I really wish Deus X: HR wasn't first person. I'm getting tired of hearing how great it is, but knowing I couldn't tolerate it being in 1st person.

Starting playing Darksiders II. Death is WAY more fun to control than War. He's fast as hell, and climbs walls like a freakin' monkey.
The game is fun, with all sorts of rpg-like trappings. This is another dark Zelda like the original was, but with some great new(I think?) features. There's tons of equipment(loot) to find and play with, magic, secrets galore, and you actually get experience points for every baddie you kill.
The graphics are kind of weak compared to most top tier titles now, but I quite like the art style. Music is good so far, too.
My only real problem has been the clunky frame rate and load times. For some reason the game is played off the disk. It never installed to the HD. I wonder why that is. Anyone else play the game, and have the same issues?

I just find her attractive in a non-Hollywood sort of way. Her boobs are really secondary. And I....think......that Christina's are a bit bigger. I presume that's the joke?

And, yeah, Dice, I remember seeing that Quest for Camelot. Not good at all.

Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist -
There's not much to say about this one. It played out pretty much exactly the way I thought it would. It's a silly, but kind of fun hipster kind.of movie.
Michael Cera plays Michael Cera in every movie he makes. I'd like to see him not play Michael Cera.
Kat Dennings is totally yummy, and a decent actress, so her presence made this worth watching.
Not bad. Not great. Just a simple movie with some fun parts and some ridiculous parts. I'd probably only recommend it if you are fond of either Kat or Michael Cera playing Michael Cera.

Knowing -
What a horrible film. I couldn't count the amount of times I facepalmed while watching this.  We have all this scientific jargon being thrown around, but zero logic being used by those doing it. And no real good explanation for ANYthing.
And why are all the actors/actresses in this so wooden and awful? Even Nic Cage playing Nic Cage seems off. The kids are especially hard to watch.
The whole thing with the sun was just so assinine that I had to stop myself from laughing out loud. Somehow the whole collective scientific and astrological community missed what  John the college professor puts together in a matter of minutes. Riiiiight.
And what's up with that ending? What the hell were those dudes? Angels? And please don't tell me those were supposed to be arks? 2 of everything? GAG.
I really can't think of anything redeeming here. I guess the cg of New York burning up was kinda cool. But that's about it.  To think that Roger Ebert gave this dreck 4 stars. What the hell, man?!

Secret of Mana wins on soundtrack alone.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQChkLQV8_c&list=PL9B1F4546776E26A4

I played it when it first came out, so I may a bit bit bias, but I adored the game. Like a lot of SNES games, it still looks decent today.
Never played co-op despite having 3 brothers.
I never played a Kingdom Hearts game, but watched my wife play through 1 and 2. The battling seemed to be the best part.

Bolded for emphasis. I agree with this, which is why I am on my way to becoming a Master Gardener. I get to share what I love with a huge swath of the populace I never had access to before. Very exciting.
I find it's important not to go overboard, though, or people will just think you're a know-it-all. We're all pretty bad ass at something. It's all about HOW we choose to share(or not) that knowledge.


Tomara, you're post kind of saddens me. I recall, in the rare picture or two you've posted of yourself, you being a perfectly pleasant looking lady. That society would make you, and many others(including me!), so self-conscious about themselves is such an unfortunate thing. Personally, I far prefer the non-doctored, more normal looking poses, for these types of things. I'd like to think I'm reading from the mind of a real person, not a construct.
I say this, but I also have issues with sharing pictures of myself. I was bullied also for many years. Being a skinny little geek who sucked at sports made me an easy target. Throw in horrible acne all the way through college, and you get the picture. It all made me extremely skittish about presenting myself to people. To this day, even though I am much more confident in who I am, I still don't like using my picture anywhere. Like on FB or other social media sites. I always go with some image that represents something I like or find cool rather than an actual photo.
It's really hard to break out of the habit of self-deprecation, but I encourage you to just go ahead and post up a regular photo of yourself. Perhaps one with you smiling if you have one. I think you'll be surprised at how people react, if they do at all.
The gamer scene can be pretty cruel about some things, but also surprisingly accepting with a lot more.

I have 2 brothers that work for a high end audio visual company. One's a programmer, and the other is an installer. When I was looking for a new TV a couple years ago, I asked them for advice, and then blatantly ignored it. lol. Then they come over and laugh at my setup(but still admit I got a decent TV). Kind of like how I can go over to their homes and critique their yards, Everyone has their specialties. Sounds like you know what the heck you're talking about, D. How long have you been doing the installer thing?

Finished Dead Space 3 last night. Took me just under 30 freakin' hours! That's crazy for a game like this. The first two were both under 20. I liked it well enough, but it wasn't as good as the first 2. Less horror, and more action kind of dulled the experience. Plus the story was lame as hell. It's a solid 7.9 kind of game. I'd probably get any DLC that comes out, though.
Darksiders 2 showed up in the mail yesterday. I'm not sure if I want to start it right away, or whittle away at games I was already playing before. I'd like to go back to Xenoblade, as well as 999. We'll see.

A History of Violence -
A great movie that would have benefited from another 30 minutes to answer all my questions! I was surprised when it was over, as I had forgotten about the relatively short run time.
What's here, though, is quite riveting.
We have a quintessential family man with his beautiful wife, played fantastically by Maria Bello, and 2 children. They live in a small town where everyone knows each other and takes care of each other. Tom runs a local diner.
The movie sets all this up so perfectly well. I was really wondering when and how things were going to go bad, as the title suggests.
Well, Tom foils a robbery attempt of his diner, becoming a local, and national, hero in the process. This triggers the arrival of some old friends who set the REAL story into motion.
Viggo is amazing here. He plays an everyman perfectly, but is also believable when he is forced into a different role.
I just wish the movie explained that role a bit better! So much is left to our own imagination that it really kind of hurt the story. I like it when a movie allows for interpretation, but a little more back story would have been nice. Same thing on the ending. I have a hard time accepting what happened and the end result. It was like I was suddenly watching Liam Neeson in Taken.
I have more spoilerrific thoughts and questions, but I'll leave them out for now. If anyone wants to chat about it let me know.
Overall, a fantastic film, with terrific acting,  that really left me thinking.

Driver -
The opening of this movie is amazing. The mood it sets, the mystery, the driver. I was hooked from the start. It kind of reminded me of a Michael Mann film. Collateral in particular, which is a very good thing. The movie manages to keep this mood for a respectable amount of time before falling into all too familiar, and oddly violent, territory. If only they had elected to stick with what they started with. Feels to me like they(the director? producer?) lost their nerve, and shoehorned in the tried and true for fear of losing their audience.
Despite this, Driver still ends up being a pretty darn good movie. I loved the "feel" of the movie, from the lighting and cinematography, to the soundtrack.
Ryan Gosling, who I've barely seen on film due to him doing nothing but garbage films, plays stoically menacing really well here. Almost too well at times.
Carey Mulligan is the requisite love interest, and plays her part just fine. I'm not too fond of her as a blonde, though.
It's when Albert Brooks and Ron Pearlman's roles expand that the movie starts to lose it's way. Both play stereotypical roles that each of them have played numerous times before. I was bummed when I realized where the movie was headed, as I didn't think it was THAT type of film.
STILL. This is worth it for Goslings Driver, some great chase scenes, and just see get a look at a well made film.

I actually am thinking about getting the PS3 Trilogy and doing the same thing. My 360 tried really hard to ruin my experience by corrupting save files left and right. I had to fly through 3, missing a bunch of side missions, because of it. I'd be happy never to use my 360 again.

I rarely bother with DLC, but I'm tempted to pick this up.
What is Cronos Station? Another DLC? What do you mean by everything possible? In the normal game, or including extra stuff? So should I not bother with this if I've never played through any DLC content?

I haven't commented in this topic in a while. My reading has been all over the place.
I read Titus Groan, which was fantastic. I want to read the next one, but I've heard the first is the pinnacle of the series. I have tons of questions, though! Anyone else around here ever read this book/series?

Finished Sandman Vol. 5. Not the best of the bunch so far, but still interesting.

I'm now reading Sword From Red Ice by J.V. Jones. Third in the (horribly named) Sword of Shadows series. Damn good writing in these. Great, very real, characters.

Feels like I'm getting closer to the end of DS3, so I was thinking about what to play next. Go back to Xenoblade or try something new? I checked my wish list on Amazon, and saw Darksiders 2 selling for only $25.95 w/ free shipping. Sold! I liked the first one, despite never finishing the final area.  The sequel sounds like a lot of fun.