Hurlshort

I'm looking forward to trying this. I feel like I got burned with HOMM IV, but this looks like a possible redemption. I'm glad they are offering a chance to try before I buy it too.

Why would there be? The shell casing is not the projectile, its the casing that holds the gunpowder and is ejected from the breach. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> When someone gets shot, it tends to leave blood behind. The casings should be near wherever Michael was firing from. If Michael was hit, the blood would be there as well.

The point is there was no blood around the area of the shell casings. I like the dirty Santa theory. Maybe they are interferring with Santa's workshop. He's just trying to protect Christmas. It explains why they kidnap the kids.

I only stayed up for the first period of the Oiler/Sharks game, so I'm actually surprised they took it to OT. Damn, the Sharks go 9-1 against the East but they can't win a conference game to save their lives. Ah well, sounds like it was a good game. Now the Sharks are 7 points out, but they have 3 games in hand against almost every team. I really want to see the Avs fall. It looks like the Kings are going to struggle through the second half also. I don't care who falls out of the playoff picture, as long as the Sharks take it over.

She (Jack's wife) didn't mind his profession when it restored her ability to walk, and I doubt her teachers salary paid for that nice house she had to herself. She is a horrible person.

I've cheated my way through a big chunk of that game, but it's seriously endless. I also get nauseous if I play for more than an hour.

As Penny Arcade stated...it's not quite witchy enough. Actually it has really shaped up to be a beautiful looking game. It does seem a bit too much on the action-RPG side of the fence. Hopefully it will be a decent game, but I don't see it as revolutionary. My expectations are higher for NWN2 and Oblivion.

Ok, I only played it for a bit because I actually hate RTS games. It's actually very awesome. It's very cinematic, there's actually a button you can push that goes into a movie type view. It seems like all the RTS conventions are well done. It's hard for me to judge because I don't like the genre, but it seems like a very good use of the Star Wars universe.

30 minute download thanks to my cable modem and a Fileplanet subscription...installing now.

I finished Speaker, but it was so tedious I never read Xenocide. Ender's Shadow is the real sequel in my eyes.

I thought Red Eye was good as well. I watched Mindhunters recently. It was bad, but there were some really cool parts. The actual setting is pretty interesting, and LL Cool J is a decent actor in it. It was still bad, but if you can't rent anything else, it's better than some of the crap.

Ok, I finished it a couple weeks ago, and there was some awesomness mixed it with concern. The two characters I really enjoyed throughout were Arya Stark and Brienne. I also found myself really liking Jaime, even though I hated him in the other books. A few spoilerish concerns:

That's quite a commitment. I just finished the entire Richard Sharpe series by Bernard Cornwell. Good historical fiction.

Sharks play Edmonton on Thursday. This is an important one...San Jose can get into the playoff picture or drop 7 points out. I like the Oilers (I'd rather the Av's take 9th) but I'll be rooting for my Sharks tomorrow.

I watched the first seson religiously. It was awesome...until they killed his pregnant wife in the last episode. That was a bit over the line to me. I haven't been able to watch it since. His daughter is gorgeous.

http://tv.yahoo.com/news/ap/20060116/113747280000.html I hope panic doesn't break out on the forums, but 7th Heaven has been cancelled. Production costs were cited as the reason, so the rumor is that a less expensive 6th heaven will take its place.

or that you know how to party, depending on what school you went to. The sad thing is that more and more employeers are looking for that little piece of paper, which often has nothing to do with the type of job someone is performing. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Partying doesn't put you through school. I know a pretty large chunk of guys I went to school with that never finished because they were too busy partying. The ones who finished had to set aside their partying ways and focus on the last two years. College is not a cakewalk. You are correct that employers look for that piece of paper. I will reiterate that it shows an ability to focus on a long term task. It isn't necessarily about the education that you recieved, because many companies expect to train their employees in their own techniques. A college degree shows that you are able to learn.

I already stated that the spiritual successor of Fallout was Arcanum. Fallout 3 will definitely not resemble the first two, but that doesn't mean it will be terrible. I look forward to it.

http://somafm.com/listen/ Check out the Secret Agent station, coolness.

Morrowind actually has a pretty big fanbase, and it sold very well for an RPG (I'm sure someone will argue that it's not an RPG, but it was marketed that way and that's what leads sales.) Troika never achieved the commercial success that Bethesda has, so it's not worth discussing who would be better. Troika is dead. They made a Falloutish game that used the exact same techniques (gameplay, character creation, graphics, storytelling) called Arcanum. It was set in a totally different world, but it was still a spiritual successor. Fallout 3 will probably not share the gameplay, character creation, and graphics of Fallout 1 and 2. Hopefully it will capture the type of storytelling, and I trust that the gameworld will be outstanding, because Bethesda knows how to make gameworlds. It will not be a top down perspective, but that's not the end of the world. Hopefully it will be a positive evolution, but Bethesda needs to market this game. If they release a souped up version of the original, it will not sell to the masses. The hardcore gamers will rejoice, but it will not be marketable to the console generations. Bethesda is a company, and they need to turn a profit, or they will go the way of Troika.

Games have to evolve eventually. Otherwise they just die off. I'm hoping that Fallout 3 is a great porduct that captures the post-apocalyptic environment. Bethesda is a very solid developer. But it's not in our hands, so there is no real reason to worry.

I've played a couple adventure games that had more open ended puzzles. The story took different routes based on how you solved a puzzle. This eliminates the trial and error concept somewhat. I heard Farenheit was like that, and there was a great Bladerunner game that allowed that as well.

The Colts have to be close to a shake up. They are a dominant team, but they can't put it together in the playoffs. It's going to be an interesting Superbowl. Originally I would have gone with New England or Indy wiping the floor with whoever gets there, but now we've got quite a few surprise teams. It's a real crapshoot.

What about something like Fahrenheit? Fights can break out, but there isn't really a battle system per say, just DDR with your hands. Why would adventure games systematically only include 'stories without combat'? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I said "typically" That doesn't mean there aren't alternative ways to tackle the genre. Fahrenheit was a very unique game, and I hope to see more of these types. It might re-define the adventure genre.

An adventure game typically defines a game where progress is measured solely on the ability to solve puzzles, rather than defeating any opponents. There are rarely any reflexes needed in an adventure game. Some are dialogue heavy, although I've seen a few good adventure games without that. Personally, my favorite part of an adventure game is exploring an environment without the threat of a fight breaking out. That's why I chose "level of detail" although I think all aspects are important.