Roderick

This is maybe, perhaps fun to read in this regard; the retrospective on Idle Thumbs I wrote a few years ago during the whole Kickstarter excitement: https://www.idlethumbs.net/forums/topic/7588-idle-thumbs-a-retrospective-in-triple-a/

US PC version, EU Xbox, generic Steam.

Yeah, Steam has been a great way to whittle away at my physical collection, though I pride myself on my three different versions of Psychonauts (PC, Xbox and PC digital).

I belieeeeeve there was already a premature GOTY2013 topic somewhere, but at the same time I'm fine with it co-existing.

If you're into the JRPG side of the spectrum, HNNNNG, you could do a lot worse than picking up both Kingdom Hearts 3D and Theathrythm: Final Fantasy. Amazing games. Also Phoenix Wright 5 from the eShop.

Congratulation, Stevesy and the rest of the Gone Home team! I said it before and I'll say it again: it's the best thing you did all year with the exception of raking up my memory of Take No Prisoners.

No, you clearly don't understand that this limited piece of information we have proves that the designers have no idea how to balance their game in a meaningful way.

As long as I can still firebomb bosses from outside their gate, I'll be good with anything they put in the sequel.

There was a period in my life when every time I put on Voyager it was a rerun of the Tom Paris Becomes A Fish episode. I liked that episode, because it involved a creepy transformation, which even then I understood as utter bollocks.

The threat of big dog is the threat that keeps on giving.

After succesfully freeing your people, they are now dying of thirst in the desert. The Lord commands you to extract water from a rock. > Talk to the rock > Hit the rock > Tear your clothing and spread ash over your head --- You hit the rock. The Lord is disappointed in you. You will never see the promised land of milk and honey. Return to the beginning and try again.

You descend from the mountain and see your people enraptured by a golden calf, dancing and frolicking in the desert after generations of enslavement. In your hands you hold the commandments of the Lord. What do you do? > Smash one of the tablets > Smash two tablets > Smash no tablets, but gaze ahead with a mixture of reproach and disappointment

I'd say in those times salt is still a very valuable commodity. A smart entrepeneur could devise a system of turning slaves into salt and make huge profits. Thanks, Sodom!

How did I only recently learn of the existence of the idea of Universal Basic Income? It's been around for ages and has been championed time and time again by Nobel winners, scientists and social reformers; always crashing on the shores of scared politicians. Here's the article that I read on it, it's fascinating: https://decorrespondent.nl/541/why-we-should-give-free-money-to-everyone/31639050894-e44e2c00 The short of it is that it is a supremely good idea to give everyone a basic income as a human right. Extensive trials carried out in the US and Canada have shown people become happier, healthier and still continue to work. It would cut away the wildgrowth (in the Netherlands at least) of different social welfare programs and all the bureaucracy that goes along with it, replacing it with one elegant, fair system. It immediately erases poverty and its heavy toll on society. In the long run it saves money because people have less reason to resort to crime and are healthier ( = less medical costs), because they're less stressed about survival and have the means to take good care of themselves. It wouldn't really cost society much more in the short term either, it's simply a different allocation of resources. It seems to me like a logical progression of our 21st century society, and a good step to back away from the increasingly cold and menacing 'every man for himself' culture that's been developing here; which widens the gap between rich and poor and cuts down welfare programs. I read some more and found this EU citizen's petition, which prompted me to make this embarrassing topic here, to ask you (if you're a EU resident) to sign before it closed January 14th. The petition is far removed from the million signatures it needs, but my heart breaks when I think about such a utopian idea - backed with hard data that suggests its viability - not even tried because, again weirdly, this idea hasn't caught on in a big way yet. Link to petition: http://basicincome2013.eu/

Is anyone else getting a Macarena of the Missing «Limbo of the Lost» vibe from this?

Congratulations, Frenetic Pony. In my time in Hollywood I saw a lot of hustling done by many talented writers, and it's indeed not all rosy. I don't know if you've written screenplays before or if this is your first. Famous scribes Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio say that it takes about thirteen screenplays before you have honed your craft such that you've produced an actual good script. Prepare for a long struggle, but don't give up. This is a good place to start, enjoy it.

Zeus, I have no idea how it would work with taxes. I was thinking about it too, how the government would sustain the system. Reorganisation of current benefits would account for part of it, as would future savings on health care and crime costs. Taxation would still be part of it, so on second thought, if employers would lower wages, that might put a dent in the tax flow. Again, I'm no economist, I'm working with the reports I read that say it's viable.

Yes, this is the 'poverty trap', where you either have to cross a certain threshold before working becomes profitable again, or you might as well not work, which is essentially the same problem as described above. Basic income would have no such flaw.

Tycho, that subjective review of Far Cry 2, that I know you just whipped up in a minute, is the manna I crave.

Wow, this certainly stirred (BREENGRUB) a lot of thought! One of the hypotheses I came up with when considering why this idea hadn't caught on yet, is that many people have been brought up with the following cocktail of ideas: 1) You have to 'earn your money' 2) People are lazy and would stop working/squander the money 3) It's unfair to give people money when some work and other don't However, these thoughts are either based on assumptions, or are remedied instantly by a basic income! 1) The basic income is just that: a basic income, tied to the poverty line, that'll give you exactly what you need to provide in your most basic needs. Anything on the topic of luxury, you'd still have to work for. Consider also how good this system could be for employers, since they could lower salaries by the amount of the basic income! This isn't really about giving people more money, rather it's a reallocation of existing money in a better way. 2) If you read the article I linked, you'd understand this premise to be false. It's based on the entirely negative worldview that people are at their core evil, lazy, meanspirited and don't share. The trials and research point to the opposite direction. People continue to work, build up their lives in a better way, use the money extremely judiciously (look at the London experiment with vagrants!) and are then able to do more for their community. I would expect volunteer work to rise wih the advent of the basic income. 3) The beauty of the basic income is that it's fair. Everyone gets exactly the same. Rich, poor, no one left behind. That takes the sting out of a lot of the current misgivings people have about welfare programs, and again shortens the divide between the haves and havenots. Synthetic, I feel your pain. I think this idea is a lot more ripe in Europe than in the US, as your culture is so strangely afraid of anything that reeks of socialism, taxation and welfare. In the Netherlands, we're already halfway there, and it's a logical progression. But we'll have to do it now, before we continue on the path of eroding our welfare system to the point of no return.

I'm thinking more sister site in an expanding empire.

It's been years since I heard that one, and it only gets more bizarre and funny without the context of the original conversation. So, well done.

That's an interesting thought: if this is how an objective review would look, what would a completely subjective one be like? Completely rant-filled, all caps, like film crit hulk? Passionately avoiding any and all actual information on the game and gliding by as a stream-of-consciousness, devoid of any context, that would embarrass and discomfit even Salman Rushdie?

BREENGRUB HAS STIRRED. BREENGRUB HAS STIRRED ON TWITTER.

Twig, don't run if you hate running. Or, run until you Stockholm Syndrome it. Or, find an exercise that you do like. Swimming might not work, but how about walking or jogging? Light fitness that you can do in your own home? Biking? Hiking? Facebook Liking? Maybe not that last one.