theGreatjon

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About theGreatjon

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  1. Haha yeah. The terrible idea is naming studios "[insertcompanyname] Montreal". SO ORIGINAL. And when you think about it, it's weird having a studio named after a company that doesn't exist anymore (Eidos).
  2. Actually Hitman GO was developped by Square Enix Montreal, which is a different studio than Eidos Montreal.
  3. Books, books, books...

    I just read Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by the same author, since I seemed to recall having heard about it on one of the casts. It matches your expression exactly: "storytelling gimmicks and kitsch". I don't like to post pure non constructive hate. But that's basically what I felt throughout the book (that and utter boredom). Never I have seen an author indulge that much in his own visual cheesiness. You spend the whole book expecting Whoopi Goldberg to jump in. UGH. Had to vent, sorry.
  4. I must admit, this "poetic novel" expression I see here and there when referring to this novel, and the cover, kind of scare me.
  5. I was listening to the cast and realized I might've missed something. You mention Kavalier and Klay's research being peppered throughout Telegraph Avenue. It didn't strike me, do you have an example?
  6. Finished it yesterday. Haven't listened to the podcast yet. This is the first Chabon book that manages to bore me. I tore through The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, The Yiddish Policemen's Union, even Manhood for Amateurs. But this time I kept wondering if this was just a sitcom-like story with rather unambitious plots. Turns out that it was. Plus the writing is so pretentious I made me cringe: I am traumatized by the whole chapter that contains only commas, as if to imitate the impression a long take would make in a movie. I found that so gimmicky, so artificial... Now there are a lot of good things in the book, some scenes (Gwen and Aviva's hearing), some witty lines, the atmosphere. I'm currently going through a jazz phase so I enjoyed the musical references and the vinyl store atmosphere. But I found the tarantino and shaolin references a bit too heavy handed. I felt like CHabon was trying to force the atmospheres down my throat. I think it boils down to this: Given its narrative content, the book should have been shorter. Chabon spends too many words indulging in his own "trip".
  7. The Ethics of "Freemium" / Free-to-Play Design

    I really have a problem with assimilating free to plays with farmville. Tribes Ascend is a free to play. It's currently one of the best multiplayers FPS out there. It no doubt is a compelling experience. Mechwarrior online is a free to play, and it's not a subpar game. Free to play is a business model, not a genre. And we are seeing more and more quality "free to plays".
  8. Photos of things

    Animals
  9. Charlie Hebdo Mohammed Cartoon

    Bumping this up: Charlie Hebdo is certainly not innocent. It is making a point. This point is that freedom of speech cannot be compromised with.
  10. The Ethics of "Freemium" / Free-to-Play Design

    I think the gambling and crack analogies are way over the top. And yes the pay to win expression is over used. One of the most successful games in this "genre", League of Legends, sells mostly cosmetics. It also sells additional characters, which some argue is pay-to-win, but since these characters are not necessarly more powerful than the free characters, it's rather about diversification and personnalization. Anyway, I don't share the "burn the witch" mentality I often see in the industry. I think it's just a new way of monetizing games (and we live in times where new business models, in many fields, are legion).
  11. New people: Read this, say hi.

    Former Parisian actually! Phew. That was close!
  12. Movie/TV recommendations

    Everything I see about that movie looks bad, but I'll still watch out of curiosity. Seeing a book transposed to TV or movie is one of the most fascinating things, even when it ends up being a failure.
  13. Borderlands 2

    . True, the save system is awful. Doesn't even use the checkpoints you encounter. Just reboots you to the geographical start of the mission while keeping the chronological status. Weird.
  14. New people: Read this, say hi.

    Hi. I've been lurking around for a while. The book club finally convinced me to register. I work in a large video game studio and I have two difficult confessions to make: I'm in marketing. I'm French. There. I feel better already.