Irishjohn

Yeah, Metzen is an interesting guy. I met him once very briefly but I was astonishingly drunk. I suspect if he remembers it at all (doubtful) that his impressions are not fond! To be fair, he plays up to a character that Blizzard fans still really dig. He's the cool kid in jeans, an untucked shirt and cool specs, and he gets up there and he does whatever the nerdy version of broing out is. I've been to lore panels that he's been on and he does seem to be really into it. So I don't think you're bashing him (I hope it doesn't seem like I am, because I'm not either). I agree though that he probably feels like he's killing it. Raynor is that nerdy bro form given life really. I think they just get away with it but it's touch and go. If the game wasn't so bloody fun it would be a much bigger issue but... it is! So we all win, is what I'm saying.

Yeah, it's in a weird place between laughing AT it and WITH it, even though I'm not sure it really intends for us to laugh at it. Right from the off! "Out of my way, son." Ugh. Honestly, there are times that the script is so predictable it becomes a little annoying. But all in all, I am enjoying myself and will probably now go back and lose a lot of multiplayer games over the next few weeks.

Hear, hear. Not sure why there would be conjecture that there was something fishy going on or that he was having trouble at Double Fine. Seems to me like he should enjoy the freedom his achievements have afforded him.

I think it's time to retire the "Congrats Nick" and change it to "Congrats Nick" forever.

Ha! I knew it! Of course you would deny it! Joking aside, very happy for him and I'm sure you guys are thrilled to have back in northern California. Now, I'm a podcast and a half behind, but can we expect him to return to the gang or is that a question for another day?

So, with the advent of Heart of the Swarm, I am suddenly interested in playing Starcraft 2 again, which also makes me realize that I had a LOT more free time when the first game came out. I also want to get back to GSL watching but am confused by all the seasons. Do the seasons last about a month? Is the monthly fee interchangeable with the season fee then? Anyway, as for the game, I have found the time to play the first two missions. I'm excited, though it's a good thing I can laugh at astonishingly cheesy things happening, all the time.

So Chris, care to comment on Nick Breckon's arrival at Double Fine? Was there idle plotting going on? Hmm... thumbs reference aside, "idle plotting" is a weird phrase. I can totally see the appeal of a mobile os project in that context. I'm not sure how long production of The Cave took, but it's nice to have the option to take a break after something like that rather than just launch into another long term commitment.

I hadn't checked in for a bit, jumped to the newest page. Seems I missed something. Not worried that I did either, from the sounds of it.

Hello all, Any experience out there with this game? The handful of comments I found online were from people who really enjoyed the beta. It looks intriguing. I'm also mildly amused by the stress on the final bullet point, that you can play offline if you choose. Freedom! http://store.steampowered.com/app/42170/

Perhaps I'm giving Conan too much credit, but he's never been one for sexist humour. I think his jokes about the character's physical presentation and the "handbag" gags were pointedly taking the piss out of the developers for creating such an apparently one-dimensional character.

Love the Conan review. He's taking the piss obviously but he knows what he's doing with the perv jokes. What a pathetic display. The game also seems very unimaginative from what they show here. The first two segments they showed were identical in gameplay terms, and that same death shot (though very funny) shows the game up, really.

It's weird, Halo was the franchise that got me back into video games that weren't a couple of weeks of Football Manager every December. Halo 4 has completely failed to grab my imagination, and for the first time in a decade I'm just not that bothered about a Halo game. I would hope Destiny can turn that tide, because I really liked being into Halo. Then again, it seems it may not be on PC, and I'm hoping to make the jump to having an actually decent gaming PC later this year to avoid getting any of the new consoles...

I loved both books. I can see why one would enjoy Oryx and Crake more though, it did feel like a standalone book. Honestly, except for the cliffhanger ending (and really, that only comes from the last couple of pages) I prefer the idea of the book being a story all of its own. It's difficult to think of how I would find the sequel if I could take it on its own merits, but I can't really; it's a continuation of a book I really, really enjoyed and that had a major impact on getting me back into reading literature regularly. Ultimately The Year of the Flood will be judged once the trilogy is finished.

I agree, it's going to be great. I don't so much want a CK3 as I want more of this game. Expansions that bring in other scenarios, yes. Now I just have to figure out how to get into Europa Universalis and kick ass with the Ming Empire.

I have the second one on my lengthy backlog list. I tried to play it once but it wasn't working for me. In more ways than one; my HD Radeon "Mobility" card is a nightmare. Or at least its drivers are. When I finally build a desktop, I feel like I'll need to just disappear for a week playing games that have never quite run right before.

I agree. I know it's impractical but I would love it if Rockstar just took the Red Dead Redemption engine and made a bunch of games in different historical settings. A sequel to Red Dead that looks at the Great Depression. Another game entirely that focuses on Famine-era Ireland. The big one is Chinese history. History-themed games are a big deal in China but I'd love to see a Western take on it. Not even a Jade Empire type thing, but almost an Assassin's Creed 2 approach. Go and hang out with the Taizong Emperor, then go and save some Buddhist monks. Not a wuxia or martial arts game necessarily either. Filipino Independence, Juntas in Latin America... how are there not more games about Stalinist Russia and the Eastern Bloc?

Hey thumbs, check out the OP's review of "Battle of the Bulge" on the iPad: http://www.notevenpast.org/discover/pinching-and-swiping-or-how-i-won-digital-war What do you guys think? As a fellow history nerd, I'm all about reviews of games like this that actually take the historical context into account.

Second on Deus Ex:HR, really fell into that game's world. I think it's time to finally install Morrowind with that updated graphics mod.

So a couple of my friends and I got together today to have a go. We didn't have a clue what we were doing. I found the shop more confusing than LoL... I guess there are recipes of some description? Anyway, I picked the Brewmaster, which doesn't really gel with how I play LoL (I prefer to support mostly) and we jumped in against bots to practice and figure out what was going on. An hour later, we had somehow won, mostly thanks to the sterling work of Lucille bot. I don't think we'll play again. It seems like the learning curve is pretty steep and though we all want to play online together none of us really have the time for Dota if one game is going to take forty-five minutes to an hour. I am tempted to go back to LoL though.

I still haven't watched The Wire! It's on my increasingly lengthy to watch list. One of the things I like about television in the last few years is that audiences have gotten more patient. Fringe is a great example of this. I was told by people whose taste I trust to stick with it, and it really did get excellent (I still haven't started the latest season incidentally). It's not universally true; network television especially is still ruthless and ridiculous, but hopefully it's a trend that keeps going in that direction. To bring this back around to video games, I would hope the success of the First Season of Walking Dead would give the guys some space to relax and enjoy their creative freedom a little bit. Not that the first season wasn't creative already (it was) and you don't want to lose that "tight" feeling that the Walking Dead really nailed throughout all the episodes, but I'd like to think that the audience is committed to the idea now and perhaps that gives the team more latitude. Then again, maybe it could lead to changes in the creative process that could bring about a sophomore slump (something I don't want to see happen as a thumb, fan of Telltale, and video game player - knock on wood).

Oh I don't know, I would agree that pilots can be pretty weak. It depends I suppose. For example, I liked the pilot mini-series for BSG more than the series that followed (and I really liked the series that followed) although a mini-series is different from a pilot. Pilots often struggle with having to shoehorn a LOT of stuff in. Sometimes it can be ridiculous. I spent most of the Fringe pilot laughing out loud at how bad it was, though admittedly it took most of Season 1 for that to wear off.

I agree about the B-Movie sentiment working in isolation. The end of episode 2 was the most excited I was about it, but I feel my fond memory would have deteriorated faster if all the episodes went in that direction. What I really liked about episode 2 was that the whole thing was telegraphed, really. The only surprise was . It was really enjoyable though, because it was done so well. You saw it coming but it was executed really, really well. That would have been incredibly challenging to maintain for three more episodes.

I loved Half-Life 2 in this regard. They really nailed the Eastern Bloc vibe. I really need to go back and play that game again.

I actually liked Episode 2 a great deal. It's funny, but I never thought of myself as someone that was into the more B-movie side of the comics until now. I keep swinging between my favourite episodes actually. I think I'm stuck between 2 and 4.

Ha! Cheers. Well I'm looking forward to it then. Seems like it's been a big hit around here.