Mr. Carlos suggested that I turn this in to an actual post, rather than simply a comment, so here it is:
I played a new game this recent game night (and since the comment, I’ve actually purchased it for myself). I’m not sure, but it may be the most entertaining game I’ve ever played. It may not be the *best* game, as I first thought, but I can’t remember a time I’ve had more flat out fun in a long time.
It’s called Space Alert. It is chaos and awesome rolled up in to one.
As mentioned here, my laptop has been angry with me for going on 4 months or so. This cause me to retreat away from my usual comfort space of Team Fortress 2 and MMOs, and try to find ways to amuse myself. I went two totally different directions – Facebook games, and diving back in the Xbox 360. It’s come back now, in time for me to test SW:TOR and get back in to WoW for Cataclysm, but the damage has been done.
Facebook games are what they are. I found a couple nice card based ones that occupy me well enough (Eredan and Urban Rivals, primarily, though Clash and Tyrant are in there too). It’s the 360 part that’s really interesting to me….
Carlos’ gift guide prompted this – it was originally just a comment, but once I noticed the size, I figured it needed a post of its own….
For the Board Game Geek (see what I did there?), Ascension: Rise of the Godslayer is quickly coming to be the new Dominion. It’s another “build your deck as you play” CCG-esque game. But there are several key differences that make each of them appeal a bit more or less to certain player types….
So, a follow up to this post. It’s been 7 months. The kids haved changed their behaviors around, gotten older, etc. So where are they?
I know, I know. I post a burst, talk about how I’m gonna do more, and disappear. Then return to hijack.
I do actually have a post coming up on the strange trip I’ve been on for the past 3-4 months. See, my laptop (an ASUS G50vt from Best Buy) went wacky on me. Of a sudden, possibly tied to power issues, possibly not, my laptop started get hot. Like, super hot. When I bought it, it had a warning that said “This is a notebook, not a laptop. Don’t put it on your lap. It’ll light your junk on fire.” Something like that, I forget the exact words. Maybe it said don’t put it on a flat surface. Whatever.Â
So it’s always run hot. It’s a gaming laptop. I expected it to be hot – it’s cramming a fair chunk of power in a portable(ish) box. But now it was going up to 200-220 degrees pretty much instantly on launching a game. Mass Effect 2 was unplayable due to stuttering. I could play maybe 10 minutes of TF2.Â
This happened 12 months ago or so, when it was under warranty, and I sent it off to Asus. They fixed it (they blew it out and reapplied the thermal paste from what I can tell). Now it’s not under warranty. So it’s been sitting idle (mostly) for months, which led me to the land of Xbox Live (a scary place), found me a spectacular new community (Sword and Shield Gaming, aka SSG) that Im proud to have become a part of, and gotten me a new gamertag (SSG Wookiee) – but that’s for later.
I know, controversial title, right?
So, today is a very geeky day. It’s Star Wars Day #2, because Star Wars was released 33 years ago today. It got overshadowed by Empire day, but…. It’s also Towel Day, because DNA (Douglas Noel Adams, Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and other books author) died two weeks ago, and today is the day to remember his death, and to carry your towel.  It’s also the Glorious 25th of May, which for Pratchett fans, means you can wear the lilca if you were there.
Because of this, it’s also also also Geek Pride day. Apparently this is a newish holiday – it’s maybe 5 years old. In principle, I’m all for this. Celebrate Geekiness. Hell, that’s kinda the point of this blog. In practice, I hate it.
Enrique mentioned, in his description of me, that’s he curiuos how I’ll indoctrinate my kids in to the geek world.
While waiting for reports to run, I stumbled on the list of Travis County court dates scheduled over the last interval of time (whatever that may be). And apparently, I enjoy reading them.Â
So, thanks to D&D Encounters (which I think it a brilliant idea – short 1.5 to 2 hour bursts of gaming that anyone can join), I gamed for the first time in a couple years (which surprised me to realize).
It was at a game store in Madison. I was reminded that game store employees are assholes. I waited in line for 7 minutes to buy a thing of dice for $9 while someone did a huge preorder, and the guy tried to find it all, etc. When I called later to find out who had run the game, he just said “I can’t keep track of the people” and was done.
But.
I love Joss Whedon.
I idolize Aaron Sorkin.
I just don’t get Kevin Smith.
Or, put differently:
I want to hang out with Joss Whedon.
I want to *be* Aaron Sorkin.
Kevin Smith is the guy that shows up at the game cause he’s friends with someone else, and I can’t tell him to leave.