A Bit Conspicuous

If your store needs a 5 page long confession including tips on how to properly shop there, something is wrong.  I’d rather just waltz into Best Buy and get what I want, or if it isn’t an impulse buy, get it online.

In reality though, I don’t trust other people to take care of their discs, so used copies don’t hold much interest for me. I’m certainly not willing to buy a used copy to save a meager $5 off of the new price.

Tips 21 and 22 are pretty good, but I would change them to “Don’t buy third-party peripherals ever.” I worked at an independent used game store through high school. The third-party stuff always feels cheap and breaks quickly.

This is one of the more surreal videos I have seen in awhile. The bunny seems so innocent, which makes the melting feel gruesome. Add in the extremely peaceful music and there is a lot of cognitive dissonance.

So I just got back from dropping off some of my old computer stuff at Goodwill.

It was not the experience I expected.  I thought maybe I would get a thank you.

What I did not expect was to be berated after hesitating when I was told to just throw my 80 pound CRT monitor into the bin.

“They pull them all apart and just recycle them”, they said.

“But it still works fine”, I said.

“So?  No one uses those old dinosaurs anymore, and I’m not going to be the one pulling that heavy thing out of the bin either.”

Next time I’ll just give my stuff away on Craigslist.  Hopefully then it will actually get some more use, which I thought was the whole point of Goodwill in the first place.

It gets really good at 2:20 and 3:10.

I want some.

From Kotaku.

The Final Fantasy and Kirby videos are good also.

I’ve always had a soft spot for good Machinima.  It is very interesting how expressive these can be, given the limitations of available animations.  Even something as simple as position and orientation can convey emotion.

Also I like the music.

Lily ran across this video, which I rather like.  It has a good surreal feel to it, but it does run a bit long.

It can be very difficult trying to express what those of us who play games get out of them.  Sometimes a game is only a challenge, a test of reflexes.  Sometimes they are more. 

I once got into a discussion with an older couple, over dinner, that started out with “No offense, but why do you play these when you could be out developing a SKILL”.  My friends and I then tried to describe what the attraction to a game like Guitar Hero is.

I think I’ve settled on posing a simple question to people, when faced with this kind of debate.

Have you ever read a book or gone to a movie?  It’s a lot like that. 

I hate to say it, but either you’re open to the idea or you aren’t.  It’s difficult to change someone’s outlook.

Portal is a lot of fun, even though it is short. Total time it took around three hours to finish, but it is an extremely polished experience. The difficulty curve is just right. The first few puzzles are very simple, but that seems to fit with the setting. You are a lab rat. They can make no assumptions as to your prior experience or intelligence.

The ending topped it off well. Bioshock was an amazing game, but the ending felt very abrupt. 30 second movie and then BAM, title screen. Having a good credit sequence is a great way to let someone fall slowly down, reflecting on what they have just experienced.

In that regard Portal gets my vote for one of the best game endings ever.

My only complaint is that the level picker supplied with every Source game stops at test chamber 19, (slight spoiler)which is not anywhere near the end of the game. I went through it so quickly that I don’t even have a save game near the end, so I can’t jump in and enjoy the ending easily.

Hopefully we’ll start to see some challenging user created maps. This game screams for them, and that will increase its longevity.

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Last Thursday Lily and I went to the Temple Bar to see Stephen Marley play. Thanks to Milton for the heads up.

There are also a couple videos in that album, enjoy.