Jason? Why do you play that game? All you do is complain about it.

I FEEL SEEN

Spooky!

Sparrow Racing returns! Nothing else matters! Wheeeeeeeeeee!

Hearing this has me looking back and thinking about the journey that was Destiny. My many frustrations through the years are well represented in the forum here, but so are many of the highs. And man, those highs were so good, and remain nearly exclusive in all of video games for just how much fun it was.

Running Skolas for weeks to help folks for the Triumph. My first blind raid, King's Fall. The spacewalk in Deep Stone Crypt. The surprise Black Spindle mission. Running Crucible for weeks to get Luna's Howl. Running tons of Gambit to fight the Meatball to get Malfeasance. Entering the Dreadnaught for the first time, which felt like the first time Destiny really started to lived up to what it could be. Even the smaller moments of mystery, like when the roaming House of Wolves Fallen started showing up before that expansion dropped. Hell, there's so much stuff I feel like I could write pages about it. Trying to get that damn shotgun from Escalation Protocol on Mars. Even as frustrating as that was, I look back on it now with more fondness than annoyance.

For all its faults, Destiny was journey filled with amazing moments, and I find myself looking back with incredible fondness for just what the game was at its best, and now that it's coming to and end, I miss it more than I anticipated. Even when I wasn't playing for years, it was sort of a comfort, knowing it was there.

I'm still not sure Destiny ever lived up to its original promise, and it never fully managed to capture that early mystery where it felt like anything was possible. Looking back, though, Destiny was far more good than bad, and when it was good, it was unlike anything else I've ever played.

I'm looking forward to giving it one final hurrah on June 9th. Here's to hoping Bungie finds a way forward and can continue to build on what they accomplished with Destiny.

THE SHORT VERSION (TL;DR)
There’s a lot of words ahead, but here’s the gist of it:

• With the first season of Marathon we’ve created a strong core community.
  
• We're embarking on a multi-season journey built around growing from the seed of this >strong community.
  
• We’re looking to solve some pain points for players:
  
• Making the game less grindy, more rewarding
  
• Making improvements to things like the UI/UX, matchmaking, end game meta, playing as >solos/duos, etc.
  
• Smoothing out onboarding
  
• We’re also going to build out more of the core game:
  
• Adding new fun and mind-bending content: new and updated zones, Runner shells, new >combatants, weapons, loot, and more
  
• Building systems to make progressing more interesting
  
• We want to build more survival experiences for different moods, like if you want to full >sweat or lean back and chill.
  
• Exploring more pure PVP, PVE, and PVP-lite experiences
  
• Continue experimenting with experimental queues to learn more around these experiences

Other highlights:

• We're bringing back Duos for Season 2 with a rotating Duos queue.
  
• We're testing some experiments in Season 2 around PVE and PVP-Lite modes.
  
• We’re expanding the max size of your Vault and increasing faction progression rates in >Season 2.
  
• We’ll talk more about Season 2 content like Night Marsh, the new Cradle progression >system, and the Runner shell Sentinel, the week of May 25.

If this summary has your interest piqued, read on for more info on these topics.

Because while you could probably craft such a film to be better, it wouldn't be the same experience. The direct investigation and examination of items and the house does lead to a certain kind of intrigue that you can only have when directly controlling it. So, conceptually yes, I would say that Gone Home is in fact fine as a video game. Your choices and the fact that you are doing it makes it work.

But does MIxtape?

The discourse on this game is wild. It might be the only game I've ever seen where the trophies might actually save it. The fact that there is a trophy for jumping off a car with your skateboard or knocking down traffic cones or skipping a rock through a tire swing, on its own means that yes, this is a video game in the sense that your actions can make a difference. The physics simulation of the rolls while you toilet paper a house is actually rather satisfying, and you can TP the house in whatever way you feel like.

So the real question is: How was the experience?

This year, I want to ride a flaming stallion of delinquency

Nobody would ever say this.

The main conflict is of course in Cassandra, and I don't feel like the game really characterized or gave believability to her turn towards being so much of a Miscreant that she'd start a forest fire..

These things happen gradually. Why do we not see her first transgression and the thrill? Especially in a game about memories, why was the one we saw so unconvincing?

And the finale? Her father would never do that. I have to assume this is a memory warped because it is so beyond the bounds of believable, that if played straight it would ruin the entire thing. It has to be metaphorical and not literal, given the otherworldly depictions of events and emotions.

The biggest miss for me was the music. For a game that is explicitly about this: creating a literal soundtrack for all these moments in their lives, I just felt like none of it hit? Like, was "Love" by Smashing Pumpkins really the best you could do for a segment where you're pissed off and blowing up cars?! None of it felt right to me. None of it. Out of 20+ tracks, maybe two were kinda in the right ballpark?

Forget the discussion of whether it's a game or not. I just don't think it really did the job it was trying to do.

But hey, you can paint whatever you want on the door!

What is now $765 million dollars in impairment losses against Bungie is not something as simple as “Bungie games are $765 million in the red.” Rather, what impairment losses are doing is acknowledging that Bungie is not as valuable an asset as Sony thought it was when it bought it for $3.6 billion, so it keeps knocking that number down.

Despite this, Sony has at least publicly backed Bungie’s continued work on Marathon, saying: “Player reception to Marathon is strong, receiving a Metacritic score of 82 and more than 90% of the player reviews on Steam being positive. Engagement metrics such as retention also remain at a high level. Going forward, we aim to improve the performance of the game by working to retain highly engaged core users through the introduction of additional content, further improvements in the gameplay experience, and expansion of the user base."

Destiny 2 simply…wasn’t mentioned at all, which is disconcerting for what was Bungie’s flagship franchise and now a game that has no clear roadmap for the future.

Stopped by my parents’ place to go through some of my old stuff I left during the move, and one of the first things I found is this:

I remember winning it as part of a contest here in DBO, but can’t remember any of the details. Aside from some tiny holes in the plastic wrap, it’s still sealed. I was never one for writing, especially by hand.

Does anyone else have old-school Destiny merch they still keep around?

Maybe it is, maybe it isn't, but that angle sure made for a horny trailer.

I was a little disappointed that the choices matter about as much as a Teltale game, but as Yahtzee put it, you shouldn't really be playing these kinds of games twice anyways. If you only do YOUR playthrough, the choices are all yours and matter.

At first I thought the dispatching was a bit weak, but as time went on it became more engaging, as well as providing a bit of storytelling on its own depending on who you send to what call and pair up.

9/10 so happy the game was a huge success.

tl;dw

Game is in an 8th timeline.
Durandal never liberated the S'pht from the Pfhor
The S'pht have aligned with the W'rkncacnter
"Escape' doesn't refer to escaping the closure of the universe, but escaping the Marathon ship

First up is the sound design team:

And the other is an interview with Joseph Cross:

I also apologize for the incredibly specific nature of this message.

https://trilogyrelease.bungie.org/

At the bottom of the Trilogy Release page, there is a note that reads as follows:

Important Note:
This disc is included in .ISO format. It is beyond the scope of this page to walk you through using this format - Google is your friend. (Please don't write about this - we probably won't even answer.) For folks who don't have tools for mounting .ISOs, I found this page, with a link to a tiny, free, unsupported app available from Microsoft that comes with pretty simple instructions (though no auto-setup). I downloaded it, followed the directions to install it, and tested it - it works nicely. That's the limit of our tech support. If the day comes when the linked web page disappears, let us know and we'll try and put up a local copy of the tiny app.

The day has come. The linked web page has disappeared.

You’re welcome.

Nate Walpole (a.k.a. BentLlama), an animator on Halo 2, 3, ODST and 4, has died unexpectedly.

Support for Heather, Nolan & Alex

We are heartbroken to share the unexpected passing of Nate Walpole, a beloved husband and father. He leaves behind his wife, Heather, and their two children, Nolan and Alex, who are now facing an unimaginable loss. This family has always been built on love, hard work, and dedication. Heather works tirelessly to provide for her children, and in this moment of grief, she is doing her best to stay strong for them. However, the sudden loss has brought not only emotional pain but also significant financial challenges.

We are asking for support to help ease this burden during such a difficult time. Donations will go toward funeral expenses, daily household bills, and future educational needs—helping Alex pursue college and Nolan attend technical school. Your generosity will give Heather, Nolan, and Alex the space and time they need to grieve, heal, and begin to rebuild without the immediate stress of financial strain. No contribution is too small, and every act of kindness is deeply appreciated.

Thank you for supporting Heather, Nolan, and Alex during this incredibly difficult time. The family is deeply grateful for your care and support. As they begin to process this loss, they kindly ask for privacy and understanding, and that people be mindful about reaching out directly. Your respect for their time and space means a great deal, and your support in any form is truly appreciated.

Looks like a Destiny raid, but with PvP enabled. Sounds like the stakes will be extremely high since you can spend half an hour solving a puzzle only to get shotgunned in the back as you walk through the final door.

Also: It's weekend-only?

Are you having fun? Are you getting phat loots? Dying too much?

Do you see yourself sticking with it in the near-term?

I've just been watching people play it on twitch. It's fun to see people who are way more skilled that you, in the same way it was fun to watch those people play Trials of Osiris... but it's not making me want to pick it up, it looks very stressful (again, much like Trials).