Hell Kitty

If I live to see the zombie apocalypse I'll die a happy man.

You are correct. Quicksaves are just a shortcut to going to the save/load screens, and with limited buttons on a controller it makes no sense to dedicate some to quick save or load functions. The file size of saves depends entirely on individual games. The saves in Deus Ex on PC would get increasingly bigger, to the point that the save folder would be several hundred MBs. This was a problem that they needed to, and succeeded in, fixing in the PS2 version, which also allows save anywhere. Checkpoint saves nowadays are purely a design decision. The reason we see them more on console games (or console versions) is because console gamers are used to them, and ultimately more tolerant of them.

I've reinstalled Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth, though I'll need to get away from The Sims 3 if I ever want to play it.

Excellent. My plan shall soon be complete...

Bethesda didn't make this move, ZeniMax Media did.

It's strange that you would argue that "console games do like their games more simplistic, casual, and streamlined. It is simply the nature of the console that allows for the gamer to be less attentive to details" being that a limited save system is pretty much the opposite of that. A limited save system requires more work from the player, because it means they need to be more attentive, so they don't lose all the work they've done before getting to the next checkpoint/safe zone. By allowing the player to save anywhere you remove this, making it easier from them, and as such it's the save anywhere system that's "dumbed down". Take Far Cry 2, for example. The console version only allows you to say in specific safe zones, while the PC version features save anywhere. The developers didn't exclude that feature from the console version because "console kiddies" just luurve a limited save system, they included it in the PC version because PC gamers bitch when they don't have it.

And you, Blank, shall always be the enchanter of my nether-regions.

360 games generally use the R2 trigger button for shootin'. The only PS3 game I've played is MGS4, and it took to me a while to get used to using R1 instead, but it made sense considering how wonky the triggers on the PS3 felt. I guess it's more a request that PS3 controls not be a simple conversion of the 360 controls.

What is a dark and rising evil? I think part of the problem is that in reality evil is a label given to others, rather than something people see themselves as, which is how it works it games. "I just slaughtered the whole town for so reason! I'm so evil." Real people don't commit acts such as murder because they are evil. Would an evil character see themselves as evil?

So his career is just down to being really lucky? Doesn't strike me as a particularly fair assessment.

I don't need no developers telling me how to play their games by forcing their fancy shmancy "rules" on me. I demand the freedom to reload until my hacking attempt is successful.

Does having more people work on AI make for better AI?

I'll finally be able to sleep tonight. Thanks Maria Caliban!

Things Hell Kitty does not know: * Whether Maria Caliban is confused or a teller of filthy lies. * Whether Claudia Black does a good French accent. * Whether he would be able to tell how good a French accent Claudia Black does. * Whether Claudia Black tries too hard when speaking in a French accent. * How hard too hard is.

Claudia Black is an Australian from Sydney, not a real french woman from Paris.

Paris, France or Paris, Australia?

So do players.* That's the problem with "evil", what is it exactly? * I suppose there is a market for cartoonish evil, considering games in which we play the villian (like Overlord) tend to go for the comedic angle.

Paris is in Sydney?

I dunno. I certainly see a lot of threads about playing evil chars, about how developers can't do evil well, and about the joy of killing all the "good" NPCS from Elminster and Drizzt right up to Three Dog. Well he did say the majority. People who post on the internet are certainly not the majority. As for good and evil, I prefer neither. ME was certainly a step in the right direction in this regard.

Currently addicted to The Sims 3. It was strange at first to have a whole town for your Sims to roam around in, rather than the individual lots (separated by really long load times) of the Sims 2. I played around a bit with the default town, but then I started again and wiped out all the preset characters and houses and built my own town from scratch (you can't place lots like in 2, instead you a limited to what is already there), and I probably spend more time building homes and creating and setting up families then I do actually playing the families, just as I did with 2. I'm using the AwesomeMod, which changes Story Progression (and a whole bunch of other stuff) somewhat. Sims will no longer leave town, which causes that Sims to disappear forever, and Sims will no longer have babies unless there are two parents, though I used the mod too late for several women who experienced virgin births. One thing it doesn't change is allowing randomly generated Sims from moving into town. I thought I stopped that by making sure the houses I build aren't furnished until I move a Sim in myself, but it seems the game decides to just stick the new Sims into an existing family, even if the house doesn't support it. One single Sim living in a shack had five strangers move in with him. The strangest thing though, was that one of the women in the group has three toddlers, but they didn't move in with her and as such it means she has abandoned them. The original owner of the house fell in love and married her, though, so it's all good.

The first comment in that story links to another story claiming this isn't true.

This reminds me of people bitching about DLC, especially if the content of the DLC was made during development of the final game, as though any and all content the developer works on is owed to those who buy the final game. I've also seen folks claim a developer has "betrayed" them be not releasing an editor. The truth is that the dev makes you game, you buy the game, transaction complete. They don't owe you anything, and acting like a spoiled brat isn't going to change that.

What's Bing? And what do you mean by Nintendo's proven track record? The Wii was their first attempt at this stuff. If they're anything working against this, it's that it's an add-on.

1980 Porsche 911

Same. Graphics don't need to be the most technically advanced to be good, and a focus on ever improving graphical power isn't good for gaming. I also don't think graphics are held back specifically by the 360, considering the complaints concerning the power needed to run Crysis.