Aelric

This thread was first. also, there are three threads on this.

That is perhaps a little alarmist. Firaxis has a great rep, though I suppose they do gate new features behind DLC, but those are expansion pack sized updates, not F2P microtransations and the vanilla game is usually plenty anyhow (i.e. Civ 5, X-Com).

I also want to point out that it's great to see that this is NOT a kickstarter. Not that there is anything wrong with Kickstarter, just that having a real budget behind this, combined with a great team like Firaxis, means that it's not going to be scaled down. I really hope to hear some datalinks quotes and ominous secret project videos!

Also, it's THIS YEAR (barring delays). I love when games announce on the same year they release so I don't have to wait forever. Oh god, I'm happy.

Just heard the announcement on RPS. Happy happy, the spiritual successor of Alpha Centauri by the man who did Alpha Centauri.

I'm PC, but not due to any loyalty or master race bullshit, I just move around a lot due to my job and in addiction to that often find myself living in places where consoles are either not sold or their networks don't allow for digital downloads (China, Thailand, etc.) And since my contracts are a standard 1 year each, that is too long to be in the dark, so I invested in PC, which gets a wide variety of games with global availability.

I don't have the best rig, really. Just enough to run things smoothly maxed out, though the new console generation is gonna up the demands for things (have you seen the Watchdogs specs). I have a two year old GPU and a 4 year old CPU, I've put maybe about $1000 into it up front and another $500 into it in parts in the past 4 years. That is a lot for some people, but you do tend to save if you are patient and wait for steam sales.

The bad parts are moving as often as I need to through the airport with a bag of microchips (security ALWAYS wants to talk to me, and I can't check that stuff because it'll get junked getting tossed be handlers or jostled around in the hold) and there are no real exclusives, like The Last or Us. Plus, not a lot of Japanese games I love get on PC, like the Yakuza series, I still have to play 3 and 4.

I will likely buy a console, a PS3, when I can get a refurbished one for $100 and a couple of games on disc, and I'd like a PS4 but I doubt I'll be able to justify it to myself until I am living in the states permanently again. Before the 360, PS3-era, I had them all. Gamecube, xbox, PS2 and PC. I was more comfortable accumulating things back then because I didn't move around so much or live in oddball parts of the world. I'd totally do that again, even a WiiU, if I ever really settle down somewhere.

I've been considering buying one. I skipped this generation of consoles, other than a 360 I had back in 2008 that I sold a year later to pay a hospital bill. I still had a fairly beefy PC and thanks to a lot of companies being more port friendly with the PC, I didn't miss too much, but Sony and their exclusives and a lot of Japanese stuff never got around to me. Specifically, I want to play Yakuza series, Last of Us, The Uncharted Series and Ni No Kuni. And a ton of others, but those would be my 'buy with the system' things. I can't afford to quite yet as I'm about to move to where my new job is in China and all my money is spoken for, but once I got a paycheck or two, I'll have a friend buy it on my behalf and mail it to me in China. Yeah, no PSN out there in China from what I here, but I don't mind too much, I've just trying to see the single player stuff I missed in the past 7 years or so.

So, I can't find a short enough video to post of it, but there is a scene where you come across a big daddy sitting in your way with two little sisters next to him, afraid of him saying "Scary" over and over.

So, about 6 years ago, when the first Bioshock came out, I saw this video of a gentleman Halloween costume:

So, what do you think? Intentional? I think so but it could be a coincidence.

I am at the end of my second month now. I didn't get the same results as the first month, but diminishing returns seems to be the name of the game. I'm down to 234, which means my running total is about 16lbs. I still have about 45lbs left to go until my goal, and I'm coming to realize it might be about a year until I get to that goal. I have dropped about one pants size and my leg muscles are nice and hard. And you know what else is hard? My biceps, you pervs. I'm developing tiny little lumps, not really what I'd call guns or anything, but they have lost the flab, in general. My neck has pulled up a bit, too, but not by much.

I've pretty happy with these results, even if they are slow going. It's helped my energy levels too. My diet isn't too bad since I focused more on portion control instead of cutting things out completely. I have taken out soda and only drink beer two or three times a month, and not to excess. Plus, I've been drinking those miller 64 calories beers, which are pretty much beer flavored water. I've cut back severely on carbs, almost never having bread, but I'll still have pasta now and then. It's oatmeal and berries almost every morning, though. Generally, a small salad or a can of soup does me for lunch and then whatever I want for dinner so long as it's real food, not processed crap, and so long as it's small. (i.e: Pizza never more than two smaller slices, Pasta never more than a cup worth, etc.) I straight up serve myself at the table with a measuring cup, and it's really helped keep me honest on portions.) I cheat now and then, like I had a snack sized Doritos the other day, or some fried chicken last week, but my appetite has shrunk due to the portion control and so even when I pig out, I'm not really pigging out.

I'm about to move out of this spot I'm at now, which means the exercise bike isn't coming with me, so I've gonna have to kind some other way to get an hour of cardio in. My lungs still can't jog (I can ride a bike forever, but can't jog for more than 2 minutes), so I'm thinking some jazzercize or something. Something to burn about 500 calories a day. I don't want to go to a gym, as I've mentioned before in this thread, because I dislike the attitudes of most the people I've encountered at many gyms I've tried in the past.

Anyway, that's the update from the OP. See you again in a month or so.