Bully

I've been enjoying the heck out of Bully: Scholarship Edition, the recent re-release of the 2006 Rockstar game for Wii and XBox. (I got the XBox one.) I picked it up after it dropped in price to $30, which I assume is a reaction to GTA IV's existence. Bully is basically a total conversion of the Grand Theft Auto engine, with a "high-school hijinx" theme applied.

It's fun to play a tightly scripted sandbox game where the PC isn't a murderous psychopath (he's still a jerk, but at least a jerk-with-a-code). You can still attack random strangers, but it takes significantly more effort than in GTA, and there's less reward. So it feels natural to just leave all the bystanders alone and concentrate on completing missions - which are a blast. (I've completed over 50 missions, according to the stat screen.) It seems to be that the designers achieved a significant tonal shift with a very subtle rules tuning, and I like this.

"Of course", it wouldn't be a Rockstar game without being wincingly misogynistic in ways not worth describing or defending. (It also treats all men as either (a) assholes or (b) gay, but this is not a valid defense.) chocorisu is correct in calling Rockstar games gamer porn, and as such, the optimal way to enjoy it is to skip past the bits you don't like, and focus on the rest of it. (Yeah, I know. Sorry.) And if someone tells you that the game is pretty horrible, all you can do is shrug and agree, really.

Crazy fun weekend

Saturday was a tightly scheduled day that classicaljunkie and I spent joined at the hip. In order, we:

1. Saw Wall•E with radiotelescope, and I tried not to cry through the whole thing, because Pixar is fucking beautiful


2. Walked up and down Art Beat, buying tchotchkes and eating cheap tasty Indian food in a box


3. Napped, then had coffee (actually, this was just me; CJ waited patiently by racking up achievements on Hexic HD)


4. Dropped in on mrmorse's for Mario Kart and birthday cake


5. Stood in line for The Dark Knight at the Somerville, getting inside the theater just in time to pick up a pre-poured IPA from the bar before it closed for the night

I enjoyed TDK, and am likely to see it again in-theater because OMG it's dense, and most of what makes it dense is very good. And I was feeling very fatigued by 1am real-time, just as the plot climax was building up. I point you to toddalcott's recent posts, and their comments, if you'd like to read some interesting criticism and reaction to it from smart folks.

Sunday, with CJ's help, finally started to pack. My apt finally is starting to look like I'm moving out of it. Good.