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Another thing I loved about Black Isle`s work on Fallout was the Fallout Bibles that Chris Avellone published for a while. Not only fun to read, but interesting to see how some of the ideas were developed, extra background info, etc. I doubt that many developers would do that kind of thing for fans, especially so long after the release of the games. (The first issue came out in March 2001)

"One more thing: the monks did not understand the knowledge in the books they preserved. They treated them like holy materials, to be read and copied and cared for, but not acted upon. Think of the book "A Canticle for Leibowitz" by Walter M. Miller, which was the inspiration for the abbey."

Ask and you shall receive:
Fallout Level Editor

Black Isle actually just released it a few months ago.

I'll second the notion of BG: Dark Alliance, and mention that a sequel is due out soon (no dates mentioned, though, sadly).

We loved BG:DA and disliked D&D:Heroes, although part of that may have been my SO's dislike of the xbox controller, and a big part of it was her extreme dislike for the lack of an overhead map.

Right now, Mario Kart: Double Dash (GCN) has been our two-player console game of choice...

Or even Black Isle. Planescape: Torment and Icewind Dale were not developed by Bioware. Look out for Lionheart in the future, that could give you what you are looking for.

For those interested, info on the editor can be found here at Black Isle's new Fallout page

Strategy:
Civilization III (and the Play the World expansion) is extremely good, and addictive. Better than cheesy poofs. The month will have passed before you notice if you get it ;-)

RPG:
Also, as another poster has written, Planescape Torment is good. D&D-based RPG, in a totally weird and twisted world. You can get it very cheap, but it's definitely a good game. The Baldur's Gate series is good too. Icewind Dale is not, it's got a plot more linear than a yard stick. Fallout and Fallout 2 are good too.

RTS:
Starcraft (with Broodwar) is good, even though it's old. Don't play it on Battle.net, the people there generally suck. Warcraft III is good too, but it seems quite a bit harder.

Puzzle:
Frozen Bubble is very addictive.

Sorry, but I don't know much about action games, because I hardly play them, but you might want to check out the Grand Theft Auto series. I kinda liked GTA.

Oh, I forgot. The team started on the game TORN, but that was cancelled. Now, most of the people who were involved are working on a game called Lionheart, it is nearing completion!

Homepage: http://lionheart.blackisle.com/

Fallout 2 Editor

But, I haven't looked for levels yet, or played with the app.

Been there, done that, and the game is even WORSE in multiplayer. Boooooring.

"everyone" says that MP is what NWN is about. They're wrong as far as I am concerened. I've played BG1+ToSC, BG2+ToB, IWD1+HoW and IWD2 with friends, and we've never had such fun with NWN. We tried it. Played into the second chapter.. and it was just so incredibly boring.

I don't like saying that, but it's the truth. I've player BG/IWD/PS:T for _months_ _effective_ time, but NWN had me tired after a few days. It's all so bland, bland, bland.

Though I'm actually hopeful that the coming expansions might but the Game back in NWN.

Personally, I think there's a market for a new Infinity Engine. The problem with IE is that it's hell to work with -- the scripting was written by someone with no prior experience (or a diabolical sadistic humor) -- and the use of classic 2d-animation for characters and items was a mistake from the beginning, and the way multiplayer got hacked in... anyway, over the years the engine got almost impossible to work with, as more and more cruft collected.

However, the concept works and will work in the future! It just needs to be done right for once. NWN ("Aurora engine") isn't the improved IE, it's something else completely. Some like it that way, but I and many with me still prefer the older kind of IE gameplay.

lionheart might be it, but somehow... I don't know, I doubt it.

I think the next great innovation may come out of from an independent developer, one who grew up with the IE games and wants to do it right. There was a fork in the road, and the sign said "3D, action and spiffy effects" in one direction, and "storytelling, interaction and AI" on the other. Bioware went one way, I want to explore the other.

Hehe, yeah, maybe that was going overboard. Didn't even notice. Guide for the uninitiated:

IWD = Icewind Dale
IWD2 = Icewind Dale 2
IE = Infinity Engine -- powers BG/BG:TotSC/PS:T/IWD/IWD:HoW/BG2/BG2:ToB and IWD2
NPC = Non-Player Character
NWN = Neverwinter Nights
DS = Dungeon Siege
TA = Total Annihilation
OP = Original Poster
TotSC = Tales of the Sword Coast. BG1 add-in adventures
PS:T = Planescape: Torment
ToB = Throne of Bhaal. BG2 expansion.
HoW = Heart of Winter. IWD add-in.

I saw Diablo in the store and it seemed fun, a nice 'entry' level CRPG, and most importantly it was available at a time when there really weren't many CRPGs out there. I picked it up and it was nice (although it still has one of my favorite "Murphy's Rules": You cant wear a piece of armor because your not strong enough, but you can lug it around in your backpack :). I picked up Hellfire soon after it came out and it was good (heavenly choir sounds).

Then Baldurs Gate apeared on the scene and Diablo was quickly forgotten. Baldur's Gate had a few problems, and only supported the AD&D system through about 6th level. Then they released Tales of the Sword Coast as an expansion pack. This included all 3rd and 4th level spells, still not complete but nicely implimented. Now they are getting ready to relase Baldur's Gate 2 which includes even more features, should be mindblowing graphically (the original came on 5 CDs and the Expansion was a 6th, mostly packed with hand painted backgrounds and beautifully animated monsters), and is projected to hit the stores in the later half of this year (not counting the other projects underway from Interplay's RPG division Black Isle). I think Diablo II might have been phenominal if it had come out when intended. Now I have a feeling it might seem lackluster next to its 'competition'.
Does this mean I won't buy it? Probably not, there are still too few serious CRPGs out there :)