When we arrived at the office this morning, we decided that we no longer had any affection for the comic we had written on Friday. We made a new one instead, pulled from the VGAs. The original strip did give us another idea though - something we can extend in a delicious way, stretching it out not unlike a Caramello. Over the Christmas Holiday, we'll investigate it in greater detail.
- When The Witcher originally came out, I didn't really have the hardware to do it justice. This was compounded by technical problems, which the developer has done their best to boil out in this year's "Enhanced Edition" of the game. Without deep knowledge of the original, I'm not entirely certain what was changed. The script only occasionally bears the artifacts of translation, and much of the voicework is actually quite good. I'm also unfamiliar with the series the book is based on, so I don't know if it manifests the same genuinely sumptuous "Fantasy Noir" vibe. What I know is that its nasty urban fantasy with its racial realities, its filthy dwarves, and its elven terrorists really works. It is an uncompromising role-playing game in an ancient style, and I'll be very interested to see how many of the old brutalities they retain in their console release.
I bought it on Steam without thinking, because, well, I buy things on Steam. That was dumb in this case, because the physical version (which is the same price) comes with a wheelbarrow full of Goddamned treasure, like a book and a CD and a map(!!!). I'm willing to pay a kind of "convenience charge" for home delivery of the product, I consider the bits themselves more or less par. But now that I own the game, and like it, I do wish I'd opted for the version that came with all the treasure.
The only thing that makes me stop playing The Witcher is the instability, which I guess is a kind of blessing. Each night, when it crashes for the second time, I know it's time to hang it up. Stability concerns pierced Oblivion for me, and the joy it once inspired ran in a milky stream from the wound. The Witcher has become a kind of race for me, now, to complete the game before the game itself strips my resolve.
- In Gears of War 2, the A button controls running, taking cover, moving from cover to cover, dodging, and now, taking a hostage. This is too Goddamned many things.
- With two and a half weeks left to go in the official drive, Child's Play has cracked a million dollars in toys, games, and cash (which will be transformed, via capitalist sorceries, into toys and games shortly). What could I possibly say that this weird, almost stupidly large number does not communicate?
(CW)TB out.