prettyunsmart

I picked a copy of Elite up a few days ago and have been finding it to be pretty fun so far. Flying feels great, especially since I got my joystick configured, and I think I've got a decent enough handle on the basics (docking, plotting jumps, simple trading). Is it weird if I find getting started in some of the other professions a bit intimidating? Trading seems like the most accessible, but least risky. I'm naturally drawn to exploration, but I feel like the cost of getting started is way higher.

I played a bit of the latest build last night. I hit "Quick match" or whatever it is and got put into an instagib game with one other guy and a few bots. I ended up finishing the game at 95 kills to 30 or so, but he disconnected with about a minute left. Video games. Is anyone else having better luck finding matches? Maybe I just caught it at a bad time.

I have a copy, but I've only played about 3 matches total as I keep thinking "I'll just come back to it when it's actually released." Now it seems like this is one of those games that will be in perpetual beta, so maybe it's worth jumping back in. I'm prettyunsmart in the game also.

If Cabel and the other folks from Panic technically oversee the employees of Campo Santo, including Chris, does that make them a Lord's managers?

All that I've been reading about the Valve VR demo made it sound pretty great in theory, but I can't help but think about the practical limitations that would limit my ability to enjoy it. It sounds like you need a seriously beefy PC to even consider running it. Not only that, you'll need a big, open space to play in to take advantage of the device's spatial awareness. I live in a tiny apartment, and doing a major upgrade to my PC isn't really in the budget for me right now. I imagine I'm not alone in either of those circumstances, so I have to wonder how well the retail version of the Vive or whatever it's called is going to do. EDIT: All that said, I really want this stuff to work out and be accessible to as many people as possible. It's just that I can see a small headset/camera combo that costs $200-300 being an easier sell for someone like me than the craziness of Valve's prototype.

I think I'm giving up on Hitman Absolution. I made it through the first half of the game or so, and it seems to be turning into more of a pure stealth game than a puzzly sneaky thing where you try to kill people in creative ways. Every other level asks you to just make it through an area and avoid police/guards/civilians, and I can't help but notice how most of them are designed with one shooty path and one sneaky path. It's just a bit dull, to be honesty. Which is a shame, because it is the first longer game I've played in a while. Oh well. Back to Majora's Mask, I suppose.

My running playlist is a strange mix of things. Just a quick random sample: The Pixies, Passion Pit, James Brown, Wilco, Ted Leo, Chromeo, Run the Jewels, Janelle Monae, and Rilo Kiley. I think mostly beats per minute is more important than genre. I listen to a lot of mopey folk music when I'm not working out, but it would never work for running. The same goes for all of the punk music that was the soundtrack for my adolescence. Mid-tempo music regardless of genre works best. I also find that it helps to mix in a few songs that are more up tempo than the rest of your list, just as an emergency pick-me-up. If I'm nearing the end of a long run and need a boost of energy, I just skip to "Don't Stop Me Now" by Queen, and suddenly I have no problem finishing the last mile.

Real subtle, 47.

Does anyone want a copy of Deus Ex: HR Director's Cut? I got an extra in the new Humble Bundle. PM me, preferably if your account isn't brand new so I know you're not some creepy key reseller type of person. ...And it's gone.

Amazon is giving away a bunch of Android apps, including Idle Thumbs-approved cool game 80 Days.

I think RPS can do that since they pitch themselves as more of a niche outlet. Since they're only trying to cover PC games, they seem to have the freedom to write off some parts of gaming culture as not the thing that they're into as a site. Conversely, Polygon is very much trying to be your #1 source for all things gaming/geek culture more generally, so making that kind of call isn't something they can realistically do. P.S. This was my favorite podcast crossever event ever. It was like Idle Thumbs/MBMBaM: Civil War, but actually good.

I never really feel comfortable doing squats without a spotter. Is that just paranoia, or a legitimate concern? I've been doing leg presses recently, but they're just not quite the same. I miss squatting, but I also know that none of my friends want to wake up early to go to the gym with me. I did my first boxing workout today. I punched a heavy bag a bunch, and now my arms feel like they're going to fall off. After I finished the workout, I walked by a mirror and saw myself drenched in sweat, wearing hand wraps and my Campo Santo "Video Games" T-shirt. I looked ridiculous, but had a feeling that Junior Mints would be proud.

I ended up feeling how you felt about Bull's side story with pretty much everyone. Just as I thought they were going somewhere, they just hit a dead end. It just left me wishing that Bioware would make a game with smaller stakes that tried to mostly focus on character interactions rather than saving the world. I think someone on the Bombcast, years ago, posing the idea of a Star Trek: The Next Generation style Mass Effect game that's mostly about the crew of the ship solving small scale problems and getting to know each other over time. Man, I really want that kind of game.

I was going to recommend The Flop House, which is a bad movie podcast featuring a couple of Daily Show writers and one of their stand up comedian friends. Another similar one is How Did This Get Made?, another bad movie podcast. Both do indulge in "gutter humor," so maybe I should just delete this post.

So, I finished this game. I wrote some thoughts on it in the "Recently Completed Games" thread, but I thought I'd copy it here in case anyone wanted to talk about the ending or the game as a whole. I finished Dragon Age: Inquisition, and I ended up feeling pretty much like Griddlelol did. The main story was pretty dull, a lot of the quests felt uninspired, and yet I still liked it enough to finish it, so there's that. Mostly I stuck with it because of the character moments that happened around Skyhold, a few of which I'll talk about in a spoiler tag. More than anything, this game reminded me how much filler Bioware stuffs into their games inbetween the stuff I care about.

I finished Dragon Age: Inquisition, and I ended up feeling pretty much like Griddlelol did. The main story was pretty dull, a lot of the quests felt uninspired, and yet I still liked it enough to finish it, so there's that. Mostly I stuck with it because of the character moments that happened around Skyhold, a few of which I'll talk about in a spoiler tag. More than anything, this game reminded me how much filler Bioware stuffs into their games inbetween the stuff I care about.

That would make some sense. I was thinking that if he's leaving Giant Bomb, I could see him taking on the role of writing about games for a more general interest kind of site, Salon being one of those. He could be the Simon Parkin to their New Yorker.

I got home from travelling to visit family yesterday and found a package waiting for me! When I opened it up, I found a note! Also, sci-fi pulps! Thanks to my secret santa, who will remain nameless since I wasn't sure if he wanted his real name posted on the forums, and whose username I don't actually know. Super cool, cool gift!

Give in to peer pressure. The cool kids are doing it!

The card attached to mine does the same. I figured the secret part is the most relevant to the time before you get the gift.

I made a list of games that I like or that seemed interesting that were both discounted by over 70% and cost less than $5 (because I'm a bit obsessive, and also this is a convenient way to procrastinate). I figured that most of this stuff is too old/small/obscure to get a daily deal, so most of it won't get cheaper...I think. I'll put an asterisk by the stuff I've played and liked. VVVVVV* P.B Winterbottom Retro/Grade BitTrip Runner 2* Poker Night 2 Euro Truck Sim 1&2* Dinner Date Dyad Snuggle Truck Some older You Don't Know Jack games* Puzzle Bots Older X-COM games The Legacy of Kain series Strike Suit Zero Kane and Lynch 1&2 Audiosurf* Waking Mars The Maw Bionic Commando Quantum Conundrum* Awesomenauts* Thomas Was Alone* Fez* Puzzle Agent 1&2* Deadly Premonition* Terraria* Super Meat Boy* Brothers* Gemini Rue* Shadowrun Returns* Max Payne Series* Blackwell Series* Zeno Clash 2 Teleglitch* Monaco* The Novelist* Hard Reset Joe Danger* Amnesia 1&2* Dark Souls* Civ IV* Antichamber* Most older Telltale series* A Story About My Uncle*

I like "video gamey" games, but I wonder about their long-term value and usefulness. I'm all for creators working within a given medium trying to play to its strengths, but some of the most "video gamey" games can just come across as culturally insular. Other mediums have been experimenting with techniques and ideas from other mediums for as long as there have been a bunch of ways to make art. That isn't to say gamey games are bad, or that works need to reference something with more cultural capital to be worthwhile. I just think that games being influenced by Escher, or horror films, may not be the worst thing. It seems like a natural part of the process of media convergence.

The holiday sale has started, and I actually want one of the flash deals! (FSX came out today, and it's discounted to $5) Unfortunately, the store is down. Yay/boo, all at once?

We had essentially the same play-through, I think. I played it super safe in the first part of the game, and all things that could go wrong did go wrong once I left Japan (mutiny didn't work, steam ship broke down on the Mississippi, lost the fight to the boxer). Somehow, I still managed to make it back to London in 75 days. So are the big events like the mutiny something that always happens, or is there an element of randomization?