I Saw Dasein

Interesting article. I pass by that place almost every day on the way to work, but I've never stopped in. That whole stretch of Granville Street seems to be slowly dying off. Here is a picture of that area from a few decades ago:

Speaking of Vollmann... Book News: FBI Suspected William T. Vollmann Was The Unabomber

But even in this interpretation, the game is just mimicing a style of art (basically cover art from pulp fiction novels) that was explicitly designed to appeal to teenage boys. So Vanillaware is mimicing a style of art that was itself sexist. How is that better? Here's an admittedly controversial analogy. Say that there is a game with really hackneyed stereotypes about black people. Would it really be better if the artist claimed to have been influenced by a prior style of art: a minstrel show?

There is indeed. I am playing a campaign on that mode right now.

Sounds awesome. All X-COM needs is more stuff in it: more maps, enemies, and gears. Sounds like that's exactly what the expansion will provide. Day 1 for sure.

Great article! I love the early vision for the game: I totally want to play that game! Too bad they couldn't make it work.

I just got one too! It's pretty rad. I haven't played a mario game since SNES days, and it turns out Mario is still super fun and cool. Good job, Mario.

Elmore Leonard died, which totally bums me out. He wasn't even shot by a femme fatale just trying to go straight in this crazy world! There's no justice.

Good point, but I wonder if the success of Papers Please calls that into question. I would definitely want to play the Video game version of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, or really any good, fairly realistic police/spy procedural.

I also quit Saints Row 3. The open world is really bland and the shooting totally sucks and all the activities are lame and make no sense. Plus the writing was way too embarrassing so I had to turn the dialogue off.

I agree with all that, Atlantic. Plus it was really, really ugly imo. Like a low-rent WoW ripoff. Do not like.

half-life 3 confirmed.

Does your friend not realize that the whole point of Galaxy Truckers is to have your ship explode into like a million pieces bit-by-bit while your mans spew out (screaming) into the infinite blackness of space?

Of course it would be naive to say that Scalia's views on torture were driven solely by 24. But at the very least 24 provided him with a convenient hypothetical that justifies torture. Effectively Scalia says that since Jack Bauer's use of torture is acceptable or admirable in 24, we should conclude that it is effective or admirable in real life. I'd also point out that the whole "ticking time bomb" scenario is a product of a fictional work: John Larteguy's The Centurions. It is a hypothetical that was originated in a fictional work (The Centurions), thrust into public consciousness through a fictional work (24), then used as a convenient trope by various political figures as a way of justifying torture (John Yoo, Michael Chertoff, and Justice Scalia all referenced 24 in justifying the use of torture). I'm not sure you really are arguing the same thing as anyone else, anyway. I don't think anyone is arguing that including torture in a game makes individuals more likely to be violent. I think people are arguing that fictional depictions of torture as effective and necessary when used by government makes people on aggregate more likely to tolerate torture by government. In other words, 24 and Conviction basically operate as pro-torture propaganda. E; Incidentally, here's a pretty good New Yorker article on how media depictions of torture have changed substantially since 9/11. http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/02/19/070219fa_fact_mayer?currentPage=1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3M6OdQ1fFqs so dumb but so good.

Obviously silly things like action TV shows, movies, and games do have an impact on the way the public views issues like torture. Here's a dramatic example: Justice Scalia cited 24 and Jack Bauer as demonstrating the acceptability or necessity of torture. cite I just don't think it's tenable to say that popular media doesn't help shape the public's view on moral issues like torture.

On October 4, 1986, as Dan Rather was walking along Park Avenue in Manhattan to his apartment, he was attacked and punched from behind by a man who demanded to know, "Kenneth, what is the frequency?", while a second assailant also chased and beat him. As the assailant pummeled and kicked Rather, he kept repeating the question over and over again. In describing the incident, Rather said, "I got mugged. Who understands these things? I didn't and I don't now. I didn't make a lot of it at the time and I don't now. I wish I knew who did it and why, but I have no idea." The incident and Rather's account led some to doubt the veracity of Rather's story, although the doorman and building supervisor who rescued Rather fully confirmed his version of events. The story entered popular lore and remained unsolved for some time. The incident inspired a song called "Kenneth, What's the Frequency?" by the band Game Theory in 1987. In October 1990, the phrase "What's the frequency, Kenneth?" appeared in an issue of the Daniel Clowes comic Eightball as part of the serialized graphic novel Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron, and was revealed in a later episode to be a key part of the Mister Jones conspiracy theory.Also in 1990, Scott McCloud used the phrase in the first 24-hour comic. In 1994 the band R.E.M. released the song "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?" on the album Monster. The phrase became the subject of many jokes over the years and slang for a confused or clueless person. Rather was a good sport about it, and actually sang with R.E.M. during a soundcheck prior to a gig at Madison Square Garden, New York, which was shown the following night on the Late Show with David Letterman before their performance of Crush with Eyeliner. In 1997, a TV critic writing in the New York Daily News solved the mystery, and published a photo of the alleged assailant, William Tager. Rather confirmed the story: "There's no doubt in my mind that this is the person." New York District Attorney Robert M. Morgenthau said "William Tager's identity as the man who attacked Mr. Rather was established in the course of an investigation by my office". Tager was sentenced to a 25-year prison sentence for killing NBC stagehand Campbell Montgomery outside The Today Show studio in 1994. He was paroled in October 2010 and is believed to be living in New York City. In the December 2001 issue of Harper's Magazine, writer Paul Limbert Allman speculated that postmodern fiction writer Donald Barthelme (who died in 1989) had somehow orchestrated, or was otherwise connected to, the attack through other unnamed persons, citing unusual passages in Barthelme's writing, including the phrase "What is the frequency?", a recurring character named Kenneth, and a short story about a pompous editor named Lather. Limbert also uncovered the facts that Barthelme and Rather were likely to have known each other professionally early in their careers. The world is a weird weird place.

Hm, based on enthusiasm in podcast I think I'm going to buy one of these. But I haven't been following it at all so what are the "must have" games? I have pretty broad taste; I'm not that interested in Harvest Moon/Pokemon/Animal Crossing (because I'm a heartless monster) but other than that I'm open.

Established franchises are seen as less risky, so it's probably easier for them to get money. Although "Prey" is barely a franchise.

At least part of the appeal of stealth games is that they tie into a voyeuristic power fantasy; people enjoy the illicit thrill of being where they're not supposed to be, seeing and hearing things they're not supposed to see and hear, and having power over the people they're stalking. Dishonored nails that voyeuristic thrill, even though Sno's right that mechanically it doesn't insist on stealth or even really encourage it.

wow, I had no idea Dan Simmons was competing with Orson Scott Card for craziest right-wing sci-fi hack! http://www.npr.org/2011/07/28/137621172/one-rant-too-many-politics-mar-simmons-dystopia

Na, everyone should read at least Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and especially Dubliners. Both are short and easy and free and awesome.

na it's three french dudes in a room.

I find Vollman really hard for some reason. I started Europe Centrale but never finished it, despite liking the parts of it I read. I think I may take another run at it.

Why would that bother you? There's a ton of video game review sites, so if you think she's biased just read a different review.