Wrestlevania

Also, I may miss some or all of this evening. I've found a study-at-home course that I'd really like my company to fund, and registration closes in less than a month. So I need to put some effort into writing a training proposal very quickly. I know, I know; I'm

I'm trying to make sure I log most things in the Steam Community Thumbs calendar, too [see sig].

Resonance of Fate is one of very few Japanese RPGs (or similar) that really piqued my interest. I'd be interested to hear more of how you're getting on with it, twmac.

Having a proper back channel makes sense. I read briefly something about Skype in the lobby, but didn't realise the majority were still in there. To be honest, there was so little verbal communication in our team that I'd lost most of my interest by about round 3 and was just going through the motions. As James points out, having a proper back channel with everyone in it for games like Grand Thumb Auto - as well as Formula Thumb (as I'm sure Patters and toblix would attest*) - really changes the experience and makes it a lot more sociable. But I'm wondering if it's actually a good idea for something as tactical as L4D2 can be at times? Can you channel hop easily in Skype? Or would something like Ventrillo be more appropriate, with a public channel and then a team channel? Doesn't the Steam platform have something built in by now that replicates in-game text chat, but for voice? It seems like an oversight that you can either broadcast to the whole game in text, or just your team mates, but not do the same for voice. I suppose this is a DRD**. Maybe we use team text chat for tactics and Skype for voice? Picking teams, though... that's baby talk! * It's mostly just Patters and me verbally fapping over cars, however... ** Douchebag Restriction Device

Quattro's the daddy. I'll be back in about 3 weeks. Flying out to SXSW tomorrow morning, back a week later, then off to Disneyland Paris on the train for a few days with Mrs V and the kids shortly after. I will miss the racing with you all though.

I've tri-ed Monster Hunter a few times on PSP, but never been able to really get to grips with the schizophrenic control system. Really hoping the Wii version has overcome this, if not completely rebuilt the controls outright. It's fine, in theory, to have different stances depending on the weapon you're using. But it made changing your gear for something different a difficult decision; I found it hard to tell if I was bad at the game, bad with a particular weapon or just bad with the controls.

You could say the same for something like Crackdown, one of the few Xbox 360 games I can actually claim to have "finished". But fancy that--a trailer with a shitty voiceover?! Ignoring superficial crap like that, it does look like it could be a lot of fun. The first game passed me by, but the sequel's been consistently getting encouraging previews. (I'm tapped out for games at the moment though.)

Oh, that Nick! Happy Birthday, Not-Congrats Nick!

Just wondering if any other Thumbs will be attending SxSW this year? I'm flying over for the whole of the Interactive festival. That's it really.

I think the fact gaming platforms are really stable and well-established at the moment plays a part in this, too. There are no new major console iterations coming any time soon*, and I don't think PC and console technology has been this close in parity for a long time either. Obviously this is a small part of the whole, but it's the sort of thing I find really interesting in gaming. Long may it continue, says I. *

Sorry, I'm working a lot of overtime at the moment. So I wasn't able to join in. (I didn't finish until almost 1am this morning as it was.) And I'd built 3 new cars for the occasion, as well as one bat-shit insane F-->R3 monster. I will endeavor to participate next week, but then I'll be away for a while - first to Texas for SxSW with work, then on to Disneyland Paris with Mrs V and the Vanias a couple of days after I get back from Austin.

My kids are starting to get quite interested in video games and are eager to start playing together with me. I've got Kung Fu Panda and LEGO Indiana Jones on Xbox 360, but they're both a little complicated to begin with I think; they prefer to just watch me play those because of this. So I've been browsing through the GameCube's back-catalogue, trying to identify potentially good games to play with a 6, 4 and 2 year old. Does anyone have any suggestions or recommendations? There are so many versions of Mario Party, for example, that I've no idea where to start. I hear Wario Ware Inc. should be good fun to play with the older two at least--and I'm sure T wouldn't mind watching like he usually does. Any other fun games Thumbs might think/know are good to play with young kids?

I've been close to buying a Wii just because of Wii Fit a couple times for Mrs V. But I keep hearing it's pretty naff and just not worth bothering with. ...unless you're the Consolevania boys, of course: JdP9y057FMA Mario Kart is on the shortlist, definitely, along with New Super Mario Bros. (I couldn't get either in the bundle deal, sadly). Just going to wait and see how they take to it first before getting any more games, however.

Didn't really have any luck on the GameCube side of things in the end; my console appears to be faulty, and getting hold of game discs is more trouble than it seems to be worth. So I bought a Wii at the weekend! I got Sports, Sports Resort, Pikmin, Warioland: The Shake Dimension and Boom Blox in the bundle, and I also picked up Wii Play and two further controllers as well. Haven't opened it yet - keeping it a surprise for this coming Sunday - but I'm really excited to see what the kids make of it.

But I thought it was developed in Russia..?

Not comical, just cool... If you thought the BigDog / DARPA 'Mule' was disturbingly life-like, check out the A-pod: 0jyBiECoS3Q Unlike the DARPA Mule, A-pod shouldn't leave you shitting the bed.

Two-for-one - efficient! Many happy returns to you both.

Not-reading-not-reading-not-reading! I got ME2 about a week ago, even though I got really bored and frustrated with the original after a while. After about 8 hours of play, however, I'm enjoying the sequel much more than the first game. I'm not finding it hugely different, but it's somehow more focused without compromising the story (which really appealed in the original, along with the overall visual design and settings). I don't miss the driving around one bit and the mining mini-game is serviceable enough. Combat feels more punchy and the weapons I've picked up so far are good without being flashy or over the top. The upgraded pistol you get early on is my favourite so far--it's very satisfying to use. The cover system also seems to be more intuitive for me this time, too. So, for now, I'm giving it a

I passed because it was my wife's birthday (as well as being Valentine's Day), but ended up playing Mass Effect 2 for a bit instead.

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I'm thinking we postpone the big 'L' in-game celebrations for a further week, in that case, and just have a regular session this coming Tuesday. Is that better for everyone? That'll make it the 52th as well.

Fantastic shots, Pat and toblix. I didn't even think to save replays for photos after the fact in multiplayer! Some flippin' close racing again last night. Just a shame about the connection problems (and me dropping out suddenly late on as well). :/

Belated happy returns, Sombre!

Mrs V spent the evening - and a fair portion of the night - unexpectedly turning herself inside out. This was sub-optimal. I propose we retry the Grand Thumb Auto 50th next Tuesday. What say you?

He ain't no baby, fool!