[QUOTE="mathew952"]

You have to though. The gaming industry, by far, has the thickest layer of BS in it's advertising.

King9999

That's what reviews are for. And sales numbers, to an extent.

Pff... whatever.... Tell that to the people behind firing that dude from GS about Kane and Lynch. It's about making a profit.

They need to be asking the hard questions - especially to the Developers/Publishers who play off all their crap like it's the best thing ever. SOE with any of their games; EA with their yearly Madden, Fifa, NBA crap; Blizzard and their WoW expansions; EA with their dumb expansion for a game that promised the world (Crysis) and didn't deliver anything but a gimick; Not to mention their never-ending Sims expansions; Ubisoft with their Tom Clancey BS....

These games and Publishers dominate the sales charts because at one point in time, their games were innovative and good. Now, they produce these titles off a treadmill. I bet you anything if you asked these question to them.... they would have nothing to say that was interesting or true. If you ask these questions to some people who actually had something real and refreshing (like those guys behind Little Big Planet) then they could answer any question you have for them.

[QUOTE="Ncsoftlover"]

[QUOTE="Alnar"]Well..i would say autumn/winter of 07 is great :)..there was barely anything released before that.crimson_axe

actually, the best selling pc game in 2007was release in January.

lol... that's like saying Jaws has grossed more money over time than Jurrassic Park ever has. Ummm... I guess it would since it's like 20 years older.

Of course a game released in January would be a better seller than a game released in November/December. people have had more time to buy it - not to mention there wasn't much competition in January.

Out of curiosity though - what game was it? The only game I can think of would be Ghost Recon 2or Rainbow Six Vegas, but I really can't recall when those were actually released. I'm interested to know now.

Oh wait, I know - that WoW expansion... whatever it's called. Dumb game.

[QUOTE="Alnar"]Well..i would say autumn/winter of 07 is great :)..there was barely anything released before that.Ncsoftlover

actually, the best selling pc game in 2007was release in January.

lol... that's like saying Jaws has grossed more money over time than Jurrassic Park ever has. Ummm... I guess it would since it's like 20 years older.

Of course a game released in January would be a better seller than a game released in November/December. people have had more time to buy it - not to mention there wasn't much competition in January.

Out of curiosity though - what game was it? The only game I can think of would be Ghost Recon 2or Rainbow Six Vegas, but I really can't recall when those were actually released. I'm interested to know now.

HAHA! This is great!

Man, I was never this crafty as a kid. Well, I guess I was sort of, but a different kind of crafty. My parents never knew this, but their entire repretoire ofreverse psychology schemes never worked on me. Why? Because I knew that I was a good kid for he most part, and to not get a "toy" for Christmas was like not having Christmas. I knew that if they said they weren't going to do something, then they would do it anyway.

I remember when my dad bought me Diablo. He did it as an incentive to be more productive in school. Bottom line was I knew why he bought the game in the first place, because he did it out of the blue on day, which is something he never did - ever. My dad just didn't get "gifts" for no appearant reason whatsoever.

Well,I take that back. He did call home one day on a Friday, to tell me he was bringing home a "surprise" for my sister and I. He convinced me that it was something I'd been wanting for a long time and I would love it. Keep in mind, he called home for no other reason than to tell me this. What did he bring home? Rakes.... so we could rake the yard.... which was 4 acres.... that had no less than a million old great oak trees.

Take my advice kid... save your money, do better in school anyway simply because you should, and just bank on your parents not only getting you at least one cool game, but that they already have it bought. My prediction is that they have a Wii game for you, probably Mario Galaxy - which ain't that bad of a gig if you ask me.

Good luck!

I'm not going to try and convince you of anything, rather, I will give you a bit of insight as to how I went about tackling this issue

I am a former hardcoregamer. I was that guy in Call of Duty that had tobe the best in every round. The guy that you just knew used hacks, but really couldn't escape the idea that maybe he was just that good. I was that guy who played SWG until the wee hours of the morning,grinding outmy template. I was that guy thatplayed every game that was worth playing because that was essentially my life.

In recent years, I've become more of a casual, experienced gamer,due to the fact that I had to "grow up" and get arespectable job and start preparing for the future.You know... I had to settle down and start taking care of business. I started college once again, and make a living the best I can, setting priorities. Gaming is still my preference when it comes to leisure time, but because I don't play anywhere near as much as I used to, I learned to make my time count.

As a hardcore gamer, I really just got into all different genres. I didn't stick to one type of game, but I did play an aweful lot of FPSs, Action/Adventures, an MMOs. Still, I would dive into other gaming genres when I read about a game that seemed to have the proverbial "goods" on showcase.

All that being said, I discovered what sorts of things really turn me on to a game, and what sorts of things really turn me off. In other words, I figured out what I really really liked, what I would tolerate, and what I absolutely hated.

The Witcher is one of those rare gems that comes along where I said "This game is just flat out good." There is very little in this game, mechanincally, that I can gripe about. Sure, it has long load times, and yes, there are a few small quirks here and there that aren't even really worth mentioning because they can be completely overlooked, but on just about every level, this game delivers the goods. It gives you everything you expect in an RPG, and gives it to you in a nice wrapped package as if to say "Merry Christmas"!

Don't listen to anything anyone says about the combat when they say "it sucks" or whatever. If anyone can sit and play Diablo like it's the best thing ever made, and then turn around and say combat in The Witcher is boring, is a complete idiot. That isn't an opinion - that's a fact. Anyone who plays Oblivion and says it's leaps and bounds better than the combat in Th Witcher is an idiot. That is also a fact.

CD Projekt took a very real issue that plagues almost every RPG ever made and made it refreshingly new and for the most part, very fun. Sure, it's a bunch of clicking - but it's clicking with substance, unlike Titan Quest or any other number of Diablo clones. Oblivion did something different as well, but they really sort of took a great idea and went nowhere with it.

As far as what to choose - if you're like me, and can appreciate all sorts of games, then this really isn't a big problem. Any one of the games you mentioned are going to be good games. I picked the game that I felt I would spend the most time with, and 70-80 hours is what I came up with. Put that into my time schedule, and I havea game that will last me until next year probably. Crysis and CoD4 are games that I will probably still get, but I'll have them beaten over a weekend, and those would really only serve as a break from The Witcher in the first place.

[QUOTE="PTMags"]

07 has indeed been a fine year for PC gaming except for RPGs. Mask of the Betrayer and The Witcher are really the only two RPG games of 07 worth mentioning. Everything else has either been downright terrible, mediocre, or so bug ridden that it takes away from the game.

08 is looking like it's going to be a heck of a year as well.

Cobra_nVidia

I'm sure people with different RPG tastes than you would disagree. But more to the point, 2 excellent RPGs in one year is good enough.

I've been enjoying The Witcher so far. NWN was a bit boring formy taste, but that's only because I hate micro-managing multiple characters. This wouldn't have been the big problem is was, however, if the AI in the damn game was worth a flip - but it isn't. The Witcher is the best RPG I've played in... I don't even know how long - KOTOR II maybe, but even that doesn't touch on the debth of this game. Still, it was a good game back a couple of years ago. Oh yeah, and Oblivion sucked hard.

After The Witcher, I'm sure I'll be playing some CoD4 and then probably Crysis. After that, I'll probably end up gettign that Kane and Lynch game, simply becase I''m a big fan of what the developers did in Freedom Fighters. After that? Assassin's Creed is something I'll be getting for certain when it's released on PC. For future RPGs, here's hoping Mass Effect will be ported from the X360.

Plus, next year looks promising for the MMO fans (which I am). I'm still a damn SWG refugee, and haven't found a good one worth playing to replace it. I've got high hopes for Age of Conan, but it's taking so long, it is beginning to lose its appeal. The Agency looks pretty sick too, but I'd be an idiot to try another SOE game, after I was lied to with SWG and tricked into trying EQ2 and (*ashamed*) Vanguard. Hey! I was desperate.

Lastly, I don't anticipate a release next year, but I am so anxious to learn more about this newly announced Bioware/Lucasarts MMO. Bioware has been talking about a Sci-Fi MMO for about two years now, and they just announced they were working with Lucasarts on a new MMO. There haven't been any confirmations as to whether or not the Sci-Fi MMO they've been working on is in fact the same one, but I'm more than sure that it is; and I'm more than sure it's another Star Wars MMO - which would be the one and only franchise that could beat WoW in playerbase. Oh well, Age of Conan will at least be a change in pace for MMO gamers in the mean time. Oh yeah, and not to forget about Huxley - could be cool.

Oh yeah, and one more thing...

Halo 3 is not one of those games that's going to make you go otu and buy an X360 if you haven't already been playing them. mass Effect on the other hand is one of those exclusive titles that you'll want to buy an X360 for. i'm thinking very seriously about it, but there are too many games coming out this fall/winter season that I can't ignore.

If you want a great FPS and you're looking to plop down about $500 for an X360 and all the stuff you need for it just to play Halo 3.... just upgrade your Graphics Card and get Crysis instead. :)

An honest response about Halo...

Halo was originally scheduled to be a PC game. After consideration, Microsoft bought the rights and released it for the XBox because it was sufferring in sales as a result of poor games. Halo came along and more or less changed all of that. Because of that one simple game, the XBox still stands.

Now, what makes Halo so special? Nothing. It offers nothing to the First Person Shooter Genre that hasn't been done before.... on a PC. Before Halo, the best FPS around, and probably the most popular, was Goldeneye on the N64. Think of Halo as "that next big FPS that people can play when they spend the night at each others house". It was popular with the college folk because again, it filled that role. It was easy to play, and very accessible. All you needed was one XBox and at least 2 controllers.

I'll be the first to admit that Halo was much more fun to play on an XBox than it was a PC. Why? because of the Co-Op. Co-Op is a powerful thing in a game, that for some reason, the PC market still can't or won't do. The only Multiplayer function you ever get out of a PC game is some sort of competitive game that is only related to the single player campaign by the fact that it uses the same models and engine.

I remember the first time I played Halo. I was in EB games and it was on display. I grabbed a controller, and then a few moments later, some Security Guard I didn't even know came up and grabbed the second. He and I stood there for about two hours just playing the game. Within thirty minutes, we were calling otu tactics to one another. "I'm out of ammo. Nade those goons. He's going around the corner. Use your new gun! We're almost there..." Put plainly, it was a good time, especially when we got in those jeeps. I would drive, and he would blast those aliens on the turrets.

That being said, I would like to reitterate that on a PC, Halo doesn't even offer Co-Op, and given this, there it doesn't have much to offer. Medal of Honor: Airborne offers a better experience than Halo 2 does, and they both have the same amount of gameplay in them. Granted, MoH:A doesn't have any sort of storyline that could be considered different than any other WWII shooter, but Halo is in the same boat as far as Sci-Fi shooters are concerned.

My advice - if you don't have an X360, and you don't have a friend or two to play Halo 3 with... don't bother with the franchise... especially if you haven't played the first two.

Oh man, almost any of these games could really flop. However, we really have to look at this in a different way. Which games AREN'T going to flop?

Well, for starters, Halo 3 won't flop - even if it's a crappy game. It's practically already sold as many copies as say... WoW, and it's not even out yet.

Assassin's Creed won't flop. Basically, it's Prince of Persia (superb and proven series) set int he Crusades. Plus it has one hell of a cool protagonist. This one is guaranteed not to suck. Plus that producer chick Jade Whatshername sold me on it. The way she smiles at the camera as if shes smiling right at me was... pretty much took my fifty bucks right there. Hey! You think they hired a hot producer on accident? Cool looking game+good graphics+awesome gameplay+award winning dev team+great and proven game director + hot sales rep x 3 gaming platforms = at least2 million copies sold.

Cryss won't flop. Even if it didn't live up to the hype - it won't flop. It literally is the best looking game to come out. You don't make a game with those kinds of graphics and then make crappy gameplay. Hell, it's not hard to make an FPS in the first place. There are only like three or four things you need to do right to guarantee it's at least decent. Far Cry was decent, at least the first half was. This one should make good on the formula.

Mass Effect won't flop. It's BioWare for one, and it's their flagship new franchise. The engine they used on it was basically proven effective with Jade Empire (RPG Stats + Collision Detection). Sure, that was a sub-standard game, but it wasn't crappy in the least. Just sub-standard for Bioware, which is like saying "I want a Ferrari but I guess I'll have to stick with a Porche."

I think Tabula Rasa may flop, and I pray to all that is holy that Age of Conan won't, but you never know about MMO's. All of them are released in piss poor condition, and the ones that aren't are basically just copies of older games.

I really have to think about this hard before I answer it. In my younger days, "Games you just couldn't stop playing..." meant something entirely different than it does today. As a kid, I "just couldn't stop playing..." because it was the only game I had and I couldn't afford a new one, nor would my parents buy me another. However, I remember playing Tekken 2/3 and Diablo pretty religiously. Oh yeah, and Goldeneye, although I think pretty much everyone is int he same boat as me on that one.

Since I've been able to afford my own games - Blade of Darkness springs to mind. It was my first real experience with a PC game (aside from Diablo of course), but man it was one hell of a game in general. Add to that, Jedi Outcast, Prince of Persia, and Freedom Fighters. Personally, I get bored with games after I've beat them, so there has to be somehting pretty special about them to make me come back for more.

However, probably my all time most played game - Call of Duty. Damn, I was a badass in the original, but that isn't hard to conceive since I pretty much played it all day, every day. I got so good, literally every single server I played on would kick me out because they thought I was hacking. I don't blame them though. Some of the crap I pulled off in that game... I would have thought the same thing. But, it wasn't hacks, and it really wasn't skill - it was just the fact that I played it constantly. I was a professional slacker then, and FPS's have world class reknown for being the games that pretty mcuh play out the same way everytime. There is always some sniper noobin building X or corner Y. It gets to the point where you don't even have to see someone there. There is ALWAYS someone in those spots, so you just shoot, and you always get a kill. Plus I was pretty quick back then, so that helped against the players who could actually play. Main point is, memorization and effortless key strokes (which takes some practice)can make you a god in any online FPS.