I have taken the liberty of creating a chat room for LIVEdigitally. Lingr is a slick Web 2.0 site which, rather than having you download a client to use to create rooms, allows you to make, manage, tag, favorite, and of course hang out in your chats completely online. Instead of wandering aimlessly and putting up an actual review-type blurb, I figured it would be more fun to just make a chat for us and then we can all see how we feel, hash it out together, and maybe, uh…jam around ;D
Category Archives: General
WarGames 2 announced – "Would you like to play another game?"
I don’t know about you, but the 1983 pseudo-classic WarGames was huge for me as a kid. I’ve seen it dozens of times, and still get all tense throughout. It’s been so big in tech-pop culture that the WOPR has a Wikipedia entry!
Amongst the rubble of 5 sequel announcements today (the craporama includes the following future TNT classics: Species 4, Into the Blue 2, Cutting Edge 3, and Legally Blonde 3), I noticed WarGames 2! Now this was rumored before, but this piece in Reuters seems fairly legit.
Only two words here. Mega-awesome.
That is, unless, it ends up being called WarGames 2: Joshua vs HAL9000
60 Hours in Hong Kong
I was in Hong Kong once before in my life, but it was for about 90 minutes before I had to run off to the airport. Last week I spent two and a half days there (training the customer service and technical support team for HK-based sales of the Slingbox, it’s part of what I do), and while most of the time I was hard at work, I did get to see a few things. More importantly, I got to eat a lot of local food (at my insistence).
This first batch of pictures is from the drive from Hong Kong airport to the hotel (Sheraton in Tsim Sha Tsui, a central area of the city). Interestingly, there is only a single bridge to connect the airport with the rest of the city. One other thing you won’t really notice from the pictures is the unbelievable pollution – as we landed it was almost as thick as the fog in San Francisco!
I checked into the hotel (quite nice, by the way, I definitely recommend it if you head out there), then went out for a stroll. This is my typical ‘fly to East Asia from San Francisco’ ritual I use to try to get a little tuckered out and avoid as much jet lag as possible. The streets in Tsim Sha Tsui are busy in the evenings, with many of the local stores open for business. Tourist business, that is. This definitely the region to come if you want a cheap (fake) watch or hand-made suit, and about every 5 feet someone reminds you of that fact. “Rolex, sir, you want Rolex?” comes across a little funny when pronounced with a bit of a British accent…
One of my favorite food groups is, well, all food actually. But I definitely enjoy dim sum (when staying in San Francisco, check out New Asia in Chinatown. New Asia, for all your dim sum needs), and enjoyed a nice variety for lunch on the first day. For dinner, I was taken to another Chinese restaurant (both meals were had in malls by the way), where I had a very interesting variety of foods. The most interesting, but definitely my least favorite, was the fruit and lobster salad covered in mayonnaise. I’ll just say that the Hellman’s didn’t quite bring out the best in that dish, but the rest of dinner was very good.
I found the architecture of Hong Kong quite interesting, but unfortunately didn’t get to take enough pictures (damn Swedes, I was primarily using the 2MP phone in the HTC Mteor I was using – more on that in a couple of days). Tons of high-rise apartment buildings, literally in sight in all directions at all times. The newer office buildings all had a very futuristic Blade Runner-like look (no surprise, since the sets were partially based on Hong Kong). But the older building all looked a little decrepit and run-down. Interesting blend. By the way, you have to zoom in on the picture on the right – trust me.
On day 2 the whole team and I went out for dim sum lunch, and we had quite a spread. Once they realized I really liked Chinese food and dim sum, and realized I had decent chopsticks skills, they started egging me on to try just about everything they ordered. The quality of the food was great, with a lot more flavor and less greasiness than I typically find in American dim sum establishments. Although I don’t really think I need to get duck foot dumplings in the future. Mmm, cartilage.
We finished training at the end of the day (Friday) and before meeting up for dinner, I had about an hour to kill. They directed me to an area called Mong Kok, which is basically the shopping region of Hong Kong. Electronics stores on every corner, featuring a huge array of cameras, laptops, and, of course cell phones. There are actually 1.25 phones per resident of Hong Kong, and there are over 400 different models available for purchase at any given time (as compared with about 40 in the entire US). I also found a small street of tent-based merchants, selling a variety of different fake stuff, including shoes, clothes, purses, and watches. I picked up a nice replica of a ‘color dreams’ from Franck Muller.
I found my way back to the hotel via the subway system. One of my favorite things to do when travelling is take at least one ride on a local subway, I find it really gives me a bit more of a feeling for how people live in a given city. The plasma displays at some of the stops was a nice touch.
For my last dinner in Hong Kong, I was taken to the top of Victoria Peak. Unfortunately we left slightly too late to see the nightly laser show across the skyline of the city, but the view from the peak was amazing. We went to a famous restaurant, Cafe Deco, where I managed to stay awake through the worst part of jetlag (yes, it’s the third night) long enough not to face-plant into the great New Zealand lamb chops I was served. I was totally out (as predicted by my host) during the drive back to the hotel.
Saturday morning I woke up bright and early to catch the convenient (and free) shuttle bus to the Kowloon express train station. I was able to check in to my flight there, then a zippy train ride took me to the airport for the flight home.
One more thing to share with you (wow, can’t believe you made it this far!) was regarding airport security. I was in Sweden two weeks ago, and my flight home came via Frankfurt airport, about three days after the huge ‘shampoo+iPod’ scare at Heathrow. In Frankfurt I was told to dispose of my water bottle, and then let on the plane. In Hong Kong a team of about 40 people was hand-screening every single passenger and all of their bags. While they moved along quite efficiently, I couldn’t help but think how ridiculous it makes America look that we are so scared of someone getting on a plane with a bottle of lotion.
Doubly-so, since I walked on with my toiletries bag including toothpaste, shampoo, moisturizer, and conditioner.
Anyhow, Hong Kong was great, I’d really like more time to explore and take in the sights and all, but I guess that’ll have to wait for next time. In the meanwhile, please beware of stairs.
iRiver Clix review: sure it clicks, but does it click?
No there isn’t a typo in the headline for my review of the 2GB iRiver Clix, another portable media player trying to take a small bite out of the amazingly large pie that is otherwise known as Apple’s MP3 player market. I must say, whenever I get a new device to try out, I start off with some kind of desperate hope that it will be good enough to at least compete with the juggernaut that is iPod. For what I’ve seen to date, the Clix is close.
For a quick definition: the iRiver Clix is either a “portable media player” or an MP3 player capable of showing photos and videos (take your pick for which you prefer). It’s small (fits in the palm of your hand) and has a gorgeous screen. The most novel thing about the Clix is the fact that the screen itself is “clickable” – if you want to navigate up a list of MP3s, you actually click on the upper screen region. Sean Alexander has a video of using the Clix that really shows off the usage, graphical user interface (GUI), buttons, etc. One of my favorite ‘little touches’ of the Clix is the ‘hold’ button actually prevents the directional screen from being clickable while locked. Excellent touch.
Pictured above is the Clix in its standard carrying case, which is small enough to easily fit in any pocket. I really like the size and feel of the Clix, and also like the weight. In fact, it has the feel as if they intentionally made the device heavier than is needed, which I think is a good thing. I find the iPod way too heavy, and the Nano is way too light – the Clix is about the right size and right weight to do the job.
iRiver did take a few packaging cues from Apple. When you open the main box, every little piece inside comes in its own smaller box. Then, inside each box is an individually wrapped cable. While everything is recyclable, I’d really like to see a few companies take an environmentally conscious step ahead of the design curve and have a whole lot less plastic and paper inside.
The Clix did work extremely well “out of the box” and the first time I connected it to my PC, it immediately started charging and Windows recognized it as a “Clix” (even with a cute little icon). In fact, there wasn’t any plug & pray at all, it really worked exactly as expected. I had already upgraded to Windows Media Player 11 (now in second beta), so as soon as I selected to synchronize files, WMP appeared, all set to transfer media files.
Moving music and photos onto the Clix was quite easy. Drag and drop inside Windows Media Player, or for those who don’t feel like installing it (yet), you can also find your Clix as a drive inside My Computer (for the technospeak – it appears as a USB mass storage device).
When it comes to moving video files, the Clix wasn’t nearly as graceful. This is actually my biggest disappointment with the device and probably the only thing that prevents it from being a head-on competitor to the iPod. The device natively supports a few video formats, which didn’t include Windows Media Video, which is a must-have for me (see the specifications for the list of formats it does support). The company referred me to try a third-party (open source) software called iriverter. It too, unfortunately, didn’t work.
Once the files were moved over, I have to say using the Clix is a mostly satisfying experience. The GUI is very easy to use. I’ve tried handing it to multiple people tasking them to “play some music” and everyone figured it out on the first try. In fact, it’s almost fun to use it, even when you aren’t watching/listening to media. Without diving into too many details, the Clix media playback features are all the ones you’d want or expect, including queueing, playlists, rating, etc.
During the transfer, Windows Media Player automatically converted my photos into the right size (320×240) and created a folder structure on the Clix based on the photo folder hierarchy on my PC. So “My Photos > Wedding pix” was perfectly replicated on the Clix. This has a slight drawback in that it isn’t configurable in any way, so when I dragged in a folder deep into my My Photos directories, the entire hierarchy appeared as well.
In addition to media playback, the Clix also supports text browsing, Flash games (you can browse more to download here), has an alarm clock, FM radio, and a suite of other supplemental features. While 2GB might only hold a small portion of your media, I must say everything about using the Clix itself once media is tranferred is really a great experience. The only other drawback I had for the product is somehow the internal database in the unit I was using got corrupted. I actually had to do a whole ‘reformatting’ of the internal memory before I could use it again. This was an isolated experience, and easy enough to fix, but might have caused me more pause had I bought/unlocked a lot of music on the device.
For another detailed review, check this at Gearlive, or you can go to Engadget for a series of reviews. The size is right, the price is right, the product is good, the screen is great. My only caution is if you really want the product primarily for video playback, you may have to jump through a bunch of hurdles to get your files transferred properly. If you are looking for a really good iPod nano alternative, and your focus is more music/photos than video, I heartily recommend trying the Clix. Plus all the cool kids over at MTV are using it.
COMP 41
“Despite its wonders, the Internet can be a dangerous place.” Thank you, textbook. I learn so much. “..viruses are executable programs designed by malicious programmers–sometimes called hackers…” DANG NABBIT, THEY’RE AT IT AGAIN! Those malicious programmers…*grumble grumble* A friend suggested I write up a “smart-assed review,” but I don’t think it’s fair to judge a book by its first chapter, or rather Chapter 0. Yeah, isn’t that cute?
Taking “Great Ideas in Computing” (which makes it sound so dull) is my way of cramming a bit of computer science into the last semester of my college career. If I would’ve had some foresight, it probably could’ve been a double major, but as it stands, I’ll have to settle for a gentle overview. As much as I enjoy ridiculing our textbook, Computer Confluence, it really doesn’t seem THAT bad. Sure, Chapter 0 is essentially, “Here is a mouse; here is a keyboard! Computers! They’re important!” but I think we can all agree that having a little more than the typical tech “knowledge” (of say, the casual surfer crowd) has its benefits, and the rest of the book should provide aptly in that category.
This text is pretty much a more studenty version of the other book I read a good chunk of this past summer. It covers a similar range of topics, but on “three levels:” explanations, applications, and implications. It’s nice to have the context to soften the technical stuff. There is online support and supposedly a CD-ROM, but I bought mine used… Since it assumes completely noobage of the reader, the explanations are pretty simple. Our professor makes the concepts even easier to understand. (e.g. “RAM is like a bucket…”)
No, I will not be transcribing my collected weekly lecture notes for everyone. I may, however, post relevant essays. If I learn anything thrilling, LD readers will be the first to know!
Editing: It's not censorship
“Worst, the game is heavily censored. Namco Bandai, in its efforts to get a T rating, has sucked all of the blood out of the game. Normally it wouldn’t much matter, but major plot points of this game center around brutal violence – including the climactic scene in which the biggest twist in the plot of the entire series is revealed. It’s an insult to the fans that have tread the rocky path this series has taken.”
Nutt, Christian. “Xenosaga Episode III review.” Gamesradar.com
“Now, censorship isn’t new to the Xenosaga franchise–the first game featured one disturbing scene (involving jailbait Realian MOMO) that was edited for the U.S. release. I’m not entirely sure of exactly what was cut from XS3, but I’ve confirmed that at least three cut-scenes have had substantial amounts of blood/gore edited out. Yeah, Namco made these cuts in order to get a “Teen” rating from the ESRB, but I still find it all a bit upsetting. Xenosaga was always intended as a mature, complex RPG…and it’s discouraging that Namco wouldn’t allow the final chapter to come out with a Mature rating.”
Shane Bettenhausen, blog, 1up.com
Am I disappointed that XSIII had some blood clipped from it? Of course, my red American blood boils that anyone dare strip anything from a piece of entertainment. But to be honest, I have two gripes with this ruckus that the internet is feeling as role-playing game fans writhe in fury that Xenosaga’s final episode was altered for its US release:
a) I want more good RPGs to come from Japan to the United States. In the current political climate, asking a publisher to stick to its guns and include elements that make a game offensive to a run-of-the-mill consumer when they could remove them and not cost the story anything is asking them to not only take a loss of sales on this game, but to discourage other publishers from doing the same. An M rating doesn’t just get games cut from some retailers these days, as well. Beyond straight sales hits because the game isn’t on as many store shelves, an M rated game makes an easy target for hungry, sharp politicians. Shipping the game with needless blood for the benefit of lower sales, decreased exports of Japanese style games, and the risk of political attack doesn’t benefit anyone but politicians; and
b) It’s only adjusting content to get a rating. This isn’t a new institution in the United States; it took decades for the film industry to get to rate films to alleviate the need to self-censor heavily. Film viewers only rarely flip out when a movie is changed to meet a rating need during post-production. If a movie can only expect to come overseas at a rating where it won’t succeed? You don’t get to see it, or you see it an edited format. Does anyone scream censorship at that point, or does everyone really concerned just knuckle down, import the original, and learn its language?
Electronic entertainment is just one more product that is packaged for consumers; even as its consumers crow about its growing puissance they seem unaware that that means growing responsibility on the part of the providers. It’s not a long fall to be staring at a rip-off Hayes Code, so it’s important for consumers to draw their lines in the sand at more reasonable points than meaningless gore being cut so a product has a chance in an unfriendly political environment.
Too good to be true…
As I mentioned last week, I placed an order for a new Canon SD700. Despite Amazon reporting the vendor was in stock, they were apparently backordered, which was a very frustrating email to receive, by the way. So I decided to poke around online, see if I could find another option. Turns out in the 2 days between ordering and getting confirmation, the Amazon price shot from ~$360 to ~$420)!
I went to Google, and searched for “SD700” (pictured on the right) and saw a result from “bestpricecameras” (not linking to them, you’ll see why shortly) at $309! Wow, good deal. Did another search on Cnet, nothing better.
So, I visited that site and rather than click through, I called their order number. While on hold, I went to do a bit more research.
I googled “bestpricecameras.com review” and did a little poking around. I eventually clicked on this link and read enough scathing reviews to hang up, and wait for trusty Amazon to deliver.
As the sayings go…
Better late than never
and
If it seems too good (or too cheap) to be true, it probably is.
Thankfully I didn’t lose my $309 along the way.
A Brief Fling with Windows Live Writer (Beta)
Let’s just say we didn’t click. It wasn’t meant to be. We waltz to different foxtrots (or maybe that’s the PROBLEM…) Windows Live Writer is SUPPOSED to be this nifty new desktop blogging tool that makes your life easier…or something. I have to admit to being a skeptic from the very beginning (Why do I need this? What void does it fill? Will it really help me out, or just clutter my hard drive even more?), but I decided to give it a fair shot.
First of all, let me tell you that it would be extremely wise to NOT do as I did when installing, and let them give you that toolbar. It may SOUND useful, but only if you are STUPID and use Internet Explorer still. (Who does that? Why give us a toolbar for something that only complete noobs and “people who want viruses” –according to one acquaintance, use? Honestly, I feel sort of sorry for anyone still surfing on that thing, but it’s probably their own fault…) Insults aside, it takes a ridiculously long time to install it and then when it’s done, of course, you’ll find all sorts of little tidbits hanging around that you probably didn’t want, but didn’t think to cancel out and OH MY HELL.
After that unsightly mess, my real odyssey began here. The reader will note that I have limited experience with the fancier word publishing projects and sometimes have to fight even to just get my margins lined up. That said, this thing DOES claim to be WYSIWYG, and I feel like we should be able to expect some things from that, which apparently we can’t, as shown expertly in this sad and mangled post.
So that was about the time I gave up on trying to synch with my actual blog. Incidentally, that also means that this is about the time I gave up on this ever actually being useful for me. I don’t want to have to keep a whole different new blog just to use this thing that seems so eager to be totally pointless! For the purposes of this write-up, however, I went ahead and set myself up a Windows Live Spaces account. Actually…
Subsequent experimentation led to the relief that it will at least publish pictures to Live Spaces. I think maybe there was just something tricky with the Blogger scheme of uploading. So, I suppose if you like your Live Space, then this isn’t such a bad thing. I don’t know anyone with one, and do remember that I had forgotten the existence of my own! Not a great sign.
One thing I was sort of happy about, in a way, is that you can edit (“EDIT EDIT EDIT”) old posts directly from the Live Writer set-up. I wasn’t expecting that, since by the end of this I wasn’t expecting much. I guess I meant “happy” more in a “whew, at least it does THAT” way.
The bottom line is that I just can’t find anything that wrong with the blogging interface(s) I already use, certainly nothing that Live Writer fixes. There’s no reason for me to adapt to a new program. For people who care more about formatting, it might have been a decent download, but I’m not sure I would even trust it to handle it if some of my less successful tests prove anything. Anyhow, it’s a mutual break-up. I don’t like Live Writer, and after this review, I can’t blame it for not liking me.
TiVo Series3: too little too late?
Quick personal DVR history (here’s a good one for generic PVR history)…
- 1999: Bought my first 14-hour TiVo in 1999. Rough cost $400ish if memory serves.
- 2000: Sold it, upgraded to a 30-hour unit. About the same price.
- 2002: Switched services to DirecTV, got 2 30-hour combo units. With promos, ended up spending either $50 or $100 each.
- 1999 – 2005: Sold literally dozens of TiVos to friends, coworkers, relatives, etc.
- 2005: Signed up for HDTV services through Comcast, got dual-tuner HD DVR. No upfront costs, added $5/month to cable bill.
While it’s very true the Comcast DVR experience (as delivered via my Motorola DCT 6412 III) is nowhere near as satisfying as the TiVo experience was, it’s now been almost a year and I really don’t look back anymore. The first few weeks were painful, but, like all things, the pain turns to a dull ache, and then something you barely notice. I miss the sound effects still, and completely acknowledge that the TiVo GUI is substantially better, but I don’t think it matters.
So when the news leaked yesterday that TiVo Series3 units (S3) are in testing/production, I just wasn’t all that wowed (I might be one of the only ones). First, Dave Zatz asks the exact right question “how much will it cost?”
See, that’s really all that matters. Sure, it’s great that S3 supports CableCard and HD and all that (read Sean Alexander’s post on the matter for good CableCard insight). But right now, the feature set only barely matters. PVR Wire did a survey of their own readers (a.k.a. PVR Enthusiasts – the ones who will set the tone for the rest of the market) and there was very little interest in even upgrading to a dual-tuner TiVo. Furthermore, according to TiVo’s own (public) sales figures, their net sales of new units in the first quarter was about 51,000 units. For reference, in the third quarter of 2005 was almost 400,000 units.
TiVo, while a great brand and a great product, is fighting a massively uphill battle. I pay a net of $60 per year for my (again) dual-tuner HD DVR. I paid nothing up-front, and in fact some guy showed up at my house to do the installation for free, and while I had to sit around for a few hours, it was still free.
While there’s no official number yet, Zatz is predicting $800 per unit. Personally, I’d guess higher, probably $999 as a starting point. Furthermore, if you need installation help, you are probably going to have to pay the Geek Squad somewhere between $100 and $300 for the install.
The Demise of Sony's PSP
-Courtesy TechLore.com
Not long ago, everyone was excited about Sony’s PSP. Why shouldn’t we have been? It’s by far the most technologically advanced handheld device that has ever been conceived. It plays games, music, and movies, and even surfs the Internet when connected to a Wi-Fi hotspot. It’s a very versatile handheld device, one that could have been the biggest thing since sliced bread. But like so many gadgets that have come before, the PSP is currently sitting idle in the closets of its once rabid fan base. The biggest question is why?
Peter Redmer, a gaming enthusiast from the Chicago suburbs, is one of many disappointed PSP owners. “I was so excited about the release of the PSP. I scraped together all the loose change I could find, and even traded in some of my older games to get one, but now…
Read the rest of this entry>> (external link)
Time for a new digital camera
Well folks, I’ve given up on the Swedes. While a few Canon cameras did show up on their official lost and found Web site, none are mine. I have given up and am moving on. I’m grumpy (I couldn’t even take pictures while hanging out with cool folks like Robert Scoble and meeting Mike Arrington at the TechCrunch7 party last night – although Thomas Hawk caught a picture of me!), but I’m moving on.
After looking around briefly, I narrowed down quite quickly to Canon, Panasonic, and Sony for my choices. Why these three? Well, I don’t know much about digital cameras myself, but I do know a few people who do, and these are the three brands they all own. Might sound simplistic, but it works for me.
I am eliminating Sony from the list even though I have a Memory Stick slot in my laptop, I prefer to use SD cards as my wife‘s laptop (Dell Inspiron 700m) has SD built-in, as does her Treo 700w and our Garmin Nuvi 350, etc. Bottom line: I want to use SD. Also, at $36 for a 2GB SanDisk card, it’s hard to argue!
Rich (my boss at Sling Media) uses a Panasonic, and Dave Mathews (another coworker) likes them as well. I played with Rich’s camera (Panasonic Lumix) and the picture quality was pretty impressive, but I really didn’t like the user interface, on-screen menus, or button layout all that much. Maybe I fear change, I’m not sure, but I just didn’t like the ‘feel’ of using it. This pushed me towards Canon.
A single visit to Amazon sealed the deal. Why, you may ask? I took a look at the top sellers at Amazon and at the time of writing, they are ALL from Canon. Not some, not a few, not most, but ALL. And while I may not agree with “popularity wins” as my reasoning (seen Titanic?), there’s a certain point where you have to assume all these folks know what they are talking about. Not only that, two of my best friends and my CEO just got Canons in the past month. I smell a winner.
With the variety to choose from, I quickly narrowed my choices down to the SD450, SD630, and SD700. The 450 was the one I ‘thought’ I wanted, as the price wasn’t bad, and has a nice feature set. But with a little more investigation, I decided I’d plunk down the extra $100 to get the latest and greatest. The biggest additional feature to the 700 is the image stabilization technology, which looks like it’s probably becoming a standard feature on most new models. That, plus the amazing customer reviews on Amazon for the SD700 was pretty much all I needed. A final check at DPreview sealed the deal (although it looks like I may need to pick up an extra battery).
Full review to come after it arrives, assuming I don’t go to Sweden again…
Free-form entertainment
Into the “fun” of dropping hundreds of dollars on a video game console? How about the pain of PC gaming, which can basically cost infinite dollars? It used to be easy to write off the PC gaming costs because the consoles, your PS2s, your Dreamcasts, your Xbox360s, all needed surround sound systems and the largest, most powerful, most deadly TV possible. No longer the case.
Yes, we’re getting closer to not having to double up on a monstrous display and surround sound systems, but that’s only really if you trust Microsoft for all your nerd needs. Which brings us to an upcoming bit of nerdery for Windows, Gothic 3. We’ve talked about Oblivion before, and Gothic as a series has always been the gruff German cousin to Oblivion’s Elder Scrolls. But with Gothic 3 there’s a real chance that won’t be the case.
It’s not for a few reasons. Graphically, despite its issues, Oblivion appears to still set the gold standard for western RPGs. And there’s no reason to think that support for Oblivion will drop off in the form of user mods or official mods. The two things that truly impressed us during our recent hands-on with Gothic 3 are closely interlaced, and where we get into the tech part of the post.
Telling a story as a game puts a critical choice into the designer’s hands: how much freedom to give the player, in exchange for a focused, epic story with the player at the center? Gothic’s reaction, as a series, has always been to struggle to give the player all the room they’d like to play in but such a gripping story that the player actually decides to pursue it. In Gothic 3, the nameless main character finally returns to his homeland to find that it’s been overrun and his people are slaves.
Not save the princess, or “oh no, demons!” Humanity enslaved. Yes, by the traditional fantasy bad guys of Orcs, but unlike saving the world from demons, most people can relate to themes of slavery, power, and put-upon social groups rising up and taking power. Oblivion lets you lead an assassin’s guild; Gothic 3 will let you be quisling against your race.
All of which revolves around an AI system that is looking amazing. More play will reveal how much it can really do, but there’s something about watching the fantasy genre’s most disposable characters — town guards — employ realistic tactics to engage a character, and then watch them fly in fear, into a berserk state, or into cover to try to hide as the combat goes against them? It’s the sort of thing that occurs in films easily and effortlessly, and that’s what the real promise of Gothic 3 can be: To finally put players into the center of a fantasy epic.