Bolegium

Haven't seen Gone Girl yet but I reckon that's a fair reading. FILM CRIT HULK argues on Twitter that it's a deliberate satire of that kind of interpretation though, I can't wait to read a full article on the matter if he ever gets around to doing it.

That double quote. I'm so slow. Nicely done.

Oh wow, just realised I haven't had nian gao in what feels like years. Giong to see if I can convince my mum next time I visit her to make some. She makes a thick soupy version of it with Sichuan spices that's great. Oh man I'm so hungry now.

Interesting articles from different contexts. Thanks! Just saw this on Eurogamer, they've had consistently pretty good coverage for a mainstream site. Nice to see unambiguous condemnation. Comments section there is still crap, but getting better I suppose. Feels like the tide is turning.

Blambo said what I was trying to say much more succinctly. I think Hotline Miami is fundementaly different from this peice of shit game. It feels weird for me to be be in the position of defending the nuances of this, as I didn't really like Hotline Miami, and have never played a GTA game (or Postal, etc.) I guess my main issue with equating these kind of games too closely is that it mostly seems to be from a position of "this isn't any worse than popular game X, who cares", rather than "popular game X is disturbingly similar to this, maybe I should re-evaluate why I like it so much". Thankfuly the Idle Thumbs community seems to be more of the latter. Also the developers themselves confirm how genuine this shit is, in their own words it's a reaction to how "polite, colourful, pc, arty" games are so "trendy" now, and that they want to make "pure gaming pleasure". Just to be different. I'm sure they also hate how trendy it is to not eat your own shit, and will prove just how different they are by having poop breakfast lunch and tea everyday. I don't know how they're going to source enough fiber for all those movements, but they're "an experienced team and know how to handle the challenge".

I was just about to say that the bio section for the team on their homepage makes them sound like dicks, or at least ridiculously juvenile. I was too lazy to connect the iconography to facist ideologies, but now that it's been brought up I can't say i'm suprised. To people who argue that "Hatred" isn't fundementaly different from other shooters/violent games, I'd argue that you are conflating tone, theme, and mechanics. Shooter games mechanics at their core are tests of pattern recognition, reflexes, and spatial awareness. While the tone and themes of games like Call of Duty, Portal, and The Unfinished Swan are all widly different, they all share the same core mechanics. Violence isn't an intrinsic part of shooter "mechanics", even if it is overwhelmingly popular. A game can have violence, but not have that violence be the dominant tone for that game. A lot of Costume Quest has you fighting goblins, and Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes is almost entirely battles. Depection matters, I'd be suprised if anyone considers these games to be "tonaly" violent. Even when a game is clearly violent, violence itself may not be the central theme of the game. Hotline Miami was mentioned before, and Campster makes a interesting argument that the theme of the game is that narrative doesn't matter and that the " " experience is the only thing players care about. Spec Ops: The Line is about a lot of things thematicaly, one of them being violence is not an effective solution to anything.Hatred fits into that indulgent trifecta where violence is the only discernable aspect of the game. I don't have a problem with it existing*, other than a general dislike for games like that, and a bit of suspicion for people who uncriticaly enjoy playing such games. What I find to be really disturbing and worthy of condemnation is the justification put forth by the developers for creating this game. The lack of self-awareness, general ignorance, persecution-complex, and hostility is disgusting. I think public criticism is needed for this to not become normalised (or more be normalised than it already is), which is why I'm not just ignoring it as another "game" i'm not interested in. I also just want to say that I don't think it's hypocritical for people to take issue with this game but not others (e.g. GTA series) for reasons i've mentioned above. Many people do have issues with GTA, but if they feel more strongly about "Hatred" i'd say it's because of the nuances they see between the two (hopefully). *Now that i'm aware that it's probably neo-nazi propaganda - lots of problems with it existing.

*continued:

New earphones and a beautiful, sunny day in Sydney today. Listened to some Within and Without album by Washed Out, Trans Canada Highway EP by Boards of Canada, some Heaven's Door Soundtrack by Plaid, and some Jesu: Pale Sketches Demixed by Pale Sketcher. Highlights:

Hope that person never reads A Modest Proposal. Or rather, I hope they do, and then realise how ridiculous they are.

I liked Coraline a lot. I might be misremembering but I think it had the best/most interesting use of 3d in any movie I've seen (restrained 3d in mundane reality, pronounced 3d in button eye world - plus the physicality of claymation). Was hoping that boxtrolls would be great, the reviews have put me off seing it sadly.

Nice to see he is still making music. Did anyone see any of the films he made? Rubber was ridiculous and funny.

Thanks for reading my mail! Sorry for the abstruse language (here i go again), i really love using hyper-specific names for psychological phenomena. Though I have yet to watch the rest of TP, i'm inclined to agree with Sarah that the show is more about the darkness that has always underlined mundanity, rather than it being the corruption of modernity. I suppose from the characters' POV they may believe that; the encroachment of modernity being the catalyst that causes them to confront the darkness. This reminds me that i've been describing Twin Peaks as being similar to True Detective, to friends who have seen the latter but not the former. Highly recommended. Also I should have acknowledged the humour in the show, but I don't know if i'd say it is unique to TP. Lynch uses humour and tonal jumps very effectively in his other works that's another reason why his horror works so well, your expectations and sense of genre security are always being manipulated.

I've only ever watched Lynch while sober, and his stuff is still terrifying. I watched the first half-hour of The Straight Story, which is ostensibly his most straight forward film, but I couldn't shake the feeling of paranoia that there was some undercurrent of his typical horror throughout. I've still got to finish watching that movie. I'm a film student and occasionaly clips from Lynch's movies will be shown in sound design/editing class. One of my classmates had never heard of David Lynch and soon discovered that he can't handle watching any of his films, he will actualy leave the room whenever Lynch is screened for analysis/discussion. His film experience is quite immature and naive, and he describes himself as wanting to exclusively consume/produce "high-school dramas". He gets a bit of raillery (good-natured teasing) for being so easily scared by Lynch, but I find his response to be far more sincere and interesting than the jaded boasts from people who make fun of him. Anyway I just wanted to say I empathise with Xeneth for avoiding Twin Peaks if you genuinely believe it might be too much to handle. I've only watched the pilot thus far (this podcast being the impetus I needed to finaly start watching TP) and there is one scene that scared the crap out of me forever. I'm fascinated by that. Hopefuly you'll find some value and safety in joining the Thumbs casters and listeners on this ride!

Thanks for reminding me to install Dominique Pamplemousse (another victim of Steam sales backlog). I loved the Riot Grrrl tracks in Gone Home, they were such a big tonal shift from the melancholic ambient music that plays as you explore. It is quite a comforting reprive from the spookiness and sadness of the house when you come across a tape and start head banging with the mouse. Also in The Last of Us: Left Behind, there is a scene that uses the Etta James track "I Got You Babe" with great effect. It's another example of what a well placed tonal shift, or a juxtaposition between audio and visual (in the following scene), can achieve.

The combination of Lynch, first person exploration, and art exhibition sounds interesting. The maximalist visual/audio design is bothering me though, as it did in Infinite, even though it's undeniably lovely. I'm feeling quite conflicted as well. I was ready to back this immediately, but then that eagerness dissipated quickly. I'm struggling to separate the bad bits of Infinite from affecting my perception of The Black Glove.

Godflesh released their first album in 13 years a few days ago: https://godflesh1.bandcamp.com/album/a-world-lit-only-by-fire I've been listening to Ametsub a lot, sounds like Boards of Canada happy/melancholy mixed with the foley sampling and glitchyness of Amon Tobin. Most of his videos seem to be footage he shot during a trip to Iceland. Also recently discovered Author & Punisher, who custom builds all his instruments. (LOUDNESS WARNING)

Hi all, i've been listening for a while, still attempting to find the time to work my way through the huge backlog of episodes and the other podcast series hosted here. I decided to create an account to contribute my meagre knowledge about "spandrels" in response to Chris in Episode 178. Turns out I was too late. Any hesitations I had about joining a forum (particularly one focused on "gaming") were mollified by the discussion thread for episode 173. So thanks for being such a cool community.

Making my first post, hi everyone! I've had a copy of Twin Peaks for years but have been too lazy (and too obsessed with achieveing a "perfect" frame of mind first) to ever actually watch it. I'm now going to watch TP for the first time, and try not to binge watch the rest if I can help it. Speaking of Twin Peaks, the just released Kickstarter video for The Black Glove is very reminiscent https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/theblackglove/the-black-glove