Gaming

From Bloomberg (via archive.ph): https://archive.ph/63F4L

Let's say the PC doesn't count and you aren't taking into account backwards compatibility, emulation, online play, homebrew games, and the cost/availability of games.

I feel like I'd want to choose the PS3. Like the Xbox 360 it had a decent lifespan and a lot of games were produced for it. A lot of which are already some of my favorites.

The only things that would make hesitant are I feel like a lot of modern games are larger and have open worlds which I feel like that could be nice in the long run and many of my favorite games for the PS3 have been re-released.

Skull and bones got described as a "quadruple A" game. Why stop at 4 A's though?

Personally, it's Faith from Farcry 5 for me. Uninteresting dialog that can be summed up to "I was bullied once" and that's it. Literally every other character is so much more interesting. Jacob gives you a sequence where you run through a gulag which he then uses against you, John tries to kill you and is openly hateful towards you plus is a character you get to interact with, and Joseph is a lunatic who was right.

I like mini motorways and stardew valley. What about you ?

My daughter (4) is very into exploring cities, homes and villages in Skyrim, feeding aliens in No Man's Sky, and cleaning houses in House Flipper. She gets annoyed in games like House Flipper because she can't leave the property to explore all of the visible houses on the block. I'd like to find other PC games that are relatively kid-friendly (or at least with my guidance and supervision) and easy for her to just wander about and be nosy.

Any suggestions? Simple adventure/fantasy would be great and provide us with something to progress through together, but anything that lets you explore a neighborhood and/or poke around in buildings and such would be perfect. I'm picking up Goat Simulator today for that exact purpose.

I appreciate it in advance.

I found this big chip on this copy of SSX3. I no longer consider it safe to use; don't need it shattering inside my console and ruining that, too.

Edit: For those interested in emulating PS1 through 3 games, you have zero reason not to.
Normally the difficult-to-obtain part is the BIOS as it's proprietary. That normally requires a homebrewed console or questionably downloading it online. But Sony actually lets you download the official PS3 firmware update to your computer. That contains not just the BIOS for the PS3, but also the emulated PS1 & 2 BIOSes.
There's a program a person made that pulls the emulated BIOSes for the PS1 & 2 (I forget the name; it's on GitHub). With those in hand, grab a DVD ROM drive (you can buy an external one for like $40) and download ImgBurn to start ripping your games and creating ISO's.
PS3 games have some extra encryption so they need a different program called PS3 Disc Dumper. You also need a compatible Blu-Ray drive; RPCS3 provides a list of known compatible drives on their site. They mention their list is incomplete, so if yours isn't on it, there's still a chance it will work.
And obviously the emulators for each console (DuckStation, PCSX2, RPCS3). There's a little bit more to it than that, but it's easier than you might think. Just need to do a bit of googling for the things I mentioned. I also recommend checking out each emulators' respective Discord servers. They contain helpful resources.

Happy emulating!

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/10958052

Vanguard, the controversial anti-cheat software initially attached to Valorant, is now also coming to League of Legends.

Summary:

The article discusses Riot Games' requirement for players to install their Vanguard anti-cheat software, which runs at the kernel level, in order to play their games such as League of Legends and Valorant. The software aims to combat cheating by scanning for known vulnerabilities and blocking them, as well as monitoring for suspicious activity while the game is being played. However, the use of kernel-level software raises concerns about privacy and security, as it grants the company complete access to users' devices.

The article highlights that Riot Games is owned by Tencent, a Chinese tech giant that has been involved in censorship and surveillance activities in China. This raises concerns that Vanguard could potentially be used for similar purposes, such as monitoring players' activity and restricting free speech in-game.

Ultimately, the decision to install Vanguard rests with players, but the article urges caution and encourages players to consider the potential risks and implications before doing so.

Analysis of the No user logon issue in Counter Strike 2, and older CS titles.