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I'm getting the same bug Stefano was reporting:

Spoiler

As Stephano described: "When you're in the upper room, coming down from the watch tower in the ruins, if you use "walk" on stairs and then "interact" with stairs, the character vanishes and you get only the screen showing the base of the stairs... tried to use everything, walk, talk, etc. and the character doesn't come back. Maybe he liked hanging out with the depressed guard, Linus.  "

[close]

I think part of the problem is in using the middle mouse button.  I think somehow, by trying to move very fast through the game (because damn that's a slow moving character) using the middle mouse button can skip the character over some walkable areas that have codes associated with them... maybe... I don't know.  At some points early in the game (in the cabin) I was able to get the character to break the black bars on the sides of the screen by using the middle mouse button. 

[EDIT] You're totally right.  There's no reason the middle mouse button should cause this.  Regardless, the bug is still there. [/EDIT]

Regardless of why, I'm stuck in that same place Stefano was with no character to be seen, and though I was enjoying the game thus far, I don't know if I was enjoying it enough to start over (I wasn't keeping up with saves).

[EDIT]Apparently I was enjoying it enough, because I started over.  And starting over made my P.S. (to follow) just that much more annoying.[/EDIT]

PS. Please let players skip cutscenes.  Please?

[flicks]

Site looks great Darth!  Here are my two drachmas:
Clicking the header banner (or at least the logo) should always take the user back to the front page.
The "Return Home" link on the top should either be moved to the far left, being the first thing in that menu, or removed (in favor of the previous suggestion).  I say this because after answering the poll, I wanted to go back to the front page, immediately clicked the banner, and when nothing happened, I looked up to the top, saw the "Movie Reviews" drop down menu and quit looking assuming that the rest of the links up there would be similar site navigation tools.  As an unfamiliar user, I always assume that a menu will use a top down design with the most important links on the top (or left).  Not seeing the most important link at the top-left, I assumed it wasn't there at all and went for the back button.
I would drop the "We're two guys who love watching, talking about, and reviewing movies! We're just vain enough to..." introduction or at least move it to an "about us" page so that we can get to the content faster.  I would also shrink the "The twinflicks Movie Spotlights" or move it to the top of the right sidebar.

It's important to keep the latest updates as close to your site banner as possible so the flock of regular readers that you're out to attract don't have to scroll down to find the latest content.  Depending on how often you update the site, I'd say you should keep blurbs/links to the 10-or-so most recent updates (reviews, features, etc.) blog-style on the front page with the "Join our site" bit pinned to the bottom or moved to a sidebar.  Just make sure that you have one fairly-unobstructed column that is dedicated to the content that makes your site unique.
In my opinion, poll results aren't so important that they deserve a page to themselves.  A lot of sites handle these little fun polls just by refreshing the page and changing the voting option to the results.  To see what I mean, check out the poll at my favorite TV site: TV Without Pity.  You'll also need to stop me from voting multiple times (go Keyser Soze!!!).
The changing of bold face on twinflicks is cool and I like how it makes the word stick out when written among non-bolded text (as I just demonstrated) but I don't like how it sticks out among bolded text (see below for example) which you use frequently in section headers and such.

The changing of bold face on twinflicks is cool and I like how it makes the word stick out when written among non-bolded text (see above for example) but I don't like how it sticks out among bolded text (as I just demonstrated) which you use frequently in section headers and such.

I don't really have a solution for this.  Just wanted to point it out.
I do not stink!
Other than these issues I like the site's look and layout.  It's easy to use and familiar (with the exception of navigating back to the front page)  all it needs is adequate content.  But, since you're not making your site stand out with it's layout (a good thing from a usability standpoint) you're going to have to make it stand out from a content standpoint.  If you keep the content interesting and funny or in some way differ yourself from the hundreds of similar sites, you should be able to get a following.  Remember, I can get cast and crew lists anywhere, but I can't get opinions from you and your brother anywhere.  There has to be a reason that I trust you to tell me what films to see. 

I say milk that "twin" aspect and have dual reviews and opinions on just about everything.  I can think of a few ways to do that: 1) Point-counterpoint format if you disagree. 2) Conversation format if you agree 3) Side-by side (using two different columns) reviews of the same film + two different ratings scales.  I would also like this duality aspect to be reflected in the site's design, with two colums on the front page (one for your features/reviews, one for your twin's), but I guess you're past that point now... 

I like that you both have a review of Minority Report (or at least one of you does and the other has a copy/paste)  but having the two reviews side by side or integrated into one would be more interesting.  It would allow your readers to figure out which of the two of you have tastes similar to their own and follow that one.  Having one review following the next means that most people are going to read one and then stop, skipping the other twin's opinions.

Good luck with this project.  I'll be following along!

- What if the most influential people, (those that have the most money, power and fame,) use this to control the media to dish out only 75% truth, 20% theory, and 5% blatant errors/lies? 

What if the media dishes out so much theory and blatant error in order to sensationalize stories and raise the ratings?  What if the media always let the crazies with extreme viewpoints have more camera time than level-headed people because the crazies preaching conspiracy theories make for better TV?  What if people were so dumb that they believed everything the media shoved down their sad gullible gullets and started believing everything they heard?

- What if Bush is just a puppet. Maybe going over to Iraq was just a ploy to get complete control over the oil situation. I heard somewhere that Saddam was selling so much oil that it brought the price of oil down. What better way to get the prices back up slowing down the sale. (Off the subject, I heard Microsoft was going to do this with the 360 so that it would sell out... making it easier to keep the prices very high.)

What if the sky was blue?  The president of this country has always had to act like a puppet, acting according to the collective will of the people who elected him/her to that position.  The issue you seem to be reaching at is whether or not it is the people of the country who now keep the president in power.  What if corporate interests (and their campain domations) have more power over the president's actions?  i.e. Bush's oil companies are tired of competing with Iraqi oil so he took out Iraq and let our oil companies drill in Alaska.   This is a fairly valid question, though not really connected to this thread.

- What if the American people are distracted by what Bush stands for? He says he is against abortion, abortions still exist in the US. He says he is against Gay/Lesbian marriages... they still get married. He says he is against illegal imigration...yet their allowed a legal residence status. But these are issues we worry about and vote for or against... what's happening behind the scenes though? These are evidently trivial in comparison to a much grander conspiracy. 

Are you insinuating that Bush only claims to be against these issues (that happen to be issues that you are against)  but if he really were against them he would have done something about it, therefore there's a conspiracy?  What if the president were allowed to rule according to his own whim, bypassing checks and balances and imposing his own crazy religiously-fueled ideas upon an unwilling public.  Would you believe he had a secret conspiracy then?

- What if religion was getting in the way of the power mongers? Religous freedom is non existent today. The whole reason why most people left Europe, and migrated to America, was to freely practice their religion. Now we have lossed that priveledge.

What if you lived in a country where millions of people practiced thousands of religions freely?  What if we had any idea what you are talking about?

- What if God and the Devil do exist? We are right smack in between this spiritual war. The Devil is using everything in his power to bring as many souls to Hell. "Misery desires company."

What if this question had anything to do with a discussion about Bush's politics.

- What if natural catastrophies, wars, etc., are signs from God? Sometimes bad things can have a butterfly effect of change. Without evil, we would already be in Heaven... (sanity check... this is not Heaven!) 

What if natural catastrophies have always been happening?  What if natural catastrophies are signs from the planet that we should stop abusing it?  What if that butterfly effect is not from me eating shellfish (Leviticus 11:10 - 11:11) but is coming from pollution, drilling in Alaska, the decline in the pirate population, global warming and all that?  Furthermore, what if people are percieving natural catastrophies as getting worse because that media we discussed earlier are making a much bigger deal about it for ratings purposes? 

And finally, what if there is no heaven?  Just throwing that one in there for good measure.

He recently drew himself and posted it to his deviantArt account:



That should help!

Congrats Nikolas!  The kid is cute.  Good luck with number two!

Allright, time's up on this one...

And as Rui suggested, this is an excellent bunch of entries!  I'm having a very tough time deciding.

The two that made me laugh the most were "Need for Speed Limits" and "Quaker."  But all the others were extremely well done...  I'm torn!  I'm going to give the win to Steve because of his mad Photoshopping skillz.

Well done Steve, you've saved videogames!  And now you can start the next competition.

The special edition was the funniest one yet!  The hilarity of these definitely lies in the awkward silences and pauses.

"So... like in the menu... little option thing, would it have 'space' in front of everything.  Like 'space hunt' and 'space ford the river' and 'space caulk the wagon?'"

"No."

"Oh."

"That would be really dumb."

(long pause)

"O...K..."

I tried to stifle the laugh, but everyone at work looked at me like "What is he lauging at?  What is he doing wearing earphones?  Shouldn't he be working?"

Great stuff!  Keep 'em coming!

The download wasn't that slow here.  Took only ten minutes. 

What little of the game I had time to look at tonight looked good.  I was a little confused that the GUI dims it's over a hotspot and becomes bright otherwise.  Usually, it's the other way around...

The navigation is a little confusing.  It's not always easy to tell when you can turn or proceed and when you can't.  I've yet to see whether or not this becomes a real problem though.

The graphics and the sound look great!  Very nice atmosphere.

The most distracting drawback of the game, though, is the text.  The English is decent, but riddled with mistakes and awkward sentences.  I'd highly recommend finding a native English speaker to rewrite a lot of those little inner-monologue bits.

Well done though.  I'm anxious to play more of it tomorrow and see how well the puzzles and plot shape up!

And, can you have a fiance and not be engaged?

Yes.  If you name your cat and/or earlobe ball "fiance."

I just leave them be. I won't even let a doctor squeeze them. I don't need my two favourite body parts put through such an ordeal.

How about trying the Peanus butter solution?

I'm not so sure that would be the breast solution.

Regarding the balls in your ears... I hear you can get them out with peanus butter.  Any Tom, Dick, or hairy knows that.  If you're really feeling nuts, just squeeze one out!  You'll get the wang of it!

Now I'm just getting cocky.  This has gone on too schlong...

Robocop

Sophie... pfft...

Robocop was way better.

Jiji is from Kiki's Delivery Service.

Robocop

[Oh, and certain regional governments in Japan have banned the sale of the Grand Theft Auto games to minors, but Japan's Sony has no problem whatsoever dumping this garbage into American kids' brains. Looks like Pearl Harbor 2 by Sony/Take-Two...]

I'm sorry for bumping again, but... too funny...

Gamepolitics followed up with JT about that Pearl Harbor Comment.  Here's the comment again:

Oh, and certain regional governments in Japan have banned the sale of the Grand Theft Auto games to minors, but Japan's Sony has no problem whatsoever dumping this garbage into American kids' brains. Looks like Pearl Harbor 2 by Sony/Take-Two...

And here's the follow up conversation:

GP: Jack - Some readers are taking offense to the Pearl Harbor comments in your press release, and I have to say that it does read as a somewhat insensitive remark. Would you care to comment on that section or elaborate further on what you were trying to convey?

JT: Insensitive? What the Japanese are doing to our kids is insensitive and racist. The Japanese have for a very long time dumped pornography into this country in a fashion they would not tolerate in their own country. It is another version of Pearl Harbor.

GP: By porn, I take it you mean violent video games? Are you referring to various Japanese-made game platforms? (i.e. PS2, Nintendo, etc.) But Take-Two is an American corp., and Rockstar an English subsidiary. Most of the games I can recall you criticizing over the years have been American-published.. (GTA, 25 to Life, Bully, The Warriors, The Sims, Blitz: The League, Everquest, Doom, etc.)

JT: Sony is a Japanese company.

GP: But Sony only makes the player. I don't recall you criticizing any of their titles in a major way. If you take that approach, wouldn't TV, VCR, and DVD player manufacturers be equally complicit? Since their products play violent movies and even actual porn? And are also needed to play video games?
Toshiba, etc.?

JT: GTA is a Sony/Take-Two game. It was made by Take-Two exclusively for Sony's Playstation 2. Sony has led the planet in the distribution of mainstream porn. I don't have time to document it for you. As for the offensiveness of the Pearl Harbor comment, it's accurate and it's needed. The Japanese have a contempt for our culture which is patent. There (sic) dumping of garbage into our culture is a slow motion version of Pearl Harbor.

THEN, Jack sent a brief fax to the Japanese Ambassador to the United States:

The Honorable Ryoko Kato
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Japan to the United States of America
2520 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. Via Fax to 202-xxx-xxxx

Re: Sony's Ongoing Distribution of Violent and Pornographic Material to Minors in the United States


Dear Mr. Ambassador:

As a United States citizen who has been active and visible in opposing Sony's distribution of hyperviolent and sexually explicit video games to children in this country, I would respectfully request that your nation's government assist me in making this harmful distribution stop.

This request comes in the aftermath of recent news reports that certain local/regional governments in Japan will not allow, for example, the grotesque Sony/Take-Two/Rockstar Grand Theft Auto games to be sold to children in your country but Sony is more than delighted to distribute these games to our children in our country.

This is hypocrisy, and it must be remedied. Japan cannot allow to be done to our children what it will not allow to be done to its own.

Regards, Jack Thompson

I think he's a little confused about how the game business works.

Getting involved in this kind of conversation is probably a bad idea, but since this is about legislating whether or not a woman has to have the husband's approval to have an abortion and not about whether or not abortions should be legal, I'll add my two cents...

In a healthy loving relationship a woman is always going to inform her husband about a pregnancy and involve him in the decision before terminating a pregnancy.  If she doesn't tell him, there's something wrong with that relationship and it's probable that such a relationship would not be an ideal setting for a child.

The fact is, there's no reason for such a thing to be legislated.  It's a serious issue, yes.  But it's just not something that any federal government should be forcing upon its citizens when there are so many exceptions in which the woman has very good reason not to tell her husband.  Denying this woman a doctor-assisted abortion because her exception is not one of those outlined in the vaguely-worded law is not a good option.

Laws that prevent women from having safe abortions only lead to more coat-hanger back-alley abortions.  Sorry for that image, but it's true.

["Oh, and certain regional governments in Japan have banned the sale of the Grand Theft Auto games to minors, but Japan's Sony has no problem whatsoever dumping this garbage into American kids' brains. Looks like Pearl Harbor 2 by Sony/Take-Two...'" --Jack Thompson]

Sorry to bring up this ol' thread again, but I had to share this quote I just read on the Game Politics website.

Thompson is gearing up for a case this week in Alabama in which he is suing Sony and Take Two for making the game (GTA of course) on which a sixteen year old boy "trained" to kill three cops.  Thompson is representing the families of the three cops.  Without getting into a conversation about the merits of said case, I just want to point out a bit from a press release that Thompson sent out today regarding the suit:

"Oh, and certain regional governments in Japan have banned the sale of the Grand Theft Auto games to minors, but Japan's Sony has no problem whatsoever dumping this garbage into American kids' brains. Looks like Pearl Harbor 2 by Sony/Take-Two...'"
                                           --Jack Thompson

I... Wow.

He also said that this case was going to make the OJ Simpson case look like a quilting bee.  Delusions of Graduer much?

Fun stuff Ponch!  But it's hard as hell.  Mostly because you can't go back or forth yet.  When you're stuck in the middle of the screen you really don't have enough time to react unless you have the coarse memorized.  Excellent scripting though!

One week down, one to go, and a lot of games left to be absolved of all sins!

Working towards this holy cause, I have saved another beloved series from eternal damnation!



We need more people to join the crusade!