Thursday Next

So wait... they are capturing your address from your credit card and they are storing that information? Can you even capture that data from an in store CC transaction? How does she know (or rather, why does she suspect) that GameStop are doing this?

That's a rough one to answer. As I moved through the story mode I did a whole lot of bitching, mainly about the controls and how they often didn't seem to work quite as intended. While I loved the visual setting, enjoyed the characters, and wasn't repelled by the storyline (though not exactly roped in either), I'd have to say that the game at times came off as more of a cautious endeavor, not quite as robust as I'd have liked, but rather a promise of a strong future to come, sort of like the first Assassin's Creed. There were definitely some memorable moments, some from repetition, though several just from being exciting from a presentational and gameplay standpoint. While the controls sort of clicked for me at some point while going through the (sometimes mercilessly frustrating) time trials/speedruns after the game was complete, I can't say that they will ever click for most people who don't have the patience to sit and struggle with the game like the way I did. People shouldn't have to work that hard or rely on chance for basic functions to perform as they are supposed to, this was a serious shortcoming on the part of the game. Anyway, to answer simply: I enjoyed it a lot eventually, but I can't say I recommend the game to just anyone, or that I even think it's that great. A bit of a flawed execution, but still worth it if one is willing to put the work in. For an actual short answer: At under £10, it is definitely worth picking up. http://www.play.com/Search.html?searchtype=allproducts&searchsource=0&searchstring=mirrors+edge

Apologies to Advent for totally jacking his (her?) thread... Here is an initial spec up of what I think I need for a gaming PC (thanks to Raz and some other Steamers for their input)... does anything seems under powered or massively overpowered? It's coming in a little shy of my £1k absolute maximum... so I've got some wiggle room. P.S. I probably won't start buying components till July at the earliest, maybe more like Sept/Oct. Looking to have it up and running by 1st November for absolutely no apparent reason. CPU: AMD Phenom™ II X6 1055T Six-Core CPU MOTHERBOARD: Asus M4N98TD EVO AM3 NVIDIA nForce 980a SLI Chipset DDR3 ATX w/ 7.1 HD Audio, GbLAN, USB2.0, IEEE1394, SATA-II, RAID, 2 Gen2 PCIe, 2 PCIe X1 & 2 PCI (runs up to 1600MHZ) MEMORY: 4GB (2x2GB) PC16000 DDR3/1800mhz Triple Channel Memory (Kingston Hyper X Blu Series Series w/Heat Spreader) VIDEO CARD: ATI Radeon HD 5870 PCI-E 16X 1GB DDR5 Video Card Power Supply: Cyberpower 700watt Gaming Power Supply Hard Drive: 640GB SATA-III 6.0Gb/s 64MB Cache 7200RPM HDD Optical Drive: LG CH10LS20 10X BLU-RAY/HD-DVD Reader / DVD±R/±RW Writer SOUND: Creative Labs SB X-Fi Xtreme Audio 24-BIT PCI Sound Card

Ok...so more specific questions, thanks Dean for the help so far... Motherboards: Do I need SLI? (By "need" I mean "want"). CPU: Is Intel vs AMD pretty much a Pepsi vs Coke decision? If so, AMD seem cheaper so that's a no-brainer. RAM: Is more RAM better than faster RAM or vice versa? For example would you rather have 8GB @ 1800mhz or 16GB at 1333mhz? GPU: Am I better off getting one NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Ti 2GB 16X PCIe Video Card or two NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450 1GB 16X PCI Express? This is gonna get expensive... Oh and hard drives. Is it worth having a solid state OS drive and a non-solid state data drive?

And you got play it?? You fuckin' bastard! What did you get to try out? MP? Early thoughts? New game-mechanic? Deets, man! I tried a map of MP and an SP demo. I can't really give away details I'm afraid. The mp map is huuuuuuge. The single player looks amazing. Keep your eyes on GDC coverage.

BF3, Battlefield 3, the Battlefield 3 that is not out yet but is the subject of the current conversation. I'm not at GDC, but I did meet Ray Mears on a flight from Stockholm to Heathrow last Saturday.

I too am looking to build a gaming "rig" as I believe the parlance goes. I'm kind of getting that the most critical things are CPU, GPU and RAM (as these are the numbers that everyone raves about) but what else is important? Are specific motherboards great and others arse? How important is the PSU? Does one need an epic sound card or will any one suffice? And, most importantly, where is the best place to buy all this stuff (in the UK for me)?

Ok... so I've tried out an early MP build and the SP demo, and I've got to say... I NEED to get a rig for this. It's ages since I gamed on a PC, the last two games being BF2 and 2142, but this is just... wow. Look out for me posting on the "So... what do I need to build a PC" topics in the near future.

True enough. In that case... anyone from the UK or a jobless American?

Back-handed compliment of the week.

Agreed. I find it amusing, but beyond that I don't actually care. I'm tempted to facedesk out of the sheer stupidity of this product, but beyond that, its no doubt pitiful sales will limit any potential harm it may have caused to the industry.

Just to clarify, I'm not suggesting that people don't or shouldn't have a right to say this stuff. I just reserve the right to think that they are retarded for doing it.

It's unfair to blame crappy German boxart on publishers. They have half as much space to work with as other territories.

Anyone from the UK playing this online? Not sure if it's worth me picking up.

Like a Magic Show- Julia Messenger

And I replied to him once saying how it's a bit of a waste of screenlines doing that each time since it was a comment section not a forum, so no need for a sig. And that unless he was writing a super long essay in the comment section and excepted us to forget his name by the end of it, there wasn't much reason to add it on. The reply chain between us went on for a bit but it's now So if you ever see that on kotaku, that's cos of me I pulled him up on the same thing. I'm pretty sure he just signs off "Peace" now. Because "I don't want people to think I'm being personal." Which could, of course be remedied by not being personal, but, ho hum. Signing off like that on anything where your name is displayed, comments, facebook, etc. I find quite annoying. It's excuseable on text cos you never know if someone has lost their numbers or what have you, so feasible they may not know who you are by just your number. I hate people who have studied debating or public speaking in some way and then believe themselves to be silver-tongued (silver-fingered?) wordsmiths. For example, people who quote "ad hominem" or "Godwin's Law" and then act like they "won" the argument. "You mentioned Nazi's so by Godwin's Law you lose." No. Wrong. Also... I can't stand the internet trend for having to have a "winner" and "loser" in a debate. So much boils down to opinion especially when discussing which game is better, if the PSP was a success or failure, whether piracy is wrong, etc. All you can really do is state your opinion and the reasons why you believe the opinion to be correct, you can't expect to change the mind of every person on a forum and changing even one person's mind is challenging. Conditions for "winning" should be that the other person knows what your position is and understands why you hold that position, and vice versa, you should know and understand their position. It should not be converting the non-believer to your way of thinking at all costs. One of my biggest (sort of) internet pet peeves is the general sense of entitlement that gamers on the internet have. The number of people who will wail and scream and beat at their chests and tear out their hair and gnash their teeth when the PSN store lowers the price of a game they bought last week is staggering. I wonder, do these same people who bought things from brick and mortar stores in December go in to shops during the January sales to complain? Also, I find the concept that "DLC made at the same time as the game it was made for should be free" odd. Why should it be free? Lord of the Rings was shot at the same time, and people didn't say "Oh my god! I can't believe New Line are holding back the second and third episode so they can nickel and dime us later!" They understood that it made sense to make all three movies at once, while everyone was in the same place at the same time, rather than doing them 3 - 6 years apart. It's the same with game development. If you have a guy working on character design, have him design the DLC characters while he's at it. If you are coding maps, then get them all coded at once. Do your QAing with the finished product plus DLC so you can fix any problems nice and early and then ship it according to your business model. *There now follows a brief analogy* When I stay at a hotel, there is invariably a mini bar. I know there will be a minibar and I know it will have some things in it that I want. I also know that although the mini bar is already in my room, along with the bed and everything else, I will have to pay extra for the mini bar. This is fine. I know the rules. I know that they fill the mini bar in advance so that if I want any of the extras they don't have to deliver them after they've spent ages getting the room ready for me and I don't have to go downstairs to get them. When I buy a video game, there is invariably DLC. I know there will be DLC and I know it will have some things in it that I want. I also know that although the DLC is already on the disc, along with the base single and multiplayer content, I will have to pay extra for the DLC. This is fine. I know the rules. I know that they include the DLC on the disc so that if I want the extras they don't have to code them after they've spent ages getting the game ready for me and I don't have to wait to download them.

Ok ok, I'll join in. What platform? I'm currently in Sweden playing another FPS...get back to the UK tomorrow afternoon and will be picking the game up on Monday.

Oh, right. I've seen that now. I don't think that was Kotaku's idea. She seems to like doing that sort of thing. Example: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/top-5-with-lisa-foiles Ugh, these videogame-chick videos are all the same. Stand to the left, hands on hips, turn body 30 degrees to the right, big smile, and read script. I may be a lonely gaming nerd, but when people try this crap with me it just annoys the hell out of me. It takes more than a soft voice, friendly smile and cute ass to get me to click on your site. *click*

Disagree. In my opinion, it's "not bad for a Will Smith vehicle / 2hour exercise in product placement", but that's about all I'd give it. The best I can say about this film is that it is inoffensive. I think that I am Legend is a far better old sci-fi story -> Will Smith film conversion, however, I really didn't like what they did with the story. Not saying Dean is wrong, just that I disagree with his opinion. How is it that Hollywood always misses the point of these stories?

Saw True Grit (Jeff Bridges) last night. Great film, great performances. Funny, heart-warming and tear jerking. Classic Coens, one of their best imho.

Mirror's Edge is cancelled... or is it... http://www.computerandvideogames.com/289531/news/mirrors-edge-still-an-important-franchise-ea/ Was keeping quiet on this until something semi official came up. DICE won't let ME die. Everyone connected with the franchise, from the developers to the marketing teams were completely in love with the title. It'll get a sequel, eventually, for now DICE are laser focussed (along with most of the rest of EA) on making BF3 the most awesome FPS ever and from what little I've seen of the new engine... wow.

I do love how he just clams up the second he gets proved wrong. Why not just say "Oh yes, I see your point, however I respectfully disagree with you as I still believe the majority of what my source has said was not exaggerated."

Muse (especially live) > Your favourite band.

You're a fangirl. I was stoked for it, but it's way too expensive, the announced titles don't really excite me (I've already played LoZ:OoT) and the NGP looks like a much bigger step forward. The only downside is I love Phoenix Wright. I'm thoroughly annoyed that Wright v Layton is gonna be 3DS and not a DS swan song.

http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2011/2/11/ Not sure if that's been posted here yet, but it has now. Possibly twice..