Jeff Green: I've played a lot of games in my life, and a lot of weird games, and a lot of weird games that have had weird beginnings. But I don't know if I've ever played a game that started with me emerging from my mother's womb.

Shawn Elliot: Prey's sphincters are as close as I've come, but sure, Fallout 3's "opening" moments are more than a perineum away. I'm sorry. I really wrote that. Seriously, though, the cunning way that Bethesda takes the thinking behind traditional tutorials and character creation interfaces and naturally integrates these game conventions into the game's narrative is impressive. You crawl around a playpen in first-person perspective; you press a button to cry and call for daddy; you learn about strength, perception, endurance, charisma, intelligence, and other RPG traits by browsing children's books -- has any game truly attempted to tell the story of a life from birth to death?