Hello everyone! Welcome to the two newcomers today, too; your presence is much appreciated!

Just wanted to let you know a few things I'm going to be experimenting with.

First up, I already talked about this on Twitter earlier, but for the benefit of those who aren't on there or didn't see my thread, I'm running a small-scale experiment with ads on MoeGamer. Don't panic; when I say "small-scale" I mean small-scale; I'm allowing them only on specific parts of the site that happen to be the pages that have the most traffic — usually people coming from Google looking for info on Magicami DX or Honey Select Unlimited. The way I look at it, the amount of traffic those pages get could potentially raise a bit of money for the site — which in turn can be invested back into the site in various ways. The more self-sufficient, the better.

I've made it a point of pride to highlight MoeGamer's ad-free nature in the past so I feel a little guilty doing this, but everyone I've spoken to already has been supportive of this idea so far. To clarify: ads will only be running on "Pages" right now rather than "Posts". That means you won't see ads on articles themselves, or on the front page, or anything like that. There may be ads appearing at the bottom of "hub pages" for games or features now, though. As I write this, they haven't showed up yet, but I don't know how long it takes for them to switch on.

I'm going to let this run for a week or so and see how things go. If I can get some meaningful data from it that will help me figure out potentially how much income they could bring in per month, I'll see if it's worth continuing them. If they suck or get in the way or too many people complain, I'll get rid of them. But I figure I'm potentially denying myself some valuable income that can be invested directly back into the site, so I want to see how true that is. Thanks for your understanding on this!

Secondly, I was looking back over the "Patrons Only" videos I did a while back (check the YouTube playlist if you missed out on these back when they were current) and remembered that I quite enjoyed doing them. Now that I've cut back a little on other video commitments (most notably long, ongoing playthroughs), I want to start doing something along those lines again, and I thought something that involved you good people would be enjoyable for everyone: a regular (probably monthly) Patrons Q&A!

My plan for this would be to provide a specific thank-you by name (or handle) to all the A-Rank Patrons for that month, and provide the S-Rank Patrons the opportunity to ask questions, make requests and the like. I've been wanting to provide an additional benefit for those kind enough to support at S-Rank tier for a while, and this seems like a good opportunity.

The way I'd do this is that I'd put up an S-Rank-exclusive post early in the month inviting you to post questions in the comments. I'm not sure if there's a way to "sticky" a post on Patreon, but I'd likely put a reminder on subsequent posts so people remember it's there. Then when the end of the month rolls around, I'll gather together all the questions and make a video that answers them. It gives me something interesting to do, and it provides you lovely lot the opportunity to engage a bit more directly with me. There's a lot of you lurking out there and it'd be nice to hear more from some of you! (Obviously no pressure if you don't want to.)

The video itself would then be public, so everyone would be able to hear the interesting questions you came up with, and the A-Rank patrons can be thanked publicly also. That, in turn, will hopefully bring a few more people in the direction of this Patreon and we can all be one big happy nerdy family together.

It's getting late now so I won't set this up today, but I'll probably put up the first post like this at the weekend, then aim to do the first video towards the end of November. Then if that goes well we can make it a monthly thing and have a bit of fun together. Watch this space!

This is my fault for saying something vaguely nice about Stadia yesterday, wasn't it? Fucking Google.

If you're not sure why I'm annoyed, check out this patronising PR-speak-filled thread from Google Photos' product lead: https://twitter.com/dflieb/status/1326586058289471491

Essentially, from June next year, Google Photos will no longer allow its users to back up their photos and videos on an unlimited basis for free; you'll be limited to 15GB of storage, or whatever you choose to upgrade your Google One storage account to. For the unfamiliar, at present if you allow Google Photos to upload "high quality (compressed)" versions of your images and videos, they don't count against any of your existing storage limit, making it a fantastic means of backing media up with only a tiny loss in quality.

This setup has been ideal for me as I've been working on various projects; I can take screenshots and videos without worrying about taking up too much space, because I know I can just back them up online and then pull them back down again if it turns out I need them. With this change, I'll have a hard cap on this — even if I pay up for the additional storage (which I actually already am — it's not much per month for 100GB, but that won't last long when videos are involved).

I understand that this would have probably happened sooner or later; the old adage about things being too good to be true is, unfortunately, one of the things that is always true. This is a real bummer, though; it's one of many instances where Google appears to be deliberately making one of their offerings significantly worse rather than better.

It does make me wonder about the future of other services, though. How long before we have a hard limit on how much you can upload to YouTube, for example…?

It's not what I want from gaming — emphatically so, for numerous reasons I'll talk about in a moment — but in terms of performance, it was actually pretty impressive. I had Panzer Dragoon Remake running at a solid 60fps at 1080p (my TV will do 4K, but I have Windows set to 1080p because 4K was proving to be more trouble than it was worth in terms of my existing software) and there didn't appear to be any particularly discernible latency, lag, dropped frames or anything; there was some mild artifacting here and there, but I think that was mostly due to a sequence being video rather than real-time footage. All in all, it was actually rather impressive from a tech perspective.

Let me rewind a moment. Why was I trying Stadia in the first place? Well, because I have a YouTube Premium membership, and if you have a YouTube Premium membership, you can currently claim a Stadia bundle with a controller and a Chromecast Ultra (£90 worth) for free. And I haven't paid for that YouTube Premium membership because I got that for free as a "gift" from Google to make up for the fact that they ditched their actually-good music service Google Play Music in favour of the not-anywhere-near-as-good YouTube Music. Effectively I'm getting a Chromecast Ultra (which is something I actually do want) for the price of a month's Google Play Music/YouTube Music subscription. Which is nice.

My brief foray this evening confirmed that Stadia is definitely not what I want from gaming long-term, though. I do not like its pricing model. Stadia Pro gives you access to actually quite a decent selection of "free" games right from the get-go… but the caveat is, much like PlayStation Plus, if you cancel your subscription you lose access to all of those games. I would much rather they follow a model similar to Xbox's "Games With Gold" (do they still do that in an age of Game Pass?) or the Humble Monthly bundles, where you have to be signed up for a particular month to get access to specific things, but once you have access to said things you can keep them, even if your subscription lapses.

The bigger issue for me, however, is not really owning anything. Stadia's storefront has new releases up for the same price as brand new games — Assassin's Creed Valhalla is £59.99 — and for that price, I'm really not happy with just having access to the ability to stream that game for as long as Stadia lasts, or as long as Ubisoft decides they want to offer it on Stadia… or for as long as Google decides it can be on their platform. I have the same hesitation about digital purchases of that price, but at least in that situation you can download and back up the game in most cases — that way if it does happen to go kaputt on the live servers, you've still got a playable copy. (Unless it's Darkspore. Fuck EA.)

At the moment, I can perhaps see the value of Stadia for trying out the "Pro" games ahead of picking up an actual copy for PC or console, but there's no way I would ever spend actual money on a game on that platform. It's just antithetical to everything I value about gaming, and the important memories I come to attach to various experiences I have. It turns a game into just another form of content to consume rather than something to be savoured, experienced, appreciated. And I'm not a fan of that.

But in terms of tech, Stadia isn't shit. Which is something, I suppose.

Our recent podcast on the PlayStation 2 really highlighted for me the fact that as gaming moves on, I become more and more concerned about a few things — the transient nature of a lot of digital experiences, the acceptance of unfinished products being released and fixed later as the norm, and the lack of care over the ideas of preservation and true backwards compatibility.

I think the latter is of greatest concern to me. Backwards compatibility is constantly being hyped as a big feature for the new Xbox platforms, but that's not what it is at all. You don't put in a previous generation disc and just run a game; you put in that disc, download something that has been recompiled to work on the new architecture, then run that emulated version. If, for whatever reason, that recompiled version is no longer available to download, then that original disc you have becomes useless… unless, of course, you still have the old hardware.

There's another consideration here, too; since backwards compatibility being handled like this effectively means that the games are being "re-released", after a fashion, that means they're subject to all the licensing shenanigans that comes with any re-release of an old game — and this is a particular problem when it comes to music. A significant number of original Xbox and Xbox 360 games aren't backwards compatible on the newer model Xbox systems because they had licensed music, and that music hasn't been re-licensed for a re-release. And it's unlikely to ever be re-licensed in a lot of cases.

While it's all very nice in principle, I can't help but feel if you really care about old games on previous generation platforms, your best bet is keeping hold of (or acquiring) those old systems — or modern recreations of said systems, such as what Analogue and Polymega offer. They haven't really reached the era we're talking about as yet… but I'm sure its time will come at some point in the future.

In the meantime, I think I might invest in an original Xbox at some point… and perhaps a spare 360! And, of course, keep enjoying the fact that I can stick a PS2 game in the drive and it just loads, with no Internet connection required…

Spent the day editing the new episode of The MoeGamer Podcast, which will be with you all tomorrow morning. It was a beast to edit thanks to all the footage required for the video version, but it'll be a good one for you to enjoy — we're saying a big "happy birthday" to the PlayStation 2 the only way we know how. By talking at great length about it!

S-Rank Patrons, I'll have a new wallpaper for you in the next couple of days or so. I've been wanting to get the podcast out of the way first and to be honest the changeover of months completely kind of passed me by! We're already fast approaching mid-November and the end of this accursed year. Although with things the way they are, I'm not sure 2021 is likely to be any better than this one… at least for the first few months, depending on how various things go. But oh well; stiff upper lip and all that. We will endure, or whatever.

Finished Mad Rat Dead this evening and was very pleased with the whole experience. I'll have a writeup for it tomorrow. There doesn't appear to be anything that unlocks after you beat it besides the ability to replay any level in pursuit of the "S+" rankings — which, to be fair, is challenge enough in itself — but the main story was enjoyable, interesting and thought-provoking, and the game design was fascinating. As I say, more on all that tomorrow.

Got some of those Capcom games I mentioned arriving this week — specifically the Lost Planet games I don't already have, since I already have Dead Rising, its sequel and whatever the Dead Rising 2 spinoff was. Off the Record? I've also got Dark Void, which always sounded vaguely interesting but I know nothing about. All of these cost about 50p each so I'm more than happy to take a chance on them!

Anyway, I'm worn out after that day of editing. Time to go relax in bed with some retro games, I think… then back to the day job grindstone again tomorrow. Boo. At least my "office" (aka our back room) will look a bit nicer, since the wife has spent the last two days painting and wallpapering it. She still is, in fact, but hopefully she doesn't have too much more to do!

As I've noted a few times of late, I've been developing a bit of an interest in looking back over the libraries of the Xbox 360/PlayStation 3 generation, and grabbing a bunch of games that I never got around to — or never thought to try — back when they were current. It's a great time to do this, since 360 games in particular are incredibly cheap (subject to the caveats mentioned yesterday) and PS3 titles, while marginally more expensive, are still firmly in "pocket change" territory.

I've been particularly interested in exploring Capcom's output on Xbox 360, primarily as a result of enjoying watching Game Grumps' playthrough of Dead Rising. This is a game that I had back in the day, played for a bit and didn't get that far with, then moved on to something else. My save file was still on my 360 hard drive; the date on it was 2006. Ouch.

As a casual little side project, I'm going to be taking a look at some of these games when I get some time/the opportunity to. I'm particularly interested in Dead Rising and Lost Planet specifically, but I know there were another few interesting Capcom titles from that period that are probably worth giving a look to as well. If you have any recommendations, let me know!

I think the title is fairly self-explanatory. Let's get going.

Xbox 360 – During my brief time working at Game a few years, it wasn't at all unusual to receive Xbox 360 trade-ins that looked like they'd been sat on, shat on, used as an ashtray and fed to someone's dog. Manuals are usually missing and are often water-damaged or dog-eared if they are present. Discs are often scratched and cases often broken. Generally speaking, the more popular the game was in its heyday, the worse the condition second-hand copies will be in.

Atari 2600 – Typically found without boxes and instructions, and with labels worn or peeling off. Atari 2600 cartridges could survive a direct hit from a thermonuclear missile and still work, and it seems like a lot of people were both willing and eager to put that to the test.

PlayStation – A roll of the dice. Sometimes you'll get a jewel case in absolute immaculate condition; other times it'll be chipped, scratched, missing its manual and generally fairly abused. Not uncommon for the actual inlays and disc to be in reasonable condition, but for the case to be scratched to shit.

PlayStation 2 – A step up from Xbox 360, but not by much. Manuals still often missing and you take your chances when you discover whether or not the disc is scratched — particularly if it's a game on one of the old "blue CDs" — though once again the lesser-known games tend to be kept in better condition. Unless they were Simple Series games or anything by Phoenix Interactive, in which case you might want to break out the antibacterial wipes before letting them near your PlayStation.

Dreamcast – For such a widely beloved console, people don't take great care of its games. This is partly the fault of the incredibly brittle, fragile plastic cases they had here in the UK — though the discs are usually in reasonable condition. Manuals are often missing, though Dreamcast manuals were rarely particularly good anyway.

Nintendo Wii – Considering the popularity and ubiquity of this console for a while, it's impressive that many of the second-hand games you can pick up tend to be in reasonably good condition. Manuals are often present, discs are in decent shape and the white cases — which you might expect to show considerable evidence of grubby fingers — tend to be in fairly good condition for the most part, too.

PlayStation 3 – Variable in condition, but consistently much better than their Xbox 360 counterparts. Manuals are usually present, and Blu-Rays are the Atari 2600 cartridges of the optical disc world in terms of durability, so it's rare to find one in poor condition. More popular games might have battered cases, but for the most part PS3 games are in a reasonably good state.

PlayStation 4 – Generally in reasonable nick, with the usual caveat that more popular games tend to come in worse condition. PS4 games tend not to do manuals, so there's not really anything to lose, and see my previous comment on Blu-Ray durability; any dodgy condition will likely mostly be seen in the case more than anything.

Nintendo Wii U – Like the Wii, but with shinier discs and fewer manuals, since this was around the age we stopped getting manuals. If you're lucky you might have a poster-style instructions sheet. The games themselves are always in good nick though.

Xbox – The original Xbox's relative obscurity means that people tended to take reasonably good care of its games. Cases and discs tend to be in good condition, and manuals are often present. As with other platforms, more popular games tend to be found in worse condition, but lesser-known platform exclusive stuff can be found in great nick for reasonable prices.

Nintendo Switch – There's nothing to really lose or damage here, so Switch games are generally in excellent condition if you happen to grab a second-hand one. Good luck finding second-hand copies of the truly "collectible" games from limited-press companies, though.

We're officially "locked down" again. It hasn't felt particularly different, to be perfectly honest, largely because we haven't gone anywhere or indeed needed to go anywhere. I did wake up this morning feeling like absolute garbage, though, and wondering if I had, in fact, caught the dread virus, but it turns out I was just some combination of exhausted and/or dehydrated. A glug of water and a good nap sorted me out good and proper. That's a relief.

I'm not normally one for hypochondria like that; the only reason I did find myself wondering was that Andie stopped by a friend's house yesterday to lend him a stepladder, and while she was there he got a message from his boss that someone at his workplace had tested positive for COVID. With the caveat that I don't know how long it takes for symptoms to show themselves, hopefully that doesn't mean that he — or indeed Andie or I — have picked it up.

As I said a while back, I'm actually fairly convinced that both Andie and I had it before it was recognised as "a thing". Back in the early part of the year, both of us were suffering a lot with "dry, unproductive coughs", as I believe medical terminology has it, and the situation was absolutely exhausting us. Thankfully we both recovered, though if reports are to be believed of lingering side effects such as tiredness, we may have been left with some "souvenirs" — if indeed we had it in the first place.

Scary times, for sure. But at least it's easy enough to stay safe in this day and age. There aren't many things you really need to leave the house for these days — unfortunately one of them is my prescription, which I'm going to need to go and collect pretty soon. Should probably get that out of the way sooner rather than later!

Take care of yourselves and be safe!

I was made aware of the AtGames "Legends" range of arcade devices today and I sort of want one. For the unfamiliar, you can find out more about them on the official website at https://www.atgames.net/arcades/

This model, the Legends Gamer Pro, is the model I think I'm most interested in. It comes with the double arcade stick you see above, includes a trackball and also has the core of the system: a console that comes preloaded with 150 games, plus access to the Internet to download or stream more. (From the look of things, it seems like it'll be streaming initially, but "download to own" will become a thing later. The preloaded games are… preloaded, though, so this thing isn't just a streaming box a la Stadia.)

The lineup of preloaded games is good, too. There's a lot of Taito stuff on there, which hasn't seen a rerelease for a while, and my beloved Rod-Land is also present and correct. There are also some console games on there, too, which is interesting to see. All of these games are licensed, too, so this isn't a dodgy ROM box — though I believe it is possible to load your own stuff in there via various means, too.

My main hesitation is the fact that AtGames has a bit of a variable reputation when it comes to stuff like this; some of their stuff is very good, while other bits and pieces are rubbish. I do like the idea of that lovely big arcade console, though, and, to be honest, seeing a trackball in the middle there is one of the most exciting things I've seen in gaming for a long time, haha.

It also looks like it might be fiddly to get hold of. At present, AtGames isn't listing any UK-specific retailers, so I'd have to get it from a French store in all likelihood. And the price they're looking to charge equates to about £300, which is considerably more than it costs over in the US — by like £100+.

It looks cool though. I won't be rushing to preorder one — especially while it's so pricey for Europe — but I will definitely be keeping an eye on things. And if nothing else, the presence of all those Taito games gives me a certain amount of hope that we'll eventually see them on Evercade, because it suggests that they're willing to play ball with a lot of their older stuff. We shall see!

As it happens, today hasn't been too bad. There's been the usual self-important "GO OUT AND VOTE!"-type posts on social media, but the actual… ranty, ravey side of things seems to have been relatively calm for today. That or I've finally outfoxed the Twitter algorithm and completely blocked all trace of political nonsense with artists who draw anime boobies very well. Either way, things have been fine.

I suspect tomorrow will likely be another matter altogether, but exactly what form that will take remains to be seen. It doesn't really bear thinking about right now, though, so that's the last on the matter from me for now, anyway. As I said yesterday, if you just want a nice, calm, kind, chill place to hang out, you can always stop by MoeGamer, my YouTube channel or the Discord and just enjoy some gaming good times. I recommend it; them video game things are pretty fun.

I'm reviewing Touhou Spell Bubble for Nintendo Life shortly. I submitted the review today — not sure when it's going to be published as yet, but hopefully soon. It's a really good game if you ever enjoyed Puzzle Bobble and didn't get turned off the formula by the zillion clones on the App Store/Google Play. Touhou Spell Bubble is actually made by Taito themselves, so you can very much think of it as a new Puzzle Bobble game — and the new mechanics involved, which are based around musical elements, are really fun. The only weak point is the localisation, which is dogshit, but anyone who has been following the Touhou series for any period of time will already be perfectly familiar with completely nonsensical translated dialogue. This is at least a step up from machine-translated gibberish. And, as I note in my review, the mechanics are the star here anyway.

I've got another review pending, but I haven't received the code for it as yet and indeed can't remember the title offhand. It appears to be a premium spin-off from a mobile game I'm not familiar with, so it remains to be seen exactly what I can expect from it! Could be interesting; could be a flaming pile of garbage. Watch this space for some initial thoughts!

Anyway, for now I think it's time to head to bed, play some Evercade and not think about anything even vaguely America-related. Good luck US folks; I suspect regardless of however things go, there's a rocky road ahead!