Hell Kitty

I think you really need to play a bit first before deciding what mods you want. A mod that seems awesome to someone else might be a waste of bandwidth to you.

Avoiding sex just because it's sex is no different to inserting sex just because it's sex. Rip it out so we can sell it to prudes, throw it in so we can sell it to pervs. That's not true, Law & Order is a show about crime, specifically murder, and follows the detectives and prosecutors attempts to bring the criminal to justice. The effect it has on people isn't the focus of the series, it's all about bringing a criminal to justice. It's an example of a show that is generally "about crime" but doesn't need to show the actual crime taking place. Dexter, like Mr Brooks, is a story from the perspective of a killer, and like Mr Brooks isn't particularly explicit, but it also wouldn't be the same without the viewer seeing certain scenes. While you might think it's necessary to have a clever reason to exclude sex, someone else will feel it's necessary to have a clever reason to include sex. There is no one right way to tell stories that deal with certain issues. Some will need to show you certain things, some will need to keep certain things from you, others can do it either way with the inclusion or exclusion of certain things not having any real effect on the story. Mass Effect doesn't need the sex scene, but there's also no reason it can't be there. I think we're getting stuck on being "about sex", which is my fault. Most stories that feature sex tend to actually be about relationships and human interaction, of which sex is a part, like in the two examples I gave, but they aren't specifically "about sex". If the act itself is the focus, then the work is most likely erotic or pornographic in nature, where seeing the act is the whole point. Even films like "9 Songs" and "Shortbus", which feature explicit unsimulated sex scenes aren't "about sex", they are "about people". The Sims 2 is like this, it's about (sim) people and their lives, specifically their entire lives, so it's only natural sex is going to play a role. Most games aren't telling the type of stories that focus on people and relationships.

Why not? I recently saw the film Summer Clouds, which was about Robert and his cousin Marta playing a game with holidaying couple Daniel and Ana, attempting to seduce them, with the game being won once either one had sex with the husband or wife. The films shows us that Daniel and Ana are a fairly typical couple and are happy together. While Marta can't go through with seducing Daniel, Robert successfully seduces Ana, and while she is in a room changing, Robert enters, closes the door behind him and begins kissing her. The shot then changes to a shot of the door from outside the room, and it sits there for a minute or two. No one leaves the room, so the audience knows that something is happening between them but never finds out what exactly. Daniel suspects his wife cheated on him, but she denies it. Marta reveals the game to Ana, and tells her that nothing happened between her and Daniel, and asks if anything happened between Robert and Ana, but Ana refuses to answer. Robert tells Daniel it doesn't matter what happened as his wife loves him and they'll now leave and return home to their lives. Besides, Robert got what he wanted and was no longer interested in Ana. In this film, it was important that we don't see the sex scene, leaving us in the same position as Daniel, not knowing exactly what happened. In the film Unfaithful, married Connie begins an affair with Paul. She is happily married to Ed, and the film shows the audience that there isn't a problem such as a lackluster sex life that leads to the affair. Her interactions with her husband are nice and sweet, while her interactions with Paul are passionate and intense. In this film it's important to show the sex scenes between Connie and Paul in order for the audience to see just how consumed by the affair and her lover she becomes. I never said anything about cutting existing scenes out of movies, so I don't know why you are asking me this. My point is that you can tell a story about sex without needing to show any actual sex. You can have no sex, like in Summer Clouds, or quite a bit of sex, like in Unfaithful. Or you can have a story where is doesn't even matter whether we see the act or not. TV shows like Law & Order rarely show the actual murders taking place, because they are about finding the criminal and bringing them to justice. When a story is told from the point of view of the investigators, it's common for the story to start after the crime has taken place. And just to be clear I'm pointing out that tv shows and movies can be about crime and murder without actually showing the audience the act, not saying that it's fine to cut existing scenes out. A war movie might be more concerned with how soldiers deal with returning home then any actual battles. Or a journalist in a war zone trying to cope the the violence occurring around them. You can make a movie about violence without showing the actual violence, only the effects of it. I don't know of any other than Sims clone Singles, which is supposedly more focused on the actual sex but I haven't played it. Sex is typically something you'd see in a cutscene, whereas sex as a gameplay element is typically the stuff of porn games. In Mass Effect, it's basically just the payoff for completing the romance, and doesn't really add anything to the story. In GTA IV, Niko can go on dates with a number of women, and if they like him enough, he can have sex with them, although we never see the act. The point of these dates storywise, as with the outings you can go on with male friends, is really the conversations with the characters.

/Alien/? Not ftp://segapr.segaamerica.com/SEGA_GAMES/Alpha%20Protocol/ ?

Indeed. A movie/book/game/whatever being "about sex" doesn't mean it requires explicit sex or even any sex scenes at all. A story might be about the characters beliefs, fears and insecurities concerning sex and relationships without it ever being necessary to show the actual act. The irony of sex and nudity leading to an automatic "adults only" rating is that it's often used in a rather immature way, stuff like teen sex comedies. The Sims 2 is chock full of sex, and it's never explicit. It's not there to titillate, is just presented as a part of life.

You don't need to "finish" a game like Oblivion, as there is a lot of content outside the main quest. Like Hurlshot I definitely recommend SI.

I already ignore many posts without having to make use of the ignore feature.

I love the phone idea, definitely preferable to some sci-fi thingamyjig. If not a phone then a pda.

So, Tale has stoopid friends? Anyway, I thought Fable was fun, but it obviously wasn't memorable, as I can't seem to remember much about it.

Heh, same. She came close to flipping the car a number of times.

I know, I wasn't saying you were wrong, I was pointing out how badly Krookie sucks.

You're off to a good start with Oz and Carniv

I don't have a licence, nor do I know how to drive, yet I am totally awesome at driving in game.

It might sound complicated when being described, but it's much simpler when actually playing the thing. Driving felt clunky and slow to begin with, but it just feels right.

I always considered Deus Ex a game that's "greater than the sum of its parts", because its parts simply aren't as good as games that focus on those areas. The stealth and combat can't compare separately to dedicated stealth games or FPS. Jack of all trades, master of none. If games have a "soul", I'd say it's developers that care about the game they are making. Just because you care, though, doesn't mean you won't make crap, and vice versa. I consider Saint's Row to be rather "soulless", as it's an attempt to cash in on the success of GTA. It copied the gameplay fairly well, though, and introduced improvements, which were even copied by the devs for GTAIV.

When she had her vision or whatever, she said something like "You? I'm sorry, forgive me.", so I'm assuming she saw Anders, and was sorry for nearly killing him back on Caprica.

That sounds like something someone trying to justify the murder of a good man would say.

It's what I'm here for. Anyway, I was on a date with Kate, and after rolling the car we were in, and running across the street to jack another, she got hit by a taxi and flew through the air. After a few moments she got up and pulled the passenger out of the car I was stealing. What a woman! Dwayne called, and said he was in the shower and the phone rang and he thought it might have been me. I suspect he didn't get a call at all and was just feeling lonely and fishing for a man date so I took him out for a bite to eat. He's a nice guy. You killed him, didn't you pixies? You're a terrible, terrible person.

I had armor to begin with, and at some point while out on the streets I picked up another one lying next to a cop car. When I picked up the second one I only had half of my life so obviously I would have died without starting with armor.

Indeed it was. I'm terribly sorry I robbed you of my awesome Aussie accent by not having a head set. Anyway, I recently did the bank job and completed it first try. With the amount of cops around I was surprised how well I did. That mission also reminded me of Kane & Lynch.

Just saw Iron Man, and now I really want to see the Avengers film.