Side note:  Why the hell does the PS3 take so ridiculously long to install games?  I downloaded Vanquish tonight, and it's currently spent over 45 minutes installing...and is only 80% finished.  An hour to install a goddamn game is just stupid.  

It may be that your HD is going bad. Thereby slowing down the install. Just a guess though, I havent tried to install Vanquish on my system.

If I were you I would make sure all your saves are loaded into the cloud.

I'm still waiting on the proper 700 series to be announced. I'm still running two 460s in SLi and I have no problems running games with high to max settings. Heck I may even wait for the next ATI cards since they will no doubt be close in architecture to what the next gen consoles will have.

While I really enjoyed a lot of things about the game, the puzzles just got way to hard and I had to use a walkthrough for most of the second half. So it's not for me.

If I were you I would just use the walkthroughs and enjoy the game. I hate getting frustated in games becase the puzzles are too difficult and the clues are vague or non existant.

Are there any plans to release this in a box with Wings of Liberty? I haven't played any Starcraft game yet, but I'm suddenly very anxious on playing this since I now own (and enjoy) the boardgame, and would like to know more about the story and it's units.

I'm not a huge RTS gamer but even I love Wings of Liberty. I played through it twice because there are branching paths and the weapon progression system makes it hard to max out all of the weapon upgrades on 1 play through. On top of that the story line is good and the missions are varied enough that it stays interesting through the end. I'm looking forward to the expansion for the single player alone.

How about we get him the new 3D release of Arachnaphobi: The Director's Edition?   

Thanks for the heads up on that one. At $16 it's too good of a deal to pass on.

Oh,can i hope for one button to turn the machine off as well?

The 360 does it..why not the Playstation,i hate how you have to hold your finger down on the button and then wait for the green light to stop flashing and turn to red and then switch off at the back...or on the controller,you hold your finger down,then it asks you if you want to turn off the system or controller AND THEN you switch off at the back

can i just have 1 button,1 press please

Uhm... you're doing it wrong?

You should never hard reset the PS3 like that unless it has crashed, and you should never have to turn off the power switch on the back (that one seems to be there more for safety than anything else). Always, always use the menus to turn the console off. There's nothing to it. I'll assume you're turning off your 360 by pressing the power button too? If so, you're lucky to never have experienced data loss. It's the same thing with Windows on a PC as well. Never use the power button except in emergencies!

I have a launch PS3 and I almost always turn it off with the power button on the console itself and I've never had any problems. So I think you may be overly concerned here.

only took them 148 years 

It only took 148 years, but the state of Mississippi has officially joined post-slavery America by submitting its papers to ratify the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery to the U.S. Archivist.

The state was the last to ratify the amendment, voting unanimously in 1995 to pass the fabled document abolishing slavery in the United States. But a clerical error resulted in the papers never being submitted to the Office of the Federal Register.

“Mississippi ratified the amendment in 1995, but because the state never officially notified the US Archivist, the ratification is not official,” one particularly concerned citizen had discovered while researching the amendment.

http://www.mediaite.com/online/mississippi-officially-ratifies-13th-amendment-banning-slavery-148-years-later/

I like how the article tries to say the state ratified it a long time ago but a clerical error stopped it from being filed. That would be a good excuse if the clerical error happened in 1895 and NOT 1995.

How sad is it that it took the state until 1995 to ratify it!

I picked this up today at Best Buy. I opened up my copy and the only thing inside is the disc. Is there supposed to be a code for the Vita version, or is it on the disc? The game definitely fails the lift test. (Not that that means much anymore).

With cross-buy stuff, there is something you launch from the XMB to redeem it.  It will be an icon under the normal game launcher.

That's good news. I was dreading having to exchange the game for another copy.

I picked this up today at Best Buy. I opened up my copy and the only thing inside is the disc. Is there supposed to be a code for the Vita version, or is it on the disc? The game definitely fails the lift test. (Not that that means much anymore).

I once won a "Find the Hidden Midget" contest for the now defunct PC gaming mag PC Accelerator. I ended up getting all kinds of game related swag from it.

First it was the phone number on the sign, then the license plate. Sorry, I have a tendency to look for flaws.

It also looks like it could be an actual scene from Portlandia. Love that show.

I wish. No President's day or MLK day.

Don't forget Best Buy has this for $10-off this week: $30 for the PS4 & Vita version or $20 for the Vita version alone.

-Autistic Angel

Nice that seals the deal on this one.

Has anyone played this on the Vita yet? Just wanting to know if the low frame rates are as bad as some of the reviews are saying?

It cracked me up that "Franchesqu" a made the exact same mistakes she made last time and got voted out 1st by the exact same person. Some people never learn.

YGM

I definitely prefer the 360 stick layout. More breathing room is one reason.  Moving the sticks toward each other on the PS3 does feel very cramped (my thumbs don't hit, though...mo, are you Andre the Giant or something?).

I also find that the 360 right stick has a better placement for when you do have to use the buttons.  And it naturally lines up in your hand with the trigger.  And, frankly, using the R1 button on the PS3 for FPS games is counter-intuitive.  I'm sure if you've been doing it that way all along, it wouldn't seem as weird, but it's an outdated choice.

Being someone who prefers the PS3 over the 360 in almost all things, I still agree with the 360 controller being superior, it just feels better in my hands. It's not enough to make me choose multiplatform games for the 360 based on that alone, but the 360 controller is better IMHO.

I saw this posted in the comments section under one of the reviews:
"How many games is this for you, Gearbox?"
"Thirty eight... simulated."
"How many *decent* games?"
"Uh, two. Not including this one."

With a game this bad it has to hurt Gearbox in the near future. It takes them from a studio you can trust because of Borderlands 1 and 2, to a studio that is a "wait and see" type of studio.

But aside from the fact that I spent years arguing in favor of finishing the job in Afghanistan and voted for Barack Obama's explicit promise to do exactly that, yeah, ATB's exhaustively reasoned article really nails my hypocrisy for not being angrier about it.

-Autistic Angel

I saw absolutely no evidence of reason or critical thinking being used to create that article. It's almost as if it were made for a Junior High crowd.

I'm thinking of my minstrel, which I loved to play at the time, but it would take me a bit to relearn.

A mini may take some time to relearn, but I don't think it would be too hard. You should be able to jump back in without too much trouble.

I really loved the time I spent playing LOTRO and that was playing it before it went F2P.  Every once in a while I think about getting back to it, but the one problem LOTRO has is far too many skills.  Never in an MMO did I really need more than one row of hotkeys and in LOTRO I had 3 rows.  If I went back to play my minstrel, I would have no clue what anything was anymore.

I'm in the same boat. I hit 50 with a warden a couple years back, which if you're unfamiliar with has button combos that make the skills which must be entirely memorized to use efficiently.  I think it may keep me from coming back, especially because I've never been able to find friends to group with.  BUT just a heads up it sounds like the dev team is going to address the abundance of skills later this year and do some big class revamps.

Removing the amount of gambits for a Warden would be suicide for people who love the class. The Warden is supposed to be Lotro's advanced class and it takes a lot of practice to master it. If you want an easy class play a hunter, champ or even a guardian. And really lvl 50 doesn't take that long to hit anymore, you could start over with a new toon and be there within two weeks tops if you play regularly.

Definitely not something I agree with.  I strongly disagreed when Bush Jr. was doing something similar.  I had hoped Obama would stop it, but instead he's approving it.  

Expanding it actually.

This and the NDAA are the two reasons why I did not vote for Obama.

just watched the first episode of the new season.  Raylan is a badass as always, but it kind of feels like he's becoming too much of a badass and there's nothing to challenge him (maybe that will change in the second episode).

love Boyd's new sidekick

I would say that changed when the husband dude kicked his ass. It's always nice seeing Raylon use his head and bring the shotgun with beanbag ammo.

Haven't seen it yet, but I'm fairly certain it's active KGB in hiding.

Ug I have no interest in this then. I really don't want to watch a show where the main characters are bad guys. (This works for Sons of Anarchy because they are American Bikers). For some reason I don't like the idea of watching a show about the Russians trying to hurt the US.

Where are you watching tv?  Your living room or 1957?

But on a serious note, you have an odd value system.  American bikers who rape, murder and steal for fun are okay, but russian spies are a no no?

I never said it makes sense. It must have something to do with being raised in the 70s and 80s. Seriously in my early teens I thought Iron Eagle and Red Dawn were two of the best war movies ever made.

What new commands do you get when your 3rd party member joins?

Yeah I'm pretty sure I got my tactics options when the chick joined.

Haven't seen it yet, but I'm fairly certain it's active KGB in hiding.

Ug I have no interest in this then. I really don't want to watch a show where the main characters are bad guys. (This works for Sons of Anarchy because they are American Bikers). For some reason I don't like the idea of watching a show about the Russians trying to hurt the US.

From the SOE wizardry forums

"It wasn't steam, we've removed the download for the time being as we resolve the current issues. "

Piestro  SOE community manager

From what I've played they can't resolve the biggest issues with this game. It actually looks and plays like an MMO that was developed and released in 2004 instead of 2013.

What's the setup on this. Are they ex-KGB who defected or active KGB spies in hiding?

This game is not good. That is all I have to say about it.

I'm a PC gamer first and foremost.  I'll consider the neXtBox if they find a way to cut down on multi-disc games (MS getting on the ball with classic games being downloadable wouldn't hurt either).  Sony will really have to wow me with first party/exclusive games (so I don't end up with another glorified blu ray player), the controller (DS3 feels too cheap, it needs concave triggers plus the thumbstick placement cramps my hands up) and the price of the console.

out of the current gent, my 360 barely gets used for gaming and more for Netfllx/Amazon Instant, my PS3 got replaced with a real blu ray player and my Wii gets used for Gamecube titles (and oddly enough Wii games on the Wii U).  I've been playing PSone titles on the Vita and I've been playing others on the PS2.

You sound like an old man
Ceekay to his neighbor kids  "Back in my day, we didn't need all these fancy graphics and buttons damn it! Dragon Warrior 1 only used 2 buttons and it only needed 4 different colored 2d slimes to be awesome! Ya darn youngsters need to learn what a good game is!"

There should be an option for yes I am going next gen, but just not sure which one yet.

This game released yesterday. Is anyone else going to try it out? I'm going to DL it when I get home, I'm not sure what to think of it though, the perma death and PVP mix scares me. Hopefully the game isn't filled with griefers.

[Wizardry]

Does Wizardry count since it is free?

I started P90X on December 19th. My specs at the time were 5'10" tall, weighing 199 pounds (The heaviest I have ever been, because of fat, not muscle), my waist was about 36".

I have followed the recommended workout rotation (With the exception of Yoga X, that shit is 90 minutes long, so I subbed in Cardio X). I am now on day two of week 7, or 44 days into the 90 days.

I am down to 185 pounds, and I have packed on some muscle. I still have a bit of a spare tire around my lower stomach, and I know I can lose at least another 10 to 15 pounds of fat.

As for my diet I haven't followed the P90X plan of High protein low carbs, but I have upped my protein intake, reduced my carbs, and cut down to drinking beer just 1 or two days a week.

I will post my results of the second 45 days after I get there.

Ok, I generally DESPISE JRPGs, so the fact that I HAD to have this is all on Studio Ghibli. It sounds like their influence might get me through it 

That said, should I try to track down the guide? I plan on firing this up this weekend with my two daughters in tow.

I'm playing it without the guide and I'm not having any trouble. If you want to get everything out of the crafting you may need a guide, but you can probably use the internet for that.

This type of movie was only watchable when Leslie Nielson was the lead. Somehow he was able to carry the movie.

Some thoughts after 6 hours (just got to Al Mamoon):

The bad
-  Probably the only RPG this generation that I honestly cannot think of a negative thing to say about it.  Been racking my brain...nothing comes to mind.  That's a good thing.

It's a trivial thing I guess but I wish the spoken audio was more consistent. The english voice acting is quite good and I find myself not pressing buttons to skip though the dialog. However, there are times when text boxes will appear along with the spoken audio and then will stop and all you get is just the text boxes. It would enhance the immersion in the game if the spoken audio was heard through all the text box sequences. Like I said, just a trivial thing to me. Otherwise, it's a fantastic, cinematic game.

I made a similar comment earlier and stand by it.  I played a couple more hours this weekend and routinely was distracted by the switch between spoken and text dialog.  It creates a discontinuity in the immersion for lack of a better term, and I find it hard to believe there wasn't enough room for the dialog on a blu-ray disc.  I think they incorporated numerous languages, maybe that was the issue.  As for the game itself, it still hasn't grabbed me the way I hoped, but certainly seems promising. 

After playing it for over 20 hours I'm on board with this complaint. It is the only complaint I have for the game. The voice acting is so good that the beeping text can take you out of the game. Everything else is so good that I can easily overlook it though.

Shortly after reaching Al Mamoon you'll be able to take a set of trials that will allow you to start training familiar. You're almost there.

Yep and the game eventually opens up so you have three party members, each with three pets. It's not overwhelming though.

I'm now well over 20 hours in and the game continues to stay charming and completely interesting.

I dare you to make it to Fairy Isle and not be completely in love with everything that happens there. (I'm being vague so I don't spoil it, but trust me you will know what I'm talking about when you get there).

5:30pm-7pm, play with kids, give wife a break from kids

~6:30pm-7:30pm, cook dinner, eat dinner, clean

7:30pm-9pm, more playing with kids

9pm-9:30pm, prep kids for bed, read bedtime stories

9:30pm, omg free time.  Option A) squeeze in video games, movies, tv, reading.  Option B) fall asleep