So megan is in town for a visit, and there is supposed to be game playing today.

I have two shows today. I'm not sure I'll be seeing megan for more than about five minutes.

Sad now.

A little bit last week, and now some more today, I've been playing Tomb Raider: Anniversary, finally.

I haven't done more than complete Croft Manor, the training level (and that was with walkthrough). The graphics, movement and animation are all absolutely stunning. And if the training level is any indication, the levels are al going to be pretty huge. The jumping/climbing is all very similar to previous Tomb Raiders.

Basically on the positive side, this game really fulfills the promise of all the earlier titles, using the full extent of today's hardware.

On the negative side, the controls are also pretty much the same as previous versions of the game, which means that, while functional, they're not always great, and sometimes they just flat out suck.

Sean, it's a really fun game. I finished it when it first came out, and though the controls do suck at times (especially with some of the ridiculous jumps you have to do), it's well worth it.

I've been a Tomb Raider fan since the first game, and I love that this is basically a full re-imagining of the original game, on a scale worthy of today's platform capabilities. Frankly, the only passable control interface just kind of comes with the Tomb Raider territory, so I'm willing to overlook it to wander in the lush scenery, and make gravity defying Lara Croft jumps and flips while blasting beasties and solving absurd and improbably convoluted puzzles to open doors and free Atlantean relics.

I ... I played a video game last night.

Yes, friends of mine badgered me into playing Rock Band. I sang. I didn't sing as well as *I* felt I should, but I did pretty well for the most part. (Except for "Celebrity Skin" by Hole. I always knew I disliked Courtney Love. But I got 100% on "Teenage Labotomy" by the Ramones!)

My friends found the way to keep me motivated to play the game. I HATED the outfit my character started out with, and was compelled to earn money so she could have proper clothing. Pete found this hysterical.

Pete found this hysterical.

He's not alone.

I mean.... *probably*. Probably not alone. *Some*body else would probably find that really funny.

Hypothetically speaking.

Okay. Drew and I have talked about FG a bit more, and while it's clear that modding the program to actually handle a full rules set for something like Shadowrun or Serenity, the die rolling functions, character chat and map/graphic sharing functions will all still work fine for what we might need.

There's supposedly some generic blank character sheet mods out there, which would allow us to use online character sheets (we'd be stuck using paper copies otherwise). I found one, but even after joining the forum in which it was posted, the board wasn't allowing me to download it. So, I'll keep working on that.

In the mean time, I have an idea for an SR4 campaign. I know Joe has been longing to play, as much as we might want to get back to the exploits of the crew of Valley Girl.

Which brings me to my next point -- there are maybe one or two people we forgot in our calculations -- E and possibly T. T I'm less concerned about, but I'd love to get E in on it.

But! As I said, I have a Lite FG2 license on my old XP machine that I think I can uninstall and use for a machine for E. He knows Fantasy Grounds. He's been using FG with his other gaming group, and I'm pretty sure he has at least one Lite license, but I don't know if he has one on a portable machine. On the other hand, he might, so that may be problem solved.

Anyway, this is to say I'll be working on statting up the first adventure, and we should maybe start talking backchannel about character ideas.

And actually, since I'm organizing an RPG online with other Buffistas, consider this an open invitation to anyone else interested in playing Shadowrun 4 with us (Drew, Kristin, MM, omnis and myself, along with possibly another friend of ours). You'll need a Windows computer and a Fantasy Grounds 2 Lite license, but the invitation has been issued.

I ... I played a video game last night.

Between this and the fact that you were quite good at Burnout when we played it at my place in Burbank a few years back I'm beginning to think you might be good at these games.

And actually, since I'm organizing an RPG online with other Buffistas, consider this an open invitation to anyone else interested in playing Shadowrun 4 with us (Drew, Kristin, MM, omnis and myself, along with possibly another friend of ours). You'll need a Windows computer and a Fantasy Grounds 2 Lite license, but the invitation has been issued.

I'd be interested, but for the time difference.

but for the time difference.

Indeed. I'd adore having you in the game, but yes, the time difference would be a beast. But if ever for any reason it looks like you might be available to play at whatever o'clock in the whatever it turns out to be in antipodean time, you're still invited.