Roderick

Game looks like fun, but oh boy is that trailer voice over stupid. Buckets of cliche.

About the Portlandia thing: sometimes it is deliberately obfuscated what the point actually is, so everyone can latch on and feel smart about it. Or so you have to deliberate on it. Case in point, the 'Heckler' episode of Louis, season 1. (Note: the lady is acting, this is staged). It really isn't clear what Louis is saying with this bit. I took it as a complaint of how inappropriately comedians can sometimes abuse their microphone in saying heinous things. But that point isn't overtly made, so it may well be a genuine attack on hecklers. It just isn't that clear, so you can read both sides into it. The point may be to make up your own mind.

Haha, no not really. I dunno, it'll be impossible to find this one.

That style of gameplay, topdown with shadows etc, reminds me of a title I played in the 90s, but damned if I can't remember the title. It was semi-future, but not very far into it. 3D.

So appropriate, for everything.

Hmm, seems like an outlier among the general appreciation of the game. I'll read some more and wait for the patch, and if it fixes the bad points I'm still more than interested to give it a go - especially at the low price point.

Strike Suit Zero is out on steam for a meagre 15 US dollars. PA Report says it's a fantastic game - especially as soon as the checkpoints are patched as promised. Unfortunately I'll have to wait a few weeks until I get a good internet connection on my desktop before I can play this thing. I expect I'll get to it in Q1 at least, but it's high on my list!

The DS game never made it out of Japan - or at least, never to Europe. I have seen it though, at a friend's who imported it to practice his Japanese. It looked like a fun, if simple JRPG on that system. The PS3 version might be still better, no idea, but I'm hearing good things across the board. And it does look very pretty.

Can I also express my fondness for the fact that Nintendo is just going with Iwata, reading from an autocue while standing stiff as a plank, for making their huge announcements? It's so wonderfully down to earth. He should do it, because he's the guy making the decisions. No flash, no actors, no pumping iron, just the real Iwata.

Steve Ballmer is a Video Gaming Treasure.

Piratepoo; I'll be doing lots of different styles of animation and designs, all in the interest of communicating a specific analytical process. That may sound a little boring, but it totally isn't! I'll get to do really cool and creative things across the board. Subbes; despite new work success, I won't forget either you or Arino. Good luck with the move! Osmosisch; this is the best thing: it isn't in the Randstad. It's in the Den Bosch region, so the river landscape that I'm familiar with and love (I grew up below Nijmegen). I'm super happy about the location, since I'll have plenty of rustic area around me, yet also a big city and easy public transportation access. I don't want to disclose names and specifics just yet, sorry for that. Maybe once everything finalizes!

Oh, I so want to join in on the festivities, but I first must learn if Wind Waker HD will have the tantalizing scrapped content or not. If it has, I am getting a Wii U like mad, no question. If it hasn't though, and it's "just" a (beautiful, amazing) HD upgrade... Gotta hold back the celebrations inside...!

Thanks! I'm very excited and have been preparing for the talks on job terms &c.

All of it entirely possible!

It's not going to go that fast, and a big part of the reason is indeed established retail. The consoles still need the shops to sell, and those shops will refuse to sell consoles if there isn't also a truckload of physical games to make money off of. Don't underestimate the power of stores. Not stocking new product can be a death knell. You and me will still get the goods online, but the average person, i.e. where the money is, will not. This is the reason why Nintendo is taking such care to offer its downloadable full games for a. full retail price, so as not to anger shops, and b. also provide physical boxes with a gift card in them, to sell in stores. Another reason is visibility. Digital products have much less visibility than a real product in the real world. Again, not a problem for Steam users like us, but how many 'casual' people do you know with Steam? Look, I'd rather not have all that either, apart from the pleasures of second hand, but that's the way the cookie crumbles. For now.

Sorry, I don't have double blind tests for that - just my own experience. I've had bouts of RSI over the years. Of course I cut down on time in front of a screen, but I found that the whole thing just disappeared as by magic, when I started feeling better about myself and my work. I figured stress had more to do with my case than anything physical. YMMV.

Carpal tunnel also has LOTS to do with stress. Stress can be a major factor in its development.

Not his best, but any Butterfield is good. Beeh-ceeh!

Mine is white, but with a shade. The others are looking at me with suspicious minds. We can't go on together.

The prospective employer I spoke of on the previous page? They'd love to have me! Talks begin next week. Holy cow, it seems like I actually have a job!

Nothing a good dose of Ultravox won't help.

Very interesting, I watched it in total. I actually find this a comforting message, because it confirms some things (sugar is bad, multiple diets work but not for reasons advertised), denounces others (the oft heard notion that carbs are the root of evil).

I’d like to start a discussion on something that might be kind of dangerous territory. Actually, I don’t know how people will react, but the topic seems to be the sort of thing that is either avoided or frowned upon. At least, I’ve never seen this discussion in any real form anywhere. From the start I want to stress that I’m not out to be insulting or contrary or whatever: you folks are the smartest people I know on the web and I’m looking for an honest, intellectual debate. The thing that I’m concerned with is: might it not be immoral to have children? Let me briefly describe my reasoning. 1. Life isn’t so great. Wait, that sounds terribly depressing. The thing is, I’m quite a cheerful and optimistic person, but when I look around and see how the world is, and experience the hardships of living in my own small way (knowing that I am among the top 1% of luckiest people alive, ever), I can’t but conclude that life is hard. The thing is, even when you lead the most blessed life imaginable: you are healthy, wealthy, find love and friendship, have caring parents, live in a beautiful environment… you still have to face your own mortality and eventually die. You will lose those you love. You will grow old and decrepit. You will in your lifetime suffer disease and perhaps succumb to it. You will most likely have to struggle your entire life to get by financially and be always at risk of ruination. That doesn’t nullify the good things in life, such as playing video games and finding love and listening to David Bowie, but neither is the reverse true. Life is a struggle. Would I want to do that to my children? 2. Making a child is spinning the wheel of fortune. You don’t know and can’t guarantee that your kid won’t be born with some terrible sickness or disability. Who knows whether they’ll develop any number of wasting diseases in their life? What if their life is full of misery that is completely out of their control? That’s such a frightening thought! I don’t want to gamble with the health and happiness of my theoretical kids. And the older you get, the more plentiful the tales become of the people who got the short end of the stick. I look around and see people suffering every day. Whoops, you got cancer, a muscle disease, a bad heart, suffered an accident and are now in chronic, unbearable pain. If you have children, you basically spin the wheel and cross your fingers it’ll land on something good. At the end of the day, it boils down to this. I would want nothing but the absolute best for my children. As such, I think they may be best served by not existing at all. I understand that getting children is culturally and to some degree biologically hardwired, and from the perspective of the parents it makes sense to get kids: you are cared for in old age, the idea of starting a family/dynasty, finding a purpose in your existence by rearing new life, maybe you love babies, etc. But from the perspective of the child, nobody asked them to live, and it might even be an unwanted gift. For the record: I do not hate life or people. I’m not a nihilist. Once life is there, I think it is worth fighting for and one must strive to make the absolute best out of it, not just of their own but of everyone’s. And there are plenty of good things too in life, and worthwhile things. But to create life, which happens solely for the pleasure of the parent (even though the experience may be far from pleasurable at some times!), is a different thing altogether. I think it’s worthwhile to discuss this and am very interested in the reactions. Please don’t be angry, I’m not attacking anyone here that might already have kids. I’m just trying to sort this out, and I understand that this is all theory and philosophy – and not actually practical in life, because people are not steered by philosophy and morality in any absolute way.

I think it's pretty clear that the world would look upon this person as an interesting experiment, but it's doubtful if it would turn into the Truman Show (let alone creepy thrillers about government facilities, or worse, Twins). We were mildly interested in Dolly the sheep too, but that waned. Of course, Dolly didn't impose all those nasty little questions about the nature of humanity that some folks are bound to become deeply conflicted by. I wouldn't rule out idiots/zealots/hardcore speciesists to attempt an assassination. From the scientific perspective, this experiment is so incredibly interesting. If we can guarantee a more or less "normal", i.e. dignified with choices, life for this person, I don't think it would be immoral to do it. Though I think there is a lot of sense to the concern that a neanderthal will have little defence against modern diseases. It might be a sickly thing that needs to be kept in a bubble all its life.

I think that's overcomplicating it a little