Nicktendo

I got 30 hours out of the World of Light mode by the time I finished it but that was stretched out over months because it’s not so much fun to just do battle after battle. Each character has a solo classic mode run which takes about 10-15 mins to do, so there’s plenty of meat to that if you want to improve scores or Chase a 9.9. The single player stuff doesn’t seem as engaging as it was in Melee and Brawl or quite as deep, but over time and with decent breaks is fun to accomplish. The online is better than ever though In terms of stability, and with regular events, tournaments and timed spirits there’s plenty to do in that regard. I’d say it’s worth it. I’ve got 150 hours out of it since launch and never played locally with anyone. Most time invested in a Smash game since Melee, which I did play locally.

I'm going to take my leave at this point. Thank you to everyone for allowing me to freely express my views. Thank you for disagreeing and sharing your concerns.

The US president will almost always be the one who spends the most money. There are plenty of rich black people, like Obama, who could run if they so choose. Skin colour has nothing to do with it in this regard as it means no poor people will every become President, regardless of skin colour. It is possible to escape poverty for anyone. I don't really get the point you're trying to make here. Black people are proportionately at a disadvantage, of course, but that can be changed in the current system with the right attitude. Obama himself is proof of that, along with every other black presidential candidate who has stood in the past few decades. Obama had good ideas and offered an immense amount of hope and promise. I thought he was the best candidate the US had had in my lifetime, by an absolute country mile. The fact we are where we are after his 8 year presidency is nothing short of a catastrophe. Nothing was done after Ferguson and it was actually Trump who achieved the lowest black unemployment in the history of the US, three years into his presidency. The change he promised to deliver didn't come. I accept there are many reasons for this where the blame cannot be laid with him personally, including the House of Representatives and the Senate, however, it seems to me that the situation actually got worse for black people from the start to the end of his presidency. I've offered what I consider implementable solutions about how to fix poverty and how it would, undoubtedly, affect all members of society, especially those at the bottom and minorities. What do you suggest we do? I've conceded that poverty that is historically linked to racism. I also concede that hereditary titles are historically connected to racism. Of course that is unfortunate, but in 2020, it is my belief that they affect everyone equally, regardless of skin colour, and I've explained my reasons why and provided examples of minorities with titles. British people of all races can improve their situation, I'm yet to see how this is not the case. Is the country perfect? Far from it, but I believe we have made incredible progress since WW2 and that we are, for the most part, a society that sees past skin colour. Of course there are idiots, there are in every country, but that doesn't change the fact that in Britain, in contrast to 95% of the world, a minority would not be denied something a white person would at an institutional level. We can do more, of course, which is why I provided solutions to the problems I see. A person's colour makes no difference to me. I prefer to engage with people based on their idea and arguments, not their skin colour. I don't want to come across as rude or abrasive, so I apologise if it seems that way, but I am tired of arguments being built on what I consider to be emotions and lies. I'm tired of people clinging to a cause to show they're an ally when in reality they don't give a fuck and just don't want to be called out. I don't want to see the country I was born in destroyed and transformed beyond recognition into a socialist hell-hole where free speech is curbed and everyone ends up becoming a victim. That quote I pulled earlier was from the official UK BLM. "Destory capitalism" - and do what exactly? What should be built instead? I don't see solutions, I only see catchphrases and radical and outdated Marxist ideas that wouldn't look out of place in Venezuela (abolish history, tear down statues) or Russia circa 1918 (rioting and attacking police). I want life to be good for everyone, I want people to be empowered and make their lives better, not to be told they are victims and be given things based on characteristics they can't change. We've all seen how this has played out in the past, many times over, and going down the road many seem to want to go down, I believe, is a massive mistake and will only make things worse. I guess time will tell, but unfortunately, I'm not remaining hopeful.

Obama. How do you know it couldn't happen again? Kamala Harris was an embarrassingly poor candidate, Cory Booker wasn't much better. Poor ideas and nothing of substance to offer. Obama, after beating the MUCH better funded Hillary Clinton, promised change and failed spectacularly. Ben Carson is one of the greatest thinkers of our age, I would love to see him get the Republican nomination in 2024. I've also been following John James for a while after seeing an interview with him. I'd like him to make a run. He has some great ideas. Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio came very close in 2016 and are extremely popular among many white Republicans. Not black, granted, but not white. Our friend Joe Biden recently said "Well I tell you what, if you have a problem figuring out whether you're for me or Trump, then you ain't black.". All black people should think the same then? Vote for the nice, old white man who'll look after you (despite doing nothing as VP or having spent 50 years in politics). Abhorrent racism and indicative of how Democrats thinks of black people. They only see skin colour, not individuals. Cherry-picked or not, white people are not at an advantage. Why are you focusing only on black people? Cherry-picking. White working class kids are consistently the lowest performing group, often below black kids in certain areas of social mobility, poverty, drugs and crime. Societal head start? Poverty and culture. I see a lot of black Sirs in the UK, a title. A lot of black people with OBEs and MBEs. This absolute lad: If you're referring to Royal titles - then the entire white population of Manchester aged 5-18 has less chance of ever achieving this than the children of Megan and Harry. Institutional racism? You need to be clearer. What "titles" are you referring to? I'm in favour of abolishing hereditary titles and positions in the House of Lords, regardless or race or skin colour. They are unfair to ALL of society, not just black people. Why do I need to self-reflect in response to emotion? Give me something tangible and I'll self-reflect.

I saw this guy on JRE about a year ago and the interview was amazing. Incredible human being. Edit: it was only four months ago

There have been numerous Black, Asian and Hispanic candidates for the presidency from both the republicans and the democrats. Race and class are often intertwined, but not always. British Indians are the highest earners on average in the U.K. It’s almost impossible for anyone to be upper class aristocracy. The fact it is historically based means it is no surprise that the tide against racism having begun to turn against racism in the 60s, there is almost no minority aristocracy. But almost no doesn’t mean none, like other areas of the U.K., this is changing. The House of Lords is mostly white, but not completely. 6.1% of it made up of minority members Having an emotional reaction to an argument does not mean it is not true. I don’t care if you’re extremely shocked. I am yet to see a clearly defined example of institutional racism in the U.K. Predicting “another scandal” is not an example. It is another emotional response. Provide me an example instead of emotions and we can discuss it like adults. Simply implying I’m wrong isn’t good enough. In a topic this important, some actual evidence would be good.

So in response mainly to @will' from my post earlier, I've come up with seven practical steps that I feel would improve day-to-day race relations issues of racism in the U.K. Some of them don't even touch on specifically on race, but in my view would improve things as a by-product. They may not be perfect, but I feel they are reasonable and achievable. I'm open to criticism, but I am 100% certain that any of these steps would be better for everyone than "defund the police" or "destory capitalism". 1) End diversity quotas. Although I’m sure these were much more prevalent under Labour and that they’re mostly gone now, I personally don’t believe they help at all, mainly for the reasons Animal expressed. People should be selected entirely based on their skills. I would even go as far as removing ethnicity from any kind of form as this is an instant way for people to be categorised. A tick in a box does nothing for anyone. We are all British. Citizen / non-citizen would be a much better way of “categorising” people. 2) Re-introduce grammar schools. Expand school choice. Grammar schools were a fantastic tool for social mobility and it’s a damn shame they’ve basically disappeared from the U.K. I’d reintroduce them, specifically in the poorest parts of the country and force them to accept 50% of students from low-income households. Every 11-year-old would be eligible to apply to their closest grammar school and low-income children would be bussed in free-of-charge. If you want the best education, you have to pay for it. As a country, we could do so much more in this field. The teachers in them would have to have a minimum of 10 years of experience and would have been proven to have exceptional teaching abilities in their field. The application process would be tough, and they would be paid more than a state schoolteacher. The schools would also have more academic freedom than state schools and would be allowed to specialise in any STEM subject. Admission would be based on academic ability so the best students from all walks of life would be studying together, rich and poor, white and non-white. The desired effect of this is obviously to increase social mobility among people from poor backgrounds and provide the best education to all students who study there giving them a head start in life. State schools need to have more independence and school selection should no longer be a postcode lottery. I think having schools in an LEA compete with each other for students could be one way to solve this. The choice doesn’t have to be overly expansive. Pit three or four schools in close proximity up against one another and people will quickly start flocking to the best. The same concept needs to be applied to primary schools. Give people a choice and they will choose in their own interest. The bad schools will have to get their act together quicker and offer something more than poor GCSE results. I’d also allow school selection based on faith and encourage faith schools to set up in big cities and accept students of other faiths. My belief is that if they offer a good education (which again would be largely independent from the state schools) people of different faiths would still apply and would be culturally enriched through religious-based teaching that might not be their own faith. The intent of this is to bring greater understanding of other faith / cultures while at the same time encouraging state schools to step up their game. Finally, teachers’ salaries in state schools would be cut by 10% and they would be offered a yearly bonus of up to 20% (increasing to 30% in deprived areas) depending on students’ results. I don’t want to rag on teachers because there are plenty of amazing ones out there, but I think having a financial incentive would quickly show which teachers are putting in the work educating our youth and which ones aren’t. No bonus for 5 consecutive years and it’s time to look for another job. Finally, I would make teacher training for primary and secondary education free of charge provided that person worked in a deprived area for a minimum of three years. 3) Expand the curriculum to teach much more about the British Empire with a focus on minorities who suffered as a result of it. There is a shameful lack of knowledge among white Brits about the British empire. I learned absolutely nothing about it in school and this has to change as a matter of urgency. This issue has certainly come to light recently with the movement to abolish history. I think it’s time Britain more openly acknowledged its crimes during empire and that the perspectives of those directly affected by those crimes are heard. I think it’s of utmost importance to explain why the makeup of our nation is the way it is and the sacrifices of those who perished to make it the once richest country in the world. I would think of this as akin to black history month, but it would take a much more prominent role in history classes. History needs to be remembered to make a better future, and I see this as an extremely important piece in the puzzle of combatting racist attitudes. It should be taught in a way that honours and remembers the victims of Empire and empowers all children to know who they are and where they came from. What may have divided us in the past, whatever suffering millions went through, we are stronger now and, today, Britain is a country which is better for unique ethnic makeup. It’s important to talk about figures from this time, look at them in an objective manner and discuss what was right or wrong and what consequences came of it. Judging history by modern standards will never end well. 4) Overhaul the benefits system and reduce dependence on the state. I admit this is probably a little extreme, but I see it as one of the biggest issues in British society. Far too many people have become dependent on the welfare state and that needs to change if anything is ever going to improve. It creates a cycle of poverty which certainly affects those historically affected by racism disproportionately. I’m absolutely not saying that people should starve, but that the government needs to think of better ways to support single mothers and poor children, regardless of ethnicity. I would do this by using tax credits, food vouchers and as much support as possible for single mothers who work (i.e providing heavily subsidised private childcare or free after school clubs / support for children). Money, of course, should be given to the poor, but the bulk of it should be in voucher form to ensure that is used on buying food, paying bills and supporting children. There should also be a limit to how much someone can receive so that simply having numerous kids doesn’t = more money. It’s time people behaved responsibly. The issue with fathers is a tricky one. On the one hand, I feel that having to pay child support can lead fathers to turn to crime, on the other hand, actions must have consequences. If you have a child and aren’t prepared to support the mother and baby, you deserve to pay in some way. Not taking responsibility for your actions should never be rewarded. Which leads me to my next point. 5) Teach people to take personal responsibility for their actions. Civil education. Another issue I feel may be controversial, but at the same time could have a big impact. It’s time to stop teaching people that everyone is special. It’s time to stop breeding a culture that has slowly become more critical of success and achievement. We need to foster talent and reward those who perform the best. If everybody is special, nobody is a winner. The same idea can be applied to different ethnicities. We are all different, but we are all British, and we can all strive to be the best people we can possibly be within that spectrum. We need a robust civics education in school. Children are not getting prepared for the real world and we need to teach them about law and democracy better than we currently are. We need children to know how to pay tax, why it’s important, how to register to vote, about local politics rather than state politics or political ideologies, how to open a bank account, how to apply for a mortgage, human rights and housing rights. We need people who, when they leave school / college at 16 / 18, are ready to step into the world of work and living. In my view, we are not currently doing this well enough. In addition to civics, we need to focus heavily on personal responsibility. We should show our children that actions have consequences and that just going out and doing whatever you want is not the way to live a successful life. They should be taught to respect other people, other minorities and themselves. We need to do more to teach children about the harm and damage caused by drugs and alcohol and the kind of life it can lead to. We need to teach kids about moderation and that you can’t always get everything you want. Sex education plays a big role here too. Getting someone pregnant at 18 is not doing you, the girl or the baby any favours. It’s imperative that children understand the emotional, financial and life-changing consequences of having children and that doing so before you are mature or ready is basically like giving yourself a life sentence. Honestly, I feel this would probably be the best way to deal with crime and poverty. Not directly, but indirectly. It’s my view that all of this should ideally be taught in the home, but because it isn’t being done, schools need to step in. 6) Stop the media referring to people as Black / Asian / etc. British. If they have citizenship, they are British regardless of skin colour. I really don’t see any need for this. Why do we need to focus on ethnicity when discussing crime or success? I think this needs to be completely removed from the media discourse as it does nothing but play to people’s pre-conceptions of race and ethnicity. Not much else to say here. 7) Put the police back on the streets. Encourage better community co-operation. Proactive, not reactive policing. Finally, tackling perceived systemic racism. The police have slowly been removed from our streets and stuffed into offices. Crime is no longer prevented; it’s dealt with after the fact. PSCOs are a poor half-step in my view. It’s time to get police back into the community, preventing crime and liaising with residents. I’m certain if there was more of a police presence on our streets, crime would go down. People don’t need to fear the police, but they need to be able to see them, they need to be able to talk to them, and they need to know they will not be allowed to get away with criminal behaviour. We need to move away from relying on CCTV and make an effort to prevent crimes before they happen. In fact, CCTV should be drastically reduced as I feel it has very little benefit for the amount it infringes on people’s rights. I’d introduce more police on our streets (I don’t have a number) and would do the same thing I would do with teachers – free training and moderate financial benefits if you choose to work in a deprived area for a minimum of three years. I’d also reorganise PSCOs into officers who work directly with community leaders and aid and assist in tackling potential problems before they arise. A go-between between the police and the community. There needs to be a bit of give and take on both sides and the police needs to be a trusted and respected institution again. Building up trust is critical in tackling a lot of the problems that currently exist in urban Britain, and while this idea might not be perfect, I feel it’s a practical step that could actually garner some positive results. ------------------------------ Explanation of why Black people may face harsher sentencing. Starts at around 13 mins.

It's not difficult to notice that while racism still exists, it is not systematic. "Lived experiences" are not what a movement should be built on, especially when they have no tangible and quantifiable goals. "End racism" is not a practical idea that can be implement. Practical problems need practical solutions and so far I have seen very few of those. Stop and search for Asian and Black minorities was higher than the arrest rate under the Cameron government. In the past few years, they have both fallen to below the arrest rate and generally have been much more proportional over the past five years, under the arrest rate in fact. So I would hope that this issue, and it certainly was one, has been dealt with. Where is the racism, at a state level, in any of those things? This is a genuine question, I'm not calling you out. If systematic racism is not identified (like Will's point about Black Britons often receiving harsher sentences), what can be done?

The stop and search rates per 1000 population line up with the arrest rate per 1000 population. What's racist about that? In fact, they have fallen much closer in line over the past 10 years. Chart #3 - https://www.ethnicity-facts-figures.service.gov.uk/crime-justice-and-the-law/policing/stop-and-search/latest Chart #3 - https://www.ethnicity-facts-figures.service.gov.uk/crime-justice-and-the-law/policing/number-of-arrests/latest I still maintain that police brutality or racism is not represented in statistics, and is instead merely a perception. Windrush was an absolute embarrassment, started by Labour and implemented by the Tories. It aimed to target illegal immigrants and was pitiful both in concept and execution and should never been allowed to happen. It was a fuck up of unbelievable proportions but I disagree that it was systematically racist. The people responsible for it should be punished to the full extent of the law. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/eu-immigration-detention-home-office-leave-uk-become-homeless-romania-brexit-latest-a8025646.html Do you have any specific law you could refer to in the U.K that is systematically racist?

No harm done, I should have explained myself more clearly.

This is honestly disgusting and absolutely should not happen. It's extremely disheartening and depressing that it does and that you had to experience it. I can understand completely why people would want to dismiss it and wouldn't want to go through the hassle of trying to sort it out in a legal manner. This is one area that could absolutely be addressed using pressure and changing laws to make it easier for people who've experienced this kind of racism to come forward and have the infringements on their rights dealt with. This is what I want to see too. I hate the fact that we seem to have moved backwards (in my opinion) in recent years and started to focus much more closely on colour and heritage, especially at a time when things seemed to be changing albeit slowly. I always judge people based on the content of their character and would always expect others to do the same. I think that's the least anyone can ask and people who don't do that should be called out on it. Race should be the last thing on anyone's mind. I appreciate your in-depth, nuanced post and agree wholeheartedly with many of the points you have raised. This is what I find most distasteful about most of the BLM activists. And the rioting. And this: The fact that open Marxists are at the head of this operation has me extremely sceptical about their real intentions, and given the way the past month has gone, I find very little of what BLM has had to say actually have anything to do with improving race relations or the situation of Black people in either the UK or the US. I don't think they've got it all wrong, but I do think they're taking the wrong approach, mainly for the reasons mentioned above. I believe I can use this example because if the U.K. was a racist country, the makeup of income / relative success would likely be much different. The stats regarding crime and police brutality are widely available. If I've got it wrong, I'd be happy to be proven incorrect. The point about longer sentences may be a valid one as I see it. And something obviously needs to be done about it. Of course, all factors need to be taken into account (such as historical criminal records), but if this is the case, then pressure should be applied to the judiciary to change this. So how long should it be and what other methods do you propose we judge this by? Number of BAME people in government? Number of BAME people in high positions? In the Police? In the media? Should it be more than the proportional percentage of population numbers? The same? Is having fewer BAME people in such positions evidence of systematic racism? Focusing on ethnicity before anything else, such as ability, ideas and intelligence doesn't seem all too smart to me. Progress is being made, this is undeniable. Is it too slow? How can we make it faster in a practical way? Changing your behaviour or thinking is far too loose of a method, in my opinion. I could think of some practical solutions, but I'll maybe post them later as I'd need to properly sit down and think about them more deeply. Where did I declare that racism was solved? I clearly said racism still exists, and it does, but that institutional or systematic racism doesn't in America and Britain. So if we can't discuss issues, how will we solve them? It seems to me that some people have decided "racism" is to blame for all society's ills. Growing up without a father IS a cultural problem. It's also a problem that affects Black communities in the UK and US more than any other community. I hate to break this down to skin colour because I don't believe it's a "skin" issue, it's a cultural problem, which also affects whites and other minorities. So please, hold off on labelling me as a racist, because I most certainly am not. Who do you think has the biggest issue with policing? Is it a real issue or perceived? Do we have any evidence for it? I believe it's perceived, but I'm again glad to be proven otherwise. If you finish school, work hard and don't have kids before you get married, you will be able to live a good life. This is true for all races. Again, much more difficult if you're coming from a working class background, but in no way is it impossible. The American Dream does not just mean being super rich, it also means being able to live your own life in the way you choose, free from government interference. Of course they do have such laws, but these are new democracies that haven't had the time to develop as ours and the US's have. Corruption still exists in many structures of government and law enforcement in these countries, especially in Hungary. I think this chart is quite telling (only shows Poland and Hungary) https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2019/03/14/around-the-world-more-say-immigrants-are-a-strength-than-a-burden/ So while these countries have "Western" law and democracy, attitudes are still a long way behind the West. It could be argued that this makes situations like those @Animal experienced far more common. In addition, as these countries are much more mono-ethnic than the UK or US, victims of racism are, I would argue, more unlikely to find any social or public support, even if the discrimination happens at an institutional level. Latvia, for example, where I live, discriminates openly between citizens and non-citizens. Both of these groups happen to be white (ethnic Latvian and ethnic Russian). For an ethnic Russian to get citizenship, even if they were born in Latvia before 1991, they must pass a language test, a history test and swear allegiance to Latvia. Without citizenship, they are not entitled to work in government positions, not entitled to certain benefits and cannot travel abroad outside the EU, Russia and a handful of other countries. This is systemic racism (maybe discrimination is more apt) in my view as there are quite clearly two systems for two different types of people. And this is in modern day Europe. Is it ignored because the victims of this system are white? Who knows. However, from the other side of the coin, Latvia is a relatively new democracy with an extremely brutal and troubled past where Russian communists occupied the country for almost 50 years. It makes sense for Latvians to protect the interests of the state and to at least try and build a monolithic culture in what is a very small country, which has a sizeable minority population (30%) of a nation which was a former occupier. Ethnic Russians do have the means, funds and support available to them to assimilate if they choose to. Some do, some don't. They have three options: stay here and become citizens and enjoy all the rights afforded to Latvians, remain non-citizens and get by as best they can, or go back to Russia indefinitely, which the vast majority would rather not do as they know life in Russia would be much, much harder. The hard truth though, is that the country openly discriminates against a minority of people. I'm pleased that you had this experience, genuinely. We're all on this board because we fell in love with a Japanese titan. It's always been my dream to go there. Unfortunately, I know of other white people who have not been afforded the same luxury. In the early 90s my uncle was not allowed to marry his Japanese girlfriend as her father wouldn't allow it. He left the country permanently soon after having lived there for five years. Anecdotal, yes, but still disgusting. I also wonder how Japanese people treat ethnic Korean or Chinese people, whether they would treat them in the same way they treat a Westerner? Edit: forgot to add the part about statues and history here @will'. I'm in 100% agreement with you there.

I'm so hyped for the new season. This is the longest I've gone in 26 years without watching an F1 race, the wait has been killing me, but I have enjoyed the classic races and some of the e-sports stuff on YT. Honestly, I preferred the ROKiT livery, or the Colgate livery as some people affectionately referred to it as This one is OK, better than others, but nothing particularly striking or special IMO. I'll be up for a predictions game! I'll predict Austria now and then the next 4 races if we should do it all before round 1. If not, we can do it on a week-by-week basis. 1) Verstappen 2) Leclerc 3) Hamilton 4) Perez 5) Bottas Pole: Leclerc - FL: Verstappen. I do think we might see a bit of a re-run of the last year, Mercedes have been slow in Austria in the past couple of years with their overheating problem and I think it would be great if Max and Charles came out fighting immediately. I still feel Lewis will win the WC and Mercedes will take the CC, but this track may add a bit of spice to the early standings. Here's hoping.

Inequality is also massively prevalent in white populations in the US and UK. The relative success of Asian communities shows that neither country is racist, or that they are only racist against some non-whites, which is unlikely. Again, foreign born or not, success is related to culture and attitude, not race. As I mentioned, people can be racist. If someone experiences racism through an institution, they have the law on their side for protection. As for the police being institutionally racist. Blacks are actually less likely to be killed by police, despite black males committing proportionally more crime and having more interactions with police. Such sweeping change doesn't happen overnight. I would argue these things take generations to be fully eradicated, which is unfortunate, but also human nature. It's not perfect, but Western society has made huge strides to address issues of racism and has been largely successful so far, as evidenced by the data. Compare the incomes of different races at 10 year intervals since the 50s and it will be clear that racial barriers to success have been removed. How am I ignoring the issue? I'm offering an alternative viewpoint that is backed up by the data. How exactly have I misrepresented it? If institutional racism existed, whites would clearly be at the top. This isn't the case. The issue is not race, it's a variety of other factors, which historical racism can play a role in, but not the main one. The police data from the US and UK shows that black people do not need to feel singled out by police. This is a cultural problem again, where hating and fearing the police are often values widely held among some certain minority communities. The founding idea behind the US is that with hard work and the right attitude, people can change their circumstances in a generation. This also largely rings true in the U.K. Yes, being born poor can affect your chances of success, much more than race, but anyone can still become successful or rich, regardless of skin colour. Having two parents in the household is much more important than ethnicity in defining your chance of success. Things are better than ever before. As for treatment by the police, see my earlier point. I picked an example which said class and family structure is more important than race in defining success. Being born poor is a disadvantage for anyone, but one that can be changed, again, with hard work and the right attitude. I never claimed things were perfect. The treatment of black people by police is not an anomaly. They are afforded the same treatment as anyone else. 9 unarmed black people were killed by US police in 2019. Statistically and proportionally fewer than white people. Where's the racism? No black people in the U.K were killed by police in 2019. So despite commuting a proportionally higher number of crimes, they are less likely to suffer from police brutality than any other race. Why are other races not being targeted by police if this is a problem? Again, it's a cultural issue, not a racism issue. People who are born middle class have a societal head start over working class people. A black person has gone on to be president and they statistically less chance of being killed by police. The issue is not race. Most Eastern European counties are far more racist than Western ones, socially and institutionally. Their views on immigration are 50 years behind the US and UK and the default view among many people is that non-white = bad / suspicious. Hungary and Romania have extremely huge issues with Roma people. Russian police use racial profiling to target people of Central Asian origin and society as a whole is deeply rooted in racism towards immigrants. China is an extremely racist country, especially towards Black people. This was highlighted by them being prevented from entering certain spaces and being locked down at home during the early days of COVID-19. Absolutely disgusting how they were being treated, purely for being of African origin. You've lived in Japan, how would you say you fared as a white person there? Were you afforded the same treatment as a native Japanese? I apologise for that, it was uncalled for.

This is nonsense. Class, culture and work ethic have far more to do with how well you do in society, not colour. Asians earn more per capita than any other race in the USA, with those of Indian heritage topping all other ethnic groups. So saying white people have a head start is bollocks. The same is true in the UK https://www.ethnicity-facts-figures.service.gov.uk/work-pay-and-benefits/pay-and-income/household-income/latest Institutional racism in the U.S and the U.K has been over for years. That doesn't mean that people can't be racist, and many certainly are. But compare that to the 50s. Progress is being made, and there is still a long way to go, but you can't end it in a day. I think this whole movement is going to end up having the opposite effect that it desires. The main problem, as I see it, lies in culture, and I'm not referring specifically to "black" culture here. The link between being raised in a single parent home, regardless of race, is one of the biggest factors in determining success in life. https://www.ethnicity-facts-figures.service.gov.uk/uk-population-by-ethnicity/demographics/families-and-households/latest No surprise that those high-earning British Asians have the lowest rates of lone parenthood. Black Brits have the highest. Ask yourself who's more likely to be successful - a hard-working black female from a middle-class two parent family, or a weed-smoking lazy white boy from a rough London council estate whose father's gone AWOL? Race doesn't even come into it. Maybe before handing out a special day to people to make them (and white people by proxy) feel good about themselves, we should actually get to the root of the issue of poverty, be it white, black or any ethnic group. Of course that would require undoing 30 years of telling people to "just do whatever you want, screw personal responsibility", rewriting marriage and benefit laws and would most certainly be absolutely, 100% racist. Just like celebrating people because of the colour of their skin. Britain is not a racist country and neither is America. Being treated equally, regardless of background, is enshrined in law. A conscious shift does not need to be made because the data shows that "white people" do not have a head start. If you want to see real institutional racism, real police brutality and real oppression of certain groups, go to pretty much any other country on earth.

I bought The Gardens Between in the Steam sale and managed to beat it in a couple of sittings. If anyone heard @nekunando talk about it on the podcast, my views are fairly similar. It's a good game, especially at the price it's on offer at. I enjoyed the vast majority of the puzzles and only really got stumped by a couple of them, though that was irritating. The game executes well on the concept and doesn't outstay its welcome. There are some clever ideas on display and one or two of the levels are really expertly put together. I love the atmosphere of the game, the dream-like visuals and artstyle capture the "nostalgia" vibe really nicely. The story was cute and heartfelt, but not over the top like Celeste was. I feel it says much more than that game by actually saying very little. The final level felt substantial and a good climax to the game and the ending was fun to experience, if not a major surprise story-wise. Can certainly recommend it at the sale price, but be warned that you're not getting much game at full price.

Talos principles is dirt cheap right now. A lot of the Sonic games are up to 95% off. As for indies, most of the stuff that's out on Switch is on Steam, often at a much lower price, especially during this sale.

Oops Edit: to be fair, this entire list of games cost me just shy of 45 Euros. Most of it is stuff that has been sat on my Switch wish list for months. Borderlands GOTY was the most expensive at 10 Euros, the rest were between 50 cents and a fiver for the most part. Praise be to the man who invented regional pricing as way to combat pirates. Praise be to living in a "third world country" and praise not be to Nintendo who probably would have charged me 200 euros WITH discount for this exact list.

Good shout on Phoenix Nights and The Royale Family. Another couple of my favourites. I love how the best British comedies generally only have a couple of seasons. The general appreciation we seem to have for the art of comedy rather than milking stuff for everything it’s worth and running it into the ground like our American brethren (or Red Dwarf 😂). You simply cannot go wrong with the vast majority of British comedy.

Great time to be a PC gamer. Just added Persona 4 Golden and Sea of Theives to my Steam wishlist. Also noticed that Heavy Rain and Detroit Become Human are on there as well as a wealth of EA games being added in the past few days. Fallen Order might just be my first EA game in years. I already have Horizon and Death Stranding on there, patiently waiting for release. Master Chief Collection has already been bought. All that MS needs to do is add PC support to Rare Replay and whack the Forza series on Steam and I’ll be happy has Larry. God of War would be nice too but... My question is why are all these console exclusives coming to PC (albeit a year or so later than the originals) and with so many games to play nowadays, does anyone even need a next-gen Sony/MS console? I jest of course, but I’m really glad to be able to experience these games without buying the hardware. Long may it continue.

I have @Jonnas’s approval for my list so I make no apologies. Take off the nostalgia glasses 😂

+1 for The Office, Red Dwarf and Fawlty Towers. Three of my all time favourites. I'm going to mention I'm Alan Partridge because it should have been mentioned by now!

After finishing F1 2019 I've been putting a bit of time into Project Cars 2 (again on Steam). Tackling the career mode and have managed to move up to the 5th tier (of 6) after winning the Karting Championship. This game is pretty technical in comparison to the former. Struggling to get to grips with much heavier handling and the variety in the cars. I've only put around 11 hours in so far, but it's an amazing package. I think the tracklist might be up there with some of the best in gaming. Such a wide variety and manner of circuits from street, to hill climb, to rallycross. Prefer it to Grid Autosport, which is much more arcadey in how it plays. I can see the career mode in this game spanning hundreds of hours, so I'm happy to take it one step at a time. While it's no Assetto Corsa in terms of graphics, it still looks wonderful. Been playing around in photo mode and came up with these. Definitely a game to chip away at slowly over the next year.

When is Odyssey 2 coming out?

Having pre-ordered F1 2020 yesterday, I decided to go back and sweep up some missing achievements in F1 2019 (steam). I managed to get pretty much everything outside the career mode. By far the hardest was to win a 25% distance or longer race against AI on the hardest difficulty. That took a few goes. I think this is the first F1 game I've played since 2010 / 11 on the PS3. It's genuinely amazing how far the series has come. The handling is a pure joy with the Xbox One pad. It took me a very, very long time to get used to it, but now I can hold my own against tough AI and online. The assists do a great job of easing you into the deep controls and over the first 30 hours I went from using the majority of assists to just a couple. Still can't get used to braking without low assist switched on. I guess the next logical step would be a wheel for the new game The amount of depth in the options and settings means this is arguably the most realistic F1 game since the Grand Prix series in the 90s. I certainly don't remember having this much control in previous iterations, so Codemasters have really done a great job. Even tweaking the wing and the suspension a tiny amount translates really well into how you can feel the circuit through the gamepad. Can't say I've ever noticed such subtle differences before. The wheel to wheel racing is as good as ever, mistakes are punished, calculated risk is rewarded. As a huge F1 fan, this is the closest we've ever been to the sport in simulation terms. The AI is much improved, though not perfect. Strategy in terms of fuel, ERS and tyres is critical and it all comes together in such a fantastic package with superb graphics and wealth of both online and offline options. I've spent most of my time offline, doing mini championships and custom races with dynamic weather. Online, it's often a mixed bag. Far too many loading screen, and sadly, far too many idiots who just want to piss about and spoil the fun for everyone else. I did manage to get a gold class ranking online though (I guess platinum is the highest, but I have no chance of that) and I got an A-ranking for "safety". I guess that means I don't just wipe people out for no reason A safety rank of A was actually less common than a gold rank in class. Any races with more than 6 people usually end up in chaos within the first few corners, so I'm hoping to find a community for the next game and simply skip over the time wasters. I flirted with the career mode back in March, but with the new game coming out in a few weeks, I decided to just bin it off and start again with the new game. It's fantastic. Just like the main game, a wealth of options, upgrades to manage, rivalries to win. Hundreds of cut-scenes, story-lines and interview questions which really add depth to the mode as opposed to just racing round in circles. Easily the best F1 game I've ever played, can't wait for the new one.