Topic: The Chit-Chat Thread

@ThanosReXXX "People aren't going to want to pay premium PC gaming rig prices for a plug and play console after all, so a gaming PC at its highest setting/configuration will still trump any of the new consoles arriving shortly." As they should. Top of the line gaming PCs tend to push well past 1000 dollars. I've seen high end machines even break 2k. It's completely unreasonable for people to expect a 400-500 dollar device to match or surpass that.

It's for that same reason I laugh when people say things like "My laptop can do so much more than your Switch!" And I'm like "It cost 2-4 times as much as the Switch, I sure hope it does more!"

@ThanosReXXX Yep, that's pretty much a "the criticism is in the eye of the beholder" subject there. Not saying I agree with it - again, that's not a character I'm well informed about, so thanks for some of the info there - but as long as discussion is kept civil, I can totally deal with different viewpoints. It's interesting to read your own take on that subject matter, particularly as one who can look past one movie portrayal. There are different ways and interpretations of a story and its characters. That's how I view comparisons between, say, the DCAU and the DCEU.

I've only seen the MCU piecemeal, which is something I hope to correct sooner or later. I slightly prefer the DC side of things (overall; we won't get into some of the movies, though I did like The Dark Knight trilogy, and Suicide Squad wasn't BAD IMO), but I like aspects of and characters from the Marvel canon, too. The X-Men are my favorite team of heroes, Magneto is arguably my favorite anti-hero (Sorry Deadpool fans!), and who can forget that awesome web-slinging spider dude?

@bimmy-lee I'd have to use tape, stencils, and other guides, too; my freehand isn't bad per se, but I really need to take my time and concentrate. I'm definitely no professional artist and couldn't live off of my work. XD

Come to think of it, is there a way to 3D print stencils? If you or an associate has access to a 3D printer, there's bound to be some sort of flat DK design out there somewhere....

I get it, it's like the ultimate first world problem. I'm required to be at work by contract, but there are no students because the schools are closed. It was the end of the semester, so there's not even new prints and activities to make and we're rapidly running out of random tidbits of cleaning to do...

I love Japan but sometimes I really wish they weren't so serious about rules. Like, let's all just go home early and pretend we all stayed the normal time. No one is going to check. No one ever checks...

@Heavyarms55 Japan without rules and honour is not Japan

@ThanosReXXX Yes you’re right about the graphics. I’m thinking Microsoft will be more in the business of putting new texture and asset packs in their older games. But assets and character models are one thing I’m not sure we’ll see as much of a generational leap in.

I can definitely see a big difference between the character models and assets used in PS3/360 games and that in current gen titles. I still think last gen stuff looks good, but the actual quality of the animations and facial features especially are just... I’m not going to say a improvement because certain graphics have their own appeal... but more believable certainly on current gen consoles.

Improvements in lighting are going to look great on 4K TVs, but lighting and reflections are one of those things where you have to look at two images, one with the features enabled and one without, to really parse. It’s a more a subtle thing. I’ll admit that it’ll be cool to see your character model reflected in a pool of water with crisp detail. I wonder if developers are just going to put reflective surfaces everywhere to show off that effect 😂. Expect glass, mirrors, and shiny countertops for a while.

Smoother overall performance and fewer loading screens, or no loading screens at all, gives opportunity for games that want to present high res expansive worlds. Draw distance detail will be improved along with that. But I hope games don’t get too much bigger than they already are, to be honest. There are already too many open world games full of boring checklist and needless time sink sidequest. So hopefully developers aim for quality over quantity, even if the opportunity is there to make a 300 hour Assassin’s Creed game.

@NotTelevision There's nothing wrong with bigger and bigger open world games so long as they are full of meaningful things to do. That's a big point there, if the open world game is full of big open and meaningless space, it's not good. Or if that space is full of mindless and pointless busywork, that's also good. But then you have games like Xenoblade 1, X and 2 and Skyrim and FO New Vegas where everywhere you go you have interesting side quests, no and varied locations to explore, interesting activities to do, creative side characters to meet, etc etc.

Personally, I think if someone can make a 1000 hour long game that remains meaningful and interesting for that whole monstrous duration, that I'd drop that 1000 hours.

Oh, before I fall asleep and forget. Last night I had a fun nightmare, not one of the sickly traumatizing ones, a regular spooky one.

For some reason my brain has some recurring places that stay consistent every time I dream about them, they are usually extensions to real places, but they do not exist themselves. In this particular case, it was the two rooms my brain likes to add to the house of one of my uncles, a really old house that has been in the family for a really long time, and that is famous among my cousins for being a bit spooky.

So, in a few dreams through my life, I’ve sometimes visited that house, and sometimes, I explore it. On several of those dreams I’ve reached this hallway that doesn’t exist in real life, but in my dreams it‘s a consistent part of that house that I remember being there, even in dreams where I don’t see it. In that hallway there’s two consecutive rooms, and you usually have to walk through the first room, which is usually pink, to reach the second room, which is usually blue.

They look like well decorated old timey fancy bedrooms, like children used to sleep there, but they haven’t been used in a really long time, and there’s always an oppressing feeling whenever I enter them, like, a heavy scary sensation. They’re honestly creepy and that’s always the case whenever they appear in my dreams, specially since I’m usually alone when I find them.

This time though, I was with a group of people, a mix of family and friends, and while they were also aware of the story of the rooms, us being more people made being in the rooms more pleasant- like a sleepover. Because for some unholy reason it was decided we would need to sleep the night there, I guess because the other less haunted rooms were taken.

I ended up having to use one of the beds in the blue room, next to a mirror. Because of course, what would be a spooky room without a spooky full body mirror in the corner.

I just knew I would be scared by something if I randomly woke up in the night and looked at the mirror, it made a lot of sense in my mind, at least, so I used my usual cowardly technique of sleeping completely wrapped with my blanket, head and all. For some reason I decided to sleep facing up, which I never really do.

It went well until I inevitably heard a sound coming from the side of the bed, the side with the mirror. And even though I could see nothing (the blanket protected me!) I had this terrible feeling like something was above me, and that alone made it hard to breathe, and the entire atmosphere was uncomfortable.

It was like having a sleep paralysis episode within a dream, truly unnerving.

Then I woke up.

The end.

@Heavyarms55 Agree 100% there. FO:NV, Skyrim, and the Witcher 3 are good examples of interesting open world games packed full of rich content. Heck I spent at least 30 hours in BOTW messing around with the physics and flinging Bokoblins off a cliff, so it was worth it for me because I was having fun. So hopefully the above games become the models developers are working off of. I haven’t played any of the Xenoblade games yet, but I want to check them out. I hear good things.

I don’t mean to stir up any controversy, but I was picked up Red Dead 2 again the other day and was astonished at the poor quality of some of the sidequest. I rode at least 30 minutes in the snow and up mountains, helping random NPCs with same predicaments (snake bites, give me a ride home, etc...), eventually reaching the gang hideout indicated on the map. Shot the gang members at the camp then did a quick draw on the leader. The reward was another gun I didn’t need, some Mexican sombreros, and more money to throw on the pile. No side story progression or anything memorable at all happened. Occasionally something interesting will happen if you ride around long enough, but I don’t think this is a good blueprint for future open world games. Some aspects maybe but I don’t think they need to expand it any further unless they come up with enough that warrants expansion.

@Eel That was truly a tale that’s worthy of submission to the Midnight Society.

@bimmy-lee Imma snap into a Slim Jim!!

Nintendo could have trouble next generation. The Switch doesn't stand a chance against the PS5 and next Xbox. It struggles with PS4/Xbox one games now, PS5 and next Xbox games will not run in any form on the Switch. We need a kitchen mid generation upgrade for the switch. If Nintendo have thought of that. The success of the switch may make them think that the current switch is enough.

@DannyBoi Nah, I’ve already got a kitchen.

@DannyBoi
"Nintendo could have trouble next generation. The Switch doesn't stand a chance against the PS5 and next Xbox."

I don't think so.
Switch will be fine without getting disturbed by PS5 / Xbox X.
Btw, what kind of games are you expecting from Nintendo Switch?
You seem very anxious if cannot play Western 3rd party games on Switch.

Even if the Switch has only ports + only its 1st party games it will still be in a good spot.

Wait are we talking about the Switch or home renovation now?

Oh, here we go again... 🙄
I saw an article in this website that i hate the most has popped out just now.
I still keep maintaining my gaming rules, doesn't care what peoples said.

@Tyranexx - I could get access to a 3d printer, and I could probably make one with an exacto knife if I blow up an eight bit image of DK. He’s kind of a big blob of reddish brown unless he’s beating his chest. There’s a stencil shop on Etsy that I’ve used in the past. I’ve only purchased stock designs so far, but they claim to do custom stencils in any design, with an emphasis on the any. It seems like secret code confirming that they will indeed make Frozen stencils for your kid’s room, they just can’t advertise it.

@HobbitGamer - Dude, this is a mid kitchen upgrade, not a new kitchen, just an upgrade. We’re gonna leave your cabinets and countertops alone, they’re fine. But we’re gonna do a bright, new tile backsplash, a farmhouse sink, all new stainless appliances, flooring, and we’ll blow out half a wall you’re not using to make a breakfast nook you’ll never use. This will give your kitchen more powerrr, which it will need to compete with your bathroom and porch.

@Eel - I actually got spooked reading about your dream, but I really want to know what kind of creature was haunting your room. Dreaming about extra rooms is really creepy. I’ve had them a few times. When I was a kid, I thought there was a secret room in the basement where old people lived because I dreamed it once and couldn’t shake it.

@Anti-Matter And I'll keep drinking water, no matter what people say.

@bimmy-lee My kitchen just can't compete with my porch, it's so open on the front end. And the bathroom lost the house race long ago for having too many crappy ports. Also, stop trying to get into my basement room; Ethel and Rose are setting up tonight's Dungeon Bingo and can't be disturbed.

I saw a PSA today about Nintendo Directitus. Apparently symptoms range from depression, too much money in your bank account, and screaming “pro” at random people in the street.

If you or anyone are experiencing any or all of the symptoms, seek a medical professional.

@NotTelevision I went to seek a medical professional, but all I found was an article full of gun and violence comments. I'll troll two and call staff in the morning?

@Heavyarms55 Funny you should mention that "never even knew you wanted" thing, because that's something that's kind of ingrained in the business I'm in: making people enthusiastic for things you want to sell to them. In my case, even though I know the gimmick of it, I still got entangled in that very sentiment where the Switch is concerned. Like quite a few others, I was initially disappointed that it wasn't a really powerful and normal console, even though in my heart I already knew that Nintendo was going to do its own thing anyway, so it was to be expected, but still.

And now, a couple years later, I'm so happy I bought one, and I've thoroughly enjoyed all the experiences it has given me so far.

As for the gaming PC/laptop thing: that was indeed exactly my point, and there's always going to be these kinds of idi... individuals, I mean, who'll compare their custom built, multiple thousand dollar rig with a plug and play box, which is simply too ridiculous to even consider taking seriously. As before with comparing GameCube graphics to current gen graphics, it just doesn't work if you take something out of context and don't see it in the right perspective.

@bimmy-lee Ah, no worries, man. Happens to all of us sometimes. As for Snoop Dogg: come to think of it,
I actually would prefer him to be president over that walking loony bin Kanye...

Hope you enjoyed that beer.

@Tyranexx That's a good way to look at it. Personally, I always just see these movies as their own continuum, so in honor of a DC trope, taking place on alternate Earths or something. I was initially disappointed during the first phase, that so much cool stuff from the comics was either not used or only mentioned in passing, but ultimately I understood that you can't put well over 30 years of Iron Man or the Avengers, or any other super hero into 3 two-and-a-half hour movies unless you do some really dark magic...

But yeah, we've already established that these respective audiences can get SO toxic sometimes, and not just about movies, as we've seen over the past few weeks, and all I can think of is "Sheesh, people, it's just entertainment or a hobby, not something life threatening", but try and reason with them, and they'll instantly turn on you instead, so I've long since decided that these types of individuals simply can't be reasoned with.

@NotTelevision Oh, don't get me wrong: it's plain to see that current gen graphics look better than last gen's but not by much, especially when you compare it from when it first went to HD graphics. The later titles that really pushed last gen consoles to their limits, still look good today, much like how Rogue Squadron did on the GameCube. Heck, each console has these kinds of titles. Some time ago, I decided to play some old original Xbox titles, and while some of them simply looked like GameCube games with slightly better graphics, there was already quite a leap in fidelity in the first Forza game, and it already showed promise in regards to what it might become. And if anything, that promise has definitely delivered, because far as I'm concerned, both Forza series are the best that consoles can offer, where racing sims and simcades are concerned.

@DannyBoi Not if they simply upgrade the chip, they don't. The Switch is going to stay relevant, mark my words. It's far from being end of life, and look at what smart and savvy developers are already able to pull off on it, so that skill is only going to improve. Top notch graphics will never be a thing for the Switch, so that point is irrelevant, as long as they can get the newer games running, even in lower resolutions, the Switch will do just fine.

The experts agree on this. In fact, Digital Foundry has already made several videos on the topic:

Oh, and what's this kitchen comment all about?