7 Questions For 2007 Follow-up

Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half Life 1, 2 and 3

Exactly one year ago I wrote an article called 7 Questions For 2007 and I have decided to write a follow-up to them. Listed are the questions with the follow up below.

Question 1

Will Duke Nukem Forever be Released?
Well, the answer is a resounding NO! A teaser video was released a few days ago but that’s just made it worse. They should say nothing until 10 days before it is released and then do a countdown media release for each day. No reviews, no previews, nothing! The more talk and discussion there is the more players will expect the best game ever.

OH! and it better have a SP demo or I won’t be buying it. In fact I should start a website: No-Demo-No-Buy.com

Question 2

Will game developers realize that A.I. is more important to long-term playability than graphics?
With the release of Crysis, it seems that the graphics improvement loop has started again. They are even talking about Crysis 2 having even better graphics. Seriously, let’s move on and get smarter not prettier games!

Question 3

Will we finally find out what happens to Gordon, Alyx and the rest of the Half-Life gang?
“I have a strange feeling that episode 3 will be available just before Christmas 2007. Valve are very, very commercially aware and I think the opportunity to release a “Half-Life 2: Episode 1,2 and 3 Pack” will be impossible to resist.”

OMG, I can’t believe I was so naïve! Did I really believe that Episode 2 and 3 would be released in the same year? The question is will Ep3 be released in 2008?

Question 4

Will there be any budget-release surprises?
I haven’t seen any but I have bought any games this year, except Prey for £10, which was pretty good. I haven’t opened it yet though. DO you know of any?

Question 5

Will the game industry finally see the potential for Grey Gamers?
Perhaps Nintendo have understood the potential of new markets but that should be translated to the PC area. I would love to see a game for grey gamers, made by grey gamers! Perhaps one day.

Question 6

Will 3D goggles make a comeback?
No, in fact there seemed to be little incentive to develop any particular hardware except graphics cards. I’m hoping to have a review of some new glasses I’ve just heard about called Game Eyez but they are not 3D. More on that soon I hope.

Question 7

What innovations in gameplay of FPS games can we expect in 2007?
Well, Portal was obviously a great innovation and the Plasmids from Bioshock seemed to get everybody excited. Besides that I can’t think of anything, can you?

Last Words

Looking back it seems like a quiet year for gaming but with Ep2, Portal, Crysis and Bioshock released I suppose I should be more grateful. I’ll try and post a brief report of the year in mods later next week.

I was hoping to publish 8 Questions for 2008 but to be honest I can’t think of enough questions I am interested in. I’ll try and think of some. at the moment I have:

Will Black Mesa Source be released
Will Return to Castle Wolfenstein 2 be released
Will Duke Nukem Forever be released
Will I actually learn to map and release something worth playing?
Will I ever find my Belkin N50 and actually try and use it!

If you suggest it, I’ll try and write about it.

About this entry

Published:: 20th December 2007 at 12:20 pm

Category:: Phillip's Blog

Responses:: 11 Comments (add)

Luke L 20th December 2007 at 14:49 1

Will there be a backlash against the super publishes (EA, Activision, Ubisoft) and a rise of smaller companies?

Will online content delivery actually become useful. Steam is good, but there’s no incentive to using that over buying a game elsewhere.

Will there be a convergence of platforms? UT3 on the PS3 is supposed to be able to run mods (eventually) bringing it into the PCs world. Will it succeed?

Just a few off the top of my head. Let’s hope it’s another great year for gamers.
zeroth404 20th December 2007 at 18:19 2

I second that No-Demo-No-Buy.com, though I’d leave out the hyphens.

Demos should be mandatory as demanded by gaming consumers.
darkstranger 20th December 2007 at 19:15 3

BMS, Half-Life 2, Episode 1,2 and 3 Pack would be awesome
Matt Glanville (CrowbarSka) 20th December 2007 at 19:16 4

NoTryNoBuy… Catchier?

Was anyone else slightly disappointed by that DNF teaser? I don’t know… I think I expected something like the StarCraft 2 trailer and it didn’t live up to it (nothing can really, Blizzard are phenomenal when it comes to FMV).
Loke 20th December 2007 at 20:12 5

Some people were expecting a 2001 trailer when in fact it only was a small teaser, no wonder they were disappointed.
Ezequielhl 21st December 2007 at 00:01 6

The plasmids in Bioshock are inspired in “Clive Barker’s Undying” spells … but you can use them at the sime time as your weapon (wich for me is funner but maybe for someone it will make things easier).

But with the technologies of 2001 and other innovation (you know, no real physics for example) I admit the Plasmids are better implemented than the Undying spells.

To bad for Undying: the game has an award for “best game no one played” 91/100.
Lizard 21st December 2007 at 05:02 7

I like free stuff. Practically everything on my computer runs on or is protected by free stuff. Free games. Free maps. But I tell you if Duke Nukem Forever ever comes out, I will buy it. No demo, no nothing. And I most always play the demo before buying a game.I found out I couldn’t play Farcry on my computer when I got the demo.I thought I could play anything because I had just got the computer.DNF will be like having a Van Gough or a Monet. Priceless. How many company’s have owned it? 2 that I know of. What other game has held peoples curiosity like DNF? I’ll bet there are young gamers out there that never even heard of it.
MikeS 21st December 2007 at 13:32 8

Well, in commercial terms at least, Crysis has been a failure, mainly, I suspect, because not enough people have high-end machines to run it properly. So maybe your wish for less focus on graphics will be granted, Phillip.

My wishes for 2008 are a HL2: Episode 3 package (including Portal 2, please) and Black Mesa. I’m not expecting either. Pessimist or realist? You decide. You can keep Duke Nukem Forever. Why anyone should be excited at the prospect of a sequel that’s lain dormant for a decade is beyond me. It’ll bear little comparison with the original.
Oopla 21st December 2007 at 16:11 9

I predict that 3Drealms will not get it’s marketing of DN4 correct.

Their teaser video just reminds me in a way, of some girl flashing you. That, it’s at the point where it has gotten old. It’s no longer exciting, it’s just the same old undelivered promise.

We gotta be shown something new. that teaser was just rendered CGI. Show me some game play, let someone have at a playable version. And not some paid(-off) “journalist” who will report everything 3Drealms says as fact.

I cannot see 3Drealms doing anything more than breaking even on the game. I am willing to honestly say that the game is probably done, and that now they are porting in to 360, Wii & PS3 to try to make enough money to break even.

The fact that they missed the Xmas season, may mean they hold off releasing it until November of next year.

DN4 is just the stuff of flame wars.
Matt Glanville (CrowbarSka) 21st December 2007 at 16:45 10

Oopla Said:

Their teaser video just reminds me in a way, of some girl flashing you. That, it’s at the point where it has gotten old. It’s no longer exciting, it’s just the same old undelivered promise.

Haha, fantastic analogy!
I agree with your comments though, and I think DNF had better be something REALLY special or it will be so disappointing. More so than if it had just been a bad sequel. With all this time spent on it you would think that SURELY they’ve cooked up something good… right?
Loke 21st December 2007 at 18:29 11

It’s not like they’ve spent 10 years on the same game, nope.