dr. b

Yeah, I dunno, I hear 5G talked about enough without really knowing much about it that I kinda just assumed it would solve all the problems I have the means to buy more games that I used to, and for a while I kept buying games during sales because I figured I'd play them _someday_. But at some point I realized I was mainly just collecting and not actually playing most of them, so I cut back a lot on the buying of games.

I was probably at the height of my game buying around 2015-2017 when I was all-digital on Vita and 3DS (aside from a few 3DS games that I happened to buy physical copies of while in Canada). Games were always more expensive in Vietnam and never went on sale, so digital made more sense. And the PS Store had good sales quite regularly. When we got a Switch last year, I thought I'd go back to buying physical games because some I wanted to keep forever, and some I would trade back towards new games when I was done with them. Changing carts seems like such a nuisance though after being used to everything being digital Lately I have been not buy games at all in favour of borrowing them from the library (seriously) whenever possible. Our library system has around 50 Switch titles, multiple copies of each, and I go online, put one on hold, and when it's ready for me at my local branch I get an email that's there for me on the hold shelf. You get the game for 7 days and can renew as long as there aren't other holds on it. All free as long as you return things on time. It's great. Like, why would I buy a game like New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe (80 CAD new, 65 CAD used, sometimes closer to 50 CAD when on sale on eShop) when I could borrow it from the library for free? I will probably only beat it once and then not touch it again anyways. Things that aren't available through the library, I will mainly buy digital when there's a sale. I of course don't play games nearly as much as I used to. I have a wife and two kids and a full time job, and all of the other time-eating bullshit that goes along with all of those things. Free time is at a premium and lately it all goes towards playing my basses, though I have still found time to play Smash a couple times a week lately and I did manage to beat both Pokemon Sword and Shield not long ago. And since all the sports got shutdown, I grabbed NBA 2K20 on sale on the eShop and created a team to follow while the Raptors are not playing. (I got dicked over by the drafter order and my team is shit But I'll tank a couple seasons if I have to and then turn it around) Whenever the new RBI baseball game gets a sale I will probably grab that too. I was actually feeling quite optimistic about the Jays this season and was looking forward to watching them. I also think the notion of streaming games is just ridiculous. Maybe it won't seem so crazy when 5G is a thing everywhere. But I dunno. Everything I heard/read about Stadia from announcement to the lead up of their trial period just sounded so bad.

Something tells me you'll end up going for the Platinum trophies

Bandcamp is waiving their revenue share on sales all day today, so go buy something from any/all of your favourite artists that are on Bandcamp if you have some cash to spare. With all the show cancellations, musicians' finances are going to be in pretty rough shape. https://daily.bandcamp.com/features/bandcamp-covid-19-fundraiser I'm gonna grab the new Thundercat release (I think it's still a pre-order) and some albums from local groups that I like.

I want to play this game eventually, if I ever find the time to really sink my teeth into an RPG again. Only Ys game I've ever completed was Memories of Celceta on Vita, and I thought it was pretty fantastic.

Thanks for the bday wishes folks. It feels weird to see "(36)". That seems old. I don't feel that old... but it's the right number.

I still haven't really checked out much more for the Winter I just tune in once a week for Ace of Diamond and that's the extent of my anime consumption. Looking forward to Fruits Basket coming back in the Spring (if anime is still happening in the Spring..? )

I hope the Dads do better this year, but at best they're challenging for a Wild Card spot. Hard to imagine any of those teams really challenging for the division. But I guess that's why they play the games - you never know what could happen!

They actually traded Mookie (and Price) The Red Sox, of all teams, dumping salary... and one of the top young position players in the league... They're getting Verdugo, who I guess could blossom into being the next Mookie Betts, but why take the chance when you already have the real deal? But I do like how the Twins snuck in there and got Kenta Maeda as part of the deal. Nice addition to their pitching. Also been announced that the Dodgers have since traded Joc Pederson to the Angels, I guess because the LAD outfield was getting too crowded. Nice pick up for the Angels.

Pretty big four team trade to get the trade deadline ball rolling With the Rockets unloading on Capela, they're going really small. But it seems to be working for them right now. IIRC I think the other day they won a game where the didn't play a dude taller than 6'6". They're all shooters and it's a pretty potent offense. Gotta figure they're gonna get a big guy for certain match ups though. I don't think the small-ball thing will work in a playoff series. I expect the Raptors will stand pat, and I'm pretty sure that's the right thing to do. They have a solid starting lineup and bench. If they want to upgrade on one of their top guys, or even on 6th and 7th guys like Powell and Ibaka, then it's going to be a pretty big trade. I don't see it happening.

greddy practices

What if I don't want to prefix my single-digit days and months with a zero?

I think it usually comes over to other regions shortly after the season has wrapped up in Japan. But I guess the licensing terms can be a bit different from show to show. In any case, it's gonna be on Netflix eventually.

Wikipedia says it was licensed by Netflix

I'm curious how many chapters are left. Can't be too many, though at the monthly rate it could still be a year before we see the ending

I was behind for a while, guess I just forget to keep reading for a few months... got caught up the other day right up to chapter 125. I can't wait to see this all animated, and to see the reactions from all the anime-only folks

I don't think it's just that I'm picky (though I definitely am). It's the combination of pickiness + limited selection of new shows on Crunchyroll (the only service I'm paying for right now). There is of course nothing stopping me from subscribing to Funimation Now, Prime, or whatever else to get access to different shows (or I could just do it the old fashioned way and download from HorribleSubs) ... but those options are all less convenient than just continuing to watch whatever is on Cruncyrol

Yeah, but they haven't got a massive selection. Depends on what they can license.

It sure looks pretty dead. I used to use Manga Stream from time to time when Hunter X Hunter would come back from hiatus, but the last time I went to check if HxH was back I noticed that Manga Stream was gone. I don't read a ton of manga, though I would like to read more if it were more accessible. There's actually quite a bit to choose from at my local library, so I should look into that more. Keeping up with the latest Attack on Titan chapters is the main reason I've kept up my Crunchyroll subscription lately, as their anime offerings seem to be getting worse with each season. I never read AoT via scanlations because it's on Crunchy.

I've hardly watched anything new this winter So far I've only checked out the first episode of the Madoka Magica spin-off. Crunchyroll's roster for this season is pretty underwhelming...

My daughter got Smash for Christmas and now that we've both finished off Pokemon Sword/Shield, we've moved on to playing Smash a bit more. I'm kinda getting back into it again Like, I won't put nearly as many hours into it as I did Melee back in the day, but I'm having fun. I still haven't unlocked my man Pac-Man yet, so I've mostly been playing Little Mac since he's another favourite of mine. Too many characters to try them all - and I haven't even picked up the DLC yet.

They're technically over cap if everybody is healthy, I think. I'm not up to speed on how all that stuff works, but I guess they're trying to game the system somehow Or just not good at keeping track of payroll

Kobe died this morning when his private helicopter crashed

Just looked at the standings and the Leafs are a few spots out of the Wild Card. This is supposed to be a win-now team Though they do have enough points that they're within striking distance. From what I hear on Toronto sports podcasts, it sounds like D is the main problem... but I guess they don't really have a top tier goalie either. Also, it is comforting to see the Habs and Sens even lower in the standings

Tonight is Zion's debut The Pelicans have been playing really well lately, and they're not that far out of 8th place in the West. Might as well make a push for it. The Raptors look like they're finally getting healthy again, and they've put together a few wins. They managed to keep it together fairly well through all the injuries and a fairly tough schedule to start the season. Now they're in a great position with all of their guys back and a much softer schedule ahead. Aside from Philly tonight, I think it will be a little while before they meet another above-.500 team. Time to go on a long winning streak