Frede

I wouldn't mind doing it this Saturday, but I probably can't participate from the beginning unless we do it a bit later than the last one.

I'd play KQ5, but I only own the CD version. Which isn't worth much without sound. Actually, it isn't worth much with sound either, but at least it's funnier. Oh, and thank you for the info, Brandon. Seriously, is there really no such thing is abandonware? You just redefined my teenage years, man. Anyway, I'll be removing the link.

I would probably go for just one game, but you all know I'm very much a gamehopper :P I was originally thinking about some of the Sierra games I haven't played (there are lots), but given that the most logical choices have been taken by people that are more qualified to talk about them, I'm thinking about playing/disucssing LSL3 or 5. It's been a while since I played an LSL game and those two are my favourite series entries. Sophomoric as it often is, Sierra's "other" big comedy series definitely needs to be represented. And I have a horrible feeling either game will go very well with my usual Hangout antics... Ooh, that game has some rooms that totally look like some in Space Quest 4.5!

Yes! Thank you for finally releasing this, Brandon :)

As I wrote on G+, I'd be up for that. There are lots of Sierra games I haven't played in a while. Or even played at all. I think non-SQ Sierra is the most logical place to go to.

If I decide to get plastered on-screen (again), I'm definitely gonna turn this into "True Confession Time - The Story of Peter Engel." And good point on screensharing, Troels. I hadn't thought of that since we usually just disable the sound. It might work, but we should probably test it out beforehand. The usual 10-15 minutes before showtime, I guess. And starting with SQ music sounds fine to me; having a couple of various game soundtrack sites open in the background might be a good idea, though.

Not sure, but I was personally under the impression it's SQ music only.

How are we going to play music in the Hangout? I have two sound cards on my desktop PC, so I'm covered, but should we turn in lists of the cues we want to play, should someone be appointed to "Hangout DJ" or do we just make it work individually? I'd have no problem handling playback for everyone, but then I'd like to know which cues everyone would like to bring in. Plus, my Wi-Fi has been pretty unstable lately. Not sure if it'll play nicely next weekend.

Totally cool with me. I hope this won't ruin it for any of the other potential participants, but if so, let me just say that losing a whole night's sleep because of the first Hangout was probably one of best decisions I've made, considering how much fun I had. While respecting that some people have tighter schedules than me, I'd like to urge everyone who might want to participate to see if they can somehow make the sacrifice. C'mon! It's Ken Allen! It'll totally be worth it :)

True, but all the mentions on Twitter took up most of the space...

Now that I have more than the 140 characters of Twitter, I'm in if we're hanging out on Saturday :)

Indeed. Goes to show that animation can be right up there with other art forms.

I happen to be allergic to the end credits, so you're not alone. I'm way more allergic to the first 15 minutes of "Up", though...

I might chip in depending on the track list. Would rather want to see you go all the way and actually have the soundtracks recorded rather than sequenced, though :)

Those sprites are awesome. I really like the style. Makes me want to start up another fangame :) Geez, I was joking. Put those guns away, please.

... and Dr. No would've drowned in a pile of bird shit ;) You're right, of course. The only adaptations that are pretty much completely spot-on (as opposed to fairly close) would be On Her Majesty's Secret Service and Casino Royale, I'd say...

Apart from the Japanese setting, the main characters and Bond's fake wedding, there's literally none of Fleming's story there. Skyfall arguably has more in common with the novel. Fleming's story is simultaneously quite gritty, with Bond being reduced to an alcoholic, vengeful mess, and oddly surreal. In fact, YOLT might be the first Bond film that wasn't really based on the book as such; despite a lot of artistic liberties taken, the four first ones were way more faithful overall. So as far as adaptions go, this definitely isn't the "best hope."

What Troels said. The only RPGs I have been able to get into are the two first Fallout games and Diablo II. Generally speaking, Fantasy never really interested me as a genre. So while I would love to see more games from the Sierra-alumni, this isn't really going to be my kind of game and I don't really have the money to make a substantial difference.

The film material is, without a doubt, out there. Lucas has spent years claiming it's not, but at least one notable film restorer, Robert Harris, has gone on record saying that he knows the material exists. He even offered to fully restore the films for free back in 2006. If you research a bit on the problem, you'll also find that around this time, Lucas' explanation for the non-existance of the original films on home video went from "the originals are damaged, so it can't be done" to "it's too expensive" (which, because of Harris' presence, was obviously an outright lie) and finally the childish "these are my movies and I don't want it to be done." A current fan project out there involves a very dedicated fan doing a transfer of a 35mm print (for TV broadcasting, it is believed) of "Star Wars" on a hand-built film scanner, at his own expense. I realise a worn-out print is not the same as a master negative, but even with that taken into consideration, the level of detail of the current results is crapping all over the Blu-rays. Speaking of which, did you know the Blu-rays are sourced from the same 1080p transfers that were used for the 2004 DVDs? I'm sure they could easily have done a 4K transfer to work on, but yet again, they chose to represent the originals with a transfer that was out-of-date already years ago. If enthusiastic amateurs with no funding can treat this film with care and respect, what's been keeping the rich filmmaker from doing so? It's a complete charade, and possibly the most tragic showcase of the flaws of the copyright system. And yes, again, I truly think these films are works of art. They defined a generation, even though they're just unadulterated fun set in space. Heck, they defined more than one generation - lots of us grew up on them in the 1990's. There's just no way around the fact that they deserve better. Source: http://savestarwars.com/

ScummVM has a huge number of ports, but I've never tried any of them. Would love to get these games running om my phone, though. How does the point and click-interface work on a touch device?

Getting drunk at your expense? Goddamn, you've got yourself a deal.

I do agree with you that certain segments of the fanbase are rabid. However, I honestly don't see anything wrong in lamenting that three Academy Award-winning and culturally significant films have never had home video releases that reflect their original theatrical versions. Everything has been tampered with at one point, from the sound mix, over the colour timing to the visual effects. It's just wrong that in a hundred years, people might think that "Return of the Jedi" always had an eerie-looking Hayden Christensen appearing at the end. Of course, since the films are just fun adventures set in space, it's as if most people cannot comprehend why some of us think this historial revisionism is awful. Betcha that if it was "Lord of the Rings," everyone would go completely bonkers. Heck, people did go completely bonkers when Peter Jackson revised the colour timing of the extended Blu-ray of "The Fellowship of the Ring." But it's as if the large majority are constantly forgetting how much we actually owe to the original "Star Wars"-trilogy. Juxtapose any early-to-mid-70s sci-fi with "Star Wars" and take note of which filmmaking aspects are still in use to this very day. Can you please explain to me why these films are not out there yet? Without drawing the "rabid fan"-card.

Yeah, it's a maybe from me as well. It'd be a costly affair, but who knows how things will look in a year and a half? One thing is certain: I would love to go. If all else fails, we could just do what we always do. Have a Hangout :P

Black Country Communion Imagine Led Zeppelin meeting Deep Purple anno 1974, and you've got an approximation of what these guys sound like. Classy 70s rock'n'roll with plenty of guts, drama and meaty riffs. They also have the distinction of being one of the most badass supergroups of all time with the line-up of Glenn Hughes (Deep Purple, Black Sabbath), Joe Bonamassa (whom you're likely to have heard of as a solo artist), Derek Sherinian (Dream Theater) and Jason Bonham (his last name says it all, doesn't it?). Their most recent album, "Afterglow", is nothing short of brilliant. There's been a lot of drama regarding their future lately (if you're familar with the history of Deep Purple, you'll know Hughes' ego is fairly monstrous), but I hope they stay together, because the genre just needs a band that can lay down those tight grooves - screaming Hammond and epic vocals included - and kinda say "Yeah, this is how it's done." Like this. That's a Bonamassa solo song, but still... 'nuff said, right?

Apparently, George Lucas will be donating the $4 billion he received from Disney to charity. What a fascinating person. I'm completely serious, because on one hand, he's clearly a good person. On the other, he really did ruin "Star Wars" with his excessive tampering. I don't know of that kind of damage having been done to a culturally significant film since... what? "Metropolis" was butchered? "Nosferatu" was ordered destroyed? These days, I have to watch my OOT LaserDiscs to get any kind of nostalgia out of watching "Star Wars." And then again, despite all their inherent flaws, those versions make me excited during the Battle of Yavin, they make me feel like I'm always watching Darth Vader's revelation for the first time and they even make me sad during the more emotional moments of ROTJ. Do I get that kind of rise out of watching the DVDs or Blu-rays? No friggin' way.