Thrik

Maxis is the only logical choice, really. Developers of the past games, upcoming announcement, and no known projects since Spore.

They've had a long time to think about it (nearly 10 years ) so I'm remaining cautiously optimistic that they'll figure out what needs to be done.

The problem with the Windows scoring thing is the score isn't an average or anything like that, it's simply the score of the lowest-rated piece of hardware you've got (click the score to see how each part is rated). So for example you could have a machine with the absolute best CPU, RAM, and graphics card going, but if your hard drive is an old PATA one and gets a low score that's the score you'll receive. Also, games themselves can be very inconsistent. For example, we've all heard how absolutely incredible Battlefield 3 looks and how it brings most computers to their knees, right? Well actually it doesn't matter if you use a six-year-old dual core CPU or a cutting-edge i7, the performance doesn't change — because the game has all it needs once it's gotten about two cores of 2.2GHz. Any more than that is basically useless. Then you can go and play something like Command & Conquer where practically every last megahurtz of your CPU is important and you get huge gains from a faster CPU. So yeah, the component-specific scores are probably a little helpful for figuring out how decent your bits are, but when it comes to determining overall performance and suitability for games you have to do that the old-fashioned way.

And these guys wonder why they're all still virgins

I never used subtitles. I always find them very distracting in spoken games of all genres and find they often undermine comedic/dramatic delivery.

One of them better be riots.

Well, it's important to remember that you can't disagree with facts so it does come across as a little trollish when you just ignore the points made and repeat your earlier position. You said that SCUMM hasn't been updated or used for several iterations of Windows — when in fact it was recently used on multiple platforms for the Monkey Island Special Editions, complete with new features such as character lighting, a vastly higher frame rate, and use of modern file formats.

Heavy, guttural breathing in your ear while you're working in the showers, for example.

Well the hotspots are obviously going to be the same, but I do think MI2:SE went a lot further than MI1:SE with regards to swanking everything up. MI1:SE very much feels like the same game with switched sprites, and while MI2:SE still does it also feels like a lot more work has been done on adding life and depth to each scene. MI2:SE is pretty much one of the most beautiful 2D adventure games I've played, which is in no small part down to the quality of the original art direction but nonetheless it looks fantastic. MI1:SE was merely OK, I'd say.

There's also a relatively sophisticated lighting system in the Special Editions, particularly in MI2. Characters are coloured and shaded differently depending on where in the scene they are, so as they go past lanterns and stuff the light illuminates them appropriately. It's fairly gorgeous and something I'd like to see in any modern 2D game.

It's probably going to be in-house tech, not just because of the fact it'll slot into their existing production habits but also because it'll mean cross-platform compatibility is already in place. It might seem like a stretch but I'd imagine the Brutal engine (which has powered all DF's subsequent games) could be adapted to produce a 2D adventure — in fact this would make things like fancy parallax effects and MI:SE-style lighting quite easy. I mean really the engine would be most suited to an incredible-looking 3D adventure game with Telltale-style fixed cameras, but I think it's already been confirmed as 2D.

Agreed. Man is beyond reproach.

To be honest, I think Grim Fandango blows a monstrously large hole in any argument that voice acting somehow diminishes the wit or quality of a game's writing. If that game were produced without voices it would have been a sad, sad thing. I do think the original two Monkey Islands' dialogue flowed better than their talkie versions, but I reckon that was more down to the dialogue specifically being written for reading rather than listening. Bit like how when I write on forums or websites I tend to do so in a different way to how I might talk through Skype, because some of my jokes and attempts at humour would fall completely flat (instead of mostly flat). But anyway, I personally am 100% glad the game is getting voice acting — a McConnell soundtrack is another big plus. At least we know regardless of how the game turns out, it's going to sound great.

Well if we use an estimate of about $20 per book, you're looking at about $100,000 to print a book for each of the $100-tier donators — and that'll only get you a relatively basic small book. The $500 tier only has about 20 donators right now, which is clearly a lot more manageable.

You've got to remember that all the money they spend on producing the goodies eats into how much has actually been contributed. If they start giving away lovely printed books to all 5000+ $100 backers that's, well, a lot of money and work.

Yeah no doubt, there'll be a lot of people who donated at lower tiers but now have much more confidence in the project and may be willing to put just a bit more in. Also that (35-minute!) interview is fucking excellent and is surely going to attract attention.

Fuck that. I got only several floors down before I started getting too tense to continue, and I don't care how much of a pussy that makes me. It's mostly the sound design. Creeps me the hell out.

Haha, yeah the 'let's throw a new type of enemy at you that's unbelievably difficult to kill' Uncharted tradition most definitely returns in UC3. I found that unless you use the RPGs and grenade launchers scattered around you've got pretty much no chance, although they do go down quite fast when you find them. Fortunately they don't appear very often after the one or two times they fuck your shit up.

Holy interviews: http://www.gametrailers.com/video/strange-place-far-cry-3/726951 http://www.gametrailers.com/video/down-the-far-cry-3/726886 http://www.gametrailers.com/video/living-island-interview-hd/726949 It's sounding and looking good to me, and there's assurance that Far Cry 2's various mechanics — safe houses, side-quests, extensive exploration, sandbox action, etc — will be returning, although weapon jamming isn't mentioned (yeah I'll totally miss that). Can't help but feel a lot of deja vu having played two of Crytek's efforts in an overwhelmingly similar setting, though.

I think the music is one of the primary driving forces behind the negative reactions. No matter how good the trailer might be, the moment you throw that shit on it you're destined to be hated. Beyond that it's a fairly effective way of setting up the game's premise (though I hope we get to actually play this stuff). I think last year's footage makes it quite clear there's going to be plenty of the free-roaming stuff once you escape the set-up that the cinematic depicts — it's not going to have become a different game in one year. 3nXjcMlX8oE In all honesty it looks more like a faithful sequel to Far Cry 1 than anything else, with a dash of Crysis in there for good measure. Of course, if you're looking for balls-out sandbox jungle action the recent console port of Crysis is a worthwhile investment. Pia_l3PxOKE

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I quite enjoyed that trailer, although the choice of music was horrendous. I like that they're continuing to base the premise on a more intimate kind of plot (ie: traveller's buddy is killed for no real reason, main character barely escapes the same fate, girlfriend is kidnapped to presumably be sold into sex slavery) rather than the usual 'end of the world' bullshit. That simple but very human plot hooks me more than the latest alien/nuclear/magical/terrorist threat. I mean it's a pre-rendered cinematic trailer that's probably trying to do the same kind of thing Dead Island's trailer did, which is all the rage nowadays — but the core concept seems about the same. It was always going to be about regular doofus people thrown into a world of nutters and scumbags.

I think what Thunderpeel's rightly saying is that at one time adventure games were properly mainstream, in that you could talk to most people who gamed at the time and they would have played the latest big adventure release. Even now I find out that guys I know who only play the latest FPS loved classic adventure games, because back then they were the only games that delivered a fantastic story with wonderful locations and characters — stuff most people wanted in games, and still do. When a good new adventure came out it was big news, like when a new Call of Duty comes out nowadays. Unfortunately for adventure games other genres have absorbed the things that most attracted people to adventure games (hint: it wasn't the puzzles), which I resolutely believe to be the main reason for their decline. I think Telltale has definitely done some good because it's managed to not only produce some great games that seasoned adventure gamers have enjoyed, but also grab some other fans by tying into cult licenses (the type of people who will play anything with that license). I also think adventure games will have somewhat of a resurgence thanks to touchscreen mobile gaming and the long-overdue evolution of the console controller — but they'll never be as mainstream as they once were. And that's not a bad thing.

Er as for BS5, I am quite intrigued. The original pair remain cemented in my 'best of all time' list, and while I was completely unimpressed by the series' move into 3D that doesn't mean another approach couldn't be wonderful. Of course, does the Revolution of today have anything at all in common with its older incarnation? I recall at one point Cecil was basically running things Autumn Moon-style (ie: bunch of contractors). Is he a Schafer kind of designer or did his team deserve most of the credit?

Yeah, seems like a very promising new site that focuses on indie/cheaper games (most adventure games nowadays by necessity, then). They had a really good Schafer interview the other day concerning the kickstarter thing — of course, you already saw that on Mojo.