So how many times do they call the protagonist M. Bezzle in the game just to illicit a "so bad it's good" laugh from the player?

Couldn't agree more. One of my favorite aspects of Diablo 3 is how absolutely visceral it felt to play. That aspect was super necessary to anchor the player, as continuous mouse-clicking could otherwise cause a major disconnected feeling. The sound design was paramount to achieving that visceral feel. Kudos…

Arkham suburb.

I'm excited for the new Superheroes sets. The toy store I work at on the weekends finally got the current sets in, and staring at them all day every Sunday is causing serious detriment to my mental health. The Wolverine set that comes with Deadpool and Magneto minifigs is the stuff of dreams. I can't wait to see…

Oh man! Dino Riders were awesome. I only ever had one as a kid though. I remember my parents having something against them, like saying they were too expensive or something. I don't remember the details exactly. Anyways, I love this meme image because I don't think whoever made it knows what the picture is…

The cartoon-toy cross promotional machine of the 1980s was the bane of my parents existence . . . but it's the stuff that fond memories are made off. I can still recite the opening lines of the Visionaries theme song from memory. Also, the opening song of the GI Joe movie is incredible.

Did I just read "Battle Beasts"? Like adorable little rubber cyborg animal figurines with heat-reveal stickers on their chests Battle Beasts? Like "I found half a dozen or so of them in a box in my attic and would give anything to still have their lil' weapons" Battle Beasts? I love those toys. Could I have more…

The Mars Matrix piece takes the cake for me. Now I have to go home and play that after work. SO MUCH GOLD.

You forgot to promise that you'll make Aaron Sanchez cry when you mention your mother.

Generally the Gelflings from Dark Crystal just remind me of Steven Tyler.

That's amazing. What anime did you touch on?

Hmmmmm. It has to be ridiculously long too. I'm gonna go with, "From Fanged Poles to Disease Ridden Holes: An Examination of the Move from Vicious Phallus Imagery to the Womb as Abject Void in the Science Fiction Films of Ridley Scott."

You're not kidding about the urge to return to the lovely grad-school practice of thinking way harder about topics than is of benefit to anyone. Over the past few weeks, I've been ruminating on writing up a piece on Prometheus's use of the vagina dentata, and how it represents a bizarre shift from the Alien film's…

Official site is up:

Yeah. It's always fun to try and make semblances of other characters in Phantasy Star games. My main melee character in Universe was a slender, silver male Cast who I tried to make as similar as possible to the ninja from Metal Gear Solid. I picked the one-eyed face option, named him Gray Fox and everything.

I'm so glad someone beat me to the punch on this reference. That movie was goddamn insane. I wonder if "the flower to disappear" will make a triumphant return. The bizarre thing is, with Del Toro producing, the reference makes perfect sense, as the original was a Spanish-language (not sure if it was Mexican or…

Oh I definitely hear you on the multiple unnecessary characters thing. I require BARE MINIMUM a male and female Cast, and a Female Newman. The character builder is just too much fun in the Phantasy Star games to have just one.

I had a friend who is currently playing the Japanese version tell me that PSO2 is "basically everything she wanted when PSU was first announced." This is someone who I played at least 500+ hours of the original PSO with, so such a statement does not come lightly.

Definitely worth getting excited about. Now I just have to get the 3DS to play it . . .

Well that is fantastic news. I did NOT know that. Thanks for the update. I'll keep my eyes peeled for more news on it.