J4MES OX4D

As they were entering Chernobyl, I was really hoping to see the fairground. All i kept thinking was;
 
"Look at this place, fifty-thousand people used to live in this city, now it's a ghost town. I've never seen anything like it."
 
 
Sad I know but i find it kind of cool that COD4 opened a lot of younger peoples eyes to Chernobyl through gameplay.

Yeh good episode and James blunt is a top guy but he looked ridiculously small.
I am looking forward to the showdown between the astonishing McLaren p1 and that Porsche.

The only reason I sent you those messages was because you were quite clearly hacking. I've reported you to DICE, EA, Sony and the police. My mate also works for Battlefield and he'll have your account taken off of you so I will ring him tomorrow. I will also message my other non-existent mate who can hack your account

My favourite event so far 

Responding to popular calls from the Daily Mail and Nigel Farage, African leaders met in Kinshasa yesterday to discuss the growing floods crisis in the United Kingdom.
‘The images of knee-high water have shocked us all’, said Congo’s President Kabila, whose nation is currently recovering from the most brutal conflict in recorded history since the Second World War.
‘The [Daily] Mail and Mr Farage have made it clear that Britain’s international aid budget, used around the globe to combat AIDS, famine and female genital mutilation, is needed in High Wycombe.
‘Well, we can do one better’.
Governments across the continent have drawn up assistance packages to help the hundreds of Britons forced to sleep in poorly funded community centres, often for days at a time.
‘It is unimaginable’, said Kabila before the assembled statesmen in Kinshasa, ‘In Henley-upon-Thames for example, only one in twenty residents are millionaires. Imagine their insurance premiums’.
Following fears of sandbag shortages at Devon County Council, particularly of that drought-excluder kind, the Islamic Republic of Mauritania has stepped in, offering to drop several thousand sand bags ‘over a wide area’ from strategic bombers. Mauritania, a country which according the UN has between 10% and 20% of its population as slaves, was happy to help.
Eritrea Has Promised To Provide 103% of GDP To Help The UK
‘Hey, we’re in the Sahara’, said a spokesman for the ruling junta, ‘we’re basically made out of sand!’
The largest contribution has come from Eritrea. The Red Sea state, whose primary exports include nutmeg and ferrous waste, has promised to match David Cameron’s proposed flood defence fund of £700 million.
‘We are more than happy to help’, said Minister Isaias Afwerki, ‘expending our entire Gross National Product to protect Elton John’s Windsor mansion will be the honour of all Eritreans’.
Alongside state intervention, charities have moved quickly to respond. Professor David Akol of Juba University in Darfur has established Help For The Home Counties.
‘Who can put a price on a pair of waders?’ asks Akol in a moving advert currently broadcasting across the continent, ‘For just £159, a Sudanese farmer can give an IT consultant from Surrey a pair of Endura Stocking Foot Protectors. That’s just four months wages to remove dampness from someone’s life’.
Half a dozen African countries have already offered to back financial aid with boots on the ground to oversee future defences. ‘It is clear’, concluded Kabila, ‘after similar catastrophes in 2000, 2007 and now 2014 that the British government simply lacks the logistical capabilities to stop water coming indoors’.
Meanwhile Syria’s Assad today announced a cease-fire in his nation’s multi-sided civil war to allow for ‘a whip round’ for Britons who have lost their second homes.
http://dailyhawk.co.uk/2014/02/14/african-union-we-cannot-ignore-the-plight-of-berkshire-any-longer/#comments
Some of the comments on the article are hilarious as well!

Frace that kill was sexy, this game is sexy,

That was bloody hilarious, cheers for the link James!

Great episode!
 
and what about that insanity that came from Denmark, over 1000bhp but can't beat an M5 around the track! I still don't know why there's an option to turn off the traction control in cars like that? 
 
Also i think James Blunt is fucking hilarious, i read about his twitter come backs a few months ago and i'm glad they spoke about it on the show cuz they're funny as hell!

I'm not Australian but I occasionally drink Fosters. 
 
A reasonable larger that's made in Australia but brewed in Leicester. 

I AM TRYING TO COMMUNICATE WITH MY OWN KIND AND YOU PEOPLE ARE TEARING ME DOWN LIKE I'M SOME BOOZE-DRINKING, EXCLUSIVE-ANIMAL-RIDING, FOUL-MOUTHED, UN-EDUCATED KIND OF PERSON
 
Oh.

You sure you're not Scottish?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGTDL3uGUOs
 
Recorded this earlier! The whole parkour movement style is what makes me love this game!
 
 
Datteninja!

Fuck, I'm so jelly.
 
It's almost as if I play on a system full of people who recognise luck, skill, and talent, and occasionally acknowledge it. 
 
 
 
 
 
C'mon Bart, open goal dude.

The amount of hatemail you get in online games is basically a skill meter, the more the better

Awesome game. Movement is great. Guns are good. The mechanics of the game is brilliant. I understand its the beta but its so smooth. My only complaint is that its not on PS4. Fuck you EA and double fuck you Microsoft.
I wonder if stuff will change as far as early access and such now that the PS4 has out sold Xbone by about two million units?

The only reason I sent you those messages was because you were quite clearly hacking. I've reported you to DICE, EA, Sony and the police. My mate also works for Battlefield and he'll have your account taken off of you so I will ring him tomorrow. I will also message my other non-existent mate who can hack your account

I saw the thread title and thought "Doc? What the....." which, I presume, was the reaction you wanted! :)

I'm way behind on my run schedule, because my mayor believes it is an unrealistic expectation to clear "side" streets of snow and ice. As such, my street is two goals and a zamboni away from being the city's new hockey arena. This makes it hazardous to walk to the mailbox on the other side of the street, let alone run. So, I decided to do something about it. 

The product is called "Due North All Purpose Traction Aids, and I bought them from Amazon here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000UQVB2/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I strapped them over my 5.11 winter duty boots:



The bottom:



Then I proceeded to run 1.95 miles in them. I was as sure footed as a mountain goat. They stuck to ice that was mirror smooth with a light pool of moisture on top (the slickest of slick ice), they stuck fine to rutted ice, they stuck fine on uneven and lumpy ice. When I crossed a main road that was dry, they weren't slippery feeling like walking on athletic cleats. You could hear the spikes click, though.

They seem to be durable and of high quality. The rubber is thick and tough, and the spikes are tungsten-carbide per the packaging. It comes with two spare spikes in case you lose one.

Getting them on takes a little work, as the rubber is thick and once its on, it doesn't want to move, so make sure you get the toe on straight before strapping on the heel. They stay on the boots just fine on or off your feet.

When not on your boots, they are easy to roll up into a ball slightly smaller than my fist. It'd be easy to store a pair or two in a BUG, glove box, wherever, and then any shoe can instantly be high traction on ice.
 
I have since ran a total of 9 miles on ice, loose snow, hard packed snow, and ice with no problems at all.

The only reason I sent you those messages was because you were quite clearly hacking. I've reported you to DICE, EA, Sony and the police. My mate also works for Battlefield and he'll have your account taken off of you so I will ring him tomorrow. I will also message my other non-existent mate who can hack your account

The only reason I sent you those messages was because you were quite clearly hacking. I've reported you to DICE, EA, Sony and the police. My mate also works for Battlefield and he'll have your account taken off of you so I will ring him tomorrow. I will also message my other non-existent mate who can hack your account

The only reason I sent you those messages was because you were quite clearly hacking. I've reported you to DICE, EA, Sony and the police. My mate also works for Battlefield and he'll have your account taken off of you so I will ring him tomorrow. I will also message my other non-existent mate who can hack your account

Well I managed to get in a few matches of Titanfall just now so I thought I'd deliver my initial impressions of the extremely hyped game. 
 
Firstly; you complete a training mode which allows you to experience the controls, general feel and the overall combat mechanics. It comprises of 14 or so mini-missions and lasts around 15 minutes. It is extremely well implemented and very helpful before going into battle. The first thing you notice whilst getting to grips with the features is how good the engine is. It is silky smooth and the combat is very satisfying. I have never experienced such an impressive feel to a FPS ever. This absolutely top of the range production in how to produce a quality build.
 
I opted to use my 360 pad to start with and the controls are pretty straightforward with an input binding similar to that of Call of Duty. The only difference really is a cloaking feature on L1 which is the same as what we saw in Crysis 2. The Titan is easy to use also and has rockets and a shield on the shoulder buttons. You can also dash from side to side and forwards in place of the jump function. 
 
My first match was Attrition (TDM) on Angel City which is a urban city based location. You begin by getting air dropped into the map with your team. The map felt pretty good and even the highest buildings could be reached by almost a parkour manner by easily navigating off walls using the jump button. The guns look and feel brilliant also. Unfortunately the AI on the bots has to be called into question; they seem clueless and useless and don't really offer any input into the match. Reminded me of combat training in COD using recruit bots! Fortunately the battle with the opposition is much more trickier and intense. It's a real shame that it's only 6v6 as the NPC units discredit the gameplay but when you have numerous Titans on the map; you can understand why the 12 player count has been sensibly reduced. You seem to get your own mech every few minutes and when you do; the action becomes pretty chaotic and you mow down the bots and battle with players on top of buildings and on the ground along going toe to toe with other Titans. It's pure old-school carnage. If your Titan is on its last legs; you must eject which sees you shot up into the sky and come down to get right back into the action. The pace is fast and furious and very enjoyable although the mode seemed to lack meat which perhaps is expected as it's only team deathmatch.  In terms of gameplay balancing; perhaps it would have been better if they had limited the amount of Titans available; lets say one on a team at a time and allowed for more human players in place of the bots. It feels like this game is ideal for 9v9 or 12v12. 
 
At the end of a match; the team that scores 250 wins and to add a twist; the losing team must reach the evacuation point on the map and the winners must prevent them getting there. Why? I don't know but if you're on a streak; you can grab some last ditch kills. I assume this game ending event is connected to the story or something. 
 
I next played on a very good map called Fracture. It was a much more open setting than Angel City and there were less high buildings so I saw quite a bit of action on the ground. I was initially concerned that there wouldn't be much diversity between the maps but Fracture certainly adds a different dimension to the gameplay in terms of how you approach battles. In Angel City; you were playing off the buildings and trying to work into clear lines of sight but on this map you desperately seek cover from buildings against Titans whilst getting into open areas hunting bots and other human players. It will be interesting to see what other maps will be on offer and how they vary.
 
Visually Titanfall isn't overly-spectacular and the colour pallet is quite drab but the gameplay is fun, frantic, fun and at times spectacular. The general feel is magnificent but the balance between human and AI players along with the Titans could drag the gameplay down. The AI needs drastic improvements also to make the game a viable challenge throughout matches and to keep players engaged. If you like old-school titles like Quake and Unreal Tournament; this game is a pretty astonishing reconstruction of the classic frenzied arcade shooter compiled with the impressive Titan battles. I will delve into the other modes later to see how the gameplay copes with objective play thrown in but overall this game is a pleasant surprise from what initially looked quite a generic shooter. The menu presentation and statistics is extremely polished and the ranking system and unlocks mirror that of the typical COD games. Familiar but nevertheless fresh and interesting going forward.  I will also give it a try using the M+K but so far, so bloody good yeah! 

Played a few games just now and holy crap this game is amazing

A great series where comments taken from YouTube from an argument are reenacted in film-scene style

Well I managed to get in a few matches of Titanfall just now so I thought I'd deliver my initial impressions of the extremely hyped game. 
 
Firstly; you complete a training mode which allows you to experience the controls, general feel and the overall combat mechanics. It comprises of 14 or so mini-missions and lasts around 15 minutes. It is extremely well implemented and very helpful before going into battle. The first thing you notice whilst getting to grips with the features is how good the engine is. It is silky smooth and the combat is very satisfying. I have never experienced such an impressive feel to a FPS ever. This absolutely top of the range production in how to produce a quality build.
 
I opted to use my 360 pad to start with and the controls are pretty straightforward with an input binding similar to that of Call of Duty. The only difference really is a cloaking feature on L1 which is the same as what we saw in Crysis 2. The Titan is easy to use also and has rockets and a shield on the shoulder buttons. You can also dash from side to side and forwards in place of the jump function. 
 
My first match was Attrition (TDM) on Angel City which is a urban city based location. You begin by getting air dropped into the map with your team. The map felt pretty good and even the highest buildings could be reached by almost a parkour manner by easily navigating off walls using the jump button. The guns look and feel brilliant also. Unfortunately the AI on the bots has to be called into question; they seem clueless and useless and don't really offer any input into the match. Reminded me of combat training in COD using recruit bots! Fortunately the battle with the opposition is much more trickier and intense. It's a real shame that it's only 6v6 as the NPC units discredit the gameplay but when you have numerous Titans on the map; you can understand why the 12 player count has been sensibly reduced. You seem to get your own mech every few minutes and when you do; the action becomes pretty chaotic and you mow down the bots and battle with players on top of buildings and on the ground along going toe to toe with other Titans. It's pure old-school carnage. If your Titan is on its last legs; you must eject which sees you shot up into the sky and come down to get right back into the action. The pace is fast and furious and very enjoyable although the mode seemed to lack meat which perhaps is expected as it's only team deathmatch.  In terms of gameplay balancing; perhaps it would have been better if they had limited the amount of Titans available; lets say one on a team at a time and allowed for more human players in place of the bots. It feels like this game is ideal for 9v9 or 12v12. 
 
At the end of a match; the team that scores 250 wins and to add a twist; the losing team must reach the evacuation point on the map and the winners must prevent them getting there. Why? I don't know but if you're on a streak; you can grab some last ditch kills. I assume this game ending event is connected to the story or something. 
 
I next played on a very good map called Fracture. It was a much more open setting than Angel City and there were less high buildings so I saw quite a bit of action on the ground. I was initially concerned that there wouldn't be much diversity between the maps but Fracture certainly adds a different dimension to the gameplay in terms of how you approach battles. In Angel City; you were playing off the buildings and trying to work into clear lines of sight but on this map you desperately seek cover from buildings against Titans whilst getting into open areas hunting bots and other human players. It will be interesting to see what other maps will be on offer and how they vary.
 
Visually Titanfall isn't overly-spectacular and the colour pallet is quite drab but the gameplay is fun, frantic, fun and at times spectacular. The general feel is magnificent but the balance between human and AI players along with the Titans could drag the gameplay down. The AI needs drastic improvements also to make the game a viable challenge throughout matches and to keep players engaged. If you like old-school titles like Quake and Unreal Tournament; this game is a pretty astonishing reconstruction of the classic frenzied arcade shooter compiled with the impressive Titan battles. I will delve into the other modes later to see how the gameplay copes with objective play thrown in but overall this game is a pleasant surprise from what initially looked quite a generic shooter. The menu presentation and statistics is extremely polished and the ranking system and unlocks mirror that of the typical COD games. Familiar but nevertheless fresh and interesting going forward.  I will also give it a try using the M+K but so far, so bloody good yeah!