Penny Arcade is one of the few online comic strips that I read regularly. They take a swing at Will Wright in this one. He’s the creator of all games Sim including the most recent one, Spore.

Will Wright’s new game in development, Spore, is getting a lot of press. It’s been a little hard to understand what the hype is about, but the man explains it well.

Basically, it looks like Sim-universe; take a single cell to a galactic empire. The difference is that player content is paramount, and is shared seamlessly.
This is a long talk, but check out the demo footage. Could be a next-gen online killer app. Use www.bugmenot.com to avoid registration.

Here’s an article and slideshow of the user interface of the X360. I like the “Arcade” idea where you pay a couple of bucks to get little games like Bejeweled.

Morrowind is the best RPG for Xbox. This is undisputed (or should be). While there is a main quest, it doesn’t have to be completed. The game has a non-linear structure, which makes it a little more like a tabletop RPG. Perhaps the best feature of its non-linearity is that you can do whatever you want. In my game, I did 50% side quests, 20% main quest, 30% exploring. By contrast, Crabby did 10% main quest, 15% side quests, and 75% burgling. Watch your wallet around her.
Anyway, Oblivion is the 4th installment in the Elder Scrolls world. It will be out for PC and X360 and it looks stunning. Boomtown has a preview. The article has this to say about the new physics engine:

We were also shown a scene in which the hero shot an arrow at a bucket hanging on a strap. Not only do did the arrow get stuck in the bucket, making it swing from side to side, it was also retrievable. And even cooler, the arrow made the bucket tilt to the side because of its own weight.

Above image pre-op.

Lara Croft (the video game character, not the movie character) gets a breast reduction for the next installment of Tomb Raider. From AFP:

British computer game firm Eidos, which created Croft, has changed her physique to one less likely to put off female players. In the soon-to-be-released “Tomb Raider: Legend,” the eighth title to feature Croft, her DD-size bust has been reduced to a more modest C-cup and some of her more revealing outfits have been ditched, the report said. The adventurer even sports a modest round-neck sweater with full arms for part of the game, the paper added.

No… that’s a good idea. The game sucks on its own, so it makes sense to get rid of the one gimmick (or two) that sells it.

Combining Pinball and the RTS genre? Say hello to Odama. Contending for this years surreal award. Look out, Katamari Damacy.

Take the driving style of Burnout, add big guns like Twisted Metal, and then mix in the reverse time mechanic of Prince of Persia, and it appears you’ve invented Full Auto, for the Xbox 360. The video makes it look like it might be awesome, if not too original. Still, pretty nice combo of ideas.

OMFG. Just watch this movie.
Punctual_shrimp, you were right.