S.C.G

Add me to the members of this forum who have experienced anxiety/depression/panic attacks... at this point it might be good to do a thread rip, I don't mind either way though... the important thing is that Kyle bringing it up in the latest episode of Frame Trap has clearly brought it to the forefront of our minds, which is a good thing and good on him for sharing it with the Easy Allies community; though I do hope he'll be OK on the medication. Like yourself @Hero-of-Time I always try to refuse medication on principle, if it works for others then that's good obviously but I've heard some horrific stories about the side-effects from certain medications for depression/anxiety (not to mention all the other stuff a lot of the large pharmaceutical companies don't seem to have a conscience over but that's another topic) so I tend to leave them well alone, opting for more natural remedies (often better in my experience) where applicable. I can relate to the feeling of having a lump in the throat, sometimes it can make it seem like it's harder to breathe (I have asthma as it is) and then there's the feeling in the chest that @nekunando has described, I seem to get that a lot also I've noticed chest pains possibly linked into straining shoulder/underarm muscles at some point, makes you take things a little bit easier when you notice it (happened a couple of times at work a few weeks ago) then you start to thinking if it's something more serious... which can induce mild panic, it's a bit of a vicious circle. On top of that... I seem to constantly have sensory overload, for example where I work when you walk into the place (supermarket) it's like you can hear everything at once, coupled with agoraphobia which makes me want to get out of the large, open entrance and out of the way into one of the aisles just so that the awful feeling subsides for a moment. Halfway through my week off the hearing has moreorless gone in my left ear (currently treating it with olive oil ear drops) I went back to work on Monday (only a three hour shift) and it was... a challenge. My hearing hasn't returned yet (I think wax has been pushed down so I'm hoping that's all it is) but I shall be patient with it. I guess it's best to just keep going though, I always keep thinking that "there are others who have it worse than me" so I just get through the days, currently sorting out my game collection and being able to help out with reviews and site stuff plus generally around the house are the main things keeping me going at the moment. Also I hope you're right @Grazza and that there will continue to be a greater understanding about physical and mental health being interlinked, I think there is more awareness of it now, I know a lot more people in day to day life/work and now here who have various conditions, but I think we've got a long way to go yet still. Yes... I think maybe we should thread-rip this now or at some point as a thread about mental health, underlying causes and ways of helping to cope could be very useful indeed. Anyway, I just wanted to say that I love this place and the people who make it such an excellent community, I'm happy to talk with anyone who's had or is having similar issues and thank you for taking the time to read this and for opening up about all this in the first place.

Burnout Paradise, remastered, with all dlc and presumably the original soundtrack... all for £30? *pre-orders* See you all online. (PS4 version)

Ah OK, no worries... As it happens though, I've just found what looks like an excellent deal at Very.co.uk of all places... £27.99 too! https://www.very.co.uk/nintendo-3ds-radiant-historia-perfect-chronology-3ds/1600248659.prd?_requestid=64181&Ntt=radiant historia

I'm currently keeping a look out in the meantime anyway, if I spot a sealed copy going for £35 or less, do you want me to secure you one?

@Goron_3 And what an excellent article it is. I personally enjoyed reading through it and it really does highlight just how much has changed within Nintendo regarding Third Parties in what is a relatively short space of time. Let's hope that they can keep the positive relationships with other publishers/developers and indeed the momentum going, because at the moment there doesn't seem to be any signs of it stopping any time soon.

I thought my Wavebird controller was broken for half of those races... ...then I remembered about the smart steering.

New Nintendo 2DS XL Poké Ball Edition + Pokémon Ultra Sun Pack £178.99 Because kids still like Pokémon... right?

Good shout! I've ordered it as well, it looks like a pretty substantial tome. Also, I just checked and guess when my next booked holiday is... yep, it covers the launch of Sea of Thieves. (booked it over a year ago too without realising) We really do need to get an N-E crew together.

Shephy Portal Knights Reviews by @Josh64

Review by @Vileplume2000 Review by @nekunando

Well, I'm buying it on day one, physical copy too and will gladly sail the seas with anyone on here who wants to be part of the N-E crew.

Yep, I can vouch for this... Magical Drop 3 is an absolute god-tier Puzzle game, worthy of any Switch owners money. It was already amazing on the Wii and this will be a far superior version of it, definitely a no-brainer purchase.

Happy Birthday Ashley I hope you're having an excellent day.

Happy Birthday Eenuh I hope you have a fantastic day.

That sucks Josh, I'm really sorry to hear that you're not able to settle into any jobs at the moment. It sounds to me like the latest role wasn't helping your anxiety much though, I can relate to those feelings as I've been experiencing similar shifts where I've just felt like going home early, I mean it's nothing quite as bad as having abuse hurled at me but still, working with the public can be as tough as it is rewarding at times. Though I have been in my job for quite a while now, so I've built up quite a few customers who like to come to me specifically every week and I... guess that's what keeps me going, for instance I know that at some point I'll almost certainly be serving a customer who has been coming to me at the same time every week for months now because I do "such a good job" and "everything just falls into place" in their words, so that's nice; I mean, if I'm ever not there then I know that they'll still get decent enough service but they certainly seem to prefer the way I do things in my line of work... just talking and packing items really but it's nice to be appreciated. So I can understand that it must be hard to keep going with a job if you haven't built up much investment in it, especially with those awful shifts you've detailed above. I find it hard to read that you're unhappy as you're really worth so much more than that Josh, you deserve to be happy in work and life so I really do hope that you'll find something you can enjoy, be appreciated in and not have it make you even more anxious; I know it's not easy but I really do wish the best for you, if you ever want to talk then you know where I am too. In the meantime, if you are going to have a bit of free time between jobs then why not focus on enjoying the things that you like in life, anything that will help you forget your worries at least in the short-term has got to be good, maybe play an old Sega game that you've not played for Ages, listen to some Akmu or bust out the Dreamcast and your copy of Sega Marine Fishing... do whatever makes you happy.

I'm sorry to hear that martinist.

Yeah, the Tutorial section seems to last for a few hours it seems... I didn't mind it quite as much but it does drag on a bit, especially if you're a Monster Hunter Veteran. I must say that my experiences after that initial first play have been better and better to the point that this evening I've just been tackling non-essential quests at the same time as handling Bounties, Investigations and Deliveries; all of which aid you in progressing in the game even without furthering the story if you don't want to right away, it's a break from the cutscenes at least. The cutscenes are pretty cool though, even if you feel like you've maybe seen enough of them in the intro section, they do get better. Anyway, I really hope that this hasn't completely put you off playing the game as there are so many improvements which really do make the game worthwhile, plus I'm still only scratching the surface I'm sure at HR3 and only what... 10 hours in now probably. Let me know if you still want to play online maybe tomorrow night if you're about as I reckon if we got a team of four together then it'll still prove to be as fun as the previous entries, if not moreso in some ways, especially with OS level voice chat. It has got to be worth a shot at least.

Excellent news. As it happens, I ended up not playing as much as I'd hoped - mostly work getting in the way - so I've only put in around seven hours, which means I've barely started really with only my basic Dual Blades upgraded once or twice and I'm wearing the dlc armour I got from pre-ordering with ShopTo, which is only a little bit above the basic armour. So, I'd like to join you both in some hunts tonight, if I may? Just let me know what kind of time you were thinking of, I have today/tomorrow off so I can probably play from 8PM onwards until 2AM absolute latest so that gives some scope for a few online hunts. (providing PSN is working of course because it wasn't the other night and I almost had to forgo my login bonus... again) Also, if we can't find a fourth player then I have a friend who I've been playing online games with for years on and off, he's a keen Monster Hunter so it's possible he might join us, I'll find out how far along he is in the game though.

Oh damn... I forgot that you don't own a PS4. Yeah I think pretty much everyone on here has bought the game on PS4 rather than Xbox One mostly because it's more of a natural fit I suppose with the series history. And of course on the Playstation 4 it just seems a lot easier to organise online sessions thanks to the U.I plus the group features though I think Xbox One has something similar now. Who knows... maybe I'll double-dip and use Dual Blades on the PS4 version while getting to grips with other weapons on the Xbox One version... that could prove interesting. I'm half-tempted, even though I shouldn't be with all the other games waiting to be played but damn, Monster Hunter World really is pretty damn good.

Started playing this way too late last night, 2:30am or something... so it was only on for half an hour as I was tired. I went looking for Pukei-Pukei but couldn't find it so I just quit the quest and called it a night. Hopefully I'll make up for it this weekend though, well after work today anyway.

I've got a Sony STR DG910 AV system paired with a set of KEF speakers and a sub-woofer. I use it every day and I've never looked back. So you could get a modern version of that I guess? I've seen some of the newer Sony amps and they look great, in fact the only thing which mine doesn't have is as many HDMI ports as it has three - still pretty good considering the unit is a decade old I guess? - but I'm adding in a HDMI switch box soon, plus I don't have some of the newer sound standards though Dolby Pro Logix II X seems perfectly fine and in addition it supports up to 7.1 channel Linear PCM. I suppose there are other considerations, mine will only pass through up to 1080p but I don't need 4K so... the newer amps will likely support that though if that's something you're even after. Lots to consider obviously but I would certainly recommend the Sony STR line from personal experience.