[DoctorEldritch]

@DracoTarot I remember reading somewhere that those drives actually have a relatively short usage life, 3-5 years on average. So that's something else to keep in mind. Though maybe if you're only using them for storage and not all the time, they may last longer, idk.

Speaking of music, here is a bit of news you may like: RedOctane, the studio that made Guitar Hero, closed down in 2010. Now, 15 years later, they are coming back as RedOctane Games belonging to the Embracer, and they are working on a new rhythm game already:

We'll see how it works out.

On one hand, it's good that we have so many different indie games these days, but on the other, it can be quite overwhelming, the sheer number of them.

I wonder why, what makes the UK so special...

[DracoTarot]

@DoctorEldritch I think it all depends on the make and model. Two of my drivers are more than twelve years old and still going strong.

Nice!! Guitar Hero was awesome. I had the whole set of guitars and one drum set back in the day. Hopefully RedOctane ill release the game on PC and not only console versions.

There's definitely a whole lot of Indie games out there. Actually it's a good thing. Playing them all is a issue.

Not sure why the rules are only for the UK. News floating around in SA is ICASA who regulate all communication and entertainment will only allow games and certain devices to be sold to persons 21 years and older. 🤔

[DoctorEldritch]

@DracoTarot Perhaps. It may also depend on whether you delete and write over a lot or not, I guess.

We'll see. I'd hope that even if they do console only, at some point, someone will port it to PC, even if it is a fan-port.

Ah well, indie games vary a lot in terms of quality and price. So while there are many, finding good ones for yourself is another issue. I do not have the budget or time to try them all. The world really needs some sort of "indie game digest" journal. There probably is one, I just don't know about it...

As if the gaming industry was not complicated enough, the local regulations add their bit...

[DracoTarot]

@DoctorEldritch Deleting amd copying too much files does influence the drives longevity. The best way to preserve the drive is to check for bad sectors often.

I'm in the same boat. Even if I had all the space in the world to download them all, I will never get around to playing the all. Finances are also a issue.

Steam is following the same route soon. I guess it's due to the games having too much violent content.

[DoctorEldritch]

@DracoTarot Oh, how would one do that? Is there good software?

True, thankfully, indie games are often quite cheap. But time is precious, and the older you get, the more critical you may become about choosing the experiences you want to spend it on. I am trying to learn to acknowledge to myself that if I do not like the game I play very much, then it would be best to not finish it but switch to something else. I have varied success in that so far, but I hope I am getting better at it 😅

I am not sure, I thought there are regulatory bodies to sort those things, PEGI and the like?

[DracoTarot]

@DoctorEldritch There's a lot of new software out there you can use. It's all about personal preference. I use Diskdoctor and Malwarebytes to scan drives for bad sectors.

It's funny how a game can keep you occupied even if it's not worth your time. There's always something stopping you from moving on. I guess it is about dedication especially if you almost reached the end of the storyline or chapter.

They're in existence but more people seem to be involved in the decision making. All I know is younger gamers are going to have a bit of an issue n the future.

[DoctorEldritch]

@DracoTarot I don't think I've ever done that, I probably should...

Hmm, I'd say if you played as far as to reach the end of a chapter or even storyline, then it's probably good enough. These days, I am trying to see if I like the game based on the first impression.

Not necessarily, I mean, even violent games can be sold with few issues these days. Even if more people are involved in decisions, the final criteria are relatively straightforward.

[DracoTarot]

@DoctorEldritch You probably should yes! It's important to scan your system once in a while. I found out the hard way by loosing a lot of important stuff and was hacked a few years back without even knowing it. Some malware and Trojans run in the background without influencing the pc or slowing it down. Everything looks normal amd Windows Defender doesn't pick up anything.

After you scan your pc with appropriate software you'll notice there's residual files in temp folders stealing information.

By the way STEAM took down more games since last week because a day after release they picked up some of the downloaded files have malware. They also found adult content in certain folders.

I tend not to go with first impressions. Sometimes a game may look a bit stale and not worth playing but as you progress the game starts to become more interesting.

I think there's too many people involved in decision making and it leads up to conflict and delays many processes. Nothing seems to be straightforward these days.

[DoctorEldritch]

@DracoTarot Ah, so it's not just for storage drives, but for main hard drives too? That is good to know, so the utility of those programs is broader. And I only use free editions of antivirus software on my personal PC, so it would probably be best to be extra cautious.

That's new, I did not think some developers would be so bold as to have malware in the game itself. Maybe that's some sort of anti-piracy feature?

That's true, but I can often sort of see if the game has potential to become more interesting the more you play, or not. Though sometimes I am mistaken, too: sometimes a studio you expect to make a game that becomes more interesting later on fails, and the game does not really shine after all. This happened to me with Defender's Quest 2, for example. I thought the story and lore, and narrative of Defender's Quest 1 were much better. Though this may not be an entirely good example, either: it was stuck in development for over 10 years. And Defender's Quest 2 is not a bad game, either, just not as good as the original, I thought.

Ah, well...

[DracoTarot]

@DoctorEldritch Main hard drives are the most funerable and must be scanned frequently. The issue with free edition software is all features are not enabled and mostly do not scan drives as they supposed to. It's always better to receive all the necessary updates.

I don't know what's happening with some of the releases. Some people complain about the issue a few hours after downloading the game. I'm a bit cautious these days to download games and wait a while before I do. If someone mentions in a thread they had a issue, I'll avoid the game completely.

Oh well, these days I am very indecisive about games and in the same boat as you. It's getting harder to decide if I want to continue with the gameplay or not. 😭

More like shivelry. 🤣