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Well the basic problem is NO ONE ELSE seems to be doing anything regarding the corruption and it's obviously there to various degrees. I personally wouldn't mind having an organization focused solely on that, that's divorced from the feminism / misogyny issues, but best I know, GG is the only game in town. To be fair, a lot of the feminism thing comes from the concern that a lot of that media corruption was due more to ideological reasons, rather than greed. See, much of the backlash isn't necessarily against feminism as a concept (in fact, most GGers I see discussing the subject specify that their concern lies with the modern "third wave" feminism, rather than the core concept. Specifically, the sort that push concepts like trigger warnings, microagressions, and stuff like that), it's against the concept of the news losing objectivity due to pushing ideology. In fact, that's what kicked off a lot of the whole thing, as it all started due to controversy around the game Depression Quest. This game was a free choose your own adventure sort of thing made by a woman named Zoe Quinn that was available on Steam, which received a lot of media praise despite a lot of reviewers finding the game fairly mediocre, and a poor interpretation of depression. This wasn't really a big deal at first, though, until a post came out from Zoe Quinn's now ex-boyfriend that accused her of infidelity. Specifically, infidelity with a number of men, some of whom were game journalists related to article that praised her game. This is where things started to get a bit crazier, with people accusing the journalists of favoritism and the like. Now, most Anti-GGers are quick say that actual relationships involving the journalists were fabricated or taken out of context, which I personally can neither confirm or deny. However, even that wasn't what really kicked things off. What really set up the conflict we see today is the slew of "Gamers are Dead" articles that came out as a result of the controversy. These were a series of articles that all came out on roughly the same day that all accused the gaming culture as being sexist and misogynist and all sorts of other "ists". Naturally, gamers took issue not only with the accusation, but also with the fact that all of these articles came out at roughly the same time. This was in fact what lead to the discovery of the GameJournalPros list. Basically, this lead to a lot of GG supporters becoming super paranoid of feminism and other social justice-y folks, due to how seemingly widespread this ideology had become among the games journalists, and conversely, from how quickly gamers were thrown under the bus by these journalists, and the whole industry suddenly appeared to become hostile. Additionally, a lot of concern comes from the perception that a lot of modern feminism encourages censorship in games, with a lot of vitriol being pointed at Anita Sarkessian and her supporters. Specifically, GG folks tend to take issue with the idea of political correctness stifling free speech in gaming (as well as other media). Basically, a lot of GG's objections against feminism mirror similar objections to the videogame violence moral crusades of the 90's and early 2000's. Well, that's at least from my perspective, at any rate. As far as outright blatant misogyny goes, though, I don't usually see it very often in the more active GG communities. I don't doubt there are a-holes on Twitter or whatever who might be (while claiming to be GG supporters), but that's a sad aspect of almost any groups, honestly (like those people that convinced Joss Weadon to quit Twitter over something they deemed offensive in one of his movies). That's not excusing it, of course, but I simply don't like seeing GG being painted as this weird monolithic group due to the dickishness of some people.

Just sitting here listening to this on repeat forever is surprisingly relaxing. You know, in an insane sort of way.

For non-American countries in the Fallout universe, the only one I had any real inspiration on was England. Personally, I think Fallout's England would be stuck in the early 60's, as opposed to the U.S.'s 50's. Specifically, they would be super into that whole mod scene. Basically, I would expect it to be very similar to We Happy Few. My logic from a Doylist standpoint is that 60's England is a lot more iconic than 50's England in terms of nostalgic perception. As for in universe why it would be that way (as opposed to the 50s) would be that England would have been somewhat less restrictive than the U.S.'s (who would have probably kept out a lot of such influences, especially since they come from not-America). But then again, I don't really know much about modern European or English culturally development, so I don't really have a good platform to explain it on. I just think it would have a more iconic feel compared to other post-WW2 eras.

Well, it really depends on what you liked about those games. Personally, I would say that it's a solid and measurable step beyond 3, but kinda a side step from NV. For the good: The combat is fantastic, the exploration and world design is fantastic, the companions are all pretty memorable, and the story seems to be a good step above the story in 3, at least as far as I am aware thus far (having not finished it yet). Not sure if it's as cohesive as NV's though (if you can consider that game as having a story, technically). The story involves 4 factions that are all pretty evenly balanced in terms of good/evil, and provide a lot of interesting hard choices, from what I've heard. From what I can tell, the different factions are even more balanced than in NV, since the Legion leaned far too evil in that game. There's a faction here that definitely also leans that direction, but I would consider them far more amicable in comparison. Overall, the story has so far struck me as fairly engaging, and I am interested in seeing where it leads (which is far more than what I could say for Skyrim). For the bad: The new dialogue system is pretty universally reviled, or at least, tolerated at best. In turn, a lot of conversational depth has been lost. You won't get the huge walls of text in NV, but it's even limited when compared to 3. To be fair, it's not like they skimped on dialogue. It's been said that there is 111k lines of recorded dialogue, surpassing both 3 and NV combined. But the actual conversations are more shallow. Additionally, all speech checks are purely Charisma based, and are percentage chance. While this does at least make Charisma finally a useful stat, a lot of folks miss the other stats also influencing dialogue. There's also complaints of the dialogue options being vaguely worded and kinda limited (Often amounting to Yes, No, Sarcastic, or Question). Furthermore, some folks don't like the voiced protagonist, as they feel it takes away from role playing. The acting is not too bad for the most part, but people tend to not like those sorts of changes. Also, the skill system from 3 and NV is gone, and is replaced by a tiered perk system, similar to Far Cry, from what I hear. It's not entirely a step backwards, though, and I find that it works well and actually makes every SPECIAL stat worthwhile for once. However, some people do miss the more traditional skill system. Another common complaint is that the side quests are kinda limited, and often amount to, as the phrase goes, "Kill. Loot. Return." (a line from the game that you come across). The side quests that are there are pretty cool, but a lot definitely find it wanting. Also, there are a series of radiant quests related to settlements that drive people kinda crazy since you often get them assigned automatically, and they are generally timed missions, meaning that you can fail them and have bad stuff happen. Hopefully that will be patched at some point, though, since it's a little ridiculous. Also, settlements are kinda a love it or hate it sorta thing. They can be a little frustrating to built, especially because you often can't remove crappy old buildings or shrubbery and stuff (and you can't really build around them well either), and object placement is just kinda a pain sometimes. However, if you like that sorta thing, they almost completely change the game dynamic, and makes scavenging a ton of fun. Overall, I really enjoy it, and do consider it a jump forward on Bethesda's part in relation to 3, and definitely an improvement over the direction they were going with Skyrim (at least in my mind). Or as some consider it, two steps forward, one step back. But still definitely a lot of fun and definitely a worthy title in the franchise, I would say.

I honestly thought that when Newell said that, he meant they wouldn't put a *single* person on it, so I 'unno. He makes a good point, though. There's no reason to make it if there's no incentive. And I bet they just have that single person sitting at a computer typing "Half-Life 3" into a word prompt over and over again. I mean, hey, it's Valve, they have the money to waste.

1920x1080, as usual.

Oh yeah, I hated those puzzles. Lol, hope you have prior knowledge, or else your screwed. Didn't the 2nd game actually start with that one? Awful. And while I remember it, one thing I didn't like about the cost-per-puzzle mechanic was that the value was always the same (assuming you didn't fail it). I kinda wish they added a time component to make it more of an interesting score, and to keep the joke going.

Aw hell ya, Grickle is just the best thing. My personal favorite animation in that series is Far, far, far, away up North. Just the beautiful insanity of it warms my heart. It's not something that relies on vulgarity or gore or offensiveness to be off-putting. In fact, it's totally innocuous and innocent. And just friggen bonkers in all the best ways. Hell, they should make a Puzzle Agent cartoon series, especially now that Twin Peaks and Fargo have come back. I will say that I did like the sequel, although it got a bit confusing and rushed towards the end. That bit with the Russian woman who also loved puzzles had me in stitches, though.

This may sound weird, but I swear that Leia reminded me of Hilary Clinton. I don't mean that as like some sort of political knock. Just that I got a Hilary Clinton vibe from her. Something about the facial structure and older look and all. And I actually really enjoyed Finn's character. That whole vaguely incompetent hero thing was actually pretty endearing. Like some normal guy who just keeps getting roped further and further into the insanity. So how long until we find out that he's like Lando Calrissian's son or something? I kinda hope that's not the case, though. I'm tired of the same group of families basically constantly roping the whole galaxy into their chicanery all the time. We need more newcomers. I mean, heck, what are the odds that Rey is Luke's daughter? I definitely got that vibe (although ditching her on a desert planet somehow would make Luke a worse dad than Han was, so that seems odd. But then, maybe he just considers it a family tradition at this point). Also I was so-so on Rey. She was kinda obnoxious some of the time ("Don't take my hand", well what would you he rather do? Shove you away? Let you get exploded. It's a crisis situation for goodness sake. I get that it's meant to be an establishing character moment, but it's still kinda obnoxious). But overall, her character did prove to be fairly interesting. And I can't wait to hear more from Bo Derrick or whatever the pilot guy was called. He definitely had that Han snarkyness to him. Also Han was great. Not that it even needs to be said. But it does, because he was great. As for the over-reliance on Star Wars pandering, yeah, there was definitely a lot of that there. Sorta like how the 2nd Abrams Star Trek movie literally re-did the ending to Wrath of Khan (but reversed). And yeah, they didn't really explain why Luke is so key to all of this (other than the fact that he's Luke Skywalker and all). I'm honestly surprised that they had him in this movie at all. But at the end of the day, I thought that at the very least, this movie got the tone pretty right. Much closer to the original trilogy than the prequels were. I mean, yeah, that's partially because it basically was a repeat of the original trilogy, but I'd say it still counts for something. It does make me look forward to the sequel at least. And the Rifftrax commentary! And to be fair, it wasn't just another Death Star. It was a bigger, solar-powered Death Star. That looked totally cooler when they blowed up that planet that could be seen from that other planet somehow. Also, it was also a planet. So that seemed cool too.

I think that was the point of his character, trying to live up to Vader's name but failing, and that's one of his struggles. Oh yeah, I totally got that. He's just so doofy while doing it. But I guess that makes sense, as he's really working to capture Anakin's whiny-ness. At the very least he isn't quite that lame, so maybe there's hope for him yet. Also, do you think we will get a movie about the jedi-academy and about how he destroyed it and all? A sort of pre-sequel, if you will? I really hope not.

I thought it was pretty hilarious. Kylo Ren is such a dork. A total Vadar fanboy. As soon as he took off that mask, I just couldn't take him seriously anymore. Still a great movie though. Really enjoyed it. Interested in what they do with the sequels.

I am in agreement, at least for what I've seen of it so far. You wouldn't believe how I've seen some people act about it though. I've actually seen folks argue that Fallout 3 or Skyrim had better plots and factions and stuff than Fallout 4. Like, NV is a fair argument (although you could argue that NV didn't really have a plot, and was more of a setting sorta thing), but Fallout 3? I usually defend Fallout 3, but I can't deny, Fallout 4 has been a huge step up in terms of plot and factions. I honestly don't get it. (As a side note, while I haven't gotten far enough to judge, I'd say that story wise, I actually might like this story more than NV's. Mainly because NV didn't really have a story. I mean, you have the NCR/Legion/House conflict, but really, 90% of that was laid out in the first town. There wasn't much in the way of mystery or intrigue in that game outside of maybe getting to meet House and Benny. That and the whole Ulysses thing, but that was more in the DLC, and still kinda on the back-burner, even. Here, I've played for like 100 hours, and still have no clue what the Institute's deal is, or how all the factions will eventually interact with each-other. I'm finding it pretty engaging, plot wise. We will see if that holds out, though.)

Keep going on the main quest. In a Bethesda game? That's some strange advice, but alright.

Oh jeez, that's actually pretty dark. I wonder what you could compare the other factions to. I just met the Railroad and haven't found the Institute yet (although I think it's supposed to find me), so I can't wait to make some connections there.

What do you mean, "now"? I mean, they were kinda like this in every game but 3. I was referring to the east coast chapter specifically. I know that this behavior is more in line with the west coast chapters, although they were way more isolationist. I really don't see them ever spreading out militarily like this BOS is doing. Plus, the "kill all (non)humans" rhetoric seems a lot stronger this time around, although I know that the other chapters practiced it as well. Also, do we know how widespread this chapter is? I've only read the terminals in Prwyden, but just from that, they seem to be spreading pretty dang fast.

So, almost 100 hours in, and I finally got to see the BOS's main base. You know the one. So friggen cool. And also, so much loot. It's a shame the BOS are all nazi-y now, though.

Just a request, but if you put up spoilers, could you hint at what they relate to? Seeing a spoiler box drives my curiosity crazy, since it could be anything. As for the game, I've only been able to put in about 30 hours so far, and I still haven't had even a whiff of the main story yet. It's great.

So, having warded off the Apocalypse, I've been able to play the game a bit more, and have begun to realize that there is a major problem with it. And that problem is that there aren't enough free hours in the day to play it. Gah, lousy stupid work and lousy stupid thesis! Also, as a side note, do you think that this would count for Ross's desire to see more Halloween games, what with all the decorations laying around?

So I finally got it after wasting half of my day off waiting for it. Turns out that Fed Ex Express takes longer than regular Fed Ex. And man you won't believe the trouble I had to go through just to play it. So once I downloaded it, first thing was that it kept crashing on startup. But that was a quick fix, just download new graphics drivers. Easy. Next, it recommended Ultra graphics. Sweet. So I start playing, have a fun time, spend an hour in character creation, and then bam. Computer shuts down mysteriously. I freak out, because it won't turn back on, and I'm terrified that something got fried. Long story short, it was just a simple overheat, and it worked after a few minutes. No big deal. So I turn down the graphics to merely High and continue on my way. Well, not much longer after that, the power goes out. For like half the city. It was at this point that I began to think that someone, or perhaps some thing, didn't want me playing this game. Anyway, once the power came back on, I spat in the face of the cosmos and continued playing on my merry way, ready to brave any sort of disasters or nuclear Armageddons likely to show up next. Thankfully, nothing new has happened yet. As for actually playing the game, I've played for about 5 hours now, and have barely left the starting area. It's honestly kinda overwhelming, and I'm a bit off my groove since enough mechanics have changed that I can't rely on old habits anymore. So it's pretty fun as a new experience. Also, I am really enjoying the new radio DJ in this game. He hasn't given many news announcements, yet, though.... And surprisingly, I've been hearing a lot of repeat music already, which is weird, considering they really upped the song count in this game. Ah well, 5 hours isn't really enough to judge. I'll come back with a new update in another 50.

I know the feeling. I still don't even have the game yet, let alone any sort of pre-load or anything. And from the sound of it, I might not even get it until tomorrow, even ignoring download time. I'm jonsing, man. It aint right!

Thanks, although I'm almost slightly regretting it since I won't get to even start downloading it until tomorrow night. Man, getting through work tomorrow is gunna be awful. Luckily, I have Wednesday off. Assuming that the bloody thing ever ships, since it still hasn't done so yet. Also, TFW your name isn't on Codsworth's name list. Gordon Freeman is, though.

I was a sucker who got the Pip-boy edition, so now I gotta wait for Amazon to move their hinders and get it shipped to me. I was kinda hoping to get it Monday so I could play it that night, but it looks like Tuesday for me. Plus, all that loading. Gah! Oh well, I'll just have to take Wednesday off work instead...

Well, I haven't had anything charged to my account yet for this month, so I'm assuming that we won't see the monthly donations roll in until next week or so.

Braid is a terrible example, it had like a 200k budget. Fair enough, I don't keep up with industry stuff or the particulars of game development, I'm afraid. It was more just to point out that there is a wider range of possibilities between just pixels or fully rendered 3-D. How about "The Bridge"? Similar sort of point, a 2-D game that doesn't use pixels, and I don't think that had as much of a budget. Basically, I'm curious about how much more expensive/time consuming it would be to use pixelated art vs. non-pixelated art, unless it was purely related to the skill of the artist.

I can agree with this sentiment. While the pixel style in this game is really very solid, it can often detract in other games. Saying that the only choices are pixel graphics or fully rendered 3-d graphics is a bit of a false dichotomy. Just regular two dimensional rendered animation is just as acceptable. Look at something like Braid, for instance, which still manages to look great without needing to be 3-D, but without also having sudo-retro pixelation.