Deep it may be, but it’s still not for me! Which means it’s not a good game in my opinion.

“…that pushes gaming forward in new ways. It is a landmark title and one of the games of the year”

I’m afraid that no number of cliches is going to sell the game to me, John - but I accept your point of view (and the fact that I’m possibly in the minority of PC gamers here).

Regards the games you mentioned to have good voice acting, Psychonauts has been on my list of games to play for more than a year - I shall try to get onto it soon! KOTOR has been recently added to the same list following recommendations from a few people.

One last thing…

“I shouldn’t have mentioned voice acting, I knew this would happen. It’s just ONE EXAMPLE OF MANY things that need updating in the series.”

So if it wasn’t the biggest thing missing from Zelda, why mention it to the exclusion of other, more important things? :p

(Incidentally, I know you said from the beginning that was just one thing and that you could go on (though you haven’t!), and never took it to be the ONE thing that was turning you off.)

“I am getting from you a smug sense that you know something that I don’t, that I have somehow missed the point, and that irritates me slightly”

Well I’d be lying if I said you haven’t missed out but I understand why you are not interested in playing it.

“I still think you’re being a little dismissive of the idea that Oblivion could be anything other than absolutely fantastic, confidently stating that is offers far more than other games”

I actually said “put side by side with Zelda it offers far more”, lets not bring other games into this as my head might explode. When I compare Oblivion and Zelda fairly on their merits Oblivion offers open world free-form gameplay, mission variety and depth, radiant AI and some stunning visuals. You said it yourself “it is true that the Zelda format hasn’t really changed since it went 3D on N64″ and if you have only played Oblivion till just after the sewers you haven’t even scratched the surface of an incredibly deep game that pushes gaming forward in new ways. It is a landmark title and one of the games of the year.

Despite your acknowledgement that others disagree with your own thoughts, I still think you’re being a little dismissive of the idea that Oblivion could be anything other than absolutely fantastic, confidently stating that is offers far more than other games (although you said this in relation to Zelda, I am inferring from your comments that this can be extended to most games - apologies if this is not the case!).

Please don’t take this as a defence of Zelda - I am aware that Oblivion is widely considered a great game and the fact that I’m not into it doesn’t change that, but I am getting from you a smug sense that you know something that I don’t, that I have somehow missed the point, and that irritates me slightly - again, I’m sorry if you didn’t intend to convey that.

And Andy, I’m not at work actually - I go back tomorrow (is it better that I didn’t waste time writing all this at work, or worse that I wasted my free time doing it?)

I, like Chris, wouldnt call myself a Nintendo fanboy, in any more sense than I am a fan of Nintendo, and male!

I totally agree these lists we are doing are completely opinion based and will differ based on our tastes. I play pretty much anything I can get my hands on these days and feel that innovation is very important. Some people are happy with the same thing over and over but I like to see noticeable improvements in the games that I play. I do find many developers tend to rely on the same game mechanics that their regular players are used to but frustrate others on the outside looking in.

Case in point with Zelda is the lack of voice acting which has become a normal standard in modern games. Reading pages and pages of text is something I expected when playing the SNES or to a lesser extent the N64 not on a game released in 2006 on a brand new system.

That’s just one thing, I could go on but I won’t. Putting aside the new control scheme, Twilight Princess is essentially a good game, it just does nothing new as it’s basically the same Zelda we have been playing since Ocarina of Time.

My thoughts on Oblivion are well known by my friends and readers, of whom some agree and some disagree, but taken as whole complete experience and put side by side with Zelda it offers far more.

Andy has clearly played more Oblivion and Zelda than either of us so I would trust his opinion in this matter, even if he can be a fanboy at times :-).