James

Yeah, I see why he'd say that, but it's kind of like when people were saying GTA4 should win Oscars: a spectacular failure in the perspective department. Storytelling in games has taken some encouraging steps in the past few years, but the road is very long, and the pace isn't steady. Even if you did accept the premise that games have exceeded films at storytelling for a full half-decade, the degree of hyperbole he employs is pretty frustrating: how can he honestly say that nothing in film has even come close? Does he just not see any films?

It's all one download (you get a choice of language on the download screen), which unpacks and then runs an installer. It's all installed to one directory, containing all the game stuff, an AVI of the making-of (320 x 240, a shade over ten minutes long), a PDF of the walkthrough (a very bare-bones bullet point list affair), and an OST subdirectory containing 25 MP3s (256 kbps) and a cover image thing. In short: a bunch of files in the main game directory.

Sweet! Not only did I get the game, it's also a site new enough that I was able to nab the username "James"! I love doing that. LOVE.

Where the Big Dog is terrifying because of its effectiveness, this is terrifying because of its complete hopelessness. You ask for ketchup and the sheer force of the stream shoots a sausage through your eye and into your brain. Now you are dead.

I don't think I ever actually played with Boost in the end. Switch Remo for Dan and that sounds about right, though.

A HUMILIATING TYPOGRAPHICAL/SPELLOGRAPHICAL ERROR.

They are caves carved by the slow but irresistable flow of huge and ancient bodies of ice. As such they contain large quantities of ice, some of which is very old. This is what we went to. The well-lit photos are a bit misleading, though, as there isn't actually any permanent lighting inside. Instead every third person carries one of those old-fashioned little gas mining lantern things. Sadly mine was a bit buggered and produced barely any light at all, but it was all very atmospheric, and occasionally the guide would light a magnesium flare which would briefly illuminate surroundings much more clearly. One interesting thing is that when they open the door to the caves there's a huge gust of wind caused entirely by the temperature differential between the inside and outside. What's even more interesting is that the temperature inside the caves is pretty much entirely static, so during the winter it gets colder outside than inside and the air flows as vigorously the other way. Science! Things to consider: it's not open all year, so check ahead; there's a lot of steps, so be prepared for that; and it's obviously quite cold, so don't turn up wearing sandals like some bozo in our group did. It's not incredibly cold, mind. I got by without a hat or anything on my head, and the sandles man's toes didn't fall off there and then. If you can fit it into your schedule, I recommend it.

Am I mutilating my metaphors? I posted that on my way to work, well before my brain has even reached its meagre peak level of functionality.

Oh, sorry about that. I didn't realize any of that was a secret. I'll be more careful in future. For what it's worth, I don't think it's really the sort of film you can spoil. It's more about the telling than the specifics of the plot. You might not agree, of course, so again, sorry. In other news, I thought A Serious Man was excellent, but I fear my theories about what it all means would crumble before more learned and intellectual interpretations. For example, I have no idea what happens in the book of Job beyond what I just learnt from the preceeding two posts.

I'm up for either mode. I'm theoretically free weekday evenings (GMT, not Fridays) and weekends, but whether I turn up depends on whether I get caught up watching a film or something with my flatmate. Toblix, I'm sure you'll learn the ropes fast enough. Each of the multiplayer modes are quite different from both the single player and each other, so they're all a bit of a learning experience, but I don't remember the mechanics of any of them being particularly taxing. Which isn't to say I was any good at them. I might be able to rope in semi-Thumb Dan/Danny Boy/whatever (who used to play Last Stand with Sombre and me), but he's a bit busy having slightly more of a life these days.

127 Hours certainly left an impression.

I don't know, I'd probably favour the Baltic myself, but I'm probably not very representative of holiday preferences. I'd be interested to see the Baltic states, anyway. I'm not hugely well-travelled, so I can't offer much advice, but some friends and I enjoyed a week in Austria last year. We saw culture and mountains. And the world's biggest system of ice caves and an underground lake and a very old salt mine. I especially liked the ice caves. But I'm sure everywhere else has plenty of great stuff I don't even know about.

I didn't realize until Stuart Braithwaite of Mogwai posted about it on Twitter, but Third Eye Foundation is back from the dead with a new album, The Dark. This is excellent news. Pareidolia is a particular favourite, as is Closure: TiITP-zP-98

I'll express an interest, but I'm not very reliable with being available for multiplayer at specific times these days.

Well they're bound to do a recap sale on the last day (which is tomorrow, I guess). Perhaps it'll be on that.

I joined with my forum name. I hope that's OK.

I've been playing a bit on PC. If anyone wants to join me, that would be fine.

Yes to all of that. While listening I was wondering whether Chris wasn't participating as much because Bleszinski was going on about the subtler side to Gears (Dom's wife, oil analogy, etc.) and he perhaps didn't think that was as effective as all that. Not to put words in Remo's mouth – I don't remember whether Gears was ever discussed on Thumbs – but it seemed to me like it might be a case of not wanting to embarrass the interviewee. Perhaps I'm just projecting my own opinion onto Chris, though, which is a bit weird, because I actually really like Gears, but I do think the attempts at seriousness in the story are kind of ridiculous and a little embarrassing.

In seriousness, assuming your appeal for contributions was genuine, what method of transfer would be best for you?

I'm throwing coins at the screen but they're just bouncing back.

Similarly to Murdoc, I'll take a spot if nobody more vehement wants it. I'd like to play again, but there's a chance I may get distracted at some point.

I think I might be just about ready for another game, if one gets started and there's space for me.

I'd kind of rather do campaign first anyway. That said, I do want to try that tank mutator thing that's happening at the moment I think.

I will happily grind my Chuck on another Chuck's save. I'm being quite careful with catching as many missions as I can on my own one, so it probably wouldn't be much fun for other people to drop in on that, but I've been arsing about on a friend's non-story playthrough and it's a pretty fun way to play. I should probably point out that I'm playing on 360, whereas I believe Toblix is on PC, so there goes that possibility.

I probably ought to play The Sacrifice at least once, so I might try to join in on some non-full thing if I see one. I had no idea about No Mercy being ported to 2 until I happened across it last night, so I gave that a go solo. It was pretty fun to go through my most familiar campaign with a cricket bat.