I think Valve has done the most to advance storytelling in video games with their facial animation technology and the way the entire story is played out from the player's perspective, never once taking the player out of the game but allowing him to simply experience the story as it unfolds before his eyes. There is more that can be and needs to be done so that gaming can find its unique storytelling voice, but Valve is definitely on the right track.
The gaming execs answers basically boil down to this: "What's wrong with the industry? Everybody else sucks! What's right with the industry? We rock! Where will the industry be in five years? We'll rock even more!" Yeah, really insightful, guys.
When are publishers going to wake up and realize that DRM does nothing to stop piracy or increase sales? Take some lessons from Stardock and start making games for the people who actually buy them instead of trying to thwart the people who don't.
If you need a performance guide for Spore then you very well might need a new computer. I have a machine near the minimum specs and Spore runs great at 1024x768 with all settings maxed save for shadow detail which I keep at medium (otherwise things can get chunky for whatever reason).
Looks like it restricts the wrist strap a bit if you use the jacket. Don't know if I like that. And we'll have to wait and see if more games besides Wii Sports Resort take advantage of it. Can't say I'm too impressed at the moment.
dzimm's comments