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Huge fan of both Calvin & Hobbes and The Far Side. Keep meaning to watch The Boondocks, as I caught one episode on Adult Swim years ago, and rather enjoyed it. It's on Netflix, far as I know (it comes and goes for whatever reason), but just haven't committed yet. As for current comics in my local newspaper, I enjoy Speed Bump by Dave Coverly, as well as Strange Brew. Both are one panel comics, but done quite well. Unfortunately our paper is a small one, with only maybe 10 comics in it. Foxtrot, Zits, and Dilbert were already mentioned, Non-Sequiteur (I'm probably spelling that incorrectly) was also one I loved. Worst comic though? Gotta be Ziggy. For the love of all that is holy in this world, I think I only ever read a SINGLE strip of Ziggy that was actually funny. All the others, I read only to make the other strips in that week's paper THAT much better by way of comparison. Sorry Ziggy, just how it is, you strange, strange character.

For a guy with his head seemingly in the clouds, you'd think he would give it a fair amount of consideration haha. Kidding aside, I don't need government to tell me how to live my life, and I suspect it's much the same for the rest of us on here. Anyone here genuinely believe that it is the government's place to tell you how to live your life? As for the space exploration, neat as it may be, I'd rather know what's already here on earth. Much of the surface of our own planet is deep enough underwater that we don't know what all is down there. Plus, if you're a student of economics, you'll know that sooner than later (much sooner, I might add), there will be no funds for anyone. Look at the value of the dollar in 2016 versus the value of the dollar in 1913. Short of a whole lot of volunteer work (and donated supplies), I don't see us getting off this rock in my lifetime. But, don't take my word for it, take history's word for it. What happens to a culture in a complete economic collapse, where a government devalues a currency through hyperinflation?

"I bought a $7 pen the other day, 'cause I'm always losing pens, and I'm sick of not giving a shit." -Mitch Hedberg Kidding aside, it's a sad reality you point out. That said, I loved flipping through hundreds of tickets won from my skeeball skills... not sure which I was better at, skeeball, or rapidly counting tickets.

Ahh, so we're talking surface area then. That makes more sense. The only bonding I'm even the least bit familiar with is with welding, and I'm very much an amateur with that.

I just meant that it must be nice to even have an arcade relatively close by. I'm in the least densely populated state in the country (save for possibly Alaska?), and I would have to drive three hours to even FIND an arcade... Here in the states, I suspect it's similar to how you say, most of what is left is largely aimed at casual players (which makes sense, they ARE a business), while the ones you hear about are a lot more like what we remember from the 90's.

You say the material needs to be 10+mm in order to bond. Do you mean the thickness? That's quite thick, I can't say I've ever seen a sheet of acrylic that thick...

Rocks the unemployment line, you mean? Sadly... Loved SH1 and SH2, never played SH3, and The Room just seemed... odd. Not sure why, but I didn't enjoy it as much. Shattered Memories would have been fantastic but for the repeated cry of, "Cheryll?" every time you try to investigate the surroundings... Curious, I've played that game quite a few times, all the way through, and yet I don't think I noticed any such shenanigans. Anything specific come to mind? As for me, I'd say that pretty much any Mario core game, as well as the Mario Kart games, has excellent level design. I'm a big fan of the levels in MGS as well, as they were designed by none other than Kojima himself, using my favorite toy as a kid, Legos! Also, I could probably draw you a map from memory of the Spencer Mansion in the original version of Resident Evil. I have a blueprint of our house that I intend to hang above the fireplace someday, as an homage to the 2nd floor map puzzle. That, and if I'm ever so fortunate as to win a stupid amount of money on a lottery (so much that I ran out of ideas on how to give money away), I would commission an actual real world, to scale, version of the Spencer Mansion, textures and decor included. I know this would cost probably somewhere between $20-50 million, but I have a plan... turn it into a haunted house during October. Or July, to be more appropriate to the game. Yeah... I know it's never gonna happen, but it's fun to dream. Another one I personally find that has great level design is the Gran Turismo series. Sure, some of you might think race tracks aren't "levels" and you might be right to an extent, but... I learned car control on some of those tracks. What I wouldn't give to drive them in real life...

Same issue here. The idea of added depth could even pull you into a game further. Imagine an FPS with true depth of view. Or something like Gran Turismo, where you could teach drivers actual good driving habits, such as looking ahead, rather than just ahead... Add a nice full motion cockpit (not cheap, something currently used only in racing simulation by professionals and wealthy enthusiasts), I would probably never really care to own fancy cars in real life. Fairly certain I played Rad Racer with the 3D effect (protip: press select) turned on. Don't really have any specific memories though, good or bad. THANK YOU! Was recently wondering if this was the case... I love the idea, but currently have some debt to pay off and a Supra to continue refining before I spend any more money on gaming hardware. This is just the endorsement I was hoping for, thanks again.

I was coming into this thread expecting a discussion on everybody's PC and what they've done to it. Was not expecting (at all) what you posted here Jake. I gotta say, you make some oddball posts man, but good gravy, that thing is sweet. Plus, I learned something new. Never knew MEK could be used for such a purpose. Kinda gives me some ideas for an airbox on a car...

All I remember from Grave is feeling empty inside after watching it, because my heart had been ripped out. All the while watching this film, thinking that there might be a light at the end of the tunnel for these poor kids, just trying to survive, and (spoiler alert), no such light comes. Just more sadness. Wasn't a good movie for me to watch when I saw it, as I was already depressed at the time. Speaking of hopeful / sad movies, anyone else see "Voices from a Distant Star"? That movie summed up a relationship I had with a very close friend of mine in high school, after she went off to college, and we continually grew further and further apart.

Read Heinlein's "Stranger in a Strange Land" and tell me how you feel about living on Mars... On a serious note, logistically speaking, using our moon as a launching point for Martian expeditions seems a bit difficult. Part of the problem would be getting fuel to our moon to refuel before a Martian trip. XKCD covered the trouble of space exploration (specifically rocket technology and physics) in one of the "What If" columns. I highly recommend you read that sometime, seems right up your alley Jake. Also, uh... brrrrr. It's cold enough here on Earth, can only imagine temperatures on the dark side of the moon when it's on the far side of Earth in relation to the sun, much less anywhere at any time on Mars.

Suppose I might be on the younger end of the golden age gamer, but yeah, I'll still be playing... something... when I'm that old. Hopefully I still have all my digits and decent eyes by then. I believe it was Jim Gaffigan, or perhaps Nick Swardson, who once said, "You know how old people listen to the music they grew up listening to? How weird is it that in like 20 years, we're gonna have old people cruising down the street bumping Gin & Juice? Grandma's a straight up gangsta..."

Not that I blame you for wanting to play the taiko drums, but of all people on here, you have what is most likely the most badass arcades within reasonable distances... I've even seen a version of Ridge Racer where Namco converted an actual NA MX-5 into the cabinet, with the car's controls being the game's controls. Being a Miata owner and a big RR fan, you can see my appreciation there. Heck, if I lived in Japan, I'd probably go broke from spending too much time in arcades... As for me, I loved Cruisin' USA / World. As well as pretty much all the others mentioned so far, even the old stuff. I'd make a list, but not many haven't already been mentioned. Special mention of Ehrgeiz, for being one of only a couple fighters that Square made. I must say though, the one and only thing that made arcades truly special, is the social aspect. Sure, the games were usually of higher quality than their console counterparts, at least until the PS1 era, but it was all about the atmosphere, the friends, the rivals, the strangers... the volume too. Anyone else ever play a game as loud as they had them turned up in arcades at home? Not likely, because if your parents were home, you were gonna get yelled at haha... So, yeah, the social aspect. We can play online all we want, with any number of friends or strangers. You know what though? Playing together, in person, is STILL way more fun. Sadly, it's also why I don't play too many games anymore, as everyone has grown up and has responsibilities and lives that don't always allow for "hanging out playing games" time. I'd challenge anyone who lives in the same town as their friends, to cut the internet play out, and go actually play a game with your friends sometime, rekindle some of what spirit made the arcade so awesome.

This is one of five issues of GP / UGP I still have, sitting on my shelf. Thanks for the memories!

Not gonna lie, there are plenty of games I had a lot of trouble with back in the day, simply because I never really figured out how they worked. That said, cheats enabled me to enjoy the worlds those games had to offer, without driving me crazy with constant deaths and game overs. Doom and Resident Evil are probably the two games I cheated on the most. Worth noting, I learned a good deal about how hexadecimal coding works because of Game Shark. I've even considered getting "FFFF" or "65535" as a vanity license plate for my Supra. You know another solid runner up that I forgot to mention? Jumping Flash. I can't tell you how many hours I played the demo for that game. Wanna talk about fresh experiences? Jumping Flash would probably hold up nicely today, especially with all these VR setups coming around or already on the market. Another couple series that I think would do well on modern hardware? Cool Boarders (someone mentioned that one I do believe), and Jet Moto. Come on, Sony... you know you want to. I'll even bring the Doritos and Mountain Dew.

You know what I miss from the PS1 days? Cheats. They made the game infinitely more entertaining than a little notification of some arbitrary outcome. Yes, yes, I realize that the internet ruined gaming in that sense, but it really is an overall loss. I don't play video games to develop skills, I play them for entertainment. If I wanted skill or a challenge, I would go learn something. Literally anything that I can do with my hands is going to be more useful than any achievement that anyone has ever earned in a game.

Fair enough I suppose, but I still suspect you're a more skilled gamer than most if you had difficulty making SOTN a challenge. Could always attempt to attack NO normal enemies, treating the game like a drawn out boss rush, and only fight the bosses. Or use only your fists to attack. Plenty of ways to make things more difficult. Personally, I enjoy breaking games, figuring out the things that make the game system work and exploiting it for laughs. SOTN with two Crissaegram swords is an absolute riot, but like you point out, makes things a bit easy... As for me, I figure my only skill in gaming that is worth mentioning is my habit of getting all golds on the license tests on Gran Turismo games. Even that skill tends to fall off once I get to the S-class tests though.

I think Nintendo already beat you to the Gameboy mini... remember the GB Micro? Wish I would have had extra money to buy one of those, they had a cool design.

Considering how difficult prior games were in the series, I would say that SOTN has a better balanced difficulty. If it were as hard as the earlier games, I sincerely doubt it would be on so many "best of" lists... Plus, as you point out, there are numerous ways of making the game more difficult. Richter mode, axe knight mode, equipment restrictions, etc. I seem to recall there being an armor or item that prevented you from leveling up, but I could be mistaken, it has been quite some time since I last played it. Here's a challenge for you, as I suspect you're up for the challenge: No save mode. Play through the whole game in one sitting. Want to make it even more difficult? Use no armor. That should provide a challenge for a player of your skill level.

I dunno what it is about Doom then. You're right, the plot is barely there, and what you do get is just silly. Must just be the satisfaction of overcoming the odds and gibbing imps left and right. Dark Forces was a great game at the time, but back then most Lucasarts games were pretty good. Quite a difficult game though, in that I seem to recall your goals weren't always entirely clear. As for Suikoden, one would be able to play through it in about 20 hours if you avoid the grind. Maybe 30 for a first time player, give or take. No shame in using a walkthrough if you want the better ending.

Vandal Hearts was just the first thing that popped into my head when I started writing down a list of the first 10 that came to mind. I wanted to focus on less obvious games, the ones that had stories for ME in my personal life, but some games just surpass that self imposed mandate. Your aversion to Doom could be similar to mine for shooters that came before COD4. Much as I wanted to play Half Life 2, the control in a post-COD4 world just wasn't something I could adapt to at the time. There really is no good reason that every game (particularly shooters) can't have every control custom mapped to whatever button you prefer... You know, I would suggest you find both Tail of the Sun and Treasures of the Deep somehow, and give both at least an hour of your time, more if you enjoy them. I really don't know how well they would hold up for a first time player 20 years later. As for Suikoden, I understand the paradox of the life of an adult gamer. As a kid, all the time, none of the money. As an adult, all the money, none of the time. It's a cruel reality, isn't it? Then again, we choose what we do with our time, as adults, even if free time is limited. I've learned to focus where I want to spend that time, which is a difficult thing sometimes. If you have a sealed copy of Suikoden, it might be worth a bit, at this point. Anyway, I'd be willing to paypal you the money to play the PSN version, if you like. It's worth playing... FF7... Funny as it may sound to say this, I don't think playing it is the best approach for everybody. I genuinely believe that reading Elentor's LP would give you much of the experience, without all the fluff that comes with a 90's JRPG. Most of the random battles don't come up, and you get to watch a guy toy with the battle system when it comes to bosses. Although it is a long LP (it's a fairly long game), it's a lot quicker to read than to actually play. Seriously, read, say... the first five chapters of the LP, and decide from there. There are a little over 100 chapters, so that should give you an idea of the time investment. I have a bit of a short attention span, so reading the LP helped me make better sense of the story, due to its pacing. Had no idea there was a Pokemon puzzle game similar in nature to Puzzle Fighter, that's cool! I didn't get an N64 until something like 1999, or whenever it was that Donkey Kong 64 came out, so I missed out on a lot of its library. Tomba, obviously one of my favorites. I try to enlighten people to play it whenever I can. Have only briefly played the sequel, but intend to play it again one of these days. Also have Klonoa, but have yet to play it. Glad you enjoyed it. I figure these sorts of threads would be way more interesting with a little something beyond the basic list. I remember some of the promotions that electronics stores had back in those days. The PS1 was quite the big deal back then, that's for sure. For what it's worth, I am pretty sure I only knew one kid who went the N64 only route. Most eventually had both, or only a PS1. As for my favorites on Tekken 3, I was a huge fan of Gon. Still am, but who didn't love a tiny dinosaur with a devastating fart attack? In seriousness, I had a lot of free time back then, so I got good with quite a few characters. Specifically, I could wreck just about anyone's day with Paul, Bryan, Hwoarang, King, Xaiyou, Jin, or Yoshimitsu. Was pretty solid with most any character though...

Darn it Kitsu, I shouldn't have read that while eating hahaha... well played. Makes me wonder how proportional it all is though, you might be on to something there. We can certainly hope!

Well said Kain. The Cool Boarders and Battle Arena Toshinden series would have been on my list, if this were a top 30 or so haha. BAT is probably the game that convinced me, a former Genesis owner, to go with the PS1 over the Saturn. Ape Escape was a lot of fun too... Anyone else remember Snake vs Monkey?

You know what? Pardon my French, but F that movie. Until then I had only seen one other film that just made you feel like crap and leave you depressed. Not saying it's a bad movie by any means, but wow... complete lack of feel goods. Quick edit, forgot what the subject of the thread was haha! I've enjoyed all the Miyazaki films I've seen so far, but it's a short list. Top of my head I know I've seen Spirited Away, Kiki, and Mononoke. You know what I would like to, but unfortunately never will see? A collaboration between Miyazaki and Kurosawa. Any guesses as to what creative samurai drama we might end up with there?

If the obvious answer wasn't, "so they could sell you wireless controllers and extension cords," then I don't know what Nintendo was thinking with the cord length on these new controllers... Now, seeing as how we're coming up on the 30th anniversary of the Sega Megadrive / Genesis, does anyone think Sega will do something similar? I hope they do, although there are numerous options already on the table for those systems. Kinda surprising, that you can already buy an emulated MD / GEN system, did Sega not push for copyright infringement in the least? Not that I mind, it's just strange to me in this day and age...