Just walk to my door and yell "Eidos" to start my trip back into the glory days of PC gaming. Sometimes, remembering the games I spent countless hours playing is much better than trying out some new ones, and I also started to think that, compared to mid-1990s, now there's virtually no game ahead of the hardware platforms running on. All right, there's Crysis, but if I look back, there's simply nothing to match the first game in the Commandos series.

Of course, there's also Tomb Raider, a great franchise, with a solid fanbase, and I can't help but wonder now what was so hot to see Lara naked in the first games in the series... because it's a notorious fact that a bunch of unofficial patches were released for most Tomb Raider games to undress Angelina. Uhm... Lara Croft, not Angelina. If you want to see Angelina Jolie that way, I highly recommend Original Sin and Gia.

Now, back to our sheep - Eidos games, and the future. As you probably found out already, Eidos has been taken over by Square Enix. This happened on the 22nd of this month, and now Eidos Interactive is part of Square Enix's Eidos Group, and a subsidiary of Eidos plc. OK, but what will happen to the Eidos games as we know them? Will Eidos become just another memory?
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At this point, most key staff will remain where they are now, and it seems there's no plan to kill any existing franchise, or come up with new ones. Phil Rogers remains the company's CEO, and the company will continue to operate on its own, at least for most of the time.

What I think it could be regarded as a sign of storms coming is Yoichi Wada's claim that "we at Square Enix also have a problem - it takes too long for us to produce a game," and since Eidos is now a part of them... shorter development times could lead to a second EA. No need to tell you more about the "almost ready" games EA has been pushing into the market lately, I hope.

Square Enix's CEO also said "I personally believe that having a good cost performance and having a good quality game can co-exist - I think that this relationship is actually a positive one. But when you look to the creators they tend to think that if they're asked to pursue a better cost performance, they have to sacrifice quality." This looks perfect on paper, but we all know how such things are in reality...

Countless gaming-related events are still being held, while various other IT-related magazines and expos are silently pulling out. No matter how much I hate it, I must admit that during these tough economic times, digital distribution could really take off, but until we get to see that, let's take a look at some awards, shall we?

The most interesting part is that we're talking about the 2008 Famitsu Awards, although we're almost in the middle of 2009, but I guess this means the Famitsu line of Japanese magazines took some time to come up with these rankings. More time to assemble such a top means the results are worthy of being considered... or at least that's what I think.
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It is interesting to notice that Capcom's Monster Hunter Portable got 2nd G winning the Game of the Year, as well as the Best Seller prize. Now, let's take a look at the entire list:

Game of the year: Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G

Best Seller: Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G

Person of the Year: Hideo Kojima

Character of the Year: Solid Snake

Company of the Year: Capcom

Rookie Title Prize: The Last Remnant

Innovation Prize: Wii Music

High Quality Prize: Metal Gear Solid 4

Racing Prize: Mario Kart Wii

Multiplayer Prize: Super Smash Bros Brawl

All Generation Prize: Pokemon Platinum

Communication Prize: Animal Crossing: City Folk

Adventure Puzzle Prize: Professor Layton and the Final Journey Through Time

Masterpiece Prize: Dragon Quest V

Character Action Prize:Dissidia Final Fantasy

Role Playing Prize: Tales of Vesperia

Dramatic Prize: 428

PlayStation 2 Prize: Persona 4

Worldwide Prize: Grand Theft Auto IV

Grand Theft Auto IV got the Worldwide Prize, obviously. No, not "obviously," especially since most PC gamers still consider San Andreas to be the best game of the franchise, at least for them. Fortunately for them, most Japanese gamers are using consoles...so that's why the results here.

One more thing - any of you willing to donate one Dissidia action figure? ;)

Earlier today, I got a phone call. So far, so good, but why? Since I guess you're no clairvoyant, I'll tell you - a friend of mine called to tell me about the awesome Orange Box deal he ran into a few minutes earlier. To be honest, I had no gaming purchases in my mind for the coming weeks. The crisis, you know... but after checking it out, I started doing what I hate most - a digital game purchase!

No need to tell you why I hate digital distribution, but if we'd see more deals like the one offered for The Orange Box this weekend... I may change my mind! Come on, the full Orange Box for only $10(or EUR10, in Europe)??? This is more than just an Orange Box deal, it's almost a giveaway!
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Just as a reminder for those who missed it so far - The Orange Box features the following games by Valve: the entire Half-Life 2 trilogy, Team Fortress 2, the sequel to the game that put class-based, multiplayer team warfare on the map, and the highly acclaimed Portal, the game that blends puzzles, first person action, and adventure gaming into a unique experience.

To take advantage of the Orange Box deal and save no less than $70/EUR70, just go to Steam and grab it while it's hot. If you're waiting for next week, you may try to grab it when it's not... available for such a good price, obviously.