With the final episode of Life is Strange, Square Enix and Dontnod’s surprise hit episodic adventure game, coming out on October 20th, I think that’s as good an excuse as any to play through it and get it all reviewed between now and the release of that last episode. Critics adore this game and review scores are getting better with every episode. My interest comes in that I find that my reviews often contradict the critics in that where critics see improvement, I see it differently. Will I see a game floated as a game of the year contender differently that the rest?
Wednesday Link-Off: Follow the Money
There are a lot of stories that tie back to American politics in today’s linkdump. From John Boehner resigning as the GOP launch a battle to kill Planned Parenthood to the constitutionality of any cuts to Planned Parenthood, the politics of America are heating up. To think that we’re having the election here in Canada in three weeks but it’s the Yanks who have the interesting stories.
Anyway, I suppose we should get on with the links. Since we’re talking about US politics, how about we start with Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division agent Adrianne Palicki.
Stephen Harper’s campaign focus is his economic record. Is there really anything there for him to stand on? (MacLean’s)
John Boehner is resigning from the House of Representatives and as Speaker of the House. You may not agree with his politics but he was one of the increasingly fewer progressive Republicans and the only man who could keep Congressional Tea Partiers in line enough to keep the government functioning. (Mother Jones)
Good news, Matt Damon! Mars shows signs of having flowing water. This should quite quickly re-prove the relevance of NASA. (New York Times)
Fails of the Week
Every so often, we take a look at the most epic fails from the week that was in the Fails of the Week. This week, we have five pictures and videos that we think are the most epic fails of the week.
F1 Japanese Grand Prix: The Silliest Silly Season
The weekend started with literal and figurative dark clouds hanging over Suzuka. The weekend started with rain as the teams returned to the site of Jules Bianchi’s fatal accident in similar weather conditions. The skies cleared over the weekend but it didn’t give way to a particularly exciting weekend. Lewis Hamilton won the race in a dominant effort but all the real interesting happenings in Formula One aren’t happening on-track.
Sunday Link-Off: Lies, Damned Lies and Politics
Sometimes, I wonder how there are whole websites and reporters dedicated to fact checking politicians but the frequency with which fact checking turns up errors, I’m surprised that I don’t try to get one of those gigs. You’d think that politicians would learn that everything they say would be under such close scrutiny that they couldn’t lie but what do I know.
Anyway, it’s Sunday which means that it’s time for us to do the links. With the new TV season kicking off last week through what feels like October, let’s kick this post off with Lea Michele.
I’m on the record as not believing in the efficacy of supply-side economics. Elizabeth Warren doesn’t either. (Salon)
Carly Fiorina is the latest Republican flavour of the month. However, her inability to recount facts might be her downfall. (Mother Jones)
In 2010, Fiorina ran for Senate. After the campaign ended, Fiorina’s campaign repaid all of her personal loans and left many staff and vendors high and dry. (The Daily Beast)
Entertainment Link-Off: Learning on the Job
In theatres this weekend, you can catch The Intern, featuring Robert De Niro and Anne Hathaway. So far this looks like it could be a nice little charmer at the cinemas. So let’s kick off the ELO with the film’s leading lady as she looks mighty fine at the premiere recently.
After the jump, Hugh Jackman has someone in mind to take over the Wolverine role, Ridley Scott talks Prometheus, Fast and Furious stalled in pre-production, watch cats fight zombies, Pixar learns of many different ways to make you cry in their SadLab and Jeremy Lin shows you how to fit in the NBA. Continue reading
Doctor Who: Magician’s Apprentice Review
Nine months on from Christmas, Doctor Who Christmas is upon us. Okay, I’m not sure what a Doctor Who fan would consider to be the biggest event of the year but it’s my review so I’m going to say it’s the season premiere. With no new characters to introduce, we instead get reacquainted with a couple of The Doctor’s old nemeses. What good is a hero without an equally strong villain, after all.
Absolute Drift Review: Get a Little Bit Sideways
Racing games tend to be very complex. It’s not just the Assetto Corsas, Forzas, and Gran Turismos of the world that are complex. Even the likes of Mario Kart and even all the way back to the old NES racing games that seem fairly simple and arcadey have a lot of different moving parts (pun intended).
But what happens when you strip away most of those moving parts? What happens when you build a game around a car, a track and your right foot? Absolute Drift attempts to answer that by taking the drifting game and distilling it down to just drifting.
Wednesday Link-Off: Baloney
I love when a good linkdump theme comes together. Today, we’re talking about people that are full of baloney. Normally I would use a stronger word but “baloney” was handed to me in one of the links today and who am I to argue with such a perfect word.
Anyway, it’s Wednesday which means that it’s time for us to do the links. Let’s kick off with Morena Baccarin.
Carly Fiorina was the big star of the most recent Republican Presidential candidate debate. It’s too bad she doesn’t actually have that good business record to stand on that she claims to have. (New York Times)
One would normally associate the GOP with the religious right but they’re planning to boycott and denounce the Pope’s visit to Washington. What is going on? (Salon)
Elections Canada is warning people to watch out for voter suppression tactics. It would be nice if their mandate and funding wasn’t neutered so they could do something about this. (iPolitics)
F1 Singapore Grand Prix: Bright Lights, Big Win
As much as I don’t like bestowing massive praise on a relatively young event but the Singapore Grand Prix has quickly established itself as one of the signature events of the F1 season. Along with the old standards of Monaco, Silverstone and Monza, this is one of the races that everyone seems to race with extra motivation to win.
With that in mind, it was quite a surprise to see Mercedes off the pace in Singapore. In fact, with the lights shining bright, it was Ferrari that was fastest through the night. Sebastian Vettel scored a grand slam by qualifying on pole, setting the fastest lap, leading all the laps and winning the race.
The Lowdown 