Experienced Points:
Stolen Pixels #100!: Party Within Specifications
This is the very opposite of a party gone out of bounds.
(“Party gone out of bounds” makes me think of bounds checking in programming. And if your party goes out of bounds, then your party is inevitably going to be crashed.)
I know the cake joke is beaten to death, but hopefully I did it justice here anyway.
Stolen Pixels #99: Home, Smelling of Malted Barley
Free Radical Review
I have just exited the grueling marathon of time-sucking misery known as this weekend. It was one of those times where everything I attempted to do turned to crap. I wrote code that didn’t work, jokes that weren’t funny, essays that were dull and unsalvageable. I also had to contend with some unrelated hate mail, and that’s never fun to get. Add a dash of dull real-life problems, broken stuff, and unexpected expenses. It was like a highlight reel of “America’s favorite home karmic sucker-punches.”
I will not make you endure an accounting of my miseries. Boo hoo. I’m sure everyone goes through a bad patch of random, unrelated misfortune at one time or another, so I will not weary your ears with the recap. The short version: It sucked, and I didn’t write anything worth posting.
So it was very encouraging to see this, a review of my book. Nice to be reminded that I do hit home runs once in a while, especially after striking out all weekend.
Thanks to Darius for reading the book, and more thanks for taking the time to write out his thoughts on it.
Topic for discussion: What videogame would you love to see adapted into a full-length novel? (Actually, I wonder how many games have enough story to fill a novel. Like movies, most games are short story material. Still, there must be a few.)
Battle at Kruger
Apparently, I’m the last person in the world to see this:
Link (YouTube) |
44 million views. It’s obviously a massive sensation. It went viral. People passed it around. Talked about it. Blogged about it. Years ago. And yet I’ve never heard of it before.
How does that happen to someone who basically lives on the internet?
If you somehow missed the video like I did, the basic gist is that three water buffalo go down to the water, and are beset by lions. The (I assume) parents escape, and the young is picked off and the lions begin trying to eat it. Then a crocodile get involved. Then more water buffalo. And it has a happy ending.
I found the vido through this, which is a series of pictures of a leopard killing a croc.
Experienced Points: E3 Killjoy
Welcome back from E3, beleaguered press. Allow me to cure your unwarranted optimism with an adult-sized dose of jaded wisdom, and wash it down with a mouthful of cold, bitter cynicism. If problems persist after 24 hours, contact your physician.
I enjoyed writing this one. Perhaps this means I am a bad person.
I’m ok with that.
Stolen Pixels #98: Left 4 Dumb, Part 16
The latest Stolen Pixels is up, which takes up a position contrary to the one put forth by Blue Oyster Cult in 1976.
I think we’ll take a break from L4Dumb now. After that, we’ll finish up the series.
Mass Effect Retrospective
A novel-sized analysis of the Mass Effect series that explains where it all went wrong. Spoiler: It was long before the ending.
Dead Island
A stream-of-gameplay review of Dead Island. This game is a cavalcade of bugs and bad design choices.
Punishing The Internet for Sharing
Why make millions on your video game when you could be making HUNDREDS on frivolous copyright claims?
The Gradient of Plot Holes
Most stories have plot holes. The failure isn't that they exist, it's when you notice them while immersed in the story.
Philosophy of Moderation
The comments on most sites are a sewer of hate, because we're moderating with the wrong goals in mind.
Megatextures
A video discussing Megatexture technology. Why we needed it, what it was supposed to do, and why it maybe didn't totally work.
Wolfenstein II
This is a massive step down in story, gameplay, and art design when compared to the 2014 soft reboot. Yet critics rated this one much higher. What's going on here?
Best. Plot Twist. Ever.
Few people remember BioWare's Jade Empire, but it had a unique setting and a really well-executed plot twist.
Artless in Alderaan
People were so worried about the boring gameplay of The Old Republic they overlooked just how boring and amateur the art is.
The Best of 2015
My picks for what was important, awesome, or worth talking about in 2015.
T w e n t y S i d e d