I told him that AOE3's Home Cities are a kind of deck you construct, or that it adds an element of persistence to the RTS. These aren't complete lies, they're even sort of true - but he wasn't swayed by my buzzword salvos. He was punished for it. Don't share his fate! Let me offer you the information to graze at your leisure: the most interesting piece I've read on Home Cities is here, at Gamespy.
So after Summer's long drought, the maddening release policy has risen to savage my already beleaguered finances. If I could bring myself to stabilize on consoles or PCs I would fare far better under these circumstances, as it stands I trudge into my Gamestop exhausted and simply bend over the new releases rack.
September and October have, between them, charms aplenty.
Burnout Revenge I had done my best to resist, as much as I liked the first one - it's only been a year since the last version, which is why I imagine they aren't calling it Burnout 4. Before I checked out that demo I was wondering precisely what would force my hand, it turns out that the new track philosophy - where elevation, multiple routes, and "traffic checking" into other cars are emphasized - does amplify the experience. I'm curious to see what Burnout Revenge would look like on the 360, having been made with the current generation firmly in mind, but they aren't saying and I can't guess. Look for it to hit all platforms, PSP included, on the 14th. That's a real date, not the magic bullshit date.
On Wednesday, I was fairly circumspect in my discussion of Indigo Prophecy, because while I wanted you to try it, I wanted you to experience it as cleanly as possible in every other respect. So, I didn't go into how the director introduces the game himself, or how when you hide the murder weapon the camera dramatically pans into the next room so when you come back as the detective there's actually a mystery, or how Indigo Prophecy has the most robust blood-mopping engine available today. Their demo had the intended effect, I haven't been able to stop thinking about it. Look for it on PC, Xbox, and PS2 come the 21st.
I could go on like this for a couple days. I might, in fact.
Also on the 21st is Myst V: End Of Ages, which is apparently the real-live end of ages because practically everyone has been let go from the developer. People have been asking me if I was taking it hard, and that's quite true. They broke the company trying to create a new kind of shared, multiplayer role-playing experience. They created subtle games with strong literary sensibilities. They inaugurated multimedia. They are from my home town, and it was nice to think that some good thing was happening in that fucking place.
(CW)TB out.
