Michael*

The atmosphere looks near-perfect though. Honestly, just watching it is enough to put me on edge.

 

That's the only 'non-commentary' one I've seen so far. Not 100% sure, but it looks as if it may have been put together by someone splicing the footage from the other videos.

The atmosphere looks near-perfect though. Honestly, just watching it is enough to put me on edge.

 

I like it.  It reminds me of 'Outlast', which took a lot from the Film {REC}.  The player is defenseless, and must hid or run through tight corridors while being chased.

A caveat from Outlast is the trick-oriented AI that can be fooled pretty easy.  The Xenomorph may have the same issues.

I preordered this:  http://store.steampowered.com/app/260309/

are you interested in RTS?  I know it's going to be really good as I received a lot of confidential videos from a tester.

The PC Gamer team talked about playing it in the Oculus Rift at E3. Sounds amazing, but it might actually be too stressful

I saw the Oculus Rift experience described as 'pants-soilingly terrifying' on one site the other day. Quite honestly, I’m a little worried that I mightn't be able to complete it. They're going to have to slap a health warning on the cover.

Did you pick the U.S. to beat Ghana? I know I didn't . Well, I didn't necessarily expect to lose going into it, but when it got going, I didn't expect the U.S. to win. For some reason, football is the only sport I can think of that I like but am not as gung ho about the U.S. team just for the sake of patriotism. I don't know, its hard to explain. Well, not really. I just feel kindof like the fans just aren't invested enough to deserve it . I know that's a terrible thing to say, but even with it not being one of the most popular sports here, there are sports even less popular who have better overall fans I think. Obviously, they aren't likely to upset the top dogs anyway.

I thought they were in with a decent chance beforehand, USA-Ghana seems to have developed into quite the compelling rivalry, and that's almost always a bit of a leveller. Overall, I think the USA are a likeable team, the absolute antithesis of England in many ways. Some of their players look rather average at club level, but they seem to raise their game when they pull an international shirt on, and are a great advert for application and team spirit. They produced a wonderful fighting performance to win the game and, if they were able to replicate that against Portugal tonight, would fully deserve a place in the knockout stages. Brooks' reaction to scoring will be one of the lasting images of the World Cup for me, he looked totally gobsmacked, just sheer joy and disbelief at what he'd achieved.

I know what you mean about their support and I'd agree it's still a minority thing, but I suppose that's to be expected in a such a sports-mad country, especially one that isn't altogether used to being an underdog. That being said, the fans who have made the journey to Brazil are certainly passionate, they've brought colour to the crowds and have added something to the atmosphere at the tournament. I suspect that if the game was really embraced in America the way it is elsewhere, it would only be a matter of time before they became one of the dominant powers. The resources, in terms of money, infrastructure and players, that they would be able to call on would be frightening.

I see.  The way you responded made it seem like...hard work!  It's not work at all, in fact it is amazingly entertaining and action packed.  Plus- I can connect with the age 50 plus crowd.  I wish I had a week or a month just to study this.

 

I get more enjoyment from this than any film.  Learning about warfare is very similar to learning a new field or a language.  Once the language- the institutions, the organizations, the command structures, the equipment, processes, systems, logistics & economics, the men...are understood, then the rest is what you see below, but in a more complex way.  You become one with the organization and a sense of the battlefield can be developed through these pages.

 

Just reading a few pages of operational history will give you visions of what you see below.

Which is pretty great, I think. There are few things I enjoy more than starting a book and not wanting to put it down. A three-hour movie can feel like half an hour in the right circumstances, and I find the same is true of books. No matter how mighty a tome it might be, if it's enjoyable enough, you can always whip through it.

I preordered this:  http://store.steampowered.com/app/260309/

 

are you interested in RTS?  I know it's going to be really good as I received a lot of confidential videos from a tester.

Alas, I fear my creaky laptop would give up the ghost if I tried to run something like COH2 on it. Looks good though.

I used to be, but it's been an awfully long time since I've played one. I seem to remember one of the games from the 'Command and Conquer' series being the last old style RTS that ever I got into in any significant way (showing my age there, I know), and that hasn't been big for at least a dozen years. Always preferred playing things like that to the more populist fare of 'Doom' on PC though, can't beat the charm of tiny little sprites fighting each other.

By any chance do you know of any modern RTS games that still offer things like resource gathering and base building elements? I used to really get a kick out of that when I was younger.

I like reading your reviews of the games in the Fifa thread. Well put and nicely said.

When I've missed a match I read your reviews on this forum. 

About RTS: No, I don't.  I only have COH.  

BTW, the COH2 is 50% off on steam until the end of the month.

I am likely to make a special post in milestones for post 4,000.  What would you like?

I like reading your reviews of the games in the Fifa thread. Well put and nicely said.

When I've missed a match I read your reviews on this forum. 

Hey!

I'm glad you stopped by. Thanks for the kind words, it's much appreciated. Feel free to drop in any time!

I am likely to make a special post in milestones for post 4,000.  What would you like?

Congrats on the 4k, sir!

If you're taking requests in the Junkyard thread, I might have one (no rush on the timeframe though, of course). I’d love to see a Tiiu Kuik entry, her career seems to have wound down somewhat as of late, but she’s still such a good model and way too special to be so underrated. She’ll always be one of my favourites.

I would say so, I think any country with that big a population will statistically, over time, develop more world-class athletes. The talent pool is just so much bigger and you can't argue with the law of averages. Throw in relative national wealth, support for coaching, a professional environment and rejects (for want of a better word ) from other sports, and you have a pretty bright outlook. I suppose the effects of something like the World Cup on participation can only ever tell half the story at the best of times, it’s such a difficult thing to gauge because you can’t really measure people’s motivations. It does seem like there's been more of a groundswell this year though, understandably so since the overall quality has been better, lots of teams are playing adventurously and there have already been more than twice the number of goals scored than in South Africa four years ago. Kind of a chain reaction really, since a more entertaining product equals more people watching.
 
I think the acid test in maintaining that renewed interest in the game will be whether they can translate the passionate support for the national team into MLS club sides, which could be a bit more challenging. There's a lot of casual viewers, of course, who tune in for the World Cup and then forget about it when it's done, but that's probably not that different from elsewhere. With a few exceptions, most countries fall into that category. Those who love the sport madly will follow the leagues and watch qualifiers, but the average person tunes in during a major international tournament only. It’s a bit like how millions of people in the UK like to watch cycling for two weeks during the Olympics but only a tiny minority are interested in watching cycling coverage for the four years in between dishing out the gold medals.
 
On a slightly different note, this really made me laugh, the USA national team website is offering help to American fans hoping to watch the match against Germany today by issuing personalised 'get out of work' letters, signed by Klinsmann himself.
 
 

Oh, biting issue on BZ too? I cannot help myself, I had to laugh when I learned about it

Yeah, the whole circus surrounding the biting incident was getting silly anyway, but it was made even sillier by Suarez's recent attempt to escape a suspension. Apparently, he tripped and bumped his teeth on Chiellini's shoulder.
 
I'm not FIFA's biggest fan by any stretch of the imagination, but I do feel like they deserve some recognition for the way this thing has been handled. They moved quickly and very decisively and, given that Suarez is a repeat offender (he's now bitten three different opponents in four years), a severe punishment was the only realistic outcome. A lot of people are making comparisons between other violent acts and the severity of injuries they cause, and to some extent I agree, but there's still a difference. As much as we might dislike seeing excessive force and boots and elbows flying, I think players accept those things as part and parcel of the risk of playing the game, in the same way that a boxer accepts the risk of a head injury when entering the ring. Biting has no place in any sport, with the possible exception of competitive eating. 

Strange thing is, that same uncontrollable red mist is almost certainly what makes Suarez such a talented player, all his greatest attributes, his speed of thought, anticipation and determination appear to be fuelled by the same demons. If the strengths and weaknesses in his character are so interlinked, I'm not sure any amount of reformation could curb his temperament without sacrificing his performance.

Oh, biting issue on BZ too? I cannot help myself, I had to laugh when I learned about it

Lovely to see you Jennka! I trust all's well?

I was just thinking about you, weirdly enough. I thought I might have owed you a response in your thread, but I can't seem to find my last post in there any more.

So is TEAM USA impressing you yet for the WC?

Yeah, the whole circus surrounding the biting incident was getting silly anyway, but it was made even sillier by Suarez's recent attempt to escape a suspension. Apparently, he tripped and bumped his teeth on Chiellini's shoulder.

 

I'm not FIFA's biggest fan by any stretch of the imagination, but I do feel like they deserve some recognition for the way this thing has been handled. They moved quickly and very decisively and, given that Suarez is a repeat offender (he's now bitten three different opponents in four years), a severe punishment was the only realistic outcome. A lot of people are making comparisons between other violent acts and the severity of injuries they cause, and to some extent I agree, but there's still a difference. As much as we might dislike seeing excessive force and boots and elbows flying, I think players accept those things as part and parcel of the risk of playing the game, in the same way that a boxer accepts the risk of a head injury when entering the ring. Biting has no place in any sport, with the possible exception of competitive eating. 

Strange thing is, that same uncontrollable red mist is almost certainly what makes Suarez such a talented player, all his greatest attributes, his speed of thought, anticipation and determination appear to be fuelled by the same demons. If the strengths and weaknesses in his character are so interlinked, I'm not sure any amount of reformation could curb his temperament without sacrificing his performance.

Very interesting insight Michael, thank you! I cannot help myself to also compare this biting thing with other much serious injuries that we experience during football matches everyday - though, I give you credit about re-appearing biting not being the part of any sport at all.

Maybe the only option for Suarez will be some kind of anti-biting machine attached to his mouth in the end??

 

Oh, biting issue on BZ too? I cannot help myself, I had to laugh when I learned about it

Lovely to see you Jennka! I trust all's well?

 

I was just thinking about you, weirdly enough. I thought I might have owed you a response in your thread, but I can't seem to find my last post in there any more.

 

Oh, don´t worry about that, during my long absence on personal threads, I think I lost like 75% of all conversations I once had. I was checking you on FB from time to time, though my FB attendance rate was low as well.

All´s well, and all´s not There are so many things to deal with before we can move to our own place (and we would like to do that this year!), plus some kind of family issues always going on, and recently FL´s father was hospitalized with a heart attack (they are installing him a cardio stimulator today).

How are you?