Hey Man, well this is Babylon

Some miscellaneous gaming-related tidbits today, about Primal, Resident Evil 5, and yet another game company saying no to 4th Edition.

On Video Games

Last night on a whim I pulled Bethany’s copy of Primal off the shelf and gave it a spin through the PS3. My soon-to-follow reaction: why the hell have I not heard of this game before? The gameplay is pretty fantastic, aside from a handful of control lags here and there, and I really love games with well-implemented buddy mechanics and associated puzzles (especially those of the non-ridiculous type). My favorite part? Getting to hear one of the last performances by the extremely talented, late and lamented Andreas Katsulas, as the game protagonist’s gargoyle companion Skree. Rest in Peace, G’Kar.

I’ll likely post a more in-depth review of it after I give it some more quality play time.

Also, Capcom has leaked that the controls for the new Resident Evil 5 game may actually include side-stepping and shoot-while-moving features. This, of course, excites me. The lack of such features is why I still can’t stand the gameplay of Resident Evil 4, and I’m sure that including them in the new game will ensure that Bethany and I will be playing it co-op for many, many hours.

On RPGs

Green Ronin has said “Hell naw” to the 4th Edition “Game System License.” Read about it here. This really excites me, perhaps more than it should. I admit that I get a perverse joy whenever I see a producer of such high-quality games say “no thanks, jerkstore” to Wizards of the Coast’s new crappostulous 4th Edition D&D game system and super-restrictive new game license:

We do not, however, feel that this license treats third party publishers as valued partners. Under its terms WotC could frivolously sue a signatory for supposed violations of the GSL, lose the actual court case, and still ruin the winning company because the license specifies that the signatory has to pay WotC’s legal fees. Also, the GSL can be changed at any time and WotC is not legally required to so much as inform its licensees.

Let me be clear in stating that I don’t think that the people in charge of WotC currently are just waiting to attack companies with frivolous lawsuits. Once you sign the GSL though, you open yourself up to that at any point in the future. Who knows when new people will take over the D&D brand and who can say what their vision will be? Who knows when the political winds at WotC will change again and things will get even more restrictive? We do not want to operate under such a cloud moving ahead so that’s why we won’t be signing the GSL.

Personally, I’m really badly hoping that Green Ronin decides to take their upcoming new Song of Ice and Fire RPG system and run like the wind with it. My Free RPG Day experience with it (I should AP report that soon, too) was fantastic, and I see a lot of promise with the game. Now, all I need to hear is news that both Privateer Press and Fantasy Flight Games will be making the same decision, and my geek shall indeed look big in this skirt.

Other Stuff

I have a feeling that a new edition of the Pizza Snob will be posted today or tomorrow.