Ganrich

PC hooked to TV + copy of PoE (it has an option to increase font sizes) + http://store.steampowered.com/app/353370/ = PoE with a controller and a couch experience. You have the ability with a very small investment. PC not near your TV? You have to invest a little more: http://store.steampowered.com/app/353380/

Chanter with high Intellect and Lore. You can cast spells from scrolls and it doesn't stop your chant counter from building. It is slightly better for melee than the Cipher. Either class works though.

Stun, the "no, that's not a misspelling, there really IS 7 consonants in a row here" made me nearly spit coffee. I have a bit of Kona blend in my nasal passages. Thank you.

I agree with Cantousent. Planescape is a realm from AD&D, while Numenera is a new pen and paper setting made by Monte Cook. Numenera has no relation to Planescape. They "may" have some Easter Eggs and references to PST for the initiated, but it isn't a continuation of the story. It is an amazing story, and worth giving it a play through. Its combat is meh, but its dialogue isn't. PST has and amazing setting, amazing companions, and really interesting themes. If I hadn't played it I would want to play it before TTON just to see what the hubbub was about.

I would. I would prefer to get at least one play through of the first game prior to it though. I am actually hoping they use KS for another project, keep a few people on to pump out the expansion, and once the PoE expansion is out try for another kickstarter for PoE2. This way they can get the rolling development that InXile has going.

@Meshugger - thanks for the link to Steven Pinker. I am going to have to read his books. I feel bad for not being more aware.

I actually think Valve's controller will shine more by allowing mouse driven experiences like Civilization, Pillars of Eternity, Sim City, Papers Please, etc to be played on a TV from the couch. I think it will be ok (at best) for shooter games (both 1st and 3rd person), and possibly pretty good for 3rd person beat'em up games like the Arkham games. It will likely be bad at fighting games, and I am of the mind it won't be too hot for platformers. It makes up for the more traditional controller's short comings with many genres while being somewhat worse at what those traditional controllers are pretty good at. M & K will still win in all aiming contests. We will see.

GDC this year is going to be really interesting. I will pay much more attention to it than I have most conventions of the past few years. We have DX12/OpenGL Next Gen, Steam Machines, SteamVR, etc. I also expect a game announcement from Valve since they need a new game to premier so as to draw gaze at their new hardware ventures. I am sure there are other interesting pieces of news to be announced that I am forgetting or of which I am unaware.

That is pretty wonderful. Very excited for the soundtrack. Great job, Justin!

So, GDC 2015 has confirmed sessions on Directx 12, and Valve's Steamos/Steam Machine venture. Now we also will have a session on OpenGL Next Generation hosted by Valve. "The session will also have developers from EA, Epic Games, Oxide Games, and Unity. " http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Next-Gen-OpenGL-GDC15 EA is part of the talk. Pretty interesting news IMHO. Makes me wonder what EA might announce/discuss.

Yeah, I am hoping for Hong Kong. It is a great setting. Going to side bar some Xmas cash for this. HBS is doing a great job adding onto the game with new cotent. I am glad they aren't sequeling the game, and are just adding onto the current mod tools with new assets and features

@aluminiumtrioxide - yeah, I am not arguing that the people interested in the game are the type to look for that sort of message, and also not sure (highly doubt) the developers are trying to push that kind of message. I am just saying that it is possible to send a message of the horrors of violence while not having crappy gameplay. If the devs of Hatred were so inclined they could try and do such a thing. There would be people that would miss the message, but that is the case with trying to say something in any artistic medium. Everyone interprets things differently, and some don't care about a message at all.

It's been updated. http://m.imgur.com/a/kTgTs Based on his arguments, I'm thinking that he believes that games are inherently a poor platform for social criticism? Essentially the idea would be that a game can't critique violence if its violent gameplay is fun. Since you can't have a game that has "unfun" central mechanics, the only way to criticise violence would be to make violent action inherently unfun in the game (which, I guess, means Mirror's Edge is a critique on violence since I seem to recall most complaints about that game was all the gameplay but combat was fun). PST and Arcanum are the best critiques on violence ever. Anyway, Hatreds violence is ramped to a level that is uncomfortable. That level of violence without an excuse like saving a friend, stopping the cartel, etc could be used to just show how horrible violence is by pressing the right discomfort buttons. Too often violence is excused in games because of some noble goal. A lack of that goal could very well shine a new light in some people's eyes on the topic of violence as a whole. I find the argument shaky, at best. The same argument could be used against many systems in video games; not just combat/violence.

On Amentep's comment about Lovecraft's racism. Walt Disney came to mind. He wasn't exactly a shining example of humanity.

Yeah, I am in the same boat, Keyrock. I have no desire to play it, but I am glad it is there for those that do. I don't really enjoy GTA, manhunt, postal, or any of those games that have criminal violence. I think my exception was Sleeping Dogs, but the majority of that game is beat em up style... It's like John Woo made a GTA game. I enjoyed it. Anyway, glad Hatred is back up for greenlight, and I hope it gets the same bump as last time. I just won't "Yes" vote something I have no interest in playing... Even for political reasons.

Hatred looks like a more graphically realistic Postal. It looks like a spiritual successor to Postal, in fact. Postal is $4.99 on Steam. Seems a bit wrong that a game (Hatred), that could almost be an HD version or a graphic overhaul of a title (Postal) Steam currently sells, isn't allowed.

TB on Hatred being pulled from steam.

On the Kevin Livine comments - The journos want their ability to critique to be allowed without any critique allowed on their own work. So the question arises "Who watches the watchmen?"

Postal is allowed on Steam, but Hatred isn't. Seems a bit odd. Also, wasn't Greenlight suppose to remove curation from the store? I think this is a bit bogus, and I wouldn't play either postal or hatred. Someone will play them though.

That "forgive me" comment made me think of bill hicks.

Yeah, these folks have a better chance of catching and taming a live dragon than getting metal heads to conform, tone down their lyrics, etc. When it comes to musical tastes... Metal heads are the most conservative music fans I know. They like what they like and that is it. It won't change. May as well fight with a stop sign. The outcome will be the same. I am not knocking metal heads either as I am a bit of one myself.

Virtual worlds are not the real world. I personally find Bioware's dating sim systems that lead to cheesy sex scenes tasteless. I think those conversations are there to lead you to the end result of a sex scene (anything after the first mass effect game anyway). I could even argue that they are somewhat sexist as they just give the goal of sex as a reward for talking to your npc of choice in the appropriate way. They are also a core mechanic for Bioware titles. I would never ask for them to be removed from a Bioware game or anyone else's game if they were persuing that system. I know you like your romances, Bruce. How would you feel about these tables being turned? I would also like to say I don't really care for GTA these days, but I enjoyed Red Dead Redemption. I still wouldn't want sections of their content stripped because a small group of people (some of which don't play the games) don't like the content.

Yeah, her twitter feed is all in caps-lock. Difficult to tell what's (she?)'s on about. Yeah claiming that goldbat is a Dev at a AAA company and has dirt on the journalists that is of a level that they will need lawyers. I am skeptical given the erratic behavior, but I will wait and see.

Ivy Clover is going bananas on his/her (unsure) Twitter. This may be pretty entertaining, if not a solid positive break, in the end. Thanks for the heads up, TN.

"The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing." Edmund Burke Doing the right thing isn't always safe, without conflict, nor without drama. Of course what somebody else sees as "right" isn't universal, but to not fight for it is to allow the opposing viewpoint to go unopposed. I think allowing a small group that I see as radicals to dictate what is politically correct is a detriment to society... Not just games journalism. So I am doing my part. i especially don't think they should be the only voice on what is right in art or entertainment. Which at the moment seems that the games media only has a single point of view.