Roderick

That would be amazing and I'd love to see these shows every year. If it is actually true, that's some pretty genius Andy Kaufman stuff. Is there any corroboration on whether it's actually true, or just an excuse?

So, are you all master of your Binary Domain yet?

Yeah, this thread took a turn somewhere.

And we'll keep having it, damnit, every few years until the internet ends!

More impressions: + The story is so good. For some reason I like it better than most of the (historic) stories so far. Again we see that as soon as AC scales back, it gets better. The story this time around is a lot less convoluted, centering on the ascension to the sultan's throne and a threatening coup by the specter of Byzantium. Fewer characters this time around. It works. What I like most of all is that Ezio is making mistakes. There's a feeling - maybe just a feeling - that now that he's older, Ezio is slightly less than he used to be. I can almost hear him sighing upon arrival: I have to fix the whole city again? This theme subtly runs through the whole game. In the later flashbacks, Altair too is struggling with his past mistakes. A sense of loss and regret that comes with old age. It's quite poignant. - There are no more horses. Then again, there's no room in Istanbul to ride them, and there are so many other systems it's not a sore miss. + I take back my initial reluctance to invest in the bombs. They're so much fun! And what a complement to the arsenal of weapons already in the game. I feel like a mad bomber, like the Renaissance version of Waluigi, throwing around sneaky little bombs, blowing the lids off of water wells, setting proximity bombs, creating diversions, oh, so much fun, throwing a sticky bomb on a guard that then explodes into a fountain of coins and the poor, unsuspecting guard is rushed by a frantic crowd. Bombs. + Just like last time, I'm having the most fun with the guild challenges. Wouldn't have minded twice as many crazy suggestions on how to misbehave in public in creative ways. Yeah, they're basically ingame achievements, but this is what they can do for a game like AC, that is basically a giant pool of interlocking mechanics that beg to be abused.

I may have to dig up my wholly illegal copy of SS2 and try it again. My first experience with it, right up until I quit, was hypnotically good - and frightening. You know, I don't think I even got that far, but it still felt hefty. Btw, Sno, I do agree with you on the modding stuff. When I mod the game to better suit my needs, I see that wholly as my own quirk/failing/weakness, not as 'the game is imbalanced'.

Man! How is Adventuregamers.com?

Then you are the real wizard!

I love this advice, which basically says that the accepted standard of playing this game is first nerfing the shit out of it.

For some reason I find this incredible. You just made a beautiful object and you did it yourself.

The first thing that popped into my mind reading the title was "because it isn't remixed, obviously." So, well done. But for a serious answer, I don't really know. I never finished the game because after a while I got stuck on a point where enemy respawn freaked me out too much, but I don't recall the combat to be impossible. A pain in the ass, yes, impossible, no. I am going to assume you're upgrading properly, getting your augmentations and whatnots. Is there maybe a difficulty level you can lower? If all else fails, just open the console and find some good ole cheats. Switching off enemy respawn is a good start (I should do that btw and return to the game).

I'd say Nintendo still has plenty of good prospects on the handheld market, even if and when they have to cede the console one. I'd worry a lot more about Sony's viability, since they've been bleeding money for years and years and it's just not stopping. For some reason I feel Microsoft is going to be A-OK. Triple-A will stay on, it'll all just get consolidated into a few big companies all producing Call of Duty and Assassin's Creed. The credits for Revelations listed five Ubi studios working in tandem. That's the future.

What a touching film! I like how it is actually a different thing than what it appears to be.

Well, it's hardly a comprehensive vision, just a couple of editors stating their personal musings. Some of it is based on data, some on wishful thinking. Shouldn't read too much in it, really.

What's funny is that when we switched to Ezio in the second game, I sort of disliked the new outfit - I thought it was very busy and messy with all the layers of cloth overlapping. Now that I see Altair in Revelations, I'm thinking 'wow, what a simple design'. AC has me, you guys! I can't wait until the next generation of graphics when teeth will be individually modelled instead of a bar of jagged white. (Of course, I still remember the revelation of Half-Life (1) when we actually got NPC's that opened their mouth when they spoke instead of merely tilting their heads. So, all in due time.)

Annoyingly, one of the assassins' bonus objectives is to win the TD game three times. I don't know if my completionist's streak is powerful enough to do that to myself. I've played enough of the game now that it doesn't feel like a disparate bundle of things anymore, but a solid game in a solid place. I'm digging it, it has the same excellent qualities Brotherhood had, minus the awesome city and the cool side missions in the country side. On the other hand, this game has a few things really going for it: - Altair flashback goodness - Old Ezio who is rocking a fine beard I'm seriously impressed with the detail and the animation of the models. Whenever Ezio and Yusuf speak it's so pleasant to watch. I don't know if AC3 really improves on these aspects, or that this is the best Xbox 360 graphics have to offer, but color me charmed. It feels like an improvement over Brotherhood, but I'd have to compare to be sure.

Yeah, as far as I know, the Byzantine templars will attack your territory when your notoriety goes up too much? I kept giving money to heralds, but apparently not fast enough to nullify the mayhem I caused with bombs or something. Anyway, I can keep the territory safe if I have a fully leveled (lvl 10?) assassin as chief there? Worth stocking up on dudes first for, I'd say.

I'm a little confused. Did the goal itself shoot the ball, and is the keeper trying to score a point on his own team? Otherwise, brilliant idea 10/10

Do you know how much effort it took to painstakingly create the mirage of festivities you see left of this? It's a three-year package, at least.

Midna was fantastic, a really great companion with so much character. That said, I wasn't bothered by Navi at all in the two times I played through Ocarina. I'm the same as you, Sno, I played the N64 games for the first time on the Gamecube. First Ocarina, then Wind Waker ( I felt I had to do it chronologically), then Majora. But I just didn't mind the little fairy and thought the strong reaction to her on the internet was mostly exaggerated for comic effect. I don't know if they reduced her frequency of callings on the 3DS remakes that I played later, but it might be you developed an immunity for her as well!

Yeah, that's probably wise. I'm sure that there are quite a lot of problems with AC3, as there are with all the titles in the series (except for Brotherhood, y'all!), but it seems like this is a case of mismanaged expectations. It's pretty funny, because this has been a problem with all the games. In the first two, people expected the world and then came out disappointed when they were inevitably deeply flawed in some way. Now, sure, that's perfectly legitimate. But it gets a little crazy when five games in, people are still drinking the poisoned Kool-Aid. Fool me five times, shame on me. Everyone should know at this point that AC is a weird and convoluted thing that does some things brilliantly and is in other areas. Especially the big games set in new eras, since there will be lots of experimentation there. About Revelations: I can confirm that I'm not a fan of the tower defense stuff. I dislike passionately that you can lose areas and have to do them over again. I might just skip all that stuff entirely, if I can get away with it. Ugh.

The only games I can think of that really needed the pointer thingy were the lightgun games (Umbrella Chronicles/Darkside Chronicles/House of the Dead Overkill/some other ones). Those worked wonderfully on the Wii. All the other games, not so much.

I challenge you to think of a less exciting, even more nondescript title. You can't. Invoice Administration Reclining Ruler Excel Point Info Bracket Alpha Protocol OHHH BURNNNN

THAT is Techno Viking. I love the pointing finger stance. And how he refuses to look at things people hand him out of respect, like water, or a pamphlet.

However it turns out, now, a video game will make us cry in 2013.