So true. I was going to play all-Renegade this playthrough and I just couldn't do it, because the Renegade choices cross the line into Stupid Evil and then keep going. ME1 Renegade Shepard isn't just a renegade and he isn't just evil, there's seriously something wrong with his brain. Derp Shepard actually would…

Literally every time I order from GOG, I have to call my bank and confirm the purchase. I hear the same spiel every single time I call: "they're based in Cyprus and it flagged as a questionable transaction." I don't know if it's because they've got some bad neighbors on their ISP or if Cyprus is the online…

Stellaris - I said it before, but there really is no midgame here. I'm actually amazed at how static it is. I'm easily the largest empire (partially because I've overexpanded just to have something to do) and part of the largest, best-armed Federation, we're peaceful so we aren't picking wars and nobody's fighting…

I will add it to my list as well. Thanks again!

Thank you for your reply! It's always interesting to hear about these low-visibility, high-implication aspects of our entertainment from someone who actually knows something about them.

Also, @ChumJoely:disqus, how many times have you heard that joke? Used that joke? Do you have any friends in the business who reached the rank of Colonel in the military? Etc. etc. etc.

I haven't played ME:A but I had the same thought. I remember e-mailing my brother during my first ME1 playthrough, "Dear game-named-after-an-antigravity-element: why doth my bouncy tank bounce so bouncily, forsooth?" or something similar. I'm replaying ME1 now and ay ay ay…

You're a linguist? I'd love to hear about games that stood out to you as interesting specifically from that standpoint. It seems like the sort of obstacle that most games just ignore or skirt around as quickly as they possibly can.

That seems like a very clever idea for a children's book, but whaaaaaa…? I felt like I'd taken some drugs I didn't know about just reading that mythology.

The moment I saw him, I wanted to hear about Office Space. His stories did not disappoint—but then again, none of his stories disappointed. Great read.

“I sentence Michael Diggs to 10 years in the state pen! Next case!”

At first, my friend and I were overwhelmed by all the possible character builds, but so far it seems to be simplifying pretty nicely by the chars I have available, and especially at the * level needed to maximize the inherited skill. In other words, I can come up with a lot of imaginary combinations that blow my…

Mass Effect - It's embarrassing, but I'm actually stuck on a battle (with the pod people and the permaclone Asari on whatever-world-it-is, Fyros I think.) Every time we all start shooting, the masses shoot only at me and I drop like a rock. If they divided the damage with my crewmates, I'd be fine, but nope, bullet…

I chuckled at "look like they’re made out of bowling balls."

Right, so Reality Bites gets name-checked two or three times in the article but not included? It was the very first thing I thought of. I mean, The Crow, Romeo+Juliet, Mystery Men and The Net are all great suggestions, but seriously, go read the Wikipedia page for Reality Bites and tell me it isn't pure,…

NOT THE BEES!

See, I'm the exact opposite. My tolerance for gore and black comedy has lowered as I've aged, but I can still flip any part of that movie on at any time and enjoy myself.

I certainly hope so. I do worry, however, that for a certain type of person, people simply noticing them will be reward enough—and that that type of person will always be with us.

Everyone who downloaded a text of this off of Usenet in the early 90s, say "nay."

I can't get behind that particular line, but I thought his larger point about our attitude towards terrorism changing a great deal more than we tend to think was a trenchant one.