@ThanosReXXX Those videos are awesome. It would have blown my mind to see Goldeneye: Source in 1997. I’m going to need to try that out.
I think they were talking about making a remake of Goldeneye for the 360, but it probably got tied up in licensing problems like you mentioned. The remastered Perfect Dark for the 360 was great though.
@Tyranexx Your experience growing up sounds great. Except perhaps when a train wakes you up in the morning.
I grew up in a small town as well, but I’ll admit that living in big cities does spoil you. I don’t miss having to drive long distances to just buy simple things like milk and bread. A lot of the people in the small town where I grew up were pretty close-minded too, but I guess that’s the case many places I suppose.
Going somewhere like a supermarket or a swimming pool that isn’t overcrowded I sure miss though. I’ve been increasing fond of “staycations” but going to a smaller town and get some fresh air, seeing the stars at night is something I certainly cherish more now. Everywhere has its tradeoffs I suppose.
@ThanosReXXX Why do I still find the stereotypical "caveman clubs future mate" approach so hilarious?
Erm... I don't know. Past life experiences?
As for the rest: yup, we're completely on the same page there. Not that it is necessary, but nice, nonetheless.
@NotTelevision Yeah, it does look good, doesn't it? Mind you, it's only online multiplayer, so you'll either have to play with strangers, or persuade some friends or colleagues to also install GoldenEye Source on their PC. Alternatively, you could also install Project64 on your PC, and then play the original N64 game without all the slowdown. You can get the installer version of Project64 here or the self-contained, portable version here (on the page it says that it's an older version, but it's not).
EDIT:
Perhaps needless to say, but for the downloads of the GoldenEye remakes, just go to the relevant YouTube pages, where links will be in the descriptions.
@ThanosReXXX It’s a bummer that Goldeneye:Source isn’t for the single player as well. It’s cool that they have the splitscreen where you can see the other players though. That’s the way to do it.
I have Project 64 and Dolphin on my laptop. Depending on the game it is preferable to play on the original hardware, but it’s interesting to fool around with the settings and patches on offer. I find the toughest part is getting the controller feel and sensitivity just right. That’s definitely an advantage the original hardware will always have over emulators. But the games certainly look beautiful on a high def screen with those programs.
@NotTelevision They sure do, and besides resolution updates and cleaner graphics, these emulators have the added advantage of offering hi-res texture packs for a number of games as well. Ocarina of Time looks very good with those added.
As for controllers: well, there's actually plenty of USB versions of N64 and GameCube controllers available, or adapters from those controllers to USB, so there's plenty of ways in which to be able to use original controllers on your PC or laptop.
@NotTelevision What good does the city do when instead of traveling 20 miles over 30 minutes to get to the supermarket you have to spend 25 minutes traveling 1/4 mile to get to a supermarket that's excessively crowded and miserable to be in? Nothing's actually convenient, your world just shrinks to a far smaller geographic area that's practical to exist within. And a far more expensive one at that!
@ThanosReXXX Thanks for all the great links. I’ll confirm that the Mayflash adapter for the N64 controller works quite well with some adjustments. That’s almost a must because the button mapping is a nightmare with a 360 controller for N64 games. Those Ocarina of Time texture packs are fantastic. You reminded me that I should get back to my playthroughout. Made it to Zora’s Domain as adult Link and dreaded the next dungeon 😄. I actually like the Water Temple a lot, but it does feel like quite a marathon doing it in one sitting.
I should get the adapter for the GameCube as well, but I’m thinking about buying the Wii again l. Btw what’s your experience with using the Wii on modern LCD TVs? Is it all just as functional or are there a lot of concessions you have to make?
@NEStalgia You have a point it could be crowded. I actually love public transport in big cities though. I just put on headphones and go on autopilot jamming out to tunes, as long as I’m not in too much of a rush.
Something else that’s great are all the farmer’s markets both in Europe and Asia that are conveniently located in every neighborhood and benefit the local economy. That’s something I think cities in the US could benefit a lot from.
Urban planning could certainly be better organized to manage things like crowds and pollution more, but there are many positives to shrinking the spaces and distances people need to go to get essential goods and services.
@NEStalgia Oh, you city and/or public transport hater...
My supermarket is literally a 5 minute's walk away. And there's 7 more within a 15 minute walking circle. If I take the bike, that too comes down to 5 minutes. And besides the various supermarkets, there's 3 butchers, 4 grocery stores, 3 bakeries and various specialty stores (such as a fresh fish store) in the area as well, so I don't experience any of the pains and/or qualms that you're suggesting over here.
@NotTelevision You're welcome. But concessions in what way? I can't really comment on LCD TVs, though. I've still got a plasma screen myself (Panasonic Viera, Full HD). I've got the Wii connected through gold-plated component cables, and the image is a crystal clear and vibrant 480p, with no lag or any kinds of visual artifacts to speak of.
Once this TV gives up the ghost, which probably isn't too far off, considering the rapid growth of blue transparent smudges all over the screen, then I'll be looking for the LG C9 4K OLED to replace it with. That's currently one of the best, if not THE best TV for gaming, especially in its price range.
@ThanosReXXX I'm sorry. Did you just call me a public transport hater? Are you losing your memory gramps?
If I stand in my yard in winter I can literally see the supermarket. Still takes 12+ minutes to get there. 12+ back. 24 minutes round trip to get to a place you can literally see from your yard. Excluding parking time. 8 minutes (or more) just waiting at 2 traffic lights. Once upon a time you could walk there, but they closed the shortcut that used to (admittedly awkwardly) cross between two houses so you have to walk all the way around in the opposite direction, then down 3/4 mile of highway. It's like getting from London to New York by way of Melbourne.
There's no such thing as public transport though. There's one bus line that goes down one road. Going somewhere else? Too bad. Need to get somewhere particular, you likely need to go 20+ minutes out of your way to get a transfer to go somewhere else that might get a transfer that gets you within a 20-30 minute walk of where you're going. It'll cost $15-25 for the trip. Each way.
@NotTelevision Maybe (and likely) it's a US problem. Here, the city areas that have any real public transport are a mix of being so outrageously expensive you can only live there if if you make well over 6 figures, or so crime ridden you would probably rather just drown yourself than have to live there at all. And some of them are both at the same time! Reducing distances doesn't matter if the roads and traffic is so bottlenecked with so many lights and such between that "down the street" in an urban area and "20 miles away" in Bimmy's Indiana take about the same time to get there.....but "down the street" in the urban area is actually 100x more stressful to reach than the 50 miles in Indiana, with 100 near misses, "aggressive drivers" to be aware of, and hole-ridden roads to weave through, plus a dozen utility construction projects to go around. You arrive at your destination with pulse pounding ready to instantly butcher the first person that looks at you sideways. I'd take the long distances without many people in sight any day over that daily stress test.
@NEStalgia Oh, sorry: BUS hater...
And if it takes you 12+ minutes to get to the supermarket by car, then you're either a slow driver, or when you look at it from your yard, then it must just be a REALLY small speck on the horizon.
What with all the parking problems, I'd think I'd take a bike, if I were you.
And the more I read about your experiences and/or opinions on US traffic and getting out and about, the more happy I am to be living over here, because this is starting to sound like a virtual paradise compared to your neck of the woods. And to think that I even complain about my living environment sometimes...
The other big thing here is Amazon doing free 2 hour grocery delivery with Prime (from Whole Paycheck Foods) and the grocery stores trying to keep up. A lot of the grocery stores aren't going to survive Amazon's push on one side, Walmart's cheap on the other, and Lidl/Aldi encroaching. Where I am it's considered to be an over saturation of grocery. There's one store "across the street" 12+ min away. Then another 3 within 10 minutes of that. Most places don't have grocery density like that. One butcher that's only there because he's been there since the 70's. When he retires, none (supermarkets have butchers, who needs dedicated ones? Same for seafood. Same for bakeries. Supermarket quality and "convenience" is "good enough".) Long term my guess it's it's probably going to reduce to only one about 15-20 min away (the first 12 is the time it takes to get across the street. Another 5-10 after that, so not technically far from the same location. Not at all walkable, it would take 1-1.5 hours of walking in the broken-glass filled, broken pavement shoulder of a 45-55mph road. (did I mention this is a premium luxury area?) And delivery by Amazon or such (for only 20% more) will be the normal way to buy food for anyone that can afford it, or setting aside a day a week to go 20 minutes away to buy the next week's worth of heavily preserved shelf-stable processed food.
Progress! If there's one thing that's certain, tomorrow will always be worse than today.
@NEStalgia I'm gonna assume the butcher question was a rhetorical one...
You actually have Lidl and Aldi over there? Wow, that's decidedly European for the US, and on top of that, not even in a big city area, so that's double marks for rarity.
'The console wars are like boobs: Sony and Microsoft fight over which ones look the nicest and Nintendo's are the most fun to play with.'
@ThanosReXXX The problem is there's a handful of stopsigns, but then there's always people parked in the street. As the street gets more crowded, that means more sitting idle waiting for them to pass. Then you get to the light. If you're stuck for 2 lights that's 7-10 minutes to wait. Then the other light. Another 7-10 if you're stuck for 2. 4-5 minimum each. Worse if there's a pedestrian using the crossing. Then the main road gets 2 turns and you get none. But if you're walking, it also seems like you're waiting 7 minutes or so because the button never actually does anything but beep and seemingly get around to it whenever.
Bikes don't help carting tons of heavy groceries though. And you still have to wait at the same lights anyway so you're not actually saving time, it's the same route with the same traffic and the same delays. Plus, safety through that route with the way people drive isn't ideal. Especially in winter/night, or with snow/ice where there's nowhere to walk. Last time I tried that I ended up sheer-face climbing a 10 foot snow mountain plow pile with my bare hands. You get where you going, flip everyone off, then turn around and go home.
Of course they "Recognize" some of this problem and the "new urbanism" movement tries to fix it. But it fixes it in a luxury way to attract a newer richer clientele and force out the existing people. The convenient way of life you describe they package as luxury lifestyle here, and it's only for the rich.
@ThanosReXXX Yeah, Lidl and Aldi are making a US push. Aldi has a head start. Though they're not local to me per-se, there's an Aldi out in the "shopping" area half an hour or so away. Silly place for it, and a tiny tiny store. I have no idea why they moved there. Lidl's push into the US seems delayed, but it's going to hurt a lot of existing stores, unfortunately.
The problem is everything is incremental. Just one more traffic light. Just 10% more traffic,. The new place is just 2 minutes further than the old one. But you add up those changes over years and it, quite literally takes 3-4x longer to get anywhere than it did 30 years ago. It's a constant progression of things getting worse and worse.
Aldi is blowing up in my area. One just opened up about 5 minutes away and they've opened probably a dozen or so in the last few years around here. Not really a fan of the store though, but nothing beats the Walmart/Costco combo!
@ThanosReXXX I’m on 1080p right now, but definitely thinking about upgrading to 4K soon. Currently don’t have anything that is capable of displaying 4K, but that LG is one I’ll look into before getting one of those next gen consoles.
I’m fine with a 480p image on my TV as long as the pointer controls work the same for the Wii.
@NEStalgia I agree that the gentrification of districts and the sectioning off/ lack of opportunities for the urban poor has had a detrimental effect on US cities. Housing cost and rents are crazy if you don’t want to travel long distances to a job for some people.
Politicians also don’t care or don’t have the funds to improve the quality of public transportation because the city’s infrastructure budget is all going towards the building and (or lack of in many cases) maintaining of roads and bridges for cars and trucks. Businesses and the wealthy wouldn’t want to pay more in taxes to make it happen either, and the politician knows he/she is on the fast track to not getting elected or re-elected for suggesting such a plan.
So not sure what to do about that situation.
In general I can definitely see for those who want a large space to raise a family, how urban areas aren’t appealing. I’m just saying for me, at least this point in time, I prefer the experience of living in a city. Maybe later I’ll change my mind on that.
@NotTelevision Typically the trains were far enough away that they weren't bothersome; it was a noise in the distance that you'd only notice outside. Nowadays I'm closer to a busy track, but it's still about a mile off and isn't too bothersome.
Everywhere certainly does have its trade-offs. I like where I live for the most part (other than regional politics, but I won't get into that) but do wish some things were more accessible. I don't have to go too far for the basics, but some stores that people take for granted like Target, Best Buy, etc. are a little over an hour away. There are plenty of Walmarts around here though, and that Dollar General stereotype isn't completely unfounded. XD While I like owning a private vehicle sometimes, I do wish public transportation was more accessible. There's a taxi service and a small bus that carts around senior citizens, but I'd love having more resourceful options. Or they could finally invent a matter transporter....
I do like the peace and quiet that comes with nature and dealing with less traffic than in a city. I've driven near NBN's neck of the woods before, and that's not an experience I wanna repeat anytime soon. XD I think I'll stick to public transportation next time. That's not to say I dislike driving near all cities though. Some are just busier and less organized than others.
Currently playing: Layton's Mystery Journey: Katrielle and the Millionaires' Conspiracy (Switch)
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