Yaramaki

Yeah same here, buying bottled water is such a waste of money imo. I do buy sparkling water during the summer but i don't really have a favourite so i usually buy the cheapest one i can find in stores because water is water and if you are realy thirsty any water tastes good.

I feel like tecmo koei would be a better and cheaper option for microsoft like you have Dead or alive, Ninja gaiden, the Atelier series and the entire Musou shebang as potential exclusives alongside whatever else tecmo koei has as ip's it would be a much better option for microsoft as you can reach a much more nicher type of gamers with these type of games and those usually like spending more money on games then more casual gamers. Like for example turning something like the Fable series into a musou game would make perfect sense for a spin off fable game instead of that sorry excuse kinect game that pretty much killed the franchise. I don't think microsoft needs to buy bandai namco, give BD a big sack of cash for a Tales exclusive and they are good to go. Maybe if uncle Bill finds some pocket change under his couch why not go for a new ridge racer aswell.

The thing is Microsoft tried really hard to appeal to the japanese market but alas failed quite a bit. With the first xbox you have exclusives like shin megami tensei nine, innocent fears and a whole slew of other more japanese oriented games like jockey road and the highly experimental N.U.D.E., you can find a decent write over at the gamer if anyone care here and then i haven't talk about the slew of sega games that were xbox exclusive like sega gt 2002, jet grind radio and panzer dragoon orta to just name a few. Those games were selling points to get the system and now that i think of it damn i'm even forgetting dead or alive 3, xtreme volleyball and ninja gaiden duo of games. With the 360 they really pushed to get a foothold into the japanese market, Who remembers the trilogy of rpg's that were 360 exclusives Blue dragon, lost odyssey and infinite undiscovery. Even tales of vesperia was a 360 exclusive for the longest time. Microsoft even managed to get the first 2 idolm@ster games exclusive before things blew up. Man and let's not forget the many bullet hell shooters were many are still console exclusives and offcourse the visual novel galore. So it's not like they diden't try. With the xbox one you had nothing of that, i think there were barly 200 games released in physical format in japan and no i'm not planning on collecting them anytime soon lol. Eventough a complete japanese physical xbox collection does sound nice but you know i've got to draw a line somewhere. It's too early to talk about series x as i see it's still those going well above the original retail price on sites like yahoo auctions japan and mercari. So it's asummable that avaibility is still scarce.

Playing a bit of rune factory 5 today

As xbox fan this always good news like music to my ears now if they slap future jrpg's on a disc and i'd be even more happy. I feel like the recent flux of jrpg's its more catered to the west tough as i doubt japanese are going to switch over to xbox, you also have to know that in japan internet is not as fast as we have over in the west, it's also one of the reason many japanese sites still look they were made 20+ years ago, so i doubt gamepass is an option for those people that live in rural japan, maybe things have changed since i last was in japan but i doubt it. As for How do you think they can do this? The only way i can think off make sure you have games that are worth getting an xbox for and try to keep all these more nicher japanese games out of sony and nintento claws by getting them on xbox aswell, pretty unbelievable that a big game like persona 5 and both ni no kuni games toke this long to get on an xbox platform. With the amounts of cash microsoft has you would guessed they give smaller japanese companies a sack of cash to get port their games on xbox, but no it only toke them an entire console generation to figure out that western audiences also like something more then halo/forza and gears. Speaking from a collectors standpoint i've started to notice that a lot more smaller releases seem to be getting a physical release on xbox, where it used to be playstation and switch only mainly because microsoft their unit demand was way too big, so that is a good step in the right direction, again it only toke them an entire generation to figure out that people still buy physical games and there is money to be made. But overall i feel like Microsoft their tokyo game show was as much focused on the west then it was focussed on japan. The message i got from it was hey we are commiting to bringing over more japanese titles so you don't need to get a playstation anymore if you want to play those games. I'd wouldn't mind dabbling a bit in the history of xbox in japan but it would take me another hour to write and you know i doubt many even give a shit. But yeah good topic @Techno thanks for creating it also if you feel like it please share your oppions aswell.

It's pretty much standard affair in any modern rpg these days, in dragon quest 11 you can redistribute skills at any statue or church. The witcher 3 also had a potion i think where you could redistribute all your skills. I think any modern assasins creed you can redistribute skills whenever you want. The problem is i can't really remember what games exactly because i usually tend to play as the warrior class and not look back so i never really have to make use of these items. I'm fairly sure dragon age also had an item that you could use to redistribute your skills atleast inquisition had because i changed my class to rogue mid game. A couple of others that i remember that had respec options were borderlands 2 and i'm pretty sure 3 had aswell and diablo 3 i'm also sure you could respec your character. I think this may be an interesting topic to discuss by itself but as my memory fails me now, should anybody be interested in creating such a topic i probably will have to boot up some older saves to see which games you are able to respec your skill points so i can add something to the conversation.

There are several other ways you could possible use as gaining additional points, why not have a game challenge, we used to have these high score challenges on other forums but i doubt this would work here as not everybody would have the same game. Why not try something like where a member could possible earn points for completing a game, it's fairly easy to prove these days where you show a picture of your tv or whatever else providing the date and achievement/trophy or just plain proof aslong the date is there that you beat the main story of a game and get a few points as reward. Or maybe Dc can give out some points where he feels like they earned it by contributing good posts to vgr on a consistent basis. Having a member of the week is probably pushing it but i feel like the member of the month idea i previously suggested would already be a good start. Say you get a game trough bid for rewards send in proof you played it and why not beat it and get your points back. Maybe do a quiz from time to time where the answers are not easy to find but have been posted on the board and reward those that read troughly like for example what genre of music does shagger like most or what is an animal theblackangel would not kill in a videogame, what is justin11 his favourite team, How many games has yaramaki bought in june, what is withywarlock his favourite game etc etc. I'm just making this up as i go as brainstorming always seems to help others come up with some ideas.

Care to post a link to your youtube channel Justin? maybe i can help you get to 566 subscribers 😅

Ask me this after new year when i'm starting my new job and the answer would be yes, since i have to work abroad every once in a while and mostlikely be on the road all the time, i'd say before a long drive Sneak may work miracles, not only that but it also would not take up much space in my luggage if i'm going to have stay in a hotel somewhere which is bound to happen at times.

I don't really see anything wrong with the current points system to be honest, it's not that it overly matters to me as i never came here to get free stuff as i came here because i wanted to talk about videogames and it's culture . I think i've got 2 switch games so far trough the bid for rewards program, while these are neat rewards and a nice gesture from dc, it should not be the main motivation to keep posting here and to me it never will. One thing you could do is make a overhaul of the Member of the month and reward second and third place also with some points, it would be more motivating especially for newer members that their posts are appreciated here and we want them to continue to post here. Maybe something worth considering @DC what do you think? If you are going to do a shop i'd probably say some vgr merch would be cool but i don't know i'd just rather buy it myself instead because you know some vgr merch would be cool tough. Yeah i wouldn't mind wearing a shirt that says Proud Moderator at vgr.com bitches or something along those lines lol. But i'll take anything i can get really even if it's cosmetics for the forum. I think the reputation is fine as it is and i'm probably the only one who sees it more as how reputable somebody their posts are as in quality posts, my goal is to reach 500 reputation by the time i hit 1000 posts, so far i'm on course. If i could reach it that means half my posts were liked and that is enough to put a smile on my face and to keep me motivated to continue putting time and effort into my posts, even if some take me over half an hour to write.

Above anything else to make a location feel real it has to be lived in wheter it's by npc's, animals or whatever creature you want. Npc's have to go about their way and have their own agenda not just be there to give the player a hint or just to sell are your junk to. The city or place doesn't necessary have to based on a real life city or place for that matter, the original fable was one of the first games that i felt like this is a world where other people live in and are not here because of me. I feel like the yakuza games also give a sense of lived in world that is not rivaled to this day and probably why not name one of the best and most underrated open world games out there sleeping dogs as this is how you create an interesting world, i've been to hong kong myself and must say the whole sleeping dogs world made me feel like i'm actually a tourist in Hong Kong at times combined with asian music and atmosphere you have a videogame location that feels pretty darn close to the real thing.

These days most rpg's have an option where you can redistribute skills and talents at some point or even any given point in the game either for a small fee or a special item so it's not all that bad where you lose hours of progress. Knowing myself i usually play as a warrior type class or something in between that so that is what i usually go for, i've tried playing as magician whenever i started a new rpg but i end up either restarting all over because it's not really my playstyle especially if the game is new to me. But if the option is just not there to redistribute skill points i'll take my loss and start over. But as stated i usually just play as a warrior and start experimenting with other playstyles once i've mastered most aspects of the game.

Where i live the series x is becoming more and more avaible i've seen it in a few stores here and there where you can just grab one, even a couple of local online stores like bol.com have it in stock. Ps5 on the other hand i've yet to see one for sale well at normal retail price.

I've never really played online much, i did it for a while during the early 360 days until i realised it was nothing for me and it's safe to say i rather play games on my own and create my own version of what is fun to me. I don't really have a problem with communicating with others as i'm a fairly social type of guy who can talk to pretty much anybody about whatever but i do however as you state it yourself don't really feel the need to be social, there are times where i'd rather be alone and just want to do my own thing wheter it's playing videogames or doing something else like go out hiking solo for an entire day. You shouldn't see it as a problem when somebody wants to spend some time alone or just want to be left alone alltogheter, no on the contrary it's a good characteristic to have.

2023 is still far away so from the games that are still coming out this year that i'm going to buy at launch or close to launch : Hokko life -> looks kinda like an animal crossing clone but since it's only 30 bucks at launch i'm willing to give it a shot, comes out on september 27th. Persona 5 Royal -> Because i want to support these atluse Xbox physical editions as much as possible. Mount & Blade 2 Bannerlord -> Kinda suprised this comes out on the 25th of october, if the first game was anything to go by this will be another time sinker for me. I still value the first game as one of the best open world games ever, since you can do pretty much anything you want. Lemon cake -> Don't know much about it other then that you run an old bakery, since i'm a baker in real life it's a no brainer i'm getting this. Harvestella -> Kind of a mix between farming, life simulation and a jrpg by square enix looks really promising hopefully it's better then run factory 5 I'm sure i'm forgetting a couple some have already been released like digimon surivive but i'm holding off until i can get them on sale maybe not this year but next year then.

Cool thanks now let's keep the champions league talk going. Let's talk about what team suprised you the most so far(only one answer to that but still) and what team let you down the most ( again only one answer to that in case you are wondering they are wearing red colors and are from the uk ).

Well not entirely since i diden't have a next gen system when i last played fifa 21 and i also did not have a 4k tv at the time so that is going to be a huge difference. But i get where you are coming from it's like falling into the same trap over and over again, i just feel like playing some fifa in between games from time to time again and turn Schalke 04 into a european powerhouse again trough career mode either trough player or manager mode, it doesn't matter because before you know it your 30 hours later and still going strong.

Lol i gained quite some weight during the covid period since all you could do was eating way too much for your own good, drinking beer/wine and playing videogames. Thank god i could still go to work or it would have gotten way out of hand. I lost about 60 pounds, little over 25 kg since covid restrictions ended and i could go out hiking again. These days i hike about 25-30 kilometers on a weekly basis to keep my weight under control. Maybe if i give up booze and unhealty eating habits as in eating fries atleast 4 times a week combined with a bunch of other unhealthy crap i'd see even more result but so far i'm satisfied with losing the weight i put on during covid and then some by just being able to go out hiking again.

Anybody have a problem if we would turn this thread into the general champions league for the 22/23 thread, choice is with you @Justin11 since you created this thread would you mind if i change the topic title and so we can keep this thread around for anything that has to do with champions league this season.

After reading trough @Shagger and @Withywarlock detailed reviews. This made me kinda curious how good sneak would work and taste, based on their reviews and since Sneak has a european store i'm going to order a starter pack, taster pack and probably a metal shaker so i can get the free shipping. Got a couple of long hikes planned during autumn so it would be good to see if Sneak gives me a energy boost after 10-15 miles of hiking. If in any case i woulden't like sneak i can always use the shaker as a water bottle. I know Sneak is meant for gaming but i work at night so i probably can only test it for gaming when i'm a day off but if it helps me getting more concentrated during gaming especially since i can't really game hours on end anymore that would be a win win as my gaming backlog is huge.

After skipping fifa for a year for the first time in like forever, i feel like i'm going to get fifa 23 aswell, it's hard to admit it but i kinda miss playing a few matches of football here and there in between games and you know manager mode and career mode seem to have gotten an upgrade so it made me kinda curious wheter or not it's going to be any good but I usually got my money's worth out of fifa games.

Depends really while i agree with the framerate being much better compared to last gen well apart from the switch that is, a couple of framerate drops here and there i can take but certain games on the switch my god are running like shit with framerate constantly dropping or houses that take a few seconds to load in. I feel like the switch is starting to show it's age. Another thing of note, that has changed over the course of 10 years is that most big publishers aren't willing to take a gamble on something new in fear that it's going to flop, i fear like sony is also going to start playing it safe instead of coming up with a new ip every once in a while. I get it making games is expensive as fuck and money has to be made so there is not a whole lot you can do about it other then going the safe route and make something that people are familiair with and will buy instead of you know something like days gone exellent game btw but that games was a gamble and apperently diden't sold well enough according to sony. On the other hand indie games are thriving while big publishers have lost their ways, maybe it's time big publishers start taking an interest in developing more smaller games themselves instead of sequel after sequel. But i don't know man this generation is weird because after nearly 2 years, console availability is still scarce and aslong as developers aren't going to ditch developing ps4/xbox one versions for their games, i feel like we never going to see what these current gen machines can do. Up until now my ps4 pro and xbox one x can do pretty much the same as a ps5/xbox series x it may not run as smoothly but it can run all the same games nonetheless apart from a few exeptions. imo 9th generation hasn't properly kicked off yet, like we are in the middle of a transition so it's too early to say wheter it's going to be better or not.

Knowing full well this is a pointless rant on vgr, i just had to get this out there, so thanks in advance if you're reading all the way trough and get my point or for skipping it all togheter you have my thanks aswell : Disclaimer : I'm not posting this to show off, I made this post on another board as to just defend myself, why i don't buy a lot of stuff anymore because even for me prices for retro games are out of control. I got some flack on another board that i don't collect a lot of retro games anymore, to me the 6th generation of consoles are old enough to be considered retro but apperently not for other people. It's not that i care about others oppinion too much but i'd rather make my point clear. Here is the reason why i don't collect a lot of retro anymore, while i don't really follow prices of stuff i already have too much, prices for retro games are out of control take this game for example. Dicing Knight Period for the wonderswan color, while it's never been a cheap game up until five years ago you could get this for for 300 bucks here is my copy in case you think i'm talking out of my ass, which i paid 275 at the time was probably too much but i had to have it that + it was a brand new copy : And just look at this auction on yahoo japan that ended a few hours ago, Consider me flabbergasted man this is fucking madness who can afford that in exeptional expensive times like we are in now 1500 bucks : All in all i should be happy that it goes for so much money but on the other hand these insane prices are ruining what once was a great hobby, it still is fun for me after all these years but it's just different as i can't and don't want to afford paying these prices.

I don't know about the witcher, the first game was a cluncky mess to be honest. The second game was good but when you compare it to the third game it's falls short. Many people probably started with the third game and went back to the second will probably met with disappointment. As to the topic at hand : Obvious answers would be a lot of nintendo franchises like the mainline mario games and The legend of zelda mainline games, can't really think of any bad game in the mainline series. I'd say pokemon aswell but a lot of pokemon spin off games are just not that good so let's exclude that. Other than that Forza motorsport and it's spin off forza horizon games have always been top notch so you can blindly get those if you are into racing games. I feel like dragon quest and it's many spin off games have never let me down either. What else i'd say square enix if you leave out and forget their western themed games and solely take a look at there jrpg outings i'd say nearly all of them qualify as stellar games wheter it's a long running series or not, you know you are getting a well made quality jrpg. Probably worth mentioning aswell : Uncharted, Metro trilogy, grand theft auto, Story of seasons, Rune factory, Dirt, God of war, etc

The age old question is when are you addicted to something like really guessing this is for each person a different answer. Some friends called me out that my alcohol comsumption is problematic and that i drink too much alcohol then is good for me, but on the other hand they are offended when i turn down an alcoholic drink when they offer me one. So i don't know i can easily turn down alcohol when needed especially when i'm driving i take my responsibility but yeah in the evening when i'm home alone i dare to drink a couple of strong beers or down a bottle of wine to relax sometimes on a daily basis, it does not effect my life and you know it helps me relax and relief stress whilest a videogame or reading the paper for example. What makes you think your addicted to pornography? do you watch it daily, multiple times a day? I feel like aslong you can actknowledge the difference between what real sex is as in what normal people do vs what you see in "adult" movies i don't really see the problem, but if you are expecting that every woman will do a threesome, glady take a facial or will take a **** up her ass then i'd say it's a problem. Needless to say that kinda attitude is disrespectful towards women. Not judging you at all man, if you want to talk about it wheter on the board or if your rather want to talk in person send me a pm, maybe it will help to talk about because it's not an easy subject to admit that is problematic for a person.