Chris

Well, the different studios make different judgments about that. Frankly, any rational individual is able to make those election calls considerably earlier than the news outlets themselves are willing to for credibility reasons, which is a strange byproduct of instant global communication--if the viewer receives data at nearly the same rate the news outlet receives it, the "news" becomes almost a formality. In that case, perhaps the role of the news organization in those situations is less to inform and more to definitively confirm. Of course, there is still a premium put on being the first to inform. So I don't really think there is a simple answer as to which route is correct. Frankly, it's probably for the best that the different outlets have different attitudes. If they didn't, it would either be everyone scrambling to call results first, by increasingly inaccurate metrics, or it would be everyone hanging around in a reporter's game of chicken, trying to accrue as much information as possible without slipping into irrelevancy.

To be fair, that same game is played amongst the US networks. ABC indeed called first, meanwhile throughout the election season NBC was frequently the one saying, "NBC News has yet to call this race" etc., etc. It's a balance between caution and inevitability. I mean, to play devil's advocate, one could say it is somewhat patronizing to pretend there's a chance California might not end up going Democratic when the early vote count is leaning that way and California has been a reliable Democratic vote for over 15 years.

Well, the story WAS that the guy resigned, and the thing about the ill mother was part of the impetus behind his resignation.

I definitely think the BBC is a great news organization. That particular convention really irritates me though. I'm sure it's just a matter of accepted practice in certain countries' journalistic standards, and not intended as sensationalism, I just think that if you quote something and you don't clearly modify it with ellipses or brackets, you need to stick to the source, period.

Jesus, what a depressing article. Also, I really hate what appears to be the British journalistic convention of paraphrasing quotes for headlines and subheads, but leaving them in quotes. This might not be specific to the UK, but I always see it done when I'm linked to the BBC, The Guardian, etc. What I mean by this is stuff like "Punched in face" put in quotes, when the actual statement is "Smacked in the face" -- I don't understand why they don't just use the actual statement? This is, obviously, a very innocuous example of this practice, but I've often seen it used in ways that are much more inaccurate, to the point that they connote a not-insignificant difference in meaning from the original reported statement.

Reminds me of the crazy bonus levels in Super Mario Sunshine (and, I guess, some of the regular levels in Galaxy). I love completely abstract stuff like that.

It's probably the kind of thing that makes talented, accomplished session musicians weep, after realizing what they have been reduced to.

Hahaha This clearly needs some kind of interstitial

At work one time I accidentally hit some keyboard shortcut that rotated my whole desktop 90 degrees, so I then rotated my monitor itself to compensate, and I ended up preferring it so much that I've left it that way ever since. Considering everything I use my computer for at work is scrolling up and down on webpages, and writing things in vertical columns, it's great.

I don't think "Half-Life" was ever in the name of this game.

Missing: Since January

(Sorry for the delay. Nick and I got sick and our voices were useless the other day.) This week, Nick was left for dead at Valve's offices where he played some kind of video game, Chris and Jake have experienced what's so amazing about LittleBigPlanet, and we keep attempting to cajole you into playing Far Cry 2. Plus: Will Gears of War 2 blow you away? We investigate. There may be a wizard. Games discussed: Left 4 Dead, Elemental: War of Magic, Gears of War 2, Far Cry 2, LittleBigPlanet, Empire Total War, Diablo III iTunes: http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=293436552 RSS: http://feeds.feedburner.com/idle-thumbs http://www.idlethumbs.net/

It's up! And it's early, both in its day of the week, and in the hour it's posted. http://www.idlethumbs.net/ "We're a day early and possibly still a dollar short. Weeks of Fallout 3 coverage culminate with Nick's full completion-informed opinions. (Mutants allowed.) Chris and Jake dive into the polarizing world of Far Cry 2, and Fable 2's bizarre romances are set to heart-wrenching song. Join us, for this relatively subdued cast. To your face." Games discussed: Fallout 3, Far Cry 2, Dead Space, Empire: Total War (maybe) iTunes: http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=293436552 RSS: http://feeds.feedburner.com/idle-thumbs

Wow, what the hell happened in here?

Anyone here remember The Last Express? It was an adventure game made by Jordan Mechner (Prince of Persia, Karateka) in 1997, set on the eve of World War I and played essentially in sped-up real time with the assistance of a time rewind mechanic later revisited by Mechner in The Sands of Time. The game was amazing and ambitious, but a bunch of terrible coincidences, mainly having to do with publisher Broderbund, meant the game was only on sale for a couple months and had basically no chance to catch on in the marketplace -- it also had what ended up being an unexpectedly exorbitant budget. I recently tracked down the original producer and tech lead and interviewed them for about an hour about the experience of developing the game. I think it's pretty fascinating (I can say that because it's all their words) and I hope people actually read it. We kind of buried the article in the Thanksgiving holiday because it's about a ten-year-old game that didn't sell well, but I think it's worthwhile, because a lot of what it achieved is still rarely attempted in games. http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/3862/the_last_express_revisiting_an_.php

You mean, "Jake meant." (There's something wacky going around in this thread.)

They'll maintain separate feeds. We're also not entirely sure how the schedule is going to work or anything, but we're basically operating independently of each other.

Does anyone know if there is a way to export in-game photographs and email them or get them off the PS3 some other way?

$50 is how much they cost at retail, and Valve can't undercut their retail partners. Retail still has plenty of leverage, because with very few exceptions, pretty much all developers still do the great majority of their sales via traditional disc-based games.

Haha, oh God. ADVENTURE GAMES. Jesus.

The Idle Thumb

Hahaha, I had no idea you took a picture. I guess we're even on that score now.

You could put it that way. I would phrase it more like "Steve broke my chair."

Hey, it's my former coworker. Weird.