twmac

Agreed, the time period displacement made me uncomfortable at first but I rationalised that the point of it (and it may not have been) was that we tend to immediately contextualise something like this by understanding the era it was set in. So, if the backdrop had been the sixties then we would go 'ah right, this is what the film is trying to say about sexuality' or any other decade for that matter. By having it exist in an other dimension (I think 'A Serious Man' did something like that for similar reasons) it makes it harder to pin down. It is also another reason I would like to hear the director's opinion on all this.

In the most recent podcast (at about 2:25:00) Jeff Gerstmann speaks the truth about Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts. After not seeing eye-to-eye with Jeff for some time on games but always respecting his opinion, I was happy to hear his words.

I went in going "It can't be that bad" but it really was. I almost feel like that should have been some deleted scene for another, less monied film.

Oh Sno, of course I have played it and it is fucking awesome (it is made by Sandlot and features giant robots). It is basically QWOP with Mechs. When you manage to clock a giant monster with a good right hook - it is magic. Me and a friend managed to play through about 30 levels. On tips: the US version of the slim PS2 actually works without a power converter so buying one from the US (for about 30 dollars used) and then buying US games is a viable option.

I feel part of that was aimed at me, and that definitely helps. Am going to sit down and go through the Nussbaum piece linked earlier in the thread too. Sorry if this feels like I am using this thread a little like a 'please explain and google stuff for me, so that I don't have to' but I read these posts avidly as a means of expanding my understanding of the topics.

Oh God that Steel Golem at the end of Sen's Fortress. Awesome. My favourite on Dark Souls has to be the Lost Kings (or whatever they were called) because they made me play them completely differently (I had to charge in and go crazy and just suck up the damage). Dark Souls II is a tougher one because so many of them fused into one another but at a pinch I would go with the Sentinels as I helped so many people beat them and saw dozens of others stumble and fail. I also like that I commented on Lords of Fallen thread to realise that the top threads are the Darks Souls games and a Dark Souls rip-off.

I am now at the final boss in the game and I am kind of annoyed. Basically the final boss is shit. In revision I think all of the bosses were a bit shit really, it is just that if you were struggling or irritated with them you could grind them down slowly with a cheap tactic or two and muscle your way through them. The last boss turns this on its head by having an unavoidable attack that permanently reduces your maximum health and also the ability to regenerate its own. This would be a great idea as it would force rush down tactics and should mix up how you play, it just doesn't work because you need to make sure that you level up and do a bunch of side quests to make sure that you have enough health and stats to do it. I know that Dark Souls did stuff like this but it just feels like it is so much more blatant and stark in Lords of Fallen that it really drags down the game in terms of how much of an RPG it is. I don't think it would bother me in a game more like Pillars of Eternity or KOTOR where there is less skill involved but in a game like this it really makes you feel like you need more than skill to get through these moments. Anyway, I am grinding through to strength level 31 to try and get myself powerful enough for a really good sword so that I might be able to brute it through the final boss but I am unlikely to come back for anymore of it. UPDATE: Got to strength level 31 and killed the final boss in about a minute, I played worse than I had previously just chugged down potions whenever I felt like it because the axe I was using did 3 times as much damage. It really was a case of JRPG end boss bullshit.

I think part of the problem with this overthinking is that as soon as you speak to someone who even comes from a slightly MRA sympathetic slant then they interpret it much along the same lines as Griddle, in that when sexualisation is mentioend they are referring to the fact that you shouldn't look at a person you find attractive and be sexually attracted to them. I had one guy tell me that the male gaze term was coined to make men ashamed of their own sexuality. I guess there is no way to win those types of people over but, like griddle I find it really difficult not to over think it because I have these kinds of conversations with people on a fairly regular basis.

Voting is about a month away here in England and, at the age of 35, I am going to vote for the first time. With all the dismay over UKIP it has polarised me to vote for someone, anyone, other than them. It is still going to be a pain in the arse to sort out but I have an understanding boss.

Excellent review for It Follows. Have ordered Myth of an American Sleepover from the US and it is probably going to take about 3 weeks to get here. Had a hankering to watch Fun again - looked up whether it had ever been released on DVD and they want at least 43 USD for it. Still tempted.

Solid video, thanks for some of the tips as well as I wasn't aware of the health mechanic either. I just picked this game up again for the first time in ages and beat The Worshiper. I have to say I am not really enjoying how many enemies with shields there are and the not particularly clear way to beat them (outside using the gauntlet). Still, I had forgot how pretty this game was so it has been nice to dive back in.

It is Diablo with an element of skill to it and a dab more wit. Loved Borderlands 1 and 2, it is especially gratifying if you are playing along side good friends and have an abundance of alcohol.

Yeah, I eat up everything Lucky Mckee releases, even when it is bad (I pre-ordered All Cheerleaders Die as soon as it was available). If you are in the US The Mooring should be on Netflix. The biggest crime is that no one from it went on to do bigger and better things. Will definitely check out the other film as you are right that slightly hazy, dreamy feel to the film is what made me really like it.

Am getting it today, me and some friends are going to sit through the Pre-Sequel over the weekend. I am actually really psyched that enough people are getting into the current gen of consoles so now I can get some good Co-Op going.

If you liked that then I have a couple of others that are worth getting into, the first is one of my all time favourites: The Woman. The second is called The Mooring. Both have that subdued style to it and both use their soundtrack in interesting ways. It was weird because It Follows did instantly grab me but I have been thinking about it all week - always a good sign.

I didn't give up on GTA V and I ended up writing a 4000 word piece on why I didn't like it: http://www.arcadianrhythms.com/2015/03/gta-v-stop-talking-so-loud-i-can-hear-what-youre-saying/ I managed to get a Claire Hoskings and Lundy Bancroft quote in there (thanks Apple Cider for making me aware of the book it has been an eye-opening read).

Well. There is a bit more to it that I didn't really explain as I didn't want to go too deep on it.

Watched It Follows over the weekend and really enjoyed it. The basic premise is that there is this thing that will, very slowly, follow you until it gets you. It is easy to outrun but it never stops coming and only you can see it. There is an allegory in there and I would be interested to hear the writer's philosophies about sex and sexuality (I couldn't decide what message I took away from it but overall they didn't seem to be condemning being sexually active). It has a really overpowering soundtrack that works with film really well and meshes with the tension of knowing that no matter what the characters do the thing will eventually catch up with them. The plot has a few holes in it (doesn't every film script) but nothing that takes away from the film too much. So, yeah, worth a watch for sure.

Do you have the site or RSS that this is from? I don't use iTunes.

There is a really good response (in Brazilian) from the artist of the variant cover: http://entretenimento.uol.com.br/noticias/redacao/2015/03/18/a-industria-de-hq-sempre-foi-machista-diz-brasileiro-de-capa-da-batgirl.htm Unfortunately most people are reading it as 'he was forced!' If anyone wants any quotes from it translated, let me know.

Sorry to dogpile on TB (I am sure his esteem can handle it) but this got linked to me and I had to laugh, bitterly: https://twitter.com/finryan87/status/578559056538914816

Hello, Anyone going to this? Also, anything to recommend (I think Nachmir normally has the inside scoop on good indie stuff)? Am planning to go down as part of a small group who write for Arcadian Rhythms (as well as Shaun who guests for Rock Paper Shotgun now) so any tips and/or helloes will be more than welcome, would just like to gauge if there are going to be people present.

Ah, no, I didn't realise about that. I looked at my gear but there is a fair bit of placeholder text so it wasn't completely clear. RT over RB any day of the week. I think it would be worth looking at which buttons players are most likely to use and make the default setup map to that and then let crazy people reconfigure attack to RB. The reason I say that is that I picked up the controller mid session and it wasn't until I died that I realised that there was a knock out button.

So, it was a great couple of days for me - saw Beacon and said hello to Hollow Night. Someone saw my T-Shirt and just said 'The Wizard' at me. As for the games, man, so much cool stuff there. The stand out was Gunsport but Hue, Mutiny!, and Ohklos were all great. I played The Swindle and I really liked the art style and the procedural nature of the levels but I didn't like the control scheme. RB should never be used for knocking players out, especially not on the Xbox One pad as the bumpers are the worst button to use for that. I kept getting blown up as well and couldn't figure out a way to disarm the bombs with out getting too close. But that jump and grip to the wall mechanic is tight!

I really liked Brooklyn Nine Nine, it grabbed me from the beginning but you are absolutely right that the peripheral characters don't come into their own until later (except for Chelsea Peretti who is awesome despite limted screen time). My almost favourites are the two older cops who are useless at their jobs. I really liked The Unbreakable Kimmy Schimdt, having not liked 30 Rock at all I find the lead actress delivers Tina Fayisms better than Tina Fey ever did. Titus is great and their crazy landlady is also spot on - there is one scene at a Korean funeral that had me in stitches.