And, as I've said before, the intention of Skyrim is to be interpretative and not innovative. Traditional, not generic (considering the negative connotations of "generic"). The concept here is to take a text and interpret the details of that text accordingly, creating a world with it's own unique moments of fidelity.

Yeah - I liked this article a whole lot (and really think that Kotaku would do well to keep this kind of content up), but I think "religion" needs to be replaced with "church" in the later half of the essay. This isn't so much a religion as an institution. (For instance, if the Christian Church is effectively the body…

I, too, feel often that I'm ordering a burger and they're charging me if I want tomatoes and lettuce. I understand paying for cheese and bacon - I've always had to theoretically pay for cheese and bacon - but now I have to pay for tomatoes and lettuce.

I dunno - the movie really spoke to me.

The attention to particular details is precisely what stops the game from being generic. I could call virtually every production of Shakespeare that uses the reproduced dress and stage of the Globe's productions a generic copy, but more than a fair share of these productions manage to take worth in their ability to…

I suppose I get that, but it feels like (more or less) what it is - which is cheaply shilling out a product with too much regard for business sense and not for the "art" of the thing. I know it's not the way of the world, but you'd think there might be more attention paid to customer loyalty (yeah - yeah - that's a…

Japanese handhelds don't run on crude oil or eagle blood. So, there's problem number one for any American developer...

I know you've got some serious anger towards Skyrim, but I certainly disagree to call it generic. If anything, I'd argue that it's one of the more distinct RPGs that I've played in a good stretch of time. The borrowings from Nordic traditions surely aren't new in their own right, but there are some distinct details…

"But at the same time, locales like Los Angeles, New York City or London have become too familiar from overuse."

That's my point of confusion, though. I could create all sorts of fun stuff on Pro Skater 2 (I think) way back in the day, I could create levels in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and LBP and LBP2 let me more or less do absolutely crazy things with that game. There are precedents for user-generated content, and, in this…

I like FFIV just a little bit more than V, and then probably a tied III and VI - but, hot damn, this guy does have taste. The job system in V is probably the best I've played, although I haven't admittedly played too many JRPGs. I always feel a little weird admitting how much I like FFV, since it doesn't really have…

I like FFIV just a little bit more than V, and then probably a tied III and VI - but, hot damn, this guy does have taste. The job system in V is probably the best I've played, although I haven't admittedly played too many JRPGs. I always feel a little weird admitting how much I like FFV, since it doesn't really have…

Hah... Skyrim had mountains of glitches...

Thanks - I'm just glad if it cleared up why The Beatles are somewhat beloved by an almost cult-like devotion (and why I'd be the first to drink Maxwell's Silver Kool-Aid)!

A lot of it has to do with what they were saying, how they were saying it, and when they were saying it. I mean, few people say can proclaim, "All you need is love," and you really believe them. I guess, for whatever reason, the whole package of The Beatles comes tied off neatly in a philosophic package that is so…

I'm no attorney, but I'd say: that is the case, and copyright means nothing. (To agree with your rhetorical point.) A single original element to Zynga's rip-off prevents them from being sued, and I'm assuming (don't know for sure, though) the courts would generally consider a different graphical interface/sprites…

In all fairness, though, this isn't new. For most of human history, someone has pinned some awful deed on someone (or something) else. A lot of suicides were pinned on Goethe's The Sorrows of Young Werther. Who knows how many people blamed their actions on witchcraft and demonic possession?

Well, they'd just need to add real horseback combat (Mount & Blade-style) to incorporate a real bounty hunter vibe into the game if characters would fully break and run. I'd love the chance to corner some bandit chief, who uses a back-door escape, making me rush for the cave entrance and get on my horse for some…

Yikes... Never noticed this at all. Before my character got (tragically/awfully/disgustingly) erased by another save file (thanks PS3 save functions!), I was in full Daedric armor with a Daedric axe and shield, and never noticed anyone turn tail and run. I've seen people "run," as in "regroup" and start attacking me…

Agreed.