Wrestlevania

Yep, like toblix, you've sold me with this too. I've finally upgraded my ancient PC, so the Source engine seems as good a test as any for my new* speedy components. For what it's worth, I like the gunplay in Half-Life 2. The balance and distinct differences between each of the weapons feels like there's a huge range to choose from. Yes, the pistol might feel and sound weak compared to the sort of hand-cannons you find in some other shooters. But I like that it's accurate and you can still make mischief with it. I also like having all this shit clonking around on my virtual gun belt. The whole "only two weapons" thing..? Nah. * The headlines are an AMD Phenom II X4 3.2GHz and a Radeon 5870. 8 years since I last bought bespoke components - I'm still running a P4 2.6GHz HT right now - so I'm very, very excited!

That'd be 8pm BST. I'm there like a square.

On behalf of everyone else reading, I'd like to say: ow!

Plus mother-fucking 1

X-Men: First Class It, too, felt somewhat empty or incomplete for me. There's nothing here that surprises, except maybe some of the shittiest mutants in the series being used instead of the majority of the original members. No idea why; the replacements feel flat and inconsequential. Overall, a patchy and ultimately disappointing reboot, but with a few decent ideas and one or two good bits of casting to pull it above "failure". Hanna Brilliant! From the casting to the cinematography to the blistering soundtrack provided by the Chemical Brothers, this is much more what a comic book film should be like. Whether it's actually based on a comic book or not I'm too lazy to look up. What I mean is it has the crisp snap to it of a comic book, along with more languid character studies you get in that medium. It works really well, and never once drops pace or descends into the trite, navel-gazing some comic book introspectives can be. See this, but make sure you go to a theatre with a kick-arse sound system. You're missing out on a big part of the experience if you don't. Get Low A return-to-form for Bill Murray, after the directionless Broken Flowers, albeit in an enjoyably straight role. A tender, endearing performance by Robert Duvall too, as a cantankerous hermit trying to make peace with his inner and outer demons before he dies. Great casting throughout, sparsely shot yet rich in texture and colour, and a twangy, enjoyable Deep South soundtrack adds to the immersion. Neds Brutalist 70s biopic of a disenfranchised school swot growing up in a grotty part of Glasgow. Casting is decent and the story convincingly set and told, but it foolishly tries to incorporate artistic pretensions and ultimately looses its way by the very end. Enjoyable while it lasts except for the unsatisfying ending, which leaves you wondering what exactly the director was trying to do with the last 2hrs. Watch it if you're even remotely interested in inner city life and/or Scottish urban culture though, but be warned: the accents are thicker than Highland toffee.

We called him Duke... "I'm ready to butt butts and chew trash... and I'm all outta trash." He attacked Mrs Vania moments after this was taken.

You're right. Just gutted I won't get to see two good friends very often now. Didn't realise you'd changed gigs recently; sounds very exciting! Best of luck going forwards--envy people taking the plunge and becoming their own boss. I will, but he ain't no baby no more. This is him last week, when he made friends with a disinterested goat:

I've no real appreciation for what's happening, Miffy, but - to my untrained eye - it sounds like maybe you've been passed the torch, rather than just left to wind up your boss's legacy..? Surely the mayor would be all for furthering the town's cultural plaudits, and supporting the theatre's on-going arts-centred programming? ~~~~ Selfish, Sporadic Micro-Dirge I've had to quit the creative job I've loved for the past 4 years. Having censored this post about five times now in preview, I'll merely summarise with: in the last 18 months, the company has rapidly and dogmatically changed beyond recognition from what made me join in the first place. And none of this change has been driven by those responsible for creating the colossal reputation the business has (or perhaps "had"). And when I challenged senior management about this change, I was basically brushed off with an overly-verbose "...meh". So, time to go. Even though it means I no longer get to work with two of my best friends (who have also since decided to quit). On a more positive note My particular set of skills would appear to be in high demand at the minute; yay me. I got published in a leading industry magazine this week. :tup: I've also contributed a multiple page article to a well-known UK tech enthusiast mag, which should go to print in the next few weeks. :tup:

Any other Xboxen Thumbs fancy hacking, slashing and holy watering their way through this? Loved this on DS, and it can only be even better with another Thumb or two!

I played the demo, I really enjoyed it. Dawn of Sorrow is the only game I can think of where I've actually relished the grinding--relished actually hunting out specific instances of a creature and slaying it over and over again until I got the ingredient or weapon I was after. Playing Castlevania this way, it became balletic. I took pride in sliding and jumping with pixel precision, with inventing combos and faster attacks with different pairs of weapons. I also played and loved Portrait of Ruin too, even though it lacked some of the softer aspects of DoS's settings and characters. Anyway, I meant more "is that a 'no' to multiplayer," which it pretty much sounds like. Nevermind.

So that's a "no" then..?

We've not had a browser games thread for a while (I think), so I was sure you lot would have some new treats to share. My latest find is Evacuation!. It's a Flash puzzle game set on a space ship. The object of each level is to "space" all the man-eating aliens, without jettisoning too many of the human passengers as well. It's a simple game, but gets fiendishly difficult in later levels.

Interview with Hawken's developers over on EDGE Magazine's website.

~ahem~ This reply brought to you in association with Cheap 'n' Nasty.

I suspect this would be an amazing Indie game.

I AM MOIST True. Everyone knows there's only one kind of mech anyway. Builds tension in the player. I think it's quite a clever little interface trick, personally.

Well, it's been a hellishly long time since I got around to organising one of these - my sincere apologies. I now have my evenings (mostly) to myself once more, so I think it's time we picked up our tools and ploughed the undead field once more. ...who's with me?

Excellent, look forward to seeing you tomorrow. As a general head's up, there's a ½GB title update just out. Might be worth firing up Steam that bit earlier if you're intending to join us—and we sincerely hope you do. Remember: Unanticipated downloads can kill.

I'm going to refer to that as "the brain bleach remix".

Runs perfectly in XP if you set it to use Compatibility Mode.

I've started contributing regularly to a friend's music blog. We're covering a pretty diverse selection of electronic music, ranging from Thom Yorke to Burial. I've also started putting together the odd mix of my favourite Progressive music, if that's your sort of thing too.

"Gotta CAPTCHA 'Em All!"

GAMMA BROS By: PixelJam Synopsis: Highly polished 8-way, 8-bit shooter. Lots of variety, well-paced difficulty curve, and fun weapon upgrades. More: You can play GAMMA BROS on the PixelJam website.

N?na, Ha?e F?aith By: Droqen Synopsis: Pixelly dimension-shifting puzzle platformer; feels like Cave Story meets Within a Deep Forest. And it's a love story. More: You can play N?na, Ha?e F?aith at Newgrounds, dans le browser.

Could Tommy be Captain Generic in the armour? Some sort of prolonged resistance thing? Never finished the first game, but did like the concept, and the gunplay was satisfying enough. So if Tommy got deaded in the finale, you can ignore the above.