efaardvark

I’d like to like consoles but they’re just too locked down. If they ever make a console that accepts mods, I’m there. Until then I’ll stick with my PC. As for streaming, I see 2 problems there. First is bandwidth. How does a FPS in HD work over my ~7mb/s DSL at anything like acceptable frame rates and latency? It probably doesn’t. 2nd is kind of the same problem that I have with existing consoles.. lock-in, which leads to expensive content, user-farming (loot boxes, etc), and less value for your money. Apps that I don’t physically take possession of and that require an expensive console that can turn into a useless brick at any time some company decides they’re not making enough profit are basically a non-starter With me, especially if it takes “my” entire software library with it. At least with existing consoles I can generally continue to run in single-player mode from the cart/disc until the hardware itself breaks. To be sure there is interesting possibilities inherent in the streaming console idea. Multi-player games are hard to do if there is much physics interaction between players and it all has to be coordinated individually, without recourse to a server. If the whole “physics” environment is simulated in the servers’ local memory and just control inputs and visual/audible results streamed from/to a remote console someplace then that limits the required bandwidth and compute power for massively multiplayer games even as it opens up new gaming possibilities on the development side. I'm interested to see where consoles go from here. At the same time I’m in no rush to be in the bleeding edge.

Some updated info on crunchy.. https://www.crunchyroll.com/anime-news/2020/01/21-1/third-season-of-smash-hit-anime-log-horizon-announced

Oh man, I can't believe I forgot Patlabor! A great (mostly) "hard" anime that was overshadowed by other mecha like the Gundam series that were more spectacular but less "hard".

Also known as Tranzor Z, one of the early ones that lead in the mecha genre in the 70s. For some reason MZ is forever linked in my mind with Gatchaman. I think they were back-to-back on TV back in the days when I was young and impressionable.

I noticed that a 1.15.2 (snapshot) of minecraft is available. This of course meant I had to start my traditional "hardcore" game. And pretty quickly die. Also a tradition. However, this time I found a nice village early on. I was able to rework it, fortify it (the new raiders are troublesome if you don't), and get the population up to about 25 villagers before I was caught in a fight between an enderman and a golem.

Sleep.. yum!

I'm not really into horror. Like fantasy, it is often hard for me to get invested in the story enough that the horror effect kicks in. In movies I'm always laughing at the stupid things the characters do to get themselves in trouble. It is hard to take movies seriously enough to get scared because anyone with any sense would never get themselves in such trouble in the first place! I guess that counts as entertainment, but probably not the sort the producers intended. The other problem is that often there is no story to speak of, and a whole movie of just gore, dark scenes, and jump-scares is pretty pointless, IMHO. There are a few, like Poltergeist or Aliens, that I've liked. As a class I also tend to enjoy zombie movies for their innate humor, intended or not. But in general I usually avoid horror movies. As for horror games.. In games it is a little different since the player is actually there in the situation and therefor a bit more involved and invested. Again, I don't like the ones that are all black screens and jump-scares, or the ones that force me to do stupid stuff that gets me in trouble. (Which would include not allowing me to do perfectly reasonable things that would keep me out of trouble.. like not letting me pick up that gun that's just lying on the desk.) That said, games are a bit more attractive to me, and I'm actually kind of looking forward to trying out VR horror once I get my own rig set up. Including seatbelts.

@Seshi I think I saw a few early episodes of Psycho-Pass. Didn't seem like my kind of thing and some of the underlying science parts are .. dubious but I'll spend a little more time with it. Maybe they explain things better later in the series. @Tv-Crimes Ergo Proxy was close. As with psycho-pass some of the science part is questionable though. Not a bad anime, but in terms of SF and this thread I'd like it "harder".

Have some (pan)cakes.. This is the food channel, right?

If you're into city-builder games then 2020 looks like your year... https://youtu.be/mlZvQXJ8g_s Two of my faves are getting an update.. The Settlers and KSP2. I might be in trouble, time-wise.

Sometimes it goes that way too. Some noob goes in with wild ideas and wreaks havoc on all the veteran, play-by-spreadsheet crowd's carefully laid plans. I'll have to watch the anime. That does sound like a fun one.

I haven't seen any of this one yet, but I will personally confirm that watching a newbie play games is hilarious, and sometimes painful. Game geeks don't realize that there's a language and a culture to games that outsiders are generally completely unaware of. Leveling up? (AKA "grinding".) Tanking? What's a DPS character? A buff? A boss? A mob? PvE? PvP? MMO? MMORPG? VRMMORPG???? Yes, gamers have their own acronym soup. Watching normies (try to) engage in the gaming world can be a real eye-opener. Even "simple" games like minecraft are often intimidating and opaque to newbies. I once introduced someone to minecraft (at her request) and she wanted to play it "without help". She'd heard it was easy you see, and thought it would be a good intro. Anyway, talk about starting off on the wrong foot! I mean, doesn't "everyone" know that MC is supposed to be multiplayer? Ok, so we'll do it your way. (I'm just the tech staff.) And then she decided to start with an "easy" game ("I'm not that creative") and as luck would have it she started in a desert. No trees, all sand. No wood! No crafting table. No tools! Must have died hundreds of times in the first few nights.

Welcome to AF! It seems we have an instigator in our midst!

This would be my preferred scenario, actually. I've never understood the "travel" fascination .. as in visiting all the tourist traps, taking a few selfies, and coming back to work more exhausted than you were before you left on your "vacation". To me the whole point of travel is to learn about someplace first-hand. I'd much rather deep-dive... live in a place for months or years and really get to know the place. Ideally I'd know someone there, or arrange to move in with a tolerant native, or something along those lines. Of course, that's a much bigger commitment. Plus there's the practical difficulties of an extended stay. My native language is English, and being a product of the US publik edukayshun system that's pretty much the only language I speak, though I can understand a bit of spoken Japanese and I might still remember a bit of German from HS. I can read hiragana/katakana, but Kanji is still a wall. And since I'm not a millionaire I'd need some way to earn income to pay the rent, etc. I'd have to have a really good support system there to help me earn a living while "visiting". But if I could overcome all that then yeah, I think it'd be fun and educational to live there for a while.

Those old consoles in the control room!

What? The cake is a lie???

No, the other "c" word. You know 4 letters... I'll still eat it. One can never eat too much pasta. nomnomnomnom

Demons and Wizards was good. "He was the wizard of a thousand kings..."

Looks like Sony isn't going to E3 this year either.. https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2020/01/on-eve-of-ps5-sony-confirms-it-will-skip-e3-for-second-year-in-a-row/ Oh! Steampunk and VR?? HDR?? Shut up and take my money! https://www.theverge.com/2020/1/9/21058056/panasonic-vr-glasses-hdr-hands-on-ces-2020 "Panasonic is unlikely to ever sell these glasses as a consumer product." Damn..

I'm ok now. They had chicken & pasta salad for lunch in the cafeteria at work today.