A tale of operating systems & stubbornness, with one too many relationship analogies. Part 1 | Part 2 (sooner) | Part 3 (soon) The permanent desktop. First, two disclaimers: 1) Yes, I am a walking contradiction… 2) This is not a review of Linux Mint. So, I just obliterated my Windows 7 installation and installed Linux Mint. No dual booting, no safety nets…How did this happen to an Apple fanboy-turned-Windows 7 fanboy? (Subquestion: Did it have something to do with my third Xbox 360 dying? You’re goddamn right it did!) After being seduced (the perfect word for their marketing)...

I just spent a few hours with my partner in crime finalizing the look of Indie Arcade, and I’m damn excited about launching the site.  My A.D.D. kicked in multiple times, and I went cruising around the interwebs as well as the cobwebs in my brain looking for a mission statement of sorts. Found this: “Basically, the indie scene made me love games again! It’s where the passion is, it’s where the most interesting games are, and it’s where the most interesting people are. For the mainstream industry, everything goes in one direction: bigger, shinier, 3D-ier. Indie games go in...

Earlier this year I disappointed a bunch of people, self included, when I charged out of the gate with a vengeance and finally dropped episode #165 of Insomnia Radio after being absent for over a year. Then, of course, chaos and drama ensued and podcasting – much less a semblance of normal life – became impossible to produce. So that said, I’m working on the newest episode of IR. No, wait, really! Kicking off 2010 IR proper style. Now, I’ve learned over the years not to make promises I can’t keep, but I’m going to do my damnedest to reboot Insomnia Radio into a...

I just finished playing Tornado Outbreak, a new game by Seattle developer Loose Cannon that blends elements of the timeless Katamari Damacy with Saturday morning cartoons. What can be more fun than not just the collection of, but wanton destruction of cows, ferris wheels, double decker buses, silos, tanks, and hotels with well produced, light-hearted animated intermissions? The game was genuinely fun. Not an experience to philosophize over and draw inspiration from, but just an enjoyable gaming experience with decent replay value. And it’s published by Konami, you know this little company...

Today, it’s 1/3 shameless self-promotion and 2/3 high praise for a couple respected writers. 1) An intelligent discussion about Halo? http://www.brainygamer.com/the_brainy_gamer/2009/09/odst.html (scope the comments for an example of REAL comment thread conversations) 2) Day-ee-tona! http://bit.ly/l5gPg 3) How Possibly To Do Good Games Journalism, Maybe – An Introduction: http://lewisdenby.wordpress.com/2009/09/28/how-possibly-to-do-good-games-journalism-maybe-an-introduction/ If you enjoyed these words, buy Jason a coffee....

I'll review it, as soon as I can stop playing it! As I wrap up a weekend full of impromptu – and gleefully geeky – Halo 3: ODST LAN parties and endlessly blissful sessions of DiRT 2, I’m haunched over my laptop trying to find the on-ramp to my latest game review. I’ve been sitting on the aforementioned DiRT 2 for just shy of a week, and my personal policy with game publishers and PR companies is to turnaround my review in 7 days or less. Tomorrow morning is day 7. I haven’t necessarily been procrastinating so much as constantly waiting for some flaw to jump out at...