RubixsQube

The thing that was actually great about Rubik The Amazing Cube was that the family that served as the main protagonists were Latino. This is surprisingly progressive for a (terrible) 1980s cartoon children's show. I guess this is perhaps why the opening song is by Menudo. I have the first two episodes on VHS.

I recently went on a hike up Smarts Mountain here in New Hampshire, and when I got to the top, I happened to suddenly find myself in a certain upcoming video game:

Also, a few quick observations: - The game needs to provide an option to reduce the number of items that are spawned. Right now, it's too many items. They're fun, and I want them on, but they spawn so much it ends up just being "quick get to the item, quick, quick". - There are some levels where the level dangers are a little too frequent and annoying. For instance, the Mega Man stage has the yellow devil, and it's insanely annoying, since there's not much you can do to avoid it. Similarly, the Mario 3D Land level has a long stretch where there's only a few platforms, and the central platform is a rotating Bowser head which you can't get a grip on at all. Again, I'm not a Final Destination Only guy, it's just tedious to continually die for a dumb reason like that. - The lag has only hit me when trying to play with my buddy on the other coast. For a friend who's a few states away, it played perfectly, but we were only doing two-vs-two. - There is a switch to turn off individual items, which is good, because there are two different items which just pick you up and carry you to your death (the beetle from Skyward Sword and the Galaga ship). This is pretty bullshit.

I'm assuming that they're going to announce it's release in like, a few weeks, and it'll be out late November. I think they've realized that the 3DS version is advertisement for both, really, and there are a lot of people who are waiting for the WiiU version. If they had announced a hard date for the WiiU version, it'd just cut into their own sales for the 3DS game.

I have it, although at the moment I'm just terrible at the game. There are so many fighters, and they've been tweaked in so many ways. It seems like Falco has been nerfed, which is pretty sad, since he was the character I played at most often in the original game. I've been playing as Zero Suit Samus quite a bit, since she has some of the power moves and speed Falco used to have. Damn, though, if this isn't a really polished package.

I was joking. I'm sure that the game is really fun to play by yourself! I was commenting on my lack of imagination. I just think that the most exciting part of what Sean mentioned on the podcast was the interaction with the other people while playing the game. I'm a person who tends to not spend hours playing single player video games, and I like the idea of a non-competitive game that doesn't require too many crazy rules or a game board with little tokens and some intense in-game economy. I apologize! For being down on single player Sherlock Holmes!

You know, you're probably right. I guess with enough cocaine, a smoking jacket, and a second-floor flat overlooking a foggy street, you might have a pretty good time embroiled in what is essentially a more interactive Sherlock Holmes novel. I retract my statement. The Actual Saddest Thing A Person Can Do Alone is probably just tweet shitty things at games journalists.

Chris Remo got into a big conversation tonight with TotalBiscuit regarding the New York Times article about gamergate. I only want to post this, because it's a very stupid thing a person wrote:

You know what's the saddest thing I can think of? Sitting by yourself, drinking a beer, playing Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective. Scratch that, make it a red wine in an oversized glass. That's the actual Saddest Thing a Person Can Do Alone.

Your description, Sean, of Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective made me mega sad that it is a board game that requires a one hundred dollar investment and a group of like-minded friends. I really am not a board game person, but I'd definitely sit around and solve a silly case with some smart folks. Thanks for talking about it!

My friend took the Louvre tour while he was there, and he was pretty disappointed overall. Apparently it was a good idea but poorly executed, especially given the 3DS screen resolution. It's neat to get information really quickly, especially since his phone was not roaming, but the way it actually looked was a little rushed.

It can be, but they try to balance this with little power-ups and an abundance of free lives. It rewards wanting to try things one more time. I also hope you've played Rayman Legends, which is another gem of a platformer.

Not only did they not expect it to have a sequel, but (and this is pretty common knowledge), they had to re-film the ending of the first one to replace the actress who played Marty's girlfriend.

I love time-travel as a science fiction story concept. Just love it. It's very difficult to do right, since either you have to set up rules and then abide by them, or you kind of hand-wave it and wink at the audience. I'm less inclined to like the latter case (I walked out of Looper real frustrated, but that movie is unsatisfying to me for many other reasons besides it's loosey goosey time travel), but in the former case you have to be real careful and not make a film that's only about the time travel. I saw Primer just after it came out, based only some weird internet rumblings about the film. As a kid going to a nerdy engineering school at the time, it completely consumed me. The film is this perfect little 77 minute film that just dares you to rewatch it when it ends. The thing is, I hate that it's known as a "time travel" movie now, because ... well, I'll go into spoiler mode here:

I agree. The Grand Californian is a gorgeous take-off of the Ahwahnee up in Yosemite, with a really incredible central lobby. However, it's real pricey, and you can wander through it and get a lot of the same views and excitement without having to pay for, exactly as was described, is just a pretty normal hotel room. Also, I think that people are pretty split on Haunted Mansion Holiday. While I agree it's visually striking, I don't feel super strongly about Nightmare Before Christmas either way, but I actually do get a kick out of seeing the Haunted Mansion done up for the film every year, if only because I've got the entire non-holiday version practically memorized. I'm a sucker for detail, and both version of the ride are rife with small touches throughout. It's been interesting to see the evolution of the holiday version of the ride over the years. When it first opened, the queue area (which, on normal days is quite zippy, but on busy days can be pretty tedious) featured large banners with the lyrics to various "Christmas Scarols", take-offs on popular Christmas songs with Nightmare Before Christmas-esque twists. The thing is, while this might be neat for like, maybe a five to ten minute wait in line, a 30 - 40 minute wait, featuring these repetitive, awkwardly sung songs played to a growing-ever-more grumpy crowd can really grow thin. They've been removed in subsequent years. I hope that everyone who goes to any Disney theme park, but in particular Disneyland, tries to pay attention during the queue areas, as this is one of the major ways in which a Disney park separates itself from other theme parks. Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye, when it first opened, featured a long meandering queue that threaded through the temple, deep to where you boarded the car for the ride. The walls featured cryptic texts written in "Maraglyphics," a language developed for the ride (decoder cards were provided early on), and by translating the text, you could read hints about what was to come in the ride. There were also interactive gags: a "collapsing" spike ceiling, and a rope that, when pulled, caused a disappointed sounding british fellow to yell out below. There are so many other incredible details. Here's the line from the outside of the temple, where 1920s music is piped from a set of tinny speakers as you wait. There's a large generator located centrally to the queue, and when it sputters, the lights threaded throughout the entire line will flicker. There's a room covered in bat guano, there's a chamber where you can see and hear a movie projector that casts "old" film-reels about the ride up on a screen as you go by. There's even a small office for Indiana Jones himself, tucked away in a corner. The thing is, as the ride is now almost 10 years old, as a way of getting people onto the ride, a lot of this is passed by quickly, and quite a few little things have been slightly changed in order to increase ride efficiency. I think that the queue, and indeed the ride*, are absolute marvels, but I can't help but be disappointed with people who have to see it as it is today compared to what it was nearer to its opening. *If you think I have too many opinions about a ride queue, well...

In reference to the episode, here is the graphic I made for Chris: It's weird to hear the Danielle's knowledge about Disney World, because the same thing is crammed in my head, but about Disneyland. So when she mentioned "1992" as the opening of Splash Mountain, I was like, "wait, no, that's 1989," but we're both right, just on different coasts. It's always super exciting to hear someone who is passionate about a Disney park, because a lot of intelligent people really approach Disney's theme parks in the same way as Anita does (Baudrillard / Umberto Eco hyperreality). While that's a valid lens with which to look at Disney's theme parks, the same criticism can be applied to pretty much any form of recreation that involves make-believe. I just love being at a place filled with so many people having such a good time. I love the insane attention to detail in the same way that I love it within a video game. I love how the ground and background music changes as you move from land to land in a way that's almost unnoticeable. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter (a place I have not been to) would not exist if it weren't for Disneyland, and it's amazing to be at a place that is quite different but also . And as a place it has a fantastic way of breaking through ironic, critical distance in a way that I've seen many times in my friends and colleagues. ALSO here are some scattered notes about Disneyland's more problematic attractions: The "Buy a Bride" sequence in the Pirates of the Caribbean does indeed feature shouts of "we wants the redhead," but also "Shift your cargo, dearie, show 'em your larboard side" in reference to the "overweight" animatronic, and then another pirate shouts "is it a dollar by the pound?" It's really unfortunate. Disneyland does have other questionable decisions that have not been changed: Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room features what are definitely white dudes (including Thurl Ravenscroft!) doing broad stereotypes. Now, this is not nearly as bad as pirate weight shaming, but Disneyland is a place where, because of it's history, any attempt to change the attraction is met with outcry. This does not make it ok! I guess It's a Small World does feature people of all nationalities, but every winter it becomes It's a Small World Holiday, where they seamlessly mix in Christmas songs into the classic song (including, for a tiny bit, mermaids bobbing along and singing "Jingle Shells", wah waaaaahhh). I took a Jewish friend there, and she was expecting at least some reference to non-Christian faiths, but alas, even in the middle east they're pretty jazzed about Santa. During the fireworks show, however, there is a very brief clip with "Dreidle Dreidle Dreidle." I think that, if you had asked me when I was younger, I would defend Disneyland on historical principle, but if the park is going to be inclusive (even for the sake of capitalism, ugh), it should really be inclusive. I don't know how it must feel to sit in a showing of the Tiki Room and hear Wally Boag pretending to be the Spanish toucan Jose: " ". Probably you just shrug and realize that this is the way it is. I don't know if it has to be. THIS ALL BEING SAID, I still think that the park is a place who's heart is overall in the right place, and it still has tons and tons of guests of all kinds, it's a meeting place for many different communities (Chris didn't mention that he fucking went on Dapper Day), and it represents a place in a lot of people's hearts of safety and familiarity. And that's wonderful. OK THAT WAS A LOT. EDIT (MORE? YES): Also, here is where I gave original tips for Buzz Lightyear for anyone else who is planning on going to the park, and here's Nick Breckon's score to compare to the earlier posting, (and to gloat, here's my top score). ALSO, really fantastic episode, thanks for having such a great conversation, and for being an awesome group of people who I look forward to hearing from each week.

Has there been any news about the Olly Moss virgin Dota tourney? I heard that and thought: "that sounds like something I think would be really fun," especially as a person who has only watched one (very confusing) match in my life. I'd probably be able to bring together a group of Dota virgins to make a team, actually, if we could get a small tournament together here. I have a feeling that saying this in this very specific thread is potentially talking to The Wrong People.

Yeah, it's weird, Doug Tabacco is also quite knowledgable, he and I were both throwing TOO MUCH INFORMATION about the fucking Red Hot Chili Peppers "Rockin' Space Mountain" at Chris over the weekend. I practically lived at Disneyland growing up. EDIT: ALSO super pumped for Anita Sarkeesian, way, way badass. Idle Thumbs: Your Number One Video Game Podcast For People Who Aren't Shitheads

o shit Disneyland

I think that when it comes to the controls, I mostly miss the c-stick for smash attack, and I'm excited for the full version since I can swap controls around and flip L and R. I do appreciate, in the demo, that you can go from the bonkers items-on version of battlefield to the items-off flat battlefield. I do think that if someone were playing this on an original 3DS with four players it might be a little hard to follow, but on my XL I've also been surprised by how well it plays. I've also been watching competitive smash bros. people stream the Japanese game, and I think that the community is reacting to it far better than to Brawl, which I think is positive. I'm pretty excited for the full version.

Wait, has this been discussed? If it has, then maybe I apologize. This is Christina Hoff Sommers, a person who I do not agree with, making statements that I also do not agree with. She criticizes people who cherry pick research, and then does the same thing herself, which is a strange thing. Also, instead of attacking misogyny in games, she goes after the link between violence and games, which is a little silly. This is really, really difficult to watch.

I think that people are talking about this in the 3DS thread, but the demo for this game is out for "select platinum members," and while the demo is pretty sparse, it's just so good to play a portable Smash Bros. game. I think that the only time it's a little tough to follow is when the game zooms out to get all of the characters on screen, but I assume that the levels in the game were designed to avoid that if possible. Ugh, I really wish I were better at Smash Bros.

Jeff Goldblum totally looks like a 1960s civil rights activist with those glasses.

- There's a guy in the physics/astro department here who has a bunch of like, the most scientific dad-joke puns ever. Before each colloquium, he'll pick up a little chocolate snack cake from the tray and find some poor graduate student who hasn't heard his joke, and then make it dance around in space in front of them, and smile/wink and say "Brownie-in motion". He'll also, when change comes at our weekly pub night, push two ten-cent pieces and say to anyone who will listen, "well, here's another pair-a-dime shift." - Whenever Chris talks about mastering something like, say, Desert Golfing, or Flappy Birds, or Swing Copters, I wonder how much time he puts into these games. I tend to be someone who will start playing, and then after failing for like, five to ten minutes, I'll find something else that I should be doing instead. I forced myself to play Super Hexagon just to see if I could, and while I got a little better, I had to stop, since it was infuriating to fail and fail and fail (there are a lot of people, I know, who are in the same boat). I wonder if Chris is somehow better at these games intrinsically, or if he's just got more tenacity, or what. It's always fascinating to hear Chris analyze these games in the same way as it's fun to read people deconstruct a specific level in a Super Mario game. It's interesting to think about the pure building blocks of intelligent game design.

Did anybody commit any part of it to vine? I was hoping that at least a few people would take you up on your suggestion.