Mad Men: "Dark Shadows" Review

Hey guys, apologies for this review going up so very late – a full week after the episode aired! Thanks to my time in New York covering Upfronts, I only just was able to watch it.

This was an interesting episode for Don. All season (but it began earlier, of course), he’d been so checked out of work. And here he is, getting back into things, but obviously also very insecure. He was inspired to pitch his own take on the Sno Ball campaign when he snuck a look at Ginsberg’s pages in the first place – but clearly didn’t like the fact that while everyone genuinely liked his devil idea, Ginsberg’s played a bit better.

Don had a great, cold retort to Ginsberg at the end – “I don’t think about you at all” – but it was a lie of course. He’d been thinking about him the whole episode. This is a very interesting new side of Don, as he is trying to prove he’s still got it, and has his (valid) concerns about these young hotshots who may be on their way to surpassing him.

Insecurity was a big theme in "Dark Shadows" (yes it was funny timing to have this air the weekend the Dark Shadows movie opened), as we saw it also explored with Betty. I felt the moment where she saw Megan changing in her bedroom was a bit too convenient – We already understood how uncomfortable it was for Betty to see this oh-so modern new apartment of Don’s and be in the presence of his young, beautiful wife, while she was struggling with her weight. But Betty’s response was oh-so Betty, which is to say, awful.

Betty throwing a bomb into Don’s life by revealing who Anna was to Sally was “Classic Betty.” And while I feel like we have a good handle on who Betty is and how and why she does a lot of the cruel things she does, it still was pretty satisfying to see it ultimately backfire on her. Sally realizing it was true that Betty was trying to sabotage things and calmly telling her mother, “Yes. Daddy showed me pictures and they spoke very fondly of her,” was gratifying. I don’t hate Betty, but I don’t want to see her win this petty battle either, that’s for sure. Betty’s final hollow, boastful Thanksgiving dinner thanks was both amusing and sad, as she struggles to convince herself she is happy "And no one else has anything better."

I wish the story with Roger and Joan had resonated a bit more. I did like the continued look at the “new” Roger, as he said he was over hating Pete and we learned he will not stop bringing up his LSD experience. But we’ve never known Jane well enough to really feel her pain when she told Roger he’d ruined her new apartment by seducing her in it. I guess the question is whether Roger truly learned something from what happened – he obviously was motivated by his jealousy at her semi-flirting with another man – since he’s the character we’re invested in of the two.

Pete didn’t appear a ton in this episode, but when he did, it was all about his continued (and increasingly worrisome) obsession with Beth (Alexis Bledel), despite her having ended things. I find myself very nervous where this is going…

Meanwhile, Lane Pryce continued to be MIA this week – a very odd, long absence from the show. I’m very glad to see him in the previews for the next episode!

Source : http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/05/20/mad-men-dark-shadows-review

Best Games Quotes of the Week - May 19

This week, Diablo III's launch happened, and so we've cordoned off a special area to hold the howls of outrage and the humble apologies for that particular moment of historic unfortunateness.

Meanwhile, it's been a good week for games news with our old friend the Infinity Ward-Activision row exploding onto the scene, always a busy corner for those who enjoy vehemence and back-biting among industry types.

And then there's just a bunch of cool and crazy, including Tera's sexual censorship, first looks at Unreal Engine 4, The Last of Us just being great, how Batman breaks legs, the greatest living-room console-set-up ever and, of course Peter Molyneux.

You can look back at recent Quotes features by Googling 'Best Quotes IGN' but a good place to start is last week's column. I am, as always, at your service. Join me on Twitter to discuss the games business, or just weigh in on Comments. Best one gets posted in next week's column.

I’m Pedobear

Credit: Eurogamer

“If you look at the forums and how users usually react to this race [the Elin], it's either people offended by the way they look, or it's people trolling, saying, hey, I'm "pedobear". This is the kind of behaviour we want to avoid at all costs.”

Frogster's Lucile Le Merle on how the Elin were censored for the West, in Tera.

Eurogamer

Sculpt the Lighting

“[Previously] you would have to manually sculpt the lighting in every section of every level. The number of man-years that required was astounding.”

Cliff Bleszinski talks about Unreal Engine 4

Wired

Show me the Cables

“If you're going to impress me show me the cables and switch box!”

Top Reddit comment on a photo of an awesome historic console set-up, doing the rounds this week.

The Smiling Catfish

Game Physically

“It’s a very demanding game physically. Some of the top players are playing at 300, 400 actions per minute.”

Kevin Knocke, e-sports broadcaster on IPL on StarCraft 2’s superstars.

IGN START

The Last of Us

"It’s a game about the human condition. 20 years after a plague has decimated our society, how does man survive? When all moral and ethical codes have been stripped, who do you trust? After watching your friends and loved ones pass, do you think you could still love? What is life without hope? We’re trying to make you feel these dilemmas while you’re playing The Last of Us."

The Last of Us game director Bruce Straley.

IGN

Fake Fumigation

“[Thomas] Fenady testified that he expressed concern about the project but was told, "Don't worry about the repercussions." Fenady found an outside company, InGuardians, who also balked at the task because of "legal hurdles." Stymied, Fenady approached the company's Facilities Department and talked about staging a "fake fumigation" and a "mock fire drill" in order to get West and Zampella away from their computers long enough to copy files on their computers.”

Inside scoop on Activision’s clandestine attempts to fire Infinity Ward heads Jason West and Vincent Zampella.

LA Times

A Small Portion

"Although it is a meaningful payment, it is only a small portion of what we are seeking in litigation. It is outrageous that they made us wait, they obviously knew they owed the money and this just shows that they breached the contract."

Bruce Isaacs, attorney for the Infinity Ward Employee Group on Activision’s decision to stump up some back-payments on royalties.

The Verge

Rivals Resident Evil

"We got to that million-dollar figure by cutting as much as we could, because we're small. We would love to be able to make this game for $250,000, but that's not a reality. If you're making a puzzle platformer with two or three guys in a room, that's a different story. We're trying to make a game that rivals Resident Evil or the original Metal Gear Solid. We're trying to do that in half the time, with a small team, and a fraction of those budgets."

Former Halo producer Ryan Payton on iOS stealth game Republique's Kickstarter success.

Edge

Opposed to Blocked Used Games

“For the record, I'm totally opposed to blocking used games. I think it's great for the consumer that they can buy those. We have a customer that buys our console late in the cycle, pays less, is looking for value priced games, and I think it would be anti-consumer for us to do that.”

Sony’s Jack Tretton, quoted by analyst Michael Pachter.

GameTrailers

Here and Elsewhere

“We've been getting several questions, here and elsewhere about the future of on-disc DLC. We would like to assure you that we have been listening to your comments and as such have begun the process of re-evaluating how such additional game content is delivered in the future.”

Capcom’s Christian Svensson is looking at new places to stick his DLC.

Capcom Unity

New Consoles

“The new consoles from Microsoft and Sony will allow more integration of item-based transactions within games, including a free-to-play option similar to the model used in social and mobile games. We believe the F2P model on consoles...could drive a higher level of profitability per franchise.”

Analyst Colin Sebastian is ready for console free-to-play.

VG247

Source : http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/05/19/best-games-quotes-of-the-week-may-19