mkreku

I wish someone would ba able to create a world that's actually interactive some day. If I cut down a tree, I want that tree to be lying on the ground for all to see and not respawn within 5 minutes. Of course, that would mean that new trees would have to slowly grow out of the ground, or else the game would be completely barren after a few months I just hate the feeling that you get when everything you do is in vain because five minutes after you leave, the area goes back to default.

My name is my real life firstname and surname, shortened into one big mess of letters that noone ever manages to get right when they try to quote me (unless they use the auto-quote functions..). My signature is just a shameless ad for the site I'm reviewing games for. It isn't online at this moment though. My avatar is a Wasteland redneck, taken from my favourite game Wasteland.

Since you have an Xbox, there are three obvious choices: Burnout 3: Takedown - Great fun, easy to learn but difficult to master (if you plan on beating everything the game has to offer) Forza Motorsport - Personally this did nothing to me, but every Xbox-owner out there foams at the mouth everytime they hear the name so it must be good. Rallisport Challenge 2 - My personal favourite! Incredible graphics, great fun to play, lots of nice cars, excellent driving feel and more. Blasting through the woods doing 120mph is FUN!

I liked the fact that when the guy was 'hypnotized', only his head slumped. He just stood there with his head hanging while the rest of his body remained as stiff as before..

I tried playing Fire Emblem on my friend's GBA. It was a very odd experience. It has very nice turn-based combat, but it tries to pretend it's a RPG. It's not. It's completely linear and you end up with a party of 10+ people at the end. I actually made it to the very last level, where I found out that you'd better not let anyone die along the way.. oh, and it's also a good idea to keep everyone evenly leveled.. What am I doing in this thread? I don't own a GBA or a Gamecube

Yay! You described it much better than I. Just wanted to add that the worlds in GTA: Vice City and GTA: San Andreas were pretty impressive too, although they are way too violent for me to have as favourites. But I enjoy them immensely when playing those games!

Off topic: Tyranthraxus! Oh, how I miss thee! I remember how you hid behind that fake wall in the last area of them all.. And you had the nerve to send out a weak minion with your own name misspelt (Tyranithraxus) too! I was so young at the time, I didn't know better, and thought it was the most anticlimactic ending of a game ever.. Then, a few years later, someone told me you had a doppelganger! My rage knew no limits as I had lost my avatars and had to start all over just to be able to once and for all put my boot in your %#&! The satisfaction of finally finding you is undescribable, even though the force in you was stronger than I could have imagined, as I could only watch my evil party members turn against me in the heat of the final battle. Anyhow, those were the days.. 2E D&D rulez!!1!one Oh, and this stupid rant was inspired by J.E. Sawyers signature, in case you're wondering where the hell that came from.

I know I am pulling stuff out of context here (sorry, Squidget), but I really need to sleep. The head example was only used as an example to clearly illustrate how a computer game can help to shape our view of the world. If a videogame can 'trick' us into thinking a body flops backwards when shot, what's to say it couldn't trick us into believing (or subconsciously feeling) other things too? How can we be sure that a 12 year old kid isn't picking up his "right or wrong's" from Manhunt? Personally I don't believe computer games can teach kids that shooting real life people in the head is ok, but I almost wish they could. Why? Because then the problem (if there even is one) would be out in the open. The most difficult problems to solve are the ones we don't know exist. We live in a highly violent society and noone can be sure where all this violence stems from. Now this is where you got me. I don't know what I'd suggest! I am more or less hoping that someone more intelligent than me will come up with a solution that is acceptable on all accounts. Not. bloody. likely. One other notable thing: You also write in your post that if games don't contain violence, the violent kids won't play those games, which would render the morality of the non-violent games useless. But when and why did we start associating violence with fun? Why do so many games contain such massive amounts of violence? When did game developers figure out that the audience wants excessive amounts of blood and gore?

If you ever made the mistake of buying Dungeon Lords, I am sure you'd love a fan-made patch that added stuff! Dungeon Lords was so rushed, its world is almost completely empty! Most of the houses don't have any furniture, the fireplaces light up the room but there's no fire within, there's even a place where a general has set up camp for his army.. but there's only a lonely general standing there, talking about his mighty army. I long for the day when someone takes the time to finish the game.. If that ever happens.

It is very difficult to find up-to-date research on the matter, since a normal research cycle (in Sweden) takes about 4-5 years (when you're on a research scholarship) and by the end of the study, the games and the technology described is already obsolete. It really should be a study-in-progress at all times, as the games are getting more and more life-like and realistic all the time.

This, to me, is going too far in the opposite direction of censorship. Yes, there is sense in going to the developers of a game to complain, if the game in question warrants it. We must not forget that we live in a society where everyone has equal value, but not everyone is equal. Putting the responsibility in the hands of few is always riskier than having a network (called a society in this case) of interests involved. I don't understand why people seem to underestimate the power of the computer games media. Try an easy experiment sometime: ask a young kid to describe something in detail he could not have possibly seen in real life and analyze what he is describing. For example, ask a computer games playing kid what happens if you shoot someone at close range in the head with a Desert Eagle. I am sure he'll paint a pretty vivid picture, but how many of the details he describes comes from reality and how many comes from the images he has picked up through news, movies and.. videogames? Bodies aren't flung back from pistol shots, cars don't explode when colliding/getting shot at, you cannot hide behind a wooden door when someone shoots at you, and so on. We puzzle together our view on reality from what we pick up from every medium out there. And that includes Manhunt, the GTA-series and Counterstrike.

Although I too think that Advent Rising would have been a lot better if they had made it into an action RPG like Jade Empire, I think you're drawing your conclusion way too early. Remember that games like KotOR2 (released in february 2005) and Jade Empire (released in april 2005) are new releases and a game development cycle stretches over several years (most often), and you'll see that we probably haven't seen the influences of those top quality titles yet. Time will tell if they've managed to up the interest in the quality RPG genre.

Bit off topic, but.. Geez, Drakron, I saw you've played Guild Wars for 45 hours this week! You've played an entire working week and more (40+) So.. Is it that good? Edit: Just as I wrote that, it changed to 67 hours.. Now I'm beginning to think there's something wrong with that counter. You can't have logged an average of 9.5 hours every day of the week, can you..? That's almost impossible if you have a job.

There is no general line to draw and when to say enough. In the matter of computer games, I am undecided. I think that perhaps these age limits we already have on games might be a good idea, but then you're basically saying, "Game developers, do whatever you want, the responsibility now lies entirely with the parents". As we all know, some parents are not as good as others, so that might not be enough. The other obvious way is censorship, but we already tried that (with movies) in Sweden, and I believe that's too much, as censoring always becomes too general and start affecting things they were never meant to touch. Also, I believe censorship hampers creativity. I believe in some middle ground that some genius has yet to come up with. Of course, there are numerous other cases where I have an opinion on where to draw the line for protecting the weakest (as in prescription drugs, bicycle helmets, alcohol, driver's license, and so on) but I am guessing noone's interested in hearing about those Edit: I saw Kaftan's post after writing this, but read above and you'll know my opinion on books. I don't want censorship, although since I've read Bret Easton Ellis "American Psycho", I am almost inclined to agree with those who wants books to have an age limit too

I am guessing we'll soon find out who is trying to discuss and who is purely trolling.. I firmly believe we do have to 'censor' the world to protect the weakest among us. It's all about weighing pros and cons, and in this case I think it's better to create a nuisance for many, for the protection of the few. The water analogy isn't really valid since water is here to stay, but computer games is, after all, a human creation and we have within our power to change it if a problem arises. I am not saying I want to change it (as I am undecided in the matter) , just pointing out how the comparison was flawed.

WARNING! Totally off topic: My official reviews: Neverwinter Nights: 75% Dungeon Lords: 68% Nope, no contest there. Not that I see how you win. Now, explain to me how this incredibly moronic discussion is on topic and I might not have to report you for derailing yet another thread. You're getting tiresome. Please stop spamming and stick to topic, NWN fanboi. On topic: (aimed at Shadowpaladin) GTA is a very violent game, but does that really revolve around the violence? I love the GTA-series myself and I see plenty of other qualities in those games. But I also know a friend who can't play GTA: Vice City because the game takes so lightly to murder that it makes him sick. Manhunt, on the other hand, is more of a disguised stealth game where the actual killing is what's supposed to keep you coming back. It's also a game that's been accused of inspiring youngsters to committing crimes in several countries. I think it was banned in Australia, even. I don't have any problems imagining Manhunt having a profound effect on certain individuals.

Haha, the Neverwinter Nights fanboi is trying to use a game against me You obviously lack the ability to see the big picture with your narrow mind. Why not just give up the discussion already since your simplistic view of the world doesn't add anything to this (rather interesting) discussion? I'm glad you learned such a big word as undisputable though! On topic: Everything around us affects us, this is 'undisputable'. Games aren't excluded from this just because it suits some simple beings argument. This is also 'undisputable'. Killing people in, for example Counterstrike, does give children the same sense of awareness and reactions as a trained fighter pilot, which is good. It might also normalize murder among some of the kids, although this is much harder to prove as the human psyche is somewhat complex (understatement of the year). It's like trying to explain why some people go through war mentally unharmed, while another suffers from post traumatic stress syndromes years after being the witness to a bank robbery.

My favourite world would be the Gothic world. I just love the people, the lush forests, the political intrigues, the different mage factions, the orc war, the climate, the feeling of being a part of discovering a new continent, piece by piece.. The vast seas with its endless possibilites. I can barely contain myself until I get a chance to finally be able to explore the Gothic mainland in Gothic 3 (Gothic was inside a prison, Gothic 2 was on the island where the prison once stood). The world of Gothic is never flat, and that's something I really like.

Getting steamrolled again and doesn't even know it.. I almost wish I was that simple. Life must be easy for the completely ignorant. One thing that's always confused me is how some people think it's 'better' for kids to be watching violence than sex. Why are some people (mostly americans, as far as I know) so concerned by letting kids see anything sexual in a game/movie (Disney used computer graphics to censor Lindsey Lohan's bouncing boobs in one of their latest movies!), but letting kids pull off headshots in the latest hyped FPS is no problem.

Not entirely true. There's perhaps no research that shows a direct connection between violent computer games and real life violence, but there are several studies that show disturbed reaction patterns among kids who play Counterstrike excessively. I couldn't find any links about it (right now), but I have read a report where they did experiments with war damaged children and young CS-players. Their responses to violence were almost exactly the same. If you shoot someone in the head all day long in a computer game, you're likely to respond less strongly if it ever happened in real life. Children who've seen that kind of violence up close will of course have very disturbed reactions to violent acts. One computer game in itself is never the reason why someone would go out and kill another human being (and noone ever claimed that) but violent computer games can slowly wear down normal behaviour and boundaries if given enough time. I am not sure where I stand in this matter. As someone said, computer games could be the perfect media for showing the consequences of violence, but as it is now, some games use the violence as its selling point. The grosser, the better. Adults should, of course, be free to make their own choices so some kind of censorship is not what I'd suggest.. This would be so easy if only all parents were good parents. Unfortunately we don't live in a perfect world, which is why we have something called a society to pick up the slack and protect those who need it the most. Gaah! Enough ranting. I don't know! (that's my very scientific conclusion)

I got my System Shock 2 to work under Windows XP by opening a command window, changing to the CD-drive and typing: setup -lgntforce. This, at least, starts the installer. From there on it worked fine for me. I have not tried it after installing Service Pack 2 though. And I would love to play it in co-op some day! Even with a finn.. By the way, great mods for System Shock 2: Better models: http://perso.wanadoo.fr/etienne.aubert/ssh...ock_rebirth.htm Better textures: http://shtup.home.att.net/

Useless fact #uh.. something: I just cancelled my World of Warcraft account, after not even logging in for the last three weeks. There ends my (free) MMORPG experience.

I guess time does heal all wounds.. I mean, don't you remember that we're talking about a FPS with severely underpowered weapons here? Great art design but not really a classic.

Useless information #480: I have three bottle caps right now. If I collect four more, I'll get a really ugly hood sweater for free!!1! I won't wear it, but I must have it!

Depending on how they're creating the game, it might be a while before we see some actual in-game screenshots. But sometimes they at least show sketches and other works of art, just to show off the style they're going for in a game. Why not show some of those, Obsidian?