I think Stephen and I would talk Demon's Souls to death.  It will be fun to compare the two games once we hit the release of Dark Souls.

All great points, infernalism.  Women play a significant role in Witcher 2, so I don't really see where the misogyny argument is coming from.  I really want to read the books, but only two of them have been published in English.  It's a real bummer. 

I think we were really careful to avoid spoilers, but I totally respect that some people don't want to know anything about the game going in.  I would say beat the game once and then listen to the podcast.

I gave the misogyny thing a lot of thought, and I don't think it's really an issue in the game.  I find it very similar to Game of Thrones, actually.  This is a world that is steeped in medieval lore, but the women aren't actively pushed aside in favor of the male characters.  The female characters in Witcher 2 that have an actual point in the story are well fleshed out and strong.  Sure, there are prostitutes and whores wandering around, and one character is a bit too eager to get in Geralt's pants, but I found the game to be much more progressive in its attitude towards women than the first game.  Nothing made me uncomfortable or came across as cheap and tawdry.  I don't see any serious misogyny going on, but I'm sure others would disagree. 

In other news, we will be recording the E3 podcast this evening, so we should have it up sometime this weekend. 

Thanks for the input, infernalism.  I've looked into a couple of those mods that you've pointed out, and they do seem to improve the game quite a bit.  It will be interesting to see if CD Projekt actually implements them at some point.  It's also pretty exciting to see a fan of the show from Poland!  We're international, baby!!

Sorry for the double post, but our Witcher 2 podcast is up on the RSS feed and iTunes.  Hope y'all enjoy!

Christmas may be coming early...

We'll see, John.  I doubt this series still has a core following, but I'm okay with being surprised. 

The $250 price point is almost insane.  I think Sony is willing to take a hit on each Vita in order to bridge the gap with 3DS.  At least they aren't making the same mistakes twice.  I will be picking one of those suckers up for sure!

Tomb Raider looked interesting, though they need to go back and cut down on Lara's screams and yelps.  It just sounded excessive and awkward. 

Jesus, are they going to announce any games of merit besides Halo 4?  At least Mass Effect 3 with Kinect voice was kinda cool.  I mean, it's not like games were doing that back in 2001 or anything.  Oh wait...

I missed the Tomb Raider opening video, and that seems to be the only thing of any interest to me.  Microsoft may have switched places with Nintendo this E3.  Are these Kinect games even selling?  What is this on-rails shit?!

You end up working within in the confines of the rules set and structure provided by the designers and programmers when you play a video game.  Pac Man turning left or right at the fork in the road is certainly one example of player choice.  I was more speaking to the "freedom" developers talk about in current generation games.  The illusion of freedom comes from the restrictions put in place by the game makers.  Bethesda RPGs offer a great deal of choice in where to go and how to carry out missions.  But I'm never given an option like, say, challenging the leader of the super mutants to one-on-one combat, skinning him alive and wearing his head as a crown and testament to my unholy army of death raiders.  The developers lay out several options and choices for me to make, but I have to work within the confines of what they dictate.  Now, I'm not suggesting that this is problem in video games or something that needs to drastically change (not to mention the fact that it would be practically impossible to give total and complete freedom within the structure of a video game).  I'm merely pulling back the curtain a little bit so I can see The Wizard and understand how the game works and how these choices and decisions impact my own personal experience with the game.

*puffs cigar*

Totally agree!

Video games are all about illusion.  You have the illusion of choice, but you can never work outside of what the designers program.

It's certainly true that numbers can be used to validate nearly any argument.  Pat's analysis of my math is 100% valid.  This is more of a minor annoyance in video games that causes me to roll my eyes.  I can live with it.  It may piss me off on occasion, but I understand that it can happen.  

My bigger issue is when the numbers present a completely insurmountable obstacle for me as a gamer.  There are points in Borderlands that I simply cannot get through until my character has reached a certain level.  It doesn't matter that I can beat Modern Warfare on veteran.  My skill as a gamer is not going to get me through some of the hardest battles.  I love how one fat, bald, overweight guard at the end of Witcher 1 can kill me in three hits simply because his numbers behind the scenes are designed to crush me.  At least Zeus looks intimidating in God of War.  This guy looked like a white Carl Winslow, and he was strong as a titan.

One of the things I pointed out on the editor's board is my love of character development.  This was an aspect almost exclusive to RPGs for years.  This type of gameplay has found its way to shooters, survival horror games, action titles, etc.  The best RPGs allow me to completely customize my character and style, while the worst force me to play a certain way to overcome the design of the game.  Dragon Age was brutal when I tried to play the game as a JRPG and focused on damage.  It wasn't until I played the game the way the designers intended that I was able to succeed.  Is that proper player choice and character development?  Am I supposed to follow what the designers intended or should I be able to succeed in other ways?  Why offer choice if there's only one correct way to play?  My favorite games offer choice and success, even if the choice is a simple one between a shotgun and a sniper rifle.    

I'm glad people enjoyed the article and it has created some awesome discussion.  That was purely the intent.  I love to talk and debate games from a scientific and analytical standpoint.  I think that's the only way the medium advances.  

We will be talking about Witcher 2 on the next podcast.  Hopefully we'll be recording sometime next weekend.  We wanted to make sure that people had a chance to play the game before we talked about it in great detail.  Look forward to it!

The ending I got was a lot of setup for the next game.  Lots of things happen, stuff is explained, and then the game ends.  I can't really speak to any of the other 15 endings, but the one I got was both satisfying and slightly disappointing.