Nah, Baldurs Gate 2: Shadows of Amn is.AFBrat77

Indeed it is.

I love Tiger Woods games. I can't wait for Tiger Woods 08 on Wii. 07 was great on the Wii, so this one should be even better.

It's good to see that the PS3 is getting some good scores - it looks like it needs it, at the moment.

While the film industry has long been considered one of the most attractive propositions to those with a creative mind, the rise of gaming could soon threaten that.

Source.

There has never been a better time to work in gaming. With the advent of next generation technology, the widening of the market with the Nintendo Wii and the rise of casual gaming, no longer can gaming be called the awkward cousin of film.

The golden age of gaming is here, and we are leading the way in the entertainment market. Gaming is now the centre of attraction on the disco dancefloor. Move over film. Gaming is where it's at.

Do you guys think the videogame industry, this gen, is going to make gaming huge worldwide? It already is pretty big but it seems to be overshadowed still by the film industry (which is in decline) and other forms of entertainment, like Television.

But now we have:

Wii - If it doesn't become a fad like analysts speculate, the Wii is going to capture a massive market of non-gamers who previously just weren't in the gaming market. This could potentially bring heaps and heaps of people into the market, making gaming huge over the globe.

PS3 and 360 - If HD-TV adoption rates do rise massively over the next 2 years (they are already rapidly rising) we will have the new era of Blu-ray or HD-DVD entertainment, very high quality entertainment for new HD-TV adopters. If either of these consoles takes off in sales we will get plenty of new people in the market, as well as reel in those who have gamed in the past.

What do you guys think? Thoughts on this issue?

the-very-best

I've thought this for a long time. I think this generation is really the start of gaming's golden age. Every platform is strong (even PC). Wii is expanding the user base for video games. PS3 & 360 are putting out games like Bioshock, which are very artistic and represent a huge leap in the quality of FPS's. Games are becoming more and more refined with each release, the Ubisoft head expects the market for games to expand by 50% over I think it was the next 5 years... I really think that within the next 10 years games will be more important then hollywood. Oh, and more and more universities are offering Videogame courses - a clear sign of Video-Game's growing importance in the economy and society. So yes, Video Games will be THE entertainment form for the 21st century (or the first half of it, at least).

Care to define 'greatest', in this context?

If you're talking about:
Sales: Halo is number 40 on Wikipedia's list of 100 best selling franchises of all time.
Impact on/knowledge about in Popular culture: Halo has had less impact on popular culture then many video games; including Mario, Donkey Kong, Grand Theft Auto series, Final Fantasy series, World of Warcraft (most people know about WoW, although mainly in a bad way - See the Southpark episode "Make Love not Warcraft" for it's popular culture perception).
Critical acclaim: Halo 9.7; Halo 2 9.4; Halo 3 ???. V Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (PS2) 9.6; GTA: Vice City 9.6; GTA: Liberty City Stories 8.6; Grand Theft Auto III 9.6; GTA 8.0; GTA 2 6.9.

So, essentially, Halo hasn't had the impact on video games that many other famous series' have; does not have popular culture recognition in the same league as some other video game franchises; does not have the sales that other famous series' do; does not have the depth of games under it's franchise that would ensure that it is the greatest gaming franchise ever (It only has 3 games, most other famous franchises have a lot more then this); it's critical acclaim is less then most other famous series (by virtue of the fact that Halo only has 2 games out, whereas other series have more games out and have higher amounts of AAA games. Ergo, Halo cannot be the 'greatest' video game franchise ever, by any stretch.

[QUOTE="Aqua-Vitae"]

:lol: As if the Master Chief even comes close! Duke Nukem is the definite best male video game character of all time. Nothing touches Duke in terms of masculine ownage.

Planeforger

You're just replacing one generic badass with another, more awesome generic badass!:o

I don't see a problem with that :P At least Duke doesn't have to wear a pansy armor-suit when fighting aliens, and he's open about popping steroids, etc. Plus, Duke has memorable quotes such as these http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Duke_Nukem . I don't think the MC has any memorable quotes, come to think of it. Duke Nukem is like a B-grade action hero, hence his coolness. I'd get Dolph Lundgren too play him if I was making a Duke Nukem movie, lol :P.

:lol: As if the Master Chief even comes close! Duke Nukem is the definite best male video game character of all time. Nothing touches Duke in terms of masculine ownage.