Pete Mecum

A lot of times, what you're looking for is right under your nose... Or on your nose and/or other places, too.



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Looks like All of Humanity wasn’t the only one surprised by Facebook’s $2 billion purchase of Oculus Rift. Minecraft creator Markus Persson was equally taken aback, and not in a good way. His solution? Cancel plans for an Oculus-Rift-specific version of Minecraft on the spot. He first made the announcement on Twitter, only explaining that he finds Facebook “creepy.” Now, though, he’s elaborated a fair bit.

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BioShock Infinite: Burial at Sea - Episode Two, all new content for BioShock Infinite is Now Available on Steam!
See the world through Elizabeth’s eyes in BioShock Infinite: Burial at Sea – Episode Two. Set immediately after the conclusion of Burial at Sea – Episode One, this final episode puts you in the role of Elizabeth as she journeys through Rapture in an effort to rescue the little sister she abandoned.  Developed by Irrational Games, the studio behind the original BioShock and BioShock Infinite, this continuation of the Burial at Sea saga features parts of Rapture you’ve never seen before, incudes modified stealth-oriented gameplay that brings you new weapons and plasmids, and involves nearly every major character from the original BioShock and BioShock Infinite. BioShock Infinite: Burial at Sea - Episode Two is the last of three BioShock Infinite add-on packs and it concludes the storyline of BioShock Infinite and Burial at Sea. This pack is included in the BioShock Infinite Season Pass and will contain new Trophies.

“Watch as Steve Rogers becomes a superhero in the most American way possible… steroids.”

To celebrate Captain America: The Winter Soldier coming to theaters next week, Screen Junkies created an honest movie trailer for the 2011 superhero film Captain America: The First Avenger. We’ve previously written about their ongoing series of honest television and movie trailers.

Before ‘The Winter Soldier’ hits theaters, revisit the first Captain America movie… which was really just a feature-length set-up for ‘The Avengers.’

Click for full size

BioShock Infinite’s DLC, BioShock Infinite and BioShock 1 concludes with this second, longer, stealthier half of last November’s return to Rapture. It’s out now.

You’ll hear no politics from me, though by God it’s tempting to correlate Burial At Sea Part 2′s status as a swansong for two BioShock universes with the recent, shock closure of Irrational. Whatever else there is to both tales, at least this concluding DLC for BioShock Infinite reverses the sense of decline we’ve seen since the original BioShock. Despite a multitude of sins it does leapfrog both Infinite and its own, irritatingly slight if visually flabbergasting Part 1. It also includes the single most unpleasant – and frankly needless with it – moment I’ve ever experienced in a videogame.
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I personally wonder if this cycle of abuse with Sonic the Hedgehog and SEGA will ever end. Still there's always hope with the new animated series Sonic Boom, right? RIGHT?!





See more: Love–hate Relationship

BONUS COMIC AT THE NIB TODAY!

"I should have known it all along. He's that random person."



See more: The Unmasking of LEGO Batman

Ada Marie Weinersmith. Born Pi Day 2014!

Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing Family Edition is Now Available on Steam and is 25% off to celebrate!

Mastering typing has never been easier than with the all-new edition of Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing Powered by UltraKey! The award-winning software program provides the most efficient way to learn and master typing fundamentals. Designed by educators, Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing Powered by UltraKey uses a success-based approach to typing instruction. This powerful and motivating way to learn provides a clear path to learning a new skill by setting personal goals and progressing along guided roadmaps.

Dominique Pamplemousse is Now Available on Steam!
Dominique Pamplemousse in “It’s All Over Once The Fat Lady Sings!” is a unique and offbeat stop motion animated detective adventure game about gender and the economy. Also, all the characters frequently burst into song.

Nominated for four awards at the IGF Awards 2014: Excellence in Narrative, Excellence in Audio, the Nuovo Award and the Seumas McNally Grand Prize.

TowerFall Ascension is Now Available on Steam!
TowerFall Ascension is the definitive version of the hit archery combat game. Inspired by classics from the golden age of couch multiplayer, it's a local party game centering around hilarious, intense versus matches. The core mechanics are simple and accessible, but hard to master and combat is fierce. Loot treasure chests for game-changing power-ups, master the art of catching arrows out of the air, or descend on your foes and stomp them into submission. TowerFall is best played competitively with friends, cross-legged on the floor within punching distance of each other.

New in Ascension is the 1- or 2-player co-op Quest mode. Players work together, fighting off a variety of monsters and enemy archers across the land of TowerFall. It's a new adventure to explore when you don't have more friends handy to square off against.

New features in TowerFall Ascension include:

• Brand new 1- or 2-player co-op Quest mode
  
• 50 additional Versus arenas, for a total of 120 unique maps
  
• More game-changing power-ups, such as Drill Arrows that burrow through walls
  
• 4 new unlockable, playable archers, for a total of 8
  
• A huge list of variants to customize your matches - a total of 67 ways to mix things up
  
• Plenty of hidden secrets and surprises to discover with your friends
  

The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing was an action RPG which prompted John to use such breathless superlatives as “pleasant” and “absorbing”, so I assume you’re all pre-ordering its sequel immediately. Said sequel is out next month, and while it broadly looks like another sup from the same clicky-deathfest-with-tower-defence-bits cup, it promises more character classes, weapons and whatnot, as well as the slightly discomfiting claim to have “even more humour” and “MOAR easter eggs.”
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Ahem. So as you may have already surmised, there is going to be a Costume Quest 2. The original Costume Quest was a delightful Halloween-themed role-playing romp from Double Fine that warmed hearts and had Alec’s internal, infernal grin factory working over time. But it was also a rather insubstantial snack of a game, all things considered. A sticky-sweet Halloween treat, but far from the sumptuous meal it could’ve been. That in mind, I’m very, very, very excited that Double Fine is carving a second Costume Quest from its colossal game development pumpkin. I doubt it’ll be some sprawling mega-opus, but I certainly won’t say no to a slightly improved stroll down the darkest of child-friendly candy-filled alleys.

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Neil deGrasse Tyson - the internet's favorite science guy (who isn't Bill Nye, that is). And he's hosting the reboot of Carl Sagan's science series Cosmos (airing tonight at 9 PM on Fox, FX, FXX, and National Geographic). But instead of waiting around to watch him blow your mind on TV, you could just follow him on Twitter, where he's blowing people's minds ALL THE TIME.

 

 

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(via TumbleOn)

Dark Souls™ II is Now Available for Pre-Purchase on Steam!

Developed by FROM SOFTWARE, Dark Souls™ II is the highly anticipated sequel to the gruelling 2011 breakout hit Dark Souls. The unique old-school action RPG experience captivated imaginations of gamers worldwide with incredible challenge and intense emotional reward.

Dark Souls II brings the franchise’s renowned obscurity & gripping gameplay innovations to both single and multiplayer experiences.

Join the dark journey and experience overwhelming enemy encounters, diabolical hazards, and the unrelenting challenge that only FROM SOFTWARE can deliver.

Oh Skywind, let me count the ways. For those not in the know, Skywind is a Skyrim mod that aims to transplant the entirety of The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind (aka, the best Elder Scrolls) into Skyrim’s more modern engine while maintaining the former’s gorgeously bizarre sense of style. Locations, NPCs, quests, the mudcrab merchant who essentially functioned as my best friend in middle school – everything’s going in. It’s an absurdly colossal undertaking, and yet unlike just about every other total conversion mod out there, it’s actually going places. INCREDIBLY NOSTALGIA-PROVOKING video of Morrowind’s re-envisioned first areas below.

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LUFTRAUSERS is Now Available for Pre-Purchase on Steam and is 10% off during Pre-Purchase!

The skies will be set aflame and the seas will overflow with wreckage in Vlambeer’s stylish arcade shooter LUFTRAUSERS! Select from over 125 combinations of weapons, bodies, and propulsion systems and take to the skies to battle enemy fighter planes, battleships, submarines, and rival aces for glory, honor, and high scores. Bravely volunteer for one of over 100 daring missions to unlock new Rauser combinations and vibrant color variations and become the most legendary Rauser pilot of all time!

I don’t really know what to make of Fearless Fantasy. It seems extremely goofy and weird, and I like both those things, but oh goodness what even is it? Let’s try breaking it down: the role-player is being published by No Time To Explain creator tinyBuild, and it’s turn-based in a very JRPG way. Except not at all, because you don’t just choose an option and watch your party play patty cake with swords until the next round. Each attack involves copious mouse gestures, which I initially took to mean you had to pretend to be a rodent in front of a camera but now realize we’re talking about computers because we’re always talking about computers. Silly me. Trailer below.

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"They Took His GIRL. Now He'll take their SOULS!"

Is this canon? If so, I definitively need to play me some more Dark Souls. Kind of like Dark Souls meets Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon, am I right?



See more: Dark Souls II: Rogue Warrior

This amusing picture, of an anti-drug propaganda pencil whose message is subverted simply by sharpening it, been doing the rounds. The truth is stranger than some of the fictions that accompany it: it was sent to schools and recalled only after a child noticed the problem. From a 1998 New York Times story:

As a result of the discovery by Kodi Mosier, a 10-year-old student at Ticonderoga Elementary School, the company, the Bureau for At-Risk Youth, based in Plainview, N.Y., recalled the pencils. ... A new batch of pencils will have the message written in the opposite direction, so when they are sharpened, they will read "Too Cool To Do" and finally "Too Cool."

Do you want a quick, dumb, one-note free game? Of course you do. Everybody does. Always. I have consulted with my friend, Representative P. Opulation, who is just one guy whose parents were really mean. But he swears that’s what you all want, so it’s what you’re getting. Monty Python holds a special place in many people’s hearts, often lodged right next to the thin mint that’s about to make them explode. And then of course, there is The Foot from Monty Python’s Flying Circus. Holy Stomping is a game in which you play as The Foot. It’s rather silly. Also, a landmark moment in interactive entertainment.

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