Bjorn

Dammit, I was really hoping that this would break the late game dependence on teleporters as the most efficient weapon.

Wait, you mean we aren't supposed to eat plastic forks?

It doesn't have to be completely drained of any negativity, it just has to gain additional meaning, context or use. Cunt, twat and pussy are actually all words for a thing though, the same way that dick and cock are words for a thing. Dick and cock can be insults, but men can also speak very positively, even lovingly, about their genitalia in a way that women often can't. I agree with Dan Savage's take that objectification is only bad when it is unwanted and happening all the time. Sometimes what we want is to be temporarily objectified. Much like conversations about race with white people talking, I think it can be really hard for men to take a hard stance about what should and shouldn't happen here. We are not the ones harmed by the patriarchy, we are not the ones who grow up as the targets of this language and tone. And if there are women out there who want to try and reclaim some of these words, to change them, and in so doing change the culture, I feel an obligation to support them. Here's an article about one of the friends I mentioned. Fired from a job, had custody and visitation with her daughter almost stripped away from her, has been harassed, and called every name you can imagine (online and to her face). All because she's a slut who loves sex and won't be quiet or shamed about it. If you're curious, you can find articles written about her where the comments sections are turned on. Quite frankly these commenters make video game commenters look tame and respectful. So she's pretty much heard every hateful thing a woman can have said to her. To paraphrase something she's said, even the act of trying to reclaim these words takes the power away from them. And one of the things you have to do to make progress in some areas is to disempower the haters and their words. Look at the shift in gay marriage, the words opponents of gays have used for years simply don't have the power that they used to. Because those people don't have the power they used to. Calling a man a cocksucker used to be a really bad thing to say to him. Not so much now.

The game turned you, it made you into what it wanted, a Catwoman hating misogynist. This is the eternal struggle. Batman must resist becoming that which he fights, and so must the player.

First you believe in St. Patrick, then you find out the truth about St. Patrick, and then you become St. Patrick?

It seems like when they were given time and a halfway decent budget (Strider, Killer Instinct, SH: Homecoming), decent games got made. But when they had to make licensed, cheap rush jobs to coincide with a movie release, the game was shit. Hardly surprising.

Just a friendly reminder for all you gardeners out there.

Yep, I want this pretty badly.

THIS GAME! I had the most fun for the last hour helping people through one of the hardest parts of the game, in what amounts to a hidden co-op mode. I don't want to spoil anything about this area, but there's a very specific area where you can invade other players as a unique type of phantom. For those who want to know, it's This phantom form can both target the host and normal enemies, unlike regular invasions where the enemies pretend you aren't there and you can't hurt them. Of course the player you are invading assumes the worst and that you are there to kill them. I would find the host, Praise the hell out of the Sun (the universal gesture for "I'm here to help"), and then run off and start slaughtering their enemies for them. Most of them seemed to get what I was doing. Twice I let myself get killed, as I couldn't get the host player to back off and I didn't want to actually fight them. The first time I did it, I found the host hiding in a back corner, and he just started continually prostrating himself. I had to actually message him that I was there to help to get him to stop. He was clearly not doing well there. I got several nice messages, and almost everyone ended up prostrating themselves once the enemies were gone. And then I would disappear in a puff of smoke (Black Separation Crystal). There's absolutely no benefit to do this other than the fun of it. You don't get any of the souls the enemies drop, and you only get a reward if you kill the host. It feels like being Batman. Swoop in, save the day, and disappear into the dark. Hopefully I made the night of quite a few players. And now I need more Cracked Red Eye orbs. Time to head for NG+.

It doesn't have a co-op campaign right, or at least didn't launch with one? I remember thinking it looked like something I would enjoy, but without co-op didn't want to buy until it dropped in price some. I generally only play shooters for co-op play anymore, barring something special like Metro 2033.

Reign of Giants went into public beta on Steam today. This is apparently the week for games I love to get expansions, what with the FTL expansion coming out tomorrow.

For years now some feminists have been trying to take slut back, to empower female sexuality and normalize their desire and promiscuity in the same way that men's desire is normalized and accepted. And part of that has included trying to destigmatize words around female genitalia and sexuality. But that's kind of where I hit a mental roadblock. I see where slut is heading, and I think that's good and positive. But I don't see a road where bitch or cunt end up being positive words, or having both the positive and negative connotations that dick, prick or cock can have.

Pulling back more generally, gendered swear words or insults are actually something that I kind of struggle to wrap my head around what to do with them. Earlier in the thread (or maybe it was in the Batman thread) I mentioned how having a daughter affected my perception of those words. But I also have some incredible friends who I respect greatly who are part of the movement to try and reclaim words like bitch, slut, cunt, etc. They don't want to see these words banished, they want to make them words of pride and empowerment the way some other words have been reclaimed and repurposed. Two of these women write professionally about sex, and experience the positives and negatives of words like these weekly. So while I think something like Batman is unnecessary and could be greatly improved without its language and tone, I don't want to that come off as having a general attitude that these words should not ever be used, or that they can't serve interesting purposes both in fiction and real life.

A grenade rolls down a hill and through a portal...

But that ruins the sense that every adventure game character is an obsessive busy body kleptomaniac. Which in Manny's case feels oddly appropriate.

Seriously, not some post April Fools joke?

I desire the vinyl version, even though I lack a turntable. Can you buy a decent turntable for ~$100? It's the only component I'm really lacking on my system, and I've thought about picking one up for years.

It doesn't take that much work to come up with something more interesting, even if you're determined to have an enemy call the Catwoman a bitch. Possible scenario: Catwoman spies 4 enemies and listens in on their conversation: Criminal 1: When I get my hands on that bitch, I'm making her pay. Criminal 2: Don't use that word, I fucking hate that word. Criminal 1: What, bitch? Criminal 2: I just hate that word, don't fucking use it. Criminal 1: So you're some kinda pussy feminist. Criminal 2: You know why I was in Blackgate? Criminal 1: Why? Criminal 2: My father used to call my mother a bitch all the time. Criminal 1: So? Criminal 2: So I cut my dad's tongue out. Nobody calls my mother a bitch. Criminal 1: So what you're saying is that you're a son of a bitch. *racouse laughter from rest of criminals* Criminal 2: *shoots Criminal 1 in the face* *fight breaks out between 3 remaining criminals* Now as Catwoman, you can easily sneak past the remaining enemies as they are distracted, you can jump in and more easily kick their ass since they are down one man and distracted, or you can just watch the fun and see what happens. You've just made an interesting, memorable scene involving the word bitch that is not used as a derogatory and generic slur to hurl at female characters. You've broken the complete homogeny of the criminal enemies (which is frankly boring). Players who take the time to scout and listen to enemies will be rewarded. You've improved a scene in the game in multiple ways, and it took about 5 minutes of thought.

Highlighted part is exactly how I feel. I also want to point out one of the effects of normalization. Batman: AC was rated T, meaning it could be marketed and sold to kids as young as 13 (and realistically, probably younger). My point isn't about kids playing it though, it's about how we rate and view games. The official ESRB page for ratings says that a T rating may include "infrequent use of strong language." And the page for AC says that it includes "Mild Language". I'm guessing that if AC had multiple characters screaming FUCK dozens of times throughout the game, and included fuck as a standard AI bark that you would hear repeated multiple times, it probably wouldn't have received a T rating. This is normalization, and this is why normalization is bad. Female characters having bitch hurled at them dozens of times in a game is described as simply "mild, infrequent use of strong language appropriate for children as young as 13 to play" (to combine the ESRB's statements). Now I think the language is troublesome no matter what, even if it had an M rating. But that normalization, that acceptance that it's just okay, or not that big of a deal, to use bitch in that way, or that much, that results in things like a T rating. Which pushes the normalization of bitch even further, entrenching misogynistic language even deeper in our culture. I honestly don't remember how common they were, it's been years since I played it. But between the Hulk list earlier, and this Kotaku article, there are 14 specific lines, some of which are repeated AI barks. And I doubt those two lists are the only examples. So it seems reasonable that on an average playthrough, someone would hear a female character called a bitch at least a couple of dozen times, and possible several dozen, depending on the frequency of the barks. I know that for me, AI barks tend to be background noise when I'm actually in combat. Could be easy to simply not even notice some of them for a lot of people.

I've never bought one of the media boxes like Roku, as I've looked at them and they just didn't feel quite good enough. Either too expensive, or lacking features or services that I wanted. I'm not going to buy this today, but so far it's looking like a better fit than anything else I've seen. The specs list: Is Netflix not available at launch? That would be weird, since they are using Netflix in their advertising. I'm assuming a wired 360 controller should work fine for it, as those have worked with Android devices for years. Of course the biggest difference with Amazon is that they own their own game devs plus publisher, and they are probably a lot better situated to work professionally with both the big players and indies.

$99, I'm probably sold on that. I'll want to see its power consumption. I'm assuming it will be way the fuck less than either my PS3 or gaming PC, in which case it saves power and wear-n-tear on those when I'm just playing music or movies. They have an ad with Gary Busey. Fucking Win. Also, dinos with jetpacks:

Nice, congrats! And you already have the skill to get the Necronomicon, you'll be on your way to Hell in no time.

Congrats! Such an awesome feeling when you beat Olmec the first time.