Steam Autumn Sale 2015 – Mick’s Picks

Well the new Steam Sale is upon us and with it comes the new Steam sale format. No dailies or flash deals, all games have the biggest discount they’re going to get so you can be “done with it” on the first day. On the one hand you dont have to worry about missing anything. On the other it makes it more boring than the other sales. So I don’t clog up my feeds I’ve decided to list my recommendations here. Continue reading…

What anime’s worth watching on EU Netflix (2015)

Decided to update my old post, because analysis paralysis has rendered me incapable of picking something to watch. If you’re looking for streaming anime I’d suggest Crunchyroll, even the free subscription has a fairly solid selection. There’s also Funimation and Neon Alley which have smaller but solid selections. These services also have simulcast stuff from the current season of anime in Japan. (Of course what I actually recommend is tweaking your media player setup to a ridiculously anal level and then only watching 1080p 10bit BD re-encodes). But for those of you who already have a Netflix subscription and want to know what to watch here is my (super brief) opinion on the anime available. Continue reading…

Refractory Witching

I may be aching of sinew and wearied of eye but the Witcher 2 is complete (again). I only planned to finish off Act 2 but caffeine and compulsion dictated otherwise and I pushed on through Act 3 and finished the game. I think ultimately I enjoyed Iorveth’s route more than Roche’s. Each has its ups and downs but the event in Iorveth’s route tie more closely into the major setting events taking place at the time the game is set. Iorveth, though he features very little in his own route, also feels like a more intricate character than Roche. That was the good, now for the bad. Continue reading…

Convulsive Witching

The Witcher, Geralt of Rivia, The White Wolf. You mean Elric? No, this is a different White Wolf you fucker! Hunter of monsters, reluctant hero, plougher of saucy wenches, protagonist of the best-selling fantasy series by Polish novelist Andrzej Sapkowski and (more pertinently for this post) protagonist of a series of computer role-playing games based on the same character and world as the novels. Continue reading…

Out to Sea 02 – Givin out the order for fun

So when we left off I had just make the momentous decision to try out a free to play browser game #toteslikestoutcortez. This wasnt as straightforward as one might expect, as the game was not just Japanese only it also used region locking to prevent dirty gaijin like me from playing it. Though considering how easy it is to circumvent it feels more like a token effort than anything else. To play the game you have to sign up with DMM.com. Which you could do in English but you have to do in Japanese, after a little bit of cookie based jiggery pokerey. Continue reading…

Out to Sea 01 – You must obey the fleet commander

There are moments in one’s life, moments that could be mistaken for clarity but are better described as moment’s of unwelcome awareness. These moments are generally filled with the mental friction of having the full realisation of what you’re doing grinding against your preconceived notions of self like a dirty old man at a disco. Change might be a constant but sometimes fully comprehending that change can make it feel more like a descent than a transition. I experienced one of those moments of unwelcome self-awareness a few days ago which is what lead to what you’re reading (in the interest of clarity, this dramatic build-up is not going to pay off). I’ll get into the exact details of it in a moment. But first some all important background. Continue reading…