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Mr Pop's farts.

Freshly cut limes.

Petrol.

Frying bacon.
New book.

games are too easy nowadays

Should also stress that I don't necessarily want games to be as hard as they used to be, either. 99% of old games were just spitefully hard, which is why so few games tend to age well. I played Mega Man 2 the other day, and it's borderline unplayable now.

I only played it via Mario All Stars and I think it not originally being a Mario game was already common knowledge by then, though even if it wasn't, it always seemed like the black sheep to me.

I think this makes a huge difference. When I played it there were only 2 sheep to compare!

All true, World was the first one I really played, then I got Mario All Stars after that. As a result I always found SMB3 slightly too punishing and obtuse, and couldn't make head nor tale of SMB2. I also can't remember if you could save your progress on any of them.

I downloaded SMB3 on the 3DS recently, and was a bit dismayed it was just the NES original - which I always thought a very ugly game (as all NES games are) and there are no saves, other than the easily-abused save state.

I found the recent 3D World to be really overblown. It had some silly cut scene at the beginning which got on my nerves (if any game doesn't need a cut scene surely it's Mario) and once the actual game started I thought there were too many upgrades. Seriously, you could be cat-Mario for 99% of the time I played. Also, the Goombas and Koopas didn't seem to pose any threat - they were just there to add to the Mario-ness.
In the old games the upgrades were precious. Even if you had plenty in stock in Mario 3 a tough level could wipe you out. The Goombas and Koopas (along with other enemies) were always a genuine threat in the old games because of their fiendish placement.

This sounds like an 'everything was better in the old days' post. Generally I don't feel like that about gaming but I think the immediacy of old games is something that's been lost. I'd add repetition to that too. I like the fact that in old Mario games you start from the beginning each time - you challenge yourself to get as far as possible without losing lives, or to get as high a score as possible or finish a level in record time.

Though I haven't played 3D World, I broadly agree, and I think you've hit upon that paradox that I often go on about - the fact that games are too easy nowadays. An element of challenge is essential for many players for a game to hold their attention, but at the same time, people's attention spans are much shorter nowadays, so developers are shit-scared of making their games too hard and risk the player giving up entirely. I know some folk like to just play through a game on the easiest setting just to 'enjoy the story' but I couldn't think of anything more boring. It's the same with FPS games - they used to be like complex mazes you had to negotiate, now they're little more than corridors full of pop-up targets to shoot. There's no easy answer how to get around it, unfortunately.

I agree with you wholeheartedly about Mario in particular - the old games always made you feel like you were sprinting across a tightrope - one slip and you'd be a goner. The balance between tantalisingly fragile power (the scarce fire flowers, feathers and precious precious mushrooms) and your vulnerability was absolutely key to the games. Now they throw loads of stuff at you constantly and are for the most part a cakewalk. It grinds my gears when you somehow manage to die on a certain section in one of the recent games and the game patronises you by giving you a free raccoon leaf of power star. And yeah, I know the extra/bonus levels in 3D Land are apparently quite hard, but that's no good to me if I'm already bored of the game before you get to them. Agree totally about cut-scenes too. 'The Princess is in another castle' is all the 'story' I need.

Said it before, but I'd love Nintendo to do a new 2D Mario that is every bit as unforgiving as the old games. They could market it on that very point, call it 'Mario Dark' or 'Evil Mario' or some shit.

Ok, I was trolling a bit there, but I honestly never liked SMB2. I only played it via Mario All Stars and I think it not originally being a Mario game was already common knowledge by then, though even if it wasn't, it always seemed like the black sheep to me. Could never really get a handle on the structure or mechanics and it always felt quite tedious and lacking in tightness compared to the others.

I personally think World is the peak of 2D Mario - though I can understand the point of view of it being too complicated - for me it's Yoshi's Island (the SNES one) that over egged the formula (pun partially intended). I know a lot of people love that game but it didn't click with me at all.

Though all the 'core' games with the exception of perhaps Sunshine are varying degrees of great, Mario 64 was, for me, the last truly essential Mario game. Though it doesn't really capture the freewheeling gymnastics of the 2D originals, it's special in its own way.

The only bit of SMW I find challenging is the secret zone with all those levels called things like 'Gnarly' and 'Tubular'. Otherwise it's infinitely more forgiving than the 8-bit Marios.

I know it's fashionable to prefer SMB3 over World, but I could never really love that game, mainly because you couldn't save your progress.

The game we know as 'Super Mario Bros. 2' is and always has been gash.

Super Mario World is nothing compared to Super Mario Bros 1 and 3 in terms of how hard/frustrating it is. And let's not even discuss The Lost Levels...

It's worth remembering that it took a while for Comixology to get where it was and all Amazon have done is devalue what they paid for, because there will be other paid comic sites/apps coming down the pipe soon enough, as the digital market is still finding its feet and Comixology was simply the first of the big names in digital distribution, comics being largely downloaded for free via torrent or scanning sites until relatively recently (and even then, only Marvel gave enough of a toss to issue cease-and-desist orders to scanners).

That's just it. And while there are people out there willing to actually pay, I would imagine that this kind of petty anti-consumer practice is just going to encourage a lot of them to just think 'fuck it' and go the illegal, but more reliable/convenient route.

I used to wish I could get 2000ad via Comixology, but now I'm pleased they went with their own App.

I've got to say, I agree with him on this.

He is dead right about the accessibility/impulse purchase aspect - I simply haven't used the Comixology App since it got changed. While they haven't 'ruined' the App, they've severely damaged what was by far its biggest USP, and am now really anxious that further changes are to come and hesitant to throw more money at something that seems volatile.

I resent being treated as a second class customer because I have an iPad instead of a Kindle, despite having spent hundreds of pounds of Comixology in the last 12 months. It's just turned me off Amazon that little bit more - they can shove their Kindle up their arse.

Here's hoping someone will start an alternative to Comixology, or that Apple put a massive investment into iBooks to get their comic library on a par. Either that or the big publishers put out their own bespoke apps like 2000ad or Dark Horse.

The rumour that the film's [spoiler]villain will not be a dark jedi[/spoiler] bodes well imo. Let's hope this restraint and willingness to do something a bit different extends to other aspects of the film, not to mention that [spoiler]dark jedis are played out and narratively tricky given how RotJ ends[/spoiler].

As for the title, it sounds fine but I really couldn't give a monkeys what they call it. People will bitch and moan whatever it is called, and way too much emphasis is placed on titles, which become meaningless after you've heard them a few times (remember the fuss about the Nintendo Wii? or a sci fi comic called 2000ad?). They could call it 'Star Wars: Big Floppy Cocks' and after a few weeks everyone would get used to it.

[Takenoko]

I had some eBay vouchers to use up, so ordered a copy of Takenoko, which has had excellent reviews and looks right up my alley.I now have a pretty awesome collection of board and card games - Carcassonne (plus 4 expansions and the Minis), Ticket to Ride: Europe, Takenoko, Tsuro, Fluxx and Love Letter. Now I just need to find the time to actually play them!

[spoiler]And when-oh-when are the Greyjoy's coming to rescue Theon?[/spoiler]

According to the preview, next week.