Keyrock

Hence the "very subject to change". It sure would be nice if Steamroller wound up being a pleasant surprise in performance, if for no other reason than to drive down Intel's mid-high-end CPU prices. High-end prices are always inflated, but they've been extra inflated due to Intel having zero competition in the high-end.

I'll just leave this here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CXRBjc8O0w

I'm contemplating scooping up Resident Evil Revelations for 50% off. I own the game on 3DS, but I love it so much I'm willing to buy it again for PC.

Mine too, although I just found out that the tax on IT equipment is going from 8% to 20% in November in my country, so that 4770k looks really good now... Ouch. One reason for me to wait for Haswell-E is DDR4. While initially the benefits might be negligible over DDR3, having DDR4 support gives me better future-proofing.

Good. Now they should port Heavenly Sword as well. Never gonna happen, Sony owns the IP. Same reason Demon's Souls is never getting a PC (or Xbox 360) port. Which is too bad, since it's arguably better than Dark Souls.

Are you waiting for Haswell-e? Yes, that's the current plan, though very subject to change. You're probably right, a highly successful and popular game likely won't be more than 50% off 8 months after release. Still, I can always go with wishful thinking. Plus, there's always the chance that Valve will pull a boner and the game will be something ridiculous like 95% off for a couple of minutes, like they have in the past.

There's plenty of fun to be had in the game, it's just too bad that it's so incredibly unbalanced. Ironically, seemingly all the really fun skills are the least useful in the game. For example, monkeys are completely useless in combat (on account of getting pretty much insta-killed) and there is only 1 place I can think of that can only be accessed with the monkey, yet using the monkey is super fun. Voodoo requires heavy investment to make it relatively effective, but even maxed out voodoo isn't nearly as effective as muskets with even minimal skill investment. Yet using voodoo is fun and produces some of the most hilarious dialogue in the game, especially if you bring Patty along.

But it just wants to be your friend... and lay waste to your garden.

DISCLAIMER: RUMOR, UNNAMED "INDUSTRY" SOURCES, GRAIN OF SALT GTA V rumored to come to PC Q1 2014 If this is true, IF this is true, then it will work out well for me as I plan to build a new rig late next year, and this releasing in early 2014 would fit that plan well: GTA V releases in March or April > Build new rig in September or October > Buy GTA V at 75% off during Winter Steam Sale.

Voles:

It's looking like the Pirates magical season is coming to an end, unless they can pull off a miracle rally. Too bad. I don't particularly care who comes out of the NL, but I'll generally lean toward the underdog if I have no favorite.

Mara Getting my voodoo on Sailing into Antigua

I've played some yager games in the past. They involved shot glasses and occasionally led to people passing out. That's not what we're talking about here, is it?

I don't see anything wrong with the promotion, and I definitely see the correlation between the promo theme and titles offered. In the end, it's an attention grab, one that I have no problems with. Plus, they're giving out some free games to some folks. /shrugs

Cut-scenes! Fisticuffs! Sploshuns! More cut-scenes! Set-pieces! Even more cut-scenes! It's everything you loved about the originals!

Risen 2 - So I got to Puerto Isabella, the Inquisitions stronghold on the island. I mingled with the locals, charmed a couple ladies, and ran some errands. It never hurts to make friendly with the locals, plus I get to make some coin in the process. One of the ladies in town is willing to pay me 100 gold for each bottle of red wine I procure for her. Dang, that's some expensive wine, especially considering she's gotta make profit on it too. At this point I had been collecting animal parts, digging up treasure, and using my pickpocketing skills for a good while, so I wasn't hurting for money, but more is always nice, considering the high prices of learning skills. (Pro-tip: Always get items that extract valuables and ingredients off corpses, like the bone saw and skinning knife, as early as possible. They will pay for themselves quite quickly) Snooping around town I noticed all the cannons they have scattered around town, pretty impressive. That may come into play later on when it's time to leave the island. It's been a long time since I played the game, so I don't remember if I'll be using the cannons or sabotaging them, probably depends on which side I'll pick (Spoiler: I'm siding with the natives) Heading back out of town, I rescued Tahana (the missing native) from the Blue Coats, not a difficult proposition, because the guard dropped the key in the yard in front of the prison. We hoofed it back to their village after finding an idol he ditched before getting nabbed by the Inquisition. Tahana took a different path to the village than his buddy who had led me around earlier. I got to go by the Earth Temple where Crow, his pirate goons, and the natives he's got under his control are preparing for some ritual that I probably shouldn't let happen. I can't go there now, though, I'd get skewered but quick. I need to get some allies first. Back in the village, I'd now earned the trust of Chani, the chieftain's daughter. Her pops is helping out Crow because he's scared ****less of the Titans, but Chani's not down with that because she knows what Crow is doing is only going to bring ruin and death. She's still uneasy about helping out whitey, but she's willing to let me learn voodoo, if the ancients approve. Guess I need to have a talk with a ghost. Off to the nearby temple we go. The conversation with Mr. Ghosty didn't go as smoothly as I had hoped. He didn't seem all that eager to let whitey learn voodoo. Once I invoked the name Mara, though, he changed his tune. Guess homeslice has no love for Mara, and since I'm looking to snuff her out, the enemy of my enemy and all that goodness. So now the voodoo priestesses are willing to teach me voodoo. I learned how to make a scepter and brew potions, got me a schematic for a Scepter of Power (I happened to already have all the necessary ingredients on me), and learned how to make potions far more effective, which will be quite helpful in the future. Now that I know some Voodoo 101, it's time to get things in motion to get to Crow. Things won't be that easy, though. I can't just come waltzing down to the Earth Temple, it's heavily guarded and I won't exactly be welcome. Still, I need to get something personal off the chieftain so that we can work some voodoo magic on him. I can't get to the Earth Temple without a fight (that I would surely lose), but delivery boy Jim can. Looks like it's time to put my new found voodoo skills to use...

Tense game, but the Sawx came through when they needed to. Joe Maddon used everybody in his bullpen in that game. EVERYBODY. Had the Rays tied it up, he would have had to pitch Price in the 10th and beyond, which would bring up the question: Who would have pitched game 5? Anyway, the platoon pitching worked until the 7th, then it started to fall apart. Uehara got redemption by pitching a 4 out save. Good times. Now the wait to see who emerges out of the other ALDS.

Just wait a couple of days and watch it on youtube. You get all the movie without the interactive. From what I've read, the interactive isn't anything to write home about.

Wow, Joe Maddon makes a pitching change with nobody out in the 2nd inning. It's still 0-0, but the Sawx have 'em loaded with no outs. This may be jumping the gun, but on the other hand, this is an elimination game, he can't let the Sawx have a huge inning here and blow this game open. Sawx need to put up at least 2 here, preferably 3 or more. Edit: And the Sawx don't score at all. That is huge. That may not only cost them this game, but this series. You can't not score in a situation like that. This will almost surely come back to haunt them.

Agreed 100%. Guns are far more powerful and useful than voodoo in the game, but voodoo is simply more fun.

Risen 2 - I finally did enough to impress ol' Steelbeard so he's let me swear the blood oath and join his crew. Congratulations, I'm now cursed! So we left Tacarigua and headed over to the Sword Coast (sounds familiar). Upon landing on the beach, Patty, her pops (Steelbeard), and I went to check out a watchtower that seemed to be occupied by some of Crow's men (we don't like Crow). Turns out they have enlisted the help of some natives, hence i got to slice up people of 2 different skin colors. After the battle it was time to choose a destination to try to enlist some help. I could visit the natives and try to get some of them on my side, or I could visit the ol' blue coats (Inquisition) who had recently (*wink wink*) terminated my employment with them. Of course, I knew I wouldn't have to choose a side just yet and would wind up visiting both camps at some point, but I decided to go to the natives first, on account of their women folk dressing all skimpy like and having nice asses. Once I got to the natives' village I had to whoop up on a spear chucker to get in. Don't look at me like that, he was literally chucking spears at me. So I had a talk with the natives and asked them to teach me some voodoo. They refused. Turns out they don't trust the white man. Can't say I blame them. I don't trust the white man either and I happen to be a white man. Guess I'll have to earn their trust before they warm up to me. So, might as well talk to the chieftain's daughter and see what's going on. Turns out she sent some dude out on a task and he hasn't returned for far too long. I can see where this is going. Yeah, I'll go look for him. So I talk to this nice bald fella who takes me to the missing dude's last know location. Hmm, pretty close to the blue coats' camp. Guess I'll be breaking someone out of prison (again). Well, I was going to go to the blue coats' camp sooner or later anyway, might as well do so now. Hopefully they'll have a map to sell me so I can fast travel in the future.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KGDyB_yPmw Pro-tip: It's much better with the sound off.

As a Cowboys fan, I can relate to Chargers fans at least a little bit, because my team also has a recent history chock full of underachieving, blowing leads, and losing games in the most painful ways imaginable. Mediocrity and disappointment is what I've come to expect. On the bright side, the Cowboys will finish around .500 like they do every year, just bad enough to not make the playoffs, but not bad enough to get a good draft pick, and the cycle of mediocrity and disappointment will continue. /headbutts wall