Slacktivist's guided tour of the LB book was alternately hilarious and sad. I would have thought that a book written by a true believer would have involved a bit more effort.

Though I must admit I've never actually read the Left Behind books and probably never will, I did try the video game which similarly failed miserably due to its sacrificing gameplay to fit into an ideology (male recruits can become preachers, soldiers, construction workers, or musicians, female... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Durhey at 1:19 PM on September 23, 2008

Like, if you don't know, I'm not going to tell you. Jeez!
posted to MetaTalk by Durhey at 11:21 AM on August 27, 2008

I've got the CycloDS and it's easy as pie to grab homebrew stuff, put it on a microsd card with the included usb adapter, and load it up. I've not tried any of the others, but I've no complaints about it. Plug and play all the way.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Durhey at 2:14 PM on August 26, 2008

This song saved Johnny Cage's life, man.
posted to MeFi Music by Durhey at 11:37 AM on August 22, 2008

Wii Sports is pretty egalitarian, but with potentially 50 players, you may have the one guy who plays GH at home dominating the competition by playing on Expert, even among the pros. Some people take it very seriously.

You may want to consider having a performance-based competition for Guitar Hero, i.e. have the audience judge the winner based on how willing they are to look silly while playing (playing behind their back, on their knees, etc), rather than by score.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Durhey at 10:30 AM on August 20, 2008 marked best answer

Check out if libraries, or better yet, school or university libraries, are having a sale. I've found some really great educational classroom posters from the 60's and 70's about the periodic table, the metric system, astronomy, butchery charts, and our bright nuclear future for less than a dollar apiece at my university's library. Not only scientific, but retro-futuristic to boot!
posted to Ask Metafilter by Durhey at 10:42 AM on August 11, 2008 marked best answer

125,000 gorillas?

Well, to be fair, the researchers were trying to keep track of the basketball.
posted to MetaFilter by Durhey at 1:28 PM on August 5, 2008

Dude, I say pick away. If you're nose mining and she bails, it was never meant to be, but if you munch boogs and she stays, then it's true love.

Many, many people pick their nose. Very few people eat their boogers. Most people find the habit very gross. Personally, I think it's less gross than people who deliberately hawk up and spit out phlegm, but to each their own.

Just do it in the john when you're taking care of other waste expulsion... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Durhey at 9:46 AM on July 10, 2008

I was hoping against hope that there were images from Santa's Village in there, and lo and behold, the last link was just that. Thank you for posting this!

I remember seeing the rotting remains of Santa's Village in Scott's Valley driving north over highway 17 when I was a child. The exit is still named Santa's Village Road, even though the place was razed long before I was old enough to facilitate sneaking into the place myself.
posted to MetaFilter by Durhey at 9:39 AM on July 1, 2008

Movies and games are both media, not necessarily art, just like paintings or music.

Actually, having gotten into Metal Gear Solid 4 recently, I'm of the opinion that games are movies.
posted to MetaFilter by Durhey at 3:10 PM on June 24, 2008

Not sure if this meets your criteria, but Gears of War has a song over the end credits featuring samples from the game, which is a tribute to and perfectly captures the complex and nuanced character of Cole Train.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Durhey at 11:52 AM on June 24, 2008

Haven't seen The Happening, but I cannot let such a slight against Double Team stand. Maybe you were not aware, but it stars Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dennis Rodman. Even if they had just both been standing there, it would have been a piece of cinematic history.

So Effigy2000, I accept your challenge to a duel.

My terms are landmines and tigers at midnight in the coliseum.
posted to MetaFilter by Durhey at 4:49 PM on June 18, 2008

Seconding Black Hole, blender death through a book even, holy crap Disney.

#1 had to be that creepy-ass old owl from The Secret of Nimh, though.

(Of course, the true scariest things of my childhood, but which were not intended for children, were the VHS box cover for Ghoulies and the monster from Terrorvision.)
posted to MetaFilter by Durhey at 4:39 PM on June 12, 2008

Ernesto Aeroflot - Advice for a Youngster
Excellent advice for anyone really, free, and a fine song to boot.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Durhey at 3:27 PM on June 6, 2008

There is a collection of animated Soviet propaganda films available which I found a fascinating peek into the other side of the cold war. The discs are available individually through Netflix and there is a disc that deals specifically with anti-capitalist (typically anti-american) themes.

Oddly, in these films the capitalist is usually won over and sees the error of his ways, rather than being killed.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Durhey at 11:17 AM on May 30, 2008 marked best answer

I donate online, do not desire any extra incentive, and wish it were possible to donate anonymously to any charity. I opt out of everything I can and despise getting anything back from charities I donate to. Each newsletter and bumper sticker I get that I didn't ask for, I feel like it's money wasted that could have gone towards the charity's actual purpose.

I understand it's important, but it makes charities seem like their in the business of securing donations, rather... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Durhey at 5:45 PM on April 16, 2008

This is indescribably indescribable. I think I just knocked 3 years off my lifespan by watching it.
I'm okay with that, though.
posted to MetaFilter by Durhey at 4:34 PM on March 24, 2008

Whoa. If it really works like it does in the video, this is as frightening as it is awesome. Recording sessions of the future will just be the session musicians sitting down, playing one take of the Descendents' "All" and then packing up while the producers copy/paste it out into a 2.5 minute song.

I think many modern music producers just consider pitch-correction as a filter like reverb or echo or anything else. I like it when it's obviously used to produce an... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Durhey at 5:23 PM on March 13, 2008

Many people use MMORPGs and other online games as a way of staying in touch with geographically distant friends and family.

There is an island in Second Life that is exclusive to autistic players, where they can form their own social structure. There was also a game that matched facial expressions to emotions to help them interact with non-autistics, but I can't seem to find the article about that.

Re-Mission is a game which was proven to boost... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Durhey at 12:32 PM on March 13, 2008

In junior high I got hold of the rulebooks. I was mostly a video gamer, but read the rulebooks cover to cover because seeing the mechanics of a game system laid bare was completely engrossing, all those beautiful rules interacting with and affecting one another. Then I found used copies of the CoC rulebooks and read those over and over. I never ran or participated in a campaign though.

I laid out dungeons on grid paper with detailed story notes. Pretty soon I started... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Durhey at 12:21 PM on March 5, 2008

FWIW, having spoken to some of the people who make the big budget, typical shoot-em-ups, racing games, franchise titles and so forth that top our charts, SoTC very often pops up as the kind of game they wish they could make (both in terms of "were allowed to" and "were capable of").

I think it's the perfect game for people who are becoming tired of the typical game cliches. If you're not out of that particular demographic yet, by all means, keep... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Durhey at 4:21 PM on March 3, 2008

Linnea Quigley as Trash in Return of the Living Dead. Quality of performance is arguable, but definitely cool and memorable.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Durhey at 10:15 AM on March 3, 2008

Apart from newer stuff, consider adding in some of their side projects. I find they are composed of both incredibly great and fairly blah songs at about the same ratio as their newer albums. Check out Mono Puff (first album first), John Linnell's State Songs, and if you can find them, John Linnell's House of Mayors (The title track is awesome), and Hello the Band's EP (Town to Town is one of my favorites, but it's very difficult to find).
posted to Ask Metafilter by Durhey at 10:00 AM on March 3, 2008

For $5 I'll stop thinking about you constantly. For $3 I'll at least think about you with clothes on.
posted to MetaFilter by Durhey at 1:25 PM on February 25, 2008

the problem i'm having is that the islanders are all highly "Logical" AND highly "Devout."

Simple. Their god exists and will subject them to something inarguably worse than death if they do not comply with the edicts of their religion, and this has been empirically proven to them.
posted to MetaFilter by Durhey at 1:46 PM on February 15, 2008

I'm trying hard to think of advice to give to a TMBG-concert goer, and I've really got nothing. You would have to try really really hard and be very deliberate in order to do something considered even slightly inappropriate.

TMBG shows are where the dorks come out to let loose and have a good time amongst their kin. You'll be able to hug a wall or dance your ass off and still fit in. They only way you could possibly not fit in is to not enjoy yourself, which would be... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Durhey at 11:17 AM on February 13, 2008

For multiplayer, it's the DS, hands down. The PSP is more of a traditional console, only handheld, and for sure there are a lot of great games for it, but the DS is just geared for casual multiplayer, both in terms of design and its library.

I work in game development, and can always find someone wanting to play some DS game or other. I have yet to find anybody interested in PSP multiplayer anything.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Durhey at 12:45 PM on January 31, 2008

This?
posted to Ask Metafilter by Durhey at 6:06 PM on January 28, 2008 marked best answer

Last time I was in Japan I had my mind blown by the Yokohama Joypolis, which is Sega's tremendous arcade/theme park. There is also one in Tokyo, though I haven't visited it. I had no problem navigating it with barely any knowledge of the Japanese language.

Aside from far-out arcade games (Typing of the Dead, a hand-cart simulator, etc) there are also ride-film type attractions that were a bit more expensive, but featured things like bumper cars with tennis ball bazookas... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Durhey at 10:34 AM on January 25, 2008

I am typing something which has never appeared on metafilter before.
posted to MetaFilter by Durhey at 5:34 PM on January 17, 2008

Definitely take a look at rule books from Dungeons and Dragons or other traditional pen and paper RPGs. They're written for the average person to be able to do all the math for an encounter based on stats themselves, in real-time, on paper.

Also consider playing a simpler RPG like Paper Mario, or PM: Thousand Year door. I found their approach of combat doing damage like "5" a lot easier to grasp the functions behind than a typical Final Fantasy game, where I'm... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Durhey at 12:25 PM on January 17, 2008

The only part of that ill-informed rant that was remotely accurate was "It's called "Mass Effect""
posted to MetaFilter by Durhey at 5:29 PM on January 15, 2008

Elecktroplankton is pretty neat-o, more of a group of abstract sequencers than a rhythm game. There is no goal except to entertain yourself. The best part is that it's actually quite difficult to make anything that doesn't sound good.
posted to MetaFilter by Durhey at 2:20 PM on January 11, 2008

I saw a commercial the other day, for what "reality" show I forget, but their tagline, in an attempt to emphasize that the show wasn't scripted was:

This isn't just Reality.... it's ACTUALITY.

Pretty soon they'll have to start calling them For Reals, No Seriously Really Actually For Reals Literally, I Mean It, Not Even Kidding Shows.
posted to MetaFilter by Durhey at 1:26 PM on January 11, 2008

I wondered how Captain Barbosa was brought back from the dead so easily at the end of the second film when it's such a bloody big deal to bring Captain Sparrow back in the third.

I saw this just last weekend and they actually went to the trouble to explain this in the film. Something to do with how Barbossa was merely dead while Sparrow was specifically being punished and held in Davy Jones' locker. Although why Davy Jones himself didn't seem to be... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Durhey at 1:26 PM on January 9, 2008

This is a very daunting task, as everyone's going to write down games that were important to them personally. One may as well ask what are the top 20 television shows that should be watched, or top 20 books that should be read. Still, if her intent is to get a basic grasp on some of the more recognizable cultural touchstones of gaming from major genres, here's what I'd recommend. I'm almost certainly leaving some important ones out.

Puzzle - Tetris,... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Durhey at 10:41 AM on January 8, 2008

Brilliant! The concept reminds me of some of the winners from Jayisgames' "Replay" contest.
posted to MetaFilter by Durhey at 5:07 PM on January 3, 2008

Time Crisis 2 arcade. Start to Finish. Never was hit once. I didn't even realize it until the game was finished. If I had thought about it, it probably wouldn't have happened.

It's being "In the zone". It's like meditation, only with more gunfire.
posted to MetaFilter by Durhey at 6:10 PM on December 19, 2007

Score with "wife" (2 points per step, but can't fit into narrow places to get treasure):
488

Score without "wife" (1 point per step, but can get treasures):
858

Huh.

Still, very clever and moving. I'm probably deconstructing it more than necessary.
posted to MetaFilter by Durhey at 12:16 PM on December 12, 2007

As far as recognizable goes, I think Flansburgh's bizarre custom Mojo is the only guitar I would recognize and associate with the player.
posted to MetaFilter by Durhey at 3:51 PM on December 6, 2007

Thirding Picross DS, it has hundreds of puzzles that appeal to folks who like traditional pencil and paper-based puzzles like Sudoku or Crosswords.

Speaking of which, there are also Sudoko. For DS, I recommend Sudoku Gridmaster. There are many Sudoku games for DS, and they are not all equal.

Also the New York Times Crossword for DS is just what it sounds like. I haven't tried it myself, though.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Durhey at 10:32 AM on December 3, 2007

Nuts, there's no Slow Gherkin. I thought they were the biggest thing going in SC during my high school years.

Though it is an awesome catalog nonetheless.
posted to MetaFilter by Durhey at 4:35 PM on November 29, 2007

The Adventures of Cookie and Cream is a cooperative split-screen action/puzzler. It's not for everybody, but there's nothing else like it I've ever seen.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Durhey at 3:12 PM on November 27, 2007

Cortex, that's pretty much how actual video game designs start out.
posted to MetaFilter by Durhey at 4:40 PM on November 20, 2007

As far as not killing your neck (I assume you mean due to trying to read the text), just make the whole thing, including the text, a group (Object->Group). When you need to read other parts of it, spin the group, then just hit undo to reset it back to normal, no special monitor required.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Durhey at 2:38 PM on November 19, 2007

If you're into games like Puzzle Quest which are pretty much about rapidly matching colors, Popcap Hits is coming out soon. It has Bejeweled, which is very similar to Puzzle Quest, only without all the spells and RPG elements, just matching colors. It also includes Astropop, which is essentially Breakout (or Arkanoid).
posted to Ask Metafilter by Durhey at 10:04 AM on November 12, 2007

Earth vs. Soup?

Is it really such a huge ordeal that an FPS decided not to take the route of attempted photo-realism? Well, hopefully it'll re-start the cel-shading trend form a few years back so I can actually run FPS games on my PC a few more years. (!^@%$! Crysis!)
posted to MetaFilter by Durhey at 2:08 PM on November 8, 2007

Sandor, it was probably Rolling Thunder.

And yeah, I can't believe the patience I must have had for many of these games when I was younger.
posted to MetaFilter by Durhey at 3:07 PM on November 7, 2007

"Fuck meth. That had a hug negative impact on the scene."

An appropriate typo, that.
posted to MetaFilter by Durhey at 1:14 PM on October 24, 2007

Wouldn't Dawkin's equation make "God did it" an infinitely powerful theory? The right side of the equation would be "Everything" over "Existence of God".

And that's not really Comic Sans superimposed over a blackboard, is it?
posted to MetaFilter by Durhey at 12:19 PM on October 19, 2007