By Alec Meer on February 26th, 2010 at 11:55 am.
It’s my birthday. I want these things.
- A proper X-COM sequel – not one of those clunky unofficial ones or an open source remake.
- A Transformers MMO
- Dungeon Keeper 3
- The Half-Life 2 RTS to go full-blown
- Bioshock 1 recreated with Bioshock 2′s engine/combat systems (and a better ending, of course)
- The Elder Scrolls V, but even weirder than Morrowind and with no returning Oblivion writers or actors
- Eyezmaze, the guy behind the ever-charming Grow games, to step up to major development and make something huge, strange and spectacular
- King’s Bounty 2, with no recycled content
- Mass Effect 3, right now
- Steam’s offline mode to work perfectly
- Aliens Vs Predator Vs Harry Potter
- Some sort of hypno-therapy that makes me incredible at Starcraft 2 overnight
- To never see or hear the phrase “dumbed-down” again
- My two front teeth
KTHXBYE
26/02/2010 at 11:58 Diogo Ribeiro says:
Happy Birthday :D
26/02/2010 at 11:58 Robin says:
>A proper X-COM sequel
This.
26/02/2010 at 11:58 lhzr says:
oh noes, what happened to your front teeth?
also happy bday, if it’s actually today.
26/02/2010 at 12:00 Gap Gen says:
He didn’t get what he wanted for Christmas.
26/02/2010 at 11:59 Osmosisch says:
Bioshock 2 recreated with Bioshock 2’s engine/combat systems eh?
26/02/2010 at 11:59 Forceflow says:
Now which Bioshock do you want recreated, mister Meer?
26/02/2010 at 11:59 Ginger Yellow says:
All those, plus:
HL2: Ep3
Company of Heroes 2 – March to Moscow
26/02/2010 at 12:13 Rich says:
I fully endorse this statement.
26/02/2010 at 12:27 Springy says:
The later expandalone being Company of Heroes 2: Desert Fox.
26/02/2010 at 12:27 Drexer says:
This, a thousand times this. Specially HL2:Ep.3
26/02/2010 at 12:00 Rage McDougal says:
- Bioshock 2 recreated with Bioshock 2’s engine/combat systems (and a better ending)
Typo? I assume it’s meant to be Bioshock 1.
26/02/2010 at 12:02 AndrewC says:
You’ll be wanting to edit your article to include the deaths of those that point out your mistakes.
26/02/2010 at 12:03 Triangulon says:
> Transformers MMO
This.
Surely everyone dreams of creating their own transformer?
26/02/2010 at 12:04 derella says:
Oh god, I would love the Elder Scrolls V you described. Instead, we’re going to end up with a TES MMO… /cry
26/02/2010 at 12:06 Jonas says:
26/02/2010 at 12:06 Gareth says:
I’d say Dungeon Keeper 3 is the one I’d kill for. Almost literally, but not quite =)
26/02/2010 at 12:07 dragon_hunter21 says:
“Bioshock 2 recreated with Bioshock 2’s engine/combat systems (and a better ending)”
26/02/2010 at 12:10 dragon_hunter21 says:
Ah, crappit. Forgot the rest of my message. These mornings, I’m telling you.
Anyway, yeah, unless m tiredness missed the logic there, it seems that Mr. Meer is a bit tired.
26/02/2010 at 12:07 Chris says:
> Bioshock 2 recreated with Bioshock 2’s engine/combat systems (and a better ending)
Bioshock 1?
26/02/2010 at 12:08 Alec Meer says:
The Bioshock typo’s changed now! Shuddup, right!
26/02/2010 at 12:11 Risingson says:
Happy Birthday! And may your wishes be fulfilled!
26/02/2010 at 12:12 Chris says:
Sorry, only saw the 1st comment, posting lag fail. And happy birthday, of course!
> Mass Effect 3, right now
Nooooooo! I’ve only just got my life back after the last 50 hour Shep-a-thon!
26/02/2010 at 12:13 the_fanciest_of_pants says:
I agree with this wishlist. Apart from caring at all about starcraft 2.
Oh and fat chance with bethesda dropping those goddamn voice actors. Those bastards hold on to EVERYONE.. What they really need to get rid of is their bloody animators.
Mark my words, TES V’s jumping animation will be as sub-par as any previous bethesda game!
26/02/2010 at 12:21 derella says:
Not to mention their walking animation…
26/02/2010 at 12:48 Jesse says:
Nevertheless, a new Elder Scrolls with more Morrowind and no f*ing Oblivion in it would rule the world.
Please please please! I still play Morrowind now and then. There’s nothing quite like it. So obviously, for the sequel, they decided to go more generic. Makes sense! Bad sense!
Thanks Alec! Happy birthday!
26/02/2010 at 12:50 Okami says:
Everybody knows that all animations of all Bethesda games are beeing made by the CEO’s nephew and that’s never going to change…
26/02/2010 at 12:14 Memphis-Ahn says:
I would most definitely kill for this.
Instead, Molyneux is playing with little children and fables.
And EA is sitting on their ass with that property, along with the System Shock one.
26/02/2010 at 12:15 Memphis-Ahn says:
That was meant to be a reply to Gareth. IE fail.
26/02/2010 at 12:15 Auspex says:
This is just a dumbed-down version of my own birthday list.
26/02/2010 at 12:15 Gareth says:
Oooh, but I live for going into third person and admiring the floating =)
26/02/2010 at 12:17 Auspex says:
Oh, and Happy Birthday Mr. Meer.
http://pbfcomics.com/?cid=PBF032-Todays_My_Birthday.gif
26/02/2010 at 12:19 Legal Steroids says:
well worth the read.I found it very informative as I have been researching a lot lately on practical matters such as you talk about…
26/02/2010 at 12:33 Jonas says:
You seem to be a spam bot.
26/02/2010 at 12:40 jon_hill987 says:
Whenever I get one like this on my blog I edit the name and link but leave the post so I look more popular than I am.
26/02/2010 at 12:19 DeliriumWartner says:
Happy birthday Alec. That is all.
26/02/2010 at 12:21 Brumisator says:
That’s a pretty dumbed down list.
>:D
26/02/2010 at 12:23 Gareth says:
Thought it might have been a reply to me =) Bullfrog being dead still makes me sad; DK was just one of the games they made that I’d love to have seen a sequel for. Ideas like Milo really make me cringe in comparison; I just… don’t see the point. At all. Now he’s set up as the head of Microsoft Game Studios though, I doubt that there’s any way it would happen with him at the helm.
Oh, and happy birthday Alec =)
26/02/2010 at 12:24 tba says:
Its my birthday too! We have so much in common, we should be friends! Then I can play all the games you are getting!
26/02/2010 at 12:26 AbyssUK says:
XCOM can never be remade, gaming will never be that good again… oh happy birthday :P
26/02/2010 at 12:27 Tom OBedlam says:
Everytime I read Alec’s wishlists or similar I get concerned that he’s me, from the FUTURE!
26/02/2010 at 12:27 alseT says:
Happy birthday . And I fully endorse this list.
26/02/2010 at 12:27 froibo says:
Congratulations on making another revolution around the sun. Your list is amazing especially the x-com and dungeon keeper requests.
26/02/2010 at 12:29 James G says:
Happy Birthday Mr. Meer.
A good list, and one I’d happily second several of the items on.
Dungeon Keeper 3: Oh very much so. I absolutely adored the first game, and although I’d be hardpressed to identify its failings, the second never quite grabbed me in the same way. Not sure who I’d give it to however.
Mass Effect 3 Now: Yes. Very much yes. Mass Effect 2 was one of those rare games which I actually grew more fond of as I digested in the week after completing it. I hope other developers have paid attention to ME2.
Of course, top of my list is the end of my thesis writing. Skiving off reading RPS isn’t helping that goal.
26/02/2010 at 12:32 Ian says:
Happy Birthday Mr Meer.
You forgot to mention “Every game getting Ubisoft DRM”?
26/02/2010 at 12:35 Stense says:
Well happy birthday Mr Meer.
26/02/2010 at 12:35 mcwizardry says:
Happy birthday Mr. Meer, a good list indeed. Does the rest of RPS want to share their lists?
26/02/2010 at 12:42 Muscle Horse says:
There was an update for Steam recently that said it fixed the offline mode – it worked here when I was LANing L4D2 with a friend on the same copy.
I would also like to chime in with the requests for DK3!
26/02/2010 at 12:43 diebroken says:
Deus Ex recreated in the (last known version of the) Dark Engine.
26/02/2010 at 12:44 SanguineAngel says:
Happy Birthday Alec, hope you get everything you wish for! (I REALLY hope you – and the rest of us – get everything on your list)
I would kill for your vision of TES V – with an added bonus of a well written and constructed storyline…. ahhhh a man can dream.
Aaaanyway. HAPPY BIRTHDAY
26/02/2010 at 12:47 jon_hill987 says:
My list?
1: No more originally PC games going cross platform. It tends to dumb them down.
2:Never to have to use the dumbed down multi player method that is matchmaking again. Dedicated servers (with browser showing ping) or single player only thanks.
3: A proper (non dumbed down) sequel to Deus Ex
4: Never to hear the words “cover system” in a game press release again, they are dumbed down.
5: Never to have to describe a game as dumbed down again.
26/02/2010 at 13:10 AndrewC says:
Hmm, my irony detector reads ‘zero’.
26/02/2010 at 12:50 Owen says:
Happy Birthday Mr Meer. Also, I am from the future and can confirm all your wishes will indeed come true.
(although I’m not able to tell you how far from the future I’m from, sorry, it’s one of the rules)
26/02/2010 at 12:51 TheApologist says:
Half-life 2 ep 3 as others have said, but also more GLADOS. Portal 2 please!
26/02/2010 at 12:52 TheApologist says:
And yes – pretty Deus Ex remake.
And you get the hours of my life spent watching Avatar back.
26/02/2010 at 12:54 Machina says:
Happy birthday Alec!
26/02/2010 at 13:00 Malleus says:
This list is worthless without wishing for a proper Rainbow Six / Ghost Recon / Splinter Cell game.
26/02/2010 at 13:01 Malleus says:
Oh, Happy Birthday for Alec by the way. :)
26/02/2010 at 13:02 ChaosSmurf says:
What a dumbed-down list.
(sorry)
26/02/2010 at 13:02 Alez says:
Now they are replacing “dumbed down” with “streamlined”
26/02/2010 at 13:03 Scroll says:
Aren’t Irrational games rumoured to be making a new X-com?
That’s what I last heard anyway.
26/02/2010 at 13:21 alseT says:
I just hope it won’t be dumbed down.
(sorry)
26/02/2010 at 13:38 Lu-Tze says:
http://uk.gamespot.com/news/6238162.html
This seems the most concise collection of bits of the rumours floating around. Irrational Games definitely current own the IP, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they had thrown around a few prototypes on it, but that’s far from them currently working on producing the title.
I don’t think a sequel is beyond the realms of possibility, but I think realistically the relationship you are going to see is similar to that of Fallout 3 to it’s predecessors.
26/02/2010 at 14:15 FunkyBadger says:
True X-Com is made, nay crafted, by the Gollops. Any fule kno that. Accept no substitute.
26/02/2010 at 15:00 Corporate Dog says:
Speaking of Irrational, here’s my birthday wish:
– A new Freedom Force game.
I thought they were setting up that franchise, so they’d take a stroll through the various eras of comic books (starting with the Silver Age, and then going back to the Golden Age with the sequel).
I want to see a tongue-in-cheek take on the Modern Age, complete with crappy Liefeld-inspired cover art, and all the characters going all dark and emo on us.
Another fun concept I’d love to see: Freedom Force 2099.
26/02/2010 at 16:14 Urthman says:
@Corporate Dog: Have you tried the Strangers mod (and the Tales of the Navigator follow-up)?
http://www.fundamentzero.com/
Because it:
(1) Does a lot of that marching-through the eras of comics.
(2) Is very well written, with a huge cast and world that feels as big as the Marvel or DC universe with tons of homages to various classic superhero tropes and storylines while remaining original and never descending into parody.
(3) Adds so much new gameplay (and is so big) that it feels more like a true sequel to the first FF game than FFvTheThirdReich.
(4) Has fantastic level and mission design.
(5) Has the best final boss of any game I’ve ever played.
Really the only thing it lacks is voice acting and it doesn’t use the original Freedom Force characters and world, if you’re particularly attached to them. But otherwise, if you liked Freedom Force, I swear on Alan Moore’s Supreme you will love the Strangers.
26/02/2010 at 16:23 Corporate Dog says:
@Urthman: I’m getting a distinct Exiles vibe from the Strangers, based on what you wrote, and what the website shows. Am I close?
Looks like I’ll be reinstalling FF, and giving the Strangers a run. Thanks!
26/02/2010 at 17:54 Urthman says:
More than anything it reminds me of Kurt Busiek’s Astro City. The creator of the Strangers takes an encyclopedic love of classic DC and Marvel characters and stories and comes up with homages to the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, the Legion of Superheroes, Kirby’s New Gods, where you can recognize the inspiration but the characters are really his own, and the writing is so good it doesn’t seem derivative. And oh boy is it epic. Epic like the original Infinity Gauntlet or Crisis on Infinite Earths. It succeeds where all those annual crossovers try and fail. (And then there’s the Tales of the Navigator follow-up which is super-epic like the Marvel Earth-X, Universe-X, Paradise-X series was epic.)
And if you’ve never played with his Freedom Force mods, you will be amazed at how much he’s expanded and extended the game play, and how much more fun it is than the original Freedom Force.
I found his artwork style a little off-putting, and the character costume designs are not my favorite, but the characters and the powers and the story are really great.
And the villains! Do you remember when Nimrod was first introduced in the X-men? And he had that genuinely scary terminator-that-can’t-be-stopped vibe? You will feel that chill in your spine. You will say, “Oh crap.”
Oh, that reminds me, the game can be pretty hard. If you haven’t played Freedom Force for a while, you might want to choose Easy difficulty. Except that you should let yourself die once in a while because you get a hilarious lecture from the characters breaking the fourth wall to complain about what you did wrong and give you hints about how to get it right.
For anyone who is an older mainstream comic superhero fan (’60s, ’70s, ’80s), I think the Strangers mod might be the best superhero game ever made.
26/02/2010 at 13:08 scoopsy says:
Happy Birthday, and most agreed on dumbing things down.
In 2010, I hereby propose we start smartening some things up instead.
26/02/2010 at 13:09 nine says:
Happy Birthday, Dr. Meer. Please ensure the three other musketeers post something on their birthdays too.
I’ve most enjoyed your reviews of GIANT BLOCKBUSTER games that studiously avoid giving into the hype and instead just deliver exactly what I want from a review (that is: enjoyment and purchase advice). Keep it up!
26/02/2010 at 13:10 Anthony says:
I’m Commander Shepard, and this is my favourite birthday wishlist on the internets.
26/02/2010 at 13:14 JB says:
Happy Birthday Alec, hope you’re having a good one!
26/02/2010 at 13:14 corbie says:
Happy Birthday Alec. Keep wishing :-)
/Corb
26/02/2010 at 13:16 guisim says:
Happy Birthday !
26/02/2010 at 13:18 Carra says:
You don’t want the cake?
26/02/2010 at 15:16 l1ddl3monkey says:
ERROR 448: This meme has expired.
26/02/2010 at 13:22 Max says:
Happy Birthday !
26/02/2010 at 13:26 Baboonanza says:
Happy brithday!
Steam’s offline mode *does* work perfectly, I’m offline 90% of the time I’m using it! The trick is that you have to start up a game at least once online before it will run in offline mode. Do that and everything’s cool.
26/02/2010 at 14:36 somnolentsurfer says:
It works fine most of the time. It just seems to refuse to start up if a game crashes. And given that, you know, most of my crashes these days are related to my Internet going down…
26/02/2010 at 13:28 WilPal says:
Happy Birthday!
26/02/2010 at 13:29 Gareth says:
Gotta agree here, never had any issues with it so long as you follow those rules. Game needs to decrypt first, etc etc.
26/02/2010 at 13:31 DanPryce says:
FUCKING AMEN to the Transformers MMO. I would go for the rest of the list too.
26/02/2010 at 13:39 ShaunCG says:
I can scarcely believe the extent to which this birthday wishlist is dumbed-down. Whatever happened to the halcyon birthdays of 2009? Feh.
26/02/2010 at 13:44 Mechorpheus says:
RE: Aliens vs Predator vs Harry Potter
Might be quite interesting, as EA might make rebellion actually implement something innovative.
Rebellion really need someone to write down every single thing which made the FPS genre better since 1999 in a large hard-backed tome and beat every single member of their development staff round the head with it, just to be sure some of it stuck.
/me isn’t bitterly disappointed with AVP3 much at all…..
26/02/2010 at 13:46 drewski says:
I note a distinct lack of world destroying robots on this list, which seems like a missed opportunity.
26/02/2010 at 13:46 fishyjoes says:
Happy Birthsday!
But you should wish for a hypno-therapy because there is none. Better wish for the will to put effort into SC2. I am sure its going to be worth it;)
26/02/2010 at 13:48 Javier-de-Ass says:
> – To never see or hear the phrase “dumbed-down” again
Supcom2
26/02/2010 at 15:18 l1ddl3monkey says:
Played demp last night. Agree with this person. Sad face.
26/02/2010 at 17:15 w says:
Taylor makes babies cry :(
26/02/2010 at 13:52 Fede says:
Happy Birthday!
May your dreams come true :)
26/02/2010 at 13:52 Jonnybase says:
Sacrifice 2!!!
27/02/2010 at 03:10 Lemon scented apocalypse says:
+100000000 internet points. conservatively
26/02/2010 at 13:53 laikapants says:
Happeh Birthday!
DK3: Yes!
Bioshock 1 -> 2: Yes Yes!
TES V Being Morrowind weird: Good lord, a million billion times yes! Though I’m not entirely sure how weird the home of the Nords can get (if that like 3 year old rumour has any weight to it). Then again, Bloodmoon was amply weird for me.
Yes to everything else because I’m too lazy to respond to each one.
26/02/2010 at 13:56 Sam says:
Yeah, perfectly. Except when it doesn’t. Which at least for me is pretty frequently.
26/02/2010 at 14:00 Bremze says:
I heartily agree with everything on the list except for the x-com part. I’d like a good open source remake even more than a “proper” one. UFO: Alien Invasion, I’d like a stable build from you please D:
26/02/2010 at 16:11 jalf says:
Well, so far, all the open-source remakes have been consistently terrible. So yeah sure, it’d be nice if one came along and magically was awesome at everything, but I can’t blame Alec for being realistic: It’s pretty clear that an official sequel is about 80 times more likely to happen.
26/02/2010 at 14:02 Kadayi says:
@Baboonanza
Agreed. Steam offline mode has worked perfectly well for an age. It’s only where the game (like Burnout Paradise for example) is looking for additional on-line access that it runs into problems.
@Alec
Happy Birthday. What happened to the teeth?
26/02/2010 at 14:13 Ffitz says:
Many Happy Returns, Alec.
Yes, absolutely to the X-Com wish. That would be at the top of my list too. It would be icing on the cake if the Gollops were to build it.
The rest of my list would be:
A top-notch reworking of both X-Wing and Tie Fighter. Same missions, new shiny engine. Also: drop-in co-op multiplayer throughout the campaigns.
Battlefield 3 to be out tomorrow and truly brilliant.
26/02/2010 at 14:20 ThePinkNinja says:
I’d settle for Dungeon Keeper 3 but I also wnat Theme Hospital 2
26/02/2010 at 14:21 Brulleks says:
Elder Scrolls V should be set in Elsweyr. Enough of the elves and humans!
I’d love to see what kind of society the Khaajiit would construct.
26/02/2010 at 14:28 James G says:
Trademark registrations suggest that TESV may be set in Skyrim, although obviously such things are subject to change.
26/02/2010 at 14:30 AndrewC says:
Oooo Khaajiit could be huuuge post-Avatar. Enforced furry-ism now!
26/02/2010 at 16:29 laikapants says:
I support this wholly if they bring back the other species of Khajiit and Argonian, with old legs that prevented them from wearing boots. I also really want to go to Black Marsh, full of slavers and pirates.
26/02/2010 at 14:21 Ian says:
I think you’re only supposed to get your two front teeth at Christmas, Alec. Only another eight months to wait…
But if it were in my power, I’d definitely grant you your X-COM wish…
26/02/2010 at 14:28 UK_John says:
Every time you say something intelligent (“A proper X-COM sequel …”), you spoil it by saying something dumb (“Mass Effect 3, right now”) This mixture will lead to grief, with an X-Com dumbed down for the multiformat market just like Mass Effect is a dumbed down RPG for this market.
To have a ‘proper’ X-Com sequel requires a ‘proper’ PC gaming market. Having the Bioware’s of this world going from Baldur’s Gate and Planescape Torment to Jade Empire and Mass Effect and Bethesda going from Daggerfall and Morrowind to Oblivion and an Elder Scrolls MMO is showing PC gaming to be going in the opposite direction to ‘proper’!
26/02/2010 at 14:33 AndrewC says:
Irony detector: off the charts!
26/02/2010 at 14:35 qrter says:
On a very, VERY serious note – BioWare did not make Planescape: Torment, that was Black Isle Studios. I do believe PS:T did use a licensed BioWare engine, however.
But do go on, what was that about dumbing down and proper?
26/02/2010 at 14:35 Wilson says:
@UK_John – Hey, I liked Jade Empire (and Mass Effect, but more Jade Empire)! What PC gaming needs is a mix of games of all different styles. There’s no need for people who like RPG elements but aren’t that hardcore about it to miss out on being able to play a quality RPG. I agree that it’s important to have some games of more depth/complexity/old schoolness, whatever you’d classify your cited games as having compared to the more modern ones, but not solely that.
26/02/2010 at 14:52 Corporate Dog says:
‘Dragon Age: Origins’ is the throwback PC RPG you’re looking for. Are you not entertained? Is that not why you are here?
26/02/2010 at 16:30 Urthman says:
Jade Empire! I got that game at the Christmas sale and just recently finished it. I enjoyed the combat and the world design and some of the plots and side-quests, but the writing was so bad and the good/evil system so stupid that I think it’s permanently turned me off to all Bioware games ever. The Mass Effect 2 hype had just about convinced me to pick up Mass Effect 1 and give it a try, but now it’s way at the bottom of my list.
(I had started the game thinking, “Oh, instead of good and evil, they’ve got open hand vs. closed fist. Maybe I’ll try the closed fist approach.” I decided to choose every closed-fist option unless the dialogue option was so utterly stupid I just couldn’t bring myself to click on it. Less than a quarter of the way through the game I was so open-handed I had a freaking halo.)
27/02/2010 at 03:16 Lemon scented apocalypse says:
Dragon Age: Origins is a throwback rpg harking back to those glorious days of wonder. Too bad it cliched, generic & boring.
26/02/2010 at 14:38 Theblazeuk says:
Happy birthday Mr Meer.
26/02/2010 at 14:42 duel says:
Hurray for Eyezmaze! Happy Birthday ;)
26/02/2010 at 14:43 Mod the world says:
You get: Assasins Creed 2 and a pair of white socks. Happy Birthday!
26/02/2010 at 14:43 nabeel says:
Happy Birthday Alec!
26/02/2010 at 14:44 KngShango says:
Gaems are dumbed down!
26/02/2010 at 14:44 Igor Hardy says:
Happy Birthday!
26/02/2010 at 14:56 Alex Bakke says:
I had a birthday once. It was mediocre.
Happy birthday.
26/02/2010 at 15:07 LintMan says:
- Proper X-Com sequel: yes, please!
- Patrick Stewart was in Oblivion! Don’t dis Captain Picard!
- While the main quest stroy in Oblivion was kinda weak, I thought a lot of the quest lines rocked (ie: assassin quests, some of the demon and town quests, etc). The writers deserve some credit for those, no?
- I’m tempted to wish for a Portal 2, but the original was so unexpectedly awesome that I’m not sure a sequel could do anything but disappoint.
26/02/2010 at 18:29 Sassenach says:
And Sean Bean, Mister Sharpe will not be best impressed with your comments relating to his acting.
But yes to a great many of those things, crazy dreams though they are.
26/02/2010 at 15:12 The Archetype says:
Happy birthday Alec!
26/02/2010 at 15:16 Andy says:
Didn’t you get your two front teeth for Christmas?
26/02/2010 at 15:17 Patrick says:
Happy Birthday
You Can’t Have Any of Those Things
You’re Drunk
26/02/2010 at 15:25 Mavvvy says:
PC gamers everywhere unite, petition the World Health Organisation for a cure to consolitus and give this rapidly aging man a brighter outlook to his decrepit future.
26/02/2010 at 15:29 rmtx97 says:
The Assassins and Thieves guild quests were the most fun I’ve had in video games for years.
The Knights of the Nines one was solid as well.
In fact, Oblivion was just sick. The mod with guns was pretty decent too! =)
26/02/2010 at 15:31 rmtx97 says:
whoops, post should have been reply @LintMan
btw, I know why it doesn’t assign as reply.
If I forget to enter the CAPTCHA, and immediately enter the CAPTCHA after the refresh, it forgets to assign my post as a reply
26/02/2010 at 15:32 Earl_of_Josh says:
Sadly have to disagree. During the terrible weather we’ve been having on the east coast of the US a truck came and knocked down the cable to our apartment. Neither me or my roommate could play any of our steam games. I think there had been an update or something, but steam simply wouldn’t even start until we had gotten internet back. Boo! :-(
Also, happy birthday Alex!
Edit: Er, this was in reply to people saying Steam Offline worked fine for them.
26/02/2010 at 15:34 bebe says:
No duke nukem forever?!
Happy Birthday!
26/02/2010 at 15:35 Petethegoat says:
‘A proper X-COM sequel’
‘The Elder Scrolls V, but even weirder than Morrowind and with no returning Oblivion writers or actors.’
If he doesn’t get these today, he had bloody well better get them for Christmas!
26/02/2010 at 15:46 Gareth says:
It’s nice to want presents that give to the PC gaming community as well =)
26/02/2010 at 15:50 Heliosicle says:
HAPPY BIRTHDAYYYYY!
26/02/2010 at 16:05 Paperflyer says:
Happy Birthday, Alec!
May I add a sequel to Outcast? (Or just the same thing again, but with todays graphics)
26/02/2010 at 16:15 AndrewC says:
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2010/02/18/mama-were-all-voxely-now-open-outcast/
God but Outcast was wonderful
26/02/2010 at 16:14 Surgeon says:
All the best Alec, hope you have a simply splendid evening.
26/02/2010 at 16:18 Urthman says:
Bioshock 1 recreated with Bioshock 2’s engine/combat systems (and a better ending, of course)
This could only be the Tom Francis ending, which I enjoyed reading so much that it has actually replaced the original ending of BioShock in my memories and I find myself looking back and thinking that BioShock had a fantastic ending:
http://www.pentadact.com/index.php/2009-04-15-ending-bioshock
26/02/2010 at 16:22 jsutcliffe says:
Yes! I loved that ending — it’s such a brutal use of the Vita Chambers. I was going to post a reply with a description of it because I couldn’t remember where I’d read it.
26/02/2010 at 16:31 CoffeeBean says:
Happy Birthday!
I heartily endorse the Dungeon Keeper bit. One of the greatest games ever. Also, I lament the lack of Homeworld entry on the list.
26/02/2010 at 16:32 Lambchops says:
Happy birthday.
The lack of those front teeth’ll teach tou not to be such a naughty boy this year!
26/02/2010 at 16:36 Vinraith says:
With the exception of the Transformers MMO (to which I am simply indifferent) I fully endorse this list. Alec: You are a man of taste and sophistication, happy birthday. Gaming industry: Get on this stuff. Now.
26/02/2010 at 16:41 hoff says:
Irrational, you heard the man’s wishes. Now stop all the rumoring and make that XCom sequel happening!
26/02/2010 at 16:43 Wulf says:
I hope you have a great Birthday, Alec! Just try not to remember that you’re one year older, that catches up with ya after a while.
Furthermore, I can’t believe how much of that list I agree with.
- A Transformers MMO: Especially if Beast Wars continuity is added. Yes. Very yes.
- Dungeon Keeper 3: Overlord is sort of this, but it just isn’t as fun, and I’m sorry to a writer whom I actually like but the writing just isn’t there.
- Bioshock 1 recreated with Bioshock 2’s engine/combat systems (and a better ending, of course): I would buy BioShock 2 for this. I honestly would.
- The Elder Scrolls V, but even weirder than Morrowind and with no returning Oblivion writers or actors: I’d love for them to attempt some planes-based fun, as almost every roleplaying scenario seems to have planes. It’d be interesting to see them try to create planes which represent the cogs which make up the gestalt of conscious for all of those in the realms, and as a whole, for better or worse, serve as progression, innovation, creativity, and inspiration for all the sentient races.
- Eyezmaze, the guy behind the ever-charming Grow games, to step up to major development and make something huge, strange and spectacular: I wonder if he knows how many people would be willing to pay him for such a thing?
- Mass Effect 3, right now: Yes! With gay relationships! …okay, I’m dreaming, I know. But I can dream, can’t I?
- Steam’s offline mode to work perfectly: I… can’t comment on this as it’s always worked perfectly for me, but I’m always incredibly lucky with computers, so much so that it baffles, confounds, and generally annoys other people.
- Aliens Vs Predator Vs Harry Potter: Vs Fullmetal Alchemist! Okay, I’m riffing off a VGCats comic here, but I couldn’t resist. And I wanted to end the post on a high-note.
27/02/2010 at 03:04 Lemon scented apocalypse says:
The Elder Scrolls V:Plane scape.
Actually scratch that : A1st person RPG set in the planescape universe with writing as good as the original mmmmmmmmmmm…………………….
Failing that a Dark sun game
Or a Rifts FPS
Or more CTHULHU Goddammit!!!
27/02/2010 at 06:05 Cynic says:
@lemon scented apocalypse
“Or a Rifts FPS”
Jesus, me too. Failing that, I’d even play the RPG they released for the N-gage if I could find an emulator AND the rom.
26/02/2010 at 16:44 Steelfists says:
Happy Birthday!
I agree with your list. Mass Effect 2 especially. Battlefield 3 would also be awesome
Its my birthday tomorrw! Yay!
26/02/2010 at 17:13 Flobulon says:
Mine too! Hurray for us!
26/02/2010 at 16:58 Out Reach says:
but you don’t want cake?
More for me and GLaDOS.
26/02/2010 at 17:03 armlesscorps says:
happy birthday dude, and thanks for the last year of quality games journalism !
26/02/2010 at 17:16 Don says:
>Steam’s offline mode to work perfectly
Is it still broken? I saw a client patch the other day claiming to fix a problem with offline mode but wasn’t tempted to yank the cable just to test it. Maybe I’ll remember to try it next time I boot Windows.
Anyway happy birthday dude. And apart from endorsing the HL Ep3/Portal 2 additions to the list I’ll add:
A large scale historical strategy/battle game that looks as pretty as Empire: Total War but has some semblance of a brain operating on behalf of the AI components. Napoleon: Total War need not apply for this position if the reviews are anything to go by.
26/02/2010 at 17:26 Helm says:
Happy birthday!
26/02/2010 at 17:29 Patton says:
I would add Half-Life episode 3 to that list.
2 years. 2 long excruciating years. And not even a screenshot. Or a trailer. Or a teaser. Or even a box art scan.
Valve, stop dicking around and make the damn game already.
26/02/2010 at 17:29 Brian Rubin says:
You forgot Freespace 3 on that list. ;)
26/02/2010 at 17:41 karthik says:
- Mass Effect 3, right now
- Steam’s offline mode to work perfectly
Oh man!
26/02/2010 at 17:45 Steerpike says:
You’re lucky you’re not near me, Alec, because I would kiss you right on the mouth for creating such a list. I too want all these things.
Happy birthday!
26/02/2010 at 17:56 Dave says:
Happy birthday :)
26/02/2010 at 18:07 Joel says:
Yes please to an honest-to-goodness X-Com sequel. Why is this so hard for people to get right?
26/02/2010 at 18:22 Sp4rkR4t says:
What, no miniature Giraffes trained to fetch beer from the fridge?
Weirdo.
26/02/2010 at 18:49 bhlaab says:
-For designers to stop making me use the phrase “dumbed down” ever again
26/02/2010 at 18:53 K.Boogle says:
Happy B-day Alec!
26/02/2010 at 19:00 theleif says:
I fully endorse your birthday, Mr. Meer.
26/02/2010 at 20:16 The Hammer says:
Happy birthday, Alec!
26/02/2010 at 20:26 the wiseass says:
“Dumbed Down”.
Happy Burstday, old man.
26/02/2010 at 20:48 Miker says:
Happy birthday, Alec! May your children be masculine, etc.
26/02/2010 at 21:14 DJ Phantoon says:
Unless they are girls.
26/02/2010 at 22:20 Miker says:
To be fair, we don’t know what Alec wants for his daughters.
26/02/2010 at 20:58 abigbat says:
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
Yes to Dungeon Keeper 3; the rest pale in comparison.
26/02/2010 at 21:07 Web Cole says:
Happy Birthday!
26/02/2010 at 21:19 jonfitt says:
Happy Birthday Alec, I hope you get everything you wished for.
26/02/2010 at 21:35 Mr. Versipellis says:
Yup, yup, yup, yup, yup, ESPECIALLY TES V!!!
26/02/2010 at 21:56 Mister Hands says:
Happy birthday, sir!
26/02/2010 at 22:17 Bret says:
All excellent sounding ideas.
Happy birthday, then.
26/02/2010 at 22:42 Gunhover says:
Happy birthday Alec, may death come swiftly to your enemies!
As for Dungeon Keeper 3, you should change that to “Bullfrog being resurrected”, then you’ll get DK3 and save an awesome UK studio from
BorgEA assimilation. Everyone’s a winner.Also, I have a warm and fuzzy feeling that we won’t have to wait too long for ME3…
26/02/2010 at 22:55 aa says:
“The Elder Scrolls V, but even weirder than Morrowind and with no returning Oblivion writers or actors”
Send this straight to Bethesda please !
26/02/2010 at 23:36 WFL says:
Plus, don’t kill off the high paid voice actor right off the bat this time.
27/02/2010 at 00:00 Miko says:
I would give my left nut for Nippon Ichi to start porting their games to PC.
Well, maybe not my left nut. But I’d happily pay €60 for a Disgaea 1+2+3 three-pack. Or just 2+3, since I’ve already played the first to death on the DS. How come consoles get all the awesome and fun strategy games and the PC just gets this po-faced hurry-up-and-wait real-time flarf?
27/02/2010 at 00:14 Psychopomp says:
THIS
27/02/2010 at 00:16 Vinraith says:
@Miko
Good god, yes, I’d snap up a Disgaea 3-pack for PC in an instant. Though I’d disagree that consoles get all the fun strategy games (and in fact beyond Ichi’s stuff don’t know what you’re talking about). Paradox, Creative Assembly (current problems aside), Kerberos, Stardock, and Firaxis (along with an assortment of great indies) are making a fine showing for non-RTS strategy on PC IMO.
27/02/2010 at 00:02 Miko says:
..but then, it’s not my birthday.
27/02/2010 at 00:09 wazups2x says:
Most games nowadays are being dumbed down because of consoles. :)
27/02/2010 at 00:51 Spacewalk says:
Except the ports that are dumbed up to PC.
27/02/2010 at 00:38 jsutcliffe says:
@Vinraith
True, but King’s Bounty made me long for more turn-based tactical RPGs on PC, which are in no short supply on consoles, especially the handhelds (Final Fantasy Tactics, Disgaea, Front Mission, etc). I find it surprising that it’s a game style that has not really found its feet on PC. Playing such games on the DS’s touch screen makes it obvious that a mouse would be an excellent input device for them.
27/02/2010 at 00:46 Vinraith says:
@jsutcliffe
There IS a weird shortage of turn based tactical RPG’s on PC, no doubt. I’d love to see that trend turn around as well.
27/02/2010 at 01:13 HermitUK says:
Bonus points if whoever makes it nabs the mech customisation from Front Mission. Probably spent more time testing out builds in the training arena than I did on missions in FM3.
Extra bonus points if they add online co-op campaign options.
27/02/2010 at 01:51 EaterOfCheese says:
I’d like a ridiculously detailed and well-designed open world RPG with excellent dialogue (i.e., not oblivion), plot and drama, etc. Also, a nice cup of tea.
01/03/2010 at 03:45 ulix says:
Apparently Red Dead Redemption is going to have a few RPG like game mechanics, like a morality system. And its certainly going to have awesome dialogue and gritty (yet hilarious) drama.
But then again, its only for consoles.
27/02/2010 at 02:05 Soobe says:
I honestly think you guys in the UK have it bad when it comes to Steam and GFWL. I’ve never had the troubles you guys routinely mention–which means get off your buts Valve and Microsoft.
27/02/2010 at 03:27 Grey! says:
Happy Birthday Alec,
The older the fiddler, the sweeter the tune.
27/02/2010 at 03:49 destroy.all.monsters says:
Happy birthday Alec – and many more.
Also – Crazy Heart is an amazing movie. Don’t know if you’re in a movie mood Alec but it’s well worth your time. To give you an idea of where I’m coming from the last two movies I saw that I was really into were A Serious Man and Up in the Air.
27/02/2010 at 05:49 Davie says:
That’s “kthxbai”. Happy birthday.
I agree with you on TES5 too. Bethesda should announce it, at least.
27/02/2010 at 11:51 Hmm-Hmm. says:
I’m a day late, I know, but I still wish to convey my congratulations to you, Alec.
I hope you got some cake. Cake is good.
27/02/2010 at 13:20 heartlessgamer says:
Thanks for the insipiration!
http://www.heartlessgamer.com/2010/02/self-serving-pc-gaming-wish-list.html
27/02/2010 at 16:10 Glove says:
*blusters through the door, sweating and panting* w-huppuhburthday! *swings head around loosely, collapses*
28/02/2010 at 17:07 Aah! says:
My wish-list:
1) a game with fun gameplay that rewards creativity and intelligence and exploration and skill and curiosity and doesn’t just walk you through a series of pointless linear battle scenes strung together with an idiotic overcomplicated storyline narrated by glassy-eyed uncanny valley NPC action figures
28/02/2010 at 21:29 Elt says:
Overlord? Overlord is nothing like Dungeon Keeper. You must be thinking of something else. The only game that’s ever been remotely similar to Dungeon Keeper is Evil Genius.
That being said, add Evil Genius 2 to the wish list next to Dungeon Keeper 3.
01/03/2010 at 03:43 ulix says:
I wish for…
- A “real” System Shock 3.
- Thief 4 & Deus Ex 3 not to suck balls.
- Completely new animations in Fallout: New Vegas
- The Dark Eye Demonicon not to suck.
- Red Dead Redemption on PC (with the RAGE Engine actually being properly optimized this time)
- GTA5 to be set (at least partly) outside the USA (US/Mexican border maybe?).
- More games from Bioware
- The Old Republic right now.
01/03/2010 at 03:54 ulix says:
And if I’m at it:
- More games to use the Aurora Body-Physics engine that Rockstar used in GTA4 and uses in Red Dead Redemption. Because its awesome and fun as hell.
03/03/2010 at 00:01 LewieP says:
Looks like Valve really do care:
http://store.steampowered.com/news/3537/
“Really fixed offline mode not always working”
04/03/2010 at 09:55 Rahul 'rimp' Nambiar says:
@ulix ‘I wish for…- A “real” System Shock 3′
YESYESYES!
EA own Shock IPR assets but Irrational/ TLG? are back!
-Rahul
31/07/2010 at 06:47 hulu downloader says:
Looks more like Dune 2 to me. Though those are by no means Carryalls moving the reactors.