SecretAsianMan

I don't want to derail this thread into a debate, but I seriously hate China these days.

They basically are now that Disney has disavowed the entire Expanded Universe.

Nice. Beating a boss is pretty satisfying because of the amount of work you have to do to get there. I dislike the boss remixes though. I feel like they throw away what makes the game interesting by forcing you into a very specific situation. I get the idea behind creating new challenges, but I dislike the loss of agency. Also I suck at them despite having beaten the game several times.

I am interested in Necrodancer. I saw it at PAX once, they had the dance pad out of course. Money's kind of tight for me right now though, so I'm stuck Spelunking. There's a Daily Challenge type thing in that game too right?

I've actually started playing Rogue Legacy again lately. But with Rogue Legacy, I grind through the game until I get all the items and upgrades, then quit after NG++ (which is about where I am right now). I think the furthest I went last time was NG++++. Spelunky I've found more compelling because even though I've also seen everything in that game, there isn't a hard ceiling like there is in Rogue Legacy. Also, you know, the Daily Challenge and whatnot.

Just out of curiosity, is anyone else besides me still doing the Daily Challenge every day? Or, you know, playing at all?

That fight is amusing to me because Luthor's plan depends entirely on Superman being a dick which he is more than willing to oblige. Also magic underground lightning. I think a much dumber version of that fight exists in the movie Superman/Batman: Public Enemies. Marvel says to Superman "You've never been very good against magic. And magic is what I'm all about" and then they punch each other for a few minutes until Superman switches places with Batman who was fighting Hawkman. Batman then shoots down Marvel with a glove mounted rocket. And that's not even the dumbest part.

Short Interview with Chris about Gone Home's audio. http://www.hyperinstrument.net/gone-home-composer-interview/ I found the part about using a screwdriver on the guitar interesting. Also secretly disappointed that Space Asshole wasn't listed as an audio achievement.

I agree with the people who said the read was weird because it didn't feel natural and was more like a standard ad. I don't really have a problem with the idea because Idle Thumbs doesn't review games or report on games. I would feel weirder if they did those things because then I'd question whether or not the sponsorship affected said review/report. As it stands, I think if an ad comes up that they're comfortable reading, then I'm fine with it being there. Although I do agree with Gormongous and would like to hear their actual opinions instead of words from a page. One thing I like about the Thumbs ad reads is that they don't sound like they're being read. On other podcasts, I've sometimes heard the host literally say "Hang on a second, I have to read this thing".

Going back to the EA subscription thing, they've now clarified that you don't need Xbox Live Gold to use it. Of course you won't be able to do any multiplayer gaming without it, but at least it's a side offer to Xbox Live instead of a subscription within a subscription.

He used to be the head of Nintendo of America's indie program. Last year he ran into some trouble with the company for tweeing negatively about the 3DS's region locking and rejecting submissions like a 3DS version of Binding of Issac. This basically resulted in Nintendo telling him he wasn't allowed to tweet or speak in public anymore.

Still watching Breaking Bad, getting close to the end of the second season. I think one of the most surprising things so far has been Hank. I started out disliking him because of his attitude and manner, but he had some very human moments and became much less of a caricature to me. Walter (I can't bring myself to call him Walt) continues to puzzle me. I started out thinking I would understand him the most but he's actually the one I get the least.

I always enjoyed that the interface that pops up when you hit the guide button was called the mini-blade

It bothers me that whenever Google makes a new doodle, there are more search results for the doodle itself than the actual topic of the doodle.

I know it's not the intent, but I can't help reading that and in my head hearing someone doing a very stereotypical Asian accent

This describes almost all my conversations with Teg. Then again I am a pokenoob.

I actually find that kind of thing really interesting. I like hearing people who aren't actually a member of a gender/race/whatever group talking about how they view issues pertaining to said group, so long as the discussion is productive and not just hateful speech. It helps me understand the point of view I don't or can't have. For example, I'm usually less interested in hearing or seeing an Asian talk about Asian issues in the US because I already have that perspective. I find it much more interesting to hear someone who's not Asian talk about it because it often reveals to me things that might not have occurred to me or sometimes even helps me distill my thoughts more. Obviously that doesn't mean I don't want people who are in that group to talk about it, I'm just saying that hearing the other side's opinion can also be very informative.

I always wondered how many non-gamers were extremely confused when they announced it would be called Cortana.

Didn't it used to be chrome monsters on the boxes? I remember that joke being made on the podcast once. ...ok I just did a quick google image search for "graphics card box". It's almost all busty women.

Not ok

There's definitely a danger in overthinking things (something I'm often guilty of), but in general I prefer some thought to no thought. And I certainly don't think you have any malicious intent. I have been taking this example to the extreme for the sake of argument but I think we're getting a good discussion out of it. One thing that is completely appropriate to laugh at: I got this worked up over Sonic fan art that I don't even care for

That's what I was hoping for when I first read the article. I get what you're saying and I agree to a point. It is hard to separate at/with, especially without an actual discussion taking place between both parties. One thing I would say is in the case where there is no "with", is laughing an appropriate response at all? Maybe examine why the thing makes you want to laugh and decide if it's a reasonable response. If you're laughing at something because you find it quirky or interesting, I'd say go ahead. If you're laughing because you're thinking "that's really messed up and so is the person who made it", then I'd say you're making some judgments that perhaps you shouldn't be. What's dumb to one person might be really personal to another in which case laughing at their creation is maybe not the right thing to do. Not accusing you of doing any of that, just food for thought.

I think in a way it mirrors a recent discussion in the Feminism thread, which is that trying to come up with a universal definition is tricky at best and a lot of the time it boils down to specific people. If someone is fine with other people laughing at their work, then great. If someone is insulted, then you should respect that opinion and hopefully apologize. I am neither a creator nor appreciator of Sonic fan art so I'm not at all qualified to speak about that community in a meaningful way. All I can say is how it made me personally feel and it seems like a slippery slope to me, on both sides of the issue. I don't want to say that nothing can be made fun of because that's too restricting on speech and thought. On the other hand I don't feel comfortable when people laugh at a thing solely on the basis that it's unusual because that's how discrimination starts. It's way too easy for things to transition from harmless fun to hateful speech. The Sonic stuff is clearly a case of the former and not the latter but the possibility it could be still bothers me. It's a really muddy concept, one I haven't fully thought out.

Those are the tweets I was referring to in my first post and what got me thinking about the whole subject to begin with. I can't pull them up at work so thanks for doing that Noyb.