Thyroid

I never received the refund offer. There were some threads about the issue on the Steam Arkham City forums. I think somebody just fixed it - the game started downloading when I fired-up my Steam client just now. But still, the fact I couldn't play my damn game because of some ass with power who lives in the 20th century said "No" is kind of - I forget the word. It means "Bit scary for the future" and starts with the letter "F".

Well, this sucks. I own the Steam version, but it won't let me install or play because the game is unavailable in my region. Don't I "legally" own a "license" to play the fucking thing?

Ugh. "He seems really excited to get his hands on these little guys, and I'm wondering if certain ASSets are drawing his focus." "If either of these babies get you nice and hard, you can plunk down 5200 yen (about $67) plus shipping when they arrive in March."

You'll find yourself comfortable with it eventually. I seem to remember getting used to it around page 300. He uses it to great effect, especially in book 3.

One thing that's been irritating about Skyrim's reviews is the fact that reviewers haven't had lots of time to play it. Everyone seems in awe of the world's potential and is giving high thumbs up in response. I know that they have to publish reviews early to get the hits, but I wonder how much of that joy is hype and immediate afterglow. The review from RPS lists all the things the reviewer hasn't done yet. Especially irritating (of the ones I read) is Joystiq's review: Granted, he provides counter-points for each of his arguments, but why would he give it a full score afterwards? He used the phrase "frequent distraction", and the word "chores". Doesn't that warrant something?

I'm kind of amazed at how, err, much I disagree with AdventureGamers. Both staff and readers gave Heavy Rain a best story award, which kind of confuses me. It's ridiculous coming off The Wire to Heavy Rain and seeing the difference in writing quality.

Just thought I'd say this is cool I won't ask for anything, but it's great! Edit: though my friend saw this list and decided he wanted some of it. Is that OK? He lives in the States, so he says he'd be willing to help in shipping costs any way he can. (Assuming you're giving them away. If you're selling them, he can help too.)

Nothing I've tried reading recently has grabbed me. I miss the insane layering A Song of Ice and Fire does, so I wrote this review of book three to try and explore what I mean. It works as an explanation of the series as a whole. It's spoiler-free. This all coming from someone who doesn't typically enjoy fantasy.

I was mostly joking and trying to be ridiculous, but I do appreciate your answer.

Speaking of Painkiller: Black Edition - how the fuck are you supposed to defeat that tornado-wielding titan at the end of the first chapter or whatever? The one in the cemetery? That damn tornado ends me.

I have one question: does it have something as exciting and different as the train sequence?

The Neil Gaiman episode was stellar, wasn't it? It's too bad the River Song stuff didn't live up to its potential.

I think I came across worse than I wanted to, but I remember being bothered by everyone coming across with ownership issues. Everyone seemed intent on fixing the game for themselves like they could, and that really bothered me. I wanted to cut down on the negativity also. I really wanted LucasArts to view what they were doing as a good thing. That failed, though. They were working on DLC called "Grubbins in Love" a while back. Maybe it'll hit around Valentine's Day.

It's amazing how much they got wrong in the Special Edition of The Secret of Monkey Island. I don't want to turn Comic Book Guy here, so I'll just say get the original game if you can. Costume Quest left me with a huge smile on my face. The battle system could use more depth, but the game's charm and writing totally make-up for it.

The sequel improves on the original in many vital ways, combat included. At the beginning, I thought it was going to be a retread of the first but it changes-up quickly. The first is pretty good, though. I recommend sticking with it. It makes the second a tiny bit better, too. I'm excited to play the third one at some point in the distant future.

Reactions on release day: Fuck Yes FTW 10/10!!!!! More of the same then? Ace GOTY ONLY 8/10 OMG ALL OTHER SITES ARE 10/10 THIS GAME ROCKS CANT WAIT TO PLAY IT WHEN IT COMES OUT ROLL ON SEPTEMBER 13!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Reactions after the hype has died a bit: Not bad, gets boring after a while. I didn't do the story missions. Vice City was better/

As noted by RPS today, what is up with those damn live action trailers anyways? Why bother? They're stupid and embarrassing. For instance, this is stupid. ct2kbLBuSOg This is not stupid. This is impressive CGI work in a trailer that shows all the new stuff you can do in Assassin's Creed II. mVWhWsgHzKM So why bother with the stupid shit and not just stick to advertising games as games and not as cheap, embarrassing fanmade bullshit?

I vaguely remember realizing that Umbridge both believed what she was doing was right, and kissing ass. But I was 13. I'm going to re-read the books someday anyway, so I'll found out for sure then. My experience is slightly more interesting. I read the first one when I was eight - this is just after it got published in the States - and I read each when I could get ahold of it (two and three I read in one sitting on the same day; I got them as soon as I found a way to, which was soon after three came out, and promptly got lost in them for that entire Tuesday. That day was one of the best of my life...). It's kind of silly now, but I always half-hoped to get that letter when I turned ten and go to Hogwarts (Harry's line about math being boring in Stone being the kicker). Harry was always older than I was at any given time, until Deathly Hallows came out and I was, finally, older than him. By two months, sure, but I was older. It was a month after I finished high school, and it was as perfect a goodbye to childhood as I could have ever hoped for, saying goodbye to my childhood favourite character like that. So maybe someday I'll go back and read them and re-live days that have gone by. Anyway, blah. Movies. Err... A Study in Terror is a decent and occasionally scary little dittie. Worth seeing.

Maybe it's because I was 13 when Potter 5 came out, but Umbridge felt really realistic to me. God knows I had a teacher exactly like her (minus denying Voldemort, etc). And I loved the opening. It was different to the others and really captured what I was feeling at the time - that general boredom with summer (it was the summer between my more younger self and the year I kind of started dating a lot of girls, etc), and the year I noticed people hanging in gangs and generally becoming more teenage like the way Dudley does. I loved how that one thing changed Dudley for the better in Potter 7. His last appearance in the books didn't entirely redeem the character, but it gave him a nicer, more positive side. That's just me, though. Prince was my least favourite of the series (by far) because it lost so much of that and became too involved in its own mythology. Other people differ. Eh.

Movie 1 is dreadful. I hated it as a kid, and can't even make it past the first fifteen minutes as an adult. The casting is great in parts, but the movie has little else going for it. The main theme pisses me off more than you imagine. Movie 3 is OK, but it's saved by stellar direction. The screenplay is shit, though. I don't get why this guy removes fun or interesting scenes or subplots (like who created the Marauder's Map and why Lupin and co. can work it so well) and adds in silly ones like . To me, what made the first five books so great (and to a lesser extent the seventh) was the abundance of fun and interesting detail coupled with wonderful characters and (what seemed at the time; I'll have to re-read to assess) a great plot. They obviously have to lose some of that in adapting a 700 page monster to a 100 minute multiplex-lovin' blockbuster designed to bring casual fan ass to cinema seat, but I don't see the point in adding scenes like (Potter 6 spoilers) in place of, you know, something good. Part of me wishes someone would adapt the books into a TV series or animated series. As is, I don't like how intertwined the movies have become with the (far superior) books in canon. It kind of pisses me off, actually.

Sorry; I thought I replied to this. Some of my problems were similar to yours, but I've come to realize that's just the nature of aRPGs. They're all essentially the same. However, changing up environment and weather can do wonders. Get your player decapitating in the daylight and at the 100th decapitation they'll get bored, but add a rainstorm and lightning and suddenly, atmospherically, it changes, and it becomes fresh again. They've added environments, made character classes a bit more varied and gotten rid of that one single, eternal dungeon. So I should say: They fixed the things that aren't inherent to aRPGs, which is nice.

It's kind of impressive how badly adapted the novels are. None of the ones I've seen gets it right. The first and third movies are especially atrocious, screenplay-wise.

Batman: Arkham Asylum was rather fun. If I wasn't feeling so tired, I'd explain why but since I'm both tired and lazy, I'll just say it's an A-, or an A if you're a big Batman fan, and get on with my life.

You are the best bot.