Hot Heart

Ah, brings back memories...

The rulebook for Blue Sun, the next expansion to Firefly: The Game is up, featuring Mr. Universe as well as locations from the film. One big change is three Reavers instead of just the one, as well as alert tokens for the space they just left. REAVERS. Due out late September.

From what I know about the film, it's a perfect summary. Knows it should be more lighthearted but trying to be over serious. And really bad writing. I mean, seriously, these are professionals, right? I suppose they wrote those lyrics in an hour?

Okay, so... Every Final Fantasy after VII I just got to the bits where I probably needed to grind more and got bored. Brutal Legend Firstly, the open-world bit runs like complete ass on my PC. All skipping and such, so there's the enjoyment gone there. Secondly, cool theme/world/visual design but I just wasn't a big fan of the gameplay even before it got to the RTS-lite stuff. Darksiders Just got bored with it. The movement felt clunky, the combat felt clunky, the main stuff was too repetitive anyway and I didn't care for the story/theme. Driver: San Francisco Sorry, kenshi, could not get into this at all. Had a bit of fun with making cars crash into cops, but that's about it. Liked the concept, but really disliked the car handling. The Binding of Isaac God, I hate this game. Hard Reset The first game I got for free through some Steam event thing. Wouldn't have touched it otherwise. Not big on FPSs anyway and this one didn't click. GTA IV: The Ballad of Gay Tony Really liked GTA IV and all it brought but, unfortunately, PC version I got had framerate problems all over. Got pissed off with the boat-bombing mission that was required to progress since it's explain in tiny fucking boxes in the top corners of the screen while you're trying to look ahead. Before that I'd already had enough of their 'mini-game mechanics' bullshit thrown into missions. Aaaand breathe.

So I started watching Dollhouse (what do you mean that was five years ago?!) I'm enjoying it so far, though a large part of that might be Eliza Dushku... Definitely a hard one to get into, since Whedon shows are about well-written characters... and in this the protagonist 'changes' every week. Actually finding myself more intrigued by the ongoing stuff and the little twists and turns there. Let's hope it doesn't turn out to be a half-baked mystery like in every other show that utilises that.

Wasn't aware this was a thing. Creepy/awesome?! https://maps.google.co.uk/locationhistory/b/0/ Though, sometimes there seem to be glitches where it places me miles from where I actually was...

Yeah, hence the bad taste.

The trailer makes it look fun, but that must all be late-game stuff. Didn't help that I played the Control game mode. I hate those.

I remember getting that impression, but I wasn't entirely sure. It seemed like a case of 'she could have a mental disability' or 'Carlos was being overprotective and keeping her completely in the dark so that it would appear that way to you'. You're kind of unsure of the characters at that point, and I attributed it to the writers playing with your perceptions. I'd have to replay that episode since it's been a while now.

The Killers Finally got to the last actual film noir in that collection I bought a while back (one is more a 'light-hearted caper' with actors famous for film noirs). Probably a real treat at its time, as one of the classics of the noir genre, with a great performance from Burt Lancaster, but there's nothing I felt it did particularly well compared to other classics I've seen. It looks the part and there's nothing really wrong except for some of the script clumsiness, but it can't quite compare to Double Indemnity or Out of the Past. It's refreshing to see how Life Insurance Investigators could be heroes though. The Specials And in another film I decided to get round to watching. James Gunn's other superhero film about a bunch of losers (not just because they've lost stuff). I wasn't expecting it to be really funny... and I was right. There are good laughs here and there, but it's just too weak a script for a low-budget film. It's more a bunch of scenes to support a few gags more than a decent story with well-written characters. That said, I really liked the concept, and there are good actors in there so I don't feel it's a wasted watch.

So this came to my attention on Twitter. WARNING. SEASON TWO, EPISODE FOUR SPOILERS. http://lillycaul.tumblr.com/post/94359921967/on-telltale-games-ableist-treatment-of-sarah And the follow-up explanation by Greg Miller http://uk.ign.com/blogs/greggy-ign/2014/08/10/the-walking-dead-sarah-and-normal/

That would be just be business as usual.

This might explain the move... http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-04-16-sony-sells-all-its-square-enix-shares-for-28m

Wow, seriously? I thought everyone knew about Australian's 'going up at the end of sentences'. I even recall Stephen Fry talking about it as the article mentions.

"What's uptalk?" http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-28708526

That is bloody brilliant. And yeah sounds well worth the moolah- guess i'll lay down the bread for my first ever kickstarter purchase! Hooray! And you got in just in time, really. I think they're actually having to limit the number of backers to 1,000 in order to ensure that they meet their promises. A lot of people had qualms over the early bird pricing scheme, but I prefer it over Kickstarter exclusives and stretch goals. Most tabletop ones I've seen do the latter and then miss their deadline by at least 4 months (usually 6). I'd much rather see a developer/designer/publisher say, "Here's what we're doing. This is how much it is." ps. I think I just spotted a $55 pledge that just became free, if you're quick you might be able to snipe it. EDIT: Too late. On another note, I am really enjoying reading all the people getting bent out of shape because of the publisher's no nonsense attitude on BGG. I get why people might be taking it the wrong way, but there does seem to be a lot of impotent rage going on. Or is that rage over impotence? EDIT: Quick, there's another one opened up! Basically, keep checking back and you might even be able to save yourself a few quid as well.

I don't think it was mis-read rules. That's just part of the game. Really, you'll always want to play higher cards, but at the same time you don't want a tie and you'll need to find the right occasion to use your lower values as well. A 1 will always beat a tied value, so there's a case of trying to figure out what others have played and where you are in line.

You start with all three weapons, but can go to the Armory to draw an extra in order to throw people off. Brass Knuckle beats Knife, Knife beats Garrotte, Garrotte beats Brass Knuckle (they feature coloured icons and relative hierarchies for quick-reference) When you get into a fight, the two players only show each other, it resolves and then those weapons go into the owner's discard pile face-down. Once you've used all your weapons, you get them all back into your hand. For example, you beat Player A with a Brass Knuckle card and then, right after, when Player B encounters/wishes to encounter you, they might ask Player A what weapon was used against them. Player A could answer honestly or choose to lie, which already feeds into the mindgames going on with choosing which weapon to use. Additionally, Player B might have forgotten that you went to the Armory and just happened to grab an extra Brass Knuckle... This is the first project from these designers, but the company itself has published Gear & Piston and Byzantio, plus later expansions for both, as well as a book on tabletop gaming. The Kickstarter with the rulebook and other videos and such is here and even at the now $60 (MSRP) level - rather than the 'early bird' prices (I got in at $55) - it includes worldwide shipping and they've thrown in a mini-expansion for free, so I think it's pretty reasonable. Many KS tabletop stuff, even light things, can be a killer when it comes to P&P.

I did joke that it was a satire of cover mechanics too, but there is only one section I found particularly tough. But, boy, was that really tough. During Chapter 13 "Adams": "Stryker, heading our way!" "Get to that yacht" Over and over and over... It's the new, "Look at all that juice!"

Yeah. Fortunately, I've got a local group who meet quite regularly so I get to try out games with even more players as well as seeing new games. I think there is only one gametype that supports 5 people so far, and that's my usual group size with friends. If you have the patience for it, there is a module on Vassal. Could actually try and get a forum group together to give it a go. Though you'd need voice chat as well. I actually watched a playthrough, which was entertaining and gives you a good idea of the game, even though the intel was nabbed pretty early by the opposite side and they didn't get to demonstrate a few of the other aspects (they explain them at the end). Did you ever get to try Infiltration?

Kickstarted, really, but the company has fulfilled all previous projects and this one's now over 400% funded (with them more concerned about having to limit orders so as not to delay production). Board game about spycraft, bluffing and betrayal. It has a few different variants supporting anywhere from 2-6 players, with teams split into British, Russian and American. One even includes a secret Interpol agent trying to arrested the 'wanted/dangerous' agents on each team. This looks really interesting because the default aim is to find the opposing team's intel, call your side's helicopter from the basement and then make it to the helipad. Except, if someone else gets there first, carrying a bomb, they can blow up the helicopter... or maybe that's what you were planning; and each side only has two helicopters. So, already, there's a tactical consideration with regards to which helicopter you call and what your real intentions are. Additionally, you have no idea who your teammate is, so you could be working at odds or you might have to blindly trust someone. The other cool thing is that when you 'encounter' someone else (basically, they can block you simply by standing in a room) you have to negotiate with them, a bit like Cosmic Encounter, where you decide to play either an Agreement card (for trading items), a Neutral card (nothing happens if both play this) or a Weapon. Weapons will beat the other two (though Neutral allows the defeated player to 'save' with certain items), but they also come in three forms in a rock-paper-scissor setup and are 'spent' until all three default ones are used. So there's a bit of remembering what people have or asking (and trusting) others. Then the victor can choose to steal items, interrogate you (for a chance at discovering your loyalty) or injure you to hamper your movement. Plus, only the two involved will really know what occurred during the encounter, and even an interrogated player won't know if the other person saw their loyalty (just go with it...) And the Embassy setting itself has all sorts of quirks. Someone sat in the X-Ray Control Room gets to look at a player's items whenever they pass through a scanned doorway (unless it's locked in a lead-lined briefcase), someone else can go to the Breaker room and shut off the lights in order to use their night vision goggles and sneak about, or you could simply go to the armory for extra weapons or the store room for more items. After seeing the Vassal playthrough and other (p)reviews, it sounds like all sorts of fun. p.s. I will buy a video game sometime...

Waaaay better.

Yeah, I'm reading the IDW series. It's surprisingly good, though again more and more mutants... I guess maybe it's 2003-related if... I do like that we're worried about spoiling ninja turtles stuff.