If Team Fortress Classic was eligible, I would have voted for it. Alas, I could never get into Counterstrike during the period of my life where I had time to play such time commitments. Compared to TFC, the quick time to death of CS turned me off and I missed my beloved classes and emphasis on team roles and ongoing social contact with your online stranger friends (you respawn during TFC matches, but not CS matches). Later I learned to respect Counterstrike vicariously from those who were able to get into it and relayed to me what they enjoyed.

So even though to this day I see Counterstrike as the more popular "rival team" to the other multiplayer Half-Life 1 mod/mode that I personally preferred, I am glad it made it on the list.

@brannox said in The EZA Community Top 25 Best of 2000!:

@chocobop Until that magician can will it into existence like he's done with Shenmue, RE 2 Remake, Onimusha, and a host of others, I still don't see it.

I'm talking about the forest, you are talking about the trees. The response to this I would like to make --- the philosophy I'm trying to get across --- is simple: just find a way --- any way -- to keep believing. It us, the fans, obligation to keep the candles lit. As long as we do so we can always light more candles when others burn out. But if the last candle is extinguished, it is all over.

I'm going to digress on this topic because it feels dear to me.

It feels like every other EZA podcast one of the allies will express a long shot desire for a game, but then almost immediately they pause and there's that visible and audible regret when that low probability actually kicks into their mind. What usually happens next? Another ally will jump in to say something along the lines of "It's always okay to dream." or "It's never wrong to believe it can happen".

Recall or rewatch EZA's coverage of E3 2018 and you can easily see a microcosm of this philosophy playing out even more prominently and frequently. Remember how many times during E3 an ally on stream had a wish, and even if it was crazy they'd get unanimous support from the others that, yes, you can have that wish. You have that permission! "It's E3 baby!", "Make it happen ___", or "It's going to happen, let's go!".

Below are a couple Huber videos that may help people refresh this philosophy that I like to describe as keeping the candles lit:

Youtube Video

Youtube Video

That second video (pre-E3 2017 community wishes) is really worth rewatching in full. Timesplitters. Onimusha remake. Streets of Rage 4. New Metroid hopes constantly throughout the video --- WHEN THERE WAS NO HINT, NO RUMROR. NO NEWS OF MORE METROID.

If you have a dream, keep believing! If it's too hard to believe with all your might, then find another way -- any way. Find that small rock of hope and cling to it with as much hope as you can spare.

@brannox said in The EZA Community Top 25 Best of 2000!:

Ahhhh, Dino Crisis. I think I'm being/have been swayed by Huber, but I feel like this series is due to comeback (like many other games out there).

Agreed and took the words right out of my mouth! The Huber effect is real.

Sadly, I don't see it happening.

Sorry, those aren't words the Huber I know would say! :)

@oscillator We have the same number 2 game of all time!! Perfect Dark is Forever! ;) And while I think I'm not supposed to reveal my votes, had you voted in this poll in time we would have had further overlap at the top of our lists. (o^-')b

195 Rapid-Fire Questions About Call Of Duty's Blackout
Youtube Video

Ben Hanson: Are you guys really launching in October just to get ahead of Red Dead Redemption 2? Is that a consideration?
David Vonderhaar: *chuckles* Is that a thing people say?
Ben Hanson: YES EVERYONE SAYS THAT
David Vonderhaar: Oh. I don't know, I just make the shoes.

Ben Hanson, gesturing with his right hand lowering onto his left hand:

Alright, if this is the ground, and this is the boot, you tell me when to stop.

Seconding Super Mario RPG 2. That's a good wish. Number one wish for me is a revival (not just a re-release!!) of Quintet's IPs. Starting with Actraiser and Soul Blazer.

If I'm going for more realistic and no long shots... give us a Kid Icarus: Uprising sequel already! The characters are super lovable and Kid Icarus doesn't have an established formula in terms of design or mechanics that it is shackled to. It is ripe for creativity.

A thread for sharing new games coming out in September... what are you personal picks/interests of the month?

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Did you discover some small game that not everyone knows about?
Share that and let us know what it is about!

Already know a thing or two that interests you?
Make a list (or a swanky desire index) of your interests and/or possibles!

Don't know what's so great about an upcoming game you keep hearing about?
Ask here!

Don't follow gaming news that closely and just want to passively see what BigGames™ people care about?
This is the place!

~

Going into more detail:

The basic idea is to list new games that you are interested in, as well as games you are potentially curious about or want to give wider attention to. You can briefly describe them or ask other people to help fill you in. The hope is that regular threads like these can act as a collective filter/discovery mechanism to help people decide what is worth checking out.

"New games" means any new title that is being released or ported this month in any capacity (not "backlogs/what you are playing this month"). The angle here is sharing your anticipation and promoting game discovery (as opposed to sharing comments about a first playthrough in progress - that belongs elsewhere).

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• If you want a handy list that covers most of the major upcoming games of the month, here's one text list. Feel free to post other lists or list videos that you find useful.

• Final request: If you are the first person to mention a game please provide (at minimum) a short sentence description. (If it is a very big AAA release though, then don't worry about it.) This is a good convention that makes the thread more useful as a discovery mechanism, and especially helps out anyone who doesn't follow the news as closely as you.

The Messenger is releasing August 30th. I've had an eye on this one for a while, but didn't realize it was coming out so soon until today! The EZA review is live.

It's a Metroidvania game that starts out looking and playing like an 8 bit linear, Ninja Gaiden-style game. The game's main gimmick is that you very quickly unlock the ability to flip between two worlds, the 8 bit one and a 16 bit one, and I gather this ability coincides with the game morphing into a full-on Metroidvania.

Now, this is just me speaking, but I think it deserves some comparisons to Shovel Knight. Yes, yes: the action genres of those two games are different and Shovel Knight is hugely successfully whereas The Messenger has less buzz going for it. But the reason I've kept my eye on The Messsenger is because it reminded me of that same sense of a "retro-style game infused with modern ideas" that I got from Shovel Knight.

Worth it's own thread, baby!

Announcement trailer
Youtube Video

Lizardcube, Guard Crush Games and Dotemu are thrilled to present Streets of Rage 4.

Featuring hand-drawn visuals from the team behind 2017’s gorgeous Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap remake, Streets of Rage 4 builds upon the classic trilogy’s gameplay with new mechanics, a fresh story and a gauntlet of dangerous stages with a serious crime problem.

Buckle up! No release date yet, but get that sharpie ready!

@e_zed_eh_intern I get the joke, but the real funny part is that I could legitimately meet such an event on its own terms. I have previously written and saved my own 1,000 word love letter to Perfect Dark and could link to a 52 minute video (not made by me!) that I think does an even better job of extolling the virtues of the game.