OXM interviews Pete Hines

[Joervol]

So we don't really have much indication how well the current generation Blizzard can stay within the cannon and be creative...

Story wise, we will see when the first part of starcraft 2 gets released in a year or so (hopefully sooner). When they have announced that the 3 campaigns will be 3 separate games which you will have to buy individually, we will truly see if they still deserve our respect and that they really had to divide the game or if they are just milking the cow.
So if starcraft's story can reach new heights, then i'm fairly confident that they haven't abandon their previous stance on games and quality.

 

[lugaru]

Also, I'd love to see the Japanese take a whirl at a scifi, post apoc RPG, I think that they could do some cool stuff with the setting.

The things I consider particularly japanese is their skill for abstraction and stylizing... so odds are a japanese fallout game would have a variety of really abstract mechanics mixed into the combat, but often when the japanese sacrifice realism for fun they do a good job.

Still I KNOW you would get loot (caps, armor, ammo) by defeating dogs and rad scorpions... one of the big "american" rpg philosophies is that what you see is what you get... you loot the armor you see the dude wearing and you loot the weapon you see him carrying. In japanese games you will kill 100 dragons hoping one will drop a dragon sword, in an american game you've got 20 shortswords in your inventory because every guard you killed was wielding one.

 

[Brother None]

I loathe jRPGs, but one thing's for sure, they're a lot better at original settings than we are. Ignore those goddamn anime characters for a second, and compare this or this to any Dragon Age trailer.

I wish BioWare (or Bethesda) had even half of that sense of artistic design and originality in their pinky.

 

[UncannyGarlic]

Even with Leon Boyarsky at the helm?

Yep, I'm not convinced that he would have total creative control but who knows. Besides which, knowing Blizzard they wouldn't buy the Fallout IP but simply shamelessly rip it off and use it for their own purposes, as they have with all of their big hits (WarCraft, StarCraft, and Diablo).

I loathe jRPGs

You ever played a Japanese TRPG? While the stylized characters might still bother you, the gameplay is significantly better. Actually, JRPGs that use combat systems other than the classic TB JRPG one tend to be more fun in general.

 

[programmer.craig]

Maybe if Beth let CD PROJEKT take a stab... they made great use of the engine that Obsidian provided them with The Witcher and I would like to think that everything that was silly about the game came from the novels, but the art and system was nice.

The Witcher was by far the best game to come out in recent years using Bioware's awful game engine. They really worked some magic trying to make that turkey into something that didn't get in the way.

BUT... they still followed the Bioware recipe of making a completely linear and very short game in which the player is barely able to interact with the world around him at all, other than to click on hotspots and do whatever it is that he is told to do to advance the storyline.

When I play Bethesda games teh main problem is that I get bored with them, because other than the huge sandbox there really isn't much there. When I play Bioware (and Bioware inspired) games, I get depressed that I've invested as much time as I have up to that point in a game that is ultimately just a really LONG (and by Hollywood standards not very good) movie.

Bored is better than depressed. My bottom line.

 

[Crni Vuk]

funny how technology in RPGs evolved to a point where you could have (possibly) photo realistic graphics ... but story interaction and role playing elements became as interesting like a memory game with only a single picture to choose from ...

 

[Public]

When I play Bethesda games teh main problem is that I get bored with them

Because they hire monkeys to do the writing.

funny how technology in RPGs evolved to a point where you could have (possibly) photo realistic graphics ... but story interaction and role playing elements became as interesting like a memory game with only a single picture to choose from ...

Soon games will be movies, and movies will be games.

 

[The Dutch Ghost]

Soon games will be movies, and movies will be games.

Would that mean I could get to choose if a character in a movie is beaten up, shot, or killed?

I can see possibilities in that.

 

[Crni Vuk]

Soon games will be movies, and movies will be games.

Would that mean I could get to choose if a character in a movie is beaten up, shot, or killed?

I can see possibilities in that.

Funny that you mention that, but in Wikipedia it says in the German version about Deus Ex that there was a presentation in some theatre with Deus Ex as theme and the audience had at some point the choice to decide what the character should do. Kind of interesting concept for a theatre I think.

Though quite a lot of games today have only the value of interactive movies ... which is not a issue usualy, with some games. But when Role playing games or most of them start to feel and play like that ... well why calling it a "role playing game" then ... particularly those like Oblivion ...

 

[The Dutch Ghost]

Crni Vuk, under Role Playing these days most reporters and gamers understand 'stat building' elements.
Becoming more proficient at the use of certain weapons, spells or capable of wearing stronger armor while being able to take on more powerful enemies.

A lot more comes into play but now a choice is considered well enough if you decide to help someone or not.