Just found this in my mailbox two days ahead of the official release.

where did you order from?

He buys all his games from Snarfenlaagen.  They specialize in pickled fish and electronics.  Or is it fish and pickled electronics?   

I'm pretty sure I've seen those in my local GAME/GAMESTOP store actually....I think it was something like this that I saw: http://gizmodo.com/5563483/power-a-makes-a-wireless-xbox-360-controller-for-the-ps3

Well, damn. I totally would have bought one of those.

Gioteck made a couple too.

If you watched anything of the PS4's reveal, they showed off developer friendly PC-like architecture, all sorts of developer friendly programs and features, etc. The whole thing reeked of corporate style humility, which is not the same as real humility, but it's enough to show that they understand what went wrong.

They even talked openly about the mistakes they made with the PS3. It was the kind of humility that really restores one's faith in their ability to deliver. If they mess this up, they're done. Luckily it seems like they won't mess it up.

Well, they haven't announced pricing yet.  Let's avoid aspirational.

woohoo!  a blurry cube!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=QjXU1anoC5Y

I get the feeling they're subtly mocking all those people who made such a big deal about not revealing the casing.

while it may be stretching the truth a bit, it does wrap up the whole series in 1/2 of an episode. 

Right, and Tony Stark goes to China for heart surgery.  Or are they trying to say Canada would lie to him about the cancer being inoperable?

Well, there are these on his website.

Today's "national IQ test," if you will, is whether people yet realize 9/11 was an inside job. To watch the WTC 7 building fall into its own footprint, demolition style, and somehow fail to grasp that this was a carefully-planned demolition job is just as idiotic as not being able to count how many times you jump rope.

They claim the birth certificate document is a fake. Why does that matter? But of course the document is a fake. It's not "merely" fake; it's so fake that the whole thing has become an IQ test for figuring out how many people can be so easily fooled by a fake

Conventional medicine's explanations of HIV and AIDS are a medical myth at best; and outright quackery at worst. There is no such thing as a virus that "causes" AIDS, since the very definition of AIDS is widely disputed by scientists around the world.

Of course, I don't know if he really believes the things he says, or if he just says them to make money off people who do.

On a side note, perhaps of interest only to me, is that he's coded his website to automatically include a link to the article any time you copy and paste from his site.  Anyone know how he did that?

Natural News

Adams is an AIDS denialist, a 9/11 truther, a birther and endorses conspiracy theories surrounding the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.

Wow, I wonder how he feels about the Holocaust.

I don't know if anyone has heard of Reus.  Here is the GoG link.  It looks to be somewhat in the vein of Populous only you control world shaping Giants.  The video claims it's releasing on Gog, Steam, Desura, and Gamersgate tomorrow.  I couldn't find a Steam listing.  Gamersgate has it coming soon for $10 requiring a steam activation.  I might take the plunge and post impressions if it shows up on Steam, but I'm questioning the release date if it requires steam activation and doesn't have a listing. 

What I've noticed is that the more popular the phone is the more (and more timely) updates it will get.  I'm pretty sure the Galaxy S4 will prove more popular than the One.  I'm actually looking at the same phones.  Right now, I'm giving a slight edge to the S4.  It's mostly because I liking being able to expand storage with a memory card.  I also like the user replaceable battery.  It's hard to complain about a bigger screen in the same size form factor.  Do I need a thermostat, humidistat, and barometer in my phone?  Probably not.  I don't mind the plastic build since it will most likely be in a case.  I've resigned myself to the fact that no phone, no matter how cool, will make me look cool.

If you prefer the sturdier build and cooler look, I'm not going to argue with you.  They're both top end phones.

Here are the Verge reviews:

HTC One

Galaxy S4

Will snowball fights be included or an IAP?  What about judges?

I haven't given away any games in a while.  I just grabbed a four pack.  That means I have three to give away.  PM me if interested.  If you're not on my steam friends list, I'll need an email address to send the game.  First come, first served as long as you've posted here before today.  I'll update when they're gone.

Edit: All gone

But one thing we all know by now is that Gearbox cannot handle two titles being developed at once.

don't worry, Timegate is still around

Honestly, I'd trust Timegate with Homeworld more than their recent shooters.  The Kohan series was brilliant.

That was a looooooooooooooooooooooooooooong time ago.

It's more recent than Homeworld 2, and there really hasn't been a space RTS since HW2.  I guess you could count Sins of a Solar Empire even though that's more of a 4X game.  Ironclad is busy working on Sins of a Dark Age.  I don't think there's a natural home for Homeworld any more.  Is most of the Homeworld team still at Relic?  I know some of the Cataclysm team went on to form Ironclad and Kerberos (Sword of the Stars).

Anyway my point was mostly that Timegate's shooters have been mediocre at best while they were brilliant when they made RTS's.   Whereas I'd be excited for a new Timegate RTS, I wouldn't even pay attention to another shooter by them.  I think Kato liked Section 8 though.

Pre-purchased Dead Island on PC - got it for $15 at GMG using a sale and store credit. And just purchase both the original Dragons Dogma for $19 on Amazon and the Dark Arisen. Did always want to get the DD games just never got around to it so nows the perfect time.

From what I read dark arise  is a standalone that includes the original game so I think you don't need to buy that separately?

Gah. Can anyone confirm?

From the DD forums:

The Game will be released on Disc at 1st, and will be up as download later in time.

DA:DA is both Original game and DLC.


Do to updates, changes to mechanics of game, and Game play. It wasn't able to be patched.

Buying DA, nets you Original game(which now takes into effect all changes brought by DA(new skills, better menus) Better gear)

DD:DA also comes with all DLC that was released for Dragon's Dogma.

Your Save file from Original copy will also work with new version. (there will even be some new monsters in old areas)

But one thing we all know by now is that Gearbox cannot handle two titles being developed at once.

don't worry, Timegate is still around

Honestly, I'd trust Timegate with Homeworld more than their recent shooters.  The Kohan series was brilliant.

I loved two of those (Comic Jumper and Splosion Man) and enjoyed the other two.  So I heartily endorse this deal.

I think Blackjack would like Haley Atwell.  I don't know about the whole remake.  Do computers still feel unknown and magical?

I have no idea, but wouldn't it be easier to just use a boom mike with a cable?  It seems like you're just asking for more parts to fail with a wireless lapel mic.  I always assumed those lapel mics were better for studio type sit down interviews.  Wouldn't you need two or more for that kind of thing?

There was a season four?

I am a CNC Machinist for 3M Abrasive division. Working entirely with super-abrasives.

Well, that explains your personality. 
[rimshot]

His material never seemed particularly funny,

Wow, that makes me feel old.  He was the funniest comedian I've ever seen.  I saw a couple of times with him and Robin Williams just improving together.  I could not breathe.  Too funny.  You couldn't even describe it. It was the combination of faces, sounds, jabs, jokes, characters and insanity that was so much more than the sum of the parts.  He will be missed.

Does your router have logging turned on?  You could look at the logs to find out the IP address that the PS3 is trying to reach when it fails.  Then you could ask your ISP if they are blocking that address for some reason.  If not, you might want to ask Sony customer support if there is anything wrong with the patch server.

It was $899 on Tiger or $920 on Amazon depending on which is better for your tax/shipping circumstances.

The stars . . . they are so beautiful.  I am weak.  It was on sale.  Other than the brightness, I love the default calibration.  I will need a new rig to truly take advantage of it.  Until then I will see what I get to run a playable speeds.  I considered the Dells, but the quality control even on the top monitors seemed so hit and miss (based on reviews).  My one nitpick is why are the USB ports only 2.0?  I think I'm in love.

For those of you waiting for Undying...

Man, that game creeped me out when I first played it.

Parrot Drone?
Sphero?
Titan Sword?
Handtalking?
Futuro Cube?

Don't forget the subliminal frame in the second video that reads:

Project Omega
AI Matrix sector 07-8942
VR Program 'Phantom_Pain.MME'
Contractor: Moby Dick Studios
Subject: Redacted

Purpose:  Treatment of Neurological Damage Sustained in Combat
              Treatment of Combat Psychological Stress

The rest is too hard to read.

The Empire Strikes Back Tournament has started.  Here is the tournament schedule:

    Star Wars Episode V:The Empire Strikes Back table tournament: March 15 – 22
    Boba Fett table tournament: April 12 – 19
    Star Wars: The Clone Wars table tournament: May 3 – 10

I'm really not very good at this table.  I'm struggling to hit 50M while the leaders in the clubhouse are over a billion.  For reference, last I checked, Ping had a score around 150M, though I believe that's on limited playtime.

They've usually used steamworks.  I believe Aliens: Colonial Marines was their last release.  It used steamworks.

Bull, I gave you some targets to shoot for until Ping comes and sets us all in our places.  Enjoy.  I'll look forward to your taunt when you beat my scores.

Bull, the only thing I'm unclear on is if Sony's best case scenario would work for you.  That is, if they have Gaikai streaming of PS3 games for every publisher that allows it, would you be satisfied?  Obviously, the disk would still be required for disk based games.  I'm afraid Tilt's right on hardware or emulation solutions.

For me, Microsoft turning their UI into ad central is far more annoying to me.  I was quite content with my blades.

If you want to use points for purchase, you might want to wait.  They're having a problem with overcharging points.  From Major Nelson:

Update: There is currently a system issue regarding MS Points showing the incorrect price. The team is working on it. So if you want to purchase via points, you should hold off for a bit.

I was wondering about that.  got a bunch of points to burn, seems to be a good time to burn them.

The points issue was fixed last night.

If you want to use points for purchase, you might want to wait.  They're having a problem with overcharging points.  From Major Nelson:

Update: There is currently a system issue regarding MS Points showing the incorrect price. The team is working on it. So if you want to purchase via points, you should hold off for a bit.

A long time ago, I won an IGN contest.  I had forgotten that I had entered, but they sent me a copy of Majesty.  Considering that I hadn't heard of the game at the time and now rate it as one of my all time favorites, I'd put that prize much higher than the monetary value.

I once won a closest to the pin contest in a golf tournament.  True, it was for the highest handicap category, but I did win a golf bag.  Given my overall lack of athletic accomplishments, I'm pretty proud of that.

I have some Mechcommander saves from early '99 on this computer.  I'm sure I have old PS1 saves, but I don't think I ever put them on the PS3.  I'd guess the oldest of those is from Battle Arena Toshinden.  The oldest save I have overall is from Leather Goddesses of Phobos for PC.  It's trapped on an old 5.25 floppy.

This got a pretty big update and price dropped to $.99.

Here's the update info:

What's new

We have added several exciting new features to Borderlands Legends. See below some of the awesome new features and modes:

- When killed, enemies can now drop Guns as loot
- New Sniper Mode feature allows Mordecai to focus and deliver a high powered shot at enemies
- Rare and powerful Eridian Weapons have been added
- New enemy types and mini bosses added
- Improved movement controls and pathfinding
- Night Versions of the Wasteland maps are now available
- Gun Brands will now display in the shop
- Improved Visual Effects
- iPad Mini support added
- Game Center support added

It starts off a little rough but gets much better as you unlock the skill tree.  I've had fun with it.

Also being on national television for a few years.

If you hadn't gone all William Shatner on Rocky, you might still be on the air.

I'm sure it's my kids.  From an outsiders point of view, they might look at the time I spent at Air University.  I met most of the senior leaders in the U.S. military from the President on down.  I doubt any of them remember me though.  I have some neat challenge coins.  I didn't get a presidential coin, but I got a tour of Air Force One.

The Jaguars have a new logo and I don't know why

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap1000000136423/article/jacksonville-jaguars-reveal-new-team-logo

That's just the away logo.  Here's the new home logo:

If they had called it, the 49ers would've gotten 4 more plays. Defensive holding or a pass interference is an automatic first down.

Or they could have called offsetting penalties and replayed 4th down.  I'd say the refs were pretty consistent in 'letting them play' the whole game.  You can't really expect them to change that at the end of the game and say they are going to decide the Super Bowl.

Puzzle Saga is free again.  It's like the high speed action cousin of Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes.  I thought it was mentioned around here, but I couldn't find it doing a quick search.

My 3 year old daughter loves watching Tangled from Disney.  The horse plays a major role.

If you like dressage, there's always Horseland.