PixlBit

Tactically, it's practical to take the battle to the police once the jig is up. Fleeing isn't really an option, as that just gives able bodies time to call in roadblocks, helicopter, shoot the suspects in the back, etc. It's better to incapacitate the first responders as quickly as possible, then make a getaway. Only problem (but not really, since it's a game and repetition is part of the package) is that criminals would not get themselves into such situations after surviving the first.  They would keep as low a profile as possible, possibly flee to a non-extradition treaty country.

When the choice is between jail/death or freedom, police become mere obstacles, armed agressors, to a lawbreaker. Michael was a bank robber, it's plausible that he has no quams about killing police, who he would see as equals and opposition to his interests. Kidnapping someone's wife isn't in the same ethical ballpark, as she is not an equal participant in the game of violence.

Franklin going from repo man to cop killer is harder to swallow. But he's also a banger, and bangers have a notorious lack of empathy for law enforcement.

Trevor is a psychopath who acts outside the bounds of criminal codes. It is plausible that Michael and Trevor would find some of his acts beyond the pale, but fighting police is within the bounaries of those codes.

It think it is a stretch to expect criminals, who are ultimately selfish and anti-social no matter how relatively mild they may be, to give any consideration to the well being of police, beyond assessing the risk-reward of removing immediate obstacles vs. severe criminal charges if unsuccessful.

Ultimately, the universe is indifferent to man and his codes, rules, and laws. Everyone is fair game once they draw their guns.

P.S. Keep in mind, these games love to emulate the shootout scene from Heat, but because of the demands of the video game medium, they can't supply the same context.  The bank robbery in Heat was a botched job, otherwise DeNiro's team -who were more stone-cold than the guys in GTA5- would never get themselves into that kind of situation, and certainly wouldn't keep repeating it over and over.

Clockwork Empires for me. I've put more hours into Dwarf Fortress than I have any other game.  If CE can reproduce the same appeal, it will be the new game of forever (until the next DF update).

DS2 is cool, but least interesting game on the list.

New Vegas is a massive game, but it gives you a lot of choice when it comes to solving quests. One of my top 2 picks on our list

Human Revolution is the other top pick. Also provides you with multiple ways to finish quests, and it's fun to explore the city areas. Prefer NV, but this one is shorter and more focused.

Dishonored is good if you want a stealth-action hybrid in an original world. A quicker play than Human Revolution, if you want to knockout a similar type of game.

RoF is a pretty deep tactical game, but would not be my first pick on that list.

For all their desire for realism, I'm not seeing any upswing in tactical combat sims, and any of the franchises from that genre that are still around have been dumbed down to near arcade levels *coughRainbowSixGhostReconcough*. Funny how that works, isn't it? Realism is all good...until it starts requiring thought and patience from their lowest-common-denominator audience....

Segregated fountains were enforced by law, with severe punishment or humiliation for those violating that law. I'm afraid it would be an illogical or dishonest argument.  

Since the lounge is completely optional, if LGBT gamers do not want attention drawn to them they can simply abstain from participating in the lounge area. People choose whether they want to stand out from the crowd or not. It's completely up to them.

 "Can't people of different backgrounds simply enjoy the same hobby and be happy about that?" No, they apparenlty can't. Apparently minorities are being discriminated against or undermined at these shows, and the show runners can't possibly police every foot of the floor space. Then you have the fact that many LGBT gamers feel the need to wear their LGBT status on their sleeve. Asking them not to do this would be even more of a PC faux pas than this lounge. Gender and sexual preference are things because the people  make them things. People are compelled to express themselves whether they are the 'outcasts' or the people hating on the 'outcasts', and there is nothing that can legally be done to stop them.  No one is just going to stop talking about these issues, ever. Best the show runners can do is find ways to manage the situation with what resources they can.

This is what happens when you make a hobby a fucking "culture." The games don't get better, and everything else gets worse, more petty. Perspective man, some people just lack it. Don't let the insanity bother you. It seems the loudest mouths are the ones that care least about the hobby. They only care about their image or ego. If they have time to wine and argue, they have time to play more games and maybe more games wouldn't get so overlooked and we wouldn't have the same couple of genres getting the lion's share of the funding and press. But how many of these fools are going to give the new Ys a chance, or go back and play Nier, or have a strategy game on their GoTY list? 

Segregation is forced seperation. No one is forced into the Diversity Lounge, nor is it hidden away in the back of the hall. It's akin to the concept of a "safe space," which is a liberal idea, the idea being that marginalized people  have a place where they can go to socialize and exchange ideas without being undermined by the privileged. People are free to mingle in or outside of the lounge as they please, but inside the smaller space of the lounge discrimination and bigotry will be easier to spot and neutralize. It's not comparable in any way to instituionalized segregation during the 50s.

 In a perfect world, they'd be able to monitor the entire event space and ensure that no one is suffering ill treatment. But it's not a perfect world, they can't monitor the entire event space. But they can monitor a smaller space and make absolutely sure people aren't being undermined for being different. It's a management strategy.

Always had mixed feelings about Sonic 2. It had the tightest gameplay, but the levels and music were not as iconic as the other 2, imo. The music from 1 had a certain charm and warmth to it and sounded like actual songs, while 2's music was colder and just sounded like video game music to me; it was discordant, dissonant, and harsh in comparison. And 3 is the best looking and had some interesting touches to the levels. 2's levels were not visually appealing to me -too busy, too garish. 1 and 3 had a nice chunky look to the levels. It's a graphic design thing. 

Still, you can't go wrong with either of the first 3 Sonic games as a top Genesis pick.

Respectable list. THPS games were a revelation to me. I was late to the party on those,but the first 3 games lived up to the hype. Just goes to show, you often don't know what you like until you actually try it. Props for the New Vegas add. The most RPG mainstream RPG of the gen, if that makes sense. It really does offer different experiences for different character builds. Dark Souls is the best of the generation to me, although I prefer Demon's atmosphere and music. And Doom 2 -nuff said.

Oblivion is the only 'misfire' on this list. Absolutely think it is one of the dumbest games ever made on such a budget. I mean literally dumb. It insults my intelligence at times. And we need more Daggerfall recommendations around here. It's dated as hell, but it's starting to edge out Morrowind as my favorite and most interesting game in the series. There are cool things in that game that have never been done in the series again.

For my own list, Deus Ex would probably be at the top. After that, probably System Shock 2, Metroid Prime, X-Com, Super Metroid, Symphony of the Night. Haven't worked out the order though. Maybe some time in the near future, once I get my literary brain in order and can write something coherent.

I want merchants to have all their stock somewhere in the store again, instead of hidden away in invisible chests. Thieving in ES hasn't been worthwhile after Morrowind. 

Bring back the spell maker and expand the spell list. The spell assortment in Skyrim is pitiful. So bland. And take some cues from Dragon's Dogma on how to make spellcasting interesting and nuanced (different cast times, animations), instead of the typical run-backwards-while-spamming tactics.

Bigger, labyrinthine dungeons. They can keep some linear dungeons, for variety's sake. But big, sprawling dungeons should be part of that variety. We're supposed to be going on an adventure here.

And in those dungeons, there should be a chance to find unique weapons or armor, instead of relegating those mostly to quest rewards. What is the point of dungeon crawling and exploring if you can't find some good shit once and a while? High level security chests should reward you with high level value.

More joinable factions is always a plus, like the great houses in Morrowind.

There should be some higher level areas where enemies can kick your ass. People complained about New Vegas because they couldn't go in any direction they wanted from the start, but all you need is some roads through those areas that are relatively safe, like other RPGs have done for years, and means to escape from dangerous enemies (Morrowind had teleport items. Dragon's Dogman let's you run from everything). Let people get to important areas, but balance risk with reward.

One of the most dependable shmup series there is. There is a reason that Gradius games are always among the small handful of horizontal shooters on  shmups.system11.org's yearly best of lists. I personally think Gradius Gaiden is the high point, but it's a uniformily excellent series.