DanJW

"Well-arounded character"

Nice example of teaching history through game mechanics - ie why we no longer have mounted cavalry on battlefields today A lot of soldiers were slaughtered, even right up to the early stages of the First World War, because generals insisted on sending cavalry against riflemen, maybe out of a sense of tradition.

You have to use the glottal stop for the Scottish: C`ʔn't`

Star Wars Episode 1: Subtitles for R2D2 Anakin: Ahh? It's on automatic pilot! R2D2: Uh... yeah... automatic pilot. Yeah... And Episode 2

Hahahah oh dear. It's like Alan Moore's worst nightmare come to life, and far too believable. Very clever in the nods to the relationships and personalities in the book (Rorschach: I'm wacky!). I hope nothing resembling this comes out of the movie. I'm optimistic about the movie itself, but the first executive to say the words "action figures" must be shot as an example.

My mistake. They are, in fact, a clan.

Yeah I'm aware that games exist with that system (even God of War uses a simple version outside of its QTEs) and they are rarely implemented as well as one would hope. But as a goal I think it is more laudable than resorting to 'Simon Says'.

yup, PC. Lets see, I can play a bit tomorrow (Friday) night, but not late because I have to travel to a wedding on Saturday. Sunday afternoon/evening is good though. Monday I'm going to see the Watchmen movie. I will also be on a bit tonight. I've been playing L4D most nights anyway (I just got invited into a L4D guild - weeee!)

Some interesting stuff in this episode. I'm with you about getting bored with saving the world - I am at the point where I crave something more... parochial. I don't mind being a badass with special powers if my aims can be to save the village rather than the universe, or to save the girl without having to rescue her from the dark-lord-who-is-the greatest-threat-to-humanity along the way. Or even just having an enemy who is my enemy and not the enemy of all-life-as-we-know-it. Of course a more down-to-earth protagonist would be nice as well. Also a really nice point about the experimental age of game story, before hollywood became the model. Those 90's PC games seemed more like novellas than film in their writing, but they were more unique even than that. I think the closest thing around today is A.R.G.s - information disseminated around the environment, that must be collated and synthesized by the human brain to make a meaningful narrative; and the synthesizing process itself adds weight and meaning. Oh and with unfortunate historical associations in Total War; I had a similar thought about the Opium Trade Wars. Not the British Empire's finest moment, but an actual war that would need to be represented in a historically acurate game, and thus would invite some explanation as to its causes. Anyone know if it is in Empire:TW? Hi Blackboxme! I agree with you totally about Metal Gear Solid - people focus on the cutscenes but it does an amazing job of telling story through the pure gameplay areas too - more than most other games. God of War is a really great, fun series. But I can see what the guys are talking about with Quick-time-events. At their best game controls become second nature, so that you are not even aware of your hands as you play - the avatar becomes an extension of your body. QTEs negate this by flashing up the button you must press, reminding you of its existence. They also lack consistency - the button for jump might change each time you play the same QTE (although this isn't quite as bad in some gameplay styles). But how much better would it be if the cues on which button to press were part of the game world? What if you knew to press circle when the minotaur turned a certain way, made a certain sound, rather than when the big flashing circle graphic flashed? Then you would be responding to the same stimulus as your avatar, rather than being in some metaplane watching over them. Or what if the system was more like a fighter game, where circle always did the same thing but could be chained with other buttons to get a pre-planned effect? It's what game design sometimes calls 'intent'. QTEs have no player intent because you have no idea what you want to do or what you are about to do - you just allow the guy on screen to do it. Certain verbs need to be constant for true interaction

AHAHAH Why is it "all-around" gamer? Surely it should be "all-round". All-around makes it sound like they're looking for the fattest gamer. Can't wait for the RPG segment (who can write the best backstory for their character!? Tune in next week to find out!!!). Also the real-life game analogues are a quaint touch.

"This game is pure, total and out-and-out [unintelligible]" - IGN.com (transcript)

Defense of the Ancients

My worst quality is that I am incapable of lying on my CV. Of course this means that I don't get many interviews.

"This game will make you question your vocabulary.. ..in half and shove it in a mailbox!" - IGN.com

Ahhg OK I'm playing the game, and the atmosphere and scary bits I really like (loving the sewers). The puzzles are cool too. But the stealth and platforming are just making it really hard for me to play for more than 15 mins at a time. The engine is just horrible for that shit. I guess at least the stealth sections are short and if it goes pear-shaped you have a chance of just legging it. I'm currently stuck at the top of a burning bank. There is a jump to a doorway. I know it is the way I have to go because I got fed up with dying and checked a walkthough. But I just cannot make the jump. I fall and die every. single. time. It's one of those infuriating ragequit moments, one I haven't encountered in a single player game for a long time. Seriously: ahhhhhg!

"This game will make sweet, sweet love to you. Through a hole!" - IGN.com

Mentioning those things could likely cause all kinds of delight. We enjoy knowledge in these parts

You have to draw the best cyborg!

I have it! The perfect genre for a Danté's Inferno adaptation! Horticulture/Garden Sim! Think something along the lines of Animal Crossing, Viva Pináta or Harvest Moon. You have the 9 circles of hell, which are like areas of your garden, and you must cultivate each one in order to attract lost souls of the best suited variety (like Pinátas). So you can grow a nice Forest of Suicides, or a lovely water feature full of slothful spirits. Perhaps wandering poet visionaries can act as the pests, freeing your souls and upsetting your demons. You can train demons to act as automated gardeners and groundsmen. You will be able to converse with both demons and some of the lost souls that enter your Hell Garden. As in Animal Crossing, they will each have an attitude towards and tasks for you. In this way you will gain stories like those told in the original poem. Actually, this started as a joke but the more I think about it the more I am convinced this would be the ideal Divine Comedy game. It would present good gameplay elements that support the original themes and textures of the poetry (which are completely missing in REdwood Shores' game)

The thing I love about that first image I posted, is the blank spaces. It's basically the equivalent of a slide saying: Divine Comedy, the Epic Poem ---> ???? ---> Violent Action Game ---> Profit

I'm having the same problem Wrestle. My X800 XT is barely coping with recent games. I actually have a new graphics card that someone kindly donated to me but I need to get a new motherbaord before I can use it

The multiplayer deathmatch in Heretic 2 was a laugh. Not only could you cut off someone's arm and wait for them to bleed to death, but also the chicken polymorph spell had a 1 in 100 chance of turning the target into a 18ft superchicken of doom.

I TAKES IT ALL BACK THAY KNOW WHAT THEIR DOYNG!!!! Courtesy of Destructoid.

Come in, come in! Wipe your feet on the welcome mat; get rid of the disgusting muddy residue of those other forums. We have carpets here!

Anyone fancy attempting a co-op campaign on expert? I'd like to do Dead Air, I've only played that one a couple of times.