Roderick

Have we seen this yet? Music videos with the music cut out and replaced by careful foley.

Bereft of its own topic, I'll just say right here that the opening cinematic of this game, which must've cost a veritable ton of money, is utterly boring. It's an 8 minute (!) fight between nondescript characters and it feels painfully generic. It doesn't have an Elder Scrolls vibe, it features a token seductive woman in boob armor, a token Skyrim ambassador, and confusing, tiring direction. Here, this is it. After the incredible thrill that was the announcement film of Skyrim, how did this happen?

I got a relatively cheap Samsung LCD, "HD Ready", years ago, and though it isn't the best, I'll continue to use it until it gives out or I get a good deal on a 4K tv in ten years or so.

In my imagination a bearded man now appears on the bow and says to the onlookers: "Nay, I shall take only two of each species upon my arc."

I've downloaded the open beta client, so I guess I'm playing Hearthstone now! So far it's gorgeously illustrated and designed, I mean, wow. I instantly started clicking on all the details of the boards and was delighted that stuff started reacting - just little doodads in the backdrop. Nice. I only played with Jaina, so far winning 8 out of the 10 battles I've done against live opponents. It feels good to slap your cards on the table, and the best is that you don't have to wait for all the (elaborate) animations to play out before giving further orders. Your entire turn can be thought out in advance, executed in a flurry and then watch as the board explodes with cards attacking and spells flying simultaneously until your enemy is a smoldering crater.

I used to play Midtown Madness to relax and pass the time when I was anxiously waiting for the results of my high school exams. It's like GTA without all the stressy bits, just cruisin' around Chicago. Probably incredibly outdated and stiff at this point though!

The bat cave man goes far, but it's also kinda neat. He is an unapologetic fan, his family seems totally OK with it... good for him. I wouldn't mind having an awesome private movie theater myself!

What a weird thing to say. Shh, shhhh, Macklemore. Show, don't tell.

Yes, I believe they did. B5 is a different thing altogether though, massively ambitious and with insane plot arcs spanning multiple seasons. In the 90s, that was basically unheard of. Farscape takes a while to get going. Frankly, the whole first season will be an ordeal for some people, with plenty of light stories about goofy space vampires and what-have-you. Then the second season starts and it's suddenly the best sci-fi crack.

Here's a list of similar video games: Finished the survey, btw!

When's the new Idle Book Joint coming out with Shizzle Vanaman?

I would say Farscape is more wildly entertaining than Star Trek, which has a more ponderous tone. More soapy, also, but deliciously so. I'm still slugging through The Original Series, but at a glacial pace. I can't take more than a few doses of 'there's a murderer on a planet and it's actually Jack the Ripper!' before needing a break.

Are you a night porter or somesuch? That very nicely lines up with being able to write a lot, I'd think. Nachimir, I manage to handle my time quite well when writing. I do love the pull of word-tweaking, that's pretty much a given, but I know when to call it quits for the day. I value my sleep too much!

So, which agency is it that hands out triple-A status to developers, was that Standard & Poor's?

Wow, that is funny AND frank AND amazing.

It's the Groningen WayTM

Oh man, Subbes, you're making me feel even guiltier. It's quite true though, and I'm deeply happy that I live in the Netherlands, where you can be a the dude and have that work out. I mean, it's not all sunshine, but part-time is doable if you live frugally. And living frugally is something I've got down pat. I've calculated I could cut down a third of my income and perceive no noticeable difference. Half if I make some moderate changes to my lifestyle. Twig, could you please, while you're still in SF, locate the Thumbs offices, wait for them to record, then kick in the door and deliver some extreme mayhem Eric Andre style?

Wise words. To be frank, that has been my plan so far. In the immediate future I'd like to work one day less in the office and write instead. I think that'd be a great first step. Part-time work would be an ideal way to have a steady income, enough to subsist on, yet have more than enough time to write. I'm not sure if my current company would accept that, though. A lot hinges on being connected to what's going on, which is really hard if you're only there 2 or 3 days. I think in practice I'd start drifting away from the rest, which is a concern readily on their minds. But well, baby steps. By no means will I up and quite, that would be the height of irresponsibility and also, lack of respect.

Fantastic, Nachimir. Good to hear it's working out. It's something that's been on my mind heavily the last few months. I feel absolutely shitty about it, since I should be over the fucking moon that I finally got a great (and it's good, it's really good) job a year ago. And I am still really thankful I got it, it's done wonders on my life in terms of stability and finances. But at the same time, it takes up so much (almost all, actually) time that I'd rather spend on my one true passion, which is writing. And I'm on the cusp of, you know, getting somewhere with it, but the fact that it's almost in sight, so near I can touch it with my lips, makes me even more impatient to start my preferred life already. The life where I can spend all my time in the delicious hazard of writing. Which I fully know isn't an easy life, but we do these things not because they are easy, &c. While I'm in the bustle of work, it's not so bad. But whenever it's weekend, and it is weekend, all I can do is dread the Monday. Why do I work, and why do I live? I feel like the most jaded and ungrateful a-hole. I've got a unique and excellent job, but it's not good enough. The most rational thing to do, which I will probably and unflinchingly do, is to wait out the time and gradually transition from salaried life to the writing life as the latter builds up through whatever means. It's just such a sad thing that as those years tick by, I'll be anxious and furious every day. So that's my bit of whining, for which I profusely apologize!

OK, here's one that shouldn't be here: Superbrother: Swords & Sworcery EP. It's a small game concerned with atmosphere, whose gameplay is about light [touch] discovery. Thing is, the controls make it painfully clear this is an iPad game converted to PC in the worst way possible. Controlling this thing is a drag - literally - where you're constantly fighting against the mouse in even the simplest interaction of walking your character from one scene to the other. The point where I quit was during a boss fight in the second episode (of five, so I didn't even get far). Apart from the huge amount of time it took for the boss to get going, it was just frustrating. On an iPad you might be able to point and touch the right area quickly, but with the mouse it's cumbersome and unintuitive. At this point, all the joy had been drained away. The only reason I wanted to finish this was so I could finish it. What a downer.

The Assassin's Creed influence couldn't be more clear, but if they manage to implement the highlights, I'm open to it. Domineering enemies with your wraith powers seems fun enough, though I share the concern that all the variability will amount to less of an impact than a carefully crafted designer experience would.

Surely the motorcyclist coming by when Chris starts talking about Full Throttle is the pinnacle of the podcast. We're done here.

Atte, that is an amazing picture. The art is here just great. Good stuff coming from the Nordic countries!

Superb, BigJKO. That is one hell of a portrait.

On the topic of Super Saiyans. (Yeah, this is happening.) Before Goku became SS, it actually was a subject of contention and doubt among the cast. Before it happens, I believe Vegeta claimed to have become SS, only to be shattered when Goku gets there first. I guess his rise in power (level) was such that no one even doubted this was the real thing. As for afterwards everyone and the grandmother reaching that state, chalk that up to exponential shonen manga escalation. Isn't that always the case? The once special power becomes a humdrum trope.