Luftwaffles

Yeah, it definitely feels like it's in early beta stages. So far, it's been surprisingly good, but there's definitely some kinks that need to be worked out. I love the UI and interface, and the briefing room before battles is really neat with the scoreboard/players on the screen in the middle. I love the art style and look of the game, it's just balanced a little... oddly right now.

Too bad he's been awful this year. Hell, even Barry Zito is outpitching him.

Skrillex, for me. All his songs sound the same, but eh, there's almost something charming about them.

I can provide a Mumble server. Unfortunately I can really only play tomorrow morning PST (anytime between about 10 and 1:30) but you guys are more than welcome to use the server without me. Anyway, the mumble can be found at sharquibanana.murmur.nfoservers.com, with the port being 8900. Use any name you want and hop in any channel you want. Do note that I have a few friends who have access to it as well, but they shouldn't give you any trouble at all, as we haven't used Mumble in ages. I haven't played DayZ in a loooong time so I'm not 100% sure I'll be able to meet at a spot tomorrow or ever, but I'll do my best to get a character going.

Probably. What with Euro 2012, NBA Finals, and the Olympics coming up I'm finding it tough to care about baseball until the Playoffs. Although I'm happy my Oakland A's are doing well-ish, as they always seem to.

I can "contribute". I know some of these have been mentioned before, but figured I'd pop in and share probably my 4 favorite soundtracks. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfXuykEzaVY&

What, really? How the hell can a movie about Abraham Lincoln hunting vampires be remotely good?

The ACW is really neat because it has the M4 and all the other carbines beat in recoil, spread, accuracy (minus the AKS), but does far less damage, requiring one extra shot to kill at most ranges. It's actually one of those guns I think DICE did a really good job with, as you can look at the stats and think "OP" but then realize it does 2 or 3 less damage than every other carbine, sort of putting it into its own niche.

Well, tomatte and anyone else who's interested, join the PXOD platoon and we'll see if we can squad up and get a match together. I know Mal and Dex are already in, but I figure it's the best way to organize some sort of a game.

Naaah. We can just run the server/find a server running vanilla BF3. There's plenty.

I've got a 16 player server that I'd be happy to volunteer if anyone wants a few games of TDM or really small conquest.

Something I think few people realize about the US is that our two party system is actually a direct result of how our elections are structured. Look up Duverger's Law. It states that in every single-representatave plurality election (like the US has) two parties will eventually emerge. The opposite holds true as well. In proportional representation based systems like many European parliamentary systens employ multiple parties will be able to exist and thrive, even. The second point seems obvious, but I find thst the first gets glossed over far too often when talking (and complaining) about two party systems. That's why I laugh every time I see small party sob stories from groups like the Tea Party or even the Greens. The same people that thump the constitution at every chance they get don't seem to realize that the way our elections are structured is why they don't currently have seats in Congress. Of course, I'm not trying to advocate an overhaul of the US election system, nor am I trying to call Ethan or Jack out, just saying there's a reason the parties are the way they are.

Ethan it appears if you don't own anything in one of the categories (such as myself with legacacy stuff) the poll won't go through. Could be fixed by adding a "nothing" answer.

It's okay, that's house. Definitely not dubstep.

Perhaps LittleBigPlanet 2? I know it's free on PS+ right now and I'm not sure how many people can fit in a game, but it'd be great for just mucking around and such. My other go-to is TF2, just because it's free and easy. Or perhaps Tribes Ascend, seeing as that's on Steam now.

The problem is all in the recoil, Dex. The AUG is certainly controllable, but if I remember right it has some odd "popcorn" recoil similar to the F2000 that bounces all over the place and makes it difficult to control at longer ranges. So yeah, it does have some pretty good range for the AR's, but personally, having used the weapon for about ~100 kills, I'd take the M16A3 anyday. Easier to control, slightly faster fire rate, AND better reload time means the spread and accuracy that the AUG brings gets somewhat canceled out. Oh, and the AUG has AWFUL hipfire. It's a good gun, and a lot more versatile than many of the other AR's, but in my eyes overpowered it is not. As far as the MTAR goes, yeah, it's going to kill you really, really fast as long as the person can line a shot up. Like I said before, it's a FAMAS for the engineer class, with an extremely long reload time, high fire rate, and low ranged accuracy. Close quarters it will rip you to shreads, as it should, but anywhere outside of that, or if you get caught reloading at a bad time, you're going to die to nearly every other carbine as long as your opponent has alright aim. I really hate to be this guy, but I do think if you play with the guns in question a bit you might sort of see where I'm coming from. Yeah, statwise the CQ guns are pretty fantastic. Some of them, like the ACW-R, are nice niche weapons that fit in really well with the other guns in the class. I still disagree with your claim of OP, and like I said (although I HATE HATE doing this), definitely play with them before judging them. Unless it's the M417. That one may be a taaaad OP.

I have it on PS3 and will definitely be playing the next episode. EP1 was great, and that's coming from someone who finds point and clicks incredibly boring. For those that are into it, too, it's the easiest platinum trophy ever, probably.

Noooo way. If any weapon from the pack is OP it's the M417, because it really has no downsides if you want close range engagements. It fires as fast as the SKS, but does the same damage as the MK11 and other semis. Yeah, it's shit at range and recoils a bit much, but it's pretty deadly for a semi-auto sniper in CQB. Aug fires far too slow and reloads too slow to be considered OP (in fact, it's pretty much just a AK74M that fires a tiny bit faster) and the MTAR recoils like crazy and reloads slower than all the other carbines. So yeah, the expansion packs are okay, but to call them OP based on time-to-kill is silly, IMO. The MTAR in particular is just a FAMAS for the engie class with its sights, fire rate, and reload time, so of course it's going to kill faster than even the A-91. But take it to ranged maps like Caspian Border or Oman and you're going to be outclassed by the AKS-74U and M4 unless you're damn good at controlling recoil.

If you can run BC2, you can definitely run BF3. In fact, I'd say the low graphics settings of BF3 scale better than BC2 and are less intensive.

Yep. When I'm looking for my CQ fix I go and play Canals DM now, which is sort of silly considering there's a huge expansion for all of them. I've said it before and I'll say it again, the CQ expansion guns are well worth the price of admission. Oh, and you should all join the Press X Or Die platoon. Dex and I are the leaders, so we can let you in.

It's between SSX, Diablo 3, and Journey for me. I'll try and do a quick writeup of them, I guess. SSX: This is partly out of nostalgia, but this was probably the game that took me the most by surprise this year. I expected them to try something edgy and terrible with their "deadly descent" marketing of old, but it actually ended up being really really fun, which is really all I wanted out of an SSX game. I'm a little disappointed that there's no Split Screen or "true" online multiplayer, but the asymmetrical leaderboard system ala NFS Autolog ended up working perfectly for the game. I'm assuming I'll write up a longer post for the PXOD GOTY later unless something else comes along and takes me by surprise, but SSX is it right now and I'm sure I'll talk about it later. Diablo 3 is probably second. This one is also a bit rooted in nostalgia, and there's tons of controversy about the game already, but even SSX didn't hook me like D3 did this year. Stripped down to the bare game, as hard as that is, the Diablo formula is still there, and I really really don't mind the streamlining that went on. The new skill tree is fantastic, the combat feels worlds better than D2, and once again Blizzard has managed to make "just clicking" interesting enough to play multiple times through. It's a shame the online is so borked and the DRM is so prevalent, but honestly, none of that got in my way enough to have D3 not on this list. (NOT TRYING TO ARGUE FOR THE DRM OR AGAINST IT) Journey is probably 3rd on the list just because it took me by surprise, sort of like SSX. I can safely say it's probably the most innovative game I've played this year, and it's actually the first game that's ever been hailed as "art" that I didn't think was a steaming pile of garbage. That's all I really have to say about it, honestly. It's amazing and you should all play it, I guess.

Sorry, only the hopelessly cynical need apply here I hate everything and everybody, and life is a fucking toilet. *crosses fingers* Did I make the cut? A tad too strong. Out with ye.

Welcome all. I don't think I recognize most of you, but that's okay, I'm a nobody who stopped reading Kotaku years ago. So, welcome welcome and don't forget to stop by chat. You (probably) won't regret it.