Amentep

Which - whether I like it or not - it makes sense for the developer. They get around physical distribution for the most part, get around license fees, get around porting to multiple platforms and can still use a $50 price point since that's what gamers have come to expect from games.

Egad! You look like something out of the Oblivion character editor! No one...NO ONE looks like anything that came out of the Oblivion Character editor!

I can't say I ever micromanage and I don't usually agonize over equipment (like I knew some did in Diablo 2). In fact I usually only even paused in Baldur's Gate when I wanted to throw a spell from a magic caster. I don't remember any game that played itself outside of demo mode; never understood that argument.

I don't like the fiddletyness of PC's, personally. Yes a computer can do A LOT of things. Many of them involving you sitting for hours trying to figure out why your program, your CPU, your periphrials, and your installed components seem to have a pre-standing grudge against one another and refuse to talk. The advantage of the console is that when I buy a game on a console, I know its going to work on the console without spending any time (or money) troubleshooting or replacing obsolete parts. That said, Activision wants a "plug and play" PC alternative which would be the ideal - take the frustration of having to fiddle with your PC to get it to work, make games so you don't have to upgrade your PC every 6 months to play them and I think the PC will become viable again as a gaming platform.

Jonathan Rhys Meyers Turns out I know somebody who had a bit part as a zombie in that film.

I didn't mind the song first time around even with some of the weird face and camera shots (and I forgive the orchestra for swelling just as I do in the cinema).

But if the Japanese developer has no interest in working on an IP they own, but it can be mined by an outside contractor...why not? Fanboy rage will happen whether they don't make a new game in "Series X" or if they make it with a 3rd party or if they make it themselves and dare change anything from the original, so I'm not sure its the best way to gauge whether something is worth doing or not.

BTW, poking around the net, the only numbers I see are for KotOR at about 1.58 million. I'd imagine, since KotOR2 was released a year after the first, a million copies would have still been good (that said, I don't think KotOR2 sold a million, as it never went to the greatest hits program if I remember correctly...)

IMO it kinda makes good business sense to not hinge all of your company's future on one game. Look at it this way, AP's sales weren't what Sega wanted, but they have DSIII and FO:NV. If FO:NV does well then the fact AP didn't do boffo sales doesn't ultimately hurt them when putting together their next project post DSIII (and they're probably in talks about that anyhow, I'd think).

Wouldn't LucasArts - as the producers of the game - have paid for BioWare's game engine? And wouldn't Obsidian been paid for their efforts to make the game upfront by LucasArts as they were an independent contractor (with LucasArts getting the profit/loss money from sales of the game)? Wouldn't the same hold true with Atari in regards to NWN2? And Sega with Alpha Protocol and Aliens: Crucible? Or am I just completely clueless?

The Daleks Invasion of Earth and Daleks Invasion of Earth 2150 AD...

Tactics Ogre > Final Fantasy Tactics. Oooo, yeah, went there!

How does Real ID know what your name is? Certainly if its manual entry then all you have to do is pick something that seems like a real name. If its pulling off your billing information, I'd be a little worried about data privacy.

And I really didn't think we'd ever see a return of this franchise (Or could it be for some sort of re-release...?) I would just say, they are either aiming for PSN classic rerelease in these regions or they are planning DS remake... I'd actually like a re-release or remake (although, to be fair, I can still play my PS1 copy). Given that the article says they trademarked "Let Us Cling Together", it makes me think a re-release or remake would be in the offing.

Great now I'm imagining a portable, directional infrasound generator (since infrasound has been claimed to cause things like vomiting, uncontrolled bowel movements, lung collapses and heart arrhythmia...)

And I really didn't think we'd ever see a return of this franchise (Or could it be for some sort of re-release...?)

Yeah, CT and CC both are really built more around already designed characters - although even that can be filtered a bit through Western development but I don't think there's a clear path to take in terms of what do you give the Player control of. Yea, I'd like to see Obsidian's version although this is just a light chat among designers. Yeah sure, I think its a total hypothetical situation.

The nice thing about Tactics Ogre is it has alignment (Chaos, Law, Neutral) and already has a class system, so from the standpoint of being able to create your character you'd have sort of a setup already. Characters can choose from Soldiers, Ninjas, Archers, Wizards, Clerics, Knights, Swordmasters & Valkyries, Dragoons & Sirens, Warlocks & Witches, Beast Tamers & Dragon Tamers, Priests, excorcist, gunner, Terror Knight, Amazon, Berzerker, etc.. You could develop racial types based on those seen in the games - Human, Hawkmen, Fairies, Mermaids, Giants - as well and you've got the beginnings of a character creation system I think and choice and consequences. It wouldn't really be the same as the original series, but the original series - as is - will probably never be revisited by Square-Enix. Dragon Warriors are Dragon Quest. Enix couldn't use the name for American market since there was a PnP RPG classic called Dragon Quest. Indeed.

Even if the stars aligned and they got the okay to pursue something like that, I doubt that it'd really be a Chrono Trigger 2 since the original team didn't want to make Chrono Trigger 2 when they had a chance. I'd imagine it'd be much more like Chrono Cross in terms of relation to the earlier title (or not relation at all; a side story?) That said, since Square-Enix seem to be intent on bringing a bigger presence in the Americas and Europe, I imagine that there are a number of currently defunct properties if they were going to mine their library that they could consider, in terms of getting something with some recognition amid long term gamers but that could also be freely updated. Whether they'd want to is another matter, but some titles - cult appeal games like Quest's Ogre Battle/Tactics Ogre, old popular arcade titles like Taito's Cadash or something from Enix's past (I'm blanking on a title though, as the only Enix titles I can think of - Dragon Warrior, Star Ocean and Valkyrie Profile they're using. I know Enix published The 7th Saga (developed by Produce) and ActRaiser (developed by Quintet) but I'm not sure they own those IPs) - did make some headway into the US markets back in their day.

I've only got the text descriptions - what did Melo do?

A bit downhill for Melo after that, it seems...

Interesting interview with CA, reading this one now. Thanks for the link.

*waits for the "Parker is in his FORTIES?" parody thread*

Sis, SIE. SIE, Sis. Uma, Oprah. Oprah, Uma.