Anyone who's been reading WoS or WoSblog for any amount of time will probably already have noticed that I have very little time for videogames that want to tell stories.
There are plenty of fields of culture available already for people who want to be told stories. Books, films, comics, TV, theatre and even music are all ideally suited to story-telling, and frequently do a brilliant job of it. You wouldn't hire a footballer to come round and do your plumbing, so why would you look to videogames for storytelling?
Chatting to a chum yesterday, something they said gave me cause to recall a feature from Amiga Power in which former full-time members of the AP team recounted their experiences on leaving the mag for the “real” world.
Sadly the issue in question (AP54, October 1995) is one of those that still hasn’t been scanned for the Amiga Magazine Rack, and only a fragment of it is available in the WoS Archive, so I had to go and get the actual magazine off my shelves, like some sort of caveman.
This is totally NSFW, if you’re a dragonfly. It may also cause depression among male viewers. If you’re absolutely sure you can handle XXX-rated dragonfly action, then click on the pleasant picture below to peek through the leafy window and into the dragonfly boudoir.
(Pics taken this afternoon in the botanical gardens of Victoria Park, Bath, with a Fuji Finepix F70 EXR compact digital camera.)
We're almost done with the politics stuff, viewers. Normal WoSblog service will be resumed shortly, but first I thought I might as well share with you an email I received this morning.
Back on Monday, when uncertainty still ruled as to who'd be forming the next government, the website 38 Degrees invited its users to send emergency emails to Labour MPs, urging them not to block any potential "progressive alliance" by vowing to vote against electoral reform, as many threatened to.
The momentum behind a Lib-Lab coalition seems at the time of writing to be slipping away, as one braindead Labour MP or grandee after another comes out to argue against it in front of an eager media. If Labour's 1983 election manifesto was the longest suicide note in history, today's collected BBC News interviews could be among the shortest.
Because here's what happens if Labour retards like David Blunkett, John Reid, Tom Harris and Wee Dougie Alexander scupper this agreement.
1. That the Tories hadn’t offered the Lib Dems anything on electoral reform. The sudden, desperate and resentful least-possible offer of a referendum on the absolutely useless AV (which does almost nothing for the Lib Dems) was a panic reaction to Brown’s game-changing resignation.
At least, it’s statistically probable that you do. The majority – 53% – of votes cast by the British electorate last Thursday were worthless, because they were cast for candidates who didn’t win, and are therefore simply thrown in the bin by the First Past The Post electoral system.
So if you were one of the thousands of people locked out of polling stations across the country on Thursday night, don’t fret too much. Your vote would probably have been completely ignored anyway.
Because the aim was a hung parliament, and we got just about the hung-est parliament possible. The Tories need the Lib Dems to form a majority, Labour needs nearly everyone to form a majority, and the smallest parties could yet have the crucial say. Wow, that's hung. But what now?
I haven't been to bed yet. I may be cranky. But with over 90% of results in, it's not really possible to draw any conclusions from last night's election other than (a) almost everyone in Britain is a pathetic, brainless cretin, and (b) everything about our "democracy" is a sick black joke at our expense.
TURABDIN on Seven Days Too Long: “SCOTLAND does not need more WASPS on mobility scooters.” May 1, 11:58
Aidan on Seven Days Too Long: “@Alf – isn’t that basically why anyone moves anywhere?” May 1, 11:42
Alf Baird on Seven Days Too Long: “As Albert Memmi wrote, the colonizer only moves to a colony ‘for an easier life’ and ‘to make a profit’.…” May 1, 11:19
Aidan on Seven Days Too Long: “Yup – the insanity of the current SNP policy to incentivise working people to move south and retirees to move…” May 1, 10:55
100%Yes on Seven Days Too Long: “I seen this article, “I’m one of thousands leaving England to live in Scotland” am I the only one who…” May 1, 10:44
Alf Baird on Seven Days Too Long: ““the land that time forgot” A valid point, but other important aspects remain in play for a subordinated people and…” May 1, 10:43
Aidan on Seven Days Too Long: “Exactly CC, both “parties” are really just a collection of independents standing under a broad banner. The problem is, standing…” May 1, 10:13
Captain Caveman on Seven Days Too Long: ““What “nothing else” screams to me (and to many others) is “we can’t agree on even the basics” and which…” May 1, 09:48
Campbell Clansman on Seven Days Too Long: “While your description of SNP voters is accurate, they are NOT the “majority.” The polls for the last year have…” May 1, 09:41
Aidan on Seven Days Too Long: “So vote for a tiny micro-party which is vanishingly unlikely to win any seats, when you could instead vote against…” May 1, 08:52
TURABDIN on Seven Days Too Long: “AS A GESTURE TO THE K&Q of ENGLAND, Trump cuts tax on uisge beatha…..that great foreign owned export. Did you…” May 1, 08:43
diabloandco on Seven Days Too Long: “can anyone tell me how to get rid of Microsoft cretinous news , which pops up every time I open…” May 1, 07:53
Athanasius on Seven Days Too Long: “Don’t vote. The government will get in.” May 1, 06:30
Peter McAvoy on Seven Days Too Long: “Has the site of the fire in union street been examined to see if the buildings and roads are in…” May 1, 02:05
Young Lochinvar on Seven Days Too Long: “FFS What is up with you lot? Vote ATLS. Simple. “Independence, nothing else”. Isn’t that what we are crying out…” Apr 30, 23:49
Rob on Seven Days Too Long: “I did vote for Fergus, its not that I don’t like what the SNP used to stand for, its more…” Apr 30, 23:27
Alf Baird on Seven Days Too Long: “The Crown as relating to the Kingdom of England seems clear enough, an thars nae doubt thon Croun is whit…” Apr 30, 22:31
James on Seven Days Too Long: “Dan; I’m south Scotland and have an ATLS choice on the list so they will get my vote, sadly there…” Apr 30, 22:12
Mark Beggan on Seven Days Too Long: “I think Scotland is about to become the land that time forgot.” Apr 30, 21:17
Cynicus on Seven Days Too Long: “If you can, vote for Fergus Ewing. #No Votes SNP.” Apr 30, 21:13
Cynicus on Seven Days Too Long: “If you van, vote for Fergus Ewing. #No Votes SNP.” Apr 30, 21:12
diabloandco on Seven Days Too Long: “Please , please go and vote – spoil your ballot paper if no-one appeals – but please vote as even…” Apr 30, 21:11
Dan on Seven Days Too Long: “The trouble is James, that after 10 years and two Scottish parliament elections, there is now a choice of voting…” Apr 30, 21:06
Doug on Seven Days Too Long: “Our only hope for independence is Farage becoming PM in England.” Apr 30, 21:02
Doug on Seven Days Too Long: “A leader with any integrity would resign. So, aye, Swinney will remain as leader. The gutless memebership will probably beg…” Apr 30, 21:00
James on Seven Days Too Long: “Are you not missing the point? Agree to disagree on anything and everything except; Independence, nothing else nothing less. That’s…” Apr 30, 20:23
Confused on Seven Days Too Long: “pessimism is just playing the odds, but it makes for a dull life 1. england is swallowed beneath the waves…” Apr 30, 19:33
Potace on Seven Days Too Long: “I’m just not going to bother voting. What an utterly depressing shower they all are, and I’m left completely politically…” Apr 30, 19:06
Highland Wifie on Seven Days Too Long: “Alf says “Scots need to elect radicals.” Alliance to Liberate Scotland made a huge mistake in parachuting in Craig Murray…” Apr 30, 18:30
Sven on Seven Days Too Long: “twathater @ 17.54. “They may not be polished or grandiose” and, I’d add, not career or would be professional career…” Apr 30, 18:20
