The Random Musings Thread

[Edmond Dantes]

Yeah, that's definitely the path I'm considering. Since its more about getting rid of games than actually making a profit.

[ACSeraph]

Lately I've begun to feel like I have too many video games, many of which I was interested in at the time but since learned they were crap (this happens most often on PC, and sadly there seems to be no aftermarket whatsoever for used PC games).

For some reason, I find that when I have fewer games for a console (or fewer games in general), it tends to be easier to concentrate on just the one you really want to improve at, whereas when I have dozens of games I get indecision and can't focus. So I've been trying to part with my library. The problem? The games I want to part with are the ones nobody wants to buy.

Seriously, nobody on the internet likes Armored Core 2 or System Shock 2 anymore?

I am in a very similar situation. My problem is I buy games at a rate faster than I can actually play them. It isn't that I don't like what I buy though, it's that there are too many things I like and want to play, and my free time just isn't sufficient to play them all. So just like you I end up not being able to focus because I have too many things I want to be playing all at once. The fact that I really do like most of what I buy doesn't help matters.

[mosey]

At least buying the games supports their development. Wait, that's just continues the cycle. Oh well, circle of life.

[trap15]

If Nintendo did something like the Gameboy Player for WiiU that plays DS games, I don't think I'd hesitate to get a WiiU. Both screens on the TV, touch-pad has the bottom screen only.

Come on Nintendo!

[Edmond Dantes]

I'd almost agree, just I can't think of any DS game I want to play. And then you have games where you're expected to be able to mark either or both screens...

Seriously, reason I've avoided Nintendo consoles post-Gamecube is because they seem to be more about gimmicky controls that only 5% of games are ever gonna use effectively. I actually got to play a Wii U in a store kiosk (the game was a demo version of Rayman Legends) and was actually enjoying it... until it got to the part were I have to control Murphy the Fly and have to use the touchpad to make him do anything, and at times even rotate the controller.

For once, Yahtzee was right--the controller was the biggest issue.

And yet the use of a gimmick was the sole reason the Nintendo DS sold better than the PSP, proving that gamers don't deserve nice things.

[trap15]

I'd almost agree, just I can't think of any DS game I want to play.

I can think of plenty, and that's why I want this! D:<

And then you have games where you're expected to be able to mark either or both screens...

What do you mean?

For games that need rotated screens, just have some button rotate the screen on the TV (you can just rotate the touch-pad already).

[Edmond Dantes]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but on an actual DS, BOTH screens have touch/stylus functionality, and I seem to recall there being games that require you to use it on both.

So an adapter that only allowed you to draw on just one screen would be incompatible with half the library. Unless there was a workaround.

[trap15]

... No it didn't. Only the bottom has touch.

[ACSeraph]

If Nintendo did something like the Gameboy Player for WiiU that plays DS games, I don't think I'd hesitate to get a WiiU. Both screens on the TV, touch-pad has the bottom screen only.

Come on Nintendo!

I'm just imagining playing Contra 4 on this right now

Seriously though I would buy a WiiU TODAY if that happened. No reason it wouldn't also be 3DS compatible either.

[trap15]

No reason it wouldn't also be 3DS compatible either.

Except it'd harm the 3DS market, cost significantly more, and require more engineering; all things which N probably doesn't want right now.

I figure a DS Player makes sense since DS is old enough where it won't cause them any problems. Though I guess Gameboy Player came out when GBA was still relevant and DS wasn't out yet, so hmm...

But yeah, if such a thing was announced, I'd immediately buy a WiiU, no questions asked.

[shmuppyLove]

Only the bottom has touch.

Sorry, had to do it

[Edmond Dantes]

I figure a DS Player makes sense since DS is old enough where it won't cause them any problems. Though I guess Gameboy Player came out when GBA was still relevant and DS wasn't out yet, so hmm...

Don't forget the Super Gameboy, which came out while the original GB was still very relevant.

[mosey]

To OP:

My lame superpower would be more of a mutation. My fingers would bend and clasp as normal but also in the opposite direction (against the joints).

The future of mankind?

[ACSeraph]

Both screens on the TV

It just occured to me... tate contra 4

[Edmond Dantes]

eBay is now saying I have to send them my ID to re-enable my account for whatever reason. Which is weird because I used it a week ago and it worked fine (and yes, I called customer service).

So I guess I'm selling on forums for awhile longer -__-

And this means I have to pass up that copy of X-Multiply for Saturn I saw going for $94...

[Moniker]

Awhile back, I took an Astronomy 101 course to fulfill some core credits. I learned there that the current cosmological understanding is that the universe is expanding, and that the expansion is accelerating indefinitely. The implication is that instead of the universe eventually pulling back together in a Big Crunch and giving birth to a new Big Bang, the universe will relentlessly expand until galaxies, solar systems, and finally atoms are ripped apart into infinite entropy - aka the Big Rip.

I find this fairly depressing. I've already accepted my own nonexistence after death, but perfect nonexistence for everything? Fuck. I can only take solace in the hypothesis that the formation of each black hole in our universe brings about its own big bang in another universe.

[ACSeraph]

Awhile back, I took an Astronomy 101 course to fulfill some core credits. I learned there that the current cosmological understanding is that the universe is expanding, and that the expansion is accelerating indefinitely. The implication is that instead of the universe eventually pulling back together in a Big Crunch and giving birth to a new Big Bang, the universe will relentlessly expand until galaxies, solar systems, and finally atoms are ripped apart into infinite entropy - aka the Big Rip.

I find this fairly depressing. I've already accepted my own nonexistence after death, but perfect nonexistence for everything? Fuck. I can only take solace in the hypothesis that the formation of each black hole in our universe brings about its own big bang in another universe.

BUT it wouldn't really be nonexistence would it? If everything just kept getting torn further and further apart, no matter how much smaller the pieces got I don't see why they would simply cease to exist. Wouldn't they just eventually be broken down into the most basic parts that make up the universe, something far smaller than even the individual atomic parts. Some kind of universal "data" for example.

[Moniker]

BUT it wouldn't really be nonexistence would it? If everything just kept getting torn further and further apart, no matter how much smaller the pieces got I don't see why they would simply cease to exist. Wouldn't they just eventually be broken down into the most basic parts that make up the universe, something far smaller than even the individual atomic parts. Some kind of universal "data" for example.

(Nota Bene: I am not an astrophysicist.) Unfortunately, no. Eventually, even the most basic parts (quarks, W-Bosons, electrons, etc.) will be pulled apart (no gravity EM field, or nuclear force will be able to resist), and, similar to a black hole's singularity, every bit of matter will be infinitely pulled apart until there's nothing left but a sort of matter-plasma that carries no information at all. In other words, the entire universe will be a spread of information-useless smear of nothingness. No "universal data;" every point will be infinitely distant from every other, and no data remains to tell the difference.

What's especially scary is the fact that if we were observing the universe x years from now, when no stars save the Sun would be observable from Earth, we would think that that's all there was. No other galaxies, etc. would be able to be scientifically proven. Ergo, looking at the universe as we now see it, what are we missing? What are we eternally unable to detect?

[ACSeraph]

(Nota Bene: I am not an astrophysicist.) Unfortunately, no. Eventually, even the most basic parts (quarks, W-Bosons, electrons, etc.) will be pulled apart (no gravity EM field, or nuclear force will be able to resist), and, similar to a black hole's singularity, every bit of matter will be infinitely pulled apart until there's nothing left but a sort of matter-plasma that carries no information at all. In other words, the entire universe will be a spread of information-useless smear of nothingness. No "universal data;" every point will be infinitely distant from every other, and no data remains to tell the difference.

What's especially scary is the fact that if we were observing the universe x years from now, when no stars save the Sun would be observable from Earth, we would think that that's all there was. No other galaxies, etc. would be able to be scientifically proven. Ergo, looking at the universe as we now see it, what are we missing? What are we eternally unable to detect?

Interesting to think about. But how fast is it actually even expanding, and how long would it take for something like that to happen? Is 13 billion years even that much on a universal scale?

Also this is just personal philosophy, but even if all of the matter were infinitely spread out into a useless informationless smear, isn't that smear still something? Is "nothing" really even possible? My brain is melting...

[Edmond Dantes]

Okay, first eBay says I have to send them my ID.. but now I logged on and everything is just fine and I've listed three items.

What the fuck, eBay?

But I guess I shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth...

[nasty_wolverine]

(Nota Bene: I am not an astrophysicist.) Unfortunately, no. Eventually, even the most basic parts (quarks, W-Bosons, electrons, etc.) will be pulled apart (no gravity EM field, or nuclear force will be able to resist), and, similar to a black hole's singularity, every bit of matter will be infinitely pulled apart until there's nothing left but a sort of matter-plasma that carries no information at all. In other words, the entire universe will be a spread of information-useless smear of nothingness. No "universal data;" every point will be infinitely distant from every other, and no data remains to tell the difference.

What's especially scary is the fact that if we were observing the universe x years from now, when no stars save the Sun would be observable from Earth, we would think that that's all there was. No other galaxies, etc. would be able to be scientifically proven. Ergo, looking at the universe as we now see it, what are we missing? What are we eternally unable to detect?

Interesting to think about. But how fast is it actually even expanding, and how long would it take for something like that to happen? Is 13 billion years even that much on a universal scale?

Also this is just personal philosophy, but even if all of the matter were infinitely spread out into a useless informationless smear, isn't that smear still something? Is "nothing" really even possible? My brain is melting...

If that worries you, read up on vacuum catastrophe.

The heat death should happen by 10^(10^10) years from now. thats 1 followed by a hundred zero. but the the proton (basic constituent of all matter) will probably decay by 10^36 years. and thats if dark energy doesnt rip everything up in 22 billion years. However, there is a theory that says that the universe will tunnel back to the original state (another Big Bang, from quantum loop theory). Or if string theory is ever proven, big bangs happen all the time, or we should hope to be technologically advanced enough travel to another brane in the bulk.

And you're right. nothingness is not possible in quantum mechanics. even empty space has its own energy feild, zero-point energy, or rather the energy of nothing. also, in a perfectly empty space, particle-antiparticle pairs are continuously created and destroyed.

[hermosaguy]

Haven't been back on these boards in quite some time, and but still the same amount of speculation, bitching and moaning as when I left. Really forgot how much I missed this place! Still, sucks about the current state of shmups. Definitely glad to be catching up on some of these threads.

[Edmond Dantes]

Fuck the current state. Go retro!

X-Multiply will live forever in our hearts!

[null1024]

Man, I really love how I can script things like changing the background depending on which workspace is showing in Linux.

At the same time, it would be nice if multiple workspace backgrounds was a built-in feature in not-KDE. It's not an essential feature, but it's nice, and you'd expect to be able to do it out-of-the-box for most major desktop environments that have built-in workspace support.

Spent an hour looking for a utility that did that and supported MATE. There was one that might have worked, but threw up some Python errors. I then found a shell script that was made to work with Gnome 3, and spent thirty minutes looking where in the MATE configuration background settings were, along with how to actually set that from the command line anyway.

oh, and here's the script, lest you desire such a thing and want to spend less effort than me to actually accomplish it, it wants dconf-tools installed so it can edit the MATE settings

[hail good sir]

As of right now there are 151,601 people on the XBLA Ikaruga normal leaderboards and WIZ is second to last.

[Moniker]

I wish I could have sweet slow intercourse with Alyx Vance.

Also maybe Roll (and let us not forget Rush) of Megaman fame. Also, Lois Griffin, Marge Simpson, Wilma Flinstone, Betty Rubble, and Hermione Granger (SECOND PLACE!!!).

Edit: Also Molly Bloom, Milidred Bonk, and Josie (of the Pussycats).

Edit 2: Queen Amidala, Carrie Fisher (circa 1979), Patricia & Rosanna Arquette (anytime), Julia Stiles, Hillary Swank, and Iman (David Bowie optional).

[Moniker]

Is it weird to be deflated due to Lou Reed's death? His partially insane defense of self-destructive behavior got me through the rigors of adolescence. And, beyond that, he opened up a whole realm of previously proscribed material to debate. A great man, despite and because of his shortcomings. I can't stress enough: you affected me. Rest in absolute (according to your standards) a sort of peace.

[Moniker]

I've recently gotten sensitive to elements in movies that break the illusion of reality. Phone numbers that start with 555 are one example. I also have started to notice when extras are trying too hard. For example, when they make physical contact with the star. And this leads me to perceive them as extras and not a sort of subliminal cinematic filler. I was an extra once in a movie (unreleased, uncredited). It was odd. There are people who make their whole living as extras, working 14+ hour days on minimum wage, most of them perhaps hoping that they'll be noticed. Kind of sad, kind of strange.

[Specineff]

While I don't suffer from insomnia, there are times I wake up sooner than I should, then go back to bed.

The funny thing is, shmup/game music plays in my head when I'm conscious during those times. Point of No Return from Eschatos, Flood of Power from Midnight Resistance, MMX3's Gravity Beetle and TF3's Grubby Dark Blue are some I can mention.

[Moniker]

While I don't suffer from insomnia, there are times I wake up sooner than I should, then go back to bed.

The funny thing is, shmup/game music plays in my head when I'm conscious during those times.

One night, in high school, I was up until 5AM (classes started at 8AM) with the chorus of "Sultans of Swing" by Dire Straits (specifically, the signature guitar lick) stuck in my head. I mean, I couldn't think of anything else. It was like a mental addiction. I even plugged in my headphones to listen to something else, but couldn't come close to concentrating. Took maybe half a bottle of melatonin and Nyquil. No dice. The song's segment is like 5 seconds long, and I repeated it over and over in my head for a good 6 hours.

One of the circles of hell must resemble that experience.