Topic: The Chit-Chat Thread

@Tyranexx Make sure to give us your friend code.

@NEStalgia Thanks, hope you had a good one. Probably a lot safer one than over here, where loose fireworks are rampant, coming from just about every street and/or home...

As far as the pocket critters are concerned: all the whining ever represented to me, was entitled people having unrealistic expectations, based on nothing. Or rather: based on the opposite, because like you said, the games were never top notch where graphics are concerned, so suddenly expecting a massive boost in that department based solely on a new and more powerful hardware platform alone, is kinda dumb, really. Oh, well... people on the internet, and all that...

@Tyranexx I was about to say something along the lines of "Wow, someone got a BIG Christmas bonus", but then I already saw you explaining your rather extensive starter catalog away, so good on you.

As for not wanting to be sucked in: better leave Breath of the Wild alone for now, then. I still quite vividly remember the day, or rather: the loss of the day when I first tried it out. I just wanted to give it a little spin, to see what all the fuss was about, but it completely drew me in, and before I knew it, I had to remind myself to start making myself some dinner, before the evening was over as well...

Oh, and welcome to the club. Finally...

So, now that this particular bridge has been crossed: about that Blu-Ray player...

I know @Ryu_Niiyama knows what my new avatar picture is
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap190708.html

I have bought two Ratchet games last Thursday. 😉

Since i'm not a good at shooting, i played Into the Nexus in Cadet level. 😅

@Woomy_NNYes lol Galactic center. I clicked on your name by accident when it brought me to the thread and I was looking at the larger image like “I’ve seen that before isn’t that the galactic center?” Then i hit back to get to the thread and clicked your link. Yup! Nice one.

@Tyranexx dig and dig 2, especially, is great, but so short . Sign of a good game if it keeps you wanting more though... You really get into it and then it just ... Ends...

Ori is a great, but brutal game. It's depressing though, which always keeps me from picking it up! I mean the story isn't exactly FF, but the opening and tone just feel so depressing. I opened it for my birthday years ago and was excited and then just kind of sat they're, jaw hanging, thinking.. Well..... That was a downer to cap an otherwise nice day...

@ThanosReXXX we have that problem too, unfortunately. Though it was a bit tamer this year now that the grade A (holes) moved that would blow up mini bombs that actually shook The house and lit the whole sky orange in a flash, and rained embers on like a dozen houses.
Unfortunately the 4th of July gets the bigger fireworks nuts going here with full illegal antics, and they run until September. Barney Fife never seems to notice though... Even if you report it. Annually. Ironically one of the people i thought was doing some of it actually isn't and is also sick of it.

Never had these problems anywhere near this degree until the past 8 years or so. Not sure what changed other than the influx from ny.... But ny is actually uncommonly strict on that stuff, so it's not like it's something these people were used to there. It's weird. Right after e3 it becomes a warzone. New years is somewhat frustrating with it but now is more tame. The 4th is the 4 week period to dread now, with secondary events at memorial day and labor day. Nothing like honoring veterans like triggering their ptsd!

@Anti-Matter I'm jealous of those games. If I had a playstation, I definitely would have gotten Ratchet & Clank. Played some on my friends PS4 last year, and it looked so great.

@NEStalgia Yeah, I've heard about those fourth of July celebrations. It was actually in the news the other day, where our own America correspondent, who lives and works in the States for one of our largest news channels, explained the difference in how New Year's celebrations go over there. And that's when he himself said that the biggest bang of the year in general, was the fourth, not New Year's.

Either way, we all came out alive again, at least: I don't think we're missing anyone, right?

I went to my beer store shortly after they opened yesterday, and found the store manager dismantling a seven foot Sierra Nevada Christmas tree advertisement piece. The tree looks like it’s made of hops, and it’s decorated with bottle caps. He said he didn’t know what to do with it, and I offered to help him carry it to my car. So I have one of those now. A giant, cardboard Sierra Nevada Christmas tree made of hops. It went straight to the crawlspace, and I’m going to try and not think about what to do with it until next holiday season.

@Tyranexx - Woohoo, congrats on setting up your Switch and jumping into an immediate, massive backlog. So you actually bought it on Black Friday? What an incredible show of self restraint. Well done. That’s monk level discipline.

@ThanosReXXX - We’re going to do 30 days of alcohol abstinence starting this month. Probably Monday. We’ve had it planned for a little while. We still had time off this week, so we weren’t worried about starting it on the first as a resolution. We’re doing it more as an experiment in economics, and to examine the overall physiological affect on the body. I’m not too worried about it. I have to pick up my monthly beer club six pack on Tuesday, but I don’t think it will be a problem having it in the house while abstaining (hoping I don’t find myself hiding in the basement in two weeks pouring the six pack on my face).

@bimmy-lee Abstinence, really? The beer and rasslin' guy? Oh, dear. That's going to be something to behold, for sure...

All kidding aside though, a bit of non-alcoholic living every now and then certainly isn't a bad thing. Gives the liver some time to recuperate, reset and optimize itself again, and depending on the usual intake, it will also have its effect on the blood flow and stamina, something the missus might approve of...

For me, there's not going to be any dry January. Unless there's a party or birthday, I only drink on Saturdays anyways, and never more than 3 or 4 glasses, so I don't reach the yellow or orange zone of averaging 2,5 glass per day, let alone the red zone of "and/or more". And besides, most of these birthdays and parties are also in the weekend, so during the work week, I simply don't drink alcohol. Well, unless of course the holiday festivities happen to be on week days, like it was this December, but that isn't always the case, obviously.

I've settled on SteamWorld Dig 2 for now. I'm about two hours in so far and really enjoying it. What I love about the game is all here, and I like a lot of the QoL improvements. This is from someone who's played the original on both the 3DS and Wii U. It's telling if I have a game on more than one platform that I may really enjoy it. I had to finally quit at about 12:30 last night. I needed some sleep! XD

@HobbitGamer Added it to my signature. Request away! I don't have Switch Online set up yet and probably won't for at least a couple of months; that'll likely be when my save data increases to the point where I have to back it up. No co-op just yet. Besides, I need to work on my karting skills since I haven't played much of the series before.

@ThanosReXXX Ironically I've had Breath of the Wild since the Switch's launch; I caved for the Special Edition when it was available. If they had offered a Wii U bundle, I would have picked that up instead. I almost ran out of patience and picked up the Wii U version more than once, but I had to keep talking myself out of it. XD In any case playing it right now violates one of my backlog rules: I try not to play more than one game in a franchise at once. I'm currently working on A Link to the Past.

Add that to the fact that I'm about to start DQ VIII, I don't quite wanna get sucked into BotW just yet.... I'll likely pick a Saturday when I don't have anything going on to start that one.

I will get a year-end bonus (it should show up this month), but I think a lot of it will go towards items I feel I need a little more than a Blu-Ray player right now. I'd like to replace an appliance, plus I found out the hard way that I need to better furnish my home office/den area for the days that I work from home. They're few and far between, but attempting to get any work done on just one 14 in. laptop screen and small keyboard in a subpar chair that isn't meant to be sat in for more than a couple of hours really wears on the body after awhile.

Still planning on getting a Blu-Ray machine later this year for now.

@NEStalgia Yep, that was my only problem with my runs with the first SteamWorld Dig. The gameplay is nice, relaxing, and addicting. I kept wanting to play the game, digging ever deeper, and then suddenly....Wait, the game is over?

I've heard Ori is very decent and somewhat brutal. I'm up for a good challenge every now and again, so long as it feels fair.

There were some fireworks in my area around New Years, but thankfully nobody let them off too far past midnight where I'm at. I technically have a rural address, but I'm surrounded by subdivisions and the occasional business. One of my coworkers who lives in the larger town I work in was complaining that someone nearby was letting off fireworks well into the early morning hours though....

@bimmy-lee dude that tree sounds sweet! And no beer for a month?!?!? Good for you, but I don't think I could pull it off. I'm very impressionable and all I have to do is "accidentally" turn on Beer Fest and with each passing minute during the movie, I'd inch 1 step closer to the beer stock. That movie is my drinkin' buddy lol.

I forgot to mention that the amFilm went on just fine and didn't have to blow through the other. This is the first time I've used a screen protector with a Nintendo system; I never really saw the need with my 3/DS devices since the clamshell design offered some protection. Plus, I've been VERY careful with my touch screen use after what my first phat DS went through. XD

@bimmy-lee Thank you! I ordered it the Sunday before Black Friday, when Walmart and other retailers were running some of the pre-BF discounts. I cracked everything open just enough to make sure all the components were present and undamaged but didn't go through a full unboxing. Then I shelved it until after Christmas. I technically set it up a few days ago but hadn't touched it much since; I was waiting for the screen protectors to come in (I'm careful with my electronics, but I'm also a certified klutz) and was also trying to finish out a larger 3DS game.

So I've decided to purchase 1-2 Wii u vc games each month to build up my library. Considering the Wii u eshop maybe has 2 years or so left (?) I'd like to get all the titles I'd want. Especially since vc isn't coming to switch. And I'll probably do 1 system each month to round it off. Started out with superstar saga and dkc2. Next month will be either an n64 or ds game. I'm also trying not to get any game I have on snes mini or nes mini. I should build up a nice vc library in a year and a half. It really thinks switch doesn't have the vc that wii/u And 3ds have. I like that switch has so many options via the app but the fact is I don't own them. So if I don't grab them on Wii u they'll be gone.

Sigh I forgot my best speaker under a pillow in the hotel room. Thankfully we were just 30 minutes away from it, otherwise it would've been a bad oopsie.

Don't be an eel, check everything.

@Ell So, you ALMOST forgot it, you didn't actually arrive home without it. Rather significant difference. And now I've started to think about all the stuff that I've lost/forgotten on holidays over the years...

@Tyranexx Maybe you should dedicate part of that bonus towards a bribe for your parents, so you can reclaim your own Wii from them, so we can get to work on that particular chapter...

Nah, you just do you. The best decisions made are always the voluntary and logical ones, not the influenced and/or uncertain ones. And obviously, I was just pulling your leg about the LG BP250 Blu-Ray and media player. Or was I?

Concerning Zelda BOTW: I don't know if I ever told you this before, but besides solving a couple of shrines, all I did in that entire day that I got lost in the game, was collecting items and food, making dishes, catching horses and fishing. And I did some mountain climbing tests, just to see how far I could get without falling, but that's basically it. Oh, and I shot and/or exploded some Bokoblins.

Other than that, I never actually started the game's actual story line. I was just really surprised by how fun all this tinkering and exploring was, and that is why I completely lost track of time.

Yeah the topic on speakers turned up and I had the moment of realization right then.

I got lucky this time. I'd hate to lose my wonderboom on the same week I got it!

@Eel Haha, yeah, I can imagine. Me and the old man actually had something happen during the first Christmas day that was the exact opposite: I went to his house the day before, because we were invited to my sister's house the next day. So, when that day arrived, we packed our stuff, the gifts, got into the car and drove of. I don't know exactly what I said anymore, but I made a comment about a person we drove past, and it contained the word "bag". My dad hit the brakes and said "damn, forgot my bag", so we had to turn back and get it. It was his own bag, containing his papers/ID and medicines, so not one to forget...

Luckily, we only just exited the village he lives in, so we were 5 minutes out, not 30.

About to make some meatballs for the late Christmas party I'm heading to this evening. The White Elephant gift is ready. The party's for my Haunt family, so it's partially Halloween-themed. This should be my last holiday gathering until the Easter season.

@NintendoByNature I still need to grab a handful of Wii U VC games at some point as well. I'm fairly satisfied with my current library, but some of the titles I'd like to still pick up include the original Paper Mario, Mario & Luigi: Partners In Time (skipping the other two as I have the 3DS remakes), and give the original Advance Wars a spin. Plus you've also reminded me that I need to grab the other two Donkey Kong Country games by Rare; I've only played the original in that trilogy.

@ThanosReXXX Yes, I do still need to reclaim that Wii! I'll resume negotiations soon. Holiday shenanigans kicked that out of my head. I don't think the poor thing has been used in several months. I'll still also grab that Blu-Ray player, it's just not a huge priority right now. I can generally tell when someone is pulling my leg these days.

Your first day in BotW echoes what I've heard from other parties; it's so, SO easy to get sucked into the game doing everything! I'll make the story a priority, but I also do plan to take my time with it and see what all the world has to offer.

Exploding Bokoblins in any Zelda game is also a wonderful plus. ^_^

I finally snagged a copy of Witcher 3!! I’ll play it in awhile after I put up new house decor. Got a lot of nautical themed wall pictures and such for the living room and kitchen, so that’s neat.

Also decided to just order a reman starter motor and solenoid; my solenoid casing had a stripped bolt and I’m not dealing with it. Pretty good deal, only $40 more bucks after I returned the rebuild kit.