Topic: The Chit-Chat Thread

@bimmy-lee Yeah for real. Enjoy your online party later.

@ThanosReXXX Yeah it was fine for an unannounced direct. There’s a lot of year left too and the world is in an extraordinarily circumstance right now.

I think this is the year Nintendo throws Metroid fans a bone (trilogy or 2D game), it just wasn’t today.

@ThanosReXXX - I was just messing around. I haven’t seen it yet, and really haven’t caught up on the main page about what was shown. I hope to sit down with it tonight and watch studiously while I drink a beer. That Sega timeline gets so weird from 2000 forward. I don’t understand diving into those giant, multiplayer arcade football and horse racing sims riiiiight when the arcade scene pretty much everywhere but Japan was folding because machines were getting too big and expensive for arcade owners.

@bimmy-lee Ah, okay. Guess my radar is a bit off since all this misery is going on, so I actually wasn't sure.
If I may give you a tip: skip the articles and watch the Direct first. There's too many spoilers in the articles, as per usual...

@NotTelevision It'll come whenever it's ready, so I'm never expecting any in-between Direct to feature such a big title. If it is going to be shown at all, then it'll probably be a teaser in the replacement-E3 Direct, that'll come in June.

@bimmy-lee good luck at the online chug fest. Is that tonight?

Wow, I clearly ticked a lot of people off by having a negative opinion about Digital Foundry. lol I'm not even going to bother reading all the comments of people throwing a fit about my opinion in that thread. I stand by my opinion that DF goes over everything with a fine tooth comb looking for anything they can to criticize. And that's fine, but I don't have to like that attitude or what they do. It never ceases to impress me just how angry people get if you share an unpopular opinion sometimes. You'd think I'd be used to it by now.

@ThanosReXXX It it totally still cheaper but you do have to consider that the PCs can do more. When you factor in a non-gaming PC alongside a 500 dollar console, you're getting real close to that same price of just buying a gaming PC.

Unless you're willing to settle for a real dirt cheap piece of junk general use PC. I've used a few of those 200 dollar budget machines that start chugging if you open a second tab alongside YouTube...

@Grumblevolcano It would not surprise me if that was a big part of the deciding factor. Though I know they said something about using the game to train younger employees too.

@Heavyarms55 Haha, yeah, I know those. We call them "office PCs" over here...
But yes, PCs can do more, but my point was the reverse: consoles don't HAVE to do more, they just need to play games and media. They don't need to simultaneously run three layers of software and a resource-heavy OS, only just the most basic of menus with a little bit of a user-friendly interface, but that's it.

And like I said, console chipsets are still highly optimized, even though they are closer to PCs than ever. They also need to be, seeing as their life cycle is generally considerably longer than the average PC before some parts are replaced to drag the PC back into the current era. Seeing as you obviously can't do that with a console, other configurations and benchmarks are integrated and set, to keep it competitive for years to come.

@ThanosReXXX Don't get me wrong - I'm not denouncing consoles - I have 4 plugged in under my TV right now! It's just that, as prices go up, and specialized features fade, I find myself wondering why I would go the console route/general use PC route as opposed to ditching both and getting the gaming PC.

Perhaps Nintendo has spoiled me but they always offer something that's quite different from a PC experience. But as consoles get closer and closer to PC and I just find myself questioning.

Of course there are still console exclusives that pull me to console.

I just want Sony and MS to do something beyond just delivering better graphics. I consider upgraded graphics an expected, given, improvement.

@NintendoByNature - Yeah, were supposed to meet up in about 40 minutes. I’ll be able to test Zoom out on my own. My daughter had been doing classes on it for about a week, and it’s kind of frustrating. Maybe that’s because it’s a Zoom meeting with 20 five year old kids though!

@bimmy-lee yea my daughter had one an hour ago and all I heard was yelling until the teacher muted them 😂. Have fun!

Whew! Busy day, but a good one. I made some headway on the work front and managed to sneak out for some fresh air on another decent day. I got my exercise in (with some Pokemon Go), and my grocery run went well for the most part. There were a couple of things I couldn't find, but I can do without them. I think I was wise to wait a few more days; the store wasn't very packed at all. I also grabbed a 8 in. pizza/salad combo at a local place with a gift card I had. I finished off 2/3 of it, but I'm leaving the final 1/3 until tomorrow.

I also caught wind of the Mini Direct and watched it in pieces over a couple of hours while working. No major bombshells, but they did cover the minimum of what I wanted to see....Even if half of that was unfortunately already leaked in the rumor mill. If I can swing out of jury duty at the end of May, I might be taking a certain Friday off....

@Heavyarms55 You've hit upon why I preferred the original Sun/Moon plot vs. what's in the "enhanced" versions. While I didn't dislike Lusamine's revised portrayal as an anti-hero per se, like you I think that change made the tale less impactful. She put on quite a facade to those on the outside, but her family bore the brunt of perfectionism. I don't blame either Lily or Gladion for bailing on the situation. While I blame her final descent into madness on Nihilego (love the concept of the Ultra Beasts, btw), I really believe that thing exponentially added onto feelings and obsessions that were already there. And yes, it would have been fun to fight her in that form as well; heck, I was expecting it! But we gotta keep that E rating.

The parallel dimension thing, plus the fact you could actually explore them, was a fun add for me. I just wish they didn't lock so many previous legendary Pokemon behind that feature. I found a few, but I didn't want to sink too much time into Ultra Space. And Ultra Necrozma was a BEAST. I was pleasantly surprised by the sudden difficulty spikes; I was facerolling through the game before that. I'm also glad that they added more post-game content in the Rainbow Rocket episode. Though I had a heck of a time with Mega Mewtwo X; even with Pokemon that could beat it, the speed on that thing was INSANE.

@Tyranexx Yup, I totally agree. I didn't spend much time on ultra space either - though to be fair I had all those legendaries already and since I wasn't playing VGC at that time, it didn't matter that they hadn't been caught in that generation. Can't say I'm a fan of that rule, but I digress.

I liked the Ultra Necrozma fight a lot. I think it's probably the best addition to the ultra games. It's the one and only time in a single player Pokemon adventure I actually had to use battle items. I used a focus sash on my lead so I could thunder wave it and lower it's speed. Even then, it was a difficult fight.

@Heavyarms55
You have 4 consoles hooked on to your TV ?
I have 7 consoles hooked on to my TV. 😁
Let's see...
On top table: PS2 Slim
Lower table: Wii, PS2 Fat, PS4 Slim
Beside TV (on the left): Switch dock, Wii U, PS3 Slim

@Heavyarms55 I have the vast majority of those legendaries in some way, shape, or form, so that's why I stopped hunting them after awhile. I had done most of the other things that I wanted in the game at that point, so I decided to move on.

Ultra Necrozma also forced me to use battle items, something I likewise don't dip into often. I don't remember exactly how the winning battle played out, but I know it took a bit of team shuffling, a couple of new TM moves, and 2-3 tries before I ended the battle with roughly half my team still standing.

@Anti-Matter I'd have more if my TV had more HDMI ports. I have tried several of those HDMI hubs for connecting more, but I always end up with the same problem of a flickering signal. I've had the problem with different TVs and monitors too. And actually, they aren't all hook up. My TV only has 3 ports, so right now it's my Switch, PS4 and PC. But I still have my PS3 and Wii U sitting under the TV and my Gamecube on the floor next to the TV table. All easily accessible.

@Tyranexx The big thing for me was speed, my team was rather slow aside from that rock type dog. So getting the paralyze on it was needed or he just kept sweeping my team before I could get off an attack.

@Heavyarms55 A lot of my team was slow as well; I have a tradition of picking my favorite Pokemon obtainable within the game into a balanced team, then I usually stick with them until the post-game. Come to think of it, I believe I used a combination of status moves and helpful items for that one.

Off the top of my head, I think my main team was:
Incineroar
Araquanid
Ampharos
Lurantis
Noivern
Tyranitar (This might've been obvious lol)

Noivern's speed was a boon at times, but it also seemed pretty squishy as well. The rest of them were various degrees of slow.

@Tyranexx Yeah I tend to pick my teams just based around a balanced mix that I like - I'm impressed you used T-tar in game. I tend to avoid Pokemon that evolve so late. Which might be why, though I like 5th gen, there's a lot of Pokemon who I wont ever use despite liking them. Like Hydreigon and Brivariy. Hydreigon is especially bad, evolving at level 64 basically means you'll never be able to use it in-game. Such a waste for such a cool Pokemon. I've used T-tar and Dragonite in-game. But what that means in practice is I used Dragonair and Pupitar until the very very end of the game...

Noivern is cool, and Ampharos is one of my all time favorites. Funny story about it. While I was studying abroad in Japan I was drinking with my classmates and we were playing video games when I caught a shiny Mareep in Pokemon Y. I then proceeded to run around the dorm, drunk AF, shouting that I caught a shiny Pokemon. The next day was pretty hilarious. I apparently hugged everyone. XD I remember very little. I named the Mareep "Smexy" and I still have it.

Araquanid might be my favorite Bug type. Hard to say it I like it more than Heracross but he's pretty high up there. Such a unique design and cool ability. Not to mention a great shiny!

Inceneroar the king of VGC. Not my favorite starter, but unquestionably one of the strongest. I have never used a Lurantis. How is it?

Some people like [lofi hip hop music - beats to relax/study to], but I'd say I like [Relaxing Gran Turismo Music] better.

@Vinny
Playing racing games is not complete without Super Eurobeat songs like on Initial D. 😎

@Anti-Matter I have listened to some eurobeat songs from this anime (I do quite like them), though I haven't watched it yet.