Sméagol

I'm waiting for the physical release. Will post here of course when I had some significant time with it. The official trailer for the game who you stupid Scandinavians associate with pigs: It looks absolutely stunning. Another instant pre-order for the art alone. And something else, a visual novel apparently:

For Europe, and its languages, they have standardized levels for this (A1 / A2 / B1 / B2 / C1 / C2). Years ago I looked into this myself, and I should look into it again honestly. Languages are generally useful, can't go wrong with learning one (and getting official certificates for it). Anyway, it varies per language and country where you can take officially organised exams. Generally you can look for international operation organisations promoting their language. Had a quick look. I forgot all the details, but what I quickly picked up: English: yes look for IELTS tests like Ashley mentions. Spanish: I think you're looking for DELE exams. Italian: not sure what the exams / certificates are called , but you should look for a local branch of the societa dante alighieri. Here they offer courses, though I think you can only take the actual exams in Italy? German: Again, not sure what the actual exams / certifications are called, but you should look for your local branch of the Goethe Institut. French: same thing. Not sure what the exams are called, but check the alliance française. Doesn't mean other schools don't offer courses that will prepare you for these official exams, but you may as well start with the organisations which officially promote the language. Oh and no, I have no idea what the Dutch equivalent is.

Nintendo Life isn't too thrilled about it. http://www.nintendolife.com/reviews/nintendo-switch/state_of_mind I have pre-ordered it though, I'll get it in 2 weeks (physical release is 24-08 I believe), so I'll see for myself.

Voting Wario Land.

I don't know. But am I the only one who gets 3 AM Eternal stuck in their head when they see the title?

After all this retro talk, I've been looking for retro shops "in the neighbourhood". I found one which is relatively close-by, though still not close enough to be very practical, but they have a good website. In fact I did see some SNES Dragonball games, although I forgot which ones. But they were French versions. Anyway, I'll keep it in mind in case I do want to participate in that videogame club.

This was an absolute blast. Very funny, and a few surprisingly dark jokes. But also fart jokes. Poking fun at mainly DC, but also Marvel, and pop culture in general. Most fun I had with DC in a cinema since years. And the most fun I'll be having for the coming years, let's be honest.

I do think it needs a "real-time" mode though, where fights take as long as in the anime. I also think they need introduce a fatality (yeah just one), that only applies to Yamcha. They're totally different fighters. I don't see why they'd be mutually exclusive. Anyway, like I said, the game does look great, I suspect chances I may get this afterall have increased slightly. Though I'm still sure I'm not getting this day 1.

I ehh, I guess you still can on the WiiU? Though I think its library is limited compared to the Wii VC? I don't actually own a Wii U. Regarding the Wii: you can, as long as you still have points left, or already own the games. You can't add points anymore, so I have an absolute limit what I can spend in the Wii E-shop. And I think I already know what I'm going to spend my last points on, and only one of those games is a SNES game (Zombies ate my neighbours).

I see Arrival just arrived (har har) on Netflix. Not my favourite Denis Villeneuve film, but still a pretty good one. Go watch it if you like sci-fi films about the first contact theme.

You joke, but the Wii had (well has, for now) the virtual console, which would have made this whole idea a whole lot more practical. I mean, Drahkon, I like the idea in general, but it's just not practical. For me at least. This idea would have been great during the Wii era. Personally, I'm currently not buying any retro stuff, it's too expensive and time consuming. New games on Switch and PC, and films are taking all my money and time currently. I did buy a SNES at a convention years ago, I never had one as a kid, but it's currently not hooked up. I'm playing Chrono Trigger on my Wii, and I bought Zelda on it as well just for convenience (I actually have the SNES version). There are barely any physical stores selling retro stuff over here. I only know one chain which sells 2nd hand stuff, and they don't go back to the 16-bit era. So I'd have to check online, or go to a convention, which would be the best, but least practical option. I also don't intend to buy a SNES mini soon. Probably somewhere down the line, but I want to spend those 70 (?) euros or something on Switch stuff. Definitely not getting that Megadrive mini. Even I were to buy it.. You'd be limited to those games. Those games aren't exactly cheap. Just checked Super Mario World right now.. A cartridge only seems to be selling for around 20 euros, but as a collector, I want it boxed of course, so I'll be paying a lot more than that. I probably don't need to tell you what Chrono Trigger is going for. Plus that requires an US or modded SNES. I'm also not going to download ROMS, if anyone wants to suggest that. So.. Those are a lot of barriers, too many for me personally. If they bring back the VC.. I'd be in. If you want to do an indie game club (E-shop / Steam), going for relatively cheap and readily available games, I'm in. If you want to do a film club, I'm in.

Nah I loved the cast. Including Yelchin. Well except Alice Eve, but that wasn't really her fault now was it? I enjoyed the first and last at a basic level, but can't call them good. Into Darkness was indeed just plain bad.

I loved the cast though. I wish they could go out with a bang, with at least one good film. To close things off. Anyway, it wouldn't surprise me to see Paramount cave in so they can make at least one more.

Picked up Bomb Chicken and Hiragana Pixel Party from the sale, and Minit from the regular offerings. I have interest in Mulaka, and many, many others, but I kinow I'm not going to play it soon, so I'll refrain from buying right now. Next purchase is going to be State of Mind (retail).

I watched Hearts beat loud this week, a cute and sweet film, and Toni Collete was singing this (adorably):

Holy motherfucker. Pre-ordering that shit.

Had a very quick go this afternoon. Skipped the tutorials, and went straight (well after watching some replays) into some Online battles. This didn't go well. I couldn't buttonmash my way to victory, with my dreamteam of Android 18, Yamcha (gotta have Yamcha), and Picolo. Like I mentioned, I'm not actually a Dragonball fan, so I don't know who half of the cast is. The game's structure borrows heavily from Blazblue actually (Crosstag Battle, but from what I hear previous titles as well). I've only played that one for a few hours, but the lobby system was very familiar. So I didn't have any trouble navigating the "menu". Like I said, I skipped the tutorial, so I had no clue what I was doing (I did enable the simple controls, so I did trigger some special moves), but I wouldn't be surprised if that was also similar to Blazblue. Since I didn't know what I was doing I don't know if there were any issues with input lag, it didn't feel like it anyway, but there was no general lag when I was playing. I heard there were some hnetwork issues this morning, but gameplay was very smooth when I was playing. The game looks absolutely great. Well, I'm actually not a real fan of ArcSystem's "menu" / lobby system, but the fights look great. I'm sure it feels great too, when you know what you're doing! Anyway, not sure if I'll get it, like I mentioned before.. Would be a nice title to buy for support, but I don't think this is a title that actually needs it. I suspect this is going to be one of the succesful 3rd party titles. Maybe I'll get it later.

Yup. A short Nintendo Online Direct next month, where they fill us in on the remaining (and no doubt lacklustre) details, but then close off with a Test Smash announcement, which will sell the service on its own. I still expect a Test Smash to launch the service.

And apparently in Swedish as well, someone made a similar comment on that Youtube video. You learn something everyday. But yeah, I don't have that problem.

Beautiful. The game's called Gris, and is coming in December. https://www.engadget.com/2018/08/09/gris-game-nomada-studio-conrad-roset/

I'm pretty sure they already have a replacement.

I was actually speculating that that leak, which I didn't check was actually an intentional red herring of some sorts.. Correct in itself, but used as a mask to hide the 2nd reveal. I didn't post it because.. Well you know. There was a big chance of being wrong. ff Edit: But still nothing about the online! WEIRD. New Smash Online Direct next month I guess.

Fucking hell yeah! Everything the last Smash Direct should have been.

Ah, good. Guess I'll be replaying those first mission then.

I played some of the demo last night. Of course, I was looking forward to more of this kind of gameplay, but I was hoping for.. something fresh as well? It feels exactly the same as the first game. This includes the menu in the form of a book, which to be honest I found a bit cumbersome. And the annoying little cutscenes in between. HQ is also pretty much the same. Especially the presentation would benefit from an overhaul. Gameplay is great, but again, I wish it felt a bit fresher. The grenadiers are definitely cool, but so far, that's the only thing setting this apart from the first game, as far as I can remember. Hopefully there's some new stuff in later chapters. Edit: Also, I can't find the option for the Japanese audio. Perhaps in the full game? Otherwise that would also be terribly disappointing after playing the first game in Japanese. And.. The cool & sexy Kai's my favourite. But Raz is not far behind.