PixlBit

Great picks, although I’ve never Torchwood, Fringe, or Code Geass (I’ve actually never heard of that one).  I really like all the rest.  I recently read something really disappointing.  Supposedly they had Carnivale all planned out at a three chapter, six season show.  The first two seasons were only the first chapter.  I was already disappointed enough that it got cancelled, but now that I know they had at least a rough sketch for four more seasons it’s even worse.

Breaking Bad is also my current number one.

Some of my other favorites that you didn’t list are Six Feet Under, Babylon 5, and Boardwalk Empire. 

I read about this when I got up this morning and immediately went to check my PS3, since it auto-updates about 30 minutes before I wake up.  Luckily, everything seemed to be working okay.

I do have PSN+ now, so even if I had to reformat at least I wouldn't lose my PS3 saves like I did back when my original PS3 crapped out on me.  But this reminds me that I need to start backing up my PS1/PS2 saves on a memory stick or something.  A little while back I got a new hard drive and didn't realize that the auto-update of the saves to the cloud didn't include the games I got off PSN that are PS1/PS2 games.  I ended up losing all of those game saves.

Since I'm an engineer who happens to like geeky things like science, video games, comic books, etc., I often get asked if I like this show.  It’s almost always people I’m meeting for the first time though, so I can never tell them how annoying I find it because I don’t want to offend them.  It’s odd though, because I hate it for the same reasons as you, but a lot of geeks I’ve met like it and so do a lot of otherwise smart people.  But then again, just because someone likes geeky things doesn’t make them intelligent, and just because someone may be smart doesn’t mean they have good taste.  And of course, taste is subjective…but mines still better than everyone else’s. :)

But as annoying as I find the show, I won’t judge someone who likes it.  I’m sure most people have something embarrassing they watch.  Hell, I’ve watched every new Vampire Dairies episode the week they came out for 4 years straight now (or however long it's been on).  I watch it with my girlfriend, so I could use that as an excuse, but I have to admit I find it entertaining.  I also watch New Girl.  I originally watched the first episode just because I find Zooey Daschnel cute, but I actually think it’s pretty funny.

By the way, since I love pretty much all the same tv shows as you, I ended up watching Black Books a while ago due to you talking about it.  Great recommendation!

If I was looking for someone, whether they were a gamer or not wouldn't really be a factor for me, as long as she wasn't the type to look down on me for being one.  Sometimes I think it would be nice to have a partner to game with.

But honestly, I'm glad my long-time (9+ years) girlfriend who I share a house with is not a gamer.  While I like to play multi-player games every now and then, I am by and large a single-player gamer. There are so many single-player games I want to play, I would get kind of annoyed if I had to play a game with her all the time.  Or worse yet, if both of us were wanting to play the same single-player game and I couldn't play it because she was got to it first.  

For me, I'm in the perfect relationship for my video gaming habits.  I'm with someone who is not a gamer but doesn't mind that I'm one and she also likes doing things by herself every now and then so I have plenty of time to play.

I just downloaded it a few days ago and played through the intro level.  Although I haven't played it since first came out, it still remains one of my favorite games of all time.  I'm looking forward to playing through it again.

This was a great game.  I never owned it, but would often borrow it from friends or rent it.  I got so I could easily make it to Mike Tyson, but it wasn’t until years later with the use of the instant save/reload features of an emulator that I was able to beat him.

I just recently played Punch Out on a console again (it’s only 30 cents for a limited time on the Wii U!). Man, that muscle memory never goes away!  I made it to Piston Honda (or maybe the guy after him) before I lost a match, usually taking people out in the first round.

p.s. I hope that didn't come across as a "you're wrong!" rant.  I can never tell what my tone sounds like to others.  I was just giving my opinion. I always enjoy your blogs.

I frequently read stuff like this and used to agree.  But as I’ve gotten older I’ve come to the conclusion that politicians just just take advantage of an already existing rift in our country for their own political advantage.  I don’t think the politicians really have much to do with creating it. It really has been that way forever.  If you look at American history, it really is no worse now than it has ever been; it could even be argued that it used to be worse.  Most people are opinionated and stubborn and want everyone to think like them, or at the very least be forced to follow their beliefs.  How will someone who thinks gay marriage is an abomination that will destroy this country ever compromise with someone who believes that without it we are betraying our country’s ideas of equality for all?

I do think it is possible for individuals of different ideologies to get along.  Hell, I’m an atheist who has been living with my Christian girlfriend for years.  I’m also a social liberal who has very conservative parents and co-workers, all of whom I get along with great. 

But, maybe I’m a pessimist, I just don’t have any optimism at all that the political divisions will ever go away, especially when it comes the faceless “they.”  It’s human nature to lump everything into an “us vs. them” mentality.  Even when they know and are even friends with a couple of “them,” many people tend to think of their friends as the exception to the rule.  People want to be united, but only because they want everyone to agree with them and convince those that disagreed that they were wrong.

Of course, this is all my opinion and maybe I'm just too pessimistic.  I would be very happy to be wrong.

I Wanna Destroy You by The Circle Jerks

I enjoyed the cave.  I didn't find the puzzles too hard for the most part, but maybe that's because I'm an old-school adventure game fan. (although I admit a couple times I used a FAQ).  The one thing that annoyed me about that game was the backtracking involved in some levels, especially the mining one.

I would also recommend most of the other puzzle games you mentioned.  The portal games are great.  Braid was very good, but also very hard.  The first two oddworld games were also really fun and the first one was one of the very first playstation games that I played.  I only recently played Shadow of the Colossus when they rereleased it on the playstation 3, and I enjoyed that one too.  I don't think you can go wrong with any of these games!