Awesome stuff you've just bought (+pics please)

[MintyTheCat]

I really find the early Slayer album covers to be very well done. I have the first three myself but always kind of resisted buying any other. I think I grew up around too much thrash metal in a way and kind of heard enough. It's still good though.

As a rule I like slower but very heavy music.

Seems like you quit following them precisely at the point when they decelerated considerably.

I like the odd Slayer song over the years: Cult, Blood Line just off the top of my head. I think more over it's due to having been saturated in Thrash-Metal and looking for other genres I sill listen to Thrash but mostly Doom and Death these days.

[FinalBaton]

South of Heaven is so fucking good and is my favourite on most days actually (because it's so hard for me to choose a favourite. gotta leave place for the other early records).

IMO it has the best Lombardo druming too (both sound and performance).

It's got some seriously killer guitar hooks too, lots variety in the tempos(and god-tier mid-tempos)

------------------------------------------

Speaking of the slow vs fast thing : I had discussions regarding this with friends in the past year and I explained to them my little theory :

I think that when you play fast enough, then things start feeling slow.

For me anyway, the blastbeats of black metal especially since they're coupled with very atmospheric chods and leads, almost serve a function that's more aking to slow doomy passages, than thrash/skank/d-beat riffs.

especially since chords are often held for decent amount of time in that context. it fels way more atmospheric to me, than rockin'. although it can be punishing as well of course (see : Immortal and war metal).

I explained this to a friend who'se into doom and downtempo hardcore and refused to give black metal a chance on the account that it's fast, and he was like : ''uh. interesting. I'll give it a shot bud'' and sure enough he got appreciation for the blast-beat-heavily-atmospheric-passages

[MintyTheCat]

South of Heaven is so fucking good and is my favourite on most days actually (because it's so hard for me to choose a favourite. gotta leave place for the other early records).

I was referring to the art on the first three albums being pretty good but yes, the first three Slayer albums I quite like. I read about how the artist put them together some years back.

It's often hard to find an album that really works and it's seldom found in my case. As such, I tend to like the odd later Slayer track.

I cannot take Black Metal seriously and it simply annoys me. Some Death Metal I like but it tends to be bands that are closer to being a Hardcore band in origin. Doom I just like.
Last few years I grew quite tired with electronic music and got back into Metal.

[FinalBaton]

black metal is the best at atmosphere, that's what I like most about it. that and the raw aspect. early bm and orthodox sound is quite punky/Celtic Frost inspired

I gravitate more towards raw black metal myself, but the full-on atmospheric/experimental side is really booming the last 10 years and the number of releases an variety and innovation is quite staggering, it's interesting to see. I do peep at some of these releases every now and then.

Speaking of hardcore-influenced death metal : Dismember will be playing the local death fest here and I'm really stoked. but I'm equally stoked (and perhaps even more so) by the presence of black metal behemots Craft. perhaps my fave bm band of all time. these guys have really perfected the punky, evil ''black 'n roll'' mid tempo style, along with a good dose of savage dissonant disorienting riffs(while still catchy and rocking). being someone who loves post-hardcore/noise-rock à la Jesus Lizard/Shellac, I fucking LOVE that sound in my bm. so stoked to see 'em

[Obiwanshinobi]

Jesus Lizard

I just lost auctions for CDs Shot and their split with Nirvana. Instead...

Spoiler

Drunk purchase from a groovy second-hand CD, vinyl and DVD store. I like the atmosphere of that place. Found some real treasures in there as well. Like the 1st Symphony by Johannes Brahms, Cleveland Orchestra playing, some (I think) Hungarian conducting. One of difficulties, when approaching such repertoire, is the sheer abundance of most varying recordings, thus I consider myself lucky to have found ones of 3rd, then 1st by Brahms that just do it for me and I play them a lot. And those were some of my inexpensive, second-hand CD buys like that. Little risk, enormous reward. Verily enchanting live album From Byzantium to Andalusia by Ensemble Oni Wytars, also scored there. I already knew the band from their Pentameron studio album, but I've learnt since then that on stage is where it's at, with them.

[chempop]

I got 2 jammacon setups from TheLastBandit to use my saturn and genesis in some cabs.
Been wanting these for years and finally pulled the trigger, so psyched!

My old scart cable was faulty so the genesis had some graphics issues, all sorted now!
I need to build little shelves in the SEGA cabs so I can tidy up the wiring and consoles.

[SuperPang]

Your cab looks like hello kitty had diarrhoea all over it.

I like.

[chempop]

Your cab looks like hello kitty had diarrhoea all over it.

I like.

Thanks, it was a combination of a dare and a "statement" to some folks on the Neo forum

Stickers are a combo of Sanrio, TokiDoki, and LisaFrank

Spoiler

[kitten]

what the fuck your cab deco sensibilities own

got some satoshi kon outward facing on the shelf, too.... good stuff

[P_HAT]

My first adult made to measure boots. Due to my feet size (US15, JP320) i have problem finding boots in stores. This is scary cuz corona and everything was made online. Took almost 80 days, worth it lol. They made few minor mistakes, but nothing i can't fix with new insole.






Two new pairs of selvedge jeans. They were ~70 and 80% off so i'm very happy.

Japanese fabric, made in Italy



and made in Turkey (Turkish selvedge?)

[CIT]

Welcome back P_HAT!

I've never had a pair of bespoke shoes or boots, but I know some people that swear by it.

[P_HAT]

Welcome back P_HAT!

I've never had a pair of bespoke shoes or boots, but I know some people that swear by it.

ahha, thanks. I was sitting in discord for some time now, so i recovered password XD

My right leg is like 0.5 size smaller and shorter, than left, so yeah, i prob will order second pair in the future lol.

It all comes to ur situation. I'm sure if you don't have problems like mine, you can go with good old USA\UK\Portugal\Slovenia made shoes and be verry happy.
It also can be cheaper. I only went for this pair cuz it was on sale lol

[Marc]

So I was ready to pick up the Mayflash stick, but a bit of searching lead me to the Dragon Slay stick, which despite sounding a bit dodgy, seemed to be very similar (universal use, Sanwa stick & buttons), but on a larger looking base. Took delivery yesterday and it's not half bad. No issues connecting with any of the consoles, and feels pretty much like the Soul Calibur Tournament stick I already had for X360. Not bad at all. Plus, it does look pretty neat.

[MintyTheCat]

Your cab looks like hello kitty had diarrhoea all over it.

I like.

[lilmanjs]

So technically I didn't buy this, but a longtime friend gifted me this since he bought a new Animal Crossing branded switch. The screen protector has a slight crack in it, but its perfectly fine otherwise.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Spoiler

This Made in Japan cover is one of those that lose quite a bit of their aesthetic appeal in CD format, isn't it? Another supermarket bargain bin find of mine, so I'm not really complaining. Brahms' Symphonies box, on the other hand, came out recently in just the right period of my life so I could not really resisit buying it. Pretty challenging to my ear, comfortably marinated in earlier recordings of 1st and 3rd, particularly. Here, there's very modern, very defined sound production, almost scarily so. Then there's trying to fill quite enormous shoes of, like, everyone who had recorded any of these symphonies before (count them all). And then there's the I, a listener to it all.

[DMC]

I need to be strong now because otherwise I may fall into the trap of collecting vinyl OSTs.

[GaijinPunch]

That's dope!

[P_HAT]

Nice color combo XD

Is this a OG release?

[DMC]

They source the music from original hardware and then remaster it. https://data-discs.com/collections/records

[Strider77]

[CIT]

Sweet get! I love the Elemental Master OST. That disc is a teal rarity too.

[gct]

I've been out of gaming for quite a few years, but this past weekend I bought this GPD XD+ from my local craigslist for CAD$80. I don't know why the seller was getting rid of it for such a low price besides a loose-ish hinge which really isn't bothering me at all. These things sell for over CAD$300 new. Don't mind the bubbly-looking screen - just a reflection of a stucco ceiling.



The more things I load on it, the more impressed I get, and the more I feel like I absolutely ripped off this seller
I did root it and install CleanROM immediately though, so maybe that's why my experience so far is so great.

Older systems like SFC, MD, PCE, GBA, WSC, DS, PS1 running great via dedicated emulators or Retroarch. Older MAME stuff up to CPS-2 are all running fine. PSP is running pretty well for most things too, with post-processing turned down.
Most (of the important) Dreamcast games are running full speed via Redream. So far I tried Crazy Taxi, Ikaruga, Psyvariar 2, Under Defeat, and Rez - all running 60fps no frameskip. This is probably the best positive surprise since I had read some other users' experience that Dreamcast was not running well.
GameCube emulation is hit or miss, but Mr.Driller Drill Land runs full speed and that's all I need to be happy.

I bought a Switch a few weeks ago and was thinking of buying ESP RaDe (and Mr.Driller Drill Land) for it, but I think the GPD has me covered for almost everything I would want in a handheld format. Given that the hardware is a bit outdated, I'm not sure that I would recommend paying the full price for a new one considering a Switch Lite costs less, but for the price I paid I'm perfectly happy with it.

Maybe one of these days I'll get one of GPD's Windows-based machines...

[lilmanjs]

They source the music from original hardware and then remaster it. https://data-discs.com/collections/records

Do all of them sound like they've gone through loudness wars remastering? Sure sounds like it on Silvergun's previews.

[Battlesmurf]

I got 2 jammacon setups from TheLastBandit to use my saturn and genesis in some cabs.
Been wanting these for years and finally pulled the trigger, so psyched!

My old scart cable was faulty so the genesis had some graphics issues, all sorted now!
I need to build little shelves in the SEGA cabs so I can tidy up the wiring and consoles.

curiosity has me. How long did it take to apply stickers to the Neo? It's very distinct!

[DMC]

They source the music from original hardware and then remaster it. https://data-discs.com/collections/records

Do all of them sound like they've gone through loudness wars remastering? Sure sounds like it on Silvergun's previews.

Not something I thought about during the first couple of listens, but will pay attention to it next time. Would be a bit of shame for the RSG soundtrack, but Alien soldier is noisy as is, I guess. Aren't vinyl recordings less often subjected to loudness mastering though? Maybe they just cranked it up for the previews!

[GaijinPunch]

Totally depends. I've had some vinyls that are way too hot, and some that flat out suck b/c they're too quiet.

[MX7]

[Alien Soldier and RSG OSTs on record]

I need to be strong now because otherwise I may fall into the trap of collecting vinyl OSTs.

I fell in to that trap ages ago, sigh. The Data Discs releases sound absolutely incredible, with Gunstar Heroes and Alien Soldier sounding absolutely divine on 45rpm. These two and Streets Of Rage III were my holy grail LP releases for so long, so it's amazing to have them all. If they ever release the soundtracks to Battle Mania 2 and Phantasy Star 4 I can officially die happy.

They've just (as in a few minutes ago) dropped the OSTs for Ikaruga and Shenmue 2 if anyone's feeling flush. The world is ending, treat yourself.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Well, this is huge. For the longest time did I crave a PSX arcade stick that is any good (to play the Baraduke port with it first and foremost, but then countless appropriate games on devices I've got trusty adapters for), but an operational PSX arcade stick in this day and age is going to be second-hand, obviously, and a second-hand arcade stick... Long story short, third time's the charm. First game I happened to play with it was Hydorah 1.1 and, ho boy, what a fun way to play that was it. I haven't been this hooked on a shmup for years. Next candidate is either Gradius V, Raiden III or... Psyvariar - Complete Edition -? You get the picture.



Look, does this windshield of Master Chief's refllects the same, orange-brown sky all the time? Why could that be, story-wise? Don't asnwer in detail, I'm just curious if there's any explanation given by the canon writings.
This is my eating humble pie for talking shit about this game (PC port in particular) in my younger, angrier days. Not awful by any means, it's at least serviceable, the port is anyways.



Another haul of supermarket chain store's bargain bin cheap CD finds.

Spoiler

Did both bands alwas have GLAMOROUS album covers. Did you know it was also a girl of a model on Avalon's, under that helmet?

[BrianC]

I have that stick. I like it quite a bit. Microswitched too. I made the mistake of trying to use it with Ghouls 'N Ghosts, though. Diagonals make Arthur stop in his tracks. Too bad the game doesn't have an option to turn diagonals off like with the MD port (controls fine with pad, though).

Finally got around to buying these:



Enjoying the games so far. Had to change the locale to JP temporarily to properly install them, but I was able to install all three. ESD was the most stubborn one, though it runs fine with a frame limiter turned off on the comp with G-Sync on a Freesync monitor (actually, it seemed to be running at 60, but detects 143 Hz with V-Sync off). On the laptop with its 144Hz monitor, it initially ran at 1000FPS, but a DX8 to DX9 file did the trick. Nvidia settings didn't seem to have any effect on the game.

I also went a bit Touhou crazy. Bought most of the steam games (so far, out of the steam ones, enjoying Mountain of Faith, Double Spoiler, and Fairy Wars the most) and Phantasmagoria of Flower View off Amazon, as well.