Cats are interesting in that they're arguably the only domestic animal that humans haven't bred exactly to their liking (I recall some quote about how cats are the only animals that have accepted the comforts of domesticity while rejecting its shackles). There are a handful of "pure" cat breeds, but they've been bred primarily for looks, not work, so their personalities have remained intact. Cats acted like King Shit in ancient Africa and Egypt, and they act like King Shit now.

On the flipside, dogs have been bred to humankind's liking for hundreds of thousands of years. Dogs hunted with us; dogs protected our livestock; dogs pulled our burdens, guarded our families. Now, dogs *still* perform all manner of jobs, and are still being retooled to suit our needs. In the end, dogs are forever faithful, God love 'em--but they're so dependent on humans that they are admittedly kind of a neurotic, paranoid species. Hence why they seem to harbour this inborn fear that we're going to abandon them. Sure, you've gone to work every day for the past ten years of your dog's life, and you've always come home, but OH MY GOD, THIS TIME YOU MIGHT BE GONE FOREVER.

I've worked closely with dogs since I was 15, I've owned them all my life, and to date, I think Allie Brosh from Hyperbole and a Half (http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/) has done the internet's most spectacular job of capturing the average dog's needy, paranoid personality with her drawings of her coonhound/greyhound cross. ("I can be a good dog! I can be a good dog! I can be a good dog! A good dog, just like you wanted!")

Will roll over for chocolate chip cookie dough. I'm also fond of green tea ice cream.

Heya! Generally, I write about topics that my editors suggest, and that includes my stuff on Game Theory. There is one exception: I run About.com's guide to the Nintendo 3/DS, and for the most part, I get to decide what goes up there. But if you'd like to talk to me for any reason, you can reach me at nadiaoxford at gmail dot com!

All I know is that you'd better buy me Bonestorm or go to hell.

Zombie Dog.

My Chemical Romance. Sh--shut up!! You know what though, I got a very nice surprise this summer when I saw the Protomen live and acquired proof once and for all that, goddamn, that band is talented.

Weird Owl--hah! I like it! I wouldn't mind seeing some retro graphics in the style of the first X game. I'd also like to see some story points resolved instead of the introduction of a whole whack of new characters (Mavericks excepted). Oh, and the game needs to be downloadable so it actually stands a chance.

I would love to visit Watership Down. One fellow did so, and documented his trip in great detail: http://www.lionking.org/~watership/. As for Scott Pilgrim, well, I live in Toronto, so I'm kind of submerged in a forever-issue of the comic.

"We may be pirates, but we're not barbarians; we'll let them keep the toilet paper." -- Tiesel Bonne, Mega Man Legends 2. Whaddayamean that's not an RPG?

It's as clear as mud, innit? Even Dr Cain fades out by X3. Maverick Hunter X had a few humans running around in the background, but they didn't have much to say for themselves (except for Dr Cain, who got nuked. Retcon!). Oddly enough, if you want a half-decent commentary on the tension between humans and reploids, you have to play the Mega Man Zero games, specifically Mega Man Zero 4. The Caravan of human refugees from Neo Arcadia is mistrustful of Zero, and they'll actually cite specific reasons *why.* I seem to recall one dude, for instance, who hated reploids because one had killed his parents. Not an overly dramatic or original explanation, but at least we *got* one for a change.

The MM Zero games also give us a glimpse of Reploid/Human relationships, which is interesting: Kraft and Neige, Andrew and whomever his lover was, and Ciel and Zero (though Zero won't admit to anything of the sort).

Mega Man X6 was a terrible game, but it presented an intriguing scenario wherein humanity has fled underground to escape the irradiated surface world. Breath of Fire V was also a game about humans living underground to escape pollution. It's doubtful the two games were meant to cross over in any way, but I always thought it was a neat possibility.

Also, I'm kind of irritated there were no humans in Command Mission. It was a role-playing game set in the X universe. It had the perfect opportunity to get interesting with its story, and it didn't. Boo.

Sometimes the night is long and you think about all the people you've hurt, all the family you never said good-bye to, and all the rumbling kitties you can't hug anymore 'cause they've moved on.

Oh, I can hardly choose--it's going to be a pretty exciting show! Project Cafe is a big one, of course. I also want to see what's in store for the 3DS, and I want to play The Last Guardian. I'm actually looking a bit forward to Sonic Generations, and I hope the Mega Man 3 prototype is available to play. I'm also looking forward to smirking at whatever mumbling apology Sony comes up with for the downtime fiasco.

I think he'd be a Decepticon. He's not a horrible li'l robot, but he's still extremely driven and focused on a single goal--destroy Mega Man. Decepticons are similarly single-minded, except for Starscream (conquer planet Earth AND Megatron). I do think Bass would make a good curmudgeonly, brooding Autobot if he thought of stuff *besides* killing Mega Man. He needs to take up hobbies, like flower arranging and tea ceremonies. He just needs to chill a bit.

Rickard's Red beer. It's flavourful and delightful. Kind of high in calories, though. I would also accept a nice scotch.

"Oh my God! How did this--hey, is that a dusty prairie?" *wallow wallow wallow*

Drop enough acid and your electronic can opener can be the walrus for all you know/care!

Probably Axl. Nothing against the little dude, but he's just Pony material. Anyway, a shape-shifting Pony would cause all kinds of interesting mischief.

Oh, I see you've played deathy-cakey before.

Scotch. Unless you live in Ontario and have to bike five kilometres to the LCBO to acquire said scotch.

'Warp me to Halifax."