Topic: The Chit-Chat Thread

@NintendoByNature Yeah, much like with gaming, I've also got the time planning/reservation issue, so it's often one or the other, whereas back when I was a lot younger and more carefree, it would simply be both. When you're getting older time seems to both go a lot faster, and seems to be far less available/applicable for all the things that we (still) like to do in it. Oh, well. Guess I'll simply have to accept the fact that I'll never get rid of any of my backlogs, whether that's games, movies or series...

@HobbitGamer Yup, second season officially confirmed. It's even mentioned on the series' web page, that I linked to in my previous comment.

Too bad that Van Helsing is on SyFy, because we lost that channel over here, ever since two years ago, so that's going to be another one for the download bucket, I guess.

Dark Matter did have two seasons, didn't it? But yeah, I have the same problem. I'm afraid it is due to the larger stakes over in the US, for broadcasting networks, and the larger numbers they need. In my opinion, the US crowd is also VERY fickle, no offense, so maybe even without they themselves knowing, they're dooming a lot of series, because they often only end up keeping a limited, dedicated crowd, and in a country the size of the States, you'd need 4 to 5 million at the VERY least, if not more, to keep a show on the air. In comparison, in the average European country, somewhere around or slightly above a million is already more than enough for a series to be considered a success and worthy of renewal.

Crime series always seem to be doing well, as evident by all the various NCIS series and such continuously returning and getting good ratings, but fantastic or great new shows like Colony, The Passage, The Gifted, The Tomorrow People, Wynonna Earp, Minority Report, FFWD, Almost Human and so on, have either all been canceled after the first season, or never came further than a second or third.

One sci-fi series that I always recommend to people, is Continuum. It almost got canceled after the second season, but got a somewhat rewritten/altered final season instead to at least complete/end the story line that the series started with, so the fans wouldn't be left hanging, which was nice, for a change. If you're into time travel, future tech, conspiracy theories and super soldiers, then it's definitely one to watch.

@ThanosReXXX DANGIT IM WATCHING THE COLONY NOW!! 😛
I agree about the audience. All those shows you listed were enjoyed by myself, especially Almost Human, but if it’s not some laugh track comedy over three commercial breaks or a Dick Wolf-esque NCISCSISVU911 alphabet show, I don’t think the mass audience has an attention span to make it profitable.
Dark Matter pretty much ended on a Mass Effect 2 type cliffhanger.

I’ve got Continuum in my list already, just haven’t started yet. Most of my show time is while I’m in the office multitasking on something that’s very easy but time consuming. Keeps me from falling asleep while making spreadsheets... _{and TPS reports}

@HobbitGamer Oops! My bad...

As for Continuum: a tiny correction is in order: it actually ran for 3 seasons unabridged, and then because of failing ratings, they added an abbreviated 4th season, only consisting of 6 episodes, but as mentioned previously, it did at least completely wrap up the original story line.

Be sure to let me know your thoughts on the series, once you've found the time to give it a watch.

EDIT:
As for the ratings, as mentioned in my previous comment, it's just about audience size and network ratings/income. In Europe, any and all of these series would have survived multiple seasons. Over here, getting 4 million viewers is like TV producer heaven...

On a side note: since we're so in agreement on great series that ended too soon, I suddenly remembered another one, called "The Event". I think you might know that one as well, then.

Oh, and another sci-fi show that did run its full length and that I also really liked, was Extant. If you don't know it yet, you might want to look that up as well.

So, I got to see Frozen 2 today. I actually liked it more than the first, and I loved the first.

@MarioLover92 Already started that. Had the outside lights set up before Thanksgiving to beat the colder weather, they got turned on the other day. Decorated the tree a bit this afternoon, even added some Nintendo to it with a Mario and a Peach ornament.

@HobbitGamer Dang, all this talk about cancelled sci-fi shows that I liked and watched, is really starting to jog my memory. I wonder if you know or have seen these:

• Prey
• Threshold
• Surface
• Space: Above & Beyond
• Seven Days
• Earth 2
• Earth: Final Conflict

@Sunsy That's cool. I have a lot of Mario-themed ornaments, including one that has Princess Peach ice-skating with Toad! I have a Mario Kart ornament and a Super Star tree topper, as well. We'll be getting the tree ready tomorrow.

I've been wanting to see Frozen II, I also enjoyed the first one! While we're on the subject of ornaments and Frozen, we have an Anna ornament too.

Can someone help me to find some recommended PS3 games ?
I have posted my list above (# 37,228).

@Sunsy I just took my daughter to see it. I enjoyed it more as well, but I liked the music in the first one more id say.

@Anti-Matter I don't know what you already own, but here's some:

• Little Big Planet 1/2 (platformer)
• Journey (exploration)
• Portal 2 (puzzle)
• Katamari Forever (relaxing)
• De Blob 1/2 (sort of platforming and colouring)

@Monkeido
Thanks for the help. 😀
But unfortunately those games were not really interesting for me. 😅
I still not fond with Sack boy from Little Big Planet. Journey looked too empty for me. Portal 2 didn't look very appeal to me. Katamari.... that game looked clueless. I'm not a fan of De Blob looking.
Sorry if the recommendation were not working for me.

@Anti-Matter I also suggest Katamari. Very colorful and the music is charming.

@ThanosReXXX Earth Final Conflict sounds familiar, but none of the others.

@NintendoByNature I put a Yamper in the Surprise Trade thing just to see how it works; got a level 1 Mimyku. Score!

@Anti-Matter No problem at all, sorry you didn't like any of my suggestions. >,<

@MarioLover92 That Super Star tree topper sounds awesome! Sounds cute. Is the Mario Kart one Mario in a kart holding a flag? That's the ornament I have up. The Princess Peach one I have is the 2019 one where she's holding her parasol.

I still have the one Nintendo ornament from my childhood, which is Cape Mario riding Yoshi holding a gift. I remember when I got it, I ended up playing Super Mario All-Stars on SNES afterwards, which was a Christmas gift the year before I got that ornament IIRC. It's so old, the gift Yoshi is holding says Princess Toadstool on the tag.

Hope you enjoy Frozen 2 when you see it. I also have an Anna ornament as well as Elsa and Olaf.

@NintendoByNature That's cool, nice to see you enjoyed the movie. I enjoyed the music in both, and even watched the first movie again this evening.

Here’s my Frosty and Santa blow molds, the perspective is a bit skewed, but Santa is three and a half feet tall. I included a closeup of him because his face and beard are quite detailed:

@MarioLover92 - I saw that Super Star tree topper on Amazon and loved it. I didn’t have time to dig into the specifics, but I was concerned about it’s weight. Is it a heavy tree topper? We don’t have a real tree this year, and my fake trees get pretty flimsy at the top.

@HobbitGamer Well, practically all of them have been canceled after one or two seasons, except for Space: Above & Beyond, which ran a bit longer and is actually pretty good, so if you stumble across it on Netflix, Hulu or whatever other service you use, you might want to look into that one.

And as mentioned, Extant is also pretty good, and it has a full conclusion in 3 seasons, so although they could have added more seasons, probably, the main story line was completed.

@Anti-Matter You always ask for recommendations, but when people are kind enough to give you some, you always dislike or criticize their choices. Your reasons for not liking Ratchet & Clank honestly sound pretty dumb, ESPECIALLY if you do play Final Fantasy games, as you yourself mentioned, because these are FAR more realistic in their violence use and weapon detail, so your objections against Ratchet & Clank are completely over-exaggerated. If you like and play Splatoon, then you can also like and play Ratchet & Clank, because the "violence" level is pretty much the same. If you think it's higher, then that's only in your head, and not an actual fact.

And besides that, they're highly entertaining games, with lots of puzzle and platforming elements, so all you're doing (and rather shortsightedly so) is denying yourself some great, family friendly games, and that is only to your own disadvantage.

Oh, and the De Blob games are also pretty entertaining. Sometimes, looks aren't everything. It's also about the gameplay, and videos of it by other people playing it are also not always enough to get the right impression: that ONLY comes with personal experience of trying a game for yourself, because the feel of a game, when everything clicks and comes together, is not something that you can experience by watching videos.

@bimmy-lee Well, at least these don't look creepy, like the ones you posted the last time...

P.S.

If you don't mind me asking: what's up with that lamp in the middle? I can see it has women's legs, so it certainly isn't a bog-standard one, but the hood certainly looks kind of like the type of lamp ornament that I would expect to see in someone's parents house, not in the house of younger people, no offense. It just seems a bit too much on the old-fashioned side for a 30-something guy.

Then again: all the other statuettes/lamps are also old, so maybe that's my answer already?

@ThanosReXXX it's from a Christmas story the movie. It's hands down my favorite Christmas movie of all time. You should check it out and you'll understand 😉.
@bimmy-Lee frosty and santa are great and everything, but the lamp steals the show lol.
@hobbitgamer sorry for the late reply dude. I'm still unsure of the whole trading mechanic thing. I've only played the campaign so I haven't figured out how to do anything else. Lol. I keep reading comments in the sw/sh thread and every time I'm like, WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?! lol. I guess ill have to experiment more. I've only played a hand full of hours and it's been with my daughter so I haven't had much time to explore and try new stuff.

@ThanosReXXX - The leg lamp is actually a Christmas decoration. It’s a replica of a prop from a really popular Christmas movie here in the States, A Christmas Story. It’s a movie from the 80s set in the 50s about a young boy named Ralphie who wants a Red Rider, carbine action, 200 shot, lightning load range model air rifle with a compass in the stock for Christmas. The lamp is from the scene below. Ralphie’s dad (a legendary movie dad played by Darren McGavin) has won a major award in a contest:

@NintendoByNature - Thanks man! It’s my favorite too. The scene at the very end where the mom and dad are on the couch in front of the tree with the snow falling outside the window is my favorite scene in a Christmas movie.

@NintendoByNature Same here, I’m learning everything by trial and error.

@ThanosReXXX That lamp is a prestigious award, and it’s French.

I just spent an hour in the attic rebuilding my dryer vent stack. I’d like to meet the person that thought it was ok, and ask them their life story. Instead of a straight vent with a 45* angle, they put an S bend between the wall stack and ceiling stack. Then the bend wasn’t even secured well, so over time bits of lint and cooling hot air pooled in a corner of the bend and pulled away from the joint. That just made it angle and pool more, causing it to leak into my mud room ceiling.
I’m ready for this vacay to end. 😂

@ThanosReXXX "You always ask for recommendations, but when people are kind enough to give you some, you always dislike or criticize their choices." I think it is all about the attention. Or he is trying to find a like-minded person, but with very weird method.

Just like most of his posts.

Yeah that lamp is strangely enough a well known Christmas decoration.

Make sure to put it by the window so Santa can see it from outside!

Or the neighbors...