BusbyBerkeley

Eh, I don't like that piece not because I'm some scrub who can't handle real journalism, but because it's really belabored and awful. It damn near reads like a satire of capital G capital J Games Journalism (or Gonzo Games Journalism or New Games Journalism or whatever). "Video games are actually bad. I would rather talk about politics, man." Yeesh.

Hmm. I think that there is more to talk about than just "It's good/bad/overrated/underrated." You can have nuanced thoughts about the tiniest aspects of a game. No doubt games press and Johnny Gamer are always looking forward towards the next big game, but there is totally value in sharing thoughts on 'old' games. Portal came out in what, 2007? I guess that's almost a decade ago now, but still feels very recent in terms of tech. Anyway, this is pretty derail-y. I think No Man's Sky looks pretty sweet, but I too am concerned with how it will actually feel once it's out. I hope the flight mechanics are well done, playing Elite with a proper HOTAS set-up has been a huge eye opener for me.

Loved this episode! I think I saw Rob tweet that it was the most downloaded show they've done? Crazy. I've not had a lot of time for proper roguelikes lately, but I've been playing a lot of Pixel Dungeon on my phone and it's pretty fantastic for what it is. I'm also kind of surprised Desktop Dungeons wasn't brought up. To me it felt like that and Spelunky were a one-two punch that really injected roguelike mechanics and design into the minds of a lot of the general gaming populace, but that could just be my own bubble of experience. Anyway, I've had a thought in my brain for a while now that Dota is sort of a competitive team based roguelike at heart. I realize it doesn't fit entirely, but I get a lot of the same feelings when playing that I can't help but draw the comparison. Both require commitment and learning the language and rules of the game and what it expects from you as a player. You never carry over progress from game to game except for what you as a player learn. Of course, there is no randomization to speak of, although it could maybe (maaaaaybe) be argued that that comes in the form of other players choices (hero selection, item builds) to keep you on your toes. I should probably try to flesh this out some more when I'm not drunk. Great cast everyone.

Hot damn that stuff looks cool. Anyone know what the payout on missions will be? As much fun as it is to grind out RES bounties, I'd love to have varied goals each time I log in, seeing as I can only fit in a handful of hours a week. Still working towards that Asp!

I kind of get what you're saying with this, but would you mind elaborating? Like, I'm sure a lot of people here would be interested in each others thoughts on Portal. I guess you just mean average game-playing public?

Holy shit that's perfect Tegan. The two are fused in my brain now.

Caught Fury Road today! It was good, and cool! I liked how it was pretty rad women characters and felt like a feminist blockbuster that kicked all kinds of ass!

Coming back to Dota after a few months/years is almost always a weird thing because not only will you be rust on the mechanics, it's possible that huge chunks of how the game works will be different. This newest patch is totally bonkers, for instance. If you are still able to play mechanically sound (last hits, map awareness, prioritizing targets and objectives) it's only a matter of time until you learn what's different and how you can expect certain matchups to go and what the new items are good for.

I've not seen Fury Road yet (this weekend!) but I did rewatch Mad Max and The Road Warrior this past weekend and at least one, probably both of them but I'm not for certain, had that thing where some shots of cars driving by looked like they had sped up the film. It was weird, but fine.

What's that little controller hand keyboard thing? I've seen them around but like, what do you use it for? I'll post a picture of my desk after I clean my disgusting room....

Dixie Kong is actually good, and you all are bad. Hth.

Finally remembered to join the crew! In game name is Douchetoevsky, I'll probably be around if we're doing another session next Sunday. Also will be playing sporadically through the week if anyone wants to pal around or whatever.

Been playing a goofy little skateboard game called True Skate a lot lately. it's like a cross between the Skate games and one of those tech-deck finger skateboard toys. It's pretty fun!

If you play local multiplayer at all You owe it to yourself to grab a copy of Nintendo Land. It can be found on the cheap and the competitive games are hilarious and are the kind of thing you can only get on Wii U.

I'm hyped as hell for that new Mad Max. The trailers are gorgeous, and that they are paying attention to how they handle abuse is fantastic.

Oh no, axe is wonderful in lane. But in solo queue you've gotta make due with the team that you've got and that means an unconventional or sub-optimal laning stage.

Usually when people say so-and-so shouldn't jungle it means they are more effective in lane. While you can totally get more farm in lane than in a jungle, I'm nowhere near good enough for that to matter so I roll axe through the jungle pretty regularly. Dota!

I really hate seeing pros acting like babies flaming teammates and generally being abrasive jerks. Also, octarine core is so good on dark seer! It makes him tankier and let's you crap out ion shells all over everything and then they just heal you forever.

Those were just thrown out as suggestions/references as far as I know, Ben. I'd imagine that we are still open for more.

For this feminist film club thing I'm assuming we want to do movies that have identifiable feminist themes, but do we want to also highlight women directors and writers and that kind of thing, even if the text of the movie is maybe not explicitly feminist? I can pull up some more recommendations depending on how y'all wanna do this. Maybe it merits it's own thread even?

You already missed ticket sales for TI this year, sorry. I'm really underwhelmed by the compendium rewards this year and hate how they are tied to leveling it. I think I made it to level 20 last year? Just feels like they are getting more and more stingy with it each year, which sucks. Meh.

Oh yes! I've been meaning to watch A girl Walks Home Alone at Night, and its just gone up on Netflix US. Also We Are The Best! is fantastic and adorable. The Babadook is supposed to be good and spooky, and was directed by a woman. I'll also go to bat for Wetlands, but that movie will absolutely not be everyone's cup of tea and I'd hate to have a group of internet acquaintances watch it on my recommendation without knowing whether or not it would make them nauseous or offended.

Chris and everyone in here who didn't like GTA V, you are all correct. Except the game is GREAT! You just need to not play the single player at all and play it online. It still has trash misogyny and South Park style "satire" but the way they handle the multiplayer is brilliant. It's essentially a little GTA MMO that you can populate with your buddies. I haven't gotten to the heists yet but I've had loads of emergent gameplay stories just playing around in free roam and doing co-op missions with some friends. My friends and I were doing a mission that required us to steal a package of drugs from a gang, drop it off at our connect's place, then roll through the gang's territory and take out their vehicles. I drove my car next to a building near the pickup site and my friend jumped on my car and up onto the roof to take out bad guys while my other friend ran it grabbed the goods, and drove away in his own car. I was idling the whole time waiting for my rooftop friend to get back so we could drive behind the drug runner friend and provide cover fire. it all goes fine and we're at the part where we need to take out the rival gang's vehicles. Two of us are running from rooftop to rooftop shooting gas cans next to the parked cars (video games!) while the other runs in the alleys picking off gang members. all of a sudden we are just swarmed by enemies. One friend gets killed and we are out of lives so they just have to watch as we try to finish the job. Then the gang leader tries to run away and we have to catch him. The two of us left run to our cars, but my remaining friend get's picked off before he can drive out of the block, so both of them are just watching me now. I follow this guy in his car and he shakes me by taking a hard right into a canal. I double back and chase him through the dried up canal like that scene in Terminator 2. We reach a wall and i slam into his car. He shoots me and starts to run, so I get out of my car and chase him down and manage to pick him off before I'm wasted myself. It's FANTASTIC. You can make your own character even! I'm playing a rad lady! But yeah, everything in the single player is terrible. Don't play the single player, it's really awful.

It's actually probably a great starting point for a discussion of feminist film if your going in chronological order, and are super hardcore into film already. What about Hedwig and the Angry Inch? I know some people have issues with it, but it's one of my all time favorites and one of the reasons I consider myself a feminist today.

Dang, I've been meaning to watch Jeanne Dielman forever now and would love a film club to push me over that little hill.