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There are few examples of good writing in video games. The medium tends to tackle the same issues and genres, and only rarely steps outside of that comfort zone. At the recent Fan Expo in Toronto, a group of veteran writers and producers, with credits ranging from Too Human to Splinter Cell Conviction, discussed what makes a good writer and a well-written game.

The majority of the discussion centered on why games aren't yet at the same level as film or television.

Cosplayer Kamui impresses with her interpretation of an Asmodian character, infused with Aion’s distinctive look. A half a year of work and over a thousand dollars went into the project, and we can tell.

Enjoy!

A disappointing launch for Elemental: War of Magic has resulted in layoffs at developer Stardock.

Responding to a report by Shacknews, founder Brad Wardell posted on the game's official forums, "Elemental's revenue was anticipated to provide the revenue both for our main games team's next project as well as a second team. Unfortunately, that is unlikely to happen so we've had to start laying people off."

Wardell said that the layoffs are the first since the company's migration from the OS/2 market in 1998, and commented that it "sucks for all of us to lay off anyone."

It would appear that fans of Nathan Drake's adventures in the Uncharted games won't have to wait long for its third installment. Emily Rose, the actress who voices heroine Elena Fisher, has announced via Twitter that she is currently working on the series once again.

Rose's tweet reads:

"Landed in LALA land yesterday and already the schedule is a buzz.... filming my first Night show today 4 #HAVEN then work on #UNCHARTED!"

Rose doesn't specify that it is Uncharted 3 she is working on, but this isn't the first time the game has been hinted at. Nolan North, the voice of Nate Drake himself, has already said that a third game in the popular PS3 franchise is "common sense".

Mecha games have a curious history on consoles. While the PC hosted a successful run of MechWarrior titles (and some imitators) before developers and publishers essentially abandoned the genre, the console side instead hosted two basic interpretations: the expected action-simulator titles (Armored Core) and the somewhat-surprising tactical-RPG titles (Front Mission). Whether you prefer to pilot a giant bipedal tank yourself, or be the commander that oversees a squad of giant bipedal tanks, you were taken care of.