Dix

Maybe Chris will find that Xenonauts was too complicated for modern audiences, and will have to re-release it with flashy graphics, no base management, a dub-step soundtrack on permanent 20 second loop, and squads limited to three people. Say, Two AI mooks that will permadeath, and that you can't control directly. Research is boring, so you'll just pick up new weapons at random on the field, but can only carry two at a time to make it realistic, and they will be confiscated after every mission and replaced with a pistol. No healthpacks, so you'll just heal all wounds with alien phlebotanium that you were injected with in the first ten minutes, when you were named mankind's last hope, given command over the last remaining force still fighting the aliens, and your trusty one-clip pistol. You don't get to choose any missions, of course. Oh, and it'll need Facebook integration, so you have to get more likes on Facebook for more funding in-game. Yeah, that should do it... (Dix runs away from the Community & hides before he gets thrown to the fires of the Buddhist threads)

Nice, thanks!

Thanks for the suggestions, everyone. Tyrian has been in my collection since my 386 days, same as the Crusader series (one of the most atmospheric games I've played to this day). The freebie game hidden in Tyrian was also fun for hot-seat gaming. SPAZ looks interesting - I've seen it around but somehow never picked it up. I'll have to keep an eye out for it on sales. Alien Swarm was brilliant, if short - for free, who can argue? Teleglitch, not so sure about - something about the videos just puts me off (which is in no way a reflection on the game itself). StarSector puts me in mind of Space Rangers - may have to give that a look. For anyone else who drops by and is looking for something, found two more: Sierra Ops: Not out yet, but looks interesting http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=214614458 Strike Suit Zero: for anyone who want's to pilot a Transforming Space Mech and destroy giant capital spaceships. In Space! http://store.steampowered.com/app/209540/

Hey folks - though I'd plumb the depths of the board's collective knowledge, if I may! Can anyone recommend any good top-down/arcade sci-fi shooters? I'm looking at games like Shadowgrounds or Raptor: Call of the Shadows (Already have those, the Alien Breed series, Alien Shooter series, and Greed).

...your priorities are warped

I once was a Chaos Sectopod like you, then I took an arrow (of Russ) to the knee. Also, ow.

Likewise - also a backer. I guess Xenonauts has renewed my faith that games like this can meet your hopes! It's a while since the days of games like Project Nomad and Space Rangers 2 (ie, space opera with more than just shooting & between mission cutscenes). As far as the AAA bit goes, eh - I may just be getting old, but AAA doesn't always equate to big budget for me, it's the quality of the game itself that does that. (some of the best games around are small team/one man jobs). We'll just have to wait & see on wether the team can deliver, I guess.

It's not only funded, but somehow jumped nearly 80,000 in the last day of a 60 day campaign to hit some stretch goals like away missions on planets.

Falling Skies, TorchWood, Stargate (assorted), the original V, Space: Above & Beyond, Battlestar Galactica (new & old), - so there is a market for these. Having said that: Firefly, Invasion, V (the new series), Stargate Universe, Dollhouse to name just a few that got canned one or two seasons in, so a property as relatively unknown and niche (in the TV world), as X-Com? Sad as I am to say it, is passing unlikely to be a candidate for a new TV series. Most budget holders would regard it as just too risky for an unknown IP.

Plus, they run faster & into small spaces, leading to a greater spreading of the glorious blaze

+2 Besides, it just makes me feel all special, like

Hear, hear!

heh - my beloved Apoc is getting more votes that I expected. Always good to see it getting some well-earned love (as an aisde, I think the percentage calculations for the poll are slightly off)

If anyone hasn't seen them yet, Code Geass are worth the watch

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mmmmm - toasty goodness for a crisp winter's morning!

"She's fighting to *SPOILER (Chris)*." - is that even legal over here?

Simple. They're here on a stag party for their good mate Bob, and they aim to give him a send-off to remember. Amongst Bob's race, a worthy farewell is considered espicially important as the male normally fails to survive the remarkable trauma of bearing some thirty thousand live young every other month, and so his stag do is also his wake.

Yes! Thank-you, and thanks to Lee Stephen - I've been awaiting this with marked anticipation

Has anyone here seen Perfect Blue? I kind of wish most Hollywood thrillers approached the subject of loss of identity & sanity as well

I was going to suggest "bricks" or "brickers", on account of what they'll do when told to run up to an 8 foot tall alien death machine waving a cattle prod. Shock-jocks works nicely, though. Also more socially acceptable

...this means that they will ALSO have been trained to force their way into human bodies, there to nom upon the soft and squishy human part kebabs they will make with their spikes. I do not think i like this precedent.. Let alone the fact that they will likely go for the point of entry that is closest to the ground, for ease of access. Um.

You've got it back to front - the aliens have already subverted Father C., and we need to join with the other holidays against him: http://www.sluggy.com/comics/archives/daily/031215 On topic, a belated happy Christmas to Chris et al, & a merry new year!

Why not just buy the game, and then crack it? I've done this with several titles where the DRM interfered with my enjoyment/utilisation of the title. You avoid piracy, and still avoid the DRM. You can do the same with films or music, to a degree.

Sometimes, swap "won't" for "can't and still wants the game/album/whatever" (this is an observation, and in no way intended as an agrument of legitimancy), but yes - you've pretty much hit the nail on the head.