Roderick

The true function of Twitter is to make humorous posts in 140 characters, comment loosely on something or someone, and generally maintain weak social bonds with people. That's not a disparaging comment, by the way, it's actually pretty useful and important to do that. Also, #twitterchillers

Superb that we have a 2004 Jesper Kyd album, which I think is before he really hit it big time with Assassin's Creed?

BadHat, that Guilt Machine track is fantastic! Thanks for posting it.

I love that there's someone out there who was captivated by the idea of watching Urotsukidoji in his youth, never got around to it and now is convinced he's missed some hidden pearl. BadHat, please locate and watch it, then report back. Prepare for... embafflement.

This was truly the Year of the Indie Renaissance for me. I think the only blockbuster game I played this year was Dark Souls, and that's such an outlier it's ridiculous. A recurring problem in my list is that I mainly played games of the last couple of years, and only very few that came out this year. From the top of my head, only Proteus, Gone Home, Rogue Legacy, Dual Destinies, The Starship Damrey and maybe a few others were from this year. That seriously hampers any current discussion, I'd say. But, let's not be a spoilsport about this. Of all the games I happened to play this year, these were the ones that made a definitive impact on me. Nominees Indies: Dear Esther, Gone Home, Thomas Was Alone, Awesomenauts, Dust: An Elysian Tale PC extravaganzas: Dark Souls, Deponia, Sonic & All-stars Racing Transformed Handheld pleasures: Theathrythm: Final Fantasy, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies, Mii Force, HarmoKnight, Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask Winners Indies: ERROR This is impossible to pick. The serious competition is between Gone Home and Dear Esther on the one hand, both of which are arguably the same "genre", but so evocative both in their own right that I can't choose, and Dust: An Elysian Tale on the other, which is this cool, atmospheric platformer that I really liked. Gun to my head, I'd probably pick Gone Esther. Or Home Dear. PC extravaganzas: Dark Souls No contest, really. Deponia and Sonic were fun, but Dark Souls was this crazy thing that absorbed me for months. Handheld pleasures: Theatrhythm: Final Fantasy It's truly stupendous that I'd pick a rhythm game over a new Phoenix Wright, but there you have it. It held me enthralled for so many evenings. That's the power of music and the long legacy of beautiful Final Fantasy soundtracks.

Not played Terraria, not necessarily sold on Starbound, but the trailer brought me into contact with the mindblowing soundtrack of the game, that you can listen to on the site, and it's intergalactic.

I haven't read a single thing in this thread because I've only now played and finished the game. I was totally absorbed by it, what a wonderful story, beautifully told. I was rooting so hard for Sam, and at one point I was so angry at Janice for her extreme double standards in living a proper life. And the Greenbriars have excellent taste in film: Ghostbusters/Labyrinth? SOLD.

This thread is the absolute best.

That is exactly what my table looks like when I (used to) eat at MacDonalds. Laughing people, pearly teeth, perfectly positioned canisters of nutrition before a hovering camera.

Samurai X, even though it makes sense considering his scar, is a horrible Pepsi Generation X name. Let's just call it by its official title: Meiji Swordsman Romantic Story.

Yesterday I tried one last time to get GTA4 running, but it was just not possible. I tried verifying the Steam download files, as per moderator tip, but to no avail. I uninstalled the game. After all this effort, I'll have to wait for 5 and see if that's another PC clusterfuck.

Good advice, thanks. I naturally nudge towards this, but part of the dating thing is sitting in doubt, apparently! I guess the most important quantifier of success is whether we go on a second date or not. If so, I expect things'll go by themselves afterwards. The good thing about all this is: I had fun and met an interesting person who is also a lady!

The weirdest thing: I was so psyched for Legend of Grimrock when it appeared and I bought it soon after. I only now got around to trying it and I don't like it at all. This has made me re-evaluate what I was attracted to in the first place. Utterly loving Lands of Lore (the first one), I assumed that love would transfer into other tile-based dungeon crawlers. But Grimrock doesn't do it at all for me, and I think I got it wrong. What so attracts me in Lands of Lore isn't the game engine, it's the fact that it's a story-driven game based around exploration. Grimrock, on the other hand, has very little story and a big emphasis on fighting. Exploration isn't really all that present, at least not in the sense that I like it, because you just get a story-less tileset that repeats. That bores the skull out of my head. It took me not long to rmeove Grimrock from my system. At least it taught me a lesson in what I really like.

I just had a date with an online contact, we went lunching in the city. I had a good time, and I think she had too. I'm pretty interested in her, but I can't help doubting myself, thinking that maybe I should've been more, y'know, seductive and everything. In this case, we just chatted about all sorts of interesting and personal things. Am I being paranoid about having done something wrong? The upshot is that if I'm worried about screwing it up, it must mean I really feel something for her.

FFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!! I knew there was one!!

Yeah, doubt it'll be more than that. I first have to start AC3 though >_>

Well, it's much better. Multiplayer Online Battle Arena is... kinda clunky and 90s? Lords Management, now there's a term for the future now.

If I take an honest look at my Gamecube collection, it doesn't have a ton of must-keeps that I can't play elsewhere. The only things that come to mind are Mario Sunshine (good chance we'll see an HD remake of that, or at least a port) and Double Dash. Wind Waker has been upgraded, I can play Ocarina of Time on the 3DS and probably in the future Majora's Mask too, the Metroid Prime games have been ported to Wii, so... yeah, what else? Viewtiful Joe? I don't think it'll be a painful switch, whenever it comes.

I love prog rock. I see your Ayreon and raise you a Van Der Graaf Generator.

Whaddayamean 'meme'? Lords Management is the actual new name of the genre.

These guys have figured out the perfect expression for the Russian language.

Yes. The indication is that I strongly desire it.

Ohhh man, Nico's appartment. I loved going there to discuss 'ze knights templaaar'. Also, from an environmental standpoint, how nice is that place to live? The window frames, the view, plants all around... I could live there.

I am somewhat baffled. Yesterday I met up with some friends who had preordered and purchased a PS4, and it was the same story you hear everywhere: there's very little to do with the console at this point, so it really is just a box of future promise that you're beta-testing - and paying handsomely for the privilege - and they know it. The only thing left is grinning and self-delusion: 'hey, at least we'll have it for when it becomes worthwhile...' So, honestly, how big of a role did hype play in the purchasing decision of the early adopters? Literally every person I know who bought a PS4 (I don't know anyone who bought an XBone) is someone I would consider intelligent, rational and sophisticated. Yet buying a console on day one is from most angles a very poor thing to spend a lot of money on, as they're just not really worth it in terms of enjoyment, risky when it comes to UI and hardware issues that may arise, and expensive because they usually drop in price within a year or two - which is when they ironically reach their peak in all the other respects. What is going on here?