Trenox

I would play an HD version of D2 for sure. esp if they added a bit of content. Its just a much stronger game than D3 turned to be.. I do wonder about the technical aspect of such an HD version. Would they use the D3 engine? that would probably make it feel alot less like the original game. Or somehow keep it 2d but make new sprites? that would seem like a highly unorthodox solution these days.Starcraft seems odd to remake since SC2 is almost the same game in so many ways. They would easily remake the original campaign in starcraft2 though.

Its way too late to push it, so yes it will be out in november.

Overall i would agree with the premise of this topic and its a big part of why im subscriping to the site. Its important to have voices that are independent (or as much as that is possible i suppose) in this industry when there's so many examples of the opposite (or at the very least a lot of grey areas).
I can recommend checking out Jim Sterling on youtube as well as he decided to leave the established press entirely due to the "corporate hand" that he saw as a threat to the integrity of his profession. He is only generates income from Patreon.com so there's no ties on him at all.

I dont know to what extent they are using mega textures on Doom4 but it makes the most sense in large "organic" areas where you would not expect repeatable geometry and textures. The landscapes in Rage (or Hell in Doom) are a perfect fit for mega texturing while the space corridors in Doom are not as they are inherently made up of repeatable elements. However, using mega textures even here in some capacity would allow for unique detailing, so maybe they import traditionally textured meshes and then convert the whole level (baking) to mega textures for those final touches.

Comparing the use of mega texturing to how the artstyle of a game is executed are not really directly related here IMO. Sure, a technique can affect how the art is being made and allows for different approaches. In the original doom they had windows everywhere to leverage the skybox outside, and so forth. But this art direction in Doom4 could have been achieved with or without mega texturing IMO (i am a game artist by profession). It has more to do with the fidelity that they can now achieve: The use of lighting and shaders and allows for a more "cinematic" look where garish colors like in the original doom would look out of place. Back then, they did not have any type of shading and very limited colors so in fact the original doom looked like it did because of its limitations (to a wide extend).

Also on your concerns for blurriness and popping textures: remember that Rage was developed with the 360/ps3 in mind and with that came ALOT of crazy limitations. On PC the textures could be larger but this puts more strain on the hardware (and they somehow botched the early PC version). IMO mega texturing was a generation too early with Rage but it makes a lot of sense to explore the technique now with this generation. Yes it sometimes doesn't have the crispness we are used to but it can really empower artists and some of the scenes in Rage are still gorgeous (better looking than most games even this generation) What im trying to say is: Dont dismiss it so readily :)

Im pretty sure we will see a top 3 with MgsV, Witcher 3 and Fallout4.I could see anyone of them win and i doubt anything else will be close to this top 3 (unless they end up overthinking it and somehow break this top 3 with mario maker just because.. :P).

Game kinda IS boring but its Bioware and it looks competent so that gets it a long way.. I do like some of the major story beats and seeing a new area for the first time, but those really are the highlights.

I would recommend playing Witcher 3 instead.

edit: just saw that you already played that. Dont really know where to go from W3 though? Wait for fallout4 ? ;)

Fallout 4 is the big game for me this year.

Im also hoping that maybe Valve will show what their up to, but i wouldn't count on it. If they are, though I would expect something along the line of a new team fortress or similar type of game to match Overwatch.

I miss the good ol' RTS games like Command & Conquer and Age of Empires. I've had no interest in MOBA games at all. I've gotta build that base son.

I can totally understand this romantic notion of RTS games - I played Dune2 on the Amiga and loved it. But I also gotta admit that it leads to incredible stale game play and the formula has been done to death since back in the day. RTS games needed to evolve to stay relevant and MOBAS is the best answer so far and has proven incredible popular for a reason. That being said i can also understand why its not for everyone and can seem intimidating to approach.

Question to the OP: Do you not give any points to MOBAs in regards to the competitive aspect of playing and the thrill of winning a really hard game with your team? Its not many games that can be as satisfying on this front IMO.

@theht: You should totally do that, FNV is amazing despite the somewhat janky graphical content.

October 2015 is sadly also way too soon.. im guessing mid 2016 if were lucky.