miffy495

I picked up the HD rerelease but have yet to play it yet. When I played the games the first time, I actually found ZOE2 used at a Gamestop and then bought and played 1 after I really liked 2. I don't think it's that bad to skip the first, though it can be a bit tough to wrap your head around at first.

I'm pretty sure I did exactly one tower defense mission, the one required by the story. Honestly not even sure how you start the other ones. Finished the game just fine.

I think the story could still have gone that way if you were only killing soldiers. Doing that to any human being is still pretty traumatic, and that I did it without hesitation because video games is worth commenting on. Adding the civilian pen (I guess we're just rolling without spoiler tags now?) feels excessive. I could have given it a miss and at had the game acknowledge my restraint but still be feeling incredibly shit about the horrible way I killed all those soldiers. The lingering shot on the mom corpse holding the little girl corpse isn't hard-hitting, it's manipulative and lazy. I did a horrible thing either way, and I actually think that having Walker be so impacted by doing something like that even if the civilians got out may have been even more interesting a statement.

Yeah, I think for it's leap over 2, Brotherhood definitely has the place in my mind as "best". That said, Revelations is still only a little behind it. Worst you can say is that they added too much and made it cumbersome. If they'd given more time between Brotherhood and Revelations, it probably would be remembered much better. AC fatigue was setting in though, and I think you can really see that now with AC3's reception. (Note: I have not played AC3 yet, so it may well be as bad as people say. That said, I don't trust popular opinion on AC at this point, as I liked Revelations and liked AC1 enough to complete it twice.)

Crying... with ANTICIPATION.

I didn't remove mine last year. I see no reason to do so this year. Christmas 2011 just keeps on rolling!

Yeah, I think Revelations gets a bad rap. It's a fine game, it's just that people were burnt out on Ezio by the time it came out. For what it's worth, I really enjoyed playing and beating it, even though it took me stretching the game over about 8 months to do so. I was a little burnt out myself.

I'm still kind of sore about that scene. I saw Well guess what? The game didn't let me do that. I saw through it's gimmick, and if I'd gone with my gut I would have killed only those who deserved it. I still would have used the mortar, just like the game wants, but strategic missing (on my first attempt, without access to any spoilers or anything, just a gut check) would have had me get through with no issue. Too bad, not an option. That was stupid to me. I saw the twist telegraphed to me, tried to avoid it, and was still expected to act all surprised and horrified. Really, it was just a cheap trick that I saw coming. In that Gamespot interview with the designer, he talks about how you can try to shoot your way through, but it's impossible and sooner or later you're going to need to use the mortar. Well fine, I did. And right away too. I also held my fire when appropriate, but that just doesn't count. Dumb. I still thought that it was kind of cool what the game was trying to do overall, but that scene with its supposed poignancy just bothers me. It's not moving, or shocking. It's just cheap.

I did the first level in about a 15 minute sitting, and then later sat down to play a bit more and stood up about an hour and a half later having finished the game. I'd say if you have a 5 hour block of time, you could easily beat it twice. And actually, I may recommend doing that.

I'm sorry. I'll go back to LittleBigPlanet Vita. I'll come back in a couple of weeks and see how everyone's doing, deal?

Very nice. Decided to use it to look up an article for school. Anyway, awesome news, Subbes! Glad you're finally getting to reunite with Shammack on the other side of the country. And yeah, that's a hell of a high note to go out on. I just heard back from the last person I was waiting on to see if I had all my references in order for applications. I now have everything I need, and am ready to get this process well and truly underway. Feeling pretty damn good how readily and proudly each of the people I asked to be a reference agreed. I seem to have left good impressions, which I hope bodes well for my chances. Also, now have plans to spend two afternoons a week volunteering with the class that I was teaching November/December, as I miss those kids. Going to be a fun time, despite the extra load it's going to put on my schedule. This time around, I'm only helping the teacher keep things organized and pitching in around the room though, so it's not like I need to worry about developing lessons on top of the homework I already have. Waiting anxiously now to hear what school and grade I'll be working with next month for my final 8 week long practicum, while working on my resume to make it something that says "hire me, I can teach" rather than "hire me, I can run a projection booth and make good coffee". This may be tricky, but hopefully everything else that I'm submitting with my application will be enough to show I know my shit. Also, I was just struck by the thought that when I registered on this forum, I was only in the 11th grade myself. It's weird that I'm not exaggerating when I say I grew up, at least in the digital world, here. It's the only forum I've been a member of, and the effect that this community has had on me has been enormous. Idle Thumbs, keep on being an awesome place.

I realize the conversation has moved on, but don't forget Waltz With Bashir. Yes and yes. For whatever reason, I have trouble getting into manga that I don't have when I try to read a comic. Can't speak to the following personally, only second-hand. That said, my partner is big into them and eagerly awaits each translated volume of MPD Psycho and Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service (both by Eiji Otsuka). She likes the horror stuff though, so if that's not your thing, disregard.

I just wanted to make sure that if school ramped up on my fast (my courses are only 5 weeks this term, followed by an 8 week practicum, so things will probably be hectic) that I was at least up to being able to start the third thing. Once I start getting to colossi that I haven't faced before, or anything jumps out at me that I want to talk about, I'll gladly keep it as a note until the actual topic comes up. That is, of course, assuming I keep playing and don't just drown in homework and forget what games are until April. Either is a possibility.

I'm now two colossi in. Going to try and make a run at this, though school starts tomorrow so who knows. I remember the first few being kinda underwhelming before the shit starts getting weird around colossus 4 or 5. Whichever one you had to was when I really got hooked the first time. Then I only beat a few more before life took over. Hopefully I can go for the whole 16 here, as I'd really like to not have this game on my guilt pile forever.

Hunters and Gatherers is great, and was actually my introduction to Carcassonne. I would have bought it for my girlfriend and I to play instead of the vanilla one, but it also seems to be a lot harder to find.

With you all the way on this. Last time 'round, I picked up a Wii at launch (got the last one at the store I went to on launch day!), a 360 the summer after that, and then a PS3 about a year later when LittleBigPlanet was about to drop. I have to say, Microsoft really feels like they dropped the ball late in the generation here, and Sony really seems to have learned from finally being the underdog. PS+ is amazing, the PSN exclusives that they have are fantastic, move is the only motion thing that actually works as advertised (plus, I can use it for JS Joust), and all of the basic services that should be free (Netflix functionality, etc) are. MS wants to charge me $60 a year for multiplayer services that I don't want to use and the privilege of watching things from my Netflix account. My 360 controllers' rechargable batteries are super low quality, and now shot, so I'm back on AAs, my Kinect (it was a gift, don't judge) won't even work given the size of my apartment, and pretty much anything I'd want to play on the system is better and cheaper on my PC. Sony has actually been nurturing their own new franchises, the cross buy/play stuff with Vita is a great idea (transitioning from Sound Shapes on my TV and then taking that save with me on the bus on my Vita is fantastic. More of this please.), and for my $50 a year subscription to PS+, I get something free to mess around with every Tuesday. The very first thing I beat on my Vita was Mutant Blobs Attack, and that was totally free. I still have copies of Uncharted, Wipeout, Gravity Rush, and Chronosomething that were also free and I'll be playing after I finish with Assassin's Creed. I'll probably still get whatever Microsoft is going to do because I'm a sucker and will want to play their exclusives, but the Sony has done so much right over the past couple of years to make up for their slow start with the PS3 that I have to give them props. This time around, the plan is to get a Wii U in April/May as a graduation gift to myself, a PS4 probably about 6 months to a year in, and a XboxWhateverthefuck after a year or two when it finally looks like it may be worth it. And to agree with tegan, shameless Nintendo loyalty will be the death of me. I honestly don't care what the public opinion on the Wii U is by the time I graduate, I'm getting one for myself regardless, and I'm going to love that damned thing. I camped out for a Wii, bought every DS incarnation day 1, and will be remaining true to the "Nintendo and PC first, everything else when the time comes" philosophy that has guided my gaming since I was 4.

All Ubisoft games are in the same universe. All people evolved from the dudes from From Dust, Rayman is a popular children's cartoon series and we're playing through the movie releases, and all the crazy shit in Driver San Fransisco was because they accidentally hooked him up to an Animus instead of a heart monitor.

So I started this on Wednesday and just finished Episode 5. Blubbering like a goddamned baby. My goal was to have this finished before I went back to class on Tuesday, so I crammed two episodes into today rather than set aside a day for each as I had been. Fucking shit, guys, Sean in particular. I'm so glad you're getting the recognition you deserve for this one. I've never seen anything of the show or read a single page of the comic book, but what you did is goddamned amazing. Now, knowing that Lily and Glenn are pre-established characters, I guess it would have made things a little less tense for me if I'd known they had to make it, but everything was ridiculously well paced and written. Felt that Episode 2 was a bit easy to read in advance, and the ending of Episode 4 fell a little flat to me (the Clem disappearance, not the bite. The bite was brutal as fuck), but on the whole I've never been so moved by a game. I'd say that if I were to choose the moments that will resonate with me most from 2012, it would be a dead heat between the endings of The Walking Dead Game and the movie Beasts of the Southern Wild. My only wish, Sean, is to echo what some others had said and let me tell Clem . Welp, now I'm starting to tear up again at my keyboard, so I guess I should call it a night. Well done guys. Well. Fucking. Done.

And Jack from Mass Effect. Pamela Adlon does a weird range of things.

I played the first mission after everyone else had gone to sleep on New Year's Eve (wusses. It was only 6 in the morning). I thought it was silly fun and will be going right back into it after I finish the last episode of the Walking Dead. Moment of the game so far was when being washed over the edge of a cliff by a massive wave, Big Bo decides to yell out "I'M FALLING DOWN A SLIDE!!!" in a way that made me laugh so hard at what a stupid thing it was to say that I actually had to pause the game. Oh, Big Bo. One mission in and I'm totally in love with what a stupid character you are.

Holy shit, it's Quake 2!

Yeah, I know it's the French word for them. Don't know about any other languages. Idle Thumbs: Your home on the internet for ********* etymology.

Yeah, if you launch Bioshock 2 from Steam, the GFW client will load with it and you should be able to buy it right through that. That's what I did, anyway.

Do you have wireless? A couple of months back my wired 360 pad started screwing up on me, so I bought a $15 wireless receiver off of eBay. After a bit of set up trouble, it works fantastic. I love that little thing. Makes big picture mode great too, as I can prop my laptop up next to my bed, pull my controller out of my nightstand, and just play things while lying there on a lazy day. Played through 4/5 of The Walking Dead this week doing exactly that (and as a related aside, I love that game, and fuck that game).

Nah, it's all within a district. Teaching certificates are province-specific too, so I'd need to challenge an exam for that province's standards if I were to go to Saskatchewan, Ontario, BC, etc. I'll be applying to Calgary, Foothills, Rockyview, and maybe a couple of others (the latter two are small towns and communities around the city that aren't big enough for their own district, so share a couple). Honestly, I assume that one of my first post-substitute positions will be as a French teacher, since Albertans tend to be anti-French and the fact that I'm bilingual will help schools to meet that federal requirement. It's a mandatory class from grade 4 on, and the hostility towards French-Canada that is prominent in the West means that more often than not we need to import our French teachers from other provinces. That I'm local, bilingual, and a male who wants to work with the pre-high school set are all things that work in my favour. The first one because it's convenient, the second and third because schools have quotas to fill for that. Fingers crossed that I won't be stuck in limbo for too long thanks to all of that.