ThunderPeel2001

Phaedrus' Street Crew
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Everything posted by ThunderPeel2001

  1. So! I thought a new thread of active 360 Gamertags might be in order... (Needless to say; if you're not keen on having your fellow Thumbs as XBL chums, you probably shouldn't post your tag ) Note: You can add friends by clicking on the names below. Yes... in your browzer! The 360 Thumbs List: ThunderPeel2001 Jake = JakeOfTomorrow Nachimir toblix n0wak Miffy495 vimes = VimesTom NorfolkNClue Realnoyb Chris = The Idle Thumb Wrestlevania JamesM = TheJamesM David (aka Metallus) = Superparty Horticulture Tycoon = Nom de Kaboom ColdKill = TransKill jneeriem = mfpantst Erkki = Villane0 GrouchoClub = Strummer521 Alex P = TheGreatBundini AkuMifune Shakesbeard zomboid = ForestRayColson Patters = Patters666 Nevsky = NevskyP eljay = banjoses Action Shakespeare = ActnShakespeare illeria Squid Division twmac = Twmacb jennoa = ohkyren a purple future = anvil will fall Kolzig = Kolzig73 JonCole = jonac13 ALWAYS UPDATED! For that extra Thumby goodness™ Only folks who have been around a while will be added to this list... If you think I've missed anyone (or you!) then let me know!
  2. Books, books, books...

    Well we've got music, we've got TV and film... how about we try books? I'm currently reading Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets by David Simon (the wonderful person behind The Wire). It's a very explicit non-fiction account of a homicide unit in Baltimore in 1988 (not that it feels like anything has changed since then). It sounds pretty dry, I guess, but this IS from the guy who brought us The Wire. I've mentioned it here before and someone said they'd read it and that parts of it had become unforgettable... I can totally understand why, it's a pretty harrowing book in many ways -- but perhaps not in the ways you'd think. The book does an incredible job capturing the mindset of a homicide detective (an unusual and not particularly desirable thing, really) that I can feel myself becoming emotionally distant from the things I read about, in the same way they have to. If series one of The Wire piqued your interest into how things like homicide units actually work in real life, then I would seriously recommend it. (Hint: CSI isn't anywhere near close to reality.) I've been very surprised at just how good a writer Simon is. I mean, I love The Wire, but writing for TV is very different than writing a non-fiction book. In The Wire it's mainly about how brilliantly the characters have been captured, but in Homicide: AYotKS there isn't much dialogue, so the people and the situations have to be captured in different ways. It turns out that Simon is just as good at this as he is at writing for TV. He manages to make you feel precisely how the detectives felt on each case. From cold indifference to shocking tragedy -- you feel it exactly the same way the people in the book do. I can't exactly recall how I imagined murders, murderers, police and detectives actually operated before I starting reading this book, but I'm pretty sure my perspective has been changed forever. I can remember I used to think that CSI and Law & Order represented moments of grim reality... but now I see them for what they are: Sensationalistic bullshit for the masses. So that's something Edit: Forgot to menton, the book is non-fiction!
  3. Broken Age - Double Fine Adventure!

    YES! There's one thread that you should follow, at least. This one: http://www.doublefin...iewthread/6794/ Also: The documentary is being designed to be spoiler free, and it's brilliant so far. Well worth your time. Note: Episode 2 of the documentary isn't posted there yet. Not sure why.
  4. The threat of Watch Dogs

    Woah. [media=] [/media]GTAIV style gameplay with a decent storyline...? Could it really be true?
  5. Metal Gear Solid: Peacewalker

    Well damn, if I haven't finally gotten around to playing METAL GEAR SOLID: PEACEWALKER, thanks to the MGS HD Collection, and if it's not a proper sequel to the best game ever made*: Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. There's a few limitations due to its PSP origins, but this seems like an awesome game so far, with a lot more strategy and management than I was imagining (but not so much that it's too much). Big Boss is the MGS universe's most interesting character by far, so I'm incredibly excited to see what's about to happen to his story (there's already indications that The Boss might still be alive(!)). The graphics res-up pretty nicely, too (see below). This might have been more popular if it was known as Metal Gear Solid 3.5, as that's really what it is, and it's all Hideo Kojima and all canon, to boot. Anyways, I thought I'd recommend it to any MGS3 fans out there, and I'll report back on my experiences as I make my way through the game. * - Well, one of them, at least.
  6. Anyone interested in "crewing up" and giving this a try? I've tried it on my own so far and it's pretty good fun. Not sure it'll ever reach the giddy heights of Grand Thumb Auto, but it's worth a shot? Idle Crew here: http://socialclub.ro...crew/idle_payne
  7. It seems that since DoubleFine helped made Kickstarter becomes mainstream, there's been an incredible influx of amazing, interesting, weird projects. It's really hard to stay informed about them all, and so you can sometimes miss things that you would love to get involved in. So in the spirit of the Fresh Indie Game Compendium Extraordinaire thread I thought it might be useful if one thread had simple info on KS projects that are interesting to the community, rather than having a shed load of different threads, some of which just disappear. That way, anyone can come to this thread and quickly see what new Kickstarter projects are of interest to Idle Thumbs community members, and hopefully not miss any projects that might be of real interest to them. As with the FIGCE thread, it seems to make sense if comments are placed in separate threads. Which is to say: If you want to discuss a Kickstarter, rather than just make people aware of it, post a separate thread for comments, too! It seems to make sense to post ANY projects that are of interest. Not just video game related ones, so I've put this in the Idle Banter forum. (If this is a bad idea, just close this thread, but I thought it might be a worth a shot.) I'll get us going: WINGS: DIRECTOR'S CUT By: Cinemaware Type: Video game! About: It's a HD/modern system reboot of the classic Amiga game "Wings". Why You Should Care: Because Wings was generally seen as Cinemaware's most successful game and it'd be really cool to have a HD version of it. Cinemaware also did Rocket Ranger, It Came From the Desert, and other such titles. If this is successful, there's more chance of seeing them realised, too. Link: http://www.kickstart...s-directors-cut
  8. I just came across this and it made me chuckle. From July of last year: Microsoft Points Piracy Finger at Children Shouldn't that be illegal? What is a "piracy finger" anyway?
  9. Maximillian Payne: Part Trois

    So this is out in Europe today, and it's been out in the US for a few days. Has anyone played it? If so, how does RockStar's latest effort hold up?
  10. Things That Improve Your Life

    Every so often you stumble across something and think, "How the hell did I not know about this? Does everyone know about this? Why didn't anyone tell me?". For instance, I just came across a rather nifty bit of software that changes the look of your monitor to match the time of day, thus (in theory) helping your body adjust better to nighttime. http://stereopsis.com/flux/ Other things I've come across lately that are really cool: http://clea.nr/ Changes the internet (only YouTube atm) from this: To this: Here's a phone app that helps you wake up without feeling groggy: http://www.sleepcycle.com/ Yes, it actually works. (It monitors your movement -- when you're coming out of a sleep cycle, your body movement increases.) Finally, it's that SAD time of year again, and if you get the Winter Blues (like I used to), I highly recommend a Philips Wake-Up Light. They really work! Got any things that improve your life that you want to share?
  11. Beneath A Steel Sky: Remastered

    So I played through this classic again recently, and finished it today. It's still a great game, with an interesting and absorbing world, as well as perfect characters. I still love it... but man! I forgot how unintuitive the puzzles were! Thankfully the "Remastered" version came with built in hints, but there's a few times when there are bizarre leaps of logic. Actually, to be more accurate, the puzzles themselves were quite good, but often the player wasn't given enough information to make them aware of what they were supposed to do. The first puzzle I had problems with was the power station -- Apparently you were supposed to know that the elevators had just had their power turned off (rather than say, being shut down by the security software). So if you find the right switch, and turn them on again, you're good to go. Except you're never told that. You just find yourself fumbling around a power station, not really sure what you're supposed to be doing. Also, there were times when you were given a random object with an unclear use. This is usually when you start the "go from room to room and try it on everything" procedure that adventure gamers are so used to -- except the map of BASS only grows. And late on you end up having to trundle right back to the beginning... It's pretty annoying. After also playing "Time Gentlemen Please" recently (although I haven't finished that yet), I've decided that all adventure games of a certain size require a map that you can use to instantaneously teleport between locations. Also, a character shouldn't walk to a point in a room just to deliver a description of what something looks like. Yes, I know it's more realistic if they do, but it's very tedious watching them wander about just to say, "It's a door with no handles". (Both of these things were fixed in Time Gentlemen Please, I should point out!) Still, great world and characters. I'd love to see more of it. I still don't know why there's not been a sequel, especially since they could probably Kickstarter the shit out of one. The new "Remastered" version came with a tacked on ending which took the "Brazil" inspiration to the limit... At least that's what it appeared to be saying (it was very unclear what was going on), but it did hint at a sequel. The only other change to this "Remastered" version was the opening. It's still the same footage from the Dave Gibbons comic as before, but this time it's slightly more animated. Definitely an improvement, although it did jar at times when completely static faces that were supposed to be talking, just "blinked". So yeah... games.
  12. Things have gotten bad, and this is my attempt at sorting things out. Firstly, I'm sorry if I've hurt your feelings. Yes, you. It's never been my intention to hurt anyone in any of the arguments I've engaged in. Really. Secondly, with this in mind, it's probably time I gave this forum a little breather. It's gotten to the point where visiting it can literally ruin my day (like today). A certain double-barreled PM from someone here ruined my Christmas, and now it just seems hit and miss as to whether I'll feel like shit for the rest of the day when I visit. Clearly I've managed to rub a lot of you up the wrong way, and clearly this isn't doing me any favours either. Cards on the table time: Yes, I'm highly opinionated. Yes, I don't see any point in backing down if someone tells me I'm wrong. Yes, lately I've been feeling too sensitive and have taken things too personally. And, yes, unfortunately, that is really not a good mix. It's a pretty terrible mix, in fact. Somebody made a post here a while ago about how they'd hate to be on a forum that reacts to how you say things, rather than what you're saying. Unfortunately for me, that's now the forum I visit each day. I honestly feel I'm making logical, impersonal statements. I never resort to personal attacks or insults, and try to stick to whatever is being discussed, but I'm still apparently managing to stomp over other people's feelings. For that, I'm sorry. It's not intentional, and it's not personal. Of course, assuming that other people aren't taking things personally makes me something of a hypocrite, or at least incredibly ignorant. (The silver-lining of which is that it means I assume that you're all much happier and well-adjusted than me, and so can take criticisms of your arguments better than me.) This is what low self-esteem looks like. When I'm criticized it feels a lot more painful than it should, even if it's just an opinion or belief of mine. Yes, I come with baggage. (Where's Raz when you need him??) And so (for the sake of my own self-worth) I find myself defending my beliefs. Not attacking you, mind. Defending me. That's an important distinction, even if you feel the end result is the same. If I've gotten your back up, just know that it wasn't personal. I wasn't attacking you, I was defending me. And yes, that's my problem, not yours. Anyways, the upshot of all this is that me being here isn't making me happy, and it's not making you happy. So it'd be better for both of us if I kept out of things from now on. At least for a little while. I'm terribly sorry for any pain I may have caused you. And again, it wasn't personal. Life is just difficult sometimes. I'm sorry!
  13. Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain

    Awesome!
  14. BioShock Infinite

    Just turn off "Mouse Acceleration" in the settings -- makes things MUCH better.
  15. BioShock Infinite

    Yeah, I've been avoiding announcements, so I didn't get that one.
  16. And the ball keeps bouncing...

    Soon after that thread was locked (you know the one, it begins with "F"), I was contacted by the user BFrank (someone I don't know and have never talked with) who disagreed with something I'd written in it. I'd happily share our entire discussion, but it involves things that might get people heated, so I've decided not to. Anyways, after I responded to his PM the venerable BFrank shut off our discussion with the following message: And so the heated discussion and childish abuse continues... but in private where people are less accountable. With this in mind -- is it really better to close heated threads rather than let them run their course? (I don't know the answer, I'm just asking. I can definitely see pros and cons to both.) Either way, I'm glad someone finally called me out on my blind hatred of Anita.
  17. BioShock Infinite

    I wasn't sure if it was leading to some big twist where everything is actually set more in the future than you think... Guess not.
  18. And the ball keeps bouncing...

    I guess I just don't like getting abuse. It hurts. It's unpleasant. It ruins my day. And for what? Because I simply responded to a PM I got from a total stranger. I'm not sure how to respond to this. Should the community tolerate ganging up on people? Is it the person's fault for being ganged up on? Why aren't those that do the "ganging up" taken to task? I used to enjoy posting here.
  19. BioShock Infinite

    Ha! I think the PC version might look a bit better?
  20. And the ball keeps bouncing...

    I guess I don't see anything sacred about a "private" message. I'm sure you'd all post an email you'd received here without giving it a second thought -- especially if it was from an absolute stranger. Also, I've purposely avoided posting anything relating to what's being argued about. Abuse is abuse, and just because it's done in "private" doesn't mean it's hunky dory. The closing of that particular thread was supposed to end such things, not just send it underground. I wish I could post what I said that provoked BFrank's response, but I can't without digging up old ground.
  21. BioShock Infinite

    LOVING this so far! (I just got to Soldier's Field.) Everything feels so alive and fluid.
  22. Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis

    I need more.
  23. Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis

    Where's all the friendly nagging you promised me?
  24. BioShock Infinite

    Loving this so far! Just hit Soldiers Field. What an incredible experience!