mikemariano

Ah, the mark of a true VVVVVV devotee. Congratulations. Now it's time to go play some user levels!

Saw this from one of my Twitter followers: It's a losing bet, Jake and Sean! Don't take it!

Time to add this to the pile of 50+ games purchased on Steam that I can't play! But I did know that going in. I don't have a record player, don't wear t-shirts, and don't have any good place to hang artwork, either, so all these Kickstarter rewards will go to waste!

Gabe Newell's secret plan to sell copies of Windows through Steam sales might work on me. I have purchased 56 games through Steam, but can only play 17 of them on my Mac. But Arx Fatalis for $1.99, even though I can't even install it? I can't pass that up!

Is there a mod to replace the narrator with Duke Nukem quotes?

I buy so many games during Steam sales and play none of them. I have an aging MacBook, which means I spent $25 so I could look at the name "iD Classic Collection" on a list of uninstalled games. So should I buy the PC only Bethesda collection?

70% of backers chose to have dinner with Carley instead of Doug.

I am addicted to crate-digging and have a closet bursting with used CDs. None of that money goes to the artists, but who cares? I recently bought a single on Bandcamp, and that was a decent buying experience. They let you choose lossless formats like FLAC and ALAC. However, it wasn't a decent browsing experience. It's hard to look through the music they offer without being linked directly from the artist's page. But I did see some Minecraft music, so that's something.

Burgertime: go back and listen to the live episode 51 of Idle Thumbs, where Sean ends the program with a very well told Far Cry 2 story. Heck, listen to him talk about Super Black Bass. Sean brings the valuable "actually plays games" component to the podcast.

*twitch* I think I'll hug my blob extra hard the next time I turn on my Wii. Incidentally, I'm using the classic controller for the first time to play A Boy And His Blob. I like it!

Rock Paper Shotgun interviews Steve Gaynor Steve mentions not only will there be no combat, but also no puzzles (at least not Portal-style ones). Let's start setting up the artificial rivalry between Gone Home and The Witness now! You're only allowed to buy one of these games!

I can't believe the actual title of the Super Black Bass sequel is even more ridiculous than your approximation: Bassin's Black Bass with Hank Parker

John Walker really is useless. I learned nothing about the new Mass Effect ending except that it he finds it enjoyable to imagine the crushed dreams of fanboys. Thanks, John. You can go back to nitpicking Traveller's Tales games to death, then calling them excellent. Or nitpicking Telltale games to death, then calling them crimes against humanity.

It makes perfect sense; if the combat AI was made deeper like Halo ("Look, the Covenant flanks you and takes cover!") or Half-Life ("Look, the Combine soldiers kneel now in Episode 1!") that wouldn't make any difference to people that aren't playing for the combat. And while you've gotten disinterested in combat, I feel like I've become something of a combat snob as I stand in the store criticizing the slight hops of the Goombas in New Super Mario Bros. Wii. ("It matches the music but it doesn't meaningfully inform the gameplay...") I'm insufferable!

It is my personal worst game I ever played. I really do feel ill every time someone claims that more games should be like Bioshock. I quit watching after LeBreton's first splicer fight, an ugly slugfest in which he was expected to soak up damage until the splicer was dead. What a terrible combat system. I then skipped to Arcadia Demade and fell in love with Doom II all over again. LeBreton is a balletic Doom player and correctly pointed out how important movement is to the Doom experience. I know this isn't important to everyone; if shotgunning dudes in the face while they run in a straight line towards you makes you happy, so be it. I can't stand it.

You're a victim of your own success, Chris! I think that the Bioshock playthrough looked good live and held up in recording afterwards as well. But you really are creating something unique and enlightening—JP LeBreton was spitting out facts that could easily end cited in someone's thesis or on Wikipedia. Your Twitch.tv account belongs to the ages!

I just listened to the Progresscast and Jake is right. The Simpsons is ancient history for most people. Not only for the young, either. During selection process for a federal jury last year, the judge asked me what television shows I watched. I said "The Simpsons," because it really is the only show I regularly watch. The elderly judge was confused, "The Simpsons? That show's still on?" He remembered it from 20 years ago, but apparently didn't give it much thought since. Saying you watch The Simpsons is like saying you watch 60 Minutes or CBS Sunday Morning.

I'm kind of dreading listening to this podcast now; I am the only man on Earth who genuinely enjoys current Simpsons episodes.

"The sound of Max Payne 3 really did blow me away" -- IGN.com (It's actually a really cool Crude Pixel article, but that last paragraph...)

Whoa, Arcadia Demade is insanely good. This was excellent. Really, the Pinky demon should be in everything.

Wait, these Chozo artifacts are mandatory? I only have five of these things! Forget it: just like Wind Waker I am never playing this game again because it's suddenly decided its optional, arbitrary treasure hunt is mandatory. It's A Boy And His Blob time instead.

I don't know the right place to post this but I watched the first few minutes of the Twitch.tv livecast of JP LeBreton playing through Bioshock. It was excellent; LeBreton is a great speaker and talked about a lot of behind-the-scenes details that we wouldn't even think to ask about. This is fifth-anniversary-edition worthy commentary. (Then I saw my first Splicer and I ragequit the livestream. Guess I still hate Bioshock after all these years!)