@thesinginghatchet: What video is it from?

I'm sure that's the case for the actual participants of the race, but for those watching, it's hard to catch all those minute details.

I finally got tired of being left out of the cool kids group, so I bought me some Portal (1). I'm about an hour and a half into it and I'm really enjoying the deadpan puzzle action. However...

@azurianlight: Indeed. As the Pixar movie "Cars" highlighted, it seems spectators can mostly ignore the first 499 laps of a race, as it all boils down to the last lap.

@TwilightSea: I hear you. SC2 can feel inordinately competitive sometimes. I find PvP with friends to be quite fun, though, if you've got any that play (or you convince to play).

@Odin: I don't know if you're a fan of Husky, but you should watch his "Husky vs Pros" series (which currently only has one so far). I found both his casting and the games themselves to be very amusing. The premise is that Husky plays 3 games with a professional player. For every game he loses, he imposes a random…

@AgentSmithAndWesson: I miss Julia Ling. :( I know her in real life, and she's a pretty cool gal.

@JesusChrist:

@Rhapsodos: The thing about religion is it's usually not just a set of morals or ideals; it's a completely worldview, a way of life. It's really supposed to affect everything. If it gets compartmentalized into a corner, it has lost its significance and meaning.

I agree for the most part. The jump from 16-bit cartridges to CD-ROMs was huge, and the games reflect that. All of a sudden you could render "impressive" (at the time) 3D graphics and cinematics, and just store a lot more data. The problems I sometimes had were that games could feel bloated and unnecessarily…

Definitely, and that's what I love about CT. It doesn't force you to grind for hours, like some old Dragon Quest games (although some people enjoy that).

Ah, Soul Blazer! Totally forgot about that one. Thanks!

Agreed on all points. Man, they had some incredible RPGs during the SNES era. Super Mario RPG, Secret of Mana, Terranigma, Zelda, EarthBound, Lufia. I know it's not just nostalgia either, because I think most of these titles stand up pretty well even today, and that's saying something. Maybe several things.

I wonder, is it possible to ever completely stop pirates/hackers?

Ah, good old Dragon Warrior, my very first RPG. I remember grinding on it so much in order to buy the best equipment, and being deathly afraid of venturing out into new territory—I remember running into a Demon Knight and getting my 8-bit ass handed to me on my own Full Plate armor.

Fair points, big man. Thanks for the clarification. I'll stay tuned, because your unique approach intrigues me. Unfortunately I can't benefit much from your latest blog post because I haven't played Mass Effect (insert exaggerated "where the fuck have you been?" comment here); however, by happy coincidence, I recently…

All things go, all things grow. Chiddy and Sufjan

First, I applaud you for doing something for the sake of doing something, and for encouraging intellectual development. Great.

@BigManMalone: Is your contempt for the general Kotaku populace and self-admiration meant to be humorous, in the "philosophy is for pretentious douchebags" sort of way? If not, that sort of attitude, which may be somewhat justified, nevertheless discourages me from actively participating in any sort of dialogue.

@fdisk: Is there any game that has changed its core gameplay mechanics within the same game? To me that sounds odd. No matter how many updates Team Fortress 2 gets, it will always be a team-based first-person shooter. If suddenly it became a sidescrolling action game, I'd probably be pretty upset.