how do you like it so far? what are the boss fights like? 

Thanks for the tip, Baldur. Reading the reviews....convincing world....pretty graphics....lots of exploration....shoddy combat. So basically it is the real Gothic 4 then, with less bugs. Well that suits me fine, I can get it and kiss goodbye to the winter months. 

How much better is Oblivion than Risen? 

What? Risen is better than Oblivion... :)
All Gothic games were better than Oblivion actually, and I liked Oblivion. 

oblivion has a really generic feel to it.
risen (only going on the demo here) has a more 'intricate' feel to it (as did all the gothic games). the environment is very detailed and stuff feels a lot more hand-placed than oblivion did.
oblivion had some cool spots, but for the most part, it looked pretty similar. (the oblivion mods that add in modified areas look amazing though, but i'm judging the game itself, not the mods)
risen combat is kind of annoying though. i was never a fan of the gothic combat either though and prefer the more mobile/non-animation-constricted combat of oblivion. 

I third that motion 8>
The array of corny zombie and plant characters is a hoot : Zombie pole vaulters, those that burrow underground spin around and head in the wrong direction, and all sorts of exploding plants. Lots of corny head popping action.

It might actually be more fun to watch than play though. Site has videos and a demo.

http://www.popcap.com/extras/pvz/ 

Demo is out http://www.gamershell.com/news_85852.html

Not tried it yet myself as my net connection is slooooooow 

Bal, play Machinarium. So cute and awesome puzzles. 

Indeed, 'tis most excellent 

Looks as thrilling and revolutionary as the others. But hey, I'd be up for playing it coop! 

Yeah I've bought the game, and played the demo, just haven't found the time to play through it yet, but I'm really looking forward to it. 

Eufloria is out on steam (previously called Dyson) it's this weird minimalistic asteroid conquering RTS, and it's made by Borsato, the q1 mapper, so go buy it. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_8hJsgZSNA&feature=player_embedded 

Saw it.

Loved it.




Licked it.

... 

surely not, because it looks very awesome. 

Prerendered.

The specials are looking good - that video shows the Spitter, Charger and Jockey, but it'd be nice to see another for the heavy (Tank / Witch) class.

The Charger apparantly is downgraded so as not to be part of that group, which begs the question. 

http://machinarium.net/demo/ 

http://celephais.net/board/view_thread.php?id=23795&start=2916

But good linkage 

Just respam.

Play it anyway. I'm broke but just bought it. 

nice demo, beautiful artwork. Great character to the animations. Looks like an awesome childrens picture book. 

Although I lost half my weekend to it. 

fdguktdtinv crukjvcdxrmk ghmgdrtytjkgyujnb vgcfhbnjkjngtdfnyntgtynynmnmngtcvyhnyftymynyrdwaqsdxrbh 

Played the demo and the last couple of puzzles at a friend's (from the bomb defuse onwards). Absolutely beautiful game, waiting 'til I have some spare dollar to buy it, like said it's made by 7 self funded indie developers, can't really steal that shit even using the 'moral'* justifications of piracy.


*Disclaimer: I'm using apostrophes to highlight a lack of commentary on the validity of such arguments, merely stating their existence (the old 'men in suits getting the majority of the money due to owning the distribution/production' shit). I don't wish to start _another_ piracy flame session. 

"I don't wish to start _another_ piracy flame session."

Then don't bring it up. It's intellectually dishonest to get to state your opinion on something and then say you don't want to start a discussion.