Nevsky

Hey, I think I'd like to get involved with all this multiplayer gaming, if that's permissable. My XBL 'tag is - NevskyP. Games I play include - World at War, Street Fighter IV, Halo 3, Team Fortress 2, so I'm up for those. Also, borrowing GTA IV off my dad, so maybe I can find out just how Grand and Auto that Thumb is.

Ooh, will have to check this out if I'm back up in Salford between those dates. Urbis is a good space, their equivalent exhibition for last year was about Manga, which was pretty good (even though I nitpicked the hell out of it at the time).

I really liked Nathan Fake's album Drowning in a Sea of Love when that came out, but haven't listened to it for a while. So when Newswipe started I just had that uncomfortable semi-recognition whenever the credits rolled. Thankfully, that can be put to rest now! Good remix.

I clocked this tweet, too. I don't know. I agree, Th'Peel, that Brooker could probably make it a lot deeper than outright ranting. The best moments of Screen- and Newswipe involved his moments of more level-headed commentary. It would be interesting to see, if this is a proper project, how he comes at it. I realise we're working off nothing here, but I'd be a bit sad if he's retreating into 'the worst video game bosses' as content, because I thought that Newswipe was, for the most part, brilliant analysis, commentary and satire rolled into one - whereas that idea sounds a bit exclusive and shallow. I know I'll be watching it, though.

Orbital have moved in the last couple of months, actually, down to Great Newport Street (near Leicester Square tube). It's a spacier, nicer place, with a little area that they use as a small gallery, with exhibitions of comic art. Comic Showcase has closed, yeah, although the sign is still there. I was talking about Comicana, which is pokey-as-hell, and quite expensive, but has a rough sort of charm to it. And there's Forbidden Planet, which has the best stock of any comics-interested shop I've ever been in, but it feels like a supermarket in terms of atmosphere. There's a very interesting blog post about comic shops in the West End of London here, actually.

It's probably my favourite comic book shop (not that I've been to more than a dozen, really). I agree that it's quite cramped (and their trades shelves upstairs are shelved really illogically), but I think their stock has some surprising choices, especially in the European/Independent sections - and the Manga section is quite good for the more arty non-Tokyo Pop stuff. There is one fellow who is really nice, the New Zealandish guy called Andrew. He's always up for a chat and is very welcoming. Although, yeah, whenever I've tried the same with the other people there, they've not been too nice. But Andrew seems to be working the tills any time during the week - and I've not found anyone similar in any of the other comic shops I've been to (the people in Orbital seem to be the most aloof, in my experience). Gosh isn't a perfect shop, but it usually suits me fine - and luckily Central London has 3 other (relatively good) comic shops within 5 minutes walk of it.

It's not on general release until the end of the month, and has been quite under the radar anyway, so I'm sure quite a few people are unaware. The comic shop in question ordered a bunch specially for the signing. I've not got around to finishing it yet - have been busy with work stuff. It's over 70 pages, so quite a chunky read anyway. Will report back when I get on top of it.

This is Volume III: Century. It's set either side of the Black Dossier (which was supposed to be a side-story), with the first issue (of the three) being 1910, second 1968 and final one being 2009 apparently. More info here.

Yowzer! I went down there around 2:30, saw the queue round the block, and thought 'sod it'. So decided to walk into Gosh and just buy the comic and leave the signing for another time. 4+ hours - damn - I'm sorry that it wasn't worth it. Not had much of a peruse of the issue (practically a small book, really) yet, but I think some of Todd Klein's work can be really good - shame if he's been quite dull with this one. On the topic of signings - I'm not sure they're worth the hassle. I went to an Adrian Tomine signing at the same place earlier this year, but was one of the first in the line (it was a weekday, right after everyone was paralysed by the snowfall), so didn't have to wait around that much. I much prefer the talk/reading-then-signing set-up. Went to a Neil Gaiman event along those lines back in October. I felt like I got much more out of it. Although, again, was lucky to be in the first 1/3 of the queue for the signing section, some must have been waiting for hours.

Yeah, he definitely went for the Bass as well. We had a few mutual friends at university. I only got to know him properly in the last year, when we shared a few modules. He was the guy who brought Maus in for the seminar on Holocaust literature/film - I hung out with him a bit, talking about comics and video games, but not enough to get beyond acquaintance/chum level. I didn't realise until later that he had some vague internet acclaim as a designer (he's had some really popular t-shirts on Threadless). Hey, I wish him well, and he's quite a talented dude - so I'm happy he's getting recognition. It's just so weird - we only graduated last year, and he's getting commissioned by the New York Times and GQ, getting nods from Neil Gaiman, Kotaku, Edge etc. Curse him and his secondary talent (our degree was in English).

I much prefer the Gaf Collection set - definitely more 'hits' than 'misses' in that one. I really like the Criterion design work anyway, so that's a good basis. Also, I think the Penguin Classics-inspired pseudo-book design idea grew quite stale quite quickly - I haven't seen many that measure up to the original pieces that kicked it off, designed by Olly Moss (flickr set here), which were designed to mimic the design aesthetics very closely, after a similar set of film posters he designed, called 'Eight Films in Black and Red' (here). Incidentally, we were at university together, and were in a couple of the same seminar groups. It's quite weird to be reading your daily blogs and sites, and then see a semi-friend get mentioned.

This is a great idea; loving the list so far. I have a couple to add - as it happens I'm currently working on a feature for a magazine on indie games, so I've been playing a lot recently.

Over here, Hatsworth seems to be on the cheaper tier of DS games. According to Amazon, its RRP is £20 (as opposed to £25-30, like Chinatown Wars), and I'm finding it for £15 on Gameplay, Play, etc. I think I'll be picking it up at some point. It definitely looks interesting!

I am really enjoying this game. Sadly, I've been busy in the last two weeks, so I've not been able to play it enough. Agree that the use of the touch screen is real standout, especially in the way they make the run-of-the-mill driving+shooting missions a bit fresher. I'm very much addicted (sigh) to the drug-dealing mini-game. Even though it makes me feel a bit uncomfortable (whereas shooting people doesn't? what does that tell you...), it's surprisingly deep for such a peripheral part of the overall experience.

For all those who (like me) wanted to find out more about the experimental games mentioned in the podcast, I found this article at GameSetWatch, which covers seemingly all of them in depth. Trying to find out more about Miegakure now, which is the 'puzzle platformer in four spacial dimensions'.

Wow, indeed. Looking forward to seeing more of the paper!

Great grenade action, there. Especially interested in the Experimental Games bit. Anyone have concrete links or vids for some of those mentioned? I should probably go back and listen again, but I'm sure some were just referred to as 'that crazy game that broke my mind'. I did hear, and did follow the URL for Achron, though. Mind-bending videos.

A lot of the issues regarding this crystallised for me when I spoke to my mum yesterday: Mum: 'You know, your dad was on Google on the computer, and he brought up a big close up picture of the outside of our house!' Me: 'Yeah, that's Street View, our place is on it too. I think it's great, I've been scouting out places I have to go to in central London that I haven't been to before...' Mum: '...Oh! I didn't realise you could use it for that, how clever...!' She thought it was just a new weird thing on the Internet, and wasn't threatened by it at all. But if people aren't realising the potential use of Street View, I'm not surprised they're reacting badly.

More interesting publishing rights info. I've completely missed out on the Rock Band experience, not having the space, money or friends to make it worthwhile, but I can't think of many things cooler than playing through the Abbey Road medley with some buds (preferably properly, but plastic peripherals will do).

A friend of mine, who loves his soundbites and big explosions, said that Killzone 2 was 'the most thrilling, immersive recreation of what it is like to be in a war since Call of Duty 4'. Not in the same league as some of the absurdly brilliant suggestions on this page, though. I had to stop myself from footnoting his spiel with '...ign.com', because he wouldn't have got the reference, or would have taken it as a compliment, or even an agreement.

Just listened to the October 28th podcast, which featured the long spiel on Far Cry 2. My interest is definitely piqued, although I don't have the £$€s for it at the moment. Maybe if it comes down in price a little.

I agree. The only real problem I have with the 360 controller set up is how awkward using the triggers is. Doesn't have that stab-immediacy of a proper button. I don't think having a pad/super-duper arcade stick would improve my game that noticeably, as my timing isn't good enough for the more hardcore techniques anyway!

Thanks for the tip, but I don't think I have the money to buy a pad at the moment. I'm finding myself faring much better online than on the arcade mode. Maybe that's because the general skillset isn't so high yet, or I've not met any 'proper players'. But for the time being I'm enjoying kicking a lot of flamboyant arse as Dan.

My copy arrived in the post this morning. Enjoying it so far, although my experience has been dulled a little by frustrations with the 360 controller, cheapness of some of the characters (even on medium) and my general crap abilities. Although I've won both of the Live matches I've played. Worried about playing more because I'll lose the 100% record!

Here are some I have to add in addition to those mentioned so far: http://www.brainygamer.com/ http://www.hiwiller.com http://boxart.tumblr.com