Dec 31 - Dec 31 (The Year Ahead)

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The video game industry stirs, a leviathan in disturbed slumber, lurching beneath the waves, incubating in fantasies of untold destruction. And, while the world spins for another week back to that angle of space we deem a new year, unperturbed by what this industry dreams for the coming months, we gamers, we cabal of the digital beast, are content to bide our time and scheme.

Look, it's hard coming up with something interesting to say every week, particularly during weeks when nothing is being released. But, rather than employing the conjuration power of Google Images to nefarious work for me so that I have something to show you, this week as we plunge into 2008 I offer, instead of the traditional Game of the Week, rather my personal Game of the Year. This is the game I can't wait to play in 2008 and for which I will commit felonious assault if it is delayed.

So, my Game of the Coming Year?

IMAGE(http://www.gamerswithjobs.com/files/images/Fallout3.thumbnail.jpg)

Fallout 3.

Comments

Aries wrote:

I never tried the Fallout series. I know, I know, here is my gamer card. I am really looking forward to Spore. I hope it releases this year.

I tried it and didn't like it, so I guess I have to hand mine in, too.
It reminded me too much of Baldur's Gate, which I really disliked - really, it was the engine and the speed.

I probably still have my Fallout 2-pack somewhere.
Gathering dust.

As to the post, I'm gonna bet it doesn't actually get released this year.

shihonage wrote:
scrub wrote:

I can't wait to see what Bethesda can do with Fallout. Living in the past is just silly.

Again... they're not doing anything with Fallout. How can you do something with Fallout when you throw Fallout out the window the moment you start ?

They're doing something with a concept of post-nuclear universe wrapped inside their preconceptions of what an RPG should be like. That's all.

Quit getting your panties in a wad and wait for the game.
My game of 2008 is TF2, because I will still be playing it.

Nei wrote:

I'm really looking forward to Too Human in 2008.

Wow. And here I thought I was going to be the first person to post this. I'm looking forward to this game more than anything except Little Big Planet. Little Big Planet could possibly sell me a PS3 if they execute the game well. Other than that, yeah, Too Human. I can't wait. I hope SK pulls it off after all that's happened especially.

Nei wrote:

Burnout Paradise... I'm on the fence. As soon as I start to like it, some thing would come up and I start to think... do I really want to deal with some of the annoyances. Such as...
no Restart or Retry. The other day, I was checking out PS3 demo and I was doing the new Stunt mode... which I'm kind of coming around on. So I got my combo to x11, with 500K points, with the adrenalin still pumping... I want to quick start the even. I can not do that, I have to drive all the way back to the event. 1st time, I can deal with but after 6th time... it was no longer fun. Sure I could of done another event to get me there sooner, but I didn't want to. So, I'm still debating. btw, what happen to the Demo Updates? :mad:

Same. Same here. I just recently have fallen madly in love with Burnout Revenge after not having played a racing game literally since San Francisco Rush on the N64 (not counting Crazy Taxi for the Dreamcast). So I'm already really attached to the way things are done in standard Burnout. I don't think I can play a game where a 10 second attempt at a crash is followed by driving back to the start of the crash. Yuck.

One of the things I really dig about Burnout Revenge is that it's got a very slick presentation. The music is going constantly. It's fast, it's loud. It plays during the races, during the crashes, during the loading screens. I totally "dig" the vibe of that game. I can't imagine it being played the way Paradise is being done.

I've never played any Fallout games, to get them here I need to somehow arrange a special import, Amazon doesn't ship to my country. Trying to get my hands on the complete set before 3 drops.

So I have no preconceptions of what Fallout needs to be. I'll take a sci-fi, post apocalyptic RPG with a sick sense of humour and be totally happy. From what I've head that is exactly what Fallout was, and what it will be.

Running Man wrote:

There are only 2 games I'm planning to buy in 2008. Age of Conan and Fallout 3, for the simple reason that I've not finished about 5 AAA games from 2007. Never enough time to play, man!

Truth. I'll be re-playing Mass Effect in 2008. I'll be trying out Psychonauts (purchased it as an XBox Original using points my brother gave me for Christmas). I'll be finally digging into Assassin's Creed, rocking out to Rock Band, enjoying Burnout Revenge and tossing the pigskin around in All Pro Football. Oh, and learning the ropes in TF2.

I'll wait for Too Human or Little Big Planet. 2007 is still going strong for me.

Playing through Wasteland on my C64 is one of my fondest childhood gaming memories.

I played about a third of the way into Fallout 1 and 2, but I felt like I hit a wall in each game where they stopped being compelling. I put the games down for a little while, and never picked them back up again. I admired the writing and humor and design, but I think they came from that era when a lot of PC games had fairly cumbersome interfaces, unforgiving gameplay, and sometimes playing them felt like work.

The timed mission in Fallout 1 was a killer for me. I had no idea how much time I was wasting or how long it would take me to complete the goal. I wasn't willing to play for another 15 hours just to get the loser ending because I wasted too much time early on. A masterpiece of freaking horrible game design.

Anyway, Fallout 3 is easily my most anticipated game of 2008. It's the only upcoming game I can think of that is a guaranteed day one purchase for me, regardless of reviews or word of mouth. I like the fact that they're keeping the humor and atmosphere and basic stat system and putting it in a modern open world environment with modern gameplay.

--

As for the town of Megaton being named for the crater created by an unexploded nuke, large heavy things dropped from the sky leave craters around them. I don't recall exactly what the previews said, but I think it was clear that the unexploded bomb sitting in the crater was the town centerpiece, like a fountain or bit of statuary in a small town's central square. The town of Megaton itself isn't sitting in a half-mile wide nuke crater.

Looking forward to Conan. Should be good fun.
I think fallout 3 will be a good game in it's own right, but not the sequel that we're all sorta expect.

-X

polq37 wrote:

The timed mission in Fallout 1 was a killer for me. I had no idea how much time I was wasting or how long it would take me to complete the goal. I wasn't willing to play for another 15 hours just to get the loser ending because I wasted too much time early on. A masterpiece of freaking horrible game design.

This can be said for any timed mission in any game. Except in Fallout it was one of the very rare cases when the timer didn't seem just put artificially there just for the sake of it, and where the time limit was really, extremely generous. Even for someone like me, who was never a fast explorer or puzzle solver.

Oh and boogle - easy there, son.

I've skimmed, but what if Duke Forever lives up to the hype, in some strange alternate universe?

*edit*
I'm looking forward to seeing if Army of Two is really as horrendously bad as the pre-release retail reviews seem to point to.

I like video games.

I'm praying for Age of Conan to be excellent or even a surprise announcement of Battlefield 3.

shihonage wrote:

Oh and boogle - easy there, son.

Didn't mean to be offensive, I'm just saying that judging now or even trying to compare it to previous games is jumping the gun a bit. There's still dev time left, and its a whole new game. They might change somethings that were "key", but it won't be a rehash of the original which makes it feel stale and doesn't do justice to it.

MrDeVil909 wrote:

I've never played any Fallout games, to get them here I need to somehow arrange a special import, Amazon doesn't ship to my country. Trying to get my hands on the complete set before 3 drops.

If I can find them, and you'll pay shipping, I can send you mine. Or you might see if it's on Gametap yet.

Wasteland left an indelible mark on my psyche long before I played the decent-but-flawed Fallout. I'm interested in Fallout 3 because I love the post-nuc milieu.

My game of the year for '08 is Diablo 3! What? Oh, nuts.

Actually, the defining factor of the year for me will be whether I play such games on my PC or if there is a 360 in my future.

As much as I am a fan of Fallout, there is just one game I'm really looking forward to - handheld Civilization.

wordsmythe wrote:

I like video games.

I kinda like them too.

Bill Parcels in disguise wrote:

If Fallout 3 is nothing more than Oblivion with guns and a post-nuclear wasteland, it will be fun to fiddle with for a week. If it's more to that, then it will be worth playing.

Fixed it for ya =P

It needs more structure but not complete structure. It needs stronger companions not just flailing followers. However, it wouldn't be Fallout if your companions couldn't unintentionally and catastrophically blow a hole in your back at random key times.

Spore is my game of the year.

I regret to inform you all that, according to several messages I've received, apparently by anticipating Fallout 3, GWJ has completely sold out and is now in the pocket of Bethesda and perhaps any number of other large corporations. I know this comes as much as a shock to you as it does me, but the evidence - my liking something that other people don't like - is clearly damning and irrefutable. While I can understand your disappointment in our complete lack of integrity, it should comfort you to know that Bethesda's continuing stream of money and support for our site will make me very very rich.

Oh internet, you so crazy.

Elysium wrote:

Oh internet, you so crazy.

I don't know why, but this made me laugh harder than anything I've read in a while.

I warned you, Elysium!

shihonage wrote:

This can be said for any timed mission in any game. Except in Fallout it was one of the very rare cases when the timer didn't seem just put artificially there just for the sake of it, and where the time limit was really, extremely generous. Even for someone like me, who was never a fast explorer or puzzle solver.

The time limit is generous, but I came up against it the first time just by wandering around too much. Granted, my first character was remarkably weak so it took him forever to become competent. It didn't ruin the game or anything, but playing it more recently, it felt like a holdover from text adventure games. You have twenty moves to get out of this room. Although now that I think about it, there's a way to buy some more time once you get to a certain town. That's nice. If you do that, though, it causes trouble later on with this other situation, which is not as nice.

Fallout 3 is a day one buy for me... No doubt. I hope there is a CE version with extra goodies.

Off the top of my head, Left4Dead is the other 2008 game I'm looking forward too. It looks a bit frantic in the gameplay videos, but I can't imagine it being anything but fun playing co-op with Goodjers.

I have a stack of 2007 gaming goodness I have yet to get to though, so I feel a bit guilty if I start looking ahead to additional 2008 titles. sigh.

Elysium wrote:

I regret to inform you all that, according to several messages I've received, apparently by anticipating Fallout 3, GWJ has completely sold out and is now in the pocket of Bethesda and perhaps any number of other large corporations. I know this comes as much as a shock to you as it does me, but the evidence - my liking something that other people don't like - is clearly damning and irrefutable. While I can understand your disappointment in our complete lack of integrity, it should comfort you to know that Bethesda's continuing stream of money and support for our site will make me very very rich.

Oh internet, you so crazy.

When do we get the Fallout 3 themes that we can skin the site with?

Soon as I finish writing up this Fallout 3 review for their marketing department's approval.

I've enjoyed Bethesda's work in the past (Morrowind, Oblivion) and I'm a fan of the post-apocalyptic genre (Wasteland on the C64 was one of my favorites), so I'm looking forward to Fallout 3.

That said, my money's on Spore. As 0kelvin mentioned, it's something different. I think the allure of procedurally-generated content is too great for other developers to ignore, and the success or failure of Spore will affect the pace at which the process is adopted. If Will Wright and his crew are able to ensure that the 50th generated moon/planet is as unique as the first, the game will be a hit.

After all, who doesn't want to explore their own personal universe and leave a mark upon it? Isn't this the sort of thing that makes Dwarf Fortress so appealing?

Another factor going for Spore is that it will be a multi-platform game; PC, DS and mobile phone versions are already confirmed and Wright has indicated his interest in Wii, PSP and Mac OS ports. Now number of platforms by itself doesn't mean gaming goodness, but if every platform makes use of the same "massively single-player universe" (read: central server housing user-created content) I think that increases the possibility that planet #50 will be fresh and exciting.

Finally, there's the "expanded universe" concept that we've been teased with: the collectible card game and the custom 3D figures of user-created content. The former doesn't do much for me, but the idea of being able to purchase a unique, physical representation of something I created and spent hours playing with online sounds pretty darn cool. How many WoW players, I wonder, would have plunked down money for a 3D figure of their favorite character?

Of course, we could all be completely wrong. Fallout 3 could turn out to be mockery of Fallout/Fallout 2 goodness, Spore could become stale as users quickly tire of a galaxy little more than Elite's with a fancy paint-job, and some title that barely garnered a second glance suddenly is the game of 2008.

I guess we'll know in about 12 months.

Personally, I think I would feel better about Fallout 3 if it was in the hands of Bioware instead.

I guess I'm really looking forward to seeing what Conan can do as well. Other than that I'll be happy playing the games from last year I just haven't been able to get to yet.

I'm very much looking forward to Spore too. It looks incredibly clever, but at each demo I've found myself wondering how long I'd want to experiment with the world. It's one of those things where I can't figure out whether I'll appreciate the daring of the game but not feel like I'm really playing anything, or if it'll be just endless fun. I can see it going either way.

Elysium wrote:

While I can understand your disappointment in our complete lack of integrity, it should comfort you to know that Bethesda's continuing stream of money and support for our site will make me very very rich.

On the bright side, at least we'll get scores on reviews now!

*Legion* wrote:
Elysium wrote:

While I can understand your disappointment in our complete lack of integrity, it should comfort you to know that Bethesda's continuing stream of money and support for our site will make me very very rich.

On the bright side, at least we'll get scores on reviews now! :)

And better prizes for the donation drives!

boogle wrote:

On the bright side, at least we'll get scores on reviews now! :)

And better prizes for the donation drives![/quote]

Jesus, integrity just gets in the way of everything fun!