Kraznor

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About Kraznor

  • Rank
    Member
  • Birthday 07/29/1987

Profile Information

  • Gender
    Male
  • Location
    Calgary, Alberta
  • Interests
    Games, Films, Music, people, television, cats, orangutans, ponies, pizzas, podcasting. I'm a fan of Clint Hocking's musings on game design.

Contact Methods

  • Skype
    KraznorG
  1. PAX Prime 2013

    I will also make an attempt to be there. And I trust some Thumbs fans will be at the Double Fine party on Sunday?
  2. Plug your shit

    I podcast a lot alongside friends of mine, perhaps most of interest to Thumbs fans would be conversations with Jim Crawford of Frog Fractions fame and Richard Hofmeier, the extremely humble gentleman behind Cart Life. I'm also part of a more conventional podcast where we discuss games we've been playing and recent industry news called Top Down Perspective. That's been going on for over two years now so I like to think we've gotten okay at doing that. I understand listening to a new podcast is a pretty big time investment, but any feedback would be appreciated.
  3. eReaders - What is everyone's thoughts?

    I honestly haven't used one. I feel like a Luddite on that front, but something about the tactile feel of a book is a small (but key, at least I think it is) part of the experience for me. Part of it is also wanting to have a library on display (which seems old-fashioned, and going through a move right now showcases the folly of such a notion) and the freedom to underline things should I choose to, or write in the margins (I don't usually do this, but it has happened). I understand you can highlight passages and take notes of sorts on many e-readers, but...I don't know. I think a part of it is leaving some sort of physical evidence that I engaged with a thing. If someone decades from now should find my book collection, my having creased those spines and turned those pages will be apparent. Some sort of connection with past readers, part of why I buy used books, they have history to them. I guess I'm nostalgic about books. My girlfriend has an e-reader, perhaps I should evaluate it firsthand and revise my thoughts.
  4. 1 books at a time or multiple

    There is typically one I focus on, but at present I'm going through A Brief History of Time and I just started Evidence of Things Unseen. Oddly finding some harmony there, but that wasn't my intention. I have been intermittently engaging with Hawking's book when I feel I'm up for some dense (for me, a layman in all science-related fields) mind expansion instead of a narrative. I don't think I'd read two or more novels concurrently, seems akin to having multiple TVs in the room with different shows on. Couldn't digest anything properly that way.
  5. Do you stop to think?

    I definitely find myself doing this, often for fear I've missed something. I'll even re-read a page on occasion to ensure I didn't wander off mentally and am supposed to be lost as opposed to simply tired. I do a lot of my reading in bed, occasionally when very tired, which is probably a factor. I've never felt like I'm an especially quick reader, I tend to be pondering what I'm reading as I'm ingesting it, if I'm well-rested at the time, that is.
  6. The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway

    I've finished it. Do we need to hide spoilers here? Thought Idle Book Club discussions were pretty open about that, though I've only recently started listening and reading.
  7. I've read the two you've mentioned and I'm sufficiently intrigued to read some earlier McCarthy. Alex Navarro (of Giant Bomb) has talked about "Blood Meridian" in relation to the film "The Proposition", so I've been curious about it for that reason. So, I second this gent's vote. I'm also interested in checking out some sci-fi, particularly Isaac Asimov's "Foundation" series and maybe some Arthur C. Clarke, so if the Thumbs are curious about those guys too, we could go on that journey together.
  8. The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway

    About two-thirds through it at present, haven't read it since my first year of college seven years ago. Thoughts thus far: I forgot the first hundred pages of this book existed. Jake's "matter-of-fact" descriptions of Paris make it sound anything but romantic, but I'm getting the vibe that is very purposeful. The place you live gets boring, or at least normal, after awhile so Jake doesn't describe it with any enthusiasm because he has none. This makes the descriptions of aspects of the Spain vacation more vibrant because it isn't what he sees everyday. Harris is great, I'd want to go fishing with that guy. He is only briefly in there but he made a strong impression really quickly. Casual racism is one of the few things reminding me when this takes place.
  9. Hotline Miami

    I've found this game disturbingly compelling, played through it twice so far, as well as replaying levels for puzzle pieces and points. As a fan of cinema, it kind of reminds me of every extremely violent movie scene I've ever seen. Nic Cage smashing that assassin's head in Wild at Heart, the fire extinguisher scene from Irreversible, the hallway battle in Kick Ass, the police station battle from The Terminator and yes, the head stomping scene in Drive. That last comparison really seems to be what the devs were going for, same 80s hyper-cool soundtrack and look. Ah, also a certain Patrick Bateman vibe to everything, you are an insane serial killer and you aren't really sure why you are doing what you're doing other than its deviously satisfying. If anyone remembers it, there was a flash game some years ago called Madness Interactive that this is really reminding me of. Had some similar mechanics as well, most specifically throwing weapons to stun enemies, as well as the whole ultra-violent thing. This has much more going on stylistically, and that soundtrack is worth special mention as well. It IS kind of disgusting in terms of how gratuitous it is with its violence, but I kind of admire its honesty, if that makes sense. Rock Paper Shotgun described it as a murder simulator that doesn't pretend it isn't trying to be, which sums up what works about it quite well. So yeah, really like it. If anything, wish it had a map editor, and maybe some difficulty options (one life per level maybe?). Oh, one question. How does the Flexibility score work? Is it just bugged or just really demanding?
  10. Plug your shit

    I write about games and other media here, we're actually looking to focus more on independent games in the relatively near future, so stay tuned for that. I'm also really enjoy podcasting. There is a Pixel Response podcast as well as "Top Down Perspective" which is exclusively about game-related stuff. Mostly what we're playing, but we take a look at news stories and answer the questions we get, etc. You know, podcast business.
  11. Looking to move out west

    Calgary, Alberta (that's in Canada!) welcomes you. Not all the way west, but we have mountains and prairies and stuff, in addition to a bustling metropolis rated 5th best in the world! Vancouver and Toronto, also top five. Note, no US cities in the top 10. Jus' sayin'! North is where its at. Oh, and I personally welcome you, but some of our immigration folks are jerks, so if you don't get in, sorry, not ma' fault.
  12. Recently completed video games

    I bought and beat Spec Ops: The Line this week. Have mixed but generally kind of negative thoughts about it. I admire it for trying to take the subject matter of war a little more seriously than some other contemporary games, and the overt Apocalypse Now references were sort of interesting, just as that's not a subject I've seen in a game before. Still, I feel the amount of positive talk it received in regards to its really simplistic moral dilemma kind of telling about the state of industry. Its a SUPER easy observation to make (war is bad...yeah, gotcha) and while it tries to make the player complicit in the horrible actions the characters commit, I still felt pretty distanced from it due to me controlling a voiced character from a third-person game. It wasn't ME who committed that war crime, it was some idiots who volunteered to be there that I got stuck with. Not only that, it purports to have a bit of an anti-war agenda in its story while still encouraging you via experience meters and trophies to keep shooting people in the face. Just felt at odds with itself and a bit hypocritical in that regard.
  13. Far Cry 2

    Was just playing this again today, though I put it on the highest difficulty and quickly regretted that decision. Remarkable game, was weird hearing Chris Remo echo many of the same thoughts I had about the game when I was going through old episodes of the podcast. Specifically, he mentioned "No Country for Old Men" in relation to the tracking device and also stopped to admire the amazing sunsets one morning in the game. Really extraordinary game, really sad they seem to have deviated so far from this game's example for Far Cry 3. Less is more seems to apply to cutscenes in a lot of cases (despite my admiration of some Metal Gear games, which I'd almost classify as some weird film/game hybrid rather than a "true" Video game). That previous thought is underbaked, please don't judge it too harshly if you're a passionate MGS fan.
  14. The Walking Dead

    Weird, which platform did you play on? Mine displayed everything as normal (PC through Steam). As for seeing that stuff again...dunno, is the last checkpoint still selectable? If not, don't think so.
  15. New people: Read this, say hi.

    Hey guys, name's Nathan. I heard about Idle Thumbs via Chris Remo himself at the PAX 2012 afterparty. After that and other life-changing experiences that night (Tim Schafer stepped on my shoes! On purpose! And Ron Gilbert was there and said my shoes were cool! And Brad Muir talked about Monovisions! And there was dub step!) I decided to check out the podcast and was delighted. The manner of serious discussion about games and the people that make them has been really inspiring and validating, so I'm trying to catch up on old ones while listening to new ones. I'm a member of the "enthusiast press" as they say, blogging and podcasting at Pixel Response, in addition to a podcast I've been a part of for a couple years called "Top Down Perspective". Have found Giant Bomb pretty inspiring in the past, but they are starting to bore me in light of the discourse happening elsewhere about where games can and perhaps should go. I'm beginning to tire of a lot of the tropes and subject matter that keeps getting all the attention, so Idle Thumbs has been a friendly reminder of the other, more interesting and challenging, stuff going on. Anyway, that should suffice as an intro and explanation as to why I'm here. Oh, JUST about finished university (English Major, Film Minor) and hoping to get into game development in some serious capacity relatively soon. As of now, writing out ideas and starting to network.