Roderick

I don't know, are there a lot of fighting game fans on the forum? I myself have zero interest in them, but enjoy watching skilled players beat each other up. As a genre, the lack of any proper narrative (the recent cool Mortal Kombat reboot notwithstanding) and absence of exploration means I'm not very interested in them. I always kind of enjoy ruminating on the idea of becoming really good with one character and the fulfilment that would bring, but then my hands already start aching at all the fast combo's required.

I admit to enjoying the closing ceremony. It was at times bloody astounding (the goddamn bus!) and had some great performances (George Michael). The sheer number of costume changes and rushing about of decor was amazing. My mind still boggles thinking back to the outfits the Pet Shop Boys were wearing. And then there would suddenly be awkward moments where thousands of athletes were prodded into the stadium like an ungainly mob of cattle, or the show would stop to present the Greek national anthem. Or some completely unknown (outside of the UK, at least) contemporary pop group would show up and afford me the chance to get a quick toilet break.

Exquisite! This will make Skyfall a blast.

Sorry that I can't embed this video here, but this is just precious: Patrick Stewart as a Dickensian Olympic ticket scalper. Explaining the tricks of the trade and their cockney names: http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/2d26100ce3/the-olympic-ticket-scalper-with-patrick-stewart-ryan-lochte-simon-pegg-maisie-williams

Nachimir, that's a very cool project. Is that you in the skate movie? You're rocking a fine beard, sir.

When I first played Psychonauts, on the PC (with keyboard controls, and yes, I finished Meat Circus without too much difficulty), I thought there was a might too many collectibles in the game. Not just the amount, but the diversity: figments, arrow heads, cobwebs, memory vaults, specialty items. BUT, HOWEVER, upon replaying it I was super enamoured with them. I absolutely loved that every level was jam-packed with STUFF to pick up and had a blast finding everything. Nowadays I have embraced my love for collect-a-thon gaming. (I can't wait for New Super Mario Bros 2 in which you have to collect one meeellion golden coins.)

That was a magical speedrun, for a magical price.

For some reason I was expecting a city building game according to the title. Having said that; it looks good! I was very pleased with the train setting for the character selection screen. I highly doubt I'll have time or brainspace for an MMO, but good luck! It looks very nice, moreso because of the indie team behind it.

I want to go to there.

Meat Circus was challenging (pre-patch, I have no idea how it is post), but I always got through it by gritting my teeth. I never found it too impossibly hard, neither on PC nor on XBox.

Or not cowering for their lives begging you not to kill them. Surely that won't hurt.

Yeah, what is up with this? It's almost as if there's no actual book and this is a just joke jpeg. That can't be right! Can it?

Yeah, they're the best thing about the whole genre.

[boon]doggles

It feels different because it strips away all the rest, so that only the killing remains. Plus, the trailer shows a tangible delight in killing, proffering it as the main feature. Other FPSes, that have the pretense of an actual story world, work around that by offering the flimsiest excuse for murder. I guess that's all that I need.

Waterloo made my goddamn jaw drop and it still does. Napoleon on stilts. Anyway, this goes to show every level has so much to offer in different ways that it's impossible to point at 'the' best one.

I snuck up on one once. Well, dropped on his goddamn neck from 200 meters up, to be precise. That counts.

I lost it at 'serious cyberquestions'.

It might not be such a bad idea, actually, to splinter the various gameplay elements of a typical Elder Scrolls, refine them and put them in their own games. If they worked out the Radiant AI to incorporate a more thorough concept of memory, sneaking, suspicion, etc, you could really make an awesome detective story. Or deepen the commerce and make a tale about a merchant trying to peddle his wares (Recettear?). In the full games these elements never really seem to work properly (Jack of all trades, master of none). By picking the thing apart, they might end up with some real gold. Which games have featured really diverse gameplay sections that nevertheless worked? I would say Grand Theft Auto 4, Batman: Arkham City, World of Warcraft... I hesitate to add Assassin's Creed, since there really isn't that much else besides the parkours killing beyond simple mini-elements like buying shops.

That site sounds like Deez Nuts.

Oh, I just remembered one thing I thought was pretty weird:

Holy shit, how fun was Dark Forces?

The only thing this trailer communicates is that murder is lighthearted fun, exhilirating and an appropriate subject for video games. There is nothing beyond that in terms of story or motivation or any artisticity. It's objectionable.

I am on the fence. The trailer isn't half bad, but I really wonder if the animation will be able to express the, you know, comicky uniqueness of the book. Also, damn, if they stay true to the material, this is going to be one hardcore, depressing animation to watch.

Dawnguard has not been able to enthuse me yet. That may be because it doesn't appreciably tie into big Elder Scrolls lore moments (Shivering Isles obviously did this right). Looking back at my 130 hours of Skyrim, a few things come to mind: - The best fun I had was in the many, many hours I roamed the country without using the map. I had deliberately chosen not to even look at the map, ever, so that I had to use visual orientation and create a map in my own mind to get around. This made the world feel so mysterious and huge. In latter hours I fell into the trap of Wanting To Do Everything, so I started using the map to teleport around to mop up quests. Much less fun. It's rewarding to restrain yourself. - There were no stand-out moments. I can't recall any one moment that defined the game for me. There were plenty of cool things; Daedric princes, questlines, dragon fights, running o'er the heath, but it all blurs together in one giant, vague 'Skyrim' memory. Because of this, the 130 hours haven't left a strong impression, but I recall being very entertained and excited throughout. - The level skills were a definite improvement over the weird and gamey system of yore. Having said that, I had expected it to branch out into much crazier stuff. Much, much crazier, so that you could choose to become super specialized in interesting ways. - The shouts were very cool, and I loved getting them, but in practice I only ever used a set of three: sprinting, fireball and the weakness shout. All the others, meh. Either they didn't seem viable or I was never adequately explained what they were good for. - Perhaps the typical Elder Scrolls game has become a bit predictable. The whole main quest - guild quests - Daedra statues structure has become too easy to see through. The most fascinating moments in Skyrim were when I found things I didn't know anything about. The weird dragon priest masks, or the glove with rings under the mage guild. Does TES need a thorough restructuring? - I think there may have been more mileage to the fascist elven dictatorship than Skyrim used. At the end of the civil war they barely make a story impact, whereas they were so super important and interesting earlier on. It almost feels like Skyrim took place during a weird interbellum where nothing of note happened. Sure yeah, the civil war in Skyrim itself, but on the larger scale... Aww, this sounds all sour, whereas I did really enjoy myself very much for countless hours! Whatever its flaws, Skyrim offers a wonderful sense of exploration and meandering.