Lysergica33

Mostly what Giant Bomb is doing, and various Gamespot content.
I like informational stuff, but I also like banter and hijinx. I couldn't really care less about human interest stories and more emotional reaction pieces for the most part, and I'm beginning to actively avoid anything political. But that's pretty much why I come to Giant Bomb, the balance is nice and for the most part there is no preachy content.

This is all so goddamn dumb. This right here is one of the biggest problems with the games industry, or at least with Microsoft.. All this fucking double speak..
"We got paid lots and lots of money to tell you what a great xbox experience this game is going to be for xbox one and xbox 360 on the xbox platform for microsoft's xbox division... At least until it comes out on PS4 and PC and looks, plays and feels exactly the fucking same."
No-one is fooled by this. Yet they still do it anyway? Who the fuck gains from any of this nonsense?

If you look at all the bits of social commentary throughout the game, primarily using Ellie as a vessel for that, it seems pretty clear to me that a big part of the message of the game is that we don't necessarily deserve to be saved.
Why should we be? So we can just get back to the point where we place all the importance on things like what skirt matches those shoes, to name but one example of Ellie lampshading humanity's silliness in "Joel's time."
Humanity may be scrabbling to survive, but there is at least something very pure about that. Kind of stops people from getting too big for their boots, y'know?

First time I played through it I believed it to be selfishness on Joel's part, and while I didn't think it made him a bad person or a bad character (quite the opposite on the latter, instead I think his obvious flaws enrich his character deeply,) but after my last playthrough on the remastered version in the last couple of days I view it quite differently now. It seems to me that the cordyceps levelled the playing field in nature. Humans don't dominate the world anymore, instead they're actually in somewhat equal standing in the grander scheme of things once the infection happens.

So, while Ellie may well be the saviour of humanity, does humanity deserve it? Does humanity NEED to be saved? I mean yeah, having to fight every day to even survive is pretty lame to us sat here in our comfy houses with our nice food and stuff, but... Is it? Through the course of the game, Joel and Ellie both find something worth living and fighting for in each other. Ellie helps Joel atone for the sins of his past and find peace, and Joel finds someone to protect, to care for and to nurture. These things struck me as infinitely more noble than wanting to eradicate the thing that has brought some semblance of balance back to the earth. So yeah, I dunno, I'm not going to say that Joel did the "right" thing either.. But I think I ultimately sympathise and understand the drive behind why he did what he did and the fact that the game has given me so much to think about as an extension of what is essentially a fairly simple character interaction speaks to the quality of this game.

Yeah, both of my DS4's have had this quality. They need to use a thicker material I reckon. I have zero issue with the controller aside from those. Left stick on both of them too, seems to be fairly common.

Aylaqruh:hurqalyA [Otherworld] - 9/10

Deeply symbolic animated wizardry with sacred imagery and alchemical allegories abound, set to audio from a live concert by what became of the instrumental side of Mr. Bungle after Mike Patton went off to be a gloryhound. If you either have a thing for idiosyncratic pseudo-biblical allegorical tales, stop motion animation involving goats or are generally a bit of a fruitcake, you'd probably enjoy this. Highly recommended.

Minecraft is probably the last thing a guy who's going through depression and anxiety should be playing due to its hyper-addictive nature, unless our man here is good at moderating his intake. As a duder who has seen his fair share of depression and anxiety, I found the amount of time I spent on minecraft only ever ended up exacerbating the issues. It's too easy to totally lose yourself in a Minecraft binge and forget to take care of yourself in the real world. YMMV I guess!

Goat simulator perhaps? Or if you're not easily offended and are down with some seriously low brow humour, Postal 2 is great fun in a goat simulator kind of way. Skyrim is pretty brainless if you approach it in the right way. Just wandering around and seeing what happens can be the right blend of engaging and distracting. I second all the recommendations for Diablo 3.

Too many straight up great films in this thread.

Morning, and in the summer I'll sometimes have a wash in the late afternoon/early evening to freshen up a bit, since I don't use deoderant or anti-perspirant. I'd rather sweat and stink a little than block up my pores. In the cooler months it's not really an issue. Always morning for showers though.

Diversity for the sake of diversity is sexist/racist.

Video game culture was essentially birthed and raised by straight white men, and while the industry has been diversifying, I think this attempt to force the issue, and to force diversity purely for the sake of diversity is actually quite counter-productive.

Giant Bomb is a personality based website, and they need to gel and vibe as people, and I expect their first impulse was to draw from a pool of friends rather than randoms, because that's what this site is about: A bunch of friends getting together, drinking some diet coke (or some nice scotch, take your pick) and playing some VIDEO GAMES! They needed to be comfortable on camera, experienced and able to vibe well with the current crew. Being an industry that is dominated (and I do not use this word with a negative connotation, just in an observational sense,) by white males, is it any surprise that the new hires are too?

If they were to hire a woman, or a transperson or an "ethnic minority" just for the sake of diversity rather than, y'know, who was fit for the role, I'd argue that it would be sexist or racist.

Isn't the whole point of these equality movements to see people as being fundamentally just... People? People without divisions, without borders.. Just people? While still accepting the fundamental differences and diversity that comes of different walks of life, of course, but fundamentally just people?

If you need to see a minority hired purely to validate your own views on equality, I'd wager a bet towards you not being all that comprehending of the notion of equality. Sure, having a bit of diversity would be nice but.... Fuck man, is this REALLY the place for such a discussion? I'm here to watch middle aged dudes drop wu-tang references and play video games, not to discuss social sicknesses.

Edit: in the din of political correctness I forgot to welcome the new hires. Welcome aboard duders! We don't suck as much as this topic makes out! Honest!