Selfsurprise

I would make you some recommendations for what I consider to be hard games, but I'm surprisingly incompetent at all but the most linear titles. Perhaps I'm just a little rusty after all the walking sim/narrative games I've been playing lately, though I have been testing myself on a few titles like Forbidden Siren and The Talos Principle. The former is a hard as nail survival horror game with immortal enemies, a claustrophobic and disorienting atmosphere, and PS2-era controls that feel utterly prehistoric now. Does anybody else find that they are worse at PS1/2 games (or your consoles equivalent) now than they ever used to be as children? It could just be a symptom of adulthood, lack of free time and natural diminishing of one's cognitive capacity, but just moving your character around or panning the camera feels like an absolutely Herculean task. The latter game I mentioned is a rather underrated PS4 first-person puzzle title with extremely fluid controls and increasingly mind-boggling challenges, and with a very intriguing plot about AI, god and sapiency to boot.

Do you have a deep seated love of - or just a simple affection for - some band or style of music that you'd feel nervous admitting out in the real world? I'm talking about the kind of genres that people tend to turn their noses up at in due to derisive or elitist sentiments, or musicians that garner a certain reputation because they controversial, annoying or just plain old goofy. Assuming you don't simply regard all of my favourite music as one giant collective guilty pleasure, I have quite a number of questionable musical affairs and I'm hoping you lot will be brave enough to share your own. If you are able feel free to provide Youtube videos our audio (dis)pleasure. Self-effacement is a must and mockery is encouraged. RUd0WKqb5EE Do you remember when the Arcade Fire released the album Funeral and then suddenly their music was e v e r y w h e r e? They rapidly joined that pantheon of bands that the internet relegated as Hipster par excellence along with other diverse acts like Animal Collective, Melt Banana, Xiu Xiu and Neutral Milk Hotel. I have a terrible habit of coming across obscure bands profiles (in magazines or social networking sites, roughly within the indie spectrum) and slightly enjoying a couple of tracks, only to then discover that they've exploded into the mainstream consciousness overnight and rapidly regarded as either tirelessly underrated heroes or endlessly overrated kooks. If you ever happened to just "quite like" the band in question you'll lose friends on either end of the taste spectrum. I "quite like" the Arcade Fire and all those other groups I mentioned, even if misanthropic consensus insists I'm a titanic hipster for doing so. 7D6XRZkN0f0 I'm willing to bet that most avowed and fanatical bestial war metal-cum-death industrial fanatic was once a happy hardcore fan. I was! And in all honesty I can't bring myself to hate Critical Mass. Maybe it's the slightly outmoded gabber beats that are surprisingly refreshing by the grimmer standards of contemporary electronic music, maybe it's just the nostalgia on my part, maybe it's just the simplistically optimistic lyrical content doing something to the gnarled warrens of my adult brain, but I can't stop loving this song. "WE'RE THE FUTURE OF MANKIND". 3-cfSIv22II Unlike a lot of metalheads I don't really have a enormous problem with nu-metal and rapcore, not that I'm especially big fan of either. But if you want to hear the most EDGE-LORD album of all time, I don't see how you could do any better than Corporate Avenger's Freedom Is A State Of Mind. There's something undeniably charming about the painfully forced swearing in this track, and the somewhat juvenile politics therein, and just the overall badly aged radness of the entire composition. I have nothing but respect for the "woah! dude! we can, like, fuse different styles, like, together! woah" intentions of the band. You can tell they meant well and it's infectious. c71RCAyLS1M There must've been some kind of mistake, this shouldn't be in here... :3

I think this a great topic Helio! I've never been fond of the word galangal, a kind of root used in south-east Asian cooking similar to ginger. I assumed the etymology the word was Indonesian or Malaysian but apparently the European equivalent of the name derives from the old French galingale. For me personally it just sounds horrible, like you're having some kind of monstrous facial tic and the word was just some noise people made whilst their mouths were spakking-out. coming from the person who's never set foot there longer than 2 minutes No offense but could you two do this somewhere else?

25. I Poveri Sono Matti Even before the war, in the Commonwealth the best of intentions could result in dire consequences. This peculiar strain of mutation can trace its progeny to the pre-War entrepreneur, neo-avant gardist and self-styled "renaissance man" Epifanio Battistelli. Both a utopian idealist and a major investor of the already burgeoning pharmaceutical industry, Battistelli (nicknamed "Eeebee" by the mainstream press) was always looking for ways to improve the lifestyle and prestige of the often impoverished Italian-American minority; and more troublingly seeking ways to sleaze his way around ethicacy and testing laws that his numerous supplemental products ought to have been subject to. In a typically hubristic flash Battistelli believed he had devised a solution to his "Italian-American problem". Why not engineer a drug that activates the parts of the human brain responsible for creativity and intellectual curiosity? Surely if such a thing were given out to the poorer and artistically uninformed masses, then the innate but repressed urge to better themselves and their lot in life would finally break free? Clearly having no issues regarding the manipulation of his own kin and overriding anything resembling sane medical practice, Battistelli distributed his new product to an overworked and wilfully disregarded working class with promises that it would make them feel happier, more carefree and optimistic - he christened it Moũsai (ancient Greek for "muse"). In its early stages of prescription those who had taken Moũsai claimed to feel much more positive and displayed a willingness to live the day to it's fullest. Observational tests revealed that the drug improved the social intelligence, speaking and oratory ability, and erudition of its subjects. Another noticeable benefit was that it almost always sparked some newly acquired creative pursuit in the subject, typically of various crafts and artistic mediums, but potentially it could range from all kinds of literary and performative disciplines. Minor causes for concern were raised about the marginally increased levels excitability and irritability in some subjects - as well as the abnormal amount of nosebleeds recorded - but Battistelli and his team were more than happy to swat away these results into their official analysis of Moũsai. Unfortunately after about a year of this "proactive" approach to marketing the new wonder drug, the first deaths occurred. One particularly inspired warehouse worker who was an avid part-time performance artist and regular imbiber of Moũsai, decided that he could symbolically demonstrate the praise lavished upon the biblical character Abraham by the philosopher Søren Kierkegaard by taking his own teenage son to the top of a fast food restaurant and decapitating him - but only so he could use his blood to daub an enormous stylized painting of bearded gods on the venue's parking lot, as well as a recurring motif depicting Jangle's The Moon Monkey on fire. Despite Battistelli's most convincingly charming attempts at hushing up this untimely tragedy, not even he could sugarcoat the post-mortem analysis of the warehouse workers bout of artistic insight - and especially not after dozens of other such incidents of varying degrees of severity. Not only had Moũsai both sent its subjects irretrievably insane and dependent on the drug, more fundamentally it has altered the brain chemistry and DNA of those it "inspired". Worse still these genetic and cognitive deviations were soon found to pass on into the addicts fully fertile offspring. In a fit of poetic (though no less hubristic) despair Battistelli christened these new ab-humans of his unintentional conception "I Poveri Sono Matti"; from the title of a Cesare Zavattini novel The Poor Are Mad. Presumably as his financial and cultural empire began to show cracks and more of the Povera were born some effort would of been made to contain or even cure these people. Sadly this happened around about 2075-2077 and whilst this controversy raged-on among numerous other global crises, the bombs fell. The modern day post-apocalyptic descendents of the Povera are unmistakable, both in their behaviour and appearance. Povera have a distinct sickly blue-grey colouration to their veinous skin, wildly oscillating black-rimmed eyes, fingertips gnawed and scraped into scabrous points and a permanently set rictus grin on their leering faces filled with discoloured teeth dripping with stinking ichor - their noses also bleed copiously heavy amounts of black blood. Either found solitarily wandering the wastes or living in small closely-knit packs, the Povera still occupy their time satiating their endless curiosity and working on their obsessive creative projects. They also have a habit of gregariously talking about all manner of subjects and philosophical inquiries, if they don't have other Povera or potential victims to converse with they'll talk to themselves. Anybody exploring the wastes may find evidence of their passing in distressingly surreal graffiti and disturbing remains of their performances. Pray you don't become their chosen medium.

Fans. In my experience air conditioning never lives up to the hype. Even the most disappointingly inadequate fan can be directed. The effort required to engineer and implement air conditioning tends to be as effective as having an asthmatic mouse pathetically cough on an entire building. Satanic Hippies OR Bearded Beat Poets

Zoilus Ignores Preppy Prepubescent Yuppies SELFS

Sorry for laughing, but holy balls Ninja. It must of been one hell of a game! I have to confess that for a while I was a little bit like that with Skyrim. I reached a point on several occasions when I had to actively restrain myself from exploring "just one more cave/bandit outpost/nordic tomb/Dwemer ruins/etc" for several hours straight - on top of the indeterminate number of hours I had already been playing it that day.

@ BidetoftheDead: I'm not at all familiar with the series I'm afraid. It strikes me as a rather risky strategy, I don't know how the "contagion" in the series spreads (assuming it does indeed propagate itself like that) but surely even if you have mild non life threatening injuries on your person you run the risk of contracting the undead bug, or at best some other unrelated infection?

I went on a bit of Playstation Store binge recently and I've dipped my toes into my purchases earlier today. Organ Trail: Had a lot of fun with this one and unknowingly lost several hours arsing about in it In the campaign mode I brought several of you along as company - namely BTG, Jeb, Heliocentrical and Binky The Rabbit. I'm finding the aiming difficult to get used to, you have to pull the analog stick away from the direction you want to fire at. But it didn't detract too much from the overall experience. To sum up our horrible fates, Binky was stabbed almost immediately after we set off but managed to survived with minimal health. After some lucky encounters we eventually arrived at a heavily irradiated part of the USA (Dakota I think) and Helio somehow managed to get bitten by a zombie; we were on the road at the time! What the hell Helio?! And because I ran out of medkits I had to put him out of his misery. About two minutes after this the rest of you became heavily irradiated and somehow all became incapacitated at the same time. Naturally I had to shoot the rest of you as you slept. Of course about two minutes after I finally emerged from the irradiated area, I caught measles and died. 10/10, this entire game. Oxenfree: I'm not sure exactly how far I got into this but from what I've seen so far, I'm extremely impressed! It's looks and plays like nothing else I've ever had the pleasure of seeing. It's rather linear in a way many story-driven indie games tend towards, and I suppose it remains it remains to be seen just how much the dialogue and narrative options will affect the outcome - especially after multiple playthroughs. It has however made me extremely intrigued and I actually care about what happens to the cast, even with some attendant of "personal drama" that might put some gamers off. Lumo: Only played this for about twenty minutes or so, maybe it's too early to be reviewing it. It seemed like a perfectly good bit of cutesy isometric puzzling to me, and there appears to a procedurally-generated "endless" mode too, so I should be satisfied with this for a while yet. Forbidden Siren: I recall playing this on the PS2 and seeing it for sale on the store tickled by survival horror nostalgia bone. I'd forgotten just how crushingly difficult this game was, and how eerie the game's core psychic "sightjacking" mechanics were. I also forgot (or should that be repressed) how absolutely horrible and distressing the Shibata enemies could be up close and personal. I've missed this kind of "thrown in at the deep end" style third-person horror game that isn't going to explain it's weird-ass scary-as-balls self to you or anyone else. Just a question aimed at anyone in general, but especially to JRPG fans - I know you're out there! ;p I'm in the market for a substantial RPG game (the mood is upon me, after a slew of fairly casual games and the revelation that I missed harder titles like the aforementioned Forbidden Siren) and I was wondering if the Atelier series was any good as I've heard a decent amount of praise for it. The latest in the franchise titled Atelier Sophie: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Book came out in June and I'm considering a purchase. Would any of you recommend that I go right ahead or instead advise against it? Take your time to respond I'm in no rush.

Welp I have the name for my new metal band, thanks Selfsurprise. I'm glad my anti-human misanthropy has inspired you!

I'm looking forward to it, but largely because I've never played any of the Deus Ex games and thusly my curiosity has been piqued.

Wait! Come back Alien Overlords! We didn't even get to show you one of our greatest works of art... Naked Gun 2 1/2: The Smell of Fear! "You haven't even seen Weekend at Bernies yet!" "If you stare into the Leslie Nielsen, the Leslie Nielsen stares back into you." - Our would-be alien conquerors

I don't know if it was just me misreading the response, but I got the distinct feeling that I somehow unintentionally offended Ross with my question about Warhammer VS. Warcraft orcs. Ross, if you are reading this, I hope I didn't give you the wrong impression about me or led you to think that there was a critical intent to my question. Your points about the Warcraft movie's orcs being a little off was simply a thought provoking moment for me that got me thinking about something else entirely. I assure you it wasn't an attempt at arguing for or against either franchises interpretation of orcs - I prefer Warhammer's orcs myself! The real meat of my question was more about atypical Dungeons & Dragons player characters and certainly not a rebuttal aimed at your opinions or preferences. In retrospect I can see how you might of got the impression that I was framing the subject critically. When I called orcs from the Warhammer universe "one-dimensional" I didn't mean it it a negative way, I was simply referring to their almost inherently hostile and monstrously cunning character, even among the more exceptional and intelligent members of their species. When I called the orcs of the Warcraft universe "nuanced" I did not mean to imply that they were somehow "better than" the former franchises orcs. Hopefully that clears some of the air and that someday we play a game of D&D where you'll play as a no-nonsense Dwarf wizard and I'll play as a transgender Hobgoblin schoolgirl. I can't think of any good reason why those two characters wouldn't arse about with each other in a forbidden crypt somewhere! To the guy who asked if there were any decent Lovecraftian games on the PC. I've played Shadow Of The Comet and if you enjoy slightly broken early point n' click games with a somewhat garish colour scheme, it's worth having a gander at. But if you are looking for something more contemporary and much more darkly atmospheric, you could do a lot worse than seek out a game called Darkness Within: In Pursuit of Loath Nolder. Whilst not a explicitly linked to Lovecraft's lore, the game is obviously within the spirit of literary "mythos" and as such filled with cosmic-occult menace and spiritual dread. It's a rather accomplished first-person point n' click adventure game and in my opinion pretty spooky. The puzzles are mostly great and the in-game locations haunting, the voice acting is serviceable (though occasionally a little wooden), but the gorgeous soundtrack and ambience more than makes up for that minor shortcoming - I'd rate it among my top ten favourite game scores ever. An integral part of the game lies in reading and noting clues in eldritch papers and rambling journals, so the game proudly wears it's Lovecraftian inspiration on its pixelated sleeves.

nM359MvejK8 I'm English, isn't it normal for daytime television to be sporadically interrupted by absolute terror? ;3 I'm just kidding. I just watched this and it had some quotable moments. "But the English. The English are a different, sick breed. Any culture that prizes tea above coffee is obviously a little off, but that doesn't compare to creating a public safety video so gruesome that your own government bans it for twenty years." - Sam Sutherland "Sensible children. I have no power over them..." - The Spirit Of Dark And Lonely Water x3 If this is the only piece of information from my home country to survive into posterity, I couldn't be prouder.

He is a gaming Youtuber though, so I reckon it just about fits the criteria for the gaming subforum. And to answer the OP's original question, yes I have heard of and are a big fanboy of Al, Curt Beltpants and the rest of the gang... :3 I love the way he conjures up this insane cast of characters from absolutely nothing other than random modded companions, or through his bonkers voice impersonations (Louie in his Fallout 4 live sessions) and even just inanimate in-game objects. Infact a while ago I tried to recall all of his named companions (including Chains, you mentioned Fallout: Dust's "breach doctrine") and I quickly lost track of how many there were. I guess I just find his slightly inept way of playing games and general irreverence extremely amusing, it's hard to explain to anyone who isn't a fan precisely what his appeal is. Any way I can't hope to discuss everything on his channel so I prepare a quick list of general questions for you curt+wraithpantz (is that Stargate Atlantis reference?) or anyone who has the foggiest idea what we are talking about. What's your favourite series on his channel? What's your favourite specific episode? (that can include multiple part mod/game reviews) What's your second favourite specific episode? Which member of Al's New Vegas team do you like most? Which one of his many characters (across the channel in general) do you love the most? For the sake of balance, who is your least favorite character? Which game do you wish he kept playing and made a series of? Which top three moments or jokes made you laugh like an imbecile? What do you think of the videos where Al plays with his real life friends and the not the imaginary ones in his head? If Al also lives on the moon, does he know Ross? Are they sworn enemies? Lovers? Sorry about the amount the questions but it was just a way of getting the conversation going, answer as few or as many as you please. I'll get around it to it myself at some point.

The first reason is that Windows 95 is buggier if you can believe your eyes and ears. The second is this. could you spoiler that please Better yet, upgrade to Windows 10 and NEVER BE ABLE TO CLICK ON THE START MENU EVER AGAIN UNLESS THE SYSTEM FEELS LIKE IT

You have rather radical taste in music mate! :3 I remember that Axegrinder song from an old Peaceville sampler I used to play to death as a strapping young man. I tend to prefer punk-inflected offshoot genres rather than straight punk and hardcore the majority of time, I'm an old black metal goat and I'll never tire of the raw "punked-up" subset of BM and so-called War/Bestial Metal. Think of bands like Sump, Grinning Death's Head, Devil's Ding, Raspberry Bulbs, Strongblood and Galloping Shadow. Everything about it appeals to my visual and audial tastes, the bleak xeroxed imagery and archaic fonts, the soviet quality lo-fi-ness of it. It's only real downside is that due to the skulls, weapons and wolfiness in the artwork everybody assumes I'm a national socialist loser. thlI9Lqv23o (^ I do believe this upload has been recorded at the wrong RPM, but in my opinion it sounds better and more akin to sludge music this way; snarling, drool-sodden, deskilled and unsociable - the way metal is meant to be) jIwvYnQ_8bM

That's a pity. In Walsall's New Art Gallery there is a permanent rotating display of various artworks artefacts called the Garman Ryan Collection. To cut a long story short there is a wooden bust of Christ by an unknown sculptor (believed to be French in origin) that always have to go and look at whenever I visit. I'm not sure if it's just the distortion of aging or the extranormal aspect of his expression, but there's something harrowing about it that moves me in a way that more sedate images of Christ fail to. I hope you aren't offended by this description BTG, but I find the best religious art is often the most surreal.

Formacion De Guerilla by Genocide Organ

Supernatural thriller in which the protagonist suffers from a terrible curse which causes anyone she meets to vanish within the titular timescale. The Other Side of the Door That basically is the plot of Withnail and I.

8/10 - I am rather fond of electronic music that contrasts slightly fey melodic elements with starkly harder and machine-precise percussion and synths. One of those things that IDM and digital hardcore does well is the manner in which drum samples sound as if they'll almost outpace the tune of the song, but it somehow coheses together into something pleasant. My only problem is that the song is too short! Moar minutes plz. 9mJL3T5fTnM

Seeing as I'm not a serious filmmaker or Youtuber, I'm content with free video editors. Stick Insects OR Leaf Insects

Plesiosaur Gang Jumps Francis Rossi RFJGP

Has great taste in TV series.

So you got around to posting them Was a trip you organized yourself or did you go as part of a youth club or something? I have a mild interest in crucifixion art and I'm curious to know which church this sculpture is housed in, and who created it. Any help you could offer BTG would be appreciated. It's shocking how mundane the spaces look. I never know what it is we are expecting to see in a place with a reputation as starkly evil as preserved concentration camp, I think I'm much more used to seeing those cramped quarters in over-reproduced grainy contemporaneous photographs inhabited by the emaciated inmates and victims. Seeing them in a modern photograph outside of that context is alienating and haunting.