Bethesda were part of the story. Fallout 3 previews, between explaining VATS and the Megaton dilemma, made sure to note the long-standing concerns over whether Bethesda could pull this off.

Bethesda had inserted themselves into the history of someone else's series: Fallout, ardently mythologized as a classic, although its commercial cachet had declined. After Bethesda cultivated their house franchise into a well-received cross-platform hit with Oblivion, they suddenly had everything to prove.

Their motivations find parallel in the story Fallout 3 tells about the player character's father, James. One day and without any specific impetus, James abruptly leaves home and the security it provides. He risks everything on resurrecting a certain project commonly thought to be untenable after some recent failures.

Why'd he leave, and why did Bethesda decide to do this? Fortunately they did, because at worst, Fallout 3 would have been an undetermined game; a cautious compromise between the varying design sensibilities of Bethesda and Black Isle and a half-hearted and restrained remake of the original Fallout.

That's not Fallout 3. Here's why it mattered to the post-apocalyptic, profanity-laden, morally vague wasteland that Bethesda make it this time.

The Hopelessness After The Explosion

Game worlds which exist in their fiction as monumental achievements -- like Rapture and Liberty City, grand and exhaustive -- can reflect their developers' real-life dedication to building a quality game.

Instead of vicariously crafting in-game opulence, Bethesda recreated Washington, D.C. as a blasted shithole devastated by nuclear war and depressingly rendered in decrepit detail. BioShock was a toast to failed ambition; Fallout 3 a toast to failure.

Given Fallout 3's timing, reintroducing the series' conceit of war beginning with an Alaskan invasion is faintly hilarious. Now that the resultant wasteland exists in one of Bethesda's open and persistent worlds, you're forced to survey the full extent of the destruction.

You can't ignore all the bombed-out highways, the bridges to nowhere, the irradiated waters, the torn-apart schools, the abandoned cars, the skeletal remains embracing on the beds of shattered houses, or the random and meaningless firefights and explosions. That's the world, and you have to deal with it even when it has no quest relevance.

No previous Fallout game has actually felt so plausibly Post-Nuclear. If Fallout 3 doesn't seem as funny as its predecessors, it's because there's really nothing funny about that. A video game has never been so appropriately painted in brown and gray; the thematic prerogative of Gears of War wasn't hopelessness.

Why Washington DC Works

The decision to set Fallout 3 in D.C. was ostensibly made to further distance Bethesda's game from the West Coast adventures of Fallout 1 and 2, and because the Maryland-based developer were more familiar with the Capitol. This is workmanlike reasoning, which doesn't hint at the massive implications the decision would have on the creative direction of the game.

It's not until after the player leaves the pristine sanctity of Vault 101 in search of his father -- and makes it to Washington proper -- that you remember what's specifically important about D.C.

Not until you march down the Mall, through the wrecks of the Washington Monument, the Capitol Building, the Museums of History and Technology, the National Archives and the Lincoln Memorial to the tune of the America the Beautiful, ducking the street-gangs and mutants further blowing apart the ruins, can you can tell that this is the dismal coda to American history.

America as it was conceived in 1776 is in gradual decline. While some civilians still go about their lives, it seems inevitable that the light will blink out sooner rather than later. When you're able to casually scavenge the Declaration of Independence, and sell it, whatever immaculate prestige American history once had is probably gone.

On your tour of D.C., you're made to revisit all the initial promise inherent in that document, while you're picking up the pieces and kicking around the ashes. The buildings stand remarkably intact, frozen in time, for you to look up at and think about how this all went to hell.

Sitting in the Museum of Technology's planetarium, you can watch the stars flicker across the ceiling from an antiquated projector, listening to an earnest narrator explains the great dream of mankind to explore outer space and some '40s nostalgia drifting over the radio. A pair of super mutants interrupt with lead pipes and miniguns, screaming about tearing your head off. That's Fallout 3.

Vault Boy's Lament

It's a heartbreaking picture, even though Fallout is still decorated with contrarily cheerful '50s duck-and-cover iconography, replete with the perpetually enthused Vault Boy character. As much as that imagery serves as ironic commentary, it almost exists to leaven the psychological burden of walking around awake in this nightmare.

If you can point to something out-of-place or ridiculous, then you can detach from the world -- rather than submitting to it as a reasonable state of existence.

Even so, Fallout the third is the sober one in the family. Whether you think that's a deliberate choice or Bethesda's Achilles' heel, it works for this game. Fallout 3 executes its humorous interstitials as well as anything in the first game, while rejecting the broader pop culture excesses of Fallout 2's Monty Python prostitute showcase. It is, after all, the end of the world.

Far Cry 2, another sequel from a different studio, has absolutely nothing to do with the first game. The name is a vehicle for an unrelated design document and the game's called Far Cry 2 only because Ubisoft doesn't own the Mercenaries license.

The new Far Cry team and the new Fallout team offer new perspectives. Far Cry 2's Africa abandons aliens for malaria, item degradation, civil war and all-purpose ugliness -- while Fallout 3's wasteland is deliberately and unremittingly tragic. To the history of their respective series, they introduce a conscience.

They tell gamers that they can have their open-world shooter and post-apocalyptic wastelands, with their bloody conflicts, nuclear weapons, headshots, political intrigue and all the occasionally goofy video game accouterments, but they won't pretend anymore that it's all unreservedly awesome.

You should feel bad in Far Cry 2 or sad just walking around in Fallout 3. That Fallout 3 is able to convey all this entirely through atmosphere, rather than disadvantaging the player (a page out of the survival horror playbook) is a pretty remarkable achievement.

Enter The AntAgonizer

Fallout 3's weirdest moment has two costumed crusaders fighting on the outskirts of a remote town, calling themselves the Mechanist and the AntAgonizer. It's a moronic premise, albeit one right in line with Fallout.

When you talk to the AntAgonizer, though, and persuade her to knock it off, the game treats her with completely dignity, as she presents a reasonable case for how she wanted to help the impossibly lost inhabitants of the wasteland, before running away in tears.

As Fallout's setting is such an unnatural mode of existence, it's especially worthwhile to observe how the residents of the wasteland choose to live their lives. What are you supposed to do when all of civilisation's institutions have been erased?

Everyone you meet has written their own self-help book on post-nuclear living. Most subsist on vice, as murderers, dealers, slavers and prostitutes. Skilled fighters hire themselves out as mercenaries or anarchically pillage towns. Others go flat-out insane.

Personal survival can be so insurmountable a bar that few rise above self-interest and do what's right for what little remains of the world. Some try, like the semi-righteous order of knights, the Brotherhood of Steel, but even they're divided on how much they want to help out humanity. The Capitol Wasteland lacks any government or ideology and as chaotic and sociologically fractured as it is, it's a perfect setting for an unfocused open-world game.

There's exactly one person in Fallout 3 who will sacrifice for the greater good and you can follow him if you want. It's impossible to believe that in this world enough people like Alexander Hamilton or James Madison will emerge; a small number of smart people who, though ideologically divided, could do something as immense as drafting and ratifying the Constitution. You can't expect any such coherence or drive from the people of Fallout 3.

Carry On, Regardless

Most interesting among the populace are not the raiders or the samaritans but those going on as if nothing happened. Isolated in private zones or secluded in vaults, they run restaurants, sweep floors, nurse high school crushes; reintroducing domesticity to the post-apocalypse.

You have to wonder how responsible that actually is. Are they doing the right thing in rebuilding familiar societal constructs, or should they accept that the world's in decline and do something about it?

You're an actor in the wasteland like the rest, with more agency and influence than all of them combined, which prompts you to consider what you are going to do. In Fallout, making moral decisions isn't a feature designed to encourage replayability, it's arguably the entire point.

Fallout is distinctly unlike those "choose fate, save world" games like Mass Effect (or Oblivion, for that matter) since their worlds are never believably imperiled. The world is in pretty good shape for the entire game; the danger is theoretical and only ever exacerbated by the player allowing the linear plot to progress.

Here, the world is already a write-off. You can't fix the wasteland or the war but there are so many people whose lives you can affect, and that in turn determines what kind of person you are. All that really matters is the quality of your character. If you help whoever you meet, you won't get anything out of it -- not really, not the world or power or glory or any kind of meaningful relationship. All it is is karma.

See What You Can Do

In a weird way, the wasteland is an inviting avenue for change. There are no rules, no institutions, no laws. What do you do when nobody is watching and you can't be held accountable? If you try and approximate the moral and legal standards of today, then that's a statement in itself: you want those structures to endure.

The place is already so desolate you don't even have to do much to improve it. It reminds me, tangentially, of reading about post-invasion Iraq and the early stages of the occupation when the country, bleached to a dreamlike blank slate, so briefly overflowed with possibilities, and an influx of bright young graduates headed out to the Green Zone to reconstruct the country.

I remember thinking, for one dangerously unguarded moment, that wouldn't it be great to move to Baghdad. A place where there's so much to achieve and you can finally have an impact even though you'll probably ruin everything and get murdered.

When the Ink Spots' shiftless anthem "Maybe" is broadcast over the in-game radio, the song being the first thing you heard in Fallout 1, it invokes the series' own memory. Bethesda inspire nostalgia for something they had nothing to do with and recall how unlikely it once seemed that they'd be the ones to restart this thing.

The lyrics -- "Maybe you'll sit and sigh, wishing that I were near/Then maybe you'll ask me to come back again/And maybe I'll say 'Maybe'" -- contradict what this game is all about. Fallout 3 is about making a decision. It's about commitment. It's about doing something.

'A Tribute To Intent'

If it seems like an overly general theme, consider Bethesda's own history with this game. Consider how, out of unspecified desire, they left the safety of the Elder Scrolls for this, and how many development studios are factories for endless variations on popular franchises or uninspired sequels nobody cares about.

Fallout 3 is a tribute to intent. It's not a rallying cry for any cause or even a cautionary tale about the hypothetical horrors of nuclear holocaust. It's a statement on the worthlessness of inaction. It's about not staying in the vault.

In the spirit, then, of conclusive action and definitive answers, we are at last able to resolve every question we've ever had about this game. Does it work; did they pull it off; was it worth all the time, the money, the effort, the mistrust and the suspicion; with everything that this game says and everything that it achieves, well, finally, is this Fallout?

Today, we mourn the loss of the Big Ben power-up. In remembrance, check out the video footage of Big Ben below.

Link

This Monday, Yohoho! Puzzle Pirates publisher and developer Three Rings officially launched its online service Whirled, a virtual realm-cum-Flash game portal -- which James has compared to a YouTube for games.

We sat down with the company's CEO and designer Daniel James to discuss the meaning, future, and implications of Whirled, which allows beginners to enjoy a friendly virtual world.

The free web-based service allows players to create avatars, chat in share groups and rooms, and play online games that have achievements and online high scores, as well as multiplayer functionality.

But it also goes so far as to provide open-source tools which allow professional developers to create Flash games that can be plugged into the service's social features, and which can be enjoyed both in and out of the Whirled game space.

In this in-depth chat, James, whose firm also created steampunk strategy online game Bang Howdy, discussed why he's "probably crazy" to make something this wide-ranging, using community competition to make better games, and much more:

If you can sum up what you see Whirled as, because as you have said, it's a bit nebulous. Can you give the synopsis?

Daniel James: I think Whirled is a conjunction of player-created virtual worlds and games in your web browser. There's Hollywood ways you can put it, like, "Flash Second Life," but none of these things are very good. Really, think about it as a virtual world in your web browser which is fun and is made by the people. That's what we're going for.

I asked one of our players a while ago for a one-liner for Whirled, and he said, "Whirled: It has stuff." In a way, it tells you nothing, but it tells you everything. There's stuff!

I think right now, we're pretty small. We have a small community, but they're doing all the things we want and making all the things and buying them, and they're playing the game. So we have a little ball, and the question is, is that going to be the snowball for an avalanche? That's what we're hoping.

Something we were talking about during the presentation is that we're sort of at this crossroads, where developers are choosing where they want to go and whether they want to move into starting up and doing XNA Creators Club or XBLA or online or casual. How do you see that choice that people are presented with? How does your stuff in Whirled fit into that?

DJ: I think it's awesome that people have the choice. That's the main thing. Developers are smart people. It's up to them to go in and look at what people have and make decisions.

One of the things that I think we're very big on is transparency. We're going to throw our stuff out there. You can look at our code, see what it's about, and we're a very open company. We talk at GDC, we throw our numbers around, we put our numbers out there -- that kind of thing. I think that's one thing that we're going for.

The technology and what we're providing is cool, and I think overall, what you have to look at is, "Do I think this platform is going to provide what I want and be successful?" That's a choice that you have to make.

One of the things that I have issues with, though, is when you're looking at things like the iPhone or XBLA or XNA stuff is that if you've got arbitrary criteria that this platform provider, this third party, has control over that you have no control over, then it's kind of a crapshoot, with this business model. You're basically saying, "Well, hopefully Apple will feature my game."

I know people who have made iPhone games have gotten on third-party sites, have gotten five-star reviews, and are really well-produced games, but because they're not on the featured list in the App Store, they've got no sales. That starts to look like the traditional mobile games business, which is, if you're on the carrier deck, you're golden. If you're not on the deck, then you're toast.

Any distribution model where there's some person... so you go to the iPhone, and Apple has basically got you by the short and curlies. I love Apple, but I wouldn't want to be at the whim of Steve, although I give him ten percent of my income. The Church of Steve. Hallelujah!

(laughter)

DJ: I don't want him to decide whether I've got a business or not, let alone after spending half a year making a game that's stuck on that platform. To my mind, you want to look at, "What's the opportunity space for the platform?"

Again, two million iPhones or whatever is cool, but if only 100,000 people are installing software from the App Store, that's worth thinking about, versus on the interwebs, there are hundreds of millions of people playing games, so you've got a very large potential audience.

The nice thing about doing an online game of any kind, whether it's Whirled or not, is that no one can lock you out. You put up your website and get links, and if you succeed, you can become viral and be a huge success anytime, and there's no one who can tell you that you can't. I like that.

That would be my criteria myself -- but say that to Jon Blow, who just made a fabulous amount of money and a great success with Braid. If you do have a good partner and they treat you well and can get promoted, then you can do well on a closed platform. It's just that it seems like it's risky, to me.

Something I want to talk about with Whirled is that it's a world of blurry distinctions, both in terms of...it's everything from a Flash game creation tool to a virtual world where people can hang out in rooms and stuff. Also, it's welcoming to people on the far end, from full-fledged game developers who make games for a living, all the way to kids who are customizing avatars or whatever. That's a very broad question, but if you can talk about it a little bit...

DJ: Yeah, I think that's really important, because you want to have the biggest possible addressable group of people. You want to get people in and have them have fun, and we think that creating stuff, even on the small level like moving furniture around your room, is fun for a lot of people.

And then you expect to have a pyramid going up. Someone's playing in the world. They're collecting stuff. They start customizing stuff, start uploading simple things like images initially, and then maybe they learn Flash skills and they start making sophisticated stuff, up to professional game developers, at the top of the pyramid, who have the most sophistication.

We believe that every level of the pyramid is important. We've got to make something that's super-accessible at the base and has a really wide funnel, so lots and lots of people can come in and find something fun, and has the richness and complexity that game developers can think, "Yeah, I can actually build a cool game on top of this." That's obviously a big challenge.

There's lots of challenges as well. When you started the question, it seemed more to me to be talking about the thing like, you've got virtual worlds and games, and what is it? That's definitely something that we grapple with a lot, because we're going for this big, somewhat nebulous thing.

Puzzle Pirates is relatively simple. You make a pirate, you do puzzles, and you get booty. You explain that to people, and they go, "Oh yeah, I get the idea." Whereas with Whirled, it's like, "It's this virtual world, and you have a room and this stuff." No one said it was easy making a new kind of media, and I think that's sort of what we're doing here.

It sounds pretentious, but the problems that we've had making this and making the UI work and trying to convey what the experience is about are nontrivial, aside from the technology problems and the complexity there.

So in a way, that means that we're probably crazy and we should pick something simple, like putting videos on the internet three years ago, but instead, we're saying, "We're going to make a go at this, and maybe we'll be a footnote in history, because someone else will come along in a couple of years and ace it, but perhaps we have a chance at synthesizing something here that's genuinely new and cool."

Something you talked about earlier is preparing for the graduates of Club Penguin, which is something I've also heard, obviously from Raph Koster -- no surprise -- and just as a general topic of discussion, which is that these kids are growing up with these kids virtual worlds, and as they grow up, they're going to expect virtual worlds to be a part of their entertainment lexicon. It's where their head's at. So what do you think about that merging market issue?

DJ: I think it's awesome. I think it's really exciting. I grew up on MUDs. I was an 11-year-old MUDder, and it certainly changed my mental landscape completely. I'm psyched.

People talk about the digital generation or whatever you want to call them, which is an annoying kind of terminology, but I think there is a genuine shift when you have access to something at a young age. It changes your way of looking at the world.

I think it's going to be great. They are going to want stuff that's more in their hands and has more freedom to it. If you've grown up on a manicured environment, then it's going to be really exciting to have something free and open, so I think Raph and I are big believers in that.

That again touches on, "What's a user of Whirled, versus a creator?" Someone will come to the experience at a young age, like 12 or something, as someone who's only been exposed to Club Penguin, in which the content only flows in one direction, and as they gradually acclimate to Whirled, they may expand their horizons.

DJ: People seem to get the idea pretty fast. It taps into the same natural thing about MMOs, which is, "I want to acquire the shinies!" You quickly see people understanding why. "I'm acquiring the shiny, and so-and-so made the shiny."

Now, if you are competitively-minded, there are definitely people on Whirled who are like, "Wow, that's really good. Now I'm going to make something as good as that." People are always setting the bar for each other. They seem to get that. I know that more tools and more cool things will increase that, but I think it's pretty exciting.

Moreover, there is a shift there, where people are becoming more and more comfortable with the idea, "Oh yeah. Of course I can make that myself," or "At least I can have a laugh trying."

One of the things that surprised us was that we thought there would be a problem with a lot of crap content, and that would be an issue for the community somehow. But as it turned out, people are cool with it.

Someone makes a crappy animated avatar, or one with no animations, or whatever, and yeah, it gets rated three stars because it doesn't do many cool things, but people in the comments are like, "This is great! Why don't you add some states and stuff? You should learn how to do some kind of animation." It's a very, "Good first effort! Now do more."

It's a closed environment to an extent, though, right now?

DJ: No. It's been wide open for six months. All comers welcome.

I'm just envisioning YouTube-style comments on stuff, as you attract a broader audience.

DJ: I'm not saying that it's always going to be like that. If we get to 100 million people hitting the website a day, then there's certainly going to be more idiots. But I think a lot of how a community evolves is what the initial tone is. I'm not sure YouTube ever had a good, high-quality commenting culture, and Whirled has already built that.

For a year in alpha, we had a very small community of a couple hundred people who were pretty high-brow. Similarly, Puzzle Pirates actually had the same thing. It's amazing. Six years after we started alpha testing Puzzle Pirates, that tone of the community is still present. Most of those people have gone, but once you've set the tone of a community, I think it can persist well beyond what you would expect.

Do you think that's a natural evolution? Or do you have any policies or practices?

DJ: No, we definitely have policies. We have active customer service, we respond very quickly to complaints and requests to remove people, and if someone's being offensive or swearing, we'll warn them, and if necessary, we'll ban them.

We definitely want to keep things nice, and if someone posts, "This is rubbish," kinds of comments, we say, "Hey, look. Be positive. Don't be negative." Community standards are very important, and enforcing those is really important. You certainly can't just expect it to magically happen.

Another thing that we've said with Whirled is that right now we're a PG environment. You have to say you're 13 to play. But we're not supporting mature content right now. We may in some method in the future, but right now, we have no plans to do that. And I think that's important, too, just to say, "Look, this is about having fun, playing games, and hanging out. It's not about naughtiness." There will be plenty of places where it is about naughtiness, and that's fine for them.

You talked about that you had open-source code available for everyone, from amateurs to professionals, to get ahold of and work with. I was wondering if you could talk about where that came from and what's available, and how that works.

DJ: We're still the game developer, and we put a lot of resources into Whirled. It's a big deal for us as a company. About half of those have been into the platform and the back end, and then about half went into content creation.

For example, as simple as an avatar... for the example for the avatar, people have taken the avatar code and modified it and gone, "Oh, now I can make my own avatar," and changed out the imagery and stuff like that, up to a full multiplayer game.

There's two things there. One is that we don't think we can make a bunch of technology and magically have people use it. Obviously, there has to be really cool content there to get people excited.

But now, we don't really need to make avatars so much, because people are making avatars, but we still need to make really cool games, because it's going to take a while for people to finish their games and get them up to the level of polish that we can deliver. In six months, maybe we'll be able to focus more on making games, and worry less about filling the catalog. Perhaps we'll have game teams focus more on making money from our games ourselves.

Something I wanted to talk about is referencing the open-source code that's available. Is that more of a philosophical decision, or is it more of a concrete, "If this is available, then it will, in the end, enrich our service?"

DJ: It's both. The libraries and the low-level stuff is a philosophical thing, because my God, we built a company on a lot of open-source software, and we're big believers in it on principle.

The practical benefits is negligible... some nice things are that when we recruit people, we can say, "Hey, make a game based on our stuff." That's a nice thing to be able to do. But I think it's mostly a religious, philosophical belief. In terms of the games and the examples and so on, obviously we hope that's going to contribute to the success of the platform. But I think it's still cool to throw out there.

It's kind of like giving out your numbers. People are always really wary about giving out your numbers in business, but it doesn't actually cost you anything to give out your numbers. If it helps your competition a little bit, why do you care?

If Raph Koster's Metaplace kicks our ass, they'll do that because they did a better job than us, not because we gave out our numbers or our source code or anything like that. They just would've done a better job, and fair enough. All you can ask for in the world is a meritocracy, I believe.

Something I was interested to see is that some of the popular content on the beta version is based on IP that you don't control. There are Sonic the Hedgehog characters, and also...

DJ: I don't ever look at that stuff.

There's an artist that you referenced who had content based on Square Enix IP. Final Fantasy stuff. Where's your position on that?

DJ: We'll respond to DMCA takedown notices. We do not review content for copyright infringement. In fact, we actively do not review content for copyright infringement, because it's the same as YouTube. If you filter the content, we make no representations about what people upload to Whirled.

If someone complains about it and they have the right to say, "This is my content. Take it down," then we'll take it down. We have done that, and we're happy to continue to do that. But it's not appropriate or possible for us, as an organization, to be combing through the tens of thousands of things that people are uploading, and going, "Oh, we think that might be copyrighted." How do we know? Maybe I've played that Square game, but I personally haven't. I have no idea.

Does it add a complexity to it? Because YouTube doesn't monetize its content through its users. Someone has made a Chocobo from Final Fantasy and put it on the site as an avatar, and she gets money for it. Does that complicate the issue?

DJ: You'll have to ask the lawyers. I don't know. But I think it's more of an issue between her and whoever owns the copyright, rather than between us. But again, you'd have to ask the lawyers.

Fair enough.

DJ: No doubt at the point where we're fabulously successful, if we get to YouTube-like scale, no doubt there are going to be interesting legal questions that arise from that. And personally, I would rather people make completely original stuff out of their own heads. I think that's much cooler, and I think that will be the way things go. But it's not surprising that people are being inspired by their favorite stuff out of the gate.

Something I want to also talk about is the time versus money equation. This is a pretty broad question that free-to-play is addressing right now. There's currency. As you play, you earn this currency -- the coins in your world. They're based on time investment. The avatar you showed me cost approximately an hour's worth of playing the game, or users can buy the avatar for ten cents.

There's a real relevancy to it. How do you see those two things working together in your game? Who are they for, and what do they accomplish, having those two different currency systems?

DJ: I think what you want is a situation where time and money are both valued. I think in a virtual environment, there's very few things -- and creativity, in our case -- there's very few things that you can look at and attach a monetary value to.

If you look at real society, time and money and brilliance are generally modified for the value of your time, perhaps, or increases the scalability of your time. We think putting that into a virtual world makes a lot of sense.

I think if you look at attempts to not support arbitrage between time and money -- like in World of Warcraft, banning gold farming, and so on -- I think it's like standing in the tide and telling it to go back out again. You may succeed if you're big enough and ban enough people and so on, but I think also, the uncomfortable thing is if you don't support it as a transparent market within your business, then you're basically telling it to go underground.

If you tell it to go underground, then you introduce all sorts of possibilities, like markups, and money-making on arbitrage. The reason Chinese gold farmers who get paid a buck an hour to play WoW -- because of IGE and Blizzard banning people for it -- it's because the marketplace was in a gray market, rather than a truly transparent open market.

If it was a transparent open market, the price of gold would probably have dropped to the point where you couldn't afford to pay Chinese farmers to do it, because there would be enough people who are like, "Oh yeah, I'll pay my subscription by doing that." Not, "I'll have a warehouse with 50 guys while playing 24/7 around the clock."

That's something that was brought up at Austin GDC too, at the same session. Hilmar Veigar Petursson from CCP was saying that you have to support free-to-play with micro and subscription, otherwise the gray market is going to force the issue, which I found very interesting.

DJ: We did this four years ago with Puzzle Pirates, and one of our principal beliefs was that we are going to bring the market within the game, and then remove outside arbitrage opportunities, and make it efficient and easy and accessible, like, "Oh yeah, I want doubloons. I'll just change over my pieces of eight," or vice-versa.

On the business side of it, you enable the people who are willingly wanting to give you money give you a lot more money, because they can effectively buy time, and time is a prolific commodity in an online game, as opposed to content, which you're trying to sell them more content all the time.

Downloadable Games

Age of Booty ($9.99)
Fight for pirate supremacy in this game of strategy and cannon-blasting action that’s fun for all ages. Sail the high seas alone or with friends as you build your pirate empire by plundering villages, sinking ships, and sending your enemies to the briny deep! Upgrade your ships with new, more powerful weapons, and explore 25 different maps or create your own to share! With so many features, Age of Booty is a treasure chest of fun! Download the game today!
File size: 44 MB

Add-on Game Content

LittleBigPlanet - MotorStorm Stormers Costume ($1.99)
A premium costume for SackBoy!
File size: 1.04

LittleBigPlanet - Sack-Eating Plant Costume (SCEE contest winner) (free)
A community costume for SackBoy!
File size: 1.04 MB

LittleBigPlanet - Lilly Pad Costume ($0.99)
A costume for SackBoy!
File size: 1.04 MB

LittleBigPlanet - Hugo Costume ($0.99)
A costume for SackBoy!
File size: 1.04 MB

LittleBigPlanet - Great Blue Costume ($0.99)
A costume for SackBoy!
File size: 1.04 MB

LittleBigPlanet - Frost E Costume ($0.99)
A costume for SackBoy!
File size: 1.04 MB

LittleBigPlanet - Animal Costume Bundle ($2.99)
A costume kit for SackBoy! Contains 4 different costumes.
File size: 1.04 MB

Hot Shots Golf Out Bounds Costume Pack 2 ($2.99)
Spruce up your Hot Shots Golf Fall wardrobe with a collection of playful and funky new outfits ideal for golf wherever you play. Five new costumes come your way with 6 variations for each new costume giving you a total of 30 new outfits to dress your favorite 5 players in Hot Shots Golf Out Of Bounds. So now matter where you play, you’ll certainly be the best dressed player on the course.
File size: 102 KB

PAIN Movie Studio Lot ($5.99)
In a world where you’ve destroyed Downtown like a giant reptilian beaver and you’ve called da shot in the Amusement Park, a new environment arrives. Seven gameplay modes, three selectable launcher positions, a muscle-bound gladiator, a doomed sinking ship, an adrenaline-fueled car leap over a helicopter – it’s all available now in the highly anticipated add-on environment, PAIN: Movie Studio.
File size: 40 MB

PAIN The Hoff Character ($1.99)
Meet PAIN’s most famous launchee yet, David Hasselhoff! Yanked from the sleek interior of an exotic sports car, now you get to chuck The Hoff into a world of PAIN where his latest role is starring in your next launch. Available now with three of his own costumes, The Hoff is playable in all PAIN environments.
File size: 100 KB

FIFA 09 Brazilian Commentary Pack (FREE)
This download enables you to add an additional Brazilian commentary pack for FIFA 09, featuring Brazilian commentators Paulo Vinícius Coelho and Nivaldo Prieto.
File size: 533 Mb

FIFA 09 Czech Commentary Pack (FREE)
This download enables you to add an additional Czech commentary pack for FIFA 09, featuring Czech commentators Bosák Jaromír and Petr Svěcený.
File size: 572 MB

FIFA 09 Dutch Commentary Pack (FREE)
This download enables you to add an additional Dutch commentary pack for FIFA 09, featuring Dutch commentators Youri Mulder and Evert Ten Napel.
File size: 611 MB

FIFA 09 English Commentary Pack (FREE)
This download enables you to add an additional English commentary pack for FIFA 09, featuring English commentators Andy Gray and Martin Tyler.
File size: 725 MB

FIFA 09 English #2 Commentary Pack ($4.99)
This download enables you to add an additional English commentary pack for FIFA 09, featuring English commentators Clive Tyldesley and Andy Townsend.
File size: 655 MB

FIFA 09 French Commentary Pack (FREE)
This download enables you to add an additional French commentary pack for FIFA 09, featuring French commentators Herve Mathoux and Franck Sauzée.
File size: 618 MB

FIFA 09 German Commentary Pack (FREE)
This download enables you to add an additional German commentary pack for FIFA 09, featuring German commentators Tom Bayer and Sebastian Hellman.
File size: 828 MB

FIFA 09 Hungarian Commentary Pack (FREE)
This download enables you to add an additional Hungarian commentary pack for FIFA 09, featuring Hungarian commentators Richard Faragó and István B. Hajú.
File size: 1115 MB

FIFA 09 Italian Commentary Pack (FREE)
This download enables you to add an additional Italian commentary pack for FIFA 09, featuring Italian commentators Giuseppe Bergomi and Fabio Caressa.
File size: 526 MB

FIFA 09 Mexico Commentary Pack (FREE)
This download enables you to add an additional Mexican commentary pack for FIFA 09, featuring Mexican commentators Perro Bermúdez and Ricardo Pelaez.
File size: 386 MB

FIFA 09 Polish Commentary Pack (FREE)
This download enables you to add an additional Polish commentary pack for FIFA 09, featuring Polish commentators Wlodzimierz Szaranowicz and Dariusz Szpakowski.
File size: 779 MB

FIFA 09 Portuguese Commentary Pack (FREE)
This download enables you to add an additional Portuguese commentary pack for FIFA 09, featuring Portuguese commentators David Carvalho and Hélder Conduto.
File size: 544 MB

FIFA 09 Russian Commentary Pack (FREE)
This download enables you to add an additional Russian commentary pack for FIFA 09, featuring Russian commentators Yuri Rozanov and Vasily Solojov.
File size: 890 MB

FIFA 09 Spanish Commentary Pack (FREE)
This download enables you to add an additional Spanish commentary pack for FIFA 09, featuring Spanish commentators Paco González and Manolo Lama.
File size: 530 MB

FIFA 09 Swedish Commentary Pack (FREE)
This download enables you to add an additional Swedish commentary pack for FIFA 09, featuring Swedish commentators Glenn Hysén and Henrik Strömblad.
File size: 423 MB

Need for Speed: Undercover Aftermarket Body Kit Package ($2.00)
File size: 100 KB

Need for Speed: Undercover Aftermarket Hood, Spoilders and Exhaust Package ($2.00)
File size: 100 KB

Need for Speed: Undercover Aftermarket Wheels Package ($2.00)
File size: 100 KB

Need for Speed: Undercover Collector’s Edition Upgrade ($10.00)
File size: 100 KB

Need for Speed: Undercover Exotic Car Bundle ($7.50)
File size: 100 KB

Need for Speed: Undercover Muscle Car Bundle ($5.00)
File size: 100 KB

Need for Speed: Undercover Paint and Vinyls Package ($2.00)
File size: 100 KB

Need for Speed: Undercover Pro Handling Bundle ($2.75)
File size: 100 KB

Need for Speed: Undercover Pro Power Bundle ($3.75)
File size: 100 KB

Need for Speed: Undercover Race Handling Bundle ($2.25)
File size: 100 KB

Need for Speed: Undercover Race Power Bundle ($3.00)
File size: 100 KB

Need for Speed: Undercover Street Handling Bundle ($1.75)
File size: 100 KB

Need for Speed: Undercover Street Power Bundle ($2.25)
File size: 100 KB

Need for Speed: Undercover Tuner Car Bundle ($5.00)
File size: 100 KB

Need for Speed: Undercover Ultimate Performance Bundle ($10.00)
File size: 100 KB

Need for Speed: Undercover Ultimate Visual Bundle ($5.00)
File size: 100 KB

Sid Meier’s Civilization Revolution Multiplayer Map Pack 1: Elemental (free)
Can you and your friends brave the elements in this multiplayer map pack for Sid Meier’s Civilization Revolution? Includes Fiery Axis, Starfish, Oasis World, and Invasion USA.
File size: 43 MB

Sid Meier’s Civilization Revolution Multiplayer Map Pack 2: Terrestrial ($1.25)
Conquer real world locales in the Terrestrial MP Map Pack. Includes South Pacific, the UK, Earth, and Equal Opportunity.
File size: 43 MB

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed Costume Pack 1 ($4.99)
Download 7 brand new characters such as Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker, Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi, Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker, Imperial Commando, Darth Sion, Ki-Adi-Mundi and Kit Fisto. Also you’ll get 3 all new Secret Apprentice costumes including Hooded Combat Gear, General Starkiller and Sith Assassin.
File size: 243 MB

Guitar Hero World Tour
For all song credits please visit www.guitarhero.com.

• Hendrix Track Pack ($5.49) - Downloadable Track Pack for Guitar Hero World Tour featuring “Fire (Live from Woodstock)”, “If 6 Was 9″, and “Little Wing” by Jimi Hendrix.
• “Horse to Water” - R.E.M. ($1.99)
• “Man-Sized Wreath” - R.E.M. ($1.99)
• “Supernatural Superserious” - R.E.M. ($1.99)
• R.E.M. Track Pack ($5.49) - Downloadable Track Pack for Guitar Hero World Tour featuring “Man-sized Wreath”, “Supernatural Superserious”, and “Horse to Water” by REM. Please Note: Many songs are available both as singles and as a part of a Track Pack, so please carefully consider your purchases before downloading.

File sizes: 26 MB - 35 MB (singles), 87 MB - 113 MB (track packs)

Rock Band
Build your Rock Band library by purchasing these song game tracks. For song credits, visit www.RockBand.com.

• “Doll” - Foo Fighters ($1.99)
• “Enough Space” - Foo Fighters ($1.99)
• “February Stars” - Foo Fighters ($1.99)
• “Hey, Johnny Park!” - Foo Fighters ($1.99)
• “Monkey Wrench” - Foo Fighetrs ($1.99)
• “My Hero” - Foo Fighters ($1.99)
• “My Poor Brain” - Foo Fighters ($1.99)
• “New Way Home” - Foo Fighters ($1.99)
• “See You” - Foo Fighters ($1.99)
• “Up In My Arms” - Foo Fighters ($1.99)
• “Walking After You” - Foo Fighters ($1.99)
• “Wind Up” - Foo Fighters ($1.99)
• “The Colour and the Shape” Album - Foo Fighters ($19.99) - includes the above tracks.

File sizes: 9 MB - 40 MB (singles), 332 MB (track pack)

Game Videos (free)

Alpha Protocol Trailer
File sizes: 31 MB (HD)

Guitar Hero World Tour Zakk Wylde Vignette Network Trailer
File sizes: 49 MB (HD)

Soul Calibur IV Gameplay Preview Network Trailer
File sizes: 22 MB (SD), 80 MB (HD)

WWE Smackdown vs RAW 2009 Network Trailer
File sizes: 14 MB (SD), 76 MB (1080)

AST Play The Pros Cleveland
File sizes: 79 MB (HD), 130 MB (1080)

AST Orlando Pro Moment
File sizes: 52 MB (HD)

Movie and Blu-ray Disc Trailers (free)

Chronicles of Narnia Prince Caspian Blu-ray Disc Trailer
File sizes: 158 MB (1080)

Wall-E Blu-ray Disc
File sizes: 210 MB (1080)

BD-Live Educational Demo Blu-ray Disc Trailer
File sizes: 148 MB (1080)

PlayStation Store for PSP

Game Demo (free)

* Neverland Card Battles Demo (also downloadable via PS3 Store)

When we started our quest to find the Greatest Animal in the History of Video Games, we didn’t know where we’d end up.

But after nearly a year of nominations and voting by our readers and a select panel of judges — Capcom’s Morgan Gray, Gamasutra’s Leigh Alexander and I Can Has Cheezburger’s Tofuburger — we’ve finally got a winner.

We posted the final round of nominees last week. And according to our judge and readers, the award goes to…

Readers, you chose Epona, Link’s horse from “The Legend of Zelda,” who had 18% of the vote. A close second was Yoshi with 17%. In third place, was Sonic the Hedgehog with 11%.

As for the judges, there was no overlap! Read on to see what each judge chose. We’ve also posted the full readers’ results at the bottom. Do you agree with who was chosen as the winner? Either way, sorry — no re-counts! And thanks to our judges and everyone who voted!

***

Leigh Alexander, Gamasutra:

#3 - Yoshi - Ah, Yoshi. I punch you in the back of your head until you stick out your tongue, I scream at you fruitlessly when you run off into a pit at the slightest provocation, and when we’re looking like we’re not gonna make that jump, I sacrifice you without a second thought and you go down smiling. And you always come back again, Yoshi. Way to take one for the team, forever.

#2 - Sonic the Hedgehog - He’s been degenerated, de-glorified, disgraced, but that’s not his fault. It could have been Sonic that won the mascot wars; he could have saved the Dreamcast, he could have — well, it could have been really awesome, and for all those coulda-beens, Sonic, I salute you.

#1 -  Chocobos - Sorry. Being a little “Final Fantasy” nerd is part of what got me into video games in the first place, and the tuft-headed little dudes are the only video game creature I’m willing to buy plushies of — repeatedly — so that counts for something.

***

Morgan Gray, Capcom:

#3 - Sam from “Sam & Max” - Ok, my favorite dog detective will be receiving the bronze medal. He’s got a cool hat, a big gun, a love of treats, and is obviously the brains behind the dynamic duo which is Sam & Max. I can never get enough of his speeches! Also, let’s face it,:Max may be crazy, but Sam is not the dog to piss off because when he gets pissed, things get epic.

#2 - Amaterasu from “Okami” - Silver: This wolf is amazing. I first saw “Okami” several years ago while walking around E3. I stood transfixed for about 30 minutes just watching this game. Who doesn’t want to go around removing demonic blight, spawn flowers and springtime while making friends with woodland creatures and using a paintbrush to alter reality? Oh yeah — bonus — you’re a freaking god in wolf form!?!? “Okami” was huge; I’m still not done with it yet, and I have over 70 hours logged into it (I must find EVERYTHING!). Long live Ammy!

#1 - Agro from “Shadow of the Colossus” - Gold: Everyone says it. “Shadow” was amazing, but do they give Agro enough props? He was your sole buddy in a vast, barren and silent landscape. I could sit there just calling for him for hours. I really formed a bond with this guy. Let’s face it, we all knew we were heading down a dark path after a while, but did Agro ever do anything but help us on our quest? Nope, he kept his mouth shut and soldiered on with us. Sometimes at night, I can still hear his hooves…

***

Tofuburger, I Can Has Cheezburger:

#3 - The “Duck Hunt” Dog - Find anyone who’s ever played “Duck Hunt” and you’ll hear stories about how, brought to anger of epic proportions, televisions were broken, NES systems and their controllers were smashed, and kids were grounded for yelling profanities and breaking expensive Christmas presents. The culprit? That dog. He’s supposed to be man’s best friend. He’s supposed to be your bird dog, there to retrieve your successful kill. But when you fail? He laughs at you menacingly. Do a Google search for Duck Hunt and you’ll find a variety of flash games all including shooting that dog as he taunts you with his laugh. Even 24 years after his introduction, his mere mention can inspire long-winded tirades of vitriol and hatred from grown men. The only thing good to ever have come from that dog are the Duck Hunt Remixes.

#2 - Epona from “The Legend of Zelda” - Every fantastic hero’s story involves horses. Atreyu had Artax, Colwyn had the Fire Mares, and Wander had Agro. Link has Epona. The thing that makes Epona stand out is her companionship with Link and her character development through three titles. She not only becomes part of the plot every time she needs rescued, but is also Link’s faithful companion. What adolescent boy doesn’t hold fond memories of the great steed that accompanies him through multiple adventures where he saves himself, saves the world, and hooks up with the princess at the end?

#1 - Donkey Kong - Donkey Kong is one of most recognizable animals in gaming and should be considered the Godfather of recurring game characters. If Donkey Kong hadn’t done a superb job of kidnapping The Lady and thwarting Jumpman’s efforts to save her, Shigeru Miyamoto may have never reintroduced the mustached, suspender-wearing carpenter that brought the NES to living rooms across the nation. Then, unwilling to fade into history, over the past 27 years he and his progeny have done cameos, co-starred and starred in dozens of games throughout the years. And to top it all off, DK resides on the sparsely populated list of villains who, seeking redemption, have re-aligned themselves with the heroes. For that Donkey Kong deserves the honor of being named the greatest animal in the history of video games.

***

Readers’ Results:

Continue reading Nega-Review: Gears of War 2

Nega-Review: Gears of War 2 originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 10 Nov 2008 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

I must confess: until now, I have only had a passing interest in Killzone 2. The immense hype for the title, along with Guerrilla’s admissions of touching up their game’s screenshots -- twice -- has made me extremely suspicious, and the apparent lack of any palpable story screams “just another good-looking gray/brown FPS.” However, the “Helghan” trailer above finally provides me with a reason to give a damn.

In addition to all the graphically-intensive fighting on display, we’re finally given some semblance of a story -- and unless I’m reading into it too much, it sounds a lot like subtle political commentary on the Iraq War. I was reminded of Anthony’s brilliant article from last year regarding Call of Duty 4; I highly recommend checking it out. The voice-over talks about how the army’s commanding officers told the foot soldiers that their superior weaponry would quickly blow away an already-demoralized enemy, one who could only put up “moderate to low resistance.” Sound familiar? Remember Operation: Shock and Awe? How about the woefully premature “Mission Accomplished” banner?

Well, “someone forgot to tell the Helghast.” The trailer also features some inspiring oration from a man that I assume is the Helghan leader, Scolar Visari. He was voiced by Brian Cox in the original game, but I can’t quite tell if Cox is reprising his role this time around, or if Guerrilla has merely hired someone who sounds a lot like him. Either way, Killzone 2 is now officially on my radar -- it looks like Resident Evil 5 is going to have some tough competition for shooter sales next February. Head over to the game’s official Web site for more.

As an aside, Guerrilla is currently running a closed beta for Killzone 2, and I’m in on it. I can’t say anything, though; they’re super cereal about confidentiality. So for now, I’ll just hold it over you folks.

I must confess: until now, I have only had a passing interest in Killzone 2. The immense hype for the title, along with Guerrilla’s admissions of touching up their game’s screenshots -- twice -- has made me extremely suspicious, and the apparent lack of any palpable story screams “just another good-looking gray/brown FPS.” However, the “Helghan” trailer above finally provides me with a reason to give a damn.

In addition to all the graphically-intensive fighting on display, we’re finally given some semblance of a story -- and unless I’m reading into it too much, it sounds a lot like subtle political commentary on the Iraq War. I was reminded of Anthony’s brilliant article from last year regarding Call of Duty 4; I highly recommend checking it out. The voice-over talks about how the army’s commanding officers told the foot soldiers that their superior weaponry would quickly blow away an already-demoralized enemy, one who could only put up “moderate to low resistance.” Sound familiar? Remember Operation: Shock and Awe? How about the woefully premature “Mission Accomplished” banner?

Well, “someone forgot to tell the Helghast.” The trailer also features some inspiring oration from a man that I assume is the Helghan leader, Scolar Visari. He was voiced by Brian Cox in the original game, but I can’t quite tell if Cox is reprising his role this time around, or if Guerrilla has merely hired someone who sounds a lot like him. Either way, Killzone 2 is now officially on my radar -- it looks like Resident Evil 5 is going to have some tough competition for shooter sales next February. Head over to the game’s official Web site for more.

As an aside, Guerrilla is currently running a closed beta for Killzone 2, and I’m in on it. I can’t say anything, though; they’re super cereal about confidentiality. So for now, I’ll just hold it over you folks.

I must confess: until now, I have only had a passing interest in Killzone 2. The immense hype for the title, along with Guerrilla’s admissions of touching up their game’s screenshots -- twice -- has made me extremely suspicious, and the apparent lack of any palpable story screams “just another good-looking gray/brown FPS.” However, the “Helghan” trailer above finally provides me with a reason to give a damn.

In addition to all the graphically-intensive fighting on display, we’re finally given some semblance of a story -- and unless I’m reading into it too much, it sounds a lot like subtle political commentary on the Iraq War. I was reminded of Anthony’s brilliant article from last year regarding Call of Duty 4; I highly recommend checking it out. The voice-over talks about how the army’s commanding officers told the foot soldiers that their superior weaponry would quickly blow away an already-demoralized enemy, one who could only put up “moderate to low resistance.” Sound familiar? Remember Operation: Shock and Awe? How about the woefully premature “Mission Accomplished” banner?

Well, “someone forgot to tell the Helghast.” The trailer also features some inspiring oration from a man that I assume is the Helghan leader, Scolar Visari. He was voiced by Brian Cox in the original game, but I can’t quite tell if Cox is reprising his role this time around, or if Guerrilla has merely hired someone who sounds a lot like him. Either way, Killzone 2 is now officially on my radar -- it looks like Resident Evil 5 is going to have some tough competition for shooter sales next February. Head over to the game’s official Web site for more.

As an aside, Guerrilla is currently running a closed beta for Killzone 2, and I’m in on it. I can’t say anything, though; they’re super cereal about confidentiality. So for now, I’ll just hold it over you folks.