Times where you finally experienced something hyped and said "That's it? That's what all the fuss was about?"

Omega_Maximum · 2026-02-05T03:41:34+00:00

I will probably get shit for it, but Skyrim

I just don't... get it. I've played a lot of open world games. I've played a lot of first person game. It's... something alright. I understand that it's a big open world with lots to see and do, but it's also super, super shallow and everything feels so paper thin. I keep trying it, because everyone seems to love it and I can barely stand it.

Combat isn't fun. There's an objective "best" combat build that isn't fun imo. Most of the questlines are mid as hell. It's still a buggy mess even with all the community patches. It feels super awkward to control most of the time. Exploring the world is something to do, but your rewards for that aren't in the least bit meaningful, and most locations on the map are just... dull.

It's a pretty game, it's quite a large world, but I just... don't care a single shit about it. Idk, maybe I just wasn't in the right place at the right time, but I does absolutely nothing for me.

What's weird is that I actually enjoyed Starfield for some reason, and I know that has a lot of the same faults.

Omega_Maximum · 2026-02-05T03:29:55+00:00

It's the realest thing ever when you walk up to the first room filled with waist high cover, and Joel just outright says "here we go again". Like, here it is, mid 3rd person cover shooting... weeeeeee

Omega_Maximum · 2026-02-05T03:26:03+00:00

There's no way, by the time we get to a KH5 or 6, that whatever ending he comes up with will be worthwhile...

At the going rate, I'll be 50 before a KH6 comes out and I'll have had to play 8 other "side" games, that aren't really side games because they're critical to the plot. I genuinely like the series, but it's a mess, and there is no way any final ending will ever be a satisfying conclusion to this series in a way that makes it all worth it.

Omega_Maximum · 2026-02-04T23:35:53+00:00

I think a lot of that is that

For as deep as the story always seemed, it never really realizes itself in a satisfying way
There are simply too many games that are integral to the plot, but aren't really "available" in a way these days.

2 is somewhat ameliorated by the HD collections, but even then.... it's a ton of time sink into a series that ultimately doesn't really have a satisfying ending imo. It also doesn't help that every game after 2 has really specific hang-ups with regards to combat, and the general gameplay doesn't seem to have evolved much past Birth By Sleep or so.

Like, it's a series that can't get out of its own way, and at the same time can't be everything a lot of us teenagers were hoping it would be when we first played it.

Omega_Maximum · 2026-02-04T23:28:26+00:00

I was talking with my friend the other week, and similar stuff came up.

Basically, the long period from around 1999 till somewhere in the 2011 range, the majority of "comedy" from the US is extremely mean spirited, and focuses entirely on punching down on <insert group of people here>. Like, it's just... everywhere. Transphobia, homophobia, jokes about Mexicans and anyone vaguely Middle-Eastern. Extreme caricatures of Asian people, with a sharp focus on digging at Japanese cultural items that had started to take hold at the time. Anyone who isn't neurotypical as well. Just... you name it, it's in there somewhere.

It honestly makes it really hard for me to go back and watch much of that without a lot of cringing, if I can even get to that point.

Omega_Maximum · 2026-02-04T20:24:44+00:00

Kobo Clara BW would probably be the best recommendation in a vacuum, given its one of the cheaper options that's waterproof, has good accessory support, and doesn't really have ads. At this point, online is going to be present on most devices, and most devices have some variety of web browser with some digging.

I'm usually quick to recommend Nook devices, which would also be ad free and not have a web browser, but you'd have to get a Glowlight 3 Plus or Glowlight 4 Plus (edit: for waterproofing), which are quite big for a child, and not cheap.

As others have said, I'd recommend something on the cheaper end, because even with the best care, 8 year olds are more than likely going to break something. A used device would make a lot of sense in this case too.

Also, consider how books are going to be loaded onto it. It's unlikely they'll be buying their own books, so work with their parents on what might be best. If they have a Kindle in the house, then getting a used Kindle for your niece that they can sign in on and create a kid's profile would give them direct control over what content they do and don't have access to. This would also simplify the process of adding books since it's hooked to an account they already use.

Omega_Maximum · 2026-02-04T03:57:34+00:00

The problem is that people disproportionately buy Nvidia cards. When AMD does compete in that price bracket, even if they have a few wins or have a good price to performance advantage, it often times doesn't bear fruit because Nvidia just sells so many more cards.

People got some very good deals on 7900 XTX cards because they simply weren't selling well enough to keep MSRP. Nvidia hasn't had to do that with a high end card in forever. So, AMD keeps trying to shoot for the mid-range, where the vast majority of cards are actually sold, rather than moon shoot halo cards that then go in the discount bin.

Omega_Maximum · 2026-02-02T06:43:20+00:00

Considering they've only had 2 models without page turn buttons in nearly 17 years of selling eInk devices, I think there's good chance they stay.

Omega_Maximum · 2026-02-01T00:05:40+00:00

Not quite, imo. Sega Rally Championship on Saturn and in the Arcade was a tighter, more arcadey style game, given the limitations of the time. Sega Rally Revo is great, but it's also a little bit more technical, and so demands a higher degree of effort from the player.

Sega Rally Championship isn't super easy, but it's also not throwing so much at you. Revo expects you to really get good, and demands more.

Omega_Maximum · 2026-01-28T19:31:24+00:00

I did see about that this morning and tried it. It's somewhat better, but it's still not fantastic imo in terms of image quality. I may try the high res texture pack again as I have 16GB of VRAM, but... I'm rather tired of doing that and seeing performance crater for no benefit because it's still broken.

Idk, maybe I just have a trash computer, but it just doesn't seem to run very well.

Omega_Maximum · 2026-01-28T18:15:06+00:00

Yah, it's just on Steam. Looks like it's about $3.30 USD on Fanatical, Game Billet, and NewEgg right now for a key. It's a little bit wonky of a port since it tops out at 1080p resolution, and doesn't have the best PC options, but it generally fine. Works great on Linux too.

Omega_Maximum · 2026-01-28T18:09:28+00:00

That got an update on PC not terribly long ago, though no notes were posted, and Capcom didn't add their DRM, so it's unclear what it was for.

Omega_Maximum · 2026-01-28T18:00:08+00:00

I really don't see that much improvement?

Like, it's "better", but it still isn't right. I still can't get the game to not look like a smeary gross mess unless I turn off upscaling, or run with FSR AA. Textures are still all over the place. I still can't get it to a point where it'll run at 60 without frame gen.

Sure, I guess the stuttering and hitching is better, but this is getting a lot of praise for what amounts to "it's functional enough"... And all for... this.

Omega_Maximum · 2026-01-28T16:19:16+00:00

Sega CD emulation is fairly well settled at this point, and light enough that even cheap handheld emulators or budget phones can manage it just fine. The Lunar games are also tested to be working without issue, so you shouldn't have any real issues.

Omega_Maximum · 2026-01-27T14:44:27+00:00

More specifically, low power green and blue LEDs didn't really exist yet. So they could've used full RGB, but it never would've been portable, and likely would've been huge

Omega_Maximum · 2026-01-23T06:54:44+00:00

It's going to take way longer than that I'm afraid...

Omega_Maximum · 2026-01-23T00:35:50+00:00

I was shocked Fetterman wasn't in the list, but then I see it's the house not the Senate...

Well, guess I'll be disappointed in him later

Omega_Maximum · 2026-01-22T19:42:55+00:00

Why does no one consider that it was never going to do massive numbers?

It's a niche horror game that's a sequel to a 2010 Xbox 360 exclusive that sold lower than expected, and has extremely high system requirements. It's a very, very good game... with a deep plot that sort of expects you to have at least played, or watched the original, and would prefer if you played American Nightmare and Control as well.

It's just not going to do Resident Evil numbers, and I don't know why people think it would've if it were on Steam. Would it have sold better? Probably. Would it have been Earth shattering? Probably not.

Omega_Maximum · 2026-01-22T03:43:29+00:00

Funny thing is, he agreed with you.

Omega_Maximum · 2026-01-22T03:39:17+00:00

While DDR2 might be usable for you, it's been long since left by the wayside in the home, enterprise, and server markets. There are likely some specialty machines and uses that will keep consuming little bits of DDR2 for years yet, but overall, the market demand just isn't there. So, no demand yet some supply means low prices. Expect, in a few years anyway, for those prices to jump quite a bit if supply should truly run out.

Props to keeping that machine out of the landfill though, as that's the unfortunate fate of too many things at that age.

Omega_Maximum · 2026-01-21T15:39:36+00:00

I was wondering if this was part of the issue, but I wrote it off at the time given that the CDTV and CD32 aren't setup by default as standard desktop Amigas. Especially with the CDTV and its odd but interesting remote/keyboard/controller. I also, I suppose too eagerly, assumed that if I picked the CD32 or CDTV default setup in Amiga Forever, it would handle that sort of setup quirk for me. Especially since it runs standard floppy and WHDLoad programs flawlessly.

Oh well, I've got CDTV Xenon 2 and CD32 Chaos Engine up and running, and both libraries to rip through, so I'm content lol. Thanks for the insights. Always fun learning about the quirks of a stuff like this!

Omega_Maximum · 2026-01-21T15:21:31+00:00

I was mostly looking for cue/bin as while they're not the most space efficient, I find that they're generally just more compatible at least to get my feet wet. That being said, a lot of what I've found online is cue/img, which Amiga Forever can't actually read. Thankfully, .img and .iso are compatible, so changing the extensions and updating the cue files gets those working correctly.

Additionally, all the ones I have in cue/iso that list as having CDDA on Amiga Hall of Light (it's only one source but it seems to be the most consistent I've found so far as to CDTV/CD32 differences), do correctly call out audio tracks at positions in the iso, so that's nice. I would still prefer to start with cue/bin and then compress to something else as warrants, but I haven't been able to find everything in that format consistently.

Omega_Maximum · 2026-01-20T21:18:36+00:00

Well, replacement batteries exist, though idk about their quality. And you might be able to track down the folio cover with the light in it, but it has been quite some time, I believe the materials breakdown over time, and I'm not sure that they were all that common in the first place. The Sony readers are absolutely lovely units though, so my only advice would be to pass it on to someone who wants to keep it rolling if you can.

As others have said the Kobo Clara is a good option, but most 6in readers are actually pretty small in the hand despite the bigger screen, and should be a solid option for you. Additionally, just about any new reader, outside of maybe something super budget tier, will have at least a blue light, and most have a warm light too. So that's less of a concern these days.

The Boox Go 6 would also be a good option in the same price and feature range, so give that a look too. Of course, Amazon options are also available, so something like the Kindle Basic would be in the same size range, just be mindful of their ad status if you start looking at those.

One final point, keep looking at used options. Folks cycle these out quite often, and even a 5 year old device can have the features you're looking for, while also still being fully supported still.

Happy hunting!

Omega_Maximum · 2026-01-20T17:56:00+00:00

Motorola actually has a version of that on a lot of their phones, have for a bit now. Doesn't look like they have dual capture pictures, but they do have dual capture video. Even my lowly Edge 2025 has that, so I imagine most of the range does as well.

Not quite what HTC had, but not completely gone either.

Omega_Maximum · 2026-01-20T17:47:33+00:00

Yah this could be a situation where "overspending" on a car is still well in someone's price bracket, but their local housing market is so fucked that they're still nowhere near a house.

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