gamer_152

As a big fan of Black Flag and someone who thinks that pirate themes are underutilised in games, I used to get annoyed by these delays, but I've come to think of them as part of a comfortably predictable pattern in the universe. The year is 2073 and I am an old man. I stand on a windswept beach, flecked with ashes from the nearby burning ruins. Most of my friends have had to flee the country or died in the war. But at that moment, my cognitive implant buzzes. A notification in my retinal display informs me that Skull & Bones has been delayed for a forty-fifth time. I know that in spite of everything, the world keeps spinning. I let a circle of sand go into the vastness of the wind.

Dangit, they spelled Grubb's name wrong.

@manburger: @bladeofcreation: Thank you for the very kind responses.

@spacemanspiff00: Thank you. I think all of us are looking at people who are a little more skilled in what we do and a little less skilled. I'm not very good at taking this advice, but if you're writing, the thing that matters more than whether you're surpassing the people around you is whether you're seeing your own work evolve over time. Everyone came up through practice, seeing a bunch of people around them that had had the opportunity to gain more experience than them. If there was another really good place to post these essays, I'd probably be doing it over there, but for now, I'm glad I can contribute something here. I think if the community is going to stay alive, it needs decent exclusive content.

Now, and forever, rest in peace Ryan Davis.

@marino: Homer's floor cam was legendary. I've seen few other shows that were as good at making you feel like you were in the space the presenter was. Several years before those "IRL" Twitch streams existed, you had Homer visiting the Namco booth.

I am less inclined to stick with a game if I've not paid a lot for it, but I am still likely to play it for a while. Generally speaking, I'm not dipping in and out of games a lot. Unless a game is really derivative, I'm usually interested to see where it goes, to see what tricks it has up its sleeve. If it really doesn't have anything new to offer, that's probably something I've clocked before I picked it up, and I'm not playing it. The thing that usually motivates me to play games is that I enjoy them. If I enjoy something, I want more of it. I'm also not buying new £70 games though. There's plenty I could play that I'll have a great time with that doesn't involve putting down that huge sum of money. If the title is that good, I'll play it later and it'll still be the same game but without the huge price tag.

@justin258: I don't want to mislead, the game is entirely looking for collectibles, and taking pictures, editing pictures, and working out how to get to places from which you can take pictures. But it's such a thoughtfully and carefully executed version of that concept. Your mileage may vary. I did see Chris Franklin put up his video on this, but at first, I didn't want to spoil the game for myself, and then I didn't want it to skew how I might write about it. I should go back and check that out.

That is one of the best Tams I have seen. If it helps, here are a couple of wiki pages I spruced up this week:

• Water Level
• Tinkle Pit

My main thought about Hang-Ups is that it's wild the greatest ska song of all time was written by Johann Pachelbel.

Rorie's been an honest-to-god legend. As someone who goes all the way back to the Whiskey Media days, he's our strongest current link to early Giant Bomb. His casual and earnest on-camera presence, even when interjecting with something absolutely wild, was always amiable and entertaining. I've also appreciated his willingness to throw himself into situations that make him a little nervous, his offers to get drinks with fans wherever he is, and his taste in music. Rorie's the reason I sing along with the Star Trek: Enterprise theme every time. Like any good personality here, he's had a palpable signature taste in games, and he deserves kudos for holding so many community events, putting in the work on Extra Life, and his side streams for obscurer titles that could easily have fallen by the wayside.

A project as big as Giant Bomb also requires a lot of behind-the-scenes work that goes largely unacknowledged, and it's hard to overemphasise how much Rorie has done in that department. He's been willing to resolve issues at a moment's notice and still checked in on weekends. He's been in constant contact with the mod team to shoot the shit, give advice, or fix problems, and he's consistently been just the coolest and most helpful with how he's talked to us. It's been so much easier to get support stuff taken care of since he's arrived. He's really glued a lot of stuff together and helped keep this place running for almost ten years, even when I know he was going through hell trying to process merch shipments. He's still saying people can contact him about issues and doing giveaways even now. I'm sure there is a bunch more vital and delightful stuff he's done for Giant Bomb that I'm forgetting, but he deserves all the best where he goes next, and with his track record, I know he's going to crush it.

Keep chomping those puppers.