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[Blossom]

Deponia ain't worth it at free.

Racist, sexist trashfire.

[Mongrel]

Deponia ain't worth it at free.

Racist, sexist trashfire.

That's a hard agree with TA on this one.

[Blossom]

I mean, let's quote RPS's review of the third chapter, right?

For example. Of the very few black characters in the game, one of them is being forced to be an organ grinder’s monkey. Yes, a monkey. A puzzle (of sorts) at that stage in the game is to first get rid of the organ grinder, and then to find a replacement monkey, so that Monkey – as it persists in calling him – can become the new grinder. The person you’re required to have become his new dancing monkey, by destroying her life until she has nothing left? The other black character.

And the way you get her to take the job? You literally sell her.

I want to assume that this isn’t a directly and deliberately racist statement, but rather the result of abject stupidity. But it remains what it is, and what it is, is plain grotesque. Meanwhile, there’s no mistaking the deliberate choice to offer a pathetic portrayal of a Chinese stereotype, complete with Ls swapped with Rs.

And then there’s the game’s grotesque representation and attitude toward women. Within the opening moments of the game, one character has already suggested that a female character’s mentally ill behaviour is because she’s on her period. Women are sex objects, lunatics, sluts or only identified as fat. Two women who’ve joined the resistance army are described as “dressing like men”, and laughed at for thinking they can have army titles. One is taking hormones to be acceptable. PMT jokes abound, and the female lead – Goal – improbably falls in love with the revolting main character despite every dreadful thing he’s done and said.

Fuck this. Double fuck this if you think the developer isn't getting something for your free download.

[mharr]

Sounds like Ready Player One, the adventure game.

[Thad]

Yikes. Hadn't heard any of that; thanks for the heads-up.

[Thad]

Lunar New Year sales at Steam and Fanatical.

On top of the base sales, Fanatical's got a coupon for an extra 8% off and Steam's got one for $5 off $30.

Valkyria Chronicles 4 is half off on Steam and 55% off at Fanatical; shame about the Denuvo. Mega Man 11 (now Denuvo-free) is 20% off on Steam, matching its price in the recent Humble sale.

[Thad]

FREE CRACKdown

And Earthworm Jim 1&2 are $5 at GOG. Glancing through a few YouTube videos indicates that EWJ1 seems to be based on the Sega CD version, while EWJ2 uses the PlayStation version's music but the Genesis version's graphics.

They run in DOSbox, so they'll play on modern Windows/Mac/Linux through that.

...wait, does Doug TenNapel still get royalties from Earthworm Jim? I should probably find that out before I buy any Earthworm Jim things, because fuck that guy.

[Thad]

The PlayStation Classic has started appearing at retailers like Walmart and Amazon for a heavily discounted $40.

While, by all accounts, the thing is a piece of crap, it might make an interesting toy for that price. From what I've read, there's homebrew you can use to get it to boot from USB and run ripped games.

I can see how two PS1 controllers with USB connectors could be useful, too. Anyone know if they're any good? All the reviews I'm seeing emphasize the lack of analog sticks, which is understandable, but I haven't seen anything on whether they're actually any good for games without analog controls. PS1 controllers are great for SNES emulation, for example, and as I've mentioned before, playing Mega Man X with a DualShock cramps the hell out of my right hand (and this is probably why they added an auto-charge to the later games).

[Brantly B.]

Do the controllers actually function as generic DirectInput devices? That actually does make it partway almost worth it.

Even with custom software though it seems to be slightly inferior to a Raspberry Pi 3, so if you've already got one of those I guess the only thing to get it for is controllers for your Raspberry Pi 3.

[Thad]

Not entirely clear from a quick search. I found a Reddit thread where some people are reporting Windows 10 compatibility and others aren't; nothing there about Linux.

[Thad]

20XX is $5.

Indie game; Mega Man X-style physics with Roguelike elements (randomized stage layouts, permadeath, etc.). Platinum-rated for Proton; I played through the first stage and can confirm I didn't notice any issues playing it on Linux.

Feels just like MMX to me, though I still have trouble with the dash button on the shoulder. Maybe I'll try an 8bitdo SNES controller or something without a right stick so I can put dash back on A.

Haven't tried co-op but it's got that.

[Brantly B.]

8BitDo SNES controller is the only reasonable way I can play classic MMX for the exact reasons you describe (didn't try the PS Classic), but that's a problem specific to MMX. It's just a very twisty sort of control scheme.

[Thad]

Steam has Valkyria Chronicles 4 for $30.

Amazon has the Switch version for $30, the PS4 and XB1 versions for $20.

[Mongrel]

Still with Denuvo though :/

[Thad]

Tacoma is free at Humble.

I am unfamiliar with the game, so please let me know if I'm directing people to another milkshake duck.

[beatbandito]

Tacoma's only crime, as far as I'm aware, was being the video game equivalent of the dreamworks release to a hot pixar space AI game that came out around the same time.

[Thad]

Cities: Skylines and XCOM 2 are both on sale and have free weekends on Steam.

[Thad]

Free Morrowind; requires signing up for a Bethesda account.

Related: I hear good things about OpenMW, a free/open-source reimplementation of the engine.

[Brantly B.]

I can see how two PS1 controllers with USB connectors could be useful, too. Anyone know if they're any good? All the reviews I'm seeing emphasize the lack of analog sticks, which is understandable, but I haven't seen anything on whether they're actually any good for games without analog controls.

Well, I can confirm they work on PC, and that they are EXACTLY like the original PS1 controller, at least on the outside.

Which is to say that the D-pad chafes.

And the screwholes on the back chafe.

And the fucked up uneven seams on the sides chafe.

This is a PAINFUL controller to use. It's painful in 100% the exact way it always was, which does result in a kind of warped tingle of nostalgia, but I really wouldn't buy them to enjoy playing Mega Man X. Get an 8BitDo SN30 (or a proper SNES30 if you can still find one). I haven't done anything with the bab unit itself but I suspect I'll just flash a new OS on it for shits and giggles and then do absolutely nothing else with it because I already have a stack of Raspberry Pis.

[Thad]

Good to know.

SN30 doesn't work very well with 20XX in my testing so far. Button mappings are wrong (I press Y and it shows a Right Trigger icon or whatever), but that's not as big an issue as Start and Select not working at all. Trying to use Steam's generic controller configuration makes it fail to work at all.

That's under Proton; can't speak for running it under Windows proper.

Haven't tried futzing around with any other controller-mapping programs. (I don't think sc-controller works with generic gamepads.)

I do have some original PS1 controllers in my closet with a USB adapter. No idea if it works with SDL; haven't tried it. I don't remember finding original PS1 controllers as objectionable as all that, but I suppose I haven't actually held one since college.

Guess if worse comes to worst I could just use an 8bitdo controller and reach over and use the keyboard when I need to pause.