DanJW

I don't think it's the ending that people have a problem with. It's the third act. Rodi, just about averyone who has seen it feels the same way as you do. I'm sure we discussed it here. anyway yeah, some kind of alternate cut would be great.

Slightly Human. Homo peripherens

Will there be skiing? There has to be skiing.

I launched a newsletter this weekend. It's for comedy! Here's the website: http://www.filthygigdog.com/ although really it's the physical newsletter that I'm excited about. I'm having fun nonchalantly leaving them on public transport and stuff. What the hell, have a press release: Press Release - Filthy Gigdog Underground Comedy Newsletter.doc

How is it RPG? Looks like straight action game to me. Fantasy != RPG. Some nice monster animation. That's it.

Features the unconfirmed sequel - IGN.com Activision owes me a broken heart - IGN. 2 for 1!

Same here Drath. That and the environment design.

The structural integrity emergency claxon in the Earthsiege games always did the trick for me. Damn that noise was terrifying. I have to admit that the in-cockpit view has improved my opinion somewhat. Still too fast-moving (like Unreal Tournement fast) but I shall keep an eye on the mod.

I followed the story on BBC radio, and it was pretty bad. All about the terrible nuclear disaster oh no etc etc. with an afterthought about the tsunami aftermath which is so much worse than any nuclear incident in history. And Jeremey Fucking Vine... jeezus. He ran a call-in on "should we listen to what nuclear experts tell us, based on how wrong they have been in the last week?". For. Fucks. Sake.

We have always been nice, and we will kill anyone who says differently! How long ago was that, out of interest?

Anime mechs still have weight and power. They are massive after all and giant things move a certain way. My favourite mecha animé, Vision of Escaflowne, does a really good job of making the melefs both agile and unwieldy at the same time. Sorry but Hawken doesn't look like a mech game to me, it's an FPS. The mechs look small, like people in mecha cosplay fighting in a pretty model city.

I dunno, as long as the discussions are kept succinct, I don't have a problem with it. I think people are playing too many different games to have threads for them all. Also, completing a game which has been out for a while might not be worthy of resurrecting the old thread. Unless it was a really massive popular game that merits a big post/discussion. I prefer to leave it up to people's discretion. Always good to remind people of their options though. Good 'Blix

Most of our internal model of reality is illusory. Our senses are not as good as we think they are. Or to try another tack: it would not need to simulate reality with any more accuracy than other artistic mediums.

No. Our brains are easily fooled, especially when it comes to emotional response.

I think I agree with most of this post. I do however believe, quite strongly, that the interaction, the making a decision, has the potential to create the most sublime experience ever. As sublime as real life, which is full of choices and also a few moments of subliminity.

Heh. In fairness Bethesda are pretty good at putting fine graphics control into their games, so you will almost certainly be able to turn the snow off. edit: on PC at least.

Snow physics is the new light bloom!

Hmm, the mechs don't seem to have any weight or momentum. One of the things I lvoed about the Mechwarrior and Earthsiege games was that the machines felt heavy and grounded in the world. In that video they move and skate around like Quake players with mech skins. It's an FPS with a mech veneer. Nice environments though.

About 15 for me too. There is always going to be a weight towards pop for more recent stuff. Time gives perspective. There's nothing really surpising there though, which is to be expected from a cloud. I'm sure there are more interesting nuggets that everyone ought to read by few people have done so, so cannot recommend. Like the works of Jung, or The Hero With a Thousand Faces, which of course I never shut up about. It does all seem to be novels doesn't it? There ought to be a non-fiction list.

I approve of this terminology. P.S. welcome newcomers!

sounds like you need the L-space reading guide! Robert Rankin is insane and reads like a delirious Neil Gaiman writing stream of consciousness. Every book is as mad as the next, read whichever one most appeals to you based on title, blurb, or (Rankin made) cover art.

This thread is Winning.

You know the most awesome thing about it? Because it's Lego, it can be expanded/houseruled with all other lego ever. Urban. Pirates. Indiana Jones. Star Wars. Or whatever you build. Infinitely expandable. My mind is in the process of exploding in slow motion.

This comment wins. That attitude account for 95% of 'games aren't art' arguments. And it's the same age-old model of the old guard stubbornly but hopelessly trying to resist the uncomfortable march of progress, as happens in art, science and pretty much everything. Can games be art? I would be surprised if not. Just about anything can be elevated to art if discovered by the right artist - not a popular view I admit. But people have touched on the fact that games are nearly as poorly defined as art. Building on Thunderpeel's comment; Video Games seem to be to be more akin to long-form improvisational theatre. Whatever they are we don't yet have the proper mental models to assess what we have created.

Ah that's interesting. I personally think fIrefly does have that kind of depth, that keeps you wandering and trying to decode a character. Most notably Mal - we never really learn if he is a Tarnished Nice Guy, or a thorough cynic with some softer foibles. The question at the heart of the show is: how broken a man is he? It's never answered. Some other characters have similar questions, to lesser extents. anyway we've turned the boo thread into a screen thread. Doh. Most recently finished book was Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation, By Steve Johnson. It was inspiring and interesting, but ended a bit limp. I'll try and write more about it when I have more time.