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The Exercise & Fitness Thread: The Struggle Is Real
MindFreak replied to Fierce_LiNk's topic in General Chit Chat
Yesterday I got some 20 kg bumper plates (used but in good shape) so finally I can get some proper weight lifting done. I now have a total of 95 kg which is enough for most lifts. Tried it out just now. I haven't lifted more than 60 kg in more than 2 years so was a bit nervous but did 4*7 back squats at 75 kg with nice form, then did 3*10 Deadlift at 75 kg and then 1*5 at 95 kg. That last one wad great but I'm not looking forward to the DOMS tomorrow. On another note, I am having some pain in my knee, the outside of it to be specific. It's referred to as the LCL and might stem from biking (2*20 minutes a day in high speed) bit as Ove been biking most days for years it's a bit weird that it suddenly comes now. Might have to see a physician about it. -
Looks fun. I loved the NES Remix games and so I'll certainly be picking this up.
- Today
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Multiplayer is great, but it for the most part it looks like a less interesting NES Remix. It's also amusing how the replica gold cartridge doesn't look like either version of the original NES Nintendo World Championships cartridges. At the very least they could have added some fake switches.
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Oh I'm super in for this, have heard and read so much about this over the years but haven't ever looked into how to try it out myself! Link to register interest via the UK Store Deluxe Set looks great: But - as is par for the course with Ninty - nowhere near as nice as the Japanese equivalent from my POV, which includes a pair of Famicom Joy-Cons: (obligatory: Pyoro is never wrong)
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Well yeah that's true. Back in 2019/20 there was a lot of talk about a Switch Pro being released that would take advantage of DLSS, which was still in its infancy back then and wasn't around during Switch's production. Despite seeing decent results with the 1.0. release, it really came into its own with the 2.0. release which was around that time frame. Whether the rumours were true or not it doesn't matter now. Plans that may have existed were likely cancelled due to COVID anyway and Nintendo doubled down on the 2017 system and released the fantastic OLED. Iwata, remember, had spoken of a evolving console "platform" before his death, which led to a lot of speculation about more regular iterations of the Switch platform, similar to how Apple updates iPhones on a yearly basis. Not that anyone expected a new system every year, but the idea was that it would be a unified platform with more frequent updates. Perfectly feasible in 3 year cycles, for instance, to take advantage of recent hardware, machine learning, and AI developments. There were patents and documents laying out this vision. It seems they have walked back on that idea now, anyway. And rightly so, given how strongly the Switch has marched on since 2020. Being a mobile platform built on Nvidia tech, it makes an immense amount of sense to incorporate DLSS capabilities into the chip. It is far and away the best upscaling tech on the market with AMD's FSR tech hugely struggling in comparison, which Xbox and PlayStation both use. It would undoubtedly help the new Switch overcome power limitations and punch above its weight in contrast to the competition, even Steam Deck. So the idea of Nintendo using a cheaper, older chip that can support modern hardware developments like DLSS and VRR would be a perfect marriage of price and tech. Not necessarily for handheld mode (I think even the OG Switch is still fine in that regard), but those two features would help immensely with TV output. What worries me slightly about the Switch 2 rumour mill at the moment is the fact that most people seem to be convinced it'll be an 8-inch LCD screen and will render at either 900p or 1080p. I think both of these moves are bad. Going back to LCD from OLED is going to be extremely rough, and upping the resolution and size of the screen is pointless and will significantly impact the battery life for a mostly indiscernible "upgrade" in visual quality.
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From what I've seen for the most part you are fine to start with just one type then if you enjoy it you can move onto more but it's fine to skip some. My plan was always to just read the main novels and the comics. I did start the first book but found the delluge of new characters a bit much to keep track of so stopped. I still plan to restart it at some point.
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I was dabbling with starting to read the High Republic stuff now that the first 2 phases are complete (is phase 3 still going?) but it looks to be a mess if you want follow everything. Novels, comics, audio books, kids books....it's all a bit over the top.
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I always appreciate a self-demonstrating pun. Very nice You know, some of these magazine quotes really reveal the mentality of the time. "PS1 players are sure to be impressed, but we N64 have sooo much better standards and choices!" Genuinely interesting. Really appreciate your posts.
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Feels like I've been hearing about this being implemented on the next Switch for years now. Pretty sure you guys talked about it on the podcast at some point.
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The full image has now come out
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So is he always gonna be wearing turtle necks? Don't see how else he can hide that damn collar
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https://theotakuauthority.com/arcade-archives-tutankham-coming-to-switch-ps4/ This is great news! VRR is fantastic tech that really helps with game performance. This is a big sign that the Switch 2 is going to support it. Couple this potentially with HDR and DLSS, and the Switch 2 is going to be a considerable margin better than the original Switch in terms of fidelity and performance.
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Pause over. It's time to tackle a couple of more recent takes on the genre: Enemy Mind So! This 2014 game is actually one of the reasons I wanted to tackle this genre in full. I first heard about it several years ago, in an Extra Credits video. The game sounded interesting, so I bought it on Steam at some point... But a problem came up. The game was clearly designed to be played with a gamepad, which I did not have at the time. I could still play it with a keyboard, but I eventually ran into a level that required me to move with precision, and my laptop keyboard at the time didn't even recognise diagonals that well, so I couldn't beat that level at all. I ended up dropping the game and marking it with a shameful "Unfinished". Time passed. I eventually got better keyboards, a proper pad... But I never revisited this curious little game. Well, one of my resolutions this year involved tackling my "Unfinished" games, so it was time to put this one to rest, once and for all. And that's enough backstory, let's get to the game. At first glance, it seems like your usual shmup fare, controlling a ship, shooting some enemies... But there's this unique mechanic: you can mind control and "take over" any enemy ship. One at a time, sure, which means you're constantly "hopping" from ship to ship. This clever mechanic truly transforms how the game is played, not just because you can move from ship to ship in a skirmish, but because you can escape into a healthier ship whenever your health is low. Furthermore, there are no power-ups or extra guns, only various types of ships with different stats and weaponry. Some craft is lighter and faster, others are large and bulky, some contain a spreader gun, others contain lasers, etc. There's like 20+ ships in the entire game, and they all feel wildly different. This includes alien ships, by the way. One thing to keep in mind is that each type of ship, without fail, contains limited ammo. At some point your bullets run out. I presume this is meant to encourage you to mind-hop more often, and yeah, it does that quite well. Game-feel is pretty pleasant. A bit slower than most shmups I played, but that does mean I relax a lot more with this game. It's not a bullet hell at all. The only times I felt a difficulty spike was during certain bosses, and I can excuse those. One cool thing in this game (that I wish more shmups would adopt) is that you can actually turn and shoot left with most of the available ships. So good, I'll definitely miss it in other games in the genre. Art style is pretty pleasant, and the aliens in particular are quite memorable. More importantly, each ship is visually distinct, and the sprites are large for the most part, so you'll never really find yourself confused over which type of craft can do what. Story is fascinating. It's told in small snippets at a time, every time you complete a level or wave. The twist is that the snippet itself depends on whether you finished that level as a human or as an alien. You could potentially only see human snippets for an entire playthrough, and you'd be missing a lot of vital context from the aliens' perspective. Same thing if you only ever finish levels as an alien. The more likely scenario is that players see a few snippets of one, and a few of the other. It's a narrative choice that piques the curiosity of any player, and there's plenty to find for those who look. Overall, this brilliant little gem is a solid 4 star game. If I liked the genre properly, I probably would've given this a fifth star, but if there's anything I realised after so much exposure to the genre, is that it's not quite my type. I can at least guarantee that this is the best dang shmup I've ever played, even better than MUSHA. Super Amazing Wagon Adventure I originally saw the Game Grumps play this 2012 game on a one-off episode. I thought: "What a silly little short game. And so cheap! Might as well take it", and then I proceeded to not touch this very short silly game for years and years. Until now. So, have you ever played Oregon Trail? Of course not, you're not American. It's a game where you manage a family's migration to the west coast via caravan. A few generations played this game on their school libraries, hence why it's so famous. Super Amazing Wagon Adventure (SAWA) looks a lot like a more silly and action-y version of Oregon Trail (for example, hunting your own food along the way), and I definitely thought it would be just that, a silly short pew-pew game with references to Oregon Trail. Sure enough, there are levels where you mow down buffalo, where you cross rivers, where you're attacked by wolves and zombies in a snowstorm, and even one where you go to space. Somehow, you run into machineguns and rocket launchers in all of these places. It is all very, very silly, yes, but it is also... a roguelike. That's right. The levels and bizarre scenarios your caravan gets through are randomly selected. And after a few attempts, you can even unlock some other caravans, with other attributes and weapon types. I didn't manage to complete a run, but I felt like I got close. It's not a cakewalk or anything, but each attempt was leaving me closer to the goal. It's an enjoyable game, but the humour and aesthetics (and genre) didn't fully click with me. I give my enjoyment 3 stars overall, and for the low price it's at on Steam, I feel like it's a steal, even at a non-discounted price. So here's a shout for roguelike fans, such as @drahkon Starfox ...Wait a sec, this isn't a shmup! Except it kinda is, if you think about it: what are On-Rail Shooters, if not 3D shmups? This is one I had on my pledge. Not only is it part of a genre I don't usually like, it's a whole series that's very popular and beloved by Nintendo fans... but never really clicked with me. Considering I never put much time into any Starfox game (except Adventures, which is a whole different thing), I figured I owed it, and myself, an adequately deep playthrough. As it turns out, playthroughs are quick in this game. You pick one of 3 distinct routes, and it's 6 or so levels exclusive to that route (even the starting level, Corneria, is different depending on the route). I appreciate this kind of difficulty system, offers a lot of fun and replayability. No way around it, the game's graphics were super impressive for the time, but boy do they hurt my eyes now. I appreciate that weak points are colour-coded, but that's pretty much it. Some boss designs work well with the blocky style, at least. On a brighter note, the animal aesthetic for Fox, Slippy, et al. is very charming and memorable, as are the bleeps and bloops for speech. Gameplay-wise, I appreciate there being a health meter, and frequent health pickups. I appreciate the Arwing's maneuverability. The aiming is wonky as shit, but it's better in the first-person levels, where they include a reticle. It's not super important, as movement is the main thing that allows me to survive, and the game never demands pin-point shooting precision at any moment (even when saving teammates, there's so much leeway). I managed to finish runs on the easy and normal routes, but couldn't make it even 3 levels on the hard route. That's one for more skilled fans, and I admit I'm not one of them. I also hear there are secret levels, warps, and easter eggs in the game, which is always good, brings depth to any game. (On a side note, Sakurai must love this game. He's included this version of Andross in every smash game since Melee. It's a memorable boss fight for sure, and now that I'm better versed in the genre, I can't help thinking of Xevious whenever I see his rotating projectiles ) I am happy I gave this game more of a chance. It's still not my style, but it's a very well designed game. I give it 3 stars, it earned that much. ----- Phew... and Super R-Type is still there for me to tackle!
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Does anyone watch the Snooker World Championships other than purists?
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Gex 64: Enter the Gecko NA release: 25th August 1998 PAL release: 26th February 1999 JP release: N/A Developer: Crystal Dynamics, Realtime Publisher: Midway (NA), GT (PAL) N64 Magazine Score: 59% Gex is a series of platformers that started out in 2D on the 3DO before moving over to the PlayStation with Gex 2 in 3D (which was then ported to the N64). While the series is seen as an alright platformer, it’s mainly known for its humour. So how well does the humour hold up? I think the bigger question is “was the game ever funny in the first place?”. The attempts at humour seems almost entirely disjointed with the game itself, with almost all of it being a random selection of quotes from Gex himself, spoken at random intervals – they have nothing to do with what’s happening on screen and they repeat very quickly. It’s like making a pun when there’s no thyme or plaice for it – it doesn’t work without context. Most of the rest is in the level names, with the levels themselves being generic themes. There are a few moments, such as Gex in a bunny outfit fighting Elmer Fudd, where the parody creeps in to the actual level, but definitely not enough to be a focus of the game. There’s also a few musical rip-offs, most notably the Indiana Jones and James Bond themes. For the most part, Gex is a very generic platform game that doesn’t do anything special with its levels. It also has a few crippling issues. It’s extremely difficult to judge where objects are in relation to each other, so you’ll end up missing a lot of jumps because you thought a platform (or Gex) was somewhere else. The camera is also atrocious – even on manual mode, it likes to try to “correct” itself. This means that when you’re running on a narrow platform, at some point the camera will decide to quickly turn around to be behind you. This may sound good, but it also affects your controls, so before you’ve had time to react to the camera change, you’ve already ran off the side of the platform due to Gex turning in relation to the camera. Gex doesn’t have enough moves to keep the game interesting. You have a jump and tail attack, along with an awkward to use high jump and a running kick, both not really needed. Sometimes a collectable will be slightly out of reach, but there’s enough in the level to just ignore those ones He can also climb up walls, but this is only possible on a very small number of walls and the feature is never used for anything interesting. Enter the Gecko is a surprisingly unimaginative game that is quite annoying to play. Remake or remaster? There a semi-emulated remaster in the works of the PlayStation version. At the time of writing, it’s unknown if this will include any of the N64 specific levels. Official ways to get the game. There is currently no official way to get Gex 64 (or a version of the game), but that will change shortly.
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After playing a game with possibly some of the best writing ever (and some naff gameplay), I decided to go with the complete opposite. A game with possibly some of the worst writing ever (and some pretty addictive gameplay) - Pokemon Arceus I got reasonably far with this the first time i played it, then trailed off a bit as I couldn't stomach any more of the crap dialogue and cut scenes. I thought i'd come back and try and finish it off (the story at least). I got as far as defeating the 3rd angry pokemon, and had 6 stars, so i'm maybe around halfway through? Not sure how far i'll bother trying to fill out my Pokedex. Probably just keep playing until I get bored.
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Yesterday, Jeff Grubb spoke briefly about how Perfect dark is coming along. Just what the heck has been going on over at Microsoft's studios over this past generation? It seems like a lot of stuff is just stuck in development hell.
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Anyone but Real Madrid. Their plot armour in the Champions League is just infuriating. Re-match of the 12/13 final, and then Bayern losing out to the Harry Kane curse would be perfect I reckon.
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The Great Developer Massacre of 2023-2024 (and onwards?)
Hero-of-Time replied to Dcubed's topic in General Gaming Discussion
Yeah, seems like your pretty much screwed no matter what you do. -
This was always a gripe of mine when it came to Returns. The series is known for its fantastic soundtrack and it's here where it falls completely flat. Thankfully, Tropical Freeze has David Wise back at the helm and delivers one of the best gaming soundtracks ever made.
- Yesterday
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Well freaking done Dortmund! What a team performance tonight from them, even if fortune clearly favoured them after the number of times PSG hit the woodwork tonight. Mbappe's last chance to bring the Champions League to PSG seemingly slipped through his fingers without having much of a say about it, but I think that was less down to him and much more down to the elite performance Dortmund put in. Would love to see Dortmund win it all this season. So, who's it going to be? A grudge match against their biggest domestic rivals and the team to knock them out at the death in the final at Wembley in 12/13, or a match against one of their former stars playing in the best club to grace the competition? Going to be fun to see how it all plays out looking forward to tomorrow night's match!
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I didn't really play the original DS games so it's probably coming from that place. I played all of the Game Boy ones and then picked it up again from the 3DS ones and even then, I never played Sun/Moon...only X/Y, which I enjoyed.
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Yeah i am surprised Smash 64 has not been added to NSO already, when/if it does it would be a big deal for a Direct so that would be a perfect thing to announce in June.
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Credits have rolled on Donkey Kong Country Returns It's been well over 10 years since I last played this so it felt like a new game playing through it. Also, it's been so long since I sat down and put a few hours into a Wii Game with the Wii remote still being really comfortable to play with horizontally. Anyway, onto the game I really enjoyed playing through this again after so many years. Not the most challenging game but I wasn't going back and collecting everything to unlock the 9th island. I can imagine that's where the proper challenge comes in. Graphically, it looks fantastic on my Sony Trinitron CRT TV, vibrant colours and some stunning graphical styles on display on certain levels. Controls, apart from waggle controls, which are horrible, Donkey Kong controls perfectly. Music, I like how it borrows sound bites from the iconic DKC tunes as you would expect but there's nothing really memorable here. Humour, there is none. A couple of the cut scenes got a chuckle out of me but the Rare sense of humour is really missing here. Cranky Kong acts like a completely different character. It feels very safe at times compared to the DKC Rare Trilogy but Retro probably didn't want to take any risks or Nintendo just wouldn't let them. Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze will be played but it won't be my next game.
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