Architecture

Polygon has always been hit or miss, and they managed to ruin The Interview with an alarmist headline prior to the film's release. Regardless of one's interest in the film, it's a bad way to do business. I also find Ben Kuchera nigh insufferable, even if his editorials have unintentional comedic value. I'm a fan of Mr. Klepek's writing, but I've always avoided Kotaku for the aforementioned reasons other people stated in this thread. Unfortunately, his migration isn't likely to get me to change my habits. I do wish him the best, however.

Well... Gamesindustry.biz, Euro & US Gamer are the best places to read anything about games at the moment. Between that and my podcast subscriptions, I've got all I could ever want.

ALIEN will only appeal to you if you're both a fan of the film and stealth games. If either of those sounds unappealing, you can wait for a bigger price decrease. Finally bought Metal Gear Rising and Road Redemption. Might pick up MGS5 if I'm feeling cheeky tomorrow.

Quit Rodkin the boat.

I don't mean to imply that his decision to leave was precipitated by any tension behind the scenes--I was surprised that he stayed around as long as he did after losing his father and moving back to Chicago. I just always got the impression that he and Mr. Gerstmann were on opposite sides of the spectrum and sometimes their discourse seemed a little awkward to me. Either way, I've enjoyed his opinions since they first popped up during the 1UP Show's twilight years and I'll miss my semiweekly dosage of him and Alex Navarro dissecting the industry.

So I just replaced the CPU fan in my mother's laptop, which crapped out last week. Nothing like miniaturized computer repair to get the blood pumping--that shit was like bomb defusal.

Yes, but I think it's important to remember that many westerners had yet to be introduced to balletic martial arts action sequences. Even The Matrix, as essential to defining the language of modern action cinema, was released concurrently with Episode I. Though I suppose that's really just an aside.

So uh...my uncle (in law) has been arrested on charges of possessing child pornography. Merry Christmas, I suppose.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon came out more than a year after The Phantom Menace. Yes, TPM is undoubtedly influenced by Wuxia films, but you can't lay this at the feet of Ang Lee.

I want to also throw my hat in for Monoprice. I got some nice-looking fluoro green SATA III cables for all my devices a few months back; wired up three storage drives and an optical drive for less than $10 shipped.

I've been here almost nine years. In that time, I've seen the city change a lot. The traffic is one of the main reasons I feel like I need to leave. I just hate driving so much and everyone here drives terribly. The cost of living and housing continues to skyrocket, and yet very little is improving. I just feel suffocated--I'm ready to live somewhere quieter for a while. But I will say one thing--today I learned that I'm as fast as Lance Armstrong:

Um. Is the entire game a musical?

The details were bloody but seemingly bullshit, but I don't really feel like fighting them on it. They're paying me two weeks severance plus all accrued vacation time, which sees me through to the end of the year. I'm going back home to see my family for the first time in over a year, and I might extend that beyond the week I had planned. There's also been discussion of me moving back to Arizona to regroup. I've kind of fallen out of love with Austin, and my dad runs his own business and desperately needs help. Also, he's getting to the age where he'll need someone else to take over at some point if the business is to continue. It's not particularly rewarding work, but it makes decent money and it would be a way for me to stay afloat and reassess my life while I plan for the future.

I don't think I can, not if I got fired. One of the managers at the company had been out for blood since mid-September, so the whole job situation was just this slow-motion trainwreck that finally came to a stop. I was massively unhappy in the position anyway and had been filled with anxiety for months and months, so getting fired--shitty as that is--was more of a relief than not. Luckily, the bike is okay. A few adjustments and a replaced water bottle and I was out the door for less than $150. I'll just let the lady right me a check and not bring it to the insurance company. It'll keep her record clean and probably bring me some good karma; I could easily recoup three or four times that if I filed a claim. I plan to go riding later tonight, but I'll wait until traffic has subsided a bit, should make it a tad bit safer on the roads.

What in the fucking world.

So uh...this doesn't load.

Alright, I'm going to give this game another go. I tried twice on PS3 and just could not get hooked. Picked this up as part of the Far Cry franchise pack over the BF weekend. Currently installing. Third time's the charm?

I think physically I'll be okay, thanks guys. My legs are quite sore, but the swelling's gone down on the points of contact. The woman basically stopped when she realized what was happening as I furiously pulled on the brakes (she turned left in front of me while I was going straight. The woman's agreed to pay for any damages to the bike. I have her insurance info, but I might just let her settle with me outside of making a claim just so it doesn't fuck her insurance. Though I'm of two minds of that. I'm still undecided on that front, I guess. Hopefully the frame is okay. It's a carbon fiber bike, which means that any frame damage would necessitate replacement. I've got the shop looking it over now and they're supposed to call me later today with the butcher's bill. I haven't been sleeping well at all this week and this just made things that much worse. I want to crawl into a hole and emerge in the spring.

So I got fired this week. Don't really want to get into the particulars, but suffice it to say that being fired sucks enough. Anyway, today was my 30th birthday. I generally hate birthdays and I think my mom was feeling bad for me, so she secretly paid off the bike I had on layaway. That was an amazing thing, but it made me feel guilty. But whatever, I should just appreciate it and not let my guilt get in the way of a good thing, right? Well, on the inaugural ride, I got hit by a car. Fuck today.

I'm going to have to disagree with your assessment there.

Time for some more ALIEN: Isolation screenshots:

I think I prefer AC2 to Black Flag, but those are definitely the pinnacles of the series. The story is nonsensical to the point that even if you have played the preceding games, it still makes no goddamn sense.