Myquirk

I played the first half (or so) of the demo this morning. It gives you one lengthy quest to complete (you're escaping from somewhere) and then it gives you 45 minutes to explore the world. I quit at that point since my kids woke up.

It's a great demo in more than one way. First, as a sample of the game, it shows you what a high-quality product Big Huge Games and 38 Studios have created. EA likes to point out that Ken Rolston, the game's lead designer, was also the lead designer of Morrowind and Oblivion. While it seems like they're trying to position this game as a Skyrim competitor, it has an identity all its own--a strong, distinctive art style (courtesy of Todd McFarlane) and an emphasis on combat. And yes, the combat system seems like it's worth the hype.

Second, as a literal demonstration of the game, the demo goes out of its way to introduce the many different weapon types, combat tactics, armor, etc., so you have a good idea by the end of it how you'll want to play your character in the full game.

I feel like this game flew under the radars of a lot of gamers. Especially those who are, like me, still neck-deep in Skyrim. If this demo is a true indication of the quality of the final game, then Kingdoms of Amalur is worth your attention. And when we start seeing the reviews, I expect that the name Skyrim will come up often, but less because the two games have similar features and more because they are similar quality.

Strange to say, but I hope they DID delay it to make it compatible with the second analog control stick. The existing control configuration is not lefty friendly :-(

This is a shame, in my opinion. I stopped caring about the CoD franchise shortly after MW2 came out (they're too same-y for me), but I would've loved to see where this went. A little diversity goes a long way, even if the trail was blazed by others before it.

Wait. Didn't Microsoft publicly release the SDK for Kinect? Are we still calling these things hacks? o_O

"French Bulldog and Friends" has the Shetland Sheepdog. Shigeru Miyamoto himself has a sheltie. That's a win.

No Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit sale? Want more cars.

@MrTyzik Acclaim put out a few games similar to that one. Judge Dredd was basically Alien 3 re-skinned, and it was pretty darn good. Better than the movie of course.

The game is intriguing, but it isn't very challenging or fun to play. :-\

Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit for Xbox 360 and Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia on Nintendo DS!

First half of 2012. 2011 looks pretty packed already, and late 2012 would be too much time.