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VISUALLY COMMA

The Treadmills of Your Mind

Wed, 11 Apr 2007
by: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it | vaguely related link: Old but interesting discussion of why Uru Live failed | thanks: Dancing numbers, swirling through the ether and then all just pouring out onto the dust where they soak away forever... or something

Me, I like games with a story. Because games where you only get rewarded by painstakingly building up stats over thousands of hours of gameplay seem to me to be just like solitaire, except without the appeal of being able to figure out whether you're going to "get it out" in five minutes or less. But is it just me? Or is the numbers game really, ultimately, pointless?

STATE OF THE UNION

Cold Feet and Dual Boots

Wed, 11 April 2007
by: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it | vaguely related link: You can dual boot too. | thanks: The idiot who forgot to buy a new SATA cable when he picked up his new HDD. Oh wait... that was me. Thanks me.

So today is the big day. I've been putting it off for some time and like a blushing young bride on her own big day. My tootsies have been getting a little chilly and it has nothing to do with the Melbourne weather. No, no. I'm not getting married and I'm certainly not a bride ... nor blushing. No, today is the day I embark on that journey that most PC owners dread yet secretly look forward to. I'm upgrading my OS. That's right. I'm making the move to Vista... sort of.

CONTROLLED CHAOS

It's!

Tue, 10 April 2007
by: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it | vaguely related link: Silly Walks Generator | thanks: dead parrots

Recently I bought myself a present: the complete "Monty Python's Flying Circus" boxset. That's every single episode of what is, for my money, the greatest comedy series in the history of ever. Never before had formula been messed with so drastically: jokes often have no punchlines, the fourth wall is constantly broken, and the animation segments are a surreal class unto themselves.

Why do I mention any of this at all? Because the Pythons' challenging of convention is similar to what games are doing now.

VISUALLY COMMA

My Personal Space

Tue, 10 Apr 2007
by: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it | vaguely related link: Forty reasons Star Wars sucks | thanks: The crappy copy protection on Wing Commander

I began my long and slightly embarrassing obsession with PC gaming way, way back in the very early 90s. And the game that started it all was Origin's Wing Commander. It was a space sim, a silly sci-fi romp through the galaxy, where space fighters fly like regular fighters and gameplay is about chasing a red dot on the screen.

STATE OF THE UNION

I Only Have Myself to Blame...

Tue, 10 April 2007
by: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it | vaguely related link: Collecting gets you the ladies. | thanks: The 1542 copies of Command & Conquer Kane Edition pressed before mine.

It is time to face facts. I'm a magpie. By that I don't mean that I'm a supporter of Collingwood in the AFL, no matter how much the very thought of that may bring joy to the lives of my dear mother and father. No, what I mean to say is that like the black and white bird that was the bane of so many walks home from the bus stop as a child, I like shiny things; especially when it comes to games and the collectors editions thereof.