PacMan versus Space Invaders

Or possibly both, if this image of Saturn's moon Mimas is to be believed. Possibly the most interesting space story of 2010 so far.





Full story here, complete with a reference to Mimas looking like the Death Star. Science journalism is getting geekier by the second. (And no, this ain't an April Fool, this news story broke a coupla days ago.)

Book idea - t-shirt theology

Every so often I have ideas that I think would make a great book.

Yesterday I thought about writing a theology book based on various t-shirts I own, starting with my "theologian" t-shirt, then incorporating in no particular order "Got Jesus?", "Love your enemies" (with a pic of the ghosts from Pacman), "Think slowly", "Video games ruined my life - good thing I've got two more lives", "You're worth a lot to me" (pic: Lego Boba Fett), "665 - the neighbour of the beast", "I pulled a princess" (pic: Mario & Princess Peach), "Everyone has the right to be ignorant, but you are abusing the privilege", Darth Vader's anger management, and "It's all fun and games until the flying monkeys attack".

I reckon I could make a theological point on all of those, covering just about all the major doctrines of the faith and a commentary on how they pan out in real life, or not as the case may be. But here's the thing, who would buy the book? More importantly, who would pay me to write it?

Cake wrecks

Matt put me on to the Cake Wrecks blog, which is just culinary art at it's most awful. But they also showcase some amazing cakes, like these wicked cupcakes, which I think are possible the coolest cakes I've ever seen!

And at the risk of seeming like a Dalek obsessive, check out the gallery of Dalek cakes to see some cake wreckery of such awesomeness it defies adequate description. I especially like the final line referencing Empire Strikes Back: "Bad Space Snake. Bad."

Playability

Often when you talk to someone frequently the same topics come up again and again. With my little brother it's the subject of "playability" in computer games. As far as we're concerned you can forget your fancy graphics and whatnot, what really matters is whether the game is playable.

My proof, if proof were needed, is Zelda on the Super Nintendo versus Zelda on the N64. I loved Zelda on the SNES - except I can only play it with Oasis' Definitely Maybe on in the background (long story, but for me the two go together). But on the N64 it was a so-so rpg, with huge distances you had to cover to get anywhere. It didn't look as good either. Zelda on the SNES was cute. On the N64, it was humdrum. Basically the "better game" lacked playability and effectively killed off Zelda for me, although the screenshots on the Nintendo DS adverts have almost re-converted me.

Recently I've been playing PacMan on Facebook, which is further proof that graphics only get you so far and it's 'playability' that counts. PacMan has been around for almost three decades and yet it knocks many other games into a cocked hat. When I teamed up for a game of Halo with Irony Boy, I loved it, but Destroy All Humans 2 wasn't my bag. One had "playability", the other didn't. Wii Sports is the defining moment in Nintendo's triumph of "playability". Of course the graphics are something else too, but there's a reason Nintendo keep bagging awards for Wii Sports - it's simply great to play.

My favourite top thirteen most playable games

Arcade/Spectrum/other truly ancient consoles
PacMan
Batty
SNES
Super Mario World
The Legend of Zelda - a Link to the Past
Super Star Wars
Game Boy
Tetris
Super Mario World 2 - Six Golden Coins
N64
Mario '64
F-Zero X
X Box
Project Gotham Racing
PlayStation 2
Zoo Puzzle
Gamecube
Super Mario Sunshine
Nintendo Wii
Wii-Sports

So what games do you rates most playable?

Two things I've learned today

1 - eating crisps and playing Pacman on Facebook gets your keyboard all greasy.

2 - there's still an archive of football articles I wrote about six years ago out there on the inter-web, including the classic Is Football a Religion?