ThunderPeel2001

I believe that's the same pep talk Steve Jobs used to get people to join Apple.

Well, I do get a few comments on my resemblance to Justin Beiber... Hnnng

Sounded a lot like AP to me.

For the first website you ever did, and in only three hours(???), it's excellent. I've seen WAY worse. In fact, it's better than 90% of the sites I've seen for B&Bs etc.

Spoilers guys! I'm looking forward to reading these books and watching the films!

What? Really?

Lol. I think you've managed to absorb the spirit of Jonathan Nash. Very good

Not when the emulation is so spot-on (as in Spectaculator's case). Also not when I'm sitting there for 8 minutes watching the game load Yuk, yuk. If you won't rise to that, would you shrink to Microcosm?

I don't even think DMA's original intent was what he was referring to. I've tried to steer my response away from personal attacks, at least.

I wasn't being deliberately obtuse. I had no idea what you were referring to. By saying the "developers motives" you could have been talking about anything from my post. For example; Did DMA deliberately choose "crime" as the subject of their game? I can easily say that that's what the game turned out to be about, but it crossed my mind that you might be saying to me that I couldn't be sure that's what their original motives for making the game were. Especially when you had made statements like: "[The developers decided to make] a game about crime in a modern urban city." Then I thought you were referring to the marketing of the game, where I said it was the developers' hope that they were going to sell copies based on how "controversial" it was. Again, I wasn't sure if you were asking me to prove that the UK marketing had that motive. I honestly didn't know, so I asked. It turns out you were talking about something else. Apparently what you were hung up on was the following sentence: "It was not a mature exploration of ["crime in a modern urban city"], it was a base and childish cash-in [of Hollywood-style crime]." To be honest I'm still not completely sure where the point of contention lays. Are you trying to say that Grand Theft Auto wasn't an attempt at giving players the chance to partake in things they'd only seen in movies? And in a very base way. Things like; Bank robberies, assassinations, car chases, and organized crime syndicates. I think it's self-evident from the marketing and gameplay that that's precisely what they were trying to do.

Looks purdy.

I'll ignore the bits I didn't understand and just say: There's no need to let it get to you so much. I think as long as everything is out in the open, and it's calm and people aren't attacking each other, then there's no reason why mutual understanding can't be reached. Right?

No explanation. I posed politely next to the girlfriend (I presume the girlfriend) and the boyfriend took the photo. They both graciously thanked me afterwards. It's nice to be able to do something for the little people

Sure. Which part? (I hope you're not asking me to prove that a game called Grand Theft Auto was deliberately centered around crime? ) It's very well documented how they marketed the game here, and how they were going for maximum controversy (even if it wasn't intended in the original game design -- I've no idea whether it was or not). You've skipped my other points, though.

Can't say I'd agree his English is fine! I certainly understand BBX's and Orvidos's points, Tanu. I don't think it's fair to just point at BBX and blame it all on him.

You do understand (especially given my previous examples of "happy" things) that I wasn't talking about aesthetics, right? When I said I was turned off by games being "dark and gritty" for the sake of it, that includes choosing to set a game in a deliberately violent, OTT universe. The fact that DMA Design deliberately chose gang crime as the subject of their game, is what I was trying to get at. It was not a realistic or complicated look at "crime in a modern urban city", it was a deliberately, self-aware, OTT representation of crime. The type of "dark and gritty" crime as represented in Hollywood movies (i.e. entertainment), but turned up to 11. It was not a mature exploration of such things, it was a base and childish cash-in. That said, it's probably not the best example, because they did have their tongue in their cheek, even if they were hoping people would buy it because of how "controversial" it was.

It's got nothing to do with the "nerd's curse" (whatever that is), you've just changed your original question, which was:

As you get older you get more of a taste for more complicated things, that aren't so straight forward. So instead of "goodies beat baddies", it's "who is this baddie? is he really so bad? what makes him bad?" or "how do I get over this broken relationship?" or "who am I?". This has got nothing to do with how "happy" a story is. There are plenty of "happy" things enjoyed by adults. Look at the film world. Monty Python, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Big Lebowski, Singing in the Rain, Knocked Up, Clerks, The Life Aquatic, Team America. None of these are "kids" films, but they're "happy" in the sense that they're "feel good". They're not dark or gritty. Their tones are light and fun. Something being dark and gritty for the sake of it, is actually very childish, and appeals to a simplistic appreciation of things. Grand Theft Auto is a perfect example of this, if you ask me, although I think they've attempted to make the stories more subtle, nuanced and realistic (and therefore appeal more to adults). I'm so turned off by games that are "dark" for the sake of it, that I'm sure there's many better examples I don't know about.

Yesterday I was wondering about the British Museum and two tourists stopped me. A man and woman, one with a camera in their hand. I thought they were going to ask me to take a joint photograph of them, but no. They wanted me to pose in one, with the girl. It was a very surreal experience!

Yeah, that didn't read.

Lol. Very droll. The music and the editing makes it fun to watch. At least, it was for me.

Lol. Yes, there's a few games from my youth that I remember being far too difficult (or just brain-warpingly confusing -- Cosmic Wartoad, Gift from the Gods...). I've never played Curse of Sherwood, but I'd like to give some of my old adversaries another go. (I did complete Skool Daze, with the help of an old POKE I found, after I discovered a copy of the manual online -- You'd never know what you were supposed to do without it!) As for Spectrum emulation, it's all about Spectaculator. Note: It is technically payware, but you can use it for 30 days for free, and to be honest that feels more than enough. (I imagine after 30 days you'll be: Totally addicted and happy to buy it, or, Happy to forget about the Spectrum for another couple of years.) You can legally download Spectrum games from World of Spectrum, too.

Just to offer some mediation: Tanu, he never said anything about being "mentally handicapped" he said, "reading comprehension". The second does not imply the first. Plus, I'm pretty sure you've said in the past that English is a second language to you, right?

Wow, I didn't know you guys had been working on things together for that long. What's the full "gameography" for the two of you? My post is essentially a blog. I should have illustrated it with a few screenshots and posted it on my blog. Lol. It's amazing how much enjoyment I started getting from those old Speccy games, though. A little preparation, and a bit of patience, makes a huge difference when it comes to enjoying them. They're still very good. Kinda makes me wonder why I should buy new games, when there's so many old ones I've never given a proper go

Are you being serious? Are you genuinely attempting to troll here? Because it reads like a giant troll dump. I just said it had nothing to do with you being seen as pretentious.