(Note: I saw the original Blade Runner once, probably nearly 20 years ago, and haven't watched it again. I remember very little about it, but we went to this new sequel anyway because it sounded interesting. And it is.)
Is mostly a good movie, particularly for its presentation. The visuals are fantastic, you can really see the $150 million budget. And that soundtrack is amazing! It's an atmospheric techno soundtrack, kind of like the original Blade Runner, but with even more loud, ominous tones that play while a cityscape scene slowly passes by. I really like this kind of music so I thought it's great. The frequency of scenes like that makes this movie overlong and very slow, and those are faults, but I liked the visuals and music, and scene-setting those things combine to form, enough to not mind this too much. I will say though, see this in a theater if you can! Unless you've got a great home cinema setup it'd look and sound far worse at home, and that is a big part of the movie.
As for the plot, however, that's where Blade Runner 2049 has more problems. I won't spoil it, but the plot is a little too predictable most of the time, probably. There is one major twist late in the film, and it's pretty good and I didn't see it coming, though, so there is that. On the other hand though I don't like the somewhat open ending, it feels like a sequel hook that may or may not ever be followed up on. And other than that one twist the story could have been better. Maybe the movie could have used a bit more plot (and backstory), and a few less of those long scenes where nothing is happening except a background and an audio tone... ah well. Because of all the story issues I didn't love this movie and definitely have criticisms there, but it was good enough to see at least, particularly in the theater.
By all accounts, where Yooka Laylee was a decent game that got too much flak for being what it is, A Hat In Time is the one that shines like the sun's sun.
... Pretty much. Specifically, you will be able to add money into the Wii store until March of next year, but you will have until January 2019 to spend that money. There is also no guarantee that you will be able to re-download any games you've previously purchased after Jan. 2019.
So what do I think of this? Well, it was going to happen someday. Nintendo has never been one to leave online services on after the system they are on isn't selling anymore, as you see with, well, every previous online network they have ever done, up to Miiverse, which shuts down in about a month. I presume that WiiWare/WiiVC was making money for a decent while, since it is a cash shop, but it must not be anymore, obviously. So down it goes. For many platforms (though not the Wii) this would be terrible for game preservation, and this is yet another very bad sign for the future of digital games.
There are two sides to this. One the one hand, this is another reminder that digital storefronts can and will be shut down, and your purchases will eventually not be re-downloadable. However, you can lose physical games as well, and in some cases people have had all their games lost, destroyed, or what have you. You can lose your games either way. However, this way EVERYONE loses everything and no one is able to buy any of the hundreds of download-exclusive Wii games again after this, so of course physical is far better for lastability, as has always been said.
However, in this case, things aren't as bad as they could be -- because the Wii has been completely hacked open, if you just install custom software into your Wii, including the Homebrew Channel, etc., anyone will be able to play any of the Wii's downloadable games without too much trouble. For as long as you can still actually buy the games I won't be doing that as it's not right, and I think I'll buy a bunch of WiiWare stuff at some point before the shutdown, but once Nintendo makes it impossible to buy downloadable Wii games again? Yeah, that'll be the time to mod my Wii. There is no reason not to once Nintendo has said "we don't want your money anymore or care about game preservation", as they have once again done here.
I wonder, when do MS and Sony follow suit and take down the PS3 and X360 online systems, including online stores and multiplayer... it'll probably be long after Nintendo, since MS particularly had so much more success at getting people online than Nintendo ever did (for good reason), but it probably will happen eventually. That X360 dashboard sure looks empty without all the online stuff on it though, and I still use my 360 online regularly, something I have never done with the Wii, so yeah, I hope MS keeps their 360 servers running indefinitely.
On that note, I wonder, will you still be able to use Wii applications like Netflix and such after this shutdown? Like, 'you can use it if you have it but can't re-download it anymore' or something? Heh...
But anyway, overall this is disappointing but was going to happen. I'm just glad that hackers have backed up everything in this store, or else this would be much, MUCH worse. But before this shutdown happens, I'll have to think about how much to spend on WiiWare games...
As one final thought though, the biggest mistake Nintendo made with WiiWare is that sales are not allowed. Sales are a great way to increase sales and revenues, and I like buying games that are on sale. I have a few dozen WiiWare games (and a couple of Wii VC games), but I've bought a lot fewer games for WiiWare than I would have had games gone on sale like they do on literally every other online storefront! I know Nintendo likes to not reduce the price of their games, but not allowing anyone else to ever put games on sale was a huge mistake. And if I remember right didn't Nintendo set prices for all games too, not the developers? WiiWare had issues... but despite that it has a pretty good library of games and it should be remembered for that.
So, Nintendo just released Metroid: Samus Returns for the 3DS. I don't have it, yet at least, but it looks really good, with great graphics, art design, and music, level designs which expand on the Game Boy original they are based on, and what sounds like pretty good gameplay and controls... and a lot of people are complaining. I hope that the game sells well and the complainers prove to be a minority, if if this game doesn't sell as well as it sounds like it should have maybe Nintendo should just give up on Metroid, these fans are impossible to please it seems...
(insert thing person saying this doesn't like here)?" -- As in, 'this thing still happens, really?'
Seriously, this is kind of a dumb meme. Donald Trump is President, and you're claiming that somehow the world is beyond whatever it is you think we should be past? Really? I'm not so sure about that to say the least...
I have to give the creators of this version credit. They know. This wasn't even tongue in cheek making fun of the fans sort of thing, they seem to be saying "help us, editor mandates are preventing us from making a superior show and budget cuts keep us from making it look as good". I think the creators really want to do more with the new show than they've been allowed to.
What do you think? I think that him running for re-election but losing is probably, by a narrow margin, the most likely outcome; it would take a lot for the Republican Party to remove him from office before 2020, and while there is more than enough evidence out there to do just that the right-wing core is in very deep denial about how much Russia affected the 2016 election (because it was in their favor), so removal isn't too likely... right now.
I would say though that the second most likely result is him either resigning or being removed from office, because as the revelations pile up eventually even the Republicans will probably be forced to do SOMETHING.
The worst one of these is of course him destroying our government and becoming dictator, but that is fortunately nearly impossibly unlikely, I think. Second worst would be him dying in office, because the last thing we want is for Trump to be come a martyr for the alt-right!
