Jesse

Yeah, it's complete bollocks. It's obviously not doing big TV numbers and their social presence isn't setting the world on fire this year.

It's a quick comparison but in the last 7 days the Power Slap official TikTok account has generated around 370,700 impressions, while the Premier League's official TikTok account has generated almost 8 Million. Even accounting for the PL posting more, that's 46,300ish per video vs over half a million per video for the PL.

Off to see Dessa tonight, she was the first gig I took my wife to post-pandemic and we had a blast. Her albums can be hit or miss for me but her energy in a small room more than makes up for it so I know I'm gonna have a great time.

2 hours ago, BomberPat said:

With CIWW we also leaned into how silly the whole thing is - aside from the aforementioned company name change, someone once said "World Heavyweight Championship of the World" in a promo by mistake, and we've referred to our top title as that ever since. But I think if I ever run shows again, firstly I wouldn't rush to having title belts in the first place, secondly I'd definitely shy away from any kind of "World Champion", and would either keep things local and regional, or come up with gimmicks and stipulations to differentiate each title rather than being yet another Indie "World" belt.

Being involved with early FutureShock this was one of the things I thought we did really well. Not having a title at all to begin with, the only belts being defended were those of other companies from big UK names or US imports (iirc the very first show had a main event of Doug Williams vs the now Cesaro for a belt, maybe the FWA one, or ROH Pure title maybe).

It was only once we'd established regular monthly followers with returning punters that we did a trophy tournament, revealing the FutureShock Championship to the eventual winner. They were always very clear to me that it was the FutureShock Championship, not World, not Heavyweight or anything like that. I think being cognisant that we were working in a small masonic guildhall in front of 50-100 people is what helped attendees connect to it and not feel like it was a group of people cosplaying WWE.

4 hours ago, FLips said:

No there are games that let you do that. I did the same with GTA as well. Mega Man 8 lets you too I know that for sure. Loaded as well has exclusive Zool 2 tracks if you do it.

My layman's understanding is that moving to discs meant they had absolutely loads of storage space, but the PS1 still only had 2MB of RAM so there were limits to what they could realistically make use of within that space. So that's where we got things like hefty pre-rendered cutscenes and/or loading it up with playable music tracks

Could maybe be one for the Dull Men's Club but I love SummoningSalt's video on gaming world records, and he's put together an almost two hour video on the history of NES Tetris world records.
 

Fantastic posts there JLM, loved reading that. I've never been a fighting game player myself but have spent a lot of time shepherding Ketchup & Mustard around different Mortal Kombat pre-launch events for Warner Bros and I find the community fascinating. One of these days I'm going to have to dive in and really have a run at getting decent at one of these things just for the experience.

Not right now though, because I cannot escape Snowrunner. I played it a bit on Game Pass and found it interesting but not as grabby as some of the flashier stuff. But I'm in a rough spot financially (can't just buy loads of games) and mentally at work, so I bought the base Snowrunner while it was on sale knowing it'd take me months to crack through. And what a game it is, of the three maps included in the base game I'm at 100% completion on Michigan, 95% on Alaska, and I've just started cracking through the first area of Taymyr to try out the Russian trucks.

There's something so relaxing about losing eight hours of a Saturday with an audiobook on, driving trucks through the mud and snow. The frustration I felt at getting stuck the first time I played is completely gone, replaced with a real steady patience. Contracts I thought were impossible (or from looking for help online almost felt like they needed the more powerful DLC trucks) were a breeze once I let them take an hour or two rather than trying to rush it all in one go.

Delighted to know I have four years of extra maps and trucks to look forward to when I finally 100% all three of these maps.

14 hours ago, Chest Rockwell said:

But even if you like them a podcast festival surely sounds like a fucking pointless ordeal?

Back when I used to work gaming events we'd often bring them in as a bonus, or an evening upsell "See a live version of your favorite D&D podcast" type of deal, similar to how we'd have live music, comedy acts, a wrestling show once etc.

Those were always really fun, and they're mixed with exclusive demos of upcoming games from big publsihers, indie games, retro games, tournaments so it made total sense to me. That looks like an absolutely tedious experience, with seemingly very little crossover in theme beyond "it's popular"

Yeah, I completely missed out on WCW as an entity (only got into WWF shortly pre-WrestleMania X7) and all my context for it comes during the Invasion or things I've heard/seen afterwards. Would be delighted to get a sense of its history through your writing

1 minute ago, Tim Healys Chutney Spoon said:

Even more so if Danielson made it clear it would likely be his last match too...

I don't think he's retiring in that sense, just moving from an 'every week' wrestler to a 'special occasion' wrestler so he can spend less time on the road.

9 minutes ago, SuperBacon said:

I reckon you mention your girlfriend every other post. She definitely doesn't exist.

The evidence is damning

I want to like AEW so badly, but they just love setting rakes down and stepping on them. Every time I open myself up to it they do something that completely puts me off again - Hangman wins the title, but Jay Lethal debuts; Sting has an amazing final run, and they bring Ric Flair in to put a cloud over it; the Continental Classic feels like a return to the pre-Punk drama days but it turns out they can't move past it and now they're airing shit security footage on their primetime show.

AEW's history for me has been one of a continuous erosion of trust to the point that now even when it seems like something's hitting for them I'm hesitant to start getting back into it because I don't trust they won't make me feel like a prick for being a fan.

I can't stand the type that go on for ages, with doctors coming out etc. It absolutely kills the match dead for me, with a minute or two effectively waiting, you move from the immediate emotional reaction/shock and into a kind of standby that I find it really hard to be drawn back out of. So the reaction it gets isn't "Oh what a dastardly prick that fooled me" so much as an "Oh, it was an act and now the match is happening again"

I'd far prefer a much faster version of it, begging off with an injury to get the ref to intervene and then within 20-30s using that to get in a cheap shot or just break the momentum. It fits more with the fair narrative of a match too, you're telling me that the ref has called the doctors out for what they believe is a real injury but they haven't called off the match?

Can't recall one like this that has hit for me, even beyond the idea of it being in bad taste.

I can't get over how slow that 3 minutes felt. Like rather than have a three-minute sprint they tried to condense a longer match format down into that time. No sense of urgency and pace from either of them.

I think there's something to be said for harsher action early in the career like this. I don't doubt what you said about the UFC letting someone off if they're a bigger name making them money pack of hyenas that they are. But it would be a different situation between young fighter on his debut doing something like this, showing themselves to be a massive liability, to be told to hop on their bike and maybe re-considered in the future if they've got their head straight. Versus someone with more history in the company, with a lot of sensible fights behind them, where maybe it is more fair to give them the benefit of the doubt that it was a break in conscious action.

Again, you've probably got the right of it and it would come down to how much money you're currently making them. I don't think they've made a harsh decision by cutting him but I am a massive softie and he seems genuinely contrite since so I'd love to see him redeem himself somewhere and build a career back up.

34 minutes ago, SuperBacon said:

IIRC you guys are up north right?

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/find-a-skills-bootcamp/north-west

If she's on UC, she could also ask the JCP about their employability programmes or SWAPs (Sector based Work Academy Programmes- proper shit sounding isn't it?) which are similar in a way that its designed with an employer in mind. https://jobhelp.campaign.gov.uk/skills-sector-based-work-academies-swaps/

If you need any advice or anything, let me know. Best of luck to her. 

Thanks, she's here on a spouse visa from America so no UC/JCP, but looking at the eligibility criteria this doesn't fall under 'no recourse to public funds' and she's past the 3 years mark so I can't see anything disqualifying there. Have passed it on to her to have a look and see if anything strikes her fancy.

Thanks for the heads up, my wife has been out of work since Christmas. Will take a look and see if there's anything there that might suit her for a career pivot away from shopfloor retail.

21 minutes ago, SuperBacon said:

Fucking hell.

So anyway, that vodka picture eh....

Can't help but feel like I'm missing another 20 games that could easily make this list, but if I think too long I'll never choose. Sorry but I had to write a few sentences about each one, revisiting these in my head has been a delight.

Goldeneye - 1 point
When I think about growing up, this is the game that comes to mind. One of the few happy memories I have of my brother & my dad are the hours we wasted playing Goldeneye multiplayer. Great local co-op, difficulty settings that give you more objectives to do, and in-game times to beat still make this the ideal of a first-person shooter to me.

Final Fantasy XI - 2 points
I've played a lot of MMO's but this was the one that really started it for me. I don't disagree that Final Fantasy XIV is the smoother playing experience but the slow awkwardness of this game, learning to navigate the world, needing to be grouped up to fight even one enemy, losing experience on death - the sharp edges hook this into my mind so much more strongly.

Dota 2 - 3 points
This is one that established a lot of adult friendships to me. I was working in esports already when I got into this, and despite the popularity of things like League of Legends and the other also-rans surrounding it Dota 2 is the only one that's ever felt remotely interesting to play.

The Longest Journey - 4 points
I loved this one as a kid, and I loved revisiting it as an adult. Probably my first brush with magical realism, a kind of genre that is still among my favourites, and it's a game series I stuck with right through to the end. Also dragons are cool.

Metal Gear Solid - 5 points
Synonymous with the Playstation for me, I replayed this just last month and it's still so good. For all the criticisms of Kojima as 'wanting to make movies' his games are some of the most videogamey of them all. Swapping controller ports, reading the back of the box to get a codec number, having a torture minigame where the explicit punishment from the villain is being sent back to your last save that was ages ago. Fantastic.

Halo 3 - 6 points
Halo 2 was the online multiplayer explosion for me, but Halo 3 was that plus a single-player campaign that wasn't arse. Still the best multiplayer arenas in the business, and not even Infinite matches that Halo 3 feeling of "See that huge battle going on int he skybox? You're about to go there and be in it.

Soul Reaver - 7 points
I call this the game that made me want to make games. The appeal to me is an incredible story set-up, full of high drama and voice actors giving it their all, but it's dimension-shifting platforming gimmick blew my mind. My first look into an incredible series of games, absolutely atrocious that in this world of constant remakes and reboots that all we've had is a rubbish multiplayer-only game out of this world.

Final Fantasy 8 - 8 points
Just go watch the intro cutscene, or the one where you're racing away from a giant mechanical spider while your teacher guns it to death. I was a few years away from knowing what anime was andf this was the coolest thing I had ever seen. I grew up wanting to look like Squall and have a cool girlfriend like Rinoa to the point my first ever girlfriend was a thin, fairly pale girl with long dark hair. Going back as an adult this is still cool as hell, and the junction system is much more fun to play with than the other systems they were trying out at the time.

Elden Ring - 9 points
Debated this one, I've tried to avoid recency bias (so no Death Stranding) but there was no way I could put Ocarina of Time on the list over this. The absolute pinnacle of what From has been playing with for years, this took over my life (and my friend's lives) for months after it launched. Has that same sense I had as a kid playing OoT of exploring this incredible, vast, unfamiliar world, and it has at least two moments that rival hitting the time-shift of Ocarina in making my brain go "What the fuck?" Probably the best game ever made.

Starcraft 2 - 10 points
No question really. I was a rubbish wrestler and a not much better ring announcer, destined for a life of working at Morrisons and growing bitter at my lack of success compared to the people I trained with. Then Starcraft 2 came out and I started playing it, then I started watching Day9, then I attended a 'barcraft' evening in Manchester - watching a tournament broadcast from America with a group of people in the Kyoto Lounge - and my life was never the same again. I helped organise events, became a moderately successful Starcrft 2 commentator, attended the Insomnia Gaming Festival first as press, then as a Starcraft 2 tournament organiser and then they hired me to work full-time and suddenly I was at the start of a career that now sees me working on a hugely popular video game as the head of a department. Starcraft 2 literally changed my life, and it's still an absolute blast to play.

33 minutes ago, Frankie Crisp said:

I know the internet can always be the grenade under the bed, but hopefully forum users have enough trust in me that I’ll never share the data nor use it for anything other than the collective results.

Between Facebook, TikTok, and no doubt being followed intensely by whoever mans the central hub for CCTV when I visit London that's three countries who have more data on me than they'd ever need. Think you'll have more fun with my survey answers than any of them will.

35 minutes ago, Merzbow said:

Expeditions: A MudRunner Game

 

Well what the fuck happened here then? They took out the best thing about the previous games, being able to traverse the entire maps however you like, very slowly getting further in and hauling better cargo with bigger, badder trucks and replaced all that with pre-made missions that just send you back to a menu after completion. You can unlock the whole map at points but there's nothing really to do in them.

 

It feels like they made this for a more mainstream audience but didn't take the time to advertise it that way, the only people buying it are fans of the previous games.

That's disappointing, I've been jonesing for some MudRunner recently but not sure how I feel about having to start over now I have to buy the game again so Expeditions seemed like it might be a great re-jumping on point.

36 minutes ago, DavidB6937 said:

Yeah, makes absolute sense to me. And yet I'll never do it. Same with books. I am weak.

I almost impulse bought a PS5 in January so I could play FF7R on launch instead of waiting for the PC port so I'm not immune to it. If my wife hadn't become unemployed that month I'm not confident I'd have avoided it.

10 minutes ago, DavidB6937 said:

If I told myself I'd get through my backlog of stuff first, I'd never buy anything new ever again.

I actually did that as a money saving project, took me about 18 months to get through everything but I saved a boat load of money and it's made my spending habits much better now I only buy a game if I'm planning to play it in the next month or two.

Doesn't do anything to cure feeling like I'm missing out by not playing all the latest releases but does mean I buy most things when they're on sale or at reduced price since I'm 6-12 months behind on new releases.

Nothing as scary as the heart, but the last few years I've decided to have a real good go at my health. I've always been fat, but used to be fit with it and then I got sick early in 2020; felt like I bounced back pretty quickly in terms of feeling sick, but my body just couldn't hack exercise in the same way. It felt so demoralising to go from someone who could have a good run at completing a deck of cards workout to not being able to string ten push-ups together. I even tried doing yoga and I couldn't get through a whole one of those without my body just giving in.

With all that came fatigue, and the chronic shoulder/neck pain I had started flaring up a lot more regularly off the back of it and my exercising dropped to zero. And then I was so out of shape that I stopped wanting to leave the house, because I was embarassed to be the friend that couldn't keep up with everyone, so I just walked between the same three rooms for a couple of years.

We decided to move house, meaning we're up near a city and near friends & fun things to go to, so I decided it was time to sort my shit out. I'm now on medicine for my depression/anxiety, can leave the house (though my heart hammers hard enough that my watch thinks I'm doing exercise even though I'm just sat on the bus) and I've started doing daily stretches & low impact exercise this month. My body still hurts, but I have more control of it thanks to a physio giving me a set of stretches to do, and I've got a small stationary bike that I'm doing one minute more of each day. 20 days in and I can now bike for 20mins at low tension without needing to pause. It's a small start, but I already feel better getting about the house.

35 minutes ago, Carbomb said:

Nowadays, the only way that story works for me is if they keep unconsciously bringing back bits of the gimmick in their attempted super-cereal match, and keep getting frustrated and angry when that happens. Culminating in a big match where the only way they can get the win is by going for their previous, super-gimmicky finish..

I don't watch wrestling any more, but what I've gathered from here & Twitter is that this is Daniel Garcia and dancing

If you want a positive coming out of this then it encouraged me to throw a tenner at Moo to keep it going. I've been coming to this forum in some form for 20 years now (my original account now lost to the void) and it's always a nice little mental break through otherwise stressful days.