Wherein our heroes have become field mice...

My, what a predicament! How shall our intrepid heroes ever deal with becoming field mice? As long as we don't have to bell the proverbial cat, we should be okay.

Wait, what's that? A tiger?! That's it, I quit!


SUBJECT CHANGE.


So I've finally broken down and succumbed to peer and technological pressure - I've finally purchased a game via Steam. I had been reluctant in the past as while I enjoy digital entertainment, I prefer physical media. Call me old fashioned ("you're old fashioned!" sayeth Mike and the robots), but I trust something I can hold in my hand, and distrust having to trust someone else to remember that I own a game and give me access to it. Which is what you're doing by purchasing games via Steam - you won't receive a game disc, you merely are purchasing the right to, on whatever computer you install and log onto Steam with, download that game and then play it. I have to admit that it works fairly well. I say "fairly well" because the minute you lose 'net connection, you lose the ability to play any of your Steam games. And this goes for your older Valve games, like the original Half-Life - whether you physically own the game or not, you've got to have a network connection to play the game. I will admit that not having internet connection wherever you find yourself these days is harder than in the past, and open wi-fi connections at public businesses are becoming more ubiquitous, but the "needs an internet connection to play" caveat must be clearly stated and understood by all and sundry.

I'd been toying with the idea of a Steam purchase, and finally was presented with a deal I could not pass up, Evil Genius, which was recently on sale for half off. It was already going for $10, and I'd been looking at picking up this game at some point anyway, so a $5 copy was too good a deal to pass up. And it's an interesting game, with a lot in it to learn. Oh, I'd played it's spiritual forebear, Dungeon Keeper, years ago when it came out (and even have it on my Amazon gaming list, I like it so much). And EG is very much in the vein of DK - you play the bad guy in charge of doing evil things to the world, and to accomplish this task, you set up your evil lair, not so much by telling your minions directly what to do, but by setting up tasks that you want to see done, and when one of your minions feels like doing it, they go and do it. Yes, very similar to the much-talked about (at least on this journal) Dwarf Fortress, but the graphics and graphical user interface are better in this one. Doubtful the gameplay is deeper than in DF, but I doubt any games out there can claim that they're deeper than DF.


SUBJECT CHANGE.


So we're - prepare yourself - actually watching the prequel Star Wars trilogy. On purpose. Yes, the "first" 3 movies that came out over a decade after Return of the Jedi. First off, I admit to being one of those fans that was really really excited when The Phantom Menace was announced, and still excited for about 10 seconds after the movie was over. Let me give you this quick test so you can finally admit to yourself what kind of fan you are - when you think of the original trilogy, do you call the movies Star Wars, Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi OR Star Wars: A New Hope (Episode 4), Star Wars: Empire Strikes Back (Episode 5), and Star Wars: Return of the Jedi (Episode 6)? Or the third option - you don't even know what I'm talking about? If you chose Option 1 (like I do) - true geek who grew up with the original trilogy and are wondering why we still pay homage to Lucas. Option 2 - you are a younger geek or non-geek who never really was a fan of the original trilogy and are wondering what all the fuss is about. Option 3 - everyone else, who is also wondering what all the fuss is about.

Us Option 1 folks just really don't understand you Option 2 and 3 folks, as I'm sure you don't understand us, but that's okay - we still rule and you still drool. (just kidding, can't we all just get along?) But seriously, if you watch the original trilogy and then follow it up with the newer trilogy (sequel before prequel, kind of thing) and watch them both with a critical eye, you see some parts where Mr. Lucas should have just kept his "artistic side" tied up in his hotel room and made with the good space opera.


I started to type up a laundry list of all the things that Lucas got wrong in the first movie, but stopped myself. You're welcome. I will instead guide your attention to the multitude of other websites out there that have shown no such restraint: here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. And that's not all I found, I merely made 7 copies of the same "anchor" URL tag, and stopped when I filled them all.

I will say this as a military guy (and since the big fight scene at the end of Attack of the Clones is currently playing on my home entertainment center) - we stopped gathering in big groups in the middle of big, open fields, marching towards each other and firing our weapons back in the Civil War for a reason! Automatic and semi-automatic weapons, as well as accurate artillery and fire support from aircraft, make such actions suicide FOR BOTH SIDES! And it only looks moderately cool on the screen. You can get the same volume of fire (which, with the blasters in the series, is what everyone is really watching - all the glowing lights chasing each other back and forth across the screen) going with troops hunkered into cover and shooting from there. Yes, have the robots do the whole "walk towards the enemy, firing madly", they don't value their lives, but everyone else would be flat on the ground, digging a hasty position with their elbows, because everyone else has this bad habit called "breathing" - and they'd like to keep doing it. Having WW1 era dogfights in space is one thing (along with all the sound effects that you hear in a vacuum), but having highly trained soldiers not take cover with modern-acting weapons just breaks my suspension of disbelief. Even in a galaxy, far far away.


SUBJECT CHANGE.


I've been typing on this post for who knows how long, as I haven't had much time at work of late, and not much time at home either. So I'm going to end it here and just say, Enjoy!

|/|/hiskey ]{ilo ]-[otel