Pidesco

I actually feel the genre really hasn't been going forward all that much in the past 8 or 9 years. MotB and The Witcher had great things, but other than that I feel that RPGs really haven't been evolving all that much. Bioware and Bethesda in particular(although I haven't played Fallout 3) seem to be the main "stagnators " of the genre. Bioware has been releasing the same game over and over again with slight changes to the combat systems. As far as narrative, quest structure and dialogue are concerned, Bioware still has done thing to improve over BG2, which was in no way perfect to begin with. And, seeing as their games always get hailed as a new paradigm on release, I don't see this changing any time soon. Bethesda, on the other hand, are much worse in this regard. Morrowind was Daggerfall with new clothes, with no improvement apart from interface and graphics. Daggerfall's great character creation system was toned down into oblivion, and the quests and dungeons, despite being hand crafted this time around were still as empty and lifeless as in Daggerfall. Oblivion had, at times, some improvement in writing, and the combat is marginally better than in Morrowind, but the world was still as dead as in Morrowind. Really for a game developer that touts itself as the creator of worlds to explore they've really been failing every step of the way. Maybe Fallout 3 changes this, but I have yet to find out. Again, like with Bioware, Bethesda's games always get hailed as masterpieces on release so I don't see Bethesda putting any effort into creating a living world filled with options and richness. Finally, I find it grimly humorous that Morrowind was hailed as brilliant by everyone, when it sported the exact same flaws that got Daggerfall lambasted at the time of release, but that's marketing hype for you.

How are lethal melee takedowns against unaware opponents? Will they be one button press, one kill, or will they be activated by combos?

Foucault's Pendulum has the best analysis on conspiracies and how they work.

Well, ME has better combat, and KOTOR has less atrocious filler posing as game content.

You weren't a baby eater in KOTOR, you were just a bully. Just like in Mass Effect, only Mass Effect made it explicit.

Well, both Mass Effect and KOTOR have a few character building options, both games have the same style of writing, the same amount of dialogue options, and usually two ways to do quests. Also, both games have fairly challengeless combat, and their structure is very similar. Finally, the "planets" in both games are these really small, closed areas. In other news, I'm replaying Psychonauts.

Yeah, it would be like replaying a KOTOR.

Doom is pseudo-3D, Daggerfall isn't. It has nothing to do with sprites, it has to do with the game space.

And the stage is set for some freaky fanfiction.

"Good Lord! He's immune to bullets and love!"

NWN2 with a gamepad would be a nightmare, for both the players and the devs.

I love XFX. My previous card was an XFX 7600GT and it was great, and my awesome gamepad is XFX as well. Good for ATI.

Pixies - Where is my Mind

There were several facial animations in the interview trailer which weren't finished yet.

I got back on the old movie horse over the last few days: Les 400 Coups La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc Meshes of the Afternoon L'Atalante Suprisingly, La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc was the highlight of the viewings. It was absolutely riveting, and it took me completely by surprise. Easily the best film I've seen this year.

I never enjoyed Yoshi's Island quite as much as Super Mario World.

Pixies - Cariboooooouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu

74%. Weak.

Your ex-girlfriends were all awful actresses?

You figured out his secret way to get the ladies.

Why so jolly?

Isn't there a big risk this will just turn into World of Emocraft?

For some reason, FFversusXIII looks more appealing. Maybe because it looks less Final Fantasy-esque than the rest? I agree with that. Now, if Squaresoft was managed by people with an actual brain, they might do a whole game with Amano's art instead of Nomura's "let's appeal to the kids and the idiots" style. But, alas, theirs is the kingdom of the flashy and empty CG movies.

Visc mentioned Malcolm Reynolds, and I agree with him. Actually, I was never a Joss Whedon fan, as I've always considered Buffy, well, mostly crap(except for the geeky lesbianism. Geeky lesbians are always awesome). But, along came Firefly, and now I think Whedon is made of awesome and win. It really had kick ass characters, both due to the script and the generally spot on acting. The only character in Firefly that came out somewhat half arsed was Inara, and that was just because the chick who played her couldn't act even if her life depended on it.