Chris

Shit, really? Does that happen consistently, or was it just one time? What version are you using?

Hey guys what's up

Uh so I don't know if this is still a political thread or whatever but my Spore name is chrisremo

Flawless victory

Why would you ever read a comment on IMDb?

Somehow it also exists on Shack yes

I feel that this is my legacy on the forums, and I am pleased about that.

That's the collective group nickname for me and some of my old friends who used to sit at a bench during lunch in high school, and it's also the name of the email group we use to keep in touch while scattered across the country. All of the above I guess. I don't remember rerouting the page, but I guess I did, since I don't need it to use it for actual web page hosting. Also, how did anyone even notice this?

That's my domain. What the hell?

We took the picture after I destroyed the floor, since we didn't actually have a camera crew set up to capture my every move in case I happened to destroy something.

Alternate large pics for those who couldn't see: http://chris.idlethumbs.net/Shack/alexbenfloor1a.jpg http://chris.idlethumbs.net/Shack/alexbenfloor2a.jpg

Sorry dudes!

Metroid Prime is one of the best games ever made. Seriously, it's amazing. The controls are perfect. I hated them too the first time but after playing for an hour I got completely used to them. This game has some of the best and most spine-tingling moments to be had in gaming, and the classic Metroid structure and gameplay is translated so well and presented in such a refined way that it's almost unbelievable given that it was in a whole new context.

You should post a blog post on Thumbs linking to a blog post on Gameslol announcing that Idle Thumbs has gone to a blog style and in celebration is linking to another new blog, which is your blog. Then mention this in the podcast. Web 2.0

Hahaha, I love writing headlines like that. I chuckle almost every time I use one. I probably derive a slightly different type of humor out of it than you assume is being derived.

I don't agree with rodi, MMOs have an an entire point to their genre that is totally different from the point of games that try to tell a narrative. Not every game has to end; many simulations don't, and WoW is as much of a simulation as it is anything else. You're right that it's not conducing to telling a strong perosnal story, but since that's not the point in the first place it's a moot point. As Marek noted, it's the World of Warcraft, not the Narrative of Warcraft, and it's quite effective at the World part. I played it for a while and got bored of it eventually and haven't played in ages but neither my enjoyment nor my eventual lack of interest had anything to do with the success or failure of any kind of narrative attempt.

I totally ate a kangaroo and a chocolate covered scorpion thorax last night.

I'd have to go with Marek and Oath on this one. HL2: Episode One takes the cake for me. My others would be Twilight Princess, Okami, Elite Beat Agents, God Hand, New Super Mario Bros., and probably some other crap.

This game is actually pretty fun.

CAPTAIN FUCKING OLIMAR PLEASE

If you look at early film (really early) the "stories" being presented were beyond ridiculous, even more simplistic and formulaic than those we see in most video games. It's only a matter of time before the industry at large learns the type of stories and storytelling that best suit the medium. A standout example to me is Ico, which tells a very compelling story that's heavy on immersiveness and emotion, and light on exposition; this seems to be the type of story best suited to gaming. The "story" has as much to do with the arc of emotion presented as it does with any kind of discrete narrative. Another good example to me is the Zelda series. Games are VERY sequel-heavy, because the nature of gameplay means that iterative improvement is generally beneficial. The way that Miyamoto reconciled these sequels, which from a pure continuity standpoint are probably both contradictory and redundant, is by literally turning the series into an actual "legend" that has more in common with mythology than a literary narrative. This is shown in the introduction to The Wind Waker. It's very similar to what we have in superhero comics, a modern mythology that is constantly being reinvented and retold, except in the case of Zelda--at least for now--a lot better maintained since the original creator is still in charge of the whole thing and it's held to an extremely high standard. Then we have the likes of Schafer, who tell stories that are, in general, more literary. Traditionally he used the adventure medium, for which this discussion isn't really as meaningful. There isn't really a very strong gameplay core there that raises the questions of story vs. gameplay. They can just sort of coexist because neither one has to assert itself too strongly over the other. This can be seen as a negative point, but in my opinion it isn't really one. It's no different from something like Clerks existing as a film. There's no strong cinematography or filmic techniques going on, but that doesn't make it not valid as a movie. (If you don't like Clerks, insert your own example using a similar dialogue-dominated structure.)

For me: Spore Zelda: Twilight Princess Too Human Bioshock Assassin's Creed Red Steel Smash Bros. Mario 128 PIKMIN 3 Halo 3 or whatever the next Halo game is Metroid Prime 3 Contact Zelda: Phantom Hourglass Gitaroo-Man Lives Supreme Commander others I am forgetting

GameSpot doesn't have a review up yet, but Greg Kasavin posted a blog entry that sounds WAY more positive than that IGN review: http://www.gamespot.com/pages/profile/show_blog_entry.php?topic_id=m-100-24510789&user=GregK

That is, in fact, correct.

Bwahahahaha, that's a great one.