DanJW

Look Around You Starts on US Adult Swim this Sunday night. You lucky, lucky colonials! http://www.viddler.com/explore/Partario/videos/7/

Fiends! We should hunt them down, Jake.

Anyone know where I can watch the webisodes from the UK?

Several of those were late-generation though. We know that the best games come later on in a console's cycle, once developers have learnt the ins-and-outs of the hardware and have existing code and solutions to build on. A lot of us are expecting to see similarly great games on the current generation... in a couple of years.

OOh put me on the list for an invite! Weazel will return!

Talking of which, I hear that the Atheist Bus campaign recently launched. Anyone seen one? Of course I think that is less a case of 'evangelism' and more a tongue-in-cheek 'fuck you!' to the christian bus advertisers.

You're right, of course. But the immaturity of games is still cited as a put-off for women. Maybe it's just a case of the general widespread low-grade misandry (eg 'anything male dominated is immature and stupid'). But that's another topic altogether.

As you've probably found out already, there is no need for supplements as long as you have a varied diet that hits all the food groups. In fact I'm not personally a big believer in vitamin pills and the like (I reckon the body only absorbs a tiny portion of what is in the pill, ie 'uptake', and science is starting to back me up). Hmm, B12 and Iodine aren't too difficult to fix. Spinach is a good source of both I think, but there are lots of foods containing them. Deficiency diseases manifest differently depending on the nutrient in question, but yeah on the whole they are slow-boilers. Luckily getting a good supply of the missing nutrient fixes most of them up quickly. Children are by far the most vulnerable to them, what with their growth rate, and most adults don't have all that much to fear.

The male market isn't known for being those things (even though there is a sizeable chunk that would appreciate it). Supposedly the female market is turned off by the immaturity in games, but no-one has made a serious effort to improve it for that reason.

Aye, a sad day. But it was a noble exit, I have to say. I feel kind of conflicted about their regrets. On the one hand I can sympathise, but on the other I really enjoyed, for instance, the ripping apart of the Lost game. That kind of righteous anger is, I think, borne from the love of games, not bitterness. In any case I agree that we have probably not seen the last of Rab and Ryan.

Can we just agree that "Bioshock is not like Star Wars"? Anything beyond that doesn't matter in regards to the original quote.

There's been a load of different TV shows over the years. The one I grew up with was the stop-motion animation. I was really scared by that witch-type character that comes in the night and freezes the ground she walks on. Oh man, here it is. I haven't seen that in decades. Brrr! Or maybe I was thinking of The Groke

Yeah it's odd how devs that try to appeal to the female market more never try to do so by being more intelligent and grown-up*... * maybe because they think grown-up means "M Rating"

I don't know for sure, but it might be down to processor load and the amount of AI in current games. Something like iMUSE is, essentially, an AI program that reacts to scripted events triggered by the player. Actually, I'd be surprised if the AI Director in Left 4 Dead doesn't handle the music as well.

The promotion system makes it really hard. By the time I make a mistake, all by guys are officers. I am giving serious consideration to flushing everyone bar the captain right at the start.

Weapons and armor degrade waaaaayu to fast :/ Why can't I repair my gun with scrap metal or other objects found in the wasteland? This goes double for the custom guns, why can't I use the parts I used to make the gun with to repair my gun with? I like the repair system - you are not a gunsmith and don't have a portable metal mill so replacing parts from another weapon is the only way to repair a fiearm. You are right about the custom weapons though Some random things I found rather questionable in the story: I wondered the same thing How is it that I can meet ghouls who say they are over 200 years old? Because they are 200 years old? Being dead, they don't age. Ghouls are apparently sterile. how do you get new ghouls? When a live human with the 'ghoul gene' dies from radiation. Super mutants are apparently sterile. how do you get new super mutants? This is a big part of that subplot, although I admit is is never stated explicitly: It seems he has. Although maybe he just found the jumpsuit there. How is it that I can open random vault doors without problem and yet find dead skeletons right in front of them from people trying to get in? Because you are 57% more awesome than they were. I enjoyed the game, but it's got so many rough edges it makes me a bit sad. Especially regarding the timeline. So many things just don't fit. Yeah I know what you mean. That's the price Bethesda paid for shoe-horning their own story into the universe (particularly bad with the goody-goody Brotherhood of Steel). I still enjoyed it though.

It hink JamesM might be close. Parrots are very good with music, and their mating displays often use rhythmic movement (and use of the crest in parakeets). Interestingly the music and language recognition centres of the brain overlap, and might in fact be the same area. A small number of Grey Parrots have shown greater vocabulary and abstract use of language than chimpanzees.

Where'd Norfolk go?

I think you had a great guest in JP LeBreton. Lot's of arcane knowledge to share and very enthusiastic. Talking about a Merry Melodies style game, the 'Steamboat Willie' world in Kingdom Hearts 2 was really standout; especially the little gameplay segments like dousing a house on fire and mock air-raids on a toy city. The 3D props all had that bouncy animation loop. On the whole, I really enjoyed that game.

Doh, that's what happens when you start to rely on in-browser spell-check.

Yo Kingzy

Thing is, the more precise your use of language, the more confident you can be that the reader interprets your writing in the way you intended. You can "imply" all sorts of things but fail as a writer if no-one perceives it. Same goes for oration. AS for the original post - I agree. It is not important. There may eventually be a 'correct' spelling for the term, but that will evolve rather than be decided and we won't be able to tell what it is for a couple more decades or so. Language changes, but it doesn't change daily.

:\

Yeah, the high production values of the American podcast are a lot to live up to. If you're going to do more I'd think about saving up for better equipment. But Rusalka was easier to hear. Lawrence and Ben too. Spaff and Marek, no offence, but you both mumble a bit (someone had to say it). Still I enjoyed it; adding Rusalka definitely improved the energy levels, so good move there.