Keyrock

Humaniod, how long does it (the Wii U tablet gamepad) last before the batteries run out? It's uncommon for me to game more than an hour straight, rare to game 2 hours straight, and almost unheard of for me to game 3 hours straight, so as long as it can go 3 hours straight, that should suit me fine. Also, do you have Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate? If so, we should do some co-op in the future. I'm going to get it next week. Granted, it will take me a while to get used to the game, I'm a total n00b and have only played the demo a few times. That series is like digital crack in Japan, so I wanted to find out what all the hoopla is about.

Some Mario Kart 8 100cc time trial action. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkgq7kkMbGs I definitely need to do a bunch of time trials on each course to get comfortable with the best lines, find shortcuts, and get comfortable pulling tricks off jumps and drifting around corners before going back to grand prix mode.

I, personally, find the Wii U gamepad to be surprisingly comfortable. It's big, very big, but it's also surprisingly light. The back has some nice molded ridges (not sure if "ridge" is the best description, but it's the best I can think of right now) to give your hands something to comfortably grab on to. I like it a lot, but your mileage can vary. Some people find it uncomfortable. And, as Humanoid wrote, there are plenty of other control options available.

Mario Kart 8, as awesome as it is, and it is awesome, is still a Mario Kart game, through and through, and, as such, delivers some truly infuriating moments. Nothing makes a man want to rip his hair out more than leading on the final lap of the last race of a cup, about to 3 star it, then getting gang raped by a barrage of blue shell, red shell, green shell, all in the span of about 3 seconds, going from 1st to 5th with nowhere near enough time to recover. On the other hand, there is serious perverse satisfaction in hitting someone with a shell a split second after they've gone off a jump over a chasm, sending them plummeting to their doom. I guess you gotta take the good with the bad. Supposedly, it is possible to escape the wrath of the dreaded blue shell in this installment, though I haven't been able to pull it off yet. If you have a mushroom and use it to go turbo the split second the blue shell begins to plunge to ruin your day, you can escape it, though it takes insane timing (better timing than I have). There may be other ways, but it's the only way I know of.

I've never been a proponent of multi/dual class characters, particularly in a game that lets you field a party of 6. Fighter/Cleric is about the only multi/dual class combo I somewhat like, mainly because there's almost no drawbacks. No edged weapons, but you can still **** **** up with a mace or flail.

They are allegedly a rather mediocre team which is led by one very good player, whom some people also think is overly hyped. I'm not one of the people that thinks Messi is overhyped, I think he's legitimately the best footballer on the planet, but I agree with the rest of that statement.

I never realized that competitive gaming was such a big business. I figured that for it to be lucrative there would have to be a sizable audience. I tried watching gaming on TV before and I literally fell asleep on the couch. Maybe I was just watching the wrong type of game? I think it was Starcraft 2, but I say that with less than 100% certainty.

More Mario Kart 8. Pretty much everything else is going on the back burner for a while, including Skyrim, Divinity: Original Sin, and Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker HD (which I got for free for getting Mario Kart 8, score!). Maybe it's just because I haven't played a Mario Kart game in a long time, but this game feels faster. 100cc feels like 150cc and 150cc feels like... like... like something faster than 150cc.

I blame this loss squarely on those unpatriotic Americans that neglected their duty to their country and played Divinity: Original Sin today. You're all traitors and should be tried for treason.

Damn those ****ing waffle eating mother****ers. I'll never* play Divinity: Original Sin. *never = until another one or two days

It all fell apart in extra time. Edit: Wait a minute, wait a minute, there's still hope!

Tim Howard and the Stars & Stripes have been

The US lucky to escape that half without conceding a goal. Their defense has been porous, to say the least.

Argentina wins. They're through to the quarters, but they look quite vulnerable.

The Swiss are coming apart at the seams. It looks like only a matter of time until the Argentinians put one in the back of the net.

The Argentinian keeper was so lucky. He made a horrible mistake by staying halfway out instead of coming out to get to the ball first (as he should have) or going back to the goal, but the Swiss player got a terrible strike on it.

Who drinks milk with pizza? That's unnatural.

Predictions for today: Switzerland over Argentina USA over Belgium

I am not allowed to play this game today because it's made by Belgians. Today, Belgians are my mortal enemies. I will fight them to the death. To the death, I tells ya!

I'm playing Mario Kart 8, it's pretty awesome. Definitely the best entry in the series since at least Double Dash.

Really gutsy performance from Algeria, just not enough against ze Germans.

This has been a real exciting 90 minutes of football, and we're getting 30 more. And just like that ze Germans score in the 2nd minute of extra time.

Algeria looked the superior side for 35 minutes, Germany stepped it up in the last 10 minutes of the 1st half. It's still scoreless and it feels a bit like Algeria missed their chance. You never know, though.

Wow, ze Germans are looking really shaky at the start here. Algeria have clearly been the better side so far.

Absolutely, they've been very impressive. However, assuming Germany wins later today as expected, that QF match is going to be a big time heavyweight bout.