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    3. What did you do this week (and weekend)?

      ~talk Ask (survey)
      As part of a weekly series, these topics are a place for users to casually discuss the things they did — or didn't do — during their week. Did you accomplish any goals? Suffer a failure? Do...

      As part of a weekly series, these topics are a place for users to casually discuss the things they did — or didn't do — during their week. Did you accomplish any goals? Suffer a failure? Do nothing at all? Tell us about it!

      11 votes

    4. CGA-2025-11 🔴🟡🔵🟢 INSERT CARTRIDGE 🟢 PlayStation WHAT?

      ~games Text 1643 words
      Warning: this post may contain spoilers

      COLOSSAL GAME ADVENTURES PRESENTS:

      🐶️⚡️🥤🎼😤 PlayStation WHAT? 🎤️🪵🏃🐰🚁

      Introduction

      Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow is a 2003 Metroidvania, developed and published by Ko-

      Wait, that didn't make it? What am I presenting?

      Oh. Oh boy.

      Here's my dirty little secret: I've only played one of these games! But I know all of 'em, at least, and I'm just as excited to play them too. So! Let's set the scene a few years back.

      It's the mid-'90s, and Japan's '80s economic bubble burst due to some sick gamer-level capitalism exploit bullshit going awry. But good news! Its most successful tech megaconglomerate exports are still chugging along on good brand recognition. You go, consolidation of wealth.

      Sony is riding high, and running on pure anger from their infamously botched plans for a SNES CD add-on with Nintendo. Despite some internal mix of interest and doubt, they release the PlayStation in 1994. It's selling like gangbusters, and they're in a position to take risks.

      Well, sorta. They direct a production arm, Sony Computer Entertainment, to throw money at different development teams; those devs fill in to help make PlayStation hits. Ridge Racer, Crash, Tekken... Look, just check this list and peep at how often SCE pops up here. Sony wanted to make sure their library was rock solid: 14 out of the 22 of the games within the first two years had SCE's hands in the cookie jar. To sell over a million... Cookies. With a dozen genres of cookies covered. The PS1 outsold the PS3! And we all know, the PS3 had no cookies.

      But you can't just live on expectation, or the big fish, or cookies. (The big cookie?) Look at the Xbox right now! You'll get stagnant and supplanted by The Bigger Thing. You need funk to stand out. Variety. IP. Je ne sais cookie. Something no one else has. Sony knew this, and a lot of Japanese creators are ready to make some reeeal fresh games.

      Here's where we come in. CDs suddenly enable crazy multimedia opportunities for artists and musicians to get their ideas across, and 3D environments are the hot new thing. Myst is just a bunch of pictures, videos, and audio strung together, and people are still caught up in how immersive that PowerPoint can be. So come on, this should be easy! Slap something together - an idea, your brand, a simulacrum of this dumb thing you like. Maybe it works, and congrats, you're a cult artist! Maybe it doesn't? Give it 20 years, and congrats! You're still a cult artist. What can go wrong?

      Sony enables some of these ideas themselves through SCE; others do it on their own. Either way, some very original stuff is thrown at the PlayStation. Some of the pasta really sticks to the wall. ...Or, some of those cookies stick to the jar? I'm bad with extended metaphors.

      Anyway, these games speak for themselves. Let's play them!

      I've got a separate post which I will keep down in the discussion for some fun context, history, and trivia about the games, for anyone who would like them. But overall, my advice: just play 'em. Most of them you'll get within five minutes, or they may already have you hooked by then. Some games are about the shock of an idea, the opportunity and newness driving them to fruition over polish, implementation, even thought. It's about the feeling.

      If you haven't played some of these, promise me you'll ignore any write-ups, screenshots, videos, anything, and try at least one fresh, without any prior knowledge. I think we'll all be a little better for it!

      Or, traumatized!

      Here are the games:

      Parappa the Rapper

      Info

      Versions: Original (PS1 - 1996, PSP - 2006), Remastered (PS4 - 2017)

      Genre(s): Music / rhythm

      Links: Mobygames, Wikipedia

      Stores:
      PlayStation Store (Remaster)

      How Long To Beat:
      2-4 Hours
      Not much to replay!

      Parappa the Rapper 2

      Info

      Versions: Original (PS2 - 2001, PS4 - 2015)

      Genre(s): Music / rhythm

      Links: Mobygames, Wikipedia

      Stores:
      PlayStation Store

      How Long To Beat:
      2-5 Hours
      A little more replayable!

      Irritating Stick

      Info

      Versions: Original (PS1 - 1998)

      Genre(s): Arcade, precision

      Links: Mobygames, Wikipedia

      Stores:
      Generally unavailable! ~$30 on ebay

      How Long To Beat:
      4.5 hours, according to a single dude on howlongtobeat
      Years of therapy

      Pepsiman

      Info

      Versions: Original (PS1 - 1999)

      Genre(s): Arcade, runner

      Links: Mobygames, Wikipedia

      Stores:
      Generally unavailable! Uhhhh, $286 on ebay secondhand? $900 for an unopened copy?? Holy hell.

      How Long To Beat:
      2-4 hours
      Additional hours of working off those Pepsi calories

      Vib-Ribbon

      Info

      Versions: Original (PS1 - 1999), Ports (PSP, PS3, and PS Vita - 2014)

      Genre(s): Music / rhythm

      Links: Mobygames, Wikipedia

      Stores:
      ~$40 secondhand
      Technically I think you can still load money to your account via an active PlayStation Store and then buy it on the Vita..?

      How Long To Beat:
      30 minutes - 1,349 years?

      Incredible Crisis

      Info

      Versions: Original (Arcade, PS1 - 1999)

      Genre(s): Arcade, music / rhythm, puzzle, shooter, etc, etc, etc...

      Links: Mobygames, Wikipedia

      Stores:
      Generally unavailable! ~$30 secondhand. This CGA is expensive!

      How Long To Beat:
      3 hours
      1 explanation to your partner about that "back massage"

      Important

      • Yes, these games are weird and rare! But any links to the game should be legal distributions of the game only. Please do NOT link to any unauthorized copies.

      • Put any spoilers in a dropdown block. Copy/paste the block below if needed.

      <details>
<summary>Spoilers</summary>

Spoiler text goes here.
</details>

      Game Setup

      The main purpose of this topic is to get people up and running with the game. As such, it's recommended that you:

      Share which version of the game you're playing
Share what hardware you're playing it on
Share if there are any tools/mods that you recommend
Share anything you think is important for people to know before they start the game
Ask questions if you need help
Ask what the hell is going on in Incredible Crisis
Get checked for RSI after Irritating Stick

      Another purpose of this topic is to revisit the game and its time period:

      Do you have any memories or associations with this game itself?
What about its system or era?
What aspects of retro gaming were common at the time?
What other games from the same time period are you familiar with?
What are you expecting from this game in particular?
U rappin' good?

      Finally, this topic is the beginning discussion for people starting to play it:

      Post updates sharing your thoughts as you play.
Ask for help if you get stuck.
Offer help to others.
Share some sick beats for Vib-Ribbon.

      It is recommended that you reply to your own posts if you are making consecutive updates so that they are in the same thread.

      FAQ

      What is CGA?

      Colossal Game Adventure (CGA) is Tildes' retro video game club.

      Each month we will play a different retro game/games, discuss our thoughts, and bask in the glorious digital experiences of yesteryear!

      Colossal Game Adventure is a reference to Colossal Cave Adventure. It's one of the most influential games of all time, one of the first text-based interactive games, and one of the first games to be shared online.

      What do we want to do with this group? Play influential games; interact with each other through text; and share the love for retro games online!

      It also abbreviates to CGA (because we love chunky pixel art), and its name communicates the Colossal amount of fun and excitement that we have with retro video Games in our shared Adventure of playing them together.

      Do I have to sign up?

      No. Participation is open to all.

      There is a Notification List that will get pinged each time a new topic goes up. If you would like to join that list, please PM u/kfwyre.

      Are there restrictions on what/how to play?

      Each month will have a focus game or games that will guide our discussions. Beyond that, there are no restrictions. The philosophy of CGA is to play in a way that works for you!

      This means:

      • Choose whichever version of the game you want.
      • You can use cheats, save states, mods, etc.
      • You can watch a streamer or longplay instead of playing it.

      If you have already played a game and want a different experience:

      • Try a randomizer or challenge run.
      • Play a different version of it.
      • Play a related game (sequel, spiritual successor, something inspired by it, etc.)

      There is no wrong way to participate in CGA, and every different way someone participates will make for more interesting discussions.

      What is the schedule?

      Each month the Insert Cartidge topic will be posted on the 1st, while the Remove Cartridge topic will be posted on the 20th.

      Nomination and voting topics will happen in March and September (every 6 months).

      Schedules are also posted then.

      All CGA topics are available using the colossal game adventure tag.

      What do Insert and Remove Cartridge mean?

      Inserting and removing cartridges are our retro metaphor for starting and stopping a given game or games.

      The Insert Cartridge topic happens at the beginning of the month and is primarily about getting the game up and running.

      The Remove Cartridge topic happens toward the end of the month and is primarily about people reflecting on the game now that they've played it.

      There are no hard restrictions on what has to go in either topic, and each can be used to discuss the game, post updates, ask questions, etc.

      One last parting thought til the 20th when we eject: there are so many games for this system that are completely out of the ordinary. But for now, let's keep the conversation on these until we hit the Eject thread on the 20th! And then I'd suggest we open the floor for more weirdo shit to ricochet off the walls.

      23 votes

    8. Unfuck Google Drive (It's Gemini garbage, of course)

      ~comp Text 91 words
      Turns out Google has been ruining Drive's speed by ramming Gemini down our throats (again). To get stuff loading quickly again, follow these steps: From the Google Drive page, go to settings (top...

      Turns out Google has been ruining Drive's speed by ramming Gemini down our throats (again). To get stuff loading quickly again, follow these steps:

      From the Google Drive page, go to settings (top right, gear icon). Drop into "Manage Apps."

      Find Gemini and uncheck "Use as Default." Of course it's automatically turned on despite my organization and my personal accounts having already opted out of Gemini. Once it's off things run much, much faster.

      Presumably they're doing some dumb shit and having Gemini scan the contents of your entire drive, constantly.

      63 votes

    15. Save Point: A game deal roundup for the week of November 2

      ~games Text 93 words
      Add awesome game deals to this topic as they come up over the course of the week! Alternately, ask about a given game deal if you want the community’s opinions: e.g. “What games from this bundle...

      Add awesome game deals to this topic as they come up over the course of the week!

      Alternately, ask about a given game deal if you want the community’s opinions: e.g. “What games from this bundle are most worth my attention?”

      Rules:

      • No grey market sales
      • No affiliate links

      If posting a sale, it is strongly encouraged that you share why you think the available game/games are worthwhile.

      All previous Save Point topics

      If you don’t want to see threads in this series, add save point to your personal tag filters.

      5 votes

    25. More thread navigation options?

      ~tildes Text 47 words
      Hacker News has a nice feature where comments have links to jump to the "next" and "previous" comment in the same thread at the same level. It's useful for jumping over a long comment thread...

      Hacker News has a nice feature where comments have links to jump to the "next" and "previous" comment in the same thread at the same level. It's useful for jumping over a long comment thread without closing it entirely. Any chance this could be added to Tildes?

      9 votes

    27. Good News - A thread and a challenge

      ~news Ask
      I want to set a challenge for myself and any others willing (challenge by choice) to find and post some good news today (and tomorrow and the next day) People helping each other out, new...

      I want to set a challenge for myself and any others willing (challenge by choice) to find and post some good news today (and tomorrow and the next day) People helping each other out, new discoveries, wins, joys, small happinesses.

      Even if it's good in the face of bad, even if it's the sort of good that can also remind you that shit's fucked up. For this thread, we focus on the good and we don't let the fact there's still also bad in the world drag us down? That's my ask!

      50 votes

    36. Offbeat Fridays – The thread where offbeat headlines become front page news

      ~news Ask
      Tildes is a very serious site, where we discuss very serious matters like encyclopedias, lockpicking and wankbattling. Tags culled from the highest voted topics from the last seven days, if anyone...

      Tildes is a very serious site, where we discuss very serious matters like encyclopedias, lockpicking and wankbattling. Tags culled from the highest voted topics from the last seven days, if anyone was keeping note.

      But one of my favourite tags happens to be offbeat! Taking its original inspiration from Sir Nils Olav III, this thread is looking for any far-fetched offbeat stories lurking in the newspapers. It may not deserve its own post, but it deserves a wider audience!

      16 votes

    40. Looking for movies that combine religion mythology and supernatural elements

      ~movies Ask (recommendations)
      After watching The Omen a while back and recently watching The First Omen, I realized I rather like media that combines supernatural elements and religious mythology. Not that I am religious...

      After watching The Omen a while back and recently watching The First Omen, I realized I rather like media that combines supernatural elements and religious mythology. Not that I am religious myself but I seem to like religion with a supernatural twist.

      Like Supernatural the TV show but in movie format.

      Are there really good moves that live in this venn diagram? They don't necessarily have to be horror but that's just what I have come across so far.

      27 votes

    42. Save Point: A game deal roundup for the week of October 26

      ~games Text 93 words
      Add awesome game deals to this topic as they come up over the course of the week! Alternately, ask about a given game deal if you want the community’s opinions: e.g. “What games from this bundle...

      Add awesome game deals to this topic as they come up over the course of the week!

      Alternately, ask about a given game deal if you want the community’s opinions: e.g. “What games from this bundle are most worth my attention?”

      Rules:

      • No grey market sales
      • No affiliate links

      If posting a sale, it is strongly encouraged that you share why you think the available game/games are worthwhile.

      All previous Save Point topics

      If you don’t want to see threads in this series, add save point to your personal tag filters.

      9 votes

    46. What diagramming tools do folks use?

      ~comp Ask (survey)
      I've gotten very tired of fighting the GUI of my company's self-hosted charts.io instance, so I've been looking around at diagramming tools. I saw D2 posted on Hacker News, which seems like an...

      I've gotten very tired of fighting the GUI of my company's self-hosted charts.io instance, so I've been looking around at diagramming tools. I saw D2 posted on Hacker News, which seems like an interesting option, but I'm curious if anyone around here has a beloved tool to recommend.

      I think my main use-case would be diagramming how components of a software system go together, although sometimes I'm interested in making wiring diagrams and stuff, too. Something that lets you specify overall dimension constraints for diagrams would probably help, since I often need to throw a diagram into a PowerPoint.

      37 votes

    48. People with a very good memory: does that make it harder to forgive?

      ~talk Ask (survey)
      With a few exceptions, I have a remarkably bad memory (probably in part due to ADHD). When I have a fight or heated argument I usually remember the tone and gravity of the situation but the actual...

      With a few exceptions, I have a remarkably bad memory (probably in part due to ADHD). When I have a fight or heated argument I usually remember the tone and gravity of the situation but the actual words that were said are completely forgotten in a short period. With time the entire content of the discussion fades away.

      I have the impression this makes it easier for me to forgive people and forget bad events. The negative impressions don't have a lot memory to hold onto. Is the inverse also true? Does a good memory make it harder to forgive?

      33 votes