Was considering picking up the Stronghold bundle on Gamersgate... I take it they're good?

Making a sequel is not a bad thing. Personally I can't wait for Witcher 2 and Dragon Age 2.

It died when people stopped buying innovative games.
This is a constant cry. Movie fans complain, "none of the movies are original." Then they flock to sequels and formula comedies and ignore unique indie flicks.
Gamers keep saying they want fresh new games but they buy Modern Warfare 9.
If people really wanted creativity, they'd reward creativity with their wallets. But they don't so they get retreads.
But look... Gamers DID reward Portal when it came out... and thus, Portal 2 is in the pipeline... AND it will offer very similar gameplay BUT is built on a fresh extension of the original premise.
So... you know... the next time a fresh and original game comes out... buy it.

+1

RISEN 2?! When was THAT announced? I loved the first one.

Best RTS I've ever played, deep economic and strategic gameplay with quite nice tactical options. My favourite is Stronghold 2. Definitely pick it up, you're getting 4.5 games for 8$, thats less than 2$ a game.

Thanks, will go for it!

Here's a thought. Maybe the people who cry out for creativity actually do buy creative games, and skip Modern Warfare 9. It's just that they are sadly a minority, and all the vast masses of "samey" gamers, not least the console crowd, flock out to buy stuff they already know, because it's "safe", and doesn't force them to think or deal with anything different.
Mind you, I'm not saying I hate all sequels, far from it. I just think the ratio of sequels to existing games, vs. new IPs is far too unbalanced.

Yes. We both know that is true.
And we both know that developers want to push the envelope.
But at the end of the day, they all have a mortgage to pay and a kid who wants to go to art school.
And being honest, MANY (not all) people who ask for original games are actually saying give me a game like Far Cry only the hero can also kick with their feet as an alternate attack and it happens in Kansas with zombies and it's a woman and she wears a green shirt.
It's like complaining that Bioshock 2 is just like Bioshock. Of course it is. It's a first person shooter where the alt fire button is the plasmid instead of something your gun does. It's still an FPS, and all FPSes will always be an FPS.
I mean, honestly, think really hard... and describe the game you've never seen before.
I can't do it. I can only image ways to tweak the games I already like.
And really... if you can think of a type of game we've never seen before... don't tell us. Develop it. I mean, the Sims was a pretty fresh idea and Will Wright's kids will all live their lives out in big beach houses.

Grey Matter
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpn2DHwy8UU&feature=player_embedded
and the failure of 1UP
http://www.1up.com/do/gameOverview?cId=3153130
check the cover art

I did update the list by announcements vs. others.
Died or it's being suffocated on purpose, devs are mostly making sequels or making it MMO...
and there's the case of sacrificing existing content, to make it a DLC or sequel content, sadly.
IAWTP.
A few people often bitch about this, and yes, I do it too.
But most of this people soon forget about it and go play CoD:MW2 or TF2 or say that CoD4 is perfect but just add new maps/etc to it... =/
I don't hate them too, I like most of which was announced at GC for example.
It's unbalanced on the PC, but it's being explored on the consoles, there's lots of new IPs (at least in the video game form) coming for the Wii and others.
Guess the real problem is the men in suits. The devs do want to make new stuff... but what gives them a stable employment and higher paycheck? They'll really live by making indie games, all of their life?

Yes, well the problem with the Wii is... that it sucks, basically. Wii Sports is fun for half an hour every month or so. Beyond that, the platform really fails to deliver anything worthwile.

By the way, wasn't Gamescon the event GOG was asking for ideas on what to do and they needed guerrilla tactics because they didn't have a booth? What did they end up doing? Because whoever thought up that Witcher 2 cardboard dolls thingy is a genius and GOG should have asked him instead.

Any other games announced there?
The Wii games do fail, but they're having lots of new IPs or mixing IPs (SF versus Tekken, or whatever it's called) on the consoles, including the Wii.
Warren Spector is working exclusively in Epic Mickey for the Wii, so hoping it won't be another fail on Wii's library.
I think the same, Kinect is a too distant thing... Sony is doing what's closer to our reality, a hardcore version of the Wiimote and offering 3D enabled games.
Yes. Don't know what they did at their booth, and they didn't posted anything new on that thread or in the front page... so, who knows?!
What Witcher 2 thingie?