I have no idea what this is about, and I'm going to try to keep it that way until I get a chance to watch.

Larian is an unusual case. It's indie but it's huge. They aren't funded by or marketing through a bigger publishing company so IMO that's still indie. But they're hundreds of people so not really small, and BG3 can by all means be considered a AAA game because the difference in quality and scale is indistinguishable from AAA published games.

What else can you expect, when those site redesigns are usually driven by the desire for increased ad revenue. Even idiots who don't know why, will know it somehow sucks more than it used to. Other times it's just a blatant removal of loved features. Funny skit aside, the simpler explanation is enshittification.

"Choose" isn't really an accurate term to use in your comment though, is it? Obviously high-realism AAA game graphics are going to come with a high budget outside the realm of possibility for the average indie dev, unless they have some super talented people with a passion for the project working for cheap.

A lot of us are willing to make this concession or adjust expectations for an experience that has great gameplay, soundtrack, story, etc. as easily as reading subtitles to enjoy a foreign film. The imagination can do plenty of the heavy lifting.

It baffles me how anyone can stand to preorder any game with the market being so oversaturated. There are SO MANY great games on a constant $20 or less sale rotation you'll probably never have a chance to play if you're a full-time working adult. I'm worried about grabbing a highly acclaimed title that's been out for 5 years before it fades into obscurity, and I have to stumble upon a shout-out 3 years later to be reminded of its existence. Not about some stupid launch skin bonus, or OST mp3s you'll never click open.

^Boosting this as it's the only non-anime suggestion atm.

I just watched this and thought it was decent. Directed by Hideaki Anno, known best for Neon Genesis Evangelion, and it's pretty apparent. The montages of button down politicians and scientists working in sync, filing into perfectly symmetrical makeshift office spaces, and standing at attention like they're military personnel felt very familiar. I saw a review afterwards that called it "The Dunkirk of Godzilla Movies" which I found hilariously accurate.

I'll also throw in the very aged, but influential Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989)

The bar is apparently low these days.

"They released it almost bug free!" is the new "AAA devs announced there will be no micro transactions!" Gamers as a group are basically abused spouses.

Other movies after The Wind Rises were just Ghibli productions, but not Miyazaki directed.

He couldn't even if the military did design fighter jets lmao.

Amen to locked out slsk "sharers". Always hated that, though it honestly feels less common than it did back at its peak popularity as a platform.

I'm down to paying a full $60 price tag for a game, maybe 1-3 times a year at most. And one of those is usually a family/shared game for my wife or son. It's whatever big zeitgeist game I can't miss like Elden Ring. Next one will probably be Zelda TotK around Christmas. Maybe 2 copies of Diablo 4 if the wife wants to play it badly. Other than that I'm usually playing some indie game. Or a AAA that's 5+ years old. The household is 2 gaming PCs and just the switch for the living room.

Crazy seeing that in a Vacutainer/Vacuette tube, the standard transportation medium you'd see in any clinic/hospital for routine intravenous blood draw.

I've always used Free ver. of PowerISO to "mount" the disc image to a virtual drive like others mentioned. Anyone who's emulated PlayStation 1/2 games would be very familiar with this format. Otherwise any old software released on CD format you'll probably find as an ISO.

Yeah, crazy fast roadmap.

Meta never had a good thing. Oculus had a good thing. Meta WAS the bad thing. The writing was on the wall from the start and the open VR community has preached about it for years. It's a shame for the best outgoing PC-Free VR hardware.

Yakuza: Like a Dragon! It's on steam sale for $12 reg version, but I bought the Hero Edition for $14. It has two extra job classes and something else I've forgotten. I'm 4 hours in and it's been a LOT of character and plot set up while just scratching the surface of their turn-based combat. The story is pretty good so far and full of Japan's particular brand of uncanny fringe humor that I'm expecting to snowball as time goes on.

Just saw a YouTube vid showcasing a whole damn multiplayer mod. A whole squad rolling up on the area with floating user tags. It looked fun as hell.

Yeah, as with bands reuniting for another FINAL album, it sort of cheapens the finality of both productions for whatever that's worth.

As a side note; I freaking LOVED The Wind Rises, more than most Ghibli fans it feels like. My father is a retired aircraft loadmaster so I've had a soft spot for aviation since I was a child, but being an absolute commie, liberal, beta-cuck, that appreciation was tempered over time with the reality of the military industrial complex. I felt targeted directly by that movie.

Excellent presentation, Chef. HANDS PLEASE, THANK YOU!

Half of all QT movies reference. Jackie Brown, Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill, Death Proof.