Slowtrain

Fallout has never been strong in the story department. Making a good story becomes very difficult if you give the player a large amount of freedom to do what they want. Fallout 3 may not have been as strong in the traditional RPG elements as FO1 and FO2, but the story level was pretty similar.

The new XCOM game is... let's say, decent, compared to the original(s). Just like everything else these days it has simplified mechanics and the "core" campaign is a very linear experience, but after years of only having the UFO: Afterwhatever spiritual successors with real time combat it is certainly good enough. Ahh, streamlining. Yes, a potent force for evil to be sure. I will check out Wateland 2. edit: got my reply in the quote.

Hi! Games have been off my radar for a couple years which sometimes happens. But when I saw FO4 had been announced, my interest suddenly went up again. Especially since it turns that it is set as Boston in we all suspected it might be. I live in Boston so I am curious how the game represents the area. I also heard a good XCOM game was released at some point. Which seems astonishing, and somewhat unbelievable, but if true would be fab.

Looks like I may have to buy that new computer for this. That it is set in Boston makes it especially interesting. Hopefully the gameplay doesn't get even more "streamlined" than it was in FO3. Still, I'm very interested in seeing how this turns out.

How do you feel about X3:TC? I spent countless bajoolion hours in X2 and consider it one of the most fab games ever, but still have never got around to either X3 or X3:TC though I have both floating around somewhere. Read the manuals though!

heh. I think I made this exact post about Bioshock relative to System Shock 2. Why must you steal my thunder, sir?

Oddly amused. Will it run on Ubuntu?

Oblivion was so boring that I used to fall asleep whille playiing it and my player character would end up running off a cliff and dying. Happened a bunch of times and then I wised and just went straight to bed. Oblivion went into the coaster pile, so at least in the end it helped keep my drawing surface stain free. Which is something.

I just use the cheapest mouse and keyboard I can find and toss them when they get too battered. works great. Hard part is finding the cheap ones since most stores would rather sell you the uber-expensive stuff. Spending lots of money on stuff you're going to work to death anyway is pointless.

You do the best play threads, tig. I haven't played BG in a look time. looking forward to this. Just curious: do you plan to do a lot of wandering and explore all the maps? Or are you going to follow the story more directly and not wander about so much?

Gsmers have been making that same tired claim for YEARS. Seriously. 20 years ago boards still had those threads filled with "OMG this game is so buggy I'm never buying anther product by them again etc and so forth." and I'm sure a handful have even stood by that. But not enough to have the complaints carry any weight to publisher. Just the fact that enough people would buy a game from Bethesda, a known publisher of buggy games who also doesn't even do a very fixing said bugs, so that they could ship 10 million copies, just shows how dumb gamers are as consumers. I'm not saying it's right or that I agree with it. But that's the way it is. gamers have earned their buggy games by being non-discriminating consumers. Publishers KNOW they can release buggy games and they'll sell anyway. fair enough.

It's a pretty common issue though since I can't single out Bethie. Our beloved obs has far more problems with it then Bethie does, for example. The whole "buggy-game" syndrome is more of a gamer issue than a developer/publisher issue anyway. Gamers are going to buy games at release whether they're buggy or not, then complain afterwards. There's not a huge amount of motivation for developers and publishers to spend a lot of money fixing bugs prior to release -- it's money spent that won't make the game sell any better. If the game sells really well, then you patch.

Bethesda seems to be doing a pretty good job their last couple games of maximizing the value of what they do well and downplaying stuff they're not so good at. Since no developer can do everything well, given the real world limitations in resources for every game, in the end that's about the best you can expect.

I would have choosen MW over any of Bethie's other rpgs as far as bridging the gap between tabletop and crpg. MW is definitely Bethie's high point as far as rich environments and complex story and what not. It may not be their best crpg mechanics-wise, but its defintitely the richest.

That was the only game I was really looking forward to. *waits for the inevitable half-ass STALKER reboot*

I'm pretty sure you're the only one who thinks a internet message board could have sort of "significant relevancy". The ironic part to the whole thing is that internet message boards about gaming are now much more interesting than the games themselves.

It's difficult to tell console gamers apart since they're all rolling around in the same mud. The pc terrifies and frightens with its small letters and dizzying complexity of keys. It's understandable why they fail to mention it sometimes. It's fear, baby!

If I add up all the games I've purchased since 2000 no way is it even close to 50. There haven't been 50 games worth playing since 2000 to begin with regardless of cost.

A minor internet deity.

Or you could just make a game about crabbing in the bering sea that stands on its own without the need to mention a tv series. It's what jm mentioned in his post, too often the ip of these popular shows become a crutch that subsitutes for actual solid and compelling gameplay. Is Obs going to go that direction? Or make a game that actually stands on its own with the gameplay. *shrug* I don't know.

Of course. I'm not applying any different standards to this than I would anything else. Make it a compelling game than stands on its own regardless of source. If its going to rely on trotting out SOuth Park memes and fart jokes to get its sales then not much I can say. SOuth Park fans will buy it. Same as any of these sorts of games.

$29.99 at Target. Genre: Hunting. Enjoy!

Nope. But if its taken seriously as a game that needs to exist as a game in its own right, not just a marketing tool for the show, then it's a start.

I used to share your cynicism, but then I played Arkham Asylum, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love a Tie-In Game. You're right that tie-ins are usually lousy cash-ins, because they typically try to get by on IP alone. Good tie-ins are successful because they have a great alignment between theme and gamplay - in Arkham, Rocksteady nailed the gameplay of CQC and stealth. The greatest accomplishment of Arkham Asylum is that your character will perch deftly on a gargoyle wearing tights and big ceramic bat ears and you don't feel like some fiddly furry creep - you feel cool, and you feel lethal. Based on the Game Informer article, the new RPG seems to be RT hack and slash running on Onyx, which (like DS3) runs a very real danger of becoming generic gameplay with a tacked-on theme. I could see this as worrying. But this IP is kind of built to make use of traditional RPG tropes and perhaps surmount them. You mentioned earlier that Obsidian may as well make a Jersey Shore or Big Bass game, but the difference between those IP's and South Park is that South Park has its own developed universe and metaphysic - it even has 'lore,' or whatever term nerds use to designate the fake history of a fake setting. It also has elements important to storytelling - an often editorial worldview and real honest-to-goodness themes. Among those themes is the role of imagination - more specifically, how imagination is often willfully self deluding, self aggrandizing, and ego inflating. And I'm sorry, but how is this not characteristic of nearly every RPG you've ever played? There's a reason why Avellone refers often to ego-stroking and power fantasies as recurring design goals. RPGs are often about elevating the scale and stakes of the game, chiefly to accommodate the expansion of the player's ego as s/he trivializes former challenges. The twist in South Park - and this is potentially rich for both story and gameplay - is the opposition between the "power" of a person's imagination and the powerlessness he or she feels in reality - there are inevitably moments where characters in the show come down from their fantasies to face the indisputable bummer of real life. Consider for instance the episode where the boys are playing ninja: they're drawn as these massive muscle-bound anime characters in their fantasy - until a goddamn throwing star ends up in Butters' eye. They're once again themselves, small and vulnerable and in trouble. I honestly believe there's more freedom and potential in this franchise than in, say, Star Wars, D&D, or Warhammer, which are so hemmed in by 'canon,' prior world-building, and fanbase expectations that their settings are downright claustrophobic. But then I was one of the people who looked forward to Alpha Protocol, so maybe I'm just biased against swords, lasers, and laserswords. Hi, JM! If Obs can step beyond making a game that is little more than a promotional tie in or an income stream for a tv series, as most of these tie-in games are then that would be great. WHat I see as worrying is Deadliest Catch: The Game. But if the sights are set much higher, then I'm all for it.

That's an odd juxtaposition of awesome and tragic.