Very much this.

When it came time to begin work on Episode Three, however, nobody could come up with a unifying idea that possessed the sense of “wonderment, or opening, or expansion” that had come to characterize Half-Life internally.

I’ve been in contact with many creative folks over my years and talking with them, they say that pretty much there are times when you have to be happy with the thing you’ve created being ‘just alright’ when it comes on the heels of something that catches people’s attention more then usual. It didn’t help that they…

I think it became an issue of digging yourself deeper into a hole. They were ambitious, and instead of just making Episode 3 the same way they had with 1 and 2, they wanted the next game to feel special. But they couldn’t get it off the ground, and as time went on, the pressure to make up that time with something…

Half-Life 3 opens with the episodes being a dream in Gordon Freeman’s mind. From there it devolves into a series of micro-transactions that are used to progress through the entire game. Oh, did I forget to mention its mobile-only, too? 

Yeah. On one hand, with games, I respect putting a story on a back-seat in order to make a great game that’s fun to play... but when you are doing something episodic and start something, just f’ing finish it and save your attempt at something huge and groundbreaking for Half-Life 3.

So it sounds like they set themselves up for failure. Their goal was to make something groundbreaking like HL-1 and HL-2 when the goal really should have been to just finish up the stupid story arc. The "episode" moniker should have been enough to justify this to themselves. The previous episodes were just refinements…

Superhot rules.

I know the format limits these lists to 12 games, but I’m surprised there aren’t more high quality indie games included here. I’ve spent just as much time on AAA titles like DMC5 and Halo:MCC as I have with Hollow Knight, Ori and the Blind Forest, and other indie gems. Game Pass is also kind of the ideal way to…

As much as I’m hoping people put their feet to the fire somehow, I will point out something important about this: this is exactly how they did Q&A last year to my understanding and this isn’t specifically in response to potential HK backlash. They’re probably very glad they’ve been doing it this way, however, now more…

This is how it has been handled at Blizzcon for the last few years. You’ve submitted questions before hand which are edited for clarity or language, as not everyone who wants to ask speaks English as a first language. You’d then get in line for the Q&A and be handed your question back that has been edited. You can…

“...unless a Q&A goes particularly awry and turns into the year’s most viral meme.”

Really hoping Diablo 4 is good. I liked Diablo 3 from launch, and although they made it significantly better over time, I’d really prefer a smoother start this time around. Diablo 3 was, to me, really good and a big time sink, but it never hit that great level that D2 or D1 did. 

I’ve said it before in other 2K topics, but I’ll bear repeating myself as an annual 2K buyer (and thus, feeding the proverbial monster): Yes, the microtransactions are fucking gross. Yes, the casino stuff in particular in the online, ultimate, and career modes is super distasteful. And anyone who feels like not…

I think it’s sad that even though these games come out reliably, year after year, fans don’t seem to take any significant stand in skipping a year to protest the grotesque micro-transactions. But then again, as someone with literally 0 interest in sports games, I have no skin in this game. But that being said, if…

Montreal resident here, this is 100% illegal. With our laws you could get fined simply for holding a phone (while driving) even if you're not looking at it. So playing on a Switch is definitely a no-no.

This is not a true self-driving car, though. The Tesla “Autopilot” feature is nowhere even close to full-on whole-car autonomous driving systems being tested by Google, Uber, and others — and those more substantial systems have still had their fair share of accidents.

I agree, there’s almost certainly nothing dangerous about this. Self driving cars are driving around ever major city without anyone really knowing. Frankly, autopilot is probably a better driver than 90% of humans.

Tesla owner here. Autopilot is nearly perfect on highways, particularly long open stretches. It can maneuver around turns, cars and even complex road changes due to construction.

That’s $50 worth of Shark Cards.
Make of that what you will.