Grazza

Testosterone levels. Fair enough, but do you think it's acceptable to reduce the population by destroying the health of individuals? Personal politics shouldn't overshadow the truth of the matter. Yes, of course. Stress hormones reduce testosterone massively. However, if we accept that humans are not constantly stressed, I think there must be another explanation.

Well, it was a leap, but a reasonable one. Lower male fertility caused by something making men less masculine and more feminine.

That was an excellent post, thank you. I did think the apocalyptic styling ("Humans face extinction") might see it dismissed, yet for me the more immediate issue is health. Ah yes, I totally agree. I am perfectly happy to do "feminine" things, but my concern is that we are being driven towards this, biologically, and not noticing.

I've tried to bring up this subject before and know I don't exactly have a lot of allies on the matter, but it's important. Arguably the most important subject of the moment. A new study by the Human Reproduction Update has found that sperm count in men from North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand has fallen by 59.3% from 1973 to 2011. Men in Africa, Asia and South America appear not to have been affected. Now although this obviously has implications for reproduction and population, to me that is not the only issue. I feel strongly that men have become increasingly feminine. Whilst I am not having a go at effeminate men, or men who like doing traditionally "women's" things, it's a matter of health. We are all being forced to become more feminine whether we like it or not. But men need to be masculine. High testosterone is part of our health, and it's not being taken seriously enough. I know N-Europe can't solve the problem, but I'm posting this is in the desperate hope of raising awareness. As a society we need to find the true cause of this, whether it's chemicals, radiation or hormones in the environment and eradicate it. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-4729116/Western-lifestyle-making-men-infertile.html

I've always thought 100 minutes was plenty long enough for a film. With Thor: Ragnarok, I just hope it's fast, funny and entertaining.

Does anyone know if the films are going to be split up into those four teams? Interesting to see Bucky and Cap not in the same team.

It was free at the time, but now it's £3.19. Sorry for the confusion. It probably only takes about 30 minutes to play through as long as you don't get stuck at the bosses. Best to think of it as a nice little curiosity that accompanied Azure Striker Gunvolt at the time. Sort of what the 8-bit Mighty Final Fight is to the 16-bit Final Fight.

Mighty Gunvolt is a very short, simple and challenging game intended as a companion to Azure Striker Gunvolt. I'll be quite honest, I couldn't get very far at the time, but re-downloaded it the other day (after playing Mighty Gunvolt Burst) and enjoyed it more. I also forgot/didn't realise Beck was in it, as I mainly played as Gunvolt, so I apologise to IntiCreates about getting that fact wrong (I said his debut was Mighty No. 9). Anyway, I truly believe it was intended as a freebie to those who bought Azure Striker Gunvolt rather than a game in its own right. I don't think £3.19 is great value, although of course it's not a lot of money. Mighty Gunvolt Burst, on the other hand, is very good value. It's much longer than Mighty Gunvolt, with loads of replayability as it encourages you to perfect levels, plus there are lots of hidden upgrades. As I understand it, it uses the bosses from Mighty No. 9, but I haven't played that. I genuinely think most gamers would enjoy Mighty Gunvolt Burst, with it being a particular dream for Mega Man fans. PS - Mighty Gunvolt Burst is on both Switch and 3DS.

How about Twitter? It's fine for the Switch screenshots I want to put up.

I played Cave Story 3D (the polygon version on 3DS). It's good, and the newer versions are nicer, visually-speaking, but I think £12-15 is more the right price.

I think it might work for the 2D games, which are a connoisseur's dream anyway. The 3D ones probably do have to remain the big, flashy, Prime-esque affairs.

That's a good point. I do wonder, though, how many gamers who bought Metroid Prime actually completed it and went on to buy the others. I have a strong suspicion that the positive reviews and looking like an FPS (as you say) helped both 1 and 3 in particular. However, I do know people who have bought them and simply found them too baffling. Regarding the design of the 2D games, yes, it's a pretty uncomfortable fact that Metroid Fusion is pretty much perfect (10/10 in my opinion) and yet presumably didn't sell enough to get a direct sequel. On this matter, I wonder if 2D Metroid would simply be better as a download-only series. It could keep the 2D graphics and wouldn't feel the pressure to do such big numbers. Good conversation anyway. I'm prepared to admit I hadn't fully thought it through; rather that it was a general feeling I had about punishment and ease of play.

There were certainly some long treks in Metroid Prime from save point to save point. I can't remember exactly where, but there was a particularly bad one somewhere around the Phazon Mines. Also, I don't want to overstate how hard Metroid is, but I do think advancements in autosave (for example) have made games much more friendly. A better example is Zelda. Wind Waker is considered an easy game by dedicated gamers, and yet I do know people who were extremely frustrated by the save system. Perhaps it's true though that Metroid doesn't need much help and it's enough simply to make it. I don't have a problem with that, and very much hope it's true.

Would be a good idea. I think the DLC did put a lot of people off. Not that people don't buy DLC, but it was a strange combination of possibly buying one physically and then completing it digitally.

Now that I think of it, Christopher Eccleston did a topless scene in Doctor Who, so let's see if the BBC is serious about equality!

Yes, it is a sobering thought that Fire Emblem is now more popular than Metroid (both great series though). In my experience, mainstream gamers hate punishment. The way to make a series popular is not necessarily to make it easy, but to take out the punishment, like Fire Emblem: Awakening achieved. I've seen gamers get very frustrated by the old Zelda system of each restart point being the last doorway you went through (or the entrance to a dungeon) - a problem solved brilliantly by auto save. What Metroid needs to do, in my opinion, is remove the more frustrating aspects of punishment. No more long treks from a save room to a boss. Every restart should give you full health and ammo. That way, as long as the game is good, Metroid has the best chance of succeeding.

You can think it's ridiculous all you want, but it's not incorrect. The moments I mentioned did happen in the finale. The male Master was depicted as particularly cruel and the female Missy was depicted as capable of compassion. In the past he's been amoral, anarchic and nihilistic, but in this he went out of his way to upset Bill. Plot-wise, he wasn't really there to do anything else. I don't know if this is addressed to me but I feel this is a huge strawman, as I never said anything about men liking female characters. I like a lot of them myself. As for boys dressing up as female characters, I never said there was anything wrong with boys being effeminate. That's a bit rich. If you don't like Doctor Who, presumably you don't watch it, therefore you have no idea whether these anti-male lines were in the finale.

I just think it's a slice of the continuing gender propaganda that tells boys they're a spare part. One thing I will stress though is that I hope people don't take it out on Jodie Whittaker, who may well be a good actress, just as Michelle Gomez is. And quite honestly, those two acting out Chris Chibnall's scripts may make for a better programme than Steven Moffat has been writing lately. This isn't about Doctor Who; it's about an agenda. The Doctor Who finale was a disgrace - a good set-up that limped to a conclusion of sorts; its main aim to promote female superiority. The male Master was depicted as particularly cruel, unable to understand compassion because he was a man, whereas the female Missy was capable of understanding it because she was a woman. When asked "Is the future all-female?" the Doctor replied "We can only hope", and along the way we learned that girls can throw apples better than boys. To finish it off, we learnt same-sex love can save the day in ways even the (male) Doctor couldn't (because of course, Bill preferred girls). I know it's not real; I know it's fantasy, but it's part of the agenda that tells boys masculinity is wrong (such as lusting after Page 3 girls etc) and there's very little place for them. We are meant to think gender doesn't matter, which I might believe myself when I stop being banned from gym sessions and swimming pools just because I have a Y chromosome, or actually get some funding on the NHS. But hey, the writers of Doctor Who probably want controversy, just so they can shout "sexist!" It's probably better to ignore it.

I don't think we have a thread for Might Gunvolt Burst, but I have a feeling many gamers will love this game. An easy recommendation on 3DS or Switch. N-Europe Review As ever, thanks to @S.C.G

I've battled my way through countless monsters and reviewed the half gripping, half infuriating Alchemic Dungeons! N-Europe Review As ever, thanks to @S.C.G for the link.

I didn't realise Metal Slug 2 was out this week. Really need to stock up on credit now.

Thanks for the offer. If I can't find any in the supermarkets, I'll check GAME next time I'm in town.

Does anyone know if supermarkets are still selling the eShop cards? I couldn't find any the other week, and I wondered if the shops had stopped doing them, or Nintendo is in the process of revising them for Switch.

I have to say, the new software is awesome. I'd not previously noticed, but it makes posting videos a breeze.

In a surprising (but welcome) move, Shantae and Shovel Knight have been announced for this game!