I totally agree about the enhancing quality of having to use one's imagination in older games. It's like watching old sci-fi with shoestring effects, or a lesser version of good old reading. At the same time, when the second disc gave me a montage that covered years of plot and just plopped me in the final dungeon, I…

You are not changing any minds about millennials here, friend.

I couldn't take Mabel because she's Mrs. Garrett from Deadwood in Nucky's photo in the first episode and I just couldn't deal with it being someone else, even though I imagine that actress is a bit too old to play Mabel at that point in time.

There's a game that needs a remake. Why do people always remake things that were perfect the first time? Well, obviously the answer is to capitalize on the known popularity of the property. But let's pretend for a second that the quality of the content is the primary concern. Xenogears had a fascinating story and some…

Yeah people are rating Various Positions higher than Recent Songs? Various Positions was totally hamstrung by disastrous production choices, and is above only Death of a Ladies Man for me. Recent Songs had that lovely violin. And The Traitor, which is an all-time favorite of mine.

They're all worthwhile. "Various Positions" and especially "Death of a Ladies' Man" are bogged down by some questionable production choices but still contain great songwriting. I'd probably save those for last, depending on how much you think you'd be able to block out cheesy synths and tin-can choruses. I reccomend…

Also worth pointing out that Baker's "indomitable" speech was granted a lot of weight by the fact that the Doctor was usually pretty terse and stingy with praise, particularly where humanity was concerned. We were just coming off the Third Doctor who was defined by his exasperation with human failings and his…

Kevan was perfectly cast, though. I was worried he would be recast when the role became more prominent. I'm glad that doesn't seem to be the case.

I think it's a great crib from Tom Baker, and I like that it hammers home the "I'm not your boyfriend" thing. He not only isn't flirtatious, his understanding of human attraction is purely academic.

I say bring back the Rutans! The best thing about the Sontarans was always that they were more interested in furthering their war with the Rutans than anything the Doctor was doing. That was their defining trait initially and the new series needs to bring them back to that if it wants to use them effectively again.

My least favorite part of the Doctor/Donna relationship: every episode they had to go on about how they weren't a couple and weren't attracted to each other as though that was SO BIZARRE. Why can't it just be a non-issue? I am gonna pissed if they somehow shoehorn some of that bullshit into this season after they…

At least they're FINALLY undoing it. I had given up hope that they ever would, and it ruined the show for me.

No, it was worse with Rose because the Doctor reciprocated. He was IN LOVE with her. It's one thing for a human to look at David Tennant and know intellectually that he's almost 1000 years old but still be attracted to him because that knowledge is abstract. It's another for the Doctor to look at this being that is…

I don't have any problem with either actor's acting chops. In particular Smith's ability to seem old while looking was indeed remarkable, as you say. However, I had fundamental issues with the characterization of the Doctor in the new series that were significant enough to be deal-breakers for me. I'm cautiously…

Full disclosure: I am one of those crusty old fans you've heard about that could just never get into the new series. Lord knows I tried, but youth (even if great age is projected underneath it as I concede Smith did very well) and angst are just not characteristics of the Doctor as I see him. It's funny you mention…

He's always comically (or sometimes distressingly) disoriented right after a regeneration. Then we get to see him get his shit together and get a real sense of what the new Doctor will actually be like. I'm confident 12 will be much more the Doctor of the latter part of the episode going forward.

This was especially interesting to me, since I am an old-school fan who jumped ship because I couldn't stand the sexy geek Doctor. I'm only now giving it another chance because they're going more for the throwback approach. It was kind of funny seeing them constantly projecting "No, it's okay, he's still the Doctor…

Especially because of how terrifying she was right then. My first reaction was "Oh man, I wanted more of crazy-tentacles in-a-pool Ming-Hua but after a second I appreciated how much they sold that Mako wouldn't have survived for five more seconds if he hadn't done that. The brevity of that sequence actually increased…

Does anyone know enough about electrocution to say how likely Ming-Hua's survival is? It seemed clearly and brutally fatal to me but everyone else seems to think she survived it.

Oh I absolutely still dig turn-based combat, but that particular formula which Final Fantasy exemplified has passed its expiration date. In a vacuum you might even say that FFXII was a more successful game than FFVI or FFVII but the difference is innovation. FFVI and FFVII were the cutting edge of RPGs and everyone…