Stuart

Can't say how much I agree with you. My finger is well trained to hit the k key (google reader) at the remotest hint of yet another itunes/beatles post.

Glad to see Cheezburger in your screenshot. Lolcats forever!

Man, I think this is going to be my new favorite video game ever.

Warcraft
Warcraft
Warcraft
gmail
Warcraft
Warcraft
Warcraft

Was sold out for me (in LA), and Amazon's not stocking it, so I think I'll have to wait on it a bit :(

I picked up WarioWare yesterday, and it is the most giddy fun I've had in a long time. It is a lot like the experience of watching the first season of Pee-Wee Herman where it feels like the whole show has changed in the blink of an eye. Totally fun for thirty minutes, but exhausting when you're done. Good to have games that don't demand 4 hour sessions though.

I think that $80 ought to buy one a year of up to date software usage out of the box, so I can't say I'm too impressed by this. I recognize that this is pretty sophisticated stuff they are building, and I am familiar with their frequent feature-rich upgrades, but perhaps they ought to consider a subscription model rather than the frequent incremental upgrade costs.

Left! I auto-hide as well, and left is the best for me because it is the least likely place for me to accidentally unhide it. Photoshop and Illustrator are about the only apps I use that have high traffic click points on the far left side of the screen.

Good christ, that is creepy. Especially since in the last shot you can see all the non-mario toys carefully out of 2-year old reach, tauning you mario from 7 feet up. At least maybe dad and son can learn to grow up together...

I can't remember the chain's name, but the 'Save the Dam' series originating in Loch Modan is my all time favorite. It may not be as funny as some others, but it is really engaging and works well to write you into the arch narrative.

On the flipside, there are a few very poorly written quests. I had never really appreciated the caliber of most, or for that matter given any thought to the different voices behind the quest architecture until stumbling upon a few (particularly in Stranglethorn Vale) that felt as though they had been written by a 9th grade D&D dungeon master. The worst trait I've come across is to use the quest text as a window into your character's inner feelings, etc. "You feel cold" and the like. Bad bad bad.

I am pleased that these poor examples are so few and far between, and for the most part, I think it is a very well written game that can be mostly unlocked by following the bread crumbs dropped from mission texts. That said, I still usually have thottbot open on my laptop when I play...