In which I ramble on... update.

On 10/23/2013 at 12:44 PM by transmet2033

Yesterday I sat down to bitch about how Amazon had increased the minimum order cost in order to qualify for free shipping. Halfway through I decided to actually see how this change would affect me, and realized that most of my orders had been over the new limit, $35. I then felt that finishing would be foolish so I deleted what I had written.
I have been all over the place these past couple of weeks with the media that I have consumed. On the videogame front, I have been playing Etrain Odyssey Untold but have also been jumping around. EOU needs to be played in marathon sessions, half hour chunks is not how I would like to play the game. This has lead me on a hunt to find shorter, action oriented games to play in those short chunks of time before work, or while I am waiting for dinner to finish in the oven. I have been messing around with Kid Icarus on the 3DS and just picked up El Shaddai. I chose Kid Icarus because of Jeremy Parish's Anatomy of a Game, and El Shaddai because of Backlogger's Anonymous. I really appreciate Backlogger's because they have been enough of an inspiration to play through Mirror's Edge. I hope to enjoy El Shaddai, and am really curious as to the next game they will be working through... Anatomy of a Game has been equally inspiring. I played through Metroid and The Legend of Zelda for the first time this year and enjoyed both games, but prefer the superior sequels. To finish my thoughts on videogames for the moment, I am tempted to get both Arkham Origins and Blackgate. We will see how I feel later this week when they both are released.
With the new television season under way I have been catching up on last season episodes. The biggest show that I have been working through with my wife is Elementary. I like the new twist on Sherlock Holmes mythos and I also like the fact that there are more than 3 episodes in a season... Yes, the BBC version is amazing, but I want more and Elementary does a good job of satiating that hunger. Doctor Who's 50th anniversary is coming up in exactly a month and I am patiently waiting for it to come around. Thankfully there are hundreds of episodes from the classic era that I have not watched. This has made the incredibly long wait since Season 7 ended bearable.
I had an awesome day at Half-Price Books over the weekend. I finally found a cheap copy of Foundation by Asimov and a copy of Rendezvous with Rama. While I have been wanting to read both of those books the great find was actually some Philip Jose Farmer. I have had difficulty finding anything by him at the 2 stores in my area. I found the sequel to To your Scattered Bodies Go and also a copy of The Gate of Time. The best part was The Gate of Time was from the first printing and was only $.25. I could not believe it, normally they put those types of books in a sleave and charge $4.
The only other stuff that I have been consuming is a lot of podcasts and music. My brother just told me about the Alton Browncast, and after listening to the first episode I may be hooked. I have always liked Good Eats and his podcast seems to be quite informative and entertaining. As far as music, I seem to be moving backwards towards all of the music that I used to listen to through college. The only difference is that when I am at home I like to listen on my turntable. I just need to find copies of the albums that I have been listening to on vinyl... I think that I will try to link a couple of videos below...
Was there anything else I wanted to say? I grabbed Nier as well

mothman

10/23/2013 at 02:24 PM

I love Elementary. It's one of only a handful of TV shows I will take the time to watch.

transmet2033

10/24/2013 at 09:05 AM

If it were not Sherlock Holmes I wonder if I would have even given it a second thought.

Matt Snee Staff Writer

10/23/2013 at 03:08 PM

FOUNDATION IS THE FREAKING BOMB! I must reread those soon.

10/24/2013 at 08:54 AM

THAT IS WHY I PICKED IT UP!!!

KnightDriver

10/23/2013 at 04:42 PM

I play EOU in thirty minute chunks all the time. It's one dip into the labyrinth until my TP is spent and then back to the town. Sometimes I've played up to an hour straight but no more.

I just started rereading Foundation on audiobook this week! Hari Seldon is like a futuristic Nostradamus and his Encyclopedia Galactica sounds very much like Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Also, wasn't the Google founders talking about saving all human knowledge in some database too? Do they predict the fall of civilization like Hari Seldon?

I read those Philip Jose Farmer books back in High School. To Your Scattered Bodies Go sticks in my mind particularly.

I normally do play my games in short chunks. That is how I chipped away at my backlog earlier this year. Dead Space 2 worked perfectly like that because there was a save point every 15 minutes. I actually counted. The Witcher 2 worked in short chunks because I was usually able to finish one task in the time that I had. Since Etrian Odyssey is all about exploring I think that I want to explore in larger chunks.

10/24/2013 at 02:58 PM

I usually run out of TP which makes me return to town. I've got all sorts of passive skills that replace my HP, but few that replace TP. I often choose the preparation that replaces some TP after every turn, but it doesn't replace all that much. There's one passive skill for an Alchemist that replaces some TP if he has full health at the end of a turn. I had him defend for several encounters just to boost his TP with that skill. Of course there is the preparation that replaces HP and TP every turn, but it costs 300 EN. I use that if I know I'm about to meet a boss.

jgusw

10/23/2013 at 05:11 PM

Waiting for Doctor Who too.

10/24/2013 at 09:00 AM

The worst part is going to be the wait between Regeneration and the start of season 8.

daftman

10/23/2013 at 07:08 PM

I haven't kept up with Jeremy Parish's personal writings, which is sad because he's my favorite writer in games journalism. I also have delusions of buying the book versions of his GameSpite stuff but it quickly becomes too much (I'm actually reading through the GameSpite Quarterly on the SNES right now). The Game Boy Kid Icarus, Of Myths and Monsters, is really good, by the way.

I'm playing through El Shaddai right now for Backloggers too. It's fun but very strange lol. After listening to the introductory BA podcast, I decided to take the advice of the special guest and play it on Easy and I'm glad I did. The combat feels about right. I imagine the bad guys probably have too much health on higher difficulties.

Snee pretty much summed it up about Foundation. The original Foundation trilogy is absolutely superb. I've never heard of Philip Jose Farmer though. I'll keep an eye out for his books.

10/24/2013 at 09:15 AM

I started El Shaddai on Normal, but quickly restarted on Easy. I am having about as much fun as I did with Mirror's Edge.

I will definitely pick up Of Myths and Monsters when I finish the first Kid Icarus.

There was something Jeremy said when the Mighty No. 9 Kickstarter came around. It was in regards to objectivity and his response to a comment was that he prefers to tell stories. I think that is why I like his writing, because I want to read stories.

Yeah, Snee seems to have great taste in books...

Alex-C25

10/23/2013 at 09:33 PM

I started reading Foundation recently. It's very great so far and is has managed to keep me more inmersed than I Robot (not that the last one is bad though).

10/24/2013 at 09:07 AM

I have heard nothing but good things about Foundation. I have not touched any other Asimov, but I wanted at least a taste of him, so I chose Foundation.

NSonic79

11/03/2013 at 06:11 PM

I still need to watch Elementary but I can't find it anywhere online =(

PixlBit