Roderick

a delightful reaction!

I don't know which company you currently work for, but have you approached Renegade Kid? They operate from Austin. They're a cool little outfit that made the excellent Dementium games on the DS (hopefully a 3rd is forthcoming!) and are currently enjoying critical acclain for Mutant Mudds. Maybe they could use a good junior artist willing to go the extra mile? http://www.renegadekid.com/company.htm Their job page suggests they're not hiring, but it's never a bad idea to get into contact, leave a portfolio, etc.

Torchlight 2 is different enough from Borderlands 2 to not make it a big issue, I think? Different genres, different settings?

Torchlight 2 is coming in two days and to heighten anticipation Runic have released the soundtrack for free as a download: http://www.torchlight2game.com/news/2012/09/18/the-torchlight-ii-soundtrack/ I know a lot of you really appreciated the Torchlight music, so this should be a treat.

I guess because there are not enough characters in onscreen visualisation.

I saw The Great Dictator. Thanks for the recommendation, brkl.

Good tip!

Ahh, ahhhhh, oh man, ahhhh, I totally found the rare stasis pod just now and got it to the research lab, and it hatched the crystal dude, but then my ship was destroyed before I could take it to the wormhole. Painful. That said, I have unlocked the Zoltan ship and it is a blast to use beam weapons, like FesteDaFool wrote. Of course the boss killed me in its insane second stage. Wow, I don't even know how to tackle that one. Maybe invest in teleporters and a strong boarding party? I was laughably underequipped to deal with his drones. Also, are there any good strategies for milking as many jumps as you can from any system? Obviously, go into nebulas as soon as they're present, but beyond that?

I'm about 130 pages in since last week. The book cast is definitely spurring me to devote a few hours to reading every evening, that's a good thing. I think I'm gonna be fine, but I wouldn't dare to speak for other people with perhaps less free time in the evenings? 500 pages seems doable so far, though.

Nappi: no, all we know is Cloud Atlas Shrugged is the next book. I imagine that if they're planning a longer novel, such as Infinite Jest, they'll announce it a few months ahead. Problem machine: Those feelings are completely relatable and I'd be surprised if someone hadn't been there every now and again. Just remember that as long as your life isn't this-- --you're doing fine. PS. The Weather Man is a pretty amazing movie.

Oh shit, after replaying Thirty Flights of Loving the whole thing came tumbling down on me. The chronology of events, the robot appendages of Anita, my OWN weird mechanical sounding jumping, ah, fridge brilliance. I don't get the full story yet, but that's ok. Pushing the birds into the water is rich,

I just played it for the first time. I didn't have a fucking idea what to expect, so I wrote down the prohibition licence number from the plaque on the off chance this would turn out a vital clue in an adventure game. Yeah.

ALL RIGHT ALREADY, I bought FTL. Happy now, Idle Thumbs?

I fear I didn't really get Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid seven years ago, maybe I should rewatch it now that I've seen more noir. The opening of The Jerk was great though; Martin in the dumpster with that stupid voice of his. It was never easy for me. I was born a poor, black child.

Good good. I just saw The Jerk by the way, purely because Jake referenced it in the podcast. The can-hating sniper scene was one of the funniest moments in the film; otherwise I'm ambivalent towards it. I'll take Planes, Trains and Automobiles over anything else Steve Martin has done.

This may be a little childish, but I've got an account on www.icheckmovies.com, a site that lets you track which movies you've seen. I'm nearing the 1000th movie (listed, though I'm sure I've seen more that I can't remember), and I want that one to be a special one. Any suggestions? I've got some films lying around that might suit the bill (La Regle du Jeu, Sunrise, The Apartment, The Great Dictator, The Sweet Smell of Success, Broken Flowers), but if someone here has the perfect movie in mind, I'm happy to hear it.

On the topic of visual presence of UI, I think its validity depends on the type of game. I haven't played Mark of the Ninja, but if it's the sort of game where it's imperative that you keep tabs on how much health you have or how much you are in sight, specifically in an arcady way, a formal bit of UI is fine. Preferably integrated nicely into the design, of course. If the game is less about arcade minutiae and more about a sense of presence in a world (Assassin's Creed, Elder Scrolls), I feel an interface can be disruptive to the experience. I'm not against it on a principal level, but I do enjoy it when a game offers a clean 'Dark Corners of the Earth' view of the world, unbarred by visual clutter. I found it interesting when Chris mentioned that the familiar 'bloodlust' effect is UI as well. That made me think; yes, it is UI, but it's still of a different sort. Like Vimes wrote, more integrated in the gaming world rather than an abstract visual element. As such, I encourage those solutions.

Good recommendation, will check it out.

I don't know why I wasn't expecting Robocop to actually look different. Like a Crytek soldier rather than, y'know, Robocop.

I completed a video game! It was Last Window: The Secret of Cape West on the Nintendo DS. Got it second hand from a shop since I enjoyed Hotel Dusk, the previous game. It was kinda weird. Like Hotel Dusk, it wasn't particularly fun to play. You run around an old hotel with lots of identical rooms and talk to people. Once you get into the right mindset you do start to enjoy it, but it takes time to bully your brains into accepting the way things are. As an adventure game / visual novel I can't wholeheartedly recommend it, but if you dug the superior Hotel Dusk, this might be worth checking out. IGN.com.

If that last comment was spurred by my post: my use of 'protagonist' was ill-advised. Obviously Tony is the focus of the book, but what was discussed was his involvement in the narrative thread about the sordid affair with Veronica, her mother and Adrian. Tony reflects on it and pushes himself into the investigation, but is not the main player or even a crucial part of the equation - he's merely a hurtful accessory.

First off: good show to hear Alex with his inimitable announcing voice again. Like I said in the earlier topic, I'm really happy with the tone of the podcast being somewhat more serious. It fits the topic much better and encourages some really impressive in-depth thinking. I think it's a very good sign that I was pretty embarrassed throughout that I hadn't been thinking about certain aspects of the book in the same light as you did. A pretty big puzzle piece fell into place when you talked about Tony not being the actual protagonist. That was a revelation. This is why I was and am so enthused for the podcast: I hope it'll sharpen my critical thinking skills retaining specifically to books. It's pretty novel territory to me, so I'm glad this exists. I've started reading Cloud Atlas and look forward to the pre-discussion when I hopefully finish it in a few weeks' time. As for the likeability of characters, I don't think that's a necessary quality at all to gain access to a story. The way I watch films, for instance, I get just as much - if not more - excited by a person who is obviously uncouth than a hero I like or would like to be. I'm thinking of Daniel Plainview from There Will Be Blood or the man whose name escapes me from Last Year at Marienbad. What is more fascinating than having what appears to be a villain before you, and then figuring out what makes them tick, and perhaps even finding something to relate to?

Terrific Virgin Queen.

I actually thought that bit was the best part of the game. Nice 'n revolutionary.

Monsters? They're grognards!