avatar!

It's amazing how many scams are on eBay, usually sellers trying to pass off a much cheaper product as the NA or other release. Hope you got your money back.

Again, I agree about the permadeath which is why many people call Hades and similar games "Roguelite" https://screenrant.com/roguelike-roguelite-difference-permadeath-hades-rogue-slay-spire/ Because of the stringent rules laid out by the Berlin Interpretation, most popular Roguelike games are more properly referred to as roguelites. roguelite games utilize some, but not all of the design elements of Rogue as the foundation for their gameplay. Permadeath and procedurally generated maps are still crucial to a roguelites design, but many games have added new spins to the genre. A number of roguelites have introduced a mechanic of carry-over progression to eventually make runs easier and allow players to go farther. Hades, for instance, contains certain resources that don't reset on death that are used to buy permanent upgrades to the character. Whether or not a game strictly qualifies as a roguelike or the more loosely defined roguelite, the subgenres have created a space for a wide range of games and play styles.

ABT is 100% the way to go! I mean, I plan to vote for Biden, but I am praying the GOP gets its act together and nominate someone who's not a traitor. I did mention I'm praying...

I pray Haley wins the Republican nomination. I've heard some people say "Biden can definitely beat Trump, so we should let Trump have the nomination" -- but I'm not so sure. I would feel far more comfortable with Haley, or honestly pretty much anyone but Trump on the ticket.

You're right that in general roguelike games have permadeath, but not always, or at any rate I've seen people debate whether "roguelike" has to include permadeath. I will say, Hades has all the other traits of roguelike -- but maybe "roguelite" is a better descriptor of Hades.

Internet disagrees --

Shoot, I totally missed out on Monster Train

Darkest Dungeon is a 10/10 for me too. Spire, not even close. I would definitely rate Rogue Legacy much higher than a 6.5 -- curious why you rated it so low? Enter the Gungeon was very well done, just not for me. I've been meaning to play Binding of Isaac -- I see you gave it a decent if not great score. I know that game has huge acclaim overall.

While there's always luck involved in everything, Hades is a game of skill. People have even talked about completing the game on a fresh run, which is crazy and cool! Most of us, will die a lot in Hades, but each time you die you can upgrade your character. In Spire you do upgrade your deck, but even if you have an amazing deck, you can easily lose because of the RNG. In Hades, even if you didn't get your favorite power-ups, it's a game of skill, you can do significant damage and dodge attacks so long as you are skillful regardless of what you collected in your current run. Not to mention the fact that Hades continuously "helps/rewards" you when you make it a bit further, and it has an excellent storyline, and the characters are all interesting, and NONE of that makes it into Spire. Tetris is not a roguelike.

Gave it a 6 out of 10. Was debating between a 5 or 6, and ultimately went up. Honestly, don't plan to every come back to it. Just way way way way way too much RNG. If you want a roguelike done right, play Hades which is easily in the 9+ range.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/jan/23/us-pastor-1m-cryptocurrency-scheme-christians-denver

A few days ago I did something that was decades in the making, and that once seemed neigh impossible... I completed Valis II An accomplishment made only possible due to the release of the Valis Collection I for the Nintendo Switch! Japanese company Edia crowdfunded in 2021 to bring the first three Valis games to the Switch -- they obviously succeeded! Valis has a long and interesting history -- it's different than most games in many aspects, arguably the most notable is that the protagonist is a girl, a high school girl with magical and hidden powers, and the world needs her. Well, no one ever said the plot is unique! But, at the time, the visuals were unique and magnificent, and in many ways they still are. The Valis series has seen incarnations in many systems, but it is the TurboGrafx-CD version which is iconic. Cinematic cutscenes with real voice-overs! Jaw-dropping back in 1989 -- The guy above is "Megas" -- the final boss in Valis II. He might be a "dark emperor" but he's got style! Animation as seen above seemed light-years ahead of the NES or even the newly released Sega Genesis. As for the game itself. Valis is hard. VERY HARD. Arguably, unfairly difficult. Like many games of the time, the playtime was greatly extended by making the game extremely challenging. For example -- although you had multiple lives, if you perished in the hands of a boss, you would respawn at the boss battle. HOWEVER, all your power-ups were gone, so good luck! Basically, for most people it was all but a death sentence if you died at the hands of a boss -- especially the final boss, and ALL Valis final bosses are exceptionally challenging and frustrating. Play control is by today's standards decently atrocious. Yuko (the protagonist) feels heavy and sluggish. It also seems as if you have an exceptionally large hit box. But at the time, you might not have noticed because many games had similar issues. Besides, the graphics AND music are breathtaking! Indeed, the music truly completes the game, and again, it was light-years ahead of MIDI pieces so many people associated with video games -- As awesome as the game was, it was arguably far too challenging. What does the Valis Collection do to alleviate such frustration? You can 1)Save at any time. 2)Reload at any time. 3)Save and reload as often as you want at ANY TIME!! With the save and reload feature, it makes going through the game, well, possible! That said, if all you want to see is the visuals, you do not even have to play the game. You can watch ALL the visuals for the three TurboGrafx-CD games from inside each game's menu -- the menu also allows you to see the manual and listen to the soundtrack, plus a few other small features -- So, after spending a few hours completing each game (thanks to the save and load at any time feature) what do I think? The games are frustrating and cheap by today's standards! But, also very artistic, visually and audibly striking. I high recommend the game for someone who enjoys "classic" albeit classically difficult games, and/or someone who is into gaming history. That said, in general I doubt most people would be interested. Also, the collection has a few negatives as well -- A)NO ENGLISH DUB --The games have English subtitles, and quite honestly the Japanese voice acting is superb! The English voice acting, well, not superb. HOWEVER, why was it not included? That is a shame, because good or bad, the English voice acting is part of gaming history and would be most welcome. B)Rewind button? --The games have a rewind button... Honestly, a rewind button would and should be useful, but the way its implemented makes it basically useless. Still, not a major issue. C)There are a few other "small issues" -- for example, when the credits roll there are no English subtitles, although there should be. However, if you go into the Visuals menu and watch the credits from there, the English subtitles appear as they should. D)No Valis IV? --It's included in Valis Collection II. And to be fair, there was never a Western localization of Valis IV for the TurboGrafx. At the end of the day, as a fan of the TurboGrafx system and games, this is an easy "YES" despite a few shortcomings. For anyone NOT interested in classic gaming, you should pass. That said: Fan of Classic Games: 9/10 See you Yuko!

Very cool! So your friend is the composer?

Wifey and I finished this. First, it's too long, could have been 5 episodes. That said, quite well done overall. That said, apparently it's way too Jordan focused and does not portray things correctly, at least according to people such as Scottie Pippen -- "One of the most ignorant a** sh*t": Scottie Pippen's statement on 'The Last Dance' and Michael Jordan has Stephen A. Smith going nuts https://www.sportskeeda.com/basketball/news-one-ignorant-a-sh-t-scottie-pippen-s-statement-the-last-dance-michael-jordan-stephen-a-smith-going-nuts Well, ultimately I've always been more interested in College sports than pro, but it was an interesting although biased (by for Jordan) and far too-long documentary.

For the most part I feel the same way. But, I'm going to get it for the 2-disc soundtrack, I love me classic video game soundtracks

Updated -- Added some games including Turok Classic Edition 1 & 2 (brand new) --

What machines are in your pinball collection? Favorites? Least favorite?

'It's the wrong house': Audio of Ohio police raid that left a baby injured raises new questions https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/ohio-mayor-orders-probe-woman-alleges-police-raided-wrong-house-injure-rcna134062 The mayor of Elyria, Ohio, has ordered an investigation after a woman alleged that police officers who raided her home had the wrong address and deployed flash-bang devices that sent her 1-year-old to the hospital with burns. The search warrant was for the Parmely Avenue residence, but was issued for a person who hasn’t lived there in over a year, Price said, sharing the search warrant left by police at the home...At 3 p.m., the Ring camera records several voices that appear to be of the police. Then a man's voice says, "Woah, it's the wrong house." Fortunately, the Elyria police department later apologized for their blunder, and offered the mother and child full restitution, and have taken steps to make sure this never happens again... haha! you don't really believe me did you? NOPE -- the police have done nothing they should. They're not taking responsibility for anything, and have even posted some BS excuses on facebook --

Well, he became notorious after King of Kong and people love to hate him. I think the truth is probably somewhere in between -- he's not evil, but he's manipulative and egotistical.

That summarizes why I dislike the game... well "dislike" is perhaps too strong a word. Why I no longer play the game at any rate. Going into the 4th act you need luck, no amount of skill will make up for a poor hand. I remember once fighting the heart I got all blocks when I need to attack, and of course when I needed block I had nothing. It was a completely ridiculous draw, but that's RNG for you. There are so many better games to play that do not rely on RNG, or even those that do rely on some RNG (Darkest Dungeon), are done much better.

Speaking of ET -- Definitely can't say the box is perfect, but then again, I heard that shrink wrapped copies of the game are somewhat rare and I always wanted a copy of "the worst video game"

This guy is a "card enthusiast", created his own game, and spent over 300 hours on Slay the Spire. He calls the game "good", but not something it's hyped up to be. I agree.

How are you liking it? I made it to the heart with all four characters. Afterwards is when the game really starts. Many people have claimed it's brilliant, I disagree. First few hours, getting to the heart and unlocking new cards is very cool and fun. Afterwards, to actually complete the game, I realize it's really depending on the RNG. I hate games that depend on the RNG. I was wondering if perhaps it's just me, but nope. Even people that loved the game said you basically have to be a "god" by the time you get to the heart and it may take you a hundred tries before you beat it. Fuck that. It quickly went from a favorite to a "this is boring repetitive shite" quickly. Sadly, I do not recommend it, but again, just my opinion (after spending many hours on it).

I really enjoyed Blasphemous! About the only thing I actually did not like is the "secret" ending they added. The game originally had two endings, and the "good" of the two endings I thought was perfect. The new "secret" or whatever ending I thought ruined much of the mystery and lore of the game.