Diogo Ribeiro

Yes, those poor designers and all that creative work they have to do. They should probably do something more related to their skills and to what they're being paid for, like fetching coffee and navel gazing. This only has to happen if the developers want it to happen. You don't have to double the amount of physical spaces when entity reactions and interactions can be handled by scripts which track down player choices. You don't have to create entirely different maps to accomodate player decisions. Or, let's use the force of example. Go play Deus Ex. Start the first level, Liberty Island. Make a save at the beginning, then go around killing all NSF troops, don't promise to use non-violent means to capture the NSF leader in charge of the operation to Harley Filben, don't rescue Gunther Hermann, kill the NSF leader. Reload, then do the opposite. Use non-lethal ways to incapacitate NSF troops or simply don't even touch any, promise Filben to take it easy on the NSF leader, rescue Gunther, and don't kill the NSF leader. Reload, and just do what you want regarding any of the above options. Exactly what kind of information required two or more different maps? None whatsoever. Or, go play Baldur's Gate 2. Start the game and play up to the point where you have to choose wheter to affiliate yourself with the Shadow Thieves or with the Vampire Guild. Make a save. Play for either side then see through all of their quests. Reload, then play for the opposing side and see through all of those quests. Exactly what kind of information required two or more different maps? None whatsoever. And these aren't even the only games where this happens. Far from it. The use of scripts as means to track player actions and present different entity reactions based on them have been around for a long time now, and that's pretty much what's being used in these cases. Deus Ex requiring oh so many new and different maps to handle player actions made throughout the game is fallacious, especially considering how many player choices the game reacts to while providing the same amount of maps and reactions to those choices in said maps. Even *if* additional maps were required (and at this point we would be willingly rejecting the possibility of having all of the game's maps remain the same but to give the players different sets of objectives based on their affiliation), removing filler levels from the game - like the entire Ocean Lab sequence, where everyone already knew where the story was going but had to suffer through another set of empty hallways with pointless and arbitrary encounters with mutated stuff and shallow objectives - would work just fine. Repetitive art direction and the faux necessity to create different maps based on each and every player decision are two different things and not necessarily related.

Metroid Fusion Rebelstar: Tactical Command Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising Tactics Ogre: The Knight of Lodis Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones Astro Boy: Omega Factor Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

Reasons for replayability aren't constant; trying to narrow down several possible plot points into one single path isn't guaranteed to have the desired effect on it. Spector had full control over the game's development; his 'wish' could very well have found its way into the game's design if he wanted to. Hell, it's already plastered all over the game, only on various situations and in smaller scales. All it takes is to stop focusing on trivial things which don't have an effect on gameplay and move on up to what he really wanted to do.

Sure, if you want to add radically different path points. Except you don't have to create radically different path points - based on player choice - that are so different from each other as to require the often used apology of 'it would take too much of X resource - trust us, we know what we're talking about'.

Oh, I bet you will sweet meat

Get a room.

Nintendo has launched the site for their upcoming console, the Wii. In it, you can see various information on their console philosophy, the controller, and on upcoming software releases. Uhm, Nunchuk controller?

But your shame will live on in our memories.

No, it's meta that's broken.

Probably. I'm not so sure Mass Effect is going to be released on the PC, even if further down the line. But in any case being Xbrick exclusive doesn't really bother me now, as at this point I have less interest in it than in Jade Empire.

Maybe it'll be as exclusive as Jade Empire. Who knows?

True. But when the source material is pretty much based on characters running and jumping around going "lol n00b", spamming PMs to have you join their guilds, and slogging through monsters so they'll retire at 60, you know "blockbuster" is not exactly the first thing to come to mind.

The site for the upcoming Shadowrun game has openened, featuring information about the game, and even forums. And it's really just another case of "I told you so":

All it needs to succeed is to induce as much sleep as the book.

No, YOU don't know what you're talking about.

"

If only I could still lose my Grim Fandango virginity.

Since my life is pretty much a constant streak of bad luck, the handful of exceptional days that rarely occur seem to be most of a warm yet fleeting memory. While I can't choose one such day out of all others because even if few they were all exceptional in their own wat, I'd say the most recent 'best' day I had was one year and two months ago when me and my girlfriend started our relationship.

What gets me is that I'm thrown around in a handful of circumstances which I really don't want to be in. The other Friday I didn't join you for reasons already discussed, and I was really looking forward to being there this Friday because in the next one I won't be around here again, but I didn't notice the schedule change so I'll only be able to join up in two weeks time :/

Sorry, but I didn't see any replies. I assumed that it would have been over when I posted.

...Wait, it got changed to noon today? I made the mistake of assuming it would still be Friday night and didn't notice the schedule change

Of course we're not judging Sawyer, even if his project was used as an example by you. What I'm saying is you can't use him as much of an example as apparently unlike the previous subject matter, Sawyer is more like the reverse - more ill-fated projects than finished ones.

Well, The Black Hound wasn't the only ill-fated project Sawyer saw himself in. Van Buren and that Gauntlet game went pretty much the way of the dodo.

Glad you like the av. Not too sure where it comes from, though >_>

Mine?