Norguard

...but you can't put cheese and gravy on fries down there, either... ...or mayo or peanut curry... Your foods suffer great oppression. I'll see if I can't get my friend to eat a Japadog for you, once she's back from Brisbane.

Dismissed?!? Oh noes. The streets of Minneapolis will never be safe again, with a known jaywalker allowed to roam the streets, elsewhere in the country. Watch out for some vigilante justice coming your way.

...but... ...that's just the way it is. Some things will never change... And yes. The speed and proficiency with which they dispensed the LOLCats is just... ...just... i can has wow. And Tek... ...now that you know what the lolcats meme is all about, all I can say is... This is the end... ...this is the end of the innocence.

I totally win the guessing game. I'd even be able to pick them out of a side-by-side lineup. AND a taste-test. I loves mah milk (before you ask, Mo, that does say "Mah" and not "Man"). Oh... ...and as far as the letter of petition goes...

The gameplay video for Diablo III makes me happy.

I totally like how it was modified for the PC. There are still some things that need to change - like the inventory system... ...it takes way too long to dig through stuff. But the combat feels incredibly different, compared to the 360 (well, unless you only played as a soldier, and you never used any abilities... ...in that case, that style of gameplay hasn't really changed)

Yeah. Well, actually, 2k is removing the DRM from BioShock, now... It's been out a year, and they've decided that it was enough for them. That un-patch should be coming out in short order. I'll never really have to deal with it, one way or another, because I got it on Steam. I had to deal with figuring out how to get it to run on my new PC... ...because it was having issues with my onboard sound (had an Audigy 2 in my old one, but didn't have the cash to put out for a new card, yet), and I was willing to play it soundless, but without the sound, I couldn't get out of the bathysphere, because the people at the start of the game wouldn't move... EA backed down on releasing the SecuROM 10-day activation. Most games require a one-time online connection... ...dating back as far as, say DooM3/Quake4. I've come to expect it. The limited installs sucks, but honestly, it won't effect me until long after EA decides that it's made all it's going to make off of it, and removes the limit... ...just like the days when patches removed key-checks, and CD-checks (like Quake 3/Unreal Tournament, and the latest Diablo 2 patch). As it stands, you're allowed to install/uninstall the game as many times as you want on the same system. It's a hash-check verification, taken from hardware samples. Apparently, the videocard isn't supposed to be included in that hash - so even if you upgrade the card in your system, you should still be good. What does upset me a little is that it doesn't tell you when it's activating. It's completely invisible. So if you activate, format, change hardware, put it on a new system... ......you aren't going to know your activations are up, until you try installing it again, and it says they're up. I have the same pet peeve with WindowsXP. ...I've had the same copy on the same system for... ...well, many, many years. I end up formatting the family PC two or three times a year... ...which means calling to reactivate the same copy on the same PC, two or three times a year...

The SecuRom DRM that they had planned to use on Mass Effect and Spore was this: When you buy your game and input your CD key, it goes online and validates and then you can play your game. The CD key needs to renew every 10 days. It will try to renew after the 5th day, silently, in the background, when you launch your game. ...if after 10 days it does not establish an internet connection, it will refuse to let you play... ...your single-player game... The other DRM was just that you can only have the game installed on three separate hardware configurations. After the third configuration, you need to call customer support and activate it that way - much like XP or Vista. After a huge outcry, just hours after it was announced, EA canned the first kind of DRM... ...at least for now... Blame EA and Sony (owner of SecuROM) for being ridiculously restrictive. ...requiring internet to play single-player games is ridiculous. Activation, sure, that's fine... ...but having an always-on connection, to play your single-player games... ...well, there were a lot of military personnel, and a lot of broke students who were a little miffed.

The fun bit is that you need to come to the point in your life where you realize that living with somebody doesn't necessarily mean that you are no longer independent, but independent along with another independent person, who shares a mutual goal. I mean, living with someone, you'd lose a few things that you could see as being independent (like... ...throwing house parties for the Swedish bikini team...) ...but that doesn't necessarily mean that you will stop being you. Yes, it takes more work, and a lot of communication, and likely some concessions, but people can't be entirely dependent upon one another. It just doesn't work. If somebody is 100% dependent upon you, and can do nothing for themselves, or likewise, if you are 100% dependent upon someone else, and can do absolutely nothing for yourself, it's just not going to work. Of course, it takes two people to see this. A relationship's health is only as good as the collective health of both members... ...and of course, take all of this with a pinch of salt. In the end, you know you (hopefully) better than anyone else. And you know her better than a bunch of guys scattered across North America (again, hopefully)... ...and all of this is coming from a guy that has been terminally single for the better part of six years.

What I really loved about Portal... ...and I'm surprised nobody here caught it or mentioned it, was that there were some parts of the game that tied into the viral website for it.

...I've been living and breathing this game on the PC in my free time for the past... ...well, since it was released. There are some issues running it - I've worked around just about every single one on my PC... ...but for people who want it, you might have to get your hands a little dirty by going into the Program Files folder (*GASP*). The combat is incredibly different on the PC. Even if you're a biotic, you can have completely run&gun gameplay, thanks to the hotkeys. You can give each teammate individual orders. The spacebar is the pause/command button, and is totally natural, seeing as there is no jump button. ...I think I might have rebound two single keys (going back to the Normandy from the Mako, and the equipment screen). Mind you, if I actually used the Codex at all, I'd probably rebind that, too...... It needs a patch, which is coming, along with the PC version of Bringing Down the Sky.

...if only they had let him into art school, he wouldn't have had to go getting all "emo" on Eastern Europe...