Monte Carlo

FO:NV. This game proved that you could square the circle of having a grown-up, hybrid plot / sandbox type CRPG that was popular and profitable. thiiiiiiiiis i hope that FNV is the future of first person rpgs Agreed. Ironically, if Skyrim is "FO:NV with swords" then I'll be reasonably happy!

With the greatest respect Nightshape, you're missing the point.

Bookmarked!

I agree that NWN2 was pretty good, doubly so with XPs but I think you're overlooking the most salient point about FO:NV. This game proved that you could square the circle of having a grown-up, hybrid plot / sandbox type CRPG that was popular and profitable. That's one of the reasons I have confidence in Obz and, increasingly, Bethseda and why my confidence in BiowarEA is about zero.

^ You have to remember that I am a complete FPS n00b, I don't have much to compare it to apart from Crysis which I played ages ago. I liked the character models a lot, and the banter. I was too busy trying not to get killed to notice much about the art

This. If you are interested in CRPGs then you have to be interested in what Bioware is up to. I don't like Apple products much, but I read the reviews of the iphone 4 and ipad because I'm interested in tech. I shouldn't have to explain this. Do Bio-friendly or neutral folks here think that the fact that other developers generally eschew romance options is because: (a) they realise that they suck or (b) there's no point competing with Bio? Is it like taking on WoW as a MMORPG developer?

Hello. I thought it might be cool if we shared our favourite blogs here, just in case we're missing out. Please only post SFW links out of consideration for your fellow forumites. Please don't restrict yourself to gaming, but hey my starter is a gaming blog I found by accident and it's superb... Grognardia. James Maliszewski maintains this lovingly crafted old-skool gaming blog, frequently updated, and shares his views on the hobby, it's history and the source material that influences it. An interesting read for any gamer (pen & paper or not) or anybody interested in sci-fi and / or fantasy. It's one of my weekly must-read blogs. Am looking forward to other suggestions from you guys.

Just finished the single-player campaign for Battlefield: Bad Company 2. it was fun, but too short. The multiplayer is too hardcore for me, sadly.

Yikes! They're even recycling art assets in the strategy guide

The Japanese are awesome. Their stoicism in the face of this crisis is humbling. And, unlike Katrina, the Japanese have not resorted to looting or civil disorder. My best wishes are with them.

Come on, Monte, just buy the game! You know you want to... No.

Elaborate or wash your mouth out!

The Spartans had the right idea.

In the UK we have a saying for a game like this: 'Marmite' Marmite is a beefy yeast extract spread that tends to polarize opinion - people either love it or hate it, there's nothing inbetween. Am wondering if this is Bio's first marmite game!

No... ninjas were crafted from a block of stellar awesomeness and had jobs like flipping out and killing people. Get your facts straight.

I wasn't dissing Ron, after all I like Sons of Anarchy a helluva lot. It's just axomatic that any movie project such as this will be graced by the Ronmeister at some point.

oh, and of course Ron Perlman is in it!

So hot on the heels of my Bladerunner thread is the chance for some uber-geekrage about the remake of Conan the Barbarian. Now, okie dokie, CtB ain't Bladerunner. It's a campy swords and sorcery cult classic much beloved of fantasy fans of a certain age (coming home from the pub on a Friday night with eight pints on board and finding this on a late night movie channel is one of life's small pleasures). Check out the trailer I've not been following the film, haven't a clue who the male lead is, and this 'teaser' shows the best part of bugger all... what do you guys think. Let the GeekRage begin!

I see lots of talking about choices and consequences. This made me think about the whole C&C paradigm. For me, the tactical experience and character management is choices and consequences - I make choice 'A' about classes, weapons, skills and equipment and the consequence is that part 'B' of the game plays differently. Obviously, this is different from plotting and character interaction, which is also an important part of a CRPG but for some it's the most important thing. Fair enough. It just seems to me that one is being pared down at the expense of the other. In terms of content, C&C is a often a cut-scene with regards to plot. Characters / skills / abilities / loot is real content... maybe that's part of the issue.

IIRC that was with regards to Spore? A court said that they couldn't use SecuROM without declaring it. SecuROM is a freaking virus / spyware PoS.

Thanks for that Pop, well-written, considered and cogent.

Tigs, the less-than-stellar reception this game is getting, for a Bioware title, means that this was a PR disaster and was all over the gaming-specific internet today. Bioware have gone from kuddly kanadians to jack-booted corporate robocops in the space of eighteen months

^ You've nailed most of the issues for me, the crippler though is the general sense of direction. Origins marked a move in the right direction, it was tantalizingly close to suggesting that the next one would mark another move in the right direction (for gamers like me, anyhow). Instead you've got EA, rush-job, lowest-common denominator, action-orientated stuff with the trademark Bio game-as-novel schtick (one of my least favourite traits anyhow). So even at bargain bin prices this is a no-show for me. If DA:O had been an action-y console title too this would be no biggie, but imperfect as it was it was still a solid CRPG.

For someone who found Oblivion virtually unplayable, I thought the Skyrim trailer actually looked quite good.

Get the f*** out of here. That guy can't be real. No, seriously, criticism is in fact a compliment in BioWorld because it means people have been 'challenged.' The internet has looked at DA2 and, by and large (certainly compared to Origins) gone.... meh.