Geek Tested:

Gaming Roundup 6/30/08: Treyarch Attacks Gearbox, Blizzard Doesn't Much Care for Consoles
Gaming Roundup 6/25/08 Diablo III Confirmed -- No, for Real This Time, Microsoft's Glowing Comments About PC Gaming
Gaming Roundup 6/24/08: Blizzard Teases, Crave Exits ESA

08: Fallout 3 vs. Diablo III, PC vs. Console, Vs. vs. Versus

Posted 07/01/08 at 06:58:36 PM by Nathan Grayson

Today's Gaming Round-Up has more gob-smackin' trash talk than a night on Xbox Live -- and only half as many "Your mom" jokes per volume. Whether it's Bethesda flipping chairs in Diablo III's direction, a Pulitzer Prize-winner saying GTA ain't so great, or Treyarch, well, apologizing, you'll have plenty to argue about after clicking past the break.

Fallout 3 producer finds Diablo 3 design 'conservative'

Bethesda's Ashley Cheng, production director of the ambitious Fallout 3, is actually quite impressed with Diablo III. However, he thinks Blizzard should've bet all of their chips on the game instead of playing so conservatively. Now, taken from Blizzard's point of view, there are two sides to this story. On one hand, they could've done something new and innovative -- broken outside of their admittedly small box -- but even if they succeeded, they'd have risked upsetting their loyal fans. But then, Blizzard has three adamantium-coated pillars, and I think one could afford to take a hit. WoW pulls in cash by the truckload every month, so why not give fans something new? If D3: Hockey with Satan ended up tanking, it probably wouldn't monetarily hurt Blizzard as badly as a new IP failing, since Diablo is already established. So, what are your two cents?

GTA IV “ain’t the revolution,” says Pulitzer prize winner

Pulitzer Prize fiction winner Junot Diaz doesn't think GTA IV's plot is worth all of the hubbub. Why? It's no revolution. He argues that GTA III was a revolution -- putting gamers in the shoes of a criminal -- and that GTA IV only builds on that. Additionally, Diaz is perplexed as to why gamers believe GTA IV's story to be Hollywood-caliber. He puts it up against films like "The Godfather" and television shows like "The Sopranos," finding that, in comparison, GTA IV's plot lacks meaning. Is he right? Sure. But frankly, I don't think Rockstar was trying to craft a subtle, meaningful masterpiece. That's not what GTA is about. GTA is loud, obnoxious, and brazenly controversial. Dig for subtext and you'll only find molten disappointment.

MGS Europe: Simultaneous 360/PC releases like shooting ourselves in the foot

In a nutshell: The PC is too popular. If a game launched on both platforms at once in, say, Germany -- where the Xbox 360 is only getting started -- the PC would trounce the Xbox 360, leaving behind moldy scraps for Microsoft's milky-white box. So that's why the Xbox 360 gets preferential treatment. You have to make trade-offs somewhere, I suppose. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go hit the books on Latin, with the hope of speaking it exclusively. I mean, sure, I've got this English thing down pretty well, but having a strong foundation from which to build just isn't exciting.

Treyarch apologizes for remarks about Gearbox Software

As it turns out, yesterday's remark about Gearbox Software came from the antagonisitc lips of an Activision rep. Treyarch, on the other hand, has no beef with their brothers in game development.

Activision CEO sticks to console price drop message

Bobby Kotick doesn't mince words. He calls the current console prices "prohibitive" -- a sentiment with which I agree. It's fairly obvious that the Xbox 360 and PS3 are hitting a sales limit at their current prices; but luckily, it seems almost certain that Microsoft and Sony will be ringing in E3 with price drops for their respective systems.

Spore Creature Creator tops latest top 10 best selling PC games list

Looks like Will Wright gets to keep his job after all. Whew, that was a close one.

COMMENTS:15

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COMMENTS

D3
Submitted by Larzs13 on Sun, 07/06/2008 - 8:04pm

Blizzard has one of the best game out there diablo what other game can you still find people playing it out there on line whch is 12yrs old then D2 still the same thing people still playing it, now for D3 useing the same play book just touching up on the roughf spots improveing it ten fold over. We the fans say change nothing just make the game play better.

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And Micrsoft....
Submitted by dracoress on Wed, 07/02/2008 - 8:03am

Can go screw..I'll never buy and Xbox and I'll always wait to see if it comes out on PC....It is usually better anyway.

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I think D3 looks great, and
Submitted by Shalbatana on Wed, 07/02/2008 - 6:53am

I think D3 looks great, and addresses some of the suggestions I had even after D1.

"If they made almost the same exact game as Diablo 1", I said "but added some multiplayer, randomness, and the opportunity to smash, knock over, break, or move EVERYTHING on the screen. I'd be more than thrilled".

Of course D2 addressed two of those concepts. D3 seems to do the third to a big extent. Still I think it would be cool to be able to pick up a candelabra and use it to burn a tapestry to damage a monster. I don't think it goes that far.

Only other hope would be to have random quests as well as random dungeons as well as fixed quests... or what about different quests opened up in nightmare and hell levels?!! I miss the random quests from D1. Not doing them in D3 at all would be slightly conservative.

There's no time like the future.

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The wait.....
Submitted by dracoress on Wed, 07/02/2008 - 3:56am

For D3 has been a long one. I want what the game has been famous for. I want it the same but with improvements. Bigger world, more quests, High Rez graphics, and a good story. People aren't playing the Fallout games like they do Diablo. After 8 yrs Diablo II is still on store shealves and selling. Fallout can't say that. Fallout 3 (I didn't really like the Fallout series, I don't like after the apoc. storylines) might get me to play the series again because they changed...they needed to change I feel.

But DON'T change my Diablo. I don't even think it could be a good MMO....at least not until WoW was just about over and World of Starcraft (you know that they are probably comming at some point)was riding high. By then I could get back into a Fantasy setting.

And I will probably never play Spore. I say "NO!" to Will Wright and his pee pee creatures!!! Just like I said "Real Men Don't Play the SIMS!!" to the Sims :)

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Diablo III and Spore
Submitted by averageGrod on Tue, 07/01/2008 - 7:22pm

I just want more classic Diablo action. I don't need them to change the genre or think "outside of the box." The world already has one Hellgate London.

I am glad the Spore CC is toping the charts. It is posted on the torrent sites but I guess if stuff is cheap enough people would rather buy it. I hope all the online content offered by Spore when it comes out is enough to get people to spring for it. I think it is safe to say $50 for a game is too much for some losers to pay. What is the price that makes the pirates go legit?

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True enough. Hellgate
Submitted by TheMurph on Wed, 07/02/2008 - 9:55am

True enough. Hellgate London could not have been any more of a commercial disaster. Ironic, since Flagship's Mythos is actually a very fun game -- they got the Diablo clone just right and failed on the "innovative new experience."

As for the price point, well. I don't think it's a question of price. I buy games that are good, period. A pirate will be tempted to buy a good game, but frankly, the ease at which one can acquire said game for free sets that transaction bar rather high. The surest way for developers to combat this is thus: tie a CD-key to an online account or service. I have yet to see Steam hacked, and there's a good reason for that.

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Bull!
Submitted by Digital-Storm on Tue, 07/01/2008 - 5:35pm

Sure, Spore Creature Creater sold well, But did you guys stop to take a look at what else was on that list?

1. Spore Creature Creator - Electronic Arts

2. The Sims 2 Double Deluxe - Electronic Arts

3. Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures - Funcom/Eidos

4. World Of Warcraft: Burning Crusade - Blizzard

5. World Of Warcraft - Blizzard

6. World Of Warcraft: Battle Chest - Blizzard

7. The Sims 2 FreeTime - Electronic Arts

8. The Sims 2 Kitchen & Bath Interior Design Stuff - Electronic Arts

9. Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare - Activision

10. Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures - LucasArts
I find it difficult to see The Sims 2 Double Delux, The Sims 2 FreeTime. and The Sims 2 Kitchen & Bath Interior Design Stuff making any of the top 10. Sound's to me like EA paid that company a sum of money to get there Sim's games up on that list quite high.

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While it's tempting to think
Submitted by willsmith on Tue, 07/01/2008 - 5:39pm

While it's tempting to think that NPD is crooked, I'd say that the way that EA got multiple copies of their Sims-related games on the list is that they sell a lot of copies in places like Wal-Mart.

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Yeah, look at Blizzard's
Submitted by Vahn16 on Tue, 07/01/2008 - 5:53pm

Yeah, look at Blizzard's showing. Are they rigging the charts too?

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re: Blizzard, I'm quite
Submitted by TheMurph on Tue, 07/01/2008 - 9:42pm

re: Blizzard, I'm quite confident that a lot of people will go out and buy the most-played PC game at this point in time.

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NPD numbers don't reflect
Submitted by dracoress on Wed, 07/02/2008 - 4:00am

NPD numbers don't reflect everything. They aren't counting Downloads yet.

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the godfather and the sopranos are bad?
Submitted by whisp on Tue, 07/01/2008 - 4:55pm

Although i never watch those show, I do know both have won multiple awards and are quite decorated. How is comparing a game to those two productions an insult?

Did he think harry potter contained falacious arguments and weak character development as well?

We plan for Tomorrow, but we Live for Today

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What I meant was that
Submitted by Vahn16 on Tue, 07/01/2008 - 5:02pm

What I meant was that Godfather and Sopranos are superior to GTA IV in terms of plot. It's not an insult; it simply saying that GTA IV isn't Holywood caliber. Also, I altered the article to make that point a little more obvious.

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You forgot Scarface: The
Submitted by zioburosky13 on Wed, 07/02/2008 - 2:56am

You forgot Scarface: The world is yours. :)

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