Well sure, but it's also a bit like a photo album isn't it?  You see a game on your shelf so you can think, "yeah I remember that game.  Man, life was interesting back then etc."

It's nice to have the memento in your hands.

I am disturbed on some mysterious level hidden deeply within my little reptilian brain. 

Let's see...Buy a game I want to play that I can't find elsewhere or...

Don't play it at all.  Yep, pretty sure I want GOG and Steam to stick around.

I hope they stick around!  They have some stuff I want to buy 

Rachmaninoff has some crazy stuff.  Also, Liszt.  Hmm...that's the craziest 'metally' stuff I can think of right now.

Yeah and: 

George Lindbeck, the famous Yale theologian, has commented on the decreasing knowledge of scripture from a professor's perspective: "When I first arrived at Yale, even those who came from nonreligious backgrounds knew the Bible better than most of those now who come from churchgoing families."

Which tells me that all the religious arguing hub-bub in here?  Probably coming from non-Christians.

Grand Theft Auto 4.  I couldn't even finish it, because it just dragged on for waaaay too long.  Oh oh, and the ending to System Shock was *bloody* awful.

It's hard for me to remember some games, since usually I put them aside and out of my mind.

You're not alone JR. 

http://www.theologicalstudies.org/page/page/1572910.htm

I dunno about the press, but I get the distinct feeling of loneliness when I'm around other Metroid fans and their current tirade against Other M.   

Well I mean, it sorta is.  The storyline doesn't really resolve and stuff kinda goes nowhere.  Walking around gets pretty tedious.  There isn't much to see.  The music gets bland occasionally.

Look, I'm just saying a lot of arguments can be made.  I guess it's got a good metacritic score though.  Funny for some reason I thought it performed less admirably.

Soo...nevermind. 

I actually enjoyed Hotel Dusk quite a bit.  But it deserves every lashing it gets, because with an objective eye it's kind of a piece of crap.

And yet I still like it...wtf? 

Hmm, I dunno what legit game distributors are gonna do.  As for us, I don't think it'll matter in the long run.  I somehow doubt the KRB is gonna be banning access to this site or any other if it's small.

And if they do, there's always something like Tor.  The only thing that really hurts is korean indie devs are gonna have trouble circumventing the law, which is a shame since they do some decent work every now and again.

Hmmm...nothing legal comes to mind.  I'm a bit surprised by this kerfuffle (wow really, the auto-spell-check isn't having a fit?), considering how forward-thinking the S.Koreans are about the internet in general.

Strange.

Theo, yeah there are some movies that showcase parts of the Bible.  But I want a show that really gets through all of it from start to finish.

Also, I'd like the show to be racy and saucy like Rome, instead of pious and sanctimonius.  Maybe a little David on Jonathan action from the book of Samuel?  That'd get ratings.

Heh, well.  Yeah.  Man, religious history is twisted.  And I'm not so sure I want to be an expert on it.

Off video games for a moment, I'd like to a see a tv show that covered the bible.  Usually they only cover the good bits, but I'd like to see it all in chronological order.  Maybe put it on HBO so you can get the real nitty gritty of most of it.

I'd watch that for sure. :D

Well sure, you could even bring up the Cathars.  Although they didn't survive too long.

I was only trying to point out just how much splintering has occurred.  Although after a recent trip back east to Nova Scotia, there has been some discussion of a pretty serious reversal. 

Apparently church attendance is WAAAAY down over the last decade.  It's now at the point that the baptists, uniteds, and lutherans are thinking about joining forces.  It was pretty interesting to hear about what some were planning in their communities. 

I drove all over the province and now have some very nice pictures of churches. :D

I'm always confused by the practice of religion as compared to it's guiding doctrines.

For example, Catholicism (at least in Europe), is the very definition of opulence.  The Vatican has a ridiculous amount of wealth and puts on a fine show of it.  That seems to run counter to the principles laid out in their book.

Also, they worship saints and other mortals as represented by idols.  Again, seems a bit off.

And it seems to me, this is how the branching religions started.  You got the Lutherans starting the evangelist movement.  Protestants came out of that.  Anglicans came out of that.  First United, the list goes on.  Each time a new sect starts, it's to get away from the religious tics of a previous clergy.

At this point, all the evangelical branches in particular, it seems like different flavours of cola.  Pepsi, Coke, who cares really?

It's not just them either.  Mormons, with their sequel to the Bible, have branches as well.  FLDS anybody? (yikes) 

I was never very good at this game.

As for games that are heavy on the Christian themes, hmmm...  I can't think of any good ones, which strikes me as a bit strange.

Scrolling platformers *definitely* got their start in Japan.  Western game developers wouldn't make scrolling games until about 5 years later.

I don't think the reading thing has anything to do with it, since western society only "happens" to read left to right.  There are plenty of cultures out there that don't.

However, as suggested earlier, the idea that it was easier to program on older machines?  I can buy that.  I have a friend that did development for the Apple IIe, he may be able to shed some light on the older systems.

No, it's still right to left across the page.

I'm not sure what's up with the whole right-scrolling thing.  When did scrolling even become viable in video games?  Surely there are examples before Super Mario.

Yeah, Balloon Kid is the only one I can think of too.

Maybe it has something to do with "The Late Night Setup"?  Late Night shows always set up with the host on the right with little exception.  Apparently, according to them, this is because the audience always drifts to the right in their attention.  Since the host is on the right, he's the center of attention.

Since you're exploring a level, it makes sense you would want all the "new stuff on screen" to be coming in from the right...since apparently that's where our eyes naturally drift for change.  I dunno, could be bullshit.

But maybe it's true to the point where designers don't even realize it.  ie. They had their early games scroll right, because it "felt" right.  Balloon Kid might have reversed it just to buck the trend and do something different.

Man, I hope a smart person stumbles onto this thread and explains it with some science. 

Avatar had some of the best writing on television I've ever seen.  Ever.

And no, not just good for a kid's show either. 

Anyway, back on topic for the new Avatar show. Ahem...