Hot Heart

Yesss https://twitter.com/tibermoon/status/827700881948819456

Heh, yeah, the communication worked well and... not so well. Especially since you'd usually all just have guest usernames that were the same gamertag with (1), (2) after it. It was a heck of a lot of fun for Rocket Race though. Also, the social slayer playlists were so casual that it was just a blast in any case. You'd often see groups of people with the Gamertag(1), ...(2) etc. guest players. Ummm, how is communication an issue with local MP? Presumably you know the names of the people you are sitting next to so don't have to refer to Steve as Gamer Tag 1. Dean has it. It's because everyone on-screen looks exactly the same, so you might not know which one Steve is. Of course you know what everyone's called.

More evidence that Trump really ain't all there. https://twitter.com/tommyxtopher/status/826521935987298304

I've been sporadically watching Deadwood and The 100. Deadwood takes me back to the good old days of NYPD Blue (an earlier David Milch joint). Obviously not setting-wise but just in the tone, cinematography, language, etc. It also feels somewhat quaint compared to the sorts of drama I've watched in more recent years. It's hard to articulate but it has a very soap sort of feel but in a good way with the overlapping lives of the characters in the community. It's also funny spotting all the actors who went onto other things. I've seen Nick Offerman's penis, Garrett Dillahunt playing super weird as well as Scully & Hitchcock from Brooklyn Nine-Nine in small parts, not to mention Molly Parker, John Hawkes and heaps of others. Also interesting seeing Wild Bill Hickock and Calamity Jane since I don't really know much American history. And then The 100. This was recommended by a film critic way back and I never really got fully into it but I've watched a few more episodes now. I have a feeling I've discussed it before. It's distinctly YA in its set-up and characters (got to be post-apocalyptic nowadays) but that also means it actually has a diverse cast. Some of the writing can be a little hokey but the actual plotting and way things weave together is usually quite smart. It's also very Lord of the Flies in the way these "children" govern themselves but also how all the characters manage to run into these quite serious moral dilemmas. It's a good watch and I think takes advantage of its long form storytelling as we learn more about each character, altering our opinion of them over time (you know, like in Game of Thrones, for example).

Heh, yeah, the communication worked well and... not so well. Especially since you'd usually all just have guest usernames that were the same gamertag with (1), (2) after it. It was a heck of a lot of fun for Rocket Race though. Also, the social slayer playlists were so casual that it was just a blast in any case. You'd often see groups of people with the Gamertag(1), ...(2) etc. guest players.

Ah, I remember the glory days of being able to take 4 people on one console online in Halo 3.

This doesn't sound reassuringly like the US has pretty good institutions...

Fuck it, I'll probably enjoy it ultimately.

Such a beautiful composition. The way it builds, the layers in both the music, lyrics and even the phrases like "I heard that dandelions roar in Piccadilly Circus". The percussive horns with the sharp "stabs" of sound is just peculiar but it works. Definitely one for headphones as so much care and attention was put into not only the songwriting but the production also. Amazing to see how far they came as a group from their "sort of punk" new wave days. Sad then that it was also tracks like this that saw the beginning of the breakdown of the core trio as one felt hiring an orchestra was too expensive when they could use samples. Tragic that money would be the wedge since the band had been outrageously underpaid and taken advantage of by their manager and record company prior to this.

Not governmental (yet?), but the Fourth Estate is pretty fucked up.

I know with one of the previous videos there was a bit where they said it was some sort of bug (the gun being drawn bit) and that lots of those things have been ironed out. Then again... you all remember the run animations from before, right?

Eh, it's just a little mode you can dip into every now and then.

The only thing I can get excited for is that Evan Rachel Wood looking woman. Okay, I admit it, it's only really the hairstyle that matches. ... also, I'm most excited about playing a Krogan in multiplayer.

... still easier to spell than her GoT character name. (p.s. it's Emilia)

Some new purchases Board game-wise, I snagged a "Like New" copy of Wiz-War for half the price it normally goes for new. It's about wizards running around, fighting each other with all sorts of crazy spells. Nuff said. Also, because I'm really enjoying the game, I picked up the AC Syndicate season pass while it's on sale, along with the Dreadful Crimes add-on (my copy was second-hand and it's not included in the season pass, plus it sounds really cool).

My memory's a little hazy but the Dark Matter/Energy storyline wouldn't have been great how one of the original writers (Drew Karpyshyn) explained it. First of all, it hadn't been super fleshed out so what was in ME2 was a bunch of "hooks" or "threads" (kind of like how some TV shows operate...) that were left to potentially be filled out. As far as I can remember it was something to do with biotic organics causing/accelerating entropic death of the universe and the Reapers had experimented with Protheans before as they showed the most "potential" but then there was humanity (hence the Collectors and building a human Reaper) and I think the final decision of the trilogy was going to be, like, "sacrifice all humans or wipe out Reapers and hope to find your own solution" ... which is sort of close to what ME3 did? Anyway, there's a reason some big franchises allow 3-4 years between games instead of 2.

Gentlemen, you can't fight in here. This is the Star Wars thread!

Yeah, I loved that. Also... "Pretend you're dead! ... Come on, it only works if we all do it!"

So, having played a bit more, I would say it's probably my favourite AC game. That said, it's not without its issues. The main one being bugs. My friend has had it crash 4 times. I've had 1 crash, 1 freeze and all sorts of weird little occurrences like the character marker disappearing from the mini-map or... people appearing out of nowhere. Structurally, it feels closest to Brotherhood in that it is a single city that you are "conquering" and your brotherhood is actually a gang. It also skips the usual sort of "hero's journey" approach of previous games. Any family tragedy or whatever is only alluded to; Jacob and Evie are straight up assassins at the beginning and kicking ass from mission one. I kinda miss that old approach of following the "life" of the protagonist but this gets you right into the thrust of the story. However, the overall story so far seems pretty basic... Having two protagonists (a female in a mainstream title!) sounds like a fun idea, because of how they play off each other, but how skills and upgrades are handled is just irritating. Jacob is built for combat while Evie is built for stealth but they only actually have 3 skills exclusive to each, which take hours to reach anyway (the skill unlocking and level gaining is somewhat vague). You can obviously specialise between the two, but then it becomes annoying if you've specced Jacob to be a combat beast and then a mission sends him sneaking round places or when Evie finds herself in a surprise gang fight. Plus, there are skills like "more stuff when you loot chests" which you either need to unlock twice or remember only to free roam as that character to get the full benefits. Overall, it's a bit of a let down of a system. That aside, the general gameplay is a wonder to behold. The traversal is much improved, especially since they have a grappling hook now, and the auto "quick descend" feature means you'll never accidentally plummet to your death like an idiot again. I think the way they've done the River Thames in this game shows off how cool the system functions even for moving objects. The "stealth" aspect is also a simple mode switch this time. Press X (on PS4) to pull up the hood and get all sneaky and harder to detect, otherwise you walk round normally. The only irritation I have is that you can't "social blend" while using stealth (in fact, it's the opposite as everyone loudly comments about what the hell you think you're doing). Then again, there aren't those fucking stupid "Tail/eavesdrop on the target" missions and any "follow target" missions I have encountered have been far more open and forgiving in that you can use the rooftops for the most part. Which brings me onto a comment about mission design. It's just so much better. Where everything hung together awkwardly before unless you did things exactly how the designers envisioned, now it's more free-form and the improved controls and map layouts give assassinations more of a puzzle-solving and even cat-and-mouse feel. "Full sync" requirements used to feel counterintuitive at best and shackles at worst; now, they provide new ways to think about eliminating targets. I've got a couple saved on my YouTube channel, but this was a good example. And, finally, there are all sorts of activities that provide for a healthy dose of variety. You can hijack cargo carriages from the rival gang, take part in fight clubs, etc.

Cyborg looks like some sort of Lawnmower Man remake reject.

There are so many great little lines. It's majestical.

Hunt for the Wilderpeople I was recently asked what my "favourite film of 2016" was; I know a few people had cited this and, had I seen it last year, I'd be inclined to agree. I was actually keen to see it after I knew it was by Taika Waititi (What We Do in the Shadows, Eagle vs. Shark) but couldn't convince friends nor was it shown in many places nearby. Fortunately, it's up on Netflix and I would declare it a "must see". It is hilarious, moving and, at times, beautiful (it's got the New Zealand "bush" as most of its scenery). It's got all the ridiculousness of characters and perfectly absurd exchanges you might expect, having seen What We Do in the Shadows, but also tells a moving story of a foster kid and his grumpy "uncle". How could you not love exchanges like: "I'll never stop running!" "Yeah, and I'll never stop chasing you. I'm relentless. I'm like the Terminator." "I'm more like the Terminator than you!" "I said it first. You're more like Sarah Connor, and in the first movie too, before she could do chin-ups." Also, Rhys Darby makes another brief but brilliant appearance.

Hmm, maybe you coulda sprung for that extra 0.5 of bedroom.

Started AC: Syndicate and, oh my god, this is soooo much better than the last-gen AC games. Sure, I'm not a pirate or whatever but the controls are actually good (fast descend, yes!), the animations are smooth and the mission/map design is quite layered and open. The voice acting is a little hit and miss but I like the characters.