I go to a lot of internet marketing conventions for work as an exhibitor. Basically, you stand there for 6+ hours and try to get people to talk to you. It's a less male-dominated sector thank tech, so booth babes aren't quite as prevalent, but lemme tell you, there are always a few there, and their booths are the most popular. If you're like me (just some fat guy with some business cards and basic swag) it's hard as hell to get people interested in your booth. Companies invest a lot in trade shows, and they result in tons of good leads, so I don't begrudge any of them using paid models as a means to return on that investment.
Like everyone else, I love Hamill's joker, but man does he look creepy now. Something about those eyes... He'd make a good dark-skywalker though if they decided to make episodes 7-9. They'd have to get Lawrence Kasdan to write it for it to be any good though...
You know what this says to me? This says Msoft is starting to work on a new console, build primarily around natal. We've got, what, two years left in this console life cycle before new systems drop? If you're using one core, build a new box that has like 12 cores to support. My guess is natal will be tested on 360 to start, and within a year of that, it'll be spun off into its own console. The new console won't have the hardcore fanboy connotations that the 360 has, so Msoft can really aggressively tackle the Wii audience with some new fancy cuddlebox 360.
"I went to a place recently I’m
convinced is the most fucked up,
crazy place I’ve ever been to. It’s
a little place called...
Cold.
Stone.
Creamery."
@Jennacide: Considering all of the "meet the videos" and the games themselves are computer generated images, I would argue they have more of a CGI feel than a comic book feel.
Also, There are some characters in The Incredibles with regularly proportioned anatomy (frozone, nearly all background characters). In TF2, the scout is overly skinny, the soldier and demo's shoulders area are exaggerated, and the sniper is too wiry. These don't look like people, they look like cartoons (because they are).
And more than cartoonish features, many characters in TF2 do cartoonish things. Look at any of their dialogue or note the soldier rocket jumping a hundred feet in the air in the "meet the" video.
There are more similarities when it comes to soundtracks and throwbacks to the '50s as well.
For the record, I love both them both.
@Xiatter: Huh never thought of the Trigun thing before, but that is a damn near perfect comparison.
@ShaughnTr0n: Nobody is saying they "stole" anything. Inspiration can come from many places, and I along with many of my friends thought of "The Incredibles" as soon as I first saw The Heavy in action. He's big and smooth and muscular and cartoony in a bright red outfit. TF1 looked like typical action game crap, the unique art style in TF2 didn't just materialize out of thin air, that's all he's saying.
@zåɳzißarleɠёпȡ: My Orthodontist had a little "arcade" in his waiting room with 3 free games for kids to mess with while they waited. It was Zaxxon, Ms. Pac-Man, and MOTHER!@#$%%^^& TOOBIN. Great times playing that game, my teeth screaming in pain, while my siblings took their turns getting their braces adjusted...
I might catch a lot of shit for this, but I actually really liked Hit & Run. Sure it was a weird fit, but it was decent enough design with just enough show references to make me giddy. Do games have to innovate and further the genre to be fun? Sure it was a GTA ripoff, but how many other GTA ripoffs have been any good? And it REFERENCED the fact that it was a GTA ripoff, so I don't have a problem with it. Plus, sometimes it's nice to play a great concept like GTA without all the bad gay-bashing jokes and over-the-top violence.
Man, that sucks for Cone-Zone. Though I have to say, I haven't watched him much since he moved to LA. I just can't seem to tune in to any TV at that hour, and end up catching Fallon instead (who is surprisingly good, despite my initial hatred of him). Maybe if he's on at midnight, I'll start watching again. I just wish Jay Leno would go away already though...
This is easily one of the best TUD's ever. It's a tossup between:
1) I left Kingdom Hearts on pause for 2 days while Sephiroth had one hit left before he died so I could prove to my friend I could beat him
2) I left Sonic the Hedgehog 2 on for a weekend because I had to be somewhere but was on the second to last level. When I came back, I died anyway. I never did beat that game legitimately...
2 in a week? You poor bastard. Worst that happened to me was we adopted a dog, fell in love with him, and then found out that 6 weeks after having him, he developed terrible bowel cancer and had to put down. I feel for you.
Kick ass idea McWhertor. Also, Heroes is terrible, I sat through three seasons of that crap for like 2 minutes of collective awesome. I can't imagine if I had to sit through commercials for those 3 seasons, can't really blame these people...
Sad news. I've had to put two dogs down in my life, but I refused to be in the room for either one. Just something about watching your pet die that I can't do...
"Tend to the widow Pac-man."
Also, Shasta is SO good. It's the best thing you can buy at a dollar store.
No lie, for Christmas I got both Rock Band AND Guitar Hero boxers in tins. They make this shit so people who don't understand your hobbies have useless crap to spend money on in December.
DAMMIT! I'm on vacation in Canada until New Years, and I heard about this through a friend. Went to buy it on xboxlive.com at the discount price so they'd be ready to download when I got home, but msoft wouldn't authorize my credit card via their website (keep in mind I've used that SAME card to buy about $300 in msoft points over the past 2 years on my xbox). Totally. Screwed.
Jeez, I love the Beatles, but Paul is pushing 70 now, these can't sound good as live tracks... can they?
The whole thing about westerners being more DIY is true to an extent, but you still get the crazies with bottomless pockets here. I have a guy who spend $200 on a single contact lens and near $1000 online for a shirt or something to be a guy from Naruto. Me, I spent 20 bucks to make a crappy Henchman 24 Venture Bros costume once, so it goes both ways.
Two things:
1) All during the ending battle and especially the final showdown between Jake and the General, all I could think of was how much it felt like a video game. The bad guy who refuses to die despite multiple easy ways out, leading to a "final form" and an intense hand to hand battle, with cutscene-esque breaks in the actual action to move the plot forward a step or two (breaking the glass of the science pod)... probably the most video game-like battles I've ever seen in a movie.
2) "a nearly priceless element unironically called Unobtainium..." I had heard that this is actually a joke by Cameron, as unobtanium is an actual word used to describe mystical sci-fi crap minerals. Apparently, he knew what he was doing, but the whole movie is so devoid of humor, the audience (myself included) misses the joke completely. I'm not saying that it excuses the problem, but I don't think it was unironic.
