SecretAsianMan

As soon as ICQ was mentioned I was really hoping that Jake would point out that it stood for "I seek you" because that's exactly the kind of thing I would expect Jake to know and mention. Once again, Jake does not disappoint. I am pleased.

Pepsiman is way weirder than Nick described. The gameplay is basically that of an endless runner (though the game itself isn't endless). Developed for and released only in Japan, the game has FMV cutscenes and features an American man drinking Pepsi while watching TV. He says some pretty broken phrases like "Pepsi for TV-Game" and was told by the Japanese director to intentionally act poorly. Even though it was always meant for Japan, the entire game is in English. The levels are ridiculous but my favorite one is the post apocalyptic New York that Nick described. The actual premise of the level is that a building is on fire and there are people trapped on the roof and are too weak to escape. A firefighter asks Pepsiman to give them something to revive them. The rest of the level is also on fire because why not.

I've been catching up on runs while feeding the baby. Some of the ones I've enjoyed so far Mario Maker Relay Race Castlevania: Symphony of the Night blindfolded run PEPSIMAN!

Haha, I actually sent a candy box off a couple days before we left for the hospital. Also thanks all! I'm super tired but also ridiculously happy.

Older iterations of GDQ have been for other charities but it's been AGDQ/Prevent Cancer and SGDQ/MSF for a while now. As for showing lots of glitchy runs, I agree with what's been said about curation but I also want to add that they also try not to have too many things that have been shown before. Aside from the major staples like Metroid and Mario they tend to prefer a variety of old and new. Another thing to keep in mind is that the runs are constantly evolving and often a new strategy will emerge that completely changes a route in a way that skill alone can't accomplish. Sometimes these strategies are discovered days or even hours before a run is broadcast. If a run has changed significantly from the last time it was shown they're more likely to include it.

As of 10:00 this morning, I am officially a daddy

I'm probably going to miss this in its entirety but I plan to catch up on the archives and donate if I can. My favorite runner PJ is only doing one game this year, Bionic Commando. Other things that caught my eye: Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight any% insane 1-handed by Halfcoordinated - I know nothing about this game but Halfcoordinated is a disabled runner who only has fine motor control in one hand so all his runs are 1-handed. I watched him do Vanquish one year and it was amazing. Tetris Attack - High level tetris attack play always makes my head spin. Tetris: The Grand Master Series Exhibition - These are always crazy to see Super Mario Maker Blind Custom Team Relay Race - The AGDQ race was great TAS Block - A sneak preview of our AI overlords

It's weird, the things you guys are listing as complaints are the things I love. If I had to navigate some menu to switch weapon mods, then I'd be right there with you. But the fact that I can swap mods on the fly creates a dynamic that I just love. Take the shotgun for example. In general I'll have the grenade mod equipped but if I've taken down all the smaller enemies and the only thing left is a big enemy like a Baron, I'll switch to the triple shot. With the chaingun, if I have enough armor before walking into a room I know is going to have a big fight I'll use the turret mod with my infinite ammo rune then switch to the gatling mod after I take a few hits so I have maneuverability. I also love constantly switching weapons to use in different situations. I get how some people find a comfort zone of sorts with a specific weapon set but personally I get a huge amount of enjoyment in using all the tools available to me. Though I will admit the shared ammo pool for certain weapons does suck.

I started watching Person of Interest when it first started (back when I still had cable). I remember thinking it was ok and that the intro to the show constantly reminded me of the trailer for Watch_Dogs

I just finished binge watching Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. I hadn't seen the show before but the third season was recently released on Netflix so I figured it was a good time to catch up. I had heard that the beginning isn't so great but honestly I didn't have a problem with it. It starts out a little predictable and formulaic but quickly becomes a different thing entirely. I was surprised at how dark and graphic the show got for something that's shown on ABC (unless that's the norm now, I cut cable years ago and haven't watched a network show in ages). The plot gets really convoluted with all the different factions, betrayals, and characters coming in and out, not to mention the ties to the MCU. I'm glad I waited until I could watch them all in a row otherwise I think I'd have gotten really lost. The writing and humor really match up with my own tastes and the action is pretty good so I found it enjoyable almost throughout. Some of the characters ticked me off but for the most part I didn't have a problem with them. In general I like the MCU movies but I think Agents is superior to most of them because of the stories and nuance they're able to spend time on that a movie just can't. My biggest pet peeve is probably the fact that because it has to exist within the MCU but at the same time remain independent of the movies the sense of scale is greatly distorted. The threats in Agents feel far bigger and more reaching than what the Avengers had to deal with but the movies have to pretend like Agents never happened while Agents has to deal with fallout from the Avengers all the time.

I have nothing constructive to add beyond what's been already said so I'll just post this

Awesome. Expect sugary fattening goodness soonish.

I sometimes play alone if I don't have a lot of time and don't want to abandon a group before a planet can be finished but for the most part I like helping out lower level people. I don't bother with "stealth tactics" either. I won't actively trigger alarms and will try to eliminate scouts before they trigger them, but I run when prudent and fight when necessary.

Is the office address going to be updated now that Idle Thumbs has moved again? I'm putting together a much belated candy package and I'd rather not send it to complete strangers.

RE: Helldivers I hit the max level a while ago, stopped for a bit to play DOOM, then decided to reset and start over again cause I just like playing. I bought all the DLC day one so if anyone would like to see some of it first hand and get a recommendation, I'm more than happy to accommodate. Considering the DLCs are 50% off, I'd actually recommend NOT getting the deluxe edition because several of the DLC packs kind of suck and you're better off picking and choosing.

While I'm bummed to be losing his voice at GB (he's probably my favorite podcaster out there right now), I think there's a lot of potential in this move. From the sound of things he'll be building a team from the ground up and Austin is one of the best names I can think of to put together a really smart and diverse group.

I watched the new Netflix produced Voltron. I know I'm not the target audience for the show but I still found it pretty underwhelming. There are a good number of callbacks and references to the classic Voltron but I wouldn't say the show relies upon nostalgia as there are a lot of changes and updates, some good some bad. I don't find the storytelling particularly compelling and for the most part the characters are pretty standard archetypes (ie the cocky playboy, the skilled stoic guy, the large goofy sensitive guy, etc). I'll admit a number of scenes did make me laugh. My favorite in particular is early on the leader gives an inspiring speech as they try to form Voltron as asks "Are you with me?". The rest are shown nodding in split screen, then after a beat Hunk says out loud "I'm nodding, is anyone else nodding?". The season ends in a cliffhanger but frankly I'm not particularly interested in seeing how it resolves.

I was so engrossed by Chris's game that I ended up zoning out during the first part of the podcast just listening for him to say slyboots.

My game was crashing quite a bit too. I didn't have the loading screen issue or a frame rate problem, but on average about once a level the game would suddenly just close. I haven't played in a few days so I don't know if this is still an issue for me but I definitely lost quite a bit of time repeating sections of levels, or in a few cases an entire level.

No wonder my post count more than doubled in the last day.

I actually didn't know that and had to try it out. You only get armor from siphon grenades if you also have the Equipment Power rune equipped.

I agree with Twig. When I play a game that calls for a controller I always reach for the Steam controller first. There was a definite learning curve in the beginning but I feel the payoff was well worth the effort.

I like utilizing all the weapons so I'm frequently switching between them during combat which I then refill with the ammo drops scattered around the level. As a result, I'm rarely hurting for ammo so the chainsaw is more of a novelty to me. Plus since it doesn't show up on the weapon select wheel I forget it's there. Same for the BFG. I also maxed my ammo count before health or armor and use the rune that gives you infinite ammo when you have 100 or more armor (75 armor after you upgrade it). I admire the design concept of using the chainsaw to create an ammo ebb and flow similar to health with the glory kills but it just doesn't fit into my playstyle.

I always forget about the chainsaw but I love the grenades. I think they complement the gunplay really well. Normally I'm not a fan of offhand grenades in other games but in DOOM I'm finding them extremely useful. Probably because the AI has no sense of self preservation so they make no effort to get out of the way meaning I can toss a grenade at a group of imps and be almost certain I'll get them all. I also like tossing them behind shield guys or at a pinkie demon before it charges. The hologram and siphon grenades I don't use very much though. The hologram I don't find very effective and the glory kills give me enough health to keep going.

Weapon upgrade points are also earned by finding the secrets in each map. You can get up to two points per level if you find them all. The weapon upgrade points are used to upgrade the weapon mods. Each weapon has 2 mods (except for the super shotgun and pistol which don't get mods, the chainsaw and BFG are special weapons that don't get upgraded at all) which are obtained from drones scattered around the levels. When you find one you can pick any mod you don't have for one weapon. Most mods have 3 upgrades with an increasing point cost. The bigger weapons like the rocket launcher and gauss cannon have two upgrades. Getting all the upgrades opens the final upgrade which is unlocked by using the mod to kill enemies in specific ways. The chips from the elite guards upgrade your suit's abilities. There are five categories ranging from things like showing secrets on the map, improving power ups, or switching weapons faster. The argent cell upgrades your max health, max armor, or max ammo. Up to five points for each category. Finally, the runes give you special abilities like performing glory kills faster or having glory kills drop armor in addition to health. Runes are obtained by completing special trials that are specific scenarios like using exploding barrels to kill enemies. You can have up to three equipped. Runes can be upgraded once by completing specific challenges that relate to the rune, like filling your armor to the max a certain number of times. It all sounds complicated when laid out but in practice it works pretty well. The challenges especially are good for encouraging you to use different weapons and tactics. If not for those, I probably would have just stuck to using only 2 or 3 weapons the entire time.