Blocky and sloppy aren't necessarily one in the same, though. I mean, HL2 is at times as minimalist as you can go and remains interesting through the entire scene's composition (plus the gameplay they build it for).
Really, as brushes get sort of pushed to the backburner, they should be the last thing that's sloppy anymore, with prop placement/detailing, scene framing, lighting, etc. being the potential visual snags.
They really run the gamut between way too busy and more moderate detail, and I wish them luck with their draw calls, batching, and shadow tris. 
That said, how freaking cool is it that they've got custom non-bipedal creatures put together, with what sounds like some pretty damn cool ideas behind them beyond "shoot stuff." Hadn't seen anything of this for a while; I didn't realize they even were aiming for some of that. Very cool stuff.
bahaha, sneaky.
I'm playing entirely too much wii sports. Like, continuing to do power throws despite having already achieved a gold medal. And desperately going for a gold in the home run derby.
I really should be diving back into zelda. or gears.
I hope my section doesn't bring it down too much 
I would laugh if it weren't depressingly true.
What? I was there all day. Pfft.
Er, now that I think about it, I think it was me, ken, and lunaran standing there when you and Mike came to get Corey for lunch.... right next to ferret's desk, no less...
Yep, shipping for both. That'll be huge for Microsoft, who I imagine will have Halo ready about the same time.
I actually liked the Blazing Angels demo once it got going, but never got around to buying it... it seems like this may have been for the better considering some stuff that ended up in the full game. 
Currently working through:
Twilight Princess
Rayman
Gears of War
As much as I'm loving the Wii, I'd still have to put the 360 first. The combination of hardware power, controller, available games, online integration, Xbox live arcade, and all that is just too well done. I'm starting to pick some multi-platform games on the 360 over the PC, and Live has gotten me back into playing multiplayer games, something I'd grown tired of on the PC.
The Wii is still an awesome system, though, and I'm eager to see what's yet to come on it. The thing that will determine its fate is third party publishers - if they're content to just treat it like a gamecube and give it tacked-on ports with little thought to the controller, it'll be tough to get off the ground. But if they treat it like a lower-cost development platform capable of delivering some really unique experiences (as Ubi/Ancel and co. have done with Rayman, for example)... good times abound. Sure, the best games for it now are pretty much Zelda and Rayman, but Zelda is really fucking good and Rayman just oozes a personality that is all but lost in so many generic taking-things-too-seriously titles on all platforms. And to include something as addicting as Wii Sports out of the box is a great move; I've actually been playing that more than anything (and having more company over to do so than we usually do). And waking up sore. Ow.
PS3 is just too much of a "me too" sort of checklist-style design. Like they thought they could just throw in a hard drive, a wireless controller, half-assed motion-sensing, online functionality, and 7 cores and it would automatically be awesome. Games are already offering options to disable the motion control entirely which, while perhaps making me more interested in Warhawk again after that awful looking E3 demo, is just a sign that even developers aren't thinking much of that functionality.
Which I guess is good; I'd hate to see Microsoft and Sony suddenly decide that every game and system from here on out has to have crazy motion control - That should be a branching point for games, not a new direction for everything. Sucks how every time something sort of new comes around it's just assumed every game after that point has to include it or it's no longer a worthwhile piece of entertainment.
Market View Apartments mod?
Awesome stuff, guys, looking forward to it.
I played with mojo, mikey, and a bunch of others a bit this past weekend and had a blast despite terribly sucking at it. Still plodding through the SP, lots going on right now or I'd probably be done with it... but it's definitely a total package affair. I highly recommend it.
congrats klein! I actually still haven't had a chance to really play the demo but I dug what I saw enough to know I'll be picking it up soonish, though this cursed "baby" thing is starting to wear a hole in my wallet.
Straight from the grapevine:
Unknown Worlds Entertainment is looking for five talented, experienced artists to work on Natural Selection 2, the sequel to the hugely popular Half-Life modification Natural Selection.
The positions are:
- Model/Texture artists
- 3D animator
- Level designers
NS2 will be built on the Source engine, so experience with the Source SDK in all of the above fields is a bonus. Industry experience is not a requirement; we are always looking for new talent.
These are remote, part-time positions, compensated, requiring about 20 hours of work a week for a period of 6 months. Mail your resume and portfolio to [email protected].
We look forwards to hearing from you!
Consider that the game lives in a 50mb footprint for XBLA support, and I'm impressed
From the bits I've played so far, Gears is like a Blizzard game. I wouldn't call it innovative or even all that ground-breaking, but it's so fun, beautiful, polished, and focused that it sets the bar for whatever will follow it.
I'm also specifically impressed with the level design. It's simple but clearly very deliberate and they get great mileage out of every element of it.
Haven't played MP yet but hope to dive in. Also, SP on hardcore is pretty brutal. I fear for that third skill level
Anachronox is one of the most hilarious games I've ever played. Well worth it. One montage in the middle may still be the best cinematic sequence ever in games.
I keep meaning to play through it again but I'm of course always sidetracked by other stuff.
