Tom Chick and olaf talk about tyranny. Then they talk about Obsidian’s latest RPG. Seriously though, as we move past the 2016 election, everyone should have a Trump supporter like olaf to reassure him. And to then geek out about the latest hotness in choice and consequence and crunchy combat.
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Chan-Wook Park does some things we certainly didn’t expect. At the 45-minute mark, the three of us each choose three movies for this week’s 3×3 about movies that live up to their titles.
Next week: Hell or High Water
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If I was to make a game that I didn’t want anyone to actually play, it would look a lot like Clockwork Empires. A torturous interface with lots of busy little buttons and information spilled across various mutually exclusive screens. Basic tasks that require about two too many steps. Lots of waiting among the various stages of any process, so when you went off to do something else, you might forget the first thing you were doing. One way doors into unrecoverable economic death spirals that you don’t know you’re in until it’s far too late.
Also, it would crash a lot.
After the jump, steamedpunk Continue reading →
Stardock tracks data about how people play their election strategy game, Political Machine 2016. They call these post-game stats the “exit polls”. In terms of which candidates people have been playing, it doesn’t look good for Hillary Clinton.
And in case you haven’t been told enough times, if you live in the US, vote.
Not so long ago, the term for interracial marriage was miscegeny. Today the term for interracial marriage is marriage. An important step in that process was the Supreme Court in 1967 telling Virginia, “Okay, look, you can’t make laws to stop certain people from getting married.” It would take another 48 years for the Supreme Court to really follow through, but they got there eventually.
On one level, Loving is about our country recognizing that falling love and marrying is part of the human condition. But mostly, it’s about two people who love each other and decide to start a family. The man happens to be white and the woman happens to be black. But the social ramifications, the political issues, the march of the Civil Rights Movement, and all that stuff is relegated to the background. Not because it’s less important. But because that’s not the story writer/director Jeff Nichols wants to tell. A through-line in Nichols’ movies is simple characters bearing up under the crushing responsibility that comes with caring for a family. That’s what this is. For its power, intimacy, and optimism, Loving is his masterwork.
This is easily the performance of Joel Edgerton’s career. It will hopefully be the richly deserved breakout for Ruth Negga’s. The movie opens on her face. It lingers there. Her wide-eyed openness is nothing short of angelic. Her smile is beatific. How else could I have watched so much of that dreadful Preacher series? Their relationship is a fascinating conjunction of a woman before her time and a man out of place. She is the driving force when it comes to introducing their case to the legal system and presenting it to the newly media-fed public. He’s a white man born and raised in a black community, who has learned to keep his head down. Edgerton plays him with a whupped and laconic doggedness. They’ve found their time and place in each other’s arms, and that’s where Loving finds a fiercely quiet and gently powerful portrait of everything that’s right, wrong, and then ultimately right with our country.
Loving is currently in limited release. It will open in additional cities throughout the month.
It’s our fourteenth Marvel Comics movie! Who among us is still down with the superheroes? At the 1:09, for this week’s 3×3, we reclaim our names from the movie characters who have tried to usurp them.
Next week: The Handmaiden
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Tony Carnevale, who considers Brogue one of the best roguelkes, explains why the term “roguelike” is being abused terribly by Steam, game developers, and hosts of the Qt3 podcast who consider Spelunky a roguelike. (Apologies for the weird sync issues, which we’ll get sorted out before we record again.)
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I just spent thousands of years of accumulated faith to claim Edgar Allen Poe, one of the earliest great writers in Civilization VI. He’ll write The Raven and The Tell-Tale Heart, which are considered great works. They add tourism and culture to a civilization. But great works need to be housed in a “slot”. Basically, a civilization has an inventory for these things. Thousands of years ago, I found The Grass Cutting Sword in a remote village. It’s been sitting in my palace ever since, generating tourism and faith. Because of my close relationship with the city-state of Kandy, I was supposed to get free relics for discovering natural wonders. But, alas, without a place to slot them, they were wasted. Yosemite, Mount Kilimanjaro, and the Great Barrier Reef flashed before my scouts’ eyes and no relics were forthcoming.
To increase great works inventory space, a civilization needs museums, temples, and certain Wonders of the World. Lucky for me, I’ve got the Great Library of Rome, which has room for two writings. It’s been empty for thousands of years. It’s been waiting for Edgar Allen Poe. Now he’s here. At last, it gets two books!
After the jump, or does it? Continue reading →
How does Ben Affleck’s performance as a special assassin add up for us? At the 1:15 mark, we strike back with a 3×3 about revenge in movies.
Next week: Doctor Strange
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Given that AI War has so much stuff in it, why would you want an AI War II? Developer Chris Park explains. He also explains what Demon Stalkers is, how AI modder Sorian influenced his approach to game design, and why he’s so over Pixel Junk Monsters.
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It’s unfortunate that I’ve lost interest in the “wait for someone else to do math” dynamic of Small World, because Small World is a brilliant concept: take two things and jam them together to make a third thing. In this case, an adjective and a fantasy race. Berserk elves. Wealthy giants. Heroic trolls. Dragon master skeletons. Okay, dragon master isn’t really an adjective, but mastering dragons is so cool it doesn’t matter. The combinatorial possibilities make Small World an unlimited game. All that lurking synergy.
After the jump, smaller than small world Continue reading →
If you thought Negan was bad, at least he’s not enforcing immigration policy. At the 1-hour mark, we take a look at prominent eyeballs in movies.
Next week: The Accountant
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Tom Chick and Chris Hornbostel wrap up a week of book recommendations for your Halloween enjoyment.
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Juho Snellman (aka jsnell on the Qt3 forum) has a long history with Terra Mystica and unique insight into how to play it online. He’s also just back from Essen with a suitcase full of new games.
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I’m honored that a site called Folks is letting me write about something other than videogames and movies. Well, about something other than videogames, at any rate. I’ve written about what it’s like having first-hand experience with cancer and then seeing it in movies.
When you do a keyword search for cancer on the Internet Movie Database, you get 1500 entries. Breaking Bad is at the top of the list. Bryan Cranston’s cancer gives him license to break bad. He starts a meth lab to support his family. The series creator, Vince Gilligan, summarizes Breaking Bad as a story about a mild-mannered teacher who becomes the equivalent of Scarface.
Because cancer. Cancer lets you become an over-the-top Al Pacino character.
You can read the article here. You can also read a more personal take on my experiences here. And about a good friend’s struggle with cystic fibrosis here.
