You all have probably picked up on this already, but I usually get a
kick out of announcing free (or nearly-free) games. Partly, because it
lets me - by mooching of the generosity of Epic/Steam/whomever - feel
like I'm donating these games myself, but mostly because it gives me
an opportunity to talk about specific games. But I gotta say, these
Amazon Prime Gaming announcements always leave me feeling a bit
depressed. It's a chore I don't want to do because the offerings are
usually so bleak.

But maybe this month will be better?

- Lost Lands: Sand Captivity
A 'hidden object adventure game'. Nice graphics but
it's a pixel-hunter with illogical relations between
item and solution. A number of reviews mention that
the plot is tediously long too. It's probably a good
game for its genre, but it's not for me.

- Behind the Frame: The Finest Scenery VR
Requires a VR headset to play. Apparently the core game
it was based on was a passable adventure/walking sim, but
the VR version is a not-very-well-coded port.

- Yars: Recharged (via Epic)
A modern remake of "Yars Revenge". Old arcade games never
really were my thing, and adding a bit more bling isn't
going to change that.

- Atari Mania (via Epic)
No, it's not -as you might think - a compilation of
classic Atari games. It's a brand new game (or rather,
series of mini-games) that happen to use classic Atari
characters. And not very fun mini-games. A soulless
cash-grab that doesn't even have good mechanics.

- Breakout: Recharged (via Epic)
Another remake of a classic arcade game. I'm a bit more
tolerant of this one, just because I liked "Breakout",
but I don't think all the enhancements really help.
The original was fine as it was; all the new flair
is just distracting.

- Fallout (via GOG)
It's hard to say anything bad about "Fallout"; it's a
classic for a reason. Still, it is extremely dated and
it's not really a game I'd recommend to anyone except
diehards and completionists at this point. It was great
for its time and still fine today, but there are a lot
of other games out there, just as good, that have better
visuals and QOL features. Also, this game has been given
away so often that pretty much everyone probably has a
copy already (if you don't, here, you can have mine:
M8ARC76534017ED2EF. Redeem it on GOG)

So... no. This wasn't really a better month of Prime Gaming. It's not
that the games are necessarily bad (honestly, this month has a much
better selection than previous months had) but none of the games are
EXCITING. None of them are games I'd rush out to grab. They're games I
add to the library simply because 'they are there'.

I miss the excitement.

On 2/2/2024 9:10 AM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
>
>
> I miss the excitement.
>

Well I picked them up, but yeah, not excited. Yeah, I probably have
fallout 1 rattling around on some storage device, but a license from GOG
can't hurt, right?

Nothing on Luna this month of any interest either.

--
-Justisaur

ø-ø
(\_/)\
`-'\ `--.___,
¶¬'\( ,_.-'
\\
^'

On Fri, 02 Feb 2024 12:10:10 -0500, in comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action,
Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

>But I gotta say, these
>Amazon Prime Gaming announcements always leave me feeling a bit
>depressed. It's a chore I don't want to do because the offerings are
>usually so bleak.
>
>But maybe this month will be better?

>So... no. This wasn't really a better month of Prime Gaming. It's not
>that the games are necessarily bad (honestly, this month has a much
>better selection than previous months had) but none of the games are
>EXCITING. None of them are games I'd rush out to grab. They're games I
>add to the library simply because 'they are there'.
>
>I miss the excitement.
>
Was there ever at Amazon? It went downhill fast when it stopped being run
through Twitch. I'd almost rather they give out fewer games and make them
good (or better) ones, but it's clear they're letting GOG and Epic do the
heavy lifting (presumably to bring eyeballs to their respective stores),
so Amazon probably wouldn't pay for that.

Twitch did the heavy lifting before. Amazon has no need to grab eyeballs.
They will probably never have an enjoyable freebie program again. They're
fluffing their Prime service with other companies' advertising budgets.

I'm almost to the point of ignoring it, but then you post and I'm "Well,
the Atari reboots might be fun."

--
Zag

No one ever said on their deathbed, 'Gee, I wish I had
spent more time alone with my computer.' ~Dan(i) Bunten

On Mon, 05 Feb 2024 07:27:56 -0600, Zaghadka <zaghadka@hotmail.com>
wrote:
>On Fri, 02 Feb 2024 12:10:10 -0500, in comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action,
>Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

>>I miss the excitement.

>Was there ever at Amazon? It went downhill fast when it stopped being run
>through Twitch. I'd almost rather they give out fewer games and make them
>good (or better) ones, but it's clear they're letting GOG and Epic do the
>heavy lifting (presumably to bring eyeballs to their respective stores),
>so Amazon probably wouldn't pay for that.

'Excitement' might have been overselling it, but at least it wasn't
the constant stream of disappoint we seem to be getting these days.
While I don't disagree with what you said about Twitch, in the early
days of Prime Gaming there was a wider variety of games. You had some
fairly newer* games, a handful of older classics, mixed in with the
usual Indie cruft. I picked up stuff like "Fahrenheit Remastered",
"Ghostrunner" and "Two Point Hospital" there. Also classics like "Sam
& Max", and fun Indies like "Sheltered".** You never knew exactly what
you were going to get, and that was some of the fun.

These days, odds are high that the games are all Indie titles, half of
them will be 'hidden object' games, and if there does happen to be a
worthwhile title, it will be offered via Epic... who had already given
the game away free six weeks prior.

I'm less forgiving of this decline in quality - as compared, say, to
Epic's similar problems - because Prime Gaming is something people
actually pay for (or, at least, pay for in part). They used to offer
better games, and for less money.

>I'm almost to the point of ignoring it, but then you post and I'm "Well,
>the Atari reboots might be fun."

I'm hesitant to say too much against the *:Recharged games that have
been appearing on Amazon recently. I'm not a fan of them /at all/,
but, honestly, they really aren't too different in concept from all
the SNK/NeoGeo games (Metal Slug, King of Fighters, etc) that flooded
the service a year ago, and I /loved/ those. So, not wanting to appear
TOO hypocritical, I just say, "They're not for me" without saying
outright that they're bad. ;-)

* six or seven years old, sure, but not completely outdated
** me being me, I of course already had aqcuired all those games
elsewhere already, but I'm never averse to getting a second copy ;-P