Jake

Idle Thumbs 283: Fantastical Tactical Spectacular Before Chris boards a plane to Japan we take a trip to Hitman Con 2016, where there are no talks, and no one wears a badge, but the cosplay game is off the charts. Join us for a brief look at the most recent two Hitman episodes, talk of episodes yet to come and episodes that will never be (outside of our dreams). Discussed: Hitman (2016): Bangkok, Colorado, Convention episodes, Japan Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Listen in iTunes

Idle Thumbs 282: Winnie the Putin Slap on your 3D scanned face, check your latest upgrades, don some really expensive stupid sunglasses, and hit the streets: it's time for Deus Ex: Mankind Divided. Then, slap on your 3D scanned face, check your latest upgrades, don some really expensive stupid sunglasses, and hit the streets: it's time for NBA 2K17. We do all of these things, and tell you how it went. Discussed: Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, Deus Ex: System Rift DLC, NBA 2K17, BioShock Remastered, Resident Evil 4 Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Listen in iTunes

Ah thanks! It was hard to find any information when Michael B Jordan was taking up all the news about any Hollywood crossovers into story mode.

Idle Thumbs 279: Horrible Adorable High up in the clouds, the best pilot you've ever flown with leads you to your next target, a target the two of you cut through like it's made of tin foil. You're the front gunner, pretty new to the job, but already you two are working like clockwork, knocking fighters out of the sky left and right. "I'm hungry," says the pilot over text chat. You see he's named Nick. You're hungry too. Maybe there's somewhere to eat, maybe the two of you will go together like the great friends you've become? You look up and Nick has left the pilot seat. You're alone. The mountain fills your viewport and you wish you'd joined Jake and Chris at PAX instead. (Despite what we say at the start this truly is Idle Thumbs 279, not 280.) Discussed: Battlefield 1, Arena Gods, Thimbleweed Park, Burly Men at Sea, Lumines, Hitman (2016), Scratch and Sniff, Credit Cards Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Listen in iTunes

Idle Thumbs 273: "Batman Loves Him A Parallelogram" or "I Considered An Oeuvre" Join us on two very different journeys to the future... of the past. We crack open our briefcase-sized laptop and hack through layer after layer of security in the 80s cyberpunk world of Quadrilateral Cowboy, then take a wrong turn and find ourselves in the polished fiberglass and shag carpet Fondlarium of Headlander. Batman is destroyed. Discussed: Quadrilateral Cowboy, Headlander, RimWorld, Inside, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, Half-Life, Imbroglio, Batman Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Listen in iTunes

They're going all in on the precedent of re-casting Donna, extrapolated over decades.

I think trailer houses are increasingly getting access to all raw footage and not just the film. I think you're right also that people are increasingly shooting extra takes for trailers. I know that was the case with the Guardians of the Galaxy trailer for instance.

Oh man, I like this image/analogy a lot.

Over the life of this game how have seemingly so few talked about about Adaptation (the Charlie Kaufman movie where he wrote a fictional version of himself into his own script*) or Kaufman in general when talking about The Beginners Guide? It seems 100% to me like Wreden is going for a Kaufman thing - a complete work of fiction that draws as much or little from the authors life as any piece of fiction, with the fresh wrinkle added to the mix of the author himself appearing as a character in the story - but (maybe since he narrated it himself instead of hiring an actor? because it's a video game?) people seem massively confused by it and can't seem to shake themselves free of the idea that some part of it is "real." * the movie also includes Kaufman's twin brother who is a creation entirely of the movie. The brother suffers from fewer hang ups and neuroses than the ones that plague "Charlie Kaufman" (the film character), and through working things through with his brother he ends up sorting out a lot of his own problems. Like Wreden and The Beginners guide, there is no way of knowing how the process of writing the script for Adaptation impacted Charlie Kaufman - was he working through some very real and similar issues in his psyche to those expressed by his fictionalized self in the film, using his brother (or Coda) as a fictional sounding board and reflection point to probe his inner thoughts, or did he just think, maybe, the idea of a person doing that was funny and weird and would make for a strange and unique and compelling story? "Davey Wreden" or "Charlie Kaufman," the characters, are not real beyond sharing names with their authors. Like any fictional characters they went through months of editorial process, re-writes, re-recordings and reconsiderations before their creators were done with them. So really I believe it's impossible to know, I think, and also probably not worth knowing when it comes to assessing the work. I mean, just because the author is a character in their own work doesn't mean death of the author shouldn't apply. Is all this way off base? Whoops missed that video! Watching it now.

No one I knew played the hazard course. And yeah it's true I forgot about the end of Half Life

We've canceled the Harry cast sorry Fwiw Olly and I like the play though we recognize its fan ficcy in parts and Sarah didn't like it. I'm not sure it's a story that needed to be told. For some that may be reason enough to dislike it or wish it didn't exist or was different, but there are a lot of character moments and pockets of the world we get to see that I really like (eg: the looks we get at Draco feel new but also very true and revealing about his character. Did we need this story to be told? No definitely not, but I still enjoyed it on the whole). Also: I suspect the plays great in person. It reads right now like what it is: a script, a story stripped of its descriptions and pacing because those are worked out in person off the page.

It's pretty clealy Coming Attractions, not sure what you're talking about. Coming soon.

A wild Vanaman appears... Idle Thumbs 276: Hype and Anticipation With tens of thousands descending on Seattle's Key Arena to bathe in the spectacle and drama of The International 6, and hundreds of thousands more barreling towards the uncertain center of No Man's Sky, ears are ringing and plugged in equal measure as hype, anticipation, uncertainty, and excitement fight to drown each other out. We are joined by Sean "Famous" Vanaman to try and talk it all through, to figure out what we think. Discussed: The International, Dota 2, No Man's Sky, RimWorld, Wakeboarding Unleashed Featuring Shaun Murray Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Listen in iTunes

Idle Thumbs 274: A Good One "This has happened, look what you've done," the robot wrote. Chris sent Danielle to her death in deep space, but her estranged husband still comes to visit. "It's just garbage," the robot continued. Smirking, a besunglassed Nick Breckon catches a ride on a dolphin and breaks the surface in a graceful arc. "Video game & pop culture cast, hacking and robot-mongering awaits," the robot concluded, incorrectly. "It's a good one!" Discussed: Abzu, RimWorld, Headlander Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Listen in iTunes

I would be so happy to watch a stream of a Sean-DM'd D&D campaign. Man.

(His parents own it.)

This robot and the trololo video are of the same era of Internet and are locked together in my brain (and ).

Huh I would expect a line like that to be in the context of a brush with fame - like "that's not Gordon freeman is it?! Can it be??" and not "that's a different guy! an impostor!" but I haven't heard the line. Weird stuff! I hope that it is a little peel back of the wallpaper revealing a weird world underneath as you also hope, and not just a bad line read.

Idle Thumbs 271: Cool Blob Future You pass someone on the street and immediately you know. The light hitting their face, the way they amble forward, aware of the world but maybe simultaneously inside a totally different world too. You pass them and keep to yourself, knowing that you are apart from them, not of them, but you also know, deep down, that you could become one of them at any time. Discussed: Pokémon GO, Inside, Limbo, Splash Damage, Dark Souls 3, Hitman, Far Cry 2, WarHammer Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Listen in iTunes

Hey thanks The rhythm was an early idea that Derek just totally nailed in his capture and editing of the big gameplay montage that makes up the bulk of the trailer. The amount of secret detail he got in those shots is nuts. I'm glad you like it!

Idle Thumbs 269: Robot Russian Roulette The robot hovers silently in front of you; its micro-props keep it nearly still in the hot evening breeze. System Shock buzzes on the screen behind you. Next to it on another screen, the new Hitman runs idle, waiting. You've made a little easy cash from the robot tonight already - no big scores but better than the alternative - which means your luck has to be running thin, but how thin? You're not sure if you imagine it but as your hand approaches the palm acceptance plate the robot seems to pause, as if to breathe in. You lower your hand, slowly slide the balcony door shut and go play video games. Discussed: System Shock (Remastered), Hitman (2016), Overland, Counter-Strike: GO, Bridge Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Listen in iTunes

Oh yeah! That felt very inspired by WoW death to me at the time. Or, one felt like the other. Whichever was first.

Maybe it was always called that.

Idle Thumbs 272: Sorrow and Horror Dear Mom: Life in the new colony sucks. No one knows how to hunt, the clothes they give us keep falling apart, every night there are literal wolves at the door, and Nick (or "Goldblum" as he has fashioned himself) can't keep a handle on his most basic impulses. The cable package only has ESPN 1, so Evo's out of the question. I had a pet rat for a while but I don't know what happened to it. Probably something terrible. I never thought space would be like this. I hope I can go home soon. Discussed: RimWorld, Prison Architect, Jeff Goldblum, Street Fighter V, Counter Strike: GO, Rust, The Jejune Institute, Latitude, Spot Goes To Hollywood Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Listen in iTunes

Idle Thumbs 260: Charge Guy, Tree Guy, Ice Guy, Bendy Guy Our descent into Dark Souls 3 continues, but we started over with a brand new guy. This new guy is less lucky than the old one, but otherwise actually equipped to fight the charge guys, tree guys, ice guys, bendy guys, etc, that he encounters. He's still working on remembering their names. Meanwhile, in an Italian villa, Agent 47 visits a Spirit Halloween Store, tries on some cellophane-wrapped "Charge Guy," "Tree Guy," "Ice Guy," and "Bendy Guy" costumes, and is unimpressed. Discussed: Hitman (2016), Dark Souls 3, Facebook Messenger, Dark Souls Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Listen in iTunes