Intrepid Homoludens

Yes, I hope it's made into something I can watch online.

Maybe it's HOW you try to talk to them about it that's not working. If I'm right, you probably talk over them instead of WITH them. Most people can't comprehend the complicated terminology of philosophies (what I'd refer to as 'highminded bullshit'), but that doesn't necessarily mean they don't understand the ESSENCE of those philosophies, the basic thinking behind them. You really should listen to this news story: The Philosophy Of Socrates Cafe Author Christopher Phillips, Raising Some Basic Questions Listening to him discuss fundamental ideas and questions with, say, poor single mothers at a homeless shelter, Native Americans at a reservation, Muslim American women, or prison convicts, it's just jawdropping how these ordinary people's own values and insights are actually the same as those who live in ivory towers. The difference is that these ordinary people actually apply these ideas (or at least are aware of them) in their everyday lives.

D'you think real people are afraid of philosophy because they think it's off limits to them? Too 'high above them'? If so, where is that feeling coming from?

Recently I finished Christopher Phillips' Socrates Cafe, an awesome book about the author's experience of being a sort of modern day philosopher/student taking the wisdom on the road, to the people, as a very real and applicable thing for one's every day life. I've always hated it when people keep such beautiful, useful things as philosophical discussion and inquiry in ivory towers and use sophistry and highminded bullshit to maintain their status above the layman. Now I'm reading Plato's The Last Days Of Socrates. It's just sublime. I've also just started Susan Faludi's Stiffed: The Betrayal Of The American Man, an investigation into the perceptions of what it means to be masculine, how it has been upheld, and how it all had eroded, why, and what it means. It's quite a fat book and will mostly stay at the bedside. I'm also reading bit by bit Jean Nouvel: The Elements Of Architecture by Conway Lloyd Morgan. Nouvel is one of my favourite architects and this tome gives some insight to how he thinks and works. The Jade Empire and Psychonauts manuals.

I don't think she's a DomZ at all. I think she is the physical vessel for what the Domz had been after all along, that her parents passed her on to Pey'j because they knew the power within her. Jade is something akin to The Force in the Star Wars universe, a kind of neutral source of power that could be used for both benificent or malignant purposes (hence 'beyond good & evil'), and that in the course of the game's story she instinctively comes to realize that. As far as Pey'j's 'infection', that may have more to do with the DomZ themselves rather than Jade. After all, it was the Domz's intent to kidnap and drain the population of Hillys, the DomZ are a nomadic alien species, travelling to various parts of the universe to corrupt and harvest the life energies of whoever are unlucky enough to be discovered by them.

I know, aren't I funny?

Really? I thought you had a BS. j/k Anyway, yeah. I loved that John Walker just came in and talked shit like it really is. Here's what I posted there:

Maybe we should stop reading too much into all this.

Yay Psychonauts!!

Thanks. Now I know better.

So it's actually a little better than AGP?

Nice curtain rod.

LMAO!! Figures that there would be a Psychonauts ad to the left of that screenshot!

That would mean the Psychonaughty may just prove commercially successful in the long run, eh?

What the hell were you doing there at night? That's a crappy part of town. Erm, yeah. Yay to Psychonauts!

That city is one huge weird vibe. Even 8 years later, when I went back and visited there last December, I could still feel it. Seriously, you NEED to have an ironic sense of humour to survive that town. Really? I LOVED walking in L.A. late at night, nothing ever happened to me. I used to walk around in my neighbourhood at 2am, and I lived just off of Hollywood & Vine, near Mann's Chinese Theater and the Walk of Fame.

E3?

Hey, I lived there for 2 years. You're a wimp.

"...it's a very story-driven action adventure title. All movement through the game is about overcoming obstacles in humorous ways." And it's gonna have ZOMBIES!! Zombies in L.A.!! Yay to Psychonauts!!

It's a new game by American McGee: American McGee resurfaces with Bad Day L.A. Alice creator's first project since relocating to Hong Kong will be a comedic actioner sending up the West's "fear culture." I just noticed the headline clicking on Bc9b's link to the Gamespot news. Um, yeah, very nice that Psychonauts is in the Top 10.

LOL!!! OMG, this is too damn funny!! I knew McGee would come up with something wicked once more! I love the primitive, 'homemade' look.

I saw that years ago. Great to see Natalie Portman in her very first movie role.

[squeaky voiced blonde bimbo pr0nstar babe] Um, okay. I'll buy it. It's sooooo.......big! Ummm....I don't know, does it get even bigger if I play with it more? [/squeaky voiced blonde bimbo pr0nstar babe]

I remember that, yes. Now it's like 4 years later, and there are excellent games on it, and Xbox Live has a thriving community. And PS2 STILL CAN'T get its pathetic ass to improve its online component, and the Cube....well, you know all about them. I mean, WTF? I'm not necessarily saying that MS are the king of consoles, but they are certainly doing as much as possible to foster a strong console lifestyle community on a global scale, welcoming strong developers onboard, and allowing gamers (and everyone else!) to create a more personalized and multifaceted experience for themselves.

That's why I never take the scores anywhere as seriously as the actual review itself.