@WhoKnew: FYI, I just got a $10 credit on amazon for Duke Nukem Forever even though the game was released on tuesday. I don't know if it's the amazon prime thing or just a first week of release thing but I thought you might be interested.

@Shinta: I would argue that recruiting centers in arcades were successful because that was a way to target people of a certain age, not that playing video games somehow make kids more interested in going to war.

@Lilikka: I would argue that there's no such thing as a topic that is funny to everyone. Specifically, jokes aren't funny to the people they're about, at least not at the time.

Thank you for writing this. If I hadn't read this I'm not sure I would have bought the game but now I definitely will. I hadn't read too much about the game so far but everything I had read mentioned that the game just wasn't funny. Now that you specifically say what you think isn't funny about it I see that the game…

I have to respectfully disagree that rape jokes normalize rape. That's like saying violent video games normalize murder or war. I suppose rape jokes could normalize rape if they're told to a 5 year old but the only people who would hear a rape joke and think that someone making a joke about it made it ok are the kind…

@acamas: Thanks for the imput. I'll probably start waiting for many games to drop in price like you say but I feel a bit guilty about it. I like to support the developers with release date purchases so they can continue to pitch new games effectively and be profitable but they're really making it difficult for me.

Thing is, they printed money with TFU one and two. TFU was their best selling game ever. It was a no-brainer to make a sequel.

I buy most of my games from amazon. I love the service and convenience and rarely do I find better deals. Because I buy so many things from amazon anyway, the $10-$20 off a future purchase deals they have on many games are a great deal for me especially because it's usually on a game I would have been happy to pay…

To be specific, the driving is clunky. It's pretty aweful actually. The shooting is ok. Passable. But if you're playing this game for the driving or the shooting you're playing the wrong rockstar game. The Eurogamer review called the game a mix of Ace Attorney, Heavy Rain, and GTA. That's about the best way to…

That's like pyramid head creepy

by my count she's at least 26

So what you're saying is that it's easier for kids to buy alcohol than an M-rated game. And yet my stupid state took video game enforcement to the supreme court. How fucked up is this country?

I think it's less about morality and more about the damage to their public image. Big companies don't want to give the media the opportunity to accuse them of selling porn games to kids.

Nice to see someone doing the logical thing. You should always start with the most advanced system you plan on releasing it for and then scale down. Everyone gets a good product that way. I think the real issue for PC gaming is that many companies decide they don't want to release for the PC in the first place.

A well written article that makes some good points. I certainly enjoy games that take religion seriously. That being said, I don't think the issue is really that video games don't take religion seriously, I think we rarely treat religion seriously in entertainment in general. Most movies and tv shows that touch on…

Ah, I was assuming that DA was considered a dumbed down game in the same catagory as ME rather than BG. Also, DA was released simultaneously for the PC, 360, and PS3. That's gonna make a big difference in sales. And maybe I was underestimating the market at 25k but torchlight had only sold 500k after nearly a year and…

Completely correct. People tend to complain about ME2 being dumbed down because the faster pace and streamlining is easily recognizable. It's just a way to complain about how, even though it's a great game, it's not the exact game they imagined in their heads and is therefore terrible.

I agree that they're trying to make RPG's more like FPS's but you're missing the point. These people want to make money. RPG's are expensive to make. Baldur's Gate had a dev team of 60 people back when the tools were relatively cheap. In the last 10+ years the game has sold over 2 million copies. Mass Effect had a dev…

Unfortunately, the marketing goons are correct. While the game wouldn't technically be unsellable, it wouldn't sell at nearly the level that this game will sell at and that ME2 sold at. As much as Bioware wants to make great RPG's, they also want lots of people to buy them. They're a huge company that commits huge…

@maythetechbewithyou: I have to disagree with you here, Zaeed was one of my favorite squadmates. I loved his stories. I'll still go back and listen to them everytime I play.