Roderick

It looks atmospheric and fun. Love the hex based territory aspect, that adds a fun twist to cards that could work very well.

I missed the opportunity to change my avatar back for a single day before taking this one again. Now christmas is ruined and my year-long plan foiled.

Though GFWL is a draconian thing, I wouldn't sacrifice my save game to be rid of it. The bosses in the DLC are hard, but also the fucking best. Seriously,

Sup, Subbes?

Yeah, I was totally entranced for the duration of the demo, though that might have been also due to extreme tiredness. The singing is so good, the music humping along a little bit annoyingly - but that's part of the charm.

It occurs to me that of all the cryptic things in Dark Souls, the way the multiplayer/co-op functions is probably the most egregious.

The best thing about the whole drunk thing (which I'm never) is the word imbibe.

From the get-go, Origins has seemed a completely bland thing. No interesting villains except for Black Mask (the rest is DC B-roster), again set on a single Christmas day (why why why when Arkham City was already that?), and a boring premise with bounty hunters. I'm being harsh, and I'm sure the gameplay will be excellent, but in terms of setting and story, it's the most uninspiring thing they could've possibly done.

I think the inclusion of Hootie and the Blowfish is the wrong choice for Half-Life 3, tonally speaking. It doesn't mesh very well, which becomes just glaringly obvious during the revisit of Nova Prospekt when they need to chase Alyx and Gordon's love child come from the future. It's supposed to be a touching and slightly uncomfortable moment, but the easy listening slap punk of HATB makes you unable to sit still.

I'll listen to this as soon as I have the opportunity, but let me say this in advance: Finally, a podcast exclusively about The Logic Factory's unsung masterpiece, The Tone Rebellion. About goddamn time.

Guhhh, The Drifting Classroom is an amazing manga. Totally worth anyone's time. I am now going to watch that trailer.

Together with Osmosisch, I defeated Manus this evening, and almost slayed Kalameet, and now I won't be able to sleep at all tonight. My face is still just flush with excitement. Damn you.

I've put up a review of Gravity on Filmadeus: http://www.filmadeus.com/2013/10/gravity-alfonso-cuaron-2013.html Might be interesting in light of our recent discussion of it.

"It wasn't me! It was the enchanted knife!"

Same here. I'm waiting for the thing that made the live action shorts so memorable. Also not convinced on the first person narration, though that may be just for the sake of the trailer. I certainly didn't need to be told that the guy on the slab was alive when he moved, and then dead when stopped.

An enjoyable read though that was, I find it hard - perhaps due to the late hour - to parse its meaning. I understand that the idea's by Ted can act as an echo chamber to emphasize their profundity (when they may actually be quite banal), but there is surely enough practical knowledge also? At the same time, a lot of Ted is meant to be inspirational, so it's logical it exudes that almost religious touch. The strange man crashing Ted X was worthwhile to watch. Especially around the twelfth minute it gets bonkers. Pity there are no burly men escorting him off at the end, or an admission of any kind.

I love how it rarely ever exploits any of the material for cheap thrills or melodrama. Apart from the one scene, you know the one:

I'm already burning out on Cumberbatch, which is surprising since he's really only just started. I loved him in Sherlock, but was thoroughly unimpressed by his Khan. And for some reason, I'm beginning to grow to dislike his voice. In other news, saw Gravity in Imax, absolutely thrilling. I wasn't emotionally touched so much as extremely, thoroughly entertained. So much that the time flew by. This film is just making the damn smartest choices at every turn. Cuaron REALLY knew what he wanted out of this. Fantastic.

That was amazingly evocative. It's exactly the experience you have as a kid during late night drives. So perfect. I loved driving at night for that reason. I never slept, just gazing outside at all the lights and spectacle.

Cordyceps became mainstream after The Last of Us. Very unique and cool thing from nature. Absolutely scary.

Theathrythm is one of the best experiences I've had on the 3DS. I love it. Maybe not for full price though. A sequel is in the works that is purportedly so full of songs that it'll make the original obsolete.

Seems legit

The Polygon review applauded the game as the best RPG of its kind ever and the revolution the series sorely needed, but when it came time to back up those lofty claims, the article came no further than 'it's really nice to have 3D Pokémon' and 'multiplayer battles are a step up and you can give each other gifts'. So that was a deflating read.

...And my axe!

It's JonCole! I didn't even recognize you, I thought you were a goddamn newcomer! What the hell do you think you're doing?