Choffy

Will it have a trillion transistors now?

1. Stroll to Best Buy around 12:10 to see if my preorder is still there. If so, pick it up and go to sleep.
2. Wake up and see if my Amazon pre-order is set to arrive on launch day (which it should, since I ordered the Watch_Dogs Launch Bundle).
3. Check eBay to see if I should return one of sell it.
4. Either return one of them or sell it.
5. Enjoy.

It's been a little over five hours since I have finished the game, and I am so emotionally drained that I can't truly relax and fall asleep, so I'll chime in with my two cents here:

Joel is perhaps the most sympathetic dick in the history of entertainment, not just video games. Winter emotionally drained me, and I was physically drained from being so on-edge the entire last hour of it. And even though the two narrowly got out of the situation (again), it was obvious the roles had changed as soon as Spring had started and Ellie was so distant. Joel had grown to love Ellie, while David had forced Ellie to be shown true horror.

One thing that I feel is overlooked in Ellie's "transformation" to happy-go-lucky girl to hardened woman, was that during her encounter with David, her fear she mentioned to Sam had come true. Before he (assumedly) tried to rape her (after all, one of his henchmen told Joel that Ellie was his new "pet"), she was truly alone in this world. Despite Joel being on the brink of death for months, she had someone to come back home to. Without the knowledge that Joel was ok, and while trying to narrowly escape a harrowing fate, Ellie transformed into what Joel use to be.

Meanwhile, Joel transformed to the hardened man who would do anything to survive, to the hardened man who would do anything to keep Ellie alive. After Tess, she was his lone bright spot in this otherwise destroyed society, and it's understandable why a man would be selfish in trying to keep the one thing he had left in the world (his complicated history with his brother destroyed their relationship), even if it put the future of mankind at risk. He is a man who was driven by loyalty to those he cared for (destroying his relationship with his brother ("I kept us alive." "It wasn't worth it."), promising Tess to finish the job, etc.).

Someone on these forums pointed it out before (sorry for not giving you credit, you mysterious person), but it was a great point: Even though Joel knew Ellie wanted to finish the journey (no more half measures), she would never known she they had reached the Fireflies, and she would have been the cure. Her last memory would have been of Joel trying to save her as she drowned, and I think that is part of the reason he was so adamant about getting her back. To our knowledge, they never discussed what would happen if Ellie's death meant a cure, so he made the decision for her, for better or worse. In my eyes, at the end of the game, she knows this, but accepts the decision he made (and the lies he tells her) because she knows it was all to protect her life.

This story is so perfect on so many levels. For the first time ever, after showing her the prologue, my girlfriend would actively sit down and be interested in what I was playing. She would say "I don't like this game," but she would keep watching. It's a haunting love story of a man and a girl, and one that I hope will leave it's mark on the medium for years to come.

(Sorry if it's rambly. It's 2:38am and I'm tired.)

@kevin_cogneto: @jsnyder82: @judakel: I forgot to add one crucial point during my post: tip outs. It differs per restaurant, but at mine, we tip the expeditors and bussers 4% each (so 8% of our total tips), and also tip out a certain percentage for all of the alcohol I sell per shift. I appreciate how much easier they make my job and gladly pay the money at the end of the night, but assume that 10% of your tip you leave the server isn't actually going to the server themselves. That's why an extra dollar or two really actually does help.

And also, I work three nights a week (Friday from 4pm-11pm, and Saturday and Sunday 10am-8pm). So I sit at around 25 hours a week.

I'm biased towards this question since I am a server, but I view anything less than 20% as a bummer. I'm a senior in college and can only afford to work weekends (even during the summer with my unpaid internship). Being a server means I have no idea if I'm going to make $30 a day, or $130, so I average it out to about $200 a week to live on. It's not easy, and for the average table (let's call it a $40 bill), the difference between 15% and 20% is $2. And, after maybe 10-15 tables a shift, an extra $2 a table adds up to an extra $20-$30 a shift, meaning I could budget for $300 a week. Not an insignificant.

Being a server is a lot harder than people think. Remembering the demands of 5 different tables all at once can be overwhelming and tough. "Table 1 just sat down so I need two iced tea's, a kids chocolate milk, and they all want waters that they'll never drink. I also need to bring their bread on the tray too because they don't forget about that shit. Table 2 needs two boxes for their food and I need to try and sell desert because an extra $8 on their bill is an extra $1 or $2 for me. Table 3 is fine for now. Table 4 wanted more bread and some extra ranch for their pizza. And, oh shit I still need to put in Table 5's order." And that goes on for five hours. And if the kitchen isn't on their game and the food either comes out slow, or just isn't that good that night, it's me who loses more money.

I'm venting a bit here. But seriously, guys. It's an extra $1 or $2 from you that really could make a server feel less shitty. Man up.

It's ok, buddy. I can't get into video games any more at all. I have no desire to play for more than an hour or two a month any more. They all just kinda suck to me now, and I'm totally ok with it.

@msavo said:

They updated the score to an 8, for what it's worth.

I spent around 3 hours a few weeks ago figuring this out, and I got it to work. For those who care, here's what I did:

Started creating a PSN account like normal until it asked for my address. I spent a good 30 minutes trying to figure out how to properly input a UK apartment complex address (it's insane just how different our mailing addresses are, and figuring them out when they aren't labeled was damn tough), but once I did I was in. After doing all of that, I went over to the Store where I tried purchasing a 12-month subscription. Though, when I entered in my credit card info (MasterCard), it asked for a billing address and it wouldn't accept my US address. Understandable. But I was determined, so I went to GAME and bought a digital code on their website. At first I tried to use Paypal as my form of payment, but after logging in it said I couldn't buy this product in the US. So I went back to my cart and entered my credit card information. It took a few tries to get things to work, and after an annoying 5 minute verification process, the code was emailed to me.

TL;DR: Find an apartment complex address. Enter it. Go to GAME.co.uk. Buy this. Enter the code. Download way better games.

@xyzygy: Some people (like myself) vastly prefer controllers over mouse and keyboard.

I'm finally excited to try my first Diablo. I've always been interested in the series, I've just never wanted to try it without controller support.

It's alright. My favorite has always been the "special edition" theme though.