Polish Hill

Nice price drop on the Xbox One for about a month. http://www.polygon.com/2014/10/27/7077223/xbox-one-sale

It also probably would be extra tough for the first few seasons since I think both Sean and Danielle said they only saw episodes from season 3 on.

I enjoyed Danielle's two joking attempts at getting Sean to agree to make an X-Files rewatch podcast to rival the Twin Peaks one. They simply fell on deaf ears though, is it possible Sean is the Slasher?

Its an interesting argument but the cars and comics hold or increase in value due to their rarity while the digital ships presumably can't be sold for real world profit. I also would think most people purchasing the ships are looking for in game advantages rather than enjoying having a full space garage. Anyone play any Starpoint Gemini 2? I'd never heard of the first game but this one has been relatively enjoyable for the half dozen hours or so I've put into it.

I got this for the PC and have been enjoying it so far. I spend most of my time in the Be A Pro mode but really need to get to work on my AFC Wimbledon managerial career soon.

Also, the Room Two is currently on sale for .99, I picked it up.

Grabbed 80 days and beat it on my first run in 77 days. A camel ride, trip on a walking city, and an overly optimistic captain pushing his vessel to the point of breaking on the way to New Orleans almost did me in. I wish I would have tried that experimental ship to Hong Kong and kept my cash a little better after a few incidents in America. But overall this game was incredible and I could see myself jumping in a few more times at a minimum. I hope my wife enjoys it as much as I did. I think I only lost one day to the running clock in the Market/Planning portion. By and large my strategy was to grab full outfits as soon as I could and I never had any issue with Fogg falling below 50. I really want to read some of the more in depth talk on the game previously in this thread but don't want to spoil it or find out the path to easy victory. Lastly, I noticed the main menu mentions a seed at the bottom. Anyone know what that changes fundamentally? Do you always start in London and with the same master/companion? Thanks a lot for the recommendation everyone.

I played so much CS from 00-05 that I have burned out on the game and haven't even tried CS:GO. It was really great to hear the Thumbs had a fun time and Sean speak so fondly of it. I wonder if they saw any good sprays.

One of the few positives about the craze is that so many of them use the exact same format for screenshots that you know instantly what type of game it is and quickly checking out what the in-app purchases will likely show you if its just another multiple currency free to play fest. I'm sure there are some great examples of free to play games on ios that don't abuse the energy/currency systems but they are really tough to find. Currently have a wishlist of 1st&Goal, 80 Days, The Room Two, Motorsport Manager, Knights of Pen & Paper RPG, and Leo's Fortune. All of these but the Room are $5. I plan on grabbing two or waiting a bit in the off chance of a sale. Anyone play any of these and have an opinion? This thread has confirmed 80 Days will be one of them.

Quit playing about a month ago but should probably just delete local content at this point for L.A. Noire. I really enjoyed it early on but after figuring out how some of the systems work and seeing some of the seams I haven't gone back. Early on into the homicide desk and unless someone says its worth continuing on I don't see myself tuning back in unless I have a hankering to drive old sweet cars.

I am surprised more cities with reasonable cost of living and great universities don't become bigger hotbeds for development. Undoubtedly a lot of young developers are moving to places like San Francisco or Austin to work for existing companies or seek out development communities. My view is probably skewed though since I've always wished Pittsburgh could have another small studio or two sustained by CMU grads in addition to the existing Schell Games. Ultimately though a lot of students aren't local and are going to wind up in a city far from their alma mater. Any idea if this Spacebase situation will spark a wave of conversation beyond this forum though? I haven't seen much about it elsewhere but would be interested on seeing how Early Access games are regarded this early into their Steam implementation.

Read this after finishing the podcast and briefly wondered why it wasn't spelled Toxikk Crusader. Now I need to erase my brain.

One read I actually enjoyed was for Hulu Plus. I've used the service in the past and wasn't particularly pleased with it so when it come up on some podcasts I was interested in how the ad would go. Lo and behold the Criterion Collection was emphasized and that is something I totally missed during my time with it. So yea, if at all possible those ad reads where you all have opinions that can be shared seem to be the best. None of the Thumbs have dogs do they? How can they tap into some of that hot Bark Box money? With some minor tweaking I'm sure we could get Jake's pig noise to double as a Beagle noise.

I'm a few pages late it seems but the idea that Valve shouldn't make changes to Dota 2 are misguided. There haven't been enormous changes in the Big 4 American sports lately but basketball was around for a long time before the 3-point line was implemented and American football didn't make the forward pass legal until the early 1900's. Who knows how long Lords Management games will be around but even if their lifetime is considerably shorter than a traditional sport LoMas should and need to tweak to improve the product. As time goes on leagues constantly make minor changes and Valve should do the same. Hopefully this doesn't derail any Walking Dead talk.

Just listened to the podcast again and I enjoy the sincerity that Chris responds with when Jake calls out his buying used games from old gaming magazines. Jake then proceeds to say "I wish that guy still existed" or something along those lines. Is he referring to the used game reseller or the industry folks who used to decry used games killing the industry a few years back? Can't tell if Steam has killed off that argument or if it has just been shouted down.

Thinking about some of this episode has thrown my adolescent video game image of myself into doubt. I had a regular Nintendo but only a few games (Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt) and I believe the NES Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game may have actually delayed my interest in games. I never had an SNES and was only vaguely aware of its existence until getting back into Nintendo Power and the N64. What a weird time the 90's were, much like the Thumbs always say, if my 8 year old self were to interact with something like Steam I would probably have melted into an Alex Mack goo.

Telemarketers have called and incorrectly said Danielle's last name as Reindeer. Danielle Reindeer is my new favorite wrestler/thumb/stuntwoman.

I'd like to piggyback onto this and ask whether Godfather 3 is worth seeing just for the sake of it. I watched the first two since I eventually hit critical mass on people mentioning it or being surprised I hadn't seen it but skipped the third since it seems basically reviled.

Glad to see the game isn't required to watch these casts and might try and watch some of the beginner streams. Any recommendations on what matches a beginner should watch? Just the last rounds or any specific teams? (Really only know of EG, Na'vi, and maybe one or two others from the Dota documentary).

Obviously it has nothing to do with Giant Bomb adding cast members but I like to think Idle Thumbs officially announced Danielle as a full time cast member to keep up the arms race with GB. Also, really excited since not only is it great to have her opinions and another perspective (lady/journalist/lady journalist) but a completely different voice is pleasant.

I feel bad for not already owning The Witcher 2 but I don't have the time for most of those long games anymore. Still have to have it though and have some Steam Wallet cash. I feel bad for any new releases next week though. GRID Autosport is something I was considering picking up depending on the reaction and reviews. Seems like that's the sort of thing that gets buried since it doesn't have a massive discount next to it.

Really have been enjoying the World Cup and nearly all the games I've seen. Made it out to Columbus for a qualifier against Mexico and it was an incredible time, can't begin to imagine the atmosphere down there. And even though I enjoy watching the Dutch, Australia really deserved at least a draw from that game. Interestingly enough after some of our cricket discussion, Don Bradman’s Cricket 14 is apparently a thing. Don't know how good it is but it isn't a tire fire so that's something.

What I don't understand about Sony and MS choosing to run their own live conferences is it doesn't seem to garner any additional coverage. There's the chance a flub becomes some dumb internet meme and the amount of money that goes into those sets has to be enormous. Maybe there are too many people saying that's the way it is at each company but it certainly comes off as odd. Or it is just a big game of chicken and neither MS or Sony wants to stop first and be made to look weak if the other continues with the spectacle. Anyone else check out Giant Bomb's coverage of Destiny? I don't know if other outlets have something similar but while the game looks great it is a little odd to see just how many similarities it shares with Halo. To be expected when you created one of the biggest franchises in sci-fi but between the "not Guilty Spark" companion and Ghost-like speeder I'm curious how many of these examples will be in the final game. Certainly not a knock but I was hoping they would distance themselves a bit more from their previous work.

How do these games compare to Freelancer? I was always more of a Mechwarrior guy and never got into a proper joystick space sim but this new trend is exciting. Secretly I just want to fly to various planets and shoot a little bit with the keyboard and mouse. (Dr Wookie's post about controls was actually a pleasant surprise)

Is that game Mario Maker? Is that a real thing?