Roderick

I'd be interested, though my reading is ofter erratic. I too read only classic literature. Feel free to propose something!

That's cool, Werner Herzog on deranged penguins.

I might be, but then I am known for my abominable taste!

Ubisoft have officially confirmed it won't be Renaissance period? Could you link that, I want to read it. Excited! Also, why do you abbreviate the series as AS instead of AC?

I think these 'expansion packs' will prove pretty integral, since they continue the story of Ezio and Desmond in pretty huge ways. I'm surprised you were so wowed by AC2. I was extremely wowed by the first game, but the second felt just a bit messy in terms of story and structure. The environment was great, but less so than the medieval, sandswept cities of AC1.

I often wonder why more games don't use templar mythology. It seems quite perfect for games.

This was actually one of the first times I saw Colbert not being 'in character'. It's easy to assume he really is the way he is on the show!

Now that I'm a little further away from the game, having finished it about a month ago, I can say that the love died away quickly. While I was playing it was a thrilling ride, but with the benefit of hindsight I echo Miffy's sentiments about the rather stupid, twisty story and it never getting 'better' than it is. It's really good, mind, but it's easily digestible junk food, quickly forgotten. The Mr. Freeze bits were standout though, and the characterization of the villains was particularly awesome. I also stand by the open world being one of the best ones, tight and compact and brimming with stuff to do and life.

Just, don't fly is my advice.

Thunderpeel, please tell me about what Premium Economy is. I'd like to know if it's comparable to KLM / Air France's Economy Plus seats.

Except it wasn't, because the camera pans to reveal Paul Giamatti actually in the audience. Who is Tony Clifton‽

You mean Jim Carrey playing Andy Kaufman playing Tony Clifton from Man on the Moon.

I feel this hasn't had its due praise. Fantastic, including the 'off in Kyoto' re-enactment.

I'm sorry, Miffy! I will play Super Mario 3D Land soon. I love the 3DS. But the other systems have all these video games, man!

That's nothing. I recently had a domesticated swan charge at me when I was handing out bread to 200+ water birds. We saw eye to eye and that was terrifying.

PETMAN is a sweating robot. I guess Michael Bay wasn't that far off when he made all the Decepticons drool. Unsuspected prophet, Bay.

Watched the whole Colbert / Tyson interview. Very enthusing, and fun!

Wow, I get the feeling Skyrim is really stealing a lot of Revelation's thunder. Few people are talking about this game. I'm neither surprised nor disturbed about Revelation's lack of progress. It's been made quite clear AC2-Brotherhood-Revelations is the 'Ezio trilogy', so it should be tonally consistent. The steps forward they've taken have all been for the better. Brotherhood's smaller scale in both story and landmass proved to its advantage, it's a far tighter and more enjoyable experience than AC2, which sort of meandered all over the place. I loved the feeling of slowly unlocking and owning Rome. One great city is better than three good cities. I will play Revelations in due time, probably as soon as I finish Skyrim (which will take me into the next year first, but still). As I've said before, I'm very interested which direction Assassin's Creed will hear after this title. It should get a new engine (this one's been used for three games now, time to retire it) and a new shift in the ages. I've expressed my desire to see Napoleonic Paris and I'll leave it at that.

The Ides of March. After Crazy, Stupid, Love and Drive, Ryan Gosling once again shows himself to be one of the finest actors in cinema now. The Ides of March is a great movie, too. Very subtle, and subtly exciting. No references to the Idle Thumbs podcast, alack.

Sorry BBX

I'm confused, where's the santa hat in that photograph?

You are absolutely right that it is bullshit that prices for digital games are (often deliberately, artificially) kept the same as (or in this weird case, exceed) the price for the boxed copy. That's insane, since about half of a game's price goes to manufacturing (the littlest part), shipping and the store's take. I will grant developers and publishers to earn a little more themselves with digital sales, but it's still ludicrous that games aren't at least 10-20 Euros cheaper if purchased digitally.

This is a horrible discussion Please don't forget that there are many different skill trees in the 'games journalism' class. A blogger doesn't need a diploma, but other pieces might not be meant to convey an experience but rather instruct or teach, or place the reviewed game in a broader context. Academic skill is useful for some parts of journalism, though not all. In that vein, I write for Dutch Nintendo mag [N]Gamer. Of course we write personal opinions on something, but at the same time -don't underestimate this- we do come across as an 'authority' on the subject matter. As such, our words carry weight with our audience and they expect our verdicts to be accurate and informed. As journalists, we must arm us against publisher hype, something the reader has no impetus to do.

55 Euros is pretty much the norm for games in the Netherlands nowadays, so I'm not shocked, you guys.

Don't worry BBX I'm still with you. For now.