Goafer

D. All of the above.

The answer to this, and indeed all neighbourly spats: sick donuts on their front lawn. Our neighbour has decided that it's perfectly fine for her kids to leave banana peels in our plant pot.

Forcing yourself not to sweat can lead to overheating. Costumes having no pockets or storage. Costumes not having good access to apply sprays Pressurised containers possibly being confiscated. There's 4 valid reasons for not wearing anti perspirant. Of course I'll shower in the morning and put deodorant on, but I'll be wearing a fur suit all day and I'm sure nature will take its course. I've never personally found conventions to be that bad, other than the heat. I do wonder how many complainers have actually been.

We had our annual awards for our clients last night and it was a bit unreal. Ended up leaving the house at 8am and not finishing work until about 11pm, but it was a great day. Colin Jackson was hosting, so working with him was pretty cool. Super nice guy and didn't feel like talking to a celebrity at all. Of course, I got a selfie. At 11pm, we went back to the hotel to drop off our stuff/check in. Apparently someone had stolen my room and the hotel manager, who was supposed to finish at 9pm, had stayed late to ensure that she could sort it out. Many apologies were relayed and I finally got a room. Someone then decided it was wise to go to a club until 3am. Fortunately, my boss, her boss, the HR Director and the CEO also decided this was a good idea, so off we went. As far as clubs go, it was pretty good, with a live jazz band playing covers on request. It was quite bizarre watching all the senior staff getting drunk and throwing shapes though. The hotel lobby/restaurant was quite a sight this morning. Lots of tired looking faces, full of regret. It was great to hang out with them all, as most people work remotely, so we rarely meet up and I don't know some of them very well at all.

I really enjoyed the first, plus I'm quite liking the almost Danger Days era MCR aesthetic they seem to be going for. Will probably pick it up once the price drops, which I imagine will be pretty quick. Just because:

I'm liking Sweden's entry more and more. At first I just loved what they did with the lights and how it was like a live music video, but the song itself is growing on me now. It reminds me of a watered down Daft Punk

The Netherlands with a hairy Richard O'Brien was probably the only one I'd listen to after the event is over.

Nice to see Spike Spiegel reppin' Italy.

So I guess Panzer is more apt than I thought. Excellent.

Is it not shielded toad? Isn't Panzer armour?

I looked at his face today and regretted not calling him Garrus. From the front, the resemblance is pretty close.

So we kind of have a tortoise now... My parents found him out the back of their house. We assume he must be an escaped/released pet, as we checked if there are any native tortoises in the UK and there doesn't appear to be. We took him to the vets to get checked out and see if he has a microchip (apparently tortoises can be chipped, who knew?). We've left our details with a few places, including the local reptile specialist, in case an owner does show up, but the most places said the chances were slim. We're at an awkward place now, as we're hesitant to spend money on a proper setup, in case his owner does come forward, but he will need a proper basking lamp once the hot weather goes. Fortunately, our living room gets plenty of sun, so short term he's just been allowed to wander around and dip in and out of the sun as needed. He seems healthy enough for the time being. We've named him Panzer after Panzer Dragoon and the fact that it's German for armour. Probably shouldn't have named him, just in case we do have to hand him back.

I don't have a Saturn capable of playing US games, plus in far less likely to spot US games in CeX. I'm also not buying PDS again!

Yup, I've decided to concentrate on the Saturn collection for the time being, with the ultimate goal being to own every PAL game released. 39 down, 201 to go. Probably way too ambitious, but I just find trying to collect for all systems to be too much, with no real structure. Plus they're just taking up way too much room, with most things being relegated to wardrobes. I've gone with the Saturn as I have a particular fondness for it. It came at a sweet spot in my teen years, where I had just "properly" got into gaming, but didn't yet have my own income, so every new game was an event, with each game having a greater value to me. It was the first time I read games magazines and actually looked forward to upcoming games. The Megadrive was my first proper console, but games were always just bought for me, rather than me requesting them. I probably enjoy Dreamcast games more, but by that point in my life, I had more income and just bought games whenever I wanted them. Also, piracy was pretty easy on the DC, so getting a new game was way less of a significant event than the Saturn. It's looking like the Saturn will be an expensive one to collect for. Fortunately, I've already ticked off a few of the expensive ones (Panzer Dragoon Saga, Burning Rangers and Saturn Bomberman), but with the Shining games, Dragonforce, Megaman and a few others, I may have to justify them to myself first. That said, I did struggle to justify Panzer Dragoon Saga for £170 a few years back and it only seems to rise in price, so maybe I'll take a "now or never" approach and get the expensive ones whilst I can still afford them.

Was thinking earlier this week that Saturn Bomberman should be my next significant Saturn game. Went to CeX in Milton Keynes today and they had got in a few more Saturn games since I was in there last (Monday), with one game mysteriously turned so that the spine was not visible. Being in the window, there was no way to see what the game was. I asked about the prices of the games (none were labelled) and decided on Resident Evil, Doom and Space Hulk. Whilst they were fetching those, the mystery game was revealed: TLDR: I now own Saturn Bomberman.

Latest additions to the Saturn collection: Fighters Megamix is way harder than I expected. I had Virtua Fighter somewhere, but I've either lost it or sold it ages ago and forgot. Seeing as how I got given VF2 a few months back, it seemed wrong not to own VF1. Also added Phantasy Star 4 to the Shelf of Valuable Games™ and did a quick search on eBay to see how much they're all selling for currently. Came to a total of £700 (not including the New Vegas Special Edition in the background. That seems to have shot up, but there's not enough copies on eBay to verify if they're just chancers). Not bad, even though I do doubt eBay prices sometimes.

This is what I hate. Sega Touring Car is the same, but even worse. God damn I love Sega Rally. Why can't there just be a remake with updated graphics, the same handling and maybe a few extra tracks?

You sir, can fuck right off. Manx TT is hot garbage compared to Sega Rally. On a more serious note, I played Manx TT the other day and I really don't like it. I used to, but I don't think it has aged well. The handling is just wrong. Sega Rally on the other hand is still just as good as the day it was released IMO. The only thing that lets it down is that it's hard to see far ahead as the resolution is limited. Learn the tracks though and that's soon overcome.

Not one mention of Sega Rally, AKA the best racing game ever. You lot disgust me.

I've not really played it as I only own Zwei (not including my Japanese copy of 1, as I can't play it). From what I've heard, they added quite a few features in Zwei, so I imagine 1 is just a cut down version with a different story. Gameplay should be the same though, so I imagine it's still fun. I think I'll buy it soonish.

I thought it was cheaper than that, but maybe Panzer Dragoon Saga has dragged its price up by association. I think it's a great game. Obviously not as good as Saga, but then it's a completely different genre, with Saga being a great RPG and Zwei being a great rail shooter. I'd say go for it, as it's a brilliant example of a genre we don't really get nowadays. I played it recently (past month) and it's one of the few Saturn games that still holds up well.

I only had the model 2 originally, but I've got the model 1 (and console) as well now. Model 1 controller is awful. Looks better, but the buttons are crap. Might just be mine, but from what's been said here, I'm guessing not.

It's ok, but not great. I think the problem is that games like Tony Hawk Pro Skater nailed board controls so well that everything else just feels clunky. That's said, of my 2 purchases, it's by far the best. Sega Touring Car is awful. How a game can be so much like Sega Rally (same engine?) but handle so poorly is beyond me. I remembered the demo being bad, but God damn.

Picked this up nice and cheap from Amazon: It's much better than the reviews suggest, which presumably were based on it's original price of around £80. It's only plastic, but it doesn't feel light and cheap. The sound quality isn't great, but it can only be used for the Ghost skill, so it does the job. I asked Ghost about the Red Legion:

Got a couple of new games for the Saturn, namely Sega Touring Car Championship and Steep Slope Sliders. Also got a component cable so that I can capture footage. The quality is nowhere near as good as the Scart cable, but there's no Scart input on the Elgato, so it'll have to do. Obviously had to test on the greatest racing game of all time: