Psych

Accidentally killing yourself is part of the Spelunky experience, it has nothing to do with your controller.

Boost was my favorite candy bar while I was in Australia, They're essentially Twix, but in a single bar instead of two.

I tried the demo and even though it had a steep difficulty curve it still left me with a very positive opinion of it. Sure you die frequently but there is very little barrier to entry and it's usually pretty easy to spot where you goofed up. It's pretty fun as a demo, but I have to wonder if there is really enough here to build a complete game out of.

Like everyone else in this thread I too snagged a PSP for free, and have found it to be a disappoinment. There are certainly some good games on there but they are few and far between. And even those usually have a superior console counterpart. So far I've only played three PSP games that weren't done better on other systems; Patapon, Loco Roco, and Metal Gear Ac!d. Long story short the PSP is a rent, not a buy.

Also no Falcon slot, now that's a deal breaker.

Finally computers that are transformers.

JonCole, I played through on Heroic. Where stealth was presented as a viable option I found it useful, however outside the hub world there's rarely an opportunity to use it. Korax, if you never found it difficult to destroy a Wraith I envy you, since half the time the game presented one it would massacre me from across the map.

The latest episode of the Joystiq podcast really articulated my feelings about ODST. The essential point being that ODSTs are not as fun to play as Spartans are. There's nothing fun about not being able to rip the driver out of a Wraith and take it for a spin yourself, and there's nothing fun about not being able to use items and not being able to dual wield small arms. And the ODSTs have no new abilities to get around these short comings. For the majority of the game these deficits in the ODST arsenal are easy to overlook. But there are some extremely frustrating parts of the game (mostly involving Wraiths) that seem to have been designed more for Master Chief than for an ODST. This results in a rather uneven difficulty curve that greatly mares the experience of the campaign. Compounding this are checkpoints which are all too often sparsely placed. ODST's campaign is a still a fun experience, but for my money it doesn't hold a candle to the balance and care achieved in the levels of Halo 3.

Anyone know a place I can find copies of the ODST audio logs online? I want to share their awfullness with friends who don't have the game.

Floordje, if you're going to mention The Sound of Young America how can you leave out Jesse Thorn's other, even better podcast; Jordan Jesse Go.

Can we see the Batman Begins trading card? Not that I don't believe you guys, but I would like to see some proof.

I just downloaded part one of Hardcore History's coverage of the WWII Eastern front, and Holy Crap it is awesome. That Dan Carlin is one heck of a storyteller.

Richard Branson?

Among none Video game podcasts one of my favorites is Tek Diff it's a sketch comedy podcast, all recorded by one guy doing a lot of different voices. Lately its been on a pretty slow update schedule, but there's a huge backlog of older shows that're all pretty solid. Especially of note are the episodes labeled 'the Account' which is an on going serial of the adventures of Hanover Phillips, knight of the Metadyne corporation, and his search to uncover the origins of Ave Nova, a parasitic corporate entity that is slowly taking over Metadyne.

A Lord of Some Rings: A Couple of Towers

Not being a programmer I don't have any hacky tricks, however I did read a good article about them on Gamasutra that I found pretty amusing.

Just be glad they haven't started tinkering with the "indefinite article": A Final Destination, A Fast and A Furious, A Rambo.

Besides Idle Thumbs the only Video game podcasts I listen to are the Joystiq podcast and Retronauts. Joystiq is a lot like Idle thumbs in that it's three guys talking about games and gaming news (there's even one that's too busy to play games anymore), however it has a more console-centric focus than Thumbs. Retronauts has a rolling cast of 1up editors on to talk about their favorite older games and consoles, it's pretty fun and informative, however the high volume of contributors on some shows can make it difficult to keep it all straight. I used to listen to a lot more of the 1up ones, like 1up Yours, GFW, Good Grief, and whichever one it was that spawned Rebel FM. But over the last year there's been a huge brain drain over at 1up with all the top podcasters (Jeff Green, Shawn Elliot, etc.) leaving or being laid off. Now Retronauts is the only one left I can stand.

I'm reading the book now, it is good, at least the first thirty pages are. Thanks for the link Dan.

The Last Story, that has to be a Final Fantasy rip off.

I played Stalker: Clear Sky, and enjoyed it throughly. I actually found it to be quite similar to Far Cry 2. Yes it is brutally unforgiving, but that's what quick saves are for. I just wish it had more mutants and less human enemies.

Most of the Green Lantern I have read was in that showcase edition. DC's showcase and Marvel's Essential line are great ways to get into superheroes with stuff from back before everything got stupid and convoluted. The Green Lantern book is an esspecially good deal since it retails for just $10.

Hooray!

You should only try The Dark Knight Strikes Again, if you read The Dark Knight Returns and wish it were crazier.

This is indeed awesome news. However considering the first game I half expect the sequel will have me fighting the same bosses from the first game another three times.