Kotaku gives us a quick laundry list of 20 absolutely must-play JRPGs.  Your humble correspondent is delighted that Persona 4 Golden made the list.  Which are your favorites?

As always, thanks to Couch for tonight's amazing batch of news.

There comes a time when every person must sit back, think about his or her life’s accomplishments, and wonder, “What JRPGs should I play?”

Fear not. I’m here to help.

This is a list of Japanese role-playing games that deserve your time. Some are new; some are old; all are excellent. Each of these is worth playing today, even if you have to dig out your dusty old Super Nintendo and try to find cartridges at a yard sale. These are games both timeless and ageless. They’re the cream of the crop. They’ve got the spikiest of the hair. The longest of the swords. The evilest of the demons.

This article was originally published in 2013. We’ve updated and bumped it up.

You should really play all of these games.

More information.

Kotaku put together a little montage of how video games through the ages have portrayed the Battle of Hoth. There have been a lot of different takes, but it seems that nobody has gotten it just right.

Let’s take a look at video games’ favorite scene from the Star Wars series: the battle of Hoth. Developers have been trying for over 30 years to get it right.

Which is your favorite?

More information.

Kotaku has made an editorial in which they complain about being blacklisted by Bethesda and Ubisoft, apparently because they published about games in development while the publishers did not want that and label this as 'The price for gaming journalism'.

For the past two years, Kotaku has been blacklisted by Bethesda, the publisher of the Fallout and Elder Scrolls series. For the past year, we have also been, to a lesser degree, ostracized by Ubisoft, publisher of Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry and more.

In those periods of time, the PR and marketing wings of those two gaming giants have chosen to act as if Kotaku doesn’t exist. They’ve cut off our access to their games and creators, omitted us from their widespread mailings of early review copies and, most galling, ignored all of our requests for comment on any news stories

....

The truth is that we’ve been cut off from Bethesda since our December 2013 report detailing the existence of the then-secret Fallout 4. Ubisoft has been nearly radio silent since our December 2014 report detailing the existence of the then-unannounced Assassin’s Creed Victory (renamed Syndicate). When we ask representatives from either company for comment or clarification regarding breaking news, we hear nothing in response. When we ask them about their plans for upcoming games or seek to speak with one of their developers about one of their projects, it’s the same story. Total silence.

And there is this:

In recent weeks, readers have asked questions. They’ve wondered why I, someone who has enthusiastically covered Assassin’s Creed games for years, didn’t review the most recent one. They’ve wondered why we didn’t seem to be subject to Fallout 4 embargoes of embargoes and why we didn’t have a review of that game on the day it came out. In both cases, we managed some timely coverage because Ubisoft and Bethesda did send review copies of their games to one of our remote freelancers, presumably with the hope he’d cover them for the other main outlet he writes for, The New York Times.

To me the whole thing is over the top and that stating this is "The price of journalism" is a bit much. If publishers don't want to talk to sites, so be it. There is no obligation for developers of publishers to interact with Kotaku or anyone else and if you like a game so much, you could also consider buying it.

Then again, that last sentence might just be my frustration as we never receive keys either :)

What do you think?

Thanks Eye for pointing this one out.

Eye spotted this list at Kotaku:

The Best Isometric Video Games

There’s just something about video games with an isometric viewpoint, isn’t there? Something...cute about them. No matter how dark and brutal a game’s setting and art may be, tilting a camera up and around makes everything look like an action figure.

And I don’t mean that in a bad way! There’s something comforting about this to a grown man like me, in the same way that otherwise mature adults enjoy things like board games with miniatures. Something makes isometric games feel strangely tangible, as though by mimicking the presentation of a toybox, the game feels a little more real.

FALLOUT
SUPER MARIO RPG
JUNGLE STRIKE
Q*BERT
ULTIMA VIII
SYNDICATE
ROLLERCOASTER TYCOON 2
LITTLEBIGADVENTURE
LANDSTALKER
BALDUR’S GATE
XCOM
DIABLO III
AGE OF KINGS
CRUSADER: NO REMORSE
SIMCITY 2000
CIV V
POPULOUS
FINAL FANTASY TACTICS
STARCRAFT
THEME HOSPITAL

Kotaku's staff members compiled a list of what they dub the 24 Best Classic PC Games, abridged to a bite-sized amount from their reader-curated list of over 300.

The list includes a good chunk of CRPGs and hybrids such as these:

• Baldur's Gate II
• Deus Ex
• Diablo II
• Dungeon Keeper
• Fallout
• Heroes of Might & Magic III
• No One Lives Forever
• Planescape: Torment
• Quest for Glory: So You Want to be a Hero
• System Shock 2
• Thief II: The Metal Age
• Ultima VII: The Black Gate

Kotaku also maintains a list of modern games called The 12 Best Games on PC.

Kotaku hosted a live Q&A with Chris Avellone who answered a few questions about his  various games he developed, and he talks about his two latest games.

What can change the nature of a man? Just ask Chris Avellone, the writer behind some of the greatest role-playing games ever made, including Planescape: Torment, Fallout II, and Knights of the Old Republic II. He’s here today to take your questions.

Avellone, who was an instrumental part of the classic developer Black Isle Studios and co-founded the RPG powerhouse Obsidian Entertainment back in 2003, has written and contributed to way more games than should be possible for a human of 43. Most recently, he wrote two characters (Durance and Grieving Mother) for the stellar Kickstarted RPG Pillars of Eternity. He’s also currently working on Torment: Tides of Numenera, a spiritual successor to Planescape.

Avellone will be here taking your questions for the next hour or two starting at 1pm ET. Ask whatever you’d like.

UPDATE: Q&A’s over! Thanks to Chris for taking the time to chat with us today.

Kotaku has once again ranked the Fallout Games from Best to Worst in a new article.

In the 17 years since the Fallout franchise was introduced to the world, all of the games have been met with praise—which means that ranking them isn't easy. That's especially true when you consider that the post-nuclear franchise underwent a genre change.

Still, here we are. The Pecking Order god is not satisfied with our Grand Theft Auto, Pokemon, Final Fantasy and Halo rankings. It wants more. So we'll feed the beast another feature, this one ranking the Fallout games, from best to 'worst.' Here's some things you should keep in mind before we get started:

1) We'll only be covering the main entries in the Fallout franchise; no spin-offs or DLC. Sorry, Tactics!

2) Remember, this is my personal opinion. You might disagree! You're welcome to comment with your own rankings, if not debate my personal order—although naturally I'll do my best to justify my choices.

Peter Molyneux was interviewed in a surprisingly good interview on Kotaku. They talk candidly about his career throughout the years. You might need a tissue though.

Peter Molyneux is crying. I'm not sure how to react to this. Legendary game designers don't often get emotional with the press. But here's Molyneux, who has made so many games and done so many interviews over the past two decades, openly weeping into my voice recorder.

We're talking about promises. Molyneux, who has helped design a string of hits including Fable, Dungeon Keeper, and Populous, is a fascinating paradox, known both for his formidable creative accomplishments and his tendency to make big, lofty claims that never quite deliver. Through 20 years as the face of three different companies, Molyneux has earned a reputation as something of a huckster, a big talker whose best skill is making headlines. When you type "peter molyneux" into Google, the first auto-fill result is "peter molyneux lies." His quotes, delivered regularly and with aplomb, are both brilliant and nutty.

So it's a little strange to see him cry in front of me.

"If I ask people to be interested in [my newest game] Godus, if there's one reason for them to be interested," he says, breaking into tears, "it's that I could not do anything that would not make my son proud."

Molyneux pauses. Sniffles. His voice is cracking. Part of me wants to give him a hug; another part of me wonders if he's just putting on a show.

"He's a gamer," Molyneux says, "and if I ever make a game where he turns around to me and says, 'You over-promised that,' it would just kill me."

Kotaku has a new article based on a survey of a few thousand gamers on their buying and playing habits. The results are not surprising we buy more games than we play.

Let's look at some results.

The Average Gamer

• The average gamer surveyed owns unplayed 18 games in their Pile of Shame.
• They play games for 15 hours a week and spend 10 hours engaging with gaming media including news sites, videos and forums.
• They bought 11-25 games in the past 12 months: 60% on sale and just 20% new at full price.
• They have not played 40% of the games purchased in the past 12 months.

The Compulsive Collector

• 30% of the gamers surveyed are Compulsive Collectors with a Pile of Shame at least 50 high.
• The average Collector has roughly 100 games in their backlog.
• They play games for 20 hours a week and spend 10 hours engaging with gaming media.
• They bought 26-50 games in the past 12 months: 80% on sale and just 10% new at full price. 
• They have not played 60% of the games purchased in the past 12 months.

We game in the age of the Perpetual Sale. "I never buy games at full price as they'll get extremely cheap within just a few months… I rarely spend over $10 for a single game."

Kotaku has a new article about Fallout 4 were they have information from leaked documents. They claim the next game will be set in Boston.

Still upset about that massive Fallout 4 hoax? Here's some good news for you: The next entry in Bethesda's post-apocalyptic RPG series is real, it's in development right now, and, as rumored, it appears to be set in Boston, according to casting documents obtained by Kotaku.

Two weeks ago, a Kotaku reader sent me several documents from a casting call for a project code-named Institute. The casting documents, which I've been able to confirm are real, include scripts, character descriptions, and other details about the next Fallout, and although the word Fallout does not appear in these scripts, there are several references to Fallout's setting and locations. (The casting director for this project also worked on other Bethesda games, like Dishonored and Skyrim.)

This is the first confirmation we've received that the next Fallout game is in the works—although it's been generally assumed that Bethesda Game Studios, the development studio behind Fallout 3, has been working on a new Fallout since completing The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim back in 2011, Bethesda has yet to announce the new game in any form. In 2012, rumors circulated that Bethesda employees were scouting the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston for an upcoming Fallout game, but other than that, news has been thin.

Kotaku's Patricia Hernandez has an article where she ranks the Fallout series games based on her experiences with them. Do you agree with her? Share your opinions in the comment section.

In the 16 years since the Fallout franchise was introduced to the world, all of the games have been met with praise—which means that ranking them isn't easy. That's especially true when you consider that the post-nuclear franchise underwent a genre change.

Here's some things you should keep in mind before we get started:

1) We'll only be covering the main entries in the Fallout franchise; no spin-offs or DLC. Sorry, Tactics!

2) Remember, this is my personal opinion. You might disagree! You're welcome to comment with your own rankings, if not debate my personal order—although naturally I'll do my best to justify my choices.

Kotaku has a new article on the most memorable pre-rendered backgrounds in games. Now he lists a few RPG's, but doesn't mention any Infinity Engine or Fallout titles.

Pre-rendered graphics weren't only used in complex cinematic cutscenes back in the day when a game's own 3D engine couldn't do the job. Developers also used them as in-game backgrounds to bypass graphical limitations. And some of the games had really well-made, atmospheric pre-rendered backgrounds.

Squaresoft and Capcom preferred these a lot in their PS1 games in the late 90s, but it wasn't just them. With minor differences—some games had a combat screen in full 3D, for instance—other developers also took advantage of this method.

And it had a good run, until video game engines started to become much more powerful and were able to handle camera angle changes and real-time rendering.

According to Kotaku former Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning developers have just joined the studio.

The two veterans have been unemployed since Big Huge Games and 38 Studios went bankrupt. Some of them founded the Impossible Studios venture alongside Epic Games, but that studio quickly closed its doors as well.

Following the closure of Impossible Studios, several senior staffers who were working on Infinity Blade: Dungeons have joined BioWare Montreal as leads on the next Mass Effect title. Colin Campbell, who was the lead world designer on Impossible predecessor Big Huge Games' Kingdom of Amalur, will serve as lead level designer on Mass Effect 4 Or Something. Ian Frazier, lead designer on Kingdom of Amalur, will be lead gameplay designer on Mass Effect 4 Or Something.

Kotaku has seen the need to publish another article on combat in RPG's.

When it comes to gaming, RPGs represent the pinnacle of storytelling with games like Final Fantasy VI, Chrono Trigger, Mass Effect, Skyrim, and Earthbound. While many games from many different genres do indeed have compelling stories, storytelling, more than any other facet, is what RPGs are known for.

But despite this, RPGs always seem to tell the same basic narrative: a group of heroes comes together to “save the world” from a powerful villain. Sure, sometimes it’s a fantasy setting and sometimes it’s a sci-fi one, but the basic story is almost always the same. Why?

What seems most likely is that this story framework allows for a fighting system, be that a shooting system like Mass Effect or a turn-based system like in most JRPGs.

But why must RPGs be centered around fighting? Is it not possible to have fun in an RPG without the mass murder of woodland creatures?

Why not have an RPG based around two people falling in love over the course of their lives? Or why not have an RPG about a group of friends traversing a planet to escape it, as the world itself dies around them.

Put another way, do RPGs need a fighting system to be RPGs? The answer is simply “no.” And as if to prove this, RPGs are slowly but surely breaking out of this narrow combat-necessary mindset.

Kotaku has penned an editorial about why people love Planescape: Torment.   Here are some of these reasons - according to Kotaku:

Maybe it's just the little things

In Planescape: Torment...

•You can die. You'll come back to life. This is an integral part of the game.

• You can join a cult that worships death, or a cult that believes that everybody is a god. Or you can just become an anarchist.

• You can visit a pregnant alley, then prevent it from getting an abortion. This makes even less sense than it sounds.

• You can piss off the deity-like Lady of Pain and find yourself trapped in a maze for all of eternity.

• You can kill the incarnation of your character's mortality.

Although Planescape hasn't aged super well-and you need a high-resolution mod if you plan to play it today-it's a special sort of game, and it's had a significant impact on a lot of people. No wonder so many people want to throw money at the sequel.

If you recall the recent Plot vs Play PAX panel featuring David Gaider, Chris Avellone and Ken Levine, a video of the actual panel is now available at Kotaku.

Kotaku reports on a PAX panel titled "Plot vs Play", featuring David Gaider, Ken Levine and Chris Avellone talking about the importance of narrative. All three bring a different perspective - let's take a snip from David Gaider:

What it provides that regular media doesn't is the interactivity, right? You can have great stories in a film but it's the level, it's the part where the player is personally invested in their own character and their own story that can bring it up to the next level. There's a lot of talk about whether games are art, and no one seems to question that about a movie or a book, but in games their element of interactivity lets the player be partly an author along with the game's creator and that's unusual, that's weird. And from an outsider perspective that doesn't add anything — that's why there's all this discussion, because they don't see the value for the person who's playing the game, how to them that elevates the story and makes the stakes much higher. I think that's what's important.

Kotaku has an extensive list pointing out all of the deals going on for the holidays at the major outlets in America. Some of the deals have already started and some won't begin till later this week. The list is too large to post here, but here are a few of the PC sales that might be of interest to you:

Consoles on the cheap! Twofer video games! Accessories galore! It's here, the gauntlet of shopping that is the run-up to the holidays in the U.S.

 

Below you'll find a ever-growing list of video game deals, sales and giveaways that will be available on the days surrounding Thanksgiving. Feel free to drop your own deal finds in comments and bookmark this page. We'll be updating it daily through to Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

 

Day After Thanksgiving

Best Buy

*Sony Vaio VPCEB3AFM/WI laptop for $399

*Fallout: New Vegas for $39.99

*World of Warcraft Battlechest for $9.99

 

GameStop

* World of Warcraft Battlechest $9.99; World of Warcraft Game $4.99

* Buy 2, Get 1 Free on all pre-owned games and accessories

Many more deals at GameStop's Black Friday ad.

 

Kmart

*World of Warcraft for $4.99

*World of Warcraft Battlechest $9.99

An editorial at Kotaku named Weighing Morality in Games discusses how games have used and uses this when forcing the player to make choices. Games mentioned are The Witcher Alpha Protocol and Mass Effect. No games prevous to these are mentioned, KOTOR, BG1 or Fallout. Here's what the author says about Mass Effect:

There are few developers, however, that have made the transition from merely allowing the player to affect the physical world to enabling him or her to influence the people and events in that world with more than a gun, sword, or spell-book. Of these, Bioware's Mass Effect games are perhaps the purest example of how these kind of systems have been implemented thoughtfully and effectively. There are real consequences that the player has to live with, and they carry over throughout the series. Players can choose between morally good (blue) and morally questionable/renegade (the choice between playing as Luke Skywalker or Malcom Reynolds) with a neutral choice in between. The player can always choose either good or bad, but persisting in one type of choice long enough unlocks a kind of super-powered good or bad choice later in the game.