The Most Recent of Many!

In just under four weeks, it's going to be back on.

10% discount on pre-orders.

On Wii Scarcity

Sorry for the sloppy post.

The Mike's were discussing the Wii's scarcity position last night. They both had their starting positions and went at it from there. Here are some links, from the launch and more recent, that might give them more facts, and some speculation too, to work with.

Supply problem 2007: http://news.cnet.com/Nintendo-Wii-have-a-supply-problem/2100-1043_3-6181842.html?tag=lia;rcol

Ars Technica from 2006: http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2006/10/8000.ars

Some guy on the Internet that says he knows Econ 2008: http://lithcast.com/files/1a26c5c844fa58e8e457a3f7e52f77ee-77.html

I remember reading the first two at the time. For the record I am with Dock and don't believe that the shortage is manufactured as Waters asserts. I base that on crazy demand for the chipsets but I am still looking for that article ...

Any help Gus?

Alien Swarm: The Tensest Co-op Since Left 4 Dead

I played Alien Swarm for over three hours last night. It was a total blast (and, again, it's free). It delivers left and right. There are two different characters of each class, each with individual strengths and weaknesses and customizable load-outs. The co-op element is feels really natural- it emerges from the gameplay with a seeming inevitability. I played as Vegas, one of the technicians. I found myself yelling things like "cover me while I hack this terminal!" and "hold on, guys! I'm almost through!" Seriously, do yourself a favor and pull it down.



The tension, the claustrophobia- I haven't felt like this since, well, since Left 4 Dead. It took this game to make me realize why L4D2 never grabbed me quite the way the original did. I couldn't put my finger on it before. Everything seemed to be an improvement. It's the maps. It's all that open space. In the original, you were always hemmed in. When the maps did open up, there was always a momentary sense of disorientation while you sussed out which way you had to go. The sequel was too open- the maps are mostly open with occasional tight spots and the effect of stepping out of a hole into horrible, horrible freedom isn't present. Don't get me wrong, my favorite part in either L4D title is running through the sugar cane field in Hard Rain, but being able to stand shoulder-to-shoulder, four across for most of the game doesn't evoke the same tension that having to always crouch out of the way of fire from behind while the horde bears down on you. It's a tension that's present in Alien Swarm, in buckets.

Because Banking is So Very Very Slow

No really. My job has never been so uneventful. I spend my days trying to occupy my brain with something to at least sustain my sanity. I consume photographer blogs so voraciously that when actual work happens to intrude it feels like death. A little. I assume.

AVK would tell you that 'lack of work' is just a cover. He would also go on and share that I want to get my sex changed to match that little girl inside of me and run off to be a fashion photographer in Paris. Lonely and anxious. But so alive!

Um, anyway, I should have a ready retort for that but I fear I "doth protest too much" already. So the, eventual, point of this post is a picture I came across. I was looking around here via some hyper link from somewhere. I can't remember. It is kind of a blur. She is a fashion photographer, for Vogue Paris or something, that takes pictures of pretty things wearing pretty things. (Or some other set of demeaning words that aren't meant that way.) But the trick is that these are candid shots. Really good candid shots. Not over done and over produced portraits or ads. Some would say taking pictures of beautiful ladies is cheating a little when it comes to photography but these are honest to goodness interesting shots that stand on their own as examples of great photography that I can learn from.




I swear she must live in a magical place where only pretty people can move in. Which brings us to the feared(?), inevitable(?) side of that world. And I think the point of the post as well but I can't remember anymore. With the losing of my mind and all.

I followed a link from her blog to another one and looked at this group of candids to see what I could learn from them. Needless to say all lessons learned were life's lessons.




Long ago I had hair like that for maybe about a week.

Once.

And I still have over an hour left to work. I mean to sit here.

We Gotta Play This.

Who's up for top-down co-op? You know, Gauntlet style adventure. Are you in yet?

What if I told you it takes place in a Sci-fi setting. Alien invasion, anyone?

No? If they reworked it in the Source engine, would that grab you? Nothing?

What if Valve's making it available for FREE?

Via Kotaku, more info in their write-up in the link.

Geoff Darrow + Fallout

That's the cover to the new Dark Horse comic "All Roads." The Fallout-inspired comic will be written by Chris Avellone and debuts at Comic-Con. Jean Diaz and Wellinton Alves handle the interior illustrations, because if you tried to get Geoff Darrow to do that the comic wouldn't come out until 2054.

Harvey Pekar Obit

Tom Spurgeon of The Comics Reporter has written the only Harvey Pekar obituary you need to read.

Though I highly recommend checking out some the personal memories of Pekar that his friends, fans and followers have shared (many, many more here). The guy lived the right kind of life.

Because Gus Can't Be Bothered

Harvey Pekar just died. I don't think I can eulogize him better than his friend and sometime collaborator, Robert Crumb:



Trivia: In my parents' day, the best blotter around had Mr. Natural on it.

Edit: I came by this information on Gawker

Not Necessarily the News

Some of this may be a few weeks old, but:

• GRMM is a bit closer on Book 5, having postponed some chapters: http://grrm.livejournal.com/
• HBO has a GoT site (as well as a sight of Ned wearing a lemur skin): http://www.hbo.com/game-of-thrones/index.html
• Consensus seems to be March 2011 as episode 1.
• The Barn basement finishing will be complete and open to all who don't want to invest in HBO.

Activision deploys Hate Sink? - Real ID

(The blog has become my only avenue of communication to you guys while I'm at work. It is sub-par for stuff like this but I wanted to get this out before I stopped caring and moved on ... at about three this afternoon.)

I've shared my "Hate Sink Theory" with you before and I think Activision/Blizzard might be up to it right now with their Real ID maneuver. If you don't know what is going on read any game news site or ask Andy.

Anyway, I think they put this 'display real name on message boards' thing out there to distract us from something even worse - that they knew we wouldn't like. And by they I mean Activision; not Blizzard. Republicans and Democrats ... political types with something to sell and gain have done it. CCG's have done it. (cough, cough AGOT) So why would it be so hard to believe that Activision wouldn't? Especially since they are sleeping with good ol' FaceBook. Both companies being in a state of bumps and bruises in the press and public over services they are trying to lead us in to - I mean - over new ways for them to make money off of us.

/end cynicism
maybe

I do wonder what unforeseen or unknown surprise is lurking behind the dust clouds of the real name shit storm.