I think you have a fundamentally different view than I do on the characters. They are all fundamentally nice people. The difference is, they get fixated on small issues, and let it control their actions. Jerry dates a woman that only looks good in bright light? Only go on dates that have good lighting. It is something you would want to do too, but you would have the control to not let it run the relationship. Jerry doesn’t have that control, and focuses on the good lighting at the expense of everything else.

The characters aren’t mean. They didn’t wish I’ll on anyone. Many of the episodes are them trying to find a way to get out of a situation without being honest because they think the truth would hurt too. Idiots, yes, not not jerks.

For another example. There is an episode where a waiter accidentally puts a menu on a candle and it lights on fire. George points it out, puts the fire out, and casually mentions “I think the busboy put the menu too close to the candle.” The manager overhears this, and fires the busboy. George then finds the busboy to try and help him get another job, but leaves the front door open, and the busboy’s cat escapes. It is the perfect example of what the characters are. They don’t want to hurt people, and go to extreme lengths to do it, even though it always backfires.

I would do the same thing I do with rare, single use items in video games (Think the Master Ball). I would save it indefinitely in case there is a time that I really need it in the future. I would die having never used it.

The current model has it’s problems, but I really think this is the start of a new major product line for Apple. This isn’t going to be relegated to only the rich forever. There are a few problems to over come. It needs to be lighter, it needs to be cheaper, and it needs better battery life. All of those should be somewhat resolved in the next 10 years. When it does, I think the market will explode.

The big selling point? TV. I know over the last few years I have kind of fought with my mom because she is hurting her viewing experience for the sake of aesthetics. The TV is mounted, but has a cabinet in front of it. It is loaded with tons of seasonal decorations. The reason? She can’t stand the site of a cord. So instead, she has figures tall enough to cover part of the screen blocking the view of the TV, all so the cords can be hidden behind the figures. So yes, she loses part of the viewing area, and the remote doesn’t work unless you get up and go to the side of the TV so the IR sensor isn’t blocked, but it LOOKS better!!

The thing is, she isn’t alone. I bought a TV last year. During the time researching it, I would see similar opinions to my mom’s. Peopel would post pictures of their TV setup, asking if the size was OK, or if it should be higher, and the responses would be similar, telling the person to run cables through the wall, or get smaller stands or other complaints. It made me realize that many people care about those kind of things, and it will drive their purchase decisions.

All the Apple Vision Pro has to do is show them that you can have a TV, with no bezel, make it any size and position you want, you get rid of glare from the sun, and it has no visible cables. That alone is enough for people to want to buy it. It isn’t there today, but it will get there in the somewhat near future.

If you count those investor mentions, then sure, the Switch was announced quite a long time before. In my mind, those were so vague, that calling it an announcement was a stretch.

I guess in my mind, I look at the fact that nearly every tech and media company has been moving toward announcing products closer and closer to the release. You go all in on a big marketing plan, rather than a drawn out one for over a year. I am expecting a similar schedule for Nintendo with this new system.

Of course, Nintendo is still so successful with the Switch as is, I can see them feeling significant freedom in making an announcement whenever they want. As you mentioned, there aren’t antsy investors to please right now.

Historically, Nintendo has announced things with that kind of lead time, but as of late, Nintendo has kept announcements much closer to the launch date. The Switch from announcement to launch ( Oct 20-March 3) is 134 days. Today, January 11th, we are 137 days away from Memorial Day (May 27), which is the unofficial start to Summer. The real start, June 21st, is a month after that.

My point is, things are way more open. Nintendo can announce and release the thing very quickly if they want to, and I find that much more likely than the drawn out reveals over 18 months that the Wii and Wii U got.

People can sniffle plenty and not have the flu or another illness. Once you have become an adult, and pay attention, it is really easy to tell the difference. I frequently get allergic response to various things. Even when medicated, there is still a slow trickle.

Maybe you should trust people, he probably knows of if it is allergies or the flu more than you do.

I still buy music on iTunes. I prefer having my collection available on CD, but if I only want a single track or two, I just go to iTunes and buy the songs. This year, I think I bought 4 songs. It isn’t ton, but it is still in my mind.

I would love a portable that fits in my pocket again. I know people argue the Switch is pocketable, but it comes with a bunch of compromises. Sure it can fit in a pocket, but it isn’t comfortable. Plus the screen is exposed makes me hesitant to put it in there (Give us GameBoy Micro style faceplates, and I’m fine with the exposed screen). The worst part though is the vents on the system. Those are begging to eat lint up. A potential Switch Micro would need to address all of these. It might need a significantly more power efficient chip, which would reduce batter size constraints, and allow it to run cooler, removing the need for a fan and vents.

I feel like your comment is the most reasonable explanation. The charity sounds like it isn’t actively being run. It is probably a misunderstanding. I can see the charity paying for a group to run the charity, but because their income is very small, they want the charity ran frugally, and are paying the minimum required for management. The management is running the account, making sure taxes are filed, etc, but Jirard thought they were dispersing the funds too. They don’t talk much, other than a quick review at tax season, and the issue is never addressed, because both sides don’t interact enough to see the difference.

This video really frustrated me, because Jobst is claiming things “Fraud” when the evidence he provided looks nothing like that. It isn’t great PR, but nothing so far looks remotely illegal, or even unethical. The internet just loves ragging on a “bad guy,” and are eager to get mad at the bad guy of the day.

Games like this are so sad to me. A developer has funding from Nintendo, and makes a series that fans like. After a decade, the partnership ends. The developer continues to make the next game, but without the proper funding, the game looks like a step down. The developer can’t even use the same name, so the game feels very uncanny valley.

I don’t see this one doing well, and it may end up being the last in the “series”

What do you want in Mario Kart 9? Is it just a new title, or is there something mechanically that you want iterated on?

Ok, I’ll bite. Let’s assume Youtube follows your advice, and stops showing ads on YouTube. Data collection is the only source of revenue. How does YouTube make money on that data? Be specific please. Who is buying the data, and what is the buyer going to do the data besides show you a targeted ad?

If you consider the last one as New Super Mario Bros U, then sure, we are over a decade. However, Mario Maker, and especially Mario Maker 2, are so wonderful and repayable, that I feel no need for a new 2D Mario game. I get that a game like Wonder is going to have “curated” levels, and things can work more cleanly, but the volume of quality levels in the Mario Maker series is enormous. Anyway, I just find it odd to see your comment, which seems to ignore these titles.

I first, I thought this was consolidating the line to a single SKU, and letting you add the drive yourself for a small premium. Instead, this looks like this is a new model with a reworking interior to save a bit on cost, and heat/power.

The one good thing, is that now every PS5 is a “Physical Edition.” It is also way more likely in the decades to come you can get a 3rd party drive, and hack it to work. Without the size or soldiering being an issue, it is more likely we can see 3rd party replacements.

In the Switch generation, Nintendo has moved away from the “single and doubles,” toward “home runs.” In the previous generation, we had a bunch of smaller games that were smaller in scope, with a smaller budget, smaller price tag, and download only. The Switch has had very few of these from first party developers (The picross games, a few Kirby spinoffs, and Good Job are the only ones coming to mind right now.).

With a new console on the horizon, Nintendo is looking at development cycles increasing. My hope is that to counteract this, we see a return of the singles and doubles. If it happened, my most wanted single game, would be Star Fox 64 2.

No, I don’t mean a modern game that continues the story of SF64, I want the game that would have been made in 1997 in Nintendo immediately started a sequel after the first one launched. Low poly, low texture quality, fast and tight gameplay, and excellent level design. The game can run at 1080P and 60FPS, but keep everything else barebones. Incorporate new music using an N64 quality soundscape, and tons of chatter between the copilots. Keep each “run” to 30 minutes. Budget it at a modest $20-25, and get a nice single. The idea might not work, but I think it works better than making a really detailed rail shooter that takes years to make and has to sell for $60.

I don’t know how to feel. The game seems like a Paper Mario Game, but you do a transformation and play a minigame instead of battles. Unless the minigames get way more complex, I don’t really see the appeal.

To be fair, maybe the appeal is just getting to see Peach in new outfits. I love that detective and chef outfit.

I am surprised this is coming out so close to TTYD, but more surprised they announced TTYD this far out. I might have considered grabbing RPG, but now I’m just going to wait for TTYD.

I think that is highly wishful thinking. I’m sure Nintendo has been going through the whole back catalog to find ways to make a battle royale of a game. Once someone saw the risk/reward that F-zero had with boosting depleting your life energy, it becomes a big an instant click. Plus, the racing environment allows all 99 players to interact in a way that none of the other games allowed (the other games were merely sending garbage to the other player.). F-Zero 99 is a good concept for the developers of the 99 games to try and apply. It wasn’t designed as a test to see if the community actually cared about the franchise.

Miyamoto has said that the reason we haven’t seen F-Zero again is that the developers haven’t found a way to differentiate the series in a way that will attract players. Although I feel like any of us could come up with a way (HD, Online play, randomized equipment drops,), Nintendo is convinced that these are not strong enough to justify the development cost.

I agree with you. I imagine if the film was made by Disney, they would have had the confidence to go with Martinet. Illumination really leans into getting large voice acting names to get a bit of prestige. Keeping Martinet probably wasn’t considered for very long.