SecretAsianMan

I didn't get to watch all of BattleBlock Theater but what I did see was entertaining as always. They got Will Stamper (voice of the narrator) back again providing commentary. I was very tempted to make a donation with a comment that I would donate again if someone besides Stamper sang the secret song but I knew I wouldn't be able to watch the whole run. I'll just have to donate at a later time to make up for it.

Updated the top post with a link to the official YouTube page where runs are already being posted. I plan to curate a playlist of runs as I go through them.

Battleblock Theater is tonight. I'm excited for that one. Anyone who's read the other Games Done Quick threads knows that I'm a huge fan of PJ and the AGDQ 2015 run of Battleblock Theater was possibly the most entertaining run I've ever seen. This time the run is any% Insane mode co-op, which means that they don't have to collect all the items but if either of them die they have to restart the stage. That means no shortcuts like death abuse to teleport to the other player's location.

It might mostly be a case of me just not knowing how to navigate it well, but Big Picture was designed for navigation by a controller and just doesn't play well with the keyboard. For example, if you use the controller to open up a chat window it will bring up the virtual keyboard. You can still type a message in with a physical keyboard, but once you send the message the window will close and you have to open it up again with the keyboard. It seems like the UI has to switch between controller mode and keyboard mode despite the fact that it's clearly accepting input from either one just fine. Also all the UI prompts are labeled with the controller buttons so navigation is this weird act of using the controller to change windows and the keyboard to type. For just playing games, Big Picture is fine but for any kind of interaction beyond that it's extremely awkward.

The controller takes getting used to, but once you do its rather good. There is a fair amount of setup involved in getting it to work for certain games. Things like tweaking the pads to respond the way you want or configuring the buttons. A lot of these can be taken from the community though since a lot of people make their controller setups public. It also shows you how popular the community setups are so you aren't trying a bunch of random ones. I've been playing Helldivers with it, which is designed as a twin stick top down shooter. Once I got a setup I liked, the controller works great. It's even better than the 360 controller because that game requires precise d-pad input which the 360 controller is terrible at. The one thing that bothers me the most about it is it requires you to be in Big Picture mode. That's not a problem in itself but Big Picture mode doesn't like it when you switch between a controller and keyboard, something I do frequently. Basically, if you like having a lot of control over stuff like settings and want some flexibility, I'd recommend trying out a Steam Controller. If you want something that's more plug and play, then a regular controller will probably be a better choice.

Some things I'm looking forward to: Splatoon kicking the event off Battleblock Theatre with PJ and MechaRichter Spelunky all shortcuts + Olmec relay (with an incentive for a Hell Run) Battletoads with a donation incentive for blindfolded turbo tunnels Super Mario Maker race Lagoon by PJ Mike Tyson's Punch Out blindfolded race between sinister1 and zallard1 Mirror's Edge Stepmania Super Metroid reverse boss order

I had actually never heard it called a sness until well after the system was replaced. Doesn't bother me in the least.

I'd rather not have Finn and Rey be siblings because I don't want another "Luke kissed his sister" moment. There are already way too many parallels to the original trilogy.

Basically... yes. He used to be a very prominent surgeon but an accident messes up his hands. He tries seeking a cure from the "Ancient One" but instead he gets trained to become the Earth's Sorcerer Supreme.

I've heard that stratagem input on the Xbox controller is tricky since the sequences use D-pad input and the Xbox controller's D-pad is absolute crap. I have my Steam Controller setup with the left pad mimicking a D-pad and it works almost flawlessly (the main drawback is that you can't really feel the directions with your fingers so it takes some getting used to at first). I also have a few actions mapped to the rear paddles so I can aim and do something else simultaneously.

I was surprised to hear Chris talking about Helldivers. I've been wanting to play it since it was announced but I don't have a PS4. It's definitely meant to be played with other people. There are a number of stratagems in the game that are designed around having more than one person, such as a 4 person vehicle or an assisted reload of a heavy weapon (you can reload it yourself but it's much faster if someone else does it). A number of us have been playing it on Steam if Chris or anyone else is ever interested. Helldivers is also the game that finally made the Steam Controller click for me. It took some messing around with settings to make it effective but I'm really starting to like that thing a lot more.

Google Play had a coupon for 75% off a movie rental so I watched Ant-Man. It was ok. Didn't feel like a superhero movie until the very end when he was fighting the badguy. Up until that point it felt like Ocean's 11 except one of the dudes can shrink and talk to ants. Pym kept talking about how important their heist was and how it would save the world and everything, but it didn't have the same weight as the other Marvel movies where the threat is much more obvious and present. Still, it was amusing in moments and Paul Rudd was much more enjoyable than I was expecting.

It's weird, for sure.

The defunct canon said that the lightsaber is energy held in a containment field generated by the hilt. The Force comes into play in using what is a massless blade with extreme gyroscopic force such that a normal person using it would be more likely to chop off their own limb than do any damage to their opponent. I think some lightsabers were also designed such that the switch had to be held in the on position by the Force, a deadman's switch of sorts. Buuuuut none of that matters now since the only canon is the new movies (and Rebels I guess).

I think the idea is that anyone can turn it on but it requires the Force to be effective in any way.

Kenny Baker is listed as a "R2-D2 consultant" in Force Awakens. Also R2 does a lot of bouncing on his two legs, something that is probably less convincing when done without someone inside. And remote control ability at the time of the original trilogy was less reliable than it is now.

I'm fine with Rey being a badass, my problem is how much that scene undermined the villain. Kylo had at least enough skill for Luke to be unable to stop him for whatever reason. He also intimidates trained and hardened soldiers, even the general. Grand Moff Tarkin from Episode IV isn't intimidated at all by Vader and Kylo fears that he's much less powerful than him. All of that is undone when Rey just closes her eyes and whups his butt. I saw his killing Han as the last step to fully committing to the Dark Side. He's probably emotional and angry about it on some level, but anger is supposed to make a Dark Side user stronger. Also a lightsaber is supposed to be a unique weapon that is not like any other melee weapon and requires the Force to use effectively (hence Finn, a trained soldier who as of yet hasn't shown any Force affinity, being crap at it). I can go along with her being strong in the Force but I don't know. Rey may have some skill with a staff but this was literally her first time ever handling a lightsaber. She forgot to take the safety off the blaster but the lightsaber is no problem? I just can't buy it.

I've been experimenting around with weapons and strats and I like the toxic weapon against the bugs. One spray will kill almost everything up to the medium enemies and it even hurts the tanks. Plus the slowing lets you spray them and just run away knowing that they'll eventually die and be unable to catch you. The flamethrower also works surprisingly well against the Illuminate, the main drawback being of course the close range.

Saw it yesterday and was mostly pleased. I'm too lazy to read the last few pages I've been avoiding so I'm likely repeating a bunch of stuff but here's my thoughts. (I assume at this point we're not spoiler tagging) -I really can't take these villains seriously. Unmasked Kylo and Supreme Leader Snoke just made me want to laugh (Supreme Leader? Seriously?). The general guy was completely uninteresting to me. And their weapon was so ridiculous. I imagine it took a significant amount of the Empire's resources to build the Death Star (so much that they were planning it before the Empire even existed) and yet the First Order far outdid them. Also I kept thinking that removing/moving a star would seriously mess up that system's gravity. -Finn and Rey were pretty great. Finn having some present day Earth-like mannerisms was a bit jarring at times but overall I enjoyed when he was onscreen. I enjoyed that he's kind of incompetent when compared to Rey. One thing that bugged me about him was that after he's nearly killed by Kylo, you find out he's alive because of some throwaway dialog along the lines of "we got a pulse" from some medics at the Resistance base. -I dug Rey being extremely capable but I think they went a bit too far with it. I really didn't buy her sudden ability to use the Jedi mind trick and kicking of Kylo's ass. The guy pulled info from people's heads, stopped a blaster shot in mid air with the Force, and destroyed Luke's new Jedi Order. Some of those things Vader didn't do and he was supposedly conceived by the Force itself. To go from that to getting your butt whipped by a completely untrained Force user who basically discovered her powers that day really undermined him. Also the planet splitting them apart right when she could have finished him off was just dumb. Apart from that stuff I liked her character though. -The movie relies a little too much on nostalgia. I can understand callbacks and references to the other movies, but I feel like it's basically Episode IV with a different director -In all the time that Han and Chewie were together, did he not use Chewie's bowcaster? I can't believe that he's never fired it before. -I still don't like C-3PO. BB-8 was cute though. I especially liked the part where Rey is going down some stairs toward's Luke's lightsaber and BB-8 stops and looks down at every step before carefully rolling forward as it follows her. Despite my complaints I still thought it was pretty fun. Probably not as enjoyable as the Original Trilogy but certainly better than the prequels.

A promo banner from Paypal seems to confirm the Dec. 22 start date. It's supposed to have the same format as the Autumn sale with prices being set for the duration of the sale and no more daily/flash deals.

That's sounds really awesome in so many ways. I'm also a bit surprised something like that would be so difficult. Either way, kudos to you!

I would suggest perusing this thread a bit. Lots of discussion about computer parts goes on there. Also maybe repost this question there to get more eyes on it.

There was recently an update to Steam that lets you change the power on and power off sound the Steam controller makes. One of the options is called "next level" and I'm positive that I've heard it in an old game before but I can't remember which.

He didn't drive toward the cliff for kicks, he was driving away from the cop. I got the impression that he was a mischievous delinquent, not an adrenaline junkie. Kirk's mom didn't strike me as the type to get remarried so I assumed the voice on the phone was his uncle. Given the dialog, I think that's an entirely reasonable position. And as I said before, I think the bar fight scene does a much better job of showing that side of Kirk. This is the last I'm going to say about the subject because I don't want to talk about it anymore. I've said how I feel about the scene, and I still like the movie. If people want to disagree with me that's fine.

Except none of that is communicated. His relation to Kirk isn't identified in the scene, only that Kirk and his mother live in his house. He could be an uncle, cousin, family friend, etc. (I know the credits list him as Stepdad but resorting to the credits just shows how weak that scene is). The recklessness and self-destructiveness I get, but I felt that was far better demonstrated in the bar scene. If they had cut the scene with kid Kirk altogether it wouldn't have changed anything. In my opinion it would probably be better. I'm nitpicking a lot about one relatively short and forgettable scene in a movie but that whole thing just really bugged me.