JonCole

I really like LA Noire. I really like LA Noire's ending, too. So I wouldn't go crazy saying that reviewers didn't do their job because they didn't agree with your opinion, unless you're also saying that I am not allowed to have opinions about games because I went with the "hype train" (I only just beat the game about a month ago).

I think the best way to spec a pure mage is robes early, but eventually disenchant the robe you want and reenchant some light armor. Even with low light armor, some smart enchanting can buff your magic resistance/magicka regeneration like crazy and still benefit from the armor in physical attacks (like in the unavoidable aforementioned dungeon corridors).

I really wish the potions didn't all weight 0.5 lb by default. As a person who loves the crafting stuff (smithing 92, enchanting 63, alchemy 67), I'm CONSTANTLY weighed down by potions even after I have dumped any excessive stuff.

We phased out CastMedium as some of our writers moved on to bigger and better things. If you liked the CastMedium Podcast, Jonathan and I are continuing it in a different form as Podcast Thing Weekly (covering gaming and tech news). My signature has the relevant information/links.

It's actually only the first effect, so eating an ingredient for the first time is essentially the equivalent of the base attribute being visible in Oblivion at Novice level.

I've been using a wired 360 controller to play and the menus are very easily navigable. Marked upgrade over previous Elder Scrolls titles, if you ask me. That said, it's a shame that they don't translate well to kb&m.

Another Indie Royale bundle is up... this time with Night Sky, Fate of the World, Scoregasm, Ben There, Dan That! and Time Gentlemen, Please!. The current price is floating around $3.50, but it obviously is a moving target so jump on it asap if you're interested. Also, I have an extra code for Ben There, Dan That! and Time Gentlemen, Please!... so if you want it, send me a PM. I'll give it to whoever asks first.

Dropped a request in a PM, thanks! I might stick a few games in here too, especially since I've been trying to clean up my backlog in lieu of affording more recent games.

I never tried the Typhoon... maybe on playthrough 2 or if I ever get the DLC, considering how much you guys say it helps.

Costume Quest is currently $5 on Steam. Get it.

Dark Athena had a pack-in HD remake of the first game included with the purchase. The actual new content is set after the campaign of Butcher Bay.

I think Call of Duty does a better job of limiting where you can go in a given area without invisible walls, nearly instant death or a scripted event actively blocking a visible route. I'd take COD's small spaces over BF3's sprawling arenas any day, mostly because I can reliably see the intended route in a more attention dense region of play. Not only that, but I failed to mention the really simple fuckup that is your squadmates taking cover. I died at least four or five times in this game so far by taking the "wrong" cover and having a squadmate either push me out or trap me in front of him. It's simply poor design.

Still not finished with the Campaign but I'm calling it - easily one of the worst campaigns I've played all year. The over-reliance on scripting is completely horrible because if you think the order or speed at which a setpiece moment should take place is wrong, you're basically fucked. You're extracting a guy into a helicopter and taking fire from several positions. You're taking a lot of damage since you're out in the open making a bumrush at the heli. Once you reach the ramp, you hit an invisible wall and in five more seconds you hear a guy in your squad shout, "Hold them off a little longer!" You can't hold them off from inside the helicopter and there is no nearby cover, so you die. What the game wants you to do is stay in cover from the very beginning, waiting for the moment when the objective shifts from "defend" to "escape". Instead of doing what would make sense in the given situation, you have to do exactly what the developers intended (in an almost Mega Man trial-and-error fashion). And this is just one moment in a series of similar encounters that range from changing your position dramatically during a moment of fixed view on a "cinematic" event to allowing you to pump hundreds of rounds into enemy troops that are designed to overwhelm your position and kill you. If you mostly have interest in the multiplayer, just skip the single-player. It's almost a complete waste of time, save for a shining moments covered by a pile of shit.

Mike, you realize that IGN has the editor-in-chief that wrote the atrocious Gears of War 3 review I linked to earlier in this post and Dark Souls eats Skyrim's Face piece of total garbage? IGN is great at buying or making sites and completely lobotomizing them. They bought TeamXbox, then fired the Founder/Editor-in-Chief Shockwave not too long after. They merged with GameSpy, then fired the EIC Will Tuttle (which eventually led to his whole former team leaving or being fired as well). They created a podcast for gamer women called "Girlfight", then fired the host and creator of the podcast Nicole Tanner. They bought a site called "What They Play" which provided information to parents about games they buy for kids, then fired EIC Dana Jongewaard and eventually 404'd the site (essentially undoing all the work on that site, including ratings for over 10k games). It's completely disgusting.

Well, I got to the "Night Shift" chapter and decided to call it a night. I just attempted to play the game this morning, and all my campaign data is gone for some reason. Fuck this game.

Ugh, I really hate it when IGN makes it so there's absolutely no way for me to defend them. There are some good people there, but stuff like this is just terrible - http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?p=32173792#post32173792

I got my copy yesterday. Starting off with single-player since the MP servers seem to be hit-or-miss right now... it's not really impressed me so far, to be honest. I'm enjoying more of the mechanical parts of the game, like the report of the guns or how the weapons and sights are modeled. The plot itself seems very Call of Duty: Black Ops inspired, except with a little less crazy going on. That said, I still don't get a sense of excitement from the intrigue (minor as it is this early) that DICE is tossing at me. At least in Bad Company 2, I had the characters' banter to keep me moving along. So far, the most I can say is that you should play this game with a good surround sound setup or solid set of headphones. Beyond the previously mentioned gun sounds, the soundtrack seems pretty solid thus far. If you're like me and appreciate that kinda stuff, make sure to take advantage as best you can.

Oh, I know that. I'm also a PC gamer. I just didn't know we had those PC gamers.

My girlfriend has my old 8800gt and it seems to be going strong. Might start running a temperature monitor just to be safe after reading all this shit, though.

I'm glad that this topic boils down to "PC is better than consoles, lulz".

I don't really think keyboard/mouse is particularly better suited to FPS than a gamepad for everybody.

Yeah, everyone should deal in American Freedom Point$, it'd make everything so much easier.

I actually said a suboptimal visual experience, which is the main hit I'd be taking from switching to console from PC. I have no particular, overwhelming affinity for PC gaming beyond that aspect, with exception to mods in RPGs and whatnot (which obviously doesn't apply here). EA is intentionally inconveniencing me with Origin (and likely Battlelog), which is far more offensive to me than less than perfect visuals.

Nope. That's why I bought Crysis 2 on 360, will eventually buy Dragon Age 2 on 360, and will probably buy Battlefield 3 on 360. Suboptimal visual experience compared to my PC, but not worth the inconvenience of something other than Steam.

... wow, without the HD texture pack the 360 version looks like an Xbox/PS2 game. DDciDLweCso