My problem is finding a good place for the mouse. I can play games at my desk, but then it's too much like working! I want to play while sitting in my comfy chair and drinking cocktails and half-watching TV, but that means putting my mouse on the armrest, which makes my wrist hurt. Ugh, adulthood.

Is that a real thing? I love that.

Also, relevant to the article: my sister and I are going to start playing D&D, approximately 20 years later than we should have started. Evil games like D&D were not allowed in my house as a kid (although we somehow got away with video RPGs and Magic: the Gathering). What should a first-timer know?

This weekend: New Vegas! I am really enjoying this. Working with the different factions is much more satisfying than a binary morality meter. My main complaint is that the basic rule of "shoot back and people who shoot at you" kind of chooses your faction alignment for you — at least to the point where I am. Still…

Apparently Tecmo Secret of the Stars came out in North America in 1995. Has anyone played it? Is it any good? It might be the only SNES RPG I haven't played.

The only thing stopping me from replaying it now is my panic that I won't remember what to trade for in the Bazaar.

I loved Secret of Evermore. It was the first RPG of any sort I ever played, which may color my opinion. But I thought the writing was clever, the magic system was… interesting (if flawed), and the soundtrack was great. It's not an operatic, melodically memorable score like FFVI or something, but it's ambient and…

Don't forget you can throw an egg at your kid if they're too high in the air to reach with your tongue.

I STILL haven't beaten some of the bonus levels in Yoshi's Island.

What's this about hopes and dreams? I'm old enough to have forgotten what it feels like to have forgotten what it feels like to have hopes and dreams.

Oh man. What an incredible year. I remember renting a PlayStation from Blockbuster that fall, and playing Battle Arena Toshinden and Mortal Kombat 3 — not too many games out at that point.
This was also the year I bought Earthbound, in the giant box with the strategy guide and the scratch-and-sniff stickers. I was a…

One thing has always bugged me about this movie: what the hell is Renee Zellweger doing with her hands in the poster? That is not something people do with their hands.

Someone with your name should appreciate the value of a long, well-told tale.

Ha! I put off listening to the Replacements for years, because despite reading about them and all my hip music friends telling me I should listen to them, I couldn't bring myself to listen to the band who performed the Friends song…

Same here! Except not getting drunk, because it was Bible College. And without the roommates, because they were off campus secretly getting drunk. So just playing Goldeneye by myself. But pretty much the same!

You have really sold me on this. I relent! I'll buy it!

Is, say, 5 points a feasible starting point for strength? Or would you go higher?

I had to take a special trip back to the Depths to farm humanity from the rats there. Probably worth it to get enough to kindle the bonfire closest to O+S, and I bet you'll find more summon signs there too.

I've always found them in the bonfire room nearby. I think that each summon also increases boss' HP, so if you're summoning both Solaire and another player it might be raising their health to unmanageable heights. My strategy is to just hope for another really good player!

I'm glad you kept going, because now it gets really good. I love FF4, but it hasn't aged that well. It was groundbreaking and great for its time, but when I play it now I'm just trying to relive my memories, rather than enjoying it on its own merits.