Messages

1

Off Topic / Re: What Was The Last Movie/Anime You Watched?

« on: April 18, 2026, 07:22:34 pm »

Melania - Shallow, sycophantic and absent a single unguarded moment, melania is a near two-hour infomercial disguised as a documentary. It does nothing that a sloppy campaign ad on network TV doesn't do, it's like a skippable ad that you can't skip. And extremely tone deaf and boring.  And that's me attacking it with no bias. I just like learning.  I want documentaties to give insight into the person. I'll watch a documentary on anyone or anything. This is very dull surface level propaganda.  I walk away empty.


the basketball diaries - Basketball diaries is a true story based on the life of Jim Caroll. A man of many professipns who comes from a troubled past. The movie is a reflective transparent look into his life of drug addiction and excess. And the 2nd half of this film perhaps portrays the nasty, debilitating struggles of addiction.  As someone who comes from one of the Opioid capitals of America and see addiction in my friends, and even family. Leonardo Dicarprio perhaps paints that somber portrait of self destruction better than anyone. It's terribly moving.

2

General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2026!!!

« on: April 12, 2026, 08:16:14 pm »

I found out last week I'm getting laid off from a job I've had for 8 years.. (4/10/26) [39/50]

  I know it's not much, but I am really sorry this has happened. Seeing you around these forums for as long as I have.  Feels pretty devastating to know this happened to you. Or anyone. I swear the world just keeps bleeding the good decent people for the benefit of monsters or Greed or AI. It feels like every time I wake up Its like majoras mask or something.. where it feels like you are running against the clock or preparing for an impending doom which can come in like 20 different forms.   


The game I always play when I'm sad or defeated is tetris for whatever reason. Like affairs, financial troubles, breakups and fights. I find myself zoning out to tetris. It's so good at numbing my brain I feel. Like I just get lost in it.  That sweet Russian Hymn, the iconic repetition.   Games have a wonderful way of making everything else feel normal for a bit. It's medicinal in ways.


I really hope good news comes your way soon bikingjahuty!

3

General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2026!!!

« on: April 08, 2026, 02:04:30 pm »

RECENTLY ABANDONED GAMES

1. Microsoft Flight Simulator 2025

I was heavily disappointed with my experience of this game.  The game uses a flawed and outdated version of Bing maps. I wish Microsoft would have swallowed pride and done better. I was under the impression that albeit poorly textured. The game had rendered cities across America.  The cities are worse than PS2 fidelity and missing so many geographical landmarks that my city doesn't look nor feel like flying over my city even in a polygon PS1 world. It ruins immersion and is fairly trash. Wish I didn't pay launch price for this. If anyone wants it for cheap or trade for some 20 dollar game. Hmu 


2. Halo 2

Again I feel like I'm kicking someone's grandfather lol. But it is shocking to me that the king of first person shooters doesn't have an allocated aim mechanic.  I remember loving this game as a kid. I know it's a fan favorite.  The plot hasn't gripped me and the aiming system is very dated versus modern fps. It hasn't aged well Imo


3. Cyborg Justice

I may return to this one. The concept of ripping the enemies arms off is cool and novel. And it has epic soundtrack. Is fairly customizable too. But I suck badly at this game. Like it's so brutally hard. 

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General / Re: April 2026 - Recently added to collection/recently purchased

« on: April 07, 2026, 11:52:46 pm »

Finally have been toning back on buying which I hope to stick to an under 700 dollar monthly allowance. I will definitely be slower.  Which is essential for my impulse control.

But I have repaired my ps2 slim.  I fully refurbished its board. New ribbon cable.  New top shell. New power button pcb board. Full contact cleaner spray down of the pcb. Works like a quiet little dream now.  And all its common failure points are replaced.


I also was forced to get a monster brand s video cable for my OG Xbox since the OEM one is being a diva and flickering.

I also got a White Japanese PS2 Slim.  With a controller importing from Osaka for only 70 bucks.


And super monkey ball banana mania I think its called for Switch.


Now I will probably not buy anymore this month.

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General / Re: Do you still prefer physical games or digital?

« on: April 07, 2026, 11:48:39 pm »

Oh absolutely, I don't consider digital games tangible products and I don't seek them over physical ever.  I am not saying I don't buy them because the convenience certainly gets me from time to time.  And some deals are just simply worth it as a rental.  Like 5 dollars for borderlands 3 or something. 5 dollars can't get me a bag of chicken nuggets. So it doest bother me. So I do it out of laziness or cheapness. But it is definitely like comparing an nft to a rembrandt.  A one night stand to a good healthy marraige.  I love the feeling of holding a piece of art. Although the qjality of the case and what is included has become laughably bad over the years. It's still a piece of tech that will most likely outlive the system that plays it.


Perhaps this website is a very tilted place to ask this considering it's made of mostly physical game collectors lol.  But I also echo everyone here.  Team physical!

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Off Topic / Re: What Was The Last Movie/Anime You Watched?

« on: April 07, 2026, 10:23:51 pm »

Project Hail Mary - One of the most ambitious films in recent memory. It bites off a lot but manages to chew it. Also one of the most extraordinary and realistic depictions of space and isolation of interstellar travel I've watched. This movie proves that cinema still has fresh concepts or at least old concepts done in a fresh way.


Raging Bull - A window into the troubled and violent life of Jake LaMotta. When his ex wife was asked if he was really that bad as depicted in the film she answered no. "You were worse".  Some gripping acting scenes throughout for sure. It also let's itself breathe. It doesn't insist upon itself.

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2026!!!

« on: April 07, 2026, 03:00:56 pm »

25. The Simpsons Wrestling [PS1] - finished - April 5th, 2026




THIS GAME GETS WAY TOO MUCH FLACK


I remembered this game being hated by all kinds of influencers but I was unaware that IGN literally gave this game a 1 out of 10. Which is not surprising considering that the integrity of that company just is abysmal. But it's unfair a tad. I'd like to play lawyer or devil's advocate to the game today lol.  Is The Simpsons Wrestling a technical tribute of puzzle solving interconnected within a flushed out picture perfect fighting game like Punchout is? No. It's not Tekken 3. But sometimes it seems the sheer amount of hatred this game gets is perhaps overblown and I dare say hive minded from the opinions of YouTubers who are not only critical of this game but all Simpson's IP games or just go in ready to hate games based on other media. I get the criticisms but not the amount or direction of some of them. I played it unbiasedly. I am not even that huge on the fighting game genre. I don't know what people are seeing with this one. Maybe it's me and that's fine. But I will lay out the reasons why the game is not a 1. And why I feel it's a worthy addition to a backlog.

Perhaps a show as idealogically stimulating and revolutionary as The Simpsons was, maybe the expectations are set higher.  But if i'm being honest.  The game is labeled as this unintriguing dumpster fire of shovelware slop that has no depth and broke controls.  Considering each character has it's own individual powers and specialities, considering each character is voiced and includes catch phrases, and factoring that there are multiple changing challenges within the matches themselves already makes the game worth a play. And imo it's totally servicable.  To say a game can have all that yet be a 1 is just lazy reviewing imo. And it annoys me a bit.  Disliking a game heavily and calling it a 1/10 are two different things.  Parappa the rapper is just as broken if not more mechanically (I say much more) and just as limited in depth yet is revered. But I will give the game it's fair just dues from my own subjective POV.  Keep in mind. I may be the only human who likes the game. Maybe it's like the movie Shalllow Hal where I am seeing beauty in the ugly.

THE MEAT AND POTATOES


You have 3 championship tournaments to enter.  One unlocks the next. The first is the new comers challenge which then evolves into more major titles and the defenders cups ect.  You pick your favorite Simpson... for me that was the loveable Lisa. And you just go match to match kicking wholesale Springfield ass. Now what is striking is that the game has unique character abilities that are pretty cute and novel.  Barney the local bar fly wields an encompassing noxious belch that essentially provides a toxic film over the ring that continuously hurts the opponet like a poison status effect in pokemon.  During matches special items enter the ring.  Collect all 5 letters of the word TAUNT and you can then taunt your opponet which creates invincibility cloak. Then some food items have aggrandizing health effects that boost your life to handle more blows.  Which is cool. I found myself leaving combat to seek the letters to try to gain upper hand. That's literally rpg elements. 


Most of the fights can be won by trampolining off an opponets head over and over which is an actual strat that opponets also try so it's canon to what the devs intended. I would call this a broken part of the game but some characters intentionally defend against it by jumping when you jump or have outside forces to stop you. Pogo pouncing, it feels a lot like a wacky mall arcade. The physics are essentric. But there. The game functions.

Then you also get a special attack which is powered by your special meter. In Lisa's case this was biting the opponets arm and you can keep chewing until the enemy fully depeltes their counter meter by mashing shoulder buttons which is the same way you kick out of a pin. Thumb tapping serenity becomes adreanline when you play in the tougher levels.


Characters like Mr. Burns has a sort of outsider effect where he will throws nukes into the ring to hurt you. Makes for a challenging match againt his butler Smitthers.


So 1/10 equates a unplayable game with not a single good thing to it's credit.

1. Actual Voice Acting
2. RPG Elements
3. Unique Character Abilities
4. Unlockables and strategy based fighting
5. Challenging difficulty and Accurate levels

The cons

The pin mechanics seem ugly or forced which they can be. The hit boxes arent perfect sure. And the graphics are a little blocky and ugly even for the time.  So with all that said. A 4 or 5 minimum would be fair. But the game just isnt as bad as the consensus. Most haven't played it objectively and I will die on that hill lol.  I found a lot to enjoy here. It's even worth a laugh or two like Lisa quoting the philosopher "Homer" which is a bit profound retrospectively.


The thing is fairly rad tbh. The Alvin to my Theodore, a damn buddening sand pit pal from yesteryear that was abused by it's peers but ended up giving you his milk at lunch time. But I don't feel nostalgia goggles are causing my skew in opinion. It's far more quality than I was told. I have played much worse simpsons games and definitely much worse IP shovelware. Much worse beloved PS1 software.  Simpson's Wrestling has it's dull repetitions and mundane difficulty curve that can definitely frustrate. It is clunky at times. But it's also a cute arcade style fan fare packed Jelly donut where the jelly is the fun lol. The game actually surprised me.

Rating - 67/100

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2026!!!

« on: April 04, 2026, 12:34:38 pm »

24. Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest [SNES] - finished - March 27th, 2026




"Don't be K.Rool. Girl Id Never Be that K.Rool to you" - Bobby Brown


Donkey Kong Country 2 is a masterpiece, it is also the hardest platformer I have ever beaten. I didn't know going in that it was constantly mentioned among difficulty giants like Super Ghouls and Goblins on people's top 10 lists for hard SNES games but halfway through I quickly realized that we are dealing with a different beast than the first game. Packed with tons of new ambitious power ups, level gimmicks and systems to master. It truly gives you a world of adventure in just 50mb of grey plastic housed software.  And for it's difficult journey it rewards you with jest, mockery and beratement. Oh the glory days of Nintendo.


Where as most of the game derives it's challenge in exciting and adreanline thumping ways. Some of the levlels garner is from abuse. Web woods is an outlier In that the level web woods, the game sets you upon the mighty endeavor of using a red spider with tiger stripes on it's ass to build webs to traverse around enemies small and large.  Sounds fair enough in concept. But it is something I'd liken to chinese water torture with how mundane and repetitive it is. For whatever reason it is one of the longest, most tedious and annoying levels in donkey kong country history. Not deriving it's challenge from adrenaline pumping tests of pure skill and reactionary wit. But instead it's this long winded, blindsiding nonsensical grabasstic bafoonery level that garners it's challenge from being annoying and unfair. It really did a whole lot to kill my mood coming into the final leg of the game. But it humbles you to slap you back awake with insane pace in future levels. This level was where beating it felt like a triumph of attention span rather than skill. It's rage bait. It really is.  To put random npcs in sky fall locations that the player can't see or possibly predict AFTER about 20 minutes of shooting webs. So unless you can predict the next 7 wavelengths of the future to know exactly what the game intends to throw at you. You die. You die. Over and over. It Is cringe.  To make webs that were just fired disappear yet ones that have been around for 20 seconds stay makes it hard to find a pattern to the spiders abilities. It feels reactionary to spite you. And I'd prefer solid rng.  It was a brutal level where Diddy and Dixie arent even playable through most of it. Truly it's annoying.  It's a miracle I even stuck it out.

But what is left after the ashes of insanity. Is fun.  Pure unadulterated fun.  The same fun pilots must have felt using untameable jet aircraft in the prototype phases of aviation.  It's living on the edge when you play the game.  Yes it is hard. But when you finally conquer it or learn it's levels. It feels like you are worthy.  Like you made something happen. You are no longer a product of the games environment. The game's environment is a product of you.  These thorn sequences where you get like 1 nano meter, 1 8th of a nat's testicles to traverse. It feels so good when you nail it. It's rewarding in that design and 98 percent of its challenge is never at the expense of fun.  It keeps the fun at the forefront.  And for that I admire it. Because i'm typically not one for brutal games but this series is Rareware at their best pumping out pure gold.


BOSSES AND MUSIC


The main advantage 2 has over 1 is the bosses.  The bosses are deliciously entertaining this time around. The patterns so varied. The ideas so fresh and cute.  Some bosses are defeated by tossing items into specific hit areas to cause the boss damage. This is stereotypical 90s game stuff. Some are beaten by jumping atop classic style.  Some are flying, some are racing, some are firing canon balls. But most of all. ALL of these bosses are drenched in these vicious noises, soundtracks and effects that feel like a real collosal movie sequence.  The music really pumps you up.  Some real John Williams level stuff.  From monotone ghoulish tones, to these energetic redbull adreanline peaking guitar rifts everytime Dixie finishes a level. It's rock n roll. It's 90s. It's sex and Camaros. The whole thing is BAD ASS. Truthfully. I think it's much better than the first game in all of these regards. And that's a tall act to follow.


DIXIE


Ah, our beloved Dixie. What would we do without her. Die 2000 more times most likely lol.  Dixie is a new addition. Diddy Kong's main squeezes.  Her head is a helicopter essentially. Pony tail carries you in a float for far further than any other characters jump. Think Peach's float ability in Mario games. It's like that. And in some of the trickier sequences. It makes up so much ground. It allows for more precise navigating mid air. And it looks so cool.  Having 2 similar sized characters was a daring and bold move coming of donkey and diddy tag teaming as the classic "brute/speedster" combo.  This was a refreshing change of pace. 


DIDDY


Diddy however is made to be essential so brilliantly by the developers.  Diddy scales ropes faster, has a slightly smaller hit box so he can jump between barage attacks more accurately and hes faster in general. Jumps higher. So in speed or rope climbing sequences. He is usually the best bet. And dixie takes the back burner. This was a brilliant way of making the more overpowered character not take over the entire game.  So smart to design the levels to challenge each of the two characters.  You can feel where and why the devs intend you to swap. And you almost always are inclined to do so.  I love that both of these two contrast beautifully and both are needed.  In the end despite Dixie's hair powers being so praised by the community.  I am unsure which character I ended liking more.


Diddy Kong quest is a stained glass window to peer into a simpler and more magestic time of platformers. It is one of the best games of the franchise but tough as absolute nails.  Be warned.

Rating - 91/100

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Modern Video Games / Re: Report: PS6 2029 | Switch 2 price increase soon?

« on: March 30, 2026, 04:28:37 pm »

Yep, this was coming with all the news about chip shortages last year. A big part of the reason I finally bought a PS5 this most recent Black Friday.

As for Switch 2, they are apparently cutting production of new consoles by 30%. Nintendo commented on it but didn't necessarily deny it.

Yeah, this PS5 news has me ready toget a Swtlitch earlier than I planned just to avoid a potential price increase.

it was bound to happen, all the negative rep with key cards, high prices and not the greatest games will do that to a console not to mention them adapting some of the bad new stuff from other consoles ain't helping either.

too many negatives few positives.

Honestly at this point, because of all the things you listed and more. 100 percent agree. I'm more in the crowd of just skipping this gen altogether.  To buy one to beat upcoming price hikes to me which I thought of... is like trying to buy a diamond before the market goes up to propose to an abusive spouse. It's rushing to nothing imo. An anti consumer company weaponizing nostalgia and living strictly off fomo. It's to gaming today what Atari 5200 was to 1983's game crash. With not much "missing out" of the fomo being there.  Every person I know who bought one regrets it. To me I just don't see what is being offered that either hasn't already been done 20x, or is better than the previous generation in any regard.   It's sad to say but we are void of innovation.  This is a very bad time to be a gamer.  Retro is exorbitant in price. Modern is vultures seeking AI gains, and maximum greed.


I have no doubts in my mind we are going to see a gaming industry crash weather big or small within the next 15 years. GTA 6 is going to isolate so much of the player base into spending complacensy. Nintendo has already chopped production by 33 percent.  The only people buying switch 2 are resellers and people with expendable income.  The great gaming crash of 83 had all the same warning signs.  Oversaturation of derivative material.  Insane pricing that priced out middle america in the hopes of appealing to the affluent.  Recessions, wars and government mandates. Economical turmoil. Not to mention inflation. Now we have the AI bubble. And to top it all off and worst of all. Lack of innovation.  Absolutely decimated the market.  And it was booming to the likes nobody had seen.

I suppose i'm no future teller but who is going to buy a PS6? Lol.  It sounds goofy.  Like Xbox 720 and Okama Gamesphere. It's just parody at this point.   Switch 2 got off to a hot start but they don't break records with switch 1 by selling to us. They make it by selling to kids and broke college gen z kids during pandemic stimulation. It is marketed expensively, seriously, has terrible PR and predatory practices and it'll die because of it.   I have no doubts if Nintendo suffers Playstation does too because they follow their moves rather than counter them     I've never seen a worse gen since my birth.

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Modern Video Games / Re: Report: PS6 2029 | Switch 2 price increase soon?

« on: March 27, 2026, 05:04:23 pm »

I work in an industry that is very adjacent to the boom in AI adoption, and it's absolutely disgusting how much greed is fueling all this. CEOs and executive teams are frothing at the mouth over all this and they speak with glee about replacing large percentages of their workforce and investing in thousands of new data centers. They simply do not care how much this is decimating certain industries, all they see is massive dividends for themselves and their shareholders.

It's really crazy how bad it is and how there has to be a bubble to burst, which might be happening now with some recent happenings, because it seems like everything to do with AI and these tech giants, is just this circular money pit.  One company invests in another company or builds upon their own, funneling money around which looks great for shareholders and people with stock, but it's all being done with no actual profit or product being.  No jobs are being created, jobs are being loss, and these services make jack squat in terms of money made.  I think it was OpenAI where it was shown that operating costs were in the billions, but they were only making a couple hundred million.  The only people making money are at the top and now almost the entire tech industry is being ruined because of it.  It's insane.

I'm glad I got my PC built in 2024 (My RAM quadrupled its price from when I bought it) and I still have my PS5, but I was considering getting a Switch 2 or VR headset this year and I might have to think about doing that more quickly just to avoid price increases that are bound to happen, when I was sitting here waiting on a sale to happen to maybe save a few bucks on either lol

Although i'm not directly involved in AI, I work and am a shareholder in tech adjacent companies. My entire finanicals depends a lot on these swings and sectors and boy am I getting my ass handed to me.  Trust me it's far worse than it appears.  The silver bubble already popped and the government is artificially stimulating it by revolving door buyouts from treasuries. It hit 110 an ounce for silver and has dropped like 40 percent.  If something like that happens to the stock market that fast.  We have a great depression folks.   And we teeter totter.  Now i'm not saying were depression bound but we are most certainly experiencing a mini crash right now.  Amazon logistics side of their business is intentionally using leverage to strangle brick and mortalr. Inflation, the gold standard, the bubble of AI boom, food shortages, wars it's all unsustainable and you are correct that there are big shakers revolving money around to artificially balloon their companies in hopes people hype buy and it can buy them market dominance.  AI is mostly fake hype. It's not real. It's not really a tangible assett. It's an illusion. Just like cryptocurrency.


What is far more likely to happen is a lot of companies are going to die, and with so many people being replaced by AI employment, its gonna cause major famine, supply and demand issues.  I'm already being swallowed by it and its only the tail of this hurricane.  I hope i'm wrong. I hope were all wrong. But this AI stuff is bad bad news.


On a lighter note, 900 dollars for a PS5 pro is the funniest thing ive heard since my first time seeing a Chapelle stand up.  How high will the prices go and how low will quality dip before consumers back away entirely and the entire gaming industry collapses? Atari didnt think it would happen either. But it did.

11

Modern Video Games / Re: Nintendo announces physical games will cost more

« on: March 27, 2026, 11:28:48 am »

Gaming is quickly becoming a hobby for the affluent. It may survive this gen off early scalper sales alone but the current model is unsustainable.  When Mr. Iwata passed away. Sadly the company lost the plot.  He was always the one to wrangle them back in.  Keep consumers at the forefront. When PS2 said 400.  Gamecube said 200.  When PS3 said 600. Wii said 300.  Switch 1 was a beautiful funeral for gaming because it followed Iwata's idealogies and they didn't lose the plot. We got to see the beauty of a company that was struggling basically begging us for another chance. Wii U was a disaster and they had to impress us.  They had to be cheaper, better, newer, quicker.  One mistake could have spelt their companies death.  But now?  They are so full they dont have to worry if we feed them.  They will make more from their themepark and the mario galaxy movie then probably 33 percent of the switch 2's lifespan. Their competition is so far behind and also sucking that they have no fear. But let's be real.  It'll never be 2016 again.  In any form of anything but especially games.  Some mornings it feels like i'm the guy playing the violin as the titanic sinks.  Millions are feeling that.  Movies, music, games, marketing, commercials, food, prices.  It's all gone.  Dystopian almost. 



Digital key cards? Companies sending radio waves to brick your system if you do what they dislike? Suing gamers for playing games on camera?  Charging 70 dollars for Super Mario World on gamecube? Repacking last gen pretending its worth next gen pricing? Stick drift? 100 dollars for costumes in game? Online only? Signing contracts that allow the company to own the console you paid for in perpetuity? Imagine saying this to some guy in blockbuster in 1995. Itd sound like Dystopia to them.  Because it is.  I blame the consumer though. Wallet speaks, company bows.

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2026!!!

« on: March 26, 2026, 01:39:36 pm »

23. Starfox 64 [N64] - finished March 24th, 2026




GREAT THINGS COME IN SMALL PACKAGES


Starfox 64 was directed by the great Shigeru Miyamoto and produced as this glorious rail shooter with 3D video-scopic 3rd person POV.  It is technically great and visually ahead of it's time. But brevity and a short run time certainly leave you feeling like you had a rendezvous with a very beautiful person who didn't think you deserved a 2nd date... a lot of the excellence of it's technical prowess and level design was cut short it seems. And at my age and attention span? That's perfectly fine with me.


The game takes place through varying planets in a galactic solar system where you team up with Falco, Skippy, and the pig to chase after intergalactic villains that were responsible for the death of your dad. And they make no reservations about that being the reality either. With countless times sitting around and saying "you're gonna die just like your daddy" and other sinister stuff this cast of true pricks manage to muster up.  I honestly have never heard a video game characters father be desecrated post mordem this much.  Why do Fox so bogus?  But either way you spend the entirety of the game traveling to distant planets on the Arcadia such as Titania.  These barren sandstorm planets, gas giants, earth like worlds and all in between battling galactic starship, monsters and all kinds of epic space fare. It feels really 64 Bit for whatever that is worth.

The SNES starfox was also a technical juggernaut. Making use of the systems full video fx chip. The N64 version seems to push the N64's hardware capabilities to the max with these lush 60fps flying sequences, lazers. It looks likeba sexier 3D Zaxxon on steroids.

Fox's spaceship has many maneuvers that you can master. From corkscrew (the spaceship spins like a barrel roll) and then the U Turn where the space ship can reverse course on an angle which is most useful for pursing enemies that are tailing you.  It is very much like an arcade game. And the game is designed and centered around playing for high score and branching paths like a cockpit arcade game at the mall.  Fully featuring a tron style spaceship aim cursor and epic lazer effects.  Graphically and frame wise it handles well and is a fully fleshed out flying game.


I guess my only issue with it, is it ends quicker than a Kim Kardashian relationship. It feels like all the effort they put into making the game so intricate to master is wasted by simply being such a little spectacle. The final boss feels like a mid game boss because of this. It's a grain of sand.  No matter how perfect a grain of sand is. It falls short of being a beach. But surprisingly my craving for brevity makes me enjoy that about it. But I can't imagine the average gamer especially at the time paying 40+ for this game could honestly say this game gave moneys worth.  It's shorter than most movies. And also because of this. It feels like so much of It's climatic cinema is just left without substance.  It could have tripled it's run time and been even better.   And while it does gave replayability with branching methods of beating it. It is just boiled down to the same overall looping level grid.


The few bosses it does have are typically killed by locating weak spots and the final boss in particular was extremely memorable and entertaining. As Nintendo has mastery of doing.


The game certainly needed more meat on the bone. But it was damn good meat for what was there to eat....


Rating - 86/100

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General / Re: Older consoles or handhelds that you regret sleeping on when they were modern

« on: March 25, 2026, 04:27:05 pm »

I don't think I ever slept on a console per say, maybe it's a benefit of having 3 brothers and a gamer dad but I always had access to gamecube, ps2 and original xbox. PS1. NES. I owned all 3 at one point as a kid. NES was part of my life.  I suppose if I am going to say a console I regret missing out on collecting for or playing would have to be something that just wasn't in my realm.

And i'd say that console is the Sega Dreamcast.   I mean even today. I've owned it for 15 years and maybe played it once. It's that off the radar for me. I don't know where to jump in with it.  And as I stated. I had the other 3 of its competitors and formed much deeper bonds with each of them.  So it's like the ugly duckling or the oprhan sister lol. 


But I will say I did sleep on the PS3.  But not because I didnt like it. I just was an xbox fanboy for decades and at that time gaming became more secular. And like picking factions.  PS3 is now my 2nd most collected console and I love it. But I still wouldnt say I slept on it.  It just replaced 360 for me. Both are equal in 1st party content and 3rd party content imo. 


So dreamcast id say. Still always dreamcast. 

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2026!!!

« on: March 19, 2026, 06:50:06 pm »

26. Exit 8

A quick download and about an hour or so later, another game is complete. I love games with a simple and engaging concepts like this. Other than some of the anomalies being hard to point out, this game really delivers with its simplicity. It's also eerie as hell. Something about complete silence in a Tokyo subway hall is unnerving. Then, toss in an Eternal Darkness-esque type of effect and you're left running the opposite direction. I can see myself going through this again just to see the other anomalies.

I beat and reviewed this game last year and it really is this superliminal creepy vibe that I loved. The seemingly endless void of a tokyo subway was unsettling but I did want to say the Sequel "Platform 8" is as creepy or creepier and also worth a look imo if you already enjoy exit 8.  It has a similar premise but different execution if I remember correctly. It was sometimes finding anomolies but a lot of also figuring out what to do given a certain circumstance. I remember it making me very uneasy.    Really cool indie games.

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2026!!!

« on: March 18, 2026, 09:08:56 am »

22. The Simpsons Game [PS3] - finished March 17th, 2026





SPRINGFIELD'S PUZZLE PLATFORMER IS A "WOOHOO" AND NOT A "DO'H"


Perhaps the funniest Simpson's episode since the launch of the Simpson's Movie comes in the form of a quirky action platformer with puzzle elements. It is a window into that perfect transition era between CRT and HD.  And ushered in a new Era of Simpsons gaming. And it hits far more than it misses.  It also just hit me.  We really havent gotten a Simpsons game since.  What gives? Lol.


"What about when Xbox 720 and Playstation 4 release. We'll be the obsolete game then".  Ah little Lisa. How wrong you are on all counts lol. They'll always be a nerd to play the old stuff. It is jokes and humor like this that not only transport me to the time period of pre 2010s gaming (pre retro boom) but also self aggrandizing the franchise itself.   The plot centers around exactly what I have been referencing. The simpsons game is a game about games themselves. It all begins when Bart finds a strategy guide for the simpsons game (complete with EA branding and picture accurate cover art) and becomes sentient to the fact that he's in a video game. The more he interacts with levels the more he begins to effect the game engine and cause issues with the actual springfield where he lives. All 4 of the family members constantly breaking the 4th wall. Referencing the "creator" of the game. It's actually extremely Meta and thought provoking because the plot of a self aware game character enslaved by human imput has always fascinated me. It feels a lot like being God or something which has major emphasis on the games story as creator is synonymous with Both Matt Groening and God himself.

The game gets great mileage from it's self slander. And even poking fun at some of the more overused video game cliches while also using those same cliches.  Things like "enemy portals" and "pressure pads" and "double jump" are collectible cliches in which the loveable comic book guy is quick to tell you that your game is unoriginal as shit lol.   It's cute and fun.   And if you encounter a gaming cliche it is saved to view later as a hidden collectible.

The game even references other Simpsons games. Matt Groening saying "I didnt know they'd suck. I promise. If I did id never have put you on those cheesy grey squares. Id have licensed your faces out to dolls, plushies, socks, novelty underwear, backpacks, board games, and towels exclusively" I said the quote non verbatim but basically it's self aware on the hit or miss nature of simpsons games. The gameboy games being commercial critical failures and much more.  It is a fun insight into not only how the company was percieving this release (treading on muddy waters of medicority) but also in Matt Groenings sense of humor. I always love an artist who can laugh at himself.


The game's levels are pretty exciting and vibrant. One that stands out is the iconic homer based eating contest level as it makes the most use of Bart and Homers powers. Each character has upgradable powers. To what extent they can be upgraded is very limited and up to the games discretion but it's still great nonetheless. I personally find Lisa to be OP.  The depth of the game exists in its puzzles.  Lisa may need to move a platform to create a bridge ect.  Simple Ps and Qs kinda stuff.

Lisa - has the ability to transform into a methodical monk of cosmic properties using Hinduism to levitate blocks telephatically moving things to traverse landscapes and make the game possible at all.  When not doing that she can charge music itself to use a saxophone tornado to brainwash enemies to fight along her side but also shred them to bits to hypercharge blue eco which allows her to tornado again. It almost seems like she's a damn Wizard.


Homer - Eats grub to replenish his special meter which allows him to morph into a ball, a blob that shoots green projectiles and he can also inhale helium that allows him to inflate to higher platforms.  Homer is also very cool in moveset.  The homer ball can slam and bash through crowds of enemies. 


Bart - bartman makes up most of his special abilities. He can cape his way to long distances and essentially float. And he can slingshot a giant ball into enemies knocking them like bowling pins and the holiday lanes.


Marge - Political propaganda. She's Joseph Stalin.  Using power of spoken rhetoric to form mobs that do her bidding.  It's probably the hardest of the moves to master and I find her levels to be most repetitive and boring.  Marge's entire premise is to stop the famous game

GRAND THEFT SCRATCHY


This alone causes alot of 4th wall breakage, funny puns and humor centered around video game violence and hypocrisy as a whole. 


But overall I disagree with the sentiment that the game functions better as a epsiode of the simpsons than it does a simpsons game. I had a lot of fun with the colorful worlds within the springfield which also is loaded with collectibles to find.  The enemies, bosses and overall depth of the thing is vast for licensed game based on a tv adult cartoon.  It's extremely hilarious and a sentimental piece of when I used to bond with my brother over it.  It's the first Gen 7 game I ever played. So that will always have a place in my heart. That grows colder with age. And warmer with each shrink of the backlog.  Its a floating, balling, saxxing good time. And I really enjoy it!


Rating- 89/100