Alpha Protocol: Reviewed to Hell

“I'm playing Alpha Protocol at the moment,” I said the to the staff down at my local games store.
“Hmmm...” replied Clarice (name changed for legal purposes). We all looked across the counter at a not-yet-for-sale copy they had on display.
“So, it's kind of like Fallout 3 crossed with Splinter Cell?” Pete half-asked, half-stated.
Holy turd-monkeys! That would be AMAZING, right?!
Yeah. It would.
“Maybe,” I said. “If, you know, they took the bits that make each of them good away and left you with something that plays a bit like a stale biscuit.”

In fairness, Alpha Protocol starts on a high. It opens with that old 'SEGA' noise you used to get on the Mega Drive. It's all a bit downhill from there.


Yes, the best bit was finishing it. Rest of the review's on that SPOnG website I work for.

This is Where Scott Pilgrim Lived

When that damn dirty volcano left me starved of new comics for a week recently, I manually reignited my man-passion for Scott Pilgrim. Because I was having a pretty extreme nerd-out, I went so far as to track down the apartment he shared with Wallace Wells. I did it like some kind of weird stalker who tripped up and fell into a Grant Morrison comic about the crossover between reality and fiction. The picture above is what I found - it's the house on the left.

In case you care, I took the address from the package Ramona delivers to the apartment in Volume 1 (It's 27 Alberta ave, Toronto). I went to Google Maps, then Google Street View. Then, for the first time I really took to heart the fact that the pins Google sticks in maps to show addresses are made out of guesswork. So, I looked at visible house numbers, worked out how numbering on the street works then nailed the address using the power of my brain. I then felt pretty pleased with myself for a couple of minutes, then I felt a little sad.

Yes, it doesn't look exactly the same as in the comics. No, I don't think we should blame Bryan Lee O'Malley for that. We have only our own nerdish compulsions to blame for any sadness we feel about this fact.

If you want to see the location for yourself, go here.