Drowsy Emperor

Well if it works through Steam that's sort of crap. Steam prices are insane most of the year. Plus you can get steam on a PC anyway. It would have to be significantly cheaper than a custom made PC for it to be an acceptable trade off. Otherwise it makes sense, TVs and monitors have been interchangable for a while now.

No. Dawn of War is one of the best RTS's ever made. DoW 2 is a hybrid title no one really liked.

I don't see the point. Torment is a finished story (as he himself notes), the universe can't be licensed - so what is a new game going to have in common with Torment anyway, besides trying to push the nostalgia buttons? If he can tell a story that's as good as Torment, he doesn't need the Torment IP to do it - if he can't, getting the IP won't help him, it will just invite comparisons. I hate all this hollywood style necrophilia. Make good new IP or GTFO. While I still consider the BGEEs to be a good thing, I fully agree with you here. I have nothing against updating an old game or even a full 3D remake. I have often wondered how good Torment would look remade with AAA production values. But what Fargo is talking about sounds like something else entirely.

I don't see the point. Torment is a finished story (as he himself notes), the universe can't be licensed - so what is a new game going to have in common with Torment anyway, besides trying to push the nostalgia buttons? If he can tell a story that's as good as Torment, he doesn't need the Torment IP to do it - if he can't, getting the IP won't help him, it will just invite comparisons. I hate all this hollywood style necrophilia. Make good new IP or GTFO.

Yeah when Dan Brown was all over the news I was like: jeez we already covered this in Broken Sword and GK3. And better too, in GK3's case. Made me feel a bit sorry for Jensen, her tale is arguably better than Brown's but apparently Brown was what the public wanted just a few years later.

Zelda is a game that puts all those to shame. I should know, as I've played all of them.

It doesn't matter whether they did it on purpose, by accident or ****ing Zeus intervened. The point was that turn based was dead and left to fanatics and JRPG's of which the latter imploded after the PS2 era. DnD is a tabletop ruleset that makes no sense in a fully interactive 3D computer game. That's why the big RPG's of this generation are games like Mass Effect (which I still detest) and not any tabletop based, rules strict games. Progressive RPG's that is, not spreadsheet simulators like WoW.

!!! Them fighting words, don't you dare say one of my all time favorite games is a joke compared to game which main character would lead the gay pride parade of game characters! Says the man who did Zevran. Seriously the game mechanics of Zelda are extremely good.

Zelda Ocarina of Time, for the first time. Quite impressed with the game. Practically every game that came out afterwards took something or other from it. I'm struck by how far ahead of its time this game was. I remember in 1998 PC gamers were playing Tomb Raider and the like and thinking it was the ****, but its a joke compared to Zelda.

"There are graphical bugs such as flickering status icons and doors which have apparently have their graphics reversed, so they appear open when closed and vice-versa." Well, that's funny. Its shameful ****, amateur modders didn't mess up the game as much over so many mods as Overhaul did in these last few months.

Gamebanshee slams BGEE in every possible way: http://gamebanshee.com/reviews/110209-baldurs-gate-enhanced-edition-review.html Incredible how they broke a game that was almost bug free and stable.

Games have gone beyond the rigid rules of DnD. The whole point of turns is to make the game work for people sitting around a table, not because the gods decreed it must be so. Bioware rightly realized at the time that it was a stupid limitation to impose on a computer game. And subsequent games, theirs and others have cut what little was left of that system. RPG's today are action adventures. This is logical, because role playing itself is nothing more than a rules based simulation of an action adventure. If you can make the rules disappear behind the curtain you should end up with a better, more immersive adventure. In theory. The problem today is not that RPG's rules and implementation suck, its that their actual adventures suck, and that's not something that can be fixed by imposing a strict rule set or any other nostalgia infused solution. The adventures suck because they're made according to the tastes of teenage boys. Any self respecting adult can only be embarrassed by their content. However, what makes them even worse, truly bad in fact, is that they're made according to a marketing persons view of what the majority wants to see and experience.

The beginning intro for BG was fine. The small location videos were okay at the time, but nothing special. Why they had to bother changing them instead of doing something actually worthwhile is anyone's guess.

In other words a gradual increase as per usual. Its because so much time has passed between this generation and the next that people are expecting a quantum leap. The other part is marketing strategy, no one is going to shell out a ton of cash for next gen consoles if you tell them they're pretty much going to be playing the same stuff they are now in the beginning.

I think he's right, the prevalent mentality today is that any game should be "jump in and play" straight away. Its precisely those genres which are irreconcilable with this philosophy that have already died (flight simulators) or dying/transforming (RPG). So called hardcore gamers as a public are shrinking as opposed to every other type of customer and the industry is changing to follow suit. I don't care much either way - games are in such a state of hyper-production that something good (something that I want to play) will, even by chance, always show up.

Nice. Although after years of that Halo crap I'm not expecting anything from Bungie.

Well if you can put up with Kojima's usual hijinks (ridiculously convoluted plot, twists and turns seemingly simply for the sake of twists and turns, or to get him out of a corner he painted himself into, having the gameplay constantly interrupted by communications) Those are precisely the two things that are putting me off. The first much more then the second.

I think this tells us that the new generation of consoles are not going to blow anyone's mind. They can make the graphics as powerful as they want but the development costs can only skyrocket. If the major players are playing it safe with every AAA title they sure as hell aren't going to double their investment for much better graphics and sell games at the same price as before. And I don't see a price hike solving the issue.

PES 2012. I gave up on God of War 2. Its a great looking game but I've done all that before and even better graphics aren't enough motivation. I have Metal Gear Solid 3 Snake Eater but I can't bring myself to play it. The second one was such a bitter experience.

That depends on the presence of an auto aim/lock on system. Without it maneuvering the reticule with an analog stick is not a pleasant experience.

If you have a powerful enough PC (Core i5 3+Ghz upwards), you could also emulate Wii and Gamecube games. That's what I'm currently doing. A bit wonky sometimes, but at least you get high resolutions out there. Either way, excellent choice. Metroid Prime trilogy, Donkey Kong Returns, Metroid Other M, The Last Story and Zelda feel very refreshing to me. However you should think about getting the Premium Pack with 32 GB instead, unless you intend to plug in an external HDD. I have an external HDD that sits around collecting dust and some SD cards and flash drives I don't use so I don't feel the increased storage is enough motivation to get the deluxe edition. If money wasn't an issue I'd take the deluxe, but since it was either 50 euros more for deluxe or 50 euros for the ability to play Wii games - it really wasn't much of a choice (doubt my PC can handle Wii emulation). I need the Wiimote regardless (damn its expensive!), for two player gameplay with subsequent WiiU games. Yeah, I'm hoping for a new experience. I got what XBOX360 players had with my PC (most of us did anyway, considering most multiplatform titles conformed to XB's limitations), I got the Sony experience with the PS2 (and the PSX with emulation) so Nintendo here I come.

Since I'm not getting any of the WiiU games straight away my impression will be somewhat limited, but I'll do as thorough a review as possible.

I've decided I'm going to get a Wii U. Stores here will have them in stock probably next week at the price of 320 euros for the basic edition - the sad story of buying electronics in Europe. Incidentally that's also the price in the UK. However, I'm also pressed to invest in a WiiU accessories pack, since its the most cost effective way of getting the Wiimote+, Nunchuk and Sensor bar. That will set me back an additional 55e. 375e, it was nice knowing you. I'm planning to play original Wii games first due to their reduced price: the 2 Zelda Games, 3-4 Mario games, Metroid Trilogy and a couple of others. Of the Wii U games I really want to play the new Super Mario Bros and I'd like to give Nintendoland a spin in a party atmosphere. Pikmin 3 is in the works but that's coming out next year.

TL;DR Sony and MS are gona boast with better graphics for the next gen consoles again, but Nintendo is gonna win anyway. Read it, its the best piece on gaming I've read in a while. Trust me, its worth your time.

Old but extremely interesting article, really illuminates gaming seen as a business: http://www.lostgarde...n-strategy.html