You may have already seen Stepto's measured response to some considerably less measured responses to bans over the use of swastikas as emblems in Black Ops.

He puts down the disingenuous argument--that swastikas aren't, or shouldn't be, inseparable from Nazism--with the kind of patience presumably required of those operating in the front line trenches of Xbox Live policy enforcement.

But I particularly like what he says, more or less, about 'clever' types on the internet. Not clever but 'clever', where by 'clever' we mean 'contrarian douchebags'. I don't expect many of these emblem apologists are really malicious or Neo-Nazis or what have you. They are those clever people who:

"...view any opportunity for human interaction, no matter the appropriateness, to push their point. You know, like you do."

That's a specific brand of being objectionable on the internet, and though there are many, this must be one of the tougher to cope with as a professional moderator of online interaction. I am grateful for the mods that do.

As mentioned in the podcast, I've come to the end of Fable III's Road to Rule and, now I'm queen, I'm mostly harassing the staff at Castle Fabulous, tickling the chamber maids, etc.

I've not had any time this week to fill the castle coffers or spawn royal heirs, or even to settle on a final opinion of the game.

I enjoy fooling around in Albion, but the dungeon-lite experiences don't grab me much. The spell gauntlet combos are fun; the rest of the combat, less so.

But I do like that it tried to make me feel bad for putting my tyrant king brother in front of a [SPOILER PROXIMITY ALARM] firing squad.

He [spoiler] executed my [spoiler] CHILDHOOD SWEETHEART. And probably some other bad stuff, I don't know, violent oppression and child labour or something.

I get the appeal of Minecraft. That is to say, it appeals to me. I am also impressed and heartened mightily by its success.

But I'm never going to find the time for building 16-bit megacomputers or transcontinental railroads or torching my luxury home. FML, RIGHT.

My first half hour of the Minecraft experience mostly involved:

1) Realising I can dig directly down into the centre of the earth.*

2) Digging directly down into the centre of the earth.

3) Respawning.

4) Constructing a modest house with windows and bookshelves.

5) Digging it a convenient tunnel into the centre of the earth.

You're never more than a few seconds from molten rock, I guess is what I'm saying.

*Similar to my first moments with Fracture, now that I think about it, but with more lava.

SUBJECT: STILL CREEK AFTER ACTION REPORT - SURVIVOR DIAGNOSIS

ATTN: Doctor (Major) Duncan Steel, Nevada Forward Operating Base

NAME: Katey Greene

AGE: 7

TYPE CONTAMINATION: Partial zombification

NOTES: Infected survivor recovered during operations in Still Creek. Zombification process temporarily suspended with Zombrex treatment. Chuck Greene, father of survivor, found inebriated in local bowling alley, wearing bloody waitress uniform and improvised 'beer hat'. Greene claimed to have "lost track of time".

RECOMMENDATIONS: TERMINATE

It nearly killed me, but I finished Valkyria Chronicles II in a week.

The game does that 1930s-Europe-through-a-fantasy-anime-lens thing, same as the first one, which I loved. It also does fluffy high school drama and racism-fuelled global conflict with the same straight face, in a way I find pretty charming/baffling.

As for how it actually, you know, plays--review will be up shortly.

Do you like Doctor Who? Do you like Wii? Then do WE have the novelty Wii controller for YOU. It's the official Sonic Screwdriver Wii Remote, like what Matt Smith's got. Out in October.

Oh, what's that, pre-order now for Mass Effect 2 action figures?

Tali looks cool; she's the frontrunner for a spot on the desk next to Angry Sackboy, though I dig Thane's sci-fi-fabulous frock coat. Shepard, for my money, should be available as a FigurePrints-type custom job, because I don't know who that's supposed to be, but it's sure not my Shepard.

(The BioWare store is running a 20% discount until August 25, with the figures shipping October 27, but Forbidden Planet and Play will save you on shipping if you're in the UK.)

Worgen character creation is back in the Cataclysm beta. Only male worgens are available, and no cosmetic customisation for now, but still: excellent.

Until the character generator enables the worgen option again, my main occupation in the World of Warcraft: Cataclysm beta is flying. Specifically, flying over Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms, the vanilla WoW realms.

Back when The Burning Crusade hit and we we were told flying mounts would be confined to Outland, that seemed pretty reasonable. Blizzard said they would have to rebuild Azeroth from the ground up to make it compatible with flying mounts. Areas designed to be seen only from afar and below would have to be redone for the benfit of nosy wyvern riders. Not to mention all the curse words spelt out in mountain ranges. You'd think.

Outland was made for flying, though. Later, so was Northrend. And now here comes Cataclysm, along with flying anywhere you please, more or less. Credit to Blizz for reworking the homelands; no doubt there's a million flying-related exploits being ironed out even now.

What with the apocalypse, the land you levelled up in has changed forever. It is torn asunder, as they say. But still, flying high over places you knew so well (see Booty Bay, right) is diverting. Empowering, in fact. It's like returning to the town of your childhood, only now you can drive, and you do, and you drive past your old infant school. ON AN ARMOURED GRIFFIN.

The screenshot (right) hopefully isn't a spoiler in itself. With Limbo's spare visuals, I don't think I could interpret it without having played through the game. But, at any rate: actual spoiler up ahead.

If you have played Limbo, you will know exactly what is going on here. If you've since repressed that memory, allow me to traumatise you once more.

It's the kind of brutal amputation Kratos might pull off (ha) eight times before breakfast. Limbo, much to its credit, filled me with shivery loathing through the whole operation.

The worst part was de-legging the thing and realising I was going to have to, oh god, roll it along like a fleshy boulder. Though it wasn't obvious from the sihouette, I am convinced it was alive and aware right up until the spike pit, clinging to life with sheer child-skewering malevolence.

I wonder if our child hero was the kind of kid that pulled legs off bugs, back when he was alive. I suppose that's purgatory for you, isn't it?