Hell Kitty

I have XP SP2, and after an update I get the message to restart now or later every ten minutes. It used to be that if you didn't choose an option a timer would count down to an automatic restart, so if you stepped away from the computer for a moment you couldd lose whatever you were working on. I guess they changed that in an update.

Games with interesting gameplay? I also dislike games with interesting gameplay, apparently. I guess I'll just go back to playing crap like Deus Ex, Thief and System Shock.

I was always unsatisfied with the ending of The Secret of Monkey Island 2. Not that I can remember most of it anymore.

In Australia MA15+ is the highest a game can be rated (as opposed to movies which can be rated R18+, or X18+ for porn). MA15+ is for strong content while moderate content gets an M. Strong content in games usually means violence. Mass Effect is rated MA15+, apparently for strong themes, sex scenes and drug references. It's also the only MA rated game in my collection that doesn't include strong violence, or a violence rating of any kind. That sex scenes earn a greater rating than violent content is no surprise, but I don't know what strong themes refers to. I was actually wondering if suicide is considered is included in that, as the few moments that occurred in the game stood out more than usual, especially since I kinda .

Your e-**** is growing... Seriously though, I like achievements, but the points are meaningless.

No kidding? How much? Is it complete? It's the entire series. No extras though, and doesn't include the resistance stuff from the net. It was $70 aud, which xe.com tells me is 61.9496 USD.

Let me get this straight - you're saying the only way for a developer to secure an AO rating would be to include topless women, but once they have that rating they would be free to include actual adult themes and material? That wouldn't make any sense, as I assume ratings are given at the end of development. And if those other adult themes and materials were enough for the AO rating, why the need to throw in nudity, and the type of stuff that appeals primarily to teenage boys? In Silent Hill 2, one of the characters has been sexually molested by her father, but as far as I remember, it's never explicitly mentioned, instead it's left up to the player to interpret the information they have. Is it necessary to be more obvious about what happened, possibly getting a higher rating? Can a developer not tell a mature story if they are limited to the M rating? Issues that could get a game an AO rating that fall under the category of "sex" include things like rape and molestation, but they certainly aren't "sex sells" type stuff. Seems to me you're focused more on T&A than anything else. This reminds me of an interview with Mel Brooks (at least I think thats who it was) where he said that swearing is unnecessary in films, because no one ever thinks "that movie would have been so much better if the characters swore". So I don't think there are any M games that would be better if they had a AO rating.

So is the S3 DVD only not out in the US? I picked up a copy here in Oz yesterday.

So AO equals topless women? Well, I guess teenage boys would benefit.

It might be that the "Xbox360Live" version comes with a prepaid card or somesuch.

^ Never played it.

Anyone else playing this? I luuuurve the combat in this game. Sword fights have never been so satisfying. Anyone who thinks melee combat can be done just as well in a first person perspective needs to play this, and if it doesn't change their mind they need to give themselves an uppercut. And it's realistic fighting too, not that I really have any idea what a realistic sword fight is like, being born in 1979, but it is lacking the "whiz-bang console flashiness" as Walsingham might say. First time I entered a city I thought of Thief, in a "wouldn't it have been cool if the city hubs in Thief 3 were half as decent as this" kind of way. Altair makes Garrett seem like an arthritic old man. One of the biggest complaints I've seen about this game is that it is repetitive, which is true. You get your target, travel to a section of the city, and then you need to complete several assignments which gets you info about your target. This was cool at first, but every single time it's the same set of stuff - 2x pickpocket some dude, 2x eavesdrop on a conversation. 2x rough up some dude, 2x help an informer with a timed job either by collecting flags (not at lame as it sounds, basically an exercise in using your free running skills), or by killing some dudes without being detected. One plus though is that the the game doesn't hold your hand when it comes to the main assassinations, it's up to you the analyze the info you collect and then plan your attack (and escape). Those after stealth in the style of Thief or Splinter Cell won't find it here. The informer assassination tasks are probably the stealthiest part of the game, as they require you remain undetected, whereas when you kill a main target the whole town instantly goes on alert, and you'll never get away unseen. Sword fights are awesome though, so it's not too bad. Things that annoy: Drunks: Why do they only hassle me? Jerks. Deadly Water: My role as protector of the common man ended when I threw that drunk into the sea. Bah, he had it coming.

Cmdr Eden Shepard, fine upstanding citizen of the galaxy. Not at all extreme like those other Shepard jerks. Also, if her voice had babies with Admiral Hackett's voice, those babies would be super babies.

Someone made a list of the images that flash by in the trailer, and it seems to point to the game being a prequel. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deus_Ex_3

No matter the reason people give for pirating games, because they cost too much, a form of protest, no demo, they want to decide if the developer deserves their money, unless they are also willing to steal physical copies then it's all a load of bull. People pirate games because it's a crime they can get away with.

Industrial relations reforms was the number one issue this election.

Mass Effect and Assassin's Creed.

According to my save game I've played for 37 hours, and I don't think I'm even very far in the story. I complete all side quests and explore every nook and cranny, though. I also do a thorough search of the side quest and uncharted planets to find all the minerals and artifacts and what not. I can see a lot of people ignoring that, especially since the non story planets aren't terribly exciting.

Are you referring to texture pop-in? It's an annoyance, not a major bug. On PC? I was actually wondering if the pop-in was an issue due to the limitations of the 360, or if it occured on all systems. A couple of times when playing Rainbow Six Vegas, after a level load everything is white, with only the characters being textured, and it takes anywhere from 30 seconds to a couple minutes for the textures to load in. I never saw this when I played through on PC. This is the only game I've seen load with no textures, in everything else it's just low res. MoH:A also suffers from it quite often, and I've seen it in Bioshock and GoW but it seemed less noticable in those games. All on 360.

The texture pop-in happens frequently - when loading new areas, after fast travelling in Citadel, when switching armour in the inventory, when switching characters in the squad screen. I've seen it happy in other UE3 games, but probably not to this extent.

The x button is used to skip dialogue, but it can also be used to select dialogue options. The annoying thing is that the dialogue circle thingamyjig can pop up at any time, at the end of a characters line or half way through. A number of times now I've pressed x to skip at the exact moment the circle comes up. Thankfully, it's also on the default option, but it still annoys me, I could be missing out on wonderful paragon points. I think I'll just have to turn off subtitles and listen instead. Oh, and female Shepard is voiced by Jennifer Hale. Oh baby.

I bet Lance Henriksen could beat Alan Rickman in a fight.

Attempted suicide is a cry for help, a sign that the person still has some level of hope, which is a Good Thing. Of course, maybe it just means that stupid women can't even kill themselves properly! lololol!!!1!!1!8

The reason more men commit suicide than women is that men are less likely to seek help. Suicidal thoughts are an emotional problem, society expects men to be "masculine", and being emotional is considered "feminine". Men are more likely to bottle their problems for fear of being judged as weak. Men don't feel any greater burden than women, they simply believe they do, that a woman couldn't possibly feel the same burden. This is part of the reason people commit suicide, they think they are the only one who feels this way, that no one could possibly understand them. A man who believes he has greater burdens than a woman is like a white man who believes they are more discriminated against than a black man. Believing it doesn't make it so.