Top Gun

I really liked Spirit Tracks because it was the first game in the entire series where Zelda didn't get stuck in the role of damsel-in-distress. I mean, yeah, she needed your help to get her body back, but that meant that she was able to tag along with you the whole time and actively help you. And like Jonnas said, her dialogue was pretty darn amusing. I didn't have any big qualms about the train travel, either; I think I inherited my dad's love of model railways, so I rather enjoyed it.

I don't really mind crits myself, other than the occasional "CURSE YOU CRIIIIITS" when I catch an unfortunate crocket to the face. It's a fun little random element thrown in there to spice up the game, and I think it fits in with the general fun aesthetic of TF2, as opposed to the SRS BZNS of Grimdark War-Themed Shooter #65. Live by the crits, die by the crits. (Also, I don't think I've ever noticed waffleshots either way other than being amused by the neat patterns they make on walls, so I could take or leave those.)

This. (10char)

Yeah, that should be interesting. Most of the time I've played there, BLU seems to wind up winning; I think the first two stages are much easier to defend, compared to the third stage's relatively non-linear layout.

I've been on the receiving end of a few people who seem to be able to use the Backburner far better than I can, but that's definitely more the exception than the rule. Being able to extinguish teammates and/or protect Engy setups from Demospam is a huge plus. Also, don't look now, but Portal 2 is officially up for pre-order. Anyone have a spare $45?

Now if only I was able to competently use it for anything besides putting fires out. I can't reflect rockets to save my life...literally.

Woo, finally got my Demopan. (Trading servers are strange places.) Also got a random Vintage item I didn't have for a few random other items, because hurrdurr Vintage e-peen. I have to say, after playing for a bit earlier, I really hope that Fists of Steel nerf goes through to the actual game. A Heavy should not be able to take a fully-charged headshot, no matter what he's equipped with.

There's a lot to chew on in there, though I'm not sure I like the no-crit getting changed to -25% damage on those melee weapons. I've found it hard enough to get Left 4 Heads as-is. The new weapons sound juicy, and I like the Fists of Steel getting nerfed somewhat, because those are kind of ridiculous right now. The Mad Milk change seems like it's tuned more for players who are much better at Scout than I am, since I usually don't get close enough with it to have it deal any huge benefit. And the Backburner tweak actually makes me want to consider using it again.

I'm completely with Brushfire, minus the learning-a-real-instrument part. For those of us who never had any illusions about becoming the next Hendrix, Guitar Hero allowed us to interact with music in a way we never had before. And not the horrific shitty J-pop of your usual DDR, but some of the greatest rock songs ever. I loved the hell out of the original two Guitar Hero games, and where Harmonix took the concept with Rock Band. I've sunk literally hundreds of hours into them, and I don't feel like a minute of it was wasted, because it's just that fun. I'll honestly never understand why certain musician-types seem to get so butthurt over the concept...I've never once thought that any of my plastic guitar "skills" could transfer over to a real instrument, but that isn't the point of it anyway. Also, that editorial Toadofsky posted was pretty interesting stuff, although I disagree with casting The Beatles: Rock Band in the exact same light as the earlier Guitar Hero stand-aloners. They deserved to have that exclusivity, and the art design of that game was fantastic.

This. I pretty much dislike the very concept of most JRPGs for all of the reasons mentioned in the original post (though I'm an anime fan...go figure), but I utterly enjoyed Chrono Trigger on the DS. The characters have legitimately fun personalities, the story is this great time-hopping epic adventure, the battle system is fairly simple yet enjoyable, and as you can probably tell just from this site, the soundtrack is one of the best ever composed for a game. Best of all, at least from my perspective, there's absolutely no grinding required to progress through the story; when you get to a certain boss, so long as you haven't fled every single battle ever, you'll be at the level you need to beat them. Also, absolutely NO world-map random encounter bullshit, and amazingly enough, the characters not in your current three level up at the same rate as the ones you are using. Glory be. I'm not really eager to try any other RPG after playing Chrono Trigger (though I do have at least some urge to try FFVI), because I feel like it's spoiled me by not having any of the issues I associate with the genre.

Awww, no more random Axtinguisher kills. Heh, I heard that that was screwed up. Something about being able to keep a Heavy on fire for a solid minute before he died.

Dammit, Valve, stop adding new weapons every time I finally finish getting the previous set of weapons! > At least they're letting us get this stuff without buying another game, and at least it isn't just another reskin. I have no interest in MMOs whatsoever.

Yeah, I just wish I had when the promo occurred. I only bought (and enjoyed the hell out of) the first game afterwards. At least the pan is fairly cheap, then, though I know I missed my chance at Bill's Hat.

Anyone know how much a Demopan usually goes for? I'd love to snag one if I can, but not if it's like 5 Refined or something absurd.

I know I've taken a crocket to the face while cloaked. Talk about raeg.

That isn't |CK|'s server, is it? I play there a lot, and that sounds about right.

I wonder if they threw Crit-a-Cola into the normal drop system because next to no one is able to find it now. I have a Vintage one someone tossed me in a trade, but I wouldn't have it otherwise. Hell, I don't think I've even seen anyone else using it. And at least the new items aren't for games I care about (or even know about). I'm still bummed that the Sam & Max stuff happened before I started playing the game, and if I had had Left 4 Dead a few months ago, I totally would have bought the sequel then for Bill's Hat.

I wonder if moving the center point on Yukon will make it any easier to re-take it. I admittedly haven't played all that much on that map, but it's been my experience that whichever team manages to snag it first usually holds onto it for the rest of the round.

I'm sure a lot of people have already seen Wind Waker video, but it's still one of the most impressive little remix projects I've ever seen.

As have sticky bombs. I can't count how often I've raeg'd because a single sticky has managed to kill me from full health. Also, I don't think I've ever seen the Caber used outside of DeGroot Keep.

Crap, there goes my spy-alerting skeelz. It's especially frustrating when you're on a server without grave talk and see your killer lining up on a whole group of unsuspecting targets.

Man, that's a fantastic video, Paranoid. As a fairly incompetent Spy myself, it amazes me just how effortlessly you seem to move from one kill/sap to the next. I usually count myself lucky if I manage to pull off a single backstab before getting discovered in some ridiculously unlucky fashion. (Also, it has to be a real pain in the ass not being able to see the backstab animation before you attempt one.)

So in the continuing saga of my newbie brother's ridiculous streak of good luck, he had a Camera Beard drop for him last night. I don't think he's even hit twenty hours in-game yet.

I don't know about anyone else, but I was decidedly unimpressed by Takeback Mountain. It seems far too large for 24 people, and there were a bunch of side routes that never wound up getting used by anyone. As far as custom maps go, though, I woudln't mind seeing Cashworks on the list if it isn't there already. I had some fun on that one in another server.

Yeah, mine was spazzing out and vibrating like crazy too. I'm guessing it's supposed to be jiggle-boned, but the bones broke. And I'm sure my brother will get a kick out of the reaction to his hat. He was even trying to hold it over my head today, though I'm not exactly broken up about it.