Lamashtu

Being a lover of Bullet Hell 'shmups (yet my skill at the them equivalent to a cocaine addled orangutan jamming the joystick up his ass), I bought DoDonPachi: Daifukkatsu for my iPod touch and am having a blast. It has one of the most rocking soundtracks I've heard, and any game that has something that's as beautifully ludicrous as a mecha that transforms into a giant schoolgirl is a winner in my book.

Right now, I'm looking for some iPhone games that have a Japanese flavour to them, seeing as the other indie games and cash-ins on console franchises are sort of turning me off (though if there were the first 2 Fallout games in the app store, I'd jump on them in a heartbeat). Any suggestions?

We're unfortunately entering an age where the recommended set-up IS the minimum requirements. Chances are if you're playing with the minimum requirements on the box, the game will crash on the more resource heavy portions of the game.

When you still had to earn achievements to earn class weps in TF2, I was an unabashed achievement farmer. I could care fucking less about those achievements and anyone who thinks that some of those achievements are remotely reasonable (ubering a scout and getting 3 assists, killing 100 people as a Heavy while underwater, taunting as a spy after backstabbing someone) needs to get help.

In some RPGs, I'll play around with console cheats after I beat the game for real just so I can see everything the game has to offer (if you have the PC version of Mass Effect 2, playing around with the save editors will be worth your while). And when I'm playing the commentaries in the Half-Life 2 episodes, I'll turn on God Mode so I can listen to how the game was made in peace.

http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-sf2p/v338/38/48/24696272074/n24696272074_952584_5568.jpg

The Dave, Mike, and Vinny Quick Looks are among my favourites on the site, likely due to their penchant for ambitious, quirky, offbeat, and niche PC games hailing from the former Communist Bloc (or parts thereof). Which got me thinking about some Quick Looks I'd love to see from them.

-King's Bounty: Crossworlds: If you thought the three couldn't Quick Look a game that's even zanier Mount and Blade and Flotilla, think again, as this article from the fine folks at Rock, Paper, Shotgun can attest to: http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2008/10/02/kings-bounty-my-zombie-wife-the-belt-odoom/

-The Void: Like Cryostasis, it's an utterly weird, but eerily beautiful game with an unconventional, yet thoughtful plot (and it comes from the Ukraine as well, bonus). This should be right up Dave's alley.

-Digital Combat Simulator: A-10C: Considering the hilarity of Dave and Jeff's utter cluelessness with how to approach ArmA II, this should be worth some laughs as well when you consider that this is a game where you have to spend at least 5 minutes to start up your Warthog before you taxi to the runway! On the plus side for them, if the developers are to be believed, Dave should be able to fly an actual A-10 Thunderbolt if he masters this game at full realism.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSIGzDMJ-ik

What additions can you think of?

I actually really liked the Library level in Halo 1. Playing it co-op against hordes of Flood, surviving those moments when 343 Spark left my friend and I alone, those glorious sentinels coming to our rescue when we had a sliver of health left and a single shell left in our shotguns (which was an utterly fantastic weapon back in the day), it was Left 4 Dead seven years before Left 4 Dead came out.

And give it to writers at Bungie who came up with these level names: "4th Floor, Hardware, Guns, Keys to Super Weapons," "But I Don't Want to Ride the Elevator!" and "Wait, it Gets Worse!" 

I have a hard time imagining the reasons a PS3 owner would want to hack their PS3s' firmware outside of piracy. If you want something that runs 3rd party software, guess what? There's something that not only allows it but actively encourages it and we've had it for almost 30 years. Know what it's called? A PC. 

Keep in mind that I do see a distinction between the case of hacking a PS3 and a PSP or iPhone. A PSP and iPhone differs in that it's portable and it allows most of the functionality of a PC or a substantially more expensive laptop in a much more ergonomic package.

You know, comic book fans seem to take Garth Ennis' (The Boys), Pat Mills' (Marshal Law), and Alan Moore's (Watchmen) deconstruction and/or mocking of superheroes in good grace. Why can't most Star Wars fans? Most of the guys I know who're really into Star Wars fluff dig Traviss' stuff.

Smart money's on an Inquisition-based faction being the the next race in DoWII, given the end of the Chaos Rising expansion and the fact that the "I" in "Retribution" resembles the insignia of the Inquisition.

As per usual, Blizzard always says that their games come out: "when [they're] done." 
 
Unfortunately, Bobby Kotick himself has said that it will be out this year, with Mike Morhaime of Blizzard feebly saying: "We're on track." 

(Source: 

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2010-08-05-confirmed-cataclysm-out-this-year) 
 
Irvine is about a three hour drive from my apartment in Isla Vista, so I heard a collective "Ay Carumba" around the same time Kotick made that announcment.