Roderick

Ninja Scroll is really good, absolutely. Hey, apparently the remake of the Space Battleship Yamato anime is quite something. Anyone seen it?

If I look back at my trailer-watching behavior over the past year, I've noticed that I've all but stopped watching them. I've also stopped reading previews or even checking for new games. I don't see that as me growing out of gaming, but as an evolving trend that I don't care about hype and just want to play games. You know, Idle Thumbs is such a good selective system for that. Because my tastes are pretty well attuned to the community, whenever a game is worth playing, there'll inevitably be a topic about it here. The best thing is, that usually means the game is for sale and I can just immediately indulge in it. I have other sources for keeping up to date with games, of course, but across the board I've noticed that personal recommendations by friends has far surpassed trailers and traditional media as a source of information and purchasing decisions.

Yes, I can guarantee you that I will never, ever play EVE Online. Nothing seems like a more souldestroying and inaccessible experience for me. But am I ever happy that it exists. It's just about one of the most interesting gaming things ever. Reading about it never fails to fascinate.

Oh boy. I think I may start rooting for the templars now.

And isn't that what we're all secretly hoping for? That one hard disc failure that'll push us over the edge to going Luddite.

Stay tuned for more Dukes of Hazzard!

Turns out Phil Collins was singing about Dead Space all along.

Absolutely fantastic read.

External hard disks have served me well so far, I always keep multiple copies of all my work.

You know what? That actually, literally interests me so much: a hardcore science fiction universe that's all about trade disputes and legislative procedure. What a fantastic, novel angle to explore the genre with. The reason it's so bad (relatively bad - I actually did dig the principles surrounding the first film, what with the trade blockade as a pretext for war, it's kind of interesting!) is because the movies and the writing are bad, not the idea itself. Example: Spice & Wolf is a fantasy anime about harvest gods fighting against religious prejudice. I can hear you yawning with utter boredom and you're right, it sounds super tedious. Except the anime is framed as a story of trade and commerce, around a merchant going from town to town. It's interesting as a result.

I don't like the grass, but the grass likes me.

I get that, but the Sith are totally evil and they know that. They call it the 'dark' side, they're always cackling and being cruel, they delight in suffering... this is no mere case of differing points of view. I mean, I would totally think it more interesting if the Sith were exactly that, that they didn't consider themselves evil and held themselves with nobility and pride. The movies and games and books are not that, though. These dudes are bad news and they know it. I'm taking risks here, getting caught up in an argument about Star Wars.

That's shitty and very alarming and it makes me consider not getting SSDs.

Cube was such a great movie. Even the sequels, though horrible, were good by proximity.

Hmm, yes, but that does create a strange paradox in the Sith. Why would you want to rule over the galaxy if not for material gain (the ability to do anything, buy anyone, use everyone)? Or is that just the 'evil' thing to do? George Lucas is more like a Ferengi.

No it's not!

A warm feeling, transmitted from Peter Molyneux to you.

I would applaud Shadows of the Empire, but doubt the next episodes will be it. Abrams is going to do his own thang. Even though this is excellent news for Star Wars, there is really no need to make any more Star Wars, ever. Really, there's enough. There are enough stories in the Star Wars universe. There is enough lore. Please stop and make something new and surprising. Also, it occurs to me that Lucasarts are not Jedi, but Sith. The Jedi are an order of ascetics, of people renouncing material wealth and all about living cleanly. Star Wars as a franchise? A billion figurines and lunch boxes and endless merchandise for ravenous children (and adults).

I think I'm nearing the end, I just got a radically awesome bit with old Altair just, you know, coughing and wheezing and KICKING ASS. Some of the synch stuff should've been checkpointed. I'm looking at you, templar hideout where you mustn't be seen yet there are three separate areas you need to do perfectly in a row. On the other hand I just did the wonderful Hagia Sofia interior, I love those climbing bits. I get the feeling they're a lot more prescribed than in Brotherhood though - I'm spending way less time looking and being stumped at where the heck I should go. Still awesome though.

For now, it's a blast from the past as I dig deep to haul up titles from my youth, like MSX games Magical Kid Wiz and Knightmare. Fun to reminisce and have a list of everything you've played at some point. I'm at 150 games and nowhere near the end.

I was sold at "skillgrimage". That IS a nice tree and a great way to allow for crazy permutations!

I'm starting a backloggery account (http://backloggery.com/HeerRood) and after just barely skimming the top, with Marios and Zeldas, I'm breaking 50 games. No wonder I can't get very excited for Zelda anymore, I've played a dozen of 'em within the last seven years! I'm also pretty proud of my full completion of GBA/DS Castlevanias.

That's a fine bookcase and I'd like to book a holiday to meet it. Let's see, one week for all of that Sandman? Doable y/n?

Waitaminute you all like Immortals? I dunno, it just... maybe it lacked a quadrupal whisky, but I was a lot more impressed with Wrath of the Titans after that.

Hey I remember seeing footage from No Time To Explain some time ago and thinking it looked super funny and interesting. I'm putting it on a buying list as soon as my PC is up and running. (Probably some other stuff is first, though, no hard feelings.) Good job, sir!