What's happened with this story? I certainly agree with protecting IP rights even through DRM if need be. I also fully understand that DRM innerworkings cannot be "fully disclosed" or else there'd be little reason to use it.

However, knowing that the software is going to disable my CD/DVD burning software or handicap it, render my DVD drive unusable (that, oddly they DO disclose) or require immense resources crippling my entire machine even when the game isn't running....that would be pretty key in my decision of whether or not to buy the product containing it.

If you want proof of the fact that some DRM has been acknowledged to actually render a DVD drive "broke da frak up" check out the back of "Splinter Cell Chaos Theory" for the PC.

Oblivion was indeed lacking. Morrowind and Fallout 3 are both two games I will remember when I am old and ...well already grey..but you get the point.

Fallout 3 was not as "deep" as the originals in terms of narrative and npc dialogue (dialogue is an accepted version of the word damn you spell checker!)... but it was far, far more than a "sci fi skin draped over Oblivion."

The Android quest line, Paradise Falls, and the multitude of ways to handle the Megaton/Tenpenny situation were all superb. Crafting weapons was fun and the parts needed made perfect sense.

The main quest ended a bit too much like Oblivion's which is to say rather poorly... but the game as a whole is incredible.

I also want to state that the Dark Brotherhood series of quests in Oblivion were incredibly well done ...I never finished Shivering Isles and have yet to play any of the Knights of the Nine DLC....but the Dark Brotherhood story culminated in a fascinating ending and the whole deal with the statue (I know it's old as dirt now but I still don't want to spoil anything) was AWESOME.

The quote at the end is backwards. "Great games are PLAYED, not MADE."

Otherwise decent article.

Tsk tsk.

As a former employee of Gamestop for several years, I can tell you that there was indeed special placement going on. They do it in such a crafty way that even the employees don't realize that is what is going on.

You know the boards you used to slap the new game titles on? The games you were told to push reservations on? The new boards that actually hold game-art boxes of upcoming games? The signs that dangle from the ceiling? The posters on the windows?

You think people didn't pay or work out a quid pro quo solution for that advertising space? I know they did. Even the games that everyone knew were going to sell well, AAA titles... they didn't get a dangly sign without paying for it.

Before the initiatives by companies like Microsoft standardized game box sizes, computer game companies designed ridiculous boxes to stand out from their competition. That was before gaming became the billion dollar industry that it is. Before Gamestop, when the employees of a local gaming store KNEW their products and made recommendations that were truly from the heart. A lot of Gamestop employees still have a passion for gaming but many of them are just there for a job. They "recommend" games to you as part of their greeting without knowing anything about your tastes.

Is it bad the way it is now? I don't know I just know that it was more "fun" in days of yore.