dartmonkey

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Posts posted by dartmonkey

  1. Posted

    Has anybody heard much about NES Maker? Essentially, it seems to be engine software a la Gamemaker that outputs Family BASIC that can be played on actual hardware via a flash cart. They just ran a kickstarter but you can still get the software and a cart for $88 at their store. There's something very attactive about being able to create something simple that actually runs on a NES connected to your TV.

  2. Posted

    Just watched the final episode of Discovery Season 1! It started slow, got much better, peaked around episode 12 and finished decently. Much of the writing was very TAB A > SLOT B but it had some nice ideas and more homages and fan references than I was expecting. Overall, much more good than bad. Shit, even the ship grew on me and I can now name 50% of the bridge crew. Saru really grew over the course of the season, and I hope the wider cast get a look in next time round. Robot lady FTW. Oh, and Jason Isaacs is great. No spoilers but I'm sure everyone in this thread will have a strong reaction to the end of the last episode. Brought a tear to my eye but I'm a wreck, mind. Looking forward to Season 2.

  5. Posted

    Yep, I've got a 4K TV on the list this year, but I just got a new laptop so it's going to be a while.

     

    It's tough because the original game was incredibly ambitious to the point where the PS2 couldn't handle it. I guess some people might argue that dropped frames actually helped convey the vastness of the world - 'wow it's so epic, the console can't take it, man!' - like how slowdown caused by explosions sometimes felt cool, in a Hollywood way. I don't think I agree with that but the original game worked with its limitations cleverly.

     

    At least multiple options exist: if you're a stickler, there's always the original; PS3 cleans up the fuzziness somewhat; PS4 reimagines it in 4K. Interestingly, USGamer have since published an article criticising the changes and the loss of atmosphere - they highlight the fog and lighting but go further. It's definitely different.

  6. Posted

    Thought this was probably the best place to post the Digital Foundry tech analysis of the new Shadow of the Colossus remake.

     

    I didn't realise it was a ground-up remake. It seems they've taken some delicate liberties with world geometry (moving trees, adding bumps and outcrops and detail) to modernise the game, but otherwise it looks very faithful. There's something about the foggy, bloom-esque light in the original which I personally think they could have captured more authentically - the 'fog' in the forest, for example, is scaled back dramatically and it really alters the atmosphere. It's not 'bad' - the foliage and the clarity are beautiful, but the tone is different and this game is all about tone.

     

    Regardless, the video shows the top-class job they've done, and it makes me want a PS4 Pro just to play ICO and this and Last Guardian.

  9. Posted

    11 hours ago, WeyounNumber6 said:

    I don't think I could have a more perfect first thread on Idle Thumbs.

    What would that be? I think it would need a jif.

     

    Waluigi, wearing MeUndies and riding a big dog, jumps over a Casper mattress, vomits a meme to the tune of The Nutcracker, looks at the camera - "Stay spicy, 20XX" - then gallops away before a grenade rolls down a hill and destroys them. "Threat a-neutralized!"

     

    :tup:

     

    Edit. Ok, that whole image of someone riding a big dog is giving me deja-vu. Did they talk about this or something similar on the podcast?

     

    On topic, is anybody using the backwards compatibility? I'm hoping to pick up a second-hand One S this year as 4K bluray player and I'm glad I'll be able to use it as a 360 too (sold mine years ago but kept the games.) It'll be nice having the ability to play Nuts & Bolts again, but does anybody actually use it?

  11. Posted

    I found this video essay discussing intertextual references in The Return - an interesting 15 min watch.

     

    The blu-ray isn't releasing until late-Feb here :) Has anybody got the Criterion edition of Fire Walk With Me? I've read that it's a great transfer and it's got a 2017 interview with Sheryl Lee. If I saw it for a good price, I'd pick it up. But it's tough to justify when I've already got the film in The Entire Mystery boxset.

     

    Also, I saw this little nod in Steamworld Dig 2:

     

  12. Posted

    A pretty packed 14 minutes.

     

    - Any reason to revisit Odyssey is good. The balloon thing looks limited, but it's free.

    - I've wanted to play The World Ends With You for years.

    - Dark Souls Remastered! Sources told Kotaku that the goal is to release the whole trilogy

     

    They're steadily getting through my pie-in-the-sky wishlist! -

    Rocket League:tup:

    Doom:tup:

    Inside:tup:

    Dark Souls 3/Dark Souls Trilogy:tmeh:

    Spelunky:tmeh:

    The Witness

    Firewatch

    Portal/2/Orange Box

    Undertale

    Downwell

    FTL

     

  13. Posted

    Thanks, I picked it up. And Thimbleweed Park and Thumper! Trying to tick off a few of my list.

     

    In ten months I've got nearly 30 games of various sizes on Switch. A couple of those are demos. Seems like a big number - I'm starting to think a 128gb SD card won't last the life of the system.

     

    Man - everyone's losing their minds! http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2018-01-11-nintendo-fans-spent-all-of-last-night-waiting-on-a-direct-announcement

  14. Posted

    10 hours ago, Cordeos said:

    Maybe its just because I watched TOS after seeing all of TNG, DS9 and VOY but I had a hard time finishing the series. There are only 3 or 4 episodes that I really enjoyed...

    I'm in a similar position. I'm about halfway through season 2 and I ended up watching seasons 1-3 of Voyager instead (which has had some real turkeys too.) I should go back and just finish it.

     

    Actually, the newest episode of Discovery made me want to go back. It was good! The story is moving nicely now, although the writing is still cumbersome. If anyone needs encouragement to get back into it, Jonathan Frakes directed the latest ep, Lorca's becoming a touch more Captainly (in the non-bastard tradition of other Capts) and there's a first glimpse of a ship we've seen before in Trek.

     

    And if you're a fan of Tilly, she gets some fun stuff to do.

  15. Posted

    There's a 'Nindies' Sale on for about a week at the moment, all 25-33% off. Some decent stuff, but I'm looking at Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime. Has anybody here played it? My wife and I have almost 100%ed Overcooked, have enjoyed Death Squared in spurts and I'm looking to itch scratch that couch co-op itch again. How would it go down with a novice who got super in to Overcooked?

  16. Posted

    Okay, Gorogoa report:

    it works great on Switch on the touchscreen. You can double tap to zoom in on on every square while the whole grid moveable to one side. On TV it's stick controlled with a cursor rather than pointer controlled. A little cumbersome but fine. I'd stick to playing undocked.

     

    Also, I'd recommend the Nintendo Power Podcast. It's Nintendo's own new podcast and the first episode has interviews with BotW devs. Lovely.

     

    Happy Holidays everyone X 

  19. Posted

    As an aside to the critiques, I realised last week that the title was in my head as a singular (e.g. Luke Skywalker is The Last Jedi) but canonically (very important!) it's plural (e.g. They are The Last Jedi.) I only noticed this because the Spanish title is Los Últimos Jedi and it shattered my perception things.

     

    /drama

     

    Languages are fun!

  21. Posted

    Finn's story is the weakest for me. He starts as the same desperate and selfish person he was in Force Awakens (laser-focussed on Rey to the point where he says 'fuck everyone else, I'll lie to everyone just so I can get to the base and rescue the girl I fancy') but without the background of fear and the drive to escape that justified his thoughtlessness back then. Here he finishes the movie just as he started it - with absolutely no regard for the bigger picture. It's Poe (showing his own shred of growth) who has to hold him back from running out onto the battlefield AGAIN to help Luke. He fits in with the theme of failure, but we haven't seen him learn from it.

     

    I think the film might have benefitted from reducing his screentime here and saving his arc for the next one, finally exorcising his First Order demons by confronting them, Star Wars-style, head-on in the form of Phazma. Or better yet, having Phazma captured and him having to interact with her, or even work with her.

     

    I guess that's still possible if Phazma returns. Would have been nice to give Finn some more development and free up some space in this one, though.

  23. Posted

    I think it has some really wonderful moments and lines. There's a strange tension where it feels baggy but it couldn't be made faster without removing the slower, meatier island bits. Finn's road trip is the obvious candidate for the cutting room but it sets up important things. Phazma could have waited until the next film and been given something meatier to do, I think. Maz's appearance and the whole lapel pin thing seemed superfluous. I suppose it's more enigmatic than just saying a Star Wars name - "Go find Elon Musk!"

     

    I thought Laura Dern was great but her character was really just a narrative tool for Poe's development. Ultimately I think Leia could have performed that function and taken her place.

     

    Everything with Snoke was wonderful. Some cracking CG, there. And I very much enjoyed the reclaiming of the word 'spunk'.

     

    I loved when Rey 'reached out' on the rock ("ooo the force is strong with you!") I thought Mark Hamill gave a really really top performance - he had A LOT to do and he melded all the weariness with humour and flashes of the Dagobah Luke we knew.

     

    I loved how Kylo's character was deepened. Obi-Wan's 'certain point of view' line really echoes with him and there's real and relatable complexity there.

     

    19 hours ago, BigJKO said:

     

      Hide contents

    I think the central theme is failure. Every storyline is centered around failure and how the characters struggle to learn something from their failures. 

     

    Poe fails over and over in his gung-ho planning (the film takes stupid shortcuts to get him to make that second plan, as has been pointed out) but fails again and again, actively harming the Resistance. Until he finally learns how to lead, not to some big, heroic victory but to safety.

     

    Rey fails to redeem Kylo or bring back the Jedi master to save the day, but learns that they don’t matter. The Skywalker lineage isn’t “The One!” 

    The Force, and hope with it, will come from “nobodys”, like her and a slave kid from Canto Bight.

     

    Finn And Rose’s story is undercooked, IMO, but they fail their mission, bringing the wrong codebreaker along, who betrays them and shows them that ultimately it might not even matter if they win today, it’s all business and money makers have no interest in peace. Finn takes the wrong, suicidal lesson from this, but Rose learns that it’s not worth fighting for revenge, but rather fighting to save your loved ones.

     

    Luke, burdened by the *big* failure of not believing in Kylo Ren when he needed it the most, shuts himself off from everything and stubbornly refuses to learn and let go.

     

    It was a film about deeply flawed characters making terrible decisions and losing almost everything because of it and that’s why I loved this movie.

     

    So basically, what Yoda said..

     

      Reveal hidden contents

     

    Yes, this is it exactly. EVERYONE fucks up. Obi-Wan does, Yoda does, Anakin does, Han, Leia, Ben, George(!) The movie hinges on the line from that one character. 

     

    If Force Awakens felt like a New Hope retread, this seemed like they'd crammed both Empire and Return of the Jedi in. And I know it was too long. But I liked it.

     

    Edit. Ooo, and one more thing! The music was a delight, as always, but I don't recall hearing a new theme while watching. It seemed like there was SO MUCH to reprise that there wasn't much space for anything new. I'm going to get the soundtrack today, but it did feel somewhat like a 'greatest hits'.

  24. Posted

    So I took the Wavebird apart, cleaned and reassembled it and it's fantastic (if you like the GC pad.) I've been playing Rebel Strike, which isn't so great. Everything in a vehicle is good and still looks decent now, but the on-foot sections are dull. Mash A until all stormtroopers are dead, run to next batch and repeat. However, it was worth getting just to play Atari arcade Star Wars, which is still fun over 30 years on.

     

    In other news, my N64 had a strop and wouldn't output video or audio, although it powered on. I googled possible causes. All of the connections are pretty immaculate so I was confident I wouldn't need alcohol and cotton buds. I tested the cables on a GameCube - all good. I pulled out the expansion pak and put in the original - no change. Then I read that reset buttons can get gunked up. I pressed it several times in a row, powered on again and - boom - we're in business. The button's clean though. Hmm.

     

    All in all, an N64 Mini would be the first of the Classic consoles I'd definitely pick up. I'm on the cusp of getting a new TV and even if the reset button holds up, it'll be a muddy mess on a 4K screen!

     

    I picked up F-Zero X a couple of weeks ago, replacing the cart I traded in years ago. I forgot just how balls-out metal it is! I got GX a while back too, though I haven't played it much. X feels much more precise to control for me. It feels like I can make much more subtle changes with the 64 analog stick vs the GameCube one.

     

    I put Yoshi's Story on too. After lovingly Woolly World, Story is a bit of a nightmare to go back to. I'm going to persevere because I hear it's relatively easy but it's not holding up so far.

     

    Also, In The Valley Of Gods has got me pining for some Egyptian goodness and I have had Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy on the shelf for ages. Might give that a whirl too. On that note, what are your favourite Egyptian levels in games? Gobi's Valley for me. Dat music!