Thanks to Skotos.net for their article discussing randomly-generated content in videogames, in which the author discusses pioneering games with random elements, suggesting: "One of the reasons [classic RPG] Rogue was so popular (and spawned so many children) is due to its generation of random content." But he goes on to point out: "Computers don't have the imagination to make good puzzles... asking a computer to create an interesting puzzle is very similar to asking it to tell a story, make up a joke, or create a riddle." The suggested answer is game elements "placed randomly within the [linear] structure", but with recent random level-generating games such as Toe Jam & Earl III striking out, how far should randomness be taken in games?

travail_jgd writes "Wizards of the Coast, the makers of Dungeons and Dragons and the owners of the popular d20 license, have made some changes that are very unpopular in the RPG community. The new clauses allows WotC to censor d20-branded books with sexual, excessively violent, or other questionable content by revoking the book's d20 license: 'Wizards of the Coast may terminate this License immediately... if it deems, in its sole discretion, that your use of the Licensed Articles does not meet the above standards.' (The full listing can be found in a 12 KB RTF file.) Needless to say, people aren't happy. BTW, Wizard's own 'Book of Vile Darkness' violates most of the new rules." There are further details about this change, which only affects "any work carrying the d20 logo", over at GamingReport.com.

Thanks to GamerFeed for their impressions of Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga for GameBoy Advance, as they explore the November-due turn-based handheld RPG, suggesting: "Anyone who has played Super Mario RPG or Paper Mario should find themselves right at home with Mario & Luigi", and claiming it's "shaping up to be one of the best RPGs on a Nintendo console to date." Nintendophiles also have hands-on impressions of Mario & Luigi, but also take the opportunity to look back on Super Mario Sunshine, over a year after release. Opinions on this GameCube flagship title range from "Mario Sunshine will not be remembered like other Mario titles on past Nintendo systems", to "It took everything Mario 64 did, and went one step further with it" - but overall, they conclude it's not a 'classic'.

Thanks to GameSpot for their hands-on impressions of Deus Ex: Invisible War, the long-awaited PC/Xbox FPS from Warren Spector and cohorts at Ion Storm Austin. As well as confirming the game will ship in time for Xmas, the article illuminates: "Invisible War will give you more freedom of choice than the original Deus Ex", claiming that, similarly to the prequel, even non-violent conduct will work: "...one tester has made it about two-thirds of the way through the game without having acquired so much as a pistol." Boomtown also has a new preview of this "pivotal title" for Eidos.

Thanks to Origin for their news release announcing Lord British is returning to the world of PC MMORPG Ultima Online. The article trails: "Talk circulates throughout the land of the return of a figure from Britannia's past, whose whereabouts have been shrouded in mystery for these many moons", and GameShark has contacted NCSoft Austin, where Ultima creator Richard 'Lord British' Garriott now works (and where he has even introduced Lord British's character into Lineage), and reports that "Richard Garriott... gave [Origin/EA] permission to reintroduce the character into the world of Ultima. Origin apparently made a deal with Richard that allowed them to use the character if they had Richard's blessings."

Thanks to Gamesindustry.biz for their article discussing the latest Japanese console hardware sales, in which it's revealed that the GameCube marginally outsold the PlayStation 2 this week, by 35,600 units to 35,300 units, largely "thanks to the release of Namco's RPG Tales of Symphonia", whose success we mentioned a couple of days back. Unfortunately, the third major console fared less well: "The picture was a little less bright for the Xbox, which slipped behind the PSone in the rankings again - selling 650 units to the PSone's 960. In market share terms, it was only one tenth of a percentage point ahead of Bandai's SwanCrystal. Ouch."

Thanks to Skotos.net for their column discussing a brief history of tabletop role-playing games, as the author, aided by resources such as the Pen & Paper RPG database, charts the evolution of the RPG from 'character modelling' in the earliest titles ("...the purpose was to create statistics, abilities, and rules which could be used to depict a character"), through 'character development' in the original 1974 Dungeons & Dragons ("Instead of having static characters, players were offered ways for their characters to evolve and change"), right up to the 'story telling' emphasis in the '80s and beyond ("player investment in individual characters was dramatically reduced in exchange for telling better stories.")

Daetrin writes "GamesAreFun.com is reporting that Namco's Tales of Symphonia RPG for GameCube sold 200,000 copies in its first day of release in Japan. It also reports that Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles for GameCube has sold over 350,000 units since its Japanese release last month. Perhaps the influx of RPGs will help revitalize the low GameCube hardware sales in Japan?" IGN Cube has hands-on impressions of Tales Of Symphonia, and GamesAreFun also mention the "73,000 pre-orders in Japan" for GC farming RPG Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life, which comes complete with a plush cow if you pre-order Stateside.

Thanks to Ogre Cave for the news that tabletop RPGs are planned for some classic Capcom fighting game franchises, including Street Fighter, Darkstalkers, Final Fight, and Rival Schools. Living Room Games has licensed the titles, with "...the first two releases planned for the new line... scheduled to coincide with Street Fighter's 15th anniversary in North America", and the Ogre Cave article adds: "If Living Room Games' energetic support of Earthdawn is any indication, CAPCOM's properties are in good hands, and are sure to fare better than the White Wolf Street Fighter attempt of the early '90s."

Thanks to IGN Pocket for their hands-on impressions of Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, in which they discuss the tactical RPG GameBoy Advance title due out September 8th, and mention "The release of Final Fantasy Tactics Advance is pretty historical, as it's the first [U.S.] Square game released on a Nintendo system since the company decided to pull the plug on Nintendo development back in the N64 days." Also discussed is the shrewd opening act, where there are "...a group of kids on a school's playground during wintertime, as a snowball fight breaks out... it's a very clever implementation of a training mission." Nintendo are pushing FFTA with an enticing bundle deal, although final English-language reviews, excepting this 'well-researched' one, are still pending.

Thanks to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer (via Recordonline.com) for their article trying to characterize gamers into visual stereotypes. It starts: "It used to be that if you played video games more than casually you were labeled a nerd... Nerds, as an easily identified social group, don't exist anymore.", and goes on to describe "clans of specialist gamers" such as 'Survival horror junkie' ("Think goth kid from the '80s meets skate punk... the color for this season is black, black, and more black") or 'RPG obsessive' ("Little has changed with the outward appearance of role-playing game fans since the golden age of 'Dungeons and Dragons'") Is this simply lazy/offensive pigeonholing, or can you spot certain gamers on sight alone?

Thanks to The Magic Box for their new information on Sega's AGES 2500 Series remakes for PlayStation 2. We've covered the initial set of remakes, currently announced for Japanese release only, and including Phantasy Star, Fantasy Zone, Monaco GP, Space Harrier, and Golden Axe, but there's now a streaming trailer of the first titles (in 56k and broadband flavors), and details on the next games in the series: "Vol.6:Virtua Racing - remake of Model 1 3D racing game, Vol.7:Last Bronx - remake of the Model 2 arcade fighting game, Vol.8:Phantasy Star 2 - remake of Mega Drive RPG, Vol.9:Phantasy Star 4: The End of Millennium - remake of Mega Drive RPG."

Thanks to RPGnet for posting an article interviewing a cross-section of the women at the GenCon gaming convention, and discussing how they fit into a "cohesive, well-established, largely male-oriented culture." The author of the piece interviews individuals that she classifies as the 'young gamer', the 'entrepreneur', the 'organizer', and the 'booth babe', among others, and tries to illuminate "how women fit themselves into the loose conglomeration that is gamer culture, and how they formed their own unique subset of gaming."

Thanks to RPGDot for their Lionheart information page, which points to GamersWithJobs' first impressions of the PC RPG, which is developed by Reflexive, published by Interplay's well-known Black Isle RPG division, and has just shipped to stores. GamersWithJobs have positive impressions of this alternate-history title, which is set in 1588, when "...Europe is still reeling from the disjunction, a cataclysm that unleashed magic and demons on the world five centuries earlier during the Third Crusade, whereupon vengeful foes Richard the Lionheart and Saladin were forced to join forces to turn back the deluge of evil." The piece also points out that "...while the demo proved to be substantially more difficult than the final product, the mechanics of the game are faithfully represented in that demo and serve as fair warning for those attached to turn-based game styles."

Thanks to Eurogamer.net for their preview of Vampire:The Masquerade - Bloodlines, with new info and screenshots on the FPS/RPG hybrid from Troika, the creators of Fallout and Arcanum, and the first announced title apart from Half-Life 2 to use Valve's Source Engine. According to a Troika representative, "Bloodlines is the first game to combine the classic RPG feel with a first person shooter engine", and Eurogamer also single out the return of the classic RPG 'conversation tree' as providing fresh gameplay ideas: "For example, your character may have excellent seduction skills, or be part of a specific clan that allows you to ask questions or offer responses otherwise unavailable to you, and these 'special' branches of the conversation will be shown in a different font to indicate this."

Thanks to Planet GameCube for their report on how the newly released Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles is faring in the Japanese press. This GameCube action RPG, which came out on August 7th in Japan, but is now delayed until February 2004 State-side, scored 32/40 and a Gold Award in the often strict Famitsu Weekly, and a Famitsu reviewer commented: "The one player mode feels a bit lonely as the gameplay tends to become routine. However, the game becomes more interesting in the multiplayer mode, where players can execute combination magic and work together to beat the boss. The fun factor is doubled." There's more info via hands-on impressions at IGN Cube, who seem to like the single-player campaign somewhat better.

Thanks to RPGVault for their interview with World Of Warcraft producer Mark Kern, discussing Blizzard's forthcoming massively multiplayer RPG. He particularly stresses depth of content, especially relevant since recent allegations against Star Wars Galaxies: "I think one thing that sets us apart, aside from all the little things that go into our interface, quest-driven gameplay, and instanced dungeons, is the fact that there is so much to do in the game. This is also the key to retention. We have a huge amount and variety of places to explore that are packed with special locations, encounters, story and quests." He also discusses different play styles, saying the game will offer "..outdoor content for soloing, dungeons that offer cool loot and encourage grouping to succeed, and heavy boss encounters that require large guilds to take out."

Thanks to UGO.com for their hands-on preview of Ion Storm's Deus Ex:Invisible War, the forthcoming sequel to the much-acclaimed FPS/RPG hybrid. The feature starts: "Few RPGs have offered the level of open-ended gameplay, the Hollywood-quality back story, or the innovative character development that Deus Ex did", and goes on to describe the changes to the sequel, which include a "simplifying [of] its character-development system" and a new interface that's "similar to Metroid Prime's visor view" - in fact, "when a menu pops up, it'll be emblazoned directly on [the new lead character] Alex's eye." The game is currently due out this December for both PC and Xbox.

Thanks to several readers for pointing out that Paul Slocum's new, in-development Atari 2600 RPG, which we've mentioned previously on Slashdot, is now revealed to be using the official Homestar Runner license. According to the newly-released info, "Mike and Matt Chapman (creators of Homestar Runner) will be contributing story, graphics, and creative ideas to the game", and you will be able to "...play as Homestar, Poopsmith, or Strongsad" and, as before, "...fight enemies from other Atari 2600 games" when the game is released as an actual cartridge, early in 2004.

Thanks to GameSpy for their Spy/Counterspy column discussing the relative advantages and disadvantages of Western and Japanese RPGs. According to GameSpy editor Benjamin Turner's less-enthusiastic view of Japanese RPGs: "I want to create my own characters instead of playing someone else's; I want to explore a world at my own pace rather than being shuffled through a pre-planned, linear progression. Most of all, I want to be able to replay a favorite game and have a very different experience." However, editor Christian Nutt's rebuttal suggests: "While there are entertaining elements to Western RPGs... the way that all of the design elements of a great Japanese RPG work in concert to offer a truly engaging experience as a whole is what really excites me the most."