Hey there, Recapketeers! I hope you all had a pleasant weekend. I made good on my promise and began working through Gears of War. I'm actually quite impressed: the game still looks great, and I can definitely see the "destroyed beauty" I've heard so much about in the environments. This was one of the first games to do the whole gaussian blur thing, but it seems appropriate. It's a drab, depressing world where enemies can come from any patch of ground, grenades all have chains and spikes on them, and you can call in a satellite airstrike as long as there isn't a crumbling roof over your head. I've been impressed by John DiMaggio's vocal range-- I keep waiting for him to revert to Bender or Randy but it just never happens. The cover system works well, though I may have been spoiled by playing Uncharted 2 first. I do rather enjoy the satisfying THWACK! as Marcus slams into cover, though, and the reloading mini-game is something I'm kind of surprised hasn't been implemented in other genre titles yet. Anyway, long story short you guys haven't steered me wrong, and I thank you for it.



I've been working on reusing the parts from my old computer now that my current system has achieved the ranking of tiny god. With the help of a friend, I've managed to cobble together a very reasonable media box that now sits alongside my TV. I've never had cable, and having access to Hulu and South Park pretty much ensures that I'll never need it. Plus, Failblog videos are great at a party. No, really. So that's what I've been up to this week, how about the rest of you?

It seems many of you decided to kick off the week by writing up your Monthly Musings. There's also some forum brofist shenanigans and some shiny, shiny blue lights. Don't forget to find this week's Simpsons quote. Let's go!


*-SwE3tMadness' new series in which she lends us the benefit of her years of music training has swiftly become one of my favorites.
*-Corduroy Turtle's musing reveals a secret shame that I share: we are Pikmin murderers. Well, in my case they were Minions, but the principle's the same.
*-Beyamor takes a good hard look (or two) at Two Worlds in this Musing.


A-ThatStupidGeek ponders the usefulness of continuity, and suggests that (gasp!) it may be overrated.
M-Garethxxgod looks at the progeny of Halo in this Musing.
M-I've heard it said that the first Assassin's Creed was the best game of 2008. Unfortunately, it came out in 2007. RetroSoldier looks at what went right... and wrong.. in this Musing.
N-In what may be the first blog written in the second-person ever to grace our fair website, Stevil tells us what can be learned from the sad saga of Mega and Master.
M-Manasteel's Musing: Mass Meffect Moo. (I sure hope someone comes along to help me get these caramels out of my mouth.)
M-Prrulz makes an introduction with this Musing about Metroid Prime. Great first blog!


Nuthin'.




E-Dtoid Penn has all the info on your Pennsylvania April gaming party needs.
S-Shenanigrams sounds like a fun party game. Manic Maverick shares the story of an epic coup in the basemen...forums.
S-More wonderful strangeness from the forums as Gobun and Manic Maverick discuss how far they would go for love.
I-A hearty hello to Lazerpig, who knows my one weakness: An octopus eating a muffin-chip muffin.


N-Wiiware's recently become a great home for indie games. Grafkhun beat the front page with news that Noitu Love 2 will be getting the wagglebox makeover.
R-Professor Pew did a great, spoiler-free review of Splinter Cell: Conviction. Ironically, Sam Fisher was a convict in the LAST game, not this one.
R-Karutomaru shone the light of critical thinking on Dementium: The Ward.
P- Chaotical gave us a preview of 2010 FIFA World Cup. It's all here; Fast kickin', low scorin'. And ties? You bet!
D-Goodgamer77 has an idea for a game he'd like to try. Anyone with coding ability feel like helping him out?
D-Warioware is making forum memes that much more engaging. SenorDoucheoisie presents the brofist minigame.
D-And another! I think this one's called "protect the loli."


A-Crunshii lets us know of an AMAZING Samus mural back in Dtoid's hometown. Let's see some more!
M-Hard to say whether this should be categorized under Music or Film, since Stereotoid took a look at the music of The Runaways.
S-By not being a blatant robot, PDP Candace gets a pass to be a corporate shill. Plus, like the rest of you, I'm a sucker for blue lights.
S-Whoami40 got a Pokemon-themed haul of retro goodness.


L-So, the ex-Infinity Ward folks that left Activision are now with EA. Anyone see this coming?
V-Now, I can't PROVE that this video crashed my computer through sheer awesome awfulness. But it WAS what I was watching when the system went down.
C-This would have been instant fail, but our brigade of regular commenters gave it a second life. And not in the virtual-world-overrun-by-furries sense, either.


No Fail? OH YEAH!



-(Qalamari)


FPoTD