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Weren't these exact specs going through the console gaming news cycle some 2-3 months ago? I believe this is the OFA: http://www.giantbomb.com/artic...

But yes, this makes a lot of sense for Sony. It is not going to be technologically feasible to release a gaming system with at least 10x more GPU power than the original PS4 within the foreseeable future. Certainly not at a reasonable price point. It is feasible to do a 2x upgrade next year because the PS4 was somewhat underpowered to begin with. Then there could easily be another 2x upgrade sometime in the early 2020's.

(Yes, we are less than three and a half years away from the early 2020's. Sounds a little implausible, doesn't it?)

I think the PS4 series of consoles is likely to be Sony's final non-portable gaming system. One of Nvidia, Intel and AMD will probably be the company that pioneers the truly next generation of gaming consoles, which will require truly radical change in how GPU:s are made.

Art Bell's broadcasts in Prey were one of the highlights of the game!

How about you side with the victim? Or are you only doing that when they are women?

Only one party is a dirt bag, and it the GAWKER garbage click bait media. Fuck them and their SJW agenda.

So you are supporting the #Fappening? Or is it only wrong when it happen to women?

This probably is the first step down the road that leads to this.

There is another aspect to this. It proves that we in the US cannot be taught by experience, should have been obvious by the shipment of GMO corn that was refused by China but I figure they will sell it to the people in the US up to the point they figure out how to market cardboard at McDonalds.

This probably is the first step down the road that leads to this.

You mean, could it shit bricks?

If a simple bending unit can do it, I'm sure NASA can too.

MAD only worked because both sides of the conflict were rational and relatively sane. Iran has no such encumbrance.

Nope. They're sane enough. Turns out you can't stay on top of that game without being of a rational bent. Hell, even Mao Tse Tung of all people got really smart really fast as soon as he got nukes, and he was as inept and crazy as they come. His starving 40 million of his own people to death through sheer incompetence is still the world record, but even so he changed his tune when the realities of nuclear warfare sunk home.

The big draw of the OUYA console was its binary compatibility with Android, letting it use well-known tools such as Eclipse and Xamarin. Yet OUYA fizzled for some reason.

"For some reason"? Were you one of those blind fanbois? It's many issues were pointed out all over the place. Penny Arcade pointed out that it was just mostly hype and then all the Ouya fanbois across the Internet got butthurt. Acting as if the failure of Ouya was some freak accident that no one expected, is revisionist history.

I've got it! How about we put the computer in the keyboard since it has more room! More economical. Here's my prototype: http://static.giantbomb.com/up...

Of course, its audio quality compared to a CD is debatable [...]

No, it isn't debatable. Due to physical limitations of cutting a groove in the record surface, and interpreting using a needle during playback, vinyl recordings ("LP" or other form factors such as 7 inch 45's) are physically constrained, preventing the recording of some low-frequency sounds and effects. Such sounds and effects are/were featured in electronic music ("techno", "dance", etc.). This was the reason behind the RIAA equalization curve used to de-emphasize the bass frequencies, it allowed closer spacing of the groove (which lengthen play time, the major justification / selling point of the LP format). There are also pre- and post- echos of loud passages if preceded / followed by a very quiet section. Vinyl is an analog recording using techniques developed in the 1950s, and suffers from numerous limitations of the physical limitations of the medium, with no inherit noise reduction or error correction possible, so the vinyl format has absolutely no objective superiority in accurate sound reproduction.

There is one complicating factor, which is not inherit in the vinyl format itself. Modern ("revival") LPs do excel in that they often use a better quality final mix with a wider dynamic range, whereas final mixes for CDs and digital formats typically are highly or over- compressed (due to the auditory perception of "louder" will intuited as "better", the basis of the "Loudness Wars") before being transferred for commercial duplication.

Some well mastered (retain a full dynamic range between quiet and loud passages) CDs and digital recordings do exist, but sadly too many studios still over-compress the recordings.

There was the comical case of Guitar Hero, where digital recordings shipped with the game were of better (dynamic range) quality than were available as CDs or discrete available for purchase digital format (MP3, AAC, etc.).

I'm married to a perfect woman

Me too. Here's a picture of me and the little lady on our wedding night:

http://static.giantbomb.com/up...

She never complains that my sweet gaming rig is too loud.

From the article: "In both cases, the developers suggest the best strategy is to make games they're passionate about." But in order to make games you're passionate about, sometimes you have to "pay your dues" to the incumbents by developing games you're not passionate about in order to gain access to platforms suitable for games you're passionate about.

Startup studios not staffed by long-time veterans of the mainstream video game industry have been limited in what platforms they can code for: either PC (Windows, OS X, GNU/Linux) or touch-driven mobile devices (iOS and Android). And the limits of these platforms in turn limit the choice of genre. PC isn't the best for "party" style games designed around sharing the screen with IRL friends because few people think to put a PC in the living room. And without directional controls and trigger buttons usable by an application, touch-driven mobile devices severely limit the controls that can be implemented: a platform game essentially has to be an endless runner like Canabalt or Temple Run instead of an exploration-oriented Metroidvania. I'm aware of exceptions, such as a home theater PC (hi Hairyfeet) or a mobile device with buttons (Xperia Play phones and JXD tablets), but I've been repeatedly told they're nowhere near popular enough to provide enough sales to sustain a studio.

But lately I've been told that PlayStation seems to be the best family of platforms to which a startup developer can port games in genres traditionally associated with consoles. Sony Computer Entertainment has been courting indie developers with recent steps to make the developer approval process closer to that of iOS, such as the Pub Fund for worthwhile timed-exclusive games and the Developer Program for PlayStation Suite. Or are people who play indie games also people who "nevar forget" about Sony's past (XCP, Other OS, George Hotz, etc.)?

Nukes also have an easier time leveling buildings than they do utterly decimating populations. The fireball generally is very small, the overpressure that will kill you is a bit bigger, but theres a wide zone of "buildings become unsound" where people suffer much lesser effects.

It's already been said, but it bears repeating. If you want to kill people instead of things you go for radiological warfare, i.e. you rely on fallout, not blast overpressure. (Incidentally, since the military is almost always concerned with other types of targets, they're typically exclusively concerned with blast overpressure, at the exclusion of all other types of effects).

Compare the exercise retold by Stuart Slade where it only took a small portion of the US arsenal to kill as near as all of the Chineese as it wouldn't matter.

Now, that that wouldn't happen, even in a large scale exchange is another matter. Nuclear weapons are far too valuable to use for such a purpose (usually), and there are lots of other strategies that would be tried before a counter population strike.

It is not my job to be a brood mare. And I don't want my role in society to be marginalized because my primary role is being a brood mare. (Also, even without modern technology, we can probably keep infant mortality down far below historical norms just with modern knowledge - even low tech sterile conditions do a lot.) Having control over when to have children broadly gives women control of their lives.

That of course depends on the actual scenario, but what you consider your job to be will probably be a luxury that society can ill afford. After the dust has settled, we'll be in a situation where we'll be fighting tooth and nail to avoid complete population collapse. We'll need scores of young people to work us out of that hole, and if you're of child bearing age, you'll bear those children. It's after all a unique skill that very few people can be put to do. (I'd for example be pretty crap at it, as I fall for the simplest and most obvious of reasons, I'm a guy.)

That's not to say that you'll be forced at gun (or club) point, but rather that society will bring down quite a bit of weight on you to "make the right decision". So for example, expect contraception to be made illegal rather than made unavailable, and anybody that interferes with a pregnancy to hang from the nearest tree. (Of course, it'd be the smart thing to do anyway, as we'll spend quite a bit of resources on the pregnant and mothers of young, so "Why would she want to do that anyway?")

After a generation or two (if we make it that far) that'll be the norm, standard, and "the way it always was", like Rob Slade puts it; "Don't go out dear, it's not good for the baby." will very rapidly morph into "Don't go out". And remember this is a good thing. It's what we want to happen, because the alternative is much, much worse.

Now, again, to say exactly how things will play out is difficult, because it depends on the scenario. If the scenario is nuclear Armageddon many bright people spent careers thinking about the consequences, and some of this information is now in the open (see e.g. Rob Slades short introduction: "Nuclear warfare 101-103" http://www.giantbomb.com/fallo... , esp. 103 deals with the aftermath. Another good book about the possible aftermath of an EMP strike is "One Second after." It is based on the US Govt. EMP commission report (and has a wikipedia page). It deals mainly with the immediate aftermath, so it doesn't really reach the "we need you to have kids"-part, but is still a somewhat realistic assessment of what society could be like. (It for example contains a long scene where refugees are triaged according to useful skill. If you're not a doctor or electrical power engineer, take a hike.)

But again. The takeaway is that what you consider your job to be will probably come so low down on the list of things to consider that it won't even make the first chapter. And that in a time when people will be far pressed to make it to the end of the first page.

But don't let that discourage you. My assigned role in such a scenario is realistically to die as quietly, and quickly as possible, so as to not use any resources best spent on the deserving. Preferably without putting any undue stress on them, mental or otherwise. I think a heroic but ultimately futile act to save the needing is my preferred way to go, but even that isn't my call. You get at least to have kids (with great loss of control of your life, but hey, nobody is going to be "in control" of much of anything), I don't get a life at all... (And if you're past the age where child bearing/rearing is a realistic occupation for you, I'll even let you lead me in the charge unto the breech. How's that for an offer you'd probably do best not to refuse?

So on a more upbeat note, lets agree that civilisation is a good thing and make our damnedest to try and preserve it, rather than go stocking up on soap just yet.

Here's the interview:

http://www.giantbomb.com/artic...

Here's the exact quote:

Rea: Can I get my Street Fighter without sexual harassment?

Bakhtanians: You can’t. You can’t because they’re one and the same thing. This is a community that’s, you know, 15 or 20 years old, and the sexual harassment is part of a culture, and if you remove that from the fighting game community, it’s not the fighting game community--it’s StarCraft. There’s nothing wrong with StarCraft if you enjoy it, and there’s nothing wrong with anything about eSports, but why would you want just one flavor of ice cream, you know? There’s eSports for people who like eSports, and there’s fighting games for people who like spicy food and like to have fun. There’s no reason to turn them into the same thing, you know?

It actually goes on for quite a while afterward about how it's okay to be sexist and if you don't want sexism, go play StarCraft, and that even trying to change it is ethically wrong and the same as telling basketball players to dribble a football or some damn thing.

And as for it being a pervasive attitude: I don't have a fucking survey and it's quite possible that nothing I say can ever convince you, but really, it just has to be a few people saying it and nobody shouting them down. This guy is obviously an extreme example. Even people who are openly misogynist, not even denying the "misogynist" title, often won't go this far.

Also, this:

in order to paint and entire community as somehow anti-women.

Is changing the subject. This guy was anti-woman, and yet instead of calling this guy an asshole, you first ask for proof that he exists, then imply that even if he exists he's now set the bar such that the only way the system can be sexist is if people are *at least as douchey as this guy*, and told the person who tried to call the asshole out to "shut the fuck up and piss off". In other words, you chose to side with "sexual harassment guy" instead of "sexual harassment guy is an asshole" guy. And that's pervasive, and that's the problem.

It's kind of like on a playground, when the bully beats up the nerdy kid for his lunch money, and he does it right in front of the teachers' eyes and they do nothing at all to help, just tell the nerdy kid that he shouldn't be so sensitive, the bully is just one person in the school, and he should really quit whining unless he can prove that the school as a whole has a big bullying problem.

Correction:

http://www.giantbomb.com/wizardry-proving-grounds-of-the-mad-overlord/3030-9180/releases/

It appears that Wizardry was not released for Japanese platforms until 1985, when it was released in Japan for the NEC PC-8801 and the NEC PC-9801.

Of course, this is after The Black Onyx was released for the NEC PC-8801 in 1984.

check practically every gaming website out there that interviews a sony guy about the feature:

http://www.giantbomb.com/podcasts/a-chat-with-shuhei-yoshida/1600-670/

http://kotaku.com/the-ps4-might-be-a-decent-media-server-after-all-1463440125

Don't get me wrong, I'd like to see viable competition to Steam (monopolies are not good for consumers in the long run) - but you're missing the whole point. Steam's position has never been stronger.

It doesn't matter to Valve that you can pick up old and low-budget games for cheaper elsewhere most of them time. There have been intermittent cases of GoG being cheaper than Steam on certain for a couple of years now. But it's irrelevant. Why?

First, these titles are a pretty small part of Steam's market. Steam is primarily about the higher end commercial market. Sure, the classic games are one of its income streams, but most people on there are either playing full-sized commercial games or monetised free to play titles like DoTA2. And in the former market in particular, Steam remains well ahead of the competition. Origin's pricing is better than it used to be on many titles, but it still struggles to match Steam on either variety or price point.

Second, Steam has a very, very aggressive and very potent flash sales model. Let's say Indie Game X is $9.99 on Steam and $8.99 on GoG or another competitor. Now, you could save a dollar by going for the GoG version. Or, if you're not desperate for the title, you could wait. Because come the summer sale, the Christmas sale or just one of the regular midweek, weekend or daily sales, you might be able to get that game off Steam for just $2.99.

Third, Steam is a lot more than just a storefront. It's also a fairly comprehensive suite of back-end functions, on a par with those offered by Xbox Live or the Playstation Network. Given a choice between a DRM-free version of a game and a Steam DRMed version, you'd expect most people to go for the former, right?

Wrong.

If you read articles like this you can see pretty clearly that Steam copies of games are more sought-after than DRM free versions. People actually value the friends-list, messaging and other back-end services that go with Steam and they value them much more than they value concepts like the freedom to do what they want with software they've bought. That may be an unpopular sentiment on slashdot, but it is the way things are moving out there in the market.

Whether or not you agree with Steam's business practices, we are a long way from even starting to see signs of its decline.

Yes, because we certainly don't have games targeting adolescent male power fantasies anymore.

That's totally the underrepresented demographic here.

Good, good. Nothing like the poutrage from an Obamabot in denail that he's a right winger, or in your case, an elitist shitbag in denial of the fact that he's an elitist shitbag.

Go Galt on that cake, Slick.

Cue the Nelson "Ha-Ha" picture here...

As a CISSP with 25+ years in the IT industry, I can wholeheartedly advise that anyone who stores their mission-critical data in anyone's "cloud" without local backup copies that are positively under your control, and a "Plan B" ready to access that backup data... then that person is a complete retard (and you should pronounce that as "REE-tard" for the proper level of dramatic emphasis).

Oh, and BTW... if you think your confidential data is secure from anyone else's eye while "encrypted in the cloud", you're doubly retarded.

Just like there are none on the PS3 at 7. Unless you care to give an example?

Most sports games support 7 players.

Here's an incomplete list:

http://www.giantbomb.com/profile/furtivespy/lists/7-player-offline-games/82340

And if you don't have enough Sixaxis/DS3's you can use USB controllers to supplement them. Heck plugin in DS2's into USB dongles meant to use them on PC's and plug them into the PS3, they work.

That said, I prefer online multiplayer.

I don't play my Wii/360/ps2 (never went for the PS3 DRM, won't likely go for the XBO or PS4 either).

What PS3 game DRM are you referring to. PS3 games are actually less restricted than PS2 games, they have no region locks for example.

It's not like sequential franchises are a new thing, see NBA Live 95-98 and NHL 94-98 on the SNES. Or if you really want to get anal about it see the 1985 Gauntlet franchise

Every generation of gamers sees itself as "the last generation before everyone switches over to _____" or "the last generation before the industry dies".

As every generation ages farther from the time period when they enjoyed a specific genera of entertainment, they begin to grow nostalgic for that era and despise the modern era. This is not a scientific law, but a generalist rule. It does not apply to everyone, but it applies to most people across all cultures and mediums. Every time you hear someone say "Today's music is crap", "Movies aren't as interesting as they used to be", or "CoD sucks" you are hearing someone fit into this rule.

It probably depends on what you are into. Also, keep in mind some of why I enjoy these may have to do with me not having enough time to play games myself, but having time to watch an LP.

• Giant Bomb's Quick Look of "Digital Combat Simulator: A-10C Warthog"
• Beagle Rush's XCOM: Ironman Impossible Series
• Videos by CHKilroy such as this one or this one.
• Videos by NerdCubed such as this one or this one.
• The WTF Is... series by Total Biscuit

(Context: Why pay $500 for the next Xbox when you can use a gaming PC instead? Controller-friendly games.)

Yes, we've already dealt with that. PC is just as good for that as any console.

How would a platformer like Mega Man series work with a keyboard and mouse?

Never played Mega Man specifically, but I've played plenty of other platforms with keyboard and mouse, and they all worked just as well, or better. Which of course didn't matter, because if I'd preferred to play them with a gamepad, I have a good Logitech USB gamepad that I prefer to anything for any current console.

Or a racing game?

Works great on a keyboard, and - for me at least - better than with a gamepad. Not as well as with a wheel and pedals, but that's not what the discussion is about.

Better yet, how would cooperative platformers such as Contra or Chip & Dale Rescue Rangers or The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon work?

These days, exactly the same as on any console. Hook your PC up to your TV, plug in a couple controllers and pick your seat of choice. Or if you need some extended range to get to the sofa, get a couple wireless controllers. http://www.microsoft.com/hardware/en-us/p/xbox-360-wireless-controller-for-windows

As I see it, each player would have to buy a separate PC and a separate copy.

Again, that's entirely on the developer and/or publisher. More and more console games are going that way too, now that they all have internet capability.

I'd love for you to show me a list of worthwhile controller-friendly PC exclusives. If you don't want to do so on Slashdot, you could always do so here [pineight.com].

Just because I can make such a list doesn't mean it's worth my time to do so. If you think I'm trying to sell you on the PC gaming concept, I'm not. I couldn't care less what you game on. I'm just pointing out the obvious flaws in your arguments. But I'll still be nice. If you actually care about gaming on a PC with a gamepad, here's a couple links to get you started.
http://www.giantbomb.com/xbox-360-controller-support-for-pc/3015-2465/
http://www.overclock.net/t/1030118/pc-gamepad-compatibility-list-update-3-20-2013

If anyone didn't spot the reference: http://www.giantbomb.com/shodan/3005-423/ Shodan was the baddy AI from System Shock, classic 90s FPS.

How about the regenerating health? Or the instant respawn?

Not only did Halo not invent regenerating health, but they don't actually have regenerating health. The instant respawn is conditional and limited, which is why it is not twinkie. You can only respawn not near enemies. You don't respawn instantly in multi. In single you respawn at the last checkpoint. None of this is nerfy.

Stuart Slade posts have been floating around. They give a pretty comprehensive idea of the suck of nuclear war.

http://www.giantbomb.com/fallout-3/61-20504/nuclear-warfare-101-wall-of-text-alert/35-2999/

Also explains how there's overkill and there's overkill. ABM's reduced the UK's SLBM deterrent to one city, Moscow. This changes the common assumption of one warhead, one city, and an American boomer with 100-something MIRV'd warheads accounts for 100-something targets.

Please, consider it strongly. We implore you.

http://www.whkeith.com/bolo-art.html
http://www.whkeith.com/graphics/bolo-mark-xxiv.jpg

You know you do.

We get this:

http://www.johnny-five.com/layout/newlogo.jpg

But we want this:

http://www.pinktentacle.com/images/terminator_2_large.jpg

or even this!

http://media.giantbomb.com/uploads/0/5493/266530-battletech.jpg

Sigh ...

There's another video interview with John Carmack about the headset over at giantbomb.com, and doesn't have some of the terrible background noise: http://www.giantbomb.com/e3-2012-john-carmack-interview/17-6164/

He really goes into detail about why he was disappointed with previous headsets, and how he went about making his own and optimizing refresh rates and such.

I know that I'm the bad guy here, but:
http://www.gamerlaw.co.uk/2011/08/ea-origins-eula-is-non-story.html

Or, if you'd rather I link to the same site you're using:
http://www.giantbomb.com/electronic-arts/65-1/a-look-at-the-eaorigin-privacy-issue/35-511847/

Origin does nothing that Steam doesn't do, it's just a bit more convoluted to figure that out since you have to actually look at the privacy policy that the EULA references.

Just your friendly neighborhood reminder that Origin tracks your hardware, installed applications, software usage habits and more with no way to opt-out, unlike Steam. This is the new games industry.

Too late, it's already been demystified http://media.giantbomb.com/uploads/0/9857/362193-mein_chair.jpg

Just so you know, Microsoft is following in their footsteps.

You're not stuck on a rail when you're playing multiplayer - you have an essentially infinite variety of possibilities.

RTSes are just as "stuck on a rail" in their single player games, probably even more so. Looking at this list of games with multiple endings there are a lot more FPSes than strategy games with multiple possible endings.

I enjoyed the original Civilisation. Turn based strategy games are a lot more fun to me than RTSes as they tend to have more variety and culture. I actually enjoyed the first Settlers game too for a similar reason, despite it basically being an RTS when you get down to it. Any RTS I've tried since has had very simple resource models combined with the incredibly boring "click to go here or attack here" style of fighting.. I don't know, I just don't enjoy them at all. I kind of liked how Brutal Legend tried to do things - letting you command an army while also letting you take part in the battle yourself. Likewise I enjoyed Operation Flashpoint where you start off as a grunt, then work your way up to commander of a large squad. But I don't like just sitting on the side lines and commanding mindless little morons who can't improvise.

1995 called, they want their product back: http://www.giantbomb.com/sega-vr/59-17/

In Silent Hill 2, the main character wanders through a forest into the town of Silent Hill. Once in Silent Hill, if you enter a certain building, you're greeted with the following:

http://media.giantbomb.com/uploads/0/56/258639-sh2_neelybar_hole_super.jpg

If you happen across a 404 on Battle.Net's wow forums, you're greeted with the following:

http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/d

Speaking of Prey, you see the E3 interview footage for Prey 2? Has absolutely NOTHING to do with the first game in any way shape of form, yet they call it Prey 2....

http://www.giantbomb.com/e3-2011-prey-2-interview/17-4347/

Duke Nukem 3D could barley run on a saturn

Barely is the wrong word: to port the Build engine wasn't feasible, and it was never done. Instead, Duke Nukem 3D for the Saturn was rebuilt from scratch using Lobotomy's SlaveDriver -- in fact a more advanced engine, capable of actual 3D levels.

Also, if you think a Saturn is underpowered for this game... ahem.

What is it with you PC snobs anyway? When a PC exclusive title comes out, you don't see scores of console gamers spamming the game's message boards complaining that it isn't coming to consoles

You mean comments like "I don't think my computer could run this. Here's hoping for a console version." and "Man, this looks pretty awesome. I hope it comes out on consoles." which I just pulled out from a thread under a video of The Witcher 2 which just came out?

I could probably mine places like Gametrailers, G4 and IGN for more of that, but I think I've proven my point.

The rest of your 'analysis' if wrong also, but that's another story.

I played this one a fair bit: http://www.giantbomb.com/das-boot-german-u-boat-simulation/61-19965/

It came out in 1990.

"The DRM does not stop piracy," he said, "it just punishes the people who have actually paid for the game. It's completely useless."

Agreed. So that must be why Just Cause 2 doesn't use any DRM.

Oh, wait, it does. And it punishes people who have actually paid for the game.

So at least his customers agree with that statement.

That being said, Just Cause 2 is a lot of fun. Unfortunately, the Square Enix taint is already there, and you get half a game out of the box with the rest being released as an endless stream of DLC.

And now that they're published by Square Enix, I wonder how long until we hear about Just Cause 2 2?

At least Square Enix has a fairly simple form of DRM that they employ. The just make games no one in their right mind plays.

...who happened to work also on ReiserFS (the killer filesystem).

I see what you did there.

GiantBomb did an all-day live stream with Kinect on Thursday in which they demoed every launch title. You can see the archived versions here, on the Quick Looks tab.

Don't forget the Giant Bombcast. One of the best out there.

"We do not accept any gifts--such as video iPods, World Series tickets, cash (in the form of contest prizes)...all of which were actually offered to us at one point. But we are allowed to keep cheap, promotional items, so you'll see game posters or XXXXXXXL T-shirts around our offices. We also keep the games that the companies send us, but EGM's rule is to put one away for the office library copy, and the rest get evenly distributed to staffers who will actually play them (absolutely no trading them in or eBaying them for profit or gain of any sort)."

The rules are different at different outlets but you'll find most try to think about this subject and let their audience know how it affects or doesn't affect them. Giant Bomb are headed up by people who left after a related incident at their previous employer. One of the founders fought to defend their review against a publisher and editor who wanted them to give it a more glowing review, and their previous job was terminated for doing so, certain people quit in disgust and joined together to form a new site.

I remember buying Ikari Warriors for the PC, way back in the day. The box had killer screenshots... the game looked exactly like the arcade game!

I loaded it up, and was met with horrific 4-color (white/black/cyan/magenta) graphics.

http://www.giantbomb.com/ikari-warriors/61-1619/all-images/52-164216/1029683900_00/51-803378/

When I looked more closely at the box, it had small print that said something like "Arcade-version images shown. PC images may be different", or something to that effect.

I was pissed. :(

Not to mention all the adventure games where the game generates some sort of narrative based on player-triggered events. I recently encountered these in Culpa Innata's diary and the new Monkey Island series's save game descriptions, but similar auto-generated "stories" have been in games for a long time.

And don't forget Dwarf Fortress; a rather audacious attempt to procedurally generate entire fantasy worlds complete with lore based in part on your actions. I can't do it justice with a few sentences, so here's someone else's description of the feature:

Legends mode

Legends mode does not fit the criteria of a traditional game; indeed, you don't control anything in it at all. Instead, Legends mode serves as a log of sorts for the entire history of the world you generated, from year 1 to when it stopped generating. In it you can read up on various historical figures (great warriors, kings, or even common folk) as well as read an event log describing various wars, nation expansion, and megabeast (dragons, giants, etc.) activity. You can also view historical maps and watch as civilizations expand as cities are created and destroyed.

Though seen as boring to some, many feel the entire purpose and intent of Dwarf Fortress is to create an generated world full of interesting stories and historicial figures. Legends mode allows you to keep track of all, and serves as link between both Fortress and Adventurer mode. For instance, you may lose your fortress to a certain goblin warlord. By using Legends mode you'd be able to look up the warlord, find out his lineage, how many wars he had been in, and where he currently rules from, and from there you can take an adventurer to kill him out of revenge.