Goafer

I wouldn't say it was different at all. Paid social media marketing is one of the best ways to reach your audience.

I'd say it was always about money, we were just too young to realise. Games like Mario. Sonic and Final Fantasy had annual releases (even more if you include spinoffs), no different to the way certain series do nowadays. Film spinoff games often had bugger all to do with the actual films and were just a cynical cash grab. Even McDonalds cashed in on the gaming market (actually a pretty good game AFAIK).

I thought that one might be controversial!

I'd be interested to know when these glory days of gaming were*. Every era as far as I can remember had it's fad. 16 bit was a slew of platform/side scrolling games, 32 bit was racing/fighting/arcade games, XBox/PS2 was third person action/shooters. And yet each generation including this one, has utter masterpieces that came out alongside all the shovelware. This generation we've had things like Red Dead, Persona 5 and The Witcher, as well as more niche titles such as Nier: Automata, Undertale, Hellblade, Firewatch and Lost in the Woods. People forget the shit games from previous generations and only remember the great games, making them think it was all amazing back then, when actually there were just as many shit games and churned out sequels/ripoffs. For every Sonic/Mario, there were plenty of Bubsies, Wayne's Worlds, Awesome Possums and Ristars. *Not picking on you HoT, just the idea that this generation is somehow worse than others and your phrase suits my point perfectly.

I wouldn't say Concrete Genie was sent out to die at all. I've been seeing adverts for it in my Facebook and Instagram feeds pretty consistently for a few weeks now. Sure, it's not Red Dead levels of promotion, but you'd have to be pretty naïve to think a relatively niche game would get anywhere near as much promotion as a highly anticipated AAA game.

How about cameras, which you're easily looking at £1000 for a comparable quality one. Or TVs which go for £5-600 for something semi decent. Or drones, where anything worthwhile is easily £700+. Games consoles are a bargain.

To be fair, it's adding fidelity to an existing technology. By that standard, everyone else ripped off HD graphics from whoever did it first.

I always assumed Post Malone's music was hot trash, but I'm really liking Circles. Totally not what I expected him to sound like.

As I now have a DSLR again, I figured I should get some photos of Bru:

Apparently there were quite a few others interested as well, but the guy held it for me as I was first to enquire/agree to see it. Although it's a stupidly good deal, the MK2 is starting to show its age, mainly in low light situations. If I weren't tied to Canon DSLRs due to my lenses, I'd probably consider an Olympus OM-D MK3 or something similar in the £500-£600 price range as a replacement. I may still get one for when I fancy carrying a lighter camera.

I dropped my 5D MK2 about 2 years ago and never really got round to replacing/repairing it, but one came up on Facebook marketplace that was £350 and seemed to be in good condition. They generally go for £400-500 for a fairly tatty one (they sold for £2,000 brand new) and I had been quoted £300 to repair my old one, so this seemed a bargain if it was as good as it looked. I messaged the seller asking for the shutter count and he said he didn't know exactly (not uncommon, as it requires some PC know-how to find out), but he thinks around 7,000, at a push 10,000. To give that some perspective, they're rated for 150,000 shots before needing maintenance and my old one had done 36,000 shots and I still considered it "low mileage". If this were a car, he'd basically bought it, driven it around the block a few times, then decided to sell it. So I went out, had a look and it all checked out. Not a scratch on it. He was selling it as he bought it as a hobby and planned to take it more seriously after retirement, but a botched hip operation put a stop to it. I was tempted to take my laptop to check the shutter count, but for £350, it was a bargain as long as it wasn't on its last legs, so I just went for it. Got it home and checked the shutter count and it's only done 4,400. Utterly mental. At any price, that's unicorn rare for a camera that's 11 years old and still pretty capable. I feel like I've robbed the poor guy (although he was well aware how cheap he was selling it).

People love to slate Anthem, but it was nowhere near as bad as people make out. Once the initial fixes were made, it was a pretty good game. It lacked end game content, but up until that point, it was good fun and lasted a while. I'd say I easily got my money's worth. Think of it as a fun multiplayer shooter instead of a Destiny level experience and it's a good game.

People love to slate Anthem, but it was nowhere near as bad as people make out. Once the initial fixes were made, it was a pretty good game. It lacked end game content, but up until that point, it was good fun and lasted a while. I'd say I easily got my money's worth. Think of it as a fun multiplayer shooter instead of a Destiny level experience and it's a good game.

Yeah, but we protected our democracy though... ...with a leader no one elected... ...who booted out everyone we did elect... ... with help from a queen who has served for decades, which no one has ever had a say on. Power to the people indeed.

How oddly specific. Like, what's the consequences if the first blow doesn't kill it?What happens if you use a shovel instead of a spade. What if you can line 2 up and kill both with one blow? So many questions...

Can you 2 just get a hotel room and hate-fuck it all out of your system? The sexual tension is getting to Top Gun levels now and unless a volleyball scene is about to break out, I need a resolution.

-Do you collect anything? - Yes-What do you collect? - Sega Saturn Games. I used to collect retro games in general, but decided to focus my efforts on the console that holds the most nostalgia to me. I'm currently 25% towards my target of every PAL game (yes, I keep a spreadsheet, complete with percentage tracker). I also collect the Phantasy Star, Final Fantasy, GTA and Metal Gear Solid series.-Would you buy something you're not a massive fan of just to complete a collection? - Yes, as my copies of Space Jam, Sega Touring Car Championship and NBA Jam Extreme will attest to. -Have you got a complete collection of anything? - I have some variation of every Phantasy Star game released in the PAL region (only need the XBox version of PSO to have every version of every game). I also had some variation of every Final Fantasy game, but I've lost my copy of FF1 and I stopped a few years back, so I'm missing some of the newer ones. I remember someone mentioning that they didn't see the point in going for full console collections, when the majority of the games will never be played. I don't tend to buy any retro games online (unless it's a game I actually want), so the fun comes from going to various CEXs or game markets and seeing if there's anything I don't already have. The fun mainly comes from the hunting, not the collection itself, although I do like having an increasing library of Saturn games, as the Saturn came out at a time when I was too young to have my own income, so every new game was a big event and had an increased sense of value.

"We're really sorry, there's been an issue with the film. Is there any way we can reimburse you?" "Puzzle Fighter on the Saturn" "I'm sorry, I have no idea what that is" "SO MANY MEMORIES, LOST TO THE CRUEL MISTRESS OF THE FILM PROCESSOR. WE ARE BUT LEAVES ON THE WIND, AT TOTAL MERCY TO THE ELEMENTS. HOW FRAGILE LIFE IS. HOW WILL MAMA REMEMBER HER GRANDKIDS NOW?" "OK, take it and leave. Jesus Christ."

Saw a copy of Super Puzzle Fighter 2 Turbo in CEX for £25. For that price, I was expecting it to be a bit ropey and not have a manual. Not only did it have the manual, it was all pretty much mint. Splendid.

Went to town to pick up some photos I was having processed. Boots fucked up my film, leaving me with some spare money. Seemed rude not to spend it on a mint copy of Super Puzzle Fighter 2 Turbo.

*Shrugs* Looks like every other vaguely decent budget anime game to me. Reminds me more of Ni No Kuni than anything, albeit with slightly more detailed anime style. Any excuse for an outrage I suppose, especially when Nintendo and Sony are involved. You'd think it was the first time a game came out looking similar to a competitor.

Not entirely sure where to post this, but figured it's diet related so here is close enough. I've been putting more and more thought into going vegetarian for a while now, but never really tried properly. I've cut down on meat over the past few months, but never gave it up entirely. I've been wanting to try it partly due to the whole animals dying thing and partly because I'm hoping it'll be healthier. When doing the shopping last week, I figured I'd give it a try for a week and buy no meat. It's been both easier and harder than I expected. Easier because I don't really miss meat at all, but harder because it can be quite a challenge to figure out what's actually vegetarian and what's not (spoilers: Extra Strong Mints and Worcestershire Sauce have gelatin and fish in respectively). Things I've learnt during the week: McDonald's Vegetable Deluxe is utter shit. The sauce is nice enough, but there's not enough of it and the goujons taste like homoepathic vegetables. Almost no taste at all, with the slightest hint of generic vegetable. Stella McCartney burgers are the best I've found so far. Pizza Hut's Jackfruit is also pretty darn convincing. Only really let down by the texture, which is a bit mushy. Going vegetarian, even for a week, is a great way to break eating habits. As I now have to check packets, I don't just grab food without thinking about it. I'm not sure how long I'll keep it up or how seriously I'll take it, but I may carry on. I've not bought any meat this week either, so we'll see. I don't think I'll refuse meat if someone's cooked it for me without knowing or if there's no decent vegetarian option, but I think as long as there's a choice, I might keep it up. Going vegan can fuck right off though. And to get in there before someone else does:

I think it's that one that is basically just the Phantasy Star Universe: Ambition of the Illuminus expansion, but made standalone and ported to PSP. Phantasy Star Portable 2 was its own unique game I think. Edit: Ignore me, I think it carries on the story after AotI and PSP2 is a standalone plot.

Low light is a pain in the arse. People love to say things like "it's not the camera, it's the person behind it that counts" but low light is a situation where a good camera can make all the difference. My general advice: As wide an aperture (low f number) as your lens will allow. It'll allow as much light in as possible, allowing for quicker shutter speeds/less blur. It'll also add a nice shallow depth of field. Speaking of wide apertures, most lenses' max apertures change depending on how much you zoom in. The more you zoom in, the more limited your range is. If possible, zoom out and stand closer, rather than standing back and zooming in. If you've got a constant aperture lens, ignore this advice. High ISO. How high you go will depend on your camera and how it handles noise at high ISOs. I never really go above 1600, but my camera is old and gets pretty noisy above that. That said, if there's a lot of movement, you may just have to go higher. For low light, I put my camera in aperture mode, set is as wide as the lens will allow, then let the camera decide the shutter speed. Do some test shots and if the photos are blurry, up the ISO. You can predict if a photo will be blurry by what shutter speed the camera picks. 1/160 is ok, 1/125 is generally ok, 1/60 or slower will be a real challenge (but not impossible if it's just speeches etc). I tend to avoid flash, especially if it's built into the camera and you can't adjust the angle. If you can adjust the angle, point it at the ceiling/wall so it bounces off and softens it.

Overall, I've found season 3 a bit meh. Too many silly moments, too much "ooh, look at our quirky 80s things" and not enough plot.