Play video games with your kids. This creates a wonderful bonding experience and life lessons. I'm being serious. Here's some of the life lessons I've been able to teach my boys by playing video games with them along with just having wonderful bonding times with them.

Lets start with my 6 year old. He likes to play Mario odyssey on his brother's Nintendo switch. He's doing really well at it on his own. But when it gets a little tough, i.e. Boss fights, he gets me to do it for him. Everytime I complete one of the harder parts for him I'm greeted with a "Thank you dad, you're the best dad ever". That is reward enough but then I also see that it's teaching him that sometimes things get tough and you can't do it on your own and it's perfectly fine to ask someone for help. He likes to play Mario kart with me, both of my boys do. Yes, when I play I do the stereotypical thing of being 100% Dale Earnhardt in nature and annhiliating them both. This isn't just fun for me (I mean well it is) but it's also teaching them a few things. It's teaching them that not everything is handed to you. It's teaching them that when you get beat you have three options. You can accept defeat and give up, you can play the same way and continue to lose or you can find where you need improvement, practice and get better and eventually win if you want it bad enough. My teenage boy has already done this in Mario kart and now I have trouble beating him.

My teenager had played games since he got a Nintendo switch for Christmas one year. It came with Mario odyssey and he played the exact same way his younger brother is playing now. He would hand it off to me on the hard parts. Him and I still remember the night we beat Bowser and how much fun we had and how hard we were laughing. I taught him through that game that if you stay calm and focused on the task that even though things around you seem to be falling apart you can usually push forward successfully. Any of you who have played Bowser on the last level of Mario Odyssey know what I'm referring to. I've also taught him that sometimes he's had trouble to complete a mission or a task or getting through a certain part of the game easily that it's okay to walk away from it for a bit and come back when you have better focus and more energy to do it and usually complete it with ease at that point. We played and beat Lego City undercover together. I had tears streaming down my cheeks at the end of that game. Partially because of how good of a last mission it was but mostly because I was having so much fun with him on this game.

Now that he's older and he's bought a Playstation 5 with his own money he's earned from his summer jobs, yes I said jobs, things are a tad different but still the same. The games and maturity to them have changed a bit but their are still lessons to be learned. I show him new tricks that when I do them I saw the amazement in his eyes that I figured out. Truth is it's just old school gamer tricks that we learned from our friends back in the day such as the old 'put the controller in your lap and use your middle finger to rapid fire'. He now calls that the 'spray and pray' method. There is also no better feeling then when you pull some move out of your ass that works perfectly and he's sitting their dumbfounded at what you just pulled off. He was only playing open world games and wanted nothing to do with first person shooters as he said they made him too anxious. I showed him through Borderlands 3 that you can be analytical and calculated with your gameplay to get around a task and work it the easiest and Beth method that you can instead a run and gun or shotgun approach. Now he plays first person shooters and I see him view his missions, draw a plan out in his mind and be very tactical about his approach and how he will accomplish that task.

Play video games with your kids. If you already do this then use these and the hard times as ways to teach them life lessons and things that they will remember about you.

Unfortunately, nearly every addon in video game history has failed to take off. Some did get pretty close, though. Like, Sega CD had a decent library of games but the price was too high. If addons took off, gaming could be influenced greatly. For example, in today's world, many console games are still 30FPS, an 32X-style add-on could fix that by giving us 4K 120FPS.

So, what if Nintendo PlayStation released? Unlike Sega, we're going to assume Nintendo and Sony understood $299 was too high of a price. But, this console does have brand new CD technology, so how does the price get reduced? Well, the $299 Sega CD didn't just have CD tech, it also had a scaling chip, an additional CPU, and a PCM sound chip with the same amount of channels and RAM as SNES.
Without all of those additional enhancements SCD had, we could make a $199 CD add-on, which is actually affordable like SNES. Upgrades could instead be done through the cartridge slot, adding chips like Super FX and later possibly even loading some of the game data through 2 or 4 meg carts to reduce loading times.

So, the Nintendo PlayStation will be $199, and thanks to Nintendo's brand loyalty and strong Japanese sales unlike Sega, it could likely have a successful console that will sell at least 5 million units at worst, and has a big chance of shaping the future of gaming.

Devs like Square already developed games like Secret of Mana for the system. Adding CD-quality music and cutscenes would've been amazing. Thanks to Japanese developers' preffering traditional games over interactive FMV games, things would've gone amazing. Imagine the system's best soundtracks in CD form. RPGs that weren't localized due to high cartridge and SRAM costs could get localized.

The most-likely guaranteed success of the SNES CD would mean other companies would try to copy it, or introduce more innovative addons. The gaming world would most likely change forever. Today, Instead of a PS Pro and Xbox refresh, we would have cheaper, more powerful addons that don't require paying the console's price again.

Welcome to the continuation of the 2024 Summer of Games! Every weekday leading up to Gamescom, we'll spotlight a Microsoft-published game or franchise, past or present. It's then your turn to post your best memories and highlights from these titles. We'll preserve these posts in the community wiki for nostalgia's sake. Plus, you'll get to pick from exclusive user flairs for each game or franchise featured, available forever to all.

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater

The Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater franchise, published by Activision and endorsed by the American professional skateboarder Tony Hawk, has a rich history. It all began in 1999 when Tony teamed up with Activision to create the first game in the series, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater. This initial release marked the start of an annual release schedule that continued until 2007, with Neversoft as the primary developer. During this period, the series became incredibly popular and one of the best-selling video game franchises of the early 2000s. The first five Pro Skater games received critical acclaim for their unique gameplay, varied soundtracks, and expansion over their predecessors. Notably, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2 and Pro Skater 3 are considered among the best games released for the PlayStation and PlayStation 2, respectively.

However, after 2007, the franchise took a different direction. Robomodo developed spin-offs like Ride and Shred, which were commercial and critical failures. Attempts to revive the series with releases like Pro Skater HD in 2012 and Pro Skater 5 in 2015 faced challenges. Fortunately, in 2020, the series made a triumphant return under Activision with a remake of the original two games: Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2. Developed by Vicarious Visions, this nostalgic reboot brought the franchise full circle, delighting fans and introducing new players to the iconic skateboarding games. Overall, the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater series has left an indelible mark on gaming history, combining thrilling gameplay with the rebellious spirit of skateboarding.

Welcome to the continuation of the 2024 Summer of Games! Every weekday leading up to Gamescom, we'll spotlight a Microsoft-published game or franchise, past and present. It's then your turn to post your best memories and highlights from these titles. We'll preserve these posts in the for nostalgia's sake. Plus, you'll get to pick from exclusive for each game or franchise featured, available forever to all.

Diablo

The Diablo franchise has been captivating gamers since its debut in 1996. Developed by Blizzard Entertainment, it immerses players in the ongoing war between the High Heavens and Burning Hells, with the mortal realm of Sanctuary caught in the middle. The core games include:

• Diablo: The first installment in the video game series of the same name, was released by Blizzard Entertainment in January 1997. Set in the fictional Kingdom of Khanduras, players control a lone hero battling to rid the world of Diablo, the Lord of Terror. Beneath the town of Tristram, they journey through sixteen randomly generated dungeon levels, ultimately descending into Hell itself to face the titular antagonist. The game’s success led to several sequels

• Diablo II: Launched in 2000, it became an immediate hit and remains as iconic as the original. An action role-playing hack-and-slash video game developed by Blizzard North and published by Blizzard Entertainment in 2000. Set in the fictional world of Sanctuary, the game follows a group of anonymous heroes attempting to stop the Prime Evil known as Diablo before he frees his brothers and destroys the mortal realm. The game’s storyline progresses through four chapters or “acts,” with randomly generated wilderness and dungeons between key areas. Players complete quests within each act, encountering an increased cast of characters and exploring diverse environments. Diablo II improved upon its predecessor, featuring updated character progression and a better-developed story, and it remains one of the greatest games of all time

• Diablo III: The third installment in the Diablo franchise. It was released for Microsoft Windows and OS X in May 2012, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in September 2013, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in August 2014, and Nintendo Switch in November 2018. Set 20 years after the events of Diablo II, players control one of seven character classes – Barbarian, Crusader, Demon Hunter, Monk, Necromancer, Witch Doctor, or Wizard – and are tasked with defeating Diablo. The game features fast-paced real-time combat, an isometric graphics engine, and classic dark fantasy elements. An expansion pack, Reaper of Souls, was released for PC in March 2014, and it became part of the Diablo III: Ultimate Evil Edition for consoles in August 2014. The Rise of the Necromancer pack followed in June 2017. Diablo III received positive reviews, although its always-on DRM feature was criticized. It set a new record as the “fastest-selling PC game,” selling over 3.5 million copies in the first 24 hours and becoming the best-selling PC game of 2012 with over 12 million copies sold. As of August 2015, the total number of sales had grown to over 30 million.

• Diablo Immortal: Bridges the story between Diablo II and Diablo III. Set five years after the events of Diablo II, the game takes place in the world of Sanctuary. The Worldstone was destroyed, but its corrupted fragments are scattered throughout the land. New hordes of demons rise, seeking to harness these powerful shards and bring about the return of Diablo. Players embark on a quest to contain the broken Worldstone, encountering familiar faces like Deckard Cain, as well as new characters. The game features visceral monster-slaying action, an expansive campaign, and various gameplay elements, including Challenge Rifts, Elder Rifts, and Helliquary Raids.

• Diablo IV: The latest installment, released in 2023 - Set in a grim future after the cataclysmic events of Diablo III, the mortal realm is left wounded, providing fertile ground for new evils to take root. The story revolves around Lilith, the Queen of Succubi, providing a darker, grittier experience.

The Diablo franchise’s popularity extends beyond games, with books and comics delving into the dark fantasy world of Sanctuary. Altogether, the series has sold nearly 100 million copies worldwide

I have a legion go now but I don't really have much variety of games to play other than fighters, fortnite and gta. I have more than just that but it's what I usually play.

I want something that I can play and jump back to it randomly without needing to remember what I just did last time I played. A game I can play for a few minutes or hours then jump back to it tomorrow for another few minutes or hours... or next week or so when I feel like it.

Something I can make NEW friends on, interact with people whether it is text chat or voice, or both. But I prefer text with strangers at first. Customize my character kinda like metaverse I guess?

I am mostly a Nintendo and Playstation gamer growing up...

I usually enjoy these type of games:

• GTA

• POKEMON

• Animal Crossing

• Mario

• Simulator Games like Truck Simulator

• TSUM TSUM

• Super Smash

• Maplestory

• Jackbox

• DJ MAX, DDR, ROCKBAND, GUITAR HERO

• tony hawk underground 2 / thps (probably the only series I actually got the most playtime)

• sonic adventure 2

• umvc3

• crazy taxi

• the crew

• uncharted

• pokemon pinball

• ps home / playtogether (mobile) "metaverse"

• yakuza like a dragon

• casino games like slots or related

• mario party / sports games

• metal slug

• multiversus

• puzzle bobble

• open world driving games (i have a racing wheel & a pc too). I don't have forza or the crew type games at all - only played them when I had gamepass trial before but I dont have game pass anymore or plan to (unless theres another free trial).

• exploration and collecting (kinda like pal world) I dont own pal world but I played it on game pass, which i dont have anymore...

I usually am not interested in these types of games:

• first person shooters especially if they're realistic war themed... cartoony stylized might be fine. I get dizzy/nauseous easily and can't continue 😵‍💫

• anything with zombies in it. Grew up being scared playing ocarina of time when the zombies came out at night! Never finished it lol

• morbid, gore (unless it's mortal kombat or god of war)

• too freaking difficult. I lose interest easily if I can't figure out something. Not that great at games...

• too much dialogue to follow. I want to press/smash A a lot.

• visual novels

what I'm thinking of getting:

• riders republic complete edition $30

• castle crashers $1.5

• bloons td6 $1.35 something

I already had castle crashers on my old consoles when it first came out that I don't play anymore... but i never really finished it or played online with it before. Probably only played 2 hours max before. Idk if that would change. Kinda boring to me unless I have people sitting on the couch playing with me.

I know you can recommend me "free" games as well but I have $20 steam giftcard + $10 I can add to it. I've had the giftcard sitting lost in a closet for 2 years now and I wanna use it lol. I wrote the other day but I'm not really feeling most the suggestions. They were mostly FPS games like DEEP ROCK GALACTIC, titanfall 2, or stuff like valheim, elder scrolls online, not sure what else. Some suggestions were really good like The Witcher 3 but idk if I'll enjoy it. I couldn't get into fire emblem on the switch! I'm a casual nintendo gamer who usually played pokemon growing up but been hard getting into modern pc gaming :( .

Any dads out there looking to play some fortnite or COD4 after work or weekends? My PSN is sparkplugjay7 feel free to add me! Open to play other games as well

Hey guys I’m looking to buy a PlayStation 5 for my son I’ve gone to two pawnshops so far(mind you it’s July 2024) and they are wanting $420 used with the cords and one controller. I looked online and brand new now I see them for $459 with the cords, one controller and a game. So my question (sorry I need to just get to the point lol) is the $420 too high or am I tripping? What price would be considered reasonable at a pawnshop? Thanks y’all!

Please welcome storied game designer David Jaffe back to Sacred Symbols+ for another rousing rendition of Moriarty x Jaffe. For today's show, I (Colin) emailed Jaffe four different topics I thought we could discuss, a necessary step considering how slow things have been in our space as of late. But as we often do on this show, we talked so damn much that we only got through the first two topics and figured we'd leave the other two for another time. The first half (or so) of our chat revolves around PlayStation 5 Pro, the still-hypothetical (but obviously quite real) iteration on the standard PS5 that's due to be revealed and released later in 2024. What are our expectations of how Sony will choose to roll the console out? What price can we expect? Do we think new games will be revealed as well? Heck, is console gaming even in a healthy position at all? The second half of our talk veers into games industry minutiae, specifically concerning the mass layoffs that have entire studios (and even publishers) in the grasp of deep uncertainty. Do you know that some 30,000 people have lost their jobs in development and publishing in the last two and a half years? Many of them will never get back in, because there's no room or demand for more dev. As such, in an economic space with so many losers and so few winners, do we need to embrace a smaller development structure in order to get back to full health? Does pain now equate to security later on?

Russ, I love your video based on this, but I can't always grab a snack and a drink ;-). So I broke it down and summarized it up here. Asterik denotes the winner in the category. Results below:

Game Boy and Game Boy Color: FPGBC*, Analogue Pocket, Powkiddy RGB20SX.

Game Boy Advance: Ambernic RG351P, RG552, Trimui Smart Pro*

Nintendo DS: Powkiddy RGB30, Ayn Odin 2, original DS or 3DS*. Bonus: use flash carts!

Nintendo 3DS: Aya Neo Flip DS, Ayn Odin 2, original 3DS*. Bonus: mod the console!

Sony PSP: original PSP, PS Vita, Logitech G-Cloud, Retroid Pocket 3+, Retroid Pocket Flip, Retroid Pocket 4 (base)*

PS Vita: original PS Vita* (emulation isn't there yet).

NES: RG35XX-H*, RGB30

SNES: 35XX-H, RG552, RGB30*

TG-16/CD: RGB30*, 35XX-H

NeoGeo/Pocket/Color: RGB30, RG35XX-H

Sega Genesis/CD/32X: RG Arc-D*

Sega Saturn: Steam Deck OLED, Ayn Odin 2*

Playstation 1: Ayn Odin 2, RG405M*

Nintendo 64/Sega Dreamcast: RG405M, Ayn Odin 2, Retroid Pocket 2S*

GameCube: Ayn Odin 2, Steam Deck OLED*

Playstation 2: Steam Deck OLED, Ayn Odin 2*

XBox: 7840U PC + Dual boot into Batocera (this is a lot of work) not recommended

Wii U: Steam Deck OLED*, Aya Neo Flip DS

PS3/XBox 360: 7840U Z1 Extreme chip--ROG Ally, Legion Go, Aya Neo Kun*

Nintendo Switch: Steam Deck OLED, Aya Odin 2*

Streaming XBox Series X/S and PS4/5: Logitech G-Cloud, Gamesir G8 + Phone* (S/X), PS Portal* (PS5)

Make sure you watch his video because he gives a lot of additional details I don't cover here!

Hey there! You probably don't know me, but please take a minute of your time to read this post.
We are Nexo Games Studios. A small indie game dev studio working on a complete reimagining of the Minecraft: Story Mode series (Basically Minecraft Story Mode: Season 3, in a way). It is called Goldcraft: Admin Attack, and is set out to be a complete video game just like the likes of MCSM S1 and S2. It follows along a new story featuring your favorite original characters and more!

We are actively looking for animators, voice actors, and few writers. Mainly animators.
Your contribution could make a real difference in making this project a success.

If you are interested, check out our website and discord linked at the bottom of our website and the bottom of this post!
Our Website:

Main Menu UI Demo:

FAQ

Firstly,
What is Nexo Games Studios?
Nexo Games Studios are an independent game development team. Lead Master Golden, Co-Director IamAppley and many talented individuals such as animators and so on.

What is Goldcraft: Admin Attack?
Goldcraft: Admin Attack (or Minecraft Story Mode Season 3) is an upcoming video game similar to that of Minecraft Story Mode Seasons 1 & 2, it has the same characters plus many more. And when finished will be fully playable, complete with quick time actions (Such as spamming q or clicking the right arrow as fast as you can), walk around scenes (like those in the original Minecraft Story Mode in which you can walk around and interact with stuff), and choices along the way that may just change what a character says, or change the story drastically. We currently have 5 planned episodes however more may come in the future. Each with a custom written script!

When will this game be released?
We do not have an expected release however we plan to release demo builds and short parts of the storyline which will most likely be free to download.

How will this be animated?
Rigs and animated scenes will all be made in blender and BlockBench, and exported to our inhouse game engine.

What game engine will you be using to make the game?

We are using our own inhouse engine made by me with features dedicated towards both general game development, FPS games, and of course Point and Click adventure games such as Minecraft Story Mode. The engine is named Golden Engine (No not because lead is Master Golden). The engine is private and may or may not be released to the public eventually. However it is compatible with certain unity assets and C#, so programmers and game devs are definitely welcome!

What devices will it support?
The game is originally intended to support PC, however, assuming we get the proper rights, the game will support consoles, such as the PlayStation 4, the PlayStation 5, and Xbox 1. Assuming we get that far, the game will eventually be ported to a Nintendo switch, and mobile devices and tablets via touchscreen controls.

Will I be paid if I work on the project?
Yes, you will, we will eventually start a Kickstarter or GoFundMe to gain the initial funds needed to pay all our hardworking staff.

Will the game be free?
Assuming we get the proper rights from Mojang and specific entities, then no, the game will not be free other than the demo builds, the game will be paid on platforms such as steam and the PlayStation store and so on. This is in order to pay our hardworking staff continuously through the projects updates. If we do not get the proper rights, the game will still be finished and released, but expect the size and complexity of the game to go far lower, this is due to the fact that we will only be able to pay our staff with a Kickstarter or GoFundMe, the amount of donations we receive from that will determine the quality and size of the game if we do not get the proper rights.

That is all from me, here's the discord link!

Almost every day that I open up Reddit I see people asking tons of questions but a few keep coming up at least once almost every day. In this wall of text I'm hopefully going to be able to have the answers to everything that I see being asked on repeat on this sub in one place, and maybe even fix problems you didn't even know you had.

Before I begin, the guide is going to assume two things; You ARE playing on a PC, and you are NOT pirating the game. If you did pirate the game, or purchased the game on a console that doesn't allow you to modify the game's files, there's no guarantee I can help you with your issues. Pirated copies of games almost always come with some kind of modifications to their files, and consoles are much more strict in how they operate, making both these things completely outside my realm of knowledge on this game.

Next, it's important to note that this game is a bit of a fix-er-uper by nature. The game has never EVER been updated by EA on any platform or launcher; it has been on v1.0.0 since the day it launched and is almost 100% going to stay that way forever.

If you just purchased the game, that's great! Don't let what I just said get you down, the game works almost perfectly even though it's never been updated and it's entirely still playable despite never being updated. If you've owned the game for a while now, you probably already knew this but regardless you need to know just how much "fixing" the game really needs, and since you're already here you're getting the full course.

Now moving on to the actual fixes.

Editing the .INI files of A:MR

Alice: Madness returns has a few issues that can be fixed with a simple edit to a text document, but if you don't know what you're doing you can easily break the game even more than it already is. In this section of the fix guide we're going to cover a few fixes;

• Making the game run at 60 or more FPS as opposed to the default 31

• Giving ourselves access to the A:MR DLC (yep, for free!)

• Attempting to get access to American McGee's Alice

• Skipping the extremely long intro logo splash screens

All of these are interchangeable, you can do all these fixes, only the ones you care for, or none at all, whatever you want to do with your game is allowed and anything you don't want to do won't break anything if you leave it alone further on. All that being said, assuming you want at least one of these changes, we need to find the file we're going to edit in the first place. You will need to open your File Explorer in order to track this down no matter what launcher you own the game through.

For EA App users, your file is located at the path C:/ Program Files (x86)/EA Games/Alice Madness Returns/Game/Alice2/AliceGame/Config

For Steam users, you can find your file at Documents\My Games\Alice Madness Returns\AliceGame\Config

To my knowledge this is the only two places you can buy A:MR on PC. If I'm wrong please do correct me in the comments and I'll add how to find the file to the guide.

Now, this next part is very important and where a lot of people get stuck, you are looking for a file with the extension .INI, by one of two names. The file we are trying to edit can be named either AliceEngine.INI OR DefaultEngine.INI, the file can be either of these names but you do not NEED both, so no, you do NOT need to make a new file under one of these names if you only have one of these files. Assuming you're following along so far, you're going to open the document in whatever notepad or otherwise default basic text editing software you may have. It's going to throw a lot of mumbo-jumbo in your face that is not easy to navigate, but luckily for us we're on a PC and we have nifty little shortcuts to make our lives easier. By pressing CTRL and F at the same time we can open up the word search function of our note application to find whatever line we need to edit as long as we know what that line is.

Now we get to start making actual changes to apply the aforementioned fixes. Lets go one at a time, starting with editing your game's framerate.

1. In the search bar, type MaxSmoothedFrameRate=31

2. Remove the 31 from the end of the line

3. Find the refresh rate of your monitor

4. Replace the 31 we removed with your monitor's refresh rate (example: a 60hz monitor would generate a refresh rate of 60, we make the line MaxSmoothedFrameRate=60. I use a 120hz monitor so mine is set to 120)

5. Save the changes

If you're only trying to change the framerate of the game, you can close the document after safely saving the changes you made. HOWEVER, there are important things to know when you make this edit.

Alice: Madness Returns is by all accounts a game made with consoles in mind. As far as I know, the game initially released only on PS3 and XBox 360 and the PC version is a port rather than the other way around as with most other games. For that reason the game was made with a 30fps cap in mind. You may possibly notice some strange behavior in the physics of the game and may possibly notice some time-gated puzzles don't operate quite how they should. If this occurs, save the game, quit out of the game entirely, return to this document, and undo the changes to the framerate until you are past the problem, and you should be fine.

Next is the DLC. A quick note before I continue;

Some may consider this piracy or whatever. However, there is no possible way to acquire this content legitimately. EA has decided in their infinite wisdom to remove any way to purchase the DLC of or upgrade to the Complete Collection version of Alice: Madness Returns because for whatever reason they just don't want to sell it to us. If you want the DLC at all, you need to do the following method, or hope someone out there has an unopened preorder copy of the game on a console you can use. With that out of the way, in order to access the DLC you need to

1. Open the search bar again, and type the line [AliceGame.AliceGameEngine]

2. Underneath this line should be a line that says GIsSpecialPCEdition=FALSE

3. Remove the FALSE from the end of this line

4. Replace it with TRUE

5. Save the changes to the document

Once you open the game again you should have access to all the DLC dresses and weapons along with American McGee's Alice. In theory.

Trying to play American McGee's Alice crashes my game, what do I do?

If you followed the steps above but get a crash and close when trying to run American McGee's Alice through Madness Returns' main menu screen, don't panic. Like I said before, the game has never been updated beyond v1.0.0, this has been an issue since the game released. Long story short your copy of Madness Returns didn't actually come with American McGee's Alice and it's trying to launch a game that doesn't exist.

A:MR included AMA in a special bonus bundle on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Remember when I said that the PC version of A:MR was just a port of the console versions? Yeah, AMA being bundled in was only supposed to be for the console versions of the game, so they never actually packaged the .EXE file for the first game in with the rest of the second games files. Or rather, they never coded the PC version of the game to be able to find it.

The only method I have ever had any success with running this game is by downloading it separately. However, as I mentioned, EA doesn't actually have the first game up for sale anywhere. If you wish to go this route, you have one of two options; buy an original disc of the first game from someone willing to sell, or "pirate" it. The game is not available on any digital store and disc copies are not in production, forcing us to assume it's abandonware and as such, "pirate" is a bit of a strong word for what we're doing. I won't go into further detail on how to acquire the game in this way as I don't know if the sub tolerates such talk, but just know it's not terribly hard to find the game out there if you need to take this route in order to play it.

Lastly we'll edit our .INI document from before just one last time in order to skip the EA, SpicyHorse, and Cheshire splash screens that play when you open the game. This one is just personal preference and you really don't need to do this if you don't mind them.

1. Once again use the searchbar to search for the line [FullScreenMovie]

2. Under this bracket line you should see three lines, StartupMovies=Intro_EA.bik, StartupMovies=Intro_SH.bik, and StartupMovies=TechLogo_Short.bik

3. Add a ; to the front of each line. You should now see ;StartupMovies=Intro_EA.bik, ;StartupMovies=Intro_SH.bik, and ;StartupMovies=TechLogo_Short.bik

4. Save the changes

That's about everything we can do in this area. Next I'm going to cover a few different common issues I see on the subreddit. Hopefully I can help a few of you out.

I can't use the umbrella no matter what I do, how do I fix it?

DISCLAIMER: I strongly STRONGLY recommend you do not do what is listed below and simply plug in a controller to play the game instead. Using a controller automatically fixes 99% of the issues you may have with keybinds and the game overall is made with a controller in mind.

If you discover your umbrella isn't working when you first unlock it, you may have edited the controls and need to change them back. By default, the game uses E as your "block" button, which is just what the game calls the Umbrella in the files. If you find the umbrella isn't working, try changing the button back to E.

However, if this doesn't work or if you simply cannot play the game without changing your inputs for this mechanic, you can go into the INI again and nip this problem at it's source. You'll want to return to the same place we found AliceEngine.INI or DefaultEngine.INI, whichever you had. However this time you're going to open up either DefaultInput.INI or AliceInput.INI, as I said before you don't actually need and shouldn't have both, just worry about whichever one you have. Open it, open the search function like we did before, and look for the line +Bindings=(Name="E",Command="TriggerBlock true | OnRelease TriggerBlock false"). In this line, we're concerned with the "E". This is the key the game expects you to press when you want to block, and the file doesn't always update when you change settings in game. Change the "E" to "G" or whatever key you want it to be, just make absolutely sure it isn't going to conflict with any other buttons. After doing this, it will reset the setting for Focus from toggle to hold, which you will have to change in the in-game settings.

If none of this works, you may simply need to restart the game from the beginning. I'm not aware of any other fix for this issue.

Alice is slowly walking in place when I'm not moving, what do I do?

This is one of the side effects I mentioned of increasing your FPS in the first part of the guide. You likely need to lower it a bit, or you can just wait for it to stop/ignore it. It doesn't have a real negative effect on gameplay in my personal opinion but if you find yourself truly unable to put up with it I covered how to revert the changes in the beginning of the guide.

The game doesn't fit on my screen!

There's a few possible reasons for this, the most likely being you're on an ultrawide monitor. First off the game is a poorly done PC port, and secondly it's an older game so it doesn't have ultrawide support. The Game supports only 16:9 Aspect Ratio vs the standard ultrawide 21:9. There's a fix for it but it's not going to magically make A:MR work in ultrawide, you'll get a windowed mode at best.

Steam users are going to go to C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Alice Madness Returns\AliceGame\CookedPC and look for the file Engine.u

In Engine.u you're going to make one edit and NOTHING ELSE. This file is extremely sensitive to changes. I strongly STRONGLY recommend you make a backup copy of the file before touching ANYTHING in here.

IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT IT DOES, DON'T CHANGE IT.

In order to edit Engine.u you will need a Hex Editor. No, Notepad is not good enough, it's going to spit a bunch of nonsense at you if you open it with that, you NEED a Hex Editor to do this part. I don't have one, I don't use one, and I don't have a widescreen monitor. I'm sorry to leave this up to you but you'll have to look for your own answers on what Hex Editor to use.

Now that I've been as clear as I can, open your search bar and put the following into it: 39 8E E3 3F , which you are going to change to 60 E5 18 40 . You are also going to find the line 4C 8E E3 3F , and change it to say 60 E5 18 40 . After this, save the document and exit. Again, make sure you have a copy of the document saved and UNCHANGED before doing ANY of this.

Now we go back to an INI file, this time we want BaseInput.INI located at C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Alice Madness Returns\Engine\Config for Steam users. Open the search bar again, search for [Engine.PlayerInput]. Under this bracket add the following line;

(Name="NumPadFour",Command="FOV 106",Control=False,Shift=False,Alt=False)

Now when you open the game you should be in a windowed mode, and pressing NumPadFour your FOV will stretch appropriately to fit the new 21:9 aspect ratio.

I can't stomp on the heart/swap weapons/do some kind of input I should be able to do! What can I do?

I know some of you won't like to hear this, but the ultimate solution with this game when you run into buttons not working is just to plug in a controller. Editing your controls in an INI file is all well and good but you would be spending hours editing a text document, possibly putting in the wrong lines, and in the end it might not even fix it. The most surefire way to fix 90% of your issues with the game is almost always to get a controller.

The game is loading indefinitely!

Close the game, return to the main menu, set all your graphics to the lowest setting, then try again. Genuinely that's the fix. Once you're properly loaded in you can return your graphics to whatever setting you originally had them at.

That's the end of the problems I'm aware of and fixes for them. If I ever made a mistake, missed an issue, or gave the wrong fix for an issue, feel free to let me know and I'll edit the post as time goes on. Hopefully I helped at least some of you with your issue.

The title says it all, but I'll go into detail.

I came from an abusive house, and one of the things I struggled with was control and being super strict with money, like getting after his for buying an $0.89 big gulp at work. It was really bad, so as a step to give up control and work on our relationship, I let him be fully in charge of our finances. I literally stopped looking at our bank account about 5 or 6 years ago.

All our bills got paid, and we've been staying with his parents since then, living rent-free with our 3 kids to save up for a house.

Between years of saving and tax returns, we had over $30k in saving a couple of years ago.

Well, my husband apparently talked to the bank about getting pre-approved, and we had to go down to a spending limit of $200 a week. That included food (but we got EBT, so that helped a lot) and diapers and gas and toiletries and everything.

We lived on suevival mode where we only had the bare minimum, for example, 1 pair of shoes, and I have minimal underwear/2 bras. It got to the point that my mom gifted me a bra and clothes to help us out. And his parents bought the kids new shoes. I hated it.

Every 4-6 months we could buy a new game (we are big gamers) and we played a lot of free games.

The only subscriptions were Netflix (the lowest options), a Disney bundle for $11.99, and Crunchyroll for $5.

Our car payment is $278 a month

Our phone bill is $150 a month

My husband was bringing home $640+ checks every week.

But he refused to let me spend anything, and I thought he was just really serious about our future and saving for the house.

So we are finally buying a house. He literally moves to another state to start work first and set us up. He's been there nearly a month and finally confessed we can't buy a house because we have no savings.

I was floored and confused. I immediately logged into our bank account and began looking at transactions.

In just the last 6 months, he has spent $8,329.10.

$650 on OnlyFans (he swears is comedians and voiceactors)

$4,203 on Playstation (mostly in game currency)

3,476.01 on various mobile games in game currency

Since he has been in TX, he has cashapped and venmoed hundreds to random people. And spent $360 on 3 different massage parlors (he says are for his "injured hands")

The chase account we use was originally mine, but I added him to it, and I somehow can't see our savings account at all. I called Chase, and they said that our savings were closed, and he opened a separate private account and moved all of our money to it. I have zero access, and there is nothing they can do.

My whole life just impoded.

He is begging and sobbing that he is an addict and will get help. That he can fix this. That he can't lose me and the boys.

I'm numb. Idk what to do.

My in-laws were shocked. They side with me completely. They said they would take care of me and the kids financially and we could stay here forever if we wanted. So I have a home and they gave me some cash to buy essentials for now.

I started a fraud claim with the bank for the thousands spent in the last 6 months, but I know I'll probably get nothing back. But it was the fastest way to shut down all the debit cards and his digital wallet and stop him spending any more.

I'm working on starting a bank account for just me and the boys and my FIL is talking to him and trying to make him give me access to the savings so I can pull anything left for me and the kids.

I've been a SAHM for 5 years now and have no income besides him.

He wants me to stay. But all our hopes and dreams just turned to dust. I feel sick and haven't eaten more than a bite of anything in 2 days. The kids heard Daddy spent all our money because I was in shock, but I'm trying not to talk about it around them.

We just celebrated our 10 year anniversary in April.

I realized today that staying means constantly monitoring his spending like a teenager. Giving him a refillable credit card and a budget, separate bank accounts. That gaming, one of my favorite pass times, I might not ever be able to do with him again. He can't even play with our kids. Anything with an in-game currency. I'll have to watch him and check his transactions and phone and the bank constantly.

I don't want that life. I love him so much that I'm so confused. He never seemed like a person to do this. Until a couple of years ago, he never did anything like this. He's like a completely different person.

In hindsight, I see red flags. He lies a lot. It's become a huge trust issue, and it's always about stupid things like him eating something and swearing he didn't touch it. Accidentally breaking something and trying to hide it. Or just flat out, not telling me about things and saying he forgot when I find out.

He SAYS he joined a church there and is getting help. He admitted he had addiction issues (something that's never shown itself before) and seems so out of character.

I don't believe anything he says right now.

He keeps blowing up my phone with messages like "I'm selfish... arrogant... cowardly... and slimey" butbI told him to stop messaging me and to talk to his Dad if he needs me (who has agreed to help mediate to give me time)

His Dad has state he is going to help my husband find a room to rent that's more permanent (he's couch surfing currently) and work with him on a budget for living expenses and make him send us the rest of his paychecks. We told him that if he doesn't agree, we will go to court for child support since he literally abandoned his family in another state, but he says he agrees.

He's already spent almost hundreds from the paycheck he just got yesterday. So I told him that the second I get an account open today he needs to send us half of his paycheck ($700, from the $1400 which I know child support is normally 30% for 3 kids in TX but he left us with nothing)

I just don't know what to do. Everyone is asking if I'm gonna divorce him, and I'm so torn. He betrayed and abandoned us, but 10 years... 10 years.... I love him so much it hurts. Idk what to do....

Edit: Everyone is shocked by his behavior. His parents, my mom, even his best friends who he talks to every day. No one had a clue. Everyone is stunned and says this doesn't make sense. That "he loved you guys with his very soul" and "he always talked about how blessed he was to have an amazing wife and kids and how much he loved you" Everyone thinks this is out of character and everyone was blindsided.

UPDATE: I found out this has been happening for 8 years. The moment I stopped looking at the account, he started testing buying and refunding larger and larger amounts. I've counted $16k on Playstation alone and about $40k total so far.....

I saw some players/ CC say they dont find the fun "it took hours like 6 hours something to find the fun" I dunno what kind of fun they're looking for.... while im already having fun and im only like almost 3 hours of playing this game

its not like my first game ,been playing games since im 15 yrs old and now im 35 yrs old..... Played MMO, RPG, Shooter games, Fighting games in PC, Playstation 3-5 Consoles (i dont have PS5 i have to pay just to play PS5 games on Arcade inside a Mall near my place and i bought a gaming laptop instead of PS5) and some Ps Vita games

Started Gatcha games :Princess Connect then Genshin,Star Rail (waiting for Girls Frontline 2 release) Playing Gatcha games on my Gaming Laptop

Some say "enemies just standing" They're on casual mode? And its pretty clear they never played Musou games like Dynasty Warriors, Sengoku Basara ,there also One piece and Gundam musou game

i do know thats Zenless is a different game so i dont really compare it to other Gatcha games And im already know what im gonna expect/what kind of gameplay after i saw gameplays on Beta of some Conten creators on Youtube, Twitch and the Official livestream and i go in the game without setting low or high expection just open minded I guess its all about perspective on how to play a game/how to have fun

I dont find the TV annoying..the puzzles is easy and it reminds me of board games

One thing i do agree on some people saying the fight feels too short on Story ,Exploration But I feel 50/50 about it because its also better that the fight is short if im only going for the Story or finish the story,exploration faster when i only have shorter gaming time when im busy IRL

Dont get me wrong ..the game isnt perfect I do saw some need improvements

bought Daily pass and Battle pass on the 1st day and will continue to buy both every patch like in Star Rail so i wont have any trouble on resources

(Stopped buying daily pass on Genshin i have so many resources, primos already ..just waiting for Pyro Archon)

Sometimes you just want to play something really good. Today (after getting through the baseball games, hide and seek simulators, and the Tron tandem) I wanted to treat myself...so I picked Activision's Pitfall! or maybe I should say David Crane's Pitfall! Activision made the revolutionary decision of putting the programmer's name on the box and prominently in the manual. So prominently in fact that just about every Activision title had a letter from the programmer at the back talking about the game, maybe giving you advice, and nearly always ending with the request to "drop them a line" with appropriate themed flavor. In the Pitfall! manual Crane ends with "If you can find any writing materials deep in the jungle, drop me a line. I'd love to hear how you and Harry are getting along." That's a great touch. Oh, and yes, you need to write Pitfall! with an exclamation point.

Pitfall! is a title that probably doesn't need much explanation. If you took the time to seek out the Atari 2600 subreddit...I'm guessing you've played this. If the 2600 has "killer apps" this is certainly one of them. Once again, Activision as a company had the talented people that took take a concept and make it great.

I'm starting the gameplay explanation again...I have to stop gushing. Pitfall! is a platformer in which you control "Pitfall Harry" and explore the vast jungle landscape. You can walk left or right and choose to stay on the main level or go underground. As you journey through the jungle you will encounter: holes (which can disappear), vines to swing on, lakes (which can disappear) , alligators, snakes, fire, scorpions, logs, and that sweet loot. The loot is really what you're after because you have a 20 minute timer, 2 extra lives, and you are trying to get the highest score possible. You score points by collecting treasure, you lose points by falling down holes and hitting logs, and you die by touching everything else.

This game, like I said before, really is the killer app for the 2600. Before this, most games on the 2600 were mostly single screen experiences, or a set of levels that would loop over and over again. Even the platformers, take Kangaroo or Donkey Kong for example, great games but the world really is just a handful of disjointed single screen levels. Here, you can move freely from screen to screen AND go back to where you have previously been. It feels like an actual place. You aren't in a nameless void you are in a jungle. There are trees, and sand, and a cavern. The world feels big and it feels lived in.

On top of that, it still feels "right" when you play it today. Jumping feels good, grabbing vines feels good, and jumping over enemies feels good. Nothing that comes at you feels unfair. It all feels like a fair challenge, and it IS a challenge. I've never made it the full 20 minutes. That may not sound like a ton of time, but believe me, when you are running around from screen to screen trying to find this treasure, you are going to make a mistake and die. You only have so many lives and once they're gone that is it, you have to start over. Unlike other games though I WANT to go again, I WANT to see what the next screen is, I WANT to see if I can find a larger pile of gold.

That's really the thing that separates this game from a lot of others I've talked about. You can't see the whole game in 5 minutes. Even if you get to that 20 minute mark, I'm sure you'll feel like there is still a lot more to explore. Pitfall! manages to give a great sense of reward for exploring and have great gameplay while also looking great. Harry has great animation and looks good. The trees, logs, snakes, all of it looks good. The scorpion looks a little weird, but I'll give that a pass.

Pitfall! is also an incredibly rare breed that spawned a series of games after it's release. There was a sequel on the 2600 (stay tuned) as well as 4 other series entries that were released on the NES, SNES, Genesis, Playstation, Gameboy Color, Gamecube, Xbox, PS2, Gameboy Advance, PC, and the Wii. There's not too many properties from that time that can boast that many sequels on that many different consoles. It definitely shows the popularity of Pitfall! Not much else to say on this one, it is usually on the top games for the 2600 lists for a reason. I couldn't find any reason for it to not be an S. It's simply great. S.