Guess what book Texan parents are trying to ban from schools now.

LewieP

The irony is deliciously painful

I think Lave says it best:

Lave wrote:

There is missing the point and then there is running directly away from the point whilst shrieking, gnashing your teeth and defecating over yourself. Why these idiots have been listened to enough to get on the news I've no idea.

These people should have the words "I do not understand the purpose of & main concepts behind the very idea of stories and narrative" tattooed to their foreheads.

Unknown

This content has been removed.

Elki

You will learn how to properly make threads, boy.

Hint: link + quote don't cut it.

Tycho wrote:

We have made a comic. The comic is about The Sims Online. We considered doing a Two Towers comic, but I do not believe there will be a shortage of them. For my part, what's to say, really. It's fun to watch. The one word review is Yay.

Tycho wrote:

Besides, The Sims Online has been on my mind a lot the last month or so. I do not know that there will ever be a more concentrated source of dramatics anywhere on the planet. It simply has to exist in a simulation, because if this threshold of rhapsodic hysteria were to occur at a single, physical point in real life it would retard the Earth's orbit, executing billions as we are cast into the sun.

Aside from the very real "Is My Wife Cheating On Me With A Digital Man/Woman/Mongoose" issue that the game makes easier and more satisfying than ever, I mean, I really think this game is going to fuck people up. I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing. People like ourselves, the hardcore, for whom an active, electronic fantasy life has always been parallel to the real deal already know that what we do kicks ass. But the reason The Sims is such a commercial success is that it introduces mortals to our high realms, that's why it keeps selling. There are all these people in the world, I've seen them when I get groceries or watch the television, and the vast majority of them do not indulge themselves in our pastime. I am not sure they understand what they are getting into, in fact I can almost guarantee it. Add to that the fact that The Sims Online combines the most addictive thing imaginable - persistent worlds - with the other most addictive thing, this social angle, into some kind of hybrid super-crack that will seize you with a single puff. This son of a bitch is going to grip you anaconda style. That snake is not trying to hug you! It's going to open its whole mouth and eat you, hair and all, with the clothes still on.

Chris Trottier is quoted in that 60 Minutes thing Gabe mentioned in his post, saying something like "It feels like you're really kissing people" or whatever. He and I both agree that as dorks, there's some shit we should keep in the family. Her quote reveals something delicious and terrible that we all know about these experiences we have, and I'd feel better knowing that only gamers really understood it. But Gabe had no computer growing up, he had a Master system, or a Genesis, or his Turbo Grafx. If memory serves, none of those had attachments for meeting the ladies. He never had a Quantum Link, where a girl would tell you to meet her at a particular time, and you were totally there but she wasn't, and you sent her a vicious mail with words you reserved for the unique sort of serpent bitch she was, except it was just a time zone thing and you had both forgotten about how our world has different times in different places. Or how, on the SR Minerva BBS, you - and by you, I mean I - had a ridiculous handle like Pariah and you met a girl with an equally ridiculous handle like Pulchrity and you both loved words, and it turns out that she was the girl who dumped you in sixth grade, right there at the mall in front of everybody, and now four years out you were perfect for each other and she'd tell you things you thought would annihilate you.

So now you have all that stuff, combined with something akin to a game, and highly reactive avatars with a diverse menu of social and physical activities. It is a danger. I've been thinking about it a lot. When you can get viruses from other players, the illusion will be complete.

(CW)TB out.

it's your store

Gabe wrote:

For some reason I though I had an extra week between now and Christmas. I was thinking about all the shit I have to get done before we go back to Spokane and I figured I had plenty of time. Everytime I thought about all the comics we would have to do for the week we will be out of town or finishing the Samus wallpaper I just planned on getting them done during this imaginary week I had before we left. I felt like I had plenty of time so I spent most of the day yesterday playing Guilty Gear XX. This game has a grip on me and I could not put it down. I recently learned however that Christmas is this week and we are in fact leaving on Sunday. With this new information I think that my time yesterday was probably ill spent.

However if you are going to casually shrug off your responsibilities to well over a hundred thousand people and blow a day playing videogames I highly recommend you try out Guilty Gear XX. I will try and have a more complete review of it up after I get back from Spokane but I did want to talk about it just a little before I leave. If you are unfamiliar with the Guilty Gear series... well then I am ashamed of you, get out of my sight. Okay come back, I can't stay mad at you. GG is at its core a 2D fighting game with extravagant character designs and extremely deep play mechanics. Guilty Gear XX takes these core concepts to a level so high that if someone were to stand atop it they would no doubt comment on their ability to see their house from there. I am talking about a game that gives you three or four ways just to cancel out of a move. Air Throws, Negative penalties, Roman Cancels, Faultless Defense Cancels, Dust Attacks, the list of special abilities and tricks is insane. However Guilty Gear XX also sports a combo system that is simple enough for any new player to jump in and really deal some damage. Button mashing will only get you so far though and eventually you will need to invest some real time in learning the more advanced techniques. Well this is already longer than I intended it to be and I have not even gotten to the graphics yet. Let me just finish by saying the game is a work of art. You have never seen a fighting game that looks this good. Guilty Gear XX is currently an import title for the PS2. The whole game is in English though so there is really no reason to wait for a US version if you have the ability to play imports now. Speaking of Imports, Safety Monkey is currently ass deep in Zelda: The Wind Waker. He has promised us a very detailed write up about his time spent with the game.