JonCole

All prices quoted from Newegg.ca - Core-i5 4670k - $249.99 Asus Z87 mobo - $139.99 8GB Corsair 1600mhz RAM - $84.99 Windows 8 Pro - $101.99 GTX 760 4GB - $319.99 NZXT 210 Elite Case - $49.99 Corsair 650W 80 Plus Gold Modular PSU - $129.99 Total = $1076.93, $1169.16 with shipping (plugged in a random Calgary postal code, so don't hold me to this) + there's a $10 rebate on that PSU and you get free copies of Assassin's Creed 4 and Splinter Cell Blacklist with that video card P.S. Canadian postal codes are goddamn bananas.

For some reason, I don't think Linux devs know how confusing their terminology and general method of presenting information is for anyone who's not incredibly well versed in Linux as a whole. Here's my general understanding of it all, forgive me for any uninformed statements. Their different versions just correspond to different desktop environments. Ubuntu runs on GNOME, which is their more "intuitive" interface for people who haven't used a computer or something. Then there's KDE, which is probably the most traditional and most widely used environment that more closely matches Windows. It's kind of an old environment, though, so it's not nearly as flexible but it does use less system resources. Mint actually decided to do their own spin on KDE, in a way, by adapting the GNOME environment to mimic KDE so you get the visual flair of GNOME with the more traditional layout and style as KDE. This implementation is called Cinnamon. MATE is just a fork of GNOME 2.0, meant for people who didn't like the GNOME 3.0 update that basically is exemplified by the main differences between Ubuntu and other distros. And finally, XFCE is just a barebones, low-resource desktop environment meant for older machines or machines focused on performance. Hope I got that all right, in any case it's all super dumb. Last time I used Mint, I just used Cinnamon because it seemed to be Mint's lead/preferred environment and I don't like that dumb Ubuntu interface junk.

On a similar note, I've had friends that went to Full Sail and said it was totally worth it (I used to live in Orlando, right on Full Sail's doorstep). I can't say I knew what other people's/companies's opinion of them was, but they seemed to be quite competent at making games and one or two of them went on to work at EA Tiburon in Maitland.

Oh, and if you really do require a decent number of runs to get through it, make sure you spend your money after each white out. The money rewards for beating Elite Four guys is pretty high and even halved they can subsidize some Full Restores and Revives for your eventual "real" Elite Four battle. So, I spent a little time powering through the game last night and finally made it to the 3rd gym (only had 1 badge yesterday at lunch). This is super fun! I guess it's good that my only complaint is that there seems to be a ridiculously huge variety of Pokemon right from the start. I'm having a hard time settling on my team composition. If anything, it makes me keep a good two or three guys I'm not sure about in my party at all times and EXP Share means they evolve and help out my Pokedex. In this way, X&Y really feel unlike other Pokemon games where I felt that I was either focusing on the plot/progression, or I was focusing on my Pokedex. You can really be doing everything at once with far less friction than ever before. Also, while powering through the game I watched the whole Pokemon Origins anime. Super nostalgic, heartbreaking (goddamn you Cubone) and actually made some sense regarding its tie-in with X&Y which I won't get spoilery about in case any of you want to watch it. Love that Green is just a huge, unabashed dick the whole time, too.

Considering your pitch was that "most Idle Thumbs listeners would appreciate" C&C, I'm a little disheartened that I didn't like it at all. It still felt incredibly nascent - the guys haven't really found a voice, so their "ehh" audio quality and pacing is a lot more noticeable. I gave it a good try, three episodes, and found myself building up a backlog of unlistened episodes so I unsubbed. Too bad, I was hoping for another Idle Thumbs-like thing. Re: this other thread: I'd recommend Decode DC for "current events in the government". It's hosted by Andrea Seabrook, a former NPR Congressional Correspondent, who tries to give an outsider's perspective to government journalism. So, while many of her episodes are solely fixed on the current government issues of the day, she also focuses the microscope on the news cycle's effect on politics and vice versa. I don't listen to movie podcasts anymore because I really don't watch movies in the movie theater (can't afford it like I used to). That said, I used to listen to Filmspotting, The /Filmcast, and The Creative Screenwriting Podcast quite voraciously. The last one was my favorite, as it was hosted by Jeff Goldsmith of Creative Screenwriting where he would sit down with screenwriters for both popular and indie movies and discuss how they were made from a writer's perspective. As it turns out, the screenwriting process is interesting whether or not a movie is a huge hit and hearing the writer talk about his process of creating certain characters or plot devices can really change your reading of a film. The podcast has since closed, but upon a little research it looks like Jeff Goldsmith is still doing his thing at The Q&A with Jeff Goldsmith. I have absolutely no input regarding the third and fourth bullet points, and for the fifth I would just recommend any number of podcasts created by game developers. I remember getting huge insights on game development when listening to the Kojima Productions podcast back when Mark MacDonald hosted it, and I heard the Naughty Dog podcast is also quite good when it's going. Mark still does his thing at 8-4 Play, where he currently works doing Japanese localization, so that provides it's own degree of insight into game production (although clearly not the more technical/programming aspect that you were asking about).

I always just spend all of my money and then run the Elite Four over the over again until I beat them. Whiting out really isn't a big deal if you have no money, and at the time you're fighting them the Elite Four are clearly the best XP return opportunities out there.

I'm Y, but I suppose Medicham is a valid option. Something to consider, for sure. Thanks.

Any thoughts on Gardevoir vs Gallade? I like Gardevoir more aesthetically and the new Fairy sub-type seems like a neat novelty, but Gallade's move pool and type combination seem a lot more efficient long term. My current/near-future team composition includes neither a Fairy-type nor a Fighting-type, so they both could fit quite well as far as type coverage goes. Also: Any insight into how I can get a Dawn Stone in XY, if I choose Gallade?

Having recently got back into Infamous 2, I can safely say that Infamous: Second Son is my killer app and will make the PS4 worth every penny for my particular interests. I feel a little lucky knowing that right out of the gate, although by the same token I know I will buy an Xbox One as soon as the next Halo game hits. In that case, I just know it won't be as close to launch window as Second Son is so I have far less reason to invest in the One at launch. Sure, it sucks that Watch Dogs and Driveclub have been delayed, but I know what I want and need from this console. Battlefield 4 will keep me busy for months along with indie titles and PS+ offerings, so I can afford to wait until Second Son. If the various multiplat games that will come to the console (and likely perform way better than current consoles and perhaps even your current PC build, if you're budget like me) don't excite you and coming exclusives don't excite you, I don't think there's a whole lot of reason to buy a PS4.

Here's a relatively comprehensive collection of articles including and pertaining to the Penny Arcade Dickwolves debacle - http://debacle.tumblr.com/post/3041940865/the-pratfall-of-penny-arcade-a-timeline It's a comic that exemplifies rape culture in the enthusiast games space, and a series of reactions that both defend the right of the comic creator to create whatever content he likes and attack the fact that PA doesn't take a more progressive, role-model-type position in the space.

I think that's where the "irrational" aspect of his OCD comes in.

Vita TV was something like "We didn't expect this kind of reaction from the West, so we're now evaluating options for bringing it over" meaning no plans for it, but if it's big enough in Japan they might scale up for the west. Of course, they need media partnerships to make that system more competitive with ATV/Roku here. Vita-2000 is all but announced for the West, it's more or less a matter of time.

I sometimes have some odd framerate stuff on the PC version; I'm much more likely to get good runs (black market, city of gold, etc) on XBLA than PC, but that may just be a correlation.

The screen is changed from an OLED to a LCD display, which some people don't seem to like. In my experience, LCD generally has better color representation but some people with hands-on say it's slightly more washed out than the OLED version. As a result, however, Sony is quoting slightly more battery life for the device, about one hour was added to the quoted lifespan. The device is also slightly thinner and some of the buttons have been modified from their ovular shape on the 1000 to a circular shape on the 2000 (a positive change, I think). Sony also said something about the device being more rounded, but I don't get that feeling just looking at the press shots. Maybe it'll feel differently in-hand, I dunno. Only other change is 1GB of internal memory, which won't do a whole lot for you but at least lets you play out of the box before ponying up for a memory card.

Thread Phoenix Down! It appears that any or all talk about the new model of Vita was in the PS4 thread but I want to talk about it slightly more, so I decided to thread revive rather than take that topic back off the rails. I was catching up on my Feedly backlog and it seems that the new model of Vita can be charged via microUSB. Is it just me or does this seem like a secret killer feature? I mean, I'm not going to rush the doors of my local electronics store to upgrade when it comes to the US, but the official charger for the Vita is pretty unwieldy and I really dislike proprietary standards. Convenience factor is pretty big for a portable device, so being able to charge a Vita practically anywhere, anytime thanks to the ubiquity of microUSB seems pretty damn convenient. Not to mention I'm a sucker for a choice of color schemes and LCD displays.

SyFy can approach good writing, for what it's worth. >.>

The Six Sages are just the flunkies of Ghetsis who disperse from N's Castle in the end of BW. They go to various parts of the map around post-game content unlocked areas and a couple offer a couple of Plasma Grunt fights. The reward for finding each one is a TM for a buffing move, like Bulk Up, Calm Mind, Swords Dance, etc. They all either boost two stats or double boost a single stat, IIRC.

I would begrudgingly take Killzone. I would be fine with Assassin's Creed 4. Anything else would be a bit of an imposition.

Yeah, I'm on the line with a Amazon rep to see what can be done about that bundle. Ideally, I'd just convert it to a non-bundle but I guess I'd be okay with another game. Already digitally preordered the only other game I really want for PS4, though (BF4).

Crossbuy means you get the PSV version with the PS3 version, not the other way around. This is evidenced by the fact that there are PSV retail versions of crossbuy games without crossbuy. Once again, EU kicks the crap out of US but I'm not really complaining. It just seems like on the whole, you guys get newer titles faster than we do. I don't know if that's just because SCEA is worse at locking up these titles than SCEE, or because SCEA is saving those bigger, more recent titles for later because PS3 may have a somewhat longer tail in the US since EU will quickly adopt PS4 by comparison.

I've heard some horror stories, is all. Not having purchases tied to a username and password like XBL and PSN, Nintendo often has to rely on Club Nintendo registrations as a fallback option for what's rightfully yours. It works in most cases, but it's not as straightforward a system as it should be.

Well, it had to start somehow... I'm finally buying my first full game on the eShop, Pokemon Y. I'm still feeling a bit nervous about Nintendo's license system (or lackthereof), but having recently done a system transfer from my 3DS to my new 3DS XL, I feel slightly more confident in their ability to manage my licenses granted I never actually lose my system. If I plan to make this a habit, I'll need to upgrade my SD card. Pokemon is going to take up almost 2GB and I only have a 8GB card in it right now. Luckily, it won't be nearly the investment buying a 16GB card for my Vita was.

Borderlands 2 is old enough that the Season Pass often goes on sale at the same time/rate the base game is on sale. For instance, if Borderlands 2 is 75% off in the next Steam sale, it's likely that the season pass will also be discounted 75% to $7.50 (or whatever the EU funny money amounts to).

Re: Sleeping Dogs, while I'll openly acknowledge that the story isn't anything to write home about, I do really like the pacing and they make a few choices throughout the span of the game (mostly in who dies and who doesn't) that don't exactly fit every expectation you might have. Now that we know that they're making a sequel "set in the world of Sleeping Dogs" rather than just Sleeping Dogs 2: Sleepier, I'm eager to see what that world can foster beyond a undercover cop story.

People in the games press whose opinions I generally agree with have shown enough enthusiasm for Watch Dogs that I'm excited by it.