With Dungeon Hero, the concept of him in a way being the monster in this world, as they're orcs, being the natural denizens of these places, and he's the one coming in and hacking everything - it's an interesting concept. Was it built around that as a design principle, or was that just something that evolved as you realized what it was?

SB: I would say it evolved from it. You put it in there and you start to show it to people, and they're, "He's kind of mean, isn't he?" and we're, "Well, yes he is." It's like you're doing a demo to the press and half the time you're formulating ideas when you're doing it.

Someone will ask you a question and you go, "Yeah, that's right, he's going to do that." It's a great time, actually, to get your ideas straight and, in the early days, to evolve the design. But definitely, he became more psychotic in the first six months as we talked to people about it.

It's times like this that I wonder why people are so adamantly opposed to DRM. It's worth noting that piracy came first; if people didn't steal their games, there would be no need for DRM. But the argument is something like this: the game will be pirated anyway, and DRM just inconveniences those who legitimately purchased their game.

But let's shift gears for a moment. The music industry has been similarly ravaged by piracy. It's easy enough to avoid any DRM simply by purchasing a CD. But that's not what most people do. The number one retailer of music is none other than Apple's iTunes. That's right – the same iTunes that gives you songs at 128kbps AAC and won't let you burn any song to CD more than five times. Apple has tried to appease the DRM-haters with iTunes plus, but it's a pretty small percentage of iTunes songs that use the "plus" format.

HEXUS: We’re sure you’d be first to admit that, despite showing plenty of promise, the average reviews that Two Worlds received were largely warranted. The game was mainly criticized due to bugs, technical issues, such as poor collision detection during combat, and frame-rate problems. We understand that the same team is working on the sequel? Why then should I be confident that Two Worlds: The Temptation will be any different? How have you technically improved on this new title?
James Not only was Two Worlds the first role-playing game that the team had worked on, it was also the first console release for them. So just by virtue of finishing the game, everyone learned an incredible amount. With The Temptation, we’re taking everything that we learned, and all the fair criticisms put against Two Worlds, and creating a game that shows its full potential. So if Two Worlds was a diamond in the rough, The Temptation is going to be a perfectly cut diamond expertly set into a gold (or perhaps I should say brass) ring.

What was behind the decision to lead on the Xbox 360 with Mass Effect rather than releasing then two versions simultaneously?

Ray Muzyka: Well, it was nice to focus on one system, and obviously our publisher Microsoft had an impact in the decision as well. We were working with them, so we announced it and developed it as an Xbox 360 exclusive right from the start.

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We've always had a goal of releasing multiple iterations on the 360 during its lifetime, so we're excited about that opportunity as well still. Late in the 360 development we made the decision to bring it to PC.

While Vince and Nick are busy with other stuff, I decided to take Titus for a stroll and decorate Teron a little more. I want to show you some screenshots of the place, and you can tell me what you think about them and how they can be improved. Before you ask, I removed the NPCs so they wouldn't distract, and to allow you to get a better feeling of the area itself.

<%G-15> Is there any indication of the size of the Overworld yet ?

people

<@TaylorFSS`home> We’re looking at how many we can cram into an overworld, we really won’t know the true number until it reaches you guys. We’re thinking 100+ will be sharing an Overworld. Also, transferring from one overworld instance to the other will require you to be in a safe area.

real human beings

overworld is what is replacing the paths betwseen cities

So why play it again? Quite simply, because of two posts I read on two different forums. One extolled the fact that someone had discovered the game about a year before and was greatly enjoying it, and the other was someone comparing it favorably against some other games and saying that the rest of us were poisoned by dealing with all of the release turmoil. So I decided to attempt to start fresh with the game.

The installation is fairly painful - there are a ton of files in the game directory rather than using compressed bulk files for most things, so it is a slow process despite being only three CD's. Uninstalling is no quicker. After installation (I'll assume the Collector's Edition to avoid the need to apply patches), you start the game and get to watch a brief cutscene of a battle between two wizards and a long slideshow accompanied by a *really* long bit of backstory that will make no sense and that you'll never remember anyway. Suffice it to say that there is some crap going on and you'll have to deal with it.

There has been a lot of discussion in the past few days on how the security requirements for Mass Effect for PC will work. BioWare, a division of EA, wants to let fans know that Mass Effect will not require 10- day periodic re-authentication.

BioWare has always listened very closely to its fans and we made this decision to ensure we are delivering the best possible experience to them. To all the fans including our many friends in the armed services and internationally who expressed concerns that they would not be able re-authenticate as often as required, EA and BioWare want you to know that your feedback is important to us.

Discover that which awaits you in the Abyss, brave Hellgaters! The Abyss Chronicles (Patch 2) is rapidly taking shape and form and we’re ready to share some of its most exciting offerings with you. As Hellgate: London’s second major content update, the Abyss Chronicles boasts an impressive and lengthy list of new features including a major class rebalance, new environments, new enemies, new skills, new bosses, and new inventory slots . Then there’s the Consignment House, Attribute Respec Vendor, item linking, achievement rewards, and lots more. Suffice to say, the Abyss Chronicle is big. Very big.

Plans are already underway for the patches beyond the Abyss Chronicles. A small content summary for Patch 2.1 has been included as well. This update will open up an entirely new side to Hellgate: London in the form of ranked player versus player (PvP) gameplay. Originally slated for release with the Abyss Chronicles, the decision to release new PvP content as part of a supplemental patch was brought about by a desire to introduce five cohesive elements of PvP in a single update: ranking, matchmaking, rewards, achievements, and Capture The Flag. Together, these features will provide a robust PvP experience within the Hellgate: London universe.

Thanks for speaking with us Al, how much involvement has Demiurge had with BioWare in moving Mass Effect to the PC?

Howdy! Demiurge has been involved in every step of moving Mass Effect to the PC. Even before the Xbox 360 version hit the shelves, we were working closely with BioWare to craft the best experience possible for the PC version of the game.

Tell me about your career as a video game composer. How did you get your start?
I started composing music for video games about 1997. The first game that I composed was Planet Academy. I got to know my agent Bob Rice at this time, and he introduced me to Interplay. I did many games for them, at least three of the Star Trek games, Icewind Dale 2, and Baldur’s Gate, Throne of Baal, and also Fallout Tactics.

This is actually where my relationship with Fallout started. I really fell in love with this kind of musical concept, which is totally different from other games. It’s totally mood driven rather than thematic or rhythmically driven. The music is basically trying to cater to a certain mood, while not using much of what you’d really expect from a regular score. It’s a little different.

Universal and Gore Verbinski are going into "Bioshock."

Studio has signed a deal to turn last year's hit videogame, which won numerous awards and sold more than 2 million units worldwide, into a film.

The "Pirates of the Caribbean" helmer is attached to direct and produce. "Aviator" scribe John Logan is in talks to pen the screenplay.

"Bioshock" publisher Take-Two Interactive is getting a multimillion-dollar advance against gross points on the pic. It's believed to be the biggest videogame-to-movie deal since 2005, when U and Fox signed onto the since aborted "Halo" pic, for which Microsoft got $5 million against 10%.

Hoist the anchor and hold onto the rail… There be pirates aboard the podcast! Dave, left defenseless at the helm, is unable to stop Skunkeen’s mutiny… so he joins in… will the podcast ever be the same?

Bob aka FFBJ is subjected to Dave’s rambling interviewing techniques which have been deemed torture by numberous human-rights organizations. Rest assured Bob weathers the storm and delivers an intimate look into making a world come alive.

GamePro: Sacred II is another game with influences dating back to Diablo. First off, how will Sacred II appeal to Diablo fans? Second, how does it improve upon that time-tested formula?

AE: Sacred 2 will appeal to all people who are interested in fantasy RPGs with unique designs and strong stories. The influence of Diablo is just part of the backbones, but isn't the only influence. Sacred 2 offers so much more.

So, what's the creative process like for you? How did you manage to come up with all of this?

I start somewhere (could be any point of the game, even the endings) and then sort through the possibilities that could either lead to this event or could be created by it. Then I pick what fits the most and creates the most interesting scenarios. Sometimes it comes easy, sometimes I have to play with concepts for weeks until something really good comes to mind.

How frakking cool is the Fallout 3 Collector’s Edition?
Personally, I only get a Collector’s Edition of a game if it comes with something substantial. The lockbox and duffel bag for GTA IV, for example.

So I was really psyched when I learned we were doing the bobblehead and lunchbox, similar the ones we included in the press kit for our big announcement event several months ago. That’s some really sweet Fallout swag, yeah.

"The Temptation" Business

I know by now you think are an expert when it comes to monster insects, such as the Tranchidis, in Antaloor and nothing will surprise you, but "The Temptation" will render you speechless. In "The Temptation", the Trachidis species has continued to evolve and the latest member of the family is a combination of the ant and the fly. Naturally, this one's an awful lot bigger than our tiny insect friends from which it originates. The highly developed wings of the Trachidis give it amazing maneuverability. However, since its eyes are relatively useless, it has to rely almost 100% on its remaining senses. This weakness could be all an opponent needs to take the advantage.

Fallout 3 lead designer Emil Pagliarulo from Bethesda Softworks joins Gary, Colin and producer Kris to talk about storytelling in open-ended games, bringing a hardcore PC franchise to the mass console market and other topics related to what might be the most anticipated RPG of '08. Also, we talk about the integrity (or lack thereof?) of exclusive game reviews, the dwindling purpose behind E3 and potential hardware price cuts later this year.

It's tough work. It has been a real challenge to find a way to end the series in a plausible and satisfying way and to give the player a real role in it. It is really important to me for the game to reflect that this is a large world, full of a lot of powerful people. The player gets to have a small but pivotal role in ending the war. There are heroes and generals running around. You are the agent acting behind to scenes to help one faction be triumphant. I really like this aspect of it. It feels like the right balance between making the player significant and part of a larger world.

As I said before, there are five game-winning factions. You can play through much of the game, meeting people and finding out who the factions are, and then decide which one to join. Some are reasonable. Some are pretty crazy. All provide satisfying endings to the saga.

I have done a lot of work on the interface. Geneforge 5 now supports OpenGL and will tap some of the power of your graphics card.

In Geneforge 5, you can play the game on any size of monitor and you can play the game in a window. If you have a huge monitor, you can see a huge chunk of the terrain around you. It really makes a big difference.

I also came into work on Monday (yesterday, which was a bank holiday) with about 70 other people and today is just a normal working day. A lot is happening, if you are anxious to find out something new about Fable 2, I suggest you make sure you've got access to the internet, next week! Yes we are planning something (quite) big-ish.

What are your thoughts on "Jack Bauer in space" syndrome (i.e. the growing trend to remove the choice between good and evil from RPGs)?

I haven't played Mass Effect, so I can't comment on the qualities of the game or the "Bauer in space" syndrome, but here is what I think about good and evil choices:

Good and evil are subjective concepts and I think that developers should never present the player with clearly marked "good" and "evil" options. Since [this is] a Star Wars site, let's use the Anakin's fall in Ep. 3. From his perspective the mistrustful and arrogant Jedi Council plotted against and tried to assassinate the chancellor chosen by everyone, the chancellor who supported and trusted him. Was siding with the chancellor and turning against the Jedi an evil act? Not at all. Anakin was given reasons to act the way he did, and that's how RPGs should be designed.