Up late talking games & writing? You're...

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Games: Mad props go to Hargrada for rising to the challenge and coming up with a game that is an undisputed (and quite rare) example of the correct usage of the Silent Protagonist – Valve’s Portal.
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Although I still feel like the Silent Protagonist approach is used inappropriately 99.9% of the time, Mr. H was indeed correct in his choice, and I tip my hat in his direction.
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Games: In what I see as one of the stupidest ways to promote your game, the new demo available on Live for Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix (or SSFIITHDR for short) features local co-op play as the only way to actually try the game. That's right, if you are a single player or you just happen to not have a buddy around at the time, you can't even try the demo.
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Excuse me? I thought the whole point of demos was to get people to sample your game to convince them it's worth buying… so, if I'm home alone and I'm thinking about getting some SSFIITHDR on, you’re telling me you're not even interested in letting me just try the game? Are we not clear on what the concept of a demo is? Genius move there, brainiacs. Looks like I'll be spending my 1200 MS points elsewhere.
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Games: Just a quick heads up to anyone who's in the Home Beta: if you go to the Bowling Alley and play the Echochrome arcade game, you will be awarded the Echochrome clothing. I don't know if people who collect this will be able to keep it once the final version launches, but it's kind of neat to be able to wear a suit that’s different from what everyone else is wearing, and makes you look like a robot, to boot.
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Film: The wife and I just watched The Hulk (the Edward Norton one) yesterday, and we were both pleasantly surprised.
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Despite all the word of mouth I heard that had pegged it as being solidly mediocre, we both thought it was a great popcorn flick and Norton himself did a great job in the lead role. He always delivers fine performances, IMO, but I have to admit I was a little curious as to how he would handle such a well-known and famously unsuccessful comic book hero. I think he really nailed it.
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A neat bonus was the Tony Stark/Robert Downey Jr. cameo at the very end, obviously a lead-in to the upcoming Avengers film. The Hulk wasn't a home-run blockbuster the way Iron Man was, but we enjoyed the time we spent with it and truth be told, we were both sort of scratching our heads as to why it received such a lukewarm reception.
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(...And the ending sure beat the hell out of the way the previous Ang Lee Hulk film closed… for that alone, it deserves some respect.)
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