Metalmickey

I actually really liked the music for Xenon 1 (David Wittaker) as well, odd as it is. The music to Barbarian and all the Bitmap Bros. games were also great. I'm gonna download that high voltage Sid collection pronto and remember all my other faves too

Yes. Obitus. :idea: I have some memory of an owl, liberal usage of the colour purple (can't remember whether in-game or just the packaging), and moving around in a forest right near the beginning of the game. Damn I'm vague Does that sound even vaguely correct?

I think a simple swipe from the bear's claws would remove half the gorrilla's face along with the eyes...

Hey, thanks cantak...cantankerer... Jaero I've already spotted a couple of typos despite previewing it at least twice, but I need sleep now, as the clocks went back and my body's telling me it's after 3am already, despite what my PC says... Look forward to ranting with you later

Yes, you're being too strict with yourself... I have an official copy of WinXP on my PC, buy games that I want to play, and don't plan on modding my PS2 or any other console I may buy. I also don't use file-sharing software for anything (though more related to laziness and a lack of desire to own things rather than the moral standpoint). However, if I was to try and remember the arcade games that I used to know and love from years ago, I wouldn't even remember half of their names, let alone where/who to buy them from nowadays. Also, as you very rightly pointed out, even if I did know the answers to the above 2 problems, I wouldn't be able to afford them or have the space to store enough cabinets to have more than a few arcades available to play at any one time. I realise that you have to draw a line somewhere between trying to support the industry that you love and just playing as many games as you can by any means, and my standpont is that if the effort and cost of getting a game legally is such that when you weigh it up against how much you want to play it, there's honestly zero chance of you ever buying it, then I don't feel bad about playing it illegally. It's the honestly part that's the only tricky bit...

Great pics! If I'd found such similarly mighty photos, I'd have thought up any old excuse to post them too Seriously, I'd love to go with the gorilla on this one. I mean, they're relatives of ours... So noble, so proud, so calm and controlled to behold at rest, yet so tremendous and fearsome in anger. Unfortunately, despite my undeniable respect for the gorrilla, I have to say that the unstoppable mass of the hulking beast that is the grizzly would eventually win. They have bigger claws, bigger jaws, more mass, the same frightening speed, and I just bet that a maddened bear can probably ignore more pain than the more developed brain that lies within the gorrilla's cranium. Give them both weapons though, and it's be a different (and more interesting) story entirely

To avoid more awkward situations, please include options for: "I have no idea, I never knew her." and "No, but I wish she was."

Ok, gonna try not to write too much here, and restrict myself to a few disctinct points: 1. I'm drunk, as is often the case when I get round to sitting at my PC and browsing these forums, so please forgive any inevitable oversights (Hmm, probably the 1st time I've bothered to point that out ). 2. I went to the sight and browsed the various sections. From reading the previous posts, I got the impression that the entire site was focussed around the ragdoll driver physics. I was surprised to also find some nice screenshots, news, band info, the big f*ck-off cassette (which is worth going through), a busy forum, and about 10 trailers, of which the ragdoll one happens to be at the top of the list. However, it's called the "Ragdoll" Trailer ffs, so it's not like it's supposed to be representative of the gameplay as a whole, it's just a trailer specifically designed to show off the ragdoll physics... just like if you saw a "Weapons" Trailer for Half-Life 2 or Doom3, you would expect it to show off some serious violence, and not be representative of the story, level design, general gameplay, or level of immersion, etc. If 2 more trailers are released over the coming weeks, and the ragdoll movie drops down to the 3rd in the list, would you still be so convinced that mangling your driver is the main focus of their entire marketing drive? 3. I applaud you for having a go at the gratituously violent marketing trend amongst certain games these days, which do seem to deliberately target audiences who are below the age ratings that the games are inevitably going to be given. Personally, I've become bored of being called a pussy, etc, from arguing with casual gamer idiots, and it's nice to find somewhere like IdleThumbs where people will actually debate stuff (reasonably) sensibly 4. However, I do think this particular game has been blown out of proportion by this 1 trailer. I have a slight problem with the GTA3 series, and a bigger one with manhunt, since there's no way around the fact that one of the neccesary goals of the game is to be as psychotic and sadistic as possible. However, I think it's too early to judge this game and assume that the driving/racing parts won't be worthy of merit in themselves, and worth buying/playing the game for. After all, sticking gruesome ragdoll driver physics into a racing game is not going to stop me from appreciating the racing, as long as it's not a necessary part of the game's progression...

Nice to read about all your Morrowind adventures I really got into for a month, about a year and a half ago now, but stopped playing when I went abroad for 5 months. By the time I got back, it was just too intimidating to continue with, though I keep telling myself I will. So many quests, places, friends and enemies to remember. I believe I may even have some actual paper notes lying around somewhere too. Going back to the selling of expensive items, I particularly loved trying to launder all that black/green glass armour from the smithy in the gatepost at the edge of the barren ash bit near the middle. Part-exchanging endlessly for less valauble and heavier goods, then eventually starting to have to spend money on ways to let me carry more and leaving stashes of admantium and plate armour everywhere. I never really looked on the net for the best way of doing things, but had a great time figuring it out myself. I also got to the stage where there's a huge list of items that I can't sell to certain shopkeepers, since I robbed the same items from them before, and they'll realise I'm the thief it I try to sell back to them, even if it's a while ago and not even exactly the same item, but just the same type. From anyone who's played through the 2nd half of the main story, or been through the tribunal expansion part, do you think it would be worth spending the effort to resume my old game again, or will it just be more of the same? I.e. Are the harder to reach areas and quests more interesting, or just different? I will also have to find and re-steal a vital quest item from wherever your confiscated goods go after a guard catches you

I live in England, and stuck my old PC's 80Gb hard drive inside my un-modded PS2, allowing me to install and play games with greatly reduced loading times and no need for disk swapping, via a nifty lil' thing called 'HD loader'. If anyone's interested, it's only available from online stores, and has recently stopped being manufactured, so don't leave it till too late as they'll only get harder to find. There's a good FAQ here...

I don't think that's a stain... Being as all my friends tell me I don't know how to use the interweb and all, I've only recently discovered Invader Zim myself The same friend who introduced me also showed me such delights as Ninjai, Sealab 2021, and The Brak Show. All great stuff, especially, when drinking/smoking and browsing for random stuff to watch with your friends

It seems to me like the reviewer just didn't appreciate the sense of humour, rather than that the humour wasn't actually any good, or served a valid purpose. I've played Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance 1 & 2, and also Champions of Norrath, as I love that kind of hack 'n slash arcadey RPG. However, I do acknowledge that they end up looking like they've just reskinned the monster and level graphics to generate 75% of the levels, and have been looking forward to a similar game that offered something a little different for a while. I also have fond memories of the 3 original Bard's Tale games from around 15 years ago on the CPC and PC. When I heard that they were remaking it for the PS2 and Xbox, I was initially disapointed from online screenshots and gameplay descriptions to see how they've based it so heavily on the other Baldur's Gate engine games. However, the multiple and varied companion summoning mechanism and sense of humour may just add the necessary bits to make it something a little more special after all, so I'll be following other reviews with interest, and hope to read some from people who played the BG games and CoN to death to see how they think it compares. Is it actually on the shelves yet? Treesus, restrain yourself if it's not...

I'm just waiting for the Super Generation Alpha 3 Turbo consoles. They're gonna roxor! :9~

Yeah, definately Japanese RPG's are definately their own genre, almost always so very different from Western ones, and a bit of an aquired taste for many people. (Where's Kenty when you need him? This thread would kick him into full turbo mode!)

Errr, heh, I may get in trouble for trying to sell that one. How about I just sell you 'some earth' instead? I'll do you a good deal

What the...? I mean, who built... why did he... how much did it... is it explosive or just... errr, Blimey!

Surely you can't sell something that doesn't already belong to you, and somehow I don't think that whoever prints the deeds is the actual owner of the moon. If I'm wrong about either of these things, I'll be damn surprised to put it mildly! On the other hand, if people are allowed to sell things that don't belong to them, I'm putting the other planets in the solar system on eBay next week. Screw this acre by acre bollocks, I'll just be selling entire planets for £1,000,000 each. Moons from £100,000 upwards. Buy 3, save 20%

Ah, kudos to Bob for already saying so much of what I feel about pies. Pies rule. I love them even more than their close relatives, the pasties, and their distant cousins, the pastries. Like ninjas, I love them with all my body, including my pee-pee. If only they were healthier and more readily available, I would eat them every day. I have had the pleasure of trying a great many pies in different countries, including the aforementioned Aussie 'meat pie floater'. I just loved the way that every petrol station and 24-hour store in Australia had a hot cabinet by the counter with at least 3 varieties of pie-goodness. I've even had a pie from the famous Harry's cafe de wheels in Woolloomooloo, Sydney, the most famous pie shop in Australia. Mmm, meat pie, served on a layer of mushy peas, topped with a huge lump of mashed potato, with gravy brimming over from where it had poured into the ladle-sized depression in the top of the mash, and served with a plastic fork within seconds of ordering it. Makes me go weak at the knees just thinking about it. Cookies on the other hand, occasionally tempt me with their chewy sweetness, but are in the end, a mere sugary snack, in the league of slices of cake, chocolate, fruit juice drinks (I.e. those which contain bugger all fruit content), and so on. *sigh* Time to go to bed and dream of pie...

Something that's bothered me more and more during the last decade is the gradual warping of the definition of the word zombie. When I was a kid, a 'zombie' was someone who had most definately died (and usually rotted), then later risen/been made to rise from the dead by some unholy event/curse/spell. They could go on a rampage, be risen as a servant, or just hang around or haunt a particular place. Short of beheading, they were also practically impossible to kill. Nowadays however, a zombie seems to mean someone's who's contracted something contagious which has driven them mad, and made them go on a murderous rampage. Please feel free to correct me here, but I think the Resident Evil series was one of the initial, and most influential culprits. If I remember correctly, the 'T-virus' didn't even have to kill someone to turn them into a zombie, someone could just catch it and gradually turn into a zombie in stages, without ever actually dying at any point. I think I remember a diary account in the first game of someone who had contracted the disease, whose entries gradually changed from standard journal entires to such gems as "hungry. itchy. want raw meat...' or something like that anyway. In '28 days later', the victims transformed into so-called zombies in a matter of seconds, and most definately look warm-blooded. Call me old-fashioned, but I'm not happy about this alternative, modern definition. Anyone else agree?

Bloody hell. This thread's very educational As someone who doesn't have a radio, never reads newspapers or magazines, never checks news sites on the net, and doesn't have an arial in the TV, I'll be sure to checks the thumbs forums for all the latest on the American election I particularly like Walter's last post there. Someone disagree with him now, go on...

I'd be surprised if 6600GT's aren't released in AGP flavours too. After all, they're slower than the 6800GT and ultra cards, and the 6800's are mainly AGP cards, with just a few PCI-X cards at the top end. The highest level of graphics cards are only starting to be able to utilise the faster throughput of PCI-X (16x as opposed to AGP's 8x), but the only real benefit that the current mainstream cards on PCI-X can get is that you can draw up to 75W through the PCI-X expansion slot compared to about 35 or 40W through an AGP slot, so the 6800 range of Nvidia cards don't need any extra power connectors from your PSU, which saves some hassle and cables. Top end sound cards are also going to become more common for PCI-X slots soon, as recent 7.1 compatible cards and the like are really struggling on normal PCI slots. Like SATA though, the planned development of PCI-X already includes the release of PCI-X v2.0 in a few years time, and version 3.0 another couple of years beyond that, but I doubt you'll actually need a PCI-X slot for anything for at least 3 years, unless you're the kind of person who just has to have all the latest bits, regardless of whether anythings been released that can make use of them yet. (I know I'm not). From your budget, I'd say there are still plenty of great AGP cards out there. If you can afford a 6600GT or an X700 then go for it but if you want something cheaper, an Ati 9600 Pro or plain 9800 will still be able to run Doom3 and HL2 on 'medium' settings.

I always liked that Han shot first, even as a kid. I mean, no-one who makes a living as a smuggler and deals with some of the biggest gangsters in the galaxy can get away without the occasional 'pre-emptive bloodshedding'. It goes with the territory, and kind of rounded him out. I don't have the videos, as I always seemed to live with someone who did, and have never had my own video player anyway. Also, my housemate just bought the DVD box set the other day, so I'll be watching them all over the next couple of weeks and make my judgement about whether the big fuss about the few more minutes of (re)edited footage is justified or not.

Eh? The toon I linked to doesn't work anymore. It worked on the day I posted it, but now it redirects back to the home page. Oh well, it was supposed to take you to the toon called 'Look at my monkey', from the Cartoon -> All toons menu. Anyway, if you do get to watch it, you'll see that the monkey gets the last word in after all... Also... the cluckingbell page is completely uniteractive on my PC, nothing happens when I click on any of the bits that change the cursor into a hand, though all other sites I visit work, flash or not. Anyone got any ideas? Is there some security setting I've set that stops it doing what it wants maybe?

Yeah, no high score, no level 2, nuthin Oh, well, at least I had a satisfying 10 minutes of battling the one eyed monster before settling down for the usual evening's monkey spanking activities. You dirty little monkey lovers...

To paraphrase an old British ad, Doom3 does exactly what it says on the tin. I generally don't enjoy things that are designed to scare me as much as my friends. Not that I get scared particularly more or less than the average Joe, I just don't seem to feel as happy after it's passed as most people do, just kind of... well, tired really After drawing the curtains closed, setting up my surround sound speakers about 2 feet from my head in the right directions, turning all the lights off apart from a hunched over bedside lamp in the opposite corner behind the bed, and playing into night while slightly drunk or stoned, I could generally only manage about 2-3 hours of Doom3 before I felt physically and mentally too tired to continue. Still, I enjoy the satisfaction of pretty graphics, getting through a hard game, and blowing stuff enough to say I don't regret purchasing it (at pre-order discount price anyway). I also have a tremendous amount of respect for the developers for managing to produce a game that so thoroughly scares me, regardless of how much I actually like being scared. I think the main problem that all the players who slate it have is that they were hoping it would also have some sort of involving/surprising story, impressive level design, or devilishly clever AI (no pun intented), etc.. but that's missing the point.