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Next time I'm in the mood for a little masochism, I'll try to power through

Clerks 2, Randalls analysis of the LOTRs trilogy...

I keep trying. I really want to like it but it's not even vanilla, its more butter pecan.

dang, now I want ice-cream!

I'd still use Gamestop if they would either stock their stores or make their website where it stops showing unavailable stuff, or at least make it where the sort would actually work. Redeeming points doesn't do always work either. It's such a sham now.

Pretty late to the conversation but this was fantastic. Serial DC hasn't kept my attention since Gotham. This one did, completely worth watching. The season finale went hard, can't wait to see how the second season starts after that.

Best Buy will soon be another Amazon murder, possibly the next. They've significantly cut staff, getting something delivered or repaired takes forever, and they've cut SKUs, significantly. The video game section hasn't been cut square footage wise but when it comes to buyable stuff it's just not there. For each system there's maybe a 4' section of games and the remainder of shelving is filled with displays. I've gone in a few times in 2024 and once in 2025 because I wanted something right away. More often than not they didn't have what I wanted and had to wait for Amazon.

I don't know what it is but it seems like connecting to the car sound system only works when its apple, and I don't have apple. Amazon and Google seem to fight each other on mine and I just wind up listening to xm. I'm sure I could take a few minutes to figure it out but I just haven't cared that much yet.

 I hit the vinyl pretty hard until the prices started going crazy. It's cool having all these special edition vinyls but music should be played, and it hurts a little to pay so much for a record and then not spin it. I found myself buying albums on amazon that includes a digital copy of the music. It seems like they're not doing that as frequently now.

There's always some old movie that I get the urge to watch and it's not streaming anywhere, unless you buy a digital copy, and even then, if the rights are tied up (think Dogma or Beavis and Butthead with the music videos) you'll never stream it (legally). Pretty soon we won't own anything. I already can't leave my steam library to my kids. Ugh, this is turning into a boomer / back in my day rant, and I'm really an elder millennial that identifies as gen x!

The quest for profits seems to always turn into an Icarus scenario. Something good becomes better and better as interest is generated, little guys make a name for themselves and turn into big guys, marketing explodes, big guys start buying up little guys, big guys start paying more for little guys, big guys get too big, margins become miniscule, ceo's and board of directors go from people within the industry to some flavor of investment banker, min max hits harder, creativity, innovation (in the sense of taking risks / trying something new) becomes too costly and we get Madden 75, Call of Duty 400, and a whole lot of vanilla flavored games, all be it on fantastic hardware with pretty graphics.

Not chasing bleeding edge technology affords Nintendo some liberties, but they still play it pretty safe with their games. They stick close to the Zelda, Mario, Pokemon staples (peppering in some pikmin, kirby, and DK) and haven't had a new IP of note since Ring Fit in 2019 and Splatoon before that in 2015. They took lumps with the Wii U, N64, GCN, and the Virtual Boy but have persevered and always put out great games.

I think Nintendo's business model will keep them in the console space while Sony and Microsoft are destined to dissolve off into the PC space. I've already decided to not buy a new Xbox or Playstation, despite having chased after each previous iteration. I just hope Nintendo continues to innovate, take risks on peripherals as well as games, and put out another Kid Icarus, Earthbound, 1080, wave race, excite bike, or better yet, the next unforgettable IP that'll be able to stand with the Mario, Zelda Pokemon tentpoles.

I found it difficult to make it through the first season and gave up on the series. Hearing the second season was better gives me hope. Outside of the "purists" that can't stand anything pop culture not made 40+ years ago, the only real complaint I've heard was about the pacing. I can deal with that now that all the episodes are out. I'll have to spin this one back up.

Its February and I'm still trying to start working on mine!

yeah, I've got a few of those...

how was it

Nope!

Its a late reply I know, I blame Helene (and some lazyness) but mostly Helene!

ugh, back to 40 as well

shoulda been paying more attention, it's back to 40 now

It was watchable but I did fall asleep at least 6 times trying to make it through the first season. The plot didn't add much to the mythos and the whole thing seemed really insignificant to the time lime. There was a semi expected tease at the end that I'd love to see fleshed out but I'm betting there wasn't enough love for this series to merit a second offering.

As of this writing its 80% critics score vs 17% audience on rottentomatoes. People don't seem impressed.

I did buy the set with all the swag but have so far left it sealed. I've been tempted to open it up and play but its not hit me yet. I may buy a used copy or get a digital copy and leave the deluxe set sealed. I'm also a little concerned at the Wario approach. I like mini games when there's a bigger game to it (mario party for instance) but when it's just small quick games I've not enjoyed. 

I think the steam sale really fell off when they stopped offering the limited time deals during the sale. I get it though, they ran some loss leaders or stuff at near loss to sway the public to their format, now that digital has a bigger portion of the market share and steam is a household name in the gaming space, they can afford to be greedier.

Despite all that I usually find something during these sales.

The price of entry is too steep for me on the older Pokemon stuff. I wasn't interested in it when it first came out and really never jumped in until X and Y. I've been collecting them when I can find them and they're not a fortune (so far only found Pokemon Emerald and the Colosseum bonus disk). I've played most since xy and really enjoyed Arceus the most so far.

Simple... Games like Faxanadu can be completed with a simple map, Metroid gets pretty insane. You've either got a great memory and sense of direction or you really put in some time, either way very admirable.

Still haven't finished it, I actually forgot to go back to it. I got wrapped up in a big change at work.

the new expansion looks like it may drag me back in

Games we've seen at every other steam sale are on sale once again yet somehow, I managed to spend money...

There is a featured Deep Discount where you can get some bangers for 2 to 4 dollars, but the vast majority will likely be stuff you've already purchased. I didn't have civ 6, Shadow of War, total war shogun 2, or disco elysium so I picked them up for a few bucks each. I also found a few more retro inspired games as well that I picked up. Below are some of the bigger ones I could remember. Games like battlefield and Ghost Recon had a few tittles and I couldn't remember which specific games were available, so I listed several more generic.

Frost Punk
Battlefield
Ghost Recon
Boarderlands
Witcher 3
Jurassica Park
CIV 6
Celeste
Batman
Assetto Corsa
Disco Elysium
Total War Shogun 2
Shadow of War
and a few more

Acolyte... lots of hate out there for this one but I've found it watchable. Bottom tier Star Wars certainly, but watchable. If Disney was going to do a show from the High Republic Era, they should have gone Yoda.

maybe it's my sense of direction but I stayed lost without a detailed map

I've loved and hated Metroid since I first played it. Great game play, cool theme, sick music and 0 hand holding. I've probably picked it up and put it down a dozen times since I was in grade school, never to beat it. I've tried it with friends, with Nintendo Power, with a game genie, and with all the help I stayed lost. Game FAQs got me close to finishing it in college but that stupid password system and having to start over eventually caused me to put it down.

Its been at least 20 years since I've touched the game but I'm trying again. The save state feature is making things much easier. I'm not stopping and restarting when something goes wrong so the frustration of getting knocked in the lava or getting ganged up on by a bunch of enemies is still there but being able to continue without having to kill myself and starting back at the beginning of the region will keep me from shelving the game until it's an antique.

Great game, easily top 5 NES games, top 3 if you could switch between ice beam and wave beam without having to go back and pick the other up. My only grip so far and honestly a rapid-fire controller really negates the need for the wave beam. 

bad batch is great too.

The Resident just hit Netflix. I'm usually not a preechy Dr. drama fan but this one works for me. New Amsterdam is probably the only other recent one that I've put much time in. Nothing before or after has been able to touch House though.

29.99 on amazon right meow!

I've tried tons of different Linux distros on old, outdated stuff with some success. The tinkering required to get everything working as advertised can be extensive and for me usually becomes the reason the piece goes back into the junk pile. It's awesome to see some of that old tech back up and rolling.

Did you give up or did life get in the way?