Riot9

Although I don't frequently stare at digital nazi crotches, the things I pointed out are indicators that either this is in an extremely early state (probably early enough to not be showing it off), the models are low poly by today's standard, or the rigging work is very poor. I too hope they clean things up in subsequent passes.

My point is that there is no reason to let the love of Wolfenstein to cloud the judgment of people posting comments. The artwork in these screenshots do show that there is a lot to iron out, and it does not actually look very good.

Yes it should change later as the project progresses, but right now the textures, models, and possibly rigging leave a lot to be desired when compared to other games that have released recently.

I know a lot of us have very fond memories of Wolfenstein, and in particular, RTCW, but that is no reason to try to ignore the fact that the character models, textures, and rigging in these screenshots are quite questionable, if not outright bad.

As a prime example, look at the one with the two nazis in green kneeling behind the sandbags. This is going to sound odd, but take a good look at the man's crotch. There is an extreme amount of texture stretching. This is an indication that the model is low-poly, or rigged very poorly. Look at the sharp angle of his knee, and his hands and fingers. His shoulder also shows abnormal stretching.
Next, look at the canister on the back of the man to the right. It's a good looking canister. Very rounded, considering the low detail on the character models. This canister is probably 3/4ths the triangles of the entire character model (minus the face).
The sandbags are also poorly done. It looks like they may have normal mapping applied, but the silhouette is too low-poly for it to feel like anything but a sandbag colored wall. These are things you expected from games made around 4 or so years ago, but not today.

Graphics aren't everything though. This game could be brilliant. I hope it is. In the end it could even be really good looking. But what we have available to us right now does not (at least not from a technical standpoint).

The gameplay is fast-paced and focused. Similarities could be drawn between Halo Wars and Dawn of War, which fits perfeclty on a console.

The animations are detailed and varied. The textures and lighting are breathtaking at times.

Although the controls are a step forward for Console RTS games, they will not be enough to convert PC RTS fans.

I worked at this company as an intern, and was inches away from having a job as an artist, but then the bottom fell out of the economy.

I have friends still there, and some who got laid off earlier. It's really sad for me to see this happen.

You could also use a USB drive, or possibly plug your camera into the PS3 (I haven't actually tried this with a PS3, but just assuming they thought that through). This looks like an incredibly powerful photo viewing application.

I'm with you though, I prefer to have my console be a gateway to my PC than actually storing anything on it. We use two 360s to stream all media to our TV in the bedroom, and our projector in the living room. Media Center saves me quite a bit of money.

I think he was specifically talking about Windows Media Extender capabilities. A PS3 does not stream, or let me pause live TV, like a 360 acting as a Windows Media Center Extender does. The PS3 can stream video and music, but it doesn't integrate with Windows Media Center as an extender.

Awesome, I got in too. I had no expectation of getting in after missing out on the first two rounds.

I'm having friends over to system link Gears 2 on Saturday too, I'd like to get everyone's impressions.

This makes me really sad. Talisman is one of the best adventure boardgames out there. I highly, HIGHLY recommend it. It's like a mini-RPG boardgame where you select a character and then travel around adventuring and leveling up. You gather gear, get followers, and eventually try to slay the dragon. It has 5 expansions that I know of that make this an insanely fun game to play with friends. I was really looking forward to this game. I'd rather another developer take a crack at it though than have a botched version come out.

Although I really like the idea of playing in the Halo universe NOT as Master Chief, this product is a little confusing.

The fact that it's a game where you play as a ODST means that you will have no shields, which means the play style is going to be completely different than Halo 3. Whether it is 1st or 3rd person, the play style will be different. They are implying that the multiplayer will be compatible with Halo 3 though, which would mean that multiplayer is not a slower, tactical experience.

The name itself is confusing as well. They're releasing a stand-alone game, with the name Halo 3 on it, but it's an expansion. The only other time I can remember seeing a new game set in same universe as another like this is with the Half-Life games where you play through black mesa from different perspectives. That was pretty much the same game, just re-hashed though.
Bungie is doing something completely different. I like the concept, but just wish they could explain what kind of experience this will be, and in what way it will tie in with Halo 3 multiplayer.

I want this to be a whole new experience that can stand on its own. By the time this ships, Halo 3 will be 2 years old. I don't think 2 years justifies a few extra hours of content, even if it's something fresh.

Here's hoping Bungie doesn't disappoint.

Saying your game has normal, diffuse, and specular texture maps pretty much goes without saying for any 3D game coming out this year. But I do have to admit this looks mighty pretty for an XBLA game.