miffy495

The videos make it look like both players are perpetually drunk. I'm going to have to try this.

Allright, Miffy has arrived. Not much creativity. Just made it look as much like me as the options would allow, and then went with an instrument that I actually play. Still, if you need a guitarist, I'm on there now.

Well, I played for 7 years before getting the first Guitar Hero and it didn't hamper my enjoyment at all. The key thing to remember is that playing Guitar Hero is as much like playing an actual guitar as DDR is like preforming with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet. So, not at all. It's a really good rhythm game with a cool peripheral, more an air guitar simulator than anything else. The fact that your friend plays guitar may help them to adapt to sliding their hand on the neck more readily than people who don't. Same for hammer-ons and pull-offs. That's about it though. I'd say they should try starting on easy. If they're anything like how I was, they'll progress a bit quicker than people who don't play simply because their hands are used to the movements but they'll still need to start at the bottom.

I'll chip in here with my preference for 2-D graphics as well. I'll take Alien Hominid]/i] over Gears of War any day. That said, when going 3D, I prefer cel-shaded over pure 3D as well, which makes me like WW more than the other Zeldas. Also means that I think that PH looks fantastic, though I personally would prefer more Minish Cap style visuals. If you're going to take the last safe haven of 2D Zelda (the portable) and cram it into 3D, at least keep it cel-shaded. That way, I'll stay happy.

Minish was indeed fantastic. I lent it to a friend when he got his gameboy about a year ago now. Haven't thought to get it back yet as I'd just beaten it when I lent it to him. I should really ask him about that and go for a replay.

Looks more like a bigger-than-normal wolf to me. @ Spaff: I could have easily gone the rest of my life without seeing the Pink Panther like that.

Hmmm... perhaps the fact that my dog is a border collie has influenced my "they're both smart, fuck off" response. Still, I stand by it. I sometimes doubt that smaller dogs are in fact dogs at all. Nothing against them, I'm just not sure I should count something I could accidentally kill by tripping over in the kitchen as a dog. Still awesome, maybe not dogs.

Having both, I must give a big "fuck off" to anyone who claims superiority for either side. Your kitten is adorable. My cats are 15 and 12 now, and my dog 8, so it's nice to see a younger pet while it's still in its "awwwwwww" stage.

Very nice. I preferred the second one myself. That blue guy is awesome.

Not to rub it in your face or anything, but I just hooked up my PS2 again to finish God of War. Beat it earlier tonight, so I started playing God Hand, which I bought just after Christmas but haven't had a chance to try yet. Holy shit is this fun. Ok, getting an enemy targeted is horribly clunky, but otherwise brilliant. I've been looking for a game that realizes when its subject matter just shouldn't be taken seriously. God Had delivers. The second level is called, I shit you not, "A Poison Chihuahua!?" On top of all this, one of the main villains is voiced by none other than Spottswoode from Team America: World Police. I really hope you get ahold of this one soon. So much fun.

Yeah, that is actually a pretty slick piece of kit. I'd probably pick one up as well, had I a PS3. If they do in fact price the 360 one decently in the coming months, then I may go for it. Honestly it could be a fun little addition to a few games and I'm all for it, but like with the new 120GB HDD, MS just doesn't seem to have a clue about pricing its peripherals sensibly.

Did your camera come with the system or something? I would mess around with the whole thing, but can't be arsed to cough up the requisite camera funds.

What stands out most to me in that photo is that Spaff is drinking Budweiser. Don't you live in England? Home of many delicious dark ales? I busted my ass to find a pub in this city that has Newcastle, while you're in it's fucking homeland drinking Bud? Dear god why?

...or another of the many canine varieties. Did someone open the ark of the covenant?

Hell, go for it. Yeah, yeah. Sony and all, but still: That little black box has a lot of love to give. Fuck, I was tempted to buy a PS3 earlier this week when EB announced a deal where you can trade 10 games (any) and get a PS3 for $400 Canadian. That's $100 less than I paid for my 360, and actually within the realm of reasonable. I held off, mostly because Little Big Planet isn't out yet, but still. Tempted. That in mind, if I saw a PS2 for 70 pounds (and didn't, y'know, have one) I wouldn't think twice. Worth it. No question.

Just... wow. Dan, you are my hero.

...FINE! I'll cancel my monthly "Kegger in the Meat Locker" event. Happy now?

I thought he already did?

And the knowing what he's talking about prize goes to nsps! Well played indeed. Yes, all formats use the 1.37 frame (I'm ignoring 16mm and 70mm here, as the only time we run anything like that is special events and we use different projectors for them) and take up different amounts of space on it. The masking and aperture plates make everything better, but no matter what you're running there is a bit of loss of the top and bottom of the image. Yes, even with proper lenses and everything, there's still a tiny bit of room to adjust the timing should the need arise or the image be slightly out of frame when it starts running and in need of a quick fix. What you lose on a 1.66 compared to a regular 1.85 is actually pretty minimal. Thing with 1.66 is that they're usually subtitled, so you use that as your guide for determining exactly what is properly "in frame" for that particular movie.

EVERYONE BUY TRON 2.0! Fuck HL2, that game still wins king of all shooters in my mind. So beautiful, so good once you get the hang of the disc weapon. If you haven't played it, you've missed one of the best and most overlooked games of the past 5 or so years.

Why does that sound like the name of some campy TV show from the 70s to me?

What about that later scientist with the crazy eye? Every time he came onscreen I couldn't stop giggling. I hope that isn't how Koreans honestly see us, because every white person in that movie was either very evil or very dumb.

I haven't played any kind of Pokemon since I was 10 years old and Blue was the hot new shit. I obsessed, HARD, and I believe it was the second game I ever actually completed. Unfortunately, I didn't know anyone with Red, so I got all the pokemon possible in my copy but couldn't trade for the rest of the 151. My pokedex always looked so sad to me. Sadly, all this talk is kinda making me want to get back into it. That frightens me a tad, as I really don't have the time to obsess right now. Stay strong, Miffy. Stay strong...

This line made me happier than most news articles have any right to:

I hit that point now and again, but always end up trying again. My "oh fuck off" moment in God of War was some part where you were forced to beat a bunch of enemies before the floor fell away and killed you or some such nonsense. Seemed totally dumb to force the combat to be rushed through when taking the time to enjoy it was where I was getting most of my fun. Also recently going through Ninja Gaiden for the third time. Never beaten it. Hell, this is my first time past the 5th level without giving up. For some reason I'm determined this time. I took Alma (legendarily tough boss, for those not up on Gaiden) down in about 20 tries after much swearing, but my moment of victory was sweet enough for me to jump up and dance around the room for a minute or two. Damn does it feel good when you can squeeze out a win like that. Of course, this is after trying to play through the game twice in a year and a half and never bothering to stick it out past those damned Spider Clan ninjas. As such, I'm not sure where I fall on the spectrum. I guess it'd be something like casual with a low attention span for frustration. I get pissed and walk away, but six months later I'll forget why I was pissed and try again. I now have to fight two tanks simultaneously using a fucking bow and arrow. I think it's Meat Circusing me again, but dammit I want to see more of this game.