Wrestlevania

I think Gordon Freeman's a brilliant character name -- definitely one of the best I've heard at any rate. It's a subtle juxtaposition which, even when you're just remotely familiar with the Half-Life narrative, describes the character very well.

You're just repeating what I said, but in a more obscure way.

It was definitely a hit in the Vania residence.

This is the universal law of console gaming; the most technically-impressive games appear right as the console nears the end of its life. I assumed most people were familiar with this concept. Placing this sort of constraint upon a developers is a very good thing in my opinion; it forces them to evaluate what's intrinsic to the experience and what's just window dressing. And physics has nothing whatsoever to do with the storage medium -- it's driven purely by the guts of the console and the competancy of the developer programming it. Not really, that's why you have ever-growing hordes of artists nowadays. Witness the on-going content debacle concerning Gran Tourismo HD. Polyphony Digital are claiming that the reason they're including precious little in the main release is because development time per car has leapt from 10 weeks per vehicle to 6 months, because of the demands now imposed on them by next generation technology. I'd be surprised if they were using any more than a DVDs worth of space right now either, so things are already much more complicated even before you factor in the grossly increased disc capacity of Blu-Ray.

It'll be a launch title and - unsurprisingly - feature some exclusive content. 1UP has the details (found via Slashdot Games). I agree with one of the comments on SlashDot; Bethesda have all the assets already so, what with the pretty miserable PS3 launch line up as it stands, converting Oblivion is a no-brainer and stands to make them a truck load of extra cash. Good for Bethesda, sez I. Perhaps then they'll get started on Terminator: Future Shock DS...

"You've scored 18 points! You're batting 720!" Screwed up a couple of obvious ones because I didn't read the questions properly (story of my life re: exams/tests of any kind ).

As soon as TV Torrents* stops bringing its lungs up with every request, I'll be able to sample its delights. I swear, I'll :cens0r:ing explode if that bloody site's not in proper working order on the 6th! "Deep breaths, Wres. Chill..." * Reliable alternative(s) greatly appreciated.

Quite, and well put too. If anything, I applaud Sony's gall at casually placing Blu-Ray at the heart of the latest itteration of the world's most recognised Video game brand. Even if they are so desperate to succeed that they're slitting their own throats in order to do it. I can't imagine anything more than a tiny minority giving two shits about Blu-Ray being included in PlayStation 3, which would likely be a) Sony diehards, and; movie tech-nerds after the latest disc technology. Gaming certainly doesn't need it for manifold reasons, two which immediately come to mind being that: Developers will feel obliged to fill those discs, yet be saddled with slower read rates than supposedly-inferior DVD technology (both aspects much to their chagrin perhaps) Suddenly, vastly increased media capacity encourages greater reliance on eye-candy to provide the actual "meat" of a game And if you're going to call me a liar on that second point, you need to recall what happened to gaming when CD-ROM first showed up in the early-to-mid 90's...

PlayStation 3 = Blu-Ray 'Trojan horse' Simple as that.

Got around to watching Tremors 4 on Wednesday night and I must say I'm impressed. Great writing and a well thought out alternative to the original film's setting. I was dubious of the historic Wild West setting - and the dramatic change in Michael Gross' character (Hiram Gummer, Burt's great grandfather) - but it all came together really well. The in-jokes were great to spot too, but not intrinsic to enjoying the film - smartly done. The gag right at the end especially made me smile.

I know the excellent Sould Calibur has been mentioned already (get the second game--it's technically superior to the third), but Capcom's forth-coming Godhand looks friggin' ace to be honest. Plus it's just that little bit different to your average garden fighter.

*sniff* Hmm... smells 'virally'.

I wasn't claiming otherwise -- and more power to you. What I failed to make clear in my second comment was that I found trying to complete Morrowind a chore. But I did enjoy exploring the world for the first few hours (about 25, all told). It's the sheer scale of a game, with 80+ hours gameplay in it, that I find difficult to comprehend. I'm well aware that Morrowind was stuffed to bursting with backstory and legend - and I did read a hefty chunk of it on my travels - so I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised that its sequel is even bigger. I do still have the game and I did enjoy the first few hours that I played in this one, too. But considering my spare time is so short it probably wasn't such a wise purchase on my part. Still, Bethesda have added some good new features recently - such as dual analogue support - which makes me want to pick it up again. It's just finding the time to complete it that's the problem; it's a game that requires a massive commitment. I just don't think I have the time.

Differences such as having Achievements or not having Achievements between the different formats are completely irrelevant to my mind. What will matter, however, is the next-gen gaming experience; more organic, natural experiences are one of the key apects of this, so platform differences -- i.e. the competance and believability of the AI -- will matter. At least for me they will. I'm not prepared to believe anything about PS3 vs. X360 at this point until we have complex titles for direct comparison across both formats; Assasin's Creed looks like being the best early yardstick we'll get.

Fixed.

I'll be honest and say that I put about 12 hours worth of play into the game, then had a catastrophic "...but why?" moment and never went back. I found Morrowind to be an absolute chore to play and couldn't see this being any better. Evidently we're in the minority here though, or so the wankosphere would have you believe at least. I mean come on -- how many people can honestly say they've ploughed through all supposed 80 hours worth of gameplay here? The mind boggles.

By ramping up development costs by several orders of magnitude you fool! And what developer wouldn't want that, given the current state of the video games market? Sony is your friend... love Sony... suckle from their burgeoning tri-nipple of marketing spin, ham-strung proprietary formats and obsessive DRM. Go on, all three at once you dirty slut - you love it.

Love ya. (Sadist.)

There is a simpler term: wankosphere. Why can't we just call it 'journalism' and be done? What?! They'll just flip-flop again and claim they were always right, even when you point out their original posts evangelising to the contrary. Tosspots. But it's a fair observation; it's the fickle nature of online reporting, because it can be consumed so rapidly - and people are so hungry for the latest scraps of information - that profit-turning game sites will and do wax lyrical about whatever's currently in vogue. Then something better comes along. And that article about Microsoft giving up on Japan is utter tripe; I didn't see anyone accusing Nintendo of blowing out Japan, because they decided to make their announcements just a handful of days before TGS. What's more it isn't like MS turned up empty handed and just talked sales projects etc. either; the games shown look very promising and are sure to have excited plenty of Japanese gamers, especially with Blue Dragon being a pack-in title and Lost Odyssey looking The Shit. Fucking moron -- makes my piss boil so it does...

Ban. Now.

Maybe we'll have something to thank Uwe Boll for afterall...

<vader>Nooooooooo!</vader> There are 4 ports on the front of a Dreamcast and a GameCube - why'd you think I had 3 kids?! ...that is a joke btw.

Charlotte Church playing Nicolas Cage would be better.

By whom? It's not like one can Google that title during office hours without expecting one's employer to nail one's testicles to the ceiling, what? I think the only thing constraining it would be time slot; if it's a good track you'd probably find it being played after the radio watershed. Which I believe is still 10pm, unlike British TV's recently relaxed 9pm equivalent.

Seeing as my real life surname actually begins with an 'F' too, that'd be pretty snappy.