I'd say if someone is willing to 'play' Tap Titans, they should go for Progress Quest instead. You have no idea how glad I am to see it being on Android! I am tempted to get it, but I am curious to see if I can import my already-existing profile first. No use playing that awesome 'gem' if you can't import your level 80+ character that you've already had for YEARS on an old PII 266Mhz laptop!

Working as an intern anywhere seems to be the ''trial'' to go through to get experience to be able to tackle the field you're going for... but it shouldn't be requiring you to slave yourself because ''that's what you want, and we know it''. Which, as a parallel to the video-game industry, as you stated is an entertainment industry, seems like is the expected norm. Sure, compared to being an intern at the White House, the requirements for jumping in QA for example aren't the highest, but the industry appears to have a nasty tendency to treat the entry-level employees the same way: ''this is your dream come true, playing games for a living, so you'll bend the way we want when we want it or else you can say goodbye to your dream''.

And yeah, EVENTUALLY you might get good money at the White House, once you pass the intern stage which, hint, involves a lot of working for free. So in that respect, it's different from the gaming industry but, again, as you mentioned (and I agree with that fully) it IS quite the edge case.

P.S.: sorry for the spilling of coffee about that.

P.P.S.: Here's a link on White House ''fun'' times I stumbled on while doing a swift search on the matter which might cover a bit of the parts discussed (and some other issues on the matter) that I think you might like (when you are in a position to not blast coffee everywhere, that is):
http://www.salon.com/2014/01/19/how_the_young_eli...

Good stuff, mate. Hard to forget those times. Which is weird in a way because my experience in QA was ''here's a permanent contract after 3 months'', then I stayed for 8 years. But the thing is, while this was fine and dandy for the first 6 months, then you start noticing people going left and right, from a month to a year in between, you get your hands on good testers, then the next thing you know they aren't called back... because now it's ''well, time to have a steady amount of n testers for this time of year which is 50 less than the week before!'' only to end up, in a month or two, seeing HR in a rush shouting left and right ''ANYONE KNOW PPL WHO WANT TO TEST GAME? WE NEED 80 TESTERS BY MONDAY''. And you can bet you wish some of the ''returning ones'' will include the couple of good testers you had the chance to work with in the past.

''(...) and the attitude of many employers has historically been that it doesn’t matter because a new crop of graduating young coders, designers and artists will be served up next summer.''

Sad thing: it's not only in the gaming industry that this mentality is being observed. It's baffling since I wouldn't have known had I not witnessed it first hand but, in education, it seems the underlying mentality of many school boards, or even the ''reality'' that you'll have to face for 8-10 years before you get something else than substitute position, or ''maybe'' 1-year contracts. Because ya know, there's an overwhelming amount of graduates flooding out of teacher's college every year.

I'm not saying it's as bad as ''the zero hours contracts'' but given that since you'll likely be between 10 000 to 20 000CAN$ in debts (which is sooo low, compared to other fields still) after you get out of teaching college, it's a bit stressful to say the least. Hell, the only reason my better half has a job this year is because she was willing to go far north in a remote location, in another province, to get a borderline-sketchy offer (and moving there was quite expensive).

While we're on the topic in other professions, if you want to REALLY get depressed at how ''offer and demand'' in positions can blow things out of proportions, I suggest you look up at what is ''basically the norm'' for being a United States of America White House intern. I suggest you have a seat first, and aren't drinking while you scroll through.

eight equals equals FarCry2

I tried finding AJ's SEGA shirt on google based on the detailed description (and back story), fell on this:
http://abload.de/img/245f32f0f1f59764e320bdjrwd.j...

About buying games cheap, I feel bad for having paid only £2 for Vanquish. That game should never be this cheap. I know this is more or like 5 CAN$ (which is still cheap) but I couldn't help but think of that one time I went to a local game store back in the summer of 1998, and saw a used copy of MYST on Sega Saturn for 2 CAN$ which, in contrast, I thought at the time was WAY too pricy for such a piece of... wasted CD-ROM.

Animal Crossing the Trenches? I'd buy that.

Imagine the awesome stuff you could level up as the conflicts escalate (and/or move to other eras of warfare)!

'DOGE' GETS TO LEVEL UP TO 'MINE DOGE'!

QUICK! CROSS THE TRENCHES AND RUN UNDER THAT TANK!

YAY! GOOD MINE DOGE!

*mine doge detonates self and tank*

MISSION ACCOMPLISH! WOOHOO!

aaand it took about 2 hours and a half. BUT NOW, I have enough cat food to acquire the NINJA CAT!

mmyesss

I can't get enough of The Battle Cats; considering waking up at night to use all my energy. I wonder how long it'll last.

I also wonder how long before I cave and do all those stupid things which grant me 1 cat food per action.

O man, I thought I was the only one with the largest collection of ''Notes'' and ''Letter'' in Skyrim! I actually had to delete a few because they started to bug out at one point (the game doesn't like it when more than one of your friends die at the same time, and the courier seem to be utterly confused about that).

Speaking of Skyrim (yeah I might stick with that one for a bit), there is this mod, Frostfall, which include hypothermia and survival camping:
http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/11163/?

Pretty awesome, and gives a new meaning to ''home away from home'' or, if you fancy it, a permanent home in the land of permafrost! Mostly you try to make it fast, get a fireplace going so you don't freeze to death as you settle for the night, and try to leave when you have some time for traveling as soon as you had a good night of rest... but I can see this being more than just utilitarian, but then that's just playing a hermit. Which can still be a thing I guess.

And in Hearthfire DLC, you could build your own home! It was heavily scripted, but you still had more customization capabilities than when buying a home. Building all 3 available ''mansions'' fully (because they can become quite the imposing properties) takes an awful lot of time and dedication (and gold). This may just be the last ''achievement'' I get to stumble upon in my Skyrim life!

I really liked the idea of a futuristic ''cozy space station Japanese apartment of the future'' in Phantasy Star Universe. Your room had a place to set up a shop to sell your items. You could decorate everything in there and even throw parties if you felt like it (and/or were sick of farming). It served purposes both in the multilayer and single player mode.

In Warframe, they recently added a player-ship. It's very compact, but it's basically the ship that sends you in and takes you out of every mission. The possibilities for customization are rather limited to say the least, but you have a little spot to stare at the sun and surrounding celestial bodies (usually where you last had a mission. I'm quite found of the Jupiter environment). You can craft weapons and access your arsenal there in a manner that is less ''sterile'' than simply clicking on a button in a menu. It isn't much, but it definitely adds to the immersion.

Middle-of-the-wilderness, Manitoba, waaaayy north! Gonna enjoy the dry cold and auroras for a year at least! Maybe more, depends on if my gf and I are still working there. I do intend on going back to Montreal maybe for some time in the summer days, or the UK! We'll see how things go and then think of travel plans. Meeting up and gaming with fellow AR people would be awesome though! Feels like it's been forever!