G3

Don’t wait. Download it today.

It appears that Battlefield 2 is delayed from March 1 to May or June. *sigh*. Check out the full article here.

Not all monkeys are nifty.

These screenshots from Black & White II just crack me up.

B&W2 has a really crappy website layout… but the game looks pretty amusing.

One of the great things about classic DOOM was the ability to play with your friends at a LAN party instead of against them. It also let you have a smaller group of people playing together and still have decent gameplay. (2 v 2 tournaments get lame pretty fast.)

Word has it that the upcoming S.W.A.T. 4 will enable co-operative play for certain scenarios. If the post-game reviews look good, this might be a fun one.

Looks like I’m the next to last person on Earth not to own it….

WORLD OF WARCRAFT DOMINATES
HOLIDAY SALES IN NORTH AMERICA

Looks like they’re well on the way to a million copies sold by the end of this quarter.

Kids try out the classics. This article is freaking hilarious.

My favorite moment:

EGM: Are the TIE fighters scary?

Anthony: No. It feels like they’re trying to give me flowers.

Dillon: But flowers that you’re allergic to, so you’re trying to blow them up.

Dillon: If they made a game like this now, someone would definitely get fired.

Parker: It looks like midway through the game, they just gave up. They’re like, whatever, and just stopped.

Okay, so I’m interested to hear what you guys think of HL2 thus far. The benchmark I’ve tended to use lately is Far Cry. Here’s my take:
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HL2 unlocks at 2am tomorrow morning here in Colorado…

HL2 Set to Release Same Time Across World

So the question is: stay up late, or get up early? Or just don’t bother going to work the rest of the week? Hey, I think I feel a stomach flu coming on already!

I love the gaming dynamic that drives technology, especially in the realm of artificial intelligence. Even with all the cool new games out there, AI in the RPG genre has never been all that great. The behavior of NPCs (Non-Player Characters) has typically been woefully flat, even in ground-breaking games like Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind.

Lets face it: the typical NPC exists either as a holder of loot or to provide a quest plot point. “You must seek Baldric the Wise and get the Amulet of Leetness.” They’re essentially scripted furniture.

Although an unlikely source, The Sims games have advanced the way we view NPCs, because any character you aren’t controlling becomes an NPC until you take control again. Thus, the Sims franchise has bestowed wants and needs on all characters to make their interactions interesting and unscripted (and hopefully fun).

This wants-and-needs approach to NPC behavior has reportedly been integrated into the forthcoming Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. (Bethsaida Softworks calls it their “The Living World” system.)

I’m really intrigued by the potential for a whole new level of gameplay. From a Gamespy article, here’s the heart of the matter:
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… for November 16, 2004. And don’t forget your crowbar.