Gaming

Can't Stream Persona 5 - Sorry

This is just a quick update to let folks know I was planning on streaming Persona 5, but unfortunately I found out that it is not endorsed nor allowed by AtlusUSA according to their official notice about it. 

You can read the notice here

Although I am utterly disappointed by the announcement, it doesn't really affect me from enjoying the game in private. If you want my thoughts on it or just want someone to talk to about story plots, feel free to leave a comment and I'll be glad to chew the fat as I go through the game.

In the meantime I'll be finding another game to put up on YouTube in the near future.

UPDATE

So apparently the ban on streaming Persona 5 has been lessened, but not done away with completely. AtlusUSA updated their policy on streaming the game up until 11/19 but not the final acts. In other words they increased the "cock tease" date, but still no satisfying finish for anyone wanting a complete play-through.

You can read the updated notice here

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Working On A Schedule

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Just a small update to let folks know we're both working on a more consistent schedule. With the upcoming months being a little on the slower side, we will have more time to conceptualize what we want to do in the near future and have content not only related to gaming.

For the immediate time being, I (Tree) might being doing a Persona 5 play-through for Youtube and Clover is thinking of consistently doing Wednesday / Friday-Sunday streams for Twitch. Nothing is concrete however but at least it's something. We'll let you guys know in the upcoming month soon.

PC Specs - For Those Who Were Curious

We use a 2 PC stream setup in an array of 3 computers. The 2 "gaming" computers are identical in specifications, while the dedicated streaming PC is slightly less powerful overall. The gaming computers are directly connected to the streaming PC, as well as any consoles.

Below are the main specs for each computer. Note that the power supply, case, monitor and other random peripheral components are not listed as they are not performance essential to the build.

Gaming PC

Motherboard - Gigabyte GA-Z170X Ultra Gaming 

Processor - Intel i7-6700K Processor

Ram - G.SKILL TridentZ Series 16GB

Video Card - Zotac GeForce GTX 1070 Amp Extreme

Hard Drive - Toshiba OCZ Trion 150 480GB 2.5"

Microphone - Audio-Technica ATR2100-USB

Webcam - Logitech C922x Pro

Gaming PC 1 / PS4 Slim (Top) / 2x CyberPower UPS (Bottom) / Streaming PC / Gaming PC 2

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Darkspore - A Great Game No One Played

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Sometimes it takes sitting in your living room at 1 AM in the morning looking over your steam games library to realize something. It's the realization that time stops for no one, and things you might have enjoyed a long time ago can no longer be enjoyed in the present no matter how hard you try.

If this introduction seems overly pessimistic; it is because this particular enjoyment in question is a game called "Darkspore", something I used to play a lot that you can read all about here.

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A brief history lesson, Darkspore was the by-product of the highly criticized game Spore developed by Maxis Software and in my opinion undeservedly ignored at launch due to its association with the previous game.

Even after going silent for 3 years and salvaging what they could with the franchise, Maxis couldn't shake off the huge letdown that Spore ultimately was - a very close parallel to a more recent game No Man's Sky where an overly extended development time lead to a hype train with increasingly unrealistic expectations on the final product. Darkspore was meant to be a spin-off that salvaged the creature editing tool that took so many years to develop, and was one of the main selling points of the original Spore touting "almost endless customization options".

To be frank, those who never actually dove into the Darkspore creature editor don't know what customization can feel like. It's amazing that a game made many years ago can still have a character editor that rivals if not surpasses many modern games in the same area. The complete freedom to modify a body part or piece of armor to your liking and appearance has somehow become a relic of a lost era; hidden and buried by the greed of modern publishers and development teams wishing to piece-meal out customization on a paid micro-transaction platform. 

Customization aside, Darkspore was a squad based ARPG similar to the highly popularized Diablo series, but more dynamic with the ability to swap between 3 characters of your choosing during gameplay. The mechanics were done well, the classes varied, and the game play was exceptionally smooth. What let Darkspore down in terms of being a good ARPG was its overwhelmingly tentative development team - a team that was too afraid of its own creation. Limited maps, repetitive enemies and barely serviceable lobby were the hallmarks of a development team working on a shoestring budget to try to turn water into wine.

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Darkspore became a gamble for Maxis; a gamble that ultimately failed. With a whole generation of fans permanently scarred and bitter with the original Spore, Darkspore was dead on arrival in the public's eye - a cash grab from a development team which had lost all its credibility. For that sin one of the more underrated games released in the last decade died a death undeserving for what it really was; a good game. A game I put a lot of hours in with my wife, and a game we both had fond memories of playing even to this day.

If there's any lasting stain on a game so tarnished by its parent's reputation, it's the fact that Darkspore used a DRM system pushed upon by its cruel masters over at EA. The "always on" requirement meant that once the game's public servers went down, the game would become dead permanently. As of this article's writing the game's servers have been officially offline for about a year - March 1st being the anniversary.

I'm not sure what really drove me to write this piece about the game now looking back at the words on my screen in my somewhat hazy state of mind... but I guess it's a strange nerd eulogy to something that brought me a lot of fun.

For what its worth to Darkspore fans, developers and random internet people who may read this blog one day, let it be known that a couple of people out there really enjoyed the hell out of this game. I miss it a lot, and I remember how great it was even more.

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