Zeusthecat

Whole lotta love going around here all of a sudden. This last podcast spawned some complicated emotions. It is quite amazing that this kind of community exists on the internet, especially considering it is a video game related community. I second what clyde said and I honestly feel like everyone here is always coming from a good place even when there are disagreements.

Here is part 2 of my progress made over the weekend. Now that I had my sweet new hot air balloon I was free to roam the deserts. It took a bit to get used to the controls but once I had a handle on it I headed south towards a nomad camp. I fucked up the landing a few times but eventually landed close enough to the camp to be able to walk up to a nomad dude standing outside of a tent. After speaking with him about the location on my map I got back in my balloon and headed in the direction he specified. As I made it further south I saw another nomad camp and veered off of my planned course to get some more knowledge dropped on me. After getting directions from the second nomad (on a side note, these nomads were surprisingly civilized and friendly), a nice big red X appeared off to the northeast showing me the exact location of the dig site on my map. So I made my way towards the dig site and as I drew near the dumbest Nazi I've ever seen shot me down and got crushed by my hot air balloon in the process. In the end it all made sense though because it turns out that he was the only Nazi left at the dig site and was stuck with a broken down truck and no puzzle solving skills. Death was his only escape but his rifle was too long for him to point it at himself and pull the trigger. The thought of dying of thirst terrified him and in a last act of desperation he shot down my approaching balloon and stood in it's path so he could finally end his misery. After my forced crash landing I finally headed into the dig site. Sophia saw something of interest on a nearby table but before she had a chance to inspect it the ground caved beneath her and she fell down into a hole. With Sophia trapped, I was forced to head into a darkened mine at the heart of the dig site to see if there was any way to reach her. It was pitch black in there so I had to just slowly move my mouse around until I discovered all of the items in the room. After searching for a little while I ended up finding a curved stick thing, a wooden peg, a jar, and a hose. I also discovered that there was a generator nearby that was out of gas. It seemed immediately obvious that I would need to siphon gas from the broken down truck using the hose and jar so I headed back outside to give it a shot. I was pleased to see that my plan worked and headed back inside to light the place up. With the generator refilled and the lights on I was finally able to explore the rest of the mine. There wasn't much else of interest besides a weird mural that was obscured by some rocks. I pushed and pulled the rocks but they wouldn't budge. There wasn't much else to try so I decided to attempt to pry the rocks loose with that curved stick I had picked up and the rocks finally fell away to reveal the rest of the mural. It looked like there was a perfect spot on the mural to fit the sunstone but Indy indicated that there was nothing to hold it in place. So I inserted the peg I had picked up and was then able to slide the sunstone into place. When I tried to use it I saw that there were various symbols around the edge of the sunstone and that I could rotate it around. I remembered reading something about that in the Lost Dialog so I pulled it out and re-read the passage that explained how to use the sunstone. After aligning it properly and pushing the peg a door opened and Sophia walked out bearing gifts. She had apparently found a distributor cap (I think that's what it was?) and an amber fish on a string (i.e. an oricalchum detector). Luckily, after uncovering the mural, Indy was also clued in to the location of the moonstone. It turns out we needed to head to Crete. Now that the next destination was known, we had to find a way to get back through the desert so we could continue on. I had looked at the broken down vehicle earlier and noted that it needed a distributor cap and a new spark plug so I just needed to find the spark plug and I would be good to go. Luckily, there was that generator and the fact that it was working meant that there must be a functional spark plug I could salvage from it. Sure enough, after turning the generator off I was able to pull out the spark plug and repair the vehicle. From there I was off to Crete. This post got too fucking long again so I'll finish with my progress tomorrow. I will say that I had a lot of fun with the whole hot air balloon and dig site segments. The puzzles were fairly straightforward but it was still very satisfying each time I found out that my thought process was correct.

I wouldn't say the potential is all gone. As far as I am aware developers can still count on every Xboner also owning Kinect since Kinect is still included with every Xbone. I don't see any harm in letting people unplug their Kinect. In my mind it is similar to how people don't have to always have a Wii remote on for games that have controller support. Either way I am very skeptical of motion controls. Despite the fact that developers could count on every Wii owner having a Wii remote we still saw mostly waggle shit with a few titles here and there that used it in interesting ways. Maybe Kinect will be different by it's very nature but I think it will always be somewhat niche because using a controller as an input device will likely continue to be much more responsive for most types of games. I'll give a little on your Steam-like marketplace argument. I can see how always-on would have laid the foundation for a digital distribution platform like we see with Steam and that actually could have been cool. I would like to think that you could still offer that kind of service on a platform that could stay disconnected from the internet but I honestly don't know much about the logistics of that sort of thing so maybe I'm being naive. The main problem I have with the always-on requirement aside from the DRM thing is that broadband penetration is still pretty shitty in a lot of areas. I think it will be much less of an issue when the successor to xbone comes out but as it stands now I think they would have unnecessarily alienated a lot of people with those requirements.

That's fair. From my point of view though, even before their reversals they weren't doing anything that different from what PS4 was doing. It seemed like they were both checking most of the same boxes but Microsoft differentiated itself by making a number of things mandatory and putting more restrictions in place. If they had gone forward with those plans I still don't see how any of that stuff would have made the system better than it is now. The only somewhat reasonable argument for the mandatory internet requirement was the whole cloud computing thing which I found questionable. As far as the rest of the reversals go, I can't really think of any good argument for how it would have been better before (from my personal point of view of course). If Kinect is still included with the system then I think having the ability to leave it unplugged is better than forcing you to always have it plugged in and connected. Coming with a headset is better than not coming with one. Being able to share physical games with friends and buy used games is better than having to go through a bunch of DRM bullshit. It's cool that they tried to do something different but different isn't always better and I think that is the case here. I would rather see a company re-evaluate what they are doing and change course to provide more flexibility to their user-base than stick to their guns just because. In the end I think we are getting a better system than we would have.

So Microsoft has reversed course on just about everything that originally bothered me about Xbone. No online requirements No used game restrictions No mandatory Kinect Comes with a headset Rumored to use 3GB of memory for OS vs PS4's 3.5 GB There are probably more things I could list but those were my main bugaboos. So now that the playing field seems to be a little more even my decision isn't as cut and dry as it was. The PS4 still has two advantages in my mind with the lower price point and the faster RAM while the Xbone has a few more cool looking exclusives. For me the Indie stuff isn't as much of a factor since I would probably play most of those on the PC anyways. I think I'm still leaning towards the PS4 mostly because of the lower price but feature-wise I don't see anything the PS4 is doing that Xbone isn't and vice versa. Is there anything else I'm missing? Has anyone else been nudged back towards Xbone from the PS4? And I guess there's the WiiU too.

I see where you're coming from, I guess my brain just doesn't derive the same satisfaction and sense of accomplishment from reading as yours does. For instance, I read The Silmarillion a couple times in the last few years and because of my need to fully comprehend 100% of what I was reading at all times, I was constantly looking through the glossary and family trees in the appendices to make sure I always completely understood everything that had happened up to that point. I can never just read a paragraph once either. I will usually start reading it, get to the end of the paragraph, reflect on the paragraph and on whether or not I fully comprehended it, then re-read it, and re-reflect until I feel that I have it permanently burned into my memory (that goes for posts here too; I read yours about 3 times and I just used a semi-colon). To make matters worse, I will often realize in the middle of a paragraph that none of what I just read actually entered my brain because my mind drifted elsewhere and then I have to start over. This all results in me feeling somewhat frustrated after reading a book. I do tend to remember a lot of what I've read for a long time because of my obsessive nature but by the end of it I just never feel that it was worth it because I'm so exhausted.

I don't really read any books at all, fiction or non-fiction. But then again, I don't really watch any television or movies either unless I'm watching with my wife or daughter. I used to read a decent amount and watch a lot more television and movies but as I've gotten older I've developed a very strong preference for entertainment that I actively participate in above all else. Every time I do take the time to read a book or watch something I always come out of it thinking "That time would have been better spent playing a video game, solving a puzzle, or doing yardwork". The only exception to this is educational material as I do like to constantly learn new things and challenge my assumptions so I don't become a senile bastard. I feel like I have more to say about this but I'm not sure that I fully understand what it is about non-educational books, movies and television that don't provide enough fulfillment for me (except Breaking Bad). I'll shut up now.

It appears to me that what Gamestop is doing is unethical. The current market value for that game has been completely driven by Gamestop including the prices that are seen on eBay which are only as high as they are because Gamestop drove the supply to begin with. I don't think there's any way to tell whether that was their intention all along but I don't think it is fair of them to justify the $90 price by saying that is what the market value is. In my opinion that would have only been a fair claim to make if they hadn't had a complete monopoly on sales of that game from the start. Edit: Basically what Gormongous said.

My appendix is my body's semicolon.

Man, life is crazy busy right now but I did manage to make a decent amount of progress over the weekend. From where I last left off, I was stuck in Monte Carlo with no apparent way to get the disc I needed from Trottier. I had decided to head to Algiers to see if there was something I needed there and after making my way through the market I found myself in a back alley shop that was run by Omar Al-Jabbar. I immediately noticed the mask that was hanging up and when I looked at it, Indy made a comment about how much it looked like the mask on the ghost that Sophia used in her show. I picked it up and spoke with Omar who was kind enough to let me keep the mask since it was scaring away all his customers. After talking to Omar a bit more and making note of the unfinished interactions in Algiers (food vendor, knife thrower, beggar, and hot air balloon guy), I headed back to Monte Carlo to finish the Trottier segment. Sure enough, despite how skeptical and un-trusting Trottier was about everything else, he freaked out and ran out of the hotel room when he saw me in my spruced up ghost outfit, leaving the sunstone on the table. I then headed back to Algiers with the sunstone in hand. Now that I had the sunstone, I decided to go back to Omar to see if I could get some more information out of him. He was finally willing to reveal more information and he was even nice enough to give me a map and send me off with two of his camels. Unfortunately the camels died a mile out of town (which didn't seem to bother Omar all that much) and I was stuck back in the city with no apparent way to get to the dig site shown on the map. I wasn't sure what to do at this point so I talked to Omar some more and he ended up asking me if he could trade something for the mask that I took earlier. I obliged and wound up with a baseball signed by Ron Gilbert. I talked to him a few more times and saw that there were a bunch of random items that I could get in exchange for the item I currently had. Since I didn't have any money I figured it would be a good idea to try to trade the item I had for food from the food vendor. He refused the first couple items but I kept at it until he eventually dropped a hint about his favorite color being red. At that point I was able to specifically ask Omar for red items and finally made a successful trade once I had the red fez. Before giving the food I had just obtained to the beggar, I decided to talk to the knife thrower again. I tried to volunteer for his knife throwing act but he was insistent that any volunteers be female (what a sexist!!!). I tried to convince Sophia to participate but she wouldn't have it. I was able to at least get her to stand near him to observe his technique but she was still against the whole idea. When I realized I wouldn't be able to convince her to volunteer I figured there must be some way to force her or trick her into doing it. So after messing around a little bit more I wondered what would happen if I tried to push her while she was watching the guy. Sure enough, it worked and she unwittingly "volunteered" to have knives thrown at her. Luckily she survived and I got a sweet souvenir knife as a reward. I then continued on to the beggar where I was able to trade the food I had obtained for a hot air balloon ticket. That finally got me into the hot air balloon where I was able to use the souvenir knife to cut the rope that the balloon was tethered to and fly off towards my next destination. I made more progress after that but I have some work to get done right now so I'm going to cut my post short here. This game is turning out to be really fantastic and so far has perfectly nailed the Indiana Jones vibe.

I just got pwned; or maybe I didn't!

Why exactly was the semicolon invented? I try to use it from time to time but every time I do I feel like I fuck it up.

What are we arguing again? Oh yeah, Han shot first.

TychoCelchuuu, I'll simplify what I'm trying to get across. The Idle Thumbs dudes play a lot of games, some are AAA and some aren't. There are some games they love (both AAA and non-AAA) and there are some games they don't like so much (again both AAA and non-AAA). They don't love every indie game they play and they don't hate every AAA game they play (Far Cry 2 and Dishonored are great examples of this). All I am saying is that I love hearing what their opinion is even if it is a negative opinion because it is usually stated in a unique and hilarious way. I'm not saying they should try to play games they think they will hate, I am simply saying that some of my favorite moments in the podcast have been when they have offered their take on some of the big AAA games (which I tend to be more familiar with). This actually is sort of what I'm saying although a little bit twisted (i.e. I never said "I love AAA games", I just like hearing their opinion on them because those are the games I tend to be more familiar with). I think it is very entertaining to hear them talk about a game they took the time to play and didn't end up liking because they usually have very interesting reasons for not liking it. It sounds like you are saying they should only talk about games they love and that strikes me as a bad idea. If this is the approach they took, then there would be some weeks where they would have nothing to talk about if they didn't happen to enjoy any of the games they played that week.

Yeah, I think that might actually be the one we all agree on.

Quick update. I'm still working on getting what I need from Trottier in Monte Carlo and am a little stuck at the moment. He isn't falling for the ghost routine (bedsheet + flashlight) and I don't see any other way to spruce up the costume yet. I also can't seem to guess how many fingers he is holding up when I try to just talk to him with Sophia. That motherfucker. I think I'm gonna head to Algiers now to see what I can do there and see if there is an item there that I need to get through the Trottier segment.

I'm 49% sure I agree with you.

I guess the point I was trying to make in my earlier post was simply that I love to hear your take on some of the big AAA games in addition to the conversations you guys have about some of the lesser known games. I don't really care whether you like the big games or not but I do get immense enjoyment out of hearing your unique opinion on those games and they are almost always opinions that I don't really hear from any other outlets. I've recently re-listened to the whole run of Idle Thumbs podcasts and some of my favorite discussions have involved games like Far Cry 2, Fable 2, Resident Evil 5, Dishonored, Bioshock Infinite, and The Last Of Us. There is just something awesome about how you guys look at games and I really appreciate hearing why you like or dislike certain things about these types of games when the rest of the industry has a fairly homogeneous and often stale point of view. Of course, all of this shit is just my opinion. You guys have a fantastic show and it is not my place to force my opinion on you. I will continue to listen to and love this show regardless of what you guys talk about because you always have something interesting to say. Besides, I have you all to thank for discovering the LucasArts games, Hotline Miami, Cart Life, and a shitload of other stuff. So yeah, just ignore me. And what's with all this "video game hipster" nonsense?

And hate.

I couldn't find a thread for this type of thing so here it is. Here are three that I recall liking off the top of my head. I'm sure some of you have seen the Randy Pausch lecture but if not, I highly recommend it. http://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action.html

No, I mean Nick. I just listened to the last four casts back-to-back-to-back-to-back and the three prior to this one had the most Breckon I've heard in a very long time.

I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand I really enjoy hearing them talk about off-the-radar games that I would normally never hear about because it encourages me to go out of my comfort zone to try something new. On the other hand I do sometimes lose interest in the conversation when I am only hearing about games I have never previously heard of and when all of the opinions about those games are so unified. My favorite episodes have always been the ones where there is at least some conversation about a big game that I am aware of (e.g. Dishonored, Bioshock Infinite, Last of Us) followed by some conversation about less popular games. It gets me much more excited to play a "Thumbs game" when I hear them talk about what they dislike about a certain AAA game and then follow that discussion up with talk of a lesser known game that they believe gets those things right. That being said, the last several episodes have been fantastic and hearing the Crusader Kings II stuff has been absolutely fascinating. Danielle was an awesome guest and it was nice to get a different perspective on some of those games. Edit: And Nick Breckon has finally been getting some words in lately! Something about Nick's enthusiasm is very infectious.

We took our daughter to see this, and yeah, pretty much what you said. It was a pretty said ripoff of Revenge of the Nerds if you ask me and was predictable all the way through. It was okay at the surface level I guess for just an average, stereotypical college movie but it was definitely the worst Pixar movie by far. I don't understand why it was even made. I sadly still haven't seen The Incredibles. I loved/hated Up. Parts of it were beautiful and inspiring and parts of it were just plain stupid. The talking dogs that flew airplanes ultimately pissed me off and left a pretty bad taste in my mouth. This movie was going in one direction (Up) at the beginning and took a fucking nosedive at the end. I didn't really enjoy Rango all that much either. I get what it was an homage to and everything but it just didn't click for me. Maybe it was because I thought Toy Story 3 did that same story much better or maybe it was because there was a giant rattlesnake with a chaingun for a tail. Or maybe I've just seen enough of the "take a standard story and replace the humans with animals" type movies by now. I'm probably going to get massive shit for this but one beloved Pixar movie that I hated was Ratatouille. I just never understood what was supposedly so special about this movie. Between the granny blowing her house to pieces with a shotgun while going after a rat, the rat talking to a human ghost cook (or thinking he is talking to a human ghost cook), the rat being able to talk to humans, and the main guy acting like a marionette puppet when his hair was pulled I just felt like everything in the movie was surface level dumb stuff to make kids laugh. Maybe there was something deeper that I missed but it didn't seem like it was anywhere near the level of Toy Story or Wall-E. Of course, these are stupid opinions from a stupid person and I am in the minority here. So I just have to assume my tastes aren't refined enough to appreciate what is special about those movies.

Yeah Tegan, that sucks. At least you got to be Batman though. For the last few weeks I have been having pretty fucked up dreams too, probably because of my broken sleep schedule. I can't really post them here but they are the kind of dreams that cause me to wake up feeling instantly frustrated and depressed. Sometimes I hate the places my brain goes when it is completely unrestrained by conscious thought.

Awesome contest SecretAsianMan, that was fun! But you killed a day and a half of productivity. Now to find a project to bill that time to.