For those who follow my contributions or those who keep up with daily blogs, you'll remember my submission two weeks ago where I discussed Grand Theft Auto Online and its dwindling fun factor. I'm proud - and very surprised - to admit that today, I've discovered a newfound appreciation for the online community and I'm finding hope with Grand Theft Auto Online.
Rockstar Games released a new content pack titled 'The Valentine's Day Massacre' with 1930s Bonnie & Clyde themed items including the Gusenberg Sweeper which is based off of a Thompson machine gun, the new Albany Roosevelt (think Al Capone's 1928 Fleetwood Cadillac V-8) and a host of new attire options like double breasted suits, flapper dresses, masks and more. With this, players are also able to reacquire the famous Rat Loader truck plus any desired upgrades completely free of charge.
Being a huge Bonnie & Clyde fan, I took to download the update immediately yesterday morning and purchased the Albany Roosevelt, the Gusenberg Sweeper and a plethora of Clyde Barrow-esque clothing for my male online character and I turned my female character into the Bonnie Parker counterpart...and I've been having a damn good time.
Today, I had quite an interesting online session. I left my Alta Street apartment to cruise around in the Roosevelt and stumbled upon three players in close proximity to my apartment - two with their own Roosevelts and one with a chrome Adder - and they were the friendliest of chaps. I expected to be riddled with lead inside my 1930's limousine akin to my favourite crime-spree duo, but instead, I was invited to a cruise around the wealthier part of Los Santos.
After we went our separate ways, I decided to take my vehicle down to Vespucci Beach for some Snapmatic hipster photography when I ran into a fellow with a $5k bounty upon his head. With no desire to bother anyone, I quickly skidded to a halt when I could have easily run him down and collect the money, I honked the horn and allowed him access to be my passenger. Assuming he'd want to get away from the city to stay alive long enough to keep his bounty money, I drove him to the helipad to get a helicopter to pilot to safety. Instead, he gestured for me to join him and we flew around southern Los Santos in a Buzzard attack helicopter, to keep any potential hunters at bay.
Arriving at the beach, we were ambushed by two characters with the most dishonourable of intentions. Upon respawning, we had a shootout on the beach and a moment later, a familiar chrome Adder whizzed past to run down our attackers, but the driver was quickly shot dead. It was now three against two until Adder man's friend came along to help and we quickly dominated the dangerous duo before making our escape. Bounty man and I took off on our own path and I sent him a friend request with an accompanying message thanking him for being cool, with similar results.
What I find interesting is that I had more fun in that one session than I ever did doing anything else in Grand Theft Auto Online. I'd grow bored with harmlessly harassing fellow players through following them or occasionally shooting out a tyre or two. I'd grow immensely bored with driving around, killing random players in spite for being previously 'griefed.' I had fun meeting a great fellow gamer, not bothering anyone who didn't bother me and just horse around.
I had an epiphany today based on my experience and it was that I need to get my money's worth with this game and the way I was going about playing it previously was the incorrect way for me. Some people have fun exploring, some people have fun having a shootout with the police or fellow players. I had fun showing someone else that not everyone wants to kill you for no apparent reason or relentlessly hunt you down for your inconsequential bounty. The fun I had in this morning's session was much more valuable than $5,000 virtual currency. It was fun and it was educational.
Ask yourself this before climbing into your armoured tank: can I have fun today without being a jerk? The answer is and always will be...yes, you can.
We are happy to share that Resident Evil Requiem – shipping today – is the first title to use this more advanced PSSR,
Today, we’re excited to announce that an upgraded version of PSSR (PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution) will be rolling out globally to PS5 Pro players in the coming weeks. PSSR is an AI library that analyzes game images pixel by pixel as it upscales them, and it’s been used to boost the effective resolution of over 50 titles on PS5 Pro to date.
Amazing. Can't wait to see the results. With PS6 potentially getting a delay, now I want a Pro...
Console Archives Dezaemon drops you straight into a retro workshop where imagination becomes firepower, inviting you to sculpt your own shoot‑’em‑up worlds with the same quirky charm that defined its original NES roots. From hand‑drawn sprites to custom enemy waves, every moment feels like rediscovering a lost era of DIY creativity. This deep dive into Console Archives Dezaemon explores how well its revived toolkit holds up today, and whether its nostalgic spark still ignites modern players looking to build, blast, and tinker.
A match made in post-apocalyptic heaven.
It took you how long to have fun with this game? For me, the majority of boredom and annoyance came from the random community. It's filled with kids or people just killing each other. Your experience showed that you NEED another person to have fun with this game.
I got online thinking I'd be a great Co-op game and it was...when you have people to play with. My troubles came from having no one to do missions with, thus forcing me to solo to level 28. It wasn't till a little later that I level grind through races and even then it was a little hard to get people (PS3 version).
If the GTAO community was more like the guy you met online, then it might not be so bad (also if they had a better passive mode that didn't allow players to kill you).
This cuts to the core of why I avoid most online mp - I don't want to be in a post-apocalyptic wasteland of selfishness, I want to experience a game *with* ppl if I'm playing with ppl.
Same results for me.. I end up getting killed while just exploring or doing random stuff. There are some people that play like me though, and that makes the experience worth it. I find that if I join random missions and then end up in freemode with the same people afterward.. there is more reluctance to just hunt me down and more a sense of sharing adventures with those same people. I've friended more people that way than any other, and continue to do so as a way to build up a base of people to share missions with. I do realize that to each is own though, and that many people really just want to run around and cause ruin. I really enjoy the game though and look forward to Rockstar continuing to improve the experience.
Cool story. I got tired of the random griefers pretty fast, but I still enjoy the occasional co-op missions. I wish they'd just let me co-op, then jump straight into another co-op, without going back to the job finder on my phone. Also no matter what I choose it's sometimes a vs type mission.