Messages

176

General Chat / Re: NBA Thread: Kobe Bryant (1978-2020)

« on: February 11, 2020, 12:08:42 PM »

... Next season with Steph, Klay, Dray, and Wiggins should be fun though.  ...

Looney too, right? I mean, when healthy he looked like there was a lot of potential there, and a good fit with the other Golden State starters.

Your starters, when healthy, are still good enough to contend.  I would invest in the future; i.e., keep the pick.

Without knowing, or caring, much about the cap situation I tend to agree. It would be incredible to bring in a talented youngster who could develop in a winning environment.

However, I have a feeling that the cost of a #1 pick might be pretty high once you figure in the taxes (luxury; repeat?) that Golden State will be facing in the near future. Unless there is a specific player they really like, I can't help but wonder if they'd be better off flipping a known #1 pick now for a couple unknown picks in the future to delay the rebuild while collecting multiple future assets.

(Which decision to pursue also might depend on your faith in the scouting department. Right now, Toronto fans have enjoyed watching a string of great players who were either undrafted or picked well outside the lottery. High draft picks don't always pay off.)

177

General Gaming / Re: What are you playing?

« on: February 11, 2020, 11:58:21 AM »

Went back to play through MadWorld (Wii), as it's a game I never actually finished earlier.

Back in the day, I really liked it. The art direction seemed really well suited to Wii, and gave the whole game a dark comic vibe. The music was on-point, and the "color commentary" provided while playing is still obscene and ridiculous enough to be a good fit for the game (despite being too repetitive).

However, this time around the weaknesses are poking through. The combat/combo system is too limited; this works just fine for low-skill play, but kind of puts a ceiling on how much replay value the game has. The excessive violence also become a bit rote over time (although they try to keep things moving with regular mini-games and the occasional special weapon thrown into the fray).

So my current impression is less positive than initial impressions many years ago, but still positive overall. I'll have to wait and see if things get too repetitive as the game goes along... but since my gaming time now is pretty spread out that probably won't be a big deal even if it happens.

178

Movies & TV / Re: Rate the last movie you've seen

« on: February 11, 2020, 09:08:15 AM »

Avatar is a bad movie with great special effects.  ...

When a movie goes fully CG like Avatar, I have a hard time viewing that as "special effects" instead of just considering it "animation". As movies move towards an all-digital world where anything the artists dream of can and does happen, then it's just the quality of art and how fluid animation is that really matters.

A contrast would be some of the Marvel movies, which use tons of CG to augment the action but also mix in real special effects. Having just watched Captain America: Winter Solider with my kids, there were a bunch of stunts and effects during action and chase scenes that left me impressed.

Probably just being too pedantic.


ThePerm and nickmitch are both right though: this was a "must watch in a big theater" experience. Anyone else who missed out in the moment should spend their time elsewhere now, as there really isn't much in the experience worth going back to.

179

General Chat / Re: NBA Thread: Kobe Bryant (1978-2020)

« on: February 10, 2020, 10:47:19 PM »

Eesh... Raptors were down to their third-string center, with both Gasol (injured) and Ibaka (sick) sitting out vs Karl Anthony Towns and the T-Wolves. Thank goodness Minnesota (a) doesn't play any defense, and (b) are generally a terrible team.

Chalk up 137 points and another Raptors win, bringing their franchise-record win streak to 14 in a row.

Granted, that's almost entirely versus bad teams during a weak spot in the schedule. Toronto still hasn't shown out well against top tier teams... but I love how they take care of business against teams the "should" beat. Very rare to see this team take a night off, which is why they've hit 40 wins before the all-star break.

#underrated

180

Movies & TV / Re: Rate the last movie you've seen

« on: February 10, 2020, 10:34:32 PM »

Just saw Avatar for the first time. The blue tail people movie, not the air bender.

Wow. As an action-based, sci-fi summer blockbuster, it's decent enough... I guess.

The story was a disappointing mix of heavy-handed and laughable. For something that is supposed to be a modern classic, I was left disappointed at almost every turn. Character development was non-existent; why bother when you can boil everything down to basic tropes and a simple storyline? There were no surprises or clever moments, no emotional investment built up during the movie.

That said, the art and world design is mostly very appealing, despite CG not holding up well enough to be a selling point like it was on release. (I mean, it's good enough, and probably was impressive upon release. But it's a shame they seem to have valued presentation values over actual content.) Makes me wish they just animated the movie instead, and then spent the difference in budget on some better writers.

Look, I'm sure this sounds pretty grumpy; maybe I missed the point and should've just shut off my brain and enjoyed the visuals... but building such a lush and creative world and then failing to deliver a storyline that was equally rich feels like a missed opportunity. The have a beautiful setting that could handle all kinds of meaningful stories, and instead you get a trite plot that sounds like they forgot to move past the elevator pitch.

5/10 because I'm a curmudgeon

181

Movies & TV / Re: All Things Netflix! Now you can watch on the GO, no mobile data needed.

« on: February 10, 2020, 07:33:51 PM »

The worst part of auto play for me was that I end up with a few films in the "continue watching" row that I have no interest in watching.

You are supposed to be able to clear those out from your profile in a web browser, but that hasn't always worked very well in my experience.  (But I agree: that is extremely annoying.)

182

General Chat / Re: NBA Thread: Kobe Bryant (1978-2020)

« on: February 10, 2020, 08:12:52 AM »

I feel like they shouldn't have needed the crazy, last-second shot - if Houston had won, Utah would've thrown this one away. But wow, what a buzzer beater! One of the best of the season so far? I mean, the defense was solid all around. It was just a huge shot.

183

Movies & TV / Re: All Things Netflix! Now you can watch on the GO, no mobile data needed.

« on: February 07, 2020, 04:49:23 PM »

Ironic is I always hated Versions of netflix that didn't have it. The Wii U had that first. Then they updated it and got rid of it, but then they brought it back on all platforms.
...

Actually, I don't hate the auto-previews, and sometimes it was useful if the show was new or something kind of unknown... But sometimes Netflix kept playing the show instead of just showing a preview, before I was actually ready to start. That really ticked me off, and made me wary of all previews.

Seems easier to just turn it off and not worry.

184

Movies & TV / Re: All Things Netflix! Now you can watch on the GO, no mobile data needed.

« on: February 07, 2020, 01:06:59 PM »

Netflix finally lets users disable autoplay for trailers

Oh, fantastic. I find that super annoying!

185

General Chat / Re: NBA Thread: Kobe Bryant (1978-2020)

« on: February 07, 2020, 01:02:41 PM »

... I feel like Antetokounmpo deliberately didn’t pick Leonard because of last year’s playoffs. ...

And yet he did pick Siakam (earlier than I had expected) and Lowry. Not sure that the playoffs last year were really the deciding factor - his "my other African brother" comment about Siakam made me think that regional loyalty might have influenced him to pick Embiid opposite Davis, much like it influenced him to take Middleton as the first reserve.

I still feel bad that Booker couldn't make the cut.
Will there be any injury replacements this year? I wondered in particular about Luka and Embiid, who are dealing with issues that might make rest more appealing.


One other interesting note: is it my imagination, or did Ingram fall pretty far below where his skillset might suggest he be picked? Felt like James specifically didn't want him... hahaha.

186

Movies & TV / Re: All Things Netflix! Now you can watch on the GO, no mobile data needed.

« on: February 06, 2020, 02:52:08 PM »

Finished Lost in Space S2 and just love the show! ...

I'm curious about your opinion. We started watching S1 a while back, but the first episode of two didn't really stick with us. The pacing felt a bit off, and even though it had some neat ideas and tried to throw us into the action, it didn't feel compelling without knowing much about the characters.

Should we stick with it, or does that mean it's probably not going to be a match for us?  I imagine the show could only get better... but if the first half dozen episodes are a slow build then we probably don't have enough free time to make it worthwhile.

187

General Chat / Re: NBA Thread: Kobe Bryant (1978-2020)

« on: February 06, 2020, 02:29:07 PM »

...

Listen I was about to lose my **** if the Warriors turned D'lo into a shittier version of Harrison Barnes.

But that's not a fair assessment - Wiggins is paid more, isn't he?   

188

General Chat / Re: NBA Thread: Kobe Bryant (1978-2020)

« on: February 06, 2020, 01:43:45 PM »

The Golden State/Minnesota trade looks good for both sides.  The fit just seems better for both players on their new respective teams.

What do Warriors fans think about getting Wiggins, who has shown potential but never really seemed to commit, and sits in an odd spot between "talented" and "bust"...?  In the right situation it seems like he could shine, and with multiple all-stars surrounding him the pressure should be relatively low.

I feel bad for anyone going into Minnesota though. The franchise has been bad for so long, despite getting some superb talent through repeated high draft picks. The cultural problems just run too deep for any one player to change.

189

General Chat / Re: NBA Thread: Kobe Bryant (1978-2020)

« on: February 06, 2020, 08:06:18 AM »

Yay!  Raptors manage to come back from a big deficit to keep their (franchise record) 12 game win streak alive!

Toronto is actually better this year than last if you look at record and point differential, despite dealing with far more injuries this time around. Not sure they will be able to carry this success over into the playoffs... but the CHAMPS are putting on a damn good show for their fans this year.



@broodwars:  Conley might be one of the most disappointing stories of the year. The fact that Utah has consistently been better without him still blows my mind, because I generally have a lot of respect for Conley's game... but everything just seems off when he's playing.  Overreaction?

190

General Chat / Re: NBA Thread: Kobe Bryant (1978-2020)

« on: February 04, 2020, 09:41:31 PM »

Howard in the dunk contest over Gordon?  I don't know... not taking anything away from Howard, who has been pretty amazing in the past, Gordon is so ridiculously athletic that I'm expecting something jaw-dropping to be shown. His under both legs dunk still blows my mind.

(FWIW, I had heard rumors that Lavine was going to face off against Gordon in the dunk contest again, and was very excited. Their 2016 showdown was the best dunk-off I've ever seen, bar none. The actual lineup is totally fine, but I'm disappointed the world isn't being gifted that rematch.)

191

TalkBack / Re: Platinum Games Opens Kickstarter For Remastered The Wonderful 101: Switch Version Already Funded

« on: February 03, 2020, 08:58:20 PM »

KickStarter is weird. If they list a realistic goal for fundraising, nobody will back. If they list a ridiculously low value like $50,000 then the project will get more attention because it funds quickly and wildly exceeds the requested total, even though the requested total wasn't at all realistic.

I'm ok with them doing this.

However, I'm kind of bummed out about Wii U in general. It was never an awesome system, but the way developers - including Nintendo - are actively removing exclusives by releasing new versions makes it one of the most pointless systems ever to hold onto. (Weirdly, the re-releases are also a disincentive to upgrading, since so many games for the console are already in my collection.)

192

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Best of the 3DS eShop: 2012 Releases (Part 1)

« on: February 03, 2020, 08:46:07 PM »

It is worth remembering that Limited Run should be releasing an Atooi collection sometime this year with Mutant Mudds on it.
https://youtu.be/Th4qOS6yjFE

Not sure how much that will cost, but it looks appealing.

I wanted to try both Chicken Wiggle and XeoDrifter, but have so many downloaded games already. Carts are much preferred because they can be shared with my kids and/or resold later.

193

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Best of the 3DS eShop: 2012 Releases (Part 1)

« on: February 03, 2020, 08:42:37 AM »

...
Oh! I think you're right. Maybe it was a demo that I played? And I didn't want to buy the full version?

This is very possible. At least one (the Marvel tables I'm confident about, others less so) had a demo available where you could try out the tables.

The other thing is that Mutant Mudds is kind of average by modern indie standards. Back when it came out it was leagues above the other Nindies but the bar has just been raised so much higher, even on the 3DS.

This might be true - it was one of the earlier examples of "wow, indie games on eShop can be good".
And even though I don't particularly love the game, it is good across the board.

Also, while it's come out on other platforms since, the 3D effect on 3DS is a selling point here. Otherwise the jumping back-and-forth gimmick is really kind of pointless...

194

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Best of the 3DS eShop: 2012 Releases (Part 1)

« on: February 02, 2020, 10:20:49 PM »

..., but I vaguely remember not wanting to buy the extra tables.  ...

Pretty sure that you can't buy extra tables for the 3DS version, right?
Each Zen pinball game on 3DS (original, Marvel, Star Wars) comes with exactly four tables; nothing more, nothing less.

They had talked about DLC coming... it just never actually arrived, as far as I can tell.

195

General Chat / Re: NBA Thread: Kobe Bryant (1978-2020)

« on: February 01, 2020, 09:27:08 AM »

Meh.. the Lakers game is kind of a write-off for long-term takeaways though. Not even "just another regular season game" because of the weird emotional aspects. That said, Whiteside going 13/14 from the field is a bit ridiculous given the size and talent LA has; you have to figure that isn't going to be repeatable going forward.

Speaking of how many players hit 10+ points, congrats to the Nuggets for a great win over the Bucks, where every Denver player who hit the floor scored at least 10!  Lots of assists, nine different players hitting double-digits, and a very well-played game.  Pretty cool.

196

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Best of the 3DS eShop: 2012 Releases (Part 1)

« on: January 31, 2020, 07:44:16 PM »

I said earlier that Mutant Mudds was (for me) forgettable, but it's not entirely true. The 3D effect was very well done in that game and a significant selling point.

197

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Best of the 3DS eShop: 2012 Releases (Part 1)

« on: January 31, 2020, 02:44:49 PM »

I have only played this small sub-set of games:

• Zen Pinball 3D
• Mutant Mudds
• Colours! 3D
• Marvel Pinball 3D

I didn't really care for Mutant Mudds. The level design was so straight forward, and the controls never felt totally comfortable to me. Even though everything about the game was proficient, nothing really jumped out and grabbed my attention... in the end it was totally forgettable, although I know some people feel differently.

The two Pinball games are pretty solid. Zen Studios had limited support for the 3DS, and I wouldn't recommend their Star Wars Pinball option because at least one of the tables within has game-breaking bugs that were reported but never patched. However, the two games listed here both have pretty solid tables that vary in challenge, style, and theme. The physics aren't quite what I'd like but are passable and the gameplay is enjoyable. Anyone who likes digital pinball should find it easy to justify the purchases.

Colours! 3D is a fantastic application, and a nice successor to what was probably the best homebrew application for the original DS console. The ability to create 3D artwork is really cool. Built-in community features and online support are great. Drawing tools are easy to use, and powerful enough that you can have a lot of fun... However, if you don't want to spend time drawing then that's all moot. Your appreciation of this app will depend entirely on how much time you want to spend drawing.

(Also worth noting that there are no art class included with Colours! 3D, although you can replay the drawing process for any downloaded paintings to see how people created their art; if you want actual lessons, then tracking down a copy of Art Academy is the better choice.)

I do own Art of Balance on Wii, and that's a pretty solid puzzle/balance game that can be fun to play. Didn't blow my mind, but was entertaining for a bit. I suspect the 3DS version would be very similar - but even though the game was good, I wasn't willing to double dip and pay again for a slightly different version.

So yeah... not a lot of strong recommendations from me, but a few that will be worth buying for the right audience.

198

General Gaming / Re: Atari VCS

« on: January 31, 2020, 01:54:41 PM »

Yeah, still not feeling the Amico love after watching a couple of videos.
 
There is just too much that doesn't resonate with me - digital-only distribution of games, odd controllers (although really, these could be awesome... it's just unproven and needs to show why they are supposedly so innovative and useful), promises about related phone apps. Even the game remakes they've shown so far haven't really looked polished enough to be appealing - maybe they will be once done, but they games seem like flashy demos instead of complete experiences.

That said, I do like many of the concepts they are building around. Once the product gets released, I'd be happy to re-evaluate and see if my concerns now are overblown.


However, I my interest was piqued by the Evercade after seeing Piko Interactive and Mega Cat Studios release a collection of games. Collectible, cartridge-based, officially licensed retro games... even an actual headphone jack built in. Yeah, my tastes probably aren't going to be very popular.   

199

General Chat / Re: NBA Thread: Kobe Bryant (1978-2020)

« on: January 30, 2020, 09:17:24 PM »

What issues do you have with the East reserves?

Pretty much the 2 players you outlined. I'm not sure, though, who I would replace them with since I'm really not all that familiar with the Eastern Conference teams.

Bradley Beal is the guy, from reputation, that I'd consider first. But his efficiency is down this year and the Wizards are terrible... it's really hard to vote someone in when their team only has 15 wins. Andre Drummond loses out to Sabonis using a similar "wins matter" argument, even though I might like Drummond better in a vacuum.

Jaylen Brown from Boston and Fred VanVleet both come to mind as possible guards, but neither seems distinguished enough on stats alone, and both have 2 teammates already representing their city. (Note that I'm totally biased towards VanVleet in this case.)

Overall, I don't have much complaint with the selections made. I think they should get rid of the conferneces for All-Star selection eventually though!

(PS - I tend to agree about Booker getting snubbed and would've made the same exchange BeautifulShy suggested... but it's tough to break into the Western conference lineups.)

200

General Chat / Re: NBA Thread: Kobe Bryant (1978-2020)

« on: January 30, 2020, 08:30:56 PM »

... I can't find any issue with the other Western reserves, either.  The Eastern ones, though? Hmm...

Spell it out - who do you think is missing?

I find Westbrook just a tiny bit surprising in the West, given the Rockets falling short of expectations and a growing sort of "empty stats" narrative around him based on some mediocre decision making... But he still plays hard, puts up numbers, and is always fun to watch. So it's hard to feel bad about the selection, despite some other great players getting passed over.

What issues do you have with the East reserves?

Middleton is a player I've always been a bit luke-warm on; he seems like an incredible third option on a championship team, but maybe not an All-Star? I probably undervalue him though, because he's solid defensively and provides great spacing.

Sabonis is the only other player I see that people might argue about, but I actually love his game... maybe not the pick I would've made right now, as I think he'll only continue to improve, and if position wasn't an issue I'd probably have a guard or two higher on my list. Still a good option though, as hard-working 18/13 guys don't fall from trees.