I think they've already got it worked out.  Have you not played Skyrim?

Yeah, bring back the fantasy.  The characters and costumes Tetsuya Nomura is designing is not fantasy anymore, becaue that's what all the kids in Japan look like in their free time.  It may take some courage to finally try something new, but in Japan a better example of true fantasy that doesn't look anything like real life is From Software's Souls series.  British accents and Friar Tuck bowl haircuts.  Now that's fantasy!

Too quickly?  Skyrim...PS3...eh?

Nice to see some knowledgeable people on here with decent answers to questions and posting thoughtful comments.  All I get on Attack of the Fanboy is, "cause PS3 sux muthafukkah!"   

The Game of Thrones game, for that reason alone we can say Atlus skipped a generation.

Also, did you play the Japanese version of Catherine?  I did.  It wasn't fun.

"Most developers agreed that the PS3 was a nightmare to program for."

I challenge this statement.  It often seems to be common knowledge or a common theme or excuse on which to blame all the problems of the first HD generation, especially PS3's.  But how?  And why?  I have yet to see any quotes from developers on how PS3 was more difficult to program for than Xbox 360.

I don't doubt its truthiness, just need some examples and evidence.

And poor Atlus.  They published From Software's Demon's Souls in North America, but passed on Dark Souls.  We can pretty much say they skipped a generation for that reason alone.

I always wondered how and why budgets got so much bigger.  Bethesda figured out that they didn't need famous and expensive actors, like Patrick Stewart, voicing all their characters.  They went a different direction with Skyrim, and seemingly used the same voice actor with the same accent for all characters, but the idea was sound.  Just hire talent, not names. BioWare got it right with Mass Effect.  Has anyone ever heard of Mark Meer?  Hardly, he was an improv comic and career voice actor.  And the voice of Commander Shepard!

We need AAA ideas, not AAA budgets!

I never played Dead Space or Dead Space 2, and I was barely aware there was a Dead Space 3 until now.  But I'm mad as hell that Dead Space 4 has been cancelled and I'm not going to take it anymore!  Actually I am. 

What I'm really mad about is developers like 38 Studios having to close their doors, somehow publishers are shifting all the risk to the studios and not facing the consequences for their ineptitude.  There's only a few big publishers left like EA and Activision, maybe there is some collusion or anti-trust violations going on.

I've always maintained that this last generation, PS3 and Xbox 360, was a practice generation, an introduction to the HD era.  Most of the Japanese developers saw the problems early on and didn't even join in and started making all their games for handhelds.  Hello, Atlus, and your Shin Megami Tensei games for 3DS and PSP!  The next generation will be better.  If everyone joins.

the DLC is worth it.  I mean Dawngaurd and Dragonborn, Hearthfire not so much.  The two main expansions really add a lot to the game, especially Dragonborn.  It's in an all new area that's really dense and packed together quite well, no more running long stretches clear across the acrtic tundra while only picking up a snowberry or two!  Dragonborn really feels like a DLC for players that have already plunked down 70-80 game hours into Skyrim.  There's even a quest for minimum level 38 characters, hunting the Deathbrand armor!  I enjoyed it. 

So fanboys are really just gamers who are too poor to own more than one system?  Nice!

They don't have a word for PC games over here, they don't even say PC over here.  They say PasuCon = personal computer.  Actually they do say PC sometimes, but it sounds more like Pee Shee.  And they never use Pee Shee and gemu in the same sentence.

Btw, do leppers play games?  Maybe with their elbows.

 I wish I could get Netflix on my PS3 or a smart TV.  Every time I try to access it from here in Japan it says - "This service is not currently available in your region."  I hope my building's "free internet" that was included in the monthly rent is not using a proxy IP form Saudi Arabia!

Just one day later and more games being revealed.  the Witcher 3 for PS4.  It's getting a little better.  There's tons of studios rumored to be working on games for PS4, but not a lot of details yet.  It's early.  E3 should be fun!

Enjoy isn't the word I would use, more like experience.  But an experience I don't regret and is worth talking about more than most traditional gaming experiences.  Gaming is evolving and maybe Quantic Dream and Tell Tale Games are splitting off and developing a new species.

That is a rather old and literal definition of a video game.  So, yeah, the Walking Dead Game does involve video, barely, and human interaction, but another commenter from another site before I cross-posted this blog asked if the Walking Dead Game was really a game.  A game is something you can practice and get better at, with the intention to win, whether it's just by acquiring better button pressing skills or by levelling up with a metaphorical meter of progress, otherwise known as experience points.  That doesn't apply to the Walking Dead Game.  It is all narrative and only narrative, there is no game.  You do get choices, but they only affect the overall morality of the protagonist, Lee Everett.  The Walking Dead Game doesn't have multiple endings.  You can never get better at killing zombies and making people like you better, that makes it even less interactive and more directed and linear that most 'interactivce narratives.'

Anyway, I don't want to get too literal with the definitions of video games.  So far in the dozens of comments across three sites, 1up.com, ign.com, and Pixlbit, it appears about 80% don't agree with my argument, and that's fine.  But it's just so different it can't really be compared with other GOTY candidates, especially the ones in the VGA nomination list.  Just trying to spark a little conversation.  It's nice to see video games evolving.

btw, I thought the Transformer movies were horrible.

no.  I have these conversations in my English lessons.  which are in English, of course.  Mr. Tsuchiya is high level.  Takaaki just stares at me sometimes.  He can only handle simple question and answers, so it's not really a conversation, just one word answers.

the past year has not been boring.

btw, how are you enjoying being a contributor for PixlBit?  You've dropped off the radar on the 1up site, but that was never a paying gig.  I gotta get myself into the action somehow as well, of course it might help if I actually write something new rather than crossposting from other sites.

car, yes.  house, no.

really?  too bad I changed it.