Raithe

C'mon, the music to the Deus Ex HR trailer deserves to be mentioned on here now.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcFB8Rmy-Sc

Apparently you get some control of movement within that tube.. as well as the shooting... And that sligth movement is why Bio are saying it's not strictly speaking a "rail-shooter"... Basically, it sounds like a similar style of "brief, arcadey" mini-game that was in Kotor as the turret shooter. Not as something to take the place of the "proper" playing, but a short break from it...

The Count of Monte Cristo - It's a classic for a reason. Sure there are patches where it delves into over-the-top detail... but overall it's nicely structured and an enjoyable look into the nature of revenge, mystery, and murder.

I see no reason to start hating on this without more actual gameplay footage to watch... In fact, I'm really interesting in getting hold of it to see what the police station is like myself..

They normally let you have a bunch of alternate characters on the same account. Some mmo's have charged for more, other's have had loyalty schemes that have given players access to more "alts" depending on length of account held. From what it sounds like, Bio are pushing the idea of players re-rolling fresh characters of different classes as they finish the "class-story" arcs... So I'm guessing they'll give you a bunch of alternates from the get go.

There's also this : http://uk.gamespot.com/xbox360/action/dead...2/video/6281911 Some brief bit from the Art Director and James Swallow the writer.. It starts at around the 7:50 mark... Nothing really that new, some mention on the book that's coming out as well.. and some on how it took them a year of working with Square Enix to get the trailer to represent the game...

That's the trouble.. a drama is a drama. a comedy is a comedy (well.. mostly). But sci-fi has a lot of very different sub-genres that don't easily compare to each other. And it gets mixed in with a lot of others... Edit: Then of course there's the drama or suspense hiding behind the veil of sci-fi... But that's identifying whether the sci-fi is the key aspect or just fluff around the story... Star Wars did to fantasy, wizards and orphans into heroes the same as Firefly did to cowboys, smugglers and hookers. Hm, do you think if Whedon had used that as the tag line "It's cowboys, smugglers and hookers.. in space!" to the tv companies they'd have let him run it longer?

.. So are you saying that any single player game that has a focus on story and characters..that involves combat.. is a copycat of every other game that does that? Doesn't that basically make every game with a halfway decent story and some interesting characters a copycat of every other game ever written? Personally, I'm of the opinion that if a game has an interesting story, some characters that can pull me in, and a game system that doesn't suck.. you can have fun with it. If the game play is similar to another game, does it matter so much if it's a fresh perspective on a genre story? I can sit back and analyse the bejeezus out of it afterwards and highlight every flaw.. but as long as you can sit down, and play it without a few flaws killing your enjoyment..

In a shocking and unprecedented twist - there are clones! many many MANY clones And then in some of the teasers that have been released with designers talking about it.. there's the hint that the really surprise and unprecedented twist..is that he might not have actually died, and just thinks he's a clone among many... But that could have just been them trying to play with the fans minds..

They have been pushing the whole "each class has it's own story, plus their own perception of the grand galactic story" and one of the issues for a lot of the hard-core mmo fans is that Bio keep talking about the rerolling new characters of different classes to explore the stories from different angles..rather then talk about endgame playing....

I think I'll wait on Force Unleashed II... I want to hear what the pc keyboard/mouse controls are like for it before bothering with putting cash down

On that sort of note, Demon the Fallen had a lot of useful thoughts on how to both build up loyalty in minions, and cultivate cult type followers... both equally applicable to Vampire use.. Oh, and Tzimisce.. there was one low-ranked Koldunic ritual that you could use to tweak the blood bond.. so you could shift the "type" of bond it would be, drop down some of the "stalker-obsesserish-love" aspect and reinforce more of the "general loyalty".. Very useful if you're planning on having a group of ghouls.. cuts down on some of the rivalry they can show with each other... Means you don't have to spend so much time managing them personally....

Well if you're play style is set up to cover a series of "adventures" over a century or two.. you can take advantage of some of those Koldunic Rituals that help "prepare" revenant births.. both to enhance their abilities, reinforce other aspects... actually effect the fetus before birth... If you're just using standard ghoul practice to create revenant families its very chancy, and it takes lots of attempts to get one success.. but there are a lot of Koldunic Sorcery that the Tzimisce developed to help ..increase that chance.. Think of it as mystical boost to general eugenics... Work carefully to enhance the sense of loyalty rather then just forcing it from a few ghoul families, arrange a few marriages.. (Almost like cultivating a cult with the right twitches..) Cross some Basarab with some Vlasvy...occasionally add in some "extra stock" proven for the capabilities you'd look for in good minions, protect them from the depredations of other Tzimisce.. and within a couple of generations.... Of course, it's a bit more of a long-view then just a few quick flesh-sculpt and terrorise... but it can work wonders

I always favoured the careful breeding of Revenant families, and a nice use of Koldunic Sorcery...

There's a reason it's easier to be a Tzimisce with a horde of ghouls, revenants, and fleshcrafted schlactza in the dark ages then in modern day....

That's always seemed a bit dodgy to me.... technically it's accurate.. but that's just turning you into a catalyst.. drink his blood, filter it through your system...then let him have some of it back. It depends in just how you wrap up the spirit of it.. I guess it doesn't have to be quite as..clinical a relationship between Kindred and Retainer as it sounds. Edit: There's also the factor that if the ghoul uses any disciplines / blood abilities that require that blood point.. they're going to need you to replace it again quicker. If they don't do anything beyond the normal they only need the 1 in their system to stay "ghouled". So if you want them to be useful beyond the background.... It's going to turn you into a blood factory.

You know.. if we're not careful this could turn into a total "when I was a boy, we used to live in a cardboard box, and have to wake up 2 hours before we went to bed" type of thread.... Still, may the gods of healing and luurv visit and clear up the throat spike issues Wals.

For the slightly bizarre.. I've been poking around to be able to pre-order the upcoming Tron Evolution game.. but while the usual suspects have the ps3, the wii, the xbox versions.. they either don't show the pc version.. or just have a the "currently unavailable/ no idea when it will be" type of message... So is this just the UK, the rest of Europe, or Wold Wide I wonder?

Managed to actually get to bed early last night... and then ended up waking up late with a cringing headache. Surviving, but now have to face the autumn weather to go pick up the milk and assorted groceries..

Naked Heat by "Richard Castle" Heh, it's a fun read...very much in the style the scriptwriters use for the actual show. And all of the little nods and winks to episodes of Castle where he picked up "research" from the murders/events they investigate and how they've been worked in the "fictional" book is somewhat amusing.

picked up a copy of the original Tron soundtrack.. techno music from '83...

To be fair on the families side, they did ask the Americans not to go gung-ho and charge in, because they knew some people that were negotiating for their daughters release.. So I can understand why they're so pissed that the Americans went in anyway.. But yes, I'm amazed at the one-sided reporting again.

So the big news of the day is about that kidnapped aid worker in Afghan.. and how the US Special Forces tried a raid to rescue her..and accidentally killed her themselves when they threw a grenade in the room. And the papers I had a quick glance at so far.. are purely about the US Soldiers screwing up, and no real heavy/critical points about the actual people who kidnapped her in the first place... While I think it's a bit dangerous in a hostage rescue to be casually throwing grenades around... You'd expect a little more reporting on the kidnappers..

Well my comment wasn't aimed at you Wals, but since I live in a student city.. I'm forever stumbling over alcohol ganked up students around town on the weekends. After all, there's something to be said for quiet parties where you drink a bit to the merry side, and have a raging fire pit in the backyard while the guys sit back with some fine spirits and cigars brought back from mexico, cuba and points around there.. But I just can't get into the mindset of several associates who drink to the point of throw up/pass out.. purely for the sake of reaching that point and declaring it fun.. If you're trying to reach unconsciousness for other reasons, that I can understand.. but to say it's fun is something I just don't get...