Yet Another Random Bit of Insanity

[MEKristian]

A beat-em up starring Captain Falcon would be fun. Shift between uber-hard driving sections like in GX's story mode, and running about beating the EVER LOVING TAR out of people as you close in on this or that bounty. Course, this would HAVE to have the Falcon Punch as a major move in his arsenal. Maybe something you fill up a gauge for and unleash as a supermove.

And then hand it over the Platinum Games and watch the internet loose their collective minds.

[doc.exe]

@James: So kinda like the career mode in some recent sport games? That could work very, very well, honestly.

@MEK: Ok, you just want to give me a heart attack, don’t you?

And well, to move away a bit from F-Zero (I have cried enough tears for a lost love), news on the next DBZ film and look who is coming back.

Honestly, he wasn’t my favorite villain of the Z era (I prefer Cell), and I’m not sure how viable he is still as a threat considering the subsequent Super Saiyan levels, all the anime fillers and movies where he gets a rematch and ends soundly trashed, Beerus himself, etc.

But Battle of the Gods was more similar in tone to early Dragon Ball (more comedic in nature, essentially) than Z, so I think he might still work in that context. And in any case, I’m glad the sequel is coming because I really enjoyed the previous film.

[doc.exe]

Another icon of comedy has left this mortal plane: Roberto Gómez Bolaños, the legendary Chespirito, has passed away.

Given how much I laughed in my childhood and teenage years with his TV shows and characters, it really hit me.

[MEKristian]

Geez Aonuma, what did you make!?

[doc.exe]

With this, the spoilers from The Last, and the footage of No Man’s Sky and Bloodborne…

Ok, it’s official: I died and somehow ended in a tailor made heaven.

[ewuvi]

Anybody playing Dragon Age Inquisition? Other than the *extreme* sidequest bloat (GET OUT OF THE HINTERLANDS!), I'm really enjoying it.

Except that part where Cullen starts singing. I'm torn between that being hilarious and touching. It's a cool scene, but Cullen is singing.

[jgkitarel]

Still in the Hinterlands, here. Now, what was the way out?

[ewuvi]

You can leave any area at basically any time (not in the middle of combat I don't think) by entering the quest map and going to the world map. And you can fast travel to any camps or special way points you "claim" (like the beacons in the Fallow Mire).

What race/class/gender are you playing?

[jgkitarel]

I was joking, I made sure to visit Haven periodically, if only to offload my swag and talk with various people. But still, all those quests....

Currently at the point where we go to seal the breach and knowing Dragon Age, this is where the game actually starts.

Doing a female human warrior with a emphasis on two handed weapons.

Mistakenly skipped visiting the rogue mages in Redcliffe, but the alliance with the Templars should do nicely for now. Honestly, after the previous games, I don't have a lot of sympathy for either side. Both are at fault and both sides could have prevented it from happening. As Varric pointed out in DA II, no one person was specifically at fault, but the situation had been allowed to degrade by both sides.

Now that we have this implication of an Elder One....

Is it wrong for me to think things are about to go horribly wrong?

[jgkitarel]

Well, they did.

Anyway, you guys have heard about that North Korean group hacking Sony, right? Any surprises that they managed to do so? Anyone not surprised?

[Phht]

I think the biggest surprise is that North Korea is actually some sort of threat instead of simply being the laughing stock of the world.

[doc.exe]

I think it is still laughable. When you consider what they accomplished: They revealed that Sony has not learned anything since the PSN hack of 2011; that even their own employees can’t stand Adama Sandler’s movies; that movie executives and actors are incompetent, assholes or both (something that we already knew anyway); they deflated any surviving hype regarding the future projects of Sony pictures (as if everyone was not wary of them already) and prevented the release of a satiric comedy that was very likely going to suck anyway. All because their great leader lacks sense of humor.

The entire thing looks like a bizarre comedy of errors.

[jgkitarel]

Contrary to what people think, it is impossible to keep hackers out if they are really determined, resourceful and patient. This has been proven through legitimate security and penetration testing. The guys who did this were skilled and this was a focused attack. They were willing to take the risks of detection, which Sony really dropped the ball on right there, all things considered. This isn't the PSN attack 2.0. Sony Pictures may well be a separate network from PSN: different IP addresses, different domain, different security, etc. Their security may well be good enough to stop your usual hackers, who usually try a few times, and then go find an easier target. Determined hackers? All networks are vulnerable, if only because they have an internet connection.

[MEKristian]

So, the Legend of Korra has recently ended.

And all I can say about the ending is...



Well done Bryke, you guys have massive balls. Also you lit the fandom on fire, again, congrats.

[doc.exe]

I really need to catch up with the series. I stopped watching around the middle of season 2 (season 3 and 4 are better from what I understand).

Still, I have already been spoiled of what I suppose is the last scene of the series, and if it the implications are true, then yes, the show runners deserve commendation for their ballsiness.

Contrary to what people think, it is impossible to keep hackers out if they are really determined, resourceful and patient. This has been proven through legitimate security and penetration testing. The guys who did this were skilled and this was a focused attack. They were willing to take the risks of detection, which Sony really dropped the ball on right there, all things considered. This isn't the PSN attack 2.0. Sony Pictures may well be a separate network from PSN: different IP addresses, different domain, different security, etc. Their security may well be good enough to stop your usual hackers, who usually try a few times, and then go find an easier target. Determined hackers? All networks are vulnerable, if only because they have an internet connection.

Yes, I’m aware hacking into a corporation in order to steal information is not an easy or trivial task. I also know any system is ultimately vulnerable if the intruder is skillful and determined enough. But from what I have read, Sony Pictures really dropped the ball in terms of cybersecurity: Putting aside they didn’t report it the first time it happened, from what I understand, a lot of their passwords and credentials for critical systems were not encrypted but stored in plain text, which apparently was similar to how badly the situation was when the PSN was hacked. Even if they are separate divisions with separate infrastructures, you would believe someone at the Pictures division would have learned something from that, but then again, I suppose the horror tales I have heard/read from IT people working at large corporations are true after all (you know, how executives don’t really care about how unprotected their systems truly are despite the guys in charge constantly telling them, only to then harp on and blame them once the worst happens despite the IT guys warning them beforehand).

And then there is the fact that the claimed reason for these hackers risking prison was to stop the release of a movie with an unflattering depiction of North Korea’s dictator, which is ridiculous on so many levels… Of course, it’s possible that’s only an elaborate lie to deflect attention from their true intentions. Last time I checked, the authorities were still inconclusive about the source of the attack.

I do feel bad for the employees who got their personal information exposed though. Those are ultimately the true victims in all this mess.

[MEKristian]

I really need to catch up with the series. I stopped watching around the middle of season 2 (season 3 and 4 are better from what I understand).

Still, I have already been spoiled of what I suppose is the last scene of the series, and if it the implications are true, then yes, the show runners deserve commendation for their ballsiness.

As it seems they've retweeted several fan things relating to those, I think it's fairly safe to say that it was intentional.

But as somebody who's only see up to mid-season 2, doc, how crazy does that part of the ending manage to sound?

[doc.exe]

Oddly enough, not that crazy.

Spoiler: show

From a humorous point of view, I suppose they finally got tired of Mako and his… let’s call it wishy-washyness. So they chose each other.

Of course, I suppose there is more to it than that. From what I understand, Asami was portrayed as Korra’s closest friend in book 4.

Plus, I saw a lot of fanart of them together before the ending, so I assume there was build-up.

[MrRigger2]

There was a surprising amount of build up through Season 3 and 4, though it's possible you could look at it being platonic.

MrRigger

[MEKristian]

Yeah, there was significant build-up (well, as much as you can do with Nick's moral guardians), but if you went back in time and told people what happened just after season 1 had ended? It would sound like you were insane.

[JamestheFox]

Honestly, either way I'm kinda happy with how they handled it.

Spoiler: show

If it was platonic, then at least they managed to keep the annoying love-triangle, will-they-or-won't-they stuff from the first two seasons out of seasons 3 and 4. Not every hero or heroine who has seeming love interests has to end up with them in the end. I can dig it. Way to buck the trend.

If it was meant to be something more, then... dang. They actually went there, and tried to bring a same-sex couple, portrayed in a positive or at least neutral light, to a show aimed at kids. I mean, sure, they didn't go the whole nine yards, but considering the current state of affairs, this could be seen as a big step. Rowling tried something similar with Dumbledore, but if there were hints... well, I didn't notice them.

Either way, I quite enjoyed Books 3 and 4. The team finally managed to get everything together, and aside from a kinda-okay clipshow, I feel like the series saw a huge improvement.

[MEKristian]

Spoiler: show

If it was meant to be something more, then... dang. They actually went there, and tried to bring a same-sex couple, portrayed in a positive or at least neutral light, to a show aimed at kids. I mean, sure, they didn't go the whole nine yards, but considering the current state of affairs, this could be seen as a big step. Rowling tried something similar with Dumbledore, but if there were hints... well, I didn't notice them.

Either way, I quite enjoyed Books 3 and 4. The team finally managed to get everything together, and aside from a kinda-okay clipshow, I feel like the series saw a huge improvement.

I agree with the later sentiment, though they explained why they had to do a clip show, and I honestly don't blame them.

As for the spoiler comment...

Spoiler: show

Even if they wanted to, Nickelodeon's Standards and Practices wouldn't let them; Nick does not want Same-sex relationships shown on their programming. So the team seems to have gone as far as possible to show it, without having anything that'd trip the censors. And we may never get definitive confirmation one way or the other, which is fine.

But also, with all the internet buss surrounding it and how progressive it is? Even IF Nick wanted to go "no they're straight" in a follow-up comic or something, they couldn't because the backlash would be so stupendous that the entire network would probably end up in hot water.

[MrRigger2]

Regarding the spoiler comments:

Spoiler: show

If it were just a matter of America Nick's Standards and Practices, I think they may have gone a little bit further than they did, but remember that Legend of Korra is distributed and aired in countries all around the world, some of which have much stricter content laws than America. They literally couldn't go further if they wanted the show to be able to reach the full audience.

MrRigger

[MEKristian]

You make a fair point, especially since that's been mentioned in relation to a totally separate cartoon.

But, we now have Word of God on the matter...

Spoiler: show

It's Canon.

Wow guys, just... wow.

[jgkitarel]

Well, here's to wishing you all a Merry Christmas.

[Wraith5]

Well, here's to wishing you all a Merry Christmas.

Likewise! Merry Christmas everyone!

Unfortunately, since I'm visiting relatives in New York (not the city), I have to wait until tomorrow evening/the morning of the next day to get pretty much ALL of my presents...
*shrug*