Gonna add in a bit of spicy two cents here: play Dirge of Cerberus! After beating original FF7, of course, since it’s a direct sequel. I played the game for the first time a few years ago, thinking “lol i bet this sucks,” but it’s really fun! It’s got excellent graphics, gameplay that is certainly KINDA fun, and a…

Curious as to why they partnered with IATSE instead of other large unions. Nothing against IATSE, it just doesn’t strike me as the intuitive choice for this type of work and industry! In America the more obvious choice would have been like, SEIU or CWA. Of course, as a Teamster, I think they shoulda gone with the…

Unfortuately we all have a lot of work to do to get there. Even if, for example, Bernie Sanders had won the presidency, it would have been a long and difficult struggle to pass M4A (as he often said in his campaign speeches, his election would be a step in that direction, not the final victory). People talk about how…

Will, this is a phenomenal piece of writing. My only complaint is that I wish it were even longer--while your main points are sound and cogently explicated, there are a few cans of worms that remain half-opened! Specifically the idea that using algorithms to basically decide which areas of the game are “worth”…

I AM SO BEYOND EXCITED.

This Sunday's game ended in a 1-1 tie.

This is only somewhat related, but: PROTIP:

one more absolutely essential follow is @webbedspace. it's basically a joke account, except all the "jokes" are descriptions of weird archaic mechanics or levels in made-up videogames. they're usually really funny, but sometimes they're also legitimately brilliant ideas!

woah... i'd never considered the incarnation-rejection angle before! i mean, i've long considered bird jesus to be the "body" of the helix. perhaps the helix is meant only to provide wisdom and guidance, as his earthly vessel bird jesus provides physical strength. thus, actually reviving the helix is a violation of…

ehhhhhhhhhh. idunno. i'm always extremely underwhelmed by these "music game" hybridy things. I mean, straightup rhythm games (rock band, Um Jammer Lammy, etc.) are fun, but games that try and mix music and game i always feel do neither very well. the musical aspects are always sooooooo rudimentary. like, the majority…

The tank class gets a rocket launcher that can lock on. A locked-on rocket will keep chasing an enemy player if the tank player keeps tapping the firing button to the beat. (Harmonix rep John Drake joked that we could think of them as "beat-seeking" rockets. Don't joke, John Drake. Name them that!) The tank's…

I certainly agree that if you look at it from a certain, sorta-strange angle, FFXII could definitely be considered the best game in the entire series. Some days I see it from that angle, but other days I go back to loving VI and IX instead. But yeah, FFXII is fantastic.

While I wholeheartedly agree with all the points here, there's also a big reason NOT to be excited: the music in FFX has been redone and it sounds TERRIBLE. Well, I haven't heard the whole soundtrack, but in one of the trailers I heard the new battle theme, and it's been completely ruined.

as far as the intimidation goes: the job system is really not scary at all. there are a lot of options, but you don't need to worry about them right away. what you should do is just pick jobs that look fun... and then go with it! try, for example, a Knight, Ninja, Black Mage, and White Mage. then just play the game…

hey, can I say something to you for a sec? I don't mean to be overly critical, but I just have a bit of a correction I'd like to throw your way. your introduction into this conversation was that "she has a boyfriend," and I want to suggest that that's not the way to step into a conversation like this (even though it…

i don't know what the hell i just read but Morle, you're awesome, and Dyram, i guess you're awesome too? you can sure play a convincing scumbag at least :P

BEES!??

The structure is weird, but it's explained at the beginning. Collins helped with the entire article and all the information in it, but yes, this is really just an essay *structured* as a Question-and-Answer (because that's a way to make it easy to understand), and at points we get an actual quotation from Collins

amen

i think the game is *brilliant*. the concept is fantastic, and over the course of many, many versions the balance and meta-systems have been refined so that they are super tense and work really well and fairly. HOWEVER: it is also a very difficult game which requires lots of careful thought, and it tends to be very…