toxicitizen

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=yWWr2wE5Myg Come out already, damnit!

Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner. Well, shit. This game is actually fucking awesome. It's much more linear and story driven than the first one (first one was slightly open in that there was some minimal exploration involved) but it's also much less repetitive and the combat is more varied. There were a few sections that made me rage pretty hard but I think my own ineptitude was at fault there rather than the game, because for the most part it's a blast. Some of the set pieces are quite memorable, including one where you basically take on an entire fleet by yourself. It actually doesn't look half bad for a PS2 game. I really dig how it looks and feels like it's taking place in the future of the Metal Gear universe. I'm pretty sure it runs on the same engine as MGS2 and the visual style and sound design are both very similar, so it's hard not to make the connection. Other than that, the story is absolute fucking nonsense. Seriously. Half the time I was just staring at the screen wondering what the fuck they were even talking about. But, unlike the first one, it's actually entertaining nonsense. The story bits in the first one were just excruciating (think the worst parts of MGS2 and multiply that by at least 11) but I actually enjoyed this one. So, yeah, I guess now all I can do is join the ranks of those desperately hoping for a third one.

This week was spy week, apparently. Watched The Bourne Legacy a few days ago and Skyfall tonight. First up, Bourne Legacy. I'm a massive fan of the Matt Damon trilogy but I really didn't have much in the way of expectations for this one. I enjoyed it as I was watching it and I still think the first half was quite solid, but once it was over I couldn't help but think "that's it?". It's an entertaining movie but I felt the second half was rather unsatisfying. The plot ends up not really going anywhere. There is a great build up but it never really pays off. As for Skyfall, holy shit is this one great. Quantum of Solace bored me to tears but I think Skyfall actually topped Casino Royale. Not much else to say. If you haven't seen it yet, get to it.

Hahaha, this is awesome. Kickstarter fatigue, my ass. If it's a game people actually want, it'll get funded. Has any kickstarter ever reached its goal this quickly? I wonder if this isn't going to break the record again. Looks like the current record holder for a videogame is Project Eternity at slightly under 4 millions (not counting Ouya since it's a console). I'm a bit broke at the moment but I'll definitely try to back this one. I missed out on Wasteland 2 so the 45$ tier is very tempting.

Didn't expect they'd be putting it up this soon. Aaaand it's already more than halfway to its goal. Lol. Nice.

Yeah, I guess. Like I said, I probably just need to get used to it. There's just something about the layout that makes it hard to think of it as just a fullscreen start menu.

Well, I used the start menu a lot to go where I needed to. Also had a lot of apps pinned to it that I didn't want on the taskbar. I get that the new interface is meant to replace it but I dunno. I probably just need to get used to it but so far it doesn't seem like I'd use it as much as I did the start menu. And thanks for the keyboard shortcuts. So far I had managed to find Win + i when I was looking for the control panel but that's it. I had seen the power user menu in a screenshot but couldn't figure out how to access it.

Well, grabbed the 15$ Win 8 upgrade promo last night and installed it just now. I'm loving the general feel of it so far, but holy shit is it weird to navigate Windows without the start menu. I might have to look into adding it in. Probably gonna try Start8. It's by Stardock and their Fences app is pretty great. Also, I was using MSE before as my anti-virus but from what I understand it doesn't work with Win 8 and it's built-in now? Anyone knows if it's any good? Should I look into getting another AV?

Wow, that was a great trailer. I liked Iron Man 1 and 2 but I wasn't really psyched about this one. I think that just changed.

So glad this is finally being unveiled. Thief and Deus Ex are probably my two favorite game series ever and ever since Human Revolution turned out as great as it did, I've been eagerly waiting for more details on this one. Also, looks like this is the first game that will force me to upgrade. Or buy a next-gen console, I guess. And according to the Game Informer page, it's not just Xbox. They actually only mention the PS4 and PC so I think it's safe to assume most next-gen platforms will get it. http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2013/03/05/april-cover-revealed-thief.aspx

Ask and you shall receive http://us.blizzard.com/store/details.xml?id=1100001122

Zone of the Enders. Man, they're not kidding when they say it's short. It's about 6 hours long. There's not a whole lot to the gameplay, honestly. The combat is fast and fun but it gets rather repetitive pretty quickly. The story is terrible, the writing is cringe-worthy and the voice acting is atrocious. So I feel like being so short actually worked in its favor. I enjoyed it but I don't know if I would've finished it had it been twice as long. That being said, The 2nd Runner is supposed to be massively better so I'm looking forward to checking it out. It's not a bad game but there is a shit ton of room for improvement.

Saw it for 20$ on Gamestop.ca and realized I'd forgotten all about it. This always happens to me with HD collection. Super pumped when they get announced but if I can't grab them at launch then I forget about them completely. Same thing happened with Sly, Jak and Ratchet collections. :/ Anyway, I remember hearing that they aren't very long games, so considering how little free time I have these days it'll be nice to be able to play something and not have it take me three fucking weeks to beat.

Yeah, I was speaking more generally there. Not about Ethan specifically.

It goes on sale fairly regularly nowadays. If you stay on the lookout, you'll be able to grab it pretty cheap sooner rather than later, I think.

I'm not really trying to defend them. I just honestly don't see what the big deal is. I understand why the always-on is there and it makes sense to me without needing to find some ulterior motive on Blizzard's part. That's been my stance on the subject since launch. While I'll grant that the game's situation is clearly not ideal, it's really not the end of the world, imho.

I can't wait to buy experience boosts in Dragon Age III! Grinding and actually playing your game is now a thing of the past!

Damnit, I almost laughed out loud in the middle of class.

If all it takes for you to get this worked up is a single mention of the game then you didn't do a very good job of moving on. I don't know, I guess I just don't get how people can get this pissy about a single game, especially after this long. I still think the ending of ME3 was bad but I don't feel the need to complain about it anymore. I mean, shit, let it go. You didn't like it, shit happens. Play something else and forget about this one.

And that would require having the data client side while it's all currently only server side. Which is exactly what would open the door to cheating and duping. I'm not sure how you figure that would "fix" anything. It would make available data that currently isn't. It would fix things because even if the data on items and stuff was available client-side, if for online characters it was all running server side it wouldn't matter that you could find the shit on the PC, it wouldn't interact with the online ones, which would be the only ones that could use the AH. I think it's more about preventing it from happening altogether, whether offline or online. Anyway, I can't believe people are still bitter about this. It's been almost a year. I would've expected people to have either moved on and shut up about it by now, or sucked it up and bought the game anyway. Lol.

Oh, when I said explore Jensen's origins I didn't mean prequel. I meant more like Jensen looking into it a bit more. Obviously, that's not enough meat for an entire game. Just have it be more than a short side-quest. When those guys in suits started showing up in HR, I started getting excited because it gave a strong conspiracy vibe like the original. But once that quest ended, it was never brought up again. Which made me sad.

And that would require having the data client side while it's all currently only server side. Which is exactly what would open the door to cheating and duping. I'm not sure how you figure that would "fix" anything. It would make available data that currently isn't.

I was referring more to cheating and item duping. If the AH is a core aspect of their vision, then it's logical that they would do everything possible to make sure the game economy doesn't get compromised. Not saying piracy didn't factor in, though. But I don't think it was the sole or even main deciding factor.

But Seriously, though. The problem with a direct sequel is the same one that Invisible War faced: which ending is canon? IW was too indecisive and just included elements of all three, which undermines the whole point of player choice. I'm not sure what I'd prefer, to be honest. All that comes to mind is Jensen's origins. Human Revolution vaguely hinted that he was special but never really expanded on it. I'd love for that to be addressed.