Categories
Tabletop Games

Finally some goddamn action

Being the unrelentant D&D nerd that I am, I frequent a number of webcomics, of which Order of the Stick is one of my favourites.

For the last I can’t remember how long, there hasn’t been a decent amount of action. The occasional fight here, and the mediocre chuckle there, but nothing has stood out as freaking awesome since the fall of Azure City.

That is, until Haley gets attacked by some old buddies she left behind. Even so, it seemed like things were going to be less than stellar until Belkar got in on the action. That halfling makes this comic.

If you’ve wandered away from OOTS lately because it just isn’t the same, then I suggest you start with the latest scene, or if you’re really impatient, jump to the really awesome bits 🙂

Categories
Video Games

Auditorium

Auditorium is doing the rounds at the moment, and I figure I’d jump on the bandwagon. It’s being compared to a number of previously innovative Flash games, but I don’t think it matches any of them except in its luminescent visual aesthetic.

I love these kinds of games. They challenge us to rethink what we think a good game is. There’s an elegance to the bare-bones approach that Auditorium and flOw that force you to think solely about the gameplay. I won’t deny that I enjoy exploring an immersive gameworld, but there’s something even more addictive about being presented with a simple situation, a mechanic that allows you freedom to explore your own solution, and being left to your own devices.

Maybe that’s because I view a lot of games as puzzles first and interactions second. Whatever – I like ’em and think you should too. I’ll fork out for Auditorium either on XBL or iPod Touch.

Categories
Movies and TV

BSG 4.5 trailer

No commentary on this just yet. It’s just a teaser, and there’s no real information that I managed to absorb to say what they intend to do with the conclusion to what is probably one of the best sci-fi series in a long, long time.


I think I’m going to organise a marathon rewatch soon. Anyone interested?

Categories
Video Games

Rockin’ the suburbs

On the weekend, I invited a bunch of people over for a Rock Band party. While the main aim of the event was to have fun and play the game as a group, I was also interested to see how it would all perform in a group of mixed skill levels, musical taste, and musical ability.

Overall, it was a pretty good success. Everybody had some form of experience with either musical performance or rhythm games or both (well, almost everybody). That meant we were all able to jump in straight away and play the songs we wanted to.

Continue reading “Rockin’ the suburbs”
Categories
Reviews Video Games

A whole new Experience

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ll know that Microsoft released a major update to its dashboard system yesterday.

While some people are experiencing some hiccups, my experience last night with it was generally quite good. I’m not going to do a blow-by-blow because plenty of other sites have previewed it. I did have one issue: it refused to ask me to upgrade on my account, but the minute we switched over to Flip’s, it presented us with the familiar upgrade dialog.

Anyway, once we got through that, we spent at least an hour making our new avatars and taking photos of them. We’re having trouble getting Lego Indiana Jones to play properly, so we installed that to the hard drive, and it works a treat.

One thing I did notice that may give you a shock the first time you encounter it is that it won’t play movies that use the additional codec pack. A quick trip to the Marketplace to re-download the pack sorts the problem out though.

One thing that I find disappointing is that Microsoft hasn’t found a local partner to do video rentals, like they have with Netflix in the US. While I wouldn’t use it that often, I might consider it more seriously if it were available.

So what do you guys think of the New Xbox Experience? Any horror stories yet?