E3 registration is now open. I don't remember such ever occurring the year before the show.

Game Informer recently previewed Fable, an RPG version of "This Is Your Life" or something. In the article, they hailed the graphical quality, noting that opaque windows is something gamers have tolerated for far too long, and their transparency in Fable is long overdue.

Am I the only one that thinks such superficial gushing is symptomatic of the video game industry progressing down the wrong path? As pretty as I'm sure Fable will be to look at, I have never worried much about peeking through my virtual neighbor's windows. If Fable proves to be as engrossing as it is foretold to be, then it should be praised for that, not some graphical minutia. Attending to such detail in lieu of gameplay, content, and storytelling will not evolve the medium or the market, and suggests a shallow audience satisfied with shallow games. That's not us… is it?