But with the arrival of “next-gen consoles” (as they are still sometimes called) suddenly all those games I used to want on my PC could be played through a console. All I needed then was to just pay the $500 (rather than $2000) for the Xbox 360 and I’d be playing like the old days.

Except it also drew my attention to the games that were out there. And even though there were pretty and action packed they lacked something important that I have come to love in table top gaming. And that is deep character interaction. I know that to create a game with that kind experience would be so hard, it almost isn’t worth it but I think some games soon to be hitting the shelves might be getting close. Games like Mass Effect 2, Alpha Protocol and Dragon Age seem to be pushing that roleplaying experience one step further.

This feeling is summed up very nicely in a Kotaku article just after E3

I’m not sure what it says about me, that my biggest game moment of E3 2009 was a dialog decision. Maybe I’ve seen too much over the years to be impressed by simple game announcements or the promise of technology still a good year away. Maybe I’m just a science fiction roleplaying dork. Either one works.

I guess being a roleplaying dork just means I like complex human interactions, even in my pre-scripted games. So in anticipation of this glut of CRPGs coming out in a few months I’m going to take the plunge and buy my first console. Just as soon as I can get over my internal, PC game loving snobbishness.

Partly the lack of time is because I’ve finished two Xbox games this week – at last. Both Fallout 3 and Grand Theft Auto IV fell under my controllers mighty … yeah. GTA also marks another step towards getting one of my 2009 resolutions down -  so now I just have to finish one of Rainbow 6: Vegas, Bioshock, Mass Effect or Call of Duty 4.

GTA 4 was a fantastic game – it only took me this long to finish because I kept dying in the final mission. I’ve written about it before here and my thoughts haven’t changed really. It’s probably the best realised storytelling experience in the history of video games. I started the DLC pack The Lost & The Damned today as well so I hope that lives up to the expectations of the full game.

Fallout 3 was excellent as well, although no where near the accomplishment of GTA IV. Bethesda did capture the Fallout feel, even if they didn’t manage the humour so well, but I’ll play a Fallout 4 from them, and I’ll definitely take a look at New Vegas when that comes out. I’m glad they resurected the series.

The main achievement was the size of the world I think – it felt both empty and full at the same time and walking though the wasteland was a genuinely scary experience at lower levels. I do wonder who the raiders raided all the time, but I guess the answer is ‘each other’. That said, the story began to lose momentum towards the end and the final few episodes are a bit of a railroad. The actual ending sucks as well – a total anticlimax. I’m told that’s changing with the Broken Steel DLC that came out yesterday.

I think both of these games have shown it’s possible to have genuinely deep gaming experiences on the console, even if the controls aren’t as complex and the inventory not as limitless (although Fallout has a pretty good inventory system).

You can read all about it here but it sounds pretty damn cool! Given that Avellone worked on the magnificent Planescape: Torment amongst other clasic games, plus has a tabletop background too it would be very interesting to compare the two Fallout 3 based games when New Vegas is released.

There’s actually a longer interview with Avellone from Edge magazine here as well which is worth a read.

Shacknews interview with Bethesda’s marketing vice-president about Fallout: New Vegas.

Also, the next lot of DLC for Fallout 3 comes out on May 5. Kotaku has a whole bunch of info on it.

I still haven’t finished Fallout 3 but have decided to get back on the main quest so expect some more reactions soon! Once I finish the main game then I’m planning to get all three DLC packs as well.

However despite my love of the series and the previous games I haven’t played Fallout 3. The reasons behind this a boring and I won’t go into it, but suffice to say that I hope to have the chance to play one day. Just not this year.

Instead I read reviews, talk to people who have and convince myself that one day… one day it will be mine! It’s always amusing to see what Zero Punctuation thinks of games I’m into as well.