crakkie

Film has distinguished itself as an art form for decades, far beyond what games have done so far. I might argue your choice of example auteurs, but still there are hundreds of directors whose films have more literary merit than any of your video game examples. And 'gamers' don't deserve to snort coke off of Roger Ebert's ****. At some point video games might achieve something that's worthy of the kind of literary depth seen here, and a reviewer/essayist competent enough to explore it (and that title certainly isn't without peer or superior). The uncorrupted state of human relations is not tolerance and understanding. Social behavior, mores, and prejudices stem from systemic social needs. If these needs have be resolved without this behavior (child care, birth control), , then the behavior and mores will gradually vanish. But treating them as inventions with no basis in reality will not help reduce or suppress these leftover behaviors, but rather boost them. Teaching children that the stereotypes that they witness every day are non-existent is no way to help them deal with race, gender, or sexuality. Misogyny is the hatred of women, despite what feminists have tried to morph the term into. Equating sexual objectification and paternalism with hatred is a shrill, hostile and weak position, and not one I think you are trying to take, so please change your terminology. Using the allure of an attractive female character to sell Alpha Protocol does not mean that Matt Rorie hates women. The media does not create the social atmosphere, it reflects it and generally is restricted by it. It's currently reflecting a reality where homosexuality is accepted and normal, and women and black people can become president. With such a breadth of tolerance and respect for humanity as the status quo, one would imagine there is room to portray the human animal as it sometimes exists, such as a regional manager of a paper company unable to view an employee beyond her gender and appearance, an ad agency executive spying on his wife's psychotherapy, and a young secret agent finding his way into the bed of a powerful German mercenary who is turned on by danger-- all without accusing the creators of these works of harboring hatred for women. And Bond, in Fleming's novels, is an actual misogynist. He's clearly disgusted by anything remotely feminine, and portraying today him as he was written would make Don Draper look like Margaret Sanger.

Like I took that frikkin screenshot. I lost my Startopia CD years ago.

In a scene that busy you actually notice the jaggies?

Is it still going to be a NWN2 module?

Sorry, disgruntled. Couldn't help myself.

A hallucinogen would be cool. The target starts freaking out and screaming, attracting other guards and creating a nice diversion. He may even open fire on them. Mike casts confusion on Guard. Guard is confused. Guard attacks Guard for 15 damage. Guard is killed. Not much difference between sedative and poison unless the game is rewarding you for nonlethal kills. They could make poison work much faster than the sedative, so the guard doesn't yell out "Ouch hey everyone I was just shot with a ****ing dart". They may also have knockout/hallucinogen/poison in grenade form (I think I may have seen that already). Chemical weapons-type poisons are probably a bit too dark.

Interesting. Was that in Mr. Avellone's presentation one such mission?

An undenial!

Finding the skeletal remains of a guy that shot himself in the head, with the gun sitting next to him, isn't really "show, don't tell". That's saying it pretty frikkin explicitly, leaving little for the viewer to decipher or interpret. I don't have a problem with this kind "visual storytelling" as a medium in itself, but it was never done well in F3.

It wasn't much good against a couple of vampire knights, or when you're surrounded and became easily winded (that burning city fight near the end, against 8 or so ghouls). The least fun I had in DM was in levels that didn't allow much kick or attacks using the environment, like the damn spider temple and the parts with those floating squid ****ers. Staff + kick frenzy is some of the most fun I've had in an FPS.

"using the Onyx Engine in OE's own ruleset and setting" Yes but the "free time" to work on it has never materialized since Obsidian keeps ruthlessly promoting him to lead positions (been many years). There was extensive work done on it by many at BIS, so there must be mountains of material on it's story, quests, locations, characters. "using the Onyx Engine in OE's own ruleset and setting"

[prophecy]The name of the unannounced fantasy project shall be The Black Hound, using the Onyx Engine in OE's own ruleset and setting.[/prophecy]

Those ladies, like all booth babes, are hired models. But hey, maybe they play games too.

Some kind of red-bearded, dark-skinned dwarf. He's either putting on one of his gloves, or making the sign of the clan Barrelbusters, of which he is obviously a member.

Ugh. I'll probably still get it when it hits $10.

I'm guessing it means Mirror's Edge. So, I was going to pick this up when it drops to $10 on Steam. Is it worth that much?

Didn't realize that.

Wiz 8's lock picking was impossible at low skill levels for tough locks. The difficulty of the minigame increased exponentially for every tumbler a lock had.

I had no idea that place existed. Judging by the posts there, neither does anyone else.

The melee doesn't concern me too much. Maybe it will be an excuse to tone down the current L4D melee power and reduce the ammo. But for a full on second game, I would hope to see more significant improvements like barricading doors, rpg lite stuff in players or weapons (its The New Thing), new super zombies, permanent injuries (broken bones that only allow assisted movement), players coming back as zombies, events or somesuch splitting up players temporarily, and more playable characters with different strengths and weaknesses.

Hegemony! Hegemony! Hegemony!

I think the controversy would have been a bit more heated if Fallout 3 contained kissable children.