Ive got movies, games, books, tv series. Its not a list that I have to get through at any time, but when I have the itch for something specific I look on the list and pick something that Ive got waiting. I have a few subscription services but most of my media is on my home server, so i dont have to worry about losing access. My big thing is just falling too far behind. But thats not so bad either. Lets you binge a series and not be kept waiting. As for games, I changed from Console to PC when the PS5 was sold out 5 years ago. Before that I would mod and pirate every system. Ps2 and 3, Xbox and 360, DS, 3ds, psp, vita… Emulation for the switch. Nothing holding me back. Now, I shop the steam sales.

That makes perfect sense. And I look at the cost too. I will spend full price for a game that I am going to enjoy for 80 hours. But if reviews have said that time is padded with nonsense, hand holding, generic collecting etc? Maybe not. I really appreciate the How Long To Beat database. Since it shows the difference between HLTB and completion. There are lots of games that you can beat in 8 hours but to complete will be way up there. Sometimes their mechanics are so satisfying you go back to them.

I totally get that. And it really depends on what you are interested in. Some times I want a game that rewards skill, others I want a game with strategy. Then there are some that really only reward time spent in the game. And the ones I dont play at all, the games that punish time away from the game. Always plugged in, if you dont max out on gameplay this week you will miss a timed unlock etc. That is work.

Im fine with longer games so long as the story is gripping. The God of War titles were amazing, Great story, gameplay loop, rewarded variety etc. But again, like someone else mentioned. Another Ubisoft collectathon? No thank you.

I even struggled to get into breath of the wild, and horizon zero dawn when they came out. Because they reminded me of those generic open world games. But the story pulled me in both times.

Its so easy to start a game, but then lose interest. But when you do find one that grabs you, you’ll finish it. I found that I will still pay for games and get enjoyment out of them. But so often the gameplay loop doesnt fit the same way it did in the past. Ill replay old games too. Games that I would play for hours and they just dont do it anymore.

But thats because we’ve changed what we do with games. There was a time where like you said, youd get a few games a year and you would get every penny out of them. But now we consume them. We enjoy the gameplay or the story. Do I need to 100% this game? Do I get some enjoyment out of grinding every single corner of the map, and collecting every item? No. Im not going to. My time has value too.

My goal is to support developers. Not to own a game. If I just wanted to play i would pirate. Download it and store the game files on my backups. I had a collection of CDs to install games from and I don’t even own a CD ROM anymore. Steam is a delivery system that allows me to sync my saves and support developers. That’s about it.

That was my thought reading this. ‘I have bills but I choose not to work because the jobs are beneath me’ People used to see the schooling as a way to skip entry level work. But now as a society, all it means is that you put money in before time. Its just not that special any more.

20+ years ago I put myself through college in an IT field, went to work in an industrial plant right next to the guys from my highschool, that dropped out to work. They had 3+ years work experience over me, I had to start at the bottom. In the time since then, I have worked in a dozen places, for a variety of wages to support my family. Where I am now is no mistake or act of luck. It takes hard work.

We still have pictures like this in books! It makes it hard to break the cycle.

Watched it with my wife tonight. Solid 8/10 horror. No silly gimmicks, no gratuitous sex or violence. Just pure dread.

Tight story. Would recommend.

It was a struggle to get the right combinations of plugins going for pj64. I never had the console myself so I was happy with whatever I could get. Zelda64 and Majora’s mask were really all I was interested in. The SNES NES and PSX were really where I spent most of my time emulating. PC piracy was another beast. Cdcopyworld and all the DRM cracks or mini-iso files loaded up with daemon tools or alcohol to bypass cd checks. What a time to be alive.

When I started, I was downloading mp3s and recording them on to cassettes. Use what you have. As for console games, there were DOS based SNES NES and geneses emulators for those who didn’t have the hardware.

Pj64 was emulating Nintendo64 titles while the console was still releasing titles.

Napster, limewire bearshare, winmx DC++ were all around before bit torrent was used for downloads.

Hooked up the family computer to the tv using a video card with s video output and impressed the whole family!