Ben

Yeah I've got it. It allows me to play US No More Heroes and Smash Bros. Brawl on a PAL Wii just fine. Firmware updates could render it useless for later games... it hasn't happened yet so no one knows really.

TV has been around for quite a while longer than video games, so while it may seem comparable, it really isn't (at least not in this respect).

Yes it is. I know from both my personal experiences of sitting in on executive meetings where directors were making decisions about games; and from others personal accounts. Yes, it's depressing and absurd. The same thought would run through my mind during these meetings. There are of course some who do know about games, but it's definitely the case that many don't.

Yes it is; it's the one thing that everyone in the industry agrees on. It's important to have people making decisions who are both business savvy and at the very least know games. It's also important to make people understand that possessing one of these skills doesn't mean you can't possess the other.

No film classes Marek but I used to work at Sight & Sound if you remember (pretty sure i've mentioned it to you in the past). And yes, i relayed that Ueda-san story. PS - Your memory needs optimisation.

Thanks mate Bioshock is an interesting study for this; Levine briefly spoke about the use of sound at the Bioshock post-mortem at GDC. I'm sure it's something Duncan could write about... I agree there were a few nice moments in Gears in a 'quiet before the storm' way that you describe, however on the whole I did feel it was a bit too bombastic. I realise that this is very much an expected (and to some extent rightly so) part of the soundscape in that type of game; but I believe it could have benefitted from more of the quiet moments. Re: the way that Kubrick came upon those musical choices, in an earlier draft of the article I actually mentioned that story in a bit of depth (he actually received a performance of it by the Berlin Philharmonic as an advance pressing from his friend Herbert von Karajan, and as you say just happened to be playing it during editing); but chose to cut it out for flow/length, hehe.

To your point about adaptability and creative output: It may be difficult I agree, though based on the number of creative titles that the likes of EA and others have produced in spite of their increasing size (links to some of these in my original post) I think they've done a good job. More to the point, we agree that it's not impossible, and therefore i really fail to see the problem people have in real terms aside from just not "feeling" happy about it. If it is then a purely emotional response, then we can safely say that it's not a rational one, nor is it based on actual quantitative evidence; therefore I think we can also safely say it's just blind assumption. And that, to return to my original little rant, is what annoys me.

And this is exactly my point.

Right, so what were you referring to/considering when you said: (I'm talking about the "creative flow" bit obviously...)

Yeah, frankly i've always been annoyed by this attitude that many people (including a lot of you on this forum, who seem to wear it like some kind of badge of honour) have which seems to equate large corporations with lack of or no innovation; or otherwise being bad for the games industry. Sure corporations bring out lots of franchises but many, like EA, realise that they are in a position to take risks and do so to a fair degree. EA has done a lot for this industry and to simply ignore that because they produce countless iterations of Madden games might be convenient for the Gaming Che Guevera Brigade but it's also stupid. Innovation, games as art, experimental games do come from the likes of EA, Sony, Microsoft and so on - they aren't simply the domain of independent developers. So get over yourselves 'cause it's pathetic to read grown adults whining like little fanboys and it's not something i like to see on this forum; EA buying out Take Two wouldn't be a precursor to the fucking apocalypse and signal the end of the independent gaming spirit or death of creativity in games. Grumble grumble.

Dealing with Death. Duncan hates windows. Impenetrable windows and death. Don't we all?

As per usual a number of Thumbers (and former Thumbers) will be at the Game Developers Conference this year, which is taking place in San Francisco next week - Feb 18 to 22. As I understand it a few of you may also be attending so feel free to get in touch if you'd like to meet up with us.

I'd agree that people are perfectly happy with what they have, but extending that to assume that HD as a whole has been a commercial failure...? I'm not so sure. I think it's way too early to tell and I don't believe there's a direct correlation between the two (i.e. people who are happy with DVD does not necessarily equal people who will never consider HD now or in the future; I for one am happy with DVD and still buy them, but I also have a PS3 and buy the odd Blu-Ray). Outside of gaming HD is being continually pushed as a televised format with the likes of BBC HD etc. and all TVs now - from LCDs to the few remaining CRTs - are HD enabled. So HD as a general format (regardless of whether it is physical, digital/downloadable or televised) is here to stay. I'm pretty sure that no one in the HD business planning arena just expected people to drop DVD, and that they have fairly long term goals which take both that and the increase in digital content/transactions into consideration.

To twmac, I'd say this is a good thing for the consumer ultimately. They were not being best served by the "format war" and all most people care about (both on the consumer and business side) is simplicity (for ease of decision making on the formers side, and cost/profit efficiency on the latters), which is accomplished having a single format to focus on. I can't comment on the "rocket" thing, but the 360 in terms of sales and penetration definitely reached its peak last year and things have been going downhill since. Aside from the States, the 360 is doing quite poorly in relation to the others on a monthly sales basis. I've heard from more than one MS employee that they have basically given up on europe and are focusing their attention on North America (and to some extent the UK) where they believe they will continue to do well.

Good man :tup:

It depends what your avatar form was and what your shoot down rate was.

I completely appreciate how you found it annoying, but I would say this: My point is that like Indiana Jones: I think it was done in that tradition as Alex pointed out in his review.

Yeah the jetski sections are not as good relatively; but the vehicle section with you on the gun in back is amazing! So vehicle sections are not all inherently crappy. I agree there's just a bit too much combat in the game, but saying that I found the combat to be quite polished so even though it occassionally felt out of place it rarely felt like a chore.

As this thread was successfully derailed, here's another one we made: http://www.idlethumbs.net/forums/showthread.php?t=5650

Yeah kinda, it's saying that:

Also note that Tim liked the game... a lot. Which makes sense, since it is actually awesome.

Know exactly what you mean. The chorus section of Adam Freeland's Fear is a great example of this; it just feels so uplifiting when it drops. (The sample comes from the beginning of the song California Soul by Marlena Shaw btw.) As is the synth section from Creation (Ken Ishii), which is introduced during the final levels of Area 3 and really kicks in during the boss battle.

Yes. Not really. Uncharted is brilliant; Everyday Shooter is a great Every Extend Extra-like experience (except without the dance soundtrack); Fl0w is an interesting extension of Cloud if you ever played that - it's a pretty 'nothing' game in some ways but consciously so; and Ratchet & Clank is a very pretty and polished game in every sense: though it doesn't do anything that could be considered genuinely original or interesting from a game play perspective, it's still an enjoyable game. As for others (obviously some of these are available on 360 too so ignore if you already own): GT5 Prologue Devil May Cry 4 Call of Duty 4 Super Stardust HD WarHawk Also big titles like LittleBigPlanet, MGS4 and Final Fantasy XIII will be dropping in the months to come, as well as a number of interesting PSN titles like Echochrome and Wipeout HD. Man, I sound like I work for Sony or something. Also, sorry for your loss.

Hehe, say what you will about Gaf but they make damn fine official threads.

Rez HD is shiny orgasmic deliciousness wrapped in a sweet aural pastry of awe and wonder. Buy it and play it. RIGHT NOW! For those who don't know, and will ask a bunch of stupid questions about possibly not getting it or something (stupid because it would be easy enough to discover, not because you don't like it) then here's a run-down of the basics taken from another board: What is Rez? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rez_HD Trance Vibration Support http://kotaku.com/341968/rez-hd-will...ance-vibration Xbox.com Splash Information http://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/r/rezhd/ Price http://www.siliconera.com/2008/01/08...e-arcade-soon/ VIDEOS Rez HD Level 1 Rez HD Level 2 Rez HD Level 3 Rez HD Level 4 Rez HD Level 5 IMAGES