Dance Dance Revolution is a music game, me thinks :). And if they insist about it's inclusion (not bad to have some variety you know) in their pathetic categorization (being just the start of the big business to come), why not include SingStar? Singing is maybe the best thing for your health as a whole, not just your butt :).

"The White House should launch a national initiative to promote research and development of proven games,"

Definitely no good games will come out that :).

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.

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.

"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.

"And if you want to wander around a 2-dimensional wasteland...(???)...with nothing to do but shoot rats with pistols...(O_o)...in mind-bogglingly slow turn-based combat...(ROFL - aahahahahahaha)...you can go play Fallout 1 again see how it holds up in 2009."

That was really hilarious. I just love retarded humor :).