Salacious Snake

Origin: Wikipedia_Brown

I want to see this as a box quote.

I just joined what I believe is a newer 64-player joint, Zeta Megrez. I've been thinking about getting back into this game, and what better way than a gigantic clusterfuck? I'd also like to join a smaller private game if anyone here is starting another one soon.

It may be too facile an answer, but maybe they didn't have a firm enough idea of which kind of game it should be. Looking at the weird eleventh hour compromises they made to appease us old people with the UI and such would suggest a lack of central vision driving the project.

I've seen this observation in a few places, and it really bums me out. One of the most notable features of the Dark Engine was its sound propagation system. It may seem like a minor thing, but I think it demonstrates how the developers of the new game fail to understand or appreciate the legacy of 'immersive sims' like Thief. You could say that this is just something else altogether, that they weren't going for that kind of experience and therefore it shouldn't be judged against it, but then more's the pity.

I'm going to give Voyager another shot at some point. I remember thinking it lacked drama and character, especially compared to DS9. DS9 stands out to me among this style of show, because it has things like convincing father-son relationships and other situations to which actual human beings can relate. Even in times of plot-heavy intergalactic war, they shed light on how those big events affect the lives of individuals. It's also full of snappy writing; I think they pull off the lighter moments well.

I like the bit about tying things together in an overarching setting or mythos, because as a nerd I totally get off on that. The little connections you describe between System Shock and BioShock and Gone Home are cool as hell, and I love knowing that the Rastafarian cats in Flotilla exist in the same universe as Gravity Bone. You mentioned William Faulkner, and I think his approach was great. The history of Yoknapatawpha County lends his stories a great sense of reality, but he doesn't bend over backward to make it all sync up; it's as solid as it needs to be to achieve the desired effect, but he isn't beholden to some rigid canon. If you try to draw a map of the area or figure out the genealogies or timelines, you'll never reconcile it all. I'm really digging Tone Control. It's so good. I didn't even know who Craig Hubbard was before listening to his episode (in spite of the fact that I loved pretty much every game in his portfolio, I mean why hadn't I heard of this guy), and it was super interesting and fun to hear his stories. Each episode makes me want to make games, which is something I never really felt before.

Speaking of Star Trek, Is that our Nels? edit: Never mind, I found the Nels in question:

Driving and riding the train are the main activities for me, like many here. I do sometimes play games, though... I can do both as long as it's not something that involves a story or dialog that I want to hear. A racing game is fine, or a deathmatch in a totally non-tactical shooter. Or lately Assassin's Creed IV, but I'll stick to the side activities like plundering ships and collecting bullshit items and slaying beautiful sea mammals, eschewing story missions until I can give it my full attention.

Sega is killing it with these 3D remakes. I can't wait for Shinobi III and Streets of Rage tomorrow. This interview about the 3D conversion of Shinobi III is interesting: http://www.siliconera.com/2013/12/17/ninja-developers-explain-how-they-remade-shinobi-iii-in-3d/ It sounds like a ton of work.

Oh man, if you guys like the sense of scale when looking at something like a big vista or cavern in Minecraft, you absolutely must play it with an Oculus Rift. The added sense of physical presence magnifies that effect tremendously. I tried it via a mod called Minecrift, and my brain was convinced that the blocks were coming up to my waist. I mean, that's what the perspective in that game suggests under normal circumstances, but it's still this little miniature world in a computer screen. Being immersed in it with the Rift is fucking ridiculous. Also, the low fidelity aesthetic of Minecraft makes the shitty display in the Rift less of a hindrance than it is with other content, so it's a good experience all around.

Take On Helicopters is even weirder than you're imagining. When you're not flying, you're walking around your family copter business in Seattle, advancing the 'story.' During these segments, you have the full fidelity of Arma's infantry control, so you can go prone, roll around and do all that crazy shit in your office. It's really amusing to me.

They are. I stopped getting the emails, too, and I don't remember if I unsubscribed or if they just stopped sending.

So they're building the Raft from Snow Crash.

I'm looking forward to hearing this. Your discussion with Mr. Bissell at the Center for Fiction in NYC was interesting!

I agree with that observation, too. Man, I'd love to see Nintendo make some altogether new action-adventure game, applying the expertise that goes into Zelda to something that's not Zelda.

I remember that kickstarter. It landed like a wet fart and caused a lot of confusion because it was originally called Autoduel without having any rights to the name. It's weird how often that seems to happen. Don't people check to see if the name has already been taken when they start marketing something? I fucking loved Interstate 76. I wish it wasn't such a pain to get it working acceptably on modern computers. Even the GoG version sucks.

It's only there in Hero mode, so that's why you didn't notice it!

Also, for those of you watching TOS, I'd like to offer my sympathies in advance for what you're going to experience in season 3.

That was clearly meant to be a larger plot, but I think it was a victim of the writers' strike, or perhaps just a lot of turnover in the writing department. There are some other loose threads like that throughout the series. My brother and I have been gradually working our way through DS9. I had never seen most of it, but it's clearly some of the best Trek. The characters are more consistently written and acted than in any of the other series, and it's equally entertaining when they have a big conflict as when they're screwing around with some bullshit Ferengi hijinks or whatever. Even Lwaxana Troi's episodes are way better than those in TNG.

I know it's probably not the greatest game around, but I had the most fun with Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance this year. It's stupid. I still need to check out the DLC stuff.

Whatever it is, that's a kickass trailer.

I've heard the framerate is a little inconsistent on the PS3, but not too bad. If you were going to get a new console soon, I'd wait, but if you're being a sensible member of society for now, then go ahead and play it. It does feel really nice to play an AC on a console with such fluid performance, but unless you have the basis of comparison, I'd imagine the obsolete pauper version is just fine.

When things don't get too janky, I love boarding enemy ships. It can be a nice little combat playground, where you have a lot of choice in terms of how you deal with things. It's super fun to swing across on a line and perform an air assassination, and kicking people off the upper platforms is always good for a laugh. This was a fun one; I like countering with the long guns: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10202460782431247 Of course, half the time I kill everyone with the swivel guns.