A storm blew over last night.

In the end, I don't know what I was so worried about. What needed to happen, happened. I just need to make it 6 more weeks without dying from politico message board induced stomach ulcers.

Just a quick 12 hour nap.

Sometimes I get home from work, I make some dinner, game for a bit, then look up and it's 2:30 in the morning. Sometimes I get home from work, make some dinner, drink some tea, and P.T.F.O* for 12 hours. Feels great!


*that's "pass the f**k out" in case you didn't feel like googling it.

Back to the Wasteland.

I'm still not sure how I feel about Fallout 4. I like it better than 3 but it pales in comparison to the whip smart political commentary of New Vegas. I could go on about how New Vegas showed how America has always been a three way tie between democracy, oligarchy, and fascism... but I'm not feeling particularly ranty today.

But 4 certainly has it's charms and I didn't mind the new leveling system half as much as I feared I would. With all the dlc in place, a quarter of which I haven't seen, it's time to render a solid verdict.

The Good Place Review: You're gonna like it here.

I'm pretty sure Kristen Bell has had one of the best possible careers in entertainment. She's got her beloved indie gem, her blockbuster hit, and now a high concept prestige comedy that shows just how wide her range can go. I mean, you try being an asshole and still manage to be perfectly charming at the same time. In fact, she's the one jerk in a cast filled with the best people who ever lived.

Eleanore Shellstrop has died and gone to heaven, or rather "The Good Place." Something all major religions touched on but never fully grasped. Everyone "guessed about 5%" says Ted Danson as an other worldly figure who created this particular Good Place. Apparently everything you did in your whole life was rated on a positive and negative scale. The best of the best went to the Good Place. Everyone else, including every single artist who ever lived, went to the "Bad Place." Somewhere Eleanore, who made a living off of selling snake oil to the elderly, probably deserves to be instead.

There's been a mistake and now Eleanor's selfishness is leeching into paradise and it's only a matter of time until she's thrown back. It's pretty dense for a comedy yet surprisingly breezy. Like, cut out her alcoholism and this could practically be on the Disney Channel. And the blasphemy. Disney could probably do without all the blasphemy. Because under it's witty candy coated surface is a bristling take down of the logistics of heaven. Like how can these allegedly "good" people feel so at peace while the vast majority of humanity suffers at the hands of bears? Which apparently have two mouths in the Bad Place.

Settling Soul Mates.

This could get really deep down the line and seeing as this is by the same guy who helmed Parks and Rec I have no doubt it will. The supporting cast is fine. I hope William Harper doesn't become this show's Ann. In that I hope he gets more to do than be constantly exasperated at Eleanore's capacity to be a total piece of shirt. There is also no cursing in the Good Place.

But Danson rules as a neurotic angel-esque figure who wants to help people without really knowing the first thing about them. He doesn't know what to do with sweat and seems to be darkly saddened by humanity's unquenchable love of frozen yogurt. His bow ties themselves are almost a cast member.

So yeah, this is good stuff so far. Corny CGI aside, this will fill the P&R sized hole in my heart quite nicely. Not exactly great yet, but watch out. In a couple seasons (fingers crossed) I could see this being taught in philosophy courses. It could go crazy deep if it wanted to. It's a show I feel is about to pull the rug out from under me any second. I like that feeling.

God I love Ted Danson.

Ok... this remaster was rushed.

Great texture work, though.

Apparently every time I restart Bioshock remastered all my settings go to default. Graphics and game play. Making the ultimate difficulty achievement/the only reason I was willing to play through the whole thing again, impossible. This sucks guys. Get it fixed!

Little fish floatin' down the briny.

You can really make out the weeks old blood stains now.

As a self proclaimed and absolutely shameless Bioshock zealot this... this looks pretty damn good so far. Fingers crossed I don't run into any bugs.

Yep. That gun is still baby sized.

I just paid a man $104 to reinstall windows 7.

I just f**king CAN'T today, man.

What if I put this over here...

I had some trouble with a file in my operating system's folder. So I had the bright idea of deleting it. Long story short I owe my computer repair guy $60. Don't f**k with the system32 folder. No matter what forums tell you!

Oh, right... I've been on a podcast for quite some time.

On the off chance some of you readers aren't overflow from the gamesofchance blog, here's the Chamberlain and Chance podcast. On which I guest every other time... or more. I'm fun like that.

Chamberlain and Chance - This podcast is old

I get it now.

I'm a sucker for Ben Burtt robots. Sue me.

Overwatch is really, really, good. It gets my blood pumping, it makes me cooperate, it has me on my feet cheering other people on. I get it now. I get multiplayer games. It's all clicking together for me. Getting the most likes at the end of my best match ever? I never knew a game could make me feel so...  I don't know, included? It's a hell of a feeling.

You know what, PS4? You're not just my Bloodborne machine anymore.

Sh*t. I want it.

See, even a non trekkie like me can appreciate a good red shirt gag.

I'm in the process of tightening the belt, a week of half unemployment'll do that. But I've landed on my feet and stand to make more than I ever have. Yay! But for the time being my entertainment budget is slashed to ribbons. Half of me wants to get Overwatch and jam with Chance on the reg. And then there's Halcyon 6.

Xcom's base building meets FTL's space exploration meets FFVI's combat. F**k. F**********K. I want it and it's $5 off right now. So... pasta and mushrooms for dinner the next 2 weeks? Looks that way, tummy. Looks that way.

Meanwhile... in Andromeda

"....crap."

Everything is... fine. I don't know. This is only a tech demo but still, I'm really bored already. Bioware face is still there (boo) and I didn't buy a single line of dialogue coming out of any character's mouth. Now I realize this is only a tiny fraction of the actual game but this does put a few things into perspective. Like how I would have fired the head writer too.

A very special dot of light.

Did you know Brian May (lead queen guitarist) is a respected astrophysicist? Well he is and in honor of Freddie's 70th birthday Freddie gets his very own asteroid. Have a look:

Clancy Brown and Matt Gourley. Together at last.

Who the hell are those 2? Well one's a character actor who was in the Shawshank Redemption/is Mr. Krabs. The other is a unfairly obscure improv comedian. Gourley has a show that's all about the bit players in great movies called "I was there too" and it's wonderful. You should seriously consider giving a listen. Especially the one where Matt's cold open is him having a spat with Siri. Calls her a homewrecker... I want his improv powers.

I know it's wrong.

I've become a bit of an apologist of late. I've let my love of Borderlands shield me from the... uh, creative advertising of the disaster that was Aliens: Colonial Marines. That game was a polished turd, no two ways about it. Randy Pitchford lied to the public's face about it multiple times and still claims he did nothing wrong. The thing is though, those lies helped make Borderlands 2. A game second only to New Vegas in terms of sheer hours logged. Is it so wrong to overlook this con job if it gave you your second favorite game ever? Maybe. I don't know.

I don't know...

Me and my old college bud are still playing it and god help me, I can't get enough. Games this funny, this lovingly crafted, this wide, and this deep are so f&**ing rare; I don't care SEGA got fleeced and Aliens fans got duped. But I know I should, which is why I keep bringing it up. Aw well. Maybe it's Borderlands 3 that gets shafted in favor of anouther game series I don't care about next time. Maybe some day I'll get the com-upends my schadenfreude deserves. Battleborn being the bomb it was that is not the least likely scenario.