Network now...NEWS
Bethesda Parent Acquires id Software
Bethesda parent company ZeniMax Media has acquired id Software, bringing the Fallout, Elder Scrolls, Doom, Quake and Wolfenstein franchises under one roof.
The deal brings together two of the most respected game studios, combining the first person shooter expertise of id Software with acclaimed role playing game developer Bethesda Game Studios.
“This was a unique opportunity to team with a smart, sophisticated publisher like Bethesda Softworks where the interests of the studio and the publisher will be fully aligned in the development and marketing of our titles,” said id CEO Todd Hollenshead. “In addition, we will now have financial and business resources to support the future growth of id Software, a huge advantage which will result in more and even better games for our fans.”
id Software, established in 1991, will continue to operate as a studio under the direction of its founder, John Carmack.
“This puts id Software in a wonderful position going forward,” said Carmack, who will continue to serve in his current role as technical director. “We will now be able to grow and extend all of our franchises under one roof, leveraging our capabilities across multiple teams while enabling forward looking research to be done in the service of all of them. We will be bigger and stronger, as we recruit the best talent to help us build the landmark games of the future. As trite as it may be for me to say that I am extremely pleased and excited about this deal, I am."
Robert Altman, the founder and CEO of ZeniMax Media, added: “We, along with many others, consider id Software to be among the finest game studios in the world, with extraordinary design, artistic and technical capabilities. They have demonstrated, repeatedly, that rare ability to create franchise properties that are critical and commercial successes. Our intention is to make sure id Software will continue to do what they do best – make AAA games. Our role will be to provide publisher support through Bethesda Softworks and give id Software the resources it needs to grow and expand.”
Id's upcoming FPS-cum-racer, Rage, will continue to be published by EA Partners. Bethesda Softworks will publish the titles of id Software other than upcoming releases previously committed to other publishers.
Contact Us / About Us / Advertise With Us / BeltwayBlips / TechBlips / MassiveBlips / GamerBlips / FAQ
Subscribe To Edge Magazine / Corrections / Terms & Conditions / Privacy Policy
Copyright 2006 - 2009 Future Publishing Limited, Beauford Court 30 Monmouth Street Bath, UK BA1 2BW
England and Wales company registration number 2008885
Subscribe To Edge Magazine / Corrections / Terms & Conditions / Privacy Policy
Copyright 2006 - 2009 Future Publishing Limited, Beauford Court 30 Monmouth Street Bath, UK BA1 2BW
England and Wales company registration number 2008885
I have some sad news my friends. Michael Jackson died today.
The personification of pop music
The world will never be the same.
Like the Xbox platform, I will always have a soft spot in my heart for someone born black & reinventing himself by becoming white.
Patcher called his concerts overpriced, & fans were begging for a price-drop on his tickets; but he always stated that he was looking at a different life-cycle than other musicians.
Had he lived longer, we might have seen him install accelerometers in his ass.
Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to mourn with Moonwalker marathon on the Genesis
I thinks it's fair to say that early on id earned enough money to never have to listen to other people ever again. So they started doing things their way and never compromised.
Meanwhile the real bigsellers, moved into new directions and id missed out on many gameplay innovations. Tell any Quake 2 player that in ten years the best-selling fps games will all have regenerating health (i.e. cheating), that player will try to choke himself with the cord of his wireless keyboard.
He'd probably scoff at the idea of proper spawn systems (i.e. not spawning in front of the entire other team with a pistol while they're fully armored and equipped because they got the first kill).
Though it looks like id sold out to Zenimax like crying girls, but actually it was a good decision for id, because as they said publishers have their own internal studios nowadays and they were reluctant to take id titles as they were id's IP's. So id was much in need of a own publishing company. they cannot make one or buy one. They can open their own publishing company(Carmack is so rich) but carmack is interested in developing games(specifically engines), so a external publishing house with similar philosphy was the natural choice. It is to be noted that Epic also is in need of a good publisher(Midway really screwed them up), and valve is on its own steam Platform. Also Valve games quality are at particularly far superior quality. Id still remains fairly independent though(deal is made that way), and if id wants it has enough money to get out of deal like Bungie did from Microsoft(though Bungie are not so rich).
Also this gives Carmack more time to play with rockets.
Sometime ago Epic was also in talks to be acquired by a French Multimedia comapny.
It is a sad truth that developers earn so less money from developing games , and major share is of publishers, and most indies have expertise in development not marketing, that they need a umbrella publisher. It is Ok if it does not interfere like EA(Bioware joined with Mythic, and best RPG developer is now working on MMO's, I hate EA for killing soul of Bioware)
Fallout 3 and Oblivion are really very good games, but they are not pure rpg games they are 3rd person realtime action RPG games(somewaht different then neverWinter nights), but all the same they are very good games, and Variety is needed. As everybody does not like the same thing.
I myself like Oblivion very much, and I cannot stop myself from Playing Fallout 3.
Also Fallout 3 is more enjoyable on a PC(But it is certainly very much and more then sufficiently enjoyable on Consoles also).
Mr. dreamhunk really hates consoles so much that he says every console game bad. If console version of a game is better it is better, if PC version is better it is better. How many times a good game is ruined due to bad controls.
But FPS and RPG are better on PC untill PS3 and XBox get the Mouse.
Of course, the absolute purest way to play an FPS is like this -
So it's always about the level of interaction you're willing to give up.
I have fallout 3 for my pc, I have to say that fallout 3 is a different game. The game play isnot your average shooter done over and over agin.
lucky pc gamers!
the console version of Fallout 3 is basically quake 3 in an apocalypse setting. Zero depth to the combat and its visually quite a mess too, reminding me of doom when it first came out. Wish i could afford a $400 PC and get the real versions of games.
You're a bad person :)
No really sure what Quake 3 has to do with it? You're crossing genre's surely, Fallout is an RPG and a huge one at that, you can play it as a shooter if you want, but you don't get very far that way.
Having played PS3 version and PC version on high definition screens they are, for the most part, identical. the combat is exactly the same. Miles if you were disappointed with the consoles version believe you me, you're going to be just a disappointed by the PC version, because they are one in the same thing. The only fundamental difference is the control method and obviously the PC loads faster compared to the consoles, but that is to be expected.
I guess you've taken this opportunity to trash consoles, again. Attempting to bring this thread to the level of fan boy bias.
you know what I have to agree with you on that one.
I agree with savagehenry as well in his statement that you've once again brought this thread down to the level of fanboy bias.
Besides that, all versions of Fallout 3 are practically identical - aliasing is a little better on the 360 and PCs with a decent enough graphics card.
not my fult you like trash.
I'm still not sure why id has been relevant since after Quake II. Quake 3 pretty much lost out to UT, and the Q3 engine was never quite as potent and popular as its predecessors. Doom 3 continued the decline by showing that id, while once a technical powerhouse, was never truly proficient in design, something that in retrospect is obvious as Half-Life trumped Quake II handily and again, UT over Quake 3. Years later, we now wait for "Rage", who's new engine doesn't seem to be that much more than Doom 3 artistically and who's gameplay is hard to discern, but I imagine it'l be as slow and plodding as Doom 3 was, regardless of the racing element or not.
Granted I'm willing to be proven wrong, but seriously: why is id still relevant? I still see them as a 90s dev, like Origin or Lucasarts. Times have changed.
That said, I don't think it's a big deal they 'sold out,' as other people are claiming. Maybe the overhead will force them to innovate rather than build on dusty design principles. It's not like their indie status ever served them towards any end, not since quake II anyway.
You speak of relevance and yet there's non to be found in your entire post. Quake III losing out to UT (when did that happen), Q3 engine not being potent (?!?) and popular as it's predecessors (really, how big is this rock your living under). Doom 3 has been a huge success for id and after five years even the most retarded ones are beginning to see the beauty in it and how much more critical acclaim it deserved back then.
"id...was never truly proficient in design"
In your reply to dreamhunk you're speaking of Dostoyevsky and mourning the death of art, but here showing aesthetic taste of a donkey. Have you ever seen Doom 3. I would say that when it comes to sci-fi design it's the best I've seen. And you think id hasn't innovated since Quake 2. What about Quake 3 :). It was the biggest innovation in competitive multiplayer since the first Quake, when it was practically invented.
Yes, times have changed, but my taste for great games hasn't.
Quake was linear level design with enemies running at oyu. Quake II ditto. Doom 3 ditto. The Space marine concept can only be taken so far till its exhausted to death. The original Doom set the bar for shooters, Half-Life became the new bar in 98 and hasn't been surpassed since (not even with its sequel). Doom 3 was uninspired and contrived. It was like System Shock but without the depth, replacing suspense with primitive "boo!" fear. It's *so* played; the game would've fit better in the 90s catalog, even with the 'advanced' lighting effects that had already been done elsewhere at the time.
Quake 3 on the other hand was succesfull initially, but critically lost out to UT which had better level design, balanced weapons and 'realistic' AI rather than superbly godlike (bots in Quake 3 would snipe you from across the level, beyond the draw distance). Quake launched off its Quake 2 base, but in the long run UT had stronger legs (not to mention sequels capitalizing on that success). Eventually quake3 servers died off as UT remained strong. Granted, the deathmatch genre itself has generally died off these past few years, in spite of UT3's release...in favor of team games driven since the days of CS, maturing today into Halo and Modern Warfare.
Quake 3's licensing was far insignificant compared to how often the Quake2 engine was utilized. Quake2 was used everywhere (indeed, Half-Life was a Quake/Quake2 hybrid). But Quak3 lacked similar succcess, and was often in favor of the unreal engine, which was more modable since it was modular in architecture. This remains true to this day, it's hard not to find an Unreal-powered game, and are frequently game of the year (Modern Warfare or bioshock, for example).. Id really dropped teh ball with Q3, both tech wise and game wise. Doom 3 was used by Prey, Quake Wars and Quake 4 and that's about it. It seems licensing went right out the window.
So I stand by my point: why is id still relevant? It's great how they created the first person shooter and jumpstarted graphic accelerators tech in the 90s, but what have they done for us lately? =P
Ooh God, is this for real. This is just f...king sick you know. It's not your opinion really, but the facts you're throwing all around. They're just so wrong. Where do you get this from. I can't really reply back to this simply because it's just so f...king wrong. I would have to write a whole novel disproving every wrong sentence, but it wouldn't be wort it as I have already done it with my first reply. So just for fun (and also because I really want to help you) I will post your entire reply and just mock the hell out of it :).
"Quake was linear level design with enemies running at oyu [sometimes even shooting at you - it's horrible]. Quake II ditto [yes]. Doom 3 ditto [correct]. The Space marine concept can only be taken so far till its exhausted to death [no not really, I want even more of it - it's awesome]. The original Doom set the bar for shooters, Half-Life became the new bar in 98 and hasn't been surpassed since [and how many times have you played through the best FPS of all time, if it's not a secret :)] (not even with its sequel [I actually agree with you on this one]). Doom 3 was uninspired and contrived [I thought id were very inspired developing it, not to mention I playing it]. It was like System Shock but without the depth [yes, and without the RPG too - just a simple first-person shooter, entirely played with four buttons for directions, one for jumping and one for shooting and interaction, delivering pure awesomeness] replacing suspense with primitive "boo!" fear [I would strongly disagree here. I thought that in combination with the standard cheap thrills here and there (which is the only method used everywhere from games to Hollywood) it had a really scary atmosphere. From the amazing monster design, to the absence of music intensifying the sense of desolation and the clever placed lighting - it's an example for what horrors should be. After one hour of gunning down monsters, taking a rest in a well lit island completely surrounded by darkness, drinking coffee and watching UAC tech videos still being broadcast on the broken displays is something to remember. Although now a bit old and with outdated tech, I would say it still kicks every game's ass when it comes to pure immersion and atmosphere.] It's *so* played; the game would've fit better in the 90s catalog, even with the 'advanced' lighting effects that had already been done elsewhere at the time [come again please - how is it played ???].
Quake 3 on the other hand was succesfull initially [and continuing till this very day :)], but critically lost out to UT [yes, just like Doom 3 did to Half-life 2 - the case of getting an amateur driver, driving his family friendly kombi to test-drive your new Lambo :)] which had better level design [wow], balanced weapons [and in the most balanced shooter they weren't - aaahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha] and 'realistic' AI rather than superbly godlike [O_o] (bots in Quake 3 would snipe [ROFL] you from across the level, beyond the draw distance [what is this d.r.a.w. d.i.s.t.a.n.c.e. you're hallucinating about, no really I want to know. I demand answers (O_O). And I'm also very curious - what exactly made you think that you can think (o_O) you can criticize the most hardcore shooter out there when you can't even beat the retarded bots being there just as a introduction to the game]. Quake launched off its Quake 2 base, but in the long run UT had stronger legs (not to mention sequels capitalizing on that success)[I really have no idea what your blabbering anymore :)]. Eventually quake3 servers died off as UT remained strong [which UT are you talking about - the first one, the second, the third, or the fourth which is actually the true third :). Here it starts getting really ugly, as you obviously have not even the slightest idea what you're talking. Nobody plays UT anymore my friend. Not the first, not even UT2004. Some play the new UT3, but their community can't possibly compete with the Q3 one. The same people that played UT are now playing Quake :)]. Granted, the deathmatch genre itself has generally died off these past few years [yes maybe, but duel, team deathmatch and CTF haven't] , in spite of UT3's release...in favor of team games driven since the days of CS [the almighty Counter-Strike :)], maturing [ooh, maturing] today into Halo and Modern Warfare.
Quake 3's licensing [20 games :)] was far insignificant compared to how often the Quake2 engine [12 games ^_^] was utilized [I already told you in my first reply, but with the thought you're demonstrating here I would say it's a miracle you can even read :..)]. Quake2 was used everywhere (indeed, Half-Life was a Quake/Quake2 hybrid). But Quak3 lacked similar succcess [ooh, how sad], and was often in favor of the unreal engine [the bad unreal engine :(], which was more modable since it was modular in architecture [wow, really - amazing stuff then]. This remains true to this day [you mean Unreal engine kicking the shit out of id's ass from the late '90s to this very day ??? - now come off xD], it's hard not to find an Unreal-powered game, and are frequently game of the year (Modern Warfare or bioshock, for example).. Id really dropped teh ball [what ball] with Q3, both tech wise and game wise [and you totally hit the home run with it brainwise xD]. Doom 3 was used by Prey, Quake Wars and Quake 4 and that's about it. It seems licensing went right out the window.
So I stand by my point [what point are you talking about, there is no point, can't see it anymore, it's just shit everywhere, I can't take it anymore xD]: why is id still relevant? It's great how they created the first person shooter and jumpstarted graphic accelerators tech in the 90s, but what have they done for us lately? =P"
Thank you very much.
If this means getting an id game every two years then I'm all for it. No more crappy Wolfensteins and external Quakes please :).
fallout 3 don well on pc and it's still selling! I am glade I have the fallout collection1,2,3. Looks like you missed out on alot of iconic games on the pc. by the way fallout is still selling on the pc.
Don't worry guys, I speak "Dreamhunk".
Here, you don't seem to be getting why people love console games; so I'll translate it into games you can understand....
In Dreamhunk language, Halo 3 looks like this -
And Mortal Kombat looks like this -
Finally, Infamous looks like this in Dreamhunk -
Hope this helps.
I'd play that Infamous.
it's not my fault people like junk, how is your prod doing these days, already slam 3people yesterday one guy remove his or her post. now you want to get me going.
But Indrema, what is this "echo the dolphin" game you speak of?
You're right. i should've included Ecco -
No translation needed.
Yeah, the iconic games. Great stuff. But of course they absolutely can't compare to your even more iconic posts.
Indeed!
This has amazing potential.
This is interesting news. Zeni Max is relatively unknown and the only big developer people will recognize in their arsenal is Bethesda. Hopefully id Software made the best decision, I wish them the best of luck.
Zeni Max was created so that Weaver could retain control of his own company, Bethesda Softworks. He had founded the company, but set it up as a committee endeavor; even though he did everything.
So he founded Zeni Max as the parent corporation of Bethesda, with himself as president. The company branches out now and then, but it's basically just Bethesda.
I'm quite surprised this happens. I hope this doesn't mean an end to Id's community friendliness that saw them releasing their source code after a few years.
Perhaps Carmack is tired of programming, wants to sell up and play with rockets.
I see nothing but good things coming from this. Hoping for a new Elder Scrolls to be annouced soon also.
wow that is big news, looks like id software maybe moving away from EA
I have to take this opportunity to point something out. Bethesda a developer/publisher with its roots in PC development has ballooned since it started supporting consoles with Morrowind for the Xbox 1 then Oblivion for the 360 and later the PS3. Fallout 3 sold more copies in its first week on sale than lifetime sales of Fallout 1 and 2 combined (which happened to be PC titles only).
Bethesda continues to grow and I can't help but feel extremely successful sales of its games on consoles has quite a bit to do with it.
I'm actually quite angered at Bethesda, and Bioware to a lesser extent. The modern RPG is far inferior to that of a decade ago. Oblivion and Fallout 3 are watered down, dumbed down, generalized garbaged compared to their predecessors. Bethesda has succesfully made the RPG mass-market friendly, but at what cost? It may sell tons of units but it simply is not as good a game. Fallout 2, Daggerfall, and in bioware's case, Baldur's Gate....it's sad to see that 'progress' is instead viewed as 'increasing the market' rather than mastering the genre. We've taken a few steps back....it may sell better, but it doesn't bode well for gamers.
In other words, that Fallout 3 has sold so strongly isn't any more to the point than Britney Spears going platinum or the Harry Potter books become a cultural phenomenon. They may sell plenty but it says nothing of quality, only of marketability. JK Rowling is no Dostoyevsky, Britny Spears is no Janis Joplin, and Fallout 3 is no Fallout 2.
I would agree morden are not as good, they are watered down. However the wicth was pretty good rpg.
I can respect your opinion Vader, but I think I may be one of the "mass-market" then because Kotor and Oblivion were really the first RPGs I could play and they were made by Bioware and Bethesda. I tried to play RPGs prior to that (FFVII, Morrow wind, and a few others I can't remember) but all I ever did was wander around aimlessly most of the time not knowing where to go, not knowing what to do, read dialogue box after dialogue box, and I was bored to death. I decided to give Kotor (and later Oblivion) a try since it was getting such high marks and I wanted to give RPGs another go. So, whatever Bethesda and Bioware did to make the game manageable for me to play it worked.
I wouldn't consider myself "mass-market" and I think you're wrong about that comment. To some people RPGs are too hard and those people are hardcore gamers. You can be a hardcore gamer and not be good at certain genres. Some people are masters at RPGs but can't get their head around a circle strafe to save their lives. Those people may pick up Gears and say, "blah, no inventory system or leveling up" and move on.
I can see though, if RPGs somehow started getting "dumbed-down" for non-FPS gamers so they can play too, it may be fun for them now, but my experience my suffer so I can see both sides.
If there were a way for newbie RPGers to play it but also maintain whatever it is that's apparently lacking now to keep the RPG fans of old happy that would be great. Personally though, I thoroughly enjoyed Oblivion, Kotor, and Mass Effect (pretty much the extent of my RPGing). I do like Fallout 3, but not quite as much as Oblivion, Kotor, or Mass Effect. Fallout's leveling system is way different than Oblivion's, and I loved Oblivion's leveling system. My take anyway.
Hey, and watch what you say about the Harry Potter books, they're fuckin sweet! (I've been doing nothing but read over the last month and a half cause of those damn things, I've even cut way back on my already limited gaming time) ^^
KOTOR was a good game and I still buy biowre products, but their games lack the depth and complexity, both in terms of gameplay and story, of its original Baldur's Gate series. the result is that they sell more but make lesser games. Even Mass Effect 2 seems to be more of an action game than an RPG anymore, with its improved combat mechanics...a nice way of saying 'it's more real-time and GoW than ever before!'...and that's fine...but it doesn't scratch the RPG itch. To me, it's the difference between citizen kane and any given michael bay film. Hooray for blockbusters but sometimes I want my experience to do more than entertain. I want it to make me think.
Oblivion i find to be highly overrated. Once the 'ooo's and 'aaa's of the vistas wear off, you realize the game is basically a beautiful morrowind, which itself was just a game trying to sell on graphic tech than substance. It's great for the wow factor but it left me wanting so much more. Bethesda sold out, in my opinion. Bioware kind of has too, but they still maintain a level of quality, if not a level of depth. In any cas,e I think anyone impressed with Fallout 3 would have their minds blown by Fallout 2. Anyone who played KOTOR would similarly have their minds blown by BG. I thinkt he only barrier that exists for anyone is that they're isometric perspective games, and that's just not as flashy (read: marketable) as the fully 3d environments that come at the cost of gameplay. I would buy another Infinity Engine game in a heartbeat, though, and I think anyone here who's played BG, Icewind Dale or the phenomenal Planescape: Torment would agree. The latter of which perhaps had the greatest story of any video game ever...but it would be too risky ot make it today.
And in spite of your love of Harry Potter, Dostoyevsky is divinely superior to anything JK rowling is even capable of writing. So is proust, or chaucer, or sheakespeare....I mean, c'mon! She's children's reading and the rest are pinnacles of literature, haha
Fair enough.
Quick question though and I think we may have discussed this before, but was Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance a Bioware game? I remember playing that and it was a lame hack 'n slash. That's not one of the game's you speak of is it? Also, what do you think of Dragon Age: Origins? I've heard that's somewhat a return to their roots?
I don't think 'prettying up' is all that Morrowind or Oblivion did, or that it was at the expense of depth. I, for one, never even bothered with the main quests in either until more than 150 hours of happy exploration, sidequesting and enjoyable exploration. I played Baldur's Gate and felt that the tools at the disposal couldn't realise the imagination behind it, whereas the freedom and scope of the later efforts left me overjoyed. Perhaps it's my shallowness, but these later games gave me so much more world in which to feel like an inhabitant.
I'm not saying the later games weren't limited, just that they weren't dumbed down either; I'm also suggesting that the limitations of their older works weren't so apparent nostalgically as they are now. There is an inevitable trade-off in all games, and in these cases the technology evolved to help create a very different experince that was no worse for its differences. This is also just me thinking aloud, and I admit I'm more of a JRPG fan, so feel free to tell me all the ways I'm wrong!
Bioware games are always mission-based.
Even in Baldur's Gate & Torment, you had a main mission, with side missions posing as "alternative" activities. A player's freedom was in the general order of completion, but it was still just missions. Icewind Dale was a bunch of disjointed missions posing as a free-form RPG. I loved it, but I was always felt "on-track"
Morrowind was a totally different experience. I never felt locked to anything. If I wanted to steal crap, all day, sit in my house, & vandalize the town; then so be it. That's not to say I didn't finish the main mission, or a ton of side-missions, but it felt like these things were going on with or without me. In Bioware games I always feel like the missions revolve around me. I don't know if I ever felt those games had more depth, & I bought Baldur's Gate, & Torment, for $60 the first week they came out.
I'm sorry, but cut back on your gaming time because of Harry Potter books?! Are you mad?! Have you tried the fusion, Harry Potter video games?
If you like fantasy read then I highly recommend the Discworld novels from Terry Pratchett and The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan.
Discworld is hilarious and each book has a deep meaning, questioning the world and what you believe in while enjoying a fantastic and witty book.
The Wheel of Time can be considered as the next The Lord of the Rings book, it's epic and has a great story. The books are massive, each one roughly 700 pages long, sometimes even more. They even include a glossary.
I highly recommend those books if you're a fan of the Fantasy genre and, if you're looking for a laugh, the Discworld novels as well.
As hard as that sounds to believe, yes. The last two days I've been poundin out like 150 pages a night (Goblet of Fire was some 730 pages) so I've been reading instead of working on Prototype (which has gotten kinda boring after about 9 hours of game time). I wasn't a huge Harry Potter fan but I read book 6 and 7 first because I had already seen movie 1-5 and loved the last two HP books so I read 1-4 and am starting 5 today. Never been interested in the HP games though.
I'm not a big reader normally but have been picking up the habit as of late.
I'll have to check out those series when I'm done with HP but my gaming will keep taking a hit for it (who would have thought reading could be fun???).
I loved the LotR books. Some other books I really like were the two Mass Effect books and the Darth Bane Star wars series (both series written by Drew Karpyshyn, the same guy who did Kotor's and Mass Effect's story). He makes Star Wars about a million times cooler in his books which takes place about 500-1000 years after Kotor but well before A New Hope. The books really take a look at the way the sith work and why there should only ever be two sith lords at a time. I just found out there's a 3rd book in the series coming out in December so I'm pretty stoked for that.
I'll check out Discworld and The Wheel of Time, thanks for the info.
Don't bother with the Wheel of Time series, the author has kicked the bucket without finishing them. Read some Robin Hobb instead.
Wow, that's unfortunate. I would be bummed to have a series I was reading not completed. Robin Hobb huh?
Nobody throws adversity at their central characters like Robin Hobb. Pick any series by her, they're all good.
No problem.
I've always been thinking about looking into the Star Wars novels, but I'm not so sure. I wiki'd just about all the Star Wars lore, so I think I ruined it for myself. Still, when I have the money I might look into it. Sadly there's only one shop that I'm aware of that would sell those books that would be considered by the people here "nerd" and that shop is Forbidden Planet. It's in Dublin, which means it's a pain to get there for just a book :(
Well, I've only read the Darth Bane series and there's so far only two books and they aren't really connected to the modern Star Wars stuff at all. I wouldn't ever read the modern Star Wars stuff just because there's about a million books and I wouldn't know where to start. If you get a chance, the Darth Bane series is worth looking into.
"We've taken a few steps back..."
Hey, speak for yourself :).
Bethesda are just going after a wider market. And from a business point of view that's progress. Look at all the Fallout 3 fans - they love it.
I find it very interesting how people criticize the Wii for not being "hardcore" enough and yet these same "hardcore" amateurs are proudly playing Halo and Fallout 3 which are the most casual examples in their genre.