Apollo

Didn't know the best place to put this, but

I remember playing Shadow of the Templars on my PS1 as a kid. I also remember it being too difficult for my younger self to figure out - am I recalling correctly that if you died, you had to start over from the beginning?

The season 2.5 finale of Battlestar Galactica.

Holy shit

Holy shit indeed. Amazing how they can take something as comparatively dull as a presidential election and turn it into some of the most interesting points in the series, and the way that season ends... just incredible how that show continues to keep the viewer hooked as the familiar characters you know and love are constantly thrown into more and more precarious and wildly different situations.

I dusted off Baldur's Gate 2 today. Man, this game is awesome. I've had it for years, tried to play it when I was younger but couldn't quite wrap my head around the gameplay and all the systems at work (I do have the massive game manual but hell if I was gonna read that all the way through). I'm used to the Bioware style of RPG now since I'm a big fan of KOTOR, Mass Effect, and Dragon Age, so that's been helping. Still, a couple of hours in and I'm struggling to escape the first dungeon/prison you start in. Not looking up any guides though, I wanna get the full experience of this game since I've seen such high praise for it everywhere.

Anyway, yeah, tough game to get started in, but I can already tell that I love it.

Man, it's times like these I resent Marvel's idea to sell movie licenses to other studios. Imagine if Marvel had been making their own Spider-Man, X-Men, and Fantastic Four movies for the past decade, and could now intertwine them with the Avengers movies? Even though they're not part of the classic Avengers team, I'd love to see Spidey and Wolverine fighting alongside Thor and Iron Man in this movie. I'm sure I'll see this anyway, that trailer did pique my interest more than anything else that's come out about this movie (besides the unfortunately errant rumor that Donald Glover would be playing Spidey).

Anybody watching Alcatraz? I'm just about caught all the way up. Seems ok, nothing incredible but I am a sucker for this type of show. There's enough overarching mystery to make me wonder what's actually happening, it's good seeing Hurley again, and Sam Neil is in it - those three things are enough for me to stick with it.

And before I forget, around now would be a good time to watch Razor, since it's about the Pegasus before and after they find Galactica, and those arcs and characters will be fresh in your memory.

Such a good episode

Also, I am loving Battlestar Galactica, but midway through season 2.5 it seems like they are afraid to kill off any main characters. I hope this changes....sorta....there are only a few characters who I dislike.

....why did I have to open my big mouth?

Why the hell did they have to kill Billy?! I liked Billy, he was one of my fav characters! Fucking terrorists!

Yeah, I was trying to figure out how far away you were from that episode, since I knew it was coming up for you and the timing of that question was great. It was apparently down to contract disputes - they wanted him to sign a deal through the end of the series but he didn't want to commit, so they killed him off rather than investing more screen time into a character whose actor might bail at any time. Still, it was sad - the person who eventually replaces him pales in comparison to how great he was.

Just finished watching "The Captain's Hand"

Wow, the Pegasus has no lucks...that was their...3rd commander? Ha!

But now Apollo is in charge

Yep, for something that could easily have been a sloppy way to add length to the season ("Another Battlestar!? What's gonna happen now!?" type thing), pretty much everything that happens with the Pegasus is awesome.

Get hyped for the season finale. The Season 3 finale is my favorite, but that show just really knows how to bring it for the end of each season. I can't imagine having to wait for a new season to start - I only got into the series about a year after it ended, and I'm almost glad I wasn't following it as it aired, would've driven me crazy.

Such a good episode

Also, I am loving Battlestar Galactica, but midway through season 2.5 it seems like they are afraid to kill off any main characters. I hope this changes....sorta....there are only a few characters who I dislike.

....why did I have to open my big mouth?

Why the hell did they have to kill Billy?! I liked Billy, he was one of my fav characters! Fucking terrorists!

Yeah, I was trying to figure out how far away you were from that episode, since I knew it was coming up for you and the timing of that question was great. It was apparently down to contract disputes - they wanted him to sign a deal through the end of the series but he didn't want to commit, so they killed him off rather than investing more screen time into a character whose actor might bail at any time. Still, it was sad - the person who eventually replaces him pales in comparison to how great he was.

Up all of yours and your 13-2's, i'm playing 7 again.

Nice, I'm playing 8 myself, first time I've gotten to disc 3 in years. I forgot how batshit crazy that game gets after you get to Esthar.

Such a good episode

Also, I am loving Battlestar Galactica, but midway through season 2.5 it seems like they are afraid to kill off any main characters. I hope this changes....sorta....there are only a few characters who I dislike.

Are you up to "Black Market" and "Scar" yet? Black Market is widely regarded as the worst one they did. Scar is a divisive episode, personally one of my favorites but a lot of people hate it.

Favorite characters so far? I'm a huge fan of Baltar, Adama, Apollo, Tigh,Starbuck, Number 6, Chief Tyrol, Helo, Sharon... shit, I just went and listed most of the cast. Anyway yeah, there are some deaths. I can't remember exactly when they happen, but they're in there.

Favorite arcs/scenes/episodes? The stuff with the Pegasus was pretty great, right?

ANNNNNNDDDDD just finished the second half of the Battlestar mini series.

Man...this show is gonna be awesome.

Edit: Grrr....went to watch episode 1 and BAM! Turns out the files I downloaded have subtitles...that would drive me crazy.

I think you can turn those off with VLC, depending on how they did it.

Eh, either way I ordered the box set....$115 off of Amazon for the entire series and shit. Over half off. Should be here Monday.

Yessss. Keep an eye out for noted "greatest character of all time" Dr. Gaius Baltar. Although he is pretty polarizing, most either love him or hate him. Do you know if your box set comes with the two made for TV movies they did? I can't say missing "The Plan" would be too terrible, but "Razor" is one of the best things they did, and that's saying something.

Also, I saw Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol tonight. I'll be damned if that movie didn't keep me entertained for its entirety. Everyone in it was either pretty good or awesome, a bunch of really great action sequences, and Sawyer from LOST is in it! Anyone with any interest in seeing a very fun action flick should check it out in theaters.

Why would a banana be grabbing another banana? I mean, those are the kind of questions I don't want to answer.

AD is one of my all-time favorite shows, and this is a great excuse for me to watch the series again, it's been far too long.

Just finished World War Z. I don't know how to word this but it is written in a format that I quite enjoy. It has short interviews that go for maybe 3 pages each before moving onto the next one and they all intersect with each other. It also allows me to read fiction in a way that favours my bias towards non-fiction works.

I really enjoyed that book as well. Hopefully the movie is as good as the book, but I doubt it.

The issue with translating WWZ into a movie is that you lose the personal stories which is the crux of the novel. Unless it's filmed like a documentary then it's bound to lose something along the way.

That's been the talk, are they going to be able to keep what makes the book so good? From what I've read they decided to go in a different direction because making the movie the way the books written was difficult and even after they wrote it they didn't think it would transition well to the big screen . Instead they're going to go into some type of gradious zombie epic that'll probably be

a trilogy. I guess if the book inspires an epic zombie movie then I can't complain.

I guess if they string out the chapters into chronological order and focus on the core events that are mentioned as turning point in the book, then it should still be alright.

Sadly, I don't even think we're going to get that. From what I understand, the format and overall feel of the book is going to be pretty much ignored for the movie, using it as more of a reference point than a re-telling. In a way it's a shame, as my favorite aspects of the book were the different settings and characters, and the way it was more of a series of short stories than a novel. The movie (again, as I understand it) is set to be more of a big-budget action flick that depicts a war between military and zombies. It does seem like it's going to be a fun movie in its own right, just not very close at all to what the book presented.

Thought last night's 30 Rock was better than anything they did last season. I'm a sucker for a good Jenna episode, and I thought she was really funny. Plus that whole singing contest show they had was hilarious ("America's Kids' Got Talent," brilliant. Also having John McEnroe as the nice judge that loves everything, and D'Fwan's triumphant return). Parks & Rec continues to be amazing, and while all of the campaign stuff was good, my favorite bits were the ones with Ben and Chris - Adam Scott and Rob Lowe play off of each other so well, and the fact that it culminated in that 5-second claymation "masterpiece" was great ("How could it not be longer!?"). And The Office was alright, which seems to be par for the course this season. I kinda half-watched parts of Up All Night, and it certainly seemed better than Whitney or Outsourced but I'm still bitter that Community isn't back. Community - Parks & Rec - The Office - 30 Rock is such a killer lineup, and I get that they want to experiment with other shows, but I guess I'm selfish when it comes to sitcoms.

I'd like to get in on this please.

I've recently gotten into listening to audiobooks. No idea why it took me so long, since I've loved podcasts and listening to other spoken word things for a while now. My library has this program where you go to a website, type in your library card number, and you can download an audio or e-book and keep the file for a week - if you're at all interested in stuff like that, I'd say check to see if your library does the same. Anyway, just listened to Bossypants, the autobiography written and read by Tina Fey. It was pretty entertaining; I'm not sure I would've enjoyed it as much if I had read it, since Tina Fey really made it better by adding her own inflections and sidebars. I'd still recommend the book if you're interested about her though, she has some great stories about SNL and 30 Rock, and the early obligatory "growing up" chapters are actually pretty funny stories.

Since finishing that, I came across this - Isaac Asimov's Foundation Trilogy available for free stream and download. As best I can tell, it's this BBC Radio recording from 1973. Complete with retro sci-fi sound effects and an overall old-timey feel, I've really liked the few minutes I've gotten into, and I'd say fans of the series (or of sci-fi in general) should at least download it and save it for a rainy day.

This game was always going to be Devil May Cry with Raiden. Having said that, I had hoped Kojima would want to try and do something different with the genre... but it's looking like just another crummy DMC clone, nothing interesting about that trailer at all.

Most of the classics have already been mentioned (though if you're looking for A Christmas Carol adaptation votes, put mine towards Muppets). National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation is another one of my favorites.

OH. Watch Santa's Slay. For the love of God, everyone must watch Santa's Slay.

I have fond memories of XII, I should get around to re-playing it someday. The only thing I remember about the story is that it was more than a little bit Star Wars - which, while you could pick worse things to rip off, makes for a story that doesn't really break any new ground. I did enjoy the battle system, and while most of the other characters weren't too memorable, Balthier (Han Solo) stands out as one of my favorite FF characters. Also I thought the Judges looked cool with their badass armor.

Did anyone ever beat that final optional boss in XII? It was a gigantic dragon that had something like 200x more HP than the final boss. Never saw the point, personally. I gave it a shot but after hours of battling, I had barely put a dent in his health bar(s). Plus I think you got the most powerful sword in the game after beating him, but then you'd be left with nothing meaningful to kill with it.

The thing that makes me laugh about this that you guys think you have something over on me here. In reality, you've spent all day talking about a game you don't want to play, that you're not interested in and all the while people have been wondering in the thread because it's crazy popular and buying the game. More over, you think you've found some great revelation that I am the great Dandonian. Well it was ME that told you that. Not the other way around. This isn't one of those times where someone was trying to be sneaky. I linked you to it.

Even better than all of that, is the fact that you're never going to play the game. So you've spent a whole day of your life sat talking about a game you'll never even play. So you rate the value of a day of your time at $9.99. On a Saturday too.

Now the shame about all of that is, I built a game that I know you guys would like and instead of sitting on here bitching about spending a £6.99, you could done a paper round this morning and bought the game. Then you would have actually known if you like it or not rather than just bitching random nonesense that doesn't matter in the slightest to you. Why would you even remotely care what my legal situation is? From the way you guys talk about piracy, you should be more worried about your own ass.

Oh but that's right. It's not that you care about it, it's that you think it winds me up for you talk about it. It doesn't. Because for every post you make about it, there's a chance someone comes across this incredibly popular thread and has a nosey. So troll away and make me money bitches!!!

It's a shame we all couldn't just get along.

This post baffles me, even more than the rest of this thread has. This "incredibly popular thread" has so much traffic because of what a tool you've made yourself out to be in one day, not because people want to buy your game. Hell, the closest thing to a positive word someone's said about the game is JukeboxHero saying that he likes your menus and puns, and that the game crashes. Don't act as if we're at fault for going on a tirade about this whole thing, it's been entirely your own doing.

I hate that I'm so late to this party, but you say Scott Rogers contacted you about a job? You wouldn't be pulling our leg about all of this, would you?

...Most of the good jokes have already been taken, I had to do some outside research.

Count me in as dying for TimeSplitters 4, and as for one that hasn't been mentioned: Star Wars Battlefront 3. I can only imagine how awesome a 360 & PS3 version of the Battlefront series would end up being.

Saw the Johnny Depp video earlier, hilarious. It'll be tough to top Extras, but I'll be interested to see them try. Unfortunately it looks like we won't be getting it until next year in the US, hopefully I'll be able to find it online once BBC starts airing it.