Roderick

Great to read all of that! I never really played The Last Express, it flew under the radar. But the setting seems extraordinary and the level of detail great. Plus, the visual style. Gotta score this somewhere, even though adventure games generally bore me a bit nowadays. But this seems different. Good interview, Chris =)

Finally made it to Northrend! And I already love what's happening here; arriving at Vengeance Landing, the old Undead quest-lines are finally picked up again. I remember starting questing to make Sylvanas' new plague some four years ago in Tirisfal Glades and Silverpine Forest... it's incredibly exciting that that work is now finally going to pay off, narratively speaking! That's the genocidal Undead race I know and love! Let's just go and kill everything that lives, died, rose again or ever moved. Victory for Sylvanas!

Now, now, you know exactly what was meant there; as it was a reaction to Karimi's guide, which is brilliant precisely because it ironically describes such a culture here. The truth is obviously that newcomers are very welcome here and embraced, in my experience, immediately. The Thumbs atmosphere isn't hostile in that respect at all. We just love a good storm-off

Maybe I should try to get an interview with Hot Scoops Gaynor.

They'll probably cut it out, but if it gets through; here's the sentence that will be featured alongside a screenshot of... The Wizard: Een formidabele hanteerder van mysterieuze magie; de Wizard gaat de strijd aan met vijanden van een afstandje met ondoorgrondelijke krachten als ‘Improved Spectral Blade’.

I only need to write the texts to go with the screenshots, so I'll try to sneak it in somewhere. That'll be the second time an Idle Thumbs reference makes it into my articles!

Right now I'm writing a Diablo 3 preview for the Dutch mag GMR, and all I hear in my head while writing it is... 'cause I'm the motherfuckiiin Wizard! THE WIZARD... a formidable wielder of arcane magicks!

Yahtzee should hire Chris to make songs for him. Please, señor Super-douche!

Anyone who does anything in the journalism sector knows it isn't easy at all to write something good or say something good. And podcasts will have the added pressure of having to perform on the spot. On the other hand, once you've got a good conversation going with the other people on the show, there should also be some magical flow happening when you get in the zone. At least, that's what I would think.

For what it's worth, I thought Zaarin was beginning to become one of the in-crowd. But then maybe that takes years and years. Please come back, Zaarin! The guilty have been punished and their accounts deleted!

Also: did you have your neck shortened, Marek?

An observation: the US podcast usually sounds like there are at least six people disagreeing with each other and having mad enjoyment. I think one extra Yufster would achieve much the same.

I think with three people you might get a better Synergy going on, because it occasionally becomes too much like two people agreeing on everything. Which is nice, but sometimes you just need a little bit of discord, or Yufster saying something inappropriate about Molyneux. The singing children is win though, you MUST have them do more. Maybe the british intro theme? I don't care how much effort it takes! This post is brought to you by Synergy.

The guide wasn't mine, it was... ermmm... Twifkak's? Oh cripes, I can't remember. It's brilliant though. I'm sure it was a Scandinavian Thumbeteer! [EDIT] Haha, that's the second time in two days I've had to edit my comment on someone because they changed it within the first minute of its existence. I gotta stop myself posting so quickly. Nappi, you say? Might well be!

I KNOW EVERYTHING!!

Do we have an itinerary of the second half of the season yet? Somewhere March-y? I'll probably have to rewatch everything to remember what happened exactly again. Still... there's the old vibe. I wonder how many times they'll be able to get Adama to destroy his wooden ship again in the few episodes left. I expect a solid two times at least.

Ohh, we just love a good storm-off.

Peas & Rice, you use 28" (wide, I presume) as a computer screen? Can you actually take in everything at once while playing, or do you find the need to 'scroll' from left to right like reading a book?

We had that exact idea in the studio where I work as well, but couldn't be bothered because we're lazy bums.

Interested to hear what they'll say to that. I have read similar stories when I was in the market for an HD(-Ready) tv myself earlier this year. I settled on a 37" HD-Ready tv (about 88cm) because if I had gone larger, it would have needed to be Full HD to be really crisp. Now I only notice graininess if I get really close. Otherwise it's really nice. The only drawback is that my particular tv suffers from a lot of ghosting, which is shit especially with games that feature bright, saturated colours. It's a Samsung, by the way, which usually comes recommended but in this case it was a bit of a letdown.

Well then, we are fuckin' agreeing. I like me a little polish though. But I always enjoy the middle road of the failed masterpieces. Something like Morrowind, love it. But a well-polished Gears 2 is high on my list too.

You were saying exactly that in the last sentence of your previous post. Badly worded from your side maybe, and I understand the context like I said, but you are in fact saying that it's sad when people want polish over originality, which I dispute. You make two points; I agree with the latter, but not the former. That's all it is =) No need for heated battle.

Really? It's sad that people want polish? I understand the context of course, but you may be taking your point too far. Both originality and good execution are great boons, and there's nothing inherently wrong in choosing either one over the other. In fact, in most games I see a lack of both, so let's not favour the one over the other just yet, until there really is that hypohetical situation where all games are exceedingly polished and fantastic to play, but completely unoriginal.

Meh, pity they didn't just tell us, but it's still a cool idea, and well-executed. The biggest shame is that they didn't put in the effort to make it 100% real, without digital wizardry (THE WIZARD) and hidden cuts, because then it wouldn't have lost any of its lustre.