ThunderPeel2001

YouTube link for the lazy (like me): iRZ2Sh5-XuM

All this talk of Minecraft made me want to load it up again... Sadly the game "can't connect to Minecraft.com" and so I can't play it. *grumble grumble*

I concur. Seriously. :/

Well nobody can say they're not envious of having $60 million in the bank :-/ Either way, having customers who REALLY want your product is a good problem for a company. Edit: Minecraft beta does cost $20+, not $10.

Ah, yes. Good point.

Well just to play devil's advocate on this. Isn't it possible that the aliens just see humans as nothing more than cattle standing in the way of a resource they want to get their hands on? Also that the aliens we see are their equivalent of an army following orders -- their mission is clear: Take what they want and become very good at stopping human opposition... not open up a dialogue. Alien/s used the "space aliens as monsters" and I thought it worked brilliantly :-/ Also I may have been too harsh on the film -- maybe I just wasn't in the right mood for it. I can't even pinpoint what I disliked about it... it was just really bland to me.

Cowboys and Aliens is the worst film I've seen in ages. Someone in front of me started using their phone, and instead of being annoyed, like I would normally, I found myself watching their screen instead if the film. I couldn't have cared less about what was happening on screen. Pretty though, with some good performances. Well directed, too.

No, I presume he's doing the best he can. I was just saying that I can understand people's frustration that the 60 million that's been given to the company making the game doesn't seem to be visible in terms of development.

Was that directed at me? I never said he wasn't working hard on the game.

I totally will, and that Neil Gaiman one that's supposed to be so good, too.

There's a lot of stand-alone episodes, from what I've seen.

I think your list kinda proves my point. Dr Who is very hit and miss. Even if Blink is better than Hush, the show is just too hit and miss for me.

Buffy Season 1 is not good, and Season 2 takes a while to get really into gear, but there's no comparison when Buffy gets going, IMO. I haven't seen "Blink", I don't think, so it may well be better than "Hush", but I've seen enough Dr Who episodes to know that an average one is not as good as an average Buffy episode. You can see the potential in what they attempt, definitely, but they tend to miss the mark. Although I think this is partially down to money. For example, Espenson's Torchwood script was very good (if a little long in places), but the direction really let the whole thing down. You could hear great lines being delivered by the actors, but they didn't hit as well as they should have. The pacing and delivery just felt a little off. In the hands of a better director with more time and money, it probably would have been stunning.

Yes, you're right. I should really know that *doh*

Hey! I found this post somewhere (written by a chap called Alexander Norris - thanks to him): DEUS EX MODS For starters, Fixer (http://kentie.net/article/dxguide/) is basically mandatory. Secondly, if you at all care about ironing out the few bits of bad design left in Deus Ex, you will absolutely want to install Biomod (http://www.moddb.com/mods/biomod). As an added bonus, Biomod steals the best gameplay idea that Invisible War has to offer (passive augs), so that saves you from having to play IW! More seriously, it removes the retarded bullshit micromanaging of augs that is no fun whatsoever, as well as rebalancing all the skills and augs. You should absolutely play Deus Ex with this the first time; it’s an improvement on the base game in every way and does not make it “not Deus Ex.” Recommending people play without this is like recommending people play STALKER without the Complete mods; it’s Wrong, with the capital letter. Thirdly: you may want to use the DX10 renderer (http://kentie.net/article/d3d10drv/). You will want to use this anyway if you want to use New Vision (if you’re still on XP, there is also an OpenGL renderer provided as part of New Vision).

I personally don't have a list of desired features (well, a higher "ceiling" might be nice...). The only thing I want is a finished, polished game that's well balanced, enjoyable to play and bug free. (I'd also like it if it reflected the millions that's been donated to it -- or at least part of it, through Valve-levels of polish.) Even though I don't have a list of features I want, and am not counting the clock, or closely following development, I do understand those who feel frustrated. notch has made a deliberate decision to continue developing Minecraft the way he started developing it. He's said so many times, and I can understand his reasoning: It's what made the game so popular in the first place, so don't mess with the formula. But I can also understand people who want what they were promised, and don't feel as though notch is doing all he can with their money to ensure he delivers. They've kept their part of the bargain: Buying a game in its alpha state in order to support the development and completion of a finished game, but notch is apparently miles behind schedule. If it wasn't widely known he'd received more than $60,000,000 USD, then I'm sure people would be more forgiving, but that's not the case. He has 70 days to deliver a fully finished game, before he breaks his part of the bargain. I wonder what will happen when 11/11/11 hits? :-/

Here's my current podcast listening: Simon Mayo and Mark Kermode's film reviews Actual, proper, decent film reviews done by, you know, a professional. I don't always agree with the conclusions, but it's always entertaining and has celebrity guests, if that's your bag. The most downloaded film podcast in the UK. Site: http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/kermode RSS Feed: http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/fivelive/kermode/rss.xml WTF with Marc Maron Angst-ridden males will most likely enjoy this excellent podcast made by an angst-ridden male comedian. He spends about an hour interviewing his guests (usually angst-ridden, too) and actually getting under their skin... a delightful change. If you want to compare childhoods with the likes of Ben Stiller, Robin Williams, Zach Galifianakis, Garry Shandling, Judd Apatow and Conan O'Brian then this is for you. In the top 10 most downloaded comedy podcasts in the US. Site: http://www.wtfpod.com/ RSS Feed: http://www.wtfpod.com/podcast/rss The Q&A with Jeff Goldsmith (Wannabe writers only) This is the poor cousin of the Creative Screenwriting Podcast (which was possibly the greatest podcast ever made and now has been sadly eradicated from the internet). Jeff Goldsmith became editor of Creative Screenwriting Magazine and like a crazy maverick started releasing all the interviews with Hollywood screenwriters he did. An absolute goldmine of screenwriting knowledge. A wonderful resource from writers talking about their own work. Sadly after 270 episodes his bosses as CSM apparently decided they wanted someone to edit the magazine, not make podcasts. So Goldsmith went out on his own and created this one instead. This podcast has yet to reach the heights of the CSM one, but it's still very good and getting better each week. Site: http://www.theqandapodcast.com/ RSS Feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/TheQaWithJeffGoldsmith SMODCast (aka S.I.R) This is actually an entire internet radio station by Kevin Smith. Hours of new content each day... Yes, each day! Far too much to even comment on, but bound to be something you'll enjoy, especially if you're a Smith fan. Site: http://smodcast.com/ If anyone has any podcasts to recommend based on my current faves, please let me know

What? Don't you?

Yep, I totally agree. Also the news is generally too depressing, and also getting of worse and worse quality every time I see it. I read the headlines each day, but I don't bother reading anything unless it's of world importance or of direct relevance to me (or interesting looking). There's far too much sensationalized crap that doesn't benefit me in any way (and which I can't possibly do anything about).

Wow, you typed all that out. I'm impressed. (Looks like you didn't get the Colonel's name when you went through Brunwald, though )

Oh, blast!

I have zero sympathy for notch. The guy made a program that people wanted to buy. They did. Now he has angry customers. That's how business works. Any and all complaints he gets are par for the territory. Just because he's one man doesn't excuse him from getting ripped the same way people rip into Microsoft. Also, $10? I paid $20, like most people. I didn't spend that money to play the game that existed, I did it because the developer asked for support to continue his game. In return he promised me a finished copy when it was done. Lots of people did this, as good will from the internet gaming community. He was lucky enough to experience an explosion of money, but that explosion has not been reflected in the development... almost laughably so. What does he expect?

No, I really enjoyed Hot Fuzz, but The Guard is better (or at least better in a different way). I think you probably have to have seen The Guard to know what I'm talking about.

I watched the latest Torchwood... and was oddly touched. It was a gay love story, and it was very slow, but it really got under my skin and kind of broke my heart. Jane Espenson rocks. Anyways, The Guard is excellent. It's sort of what Hot Fuzz should have been. Highly recommend you see it before it's gone. Also, Kevin Smith's Red State totally rocked. A very unusual film for him, almost a horror movie. Loved it.

Neither does Last Crusade... What is Toblix on about?