Evening Reading

Good Wednesday to you. Mine started out great with some hands-on time with the Witcher 2 over at Atari's offices. Wish I could share that with you sooner but the embargo on coverage is the 24th. It's worth the wait, though. Along with Reach, I finally started the Witcher over the weekend (it was a glorious weekend of gaming for me). It's impressive what they were able to do with Bioware's aurora engine--technology created for 2002's Neverwinter Nights. Granted, the Witcher packs its own rendering engine, but what really stands out to me--from a mere six hours of play--is how well they're able to use relatively dated tools to make interesting characters in a pretty detailed world and then tell good stories. For as quick as we are to get excited about tech, there's a helluva lot more that makes a great game.

LOL, after that stunning revelation, here's the top video game news of the day on the Shack:

• Star Wars: The Old Republic Delayed; Would Be 'Substantially Profitable' With 500,000 Subscribers

• Parody Game Promoting Bulletstorm Analyzes What It Means When 'Duty Calls'

• Company of Heroes Online, WWE Online Canceled