Somehow I thought this post was about Beck Hansen.

I'm really glad its not.

For anyone who's interested the video in the OP is part of a documentary called the Hax Life about a professional S. Korean team. Its in 4 parts on youtube and the first is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCncvc3ASN8 - its pretty interesting if you have the time.

Also, the Counter Strike branch of the team practises 'mostly' 18 hours a day. The guy made it sound like that was on a bad day, too.

You're interested! I can tell, you spritely young go-getters!. Who wouldn't want to make a career of their favourite past-time?

Only, time has already passed you by kid, its time to set out into that sunset. Korea has already beaten you to it.

South Korea, as a nation, has beaten you.

I'm sure everyone knows about the immense popularity of Starcraft in Korea, but I only recently learnt all about the world of professional Starcraft - inhabited by licensed (yes, licensed) experts - earning six figure salaries, attending championships held in stadiums, and garnering the affection of thousands of groupies. These players gain national attention. Thats right, the 15th largest economy in the known universe, hails these men and women as their national heroes.

Its difficult to imagine, I know. But think about how much effort you might put into gaming, going that 'extra mile' to earn that last achievment. Then compare this with what it takes to become a pro in Korea. Regimental training - for hours each day, every day of the week. With recruits in what can only be described as barracks. Starcraft barracks. If you survive the training, you'd likely end up with the talents of these players.

The people you are about to see in this video are not actors. This is not a joke.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbpCLqryN-Q

300 Actions per minute. Can you do 300 anythings in a minute? I thought maybe i could blink 300 times, but considered I would end up with a serious seizure quite quickly.

This whole strange world, i confess I can't understand. Korea, i just don't understand you brother. Stuff is just getting crazy.

Has anyone been obsessed with gaming culture?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wubgAIiWpY

The chicken laid a big egg. Its much larger than a normal egg. The big egg, is a lot bigger...

I cannot believe that hardly anyone has said that Fable has great voice acting, with really popular british actors taking to the stage, its really good, dragon age is also awesome for the voice acting, and i think that the next one will be even better!

matthewhepworth

I just checked the list of voice actors starring in Fable III. Stephen Fry, Simon Pegg, Sir Ben Kingsley, Jonathan Ross... thats gonna be pretty great.

Nathan Drake trancends what you might term as "consoles"

Fallout 3, and New Vegas, judging by the choice to use Matthew Perry as a villain. Red Dead Revolver as well as Redemption (I still don't know which I prefer more). Uncharted, as much as for the dialog than the acting.

The GTA series always has strong performances i think, especially with the radio stations. The pinnacle being Lazlow, of course.

[QUOTE="Philosowalrus"]The unplayable argument is me saying i couldn't engage with the games for whatever reason. That is intrinsically my personal preference to start with surely? There is no change. My argument wasn't limited to GTA IV and FIFA, you're right. My examples were. Again, purely curbing realism is not what I'm talking about, balancing it with gameplay is my point, going to far in a realistic direction is what in my eyes is a problem in some titles, maybe more that I havn't heard of. To be honest, it seems that i'm a minority in seeing this as an issue in games so whatever.UpInFlames

I think developers are definitely balancing realism and playability, if you will. Grand Theft Auto IV isn't really that realistic. It pales in comparison to the likes of Operation Flashpoint, Red Orchestra, ARMA II and Microsoft Flight Simulator. I personally couldn't get into any of those games (despite loving the concept of ARMA II). I figured it might be because they're overly realistic. But then again, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl is one of my all-time favorites and it's a pretty realistic game - the game takes into account recoil, bullet trajectory, weapon condition, stability...also, if you get shot, it requires you to take care of bleeding with a bandage (if not, your health will keep on decreasing) in addition to using a health pack. None of these realistic elements hampered the gameplay - just the opposite, they enhanced it. I also love Forza Motorsport despite not being much a racing sim fan.

So maybe realism in and of itself isn't really the issue. Maybe you just haven't discovered an implementation of realism that you personally would find compelling.

Maybe. Its not that I oppose realism totally, I mean, I'm really looking forward to Fallout: New Vegas and its harder difficulty which requires routine drinking, sleeping, and specialist healing for crippling injuries. Its sounds like an interesting challenge. But i guess, like most things, it comes down to a personal preference.

I felt the same way. I was so hyped up for the game as i love the so called 'psychological thrillers". I am a big Twin Peaks/David Lunch fan and when Alan Wake was announced i was thrilled. I remember a month or so before its release i bought Deadly Premonition, which was slained for its outdated graophics and controls. I played and finished it, then bought Alan Wake and finished it once. I can tell you that Deadly Premonition has turned to be not only the better of the two but the best game in the genre i have ever played.

EvilSelf

Apparently the cafe at the start of the game is similar to one in Twin Peaks. A reference of sorts? (This is according to some friends, not me)

[QUOTE="Philosowalrus"]

I hugely regret buying it. The gameplay was repetitive, and the story was a horribly unsubtle Stephen King baiting piece of obvious. The best thing about the game was the amount of bad puns you could get from the title. Having said that, the graphics and lighting effects are excellent.

EvilSelf

QFT. The bolded part is the best part of the game. Of course, for a NON-Stephen King fans and readers, the story would look unique, but for those who are SK's fans is nothing under the sun. Good game, nevertheless...

I wouldn't say I was a fan of SK, I just noticed it as the game progressed and it dulled the impact. It was a shame for me because it was one of the games I really wanted to enjoy, given the hype and everything.