simonworden

Out of interest what's the best way to play all these wonderful games again? Are there any emulation handhelds that run PS1 games well? I did have it all set up on an old laptop but I don't get much time with the littleun to set it up these days. 

One that would do up to PS2 level would be perfect for me and an ideal Christmas pressie to press gang the wife into buying. 

Currently working/saving up to visit the UK for the first time in almost 4 years. Not down to choice as i've been locked inside Vietnam since 2020, the only opened borders in March this year for foreigners u less you had loads of paperwork which was a ballache not to mention 2-3 weeks quarantine. My wife gave birth to our first (and probably last) child last November so we've been waiting on his British passport. Few visa things to tie up but if all stays the path I get to have the holiday I've most looked forward to in my life and it's sleeping in my childhood bedroom!

18 hours ago, FUM said:

Dropped them a message anyway. I just can’t understand why relocate me two tiers up when there’s seats in the very same section. Common sense and large companies just don’t seem to mix.

I've had seats further up at arenas which cost more because the were on the side which I guess is meant to mean a better view but then had a much cheaper ticket almost on the floor but couldn't see the screen. I'm not sure how they assign value but I guess the assume this is a like for like trade as they're going to put giant dragon style pillars in or something. 

I would enquire about this though as it doesn't seem like an equal trade to be up in the gunnels instead of the floor. It might've been a computer based decision using price algorithms and by speaking to someone you get a preferred seat.

Honestly.surprised they let it go so long after covid. Probably would've been done a while ago without. 

Is it that the UK scene is rotten? The wrestlers don't have enough potential or simply that HBK and co didn't fancy London in the winter so looking for a performance center somewhere on the med?

One glimmer of hope for NXT Europe has to be them bringing back the most prestigious and best looking belt of all time?

I'm no good at hosting images on here but I'll post the link. A friend of mine actually has the rights and performs as Mr Bobby these days (has done so for about 7 years) he just stepped into the ring with House of Pain at some festival it seems. Being Britwres should I assume Mr Bobby has done the least harrasing of anyone in the ring or are these ok?

https://ibb.co/rsqWBm8

Tony Hawk's 2 and Matt Hoffman BMX were too later staples of my gameplay on the PS1. I could even well into my 20s sit down with these on blast out the awesome  soundtracks and while away hours on free play mode just pissing about. They had the right balance of being Arcady enough to be fun without too much realism which all games from this point we're making them more challenging and less appealing to me. Even now I'll crank them on an emulator on occasion. Absolute mindless fun for me. 

Seaking of Die Hard did anyone play the game apocalypse which had Bruce Willis as the main character? A really random 3rd person shooter that I found through a demo disc. Again it had that right combo for me of being fun and not too challenging which made it a great time killer to go back to. 

Back in the 1990's the PS1 felt like the most hi-tech thing I had ever seen. It felt more digital than my SNES as it had a basic loading menu and could play CD's. Our house wouldn't get our own PC for a few years so this was the most advanced thing in the house.

I'd add my love for some of the games mentioned, Crash Bandicoot 2 was a particular favorite in the house as was Crash Team Racing (IIRC and it wasn't a PS2 game).

But the first 2 games that spring into my mind is one obvious classic in Metal Gear Solid more so than Final Fantasy 7 this was the game for me that took console gaming on the journey for many games to be more like movies and less level based. When I got my PS1 these trailers were all over the demo discs of the time 

 and then a few weeks later I got my hands on the playable demo. That was smashed in an afternoon and then it was pure obsession to wait for my birthday money and grab the game. I picked it up in London on a day trip with the family and all I could think about the rest of the day was getting home to play through.

Although the graphics quickly became dated, I still like to emulate the game now as the gameplay felt so smooth and enjoyable. There's not a single part of the game I dislike playing or is so hard it burns you out. Vulcan Raven probably gets closest and even his battles are great fun over and over. The stealth element is still fantastic fun even today. Pissing off guards, hiding under tables and in boxes or using the stealth mode to slap them about. There were so many things that to do and try out that kept me coming back for more. I tried to play some of the sequels on the PS2 and PSP but they just didn't have the same feel, I think there attempts to add layers to the controls especially in the PSP one I tried simply put me off. The PSP one was also far too unresponsive on the emulator I used. This all doesn't matter though as Metal Gear Solid will be up there number 1 whenever I think of the PS1

The other game (or games but I'll focus on the first) is Medal of Honor

Another game that for me started to adjust genres into what the would become for many years. Admittedly Goldeneye came first but that's the N64 and can piss off from this thread. I bought this game actually as it had 2 play first person shooter ability which I hadn't encountered before on the PS1. This was fun but unfortunately got boring a lot quicker than 4 player. Luckily however single player was full of exciting levels all over occupied France, an excellent array of missions, talking Nazis and weaponry. The standing machine guns being one of my favorites. The cheats made the game even more fun especially switching the Nazis to English.

The graphics and music are also brilliant for the time and lets not forget the informative before/ after mission mini-documentaries that genuinely helped me have more appreciation for the evens of world war 2. They released Medal of Honor Underground shortly after and this was also a brilliantly fun game but just didn't have the originality level wise of the original games 2nd and 3rd levels. 

2 hours ago, Hannibal Scorch said:

They just released a lionheart figure I’m guessing it’s a tie in to that

He used his Lionheart gear for his ECW ONS match against Lance Storm I think or at least a remade version of it so it wouldn't surprise me if he dusts that off again and we get a few more lion saults. I think the point is that Ambrose wants to face his ECW/Japan character not the WCW heel version which is what I would prefer. 

1 hour ago, Gay as FOOK said:

Oh that reminds me of the real answer I wanted to give. 

Superstar themed mood lighting in their backstage area. 

Kane used to have it a lot during one of his awful final full time runs as the demon character. Again I couldn't see it on TV without thinking of him going "No way I'm walking down that hallway for the pre tape unless you get my crimson splash behind the lighting crates".

Funny enough I was watching a clip from Kane Vs Mankind at Survivor Series 97. I haven't double checked yet but did they announce kane as the winner in a creepy Halloween style voice?

As for the entrance music thing, Regals debut with no music a few months ago showed how well that thing can still work as well. 

As for the cups thing I always assumed it was just a human behaviour type thing like playing cricket with mates you'd risk a hit in the danglers but a competition match it had to be worn. Or like how I never wore a bicycle helmet as kid/teen just couldn't be arsed. 

How about the Royal Rumble where everyone comes out the same way but we are supposed to believe they are surprised by the next entrant like they've all been kept secret and away from each other.

3 hours ago, d-d-d-dAz said:

 

He’s even got the old lady back on the firm. What an absolute turnaround in fortunes for the big man.

Those two really did tell Vince what they would do 22 years ago at the end of 99 didn't they. That's Simpson's level foreshadowing.

19 hours ago, air_raid said:

It's not that the guys' runs are making them less of a star, its the presentation. John Cena was on TV every week for over 14 years and because they presented him like a star, he was always a star. They had about 10 years between the era I referred to and 2010 when Triple H and Taker both got put out not long after Mania and started to only really both wrestle at Mania and one or two other shows. Round about the same point in 2010 Batista left and within a year Edge was gone too, so the reliance they then started to have upon Taker and Hunter, Cena beyond the point he started winding down, and eventually a couple of doses of Rocky and the returned Brock Lesnar, started to reduce the importance of everyone that was there every week, because nobody else was presented as that level.  There was probably only Randy Orton who was presented as a true top guy and actually around every week, and briefly Punk, who need a chunk of 2013 off then ended up leaving anyway. Suddenly instead of people being "in" or "out" they were happy to let people come and go and be presented as the bigger deals than the guys that were there all the time. In the last 5 years especially only Roman Reigns has been presented as a real star, everyone else has either been occupying a slot waiting for him or for Lesnar, keeping a belt warm for one or the other before they'd inevitably be pointed at each other again. Everyone else they could have made into that level of star has been in and out of that position or had it pulled out from under them - Rollins, Styles, McIntyre. T

I've been thinking about your point for a while today. This part-timer thing actually started a fair while before it became prominent. The part time thing came in from what I can tell all the way back in 2002 with The Rock fitting what WWE he could in between his early movies. Add to that an unintentionally short run by Austin and Hogan's relatively short stints as he fell out with Vince and you have the foundations of what would become the way to draw in the future.

Then apart from possible Cena Vs Batista you've got no mega matches occurring without a big attitude era star or before being apart of it until Punk/ Bryan got hot in 2011 and then neither or them drew as big or were able to hang around long. It hasn't been until Reigns they've been able to build up a big big attraction to headline the biggest shows. Up until recently fans have been fantasy booking all the way to Reigns/ Rock at Mania (which is dubious now I guess).

Being 36 now and reflecting on the last 22 years it makes me pretty sad that such a limited amount of top talent has come through. Unless Triple H is able to find a suite of stars that connect like 97-00 I doubt anything much will actually change. 

15 hours ago, Healy52003 said:

Pretty random Scottish house show announced 

https://www.ovohydro.com/events/detail/wwe-live-2022

 

Few days before the next Saudi show so I'm guessing it's making some money during a stop over before heading to the middle east for a few days PR then the event. 

At a guess 30th in Scotland, 31st travel to Saudi, 1-4th PR stuff before the 5th. Unless they squeeze in some shows elsewhere between these 2.

7 hours ago, Supremo said:

Love the idea of Hunter trying to get Regal to scout for him again.

“What the fuck is the Blackpool Combat Club?!”

 

Tony Khan would probably let Regal scout for both to be honest. I reckon he could be trusted to refer talent to the right side of the fence without being bias and it helps push Tony Khan's/ AEW's more open agenda.

Kevin Dunn going is something I am genuinely looking forward too. Not because I blame him for such and such skinny guy not getting a push etc but just that it means potentially the product/ filming etc could get a fantastic shake up the likes we haven't seen since 1997. As long as Hunter is kept in check about the use of black/ gold color schemes and mad max-esque arenas. Give be bright bold colors that make the NXT 2.0 layouts looks bland. 

15 hours ago, WyattSheepMask said:

I’ll raise you ‘Priority Boarding’. The only people that should be to apply to those who may in wheelchairs or who may need some other kind of assistance.

If that doesn’t apply, then you’re just a chump paying extra to get on first and thereby wait the longest for the plane to take off

Funnily enough Vietnam actually outlawed the practice of selling speedy boarding passes this week after one budget airline's desk staff were caught letting a queue mount up so they could sell on the spot passes (pocketing the money) rather than man extra desks. This version also included check in which apart from the scummy thing the staff did I'm not opposed to. But able bodied people without kids shouldn't be boarding first in any circumstances. I've got a son now and it's the one thing I get to look forward to when flying! 

14 hours ago, BomberPat said:

I can see the argument for wanting to make sure you get space for your bags - nothing worse than having to get up and walk against the flow of people getting off the plane to find your bag in a locker over a completely different seat - but then it seems like most of the people paying for "speedy boarding" are often the same people who are putting jackets, handbags and carrier bags up there and nothing under the seat in front of them or whatnot anyway, so that problem is easily solved by just having more sense about what you travel with and where you put it anyway.

The other extreme, though, is an old colleague's husband who wouldn't go to the gate until his name had specifically been called. 

Another tale from the far East but here we had an issue for years of passengers from a certain country being caught rummaging through bags of people who had to put them further up the plane. Due to that I'm paranoid to have my bag behind me and if I must every valuable item comes out. 

As for the guy who waits for his name to be called, he is a turd. 

3 hours ago, Infinity Land said:

If you mean as a Youtube show? I don't see that happening. It's still early days but if he wanted to do that it could easily have happened by now. A domestic TV deal or streaming deal with a guaranteed income seems to be the objective. Angling for something in the Warner Bros Discovery family, but might need to go outside it.

Perhaps the good faith (if they do have any) with Warner isn't quite enough for them to just stick a completely different brand on TV yet? They could be running these PPVs as pilots to see if execs are interested in the show for somewhere online/TV. The previous ROH product was a bit low budget even in its latter days. He clearly doesn't want to just go the easy route either and make AEWlite either on YouTube or TV as he wants to keep the ROH hardcore's invested in a product similar to the ROH glory days I think. 

For me though I would use one of the YouTube shows for now as I simply don't see there being much demand for another 'on TV' wrestling show. Using the dark arena and taping shows under the ROH is more preferable as something extra to dip in and out of with a little bit of difference to AEW

I'm all for Eddie winning the belt but not against Mix. I want it against a heel Punk talking down to him along the way. Beating Mix just because it's in his hometown has no punch for me. 

That said the guy is not a long term champ I. The same way you,'d never have put the belt on Foley long term. He should either drop it back to punk in a few weeks or onto the next big heel.

If they have cold feet perhaps they could test the water by having the color scheme slightly change, the lights go down and reintroduce the hardcore title. Perhaps even try something like a worked shoot segment again....

46 minutes ago, neil said:

Why anyone would choose a tomato over beans is beyond me.

I'd go for both but they have to at least try and cook the tomato

On 7/13/2022 at 1:48 AM, wordsfromlee said:

Anker's stuff is value for money.

I got given a pair of Anker Spirit Dot 2 in-ears which I use all day, every day at work. I also have a pair of Anker Life Q20 headphones for when I want over ears and noise cancelling. They're both great and both quite cheap too.

Going to echo this Ankers stuff is ace. Had a pair of Soundbuds Curve for 2.5 years until the joining wire started to break but that's perfect lifespan for a pair under 20 quid. I've now got a soundcore pair as they don't make the Soundbuds anymore. Basically the same but the controls are on the right bud itself rather than in the middle of the joining back wire. 

They do pairs with no wire too for a little more.

What I liked was the water/sweatproof for the gym as others I'd bought for the same died after a couple of sessions.

13 hours ago, johnnyboy said:

Shitting thread crossover.  Did anyone else suffer completely bizarre (relatively speaking for this place) bowel habits with the COVID?  One minute it's like trying to pass a house brick and then on the next visit it's like candy floss.

Not with Covid itself but my first dose of Astra about a year ago made me evacuate like I'd had an enema as the grand opener to a night of feeling like hell. 

3 hours ago, Hannibal Scorch said:

Always thought Kingston looked like a tough Robbie Williams 

Damn I'll never unsee that now! 

11 hours ago, garynysmon said:

I'd be much more comfortable if this was a six man tag or something, where he can have his big entrance and do his spots without being too taxing on his body. 

The thought of him wrestling a one on one match makes me shudder.

Its clear they know this is going to be shit as they've started to stack the undercard, which at the moment is more interesting that the yet to be announced main event.

Is this a case of them wanting intrigue for the match or very few people who would actually be a draw being mad enough to risk Flair dying in a match against them?

As I've been live in far away lands for so long I ridded myself of physical media although when I first came out to Asia the pirate dvd superstores were great for getting movies for a quid. 

Still buy interesting books especially coffee table books with photography when something catches my eye.

In the UK my parents have a loft full of wrestling VHS, DVDs, Magazines and a fair bit of non wrestling stuff too. I'm under orders in December to spend time chucking it all away. Most of the DVDs will be passed on hopefully but the VHS is going to be painful to destroy having original versions of many WCW and WWF shows from the 90s and 00s. The WB WCW tapes took me ages to complete and it's going to crush me to bin them. I'm considering keeping all the sleeves but if someone made me an offer for the tapes I'd let them go. 

The big thing I find myself missing is actually magazines. When I had a long journey or a rainy Sunday grabbing a magazine from Borders or Smith's used to be a real treat but even if I was in the UK I can buy Kindle books now for so cheap it makes the process redundant.

32 minutes ago, d-d-d-dAz said:

But, what though?

Because the only answers I’ve got are people like Undertaker, who may not actually want to come back.

The well is dry.

They’ve clearly made a business decision that the only chance they have of achieving as much coverage as possible, and sell as many tickets as they can, is Brock. 

If they’re wrong, what are the alternatives?

I think it’s distracting to talk about how boring this match is (which it is), I think the bigger issue is that they’ve got a champion who’s beat everyone, some unfortunate injuries and very few part timers to call in. I think it’s a perfect storm of shit.

As much as the Roman march to a potential Rock match might be the master plan, I think they need to get one title off him at least. It might give them some flexibility to do something different. If Roman isn’t the first name written in the main event spot, it might make their lives a little easier.

Oh don't get me wrong I completely agree with what you said and that's what I meant by I can't believe not that I think they have something else more that they've let this sorry situation happen. 

It's also worrying me that IF Rock is slotted in for Mania, with the Vince situation that's very likely to get undone as well. They might be able to build up Cody 2002 Triple H style for a comeback and win at Mania against Reigns as a backup but I don't think anyone has faith in that anymore either. 

Definitely for me this is one too many times now and I can't see how it could be that much of a draw anymore.  Maybe I am wrong and most fans want to see it again and again but it is well and truly done in for me now. Trying to think back to the number of PPV's this match has been on.

Mania 31, Mania 34, Saudi Shit Show 2018, Summerslam 2018, Saudi Shit show 2022, Mania 38 - So this is the 7th singles match in 7 years.

Then include a triple threat and 4 way

Fastlane 16, Summerslam 17 so it's now up to 9 matches.

Cena and Orton had 10 PPV matches over around a 5 year period I think. For me the fact that it's over a longer period is even worse. 

That's just too much and I can't believe they haven't got absolutely anything in their box of tricks apart from Brock. Is it Vince's retirement present or something?