Wrestlevania

Reminds me of Leftfield.

I've pumped about 12hrs into the game now and I'm still scouting around Vault 101 and Megaton. I really want to find and explore every last nook and cranny of the world, stalling progress in the main quest for as long as possible. I'm exactly the same as a lot of people, too: when I'm not playing Fallout 3, I'm usually thinking about it when I get a spare moment. And I have never gotten addicted to a role-playing game before. In fact I can't actually recall off-hand the last game I got this obsessed about. It really is a huge achievement, despite its noted quirks and flaws.

Ha! You'll have no objections from Mrs V about that I shouldn't wonder... Fallout 3 was definitely faster overall by about 30-40% in my view. No idea, technically, how much faster it really is (there's a list online somewhere), but it's nice not to have the disc whirring up all the time. Also, it could just be my imagination but the game looked slightly sharper too. Early testers have reported that the HD installs almost completely eliminate texture streaming in certain games, which might be in effect here. Or I might need to take these rose-tinted NXE glasses off my avatar...

I'm with Jake; the new UI is a definite improvement. It's now light, open and visually attractive to actually look at over and over again--nothing like the bland, tabulated 'blades' layout, which I certainly won't miss one bit. Another superb piece of visualisation is your games list in My Profile. Flipping through all the games I've played and seeing at a glance all the key stats (Gamerpoints earned, achievements, medals) is really nice and such a leap beyond the old 'blade' interface. For everyone who hates the new friends list, one thing that isn't immediate about it is that if a friend is playing a game, you'll see all his friends who he's playing with standing around him. It's really, really smart and a brilliant piece of information visualisation. Personally, I think the avatars are great! The single best thing about the update for me was flipping through my friends list last night and seeing how people visualised themselves. It's fascinating and a lot more fun than that pathetic 120x120 pixel smudge people had before. Massive improvement and definitely more engaging quite some margin. For those interested, "heeeeere's Wrestle!" The nicest avatar-related surprise of all, for me, was that Microsoft included a wedding ring accessory.

Bit more unusual electronic goodness for y'all... Anyone who likes Aphex Twin, Boards of Canada or The Field might be interested to hear Anders Ilar's Lovefields mix [MP3, 94MB], which is a very chilled out piece of sophisticated Electronica. You can get a taste of what this album's going to be like on Anders' MySpace page.

I think it must be... I tried the demo on Xbox 360, stumbled my way through it with complete ease and was left wondering why the hell this game's getting any attention at all.

Good grief, I love you Internet!

Holy fuck! Also: welcome, Mr B!

I've little doubt you're right. But their piece on Nokia's Yamake project suggested to me they were at least looking beyond the first piece of paper they had in front of them.

Merciful heavens, not the dreaded Action Shoes?!

Interesting... When it becomes available to me, I might take the Contract Killer perk in that case. Quite like the Wild West bounty hunter aspect of that - seems to fit perfectly with the setting to me.

I just snatched my first sniper rifle off the corpse of a guy named Arkansas, over in Minefield. I'd just started opening up when I noticed he was a properly named NPC, instead of some random. I really didn't want to kill him, but couldn't see any way around it at that point. Cheers for the gun though, Ark. However, just out of interest: Oh, and Dan, here are the details on the Xuanlong Assault Rifle:

Not that Boing Boing is the bastion of online journalism, but I wonder if Offworld is a move more towards the sort of game industry reporting that Marek and Duncan wrote about recently. Alternatively: I could just be talking out of my exit-hole (fancy that!).

Rab reviewed Illbleed--whilst having a poo, no less.

Thanks again, gents. Another superb installment! I was actually having a shave when Remo read out my Fallout 3 letter and just about managed not to inadvertently slit my own throat with excitement! I really enjoyed your discussion on the game design points I wrote about. I'm also glad you guys found it an interesting topic. Need to check out my UK brethren's 'cast now, too.

There are also subtle changes as a series progresses; new snapshots will get dropped in, here and there, the closer you get to the end. It's often too subtle to notice immediately, but it's a pleasant little easter egg all the same.

I really liked the Bluesy intro song of the first season, myself. They have a different band (and style) for each series' intro, though, and none are as good as the original/first in my opinion. But you're quite right: rule of thumb with The Wire is that it doesn't really kick off until around fourth or fifth episode in a season. By then, it's compulsive viewing. I watched 5 episodes of season 4 back to back last night, for example... The 4th series' intro music is a particularly nasty rendition if you ask me. I had to double-check you weren't referring to that before posting.

I agree with the "sloppiness" criticism; I think the lowest point of the film in this regard was that: Complete tosh and a total anti-climax; that's definitely the point I decided, "no, this is arse."

After Thumbcast 2.0 episode 4, I've been feeling very nostalgic about Video game music of yore--particularly Lucasarts' efforts. Games like Monkey Island, TIE Fighter and - though not 'interactive' - Outlaws. Why is contemporary Video game music so forgettable by comparison? And Halo doesn't count; being bludgeoned over the head with something horribly clichéd certainly doesn't merit it "memorable" status.

Not while you were in LAME, I trust..?

If you enjoyed that James Zabiela mix (and I'm very pleased some of you posted back that you did), you may also enjoy Delia’s Dream… by Trevor C.

Bastards, that's really shitty. I'd say head to your nearest outlet and speak to the manager there; if nothing else, you might get some satisfaction of venting at him.

According to elmuerte's graph, "Idle Thumbs' seriousness goes all the way up to 11." I didn't enjoy this episode quite as much as the others so far. After the epic resplendence of 'The Wizard' I think I was missing a musical number this week most of all. I know Remo's not a machine, but that song/skit is going to take some beating... Brad made for an excellent addition to the crew, however, and the topics discussed were great. Personally, I really don't mind the fact you guys have talked up Far Cry 2 as much as you have. I value Thumbs' opinions pretty much above everything else out there (especially the discourse in these hallowed forums), so if a game's being talked about repeatedly then it's something worth paying attention to. I have some Fallout 3 questions for next episode though, now I'm actually playing it myself, which I'll mail in later.