Weekend Confirmed 148 - Disney Infinity, Path of Exile, CES 2013, video game legislation

About BBT: The show does nothing more or less for a subset of archetypes than any sitcom past or present. Some get offended by it - some point out that the nerds are successful and are making strides in their lives by getting through their emotional quirks and boundaries. Some don't think it's funny, some think it's endearing. All I know is, the focus on discussing whether or not BBT is worthwhile is tantamount to acting just like the nerds from the show. A criticism that came up is that the show is shallow - outside of gameplay experiences that range from completely derivative to actual originality, how shallow are the worlds, characters, and stories we get in most video games? I'd much rather discuss how we can change that - to the extent that we can, given the juggernauts of the industry glorify violence, and what company is really going to give that up? Isn't this much more interesting than trying to state that Penny is the foil to the nerds' nerd exploits when in reality she's a failed actress working part time at the Cheesecake factory while the nerds have masters/Ph.Ds and actually have character growth, unlike the 'jock' stereotype on the show?

Glorifying violence: ya no, Hunger Games doesn't do it.

About the new format: I love it, but you have to stick with it. Work out the kinks! Don't just give it up, the old format was stale.

About Disney Infinity, re: creativity ala LBP and Minecraft: Definitely, Infinity looks much more like LBP than MC. Repurposing assets to create something fun and exciting - I don't get what's wrong with this? Minecraft is literally creating everything from the ground up, but there are people (like myself), who don't enjoy it. It's also really bizarre that Jeff brought up, as a negative, that you have to create your own games in DI, that he dislikes re-purposing assets as opposed to ground-up creation, but doesn't bring up that in Minecraft, there's very little to do before you use your imagination. Just a weird little quirk in the discussion. At least I can use Disney characters for some fun little racer as opposed to having to create that same Disney character, then the racer.