Powerline
ALF
I'm a pale imitator of a boy in the sky, with a cap on his head and a knot in his tie
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Post by Powerline on Apr 13, 2024 21:41:18 GMT -5
Norms busy hanging out with The Game Chasers. Hopefully in their neck of the woods then. I'm born/raised/residing in KC like him and the scene is D R Y, unless you get abrasively pushy when it's garage sale season.
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Powerline
ALF
I'm a pale imitator of a boy in the sky, with a cap on his head and a knot in his tie
Posts: 1,042
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Post by Powerline on Mar 29, 2024 20:51:35 GMT -5
Especially now with PPVs being a thing of the past for most and using Peacock/monthly payments to watch the show, I'm perfectly fine with the Royal Rumble being a 4-5 match show, with two of those matches being the Rumbles.
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Powerline
ALF
I'm a pale imitator of a boy in the sky, with a cap on his head and a knot in his tie
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Post by Powerline on Mar 11, 2024 18:30:40 GMT -5
I'm surprised they (seemingly) held off Roman/Solo. If Roman retains it's DEFINITELY happening, but there was a minute there where it felt inevitable while Roman had the belt.
People didn't want Bray to be "fed" to Roman when he first came back, and I'm not saying it should've been right away, but it would've been a poetic "full circle" moment for it to have been him since the reign started at his expense.
It also stunned me that with all his cash-ins, Roman and Autin Theory never had a true one-on-one blowoff. Felt like the kind of thing Tribal Chief Roman would've set up to make an example of.
With Omos seeming to not be on either side of the face/heel line and how much WWE likes to "against the odds" their champions (face or heel), I'm surprised that never happened.
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Powerline
ALF
I'm a pale imitator of a boy in the sky, with a cap on his head and a knot in his tie
Posts: 1,042
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Post by Powerline on Feb 24, 2024 10:13:52 GMT -5
Paramore retired "Misery Business" from their live shows a few years back. Madonna stopped performing "Like a Virgin" 15 years ago. AC/DC haven't performed "Long Way to the Top" since Bon Scott's death in 1980. I know Madonna used to put a separate "fee" on performing "Like A Virgin" and it was something insane (like literally in the "millions of dollars" stratosphere) because she loathed the song so much and thought she was past that kind of song (which, by the late 90s/early 00s and the phase of music she was in.....I mean, yeah). It doesn't surprise me if she just hit the "nope, just not doing it" point.
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Powerline
ALF
I'm a pale imitator of a boy in the sky, with a cap on his head and a knot in his tie
Posts: 1,042
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Post by Powerline on Jan 27, 2024 19:59:52 GMT -5
30 for the women's Rumble and 20 for the men.
I'll take that with a smile on my face.
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Powerline
ALF
I'm a pale imitator of a boy in the sky, with a cap on his head and a knot in his tie
Posts: 1,042
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Post by Powerline on Jan 19, 2024 6:34:26 GMT -5
I want in on this action!
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Powerline
ALF
I'm a pale imitator of a boy in the sky, with a cap on his head and a knot in his tie
Posts: 1,042
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Post by Powerline on Jan 10, 2024 21:57:37 GMT -5
Someone told me to check PriceListing and compare the price to what price the seller is offering the game. Link to the Past on Amazon has the options of "Buy used for $49.99", or "Used for $44.99 & free shipping". The Loose Price for Link to the Past on PriceListing is $31.00. PriceListing/Price Charting all use the average price on sold/completed eBay listings. So it wouldn't factor in Amazon. Amazon sellers can be....odd. Some will ask WAY over the average price hoping they catch someone not doing their homework. Link to the Past was the 7th best-selling SNES game. It doesn't seem worth it to make a repro of it. It might be common and might have sold truckloads, but if it's in-demand in game stores and on eBay in the current day, that can EASILY shoot the value up. And if the value's hot, people will make repros of it and try to get a slice (whether passing the repro as legit or being open about it and selling for slightly less to get a slice of the action). That's why a ton of the best selling N64 games go for $50+. It's why Smash Bros. Melee and Mario Kart Double Dash (the #1 and #2 best selling U.S. GameCube games respectively) go in the $60-70 range complete-in-box even though the numbers show they're THE two most common games on the console. They still do repros of super-rare stuff for people just wanting to play the games (like the Mr. Gimmick repro I mentioned before). But trying to pass off a repro of a rare game as legit is next to impossible, considering anyone who'd pay what something like Panic Restaurant/Little Samson/Hagane is worth is going to dissect that cart with a fine-toothed comb. And many stores won't do a trade for them without checking that too once they see how much they should be giving a seller for those titles. But a Mario Kart or a Goldeneye or what have you...those will fly off the shelves and they get those often enough they don't want to dissect every one of those carts to check if it's legit.
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Powerline
ALF
I'm a pale imitator of a boy in the sky, with a cap on his head and a knot in his tie
Posts: 1,042
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Post by Powerline on Jan 10, 2024 15:31:14 GMT -5
In Kansas City there's a bus system and the railcar that's getting expanded. It's nice but has plenty of room for improvement. It's almost impossible to completely or even mostly depend on public transportation in KC, you gotta do a decent amount of the driving yourself at the very least.
Plus we still have toll booths on the Kansas side, which is just silly in the 21st century, let alone 2024.
UBER and rideshares work if you're IN the city, but if you begin to go even a little out of the city limits to one of the suburbs of KC, good luck.
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Powerline
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I'm a pale imitator of a boy in the sky, with a cap on his head and a knot in his tie
Posts: 1,042
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Post by Powerline on Jan 10, 2024 9:11:23 GMT -5
I know I'm echoing others, but the telltale sign of it being legit or a repro would be to open it up and check the board. In this case it isn't THAT involved. You can see what you need to on the board without removing the board itself from the cart (on most carts it'll be stuck on the backside) or doing any additional maintenance; literally just unscrew it, remove the top part of the cart, find (or not find) what you need to, and screw everything back together. But I don't see anything on the outside of the cart in your pictures that clinches it one way or the other. Which can also be a good sign; there's plenty of repro/fake carts with obvious errors anyone can see from a mile away (I've seen some Pokemon games in secondhand stores that are so obviously fake it's insane). If it's not legit, whoever made this repro put some effort into it. I read a site on how to tell if a SNES cartridge is authentic, and my copy of Link to the Past passes every one other than the back label and the board (I refuse to open up the cartridge). It has the product number code where the pin connector is, the game title on the label is clear, and the dot for the "i" in the Nintendo logo on the back is a square instead of a circle. And let's be real, it'd be hard to fake that kind of wear. I dunno. Repros (even of the more common but still valuable games like LttP) have been around long enough now that they would have some wear if they were played. I got a repro Mr. Gimmick cart (an NES game cancelled in the U.S. and stupid rare in PAL regions) and it looks more beat up than that LttP.
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Powerline
ALF
I'm a pale imitator of a boy in the sky, with a cap on his head and a knot in his tie
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Post by Powerline on Jan 9, 2024 12:54:47 GMT -5
Currently, my Steam Deck.
All-time, I feel like the PS2 has the most solid argument.
But for me personally, I always find myself going back to the Dreamcast and Genesis. I was a total Sega kid growing up, I was all-in on Genesis, wanted a Saturn badly but my parents thought I was fine with the Genesis, and got my a Dreamcast Christmas of 99. Still have my childhood Genesis console from 31 years ago (still functions even), am on my second Dreamcast (lens busted on the original) and even got around to getting a Saturn. Just something about games from that time, the style, the presentation....just clicks for me. Retro games in general do, but Sega just felt more focused on stuff I like.
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Powerline
ALF
I'm a pale imitator of a boy in the sky, with a cap on his head and a knot in his tie
Posts: 1,042
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Post by Powerline on Jan 8, 2024 21:55:37 GMT -5
My Steam games list (especially since I got an OLED Steam Deck and decided to load up with games for it during the Winter Sale) is loaded with games I missed the boat on by at least a couple years, plenty with a longer gap of time than that.
I'm just now giving FF7 Remake a go. I'm digging it, but can see why people that just wanted it to be a tried-and-true FF7 remake didn't dig it so much.
I remember being a Dreamcast fighting game dork, even owned Project Justice and SFIII 3rd Strike (two of the most uncommon games on the console), along with SF Alpha III, Capcom vs. SNK, Marvel vs. Capcom 1 and 2, etc. But I never did give "Garou; Mark of the Wolves" a go. I remember hearing a ton of people say it was just "meh" in a loaded fighting game crowd on the console. Just last year I decided to give it a go and HOLY SHIT is it fantastic. It has a legit claim as SNK's "3rd Strike" with how solid it plays and how much style it has. I had opportunities to get it dirt cheap back when I still had my Dreamcast hooked in on a normal basis (until about late 2002/early 2003 when I got my PS2), and passed it up repeatedly. I deeply regret not finding out about it sooner.
I remember getting into Terraria super-late due to just being unattracted to Minecraft clones at the time. I didn't hate Minecraft but didn't love it either, so anything that was an -alike of it just instantly didn't interest me. But I've put SOOOOOO many hours into that game. I love it.
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Powerline
ALF
I'm a pale imitator of a boy in the sky, with a cap on his head and a knot in his tie
Posts: 1,042
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Post by Powerline on Jan 7, 2024 19:14:19 GMT -5
Tentacool and Tentacruel was also banned for a while as buildings were shown being destroyed Which was hilarious because I'm pretty sure the clips of them ripping up buildings were still in the early intros Yep. I remember seeing that as a little kid and not owning the game (yet) and thinking "OH MY GOD! TENTACRUEL HAS TO BE, LIKE, THE STRONGEST POKEMON IN THE WORLD!!!". There wasn't anything else in Pokemon (even in the current standing, not too many) going all kaiju and causing mass destruction.
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Powerline
ALF
I'm a pale imitator of a boy in the sky, with a cap on his head and a knot in his tie
Posts: 1,042
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Post by Powerline on Jan 7, 2024 19:06:21 GMT -5
I GET why they have two world titles, but I'd much rather have one than two, and certainly one (or two) more than 3.
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Powerline
ALF
I'm a pale imitator of a boy in the sky, with a cap on his head and a knot in his tie
Posts: 1,042
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Post by Powerline on Dec 27, 2023 19:02:56 GMT -5
Best: Julia Hart, Swerve Strickland, Adam Cole (when he's available)
Worst: Takeshita (seems like they definitely cooled off him for some reason), Roderick Strong (I don't mind the comedy stuff if he's being a threat at the top of the card, and after beating Jericho he's......not been booked that way), Hybrid 2/Angelico (second year of me saying that...if it was me they'd have been firmly in that tag title picture and Angelico would be on TV weekly now),
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Powerline
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I'm a pale imitator of a boy in the sky, with a cap on his head and a knot in his tie
Posts: 1,042
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Post by Powerline on Dec 27, 2023 18:53:01 GMT -5
Our family hasn't even had our Christmas gathering yet. You want me to lose Christmas and Thanksgiving weight when I ain't even had Christmas brunch and Jambalaya? Ain't happenin' chief.
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Powerline
ALF
I'm a pale imitator of a boy in the sky, with a cap on his head and a knot in his tie
Posts: 1,042
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Post by Powerline on Dec 27, 2023 18:51:24 GMT -5
To be honest most of what I played was on Game Pass until I took a long hiatus and ended up recently selling my Series X for a Steam Deck OLED (arriving tomorrow). So keep that in mind as I write this.
Pizza Tower for me was my GotY. It took me a few tries to "get" into the groove of it and I had to change a couple things (specifically, having a button for the charge jump; for me holding down mid-spring wasn't reliable as I'd just "drop" my charge half the time). But once it sticks, even if it's a small combo or a flawed one, it's addictive. It's the most fun I've had in a 2D platformer since I can't even remember.
I didn't purchase any game I'd consider truly "bad", but being a gigantic Advance Wars fan, the Re-Boot Camp was a little too rough for me to truly fall for it like I expected. I bought that thinking I'd binge that so hard I'd still be putting hours into it before Tears of the Kingdom dropped a couple weeks later. Within 3-4 days I was practically BEGGING for TotK to come out (which, side note, was great too but not my GotY and I would definitely not put it over BotW). It felt like a 3DS version of the GBA games and was just missing a ton of the style to it. I know it was kept in the freezer due to the Ukraine/Russia conflict, but it's clear they went into it with a "just to do one" mentality. Nintendo keeps getting disappointed by the sales of the AW games, but this felt like a self-fulfilling prophecy of them half-assing a remake (not a "re-boot" or remaster, new content is almost nil aside from a very tacked-on online mode) and then being disappointed when the numbers follow suit. If you can get it for a discount, by all means. Advance Wars is a fun franchise, but $60 for what this ended up being was a major letdown.
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Powerline
ALF
I'm a pale imitator of a boy in the sky, with a cap on his head and a knot in his tie
Posts: 1,042
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Post by Powerline on Dec 9, 2023 18:59:47 GMT -5
If you're interested, there is a LadyEmily video on "The Cinemassacre Controversy" that does a deeper dive on how Screenwave (and in a few minor ways James himself, though more in a "content of questionable quality" way and less "genuine act of malice") have messed with Cinemassacre. She touches on the plagiarism in detail and goes into other issues the channel (and Screenwave) have had separate from that. Hbomberguy cites it in the video. youtu.be/EmC5Zte5RnMThat video brings up the Irate Gamer, which itself could've been a topic on plagiarism with video reviews, though there it probably isn't as insane as the James Somerton case and per LadyEmily's video, seems like things did get smoothed over eventually between Chris Bores and James Rolfe (to the point where the latter appeared in a later Irate Gamer video). I never got the idea James himself was THAT pissed about it. He'd often deflect at cons and stuff. Anytime there was a genuine "shot" from his camp, it was either Stuttering Craig (I know there's a con clip of him having a slide about Bores and talking shit, James laughed along but didn't get too worked up or add any dialogue), or Mike Mateo (who started a LOT of shit behind the scenes, including the original Reddit post calling out Bores).
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Powerline
ALF
I'm a pale imitator of a boy in the sky, with a cap on his head and a knot in his tie
Posts: 1,042
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Post by Powerline on Dec 8, 2023 22:16:33 GMT -5
It stuns me people still try to get away with such blatant plagiarism nowadays. I remember even in High School and College getting my writing degree and also the early days of YouTube and vids getting pulled for copyright. Creators of all levels were having those discussions about "At what point is content transformative enough?" and "At what point is a quotation just a paraphrase or ripping the quote wholesale?". Now we get people trying (and often succeeding up to a point) to do the most basic cut-paste jobs and thinking they found some untraceable exploit. Outright plagiarism is one of the VERY VERY few things people on the internet are damn near united on regardless of your beliefs (though some pro A.I. people love to show their ass when it comes to that). And the tools to detect it are becoming better and more known through word-of-mouth. And it's only going to get tougher to get away with. Finished watching the video after coming home from work. God is it satisfying to hear him call out "generative AI" at the end because my God was I thinking the entire time how everything he was criticizing applies to AI stuff, which I why I prefer to refer to AI "art" as AI plagiarism, because that's what it factually is. And as an artist myself and having posted many of my own pieces online, I feel directly targetted by it. For all I know, my work has been fed into those algorithms and being profitted from as we speak without my knowledge or consent. Dude, it makes me want to scream when people act like AI-generated anything is all a hustle thing and the people against it "just don't like competition". Like, you're TRYING to dodge the point by then. AI voice-acting is stolen vocals. AI artwork is stolen art-styles. Most AI writing is stolen work. It's a smokeshow and people are actually idiotic enough to either try to fool everyone into thinking it's a level playing field OR are so stupid they really think it is a level playing field. Ahh that cinemassacre section answered some questions I always had about those screen wave guys. Like, who are they? And what do they do and why does everyone hate them? Also, saw the original monster madness plagiarism video. If you're interested, there is a LadyEmily video on "The Cinemassacre Controversy" that does a deeper dive on how Screenwave (and in a few minor ways James himself, though more in a "content of questionable quality" way and less "genuine act of malice") have messed with Cinemassacre. She touches on the plagiarism in detail and goes into other issues the channel (and Screenwave) have had separate from that. Hbomberguy cites it in the video. youtu.be/EmC5Zte5RnMFinally watching the video... UrinatingTree was an angry gaming reviewer back in the day wasn't he? Good on him to change to angry meme sports fan and kind of documentarist. I remember being a fan of his old content way back when and was still subbed when he started again. I was shocked to see him rise from the dead like he did. If you sort the videos on his channel by oldest vid first, you can still see some of it (he's deleted some that didn't age well) and there's some archivist uploaders that uploaded the stuff he's dumped off. He has said he's debated doing a one-off return to it for shits and grins (FivePoints has admitted to enjoying his Ice Hockey video on an episode of Dumpster Fire) but doesn't want to forego his sports content to do that again, and isn't particularly proud his old content (both in how the content has aged and the quality itself).
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Powerline
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I'm a pale imitator of a boy in the sky, with a cap on his head and a knot in his tie
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Post by Powerline on Dec 8, 2023 21:57:06 GMT -5
For me, it depends on multiple factors. IF the subject matter can keep me pulled in and I have nothing going on that day and if having it on in the background counts, I can easily go 5-6 hours still paying at least enough attention to get what's going on.
I do think there's a ton of content creators that can't make long run times interesting for the full amount of time. But then there's some that just have SO MUCH info crammed into a video that it truly becomes insane to expect start-to-finish engagement and they'll even acknowledge it.
Like Quinton Reviews I'm convinced is making several hour vids just to be "The Guy That Made a [x] hour video about [subject]", and not having the content to justify it. His iCarly comprehensive retrospective absolutely did not need the "finding events that would be a felony" shtick (it was a completely derailing attempt at brevity) and could've cut the run-time down by a third if not by half, and the video would've been more focused and BETTER for it. And I haven't given him too many more shots past that, but I've heard similar of his other long reviews; that half of the content in his videos would've been better left decorating the cutting room floor or a goofy Patreon bonus.
On the other side of the coin though, I do think there's plenty that can justify the longer length. I remember hearing about a Sega Saturn reviewer, Pandamonium, when someone tweeted he was launching a 4 1/2 hour video just reviewing Virtua Cop. I thought that sounded absolutely unnecessary. But in the video he actually was able to gather part of the dev team and port team for basically their first gathering in decades to discuss the development, while also doing a deep dive on the game itself; what inspired the development, a full-game runthrough, what was changed from arcade to Saturn, how they pulled off certain tricks within the Saturn's limited 3D scape, etc. By the end, you feel like the people being interviewed pulled off a miracle and appreciate the game and their work more. The only things that could arguably have been cut were little bits here and there running long, but that's about it. I watched some of his other Saturn reviews and now I'm a huge fan of his.
Someone mentioned "Down the Rabbit Hole" and I agree with that, especially his later work. Frederick Knudsen has improved a ton to the point he's a master of making his videos thorough and spending no more/less time than needed on a segment. If he has a video that's multiple hours, he justifies every minute of it.
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Powerline
ALF
I'm a pale imitator of a boy in the sky, with a cap on his head and a knot in his tie
Posts: 1,042
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Post by Powerline on Dec 8, 2023 19:47:39 GMT -5
"The Titty Timer?" "The Titty Timer!" "Well there's other timers in the arena. Why can't that timer look like a t-" "It's f*****' Bloodline!"
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