Noceur

I think the fact that both console owners and PC owners were... mildly impressed... with Deus Ex 2, while Deus Ex 1 was successful, will hopefully give the developers some hints on how to make Deus Ex 3. The PR lady also talks about Deus Ex, while not mentioning Deux Ex 2. (which would hint at what game they think they should follow up on) Greater hardware in consoles also means that we'll see larger maps and stuff (most likely). While we might not get a Deus Ex 1 FPS/RPG, chances are we'll get something better than Deus Ex 2. I thought IW was an OK game, but it was small (in all ways) compared to the real beast: Deus Ex 1. Anyway, I'm cautiously optimistic. This could go any way, and it's not like we've seen any of their design decisions, story or art yet. Btw, interesting that they revived it now*COUGH*CRYSIS*COUGH*NANO-TECH*COUGH*

Eschalon: Book I, baby.

I really liked CoD 4. When I tried the demo (which I suggest you do, if you want to know how it'll run on your computer) I had a 7800GS, and it ran good on Low to Medium settings at 1k resolution. For the full game I had the luxury of a 8800gtx, and it runs like CoD 2 did on my 7800GS

The biggest issue they would have to worry about is sales. If the game doesn't get on shelves in a store, then most gamers won't even know it exists. Agreed. I think Valve's got it made, since they've got both steam and games in stores. That means they'll get some bucks from the gamers who buys in stores, and a whole lotta dough from the dudes that purchase online (via steam). I think it's a viable alternative (go both ways) until people are more accustomed to digital purchases. The question is how happy a publisher is to let the developer publish their games online. I believe there was some legal quarrel between Valve and its publisher at the time of Half-life 2's release. I wonder how well Telltale games / Sam and Max is doing? They only release the whole season in stores (after it's done) right? By the way, Season one was well spent money, I tell ya. Loved Reality 2.0.

Volourn: Look, I'm not defending myself here (as I buy my games. Heck, I bet the whole European economy rest SOLELY on my (granted pale) shoulders). I'm saying these people with questionable morals certainly won't be discouraged to pirate if the prices are high. On the contrary, they will most likely be encouraged to pirate. Heck, stick it to the man right? Raise the prices of MY games? Wether or not you or I will sweat it out and buy less games (but still buy em) is not the point here, I believe. It is about the effect of high prices on piracy. If you're not a pirate yourself, you can't apply your logic or morals to them, you can only speculate on what you think they'll do or not. Still, your stalwart opinion is noted and agreed with. Games is not food. It's entertainment, a luxury. ps. sorry if I don't make sense, I'm taking a break from a party. (or rather, a partay, for us rich people, spending bucks on games like other people do on bread and butter. Bwahaha. Yes, dare I say Bwahaha? I laugh in your face, poor people!)

I agree... as I said in another thread about piracy (on another forum), lowering prices on games would probably result in less piracy. For example, I've bought a lot of indie games/apps that I never would have bought if they hadn't been so disgustingly cheap. The question is if publishers (and devs) would make more money on sales with the lowered prices or if it'd be roughly the same. Then again, the people who claim they pirate games because they wouldn't have bought those games anyway might actually cough up the dough if the prices are lower. Anyway, yeah, higher prices certainly won't help the situation. In the least, it'll make us paying costumers even more picky in what games we buy.

There's a huge difference, not the least of which is the polycount in the enviroments. Where half-life has matte images in layers around the level, Crysis actually has terrain. With trees and stuff. But there's a slight difference in application when it comes to Crytek and Valve's engines, I think... although Crysis is more linear than Far Cry. Anyway, you'd definately see the difference if you play the game. Especially if you're able to run it on High and up. Of course, both or aiming for realistic or semi-realistic design, so the difference will mostly be technical (apart from the design of sci-fi elements).

There are many things I like about this game, but I'm afraid my general feeling is "frustrating". It's no wonder the Yanks need nanosuits in the future, considering a normal korean can take several bullets to the head and still be fit for a fight. The destructable enviroment is an obvious plus, especially buildings. I also like to carry a coffee pot in one hand and a rifle in the other. It's much more fun bashing poeple with a coffee pot than the stock of your gun ;P

I just realized that this is the guy who made those adventure games... I haven't played them myself. http://www.fullyramblomatic.com/games.htm The 5 Days a Stranger, 7 Days a Skeptic etc. I've been meaning to try 'em out but never gotten around to it.

Hehe, the cars have a tendancy to catch fire and explode when I'm not looking. I steer clear of all cars in the game now, or shoot em up myself. Just like in real life. Anyway, I guess I don't have much choice but to go and play MotB now. ,_,

That's weird... the only place I died on, in the Pripyat level, was . I actually managed to finish the end of the level without dying once (on regular), but I guess it depends on where you lie down and what routes you boobytrap. (I think my buddy drew most of the fire, because of where I lay down.) I agree though, I'd say 90% of the times I died in the game was because of a grenade (or worse, exploding vehicles). Throwing the grenades back is pretty fun though. And I swear to god, 50% of the grenades that killed me are from friendlies.

Just finished CoD 4. The story isn't that revolutionary and yada, yada, but something really got me in this game. Perhaps the cinematography. I thought it was a really fun game. ps. Enemies pop up like in virtua cop or something, though

Love Zero Punctuation, but you got the url to his personal blog/website wrong... it's actually http://www.fullyramblomatic.com/

Finished S.T.A.L.K.E.R the other day... been rooting around for games since I've upgraded my computer. It's kinda eerie to be able to play everything maxed out with the native resolution on my TFT. Anyway, loved the game although I modded it a bit so that I got less bullet dispersion when aiming. I changed it in the actor file though, so a ruined weapon will still disperse like hell. Now I need games for graphic whororing, so that I can justify my hardware purchase.

I love Zero Punctuation, and this review is seriously spot on.

I didn't think I'd like Crysis after seeing the videos and stuff (for gameplay reasons), but after playing the SP demo I can only assume that presumption came from playing half-arsed console ports like MoH:A and others. I had forgotten what it felt like to play a real FPS on PC made for PC. (Cross-platform really has a long way to go still) I really enjoyed being able to play stealth like, or go all out war on those poor Koreans... whatever I felt like. Most of the Korean encounters in the game can probably be solved non-violently. Everything was more intuitive than I had imagined, which links back to my statement above. Heck, I almost felt some Deus Ex nostalgia when I was gimping away on the weapon mods and stealth-suit stuff. It's also nice to see how scalable the engine is. Granted, the enviroments don't look much better than far cry on low/medium, but there's slightly more vegetation and it's all interactive, which is actually one of the few feats that impressed me the most in the first place. Toss a potatomasher in the jungle, and trees are falling all over the place, and it doesn't lag one bit on my machine: 3.1ghz intel, 7800GS, 2GB ram (low on everything except; Models, textures and shadows on medium, water on high and post-effecs on medium. 1280x800 resolution). Still, it feels like a shame to play it on my machine, and for the first time in a long while, I feel like I should upgrade. Few things that bugged me were: - The mate's flashlight which made things impossible to see. - Enemies relying on high health/armor instead of AI or whatever. My biggest beef with games. - I crawled a lot on my second play-through, and there were a lot of rock formations one could fall into and get stuck. Sometimes I could jump out with super-strength, other times I was completely stuck. I can only hope that the second half of Crysis won't end up like far cry, with enemies that can take a full mag of rockets and all that crap.

Snickersnack Well, one day I might install Gothic 3 again and give it a go. The Gerbiles sure messed this one up.

Are the community able to fiddle with the engine, or is it just script bugs and such? I suppose my question is if there is any difference in performance. It's a shame really... I came as far as the desert, then gave up as I was fighting performance and bugs as much as I was fighting monsters. But I see the potential for a good game in there.

I just played through Portal and HL2: Episode 2 again, with developer commentaries on. It's very interesting if you're into techno-babble and human computer interaction (especially the portal commentaries), or if you're a modder or game developer, I suppose. I also enjoyed hearing Merle Dandridge talk about her experience as voice actress for Alyx. (It's rather jarring to hear her talking out of context while still within the game, so to speak). For people like me who like to pick things apart, developer commentaries are actually very entertaining, and something I'd like to see in more games. Still need to finish MotB, but Sam and Max season 1 and Orange Box sorta got in the way. EDIT: Whoa, whoa, wth? Crysis SP demo?!

Certainly looks cool. Too bad (for me) that I don't own a PSP or DS. Well... not that bad, but I'm not having a laugh either, if you know what I mean.

I made the mistake of playing Malk first. The game just wasn't as... interesting with the other clans, so I never really played it through again. (I think I got as far as china town with another char... don't remember which clan, though). I think I've nearly played it through with another malk though, doing it a bit differently where possible.

Allright, so I joined SODOFF. I won't be able to play until tomorrow, though.

But the fluffy yet aggressive rodent is in the SODOF group! Surely we can't have a group without the maskot?! I suggest immediate mob-ilization. Issue the pitchforks and torches to the men, sergeant... We have a castle lawn to occupy!

Well, I can join in. Not sure how much time I'll have to play, though. But the more the merrier, right? BTW, SODOF or SODOFF? It's not like I can be pestered into joining BOTH of them!

Haha, the economy in Cyrodiil is unstable to say the least.