Roderick

Holy shit, that's extreme, Snoogle! I'm not really familiar with a 'grand mal' or 'tonic clonic', but it sounds terrifying, waking up and having sprained and dislocated everything.

,,It is your patriotic imperative to oppose women's suffrage!"

I think the Red Dead thread proves that game has plenty of potential too. Maybe not as much as a Far Cry 2, but there's stories a-cookin' there.

I can not think of a more bland, uninspiring term. It sounds like a line of browser code. Perhaps it doesn't immediately pop out as ultra bad because game titles have a tendency to be shit. The Conduit? Really?

Fantastic, Stevan. I had seen those sample machines put to use before, but never as skillfully and poignant as this.

Alpha Protocol might just be the worst title ever for a product which desires to make you want to play it. Wat waren zij denkende?

I just went one single day, today it's more of the same. It's GDC in the small, with a mix of business and inspirational. Of course, in typical Dutch tradition it's quite small, though this year's keynote speakers were pretty cool (the creator of Pacman and Ian). I got in for free on my press merits, but if you had to pay hundreds of Euros for the pleasure, you may have felt it was a bit not worth it. Students could get in for less, though.

Not entirely my best picture, but I'm hoping Ian Livingstone next to two beautiful Dreambear promo girls makes up for that.

Two sword kendo style is so awesome and insane... cool seminar! I doubt I'll be able to attent, bit out of reach, but it's a great incentive.

Just like Dan, I've just finished Shogun, albeit in bookform, which was terrific. I'm a little vexed about the Total War series though. It seems like an entirely too complex thing for me. Is it the sort of thing that has gotten so complicated that it's impossible to enter? Otherwise, the Japanese setting sound really cool.

I watched a movie yesterday that I didn't even know existed until it was already out of cinemas: Solomon Kane. After a story by Robert E. Howard, creator of Conan. The movie start out pretty strongly, but spiralled into pulpiness in the second half, never to recover. It's a shame, for a while it seemed like it might have some interesting things to say on damnation, but in the end it turned out a weak plot point, a pretence for some shallow character development. I'm also throroughly bored with big CGI creatures to fight at the end of a movie. Not with the concept per se, but the execution is usually so vapid and uninteresting, it's just an obstacle, they might as well not be there for the story.

I think that's my point, Thunderpeel, that's why I made the comparison to Sin City. It's not the violence that bugs me, it's that the characters are not believable within the context of the movie world. Kick-ass does attempt to bring a realistic world with realistic consequences. That's what makes these characters fail so particularly hard, that's the disconnect. No one expects Marv to act like a human being, ever, in his black and white noir world. But we have to swallow that South Park works because the whole world is presented as a satire, completely farcical. Kick-Ass presumes realism. That's the difference.

I thought that trailer rocked. Largo's off, but the rest seems pretty good, actually! I love the developer's commentary and the updated music!

I love how this game's random event mechanics create the most heart wrenching unscripted scenarios. I already spoke of the way a lynching gone bad can really get to you, but what happened last night blew that away. I had won a round of Liar's Dice (which is surprisingly fun). To celebrate, I thought I'd get completely wasted, so I started ordering liquor until I couldn't anymore. I stumbled away from the bar and in typical hilarious Rockstar fashion I'd tumble over and just lie down for seconds before slowly rising again. I managed to stagger out of the pueblo's restaurant into the nightly air. I was enjoying this, really. Then suddenly a woman screamed. As I jerked my head at her she came running from an arcade chased by an angry Mexican guy. This is usually where you'd lasso the guy and save the lady. But I was too drunk to pull my gun. As I looked at her, haggardly and barely able to stand, the man jumped on her with a knife. I couldn't do a thing and once again fell down on my drunken ass. The man stabbed the lady to death violently and ran away. That night, John Marston swore never to drink again. It seems the decency of this world rests on my shoulders, and I neglected that responsibility. The weight of this virtual world is truly terrifying.

Well gosh, Miffy, now I feel like a dick that I just posted a rant called 'The Killing of Kick-Ass' on August: http://www.captainaugust.com/allies-of-war! Actually, no. I do get a little carried away, but that's because words are fun.

Was anyone still expecting it? Also, besides the teased we knew so little about the project that it's hard to have felt real excitement for it. Maybe now Ancel will be able to make something new and creative in his own studio instead of being restricted by execs?

I forgot to say that you are a king, sir.

God, stupid of me that I didn't recognize it. It indeed looks like Deathnote. That Castlevania pic of Belmont is horrible though.

Simon could be in GAY, a GAY musical! (Aren't all musicals gay?)

I might be alone in this, but I saw Kick-ass yesterday and I didn't like it. The characters were completely unbelievable and the child-murderer scenes I found distasteful. I can see this working as a comic book, but not as a movie. I understand this is typical Mark Millar fare. I loved the Wanted comic. But Kick-ass the movie just fell completely flat. Bonus points for a really smart final line though. I felt smart when it came up.

If you have a dojo in the neighbourhood, check it out. The first half year you won't be in armour anyway, so you can just have fun swinging a stick before making a decision on whether you want to be a samurai.

It's not a dumb question! The answer is fortunately that kendo doesn't hurt. In fact, it's the full-contact sport that's least likely to fuck you up (which is why you see so many 80+ Japanese guys practice kendo still, it doesn't strain the body). You also wear an armour that protects the specific points where your opponent can hit you. Of course, you will get a few bruises because in the heat of battle a hit is easily misplaced into, say, your ribs or arm. They're small inconveniences though. Kendo is really quite a safe sport. I hear karate is much more painful because you're really hitting each other and grappling without protection. I wouldn't want to do that because I'm a wuss. That alone shows that kendo is within wuss-pain-bounds.

You'd better be okay, because otherwise the Toblix Free Games Gift Train is passing through your station unnoticed! My kendo is going pretty well. I'm having some difficulty getting motivated ever since I got to wear my bogu armour, because it's super hard (and increasingly hot as the months progress). Once I'm training I always love it though. I had a big round of sparring yesterday with a fighter who was superior to me. He held himself back, but it was still too much for me to handle. I managed to score a point though, and held out for quite long. I'm getting there.

Man, I'd love to join, but it's too much hassle dragging my Xbox to an internetconnection at work =( Have fun though, you lot!

Okay, now this thread is closed.