#as in I’ve played only gta 5 for these past three days
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eggydaxy · 2 months ago
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symbioteburnout · 2 years ago
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Venting under the cut, suffice it to say, things are not good.
I’ve gotten over my symptoms for covid, I’m at the point where it’s like getting over a cold, you’re just coughing up all the flem in your throat.
The problem is I’m still testing positive, but they’re ‘faint’ positives. The test shows negative until the last 5 minutes of the 15 minute timer and THEN decides to show positive.
The timing is even worse because A), I am out of sick time, so for the past few days, I have been going unpaid, and B) I still haven’t found a new apartment yet and can’t exactly go out and look at places while I’m still carrying the plague.
Adding to the problem is the fact that rent in the GTA is insane, even for a single bedroom. Renting a basement is anywhere between 1300 or 1500 a month, and that’s depending on whether or not the landowner wants to charge extra for utilities. People have told me to try high rise buildings instead, except those are even more expensive (looking at 1700 or 1800 for a bachelor room! plus extra for parking and hydro).
My Landlord has been on vacation for the past 2 weeks and gets back Friday. I originally wanted to have something BEFORE he got back, but I don’t think I’m going to find anything at this point, there’s only a week left for me to find a new place to live. So I’m faced with three options, none of which are ideal.
Option 1: Ask my landlord for one more month, if he wants me to pay a months rent, I will, at least that gives me one more month to look around.
Option 2: If the landlord says no to Option 1, I’m going to see if I can stay with my uncle again and I’ll just dump all of my stuff in a storage unit and keep looking around for 1 more month.
Option 3: I quit my job and move back in with my parents (who are currently looking after my sister, her two babies, and her boyfriend, so me moving back in isn’t fair to them).
I’m not in a good headspace right now, I hate this economy, I hate the housing market, and I bloody hate this covid that just won’t go away!
Might be active tonight, might not, might just draw or play some Witcher...
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aion-rsa · 3 years ago
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15 Best Martial Arts Video Games to Play After You Watch Shang-Chi
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Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings isn’t just one of the MCU’s best origin stories and the movie that has everyone readjusting their box office expectations. It’s also an incredible fantasy-driven martial arts adventure that will likely leave you craving more.
While there’s no shortage of movies and shows that offer such fixes, there’s always been something amazing about pairing a hit new movie with a game that lets you live out your favorite on-screen moments as closely as possible. Granted, there has been a sad shortage of truly exceptional martial arts video games over the years, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t a few true classics and a few more hidden gems out there that you absolutely need to play. 
Here are 15 of the best martial arts video games to play when you’re looking for a way to come down from that Shang-Chi high. 
15. Max Payne (Kung Fu Mod)
Max Payne’s Kung Fu mod isn’t exactly the most refined martial arts gaming experience, but if you prefer a mix of martial arts and gunplay in your elaborate action sequences, then you have to check out this legendary fan creation.
Yes, this mod adds extensive melee combat options to the already brilliant Max Payne experience, but the surprising highlight of this impressive mod may just be the array of athletic bullet dodge animations it adds to your defensive arsenal. It’s basically the best Matrix game ever made. 
14. Dead or Alive 6
Like most of the fighting games we’ll be talking about throughout this list, I can’t really sit here and tell you that the Dead or Alive series offers the most authentic martial arts experience in the world. Actually, part of the reason it’s so easy to recommend this series is that it sometimes trades realism and complexity for bone-breaking, hard-hitting, over-the-top action sequences. 
This one is for martial arts movie fans who love to buy into the idea that their favorite film fighters can send opponents flying across the room with every hit. It’s a tremendous experience for those who want to live out their most absurd martial arts dreams. 
13. Overgrowth
Overgrowth is a bizarre and uneven game that honestly might be a little too dependant on its community-created content. However, the fact remains that there are very few fantasy martial arts games that offer anything close to what this one does.
This is a classic “mystical kung-fu adventure” that just so happens to star a cast of rabbits. The style is going to be a turn-off for some, but it’s hard to deny that this game’s heart is in the right place and that it gets some of its biggest ideas right.
12. God Hand
It’s almost as hard to find a way to play God Hand in 2021 as it is to beat this incredibly difficult game, but if you’re looking for some of the best martial arts combat in video game history, then it’s very much worth seeking this gem out. 
God Hand is as bizarre as video games get, but this action title’s wonderfully complex and ultimately enjoyable martial arts combat system is more than enough to make you work through its rough edges and “WTF?” moments. It’s a true gem that deserves a proper remake. 
11. 9 Monkeys of Shaolin
In a better world, more people would have played 9 Monkeys of Shaolin: an incredible old-school, martial arts beat-em-up with modern mechanics and RPG elements. Of course, now is always the best time to play this underrated action title if you’ve never done so. 
This isn’t the deepest game in the world, but its brilliant blend of martial arts style and arcade beat-em-up action will leave you wondering why more developers haven’t tried something like this before. 
10. Shaolin Vs Wutang
Shaolin vs Wutang is described as a “love letter to Martial Arts and classic Kung Fu films,” and I honestly can’t think of a better way to sell someone on the things this game does so well.
While not a hardcore fighting game by any means, Shaolin Vs Wutang is arguably one of the best ways to live out your golden age kung-fu movie dreams. This whole thing is just a warm blanket of genre goodness. 
9. Redeemer
What Redeemer lacks in pure martial arts combat it more than makes up for by virtue of being one of the most entertaining and wild top-down action games in recent years. 
This story of a monk with a dark past who is out for revenge is highlighted by wonderfully absurd action sequences that keep you on your toes without forgetting that the whole point of such experiences is to have as much fun as legally possible. If you are a fan of this genre at all, you really should go out of your way to play this one. 
8. Tekken 7
I’m not ready to commit to the assertion that Tekken is the best martial arts fighting game series, but what I will say is that Tekken has historically done a tremendous job of emphasizing its various martial arts styles and translating them into a consistently compelling fighting game experience. 
Tekken 7’s complex mechanics are a favorite among top-tier fighting game players, but the game’s core combat is enjoyable enough to help ensure that even inexperienced players will be able to enjoy much of what makes this series so special. Of course, you could also go back and play the always brilliant Tekken 3. 
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7. Kung Fu Strike – The Warrior’s Rise
Imagine a kung-fu version of a Devil May Cry-style action game, and you’ll have a pretty good idea of what makes Kung Fu Strike – The Warrior’s Rise such a compelling action experience. 
While I can’t fairly rank this indie gem among the very best games in that particular genre, I have to say that this title scratches a very specific itch that more than makes up for its general jankiness and sometimes absurd difficulty. 
6. Absolver
Absolver’s incredibly complicated combat system is both a blessing and a curse. You’re either going to fall in love with the process of learning it or you’re going to be turned off by its sometimes awkward, and almost always unforgiving, core mechanics. 
If you do happen to fall in love with Absolver’s fighting system, though, then you’ll likely find that it’s incredibly difficult to go back to other martial arts fighting mechanics. If nothing else, this is an incredible experiment that will hopefully be used as the basis for something even better down the line. 
5. One Finger Death Punch
Before you let One Finger Death Punch’s simple visuals and sometimes corny (maybe even occasionally offensive) presentation completely turn you off, consider that this rhythm-based action game is designed to reward its best players with some of the most insane “choreographed” martial arts fights that you’ll ever see.
It’s incredibly easy to lose yourself in this title’s unique action gameplay, but don’t forget to look up from the action bar once in a while to appreciate the results of your (hopefully) perfect input commands. 
4. Yakuza 0
Any day is a good day to recommend Yakuza 0, but it would certainly be a sin to talk about gaming’s best martial arts experiences and not recommend arguably one of the best games of its generation. 
Give yourself time to get used to Yakuza 0’s pseudo-open-world environments, strange story, and bizarre blend of gameplay styles, and you’ll be rewarded with one of the richest crime epics in video game history that also happens to feature some of the most satisfying martial arts-based combat you’ll ever learn to love. 
3. Jade Empire
I’ve called Jade Empire BioWare’s last great experiment, which is both a testament to its creativity and an acknowledgment of the fact that it’s not exactly the studio’s most polished RPG. However, it has to be said that this game’s blend of epic role-playing and mythical martial arts action remains as appealing and unique as it’s ever been. 
It’s a real shame that BioWare will probably never get a chance to get this idea right, but Jade Empire remains a more than worthwhile experience, especially if you play it after coming off that Shang-Chi high. 
2. The Shenmue Trilogy
Yes, it’s a bit of a cheat to include three games in one entry, but you have to acknowledge that the Shenmue trilogy is arguably the most impressive overall accomplishment in the history of martial arts video games. 
Play Shenmue 2 if you only have time for one game in this trilogy, but a little patience with this series’ sometimes glacial pacing and rough production elements will ultimately result in the privilege of getting to experience an adventure that can ultimately attribute its divisiveness to its commitment to being different.
1. Sleeping Dogs
On the one hand, it’s always felt at least a little insulting to describe Sleeping Dogs as “a martial arts fuelled GTA-style open-world game” and call it a day. On the other hand, Sleeping Dogs is somehow even better than that already promising description makes it sound. 
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Sleeping Dogs is quite simply one of the most enjoyable open-world games of the last 10 years as well as one of gaming’s best uses of martial arts action. This title’s most loyal fans will tell you that it’s even better than the GTA series, which might be a little bit of a stretch but should give you some idea of just how much fun this game really is. 
The post 15 Best Martial Arts Video Games to Play After You Watch Shang-Chi appeared first on Den of Geek.
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buzzsocio · 5 years ago
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The 10 Most Popular Video Games You Must Play
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10. Minecraft
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In the lead position, taking the title of the most well-known computer game right presently is Minecraft. This sandbox computer game was made by Markus Persson and discharged to people in general in 2011 by Mojang. In the game, you're ready to construct things with an assortment of 3D building squares and investigate, accumulate assets, and take an interest in the battle. Minecraft has sold more than 176 million duplicates over numerous stages. It is the top of the line and the most famous computer game ever! We trust you making the most of our rundown of the 20 most well-known computer games at present! We love computer games at Wealthy Gorilla. They're only an extraordinary method to unwind and have a fabulous time with your mates. Number five and ten are on the WG games rundown to play straightaway. So on the off chance that you don't get notification from us for some time, you know why! 9. Fortnite
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Fortnite is published by Epic Games in 2017, It is an online shooter game. It has got three different modes that you can decide to play: Save the World, Battle Royale, and Creative. The initial two-game modes turned into the most mainstream decisions for most of Fortnite players. Fight Royale attracts an astounding 125 million players in under a year. It won the "Best Multiplayer/Competitive Game in 2019 Webby Awards. 8. Grand Theft Auto V
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In the third spot, we have Grand Theft Auto V – an activity experience computer game discharged in 2013 by Rockstar Games. Any of the GTA games shouldn't generally require a presentation; as I'm practically sure the vast majority realize what it is at this point. However, for the individuals who don't, GTA is an activity experience computer game that permits you to play as a lawbreaker, submitting heists and avoiding government and police authorities. Its played in either a first or third-individual point of view and players have the opportunity to get around by walking or vehicle of their decision. Its spot among the best three most well-known computer games right currently has a ton to do with the way that it's the quickest selling diversion item ever. It earnt around $800 million in its first day and $1 billion inside three days of going marked down. On the off chance that you begin playing this one, you're going to think that it is difficult to stop! It's excessively addictive. 7. Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Seige
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Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Seige is the fourth most mainstream computer game at present. There's a valid justification for that, as it's one of those games that are too hard to put down and addictive as hellfire! The online strategic shooter game was created by Ubisoft Montreal and distributed by Ubisoft. Discharged in 2015; it's accessible to play on Microsoft Windows, Playstation 4 and Xbox One. As a player, you assume responsibility for either an assailant or a safeguard in various interactivity modes, such as defusing a bomb or saving a prisoner. There are no genuine battles to work through, nonetheless, there are some short missions that you can play all alone. Rainbox Six Seige won the "Esports Title of the Year" at the Australian Games Awards in 2018. 6. Super Smash Bros: Ultimate
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Much the same as number nineteen on our rundown, Super Smash Bros is a traverse battling game that includes various characters, stages, music, and titles from various Nintendo games. Be that as it may, this 2018 variant for Nintendo Switch is succeeding the 3DS and Wii U form by far. Nintendo made open that Super Smash Bros: Ultimate was the most preordered game for the Nintendo Switch and in the SSB arrangement. After just four months available, Ultimate had sold over 13.1 million duplicates worldwide and is presently Nintendo's quickest selling round ever! 5. Red Dead Redemption II
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Red Dead Redemption II was created and distributed by Rockstar Games and discharged in October 2018. It's a western-style activity experience game that is accessible to play on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. It's the third game in the Red Dead arrangement, following the accomplishment of Red Dead Redemption in 2010. In the game, you play as Arthur Morgan, an individual from the Van der Linde group. You'll wind up managing the destruction of the Wild West while making an effort not to be executed by rival posse individuals and government authorities. It's a truly wiped out computer game if you ask me, and it's anything but difficult to perceive any reason why it's one of the most famous computer games at this moment! 4. Overwatch
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The seventh most mainstream game right currently is a group based multiplayer first-individual shooter – Overwatch. Created by extraordinary compared to other computer game designers and distributers ever: Blizzard Entertainment, Overwatch acquired more than 40 million players inside its initial two years. As a player, you get the opportunity to browse a list of more than 30 unique characters and you're part into groups of six. In your group, you cooperate to protect diverse control focuses and move payload over the guide in constrained time. Players can likewise get and gather "Grandiose prizes", which are things like character skins and triumph presents. Overwatch is accessible to play on Microsoft Windows, Xbox One and Playstation 4. 3. Rocket League
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First discharged in 2015, Rocket League is a vehicular soccer computer game created and distributed by Psyonix. It was initially discharged on Microsoft Windows and Playstation 4, and not long after, ports were discharged for Xbox One, macOS, Linux, and Nintendo Switch. The general reason for the game is straightforward, utilize your rocket-controlled vehicle to hit the ball into your adversaries net and score focuses for doing as such. Each group comprises of 4 players and the computer game can be played both on and disconnected. Rocket League is the continuation of Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket-Powered Battle-Cars, which was discharged on the Playstation 3 out of 2008. I've not played this one myself, yet it appears as though it would be a universe of fun. 2. Roblox
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In the ninth position, we have something somewhat extraordinary to all the past sorts of games on the rundown. Allow me to clarify… Roblox is an online multiplayer game creation stage framework, that permits clients to make their games and mess around that different clients have made. When you sign in, you can see an entire host of client produced games and virtual universes, in a wide range of classifications. Regardless of whether you like hustling games, RPGs, recreations or snag course type games, Roblox will have your back. In case you're searching for something somewhat extraordinary, and need to evaluate one of the most famous computer games at this moment, at that point check out Roblox, as it has more than 100 million monthly active users, as of August 2019. 1. League of Legends
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You may have heard individuals discussing "LOL" and pondered internally, what in heaven's name is that?! All things considered, LOL represents League of Legends, one of the most epic games on earth. LOL is a multiplayer online fight field computer game that was vigorously aroused by World of Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne. As a player, no doubt about it who controls a "champion" that has singular capacities. You at that point fight against different players or groups and attempt to devastate the rival groups "Nexus" – a structure that exists in the resistance's base. On the off chance that you've never played League of Legends or even knew about it. Now an ideal opportunity to check out it. I'll promise you won't quit playing it! Read the full article
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pixiekptt863-blog · 5 years ago
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What's new in Grand Theft Auto 5
I have only committed a half-hour planning the perfect heist. I'm going in smart, blowing not on the protections with the team after the fragile jewellery counters from the mass with a carefully placed smoke bomb, and smashing into both cabinet with the handle of a semi-automatic rifle before reaching the flight on a regional getaway bike. I'm cut the cut so I could use the best hacker to disable the protection order, with a flair gunman to handle crowd control. And yet, despite our very best efforts, with a single poorly-taken corner upon the bicycle, everything goes wrong. I should be getting behind a moist sewer tunnel, sneaking our sense under the capital to independence. Instead, I'm here, mowing down say next wave of authorities on the town lanes, with with the new while performing a Grand Theft Auto game, I feel immensely guilty about it.
This isn't due to some grand moral awakening by the part, but an interesting side effect of what is the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One form of Grand Theft Auto 5's most make new piece: first-person mode. Even when GTA activity were Grand Theft Auto V free Download top-down shooters, there was always a bit of an disconnect between the sometimes shockingly violent scenes on-screen, also the mentality of the person. You could imagine that, despite directly organizing a quality, it was that exclusive caricature of a legal spending the crimes--you just played witness to them. First-person mode fundamentally changes how you view Grand Theft Auto 5's world. It has the power to make people cease and sense on your own motions, then to truly issue a character's drives. Then in the cycle that experience always been criticized for glorifying a years of crime, rather than questioning that, it is no bad idea.
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Yes, there are plenty of violent first-person shooters around in which flows associated with morality can be created, but little are paired with the stunning Hollywood production quantities of GTA Versus. The city of Los Santos is one of the many beautiful and influence open-world environments to retain increasingly thanks a video game, and now their original higher-resolution guise, it's even more spectacular. Compared to the last-gen versions, the new Grand Theft Auto 5 is visibly sharper, largely due to improved antialiasing. Textures resolutions have been bumped, floors are, very, bumpier (thanks enhanced tessellation), and there are all approach of extra particle, elegant, with lens effects. You can cruise down Vespucci Shore and go for small aspect throughout the trinket gather and skateboard looks that lived there or. You can get about inside shower, marvelling at the beautifully rendered raindrops and puddles on the ground. And once you quit admiring the landscapes to producing some anarchy, explosions from a hastily thrown grenade pop in a stunning show of fireplace with light.
To enjoy this every into first-person is a pleasure. The vast, cinematic topic of see is very different to that regarding the average shooter, as is the slower time with you walk; think REHABILITATION. and you're on the proper path. Where the camera once easily roll up beyond and throughout the town, on ground level everything seems better and more imposing. I found myself going together the municipality streets, view because many weird and wonderful inhabitants of Los Santos moved regarding the interest. I strolled in shops, also those everywhere I can believe everything, to admire the amazing level of depth in eye plane, with great extent of area effects helping to offer the interest. This all really natural, the delicate head bobs and movements as you start over dams with drop out of cars drawing you into the game in a way that third-person mode never can.
This is especially true when the war legs up, with where the grizzly certainty of Grand Theft Auto 5 falls into sharp focus. With many missions turning around about shape of gunplay, the bloody splatter of a drug dealer put to squander on the pavement, or the groans involving a great injured cop mark on the cover involving his vehicle have far more of the influence than previously. Of course, not anyone will be as affected by this because I happened, yet there are several practical hearts toward contemplate too. Develop and throwing explosives is easier in first-person, flush with GTA's assisted aim disabled--provided you turn down the obscene levels of controller sensitivity before you start--but the wrapping system isn't really here, and also near were times when I live able to peek in a corner well and followed shot as a result.
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Then there's the power, that, no matter how fast I attempted, I found far too trying to master in first-person. The fully performing with wonderfully detailed vehicle interiors might happen impressive, but the twitchy regulations that control so highly in third-person for moving down outrageous driving stunts are just far too vulnerable to quickly be cars on the road during a frantic police chase. There are too vehicle vision which simply weren't ended with first-person in mind either. Trying to take Michael's son because he swings away from a yacht on the highway, or playing a flying get through on the interstate is very hard. It's probably more realistic, but I found myself move to third-person in order to get them done. Thankfully, it's not an any or situation when it comes to the view. You can initiative with third-person and have the game automatically change to first-person when on-foot if you like, or even pan exposed to third-person if you get cover.
But even if you choose to ignore first-person mode completely, GTA V has escaped small regarding their lustre since release. Even now, after the days of improvement from the business and all the great up for in which I've played, I'm amazed how little have managed to replicate the Artist air and easy, natural dialogue of a GTA. This is a line which owns consistently been the most convincing and the most cinematic with sports, and GTA 5 remains that tradition with ease. Still impressive when central as credible creatures stay a curiosity, and yet GTA 5 manages to create an entire city full of them, along with three authentic head with which to journey through it. That's not to mention these leads are likeable characters, but perhaps that's the point. There may be several moment you sympathise with retired gangster Michael while his kind time crumbles in him, or if you think that wannabe gangster Franklin can become a wonderful man because he speaks he's always trying to solve the right thing.
But they are narcissistic, psychopathic killers who do not blink an eyelid on killing hundreds of perfectly innocent people after it functions their own ways. This is particularly right of Trevor, that remains far and away the most fascinating and well-written figure in the set, a terrifyingly insane yet remarkably intelligent criminal who regularly appears around the limit of some kind of mind breakdown. Scary doesn't even begin to describe it. These creatures are not without question, though--there are times when a figure will contradict his own motivations, seemingly just to mount the form of a mission--but the fact that these creatures can be so convincingly terrifying, so severe and sharp in their conversations with one another is a tribute to truly the way fantastic the creating in GTA is.
That develops for the planet at large too: the sprawling, gorgeously detailed capital of Los Santos deftly satirizes its real-world inspiration of La, with involving America as total. Highlights include the self-proclaimed god of gathering media, Lifeinvader CEO Jay Norris, And the company's beanbag-filled offices; the faithful bank of advertisements for celebrity magazines, prescription drugs, with plastic surgeries of which remain savaged on the radio; and also the corrupt federal groups such as Tale which a lot work worse than the criminals they're trying to put away. Sure, Grand Theft Auto V is a bit heavy-handed with its satire, although there are number of activities to dare go as far as GTA does with its nihilistic comments, with fewer even to do it with like conviction.
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Move in everything are bombastic missions to performance away like Hollywood blockbusters, with the finest of gangster films. Heists remain the identify, and the whole process of planning them off, hiring participants with the party, gathering equipment, and then going the fuzz doesn't interfere about the great period is entirely engrossing. Bombs are increased, helicopters are hit into the side of skyscrapers, and total squads of laws do chase as you make a futile attempt break lower the road; the utter joy of the four or five star chase like what seems like the entire state's quota of authorities descends about you could be understated. And yet, Grand Theft Auto V remains stuck in the past in certain ways. There are chase missions where losing spectacle regarding your goal because of a badly understood start the highway means making a frustrating restart, and shooting missions where, if you fly the rifle and destroy your goal before the game expects you to, you have to start over again.
But the sheer spectacle from it all drags you back in for more. GTA has not really been faint, and the game steamrolls the path because of it is less exciting moments, stop them with crafty pop culture-filled exchanges with breathtaking landscapes for you to ogle. There are extra quest to join in too, including the random creeps of Los Santos who question you to make points because mundane as tow vehicles for them, as well as to smoking prepare and mow down aliens in an hallucinogenic rampage with the town. There are the multiple leisure activities you can indulge with, or the real estate you can acquire, plus the accumulation you purchase along with the markets you can manipulate. Before you can just slack it all off fully then value Los Santos as your own wonderful digital playground, setting up sticky bomb-filled booby traps in the middle of traffic, or taking jumbo jets from the international airport also attempting to escape them under bridges. Indeed, that the journey you create yourself to typically show to be the most fun.
And then there's GTA Online. This safe to say GTA Online didn't get off to a good father, with server problems along with the whole manner of balance difficulties. With Grand Theft Auto 5, online gets a few boosts, containing the increase character creator, as well as backing for up to 30 simultaneous players (with a couple additional spectators), along with the supplement of 11 of GTA Online's existing updates. And agreed, you can fun with first-person too. These are good additions, but Online still suffers from a lack of direction. Although you can easily import the other character, I opted to create a new one, after which I was thrown against a pavement with Los Santos armed only with a plan full of confusing icons with very little idea about what I would do then.
Once you're over the hump and you've identified the means of getting work to do like taking packages from individuals, or working section with road races--and people to makes them with via your trusty mobile phone--things get more interesting. Once you've shape in place a fitting mountain of coins (which make take a while if you're shrink from the start), you can get a nice apartment to stay in, and hope cars to place into their garage. To what end, I'm still uncertain. Much has been said about how GTA online becomes extremely open, then just how sessions often turn into mass deathmatches, which is more of an issue with 30 chaotic players around--but for me that's always been portion of its draw. Trolling someone who's considered themselves far too seriously in the street competition in establishing an epic bar, or just wandering the avenues robbing convenience stores and staging a clean getaway still manages to raise a smile.
That these activities bring up a smile now (yet after played in first-person), and yet place in place a moral dilemma in single-player is as much to do with the lack of a narrative structure online as it is to do with my personal beliefs towards most new internet users. This produces an interesting conundrum too: is it better to performance with first-person and be pulled in Grand Theft Auto 5's function in the new profound style, before must anyone act in the third-person, distancing yourself on the game's more controversial moments?
The fact that I'm even thinking about that at all in a video game that's so standard and as, well, mainstream as Grand Theft Auto 5 is a evidence toward the excellent. On the day later, GTA V remains the most consistently entertaining video games I've always played. Even without the spectacular new images, first-person way, the epic new rail gun, the new murder mystery missions for Jordan, the new, even furrier animals, remote play foundation on PS4, a pile of another songs for the radio (including the personal favourite, I need This That Way by the Backstreet Child on the dash situation), also the revenue of automobiles like the classic Dodo seaplane, Grand Theft Auto 5 would be still be worth playing.
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Aside from some mild frame rate issues that sometimes adopt the boundary away it is other dramatic moments, this is the definitive variation of GTA V, also the lock where all other open-world games, before certainly any game in which points regarding a cinematic think, should remain said. It is attractive, and thought-provoking, and kicking throughout. Even if you've played through Grand Theft Auto V once already, it's worth going back simply to be repeated regarding exactly what a outstanding achievement it is.
At its being, Grand Theft Auto V on PC is the same game that it is at additional program, although it is never appeared as good as it does with a solid PC, anyone who’s played Grand Theft Auto 5 elsewhere may not benefit from believing it for an additional or third stage unless they’re desperate for top graphics. If you get into to camp, you can simply move your progress onto the LAPTOP version by the Rockstar Social Club to stay anywhere a person gone off, diving headlong into the revamped Los Santos with minimal fuss.
It seemed great about PS4 and Xbox One, but Grand Theft Auto 5 shines in COMPUTER thanks to 4K-grade feels, the availability of additional post-processing make, also a great unlocked frame rate. Earlier form of the game played only great in 30 frames per minute, but you quickly appreciate the increase variability of enjoying at 60 FPS (if not added) by PC. If you can create that enough juice (read: afford top-end gaming hardware), then you can wonder with the added grows in 4K, even, yet yet a few Nvidia GTX 980's in SLI couldn't push the highest settings at 4K without dropping to present 30 frames per minute. Whether in 4K, before on 1080p, the new high-res textures pop with point, also new lighting effects lead to plenty of awe inspiring moments. GTA V could paint stunning pictures, with the appropriate mix of scenery, question, and daylight, to identify the usual magnificence of its geography along with the stain that pulses due to the physical veins. GTA 5 has always looked good, but a great gaming PC is the only way to see the full size of Rockstar’s admirable handiwork.
Keep in mind that GTA 5 retains evidence of their last-gen roots, level in MACHINE, with clean geometry abound. You sign low-poly standards in occasion as they contrast with the great texture composition and fun around, as simplicity and difficulty mix or the attention. GTA V is remarkable at times, but you never forget about to you’re showing a game that’s foundation was constructed with outdated constraints in mind.
You get a unique tool in the MACHINE version that allows you to show off all of the game's flare, as well as the imagination: the Rockstar Editor. This instrument enables you to record footage during vision or while free-roaming around Los Santos, both by manually recording gameplay or through sourcing the last few second of cached actions. More than just allowing you to stop together clips, you have complete power over the camera while going through your gameplay. You can put your angles manually, choose from a list of preset angles, then implement camera shakiness, redefining the style and perspective of a moment in time. Little touches such as blending make it easy to move from one video and camera angle to the next, without having to put much thought into it.
With Chief means, you have even more management of the functions at hand. You can pick actors, man or dog, to control, rather than being limited to the several main characters. You also state direct over time of generation, the area on the drawing, and whether cheats are permitted, allowing you to sample from a large palette of possibilities to shape the landscape regarding your dreams. There's a hearing curve to the editor, but Rockstar offers a range of tutorials which need to help felt and inexperienced editors alike.
Playing Grand Theft Auto 5 on PC means that you can now use a mouse and piano, which is a huge benefit during shootouts where perfection is important. Whether anyone show this here original- before third-person form, this definitely makes targeting easier. However, don't think of which an individual must put down the controller for good. Keyboard and mice lack analog buttons, which are important during driving sequences. Being able to run the throttle with a sensitive trigger becomes incredible you get used to and control naturally, often without offering that another imagined. The binary, at before off kind of a keyboard or mouse button gets in the way of your instincts also draws absent the nuanced control presented by analog triggers. For the best experience, remain a controller selected now and transition between that plus a mouse and piano for that second at hand.
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apatheticmaplesyrup · 7 years ago
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1-100
Thank you :D
This is gonna be a long post so continue at your own peril.
Is a kiss considered cheating?If it’s a proper snog, yeah.
Have you ever faked orgasm?Yeah.
If you could have one superpower, what would it be?Probably.
Do you think you are going to be rich in 7-8-9 years?I don’t know if I’ll be rich, but hopefully rich enough to live comfortably.
Tell us some funny drunk story.I don’t think I really have any funny ones :’)
Why are you no longer together with your ex?I don’t know that there was a particular reason, it just didn’t work out.
If you had to choose one way to die, what would it be? Natural causes.
What are your current goals?To get through uni and get a 2:1/1st, and try to lower my body fat (mainly for health right now).
Do you like someone?I don’t know, I think I might but I’m not sure.
Who was the last person to disappoint you?Myself for not going to the gym when I’ve got a membership and keep saying I will.
Do you like your body?I don’t like how it looks overall, but there are good parts to me. It’s worked relatively fine so far, so I’m happy with that.
Can you keep a diet?Not unless I can get past the first month of it.
If the whole world listened to you right now, what would you say?Did Barry the Bee really have sexual relations with Vanessa, and did Ken ever get to have yoghurt night?
Do you work?No.
If you could choose only one food to eat to the rest of your life, what would it be?Chicken wraps probably.
Would you get a tattoo?Yeah, I want one but I’m just not sure what to start with.
Something you don’t mind spending all your money on?Food.
Can you drive?Yes.
When was the last time someone told you you were beautiful?Idk man it’s been a while. *tiny violin plays in the distance*
What was the last thing you cried for?I think I was just really sad and really tired, there was no real trigger.
Do you keep a journal?Nope.
Is life fun?It can be sometimes. It can also be a lot of effort.
Is farting in front of people irrelevant?I don’t know what this means by irrelevant but I don’t think it matters much unless it’s a crowded area.
What’s your dream car?This changes, but I do really want a Dodge Charger (either a 1970s one or the 2014 model)
Are grades in school important?Yes, because it can affect what direction you take for your career (i.e. choosing if/where to go to university), but it’s not the most important thing. You can get bad grades and still be successful and happy in life.
Describe your crush.Really chilled out, similar sense of humour to me and just quite easy to be around.
What was the last book/movie that really impressed you?I’m listening to the audiobook “How to Build a Universe: An Infinite Monkey Cage Adventure” by Brian Cox, Robin Ince and Alexandra Feachem. It’s impressive how they can talk about and explain these theories about space and time in a way that is accessible and often comedic.
What was your last lie?Probably something like “I can’t come out, I have a lot of work to do”.
Dumbest lie you ever told? When I was a kid, my mum caught me playing my Gameboy when I wasn’t supposed to, and I tried to lie and say I didn’t even though I clearly was.
Is crying in front of people embarrassing?I don’t feel comfortable doing it because a lot of people do judge others when they cry in public, but if it’s people I know then I don’t really feel it should be embarrassing.
Something you did and you are proud of?Cleaned and decorated my room in my new house.
What’s your favourite cocktail?I’d probably still go with long islands, purely because I haven’t found another one that I love yet.
Something you are good at?Complaining.
Do you like small kids?I don’t mind them, I’m just terrible at dealing with them.
How are you feeling right now?Like I should be writing my essay rather than procrastinating :’)
What would you name your daughter/son?I don’t have a clue.
What do you need to be happy?Financial and emotional stability and a healthy relationship.
Is there some you want to punch in the face right now?Not right now, I’m feeling pretty chill.
What was the last gift you received?GTA 5 from my friends for my birthday
What was the last gift you gave?It was just a £20 playstation store card and we made him cocktails as well.
What was the last concert you went to?The Community Festival in Finsbury Park
Favourite place to shop at?Blue Inc.
Who inspires you?My parents, and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.
How old were you when you first got drunk?18.
How old were you when you first got high?Still haven’t.
How old were you when you first had sex?16.
When was your first kiss?When I was 14 or 15.
Something you want to do until the end of this year?Come up with ideas for music videos and sketches.
Is there something in the past you wish you hadn’t done?Yes.
Post a selfie.Really not feeling it today, sorry.
Who are you most comfortable around?@robbiesheehanigan, @lucashaggettphotography, @i-dw and @th4t-f33ling
Name one thing that terrifies you.Heights.
What kind of books do you read?I usually read fantasy books, but books about space are also great.
What would you tell your 12 year old self?Get into a sport, it’ll help you in the future.
What is your favourite flower?Chrysanthemums.
Any bad habits you have?Oh yes. Definitely.
What kind of people are you attracted to?People who are kind, I’m comfortable being around, have a similar sense of humour, and I don’t really know apart from there being ‘something’ that makes them attractive to me.
Is there something you don’t eat? Some food that truly disgust you?Other than cod, I don’t really like seafood. I also really don’t like olives.
Are you in love?No.
Something you find romantic?Sitting in front of a fire together somewhere scenic and toasting marshmallows. Also stargazing. 
How long was your longest relationship? About 4 years.
What are 3 things that irritate you about the same sex?What are 3 things that irritate you about the opposite sex? I’m just going to say three things in general.1 - When people are unnecessarily rude to waiting/bar staff.2 - When people only want to do things their way or no way, with no contingency plan or even listening to what other people have to say, even if it’s valid.3 - People who say they’ll do something, and constantly don’t.
What are you saving money for?A car or a new camera.
How would you describe your bad side?Rude, nasty to people, and short-tempered.
Are you actually a good person? Why?I hope so, but I don’t know how to judge that. I think I’m probably just a neutral person.
What are you living for?To see what happens next.
Have you ever done anything illegal?Aha, nice try cops
Have you ever made someone feel bad about themselves intentionally?I probably have and can’t remember, so I’m sorry to anyone who I may have done that to.
Ever sent nudes?Nah I’m not that confident :’)
Have you ever cheated on someone?No.
Favourite candy?I could always go for a bounty or kit-kat.
Is there a blog you visit every day, or almost every day? Tag it!Not really, I mostly just look at my timeline.
Do you play any computer games? What is your favourite game?I do, I started playing Dark Souls 3 recently and it’s really fun but I’m not particularly good at it. My favourite game changes but I think the one I’ve always liked is Tom Clancy’s Hawx.
Favourite TV series?I still really like Community, though Tokyo Ghoul and Stranger Things are also amazing.
Are you religious? Does God exist?I used to be but now I’m not so much. I think there might be some type of higher power, but I don’t definitively believe that there is or isn’t.
What was the last book you read? Did it impress you and why?I answered this with the one about a book that’s impressed me :)
What do you think about vegetarianism/veganism?I think vegetarianism is admirable, probably more ethically correct and environmentally friendly. I don’t really know enough about veganism to make an informed comment, but it’d probably be a similar opinion. 
How long have you been on Tumblr?Probably like 5 years or so. I think I had it before then but never used it.
Do you like Chinese food?Yes.
McDonalds or Subway?McDonalds
Vodka or whiskey?Straight whiskey, vodka if it’s with a mixer
Alcohol or drugs?Alcohol
Ever been out of your province/state/country?Yes
Meaning behind your blog name?I watched Stranger Things 2 and Steve as the babysitter is my favourite thing. Also the last scene where he’s giving Dustin a pep talk is brilliant.
What are you scared of?Heights. A lot of other things too, but let’s just go with heights.
Last time you were insulted?Probably earlier today (part of banter with my friends)
Most traumatic experience ?I have no idea, probably the many times I ran into the door frame when I was younger.
Perfect date idea?Dinner and a movie (even if it’s at home) is a great idea. Stargazing and a campfire (and obviously food) would also be amazing, but I feel like that’d be once I know them a little better.
Favourite app on your phone?The Clock app, I would probably not wake up on time without it.
What colour are the walls in your room?White
Do you watch Youtube? Who is your favourite youtuber?I watch YouTube, I’ve always loved Markiplier because he’s a lovely person (though I haven’t really watched his videos recently). I really like Shane and Ryan in Buzzfeed Supernatural.
Share your favourite quote.L’amor che move il sole e l’altre stelle
What is the meaning of life?I feel like that’s a question for Google.
Do you like horror movies?Not really, I can watch them and I think some of them are great, but I get scared by them really easily.
Have you ever made your mum cry? What happened?Yeah, I think the most recent time was when I turned 21 and/or came back to uni.
Do you feel lucky or special in a way?Yeah, I’ve lived quite a good life. I have an amazing family who have always looked after me and shown me love, and I think I’m lucky to have that.
Can you keep a secret?Probably, depends on the secret. You got a confession to make?
Thank you for asking :) Also @robbiesheehanigan someone else also did the 1 to 100 thing so here you go xo
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chaseprice · 7 years ago
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I WAS TAGGED TWICE TO DO THIS THANG (thank you @explosionshark​ and @morhdd​ Answer 11 questions, tag 11 people. write 11 questions for them to answer.
bri’s questions
1. what movies were you obsessed with as a kid?
fuckin. THE IRON GIANT. and pocahontas. 
2. have you ever been able to get over any fears?
yeah. i’ve worked through a lot of fears that were as a result of anxiety in the past couple years. i managed to break off friendships that were detrimental to me; always something i was scared of. i came out. i was scared of that. also i kinda got over my fear of getting injections? (blood getting taken tho - no way.)
3. do you prefer seeing a movie in theaters or watching at home?
mmmm... theaters.
4. what was the first cd you bought for yourself?
bought for Myself? fuck. i used to rent pop party CDs from the library because i thought it was cool at the time? sdfjh
5. what’s your favorite thing about the place you live?
i don’t like a lot about my hometown, but i guess i like that its surrounded by fields and nature. i love where i live the rest of the time because my city has so much going on. especially in the music scene. idk i just love my city
6. what would you do if you won the lottery tomorrow?
have an existential crisis probably?
7. what’s your favorite meal to make?
thai green curry & rice maybe...... 
8. what have you done this year that you’re proud of?
Came Out! Passed All My Exams! Made Cool Friends! Continued To Get Over Bunch Of Anxiety Problems! Embraced My Identity! Got Closer With People! Moved Out (Again)!
9. what are you really looking forward to right now?
FUCKIGNG JULIEn BAKER FUFFFFFF BOTHE RRFFMOF FUCK
also pride. and a bunch of other cool plans for this year
10. what genre of film does your life feel like?
like  a shitty indie film that u absolutely hate the protag of and it just needs to end already adgjgdh
11. what do you wish more people knew about you?
the lengths i’d go to for my friends. (for irl people specifically: how fuckin sad and stupit and angry i get w myself sometimes and that it doesn’t reflect any of my feelings for individual people. also how gay i am)
ramona’s questions  (I Fucked up the formatting here oops sorry)
favorite game you’ve played recently? i’ve been playing stardew valley n thats the only game ive played recently (except the demo for dishonored 2 but my pc doesnt rly like it) and it’s super cute but i got distracted and haven’t got back to it. smh
is there a band/artist/album you’ve been really stuck on lately? YEAH FUCKIN GREAT GRANDPA’S NEW ALBUM (thanks bri) BUT EVEN MORESO: PILLOW QUEENS ???? JUST DISCOVERED THEM THEY’RE SO GOOD i love Rats especially
do you have a favorite show of all time? uhhhhhhh no these questions too hard ramona. probably not. but i do like better call saul it’s okay. every good gay show i enjoy betrays me somehow. like scream and skam. skam didnt neecsarily do anything bad BUT THEY COULDVE BEEN BETTER. GIMME WLW. i was so obsessed with it tho, truly was my fave show ever at  a point
favorite canon fictional couple? oh bb. pricefield
if you could visit anywhere where would you go? fuck this. everywhere. v desp for a US roadtrip when i graduate tho
would you want to stay in the place you’d like to visit? o fuck this. IDKKKK
any particularly embarrassing fandom memories that you’re far enough removed from that you’d admit to? YEAH LIKE EVERYTHING I EVER SAID OR DID IN THE GTA V FANDOM .... I WAS SO WEIRD AND PETTY AND STRAIGHT
top three ships at this moment? chaseprice amberprice emrey (THEY WHO IM THINKIN BOUT RN doesnt mean theyre.... da best)
top three bands at this moment? ok. im gonna make this five and pretend the two bands i mentioned up there ^^ are in the list. these are just recent btw not best ever. JOYCE MANOR bc i was listenin to them a lot before my gig, THE SPOOK SCHOOL !!!!! and idk. perfume genius
i am seriously dying coming up with questions, how are you doing today? i’m okay but i’m too warm here in this stuffy room. how u doing ramona?
YOUR CHOICE YOU CAN SAY ANYTHING YOU WANT IN THIS SPACE I BELIEVE IN YOU YOU’RE GONNA DO GREAT. lgbtQ+ art and music and talent is the BEST and to be CHERISHED AND VALUED for EVER!!!!
AIIIGHTTTT so my 11 questions:
1. what have you been thinking about a lot lately? 2. what was the weather like where you are today? 3. you wanna meet with a close friend to catch up. do you go to a little café during the day and chat, do you go out somewhere at night time to a bar/party, do you go to one of each other’s places and order takeout -- what ideally happens? 4. what’s a really embarrassing childhood memory? 5. when you’re talking with people, what is a topic that will always make you cringe/feel FEAR if someone starts talking about it? 6. if you were to be famous, what would you wanna be famous for? 7. is there somebody you know who was an inspiration to you in any regard, or still is, that doesn’t know about it? if so, who? 8. what thing/s are you looking forward to before the year ends? 9. what do you do at new years? 10. who were the last two bands/singers you listened to, and which would you rather be offered free concert tickets for? 11. what material/texture do you like the feel of most?
i tag. @fortzancudo @drugru @borosouro (liddie if ur readin this i dont kno what ur url is gfhkfd) @sneffing @rachelambr @lesbianmikewheeler @maxcaulfield @gaymermutual @recourse-ao3 @the-insufferable @thestarryskiesofpalaven
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nexusradiodance · 6 years ago
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Curbi: Best city in America, new single ‘Redeem’ & more!
Curbi Interview.
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English DJ and music-producer Curbi stopped by the Nexus Radio Lounge Miami during Miami Music Week 2019, to talk about his latest projects, his favorite country in the world, McDonald’s International menu and more!
Curbi, whose real name is Toby Curwen-Bingley has been captivating the streaming world with his melodic new single Spiritual featuring Brooke Tomlinson.
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The Future-House DJ joined us for a quick chat during his first-ever Miami Music Week. This is Take 5 with Curbi.
View this post on Instagram
This week was absolutely banging! Started with 2 insane shows supporting @oliverheldens, did 4 crazy shows during MMW supporting my buddies @wearemoksi and got the chance to support @steveaoki at Story… also shoutout to the legend @tchami who destroyed @ultra mainstage with my new track ‘Redeem’! Recap video coming soon
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A post shared by CURBI (@curbi) on Mar 31, 2019 at 10:54am PDT
Todd Michaels: Next is Radio, we are in the BPM Supreme-Nexus Radio Lounge here in Miami Beach during Miami Music Week. And I have Curbi in the lounge with me. Hello Curbi!
Curbi: Oh yeah, Hello man!
Todd Michaels: Welcome to Miami.
Curbi: Thank you, it’s the first time for me.
Todd Michaels: First time? There’s been a lot of first timers this time. This is about our fourth or fifth- kind of used to it, even though I always still come in and we’ll, look at you, you’re doing the same thing […] at least you have a short sleeve shirt on, I’m putting my sweater on.
Curbi: I usually walk around with a hoodie on to be honest. Last, like last time I came to America wore a Hoodie the whole time
Todd Michaels: Because you’re from?
Curbi: England.
New Single ‘Redeem’ & America.
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Todd Michaels: From England. Oh, all right. We’ve got another English (lad) here too, one of our djs.His name is Adam [Turner]. All right, so what are you working on Curbi? What is 2019 looking like?
Curbi: I’ve got a lot of new music coming out. I’ve got one coming out on the 1st of April called Redeem, it’s more of a deeper sound for me. Very groovy, working on a lot of groovy stuff at the moment. I’ve got a lot of tracks which I’ve been working on the past like two or three years and hopefully going to release this year. A lot of shows, hopefully more shows in the U.S., I’m really hoping for that because I do a lot in Europe and a lot in Asia at the moment.
While a majority of European DJs list Japan as their ultimate favorite country to visit and play in, Curbi was one of a few, if not the only DJ we interviewed that ranked America as his favorite place to visit. “Oh, man, I love America. It’s Amazing!” he says. He credits the similarities between the two countries for this “it kind of feels familiar, because I’m from England, it’s like the same, but it’s not.” Todd Michaels and Curbi engage in a lengthy discussion about the best place to move to in The United States (sorry L.A., New York, Miami, and everywhere that isn’t Chicago).
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so excited for my first miami music week! announcing my schedule tomorrow and gonna give away two tickets for one of the shows.. DROP A PHAT COMMENT BELOW IF U WANNA SHOW UP
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A post shared by CURBI (@curbi) on Mar 20, 2019 at 7:57am PDT
Todd Michaels: Interesting. It’s interesting to see those two markets because a lot of people talk about traveling. So, where’s been your best place to travel so far that you really like going to?
Curbi: In terms of shows? Probably Asia and the U.S.
Todd Michaels: What would be a personal place?
Curbi: Oh, man, I love America. it’s Amazing!
Todd Michaels: Do you?! Interesting!
Curbi: Well, I think Asia is really cool for like culture, a whole different culture. Here it kind of feels like familiar, because I’m from England, it’s like the same, but it’s not.
Chicago.
View this post on Instagram
when in america lmao [
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: @niclas_ruehl]
A post shared by CURBI (@curbi) on Sep 10, 2018 at 11:48am PDT
Todd Michaels: Have you done any of the upper states? So like Chicago, New York?
Curbi: Yeah! I did Chicago. I haven’t done New York yet.
Todd Michaels: Oh, alright. What do you think of Chicago?
Curbi: I was only there for a day and it was really warm.
Todd Michaels: Weird, those things never come up about Chicago.
Curbi: Yeah, It was like thirty-five degrees.
Todd Michaels: When you think of Chicago, no one ever thinks warm. You must’ve went in like August or something?
Curbi: Yeah, yeah yeah, around then. I can’t really remember.
Todd Michaels: That’s our Lollapalooza time.
Curbi: Yeah! No, but America’s great man. It feels very like home in a way.
Todd Michaels: Would you move here?
Curbi: Yeah, I hope to in the future.
Todd Michaels: Where would you want to move to [in] America?
Curbi: I would like to say L.A., but I don’t think that’s like a settling (down) place. I don’t know.
Todd Michaels: New York isn’t either.
Curbi: No?
Todd Michaels: I don’t think Miami is either. You might have to go to Chicago!
Curbi: [laughs] Yeah? I’m down man! anywhere.
Todd Michaels: I mean, we’re based there, so I’ll be your tour guide.
Curbi: Cool, I’m down.
The Food.
View this post on Instagram
pizza
A post shared by CURBI (@curbi) on Feb 6, 2019 at 12:18pm PST
Moving to America is definitely a smart move for any aspiring musician, the U.S. is still largely considered to be the epicenter of music media. But life in America has its unique challenges, especially when it comes to fast-food.
Todd Michaels: What are some guilty pleasures that you’ve got in the sense of food when you’re traveling? What’s your go-to?
Curbi: Oh man. Yeah, let’s not even go into this […] this is really bad cause like when I’m home, I try to be as healthy as I can and last year I spent two months going every day to the gym, being really healthy and then I went to America. I went on tour in America for like two weeks and yeah. So, basically just McDonald’s, all the fast-food restaurants when I’m touring. Like, when I’m really hungry and hungover after a show day. I go straight to a fast-food restaurant.
Todd Michaels: What’s here? What food or fast-food that we have here that you don’t have in London that you really enjoy?
Curbi: I’m not sure about Miami, but in L.A., In-N-Out (Burgers) obviously, that was amazing!
Todd Michaels: Here’s a question for you, when I travel I tend to skip the places I can get here at home. However, Mcdonald’s is the one place I don’t mind going (in other countries). It’s a little healthier, you guys have real potatoes over there.
Curbi: Yeah? You think so?
Todd Michaels: That’s what they say. [laughs]
Curbi: I don’t believe that.
Todd Michaels: The look that you just gave me was like ‘Wow! That’s not true.’
Curbi: But what I’ve noticed is that the menu’s different wherever you go. I had McDonald’s in South Korea and the menu was completely different.
Todd Michaels: We actually have an international in Chicago. There’s an international Mcdonald’s because of that, there’s a university actually that they have those kinds of things.
After a lengthy discussion about McDonald’s international menu, the focus then turns to one of America’s favorite Canadian imports: Justin Bieber.
Todd Michaels: What would be a guilty pleasure where (your friends) are hanging out with you and all of a sudden you turn this tune on and you’re just like, ‘Yeah! This is my jam!’ And they’re like What?
Curbi: Oh yeah! I don’t know. I like everything to be honest. Justin Bieber is a legend mate. I’m feeling a little bit guilty.
Todd Michaels: He’s taking some time off.
Curbi: Oh really?
Todd Michaels: Yeah, something mental, he’s taking some time off. But yeah, he’s my guilty (pleasure), he’s usually my go-to. As much as I can diss on the guy, I kind of like his music.
Curbi: He’s bloody good mate!’
Todd Michaels: Especially when he worked with Skrillex and he was doing all that other Jack U stuff.
Curbi: That changed (everything) completely! I didn’t really like his stuff before, I mean ‘baby’ is a Banger but yeah man. His stuff is great now.
Todd Michaels: What about, who would you want to work with? Who would be like a dream collaboration?
Curbi: Skrillex, Post Malone. Actually, I think all of the U.S. (EDM) Guys. I would also like to work with some Dubstep guys and like make a fusion between my sound and Dubstep. So like, I don’t know if you know Space Laces? He worked with Excision, GTA, love those guys. Yeah, but Post Malone, if we’re going outside of EDM and like dance music- I’d be Post Malone.
Todd Michaels: What would that collaboration hopefully be called? What would be a nice little title that you would give it?
Curbi: I would just keep it simple. Something like ‘Swag,’ because Post Malone says ‘swag’ a lot.
Todd Michaels: That would be good- Swag featuring Curbi. That would be nice. What’s a song out there that you think should not exist anymore?
Curbi: [Laughs] Darude ‘Sandstorm’. That should be gone now, it’s overplayed.
Todd Michaels: Why?!
Curbi: I mean it is a Banger! But it’s too much. When it comes on it’s just like ‘Ugh! Again? Really?
Todd Michaels: I mean, I’m not going to agree to disagree. I have history with that song! Like, it brings back memories.
Curbi: I wasn’t even alive, probably when it was released. I can’t even remember when it was released.
Todd Michaels: It was like mid 2000s. Maybe early 2000s.
Curbi: Ok it was then, but I was like three or something.
Todd Michaels: Yeah, you were just a little like (kid) …not doing that.
Want to know Curbi’s reaction if he’d ever meet his two idols Post Malone and Ariana Grande? Listen to the full interview below!
The Interview.
from Dance Music – Nexus Radio http://bit.ly/2GzbF4b
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cyberdaisy23 · 8 years ago
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No one asked me. So, I answered them anyway.
ASK ME THINGS
1. You woke up naked next to the last person you texted, what would you say? I honestly don’t even wanna think about that. That’s so gross. Next.
2. What’s going on between you and the last person you kissed? He’s at work and I a now lonely :c 
3. If your boyfriend or girlfriend was into drugs, would you care? Uhhhhh...Yea???? Tf?
4. Is your last name longer than six letters? Yes.
5. Was your last kiss drunk or sober? Drunk......On love *eyebrow wiggle*
6. Have you ever wanted to have someone but you messed it up? ahahahah ye
7. What does your last received text say? “I sent you messages on Facebook so you need to look at them.”
8. How many times have you kissed the last person you kissed? I lost count after our first kiss which was a makeout session on the stairs of the school’s 2nd flood landing lmao. There were lots of kisses there. And so many more after/to this day. So i dunno.
9. Where was your last kiss at? in bed before he left for work.
10. When is the last time you saw your sister? fuuuuuuck idunno. Like....2 months ago?
11. What do you drink in the morning? dick. hahaha jk. Coke.
12. Where did you sleep last night? my bed
13. Do you think relationships are hard? they’re only hard if you make it hard.
14. If you could go back and change something in the past 5 months, would you? Nahh
15. You’re locked in a room with the last person you kissed, any problems? The only problem would be that there’s too much time and not enough sex.
16. Would you rather it be sunny or rainy? sunny
17. Do you know anyone with the same middle name as you? ye.
18. Are you wearing jeans,sweatpants,or pajama pants? Jeans
19. Do you think you will be in a relationship 3 years from now? ye
20. Does anyone like you? No idea
21. Have you ever kissed someone with a name that starts with an S? No.
22. Is the last person you kissed gay? No
23. Is there a person you CANNOT stand? Yes
24. Have you ever considered getting a tattoo? I have. I would like more pls
25. In the past week have you cried? no, surprisingly.
26. What breed was the last dog you saw? Siberian Husky c:
27. Do you dry off in the shower or out of the shower? Out of the showa
28. Have you ever kissed a football player? no ew
29. Do you think you’re old? no.
30. Do you like text messaging? yes. way more than phone calls.
31. What type of day are you having? meh
32. Have you ever thought about getting your nose pierced? no
33. Do you prefer warm or cold weather? warm.
34. Is there a person of the opposite sex who means a lot to you? yesss
35. Would you prefer a relationship or a fling? relationship tf?
36. Are you a simple or complicated person? complicated xD
37. What song are you listening to? Rage Against The Machine - “Renegades of funk”
38. When you say you’re sorry do you mean it? Always. 39. Is there a girl that knows everything or almost everything about you? Yes 40. What made you start liking the person you like now? His eyes  tbh 41. When did you last receive a text message? idk it doesn’t show the time. 42. What is wrong with you right now? I sleepy. 43. How well do you know the last female you texted? very well. 44. Does anyone disgust you? the human race counts, right? 45. Would you date someone right now if they asked? fuck no. 46. Are you in a good mood right now? I guess.  47. Who was the last person you talked to in person? my room mates 48. What color shirt are you wearing? black 49. Has someone recently told you something you didn’t want to hear? many times. 50. Anyone you’re giving up on? no not really 51. Do you hate the person you fell hardest for? As long as he keeps catching me, things will be okay.
52. Have you ever thought about giving up on someone but couldn’t? yes.. 53. Do you like rain? no. ew. I like watching it and hearing it. Being in it? No Bueno. 54. Do you care if your boyfriend/girlfriend drinks? depends on why they’re doing it. If it’s a special occasion, and he has work off the next day, and does it at home, then sure go ahead. 55. Have you ever liked somebody and never told them? No. I always told people if I liked them  56. Do you like to cuddle? too much. 57. Are you shy? yea 58. Do you get along with girls? fuck no XD 59. Have you dated the person you texted last? In a way...? XD 60. What do you carry with you at all times? my vape 61. If you were paid 1 million dollars to spend the night in a supposed haunted house, would you? yes 62. Do you think you can last in a relationship for five months? I’ve done it for 7 years, bruh. Five months is for amateurs.  63. Think back to October, were you in a relationship? Yes. 64. The person you like kisses you on the forehead, do you find this cute? Yes!!!! 65. Did anything “cute” happen in the last week? Babe kissed me on the head and said he missed how clingy I was and how he’s glad that I am again. c:
66. How old are the last three people you kissed? I only kissed my babe, so...22
67. Would you rather pay to get your nails done or do them yourself?   I’d rather do em myself.  68. Which do you like better- Zebra print or leopard print?    neither. 69. Do you have any stickers on your car? I don’t even have a car    70. Would you rather listen to Luke Bryan or Lil Wayne?   Lil Wayne. 71. Blackberry, Anroid, or iPhone?    Android. 72. When’s the last time you had pizza from Pizza Hut?   idk i stay away from Pizza Hut because their sauce gives me acid reflex  73. Do you like diet soda?    no 74. What color are the walls in your room?  red, brick and white.    75. Are you 16 or older?    21 m8 76. Do you watch Pretty Little Liars?    no 77. Do you have a job?    ehhhh i guess   78. What are your initials?    K.A.D. 79. Did you ever have braces?   No, but I needed them. Too late now.  80. Are you from the south?   No 
81. What does your last status on facebook say?    “I CAN PLAY PANDORA IN THE BACKGROUND WHILE I PLAY GTA ON XBOX ONE??? Bruuuuhhh...” 82. Do you still talk to the first person you ever kissed? No. I’d rather not go back to that toxicity, even if it IS just friendship. I’m good. 83. Are you closer to your mom or your dad?  mom 84. Have you ever done cheerleading or gymnastics? nO     85. What’s the last movie you saw in theaters?   Suicide Squad.....What a waste of money and time that was.  86. Do you smoke?  vape m8. get rekt. 87. Would you rather wear heels or flip flops?   heels are sexier.  88. Is your phone touch screen?    yes 89. Do you normally wear your hair straight or curly?    messy is besty 90. Have you ever snuck out of your house?    no. I snuck out of my ex’s house though XD  91. Would you rather swim in a river, lake, or pool?   pool 92. Have you ever made out in a car?    Yes. and other stuff 93. …Had sex in a car?   ...Not yet....  94. Are you single or in a relationship?    I’m collared bruh. So, engaged. 95. What were you doing last night at midnight?  Watching A Tenacious D movie XD   96. When’s the last time you saw fireworks?    last year on the 4th of July like a normal person 97. Do you like the camera on your phone?    ew no 98. Have you ever had a friend with benefits?  yea...   99. Have you ever passed out from drinking?    no 100. Are you friends with people on facebook that you actually hate?    HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH YES. 101. Have you ever had a pregnancy scare?    yea 102. Name your favorite Kesha song:    “Cannibal” 103. Do you have any tan lines right now?    no. I can’t tan. 104. Would you ever wear cowboy boots with shorts? No. ew
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lovelyfantasticfart · 4 years ago
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Along with Their Informational Role
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rebeccahpedersen · 6 years ago
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Top Five: Real Estate Stories Of 2018
TorontoRealtyBlog
I’m not sure what’s more important, and/or appealing between the top five “Blog Posts” and that of “Real Estate Stories.”
I think the posts are always a fun flashback to whatever you were doing at the time you read the blog, and the regular readers might enjoy revisiting their comments, and perhaps their arguments with other readers too!
But the stories are more important from a macro standpoint, and since real estate has been such a hot topic in our city over the last decade, keeping tabs on the most burning stories and topics is a good to take it all in, without necessarily living and breathing real estate on a daily basis.
So before I get to the top five stories of the past year, I thought it would be fun to look back at how this feature read over the past three years:
From 2015:
5) Urbancorp “Stealing” Their Condos Back 4) Real Estate Commissions 3) The Media’s Continued Obsession With The Pending Real Estate Collapse 2) CMHC, The Bank of Canada, & Monetary Policy 1) The Market
From 2016:
5) New Mortgage Regulations 4) Foreign Ownership 3) The Business Of Real Estate And The Real Estate Industry 2) Kathy Tomlinson & Vancouver Real Estate 1) Prices
From 2017:
5) International Real Estate 4) Rental Market 3) Business of Real Estate 2) Government Intervention 1) Spring Insanity
I notice a theme here.
The #1 story in each of the past three years is essentially the same thing: the market, prices, spring insanity.
2015 and 2016 provides identical topics, just with different names, and 2017’s #1 point is about prices and the market, just more of a micro-look into a 4-month window.
The role of various government entities is a common thread, as is the business of real estate.
And all the while, I can’t help but be amused by the fact that this year’s list is very, very different.
Take me at my word when I say this – I wrote the “Top Five” first, and this introduction second, which includes looking back at the topics for the last three years.  I don’t come up with these topics on the spot, but rather I group my 120 – 140 blog posts into categories, with highlights on the very important and/or well-received blogs, and then look for the topics that showed up the most.  At the end of it all, I might choose to add a burning topic, if there is one.
So without further adieu, I present to you, the top five Toronto real estate stories of 2018.
5) TREB vs. The Competition Bureau
I actually wish this wasn’t a story, and I most certainly wish that it wasn’t in my top five!
But every single person in real estate is affected by the ongoing battle between TREB and the Competition Bureau, and I have news for you folks not in the know: the battle is far from over.
The battle, as I wrote in an August blog post, officially began on May 27th, 2011.
That was when the Competition Bureau announced that they had filed an application with the Competition Tribunal seeking to prohibit anti-competitive practices by the Toronto Real Estate Board.
And here we are, seven years later, looking at a “conclusion” of sorts.
Of sorts, of course, because I don’t personally believe that this battle is over.
Ever since the Competition Bureau “won,” TREB has been slow, aloof, and at times – questioning the ruling itself.
I don’t see the Competition Bureau coming back to play again, since they can simply chalk this up to a “victory,” and move on.  Far be it for me to say, but I think that some levels of government care more about the official outcome, rather than the actual one, and saying that they won might be more important than seeing the intended legislation through.
The Competition Bureau has taken TREB to task over the years for many things, but in the end, the whole battle came down to access to sales data.
TREB has decided, and by “TREB,” I mean a group of about 20 people, that licensed Realtors should not be permitted to provide sold data to clients, even though, in my opinion, an overwhelming majority of Realtors would vote ‘yay’ if asked.
The Competition Bureau correctly asserted that this was wrong, but I still remain confused as to whether the origin of their disagreement with TREB’s actions fell under “preventing abuse of market power” or “advocating for greater competition,” which are the only two of their six total mandates that would make sense in this case.
While I agree with the outcome – that TREB is now allowing its dues-paying members to provide sold data to their clients, I don’t agree with the process.  I don’t think the Competition Bureau should have stepped in, and here’s where my struggle begins.
I despise the way that the Toronto Real Estate Board is run, and an onlooker would think it’s downright laughable that over 50,000 people have ZERO power over the 20 in charge.  We members are completely helpless, and can’t do a thing, even though we pay the dues, that pay the people at TREB, and that our voting power would be about 2500-to-1.
But TREB scares us all, with their omnipotence and real estate nuclear codes.  They could blow up any one of our careers in an instant, and routinely threaten to do so.
Think back to February of 2015: “Did TREB Threaten Toronto Realtors?”
And this happened again, and again, during the summer when Realtors began to act on their own accord after the Competition Bureau announced its victory.  TREB was slow to react to the ruling (some say they didn’t really intend to respond until they absolutely had to), and thus Realtors began to make their own plans, and take action as they saw fit.  Then along came TREB, with threatening letters, bulletins, and emails once again.
Working in real estate is like working in any other field: you’re doing it as a primary source of income, and you and your family rely on the occupation for your livlihood.  So while many Realtors, myself included, would love to push the envelope, and maybe even try crossing the line once in a while, in order to either provide better customer service to our clients, or to offer outside-the-box solutions and new innovations, we know in the back of our minds that if we piss off TREB, they can take our authenticator access away.
We are licensed by the Province, but those of us who work in Toronto, are members of TREB.  We need TREB, and thus we would all back down, if urged to do so, by TREB, or anybody else.
This is why I think the battle with the Competition Bureau might not be over.
The Competition Bureau got sold data out there, but what about the potential for abuse of power at TREB?  At the end of the day, the Competition Bureau’s ruling was far from crystal-clear, and in parts, it was ambiguous, at best.  TREB was able to come up with “their interpretation” of the ruling, and whether or not that’s how the Competition Bureau intended the ruling to be implemented, we’ll never know.  We’ll never know, unless, the Competition Bureau comes back for Round #2.
Personally, I’ve had enough of this story, and I hope we don’t hear about it again in 2019.
4) The 2017 Market
What does it say about the 2018 real estate market that we’re calling the 2017 market one of the top stories of this year?
Well, I suppose if we wanted to be more specific, we could say that the #4 story of the year was how 2018 compared to 2017, but no matter how you look at the year that passed, you can’t help but compare in to last year.
There’s a common misconception that every piece of real estate in Toronto has declined since 2017, but that’s so incredibly untrue.
February 7th, 2018, I wrote: “Do The Toronto Newspaper Headlines Tell The Whole Story?”
This resulted in 68 comments from readers, most of whom agreed with my claim that what’s written in the headlines is often hyperbolic and intended to solicit an immediate reaction, rather than give the reader an accurate picture of what’s happening.
February 28th, 2018, I wrote: “The One-Bedroom Condo Market Is On Fire.”
This produced a whopping 145 comments, since I feel a lot of readers felt affected, in one way or another, by the insanity in the downtown condo market.
The buyers out there felt it the hardest, and responded in kind.
The market bears wanted it to be untrue.
Those who sold their condos in 2017, also wanted it to be untrue, having felt like the “peak” being reported by media, and most Toronto-wide stats would suggest that there was no money left on the table.
And many onlookers with no real horse in the race still felt like paying $1,100 per square foot for a 485 square foot, 1-bedroom unit with micro-appliances, no parking, no locker, and no view, was a peak of a different kind, this one being insanity.
The discussion among the commenters treaded into all kinds of tangential conversations, about the economy, the stock market, international real estate, and the future of the city of Toronto in general.  I found it interesting that writing a blog about the lowest end of the real estate spectrum caused the most people to comment.  I suppose if we were talking about luxury real estate, very few people would care.
That blog served as a measuring stick of the public’s continued interest in the real estate market, and while I don’t know that suggesting there was more mania about Toronto real estate in February of 2018, than in the spring of 2017, I would suggest that when it came to downtown condos, there actually was.
As of November’s TREB stats, the average price of a Toronto condo sits at $595,678, up 3.0% since the “peak” in April of 2017.  And it’s also worth noting that the average condo price in 2018 peaked in September, at $615,582.
But what of the rest of the market?
This is where everybody wants to steer the conversation!
The average home price, GTA-wide, in November was $788,345, down massively from the peak in April of 2017 of $920,791.  That’s 14.4%!
14.4% is not a crash per se, but hot damn, it’s a big number!
I suppose it only matters, however, to those that bought in April of 2017, and sold in November of 2018, having owned a truly “average” GTA home.
But as I explained on my blog throughout 2018, the GTA-wide numbers shouldn’t be used for those looking at their downtown 1-bedroom condos, or Danforth Village 3-bedroom semi’s, or High Park detached 4-bedrooms.
The “core” of Toronto simply was not affected in the same way as a freehold home in a mud-covered sub-division in Vaughan.
And I’ll be the first to admit that in March and April of 2017, the prices being paid for those mud-covered subdivision homes outside the central core were, in hindsight, irresponsible.  The prices were affected more by mania, emotion, and consumer behaviour than the actual intrinsic value for the buyer, and a healthy combination of supply and demand.
But I didn’t sell any freehold homes in Bayview & 16th, so my conscience is clear.  I also didn’t sell to anybody looking to flip 12-15 months later, so to be quite honest – buying in February, March, or April of 2017 was not a bad move for those looking to be in their homes for 5, 10, or 15 years.
The market bears will suggest that the $1,000,000 east-end semi-detached, in March of 2017, will not be worth $1,000,000 in the year 2022, but I would whole-heartedly disagree.  I bet my reputation on it.  A buyer client of mine who paid $1,000,000 might have seen his or her comparable home value drop to $940,000 three months later, only to see it pull close to even once again by September of 2018.  And what of another five years?  Pah-lease!
If the comments on Monday’s blog is any indication, this debate is merely getting started…
3) The Rental Market
This was the #4 topic on our list in 2017, and I did have this at #2 in this space for a short period earlier in the week, but once I wrote about the topic you’ll see below, I realized that it was well, well ahead of the mere mortal rental market!  Yeah, stay tuned for point #2, it’s a doozie…
For now, we’ll discuss the same topic that we discussed last year around this time, and that’s the incredible run-up in rental prices, how we got to this point, and where the heck we can go from here!
January 19th, 2018, I wrote: “Could Tighter Rent Controls Be Coming?”
I referenced the following letter to the editor:
Your Letters: Young Familes Can’t Afford To Live In Toronto
I live in Toronto with my wife and 18-month-old son. My wife and I are both youth workers and have been at our jobs for some time. I work on the front lines with homeless and under-housed youth in employment and at a transitional shelter.
What I find unfortunate is that my wife and I have found it impossible to find affordable housing. After tax, 30 per cent of our income is roughly $1,350. As CMHC recommends no more than 30 per cent of your income be spent on housing, that is a number we aim to use to house ourselves and our young son.
A two-bedroom unit in Toronto is now going for $1,800 and more, plus utilities. That brings housing costs to more than 50 per cent for of a couple making well above minimum wage.
The lack of interest in providing citizens of this city with affordable housing is criminal. If I can’t find housing for my family, how would a young homeless person will ever get off the streets?
I’m disgusted with this city and its municipal government, along with the provincial and federal governments who leave young families like mine with no options. Families in this city are suffering, we are drowning.
As I see young people with families who are friends of mine move out of the city in droves, I am hesitant to follow. But I begin to understand their decision when I’m faced with a rental market that hates families, landlords with free rein to discriminate and governments who choose to do nothing.
We need rent control now. Toronto will soon become a city without culture, without art and without families. Governments must act now to protect their cities from the white-washing, wealth-driven machine that is the free-rental market.
Anthony Lohan, Toronto (for now)
As I wrote in the blog post, I sympathize for this man and the plight of his family, but his response is pure hyperbole.
“…I’m faced with a rental market that hates families, landlords with free rein (sic) to discriminate and governments who choose to do nothing.”
This is just silly.  The rental market doesn’t “hate” anybody, and landlords aren’t discriminating.  They might be looking for people who can afford to pay the rent, but that’s being prudent and responsible; it’s not discrimination.  Lastly, the “government who choose to do nothing” is extremely ill-informed, since rent controls were introduced in Ontario in April of 2017.
As for the last point about “we need rent control now,” see my previous point, three seconds ago.
Maybe I’m guilty of choosing the most absurd letter, from an uninformed Torontonian, but this is how 2018 started.
That blog post produced 73 comments, most of which were in agreement, and some which were far harsher than I was, ie. somebody suggesting that if a couple can’t afford to rent in Toronto, then perhaps bringing a child into the world is irresponsible.
February 12th, 2018, I wrote: “Buy vs. Rent: Toronto vs. Calgary.”
This was necessitated by an article about Calgarians who were “smart” to rent, rather than buy, and accompanied by a whole host of people who figured the same would be true of Toronto.
Except that, as I wrote on my blog, since November of 2007, the Toronto HPI Benchmark price rose 107.6%, compared to a gain of 3.8% for Calgary during that same time period.  And I chose that time period because the article mentioned a person who bragged about not having “tied up” his money in real estate, and was free to invest in equities.
This blog post produced 80 comments, and suddenly I realized that “Renting” might be a huge topic in 2018.
February 26th, 2018, I wrote: “Introducing Ontario’s New Standard Lease Agreement”
This new standard lease was supposed to help both landlords and tenants, but in my opinion, it offers more ambiguity, and ways for both landlords and tenants to “legally” look to screw each other.
I spent hours looking over the standard lease, and in the blog, I went through every single section, explained how it differed from the previous lease agreements, and offered my two cents.
August 15th, 2018, I wrote: “The Sad State of Toronto’s Rental Market”
In this blog, I detailed several of the awkward, weird, and/or unqualified inquiries I received on a lease listing.
This was the summer, of course, which is a peak season for rentals, but nevertheless, it was a really tough conversation on TRB, and 58 comments resulted.
October 10th, 2018, I wrote: “What’s Really Happening With Toronto Lease Prices?”
In this blog, I looked at rental units which had turned over multiple times during the past 5-7 years, to see how the real increase in rents looked.
This was one of my favourite posts of the fall, if I do say so myself.
It’s one thing to get a stat on rent increases from Urbanation, but it’s another thing to look at one specific unit, and see at what price it was leased in 2011, 2013, 2014, 2016, and 2017.
December 5th, 2018, I wrote: “Shouldn’t We Talk About Rent Control?”
This resulted in one of the best discussions I’ve seen on TRB all year.  The comments were all informed, intelligent, and backed up by facts and evidence.
I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again now: I am absolutely blessed to have such an incredible following of intelligent, savvy, and astute readers who comment on a regular basis.  This blog post is a great example of how TRB is the sum of its parts; half blog post from myself, half follow-up comments from the readers.
If I were a betting man, I would wager that the topic of rents will make an appearance on the 2019 list as well.
2) Financial Literacy & Personal Responsibility
I alluded to this several times in Monday’s blog, and now you can see why.
When describing my early-January blogs, “What Is The Government Doing To Tackle Consumer Debt?” and ““Household Debt vs. Mortgage Debt: The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly,” I concluded that both blog posts aren’t so much about “debt,” and are more so about financial literacy.
And when discussing my #2 post of 2018, “The Friday Rant: Has The World Lost Its Mind?” I offered the theory that personal responsibility is also at an all-time low, and never before have members of society seemed so entitled.
Both themes are underscored in many of the conversations we have on Toronto Realty Blog, both in the blogs themselves, and the comments.
As I have suggested before, I do believe that part of the reason why we’ve moved into the entitlement generation is because our governments at all levels have led us to believe, not only that we can have everything we want, but also that we deserve it.
I also feel as though the over-reaching liberal establishment is, consciously or otherwise, trying to prolong adolescence indefinitely.  That’s why our universities have adopted this safe-space mentality, done away with failing grades and, in some cases done away with clapping as well, and why graduates are so ill-prepared for the real world.  They have been coddled since Junior Kindergarten, and to expect them to magically snap out of their spell is unreasonable.
When it comes to Toronto real estate, I live in constant fear of the words, “should” and “deserve,” and while it’s not necessarily only the younger generation, they are the ones most equipped to get their thoughts into the public eye.
The best possible example I can give you of this is the 2017 “open letter” written by a millennial that made headlines for all the wrong reasons.  It was one of the most poorly-written, logically-flawed, factless pieces of drivel I have ever read from somebody over the age of 16.
While I don’t want to slag the person who wrote it, I kind of have no choice here.  Maybe it was her attempt at creative writing, or maybe it was all from the heart, I don’t know.  But I’m choosing to use this as an example of the utter delusion that exists out there today with regards to lack of financial literacy and personal responsibility as it pertains to Toronto real estate.
A 23-year-old millennial, who ironically, from what I can tell from even a basic social media search, grew up in a very wealthy family, wrote an article about high real estate prices in Toronto, and how her generation would just have to “move out of the city” because they can’t immediately afford to buy large houses in the areas of their choosing, at their age.
Here are some excerpts from this bloated piece of fantasy:
“That first family home we always dreamed of owning in North York, or off Eglinton, and now, the hot areas of Roncesvalles and the Leslieville … we are slowly accepting it just may not happen for us in the foreseeable future.”
You are a 23-year-old.  You just finished university.  You don’t deserve a house in Roncesvalles or Leslieville.  You have no income or savings to justify such a purchase, unless your parents gave it to you.  This statement is absolutely preposterous.
“There may be a movement starting. The millennials are heading north — and we mean really north. It’s pretty much all we can afford. Vaughan would be nice, but those prices are also rising fast. So, cottage country it is (we can think of worse things).
Reports suggest that you’ve pushed us so far, we’re never buying that first house in Toronto. So we’ll just have to buy a cottage instead, and perhaps rent in Toronto (if we can even afford that). We do want to own something, right?”
First of all, who is “you?”
I know, I know, she’s writing an “open letter” to the city of Toronto.  But to be mad at the city is to be mad at economics, and supply and demand.  God did not create high real estate prices in Toronto; people did, via their interactions in an open market.
And who says cottages are any cheaper?  For a rich millennial that attended Western University, I’m thinking that her reference of a “cottage” means Lake Joseph, or Lake Rousseau.
“Maybe it will be better for us. To own land far away from this busy city, where we focus too much on our screens and less on what the great outdoors has to offer.”
Okay, great idea – owning land far away from the city.  But what about working at your job?
This comment ignores the fact that people must work for a living, and living on “land far away from the city” probably doesn’t offer many job opportunities.  It also ignores that “land” needs services like water, sewage, electricity, gas, et al.
And the talk about “focusing too much on your screen” seems to conflict with your social media profiles, just saying.
“Could a brighter future for our children be on the horizon? Our kids will experience a much different upbringing — they’ll be outdoors-y, adventurous, they’ll love the lake. And they’ll love their cottage.”
This is absolute fantasy!  A 23-year-old talking about raising kids “that love the lake,” and “that love their cottage.”  It’s like a 7-year-old saying, “I LUV MY DOGGIE!!”
“But you can’t get rid of us for good. Our careers are still largely here in the city. Maybe soon our bosses won’t be able to afford their rent either, and we will all move up north.
And then you’ll have no one. You’ll be forced to lower your absurd home prices. And you’ll be asking us all to come back.”
Wait………so this person does realize that she works in the city?  Then how does she expect to live up north “on a piece of land?”  And if her boss rents, why does she think she deserves to own a house in North York, off Eglinton, or in Roncesvalles or Leslieville?
How will “everybody” move up north?  Will every single business in Toronto move their headquarters up north?  Every law firm, tech company, financial institution – all of them?
Then “you” will be forced to lower your absurd prices.
Holy crap.  It just keeps going…
This is so bad, and what’s worse is that she got some media fanfare for this, when all the while we would be better off if people took her to task for being childish, naive, selfish, unrealistic, and snobby.
Whatever happened to personal responsibility?
This is merely one person’s opinion on the city, I understand that.  But if this is truly “a voice for all millennials” as it was made out to be in 2017, then good God are we ever in trouble.
April 30th, 2018, I wrote: “Is Financial Literacy At An All Time Low?”
This was the story of a couple of would-be renters that submitted an offer to lease one of my condo listings.
She worked for minimum wage, and he was self-employed but showed no income.  He had no job letter, no income verification, no pay stubs, and no bank statement.
He had $486 per month in student loans payable.
She had a credit score of 634.
He had a balance of $1,900 on his $2,000 credit card, $8,000 on his $10,000 line of credit, and $9,000 on his $15,000 line of credit.
And they wanted to lease a $2,400 per month condo.
Assuming she makes $29,120 per year (40 hours per week at minimum wage, as per her application), and his “self-employment” that shows zero income, provides, say, $25,000, they’re looking to spend 55.4% of their gross income on rent.
Now assume they keep 75% of that gross income after taxes, and they have a mere $40,590 left over.  Subtract the $486 per month in student loans that is automatically debited from his bank account, and they’re left with $34,758.
$34,758 in their pockets, before any personal expenditures.  And they want to rent for $30,000 per year.
Oh, and he has $18,900 in combined debt on his two credit cards and line of credit.
This is the height of stupidity, the best example of financial illiteracy you will ever find, and a classic case of having zero personal responsibility.
I could go on, but I’m angry.  And I know that amazingly, 11.74% of you don’t agree with what I just wrote, so I need to take a time out to mull that over…
1) The Future Of The City Of Toronto
I’ll bet you did not see this topic coming!
How could you?
It’s not exactly a post I have featured four or five times over the last year, or even once.
And it’s not something we directly talk about on a daily basis.
But indirectly?
We talk about it every single day.  In every blog post, and with every comment.  And it’s really only during the course of the past year that I’ve taken notice.
The recurring theme in the real estate, politics, economics, socio-economics, governance, and all things Toronto, discussed on this blog, is that we all have both hopes and fears for the future of the city we call “home.”
As with the real estate market, we can be labelled more bullish, or more bearish, on the future of this city.  But every one of us has an opinion, and perhaps unlike real estate, every one of us has a major stake in the result.
We also all have thoughts on what this city needs, how to achieve the results, who can help, and where to start.  But with those thoughts also comes disagreement, and that often makes things contentious.
I just did an interview where the reporter asked me about Bill 66, and how I felt about the potential for building on the Greenbelt.
I was, shall I say, “in a mood,” and the interview quickly went off the rails.  At least that’s what two of my colleagues said who were listening.
I said that I wasn’t necessarily “against” building on the Greenbelt, and it would be irresponsible not to consider it.  I was basing this on the fact that if we are to have super-density here in the core, we need infrastructure to support it.  And as we all know, we don’t have that infrastructure.  Not even close.
Our transit system is the finest example of our city’s failure to support its growing population.  The “Yonge Line” opened in 1954, and in 1978, the Spadina line was finished with a 2KM extension from Wilson to Downsview added in 1996.  The “Bloor-Danforth Line” opened in 1966, and extensions were added in 1968 and 1960.  Sure, we got the Sheppard “line” if you can call it that, with it’s five stops, and the Scarborough extension.  But is this primarily 1950’s and 1960’s infrastructure really suitable in 2018?
What about schools?  What about water, solid waste, and sewers?  What about parks?  What about access to healthcare for families living downtown?
The infrastructure in the downtown core is abhorrent, and I cringe when I think of the people who suggest we should tear down the Gardiner Expressway, “Because it’s unsightly,” and add to our already-congested roads.
So then, should we consider making the downtown core even more dense?  Or should we consider urban sprawl?
The reporter told me this afternoon, “There aren’t a lot of people who would come out and say they’re in favour of building in the Greenbelt, just look at the mayors who commented for the Toronto Star article.”
I quickly responded, “Well politicians don’t provide opinions that are unpopular; that’s why they’re politicians.  Politics isn’t about doing what’s best for people, it’s about self-preservation.”
None of the people who commented have any real plan for how to deal with rising home prices, or lack of existing infrastructure to support those in high-density areas.  They’re just looking to avoid saying anything that could cost them their job!
I was asked, “Don’t you think that by building houses in the Greenbelt, it will simply add to people’s commute times?”
Yeah, it will!
“You can’t have it both ways,” I said with a frustrated laugh.  “Home prices are too expensive and downtown is too dense.  There’s an article in the paper today about how prices in Hamilton have increased 70% in the last four years, because of people relocating from the expensive Toronto market!  So add new supply wherever you can in the GTA, and that might mean the Greenbelt!  But to complain about commute times?  You can’t have it both ways!  You can’t say that you want access to less expensive housing, and then bitch about commuting!”
Maybe it was just the way the question was phrased, or maybe it was the idea that people should have affordable housing and short commute times, I’m not sure.
So yeah, I did a very………….interesting interview.  But when you ask me about the future of Toronto, I get riled up.
Everything we talk about on TRB is directly related to the future of Toronto, whether you want to see it that way or not.  I’ve always felt that the reason real estate makes for such an interesting, and at times, hot-button topic is because everybody lives somewhere.  And when you live in Toronto, you can’t help but be tied to this city for all that it is, and will be.
Okay folks, that’s it for me.
Point #1 could have gone on, and on, and on, but I feel that just the mere mention of “the future of the city” should make you realize that, indeed, it truly is our top story.
Apologies for the 5,000+ words, which may be the longest post I’ve ever written, but I’d rather write too much than too little, and these are our top stories, after all.
Please let me know if you feel there’s a hot topic that should have been listed.
And of course, I welcome predictions for 2019, whether it’s topics to be on the lookout for, or actual predictions about the real estate market, economy, or financial market.
I’ll be back on Friday to sign off, and shed that one, lonely tear…
The post Top Five: Real Estate Stories Of 2018 appeared first on Toronto Realty Blog.
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nazih-fares · 7 years ago
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Now more than five years after its original release, Rockstar Games decided to give us a remastered version of one of its most iconic game of the past decade: L.A. Noire. Originally released on Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 (which I’ve reviewed for At7addak.com back in the days) and PC in 2011, the new launch is mainly for those that might’ve missed the original game, and wanted to experience it with updated technology. Themed like a noire film, with the desire to take the concept of the open world on a different road, more focused on the investigation than the pure and hard action, Team Bondi’s original work was amazing for its time. With amazing facial animations which were key to the title’s core gameplay as to be able to deduce your witnesses and criminal’s intentions or lies during investigations.  so that the player can better understand the impact of his lines, during interrogations. So now that I got my hand on a PlayStation 4 copy and Nintendo Switch version, the question is: is L.A. Noire still worth playing nowadays?
As you would expect from most remastered or re-released versions of games, L.A. Noire’s core storyline remains intact and untouched, almost to a point that it is better now with time, when compared to our most recent day’s productions. You see, few games since the initial release of L.A. Noire in 2011 have reached such a level of coherence between its universe and the narrative aspect of it. The player plays the role of Cole Phelps, a former Marines and war hero from the Okinawa battle during the second World War. When he returns to Los Angeles, medals don’t make it is easier for him to get back in the civilian lifestyle, and certainly not his career in the local police. Starting like everyone else as a mere patrol cop, our main character soon will discover by himself that he’s got a talent for investigation work, and starts solving more and more difficult cases. As he advance in his career, Phelps will soon discover that corruption is raging in his beloved city, and that appearances sometimes hide real monsters.
L.A. Noire is an amazing story until this day, with both lead and supporting characters all becoming immediately memorable. Whether these protagonists are Phelps teammates, murder victims, culprits or mere witnesses, they were all treated equally in terms of writing, down to the smallest detail, which reinforces the immersion, so much so that I find myself here replaying this game furiously and eagerly, even after all these years. There’s always a great story progression, pushing you to want to discover more, full of twists that are hard to see coming, and references to other known film noir. Your Femme fatale, late 1940s mobsters, Hollywood crooks, it’s all in there, with a slight dose of comedy, yet keeping a dark tone.
Now I should note that while this is a game clearly created by Rockstar Games, newcomers should be aware that L.A Noire is first and foremost a story to be told at its core, and not an open-world adventure like other titles done by the famed studio. Don’t expect to be grabbing uzis and shooting everything that moves, because this is no GTA.
L.A. Noire in terms of gameplay is an adventure led by police or detective investigation, more than an open world adventure. While the game is based on a fairly large map, it is not governed by the same mechanics as a GTA, to take the most obvious example. You will have the opportunity to travel throughout the city as you see fit, but that will mostly be to go from one key investigation scene to another, with no events on the way to distract you from your goal. Once again, as pointed out above, you are not going to experience the same model as what a Red Dead Redemption or GTA has introduced in the past, but that’s not a bad thing. Investigations are so well packaged that you will never be bored, thanks to the same proven cycle. After a cutscene presenting the facts, you will have to search on ground for clues, which are hinted to you thanks to little audio tunes (or vibrations on your controllers).
You’ll have to collect all these clues, which will be written in your trusty notebook, and help you with you interrogations. And this my friends and future detectives to be is where L.A. Noire shines! The choice of dialogues are relevant, even if we feel that it is still difficult to be wrong, or to launch into the wrong lead, thanks to Team Bondi’s insane work on facial animations, to be able to deduce if the person you’re questioning is lying or not.
Finally, your investigation only ends when you find a culprit. In this third part, you often have are led into a pure action sequences. Sadly, this is where L.A. Noire is not perfect, and unfortunately this remastered version was not an opportunity for Rockstar Games to fix this. Car chases and gun fights are too slow, and not engaging enough, in comparison to other games done by the mighty developer, which funny enough can be completely skipped if you fail them three times in a row. In any case, after handcuffing the one you think is the big bad guy in your case, you’ll get a general score or police report on your performance. If you have called for the wrong culprit and put an innocent goon behind bars, you’ll be able to restart the case from the beginning, which is great for those of you out there that are completionists.
This release of L.A. Noire on Nintendo Switch, was also an opportunity to add some small gameplay features for Rockstar Games. First of all, Joy-cons adds a sort of gyroscopic camera control, as well as the tablet itself uses its touch abilities to help you zoom into clues during investigations. You can also navigate through your notebook with a single finger movement, and even direct Phelps through the screen. All this gives the game a sort of point & click angle to the title, far from being anecdotal because it actually gives an undeniable comfort.
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Nevertheless, L.A. Noire cannot hide the fact that it is after all a 5 years and more game. Sure the game will run at full 1080p In dock mode, but the pure technical aspect of the game is still running on old generation technology. There is a hint of aliasing, but mostly framerate drops, and some environmental elements and the scenery tend to load late, creating a clipping noticed during driving sequence. And like it is the case with other titles on the  Nintendo Switch, playing it on the handheld mode fixes these concerns, but you’ll end up swapping these issues with occasional pop-ups and stuttering.
Other big issue for some of you, is that the Nintendo Switch version of L.A. Noir is about 30 GB on the Nintendo Switch which is too big for its internal memory, so expect to cough up some extra dollars on a brand new MicroSD card.
But what about the other console versions? Well, on PlayStation 4 (and Xbox One) L.A. Noire runs at 1080p, while jumping to 4K with HDR support on PlayStation 4 Pro and Xbox One X. Both versions of the Sony and Microsoft console got their shares of upgraded textures, better lighting and additional camera angles for cutscenes, but sadly all locked to 30FPS. Too bad for those of you that hoped for something more dynamic in terms of frame rates, especially when you could probably get up to 60FPS with the specs inside the Xbox One X and PlayStation 4 Pro.
The Xbox One and PlayStation 4 version of L.A. Noire has updated textures and up to 4K HDR support but still reminds us that this is an early 2010 game
As always, I’d like to point that Rockstar Games are just great when it comes to their game’s soundtrack. The latter is actually split into two parts, which are known tunes and real classics from performers such as Bing Crosby, Louis Armstrong or Tex Williams which I’m personally a big fan of, but it’s the other part of the soundtrack that are worth your time. Produced especially for L.A. Noire, and composed by Andrew Hale (who won a BAFTA award for best Original Music), the game’s themes are just marvelous, and some of the singing tracks, performed by Claudia Brücken are fit for this unique setting, and noire mood.
Finally, to end this review, you should know that investing into L.A. Noire nowadays is in general a neat package full of content. The game boast more than 25 cases, which average between an hour or two per case. And that is if you are content to only follow the main story, because L.A. Noire also has a multitude of smaller tasks and quests to finish, plus all previously released DLCs and exclusive console content are now available in these versions.
L.A. Noire was reviewed using a Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 retail copy of the game provided by Take-Two Interactive as well as an Xbox 360 copy purchased by the writer. The original game was released in 2011 on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC is available in both retail and downloadable versions on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. We don’t discuss review scores with publishers or developers prior to the review being published.
If you are someone that never played L.A. Noire back in 2011, then you shouldn't miss this remastered version of Rockstar Games' detective storytelling adventure. Now more than five years after its original release, Rockstar Games decided to give us a remastered version of one of its most iconic game of the past decade: L.A.
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wooderon · 7 years ago
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So I went to EGX again this year. This would be the point in the article where, if I’d have been a real journalist, I’d have given a brief background into EGX. But I honestly can’t be bothered to make that kind of effort right now. All you need to know is that it’s a big video gaming and culture convention that take place in the West Midlands of the U.K. for 4 days a year.
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It’s the third time I’ve gone in as many years and it’s pretty standard fare as far as these type of conventions go. A bunch of developers, large and small, show up and pedal their wares, so to speak. On top of that there are plenty of other attractions. People selling niche and retro merchandise based on video games, or other things the type of people who go to this type of event will probably like.
What I’m going to do it basically break down my day as it went and talk about the things worth noting at EGX and of course, what I saw in terms of upcoming releases and what I’m looking forward to.
The first thing I spent any major time at was the Virgin Media presents the Destiny 2 booth. Which was, quite frankly, hilarious. It’s not as funny as last year where Virgin had obviously also paid for a huge space to push Destiny, except Destiny was a two year old game at that point and why they needed to be there with such aggressive force was beyond me. The fact that it seemed to work and was a very busy booth was beyond me.
This year was a little different. There were loud and obnoxious, but strangely non visible, commentators hyping up the two groups of people who were playing both crucible and strikes, (using characters pre generated mind you, not their own.(For a game that’s already out.)) competing for the best time for some ill described grand prize. It was cool getting to see real life recreations of guardian armour and certain in game weapons though.
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It was nice to see a game I am mostly enjoying being enjoyed by so many others though. Even if there two hours wait times to play it. (Again. A game that’s been out for three weeks already!)
That does bring me to my main sticking point with the day, just how long the waits were. The event was busy, but it was still a large enough space that I never felt cramped. But every single one of the big AAA or hotly anticipated games at the convention had a two to three hour wait to try them out. Maybe this is the old man in me, but I flat out refuse to wait two hours to play anything at an event like this, especially considering how much of a known quantity these games tend to be.
Let’s break down all the biggest queues of the day shall we. Assassin’s Creed Origins; Okay, it’s been a few years since the last one of these. But how different has one of these titles been from the next: Marginal at best. You mostly know what you’re going to get. If I could have waited 20 minutes and played it, sure I’d have done that. But when it comes to sacrificing a significant portion of your day I refuse on principal.
Oh yeah. Let's wait 2 hours to play destiny 2. A game already out.
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Then there’s Far Cry 5; again, it looks like more Far Cry, it’s hardly groundbreaking stuff. Call of Duty, Battlefront 2, Forza. They’re all games I feel I don’t need to put hands on to understand, and yet they were all amongst the longest queues of the day. There were a couple of games I am a little bummed I didn’t get the chance to try as a result of my self restriction though.
One of which was Mario Odyssey. I’m sure you can make the argument that Mario games are all essentially the same and it contradicts my prior argument. But there hasn’t been a true 3D Mario platformer since Mario Galaxy on the Wii, plus have you seen that thing? It looks nuts. I’d rather play a new Nintendo made Mario game than the biggest shooter of the year every time. I mean, have you seen that T-Rex with a moustache?
The other game I wanted to try was Sea of Thieves. The Xbox exclusive from Rare is something totally different and I was really curious to try it first hand. A multiplayer based game where you and other players work together to run a ship and complete other wacky assorted pirate based tasks. It looks like a really open and creative game. I was really surprised though that the game had a multiple hour wait to play it. I felt like most people would gravitate to the the big budget franchises, this game was getting a lot of attention and it makes me all the more excited to finally try it out upon release.
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So if I would’t wait in any queues, what did I do with my day. Well having more time to explore meant I could spend more time discovering the lesser known and indie titles that were on display by the truckload. I ended up enjoying myself far more in the indie developer sections of the convention in comparison to the Ubisoft, Sony and Microsoft sections.
I got to try a number of little games, the standouts of which included an augmented reality tank game by the name of Smash Tanks, which was surprisingly really fun considering how early in development it was. It’s a game where you control a number of tanks on a surface in front of you, as seen through the lens of a tablet computer. You think it’s going to be a game similar to angry birds before you realise you’re flinging around the tanks themselves. It was good fun and I’ll keep an eye out in future.
The other game that really sticks out in my memory is called Phogs! I was drawn in straight away by the image above the single screen showing the game.
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A strange game where two people share a side of a single controller, both moving one head of the.. uh. Phog. It’s a puzzle game where your verbs are biting things and making your body longer, or snapping it back to its original length. It was very charming, despite the small amount of time I spent with it and had me and my brother randomly saying Phogs! at one another for the rest of the day.
As well has having the large indie section, there were a lot of middle ground types of booths there too. Games that were much bigger than the tiny indie displays, but nowhere near big enough to get a giant stare of a drake made for them.
One of the main things I was real excited about at the con was that I finally got my hands on Dragonball Fighter Z. Dragonball fighting games have been a very mixed bag over the years and Fighter Z looks like it might be the best honest fighting game to come from the series. I’m sure the game is full of complexities that fighter experts could describe better than me. But as a total beginner I managed to pick it up and just mash it out. I was rewarded with a very pretty looking game doing very cool things on screen pretty consistently.
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I tried to get hands on Cuphead, a game that has been shown at these events for years now and never seems to actually want to come out. There were only two screens playable and being lumped in with a lot of Microsoft’s other smaller titles, there was nobody to keep the queue moving along. The game looks like Contra, but has a very striking visual style. The game looks like a cartoon from the 1950s and draws your attention straight away. The game started out as a boss rush, but after demand to make it more of a platformer, the title was delayed for several years to meet that demand.
So after watching a couple of dudes die for the 5th time and not give the controllers up I decided to give it up. Because believe it or not the game is actually out this week. I’ve waited this long, what’s a couple days more.
After I managed to play most of the games I really wanted to try we stuck our heads in the retro arcade section that, once again, made an appearance.  It was pretty standard fare though as it was generally the same kind of stuff I’ve seen at events like these before. Filled with old consoles, arcade cabinets and pinball machines, they seem to serve the main purpose to show children how hard we had it before you could pal GTA on your phone. There were some cool things to take away for me though. I got to try an Afterburner arcade machine out, which was cool. Depite the fact that I had no idea how to not die straight away.
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Can’t get away from Sonic
No idea what this was, but the sounds coming out of it were amazing.
Outrun was there too
The machine was actually broken though, so I didn’t have the opportunity to be thrown out of it.
Afterburner is hard
The other cool story that came out of it was that I found myself playing Sonic 3 & Knuckles on an actual Mega Drive for the first time in my life. Considering I still own my old Sega Mega Drive and used to claim Sonic 3 & Knuckles was my favourite game of all time, I never played the game on its original platform before. I played it on the PC of all things. Weird. But after playing so much Sonic Mania these past few weeks, the original feels much more sluggish by comparison.
After we couldn’t get on a beanbag to play Micro Machines or Bomberman, we moved back to Sony’s stage to watch a guy from Capcom play the upcoming Monster Hunter World. I’m real excited to play this game, as are a lot of other people apparently. In Sony’s booth section there were only two screens playing Monster Hunter, and the queue was hilariously long compared to all of the others in the same section.
I got a bit fed up of playing Monster Hunter on a handheld, the game required more concentration and finesse than was easy on the small device. Plus, I couldn’t put the time I really wanted to in the device when it became painful to play after a time.
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Monster Hunter World isn’t just coming to console, it’s coming to all consoles. I don’t think the series has seen a release on a non Nintendo console outside of Japan since the original game on the PS2. While it seems far more actiony and accessible than the series usually tends to be, I’m very much looking forward to trying it out. The game looks stunning and the new focus on accessibility might make it so the series finally gets as big here as it is in Japan.
It was getting towards the end of the day by this point. So we made our way to the rear theatre to catch a live orchestra playing video game music. It seemed like a cool thing to try and catch. It’s a shame the idea was far better than the execution. The theatre was a curtained off area towards the back of the hall, right next to the Cosplay stage, which was right next to the Street Fighter stage. So a lot of the quieter pieces were drowned out by cosplayers shouting at their audiences for them to cheer louder. They had to shout to be heard over the the guy getting real excited about his thousandth Street Fighter match of the weekend.
It was a real shame to be honest, and you could tell the orchestra themselves were pretty annoyed. They had to forgo the Ori and the Blind Forest section altogether because we would have had no chance in hell of hearing it. I had been looking forward to that as I always loved the music in Ori and the Blind forest. It’s probably for the best though as I would have been all the more annoyed by not being able to hear it. I’m not going to say anything was ruined here, but it felt like a bit of shortsightedness from the organisers.
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By this point, the floor was only open for another hour and most of the big games had closed their lines to anyone new joining. So there wasn’t much more for us to play at this point, having missed our final chance at Sea of Thieves. So against my better judgement, I saw that the Sonic Forces booth was pretty empty and decided to give it a go.
Sonic Forces seems bad.
It feels really sad to admit that, but with what I’ve had to put up with as a Sonic the Hedgehog fan over the years, getting to play a really good Sonic game in Sonic Mania, following it up with this was somthing of a revelation.
The demo contained four stages; a classic Sonic stage and a modern Sonic stage, like we’ve seen before in Sonic Generations. It also had an “avatar” stage, the avatar being your self insert OC, and a team stage that included both Sonic and the avatar.
While the Sonic sections felt a lot like Generations, the stages involving the avatars were just plain bad. The action was much slower to make for use of the gadgets these characters revolve around, and the experience was not an enjoyable one. The platforming felt floaty and unresponsive. fighting enemies was tedious and required little effort behind pressing jump over and over.
There was one moment I couldn’t help but laugh at. As a team up attack occurred which had me mash a button for a while before the two characters started charging through the stage while some real old school cheesy rock started playing through the headphones like the Sonic Adventure era of games. It was the best thing I can say about the demo, and I only liked it ironically. I don’t have high hopes for Sonic Forces and I feel like the character might not have much of a life ahead of him outside of the retro throwbacks like Mania. Mania was both the best and worst thing that could have happened to that series.
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Overall I enjoyed my day at EGX. While it would have been nice to go and play all the big AAA titles from the likes of Nintendo and Ubisoft, if you wanted to play three of them, then that’s almost your entire day gone. I can understand why some people make the full four days out of the event. But in the end I think I found a happy medium. Most of us know what these big games are going to be, and generally know if we’re going to buy them one way or the other.
The advice I’d give to someone if they’re thinking about going in the future is take your time. Absorb the atmosphere and strange costumed characters that show up to these things. Spend some money on stuff you’ll inevitably throw away. But mainly, stick to the indie sections. Chances are you’ll get to play dozens of games if you plan your day like this, and end up finding some little gems that will stay on your radar in the coming years. It’s what made me pick up Little Nightmares last year, as well as Snake Pass. And you can bet I’m going to be picking up Phogs! when it eventually gets a release too.
My time at EGX 2017 So I went to EGX again this year. This would be the point in the article where, if I’d have been a real journalist, I’d have given a brief background into EGX.
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purplesurveys · 7 years ago
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What day would you consider the best day of your life? Why? I spent the longest time on this question only to decide not to give an answer. I don’t know, all my ‘best’ days have always been stained with something bad in between. I guess the closest to being the best is the night I got accepted to UP. That was a feeling I haven’t gotten to emulate ever since, but even then, I had a meh day for the most part and even cried in the afternoon. Do you listen to music simply for the melody or for the lyrics? Either. Whatever I’m more drawn to for a certain song. Is there a song out there that reminds you of a certain ex? Not really other than a local song by a local band. It’s called Oo by Up Dharma Down. Are you addicted to anything dangerous? What exactly is that? Making myself feel like shit and never giving myself a break from anything. Do you faint at the sight of blood? Have you always been like that? Not faint, but I get squeamish. I easily get light-headed, yes.
Would you ever consider becoming a prostitute or stripper? Not me, but that’s just my choice. I wouldn’t criticize someone doing it for a living either. Who would you consider your favorite stand-up comedian? I’m not really into standup comedy. Has anyone ever mistaken you for a certain stereotype? I don’t think so. When I stepped into university people weren’t quick to cast stereotypes on me or my blockmates. They were very open, so instead of being like, “Oh I thought people from your high school were so and so...” they asked me how it was being in my high school and were also eager to hear about my experiences there. I also haven’t had a bad stereotyping experience when it comes to being Asian or Filipino. What is the most visited website on your Internet window? I don’t check but maybe YouTube or Facebook. Do you like the daytime or the nighttime better? Why is this? Nighttime. Just a preference. What was the first horror movie you ever saw? How old were you? No clue. It’s among Paranormal Activity, The Exorcist, or The Ring. I watched all around the same period and I’ve forgotten which came first. Would you say you're too experienced or too unexperienced for your age? Unexperienced. I’m painfully shy - I haven’t joined or tried out for a lot of things plus I’m also so scared of making mistakes that I avoid stuff I might fail in, so I’ve ended up missing out on a lot. Do you normally like the dreams you have at night? Why? I don’t remember having one that I really enjoyed. The ones that stay with me are the bad dreams; and the other ones I forget immediately after waking up. Have you ever given up on someone completely before? It happens. What is the color or your favorite hoodie at the time being? I don’t wear hoodies anymore. Do you avoid the past of most people you meet? No, I don’t see why that’s necessary. If they’re open to tell me about it, I’d listen. Do you always try to make a good first impression with people? At first I used to not care, but I do try now. How many windows are in the room you're in, if there are any? It’s two big ones, but when each window is counted individually it comes up to eight. Do you always voice your opinion to random people? Well certainly not to random people, but I’m vocal around people I know. Are you related to the person you last talked to on the telephone? Nope. But come to think about it Gab and I are very very distantly related and I love teasing her about it lol. Is your hair bad for getting static electricity in it, or not so much? I don’t mess with anything electricity in the first place, so I wouldn’t know. What is your favorite holiday of all-time? Why is this? Not really a holiday but I always look forward to Halloween because I love horror. Do you think freshman are too immature most of the time? Some of them can be. Most are just too eager to feel grown up. What is your favorite neon color? Ever buy nail polish that color? I’m not into neons and I don’t use nail polish. Have you ever eaten a cotton ball before? What was it like? Why would anyone willingly eat a cotton ball.....that might even get caught in your throat?? Do you actually like the cell phone you have, or not so much? I like it and I’m not necessarily chasing after an iPhone 6, but my screen’s been cracked for so long and I just want to get it fixed :( What time is it where you are currently? 7:50 AM. Has anyone ever gotten in your face completely bitching you out? Yeah my mom on a normal day. Do you ever make your own personal surveys for enjoyment? I don’t make my own. What kind of instant messaging system do you currently have? I only have Facebook Messenger and Telegram. Have you ever peeled paint off of a building? Was it hard to do? No, I haven’t. When is the next time you'll hang out with a long-time friend? Er I guess Tuesday, since Angela and I have a class together. Do you ever watch scary movies alone or are you too afraid to? I watch them alone, but I prefer someone to be with me. Has anyone ever mistaken you to be a member of the opposite sex? Not seriously, but I got teased about it a lot when I was younger. Do you ever watch soap operas? Which ones are your favorite? Nope. Would you ever consider yourself over-dramatic? No, if I ever start drama it’s because of my BPD making me start flipping shit and crying because I was like 45 seconds late to something, but for the most part, that’s not me. Do you like to sing? Do you personally think you have a good singing voice? I like singing along whenever I listen to songs, but I’m not a singer. Are you one of those creepers who is overly excited about Twilight? Yes if you want to put it that way. How often do you text people? Who do you text the most? The only person I text regularly is my girlfriend, the others not so much. Do you accept compliments easily, or not so much? I have a hard time receiving them. Have you ever gone hunting before? Do you think it's wrong? Hunting is wrong. What do you do when you see a stray animal on the side of the road? Stray dogs and cats are commonplace here, so I’ve grown to be used to it. I always feel a little more bad seeing dogs, though. What would you consider your second choice as a dream career? Art curator. That was the course I had to give up from another university. Have you ever worn the same outfit two days in a row? Probably. Has someone ever spied on you from outside a window before? No...not that I know of. Are you someone who always leaves the lights on in your room? My bedroom light is actually never on. I keep it turned off even at night. How many lamps are in your living room? What color are they? We don’t have a lamp, just two big enough ceiling lights to cover the whole room. One is silver and the other is dark brown. Do you usually like surveys with a lot of questions or not so much? Depends on what I’m in the mood to take. How often would you say your computer freezes up? Never. It’s pretty new and I’ve been more careful about the software I put on here, so it hasn’t had any problems so far. What is your favorite color? Are your bedroom walls this color? I like black and pastel pink, but my bedroom walls are white. Do you ever listen to the band Death Cab For Cutie? Just one song of theirs since Gab dedicated it to me.  What is one word you could never properly pronounce? ‘Beautiful’ is pretty hard for anyone with a Filipino accent I think. Is there anyone you know who can never take a bad picture? Lots. Gabie, Athenna, Denise, my sister. What color is your landline phone? Do you like this color? Black. Sure, it’s simple. Do you like to wear skirts? Do you prefer just denim or frilly fluffy ones? I don’t like wearing skirts. I know denim skirts is the trend now, but I don’t own one.  Has anyone ever told you that you must have ADHD? Nope. How many iPods or mp3 players have you had in your entire life? Two. Three of your favorite movies in the world: Two For the Road, Good Will Hunting, Requiem For A Dream. What does it smell like in the room you're currently in? I’ve been here a while so I don’t smell anything in particular anymore. What is the longest amount of time you've played video games consecutively? No idea, maybe 4-5 hours playing GTA or Sims. When was the last time you got mad and broke something? I’ve never broken something because I was angry. Do you have a laptop and a desktop or just one of those? Just a laptop. Would you say you're good at persuading people into things? Noooooo no no I get really shy and I’m terrible at convincing. Except for Gab though. I’ve learned persuading when it comes to her. Are you missing anyone at this moment in time? Sure. What day of the week is it? Is this your favorite day of the week? It’s Sunday and it is actually my least favorite day. Do you ever use cheats when you play video games? No, it gets boring that way. What is a physical feature people compliment you on the most? Just my figure in general. Would you consider yourself a creative person? Hell to the fucking no. When was the last time you fingerpainted with someone? Like never. How many people are currently on your contact list in your phone? More than 50 I’m guessing. Where is somewhere you're excited to go in the next few days? I’m not planning to go anywhere other than school for the next week. Has anyone, besides yourself, considered you as a failure? Yeah my mom. When was the last time you took a picture with someone? Thursday. What is your favorite day of the year? February 23rd. Does your family go 'all out' during the holidays? No, and that’s why I hate holidays. I feel very inadequate and left out because my family never plans anything up. Would you consider yourself to be a very playful person? No. Would you prefer cold or warm weather? Why? COLD. Because constant 32ºC weather can get so fucking boring. Do you enjoy being tickled, or does it ever make you angry? I hate it, since it makes me anxious and I easily panic knowing I can’t breathe when it happens. What color are your favorite pair of jeans? Egh I don’t like jeans. The pair I wear the most is blue though. How often in a year do you go to the mall to get new clothes? Maybe like twice or thrice. I don’t update my wardrobe all that much. Have you ever won a trophy or medal for something you've done? No, just certificates. Who was the last person to call you beautiful? What was your reaction? My girlfriend. I might have rolled my eyes. How many people do you know who are currently pregnant? None. Do you like watching old home videos of yourself? YESSSSS they are so fun to watch. When will you next see the person you love or are in love with? I’m guessing Friday. We normally see each other Tuesday, but she’s told me she’s booked this week. Do you ever get paranoid about who your significant other hangs out with? No. She knows I hate her dorm mates though. Do you make typos on the computer a lot? How often, actually? A little bit. I type fast, so it happens. What is your favorite international food? Why is it your favorite? I love anything Indian. It’s so diverse and they use lots of spices and it’s a different taste compared to Philippine cuisine, so I’ve learned to appreciate it much more than any other kind of food. Do you eat fast food too much for your health, or not so much? LOL probably. What is the color of the shirt you're currently wearing? Black. How old are you and what is your birthday? I was born on April 21st 1998, which makes me 19. Do you fully understand what it takes to be a best friend to someone? It’s different for everyone, since there’s no formula to being the best best friend. As for my case, yes I guess so. I’ve been best friends with one for 12 years and the other for 5, so I must be doing something right. Do you go to amusement parks a lot or not so much? Definitely not so much because I can’t go on rides anyway.
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