Josh64

What's your opinion of social media in 2021? What platfroms do/don't you use and do you think it has gotten better/worse in recent years? I deactivated my Facebook account about a month ago now and feel better for it, though granted the automatic muscle memory of tapping the icon every time I opened my phone took a bit of getting used to. I think with the pandemic and ever stranger algorithms I'd just finally realised that I was getting nothing out of it other than suggested posts or articles that almost seemed purposely pushed onto my timeline as a way to wind me up - passive aggressive racism, hot brexit takes, covid deniers - It was as though Facebook knew everything I believed in and purposely fed me the opposite content to get me riled up and participate in heated arguments, though I may be looking too far into it. Alas, I wasn't able to get rid of Messenger as I need it for work chats and it is my primary form of contact with my wider friendship base as I intentionally had a new number when I got my current phone and new Twitter/Igers a year or two ago to cut down the every mounting number of people I had that I no longer really knew, or was so tangentially related to that it felt weird sharing my personal life with them. I feel as though a lot of what is going on at the minute is also a direct cause of social media mismanagement and the result of us as a society kinda having it thrown upon us without any prior experience. I'm almost certain had Covid happened in 2005 everyone would be a lot more compliant with the rules and less likely to follow any old conspiracy theory that old Linda and John from down the road decided is more reliable information than that of health professionals and scientists. I do see how it's not all black and white though, I'm also well aware that social media has got many people through the last year and helped them deal with isolation - I also know first hand from setting my nan up with an ipad and facebook a few years ago that it really helped her feel a lot more involved in all of our lives when she could scroll through every day and see what we'd been up to. I just wonder what measures should be taken to protect things on social media and what steps Facebook should be required to make without overstepping the mark of freedom of speech/information. Twitter is also a completely different beast than it was a few years ago, it used to feel like such a warm and secure secluded bubble, curated of Nintendo lovers, celebrities I love etc etc but now, despite that still being the makeup of who I follow, I constantly get suggested trending topics, liked tweets or seemingly completely random popular tweets which just sully the whole experience. For example, a few days ago a video popped up on twitter because it was popular and I proceeded to see a middle aged couple arguing over shovelling snow with their neighbour and the neighbour then reach into his pocket and shoot them to death. I guess this is just content now?? Alas, I DO still enjoy Twitter when I don't view random cctv murders on there, but it's quickly becoming just as toxic as Facebook for me. I don't plan to completely shut myself off from social media though as I think in 2021 you can't really do that without isolating yourself too much, and that was proved yesterday when I recieved the sad news on messenger that my old college tutor had passed away. We all got on really well with hiim but as it's been a minute since college I only have that circle of friends on Messenger and I would have been sad to have randomly found out a few weeks later about the news, so there are still plenty of benefits to being connected. I don't know, I'm waffling, I'd just like to know your opinions on social media and if you're still a regular user/thinking of cutting down. Social media addiction could be a whole other topic to delve into but I feel like I've already typed enough for the initial post lol.

Thank you both!! Tried it earlier and it has worked a treat! Games with camera control with the right stick had become unplayable but it's good as new now!

I also wasn't too fussed about tMario x Rabbids but picked it up for cheap a few years after release as I was gonna be away for the weekend and wanted something to play on my Switch but it has become one of my favourite ever Switch games. The DK DLC was mostly incredible too, really fun fights, great music (Kirkhope finally back on DK!) and as beautiful as the base game, my only complaint was that I got sick to the stomach of the block puzzles by that stage lol. But yeah I really hope them rumours are true, I'd pick up a sequel in a heartbeat! On a different note, I'm having serious issues with joycon drift in my right con (I'd already replaced a drifting left con a year ago lul) - I can't tell if I'm being dense and my search skills are lame or if Nintendo are being typically awkward but I can't find a single right joycon for sale first hand anywhere other than a red one on the Official UK Store. Do they really only sell joycons as doubles apart from that one? If anyone has advice on how to fix drift then that's also appreciated but I'm generally pretty terrible when it comes to any sort of repair so I do think it's likely I'll just have to shell out for another joyCON

It looks garish and brilliant!

Those cat things look GORGEOUS! Like 90's CG in a good way, love it. Also the pre-order plushes look nice but god knows I don't need any more so I'll be going for that gorgeous looking steelbook

This is my fear, I think the new content looks good even if it is more Odyssey than 3DW but it's hard to tell if there's much content or if it really is just one giant level like you said. I'll be waiting for p/reviews to see how substantial or not the new content is.

All the music in this game is great but yeah I absolutely love that battle theme! I finished this last week, for the most part I thought it was incredible, I especially loved Bobby as a character and thought the desert area was so fun to explore. I was against the notion that battles were pointless for the first half of the game as they give you coins needed for better weapons but it does become really apparent later on that there is no point as you get showered with coins eventually. I generously bought loads of weapons and collectibles and still had something like 60,000 coins at the end of the game. I really started to drift off in the spa and felt it was quite a slog to finish, especially with that bloody gameshow, though I'm not sure if that's because I wasn't into the area or if the game had just overstayed its welcome. It did redeem itself on that epic last section though. Overall it was a joy to play and I'm glad I got it as I was on the fence due to previous entries.

Had a tipple, ended up playing Cher Christmas songs to my folks. Going to bed now!

How many nails can Nintendo actually get in the Wii U coffin?? Anyway, this seems like a shame, I'm sure it's a very low number of people still playing on Wii U but with Nintendo's vast reserves of money is it really necessary to shut it down? I think the writing is on the wall for online gaming for Mario Kart 8 on Wii U with this news too.

That could be the case but I don't see a big need either side for it. Nintendo already has plenty of great recognisable characters in Smash so it's not like Nintendo would have to go begging Microsoft for it and MineCraft is the best selling game of all time so it's not as though MS are desperate for exposure either. To me it really is a celebration of gaming, if you want to point to suits pushing for characters then I think Byleth and Hero are much more up that alley. And honestly as long as stages like this continue to be in then I don't think MC looks out of place but I'll shut up about it now

I don't think it does any more damage than the fairly hideous looking N64 stages

Steve and his comrades are a great addition. I got madly obsessed with Minecraft in 2016 after buying it on a whim on WiiU and carried on the obsession in a much healthier way when it came onto switch. This seems like a perfect fit and the only thing that would have made me happier is a Tokyo Mirage Sessions character but I guess that would fall under Fire Emblem territory and that has enough representation to last the entire Smash roster for eternity. I'm digging the multi-level Mario Maker type stage too. Banjo boomers and Minecraft kids can all be happy! And this was initially shocking but makes perfect sense now, The Super Mario pack exclusive to WiiU and Switch is one of the best to ever grace MC and it's consistently at the top of the Switch charts, or it was when that's something I paid attention to a year or two ago

I don't think I'd play much Mario but I'm damn tempted to get this as a clock.

Glad to hear you liked it! I try not to read any opinions/reviews until after seeing a film so as to not skew my initial judgement but it was impossible not to come across the many different instances of outrage and disappointment aimed at this film lol, I will give it a shot soon. At what point did it change to an online release? I know the original release date got delayed due to covid but when cinemas re-opened there were still posters for it and I assumed it just got delayed. I wonder what made them skip theatres instead of just waiting it out like Bond. The main two Disney remakes I remember from last year are Lion King and Aladdin for good and bad reasons, Aladdin because I loved the cast and music and Lion King because I thought it was the most boring and soulless drivel I've seen from them yet So will be interesting to see where this one lands.

Yesssss boy! I can't wait for Hot Shots Racing, hope it plays as well as it looks!! And I'm secretly hoping for some mega cheesy Daytona-style music too. As for me, I only just recently finished Mario64 again so probably won't bother with that for a while but it would be lovely to play through Sunshine again. I'm not getting 3D All-Stars day one but I will pick it up at some point, saying that I'm not desperate for it or willing to jump through Nintendo hoops either so I'll just get it if I can but I'm not gonna chase stock store to store or haggle with scalpers.

I cba to do the research Ashley lol but from memory it does seem like Nintendo are always top heavy, GameCube, Wii and WiiU felt like they had a pretty similar path with a lot of first party releases their first 2 years, a major slow down in year 3 and then basically nothing but Zelda in year 4 with Twilight Princess, Skyward Sword and BOTW. Also I'm out of the loop with this Namco stuff, what exactly happened in 2017?? Let's be thankful the Switch is the switch, just imagine Nintendo supporting a console and handheld right now. Pokémon Sword and Shield was arguably the big Christmas title last year which would have been for the handheld as well as the likes of 51 Worldwide Games and maybe Animal Crossing (that ones hard to judge). Their output really is unbelievably low, the failure of WiiU is almost a blessing because at least to the layman things look fine with the likes of 3D World, Pikmin and Xenoblade despite us all knowing it's a console version of Weekend at Bernies.

These look really cool and is the kinda product I'd have loved as a kid. Just like Labo this looks really inventive and is a nice departure from games but not something I'd personally want (or have room for!) I wonder if they'll ever release a mobile companion app to use with it instead of just using the switch to broaden its toy appeal/make multiplayer easier

They updated the texture on Mario's hat in Super Mario 64 https://twitter.com/MarioBrothBlog/status/1301522543275278336?s=20

Nintendo: Why remake old game when Rom dump do trick? Super Mario 3D World looks bangin' though, really enjoyed that on WiiU so it's nice to see we'll get an extra world (or whatever the cat thing was) - Also kudos to them for using the credits theme, always been a classic.

It's gonna release shortly after Pikmin 4.

I don't know if it's the increased player count from 8 to 12, if the items seem more constant or what but Mario Kart has generally felt fair even with all the crazy items, but something about 8 rubs me up the wrong way and I just get so pissed off every time I'm hit that I can't enjoy it. What a bitter, bitter man I have become.

I never thought about this but it makes a lot of sense that bigger titles are being delayed for that re-design/beefier switch. At the same time I'm a bit doubtful that anything else does exist, Nintendo always seem to go into hibernation around this period in a consoles life. It reminds me of Wii's 2011 when there was Skyward Sword in December and not much else for the entire year leading up to it. Is the Switch redesign actually official yet or still just a very likely to happen rumour along with the Mario remakes?

eh, nothing for me really but a nice little update. This actually reminded me of those old CUBE magazine DVD's from the GameCube era you'd get every month, nothing ground breaking but it was nice to know there was a splattering of new things on the way anyway. That said, the indie direct last week was much more impressive I think.

The cinemas are finally back open! Alas I've mostly seen old films there like Back to the Future and Karate Kid which are both some of my all time faves so was nice to see them on the big screen. I also used this re-run period to fill in some shocking gaps of my pop culture history - like Lord of the Rings! I've only ever seen random clips and memes, when the first came out I was a bit too young to want to sit through a 3 hour film and then following that I just felt I'd missed the train. So yeah, I saw 1 and 2 extrended last weekend and had a great time, though the first one felt a bit meaty with the insane amount of characters, locations and lore to soak up - Despite being nearly 4 hours it still felt a bit rushed. Because of work and series fatigue (two extended LOTR films in 2 days is a bit much lol) we didn't get around to see the third in cinema but we're gonna rectify that by watching it at mine on Saturday, I'm sure I can pick it up cheap on DVD or Blu-Ray. I saw Onward for the second time (after first seeing it in March) and had even more fun watching it a second time - Given its odd premise and terrible launch window by coming out just before the pandemic I think this will become a hidden gem. Finally I saw an actual new film at the cinemas a few days ago - Baby Teeth. A film about a 16 year old high school student falling for a 23 year old drug addict (uh oh!) but it was fantastic, surprisingly full with a lot of heart and all the characters had a lot of depth.