Chat Box – On Diversions

Sig Fem Seks: Oh wow, I forgot how excited I am about Destiny
Sig Fem Seks: aka Halolands
Sonic Rob: you forgot that you were not excited?
Sig Fem Seks: I forgot that I really want to play it
Sig Fem Seks: and that it exists
Sonic Rob: um
Sonic Rob: oh
Sig Fem Seks: There’s a new video out for it that I’ll need to watch at some point
Sig Fem Seks: but they’re basically talking about the MMO aspects of “All the stuff you can do when you don’t really want to do anything.”
Sig Fem Seks: Which is one thing I felt that Borderlands lacked
Sonic Rob: well, Borderlands is about shoot n loot
Sig Fem Seks: Sure
Sig Fem Seks: it’s like Diablo in that way
Sonic Rob: they don’t really water it down with crafting or anything like that
Sonic Rob: I guess my attitude is “If I don’t want to do the main thing in this game, I’ll be not playing the game”, not “I want this game to have something for me to do no matter what I feel like”
Sig Fem Seks: That’s a fair point
Sonic Rob: which is why GTA 5 maybe doesn’t excite me, now that I think of it
Sig Fem Seks: Well, the missions are the meat of that game
Sig Fem Seks: You don’t have to do anything else
Sonic Rob: I just can’t see myself thinking “man, I really like the avatar I use to steal cars and shoot stuff. I wish I could make him play golf.”

Chat Box

SonicRob: we are going to hire another dude named Rob :/
FyreHaar: then you are Original Rob!
SonicRob: R1
SonicRob: Rob’
SonicRob: This is a bad environment to go by Sonic – people will think hedgehog
FyreHaar: hmmmmm
FyreHaar: I like RobPrime
SonicRob: makes me sound like I lead the AutoRobs
FyreHaar: hell yes
SonicRob: Just a bunch of Robs that try to turn into cars
SonicRob: but we end up breaking our legs and organs
FyreHaar: awwww
SonicRob: could be worse – the Rob-Bots are unspeakable

Chat Box

FyreHaar: pronunciation question
FyreHaar: if you saw this name
FyreHaar: Lirael
FyreHaar: would you say it
FyreHaar: Leer-ayl
FyreHaar: or
FyreHaar: Leer Ay  El
SonicRob: LEER-e-ul
FyreHaar: cool
SonicRob: ?
FyreHaar: that’s what I have defaulted to
FyreHaar: it’s the book I’m reading her right now
FyreHaar: it’s about a necromancer
FyreHaar: but the good kind!
SonicRob: You mean Jesus?
FyreHaar: LOLOLOLOL
SonicRob: oh God, is that ok for a chat?
FyreHaar: I don’t know
SonicRob: hahaha
FyreHaar: it’s got religion
SonicRob: it has
FyreHaar: LOL

E3 Wrapup

Hey Fyre,

Sig and I just got back from E3, so in the spirit of Games Journalism(tm), here are some awards that I am giving for the games I saw there.

Best Game in a New IP – TITANFALL


I was never a big fan of the Modern Warfare games, and I tend away from military shooting generally, but the move into balls-to-the-wall sci fi seems to have freed the people at Respawn to create a really bonkers team shooter. The action looks fast and frenetic, the guns look weird and varied, and the whole thing looks gorgeous.

Honorable Mention – MURDERED: SOUL SUSPECT


Sig and I are going to have to agree to disagree on this one: he thinks Murdered looks linear and dull; I’m intrigued by the premise and characters. I guess we agree that it might not be that fun to play, but disagree about whether that’s a dealbreaker.

Best Game in an Existing Series – ASSASSIN’S CREED IV


A bigger world, seamless travel through all of it, a boisterously badass Kenway protagonist, smoother multiplayer and YARRR pirates everywhere. What’s not to like? Maybe it was a bit unnecessary given that I was gonna buy the game anyway, but Sig and I went to see the short trailer in the Sony theater, then the longer version in the Ubi booth, and then waited in a good long line right next door to play the multiplayer for a bit. I’m even more hyped than I would have been before – if there’s any one reason I’m thinking about buying a next-gen system it’s to play the proper version of this game and not the cut-down 360 version.

Honorable Mention – THIEF


I never played the original Thief games from Looking Glass, but all the beardy old PC gamers tell me they were the cat’s tits. The new game looks like Dishonored but with all the wacky superpowered combat trimmed out and more powers for sneaking and avoiding detection. The level we saw in the demo was titanically labyrinthine, and ended with around twenty minutes of constant explosions. Worth investigating for insanely patient stealth nuts like me.

Continue reading E3 Wrapup

Guest Chat: Fans

Sig Fem Seks: Do you ever think about how Valve must feel when they see the fanbase that TF2 has?
Sig Fem Seks: Because they’re fucking insane.
Sonic Rob: I imagine they’ve all accepted that they will be stalked and killed by a fan who loves them too much not to have a TF2 developer inside of his stomach.
Sonic Rob: you probably sign a waiver to that effect as part of hiring

A Peek Into the Mind of Sonic Rob

Doop de doo, good morning, computer. Starting you up, dum de dum*. I’m going to go get some coffee while you do that.

Ah, that’s better. Hello, work chat client. Hello, personal chat client. Hello, Outlook; go away now. Hello, web browser. Hi there Google Reader.

Oh, Google Reader. Look at you. You look so healthy right now. Nobody would ever know.

Sonic Rob pours out some coffee for his RSS aggregator.

Penny Arcade, that’s nice. Questionable Content, you’re really more of a routine than something I “enjoy”. Oh Rude Pundit, you so rude. Rock, Paper, Shotgun, argh, I’m incredibly backed up with you. Let’s clear out some articles that I’m not going to get to.

Thing about Settlers: don’t need to read. Thing about graphics cards: don’t need to read. Thing about Battlefield 3 mods: don’t need to read. Thing about PC monitor tech plateauing: open in new tab. Indie game, AAA game, MMO Beta: mlehmpgh. Dead Island 2 review: hm. News that there may be news about another XCOM game: huzzah.

“Relic Foresees ‘Strong Possibility’ Of More Dawn Of War”

*Cough* I’m sorry, who what now?

Continue reading A Peek Into the Mind of Sonic Rob

Everyone Chats: Assassin’s Creed IV

 

Fyrehaar: watched the ACIV trailer
Fyrehaar: first impression
Fyrehaar: “What if Heath Ledger was reborn as an assassin the 18th century??
Fyrehaar: also
Fyrehaar: is this Connor’s son?
Fyrehaar: or another line of descent?
Sonic Rob: it’s Haytham’s dad
Sonic Rob: this is the first game to be set earlier than the previous game
Fyrehaar: ahh, cool, going back a bit to the golden age
Sonic Rob: perzactly
Fyrehaar: I was wondering when they were going to have to start doing that
Fyrehaar: which explains why he seems to be an amoral, sexy asshole
Continue reading Everyone Chats: Assassin’s Creed IV

Guest Chat: Movies

Sonic Rob: also, I had a dream last night that we were in a Saw movie and I got you killed
Sonic Rob: in a giant bread maker
Sig Fem Seks: Not again
Sonic Rob: whoa
Sonic Rob: that’s what you said in the dream
Sonic Rob: the great bit was, after I watched you die horribly in a giant kneading machine
Sonic Rob: and then found your body, torn apart, sealed in lucite, and strangely beardless
Sonic Rob: we all left the theater and you were like “man, that was the worst acting role I’ve ever had. they got me to be in that film under FALSE PRETENSES.”
Sig Fem Seks: ???
Sonic Rob: well, you didn’t explain any further
Sig Fem Seks: …
Sig Fem Seks: ?????