Think of it...somewhat like Persona. Go to school, go to classes, learn. You get to choose what clubs and skills you want to get better at. And of course, there would be a unique plot to the game so you have to fight monsters. Make it a bit open in the sense that your teammates are whichever classmates you become friends with, and have your entire class fleshed out with characters to choose from.

Practice at Quidditch or research rare spells. Quidditch would increase strength, spells to academics. Choose your courses to learn different spells; you can't go to every class, so sacrifices on spells must be made. Unlimited replay value almost.

How do I pitch this idea to a game dev?

He definitely has a lot to atone for; of that, I will agree.

I assumed you were a typical MTV 'tard. I apologize for assuming, yer a good guy. I'll be reading your blog henceforth. =3

I am NOT a pervert. And they're all of age....in Japan.

So not sure if I see where playing it safe has applied to Presidential races recently.

@kelvinc: Wholeheartedly agree. Stewart and Colbert are mad funny. And make good points. But it's no substitute for your own damn educated opinion. You're little more than a parrot at that point.
Not to say ALL Colbert/Steward fans are parrots, but a disappointing majority that I've met are. Don't even know the differences between McCain Obama. I can't say that much about these Kotakuites, because being on the internets, you can just google it and feign knowledge.

@RTW: Open to interpretation. I viewed the hidden meaning more along the lines of "Pong"- Old, outdated, out of touch, irrelevant vs "Halo"- Current, relevant.

And considering Jon Stewart doesn't seem to be a hardcore ENOUGH gamer like us to have such disdain for FPS players to assume they're all frat boys, I'd doubt that he'd make that subtle reference.

But either of us could be right, we have no idea behind his reasons until he says it.

@Gray665: Obama's looking more like a "I'll say/do anything to get in office" type person with Hillary gone. McCain, if nothing else, seems to be straight shooting his idiotic stance on the war. Can't say which is worse if I don't know if one's stance is legit.

SPOILER WARNING!

SPOILER WARNING!

SPOILER WARNING!

SPOILER WARNING!

SPOILER WARNING!

The heros get trapped in a typical room with rapidly closing walls on either side to squish them. But they have no way to fix this. So Palom and Porom cast some Uber-Stone spell that is uncurable by every other method that works and takes a super advanced potion/spell to cure.

They're healed later.

Squeenix still loses me on their death scenes. Soft doesn't work NOW? Phoenix Down does nothing for Aerith? How convenient. =\

This one looks fun.

Gawd, there's some things about Mass that's great.

I do have my suspicions about your involvement with Ms. Tequila's show though. Watch yourself.

I mean, I think there's a middle ground here. Mika here has a point to a degree, we're getting heated over entertainment. Take that thought a step back, and some may say that we can even get annoyed as a result of our entertainment. Personally, I have a blast debating stuff, but some people DO get so vehemently defensive of games being not so accepted or games being ostracized that your source of pleasure becomes a headache. Now that IS damn silly.

But games, nowadays, are a medium for ideas. That much can't be denied. As it was said earlier, if we're talking Tetris or RIIIIIIIDGE RACER!, well then yeah, it really is just a game. And those games can be related more closely to sports; the point is to win with a higher score. But Metal Gear Solid and the disgustingly overrated Grand Theft Auto are stories, designed to compel and inspire thought. And if they weren't, then why give them stories at all?

Video games are just that, video games. No more, no less. They hold no power over us unless we let them. The same can be said for any sort of idea- written, audio, or visual. Hell, the same can be said of any SUBSTANCE, alcohol, drug, etc. So one could make the case that arguing that ANY of these truly have any power is moot, because it all comes down to how the individual is put together. Someone weak willed may be more likely to get a "dark message" from a metal band, or to "learn to kill" from a video game. They also may be more likely to find solace at the bottom of a glass. But at the end of the day, it's that PERSON that did it, not the drink, not the CD, not the game.

So, it's not so much that saying games can be more than games is pretentious. It's more along the lines of saying that games can POSSIBLY have this much power over all people and are possibly worth all this time and energy debating is...well....stupid. Not to say that TALKING games is dumb, but the amount of energy put forth to ban the medium or to even DISCUSS the medium is silly and it'd be energy better spent to figure out how to fix or help the PEOPLE that are so weak willed as to use these outlets as an escape or a crutch or an excuse.

....Wang. =)

PS3, although I could be wrong, is in a unique position. It is the winner in the format war for home movies and much better than other Blu-Ray players at the moment. However there are the downloadable movies that are a big risk. We need to see if Blu-Ray stays on or if it dies off as well in the face of DL'd movies.

If it was just a game system though, it'd be up shit's creek. But it's got a bit more versatility, which may be it's only saving grace at this point.

LBP will not save Sony alone. They need a 007 Blu-Ray box set as well.

First question- Why doesn't MTV (on basic cable) have music anymore?

Seriously. Not so much an accusation as it is curiosity. Where'd the music go? Why not change the network's name? WB channel changed their name to CW, even though WB is a hugely known trademark, why not change MTV to Teen TV or something, a division of MTV studios.

I dunno, I just always wondered that...

Hell hath frozen over; Diablo 3.
Storyline setting is the OTHER minor demons taking over hell and running it now. I believe the Diablo 1 manual mentioned them, but didn't get into it. They only told about the Big 3.

Nice haul, kiddo. Happy burfday.

A problem this girlfriend will never have.

Chobits anyone?

Has the Final Fantasy Forever joke been made yet?

Setzer on-
Gaia
Bemanistyle
DDRFreak
PSN
XBL

Hell, I think I registered it at forums I don't go to, just in case. o_o

*shrugs* Meh. Amusing either way.

My site's not actually being used for anything, so I'd have no problem throwing up a listing of gamertags along with a person's timezone and occupation so people can match up schedules and see who they can game with.

Regardless; does he go into how different cities and different cultures treat this gaming lifestyle? I'm sure just different parts of America alone it must be vastly different between Louisiana and Massachusetts.

Might be a decent read. Pity I'd need to buy it and can't get it at a library though.

The guy's a gamer, same as us. <3

I'll sit at this diner for hours if he can hook me up some Arcade SF action.

Am I just old? Or does anyone else still stick with the good old standards of "Bad Guy" and "Mailman" as androgynous, even though they aren't? To me, they still have no sexual connotation...

Either way. Technically, Gla-Dos wasn't a female, it was a program. As such, coulda been programmed by a guy, this making Gla-DOS a representation of a bad guy.

Whee semantics.