In a confusing turn of events LG, who seem to have some of the nicest affordable Ultra Wide gaming monitors @ 1440p / 144Hz +, have added yet another confusingly named monitor available for pre-purchase.

So I was originally looking at the definitely not confusingly named LG 34GN850-B which currently retails for $1,529.99 CAD at the ONLY online retailer I can find supplying it (Staples).

• 34" Ultra Wide
• G-Sync / Adaptative Sync @ 160Hz
• 1440p HDR
• 1ms response

So this one is essentially bells and whistles over the extremely similar but also confusingly named older LG monitor titled LG 34GK950F-B (how is 950 older than 850, I don't know). The only differences I can seem to find online is that the 950 doesn't have G-Sync and there isn't an adaptative refresh rate to go beyond 144Hz (meh). This one retails for $1,41799 CAD.

Now onto the NEW model for pre order:

LG UltraGear 34GP83A-B retailing for $1099.99 CAD!
Link to Amazon: https://www.amazon.ca/LG-UltraGear-34GP83A-B-Adaptive-Sync-Compatible/dp/B08DWD38VX/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=34GN850-B&qid=1600891234&sr=8-2

The features are the exact same as the first 850 moniotr yet it's hundreds of dollars cheaper. I'm so lost at this point...

• 34" Ultra Wide
• G-Sync / Adaptative Sync @ 160Hz
• 1440p HDR
• 1ms response

What could possibly be the difference between this and the 850? It looks the exact same, has the same product description, yet, is hundreds of dollars cheaper.

I wonder if I should bite or wait for reviews. Maybe the pricing of these other monitors went up due to scarcity? Either way, LG model names are sooooooo obtuse, especially because they are such similar products.

EDIT:

People on Reddit are suggesting the new model for pre-order uses sRGB instead of DCI-P3 wide color gamut which everybody on Reddit seems to hate and turn off anyways...

https://i.reddit.com/r/bapcsalescanada/comments/idr6cu/monitor_preorder_lg_ultragear_34gp83ab_34_219_ips/

https://www.reddit.com/r/Monitors/comments/dthcms/lg_27gl83a_vs_27gl850/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=usertext&utm_name=bapcsalescanada&utm_content=t3_idr6cu

Might as well save the money AND save myself from over saturation. Seems like this is already sold out in the US so I might hop on it.

Still weird that I can pre-order this product but can't find any info about it on the official LG website.

As a massive fan of the MGS games, I just don’t see the point in an MGS Remake.

It’s fine. It still plays perfectly fine. It’ll be a faithful remake so it’ll be MGS1 with better graphics?

I just feel like remaking stuff all the time isn’t useful unless the game could actually use a spit shine or a full blown revamp. But MGS1 is fine...

@crepe said in The EZA Forums Top 50 Games of the 2010s!:

Other than that, I'm really surprised that Bioshock Infinite didn't make it. I had it in my top ten.

Bioshock Infinite is a really fun game and I don't really like this overly analytical criticism it's gotten since launch. Back when it released, I thought it was a GOTY competitor for sure. I think it's strange and pulpy enough to be taken lightly, but serious enough to have some nice social commentary. I think people either take it too seriously when critiquing the plot, or they for some reason can't see past the holes to enjoy themselves.

The other half of the pitchfork mob believes that they were promised one game, then received another. I honestly disagree. I think mostly everything that was said to be in this game is in it, just not to the level of finesse that either fans nor the developers expected. I also know there is a camp of people who think the game design in general is bad, it's too linear, it's not Bioshock, etc. I get it - but on the surface it's still a fun as hell FPS with super power abilities and a weird world to explore.

I really like it, I think it's flawed but good if not great. I disagree with the pitchfork mobs. It just didn't make my cut.

@TheMarcV
Yeah to build on what @El-Shmiablo said, Sony's hard financial times of the mid-2000s were mostly quelled by selling off ownership of their different brands. A Sony TV isn't really "Sony" anymore, just Sony in name. Same goes with film equipment, consumer cameras, laptops, and most other professional and consumer electronics they sold world wide. Same world class engineers working for the company but the business is owned by other investors who purchased the company and kept the name "Sony Bravia," "Sony Alpha," etc. The only OG Sony brands that are still owned by Sony are: Sony Music (commercial music), Sony Pictures (feature films), and Sony PlayStation (video games, obvs).

I think they still somehow make money from their other brands that they sold off, but in terms of getting out of the hole back in the day, that's how they did it.

Their work over the last decade in the consumer camera market has been incredible. They changed the photography landscape in less than 10 years whereas Canon and Nikon have been slow to adapt. I'll still take my Nikon DSLR over a Sony mirrorless, but these other companies are playing catch up to the future that Sony, Panasonic, and Pentax have put forward. Divisions like this make peanuts compared to their big three (Music, Film, Games).

I hate to say it, but other than PlayStation, their other two OG brands feel grimey. It's like they only care about recouping costs and making boat loads of money. Think about any Sony Pictures movie you've seen in the last 10 years. It's likely a big dumb money movie. Everyone's taste is different but Into The Spiderverse might be the only watchable and good movie they've made. Sony Music laser focused on the Latin American market who just consume EVERYTHING that much more than the rest of the world. They just sign any random reggaetón artist and milk them for all they're worth, then quickly move on.

PlayStation seems to be the only brand that actually invests money in a few different things for a slow brew payoff (i.e. God of War cooking for 5 years).

If you want something long to play, I'd go with games that can be endless (if you let them be).

• Rocket League
• The Witcher III
• Bloodborne
• THPS 1&2

My rationale is that any one of these games can have an endless investment.

Rocket League has a single player to warm you up. Split screen for couch co-op. Bots with a TON of modifiers for more solo fun and practice. Multiplayer for good competitive fun. And ranked for serious play. You can always hone your skills.

The Witcher III because doing everything is valuable and it will take you quite literally hundreds of hours. You won't say at around 50-60 hours that the other stuff won't be worth your while. It's all good.

Bloodborne because there is A LOT to explore, and there is incentive to play repeatedly because you can have massively differing character builds. Chalice Dungeons are infinite and PvP play / PvP builds is a well that won't dry up.

THPS for the same reasons as Rocket League. There is a single player to warm you up. Then couch co-op for some innocent old fun. Free skate to practice. Hundreds of challenges. Multiplayer to get competitive. You can hone your skills and always improve. FYI, I'm a THPS vet and I feel like I'm relearning a lot of technique and I've played this for like 30 hours already.

Oomph. Tough loss for Bloodborne but #2 ain't so bad. All of my favourite games of this gen were like instant jump to the top of my favourite games of all time. I can safely say that Bloodborne and Yakuza 0 were these massive instant jumps where I was like "Yup that's my new favourite game of all time"

My picks:

1. Bloodborne
2. Yakuza 0
3. Dark Souls
4. Yakuza 6: The Song of Life
5. Uncharted 4: A Thief's End
6. Persona 5
7. God of War III
8. NieR:Automata
9. Alien: Isolation
10. The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings
11. Fallout: New Vegas
12. Life Is Strange
13. The Last of Us
14. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
15. The Evil Within

Honourable Mentions

• Rocket League
• P.T.
• The Last Guardian
• Until Dawn
• Divinity: Original Sin II

How I'd rearrange my list on 2nd thought:

1. Bloodborne (-)
2. Yakuza 0 (-)
3. Dark Souls (-)
   4. Uncharted 4: A Thief's End (UP 2)
   5. Persona 5 (UP 1)
   6. Yakuza 6: The Song of Life ( DOWN 2)
4. God of War III (-)
5. NieR:Automata (-)
6. Alien: Isolation (-)
7. The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings (-)
   11. The Last of Us (UP 2)
   12. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (UP 2)
   13. Fallout New Vegas (DOWN 2)
   14. Life Is Strange (DOWN 2)
8. The Evil Within

I still think my Top 5 is interchangeable but I like my revised list better. My original submission was a bit messy and I think I overthought things.

As always thanks to @Axel and Alien Isolation is a masterpiece!

EDIT: LOL I think I found a glitch on the forum. It's keeping my copy n pasted numerical values even though I've re-written the text... weird.

@bigdude1 said in That's News!:

@dipset there is way more ips in bethesda than there are in mojang. Not to mention talent.

I know Bethesda / Zeni have a lot of IPs but I was coming from a strictly monetary standpoint when I'm trying to piece together why they spent so much money. For example, Hasbro bought eOne for $3.8B which is less than this buyout. Hasbro didn't care about any of the other IP's eOne owned other than: Paw Patrol, PJ Mask, and Peppa The Pig. Paw Patrol alone brings in roughly $1B in merch annually without even counting the TV Network stuff. These Hasbro IPs all went for less money and are worth infinitely more money than these adult oriented M-rated single player video game IPs are. At least at first glance.

So that's why I'm trying to wrap my head around Microsoft's angle. Is this just a portfolio purchase? So MS can say "hey, look at our diverse group of brands we own world wide?" I just don't understand their angle here. Minecraft alone is worth more than these are from a strictly revenue generating stand point.

@dmcmaster Sony has already said certain aftermarket SSDs will work on PS5 but you won't actually get the next-gen benefits unless it uses that sweet sweet PS5 SSD tech that nobody except Sony has right now. So you'd be taking the primary benefit of the PS5 away if you settle for a regular SSD expansion before Sony starts either making their own or selling Sony partner SSDs or something.

@El-Shmiablo I uninstalled Modern Warfare a few weeks ago and it removed 250GB+ from my PC. I felt a weight lifted off my shoulders.

Not sure what more I can say about The Last of Us that I or somebody else haven't already said. It's a classic game for a reason. I've played it like 6-7 times because it's so great and in playing a game that many times, I might've spoiled it for myself. I see the flaws and cracks way worse than on my original two playthroughs.

Regardless, you don't play a game you don't like 6-7 times. I really love this game, I love the levels, the way its broken up by seasons, the multiplayer, and just running around in general.

TLOU Pt 2 is better in pretty much every single way but I just wasn't as affected by the experience as much. I think TLOU 1 was onto something with is non-snap-to-cover gameplay, health bar survival, and dynamic melee to stealth to shootout combat. Since TLOU there have been a good handful of games that try this but I commend Naughty Dog for getting it like 70-80% right the first time. It's ambitious and it paid off.

What's crazy is that I just re-downloaded The Outer Worlds last night because I never finished it and got a craving. The universe was telling me something seismic was brewing...

I played for 5 hours straight, something I haven't done in a loooooong time. As I get deeper into the game, I think I might've lowballed it in our GOTY 2019 thread. Once the factions all start playing their cards and you make alliances, this is some Grade-A New Vegas style storytelling and I can't get enough of it.

Too bad Obsidian already has like 3+ games on the go. I feel as though The Outer Worlds 2, Pillars 3 will come before any New Vegas 2. Not that I really need a New Vegas anytime soon, but I just don't see how they can make it happen in practical terms. At least not until other projects wind down. Still feels good that it can happen in theory now with or without Bethesda's feelings getting hurt.