Drowsy Emperor

Hellblazer had a few dozen decent episodes. Horrendous art though, as with most Vertigo comics.

Something like that. It feels more like supplying material for 4chan yaoi porn than an attempt at "romance".

http://www.pcgamer.com/elite-dangerous-refund-policy-being-reconsidered/ Elite developer may give refunds to alpha and beta players now too.

I think its a bit late for a Ghost in the Shell game. All the awesome things the anime had have already become standard repertoire of other games. As for that EVE trailer, that's tantamount to false advertising :D

That's what the game is designed for. Controlling one character most of the time and mashing the buttons. It doesn't need a tactical cam any more than KOTOR or Jade Empire did. The only reason they included it is probably to try to win back DAO players that were angry at the changes in DAII.

Actually the complaints are much farther reaching than that. Metacritic user reviews are full of people disliking the MMO style gameplay, the Ass Creed open world design, the limited tactical options in combat. Even if most of them represent Codex trolling metacritic, there is still some merit to their complaints. I don't know where you got the information that Bioware made this game for the PC since a single gameplay video is enough to show that the game is built around the consoles from the ground up. From the choice of font, the large letters (TV conveniences), the inventory design (gamepad friendly lists, massively oversize lettering) to the combat design (no auto attack, tactical cam that doesn't allow you to select multiple characters instead forcing you to cycle through them, centers on characters upon choosing them) - its a 100% console game. In fact, its pretty much an inferior version of Final Fantasy XII, since that game had auto attack and in depth programmable AI for companions on top of everything DAI has. Here is the information regarding control woes: http://forum.bioware.com/topic/520902-the-controls-for-this-game-on-the-pc-need-attention/?p=17799311

I don't know what the spirit of DAO means, but Pillars of Eternity is just around the corner and its made from the same mold.

...I'm still waiting for my art history books to dematerialize before my eyes and return to the void. Seriously, if you want to games to gain the status of art among serious people make something worthwhile. Insisting on the opposite, that art stops being a thing is Quixotic "flailing at the windmills" and won't help in any way. I'm on your side in this. With enough money and expertise I'd try to make a game that would stand the test of time. And by that I don't mean what passes for time the world of electronic entertainment.

Interesting definition. How would you quantify "contributed something to the human condition"? Because that sounds like a bunch of floaty mumbo jumbo to me (no offense, I really am interested in how you quantify it). I suppose I could add "cultural impact" to my list of things I recognize over "art", but it's hard to gouge and a lot of things that aren't "art" have cultural impact. As for modern art that actually does such things as you describe, that can fall under craftmanship or self-expression. Like I said, you can recognize what people call the amorphous blob "art" as different things and remove the debate because art has become a silly word with no meaning anyway, a dumb emotional construct. If people would appreciate craftmanship or evocativeness or any of the other things I mentioned in my post rather than dumping it all into "art" it would be a lot easier. I mean, look at what Wikipedia has to say about Art: "Art is a diverse range of human activities and the products of those activities." It's bloody nonsense, that's what it is. As a game designer, I recognize a lot of craftmanship goes into video games. There's no debate to be had there, so why are we debating whether it falls under "the products of a diverse range of human activities". As aluminiumtrioxid said. You will find the inevitable "what is art" discussion on the first page of any art history book and while it is recognized that the question can't be answered fully because art is subject to change and reinterpretation you can still train yourself to appreciate partly by knowledge, and partly by intuition. Craftsmanship and evocativeness are both insufficient traits. A masterful craftsman can paint a photo-realistic portrait, but that portrait can still be of low artistic value. A B-movie poster can be very evocative, but also be utter kitsch at the same time. I have an interest in art although my knowledge of the subject is limited. I don't see what the great works of literature, art, architecture have in games. At best, they imitate them without offering anything new and of lasting value. At worst they're nothing more than a time waster. I'm pretty sure that's the textbook definition of classic, not art. "A classic is an outstanding example of a particular style, something of lasting worth or with a timeless quality." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classic This is why I reject the notion of art, it's a nebulous term that's "subject to change" and "can't be answered fully" - i.e. it's nonsense. I can respect a classic, I can respect lasting value, I can respect emotional representation and self-expression. But "art" is just a catch-all term that really doesn't mean anything and causes endless debate because people keep insisting it does. I can respect a lot of things that people can consider "art" but the term itself needs to fade away like anything else that has no use. In every place you wrote art you could just as easily write "religion", argue how it causes endless debates and needs to fade away because its old and has no use and then be faced with the reality that most of the world is comprised of people who believe in some religion or other and be proven wrong. Creating art is a fundamental part of being human and the concept of something being art, and something else not qualifying has served the world well for a long time.

If the Russians had invaded Ukraine they'd be on Ukraine's western borders by now. The Ukrainian "army" is a patchwork of paramilitaries funded by local tycoons, neo-nazis, volunteers and international mercenaries. Ukraine's regular army doesn't have enough gear in working condition to fight a real war.They couldn't secure a win even against the eastern local militias how would they keep the russian armed forces at bay?

Interesting definition. How would you quantify "contributed something to the human condition"? Because that sounds like a bunch of floaty mumbo jumbo to me (no offense, I really am interested in how you quantify it). I suppose I could add "cultural impact" to my list of things I recognize over "art", but it's hard to gouge and a lot of things that aren't "art" have cultural impact. As for modern art that actually does such things as you describe, that can fall under craftmanship or self-expression. Like I said, you can recognize what people call the amorphous blob "art" as different things and remove the debate because art has become a silly word with no meaning anyway, a dumb emotional construct. If people would appreciate craftmanship or evocativeness or any of the other things I mentioned in my post rather than dumping it all into "art" it would be a lot easier. I mean, look at what Wikipedia has to say about Art: "Art is a diverse range of human activities and the products of those activities." It's bloody nonsense, that's what it is. As a game designer, I recognize a lot of craftmanship goes into video games. There's no debate to be had there, so why are we debating whether it falls under "the products of a diverse range of human activities". As aluminiumtrioxid said. You will find the inevitable "what is art" discussion on the first page of any art history book and while it is recognized that the question can't be answered fully because art is subject to change and reinterpretation you can still train yourself to appreciate partly by knowledge, and partly by intuition. Craftsmanship and evocativeness are both insufficient traits. A masterful craftsman can paint a photo-realistic portrait, but that portrait can still be of low artistic value. A B-movie poster can be very evocative, but also be utter kitsch at the same time. I have an interest in art although my knowledge of the subject is limited. I don't see what the great works of literature, art, architecture have in games. At best, they imitate them without offering anything new and of lasting value. At worst they're nothing more than a time waster.

My country, Croatia. Plenty of similar cases. It usually involves a trial with minimal exposure to media, usually when there's anotehr scandal or breaking news to occupy the masses. The sentence is a bear minimum in a minimum security prison. As soon as the media hype blows over the sentences gets quietly reduced to basically nothing for good behavior and stuff like that. In other words, they guy gets out in a matter of a few months, tops. Yes but Croatia is like Serbia, the place is a warzone isn't it Neither country has been a warzone for 15 years. And both had a functioning justice system and basic equality of rights while you were still forbidding blacks from using the same toilets as whites. Incidentally, even today, after all the wars and economic hardship, there's still less crime and less violence in these parts than in South Africa.

Some KS games have done really well on metacritic you know. I'm aware of the whole game of playing up review scores, but the scores are still a worthwhile guideline, particularly along with the user scores. Anyway, some sort of reputation system so you can tell who's the person pitching you a product at a glance can't be bad.

So, basically, you're saying every 42nd person should live well and **** the rest? Basically I'm saying that everybody is responsible for himself. If someone didn't care for achieving anything in his/her life then it's his/her own fault they don't have much. Sorry, I spend to much time earning and fighting my way up for someone telling me I should share with the "less fortunate". It pisses me of, I wasn't fortunate! I worked my ass of to be where I am today. Someone who didn't put any work, who only can swing a hammer or cannot operate anything more complicated than screwdriver is in no position to "share wealth" with me. But what if my work is 40 times more important than another employee work? What if i earn 40 times more for company than another employee? This all being said, we all should be equal in the face of the court when charged or being guilty of the same crime. Your work is not 40 times more important than another employee, don't delude yourself. If it is, you should be able to get by, by firing all of them and working instead of all of them, all the time. To get where you are you benefited from the availability of such things as education, a regulated market, the work of other companies, a government making sure someone doesn't simply rob you etc. You didn't create your wealth out of thin air, you created it within a system. All these things cost money and for the everyone to have the opportunity to do what you did money needs to be pumped back into the system. From those that have little, little can be taken - from those that have a lot, a bigger chunk should be taken. If you really believe you did it all on your own you're free to go to a desert island and make a thriving company there with pieces of wood, few coconuts and a pet monkey.

Go be a commie somewhere else. Proper wealth distribution my ass, we went through this crap. No one had anything, now I'm sitting beside a computer with a cold drink with my secretary with big **** under my desk and 40 workers that don't earn as much as me combined. This is the only way to live my friend. The only way to live for you, but not for the other half of your country that is now in London working in call centers. This statement expresses perfectly what's wrong with the system today and the people in charge. By the way, nordic countries in general have very progressive taxation leading to wealth redistribution. You don't have to be a communist, or a socialist to know the damning effects of the concentration of capital in too few hands.

There were a lot of very dubious things about the charges against Polanski. Regardless, his reputation was very much ruined and the controversy will follow him for as long as he lives. He is small fry compared to the likes of Jimmy Saville though.

Proper wealth redistribution in society, related to income size, would take much of their power away. As long as there is no such thing they can funnel their seemingly infinite resources into making charges go away, pay teams of lawyers to stall courts or find loopholes etc. There really is no reason for an actor to be a millionaire in this universe, or any other. For all intents and purposes, their job contributes less to the society than a janitor. That doesn't mean that they should starve, but uncontrolled wealth (regardless of occupation) inevitably leads to two different justice systems, one for the affluent and one for the rest.

More information on No Man's Sky. I find procedural generation to be an interesting concept, although I'm always concerned that it could lead to a repetitive and unfocused gaming experience. Even if nothing is the "same" in the strict sense of the word, the content still follows a recognizable pattern. In Minecraft, every world is different, but the differences don't really lead to a significantly varied gaming experience. That raises the question of what advantage is gained by having an infinite world in the first place. And yet the planets in No Man's Sky look so spectacular and so reminiscent of the best imagery hard sci-fi ever had I can hardly wait to get into a ship and start exploring.

The exact opposite is true, to be accused of rape in today's media saturated world is practically to be painted guilty before anything is proven. An enormous blow to the accused in the eye of the public, prior to even stepping in court.

Its hard to relate to modern art because it has moved away from the notions of beauty that are easier to admire. I understand why it has done so, but I am too, rarely impressed by what I see. However, once you get into the depth of drawing and painting, you come to appreciate how difficult it is to "do more with less". Representing things in as few lines and colors as possible and keeping it all in balance and beautiful is a huge and very difficult juggling act. As far as games are concerned, they aren't art. A dog biting on your ass will provoke an emotional response, that does not make the act artistic. To be art games need to contribute something valuable to the human condition as in the great works of literature, or be exceedingly beautiful as great works of art, or sometimes both, as film can do (rarely). So far, that hasn't been happening. Although the likes of Shadow of the Colossus, Homeworld and Planescape Torment are the ones that I consider having "artistic value".

There should be a "debriefing" system on KS, tracking the project post completion and it should affect and be shown on the profile of the developers who made it and everyone connected to them. Metacritic scores for games in bold lettering, user review section etc.

I think the outdoor architecture in this video (half point onward) is very well done, and I like the colors. Looks like some moorish influence there. The Klimt looking cards are really nice, and if the game had lasting value they'd make for a cool collectible. However, they need to come up with a way to generate crowds, these cities look quite dead and empty. Its not a new problem by any means either. Hitman and AssCreed games have come up with ways to get bustling looking towns. Without a bit of life in the frame all the grand architecture is in vain. The color palette problem persists. Most things have too much low contrast reddish brown, particularly in indoor areas, and particularly on character models. I don't know why they persist with this in every DA single game, its clearly not doing the game any graphical favors, making it look dated and ugly in parts. Good color choices can make up for crude models, but bad colors will ruin them.

Right, because asking for ingame pajamas like BSN regulars is just as bad as this. 386 pages of *RAGE* Never change, 'Codex, never change Codex haiku

...I've yet to see a bug free game release. I love to slam Bioware but too many bugs per release is not one of their flaws.

I'm more worried about the people that are backing the developer on this one with arguments like "nothing is for certain on Kickstarter, they haven't definitely promised anything etc.". Its the sort of argumentation one would expect from a paid attorney. Neoliberal "business > consumer" dogma seems to have permeated the general public to an incredible degree, that it will in fact, argue against its own interests. Some people paid 100$+ for alpha/beta access to support the game and now they're screwed out of a refund because their participation in the online gameplay is taken as an admission that they, what, don't need the offline mode? Can get by without it? While that is probably true, its still completely unrelated to the fact that a key feature has been removed from the game and that its no longer the same product as originally advertised.