Gaming Roundup 7/1/08: Fallout 3 vs. Diablo III, PC vs. Console, Vs. vs. Versus

Posted 07/01/2008 at 4:58pm | by Nathan Grayson

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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.