snappity

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/sacred-ashes-dragon-age/57551 There's no way to watch this without hearing the "baaadduup...baaadduup" frog.

I order you to finish Tasha's game! It doesn't take long and it has a really cute ending.

Is it okay if I admit to being kind of underwhelmed by Mass Effect? I enjoyed the music and I thought the locations were amazing but it seemed like it fell short of it's potential. It was kind of like watching an episode of Star Trek that isn't about Kirk mediating peace between two alien races but instead is about Kirk killing hundreds of robots and then rifling through a bunch of cabinets looking for loot. Having said that, Mass Effect is one of the few RPGs that I've actually completed so that says something about it's quality I think. I suppose I just wanted the gameplay to focus more on the moral dilemmas and conversation systems and less on the combat and item collecting. Am I way out line crazy pops?

Regardless of the overall quality of the game, the look is pure construction paper magic. I love watching Sofi climb out of bed. random - It reminds me of Tasha's Game: http://www.doublefine.com/minigames/Tashas_Game

I don't understand how this game has avoided cancellation. It seems like any day now some executive who would rather be funding the creation of a billion Hannah Montana backpacks is going to learn of Epic Mickey's existence and immediately destroy it. I suppose it's nice to dream though.

I recently almost completed Symphony of the Night. I reached the part where you think the game is going to end but then it keeps going for a few hours while breaking you in half. I'm not sure when or if I'll ever go back to it but I was glad to finally give the game a good try (and after only a decade!).

I'm currently obsessed with beating the demo's co-op objective map on Crushing difficulty. I'm fairly excited for this game, partly because I know someone who's willing to play through all the cooperative missions with me. I still wish Drake had smoother transitions between animations and better collision code but it feels a bit better than what I remember of the first game.

I agree with you guys that it's hard not to be a bit skeptical about this one. On the other hand, I also had no interest in Far Cry 2 since Crytek passed on developing it. I assumed it was just going to be a mediocre game made simply for the sake of having a sequel (like the Call of Duty games not made by Infinity Ward) but it ended up going in an interesting direction.

Yeah, the main menu is a really clever idea. The presentation is so good in this game. I love the freeze-frame woodcut illustrations that pop up whenever you get a new ability or item.

I thought this post by Mr. Schafer was pretty funny and inspiring. Here's to another 20 years! http://www.doublefine.com/site/comments/twenty_years_only_a_few_tears/

I enjoyed those question mark alignment puzzles too. It's so satisfying when you find the right spot to make them come together.

Some of the challenges are fun but I prefer the variety and pacing you find in the main story versus playing one section over and over to improve your rating. It's also strange to play as the Joker in the stealth challenges. The character is so limited that it's hard to play without wanting to immediately go back to being Batman.

The only thing I've beaten lately is Batman: Arkham Asylum. I think I must fall into the completist gamer category considering how much time I spent gliding around Arkham East looking for any left-over secrets. Then I realized that I had forgotten to pick up the Riddler map for that area. Brilliant.

I love the transition that occurred near the end of Portal. Once GLaDOS started talking about Chell as if she were a threat it suggested a new way of thinking about the situation and gave a purpose to your actions. You were no longer just solving puzzles, you were trying to find GLaDOS and destroy her.

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/tgs-09-splinter-cell/56471 I knew that they were making the take-down moves a bit faster and to-the-point in this game but I didn't realize just how brutal they made Sam. They seem to be using his in-game actions as a way to convey his mental state. What do you guys think of the new Sam? Will you be comfortable playing a character like this?

It's interesting that they just focused on one little scene in the game instead of doing a traditional trailer; I think that worked quite well. I love that the creature stretches as he wakes up. I hope they'll have some original music from the game in the next trailer, even though that Miller's Crossing track is beautiful. Go Fumito and team!

Was anyone else impressed by the environment transformations and continuity in this game? Going back to the same areas always seemed fresh to me because of the way the story events had an effect on the locations. It also seemed like every time something important happened the characters would refer to it the next time you talked to them. Even though you end up going through the same areas several times each time felt new to me because of details like that.

Even though the endings to Another World and Flashback were pretty short and simplistic they were memorable for me. They both gave you a sense of relief while remaining somewhat ambiguous about the fate of the main characters. There's a sad and simultaneously hopeful feeling about them.

Is anyone else kind of dreading the inclusion of trophies in this game? I'm guessing that the development team probably doesn't want to add them but I wonder if Sony would allow that. They just seem a bit inappropriate for some games.

It looks like no one has posted about this game for awhile but I just wanted to blather about it for a bit. I think this game and Mirror's Edge both show that the player character can feel more like a real person interacting with objects rather than a simple floating camera. I really appreciate that someone took the time to animate actions like your character's hands grabbing the roll bar of a buggy as you climb in. I can't think of another first-person game that featured such convincing contact between the character and the game world. I also recommend trying the hardest difficulty setting to get the most enjoyment out of the planning and improvisation process. You stop thinking of guard posts as a chore, and instead you start trying to find routes around them or asking yourself if it's worth risking a gun fight in order to acquire a few precious syringes or ammunition. You also might end up in situations where you have to decide whether it's better to take a chance with a fully loaded but rusty and unreliable shotgun or stick with your favorite upgraded sniper rifle that's almost out of ammo. Simply traveling from one location to the next was also an interesting challenge for me. Do I hide when a jeep approaches and wait for it to pass? Or do I gamble on taking out the gunner and driver so I can get my hands on their vehicle? Or maybe I just panic and blow the jeep up with a grenade and end up right back where I started. Anyways, I hope to see more games in the 'catch malaria, dig a bullet out of your leg, and have your weapon jam at the worst possible time' genre.