1920x1080, I was first overjoyed that it seemed to run on steady 60 fps on my laptop. But on some (indoor!) levels it dips down to 30-40 fps. Awww, while it is still fully playable, it would have been nice to have steady 60fps with all bells and whistles... It seems the reflective water effects take the biggest toll on my system. I hope it doesn't go under 30fps on later levels.

Oh yeah, my PSX Silent Hill (on ePSXe) playing is on hold until I buy a new Logitech F310 gamepad. I gave my older F310 to one relative kid who tried it on her PC and loved it, and I saw she needed a good gamepad for her PC gaming. I miss my F310 already.

I must say I like the F310 design more and more. I noticed that when I used it in XInput mode (which basically makes it a XBox360 gamepad), some emulators have issues detecting all the controls (one console emulator didn't e.g. detect the Dpad at all in XInput mode for some reason, only in DirectInput mode), but on the other hand the XInput mode gives e.g. the analog L/R triggers which lack in DirectInput mode, which can be useful elsewhere.

I really feel F310 is two gamepads in one, and it is 100% compatible with pretty much anything on PC, old and new. Otherwise I'd probably need to have two separate gamepads, DirectInput and XInput, or use some silly profiler or XPadder software to get the missing functionality. Now I need no extra software whatsoever.

The only complaint I have about F310 is that the DPad does feel a bit flimsy in design, but it still gets the job done.

I finished Remember Me this weekend. I enjoyed it a lot. It reminds me of Assassin's Creed 1. Ambitious game rough around the edges which has a potential to become something much better by next increment. Only significant difference between them is that Remember Me gameplay isn't tedious and has an optimal length. It's pleasing to see that the game is doing well in charts and I look forward to see what Dontnod is up to next.

I'm playing the third episode of Cognition. The series really grew on me. Each episode lasts circa 7 hours (in my pace), puzzles are engaging and there is always something new to try. A bit emotional moments drag it down at times but everything else redeems the negative side.

Just really getting into Xenoblade Chronicles on the Wii. I'd only played half an hour or so before, but now I'm just starting to discover that it really is one of the best RPGs of the last decade. Huge game world, seamless transitions between countryside, towns/cities, interiors and battles (waits for data to load are very rare and occur only between regions), great combat mechanics (a nice blend of typically MMORPG and single-player RPG mechanics, reminded me a lot of KOTOR).

It's certainly overtaken Skyrim for my favourite RPG of the last three years.

I have the F510, which is basically the same joypad but with rumble support. I'd agree with much of what you said - it's a fine and sturdy pad - but alongside the complaint with the D-pad, I'd also say that the analogue triggers are a bit uncomfortable to use. They don't have the travel of a real 360 pad or the Saitek P3200.

Does that have also optional DirectInput and XInput support? I'm always open for alternatives. For me the optional mode is probably the greatest feature of F310, as it seems relying only on either DirectInput or XInput causes me some compatibility problems in different places.

That said, I just went to buy a new F310 on the lunch hour. :) Odd thing though, the place where I bought it, had it in two different prices. The ones in (apparently) older packaging cost 4€ less than the one in different looking packaging. I asked the staff, he checked both items and said they are exactly the same product.

Maybe they just wanted to sell the older packaging away with lower price. So I bought the older as that is what I had before as well.

By the way, I was also considering the F510 as the price was almost the same, but decided to go with the F310 because it is a bit lighter (naturally). I wonder if it is really useful in any games, and whether emulators like ePSXe support it too?

I'm only familiar with the PS2 rumble feature, and I don't recall it being used other than as a gimmick.

No, it was a straight XInput pad, although it had Microsoft's usual legacy DirectInput 'support' (i.e. completely FUBAR'd, triggers are an axis, no force feedback support).

I don't even think they sell the P3200 anymore. There were actually two versions of it - the standard DirectInput model and the Xbox 360 version - but looking at Amazon.de shows it as being "currently unavailable", as it has been for several years.

Baldur's Gate, I played it a fair bit when I was a younger but now I'm finally getting around to finishing it.

Also always a good roguelike or two depending on where my tastes currently fall, Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup or FTL: Faster Than Light. And a bit of Skyrim with the Tropical Skyrim overhaul.

Neverwinter Nights 2 Platinum

Im really enjoying this game. It comes with 2 expansion packs, so its going to take me a long time to finish everything which is great :)

Russian Roulette.

I'm really good at it. I never lose, ev 'jwgsgsgsgsgsgsgsbkl,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Gothic 3 Enhanced Edition

Continuing on my Gold Box marathon with Ravenloft: Strahd's Possession. Which isn't very good, frankly; you can see it sort of wants to be a Gothic horror game, but instead it's a bunch of lengthy, tedious mazes. Think it's almost over, though; I'll probably take a break from Gold Box after this and play something more modern. Maybe it's finally time to tackle Allan Wake; it looks like me kind of game, but I've never gotten around to it.

Gonna try Dwarf Fortress. Wish me luck

I played the fnal Closed Beta weekend for Firefall this past weekend and I LOVEd it. I had no connection issues other than seeing some weird clipping with NPCs and players (halfway in the ground etc). But the world environment and random Chosen invasions kept me on my toes. It ran beautifull with an Radeon HD 7870 on max settings.

I'd never participated in a closed BETA before and it was a nice experience. I have no complaints.

I have to say the other players were very helpful when it came to combatting Thumper incidents and Chosen invasions.
I stumbled on a new Chosen spawning twice as they were just starting to install their teleporter device and called for help through the text box for anyone in the area. A bunch of players on motorbikes appeared to engage them, some of the players wearing tiki masks. Founders tiki masks.

If anyone saw username 'ArctusManifolds' texting for assistance when the Chosen spawned, that was me. And if any of you on here were on those bikes that came when I called, thanks for the assist.

Looking forward to open BETA as I really enjoyed playing as the recon soldier. I think it would have been better if they made it like 'Secret World', you buy the base game and all the story campaigns are included free of charge when they release. Being completely Free 2 Play will undoubtedly attract hackers and cheaters at some point and diminish the good experience.

Currently:

Just installed RIFT Storm Legion Infinity Edition with the latest patches and am waiting until midnight to play, as it goes Free 2 Play for everyone.

Going to re-install Freespace 2 so I can play multiplayer with the members of the Star Citizen community

Also re-installing space simulator 'Babylon 5: I Found Her' now that they made new campaigns

And Defiance, I just read about the next few weeks TV epsiodic arc and how it ties directly into what is happening in the game currently, a plague...so re-installing this weekend to see where it leads to.

Completed Half-life: Opposing Force (on hard) yesterday, moved on to HL: Blueshift. I think I am pretty close to the end already in Blueshift.

These Half-life games were much shorter than I remembered, but it could be that previously I played much slower, trying to kill every enemy without getting any damage (replay replay replay replay...), while now I didn't care as much if I got some damage. I guess now I knew what to expect, ie. there are lots of ammo and health packs lying around.

I had forgotten than in both the original HL and OP, you get an alien gun in the middle of the game(s) with unlimited (recharging) ammo, making the other weapons almost obsolete. When I got the alien electric gun in OP, I think I didn't use any other rifle or gun after that, except if I had to shoot underwater (as there the electric gun would kill me).

I had some years old save game about the HL end-boss (Nihilath), and for some reason in that save game I was pretty low on ammo on all my weapons. But with this replay, I was completely filled up with ammo.

Idling in PvZ >__>