TDIRunner

I'm sure it's different all around the country.  I hadn't race in almost 3 decades, so I went over the rule list for my district pretty closely.

• If I didn't use the pine block that came in the kit I wasn't racing.
• If I didn't use the wheels that came with the kit, I wasn't racing.
• If I didn't use the nails/axles that came with the kit, I wasn't racing.
• If I didn't use the pre-cut groves in the wood block for the axles, I wasn't racing.
• If 3 out of the 4 wheels weren't completely flat to the track I wasn't racing. 
• If the car rides the rail down the entire track you are disqualified.  

I can't speak to the quality myself, but for those claiming that the AtGames logo should say it all, I'm not sure that's a fair statement.  This thing is certainly not priced like anything AtGames has sold before.  I would at least try it out before walking away just on the brand name.  

I've always wanted to purchase one single arcade cabinet, or better yet build my own.  But I have to say that the Arcade 1Up machines that I own seem to be scratching that itch. Now that I have two (that basically take up the same amount of space as one full size) I feel less and less compelled to get the real thing.  

If money and space weren't a factor, I would still go for the real thing, but ultimately, I'll probably just stick with what I have.  

On 1/17/2020 at 10:13 AM, Code Monkey said:

Funny gaming related story.

Back in the mid 1990s I got my first CD player for Christmas and got only 1 CD with it, it was Boyz II Men: II. At the same time I was heavily into Doom so I would play the CD while I played the game and to this day every time I hear Boyz II Men, I immediately think of blowing away imps with a shotgun and cutting people in half with a chainsaw.

That's funny because Boyz II Men: II was my first CD as well.  I enjoyed them back in the 90s, but I can't really listen to them anymore.  

Well it's official.  I have finally found a 3D Mario game that I enjoy.  Mario Odyssey is pretty awesome.

I'm sort of playing through two games at the same time.  My son (age 5) is playing his own game on "Assist Mode."  He is loving the game, but I still have to help him in some areas.   I'm also playing my own game at my pace and I'm spending much more time in each world trying to find as many moons as I can without looking up guides.  Therefore, I'm behind him in terms of level progression.  Sometimes it get difficult because I can't remember if I've already found a moon because I get mixed in which areas I've visited in each game.  

Here is a funny story and a super proud "Dad Moment" for me.  For the first time, my son figured out a puzzle in the game before I could.  The part where the bird takes your hat and you have to get it back.  I couldn't figure out what the hell I was supposed to do, and finally my son took the controller and figured it out right away.  

2 hours ago, Estil said:

Are you allowed to play the Master System games from the Mega Everdrive with the 32X still attached?  Because with real cartridges you can either play Master System games or you can play 32X games; can't do both.  And the Master System easily has 10x the number of games so if I have to choose...

I used to know all of these questions about the Everdrive, but at this moment I really can't remember.  I will have to check later.  I know there is a very short list of things that the Mega Everdrive can't do when the 32x is inserted, but I can't remember everything on that list right now.  I have a separate Master System hooked up along side my Genesis/CD/32x, so I've never had to use the Master System functionality on the Mega Everdrive.

Gamesack's video of the 32x is a great video for getting an idea of which games you might enjoy playing.  They cover every game besides Surgical Strike.  AVGN's video is entertaining as well, but as we all know, it's not a review.  He just has fun pointing out the bad stuff.  

If they are returning to the original style of PM and TTYD I will be super excited.  I'm one of the few that enjoyed Super Paper Mario, but at the end of the day, I would much rather have the more traditional style that they used for the first two games.  Paper Mario and TTYD are my favorite games on their respective systems.  

Here is my son's pinewood derby car.  This was his first year at the Derby and my first time in over 30 years.  He finished second in his age group and the car that beat us ended up winning the entire thing.  We qualified for the District races which are in March.

I wanted to go with a little more competitive design, but it was my son's choice and he wanted to go with something that looked more like a real car.  After he saw which cars were winning everything he said that next year he wants to go with that kind of design (something like a wedge).  So I'm looking forward to next year trying to make a car that can run for the top spot.  

Overall we had fun which is what counts and it was fun watching him get excited about it.

Funny thing is that if you don't like the rubber banding, than MK8 is the one to play.  It is without question, the most difficult to come back from lasts place to first.  In most MK games, the person in last place gets all sorts of good stuff.  In MK8, you can be hanging out in the back and still get stuck with single bananas and ink blots.  

Following.  I was just looking at this the other day and wondering the same thing.  I couldn't remember if it had always been there or if it was recently added.  

Give it enough time and someone will come up with something down the road.  Most likely it won't be until many years after Nintendo has dropped support for the 3DS.  

3 hours ago, Estil said:

That's only something an individual made for themselves...I mean something you can actually buy and does a good job.

I know that capture devices work for the DS and 3DS, but I know they are expensive, and I'm not sure how practical or usable they really are.

Quote

 I mean there are DS virtual console games on the WiiU are there not?  

And to answer your other question, yes, the Wii U virtual library did include some DS games.  I only ever bought 2 or 3, but I remember Yoshi's Island DS worked with it really well.  

Nothing major.  Of course, I've dropped a few games over the years, and of course some of those were in jewel cases, so I don't have to tell you what happened there.  

Just now, Nugfish said:

The employees at the Gamestop nearest me typically ask what I've been playing and it usually goes like this:

Me - This last week, I put a couple hours into Gun.Smoke and Kickle Cubickle. Really good games that nobody really talk about...

GS employee - Ya, no doubt...I've been playing (insert indie anime title her)...

Me - Ya, sure...

 

I'd rather not have to go through that awkward exchange

If you want a conversation like that at any of my local GameStops, you would need to initiate that conversation.  

Obviously it's going to be different in stores all across the country, but every conversation I've ever had at a GameStop has gone like this:

• GS Employee:  Hi.  Can I help you find anything today?
• Me:  No, I'm just looking.
• GS Employee:  OK.  Let me know if you need anything.

I don't think that's too bad.  And this applies to the 5 or 6 stores that I visit throughout the year.  

56 minutes ago, arch_8ngel said:

SML 3 is definitely better than SML 2, in terms of the novelty of the powers/hats, while being a fairly even trade on level design and still being at the "cramped" graphical form factor.

I think SML3 is also better balanced.  It starts out easy and progressively gets more difficult.  SML 2 is pretty easy all around (probably due to the fact that you can select any world in any order) and then the difficult jumps up to 11 for the final castle/boss.  

I also always enjoyed the replay value in SML3 in trying to get better and better endings.   

1 hour ago, captmorgandrinker said:

My own contribution-

Some time ago, I was in IT support at a bank.    There was a lady there that lived somewhere near me, because I would occasionally see her at the gas station near my house.

A few years after I had moved on from that job, she asked my friend that still worked there for my number, because her computer at home was having issues and she wanted me to work on it.   Keep in mind I didn't advertise doing this kind of work "on the side" like some guys do, and I only knew her from passing while I was at the bank in the first place.

He tried explaining to her that he didn't think I did that kind of stuff on the side, and if I did I would likely be very expensive.   She said "well, we can talk about that", which is also an instant no from me.   She kept pestering him any time she saw him until he flat out told her that he talked to me and I was way too busy to do anything on the side.

 

As an accountant, I get a lot of people who assume I would love to do their taxes for them (for free too).  Funny thing is that the vast majority of accountants have very little tax experience.  I do my own taxes, but I won't touch anyone else's outside of family, and even then, I'll just push them in the right direction.  I won't do everything for them.  

1 hour ago, arch_8ngel said:

SML 1 has the novelty of the submarine and airplane levels.

That counts for a lot.

SML 2 has a lot of level design novelty going for it as well, but the "large character" design that was in favor by that point makes the screen really cramped compared to SML 1.

I agree with every word in this post.  But I still feel that SML 3 is the most fun overall.  

1 hour ago, RH said:

I have to say, I was surprised at how really great that game was (and the original probably is too) for a single-screen style of platformer.

I was always put off by the simplistic look of the original DK and didn’t even give this game a chance.  Then, in middle school, a buddy let me borrow a few of his games and this was one.  I popped it in out of bordem and after a few stages I was hooked.  I returned all of his games and that was the one I asked to keep until I best it.  I don’t know what the secret sauce was but Nintendo made a great puzzle platformer and I’m usually not into those types of games

I always feel that it gets over looked and very few people seem to talk about that game or any of the sequels in the series.  But I love all of them.  

On 12/20/2019 at 10:32 AM, BriGuy82 said:

So if you were gonna pick between Super Mario Land 1 or 2 it would the 2nd one? I think I'm gonna try to keep it to one game per series. 

I honestly think Mario Land 3 is the best of the series on the Game Boy.  I mean, sure you don't play as Mario, but it's still the most fun.

The 1994 Donkey Kong game is definitely at the top of my list.  All of the Mario Land games are certainly on there as well.  Even though I never played Link's Awakening, I loved the remake enough that I could enjoy the original on the Game Boy if I had no other console to play.  Of course Tetris is a must.  As a kid, I loved Kirby's pinball, but for some reason as an adult, I can't play it at all.  Maybe with enough practice, I could get good at it again.  

No, certainly no argument.  I also much prefer to play games on TVs rather than handheld.  But at the end of the day, anything that the Switch can't handle due to control issues (requiring a second screen), the 3DS should be able to handle.  therefore, there is no reason why they can't port any major game from the Wii U to either the Switch (first choice) or the 3DS (second choice) or both.  It's kind of sad, the the Wii U will probably be COMPLETELY obsolete pretty soon (it's 95% obsolete now).

12 minutes ago, captmorgandrinker said:

That was the worst part about owning a pickup truck in my 20s.

Since this was my Dad's story, this was back before anyone besides contractors owned a pickup truck.  He was asked to help move because he owned a full size station wagon (which could haul more than most pickup trucks).  

Have you considered flash carts?  It might help you own multiple consoles, but still remain minimalistic.  If you don't want more than 4 consoles at a time, maybe you can keep the unused consoles boxed up in storage.  When you get the urge to play that console, you can set it up and play it for a few days or weeks before boxing it back up.  If you combine this with flash carts, you don't need a bunch of games around either.  You can still buy and collect your favorite games for each console, but if you limit yourself to x number of games per console, the flash cart will still allow you to play just about any game you don't have.  Every console you mentioned has some type of flash cart or SD card reader available on the market.