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Topics - Khushrenada

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1
Movies & TV / Khushrenada's Annual Oscar Thread. 2024 Edition.
« on: March 10, 2024, 06:32:26 AM »
Oh no! It's that time again! Unlike last year's mad dash, I wanted to make sure to get this done a bit earlier instead of the constant last moment wild typing to get my predictions in before showtime. Despite having it on my to-do list all week, here I am still typing it the day of. And with Daylight Saving Time kicking in, time just keeps on further slipping ahead. Oh well, anytime ahead of the event is still a win so early Sunday morning can work out just fine.

Since I don't have to throw up my predictions and skedaddle, I can take a moment to talk about the Oscars, this year's nominees and my movie history. The Oscars have now passed the 600 mark when it comes to movies nominated for Best Picture. With this year's 10 nominees, the total number of films that have been nominated for Best Picture in its 96 year history is 601 or 604. Why two numbers? It depends how you want to count movies in the first Academy Awards ceremony. In the first Oscars event, three movies were nominated for the category Outstanding Picture and three movies were nominated for a category called Best Unique and Artistic Picture. Yet, that's kind of confusing to have two separate categories like that and the organizers seemed to realize it and did away with the latter category and just kept the Outstanding Picture category which has since been simplified to just Best Picture. The Academy has said they consider the Best Unique and Artistic Picture nominees from that first Awards night as not being part of the Best Picture category and past nominees but some people (like myself) still like to include those films as honorary Best Picture nominees. Thus, its either 601 or 604 films nominated depending on how you want to count them.

Of those 604 films that I count, I am currently at 541 for total number of nominees that I have watched leaving 63 to go. Who knows how low that number of films left to watch will be by the time I do next year's post. The 1930s still currently has the most movies I've yet to see in it at 17 nominees still to be seen in that decade. Every other decade is in single digits. The 1970s is the next highest with 8 nominees still for me to get around to watching. Last year, it was this current decade of the 2020s that was my second highest and it was in double digits of possibly around 14 or 15 that I still had to see. I've been making some progress in catching up on those past nominees after Covid disrupted theatres and my viewing habits. After the 2021 ceremony which awarded Best Picture to films released in 2020 and early 2021, I had seen none of the films nominated and that snapped my record of having seen every Best Picture winner, a list that will soon expand to 96 films by the end of Sunday. I believe it was around 2013 when I had finally seen every winner and kept that list complete during the rest of the 2010s. While I've been catching up the past nominees for the 2020s, I still have yet to watch CODA which win Best Picture at the 2022 ceremony (94th Academy Awards). Likely I've seen this year's winner already so I should get around to seeing that film and, once again, have the claim for having at least seen ever winner.

As for this year's nominees, I have seen all but one of the movies nominated for Best Picture so there is a chance that another movie is added to the Winner's List that I'll haven't seen yet but I think that chance is pretty low. I had hoped to see all of the movies nominated this year before the Awards show. It's been quite awhile since I was last able to accomplish that. Looking at my history, the last time I seem to have done that was for the 2017 ceremony which honored the films of 2016 so 8 years ago. I suppose I could always do a little downloading to quickly accomplish that but I'm ok with waiting a little bit to see the final nominee. The one picture I wasn't able to see in time was Anatomy of a Fall. I was hoping maybe a theatre in my area would bring it back for a week like some of the other nominees seemed to have happen for them in the past 2 - 3 months but it never happened for Anatomy. I was able to watch Past Lives a couple weeks ago while staying with my parents for a few days and I see that Amazon has Anatomy of a Fall available to rent but at this point I'll just wait for it to be made available to stream for free or wait for my library to get a copy and see it.

Past Lives and likely Anatomy of a Fall will be the two movies nominated that I didn't see in a theatre. The rest I all saw on the big screen and that's the way I like it. There was talk during Covid that movie theatres might be a thing of the past and they're likely still a business that will see some struggles with last year's writer and actor strike messing up the production pipeline. However, I still think it is the best way to see a movie. I'm a person that likes sitting closer to the front of a theatre as I want the screen to really fill up my eyesight and just have my full attention. Never understood the rush to sit in the back. As well, the sound mixing in the theatres always seems to work. The balance of dialogue, music and sound effects seems to always work out unlike home where I can be quickly turning down the volume because the music is too loud and then quickly turning it back up because the dialogue is now too low. It's pretty rare for me to feel I couldn't understand parts of dialogue in a theatre viewing. Perhaps one line from time to time whereas I feel I'm have to rewind a lot when watching at home. Glad theatres have been able to keep surviving to this point in time.

As for this year's nominees, here's a quick ranking of where I would place them from worst to best:

Unranked: Anatomy of a Fall

9 - Killers of the Flower Moon
8 - The Zone of Interest
7 - The Holdovers
6 - Maestro
5 - Barbie
4 - Poor Things
3 - American Fiction
2 - Past Lives
1 - Oppenheimer

In all honesty, I really think only Oppenheimer and Past Lives were favorites of mine from 2023. American Fiction and Poor Things were just lacking for me in a couple spots. And everything Barbie and below is kind of interchangeable and left me more shrugging my shoulders and feeling a bit meh on. I feel this will be looked back on as a weaker year for nominated pictures. Talking to a friend of mine who is also a big movie buff, he was commenting to me that he felt 2023 had been a weak year for movies. Looking back at it now, I can't disagree that much. There's a lot of stuff I watched that was pretty so-so. There's been much talk about Disney's struggles at the box office this year after dominating for much of the 2010s but, in general, I think most studios struggled to put out much that was great. In some ways, I feel The Super Mario Bros. Movie sort of sums up this year's output and it would have been pretty fitting if it had stayed as the highest grossing movie of the year. Familiar stuff that is doing the bare minimum to entertain and seems to exist more to keep the gears of the economy turning. As Mr. Burns once asked, "Where's the heart?"

Looking at movies that were released in 2023, I have seen 28 movies of that output. I've also made a list of 47 other movies I'd be willing to check out which were released this past year. There's a couple that could possibly help make the year look better but I don't have high expectations for the majority of them. If I had to make a top ten list, it would be a struggle. The only films I really feel are worth a watch, based on my opinion and sensibilities, are Oppenheimer, Past Lives, Godzilla Minus One, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and Suzume and even that last movie I'm a bit mixed on. I'd throw in Poor Things and American Fiction at this point to try and get to ten and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 was pretty decent. I did like the Wes Anderson short of The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar so I guess that can be added but I'm not going to worry about a tenth at this point. I didn't expect a Godzilla movie to win me over so much like Minus One did but I so thoroughly enjoyed that I actually went and saw it a second time while it was playing at the theatre which is a rare thing for me to do. I almost did it for Oppenheimer but never did in the end. Spider-Man was a surprise for me because I actually disliked the first Spider-Verse and did not have high expectations for this sequel. I didn't see it in theatres but now I wish I had. It was way better than the first and felt like one of the few ambitious movies released this year. If I was responsible for the Best Picture nominees, Godzilla and Spider-Man would have both made it this year.

That's enough commenting for now on my movie opinions. Let's get to predicting some nominees!

2
NWR Forums Discord / No surprise. Sony is kicking Nintendo's butt again!
« on: February 13, 2024, 05:01:51 PM »
Is Nintendo ever going to get their act together? It's just embarrassing the incredible amount of unforced errors they commit.  :-[

Here's an article talking about Another PS5 Sales Record. This time, it's happening in Japan which was supposed to be Nintendo's "stronghold". According to the article, "the PS5 sold better than any PlayStation console has ever sold since the PS2 in 2004." The bestselling platform of all time and the PS5 is doing better than it!

Just look at the sales being posted in our own Official Sales Thread in the Nintendo Gaming forum. The most recent sales chart in Japan shows the following:

Famitsu Sales: Week 5, 2024 (Jan 29 - Feb 04)

01./00. [PS5] Persona 3 Reload # <RPG> (Atlus) {2024.02.02} (¥8.800) - 76.368 / NEW <60-80%>
02./00. [PS5] Granblue Fantasy Relink # <RPG> (Cygames) {2024.02.01} (¥7.980) - 48.754 / NEW <80-100%>
03./00. [PS4] Persona 3 Reload # <RPG> (Atlus) {2024.02.02} (¥8.800) - 40.024 / NEW <60-80%>
04./00. [NSW] Jujutsu Kaisen: Cursed Clash # <FTG> (Bandai Namco Entertainment) {2024.02.01} (¥7.700) - 25.242 / NEW <80-100%>
05./00. [PS4] Granblue Fantasy Relink # <RPG> (Cygames) {2024.02.01} (¥7.980) - 22.083 / NEW <80-100%>
06./02. [NSW] Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island <RPG> (Spike Chunsoft) {2024.01.25} (¥6.350) - 18.103 / 103.527 <80-100%> (-79%)
07./03. [PS4] Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth <RPG> (Sega) {2024.01.26} (¥8.800) - 16.503 / 93.637 <60-80%> (-79%)
08./01. [PS5] Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth <RPG> (Sega) {2024.01.26} (¥8.800) - 15.388 / 118.328 <60-80%> (-85%)
09./06. [NSW] Super Mario Bros. Wonder <ACT> (Nintendo) {2023.10.20} (¥5.980) - 14.140 / 1.715.110 <80-100%> (+4%)
10./07. [NSW] Momotaro Dentetsu World: Chikyuu wa Kibou de Mawatteru! <TBL> (Konami) {2023.11.16} (¥6.300) - 11.464 / 960.282 <80-100%> (-4%)
11./04. [PS5] Marvel's Spider-Man 2 # <ACT> (Sony Interactive Entertainment) {2023.10.20}

Yep, you've read that correct. 7 of the top 11 selling games are on Sony platforms. The PS4 games are still selling well over a decade after that console released. You know what you won't find? Any Wii U or 3DS games on the charts. Nintendo just cannot generate support or sales for its games and consoles.  :( :'(

And it should come as no surprise. Look at their software strategy. Last year, the released Everybody 1-2 Switch! They made it so that 100 people could play using just one copy of the game and use their phones if they wanted. Clearly, this is a company that doesn't care about how many consoles or games they sell to the public. It was bad enough they were already letting 4 - 8 people play a game using a single cartridge and console but 100 people now? No wonder Nintendo has often trailed Sony when it comes to selling consoles.

Sony's got an amazing strategy. Take a single game like FF7 and divide it into three parts. Release Part 1 on the PS4, Part 2 on the PS5 and Part 3 on the PS6. Now players have to buy three consoles and three software titles to play 1 whole game. That's an incredible console and game selling strategy. No wonder PS4 games are still charting. That's how you support a console! Meanwhile, Nintendo's like, "Take this one console we have made anywhere and give a second controller to other people so that they can play our games for free using your console". Like, WHAT?! Yeah, that's going to help generate sales.  >:( >:(

And people somehow think that the Switch could be not only Nintendo's best selling console ever but also the best selling console of all time and surpass the PS2?! Just shaking my head at that idea. How, people? How? The evidence is clearly painting a different picture and Nintendo's own actions show they don't think of future sales with their console and software strategy. Until they finally wake up and realize they have to focus on that single player AAA gaming like Sony does then this is a company that is always going to be chasing trends instead of setting them.  :-\

3
Nintendo Gaming / NSO November 2023! (AKA Not Another Forum Event!)
« on: November 04, 2023, 06:09:54 PM »
So, I've had this kicking around in my head from early this year and I've decided to throw it out there and see what the response is. Having jumped into the upgraded Online Switch plan late last year to get the N64, GBA, Genesis offerings, I started taking some time at the start of the year to make an effort to get through some of the games being offered. I don't know what it's like for you but after spending some time on the SNES app when it was first growing, I petered off from it a bit and now there's so many titles on these various apps and I feel I've gotten through very few of them.

Curious to find out how much the community has dug into these apps and how much they've played and how much they have yet to play. Perhaps a focus could be made by other NWR Forum users to try and play through some of the titles to mark some progress for the apps. As well, too, this may be a chance to try and meet up with others to also do some multi-player with those games. Pokepal148 mentioned wanting to do 4 player online for Kirby & The Amazing Mirror and I'll admit I'm game to play the game that way as I've never been able to do any multiplayer with that or other GBA games before. Curious to see if it would make the game better. Likewise others may have games they'd like to try some multiplayer action with on these apps. (I'd also like to do some Mario Party from the 64 app particularly with MP3 now available.)

Although, with the recent announcement of the Wii U and 3DS online multiplayer facinf termination in a few short months, I'm willing to extend beyond the scope of the NSO titles to include those game libraries if people want to accomplish some multiplayer action there before the door closes. Perhaps you've had your mind of getting through Tri Force Heroes or Federation Force or maybe you'd just like to do some original Splatoon multiplayer for one last time. The floor is open. Just post in here what you'd like to play and hopefully others will be able to let you know about joining up to help you play that. Or if you want to be a lone wolf and just tackle a few games yourself then mention what you're playing and any thoughts you'd like to share about games on the app.

The Community Event Train don't stop!! Woo-WOOOOO!!  8)

4
General Gaming / Backlaugust 2023! (Forums Aren't Dead Yet?) Edition
« on: August 01, 2023, 04:17:25 AM »
After hosting it for the past three years, allow me to take that role on from pokepal 148 since I don't know if he will be here to start this. But I do want his best contribution to these forums (so far) to continue and I do look forward to this now. I guess it just helps to have some incentive to buckle down and play through games even if it is an arbitrary deadline. In line with what pokepal148 had set up, here's the gist of the event:


Backlaugust: The Official Nintendo World Report Month for Decimating Backlogs!™ is back again for more action! So start looking through your backlog and get started!

Here are the "rules":

Games can be on any system, not just Nintendo systems. I know we're a Nintendo fan site, but most everyone here is a multi-console owner. So play a game on any system you want.

Let us know what you're playing. Mostly just so we can cheer each other on.

Play games you already own. A lot of people tend to buy a game then not play it, or play it for a significant amount of time and then put it down. This is what we're aiming for. Games that launch in August don't count. Since I'm taking on the hosting duties, I'm going to strike that last statement. More on that in the next post.

Try to pick up games you aren't actively playing right now. Games you're currently playing can be allowed, but in the spirit of Backlaugust, let's try to make them games you aren't playing at the moment. Make it a game you haven't touched in a month or more if possible.

When is a game done? That's up to you! Mark a game off your backlog when you've seen the ending or end credits, or once you've seen enough of the game in a game without a "proper ending" (like an arcade-type game). You don't have to do or get everything unless you want to.

Finished games will be posted in the OP. Because everyone likes to see their accomplishments recognized. Just post when you're done and I'll try to update daily.


Games Completed So Far:

Kirby's Dream Land (3DS VC) - Khushrenada
Xeodrifter (3DS) - Khushrenada
Road 96 (Switch?) - lolmonade
Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes (Switch) - M.K. Ultra
Kirby's Dream Land 2 (3DS VC) - Khushrenada
Concrete Genie (PS4) - M.K. Ultra
Castlevania Bloodlines (Switch) - Mop it up
Mega Man: Dr. Wily's Revenge (3DS VC) - Khushrenada
Kersploosh! (3DS) - Khushrenada
Mega Man II (3DS VC) - Khushrenada
Mass Effect 3 (Wii U) - M.K. Ultra
Resident Evil 2 Remake (XBox Series X?) - Lemonade
Dillon’s Rolling Western (3DS) - Lemonade
Super Princess Peach (DS) - Lemonade
A Short Hike (Xbox Series X) - Mop it up
Dead Cells (PS5?) - Broodwars
Process of Elimination (PS5?) - Broodwars
Pokemon Trading Card Game (Switch NSO) - Mop it up
Resident Evil 3 Remake (XBox Series X?) - Lemonade
The Revenge of Shinobi (Switch NSO) - Mop it up
Ori and the Will of the Wisps (Switch?) - RABicle
League of Enthusiastic Losers (Switch?) - RABicle
Florence (iPad?) - RABicle
Shadow Dancer (Switch) - Mop it up
Shinobi III (Switch) - Mop it up
Yoshi’s New Island (3DS) - M.K. Ultra
Shadow Archer (Wii U) - M.K. Ultra
Tunic (XBox Series X) - Mop it up
Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Switch) - Luigi Dude
Maestro! Green Groove (3DS/DSiWare) - Khushrenada
Mighty Milky Way (3DS/DSiWare) - Khushrenada
Kirby's Blowout Blast (3DS) - Khushrenada
The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles (Switch) - Khushrenada
Tunic (PS4) - Broodwars
Death's Door (PS5?) - Broodwars
Balan Wonderworld (PS5?) - Broodwars


For a total of 36!

5
Movies & TV / Khushrenada's Annual Oscar Thread. 2023 Edition.
« on: March 12, 2023, 08:10:40 PM »
The deadline is here. Quick! Post some picks!

BEST PICTURE - Everything Everywhere All at Once
DIRECTOR - Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert (Everything Everywhere All at Once)
ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE - Austin Butler, Elvis
ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE - Michelle Yeoh, Everything Everywhere All at Once
ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE - Ke Huy Quan, Everything Everywhere All at Once
ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE - Jamie Lee Curtis, Everything Everywhere All at Once
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY - Everything Everywhere All at Once
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY - Women Talking
INTERNATIONAL FEATURE - All Quiet on the Western Front
ANIMATED FEATURE - Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE – Navalny
ORIGINAL SCORE - All Quiet on the Western Front
ORIGINAL SONG - “Naatu Naatu,” RRR
CINEMATOGRAPHY - All Quiet on the Western Front
COSTUME DESIGN - Elvis
EDITING - Everything Everywhere All at Once
MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING - Elvis
PRODUCTION DESIGN - Babylon
SOUND - Top Gun: Maverick
VISUAL EFFECTS - Avatar: The Way of Water
ANIMATED SHORT - The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse
LIVE-ACTION SHORT - Le Pupille
DOCUMENTARY SHORT - The Elephant Whisperers

6
Nintendo Gaming / Has anyone played....?
« on: January 24, 2023, 06:24:31 PM »
...Immortals Fenyx Rising?

I see it on sale cheap on the eShop. At the time of release, it just seemed like a hollow attempt to copy BotW and try to cash in on mimicking its style. Like the Carnival Games to Nintendo's Wii Sports. Yet, now I'm at the point where I'd be willing to play something that's similar to BotW since it has been years since I've last played that title. Of course, with Tears of the Kingdom soon to come in a few months, it would seem more prudent to just wait for that. Any comments from other users here about the game?


...Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin?

I've had the first game on my Wish List since around 2019 when it came up in discussions with pokepal148 and Mop it up and both of them giving the 3DS high praise. However, by that point in time, it was pretty hard to find a physical copy of the game and I've still yet to do so or play this. So, now I wonder if I should just forget about that and try this game out instead. It's getting pretty heavily discounted on the eShop. Is it better, worse or equal to the first? What's the word on Wings of Ruin?


...NEO: The World Ends With You?

Again, it is a game where I'd like to get around to playing the first one. In fact, I actually did start it once years ago like 2012 and got through the first chapter / opening. I remember feeling like the dual screen battle screen battle system wasn't quite gelling or clicking with me yet and I wanted to get the geography of locations a bit more firm in my mind but then I ended up setting it aside and never getting back to it. TWEWY was always regarded as a top DS game but this long asked for sequel seems to have come and gone pretty quietly. Anyone have anything to chime in about it? I imagine the battle system would be different for this game compared to the first. Is it better or worse?




As for this thread, I thought I'd try and take a page out of Discord and see if we can't blend some of that energy with these forums. In that sense, much like popping into the General chat and asking if anyone there has played a game or wanting to get some information on a title, users can hop into this thread and post their query. Responses may not be as fast but feel free to post anytime if you see something in this thread and want to comment on it. Much easier to bump threads here than on Discord.  ;)

7
NWR Forums Discord / 13091919 1305?
« on: October 28, 2022, 10:43:00 AM »

8
Theme to be determined? What? I thought it was set that XC would be Xenoblade Chronicles X! Well, that was my plan but I also thought I'd have finished the game by now only to have trailed off in Chapter 10 last year and not gotten back to it. That said, XCX doesn't really work as a real roman numeral so I suppose it could happen later during the XC period of Mafia games. I have played the original Xenoblade Chronicles so I'm currently thinking of maybe making that game the theme. While it would have been nice to have XC open to the whole series, I don't think people want XC3 spoilers right now and I still need to get through 2 so that would make the general theme difficult to do from my hosting perspective thought it could probably be done.

I've also had some other ideas for possibilities. Mario Sports as a theme or Mario and Sonic at the Olympics. Another Kirby themed game after so many years since the last one. For that matter, I'm always tempted to do another Animal Crossing Mafia but wouldn't mind doing another Donkey Kong theme, Jurassic Park and DC Universe theme. (We've never done a Marvel themed one but I'm just not sure I'm the best host for that as I just never got into that comic universe much.) And then there's Pokemon. Untouched since Mafia 8. I think it's time it was revisited.

In any case, I thought I'd throw out a sign-up thread for now since I wouldn't be planning on starting anything until Sept. 12 anyways. Once Backlaugust is done then I'll sit down and think out what I actually want to do and remind myself how to host one of these games again. But in the meantime, might as well let these sign-ups be open for as long as possible and see what the player response is. You know me. I'm always looking for that magic minimum number of 16 players.


Sign-ups so far:

TOPHATANT123
NWR_insanolord
Order.RSS
Bungle4
Stratos
nickmitch
stevey
pokepal148
MASB
Mop it up


For a current total of 10 players!

9
Nintendo Gaming / What's Next For The N64 Expansion Pack?
« on: May 30, 2022, 05:35:47 PM »
I was curious last night with the addition of Kirby 64 to the service if that meant that all the games Nintendo had shown for the N64 Switch app had now been added. The answer was almost. The only other game shown back in September last year that isn't on the app yet is Pokemon Snap so that's likely next month's offering. But once Snap hits, we do not know what else is to come.

I was wondering if Nintendo might show more games to come in the future with their next Direct (the possible Showcase we usually expect at E3 time). However, considering they haven't done that for any of the other apps and just announce games for them about a week or so before they get added, it is likely the 64 app will now just get those surprise announcements as well.

But what do you think is next for the app? What are you hoping to see added?

10
Movies & TV / Movie of the Week - War and Peace (1966)
« on: March 29, 2022, 06:53:26 PM »
Alright, you cinephiles. This is your chance and alert to check out a sort of forgotten bit of epic film making. This month, TCM has been doing their annual 31 days of Oscar showing movies that won or were nominated for different Academy Award categories. Looking ahead at the schedule, there was one movie that made me wonder if there was a mistake on their schedule which I'm going to declare this week's movie.  8)

The reason I thought it was an error was that the film seemed to take up 7 hours on the schedule and that didn't seem right to me. I knew the Audrey Hepburn / Henry Fonda version wasn't that long. It turns out that this is not that film. That movie was made in like 1956. This was a version of the story made by the Soviet Union and, although there doesn't seem to be a fully accurate accounting for the cost of the movie, it is believed to be the most expensive movie ever made based on various calculations.

Looking up the movie, I came across these two articles giving some various history and background on the movie: One of film’s greatest epics is a 7-hour adaptation of War and Peace. Really. and You really should devote 7 hours to watching ‘War and Peace’. Well, if you say so...

Personally, I've always been a fan of when Hollywood went mad for Epic films into the 50s and 60s. Ben-Hur, Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago. So, my interest was already piqued based on that. I've always wondered what the story of War and Peace is like and this probably seems like a good way to become pretty familiar with it. I love movies shot on 70mm so hopefully most of the movie and restoration is at that resolution. I'm not sure if there will be gaps or not of that resolution from the details mentioned in those articles on the restoration of them film but guess I'll find out.

The film won the Oscar for Best Foreign Film at one of the late ceremonies in the 60s. Obviously, there will be subtitles but that doesn't bother me and if you are a cinephile also then it shouldn't bother you. If I hadn't heard of this movie before then there's a good chance you hadn't either. If you want to check it out, TCM is playing it in the early hours of March 31 like 3:30 AM EST so set your PVR. Otherwise, you'll have to try and track it down some other way.

11
NWR Forums Discord / If You're Unhappy And You Know It, Slap Your...
« on: March 28, 2022, 11:16:25 AM »

12
Movies & TV / Khushrenada's Annual Oscar Thread. 2022 Edition.
« on: March 27, 2022, 04:52:28 PM »
Last year, it was pretty bleak time for me when it came to this Oscar routine. Covid had killed theaters and I had seen none of the movies even nominated for Best Picture that year. This year had some promise that things might get better as we got close to June and vaccination rates had gone up. Some bigger movies were finally showing up in theaters after sitting out 2020. Unfortunately, that respite was short-lived as Covid protocols returned and going to the theater was a question of do I really want to risk my health for this movie?

While my movie watching was back up again from the past few years (I guess I could have posted another thread listing all the movies I watched in 2021), again it was a case of very few movies that actually premiered in 2021 and mainly older films of the past. Unlike last year, I've actually seen one of the movies nominated for Best Picture so that's an improvement.  :P (For the record, that movie is Dune).

Here's some quick useless trivia for you: With the 10 movies nominated for Best Picture this year, that makes a total of 584 movies that have been nominated for Best Picture over the Academy's history. Of those 584 movies, I have seen 462 of them leaving 122 to still watch. The decade with the most films I still have yet to watch is the 1930s with 30 movies still left there. In second place, it is a tie with the 1940s and the 2020s with both decades currently at 16 movies each I have yet to see. So, that's how well things have been going for Best Picture nominees the past couple years and me.

Last year showed one can still compete in predicting the nominees without having seen the pictures so let's try it again this year.

13
NWR Forums Discord / 22 02 2022
« on: February 23, 2022, 12:08:38 AM »
Hahaha! The Day is mine!!!


14
NWR Mafia Games / Mafia 88: Hey Pikmin, Four..m A Mafia! Day 10.
« on: February 20, 2022, 11:34:08 PM »
Whither story posts...  :-[

15
NWR Mafia Games / Mafia 88: Hey Pikmin, Four..m A Mafia! Day 9.
« on: February 19, 2022, 02:14:48 PM »
Story Post

My apologies. Sleeping in this morning and so I fell behind in getting this day going in a timely manner.

16
NWR Mafia Games / Mafia 88: Hey Pikmin, Four..m A Mafia! Day 8.
« on: February 17, 2022, 02:46:41 AM »
Story Post.

Ah, back to falling behind on it again. My apologies. It's been a busy night and I've been doing too much posting here and on Discord and needed to catch up on things. Why did you choose now to finally Majority Vote? ;)  ;D

17
Nintendo Gaming / Best of the 3DS eShop: 2013 Releases (Part 3)
« on: February 16, 2022, 09:06:49 PM »
The Usual Preamble

With the announcement of the closure for the 3DS eShop, a lot of gamers are now thinking about the offerings available on it. This series of threads will take us back through the catalogue of available games that were released. It may remind you of some of the titles that one missed along the way or forgot about when games were coming out regularly. For myself, I know that I didn't always pay as close attention to the eShop and its releases as I did physical releases. And while I have accumulated a few titles from it, I feel there are probably more I should take advantage of especially since Nintendo hasn't created any other source to purchase many of these titles at this point in time.

While I could I slowly go through each title and hopefully try to track down reviews, I'd rather get the opinions of the NWR Forum users whose gaming tastes I trust a bit more. Plus, I figured this would be a chance to engage in our favorite practice of reminiscing about games we loved playing (and arguing about the worth / rank of a game. ;) )

The main goal is simple. If you have personally played any of these titles, post which ones you have and which ones you highly recommend others should have on their 3DS, which ones might be recommended for Kairon (or a deeper cut for a certain type of fan) and what you think should be skipped. (And sure, even if you haven't played them and have an opinion, I'm not going to argue against you from posting it). I've also included a poll for people to vote on the games being discussed as a possible easy reference for users to see what titles people think a person should acquire for their 3DS.



What Is Being Discussed?

I am trying to go through the eShop exclusives in chronological order at this point. To do that, I'm just going by the release dates on Nintendo's website for eShop games.

When I last did this type of thread, I was in the middle of the 119 or so games that came out for the eShop in 2013 and had divided up those 2013 releases in 4 parts. At this point in time, the amount of releases coming out on the eShop was at an amount and rate that it was getting hard to for this site to keep reviewing them all. Reviews started to become more sparse and there was also the factor that a lot of these titles probably didn't seem worth the time to play and review. But maybe someone out there has more information or took a chance on something here that they now want to bring to light. It's not like there was nothing worth playing that was released during this period. However, the early days of the eShop when every release was practically worth getting have definitely ended now. These games roughly cover the period of time from September to start of November 2013.

The list of titles up for discussion for Part 3 are:


10-in-1: Arcade Collection
Funfair Party Games
WAKEDAS
Fish On 3D
Summer Carnival '92 RECCA
Darts Up 3D
Boulder Dash-XL 3D
Jewel Adventures
AiRace Speed
Solomon's Key
Cut the Rope
Star Wars Pinball
Star Soldier
Family Table Tennis 3D
Carps & Dragons
Astro
Zombie Blaster
Rage of the Gladiator
Picross e3
Happy Circus
Jewel Quest 5 - The Sleepless Star
Family Bowling 3D
Secret Agent Files: Miami
Escape From Zombie City
Aqua Moto Racing 3D
101 Penguin Pets 3D
Brunch Panic
Snow Moto Racing 3D
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies
Angry Bunnies
Arcade Classics 3D


Which games do you think are worthy of being added to one's collection and played? Are there any overlooked gems you might be aware of?

18
Nintendo Gaming / Best of the 3DS eShop Series
« on: February 16, 2022, 02:01:35 PM »
You may recall a few years back that I started a series of threads on the 3DS eShop offerings back in 2019. Back then, I was already getting the sense that Nintendo could be looking to shutter the eShop at some point so it would be best to start figuring out what was still worth picking up on it before that happened. However, as I progressed through the releases, it started to seem like interest was being lost in the series and that there was a lot more “shovelware” being listed rather than quality titles people may have wanted to talk about. As such, I lost the motivation and never got back to continuing it.

With the news that the 3DS eShop now has an expiration date, I guess it’s time to revisit this series as there may now be renewed interest in it. At the time I stopped, I had also been thinking about how I wanted a sort of “hub” thread to collect the links to all the Threads created for this series. I also wanted the hub thread to have some lists of the top rated or recommended games from the games covered and discussed. That is what this thread is all about to hopefully put the information in an easily accessible place.

Here are all the threads in the series so far:

Virtual Console. Game Boy - Part 1
Virtual Console. Game Boy - Part 2
Virtual Console. Game Boy Color
DLC for Physical Games
2011 Releases & 3D Classics
2012 Releases (Part 1)
2012 Releases (Part 2)
2012 Releases (Part 3)
2013 Releases (Part 1)
2013 Releases (Part 2)
2013 Releases (Part 3)

19
NWR Mafia Games / Mafia 88: Hey Pikmin, Four...m A Mafia! Day 7.
« on: February 15, 2022, 01:02:26 PM »
Excerpt from the President’s Business Log:

My, oh my. I keep thinking things can’t get any worse and then they do. I came into my office today only to find it had been beat and smashed to pieces. It was like an explosion had gone off in the room. Spray painted on the wall was the message “You face is next if you don’t pay your Union dues by tomorrow.” Things have really taken a perilous turn there so I decided it was probably better to go into more debt rather than be paying for facial reconstruction later. I tried to withdraw what I needed through my credit cards only to find out that they had already been maxed out! I was stupefied and then I looked over the purchases and saw that they were for all the kinds of things Lucy’s been asking me for. She must have gotten my card information and is now using it to make all kinds of extravagant online purchases. I’ve been calling and texting her for the past 9 hours but she hasn’t responded and I get no answer or see any signs of life at her apartment so I don’t know where she’s taken off too. I tried breaking in but then a neighbor walked by and I had to make a quick exit and now I’m scared to go back there in case I’m spotted again and have to start answering questions about why I’m there.

The only thing keeping me from jumping off the Hocotate High Suspension Bridge is that Kenny the Killer finally came by today with the weapons he needs smuggled to his client. We got them loaded up in Ol’ Bessie, which is what I call our first transport ship. It was with Ol’ Bessie that I started this company so many years ago. With Olimar and Louie both using our modern and usual transport ships, all I have available right now is Bessie. It’s a little worrying since we haven’t fired up Bessie for some time now as she needed to be modernized and updated and the cost didn’t seem worth it. I’m hoping she’s still got one last delivery run in her right now. It could make a big difference for me here.

At some point, I got a message from Olimar say he was happy to report that he was able to take some time and increase his Pikmin workforce. He’s now got more of his red Pikmin workhorses again which he got from.. yadda, yadda, yadda. Must be nice having a bunch of workers to help you out. I’d love to know how that feels someday. Instead I’m stuck back here doing everything on my own to hold things together. At least I’ve got one friend to give me some comfort. This bottle of rum that I’ve kept hidden in the roof of my office. Sweet rum, you’re the one that can make everything, everything, feel alright, alright.

20
NWR Mafia Games / Mafia 88: Hey Pikmin, Four..m A Mafia! Day 6.
« on: February 13, 2022, 12:40:33 AM »
Excerpt from the President’s Business Log:

Oh god. My stress levels are so high right now I'm finding it hard to breath. My blood seems to creating echoes through my body with how hard it seems to be pumping throughout it. I got a report from Louie today that he was attacked by a ravenous atomic space monkey that ate all the bananas being shipped. He says he was able to eventually beat the beast off the ship and escape with his life but all cargo was lost. I reported this to the insurance company to get compensated but they refused. They say I'm trying to commit insurance fraud and don't believe there is such a thing as a ravenous atomic space monkey. Why does this always happen to Louie? Do space creatures sense his inexperience at being a shipper? I've told Louie that I need him back here to provide his evidence and testimony. However, the signal between us seems to have deteriorated after I told him about these developments and I haven't been able to reach him since. He better get back here soon because the last thing I need is to be further in debt here. I really need to get my hands on some cash and quick.

I've told Olimar that he better start trying to find some treasures while he's also building that vacation home. However, the treasure search doesn't seem to be going any better than the construction of the home. He says he suffered another disaster with his workforce. Some of the creatures in the area attacked and ate a large group of his yellow pikmin while they were idling. He had left them idling because he had to act fast and move a bunch of supplies to safety. He discovered there was something called a Careening Dirigibug that was wandering around the area and responsible for the bomb rocks that had been going off. Some bomb rocks had ended up close to the construction materials and equipment for the home so he had to get those explosives out of there quickly. While the chaotic nature of these bomb rocks was causing him some trouble, he had also seen some benefit from this when an annoying sheargrub that he called lolmonade ended up getting blasted to pieces by a bomb rock that had been dropped off close to them exploded while it was napping. I guess this sheargrub had been trying to dismantle parts of the perimeter wall so that problem was now dealt with. Even though he now has a small workforce, he was able to use the few pikmin he had as he lead them into battle against a Burrowing Snagret that would pop up out of the ground here and there to try and snag some of their supplies or attack at his pikmin. With the Snagret dealt with, he thinks it will be easier to move about in the area and check for treasure as well as get construction back on track but he does wish he had more pikmin to help.

Yeah, well, I'm starting to wish I was never born. We all got troubles, pal. Maybe my mistress Lucy can help ease my worries. Heaven knows I could use a soothing distraction right now.

21
NWR Mafia Games / Mafia 88: Hey Pikmin, Four..m A Mafia! Day 5.
« on: February 10, 2022, 12:35:45 AM »
Oh crap. The Nintendo Direct got me all distracted from thinking about the story post. I literally just realized I hadn't thought about the next day needing a story post until just now when I had made the thread title and then just looked at this empty post space and it occurred to me that this is a where a story post would go. Clearly, the story this game has really got my creative juices just overflowing....  :-[



Excerpt from the President’s Business Log:


Things are turning into a disaster around here. I've been answering the phone all day and trying to figure out the filing system here because my secretary has been away. I had to seem like I was willing to accept her demands to keep her quiet for now which meant letting her come and go as she pleased. Unfortunately, it's mainly just the going she's been doing and not the coming as she's hardly shown up the past few days leaving me to do her job. The arms dealer, Kenny the Killer, says he knows a guy that can help me out with the secretary situation called Bruno the Butcher. Of course, there's a cost involved so somehow I've got to find a way to get the moolah needed to hire this guy which is tough since I still need to pay off the Hocotate Freight Workers Union. Today a bunch of bricks were thrown through some of my windows as a reminder of the types of "accidents" that can occur without their insurance. Why hasn't Louie delivered those bananas yet? That order would really help get the financial ball rolling here! If only it was Olimar doing that delivery then it would probably be done already.

As it is, Olimar seems pretty happy with the current state of things. He says the foundation for the vacation home has been laid and there's been more progressing in building the perimeter wall and clearing out some of the dangerous creatures in the area. There was one particular creature that he hadn't encountered before that he was calling an Angry Orange because it seemed to look like the orange fruit but seemed to be doing a lot of angry stomping as it roamed around. He helped lead the attack with his pikmin against it and they put the squeeze on that orange and were able to mop up that problem. I do wish he'd get this done faster so he could get back here and I could get my wife off my back. I've got nothing to show her yet and she's still mouthing off about how I never look after her like the husbands look after her friends and shower them with luxuries. I dream about the peace and quiet I'll be able to experience once this home is built and I can ship her off to there for weeks at a time. It's been helping me get through the days here.

22
Announcements / Topic of the Day (2022 Edition)
« on: February 09, 2022, 02:58:15 AM »
Eh, why not resurrect this briefly? The topic for February 8 (besides bringing back Topic of the Day itself) is the Community Event for February that is all about the forums and giving them a booster shot of activity. You can read about the event at the link or go to General Gaming. In line with the event, I thought I'd bring back Topic of the Day for at least the rest of February as an aid and assist to those taking part and trying to reach the necessary post count for the month.

And even if you aren't participating in the event to create more posts, you may want to stop in a bit to see what develops and maybe add a post or two of your own anyways to show you still like stopping by here. Let's see what this internet classic can still do!

23
General Gaming / Community Event: NWR Forum February 2022
« on: February 08, 2022, 11:27:10 AM »
There's been some chatter again recently about the trickle of new posts on the forums. While many posters still like the community and members here, they've found it hard to stay engaged because why try to start a conversation if it will take days for someone to respond? It's a fair point. I know I've been feeling the same malaise. Yet, I know there's still some desire for discussion on these forums because you will see more posting when we've had a Community Event like Backlaugust or some big news like the Microsoft purchase of Activision. It got me thinking that maybe another Community Event could help spark things for a few weeks here.

The idea is simple. For the month of February, the goal for participants is to make 3 posts on the forum per day. (Mafia Game and Safe Words Game related posts don't count. :'( ) Posts can be as big or small as you want. Even if the post is just a response that "I enjoyed playing (insert game title)" to someone else's comment. That counts. That's a valid post. It doesn't have to be a Khushrenada Special (aka ten paragraph wall of text). Because even a simple post like that may be the spark for someone else to decide to post something and carry on a discussion or trigger some point they'd like to share.

Because this idea is only happening a week into February, it will probably be even easier to accomplish since there's only three weeks left now. For a user that means 63 posts for the month at this point. Let's say 10 people participate. That would be 630 posts made on the forums. Chances are that new posting will trigger some other comments from users not involved in the event. Who knows how much activity we could spark for a few weeks? Heck, to ease into this, there is even going to be Nintendo Direct tomorrow. That should help give people something to post about for awhile.

Was there a topic you've had on your mind for awhile but just never got around to creating? Here's your chance. Was there a topic you've always meant to respond to but never got around to it? Here's the chance to do so. Got a lame joke for the Funhouse you thought was too stupid? Post it now.  ;D

Maybe there's a game you finally got around to playing and then checked the review for it on NWR and would like to respond but it's been months or years since it was put up. Go ahead and make a post for it. I know there's been an "unwritten rule" about bumping Talkback threads. For the next three weeks, the restriction will be lifted for a couple reasons. First, I'm curious if it will really be an issue or not.  ;D Second, I've seen staff comment on the Discord one time about being happy a Talkback thread was getting some comments. Let's face it. If you were writing reviews, I'm sure you'd like to eventually see some feedback or comments on your work. So, there's a chance commenting on a review or some other feature could make that author glad to see someone cared about their effort. And I think that is worth allowing some bumping in Talkback.

24
NWR Mafia Games / Mafia 88: Hey Pikmin, Four...m A Mafia! Day 4
« on: February 07, 2022, 01:15:22 PM »
Excerpt from the President’s Business Log:

Apparently my secretary has been recording my phone calls with my mistress Lucy and has even taken some pictures of us together meeting up for lunch. She's now demanding her salary to be tripled and to be able to come and go from work as she pleases. I don't know what I'm going to do since I recently had the head of the Hocotate Freight Workers Union come by and let me know that I need to increase my weekly "oops insurance" amount to them. You know, as in this sure is a nice freight company you got going on here and sure would be a shame if any "accidents" were to occur here to shut it down. Maybe the arms dealer I'm working with has a contact for a hitman to help take care of the secretary problem. Might be the best solution financially there.

At least the news is better from Olimar and the vacation home expedition. After the setback yesterday, he reported that things were back on track. He mentioned something about a giant armored cannon beetle that he had nicknamed Crimm. It had been stomping around the area shooting off its mouth and kept unloading hot takes on everything in the area. Er, I guess, unloading the heat from its back. I don't know. Those creatures are weird. Whatever the case, it ended up annoying some of the other animals in the area with it's hot heat and the ganged up and crushed it. It's the first time the creatures on the planted exhibited Pikmin-like behavior of working in a group. My, Olimar seems very excited about this but I think he needs to stop paying attention to some dumb creatures and more on getting the foundation for the vacation home finished. He says some creature has been throwing bomb rocks around the area so he's going to try and investigate the matter. Hurrumph! I may have to dock his pay if he's going to goof off like that!

Well, I'm supposed to be meet the arms dealer at 4:00 this afternoon for the goods to be dropped off so I better get prepared for that and make sure to ask about an assassin....

25
NWR Mafia Games / Mafia 88: Hey Pikmin, Four..m A Mafia! Day 3.
« on: February 05, 2022, 01:34:51 AM »
Excerpt from the President’s Business Log:

My mistress Lucy keeps calling me at work. I keep telling her that we need to keep things hush hush but part of me really loves when she calls and talking such naughty things with each other so I just can't bring myself to be too stern with her about it. She keeps asking if we can go to the theatre and some fancy restaurants or money for some beautiful gowns to wear for when we go out. I want to impress her so but I've had to keep putting it off due to my financial issues. Fortunately, things went pretty well at my meeting with Ken the Killer. In a couple days, I should be able to deliver the weapons to his clients and earn a hefty paycheck for helping him out with his smuggling. If all goes well, he says he may recommend me to some other people he knows who are always looking for reliable sources to help smuggle some "medicine" for them. Maybe this shipping company is finally going to be worth the headache it's caused me for so many years.

Why is it that when things are going well in one area of life that they seem to be falling apart in another? Things are starting to look profitable around here while Olimar is reporting setbacks with the vacation home project. Apparently some creatures started digging in some holes and burrows around part of the vacation home zone. When he went to remove them with his pikmin, he ended up suffering a bunch of pikmin casualties because the creatures had some sort of defense he wasn't aware of which they used to wipe out the red pikmin he had with him. He thinks this setback in his labor force is going to slow down his progress for awhile. He seems kind of distraught about it but not as distraught as I'll be if he doesn't get that home built.

Speaking of which, I guess I should get home to the misses. *Sigh* She's making her awful tuna bean casserole for dinner. Maybe if I drink enough alcohol beforehand I won't be able to taste much of it....

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