I just got out of Power Rangers: The Legend of Rita's Gold and saw yet another example of completely warped morality in the "heroes".
There's a scene where one of the rangers reveals she did something horrible to some class mate. The specifics aren't mentioned, but basically she humiliated someone just because she could with no real reason to do it. The other ranger says "Just because you did something horrible doesn't mean you are a horrible person." and then further says "What's important is that you do what you think is right." Then they beat up the evil Rita because she's doing what she thinks is right and say she's a horrible person because of the horrible things she did.
I've been seeing this "sentiment" in a lot of US TV and movies lately, and I just have to wonder where this inane and, frankly, EVIL mindset comes from. It seems like the opposite of a moral code, and I'm sick of seeing it sprawled across US media.
I've been hearing people comment on just about all of the actors simply "not aging", and I'm starting to think there's a bit more to it than that.
At this point, I'm simply convinced the more famous actors just have access to makeup that us mere mortals could never even imagine. In other words, I'm pretty sure Patrick Stewart in Logan was simply not wearing any makeup in order to look that old. Heck, look at Jon Stewart now vs just a year ago when he was hosting the Daily Show. Looks like the two are decades apart.
It's just makeup people. You're flattering a bunch of makeup artists. All the old actors are secretly mummies!
So, I buy upgrades every now and then. I've had the same computer since I first got one as a kid. I'll switch out a hard drive, or an optical drive, or a new motherboard, or a new case, or what have you. Point is, my computer always moves along for the ride. At this point, I've replaced everything in my computer multiple times. Still the same computer though, right? I never out and out just plunked down a new PC in place of the old, it's just replacing a few parts.
Well, here's the thing. I often have enough parts left over to built a decent second-hand computer for a relative or someone. That second computer is built from the parts I took out, and basically consists of what used to be my computer.
Well, I got one. I had to. Breath of the Wild was at stake here!
The interface, spartan as it may be compared to the competition, seems to work pretty well. I'm still waiting for a way to add friends using their username instead of a friend code, but at least there's plenty of options to add friends from previous online sessions. No online chat yet, and I really hope that the party infrastructure doesn't require a cell phone. That's just not kid friendly.
The pro controller, which has an aesthetic that screams "cheap PC controller from the early 2000s", is actually pretty comfortable and solidly built, as one would expect from Nintendo. There's no analog triggers to be found on it though. That's disappointing... It'll also be big trouble for Gamecube virtual console games. I imagine they'll map the buttons to "full press" and as a consolation prize offer compatibility with the Wii U Gamecube controller adapter (meaning you have to have devices from two previous generations of consoles, and now I'm wondering why I don't just use my Gamecube).
Breath of the Wild is great. A good open world game isn't about random wandering so much as giving visually distinct items of interest for the player to decide to explore. The start of the game does a very good job indicating sites to see just by making them prominent on the landscape as you first exit the starting location. This is a great way to keep the player from getting totally lost, and it's good to see what they've done. Already this game has THOUGHT OF EVERYTHING! SO MUCH! Sick of smashing your face into trees in order to knock stuff down? Just grab an ax from a stump and chop those suckers down. Or, you know, maybe just climb it? The combat is silky smooth, though it'll take some adjustment now that Link can jump any time he wants. It's not like a Mario jump though, it's basically the same jump you're used to from side-stepping and back flipping in previous 3D Zelda games (and you can still do those specific moves). I'm a bit disappointed that I don't automatically jump if I just run towards the edge of a platform, so in that respect it's more platformy.
It's got autosave, but done better than a lot of games that have switched to that system. You can manually save and it also stores a list of recent autosaves instead of just one, so if you do something you regret, you can load your manual save or an older autosave. Well, to an extent. If your manual save is too old, it'll get deleted to make room for the next autosave. I don't think that's acceptable. Manual saves should be immune to that overwrite. Here's hoping they adjust that a bit, but it's already a better system than Bioshock Infinite, the new Doom, and Phantom Pain, which have all decided a single uncontrollable autosave is the future. Along those lines, this game has the Japanese voice acting right on the cart, but in order to switch you need to change the system language, which also changes the subtitles. The english voice acting isn't bad, but here's hoping these issues are easily patched in the future. I know they've gone that route before. If only I could whine on Miiverse!
I've only just begun, so these are just my first impressions. I can already sense another "sink into this world and vanish for months" game though.
It's the high-quality, Rare-N64-style 3d platformer with better graphics we've always wanted, but haven't seen in over a decade now... and I can't wait for the final game. It looks really great. This newly revealed snow level looks really nice...
So, many gaming media outlets have Switch units now, and the first NDA ended today, so they can talk about the hardware itself. No games yet, Zelda info will have to wait until tomorrow, but this is a start, and it's great to finally see more of this system that Nintendo has been very quiet about many of the details of.
Second, some outlets are having issues with the right Joycon when using it more than 6-7 feet from the Switch unit, that is in the Grip or such; it keeps disconnecting, apparently. Hopefully this is just a software issue and not hardware... Info: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1346789
Otherwise things sound good, though. Lots of reports and videos now are showing the OS, Mii creation, account settings, and such. It looks like a fairly plain and generic-looking OS and menu system, with lots of boxes, rectangular icons, and such, in the style of the (bad) modern trend towards "flat" interface design. It still has some of that Wii-ish Nintendo look to it thoguh, with the fonts and such. There's no music in the interface or menus though, unlike the Wii and such... huh. Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70rMXj4wGPI The OS looks functional and easy enough to use though, which is the post important part. Of course a console's menu interface not the focus, the actual games are, but you need to be able to get to them quickly. I hope there are good organization options for the games and such you have installed, with folder support too; Nintendo usually has them so I expect it, but I'm not sure if I've seen that yet.
Oh, as for the hardware itself, I see it's getting lots of praise, and I guess it looks fine, but.. again, the Switch tablet unit itself has a fairly generic modern look to it, I think -- it looks like a tablet, it's matte instead of glossy, etc. I kind of like that Wii-like gloss... I guess it is true that glossy doesn't hold up as well and shows fingerprints very easily, but still, based on videos I think the Switch looks fine, but not anything amazing. (My favorite console hardware design is still the N64... and for operating system interface styling, probably Vista.) The Joycons are another issue; they're very small, but look nice and like Nintendo designs, apart from the left one not having a d-pad on it. The Pro Controller fixes that, for 2d platformers, fighting games, and such, but it's an additional $70. With the Wii I've gotten away with never buying a Pro Controller, but with the Switch it'd probably be needed...
So yeah, from what I've seen design-wise, for both the system and interface, the Switch looks fine. I'm not hugely impressed or disappointed.
