Dialogue. You can find it in any game. Whether they are seen or read, every game has quotes; some are memorable, some are easily forgotten. Maybe we experience it while obliterating our friends on XBL, or while we’re being chased by ghouls down a dark hallway with only a baseball bat for defense. Sometimes it waits, hidden in the depths of a game’s menus, quests, inventories, narration–or as easter eggs to be discovered and enjoyed. Any gamer who has ever laughed, wanted to break things, or felt their heartstrings being tugged at while enjoying a particular game was most likely influenced by a demonstration of superb writing.

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Don’t you just love the cell phone in GTA IV? I’ve only played about an hour of the game, but I’m already in love with that feature. It is, of course, just one aspect of many. A small thing. But then it is the attention to detail, the sheer loving polish on a game, that elevates it above the crowd. You can find driving games, shooting games, and gangster games anywhere. You can’t find one with a cell phone that works as well as that though. I haven’t accessed the GTA IV internet yet, but I’ve heard it’s hot stuff - and another incredibly detailed piece of work.

When we think about the great games - the games that we replay long after the graphics are dated and the game play is old hat - it is usually some small thing that we remember. For example, take my favorite game of all time. Final Fantasy 7 had a lot to recommend it, but the thing that stood out to me was the fact that every character had an individual walk. Tifa had a bit of a mince, that belied her martial arts expertise, whilst Cid had a macho stride that made him look rather stupid when he ran. Vincent was acrobatic as hell, whilst Yuffie was a lanky teenager. The walk bled over into everything, their gestures when talking, their victory dance, and it even helped show Cloud’s change of character post-OMG-I’m-not-Zack.

For a sprite, that was some pretty incredible acting.
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Deep down, I have a burning desire to kick the shit out of a mob. Any mob. It could be a zombie, an orc, a dragon, a military officer or, hell, even the graphical representation of your mother-in-law. Doesn’t matter. It could even be plural. Actually, the more the better, yes. Spread the zombie infection across an entire city. Incite the tribe of orcs into frenzied attack. Invite over your whole family-in-law.

That destruction is all well and good, especially when enacted in the company of battle companions. But see, I’ve got a problem. I’m a picky gamer. I like to be comfortable.

What makes a game comfortable to me? I’ll talk about what makes them uncomfortable.

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We are smack in the era of fantastic MMORPGs. There are a lot of classics like Guild Wars, CoX, Ultima Online, etc. There are also a lot of upcoming games that show a lot of promise. Age of Conan, Warhammer– the list goes on. Promise isn’t everything, of course; a lot of hyped games fall flat on their faces. Aion, for one, is ticking me and others off due to the lack of progress with setting a retail date. Seriously, this is somewhere around the third or fourth beta, and there’s no news. Totally poor management. A general release estimate or something would tide me over, but no, nothing yet. Just more betas. Bad signs don’t bode well in such a competitive business–and MMORPGs are as competitive as they get now.

World of Warcraft, however, putters on without any hint of stopping as its competition races to dethrone it.

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It’s such a tease when games are scrapped as they near completion—kings and queens of delays and ill-fated cancellations. So many games are completely different than their alphas and betas; other games never even hit the shelf in one piece. There are a lot of regrets as a gamer when this happens, though who can say if it’s mourning the game or just our lack of control and input into the industry.

I can say, however, that if we had our way, we’d all have played Starcraft: Ghost four years ago and Parasite Eve 3 wouldn’t be released as a cellphone game.

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Girls Don’t Game has official forums now. And we’d like to see you there this weekend.

So come join us. Maybe you’re already registered, maybe you’re not. Say hi. Rant about a game. Talk about Iron Man. Throw up a banner on your Myspace. You know you want to. More importantly, you know we really want you to.

http://girlsdontgame.com/forums