Enoch

Yeah, I played that recently and loved it, too. A fantastic example of a game that managed to create entertaining characters without voices, narration, or text.

Jack is "Subject Zero," right? Also, Garrus??!

I am drinking a Manhattan. A rather strong one: Wild Turkey Rye roughly 4:1 with M&R sweet vermouth, and a few dashes of Angostura bitters. I think the standard recipe is closer to 2:1, but I like rye. It's 2/3rds finished now, and my toes are starting to get nice and warm.

Now Oct. 1, 2010. What was it before?

I endorse this question whole-heartedly.

The funny thing over there is that the only forums open are either for ME1, or the "no spoilers allowed" ME2 General Discussions forum. (There is a "Spoilers" forum, but nobody can post in it until they register their game.) Threads with actual info from ME2 have no place to go and are getting locked. I can sort of understand this as an anti-piracy thing, but illegal downloads aren't the only sources of "spoiler" information.

Ocean water hauled from Neptune. Getting to and from Neptune is the easy part-- the hard part is having extracting equipment that can survive the high-pressure environment and escape the planet's gravity well.

Yeah, that was mostly a joke. I had some suspicions that I wouldn't like it beforehand, but since I made the purchase, I have been trying to enjoy it as best I can.

I'm getting tired of The Witcher. I picked it up for about $13 in the Steam holiday sale, and started playing it last weekend. It's now early in Chapter 2, and my motivation to keep going is waning. None of the characters I've met are particularly interesting. The storyline motivation isn't all that compelling. (Some guys took some stuff I don't care about from some people who claimed to know me but who I don't remember, killing some guy I just met. The game really needs an option to say "Screw you guys-- I'm going to go try to find out who the heck I am and what the heck happened to me for the last 5 years rather than chase after your missing PEDs.") The game tries to be "dark" by making everyone you talk to either a jerk or a whore, which has the effect of emphasizing that I don't particularly care what happens to any of them. The rhythm-game-style combat is tedious and lacking in any kind of challenge, and the quest design is set up to feature "walking back and forth across the same map over and over again" as what the player spends the majority of his/her gametime doing. I know that there are people around here who really like this game-- anybody care to make the case in favor of sticking with it a little while longer?

That's a graphical representation of a building 2 blocks away from where I'm sitting right now!

Not this. The codes might have a "best before" date, though. I think my preorder items card had one by the end of this year, or something like that. Can't remember what it was like for the DAO stuff, and as my home computer is currently borked, I won't be the one to check, either Yes. The point isn't to encourage early purchases-- it's a direct attack on that giant shelf full of "used games" at your local game shop. People who buy retail (thus giving Bio & EA their cut) get the DLC for free. People who buy second-hand (with no royalties to EA/Bio) have to lay out $15 if they want it (which is a decent approximation of the markdown between new and used games).

I generally don't get too caught up in which game composer does what to whom. But that bit at the end of the blog posting asking us to "Stay tuned for first official New Vegas information in 3 weeks from now" did perk my interest (and not because of the poor grammar). Have any other sources corroborated that some kind of publication or convention or whatever is going to kick off the F:NV hype train in that timeframe?

(Source)

Personally, I'm holding out some ever-so-faint hope that the "best" ending of ME2, from a 'galaxy-saving' point of view, is the one where your whole team sacrifices itself. Make the decision actually difficult, pitting the story motivation against the motivation springing from the player's investment in his/her character. (Really, my ideal ending is the "Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" ending. But that's just because I'm a contrarian **** who delights at Andy-Kaufman-esque attempts to get entertainment out of angering one's biggest fans.)

I still find it tough to hear Martin Sheen and think anything other than "That's Martin Sheen!"

I keep meaning to go back and try again to get more than 3 or 4 hours into Bioshock. I think I would enjoy it more if I could make it to the point where you get the camera.

I'd write about how the unusual structure of Japanese political and banking institutions has been destroying their economy since around the early '90s. Also, the history of the Meiji (1868-1912) and Taisho (1912-1926) periods is fascinating.

Thanks, Matthew. Based on how Sega has handled this whole thing so far, I'm shocked, SHOCKED, that they decided to hire a new PR firm.

That's an excellent idea on any play through I never talked to Kaiden on my recent femshep playthrough. (Actually, I never talked to Ashley, either. )

"Fresh" is only a plus if it's combined with "good." Troika might have been 2-for-3 on "fresh," but they were 1-for-3 on "good." (And 0-for-3 on "relatively bug-free.") To bring us back to the ME2 topic, from what I've seen of the hype-making videos, the Salarian dude is the only NPC that has really interested me for non-mammory-related reasons. Hopefully, some of the others will surprise.

My parents visited over the long weekend. They helped the wife and I paint 3 rooms in our house. The office in which I currently sit (which, before we moved in had been the bedroom of a 5-year-old girl) has gone from a pale banana yellow to a medium green, with hints of greyish blue depending on the light.

Hm, strange, first time I played through I hit 50 and would have probably got higher if I hadn't had to finish the game to unlock past 50. I hit 50 originally as well, but I was replaying it on the PC (I played originally on the 360) and I think it was because I kinda blew through a lot of combat and lock picking stuff. I actually pretty much ignored containers after awhile, I got tired of the game quick. If you switched systems, one of the factors may be that some achievements give a minor benefit to XP earned. People replaying on the same system probably achieve slightly higher levels because of these.

The Colts should win. All the other games this weekend look like real toss-ups to me. Yes, I think the Chargers are, overall, a much better overall team than the Jets, but this is a terrible matchup for SD. NYJ's two big strengths (pass defense, particularly on #1 WRs, and rushing offense) are perfect match for the Chargers' biggest strength (Rivers-to-Jackson) and their biggest weakness (run D). If they manage to turn the game into a slugging match, I can't say that either team has much of an advantage. I'll make San Diego the call, because I think Gates can get open against the Jets D, but I'm not confident. The NO-ARI game probably depends heavily on how healthy Saints CB Jabari Greer is. He was great for them in the first half of the season, but missed weeks 10-16 with an injury, which is a big reason why the team faded down the stretch. I'll say Arizona. As for Vikes-Boys, I think this is going to be an ugly game. The Vikes' OL has regressed a lot this season, particularly the much-ballyhooed left side of McKinnie and Hutchinson. They're no longer even an above-average rushing offense (22nd in the league in yards/attempt), and Peterson still fumbles too much. But the passing offense has been very good. I think Dallas can take away the deep stuff with their pass rush and their CBs, but I don't think that they'll have an answer to the shorter passing game that Favre excels at-- quick screens to guys like Shiancoe, Taylor, and Harvin. On the other side of the ball, Minny's secondary is their weakness, but I suspect that Jared Allen and Romo being Romo will prevent the Cowboys from really taking advantage. I'll take Minnesota, ever so slightly.

That tears it. I need a PS3.

That's exactly why I bought The Witcher in the recent Steam sale.