I was enthralled by Tomb Raider: Legend, caught in its jaws, and if (the demo accurately represents the sequel) there's no escape for me anytime soon. I have many traits that annoy my compatriot, but chief among them is probably my desire to know why my character is doing the things they are doing in games. In Lara Croft's case, is it, like, calisthenics? Does she just have a tomb-centered fitness regimen? It's a credit to Crystal Dynamics that, while they were in the process of resurrecting Tomb Raider, they also gave the character an overarching goal which the player can inherit if they choose. It's not an absolute necessity, and I don't mind creating that kind of stuff myself. But it's nice to have the desire for a coherent motivation recognized, and it enriches the series retroactively.

There was a week or so of Radio Silence here in the office on Dead Space, as we waited for each person to bring the game to a close. The debriefing is complete, now, and the verdict is moist - but it's a good moist. They end it in a way that you could actually call a proper end, which is incredibly rare - this medium is full to the fucking brim with inveterate mustache twiddlers.  They made this game not as if it were the anchor of some new franchise, but as though they might never get to make another one.  It was humbly constructed.

Like so:

Just when the battle of the brands was heating up, things came to abrupt close.

It's also available elsewhere, but I really wanted it on there.

Here is today's comic. It is about LittleBigPlanet. Although I suppose technically it's about the lack of LittleBigPlanet.

Golden Axe: Beast Rider isn't a good investment, on any axis of assessment.  Also, the title is ambiguous.

I've been playing the open beta of Spectromancer for months - even pre-release, it was a game that managed to find its way into any spare moments at the keyboard.  A game of wizardly battling (yes!), it combines tactical unit placement with judicious use of clever, wildly varied powers.  The strategic depth on display here is something I really urge you to investigate, and I'm honored to have it on Greenhouse.  It features a full single-player campaign in addition to hotseat, LAN, and online play.

After hearing that some Best Buy stores were breaking the street date for LittleBigPlanet, we indulged in a fantasy that we would enter that infinite blue cube and secure one for ourselves. Calling the store, the young man on the other end informed us that, yes, they had like a hundred and fifty of the Goddamned things, and no, they weren't selling them.

Yes, it's true.

The costume here referenced is a real thing, and conversations about canon and apocrypha as they relate to children's garb generated the strip.  Without going into cloying, interminable detail, being a father is pretty fucking sweet.