Morning Discussion

While I was spending some time in New York, I ended up watching Scott Pilgrim vs. The World and really enjoyed it. To be honest, I've only read the first three trades but from what I could gather from fans and Twitter, the movie was pretty faithful to the source material.

Stuff gets cut for time, which sucks, but at least we have "Special Features" to see what was left on the cutting room floor.

As a Torontonian, it was a lot of fun to see some of the random spots from around the city I was born and raised in popping up on the big screen. Before Scott's film debut, the last movie to feature Toronto (and not pretend it was a different location) was The Love Guru. We've traded up. Substantially.

Xav de Matos was previously a games journalist creating content at Shacknews.

From The Chatty
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    August 16, 2010 5:01 AM

    [deleted]

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      August 16, 2010 5:21 AM

      Yeah, I said this earlier that 2010 is almost up to 1998 levels of awesome.

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        August 16, 2010 5:51 AM

        Really? Just not feeling it still. There's stuff I want, but it's not overwhelming like some years.

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        August 16, 2010 6:00 AM

        It's been a good year, but nowhere near as good as 1998. In ten years I doubt we'll look back as most of 2010's better titles as absolute classics (outside of SC2 and Civ5) like the way we do with titles from 1998.

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        August 16, 2010 6:18 AM

        No, no. People, please let's stop saying that because it's bullshit.

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          August 16, 2010 6:24 AM

          The Shack 1998 list: Baldur's Gate, Alpha Centauri, Tribes, Rainbow 6, Myth 2, Fallout 2, Thief, Starcraft, Unreal, Metal Gear Solid, Grim Fandango, Half-Life, SiN, Heretic 2

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            August 16, 2010 6:28 AM

            Notice how most are not sequels? And how most were groundbreaking in their individual genre?

            The 2010 list is mostly sequels / expansions packs and nowhere near 1998.

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            August 16, 2010 6:29 AM

            definitely more ground breaking games in '98

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              August 16, 2010 6:35 AM

              I didn't say anything about ground breaking. I said awesome. I really do not see why you guys are so blind to how lucky you are and how great gaming is now.

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                August 16, 2010 6:38 AM

                Blind? For the first time in years I'm actually thinking all genres are kinda stagnating. I think this year doesn't even compare to 2008 yet.

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                  August 16, 2010 6:41 AM

                  Call it awesomeness, call it excitement, but this year it's just not there.

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                  August 16, 2010 6:43 AM

                  SC2 alone makes this year better than 2008.

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                  August 16, 2010 6:45 AM

                  Can you really call Mass Effect 2, one of the best modern Western RPGs ever released, stagnating? Or Red Dead, an outstanding and interesting game (to say nothing of the story, or music).

                  Reach's Forge mode looks great, and they have done incredible work on the builder and abilities builders will have to design games. In addition, the coop-vs Horde mode is fun as all heck to play. Not stagnation, but steady improvement.

                  Civ V has a wonderful new interface that exposes information much better (thanks to their work in Civ Rev), and the hex design+non-stacking armies is a huge change for that game. That's the opposite of stagnation.

                  Minecraft is, of course, completely on its own. It is fun, innovative, high imaginative and great group play. Now, give me a little time to reply on the other end.

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                    August 16, 2010 7:11 AM

                    On the other end, we have:
                    BG: A graphical improvement on the western RPG, but I felt then, and now, that Ultima was by far the superior game where what I did had a much more noticeable and significant impact on the world. I enjoyed BG, but I never forgot how the NPCs would recognize your achievements in Ultima.

                    StarCraft: A nice iteration on the RTS genre, but beside the a-symmetric design of the races, the game was simply Blizzard reiteration. It would take them over a year to balance out the sides after Broodwar released (Nov 1998). Queuing was a joke (as Cavedog would later show with TA) and the unit AI had a ton of issues with pathing and selection that would not get fixed until SC2.

                    Half-Life: No question that this was one of the best FPSes released of that time. The AI was notable for flanking (for real, unlike FEAR which cheated it) and trying to flush hidden gamers out with grenades, but the story dropped off after the first 15 minutes. Once you drop into the sewers the game returned to an over-long FPS where you could see set pieces that the team had setup get extended by over-long travel pieces which had little plot or interest. It was obvious the development was rushed and all of the set pieces were fit in. Examples:
                    Innovative set pieces: The entire start (first 15 mins), The ninja attack, the silo enemy/attack (blind enemy who reacts only to pressure), first meeting with the Op For
                    Long travel sequences: (Start, down to sewers) - long sewer / FPS platforming sequence (remember crane box-hopping?) - first meet with Op For - Outside, long mundane mountain trudge to - Lambda Complex: silo battle - long raid-car trudge - etc

                    We won't mention Xen or the end boss of that game.

                    Unreal: It surprises me this game shows up on everyone's best-of list since the game itself was not that interesting. The only thing it had going for it was the massive exteriors which was a result of the way Unreal levels were designed (With UnrealEd you excavated your level in large blocks, Quake II you built it from small pieces). The AI was notable only in one regard, the Skaarj AI which was programmed by (of all things) a Quake modder (Steven Polge) who built an incredible Quake bot back in the day: Reaper Bot -> http://www.mindspring.com/~win32ch/Reaper.htm - The story, of course, was entirely laughable, and if it wasn't for the large levels the game would have been quickly forgotten. It was remembered more for spawning the first real competitor to the Quake 2/id Tech 2 engine than for being a good game.

                    I'm not saying this to lesson the impact of those games, but to make a point that they wern't the most incredible games ever. A lot of them were quite flawed upon release.

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                      August 16, 2010 7:15 AM

                      Thief had that terrible enemy design after the first level (Zombies, really?) that they would go correct later on and make a much better game out of (Thief II).

                      The Thief AI was great; however. I always smile whenever I see AI designers add search and sound-awareness to mobs.

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                    August 16, 2010 7:47 AM

                    you're really counting chickens before they hatch here. you're pointing out all the flaws in HL and Starcraft below, but of course Civ V is going to be a buggy unbalanced piece of shit for a little while on release, like all the Civ games are, until they get a few patches through.

                    Minecraft is also in this category. There's great game there but it's not at all finished yet.

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                      August 16, 2010 7:51 AM

                      I would say, based on my experience with Minecraft, that it is already outstandingly fun and entertaining. Civ V, yes that's a good point; however, look at that list. Most of those games are released.

                      Now remember: I'm not saying the 2010 is innovative; I'm saying that the games are outstanding games on par with 1998.

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                        August 16, 2010 7:52 AM

                        i'm just saying you're comparing unevenly, pointing out the flaws in 1998's classics while forgiving the flaws in 2010's games.

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                          August 16, 2010 7:56 AM

                          I disagree. The exact complaint I gave about Half-Life (unfinished level design) I cannot say about any other game on that list with the exception of Alan Wake (people have been complaining about the long forest walks).

                          Cataclysm, Mafia II and Reach are not out yet, of course.

                          Please feel free to point out what I am missing. I find it hard to say that these games are not better. I would easily put Mass Effect 2 as one of the best games I have ever played.

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                            August 16, 2010 8:00 AM

                            Alan Wake freaks me out. I can only play in small doses.

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                              August 16, 2010 8:02 AM

                              Do not play at night. It's like playing Metro 2033 or Thief I (especially the zombie levels) at night.

                              BAD IDEA!!

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                            August 16, 2010 8:02 AM

                            i dunno, this whole thing is an exercise in subjectivity. it's just hard to compare on two levels: with respect to the games that aren't out yet, the appraisal is necessarily based on promises and hype. and also, 1998 is a long time ago and those games are out of their context now. it's increasingly hard to remember what a big leap forward HL was in terms of FPS game design.

                            i can't criticize ME2, that game is great. certainly better than the original BG. i really need to replay it soon.

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            August 16, 2010 8:09 AM

            You forgot Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

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              August 16, 2010 8:15 AM

              The person who posted that discounted console gaming. So I'll add that to my list at least :)

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            August 16, 2010 8:16 AM

            2000: Deus Ex (winner right there), Thief 2, Baldur's Gate 2, Red Alert 2, Final Fantasy 9, Diablo 2, Icewind Dale, Chrono Cross, Giants.

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              August 16, 2010 10:41 AM

              5 sequels.. and out of those, I only REALLY liked Diablo 2 and Giants.

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        August 16, 2010 6:30 AM

        The only reason we know 1998 was awesome is in retrospect. We might think this was a great year only to find it was mediocre 10 years from now. I'll wait 5 years before I crown this year the king of games.

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        August 16, 2010 8:38 AM

        This year is really not very good I don't know why people keep saying this because it's completely untrue.

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      August 16, 2010 5:23 AM

      What is coming out this fall? Most of the games I am interested in have been moved to early 2011.

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      August 16, 2010 5:24 AM

      [deleted]

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      August 16, 2010 5:48 AM

      [deleted]

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      August 16, 2010 6:01 AM

      [deleted]

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      August 16, 2010 6:04 AM

      There doesn't seem like anything on the horizon besides Mafia 2 that I can think of. What are some that I'm missing?

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        August 16, 2010 6:11 AM

        Civ 5 is the only real must buy game for me. Fallout is a maybe, as is Reach. But Reach I may just get Gamefly for a month and play through the single player quickly. Fallout I will probably buy on PC, hopefully there is a 4-pack.

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        August 16, 2010 6:33 AM

        civ 5, civ 5, civ 5, civ 5, civ 5, civ 5, and civ 5

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        August 16, 2010 8:16 AM

        mafia 2 just seems like run of the mill sandbox game. all I have to look forward to now is FalloutNV. nothing else seems to really interest me

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          August 16, 2010 8:55 AM

          [deleted]

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            August 16, 2010 9:00 AM

            no I havent. played the demo and it seems a hell of a lot like GTAIV

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            August 16, 2010 9:04 AM

            One of the few cases where I take serious issue with Giantbomb is their feelings on Mafia. They just don't get it.

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      August 16, 2010 6:35 AM

      cant wait for fallout new vegas, but will probably wait until Christmas to see if I can snag it as a gift. I've got plenty of games to play until then. Really thanks to steam I have an endless supply of games I'll never play because of steam deals, it's genius really.

      I mean I bought Red Faction: Guerilla for the sale last christmas and still havent touched it because of other games I had that I actually wanted more at the time. I knew nothing about it (actually though it'd be first person since the original was haha).

      I also buy random games I dont even really want but hear they are good, like mirrors edge. I have so many games. when am I ever going to play that game? haha.

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      August 16, 2010 7:59 AM

      Fallout New Vegas is the only must buy for me.

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      August 16, 2010 8:12 AM

      [deleted]

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      August 16, 2010 8:13 AM

      Aion: Assault on Balaurea!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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        August 16, 2010 8:15 AM

        SO PUMPED!!!

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          August 16, 2010 8:17 AM

          I'm crossing my fingers for new dance emotes. Korea got a whole bunch of new dances and dresses as part of a server event related to some K-pop band, but it's probably not going to come to North America :(

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            August 16, 2010 9:07 AM

            wanna move to Korea with me?

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              August 16, 2010 9:07 AM

              you can take over the pro Aion circuit and I will train with Idra

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                August 16, 2010 9:08 AM

                done and done. i'll see you in seoul tomorrow

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