Indigo

New trailer.

Got confirmation from HMV too. Hopefully delivery will be 2 days rather than 5.

Seems like industry insiders might know something. Betfair is offering Joe at 11/1 and RATM at 1/12. So a £2 bet on RATM would net you £0.16 profit, while the same bet on Joe would net you £22 profit. http://sports.betfair.com/?rfr=11678&mi=100892529&ex=1&origin=MRL Looks like we may have done it.

Clearly nostalgia proved more of a factor than objectivity in this list.

I'd recommended in-store at HMV. I bought a black PSP-3000 from there early this month - £137 with two platinum games free. Not sure if that bundle is still going, but it's worth checking out.

I can't believe those fascist schmucks got in. I voted Green in Yorkshire and Humberside - another 2000 votes and they would have stopped the BNP getting in. In the North West another 1000 or so votes for Green or UKIP would have stopped Nick Griffin getting in as well. This is a truly sad day for the UK. You can't understate the significance of this. For the first time fascists actually have a platform, and they have the money that comes with elected office.

I'm glad that shit is over. I mean OMG, penguins... so RANDOM!! Wow, hilarious.

I voted Green. I didn't know that they were against stem cell research, but I don't regret voting for them in light of that fact. Stem cell research is not a high priority issue for me, and besides I do think there needs to be more of a public discourse about it. Scientific progress is not an end that should by default trump all other considerations. Rather than simply accusing opponents of 'standing in the way of progress' and offering optimistic speculations of potential results of research, proponents of stem cell research ought to morally justify the research method itself. In reality no party's policies are going to completely agree with your own beliefs. I'm undecided as to what I think of stem cell research, but even if I supported it I'd still very likely vote Green because the rest of their agenda fits well with my politics - enviromentalist, redistributive justice.

In opinion polls journalists are usually the only people who are rated less trustworthy than politicians. No surprise there.

I really hope there's some subtance to these recent rumours about a significant upgrade. I could see the handheld market gradually adapting a model of gradual revisions rather than console style clear-cut generational leaps. Obviously you have the issue of compatability between revisions if specs are tweaked significantly, but that might be resolvable.

Yeah the film draws upon the cynicism and pessimism of the post-Watergate era. The place 'Chinatown' itself serves as a metaphor for corruption throughout the film, and that is definitely its main theme.

Alternative scores are pointless if there's no review text to give meaning to them, especially with films. I voted that the main score should reflect solely the text of the review, but ideally I think you ought to banish the concept of alternative scores altogether. If someone wants an idea of general acceptance they can go to Rotten Tomatoes and not only get an average but more importantly have the option to follow the links to read the reasons behind reviewer A giving a film 5/5 and reviewer B giving it 2.

Quantum of Solace After Casino Royale was such a pleasant return to form I suppose it was too much to ask for two good films in a row in such an inconsistent franchise. Much of what was excellent about Royale is undone in this film, most noticeably Royale's emphasis on character development and its more sophisticated pace. I understand they wanted to make a more action-orientated film, but it's hard to be generous even if assessing the film on its own terms, with much of the action set pieces rendered unsatisfying by some irritating cinematography (the 'shaky-cam' fad needs to die). Bringing in Marc Forster was supposed to give an arty edge to Bond, but all we got in the way of art was some empty symbolism. Next time they ought to get Martin Campbell back and get a damn good screenplay.

Psycho One of the few films worthy of the title 'masterpiece'. What Hitchcock did so well is sustained suspense, and Psycho is the examplar of this. Near 50 years later few films rival it for pure suspense. Modern horror films resort to cheap tricks and excessive gore to try to scare the audience. The bloodshed is minimal in Psycho, but less proves more. *spoilers* Initially in the film we might sympathise with Norman Bates. In the first scene the camera shot moves through an open window and we witness a young unmarried couple embracing on the bed, with Marion Crane in only her underwear. It's a very voyeuristic scene, and I and expect most men will probably feel some sense of desire for Marion. Later Norman Bates peeps through the hole in the hotel office wall and sees Crane undressing for a shower - the male viewer thus identifies with Norman in his voyeurism, as sickening as that identification may later prove to be. I also found it interesting when Norman pushes the car into the lake and there is the moment in which it stops sinking and so the roof of the car is still revealed, and we wonder whether the water will fully consume the vehicle. For some reason I wanted that car to carry on sinking, despite that being against the interest of stopping the murderer. At that point of course we're not sure who exactly is responsible for the murder, but even so it's shocking how the film can lead us to identify with Norman Bates' predicament and sense of shame at that time.

I went to see Frost/Nixon last night, came back pretty impressed. Frank Langella as Nixon was superb, as was Michael Sheen as Frost. I didn't feel constantly conscious of the fact that this was two actors trying to mimic historical figures, instead you get lost in their performances and caught up in the well portrayed world of 1977. 3½/4

The press has been declining in quality for a number of years. The broadsheets have become near as sensational and obsessed with celebrity as tabloids, and reading the comment sections in the Times and the Guardian you realise just how detached these people are from most people's lives. The majority of columnists lead these isolated middle-class London lifestyles and they write as if everyone is just like them. Then there's the political comment which is generally so poor and simplistic that I rarely bother reading it. Expect quality to decline even further as the recession starts to hit the sales. The desire to expand readership and thus increase profit margins inevitably leads to the dumbing down of newspapers - just look at The Times and how far that has fallen.

It's not a list of the best-selling games released in 2008. Release date is irrelevant. If you meant to question that, that is. Maybe you were just highlighting the longevity of their sales performance, which is interesting.

Usually about £30. Most of that goes on meat and fruit/vegetables, and then obviously there's bread, milk, and other bits and pieces.

Exactly. Even in those terrible dry spells you used to keep faith in Nintendo because you knew that as a developer they were on the cutting edge, and were always one step ahead of everyone else. By releasing such an underpowered console they've fallen behind. As much we say "gameplay over graphics" the fact remains that the extra processing power of real next-gen hardware gives developers a lot more scope for gameplay innovations and enhancements.

And I bet if you look at the averages most 360 and PS3 games don't get beyond a 7. As someone who's read Eurogamer for years I'd say that they are usually quite generous towards Nintendo's offerings.

I don't think it's unreasonable to criticise a game for its lack of innovation. It would be silly to review it as if the other AC games didn't exist because we're talking about a full-budget title.

I think much of the reason for the disillusionment is that gaming is such a shallow form of entertainment. Outside of a handful of games there just isn't the same kind of artistry and depth that is to be found in a lot of film and literature, and I think it's exactly that kind of thought-provoking, challenging edge that most people begin to crave in their art/entertainment once they've reached adulthood.

From my experience Northerners tend to have more common sense, more understatement (we say 'not bad' rather than 'good') and be more down-to-earth (no nonsense). Also tend to be more laid back. Wherever you go you get your fair share of rough characters so making generalisations on North and South based on people like that is misguided.

I think what we're seeing is autocratic states not afraid to flex their muscles and not feeling like they need to legitimise their actions to the international community or according to ideology. It's realpolitik.

Yeah I think we need to define exactly what we're talking about. When I discuss this I'm referring to people being attracted to pre-pubescent children. There's a big distinction between that and being attracted to say a 14 or 15 year-old girl. It's misleading to equate the two really.