Messages

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Movies & TV / Re: Alright! Let's Get Serious With TV Talk! Your Top Shows of the 21st Century!

« on: October 08, 2023, 11:55:21 AM »

The West Wing is pretty much great from the start, but it runs into HEAVY seasonal rot by its 6th season and limps its way through its final 2 seasons.

Funny enough, I've always been interested in getting around to the West Wing because of its last season since I know Alan Alda was a big part of it. I've always liked checking out other things he has been in since watching M*A*S*H and I remember reading bits of reviews and articles about the West Wing at the end and how he played a candidate running for President. Him playing a role like that is the biggest reason as to why I sometimes think about getting around to watching that show but, aside from downloading it somewhere, I've never really seen any easy option to get around to watching that show. So, it's an idea that keeps getting kicked further down the road.

According to Google, The West Wing is streaming on Max right now, as well as Amazon Prime (though that one may be a premium purchase).

Strangely enough, Warehouse 13 is not available on streaming right now. It HAD been on Peacock until a few months ago, but joined Eureka and BSG in getting delisted. You know, because "shiny digital future" and all that.

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Movies & TV / Re: Alright! Let's Get Serious With TV Talk! Your Top Shows of the 21st Century!

« on: October 07, 2023, 04:22:20 PM »

I always meant to watch Warehouse 13, as it was in some way related to Eureka which was another show I enjoyed and completely forgot about till W13 was mentioned.

I also never got far into West Wing , another show I meant to binge watch that I heard was excellent.

Eureka actually shares a universe with 2 other Siffy series: Warehouse 13 and the short-lived Alphas, though they don't have official crossovers until 1 episode each series late in their respective runs.

If you do watch Warehouse 13, just bear with the first 4 or so episodes. The show doesn't really find its footing until Best Girl Claudia joins the show 5 episodes in. I like Eureka, but it's very clear that the show runs out of ideas by its 3rd or so season. Warehouse 13 had fewer episodes per season, so it had a stronger run IMO until its extremely long and segmented 4th season, leading to cancellation and a short but memorable 5th season.

The West Wing is pretty much great from the start, but it runs into HEAVY seasonal rot by its 6th season and limps its way through its final 2 seasons.

On a side note, animation (as usual) got ignored on this list. Avatar TLA being on the list period is nice (especially since I don't believe Korra was, as it deserves), but it's way lower on that list than it should be and the DCAU got screwed in general. Seriously? No love for Batman Beyond; Justice League; or Justice League Unlimited? No love for Spectacular Spider-Man, either.

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Movies & TV / Re: Alright! Let's Get Serious With TV Talk! Your Top Shows of the 21st Century!

« on: October 07, 2023, 11:07:16 AM »

I've been thinking about this and still need time to collect my thoughts and put together a list, but I'll jump in and agree with the general idea of what Khush heard about Battlestar Galactica. That show was incredible for a while, but seemed to lose focus at a certain point, and the last season or season and a half weren't up to the same standard as the earlier parts. I still liked the show and watched all the way through, but not sticking the landing is probably what's going to prevent that show from making my list.

Did it also end on a cliffhanger or unresolved? When I was typing that, my mind suddenly recalled a sketch on Portlandia in which two people had binged the show but then felt it needed an ending so they tracked down Edward James Olmos and then had him star in their own made up ending for the show. That's what sort cemented the image in my mind that it could be a unresolved journey.

Granted, it's been a little while since I've watched it, but as I recall it had a pretty definite ending. It was somehow simultaneously too sudden and dragged out too long, and kind of weird how they did it, but it was a clear ending.

It's fitting that BSG and Game of Thrones were both on the list together, because both were ruined by final seasons where the writers basically just gave up while simultaneously trying to spike the ball. It's been a while since I watched BSG, but what I most remember about that final season was that this was a smart show about shades of gray that got very, very DUMB but also somehow pretentious in its waning hours. And that ending pulled one of the more annoying cliches in Sci-Fi writing.

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Movies & TV / Re: Alright! Let's Get Serious With TV Talk! Your Top Shows of the 21st Century!

« on: October 07, 2023, 10:56:02 AM »

I find the lack of The West Wing and Warehouse 13 on this list disturbing, especially when stuff like BSG is on it. Like, I suspect the writers actually forgot that West Wing started in 1999, because it was both extremely critically acclaimed and beloved.

As for Warehouse 13, it's just an exceedingly "fun" show that knew just how silly and kinda cheap it was and just rolled with it to some surprisingly heartfelt moments.

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TalkBack / Re: Hideki Kamiya Departing Platinum Games, Next Thing Unknown

« on: September 25, 2023, 10:32:54 AM »

I would expect Platinum to fold or get bought out after this. Kamiya is the only reason anyone cared about that company, and Babylon's Fall was a massive flop.

As for Kamiya, I just hope he didn't leave to join a Chinese company, as some of his contemporaries have in recent years.

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General Gaming / Re: 2022 NWR Forum Awards - Best PlayStation Game

« on: September 24, 2023, 09:52:50 PM »

As commented before, I've played none of these. However, I now see that Stray is one of the nominees so I voted for it because it is the game I'd most like to see come to Switch. It's been awhile since I've seen a game that I'm kind of jealous is PS-exclusive. If it had been released on Switch, it would have instantly been one of the most wanted titles I'd want to purchase and add to my library.

I wouldn't be surprised if Stray was a very limited timed exclusive. I expect it will probably be on Xbox and Switch as some sort of "Game of the Year" version by next Summer.

It was.

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: Unconfirmed(?) FTC Leak: MS hoping to buy Nintendo (and Valve)

« on: September 20, 2023, 01:06:44 PM »

The thing that makes this email bad us Microsoft's history - especially Nokia - combined with them having an "inside man" gobbling up Nintendo stock on the sly.

Not defending the practice in any way, but isn’t this a thing that regularly happens?

Ultimately, no one gets controlling interest of a company like Nintendo without Nintendo knowing. I thought it holds controlling interest in itself. Can someone else verify?

According to Google, Nintendo only owns 10% of its own stock.

What I'm not sure of is whether Microsoft could legally even acquire Nintendo. I seem to remember there being a law on the books in Japan forbidding ownership of any Japanese company by a foreign one. IIRC, it's one if the reasons the Oriental Land Company owns and operates Tokyo Disneyland. Disney only leases its properties and expertise to OLC. That said, Google seems to indicate that law is no longer in play.

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: Unconfirmed(?) FTC Leak: MS hoping to buy Nintendo (and Valve)

« on: September 19, 2023, 08:30:24 PM »

Stuff like this is why I've never liked Microsoft in the gaming industry: they don't "create" anything. They just use their PC warchest to buy their competition until no one CAN compete with them. It doesn't matter if it's profitable so long as it's DEFINITELY unprofitable for everyone else. They're the Google of the gaming industry.

And everyone's happy with it "because GamePass", though something else that came up in the leaks is that Microsoft apparently has very high estimates for how much it costs them to buy Day 1 GamePass "content".

Ugh...I have my issues with Sony & Nintendo, but I just have utter disdain for Microsoft. And yeah, it doesn't help now that we can contextualize Banjo-Kazzoie & MineCraft guy in Smash as well as GoldenEye returning just being part of a move by Microsoft to try to assimilate Nintendo.

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TalkBack / Re: Paper Mario: Thousand Year Door Remake Announced For 2024

« on: September 15, 2023, 07:34:34 PM »

I would actually argue that Thousand Year Door desperately needs the entire chapter where you're chasing General Bob-omb cut from the remaster (ala the Triforce hunt in Wind Waker HD), so the "censored" version would actually be the superior one.

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TalkBack / Re: Princess Peach: Showtime Launching March 22

« on: September 14, 2023, 07:40:02 PM »

I'm surprised more people aren't talking about this.  This game looks like it could be amazing based on what they showed.  Nice variety of gameplay with more yet to be shown.  Definitely something that has a lot of potential.

I'm cautiously optimistic about this one after watching the trailer. The game kinda reminds me of a cross between a Kirby game and Puppeteer on the PS3, with the "stage"-style of presentation they seem to be going with.

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TalkBack / Re: Paper Mario: Thousand Year Door Remake Announced For 2024

« on: September 14, 2023, 11:57:52 AM »

At last, all the Thousand Year Door fans can finally shut the **** up.

I kid, of course. Nintendo should have dipped into their GameCube library a LONG time ago.

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TalkBack / Re: What You Need To Know About The METAL GEAR SOLID: MASTER COLLECTION Vol 1.

« on: September 09, 2023, 11:03:47 AM »

It would have been nice if the version of Metal Gear Solid was the GameCube version (The Twin Snakes) since that had so many improvements.

We'll probably never see Twin Snakes again. For one, who knows if anyone still has the source code to that thing. Konami is notoriously awful at holding onto their source code, ESPECIALLY from games in the PS2/GameCube era, and Silicon Knights no longer exists. You also have Nintendo assets in that game, so that would have to be removed. It was also custom-built for the GameCube, so there would be issues porting it.

For another, the MGS fanbase despises Twin Snakes. I remember at the time all the complaints about how Twin Snakes "ruined" the boss fights by giving the 1st person perspective option. The fanbase also wasn't fond at the time of all the new motion-captured fight scene cinematics, which is ironic considering how it would eventually embrace MGS Rising.

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General Gaming / Re: Backlaugust 2023! (Forums Aren't Dead Yet?) Edition

« on: September 01, 2023, 11:57:00 PM »

Tunic has come up a lot. Should I have been playing Tunic.....? 

Well, Tunic is basically "What if NES Legend of Zelda were crossed with Dark Souls and Fez?", so...probably?

And the game's not even trying to hide its influences.

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General Gaming / Re: Backlaugust 2023! (Forums Aren't Dead Yet?) Edition

« on: September 01, 2023, 10:59:23 PM »

after clearing out another recent release with Process of Elimination (one of the strangest visual novel detective adventure games I've ever played, but a recent release so it doesn't count here),[/u]

Too bad! I'm counting it! Like I've said before, I don't care too much about when a game released. If you beat a game during August, it pretty much counts. (With the caveats you haven't beat it on that system already and you didn't already beat the same game during this month on a different system). Gotta get these forum numbers for games completed up somehow!!!

Well, then you might as well add Tunic for me as well, because I played and 100% it for the first time this month via the PS4 physical release that came out at the start of the month.

Seems a lot of us on this Nintendo website played that game this month for some reason. 

So for me that would be Tunic, Process of Elimination, Death's Door, Dead Cells, and Balan Wonderworld.

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General Gaming / Re: Backlaugust 2023! (Forums Aren't Dead Yet?) Edition

« on: September 01, 2023, 11:10:29 AM »

As I expected, I didn't end up finishing Mechwarrior 5 in time, though it is out of my backlog since I'm actively playing it, so I guess that's a win. It's a very long and VERY grindy game.

I ended up 100%ing Death's Door and Balan Wonderworld instead, which hit PS+ and the $10 bargain bin, respectively. Been meaning to play both, but neither was in my backlog so that's not really revelevant here. Suffice it to say I really didn't like the former, and I think the latter is really just mediocre. It's only actually terrible if you try to collect everything...which I did, so...yeah...

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General Gaming / Re: Backlaugust 2023! (Forums Aren't Dead Yet?) Edition

« on: August 14, 2023, 08:52:15 PM »

Well, it looks like I do have something to contribute this month, and perhaps more: after clearing out another recent release with Process of Elimination (one of the strangest visual novel detective adventure games I've ever played, but a recent release so it doesn't count here), I decided to try working on a few older games while I was on vacation this week. With Armored Core 6 coming out soon, I thought I'd finally get around to playing my copy of Mechwarrior 5 I'd been holding for a rainy day. More on that another time if I manage to beat it (it's a HUUUUUUGE game), but the one I'd like to spotlight is Dead Cells.

Dead Cells is a game I started years ago back when it first came out. I liked it then, and I still like it now. The game got a proper port to PS5 recently with a physical version that also included all the DLC (including the Castlevania DLC), so I figured...why not? I never had a successful run before...but I have now.

http://twitter.com/broodwars64/status/1691233470830325761?s=20

Yeah, I know there's still a TOOOON of stuff to see and do in that game, including the aforementioned DLC, but **** it. I've rolled credits. I'm calling that a win, and here on out I'm just playing for the fun of it.

To put it succinctly, Dead Cells is possibly one of the most mechanically perfect games I've ever played. While luck plays a role, it is a game that you can play to perfection just on pure skill alone if you're that good at it and you have the enemy attack patterns down. I am not that good, but I will take beating the final boss and proudly display my glorified participation trophy.

Because I've seen what it takes to 100% that game, and **** that ****.

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General Gaming / Re: Backlaugust 2023! (Forums Aren't Dead Yet?) Edition

« on: August 11, 2023, 12:43:42 PM »

Oh hai.

I see I have successfully scammed Khush into taking this over. How fun.

Baldur's Gate 3 is likely to become my main gaming obsession but I have started picking away at Tunic on my Switch so I'll probably keep picking away at that.

Just recently finished Tunic, myself, which just had a physical release. Well, at least it's 2/3 of a great game. Pity about the game completely going to **** in its last 1/3, getting bogged down in confusing level geometry; truly awful combat; and Fez-caliber cryptic bullshit that basically requires a guide. And all topped off with one of the worst final boss fights I've ever seen if you didn't use a guide to 100% the game.

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General Gaming / Re: Backlaugust 2023! (Forums Aren't Dead Yet?) Edition

« on: August 08, 2023, 11:31:22 PM »

Well, without broodwars it looks like it is up to me to include some Sony greatness in this here event. I completed Concrete Genie on PS4 last night. The game is rather brief and I completed it in two nights, probably about 8 hours. I was able to get all trophies including the 3 PSVR trophies. The PSVR mode is rather ancillary and I would recommend it be saved for last, but it's also a really cool experience. The picture on the bottom is from the VR mode.
In fact, I picked this game up because I thought it was primarily a VR experience, but I am glad I did because it is a really cool story with some nice level design and plenty of stuff to collect. There is decent use of motion controls here, though my controllers were giving me a little trouble and disconnecting. Essentially you go around the town and paint things back to life. There is some good puzzle platforming and the eponymous genies have various powers that help you out. In addition to designing the way the genies look, they are cute and want to play and interact with the environment so I really appreciated them as entities.
It looks like the development studio (PixelOpus) was shut down by Sony. In fact their other game (Entwined) is not available for purchase  . Oh well, I am sure these talented folks will end up working on something else.

Supposedly, the people at PixelOpus still work for Sony. They've just been folded into one of Sony's other studios making the same cookie-cutter 3rd person open world action game with minor stealth & RPG elements. So, hooray for more bland, generic games that play themselves created by committee! 

While I appreciate the shout-out, I've gotten really tired with Sony's formula over the years. Perhaps that's ironic on a forum dedicated to Nintendo, but at least Nintendo knows how to use more than the same 3-4 colors.

As for Concrete Genie, I quite like the game. As a game, it's rather mediocre. It's not hard to see why the standard-issue puzzles & light stealth and platforming didn't exactly wow people. But as an artistic experience, I found it pretty magical the way you can just paint the world however you see fit, and it will animate and react to you appropriately and in a way that feels customized to you.  I have no idea how they pulled that off with so many possible moving parts.

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General Gaming / Re: Backlaugust 2023! (Forums Aren't Dead Yet?) Edition

« on: August 01, 2023, 10:33:57 PM »

No participation from me this year, as I did my backlog diving a few months ago when I binged 3 Ys games (Celceta, Dana, & Monstrum Nox) in a row...twice...to 100% them. I doubt my Final Fantasy Mode playthrough (i.e. New Game+ Hard Mode) of FF 16 right now really counts. I plan on playing Tunic after that, which just came out on PS4/5 on physical disc.

Best of luck clearing out your backlogs.

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General Chat / Re: NBA Thread: Brought To You By The Tampa Bay Raptors Of Toronto

« on: July 27, 2023, 02:41:26 PM »

I must confess my admiration for the Warriors. Even after losing the Finals, they still possess a magnificent team with star players like Curry, Thompson, and Green. Additionally, their new addition Durant, who is an MVP, brings a fair amount of excitement, although I am curious about how he will mesh with the team.

I am also thrilled about the new players, particularly Pachulia and McGee, whose unique playing style adds an element of fun to the game. The bench players always come in handy, too. It is an outstanding squad, and I'm looking forward to seeing them succeed next season.

No one tell it.

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TalkBack / Re: Super Mario RPG Remastered for Nintendo Switch

« on: June 21, 2023, 12:31:04 PM »

My big worry when this was rumored (along with Chrono Trigger) is that Square Enix would **** it up and make it another of their ugly "HD2D" games.

They did not **** it up. This looks like exactly what I want...even if the battle UI looks rather mobile cash-in/RPGMaker.

And now Sakarai has an excuse to put Geno in Smash.

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

« on: June 08, 2023, 07:23:54 PM »

I've been watching a lot of movies lately (including nearly the entirety of MCU Phase 3 + Spider-Man, which I may discuss at another time), but since Across the Spider-Verse has come up I might as well chime in on it since I just got out of a showing:

Into the Spider-Verse is one of my all-time favorite movies. Across the Spider-verse is a mess. An absolutely gorgeously and creatively-animated mess to be sure, but a mess nonetheless.

As I feared would happen, this feels like a 2 hour movie that was stretched out to two 2 hour movies to justify having enough content for a 3rd movie. Miles feels like a side character in his own movie, the vast majority of screentime seemingly devoted to Gwen or the endless parade of barely-distinguishable Spider-Man multiverse cameos.

I'll save my general complaints about the writing until the 3rd movie is out so we can see if they can stick the landing, but suffice it to say if the 1st movie was a very personal, tight story...Across the Spider-verse wants to be a meta commentary on the Spider-Man fanbase in a way I don't think is even genuine (the "crisis" at hand is, frankly, something I think was definitively settled with the reception to Into the Spider-verse). To me, the vast majority of the film's 2nd half felt cold and corporate, though it was nice to see Spectacular Spider-Man get even as little screentime as he does after Disney killed his series.

What's here is "OK", but "OK" isn't good enough when you're following-up a movie like Into the Spider-verse. It's disappointing, and if you don't know the "To Be Continued" is coming, it will piss you off like it did half my theater.

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General Chat / Re: NBA Thread: Brought To You By The Tampa Bay Raptors Of Toronto

« on: June 01, 2023, 10:39:42 PM »

Regarding the Finals, my support's always behind the Small Market team. The Jazz & Nuggets have been division rivals for decades, so I'd like to see them get a Championship before Miami adds yet another one to their display case. Besides, they're just flat out the better team this year.

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General Chat / Re: NBA Thread: Brought To You By The Tampa Bay Raptors Of Toronto

« on: May 13, 2023, 09:51:36 AM »

Definitely rooting for the Nuggets and 76ers at this point, because **** having ANOTHER Lakers/Celtics Finals.

And what a shock: Chris Paul was injured in the Playoffs when his team needed him the most, like he is every playoffs. Always a pleasure seeing the ring-chaser (Durant) just completely fail after demanding a trade.

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TalkBack / Re: Marvel's Midnight Suns Switch Release Cancelled

« on: May 02, 2023, 06:53:13 PM »

Given the delay and then the weak sales, this isn't a surprised.

I wonder if Hogwart's Legacy's Switch version will get canned as well.

Well, if it does get cancelled, it won't be for lack of sales from the other versions. Much to the chagrin of some on this site, I'm sure. And having played the game on PS5, it's not an especially impressive game, visually. You could definitely trim back on some effects and draw distances to get that to work on even a device as perpetually underpowered as the Switch, at least when docked.

As for Midnight Suns, it's a card-based XCOM Marvel re-skin. You have to wonder how much they realistically expected to sell to begin with. I'm sure releasing the main versions in early December did the game no favors, either.