March 24th 2003

Personal Halfquake will be offline the next two days.

I played Icewind Dale II on the weekend. You really get addicted to such games. I wish I had more time to play more of them, such as various MMORPGs. But Anarchy Online for example was quite boring after you made a few missions. Maybe it was boring because I hadn't much time to play it.

I'm waiting for a game which blasts the whole gaming community away and sets new standards in every corner. We're in need of innovations, new stories, new worlds. Where are they?

Fact is that companies are afraid of real innovations because it's too risky. A little mod-maker like me doesn't have much to lose, so he can do whatever he wants. A company is dependent on money and can lose everything if people don't like their ideas and innovations.

That counts for movie companies too of course. That's why all make sequels based on successful movies: it's cheap, less risky and people don't get it that they just saw exactly the same thing they've already seen a few years before. Of course with other actors here and there, better special effects, famous people and maybe some naked skin - sex always sells (Men In Black II, Austin Powers III, Mission Impossible II).

But I'm drifting away from my main topic.

What should a new game look like so it opens your mouth for the rest of your life?

The problem is: Tastes are different. The perfect game must be incredibly adjustable so that everybody gets exactly what he wants. Therefore a game could be based on your own imagination. A game could be like a dream. Or even better: A game could be like the opposite of life.