This Week In Video Games: Walking Dead's Michonne Game And Steam Machine Launch

You're probably playing Fallout 4 instead of reading this. I'm okay with that because it's a pretty great game.

Fallout 4's huge launch day sales fascinate me because it wasn't too long ago that games like this didn't sell. Back in the late 1990s and early 2000s, open-ended single-player RPGs were still kind of a niche product. You had companies like Black Isle Studios and Troika Games making brilliant products like Planescape Torment, Arcanum and Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines and not making a ton of money while doing so. They fell out of print and could only be found deep in the bargin bin of a game store.

"I guess people just don't really like these types of games anymore," a GameStop clerk said while ringing up the $15 used copy of Torment I was purchasing.

There are a lot of people that don't like Bethesda's design style but there's no denying that their huge success with Elder Scrolls and Fallout helped the RPG genre immeasurably. I'm not sure why they managed to mainstream this type of RPG - probably the console versions and FPS-style combat - but I'm sure glad they were able to do so.

Top Stories of the Week

Super Smash Bros. Adding Final Fantasy 7 Hero Cloud - Suggested Fox News chyron: "Nintendo game invaded by terrorist."

Windows 10's First Big Update Has Arrived - I look forward to it being mysteriously downloaded to my Windows 7 PC.

Watch Stephen Colbert And Liam Neeson Act Out Candy Crush Movie - This almost makes up for the fact that there's going to be a Candy Crush movie.

Walking Dead Michonne Video Game Is Almost Here - Personally, I would've preferred a game called The Walking Dead: What The Fuck Happened To Glenn?

Steam Machines And Controllers Now Available - Finally, a way to play games on your television!

Minecraft Wii U Edition Is Really Happening, Ratings Board Says - Nintendo, we really need to work on your timing.

Gearbox Delays Battleborn - Not to be confused with Battlecry, the other class-based multiplayer shooter whose developers really wish Overwatch didn't exist.

League Of Legends' New Champion Illaoi Is Kraken Priest - It's a female character with tentacle powers so the fan art will pretty much draw itself.

Destiny Refer-A-Friend Program Will Give You Special Rewards - I guess Bungie sees the value in matchmaking after all.

Why Fallout 4 Mod Pissed Off Major League Baseball - If the MLB didn't like this, they're really not going to like my mod where you fight a warlord named Barry Bonds that shoots syringes at you.

Video of the Week

Nintendo releases the first English story trailer for Xenoblades Chronicles X. The Wii U role-playing game will launch on December 4th here in the West:

Quote of the Week

"No one is actually good at Candy Crush, but some people actually believe they are. In these non-skill-based games, you can tell me how many hours you've played, how much money you have spent, and I should be able to tell you within a good degree of certainty how far you are in Candy Crush, what level your town hall is in Clash of Clans, how many times you've ascended in Tap Titans. For some, it is a scary thought to know that the most commercially successful games on mobile are really just well-designed rollercoasters. It's not a negative concept, it is simply what works in free-to-play mobile." - Tilting Point VP Jesse Divnich, talking to GI.biz about the illusion of skill in mobile games.