Nintendo's 'Close Call' Commercials Focus on Fantastical Switch Games

"Close call" is an actual term in the fire service for firefighters who could have died in service and made it out safely. If you think this is entertaining, you should watch some NIST flashover tests and see how long it takes for a small flame to transform an ordinary house into a veritable inferno. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqMVm72FMRk

@Exy Ok man, come on now. There may be some technical meaning for "close call" but in normal life it's a simple figure of speech.

@Exy Close Call is also a common term used for anything just missing an event, such as a deadline, impact, collision etc.

Still these are fun ads. Weird to see a Nintendo ad where the lowest rating is T

Reminds me of people adding special effects on top of Star Wars Kid.

I think people are going to be using the term "millenials" to mean good looking college-age kids forever, without actually understanding what the word means

Still kinda crazy to the see the change in marketing when comparing switch and wii u ads. I'm glad Nintendo learned.

@JHDK http://www.firefighterclosecalls.com/close-calls/

@Eric258

SKYRIM!

IT'S A DOUBLE YOSHI EXPLOSHI

@crackafreeze Less than one minute to full involvement. Keep your tree moist (or just get an artificial one) and you should be fine. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hoG6tWq6BYY

@Exy He didn't say you were wrong. But look up "close call" in any dictionary, and you won't find anything about firefighters. It's a common idiom.

@ThomasBW84 I just wanted to show these videos to more people.

It's unbelievable how chill all these people are, watching their cars, homes and furniture get destroyed.

@thesilverbrick Pretty sure the only visible object to them is the Switch/TV at this point

This is certainly a really different marketing take for Nintendo. You can see they are really trying to embrace that more "edgy/mature" approach which is certainly not a bad thing.

@Nintendoforlife I guess it's a successful ad in that respect. Makes you think the games are so engrossing that people don't notice their livelihood going up in flames.

@thesilverbrick At the very minimum their wallets.............

@TeslaChippie I'm not really sure why, but I started laughing a lot reading your comment. Thank you very much!

I like what they're going for, but that first especially, just reminded me of people on mobile devices not paying attention and getting hit by cars!

Bit weird to leave out Breath of the Wild, since, but then again Nintendo likely wanted to focus on newer games instead.

I'm old. Why is the music in these video so loud? And who are these children? They really should have use a celebrity like MC Hammer or Hulk Hogan to promote it rather than these kids. And what's with all the violence?

Man, back in my day...

@Nintendoforlife Though I suppose if these people really are Nintendo fans, they are used to watching things they love suffer untimely deaths. I mean, they just lived through the Wii U era, didn't they?

Fire Emblem Worriers is the perfect game to pitch at millenials, as they have so much to worry about!

Spiralling house market costs, enormous debt if they pursue higher education, a narrowing job market, the increasing impacts of global warming...

A game about worrying for a generation of worriers! What a perfect fit!

(Sorry, that started off as a dumb pun but got quite bleak quite quickly... )

Ladies and Gentlemen, I introduce to you "Oblivious Olivia", "Anti-social Karen"'s sister.

Wasnt a close call for me, Nintendo really hit my wallet this year.

Really good ads (imo). But still weird how long it took Nintendo to realize that their old "tame" marketing strategy did not "click" with today's gamers. Maybe it has also to do with the new leadership after Iwata-sans tragic passing (RIP)?

So the trailer basically says you're likely to cheat death if you play these games?

This is really a smart commercial. Since you can take it anywhere, it is also immersive anywhere, where you can take a step back from reality and dive into an adventure. A+

Rated T to M? Nintendo is crazy!

"Rated T to M"

@Maxz You just reminded me of reality first thing in the morning. Come on, some of us have to get through the day with our disillusionment as a security blanket! cries into root beer

On Topic. Those commercials are great. If FE Warriors wasn't already on the way I would have bought it after seeing that commercial.

If only my wallet can avoid death like they can. The hits are bleeding her dry.

Can't wait for the DOOM commercials....

@Exy last time I checked this is a video game website. What do your comments have to do with that?

Nintendo really have learnt from the Wii U debacle. Marketing is do much better

Now I can't wait to see a news report about someone playing their Switch, not watching where they're going, and falling in a fountain, to be the antithesis of these videos. And of course to entertain my schadenfreude, though I'd feel sorry... for the Switch...

Those are nice.

Pretty good advert; now just get the word out to the Masses.

Own one, preordered the other, considering the third if I can afford it (I'm part of the 1% that hasn't played Skyrim).

OMG Nintnedo finally learned how to make a good commercial marketing similar games together.

This is the commercial I wanted when Wii U had HW and Bayonetta 2 holiday 2014. Not only can I not recall seeing commercials for HW or B2 I certainly can't remember any of them promoted together or as Wii U exclusives.

And I can't help but think this is Pokemon Go related with all of the oblivious walking around. Very contemporary.

"Close call". I like it.

These really remind me of some of the PlayStation commercials I've seen in the past with the whole "games in real life" sentiment.

"The Nintendo Switch: It does more than just burn up your time... "

And then to think of putting "Fire Emblem" in that commercial as well... Priceless, truly priceless, and a pretty damn decent example of marketing done right.

Well played, Nintendo. Well played...

@rjejr to be honest: if I wasn't sold on Switch already, then the Mario Odyssey commercial would have already done it for me, since that's equally brilliant and catchy in its own right, so this one would have just been a bonus...

So much money to say good-bye to, lol

@Thierry Which is why they included Skyrim, a 6 year old game. JK, i get what you mean.

pretty weird seeing nintendo make a bunch of smart decisions in a row

@ThanosReXXX "the Mario Odyssey commercial"

You're getting lazy in your old age, you didn't put in a link.

I only found this one on Google, which is boring standard fare. The game looks fine, but there's nothing special or unique about the commercial I don't think. I'll admit the theme song is super catchy, but I grew up on my grandparents 78's big band albums and the like,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VqawSh96oQ

Do you think any of the kids here realize the similarity of Jump Up Super Star! to the Andrew Sisters Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy, one of my favorite songs of all time?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8of3uhG1tCI

Love the commercial, love the games featured, love the Switch, love Nintendo, love gaming!

Gotta say Nintendo certainly know how to do a 180.

@rjejr Do I think that kids realize the similarities?

Probably not. And what got me personally about the Mario Odyssey commercial is the fun that literally oozes from the screen, even by just looking at it. And yeah: indeed also that catchy song. It's in my head already, so good thinking on their part...

And I didn't put in a link, because I thought there was only one. Over here they broadcast the same one every day, multiple times.

What do you think? Could we expect another Zelda game on Switch too?

@Danpal65 Let's just hope they're also willing to do a 1080...

@ThanosReXXX Now I'm just trying to picture what kind of crazy twisty stunt could be called a 1080 for commercials 😵

For a second I thought that was Karen making a comeback in that Fire Emblem commercial.

@Danpal65 Probably one also incorporating something to do with a Wave Race...

Nintendo's marketing has been excellent. Commercials for Super Mario Odyssey, Fire Emblem Warriors, and NBA 2K18 have been running the past couple weeks (not sure how they're allowed to market 2K considering Sony was supposed to have the marketing deal, but whatever, just cool to see them market such a game anyways).

This commercial is great. Great to see them push Skyrim this much, and push Xenoblade 2 this early.

@ThanosReXXX I only asked about the link in case you meant a different one similar in tone or style to this one, real people in real settings playing Mario. The current Mario ad is good, but it's just game play, which looks good, so that shouldn't have taken too much effort.

The theme song is brilliant. Like I can't believe somebody at Nitneod came up w/ it, and allowed it. I keep expecting to hear it on the radio. We'll be dancing to it at my son's bar mitzah reception next year I'm sure.

@rjejr This is the one we get over here, sometimes edited but more or less the same:

Don't know what browser you use, but Firefox has dozens of add-ons that allow you to download video music separately, as mp3.

I use several add-ons:

Easy Youtube Video Downloader Express 10.5
Flash Video Downloader - YouTube HD Download [4K] 15.0.19
Youtube Downloader - 4K Download 8.2.1

There's probably also versions for the Chrome browser.

@rjejr That video you posted isn't the one @ThanosReXXX is talking about. But he beat me to it and posted it.

Nintendo is rocking the advertising. Also, these fun commercials with FE, Skyrim, and Xenoblade are interesting. Nintendo definitely seems poised to lean into the Teen to Mature games and with Doom and Woflenstein 2 on their way, it might just cause some real movement from third parties.

Here's the anecdotal phrase I hear from those who value the portable nature of the Switch: "Once I play games on the Switch, I want ALL my games on it." I'm guessing there will be a subset of PS4 gamers who will just wait until games come to the Switch (maybe so long that they just move on).

There's money in Switch, and it's just way more interesting than spec bumps this year. I'll admit, though, I'd be pretty happy if it was locked to my TV and better spec'd. It's just that I don't think that would be doing anywhere nearly as well, right now. Even with the same game lineup. Nintendo's crazy gamble seems to be paying off, so far.

Any odds on the likelihood of a spec bumped Switch and when it may arrive? I'm thinking 2019. 2018 is the year for ultra-portable Switch. Maybe targeted for 2018 Holiday along with Pokemon Red and White.

I don't think I was as bullish about it happening that fast before, but if I was Nintendo right now, I'd be all about keeping up momentum on this platform and moving 3DS players over to Switch. So much to gain.

@aaronsullivan That specs-bumped Switch probably isn't going to happen until the price of the Tegra X2 is brought significantly closer to the vicinity of being somewhat affordable in bulk quantities...
(which is more than likely not going to be earlier than 4 to 5 years from now, considering how and where the X2 is used now)

From what I've understood, the current chipset can't really be upgraded all that much anymore, other than removing the restrictions that currently keep it under-clocked, in comparison to how it ran in the Nvidia Shield.

Other than that, some more memory could be added, so think the difference between the old 3DS and the New 3DS, nothing Earth-shattering in any case.

@ThanosReXXX Yeah, IIRC the whole problem with X2 is the very limited yields of usable chips, most of them get binned or scrapped. So they'll either have to solve that problem itself, or, more likely given it's nVidia come up with something sufficiently more powerful that they can disable 70% of the silicon to end up with the old X2 spec. Like they did with Fermi. However for Nintendo, unlike Fermi, they can't allow for almost 100% of samples suffering further silicon failures in remaining cores within a year of use

@NEStalgia I haven't even delved into it that deeply, I was simply thinking about them being used for automotive purposes, a completely different market, and the chips are used in pairs combined with the Parker architecture.

Before they can shrink that down to a solution usable in a portable console, AND make it cheap enough to do so, we'll be several years further into the future.

And in that current form, it's going to make Nvidia far more money than it would in consoles...

@aaronsullivan Fair warning - it's late and I'm tired, but here goes.

I feel like they'll need a new Switch in a few years, 2019 the earliest, once PS5 and X11 come out and all game dev goes to 4k. Maybe the SwitchTV wont' do 4k, but it will need to be better than Switch is now. And that may mean it needs to be a home console. Not sure how many it would sell as a home console, but 5 mil maybe. But as a home console only it would need Netflix. If it can't also compete w/ Roku dont' bother.

2018 needs a cheaper alternative for sure for Pokemon playing kids, but maybe they just admit it's a tablet and dump the dock, HDMI cable and Grip, sell it for $229. Target had 3 $89.99 Docks on hooks. Saw them in Gamestop as well. If they can sell $90 docks by themselves, why not sell $229 tablets and Joycon to go in those docks? I still think we get SwitchPocket, but not yet. Maybe same time as TV?

You know me, I'm big picture, so it depends on when PS5 and X11 launch. How well Switch continues to sell. When Pokemon releases. How much cheaper they can sell this model for w/o taking too big of a loss. Hopefully nothing too soon, I'm picking up our Switch in 90 minutes, already dreading my $380 console being on sale for $300 Black Friday. I'm such the pessimist. My kid will have his own cheaper version Switch when he heads off to college in 2020. Maybe "New" Switch by then.

@ThanosReXXX Oh that commercial. See, this is why we need links.

Yeah, that's a good one too. Maybe they don't have a 30 second version of that one yet so I haven't' seen it as such, I was only looking for :30 when I googled SMO tv commercials.

So far my kid has been playing that song non-stop on his phone and YT so I haven't needed to go looking for it. And once I get the game set up tomorrow, well I'm assuming it's the start/home screen music so I'll be hearing it enough then. I do need to get a good mp3 version t give to our dj for the party but that can wait. I may make all 45 minutes of cocktail hour (yes I know 45 minutes isn't an hour, that's just the way it works out) big bandish. It was supposed to be dragon related - Skyrim and Game of Thrones - but maybe we can mix it up, half and half or something. Or maybe just play ti during dance time.

Nap time.

@rjejr Well, that version I linked to, is sometimes edited into 30 seconds (I did mention "edited" in the previous comment) so it may look more or less the same, although far as I know, the live action bits are always in there.

Butting in on your discussion with @aaronsullivan: that bubble of Switch 2.0 in 2019 is soon going to burst, unless you'd want the Wii Mini version of the Switch, which will offer the exact same hardware but in an even smaller box. A significant power boost is not going to happen within the space of 2 years.

I already mentioned the reason why in comment #65. They need a newer chip and right now, that's still WAY too expensive and the usage of it (and the revenues) are tied up in another business altogether.

As for that good mp3 version of the Mario Odyssey song: well here ya go...

Oh, and ehm... X11?

@ThanosReXXX X11

I like Xbox Eleven. It sounds good when I say it in my head, not so much out loud. 11 comes after X (ten) and there are now 3 X's in XboX 1 X, so 11 is the only way to go forward. Unless they go Xbox 4. May launch the same time as Windows 11. I'm pretty sure MS has said WinX is their last Windows and no more hardware generations, only iterations, so since they're a bunch of liars, Windows 11 and Xbox 1 XI. Or X1XI. It's like binary, or hugs and kisses or something. Ok maybe nto X1XI, maybe just XXI. And of course the marketing slogan is self-evident.

Phil Spencer on stage at E3 in 2018 showing off XXI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOO5S4vxi0o

"Switch 2.0"

2019 isn't about Switch 2, PS4 Pro, X1X and New 3DS weren't about "2.0", they were bump ups. So it wont' be Switch 2.0 in 2019, it will be New Switch. Or Switch Pro. Or Switch Home if they can't make it work in a portable. It's about bumping up the power a few MHZ, maybe adding in some more RAM. I think the term making the rounds is "mid-gen refreshment". No wait, that doesn' tsound right. But they don't need a new chipset for that, just a little more oomph. Forget X1X, too much oomph, think PS4 Pro, it's hardly noticable.

Here's the thing. Sure, Switch has some good 3rd aprty support coming now, FIFA, Skyrim, Doom. But a lot fo those games are based at least inpart on their PS3/X360 counterparts, nto new gen engines. Except Doom. Even Dragon Quest Warriors looks like the PS3 version (only out in Japan, not the US). Some Switch is getting last gen counterparts of thsi gen games. By 2019 if PS5 and X11 are out, there wont' be any more PS3 or X360 versions of games, except Just Dance maybe, PS4 and X1 will be last gen. And Switch can't properly run those. So while I dont' think Switch will get 4k next gen in 2019, a die shrink, a few more pipelines and shaders, just enough to get it up to X1 specs so devs dont' have to try so hard to support Switch. Like New 3DS.

Maybe early 2020, it doesn't have to be 2019, but a mid-gen refresh bump, New or Pro, not 2.0, that's 2022 or 2023.

@ThanosReXXX mp3juices Really? You coudlnt' find a site with a more illegal sounding name than that? Did mp3stolentracks not have it?

Thanks for the link, it actually sounded much better, I just coudlnt' let that name go. I can just see me explaining to my wife how our PC got a virus from downloading an mp3 from mp3juices. I think I'd just tell her I got it from watching porn instead.

@rjejr Well, then it'll be exactly like what I said before to @aaronsullivan: the Switch's (Switches?) New 3DS, which would be nothing Earth-shattering and which would do hardly anything to improve the quality/playability of the games.

No, a TRUE successor could only come with the Tegra X2 chip, or another, more modern chip that truly takes the Switch, or it's successor, to the next level.

And that definitely isn't going to happen in the next 2 years...

@rjejr You're welcome. It's a 320kbps file, the highest quality I could find. And music is energy/juice, so the name of the site doesn't really bother me, as long as they give me what I want, and especially without having to click on numerous links that usually also create multiple pop ups.

This is a good site for any mp3 file you might want and it's all just one download button away, so it's in my favorites for sure...

Oh, and it's completely virus free. My computer has very strict security: I use anti-virus, anti malwarebytes, crap cleaner, autorun cleaner, and several ad killers and ad blockers, so nothing gets past me. This site didn't raise a single alarm.

Don't know if you use any ad blockers, but if not, then I can definitely recommend Ublock Origin, the best one around for any browser.

@ThanosReXXX Did you guys get a tv show called Mr. Robot over there? Season 3 is on USA now. I've been watching 2 eps a day on Amazon for the past 2 weeks, season 1 and 2, makes me very paranoid, and talk to myself. For a guy who was a little nuts to begin with it probably wasn't a good show to watch. But it's really good. Almost Westworld good, but w/o all the adult material.

Ok that didn't tie into anything, it was supposed to be about viruses on websites.

@NEStalgia @ThanosReXXX @rjejr A spec-bumped Switch (that’s not full 2.0) is what I’m guessing/hoping for 2019 Holiday season and it’s not going to be hindered by NVIDIA silicon development, folks. When it was originally risking this deal with Nintendo, it was dipping toes, but at the rate these things are bringing in royalties, now? A team of NVIDIA engineers are sweating over rifining a Switch+ specific chip design, right now, I’m guessing.

The idea of Tegra X2 for this was just a misdirected pipe dream that never had anything to do with Nintendo. NVIDIA is designing chips to purpose, and Nintendo hardware is now an automatic cash machine.

@rjejr congrats on getting a Switch! Glad you’ll still be around here. The worst thing about Mr. Robot is that the hacking in that is probably the most realistic ever put to screen entertainment. I still prefer season 1 to season 2, and haven’t started season 3 yet.

I mean, you know, NCIS is close and all... be sure to watch to the point where the experts each use half of the same keyboard...

@aaronsullivan Season 2 was pretty horrible compared to season 1. I have 1 ep left that I'll probably watch after dinner. But as bad as season 2 has been, after almost every ep I'm like "wow". Feels like they were watching too much Kurosawa, everything is painstakingly slow but you have to watch every second with great interest to have any idea what's going on. Maybe Kubrick too.

But I think I need to rewatch the entire thing, just can't decide before or after season 3. I haven't had my wife start watching yet, I keep waiting to see how it goes. I hope it ends by season 5, I'm starting to talk to myself, which for me is nothing new, but now I'm doing it in Elliot's voice, which is kind of disturbing.

@rjejr We do have that series, and I have watched it, or at least: the first two seasons. You should also watch the making of and/or episode zero, it's really good.

@aaronsullivan Interesting point, but I don't agree with the Tegra X2 never being an option. That chip is nothing more than the evolution of the X1, based upon a newer architecture (Parker), and it would make a new model Switch, or whatever the successor is going to be called, at least 4 to 5 times more powerful.

The tech is now used in automotive, but not as a standalone chip. Car computer systems/routing devices are armed with a board that actually contains 2 Tegra X2 chips, which is why they can make more of them and sell more of them right now, but once the tech becomes older and cheaper, and they move on to X3, then the X2 can be repurposed in the exact same way that the X1 is now.

The marginal update in CPU speed that they can give the X1 really doesn't seem to be all that useful or interesting. Even combined with a memory upgrade, it's not going to suddenly make all games run at 1080p/60fps. I'll believe that, when I'll see it...

@ThanosReXXX I finished season 2 last night, then I watched several 1-2 minute cast interviews. There's a 39 minute "social impact" thing I still need to watch, and I saw a 40 minute one On Demand, but I'm nto sure yet if it's the same one. My cable's Free On Demand service has eps 1, 2 and 3 so far. Not sure what ep they are up to on Wednesday nights, but their twitter feed is killing me w/ spoilers. I need to unfollow it until I catch up.

@rjejr The episode, or rather: special, that I'm talking about is a one-hour review and insight into the backgrounds of season 1 and its consequences, and leads into season 2, it's a must-watch, if you're a fan of the series.

Look it up on Netflix, or whatever service you use. The special is called "Mr. Robot_dec0d3d.doc".

More info here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Mr._Robot_episodes#Specials

@ThanosReXXX I watched Mr Robot Decoded this weekend. It was pretty good, though I HATE those voice overs they use in all the conspiracy shows to some how make it sound important, but it just makes it all sound like total BS to me. Zach Levi, as much as I like him from his Chuck days, seemed a little out of place, on for all of 7 seconds, but whatever. I did think it funny how they all kind of went out of their way to try and keep the big spoiler a secret. I asked my sister if she was watching it and she said "No, after 2 epsidoes I figured out it was Fight Club so I stopped." And I shushed her bc/ my wife was in the room and I want to rewatch it w/ her. Just nto sure when, but I do feel teh need to rewatch seasons 1 and 2. I was only going to rewatch season 1 until ep 7 of season 2 and they explained what was going on. I kind of knew, but wasn't sure. Personally I'm waiting for the Dallas/Roseanne show ending when it's all a dream. It's called Evil Corp. I know it's the Enron E but Evil Corp makes me think the entire show is a delusion. Maybe his shrink and the dog guy are real, but that's about it, it all happens on that couch, or why he's high on morphine. Which is why I hope the show only has a couple more seasons, don't want to get dragged on a fake ride for too long.

@rjejr Okay... starting off perhaps stepping on some toes, so bear with me, if you please.

No offense, but your sister seems kind of prejudiced/full of it and/or too smart for her own good (well, in this case, at least). I know that a lot of shows (and movies) are pretty predictable, sometimes even on purpose, to get a rise out of the viewer, making some of the (in my view) lesser people even stand up, jump up and down and point at the screen, shouting at their heroes that they know "whodunnit", but other than that, the more intelligent shows, such as Mr. Robot, actually have quite a few more layers than that.

On the most upper surface, one could argue that it's "kind of" like Fight Club, because of the whole "lead character seeing persons/being persons that are not really there" but overall, and truly judging this show for its own story and on its own merits, there's SO much more to it than just that.

As for how the show will end, and I do agree with you and hope that it won't be dragged along for several more seasons either, that could go either way: either it is indeed all an illusion (maybe the prison part was the only real part, or maybe he's in a nuthouse), or he really is the world's greatest hacker that successfully eradicates one of the most evil mega-companies that exists in that world.

Considering the tone of the series in general, though, I don't know if even that second outcome would result in an "and they lived happily ever after" ending of the show...

@ThanosReXXX "and they lived happily ever after"

Well that's not gonna happen. Half of them are dead, only a matter of time for the other half. It's a bit Sons of Anarchy in that regard. Hopefully Evil is kaput.

I would like to see Elliot get his due though, maybe go down in flames like Morrison. Some slow-mo black & white montage action to end the last episode.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tHPsphg9xc

@rjejr Ah, The Doors... Definitely a good fit for the pessimistic view of the show...

"Not gonna happen"

Which is exactly what I said, so we actually agree there...

And Elliot getting his due? Considering all that has happened, I reckon he already had his share, and then some. Let the guy go quietly into the night, wherever that road leads him to...

By the way, did you recognize him from anything else, the first time you watched mr. Robot?

I was kind of taken by surprise seeing him in Night at the Museum 2 and 3, a back to back broadcast here some months ago. It was really weird to see "Elliot the hacker" in a comedy...

Forgot to mention (or did I?) that I'm currently watching a pretty impressive mini series called "The Book of Negroes", and other than that, all the DC and Marvel shows that currently run, such as The Gifted, Legion, The Flash and Supergirl. Just finished the first season of Supergirl yesterday, and downloaded the second one.

P.S. Starting from this comment here, is the stuff that I kept meaning to remind you off, which in my own apparently not too clear memory explained my temporary absence, not that anybody noticed, apparently...

However, as you will be able to read, the first one probably causes more questions than actually explain what's what. It's good that the next few comments underneath it explain the situation in some more detail, otherwise you probably wouldn't have understood any of it...

The reason I kept mentioning it a couple of times a while ago, (referring to an old comment that I would point out to you again at some point in time) was because there was no response to my final comment in that thread, so my thoughts on that were that you either missed that last comment, or perhaps you were kind of at a loss for words, which I wouldn't have found to be all that weird either.

In case you don't feel like re-reading them, long story short: my mom passed away at the end of July after an 8 year battle with Alzheimer's, and my dad (diabetes and Parkinson's patient) who (in spite of his own condition) took it upon himself to take care of her almost 24/7 during most of that time, had a complete mental breakdown, due to being over-stressed, over-fatigued, and obviously pretty distraught over losing his significant other, that he shared almost 51 years with.

And as it so happened, I had my own issues at exactly that time, losing an important client, and having a lot of trouble attracting new ones, and the whole situation with my dad didn't really do anything to improve my own mental stability either, which is why I decided to take a break from commenting on a gaming website because it all seemed so insignificant and useless back then, especially since some people that I already considered annoying, annoyed me even more, because I wasn't doing all that great in several respects...

Of course, commenting on a gaming website is essentially still useless, and there still are some highly annoying people on here, but it's also kind of fun, and actually useFUL at times, to be able to anonymously share stuff, even if it concerns topics like the one I'm telling you about here.

Oh well, life goes on, tough as it (still) is, for now...

@ThanosReXXX I haven't seen any of the Night at the Museum movies. Everybody in Mr. Robot, besides Slater who I've followed since way back when, Heathers and True Romance, guy never ages, seems new to me.

And I feel like Elliot should be able to walk down the street and be applauded for bringing Evil Corp down. Just a little recognition. You haven't seen season 3 ep 1 yet, correct? Watched that this afternoon.

Sad about your family, I probably would have said something, like sorry, if I read it. Unread email is at 547, may be in there somewhere. And yes this is all nonsense, but I think the human psyche needs nonsense on occasion. Not as much time as I spend on it, that's more of an obsession/addiction I need to quit, but a few minutes here or there.

@rjejr Thanks, I figured something like that had happened, since you always seem to have a considerable backlog. I wonder sometimes if that's gonna happen to me too, once I've got my own dog and a white picket fence situation going...

Right now, I never get to more than about 16 messages behind, depending on the topic and how many people are in disagreement/agreement with me. The only period that I had a few more, was in the month that I took that break.

And no, I haven't watched anything from season 3, only the first two. Oh, and here's "Elliot" in the trailer of Night at the Museum 3:

This tiny special clip is kind of funny as well:

@ThanosReXXX Wow, good thing I didn't see those movies first, no way I would have been able to take him seriously as Elliott.

Do you have trick-or-treating over there? I'm sitting in my living room not doing anything b/c I'm afraid of all the interruptions. And it's nap time. I think it might be time to just eat all the candy and pretend nobody's home. Halloween really brings out the grumpy old man in me now that my kids have outgrown it. I really used to like making them costumes and taking them trick or treating, it was a nice fun family thing to do, but it's been a few years now.

@rjejr Ha, you beat me to it: I was about to say "Forgot to mention: Happy Halloween, if that's something you actually engage/take part in".

We actually do have Halloween now over here: more and more American festivities are intruding into the Dutch culture. Before you know it we're going to be cooking turkeys for something other than Christmas...

But before all that started, we actually had our own version of kids knocking on doors to harvest candy by singing a little song. Among the people, it's called "Sint Maarten" (the full name is actually Saint Martin's Day, Sint Maarten dag in Dutch), and it is actually a pretty ancient tradition:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Martin's_Day

Since I'm living in an apartment building with an indoor walkway, separated by doors and stairways, no one is entering here without someone living here opening the door for them, so I'm never bothered with people knocking on my door unannounced...

As for the Night at the Museum movies:
They're actually not that bad, even quite entertaining at times, and the number of well-known actors participating is actually quite large, which is not that common for this type of movie.

So, unless you're an absolute Ben Stiller hater, you could definitely do far worse than watching these.

@rjejr P.S. Sorry to hear about the terrorist attack, it's on the news here right now. I see some idiot has crashed a truck into a bus, but good to see they got him alive so he can be punished accordingly.

@ThanosReXXX I don't hate Ben stiller, we're just not comedy people. If we watch a comedy it's a Stoner or dark comedy, or a kids Pixar movie. Very few.

Man, that truck story. My sister w/ the bad taste in tv shows lives near there, and her husband drives around there a lot on his bike, but even if they didn't it still sucks. My wife works north of there in midtown and walks down to the train station to get home. I told her on the phone earlier to be careful b/c of the nutty Halloween stuff - of which I used to partake back in college so I know first hand how crazy it gets - but I wasn't thinking terrorism. I mean we lived thru 9/11, we can't think terrorism, none of us would ever get out of bed unless we moved far away. Millions, literally millions of people commute every day on subways and trains, coffins on wheels. It's only a matter of time. All we can do is NOT think about it. Usually we distract ourselves with discussions of suitcase dirty bombs, then we wont' have to know what hit us.

Man, I almost googled "suitcase dirty bomb" to give you a link in case you didn't know what that was but halfway thru I imagined the FBI knocking on my door a few minutes later. You probably know anyway.

Worlds a sucky place.

@rjejr Yeah... at times like these, it definitely feels that way, and although we should realistically expect terrorism to be here to stay (no matter how sad a conclusion that is), I still refuse to be negative all the time, until the time I leave this Earth for good.

As a human being, you NEED hope, happiness and good feelings in general, to counter all the bad stuff that happens to all of us, such as all the stuff I've gone through myself recently.

If it weren't for the support and love of friends and family, that would have been a lot harder, but because of their support, I was subsequently also able to give more support to my father, something I didn't think I was up for at first.

Oh, and no need to link me to an explanation of a suitcase dirty bomb: I've watched enough seasons of 24 and real life terrorist news reports.

Mainly thanks to the latter, sadly, I have enough of an imagination to understand what that could be...

@ThanosReXXX I've never seen a single episode of 24. I didn't like the premise at first, and by the time the show got big it was too late. I'v ealso never seen anything CSI related, though I have seen a lot of L&O. Not the spin-offs though.

I just got back from picking up my sick son from high school. That's enough stress for me.

@rjejr Well, what's too late? I've watched some series and movies YEARS after they released, and I still enjoyed them. If suspense/crime/action packed is your thing, then I can heartily recommend 24 and series like NCIS, Quantico, The Mentalist, ABP, Hawai Five O and so on.

But currently, I'm stuck in the Marvel and DC Universes. Although, stuck: entirely by choice of course. Oh, and currently also watching season two of the Shannara Chronicles, another great fantasy show.

@ThanosReXXX Too late b/c it is about 5 or 6 seasons, I don't have time for all that. I've only watched the first season of Breaking Bad, still have 4 more of that to go. Only so many hours for leisure.

I'm paying bills now. After my cardiologist rushed me into the hospital for an angiogram only to find out it was a "false positive", I'm mostly ok, I still owe the hospital $750 for the room. Haven't got the actual Dr bill yet, I might punch him in his hipster bearded face when that comes. Paying insurance, paying co-pays, paying for stuff after. Paying for meds after. Life really isn't cheap. You got that tax-paid health care over there or they make you pay extra since you got some 'murican in you?

@rjejr Good to hear you're okay.

As for the tax-paid health care/extra pay: no, I've got a Dutch passport, so it's monthly-paid health care for me. Not so much tax-paid, but simply a kind of subscription with a health insurance company. It has always worked like this over here.

They basically offer two kinds: basic plans and extended. Basic includes everything from doctor's visits to the dentist and the therapist, and the extended plans cover extra costs such as prolonged hospital stays, non-standard treatments and large scale dental care.

The only part that is somewhat tied to tax and/or regulations, is the first part of the expenses, which is called "eigen risico", which translates to "own risk", it's a maximum yearly amount of €350 that you have to pay yourself before you land into the covered costs part.

So, say you go to the doctor, and he gives you some pills or medicine, then the cost of those is paid by you and is then subtracted from that €350. That amount is meant to keep other costs lower, both for the consumer and for the medical companies and related parties. Don't ask me how, it's just the way it works over here. At least we don't have bills which run into the hundreds or thousands a year, regardless of what ails us.

Current political campaigns are talking about terminating the own risk part, but I'll believe that when I'll actually see it happen.

@ThanosReXXX That $350 part sounds like our deductible. Ours is about $2,000, after that we don't pay anymore. Unless it's kids braces, then they pay up to $2,000 then we pay everything after. Which is great when braces cost $2,500, not so great when it's $5,000.

We also have a FSA - flexible spending account - where my wife takes $100 per month out of her paycheck pre-tax - which saves us about $10-$15 per month on taxes - then we use that to pay the bills. Pre-tax is good, but any of that $1,200 we don't spend they get to keep, so now I'm scrambling to use up $400 that we have left on odds and ends here and there before Dec 31, and we're debating re-signing up for next year - "open enrollment" - is between Nov 1st and 17th. They really don't' won't you to have time to think about it. It's like half my day is spent on this money management bureaucracy stuff.

@rjejr Having to debate/think about signing up again (every year?) sounds like a real chore to me.

I've been with the same insurance company for decades, and only when a better offer came up, did I move to another one. All to save a couple of bucks a month...

But to make total savings more than just a few bucks, I usually also call all my providers (mobile, TV, internet, energy and so on) once a year and threaten them ever so kindly to cancel my subscription, because "the competition has a better offer", and usually that results in me suddenly being able to take advantage of the offers that are also available for new subscribers, which generally means getting a "first half year" discount...

Don't know if that is something you'd feel comfortable doing or if it is even possible over there, but if the answer to both of those things is "yes", then I'd definitely make that a part of your yearly routine.

Saves me about €200 a month in total for the first half year of almost every year...

@ThanosReXXX "the competition has a better offer"

I do that on occasion, but probably not as often as I should. Having phone, cable tv and internet w/ 1 company cuts down on those phone calls. Switched my car insurance 2 years ago after 19 years w/ the same company, saved about $600 year 1, though they've raised my price by $50 each of the last 2 years. Still about $250 cheaper though. Cut my home owners insurance - in half - a few years back, $2,000 down to $1,000. That was nice. Made a few calls since that but everybody tells me to stay where I am. Canceled my newspaper delivery recently as I noticed in 2 years it had gone from $22 to $35. Now they keep calling and emailing me for $20, but I'm not in the mood. It might say that on my tombstone some day, Here lies rjejr, he wasn't in the mood to stay alive.

"I've been with the same insurance company for decades"

We're old, aren't we though. Yeah, every year the insurance goes up 1 or 2%, vision, dental, health, so we talk about what to keep, what to change. Even w/o kids of your own you can probably guess all the added layers as each section of insurance has an option for either employee, spouse or family. Our kids have always had health insurance, but vision and dental got added as they got older. The good thing is it's a job perk that pays a lot of it, the bad thing is when you change jobs every few years you have to relearn it all. And some is much better than others. She's at a good company now, last company was a bad joke. It's still better than doing my taxes every year though, that takes days. Once I get a full time job we'll have to pay an accountant to get our over paid taxes back from the govt. Though we'll probably owe thousands every year then. It's 1 on a long list of non-obvious reasons why I don't have a job. My kid being home sick again today is 1 of the more obvious ones. Poor kid.

OK, time to go pay some more bills.

@rjejr Well, having everything from one company doesn't exclude them being able to give it to you for less: I also have my internet, TV and phone connection from one company as a bundle. Costs me around €80 a month, but every other year, I threaten to go away, or simply ask them about that new subscriber discount and what they can do about that for a loyal customer like me, and then all of a sudden, I'll be paying €40 for the next 6 months...

It's no guarantee that it'll work for every company you call, but one thing is for sure: if you don't give it a try, you'll definitely never get a discount...

Your paperwork, or rather: the amount of it, sounds ominous and somewhat overwhelming. We don't have all that DIY over here. We just choose a package, and pay the monthly fee, and everything else is taken care of.

For life insurance and such, you do get your own advisor, who visits 1 or 2 times a year to see if things are still up to snuff or if they need to be revised, but other than that, I don't have to burden myself with anything else.

For taxes, I have my book keeper, which costs me a measly €50 a month.

So, the excuse of having too much paperwork to wade through, to be be able to hold a job doesn't apply to me...

@ThanosReXXX "For taxes, I have my book keeper, which costs me a measly €50 a month."

I'm assuming that's b/c you run your own business, and you wouldn't need to pay that if you were working for someone else. My father-in-law is actually a CPA, he does peoples' taxes for a living year 'round, been running his own business for must be 30 years now. He used to do our taxes, but since we get money back every year I hated waiting for him to give it to us last minute, so I do our own now and get the money back long before he would even have started.

@rjejr Yeah, it's because I have my own company, but even if I wouldn't have that, I would still not have to pay hundreds of euros for someone to do my taxes, because for private use, it's only once a year anyway.

And I hate paperwork, so I'll never do it myself, and besides that; no one is better than a professional, so I rather pay for that than spend too many hours on it myself, and having to wonder if I've done it all correctly, which would cause unnecessary delays and irritation.

Oh, and before I forget, here's the obligatory pearl of wisdom:
patience is a virtue, my friend...

@ThanosReXXX patience is a virtue

After 50, patience feels like something I've run out of as my life clock slowly, or quickly who knows, runs out of tics. I view almost everythign in regards to my won impending mortaltiy these days. I think it all started for real when SquareEnix announced FF7 Remaster, which Id' waited for maybe 5 years, then they announced it would be done in parts - how many they still haven't said - and I began to wonder if I would live long enough to see the last part. Of course w/ my heart issue(s) and Squenix's always delayed games now I wonder if I'll live to see the first part. But just in case I'm nto buying any of it until the last part releases so I know I can finish what I started.

It's not a dread, not an obsession, just a part of my overarching worldview - life ends, there's only so many hours left. Patience has no part in that.

@rjejr Well, neither has haste, especially when you're older, since that will only speed up the overall deterioration of your life.

My own worldview or way of dealing with all that where is that people will adapt to me, or they can go to you know what. I make my life work for ME, I'm not lived by life, if you get what I mean. And I have plenty of sales tricks up my sleeve to make that work 9 out of 10 times...

As for your FF7 debacle, the solution to that one is simple: kick Sony out. I've done that long ago and my life has become so much better for it. I'm kind of intrigued by some of their games, but luckily never intrigued enough to want to buy any of their crappy consoles.

And currently, I don't have the cash reserves anyway, and besides that, my wish list only contains a Switch and an Xbox One, and maybe a new 3DS or 2DS, although the latter is less likely, even though I am kind of a Nintendo handheld collector...

But on a more serious note: I'm not a philosophical guy or floaty person, but I actually DO believe that your body is your temple, so you DO need to take good care of it. And especially when you're older, that means taking time and giving attention to stuff, and keeping yourself informed on stuff.

Rushing stuff or continuously worrying has no part in that. Life is what it is, and no one should worry about either what was or what is potentially to come, that only results in more unnecessary stress. Live in the now, my friend, that's all that matters.

Enjoy your life, your significant other, your kids, and your other loved ones, and try and make the most of every day, even though the outcome won't be great every time.

That's still no reason to become dark and gloomy, it serves no purpose other than making the road to the end a long and miserable one, and I wouldn't wish that on anyone.

And more importantly: games are just a hobby. A nice and interesting one, if it's your thing, but a mere hobby nonetheless. Of all things to worry and stress about in life, that shouldn't even be on the very bottom on the list. In fact, it shouldn't even be on there at all...

P.S.

I need to remove the word "stuff" out of my vocabulary. Thanks to the overall less intelligent internet generation's communication skills, I've also been infected with repetitive wording syndrome and a poor choice of words at times...

@ThanosReXXX Well I could just keep worrying about dieing before season 8 of Games of Thrones comes out, well, whenever they decide to release it. I'm sure I'll be dead before the last book comes out. So will the guy who's writing them. (He's notoriously slow.)

http://www.express.co.uk/entertainment/books/796500/Game-of-Thrones-book-6-Winds-of-Winter-GoT-release-date-George-RR-Martin

And if you don't take tv shows any more seriously than gaming I'm sure I could find other "stuff" to worry about.

I'm off to Target, Buy 2 get 1 free videogame sale. More games to spend money on I don't have that I'll never have the time to play. But I can always leave them to my kids.

@rjejr Well, maybe he has a son or daughter that can finish it for him, just like how it happened with Tolkien...

Over here, it's all about the new Call of Duty now: we had the midnight launch and now there's the whole weekend-binge gaming thing. But only if you have one of the other two consoles, obviously.

Anyway, good to see they've left Buck Rogers behind this time and returned to the actually existing wars...

As for taking things seriously, I simply look at it this way: I really like all these shows, games and consoles, but I'm not going to lose a single second of sleep over not having them or not seeing them (right now/instantly).

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EDIT:
Okay, confession time: that last bit wasn't entirely true. I did feel a desperate need to score a SNES Mini, and luckily I did. I already missed out on the NES, and that made me all the more determined not to miss out on the next Mini console. But that truly is the only exception. Well, at least: until they release the N64 Classic Mini...

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It is what it is. Currently, I don't have the time and the money for a lot of them, and worrying about something that I can't fix seems completely idiotic and useless to me, so I just don't do that.

These consoles will come eventually, they always do, and all these series can be downloaded or streamed later on. Personally I don't have any qualms about watching a show years later, regardless of how many episodes they've already broadcasted.

If it's a good show, and if the setting/genre interests me, then I'll watch it, period. In my own time, obviously...