CannibalisticApple's recent activity
-
Comment on November 2026 Backlog Burner: Week 1 Discussion in ~games
-
Comment on 2026 United States midterm elections megathread in ~society
CannibalisticApple LinkI did early voting. My state is VERY red, but I'm hopeful for it. I'm amused how the local attack ads actually do a great job at selling me on the other candidates. They're attacking them for the...I did early voting. My state is VERY red, but I'm hopeful for it. I'm amused how the local attack ads actually do a great job at selling me on the other candidates. They're attacking them for the very values I support. (One guy keeps being shown in a "Protect Trans Kids" shirt. That alone nets my vote.)
Also, every year, the Dorkly Resident Evil Political Ad gets more and more accurate to reality. The funny thing is I'm pretty sure they just wanted to make a joke about zombies more than comment about politics, and yet they pretty much predicted the future trajectory of politics. It's from 2012, back when the world was still sane...
-
Comment on TV Tuesdays Free Talk in ~tv
CannibalisticApple LinkLast night my mom and I watched the Season 2 finale of RJ Decker. Since the season was only 7 episodes, it was a bit rushed. They introduced some major emotional beats and characters who didn't...Last night my mom and I watched the Season 2 finale of RJ Decker. Since the season was only 7 episodes, it was a bit rushed. They introduced some major emotional beats and characters who didn't come up before, so some of it felt just a little flat and sudden...
And then it ended on a massive cliffhanger. One of the worst I've seen in a while, and pretty tonally different from the rest of the show. So got mixed feelings on that. If the show doesn't get renewed, it'll end on a very sour note.
-
Comment on 2026 United States midterm elections distractions topic in ~talk
CannibalisticApple LinkSo District V is coming back today, and running until the 14/15th. It's a GTA roleplaying server played by (mostly) English-speaking Vtubers. The one Vtuber I subscribe to on Youtube participated...So District V is coming back today, and running until the 14/15th. It's a GTA roleplaying server played by (mostly) English-speaking Vtubers. The one Vtuber I subscribe to on Youtube participated so I tuned in around day six when looking for background noise, and then got hooked. Here's the TV Tropes page which gives an idea of the chaos.
It gets chaotic. One day I watched someone else play, and within five minutes of logging in he got kidnapped and they repeatedly passed police officers who failed to notice. Also, he had to help walk them through various parts of the kidnapping. Made more hilarious by the fact it was Lucius Merryweather playing a rich business owner with a southern accent and deep voice. He was VERY critical of the kidnappers, and also the police for failing to notice and help. Then later on the last day there were multiple weddings, including a guy basically playing Officer Carl Weezer spontaneously deciding to marry a monkey.
The downside: the server operates on JST hours, from 8 AM JST to 5 PM. In EST (my time zone), that's 6 PM to 3 AM. (Actually that's an hour earlier than February, so slightly better for me.) The guy I follow tended to join fairly late last round (I think usually around 11 my time?), so... yeah. It can really screw with your sleep schedule.
So if anyone needs to just ignore reality for half the month, it's one hell of a rabbit hole. I don't know how many people are participating, but they said it was over 100 players the first time so there are plenty of options...
-
Comment on November 2026 Backlog Burner: Week 1 Discussion in ~games
CannibalisticApple Link ParentUpdate: finished the game. It definitely earned the Maneuver square. And also, I wouldn't be able to beat it with regular save states. That last level... That wasn't side-scrolling, that was a...Update: finished the game. It definitely earned the Maneuver square. And also, I wouldn't be able to beat it with regular save states. That last level... That wasn't side-scrolling, that was a camera strapped to a butterfly just idly fluttering in whatever direction drew its fancy. I have no clue how many times I died from being crushed by the screen after accidentally entering a dead end.
Good game though! I'd say it's aged quite well.
-
Comment on CGA-2026-11 🌍️🪀 INSERT CARTRIDGE 🟢 Mother 3 in ~games
CannibalisticApple LinkJust a heads up: your link to the "fan translation" currently goes to the Nintendo Switch Online site for Japan. I assume this is the site you meant to link? On topic: I never played it, but as...Just a heads up: your link to the "fan translation" currently goes to the Nintendo Switch Online site for Japan. I assume this is the site you meant to link?
On topic: I never played it, but as someone who never played Smash as a kid, the fan translation of Mother 3 was actually the first I heard of Earthbound. I recall reading about how they were worried that people would think it was unprofessional due to a brief black screen after naming the characters, but were blown away by the overwhelming praise. It's stuck in my head as a "legendary" translation. Nowadays I respect it as a major example of how devoted and passionate fans can be.
Not sure yet if I'll join this month, but the effort put into the translation alone has put it on my "someday" list for years.
-
Comment on November 2026 Backlog Burner: Week 1 Discussion in ~games
CannibalisticApple Link ParentTo start with: Ecco the Dolphin! I said elsewhere that Superliminal got pushed to the top of my list, and it still is (seriously need to uninstall some games on my Steam Deck to free up the space...To start with: Ecco the Dolphin! I said elsewhere that Superliminal got pushed to the top of my list, and it still is (seriously need to uninstall some games on my Steam Deck to free up the space taken by all the shaders, I have a 64GB model and it's almost completely full)... But last night I needed to, once again, close Pokopia on my Switch to be able to move on. And best way to do that is open another game.
I got the NSO Expansion Pack this summer, which includes the Sega Genesis. And for some reason ever since Nintendo first announced the Genesis, I've been wanting to specifically check out Ecco the Dolphin. I know barely anything about the game, I just recall people talking on a Reddit thread about how it was weird and kinda creepy. Something to do with aliens??
I ticked off Maneuver because this game has a fairly interesting movement, with less-than-efficient turns and some tricky jumps. Jumping over the islands separating parts of the ocean is the main reason I crossed that out. As far as I can tell, you need to use the dash at a diagonal angle to breach and jump over it. If you're too close to the surface, you'll just dash in a straight line. If you're too deep underwater, you'll just slam into the cliff, or gracefully crash into the land and backtrack to water.
That said, the movement doesn't feel bad or clunky. It's logical that a dolphin can't just instantly turn around, and needs a "swimming to start" to jump over an island. So yeah.
Once again, I am so glad that the Switch Virtual Consoles have a rewind function, because this game would be VERY frustrating. You have limited oxygen, so I often rewind to a point where I had more oxygen while dealing with deep-sea puzzles. There are also a couple puzzles where you use echolocation to push starfish towards a goal, and I rewound constantly because I'd push them too low or too high. And one of them needed to pass next to an octopus that would constantly kill me if I moved too fast.
Yeah, the Rewind function is the reason I'm still playing. That octopus one in particular would have caused rage-quitting because I think you have to start over the level every time you die... And the first time I did that puzzle, I found out I needed to get something from another area I hadn't checked to progress. And there's still more to that level. Having to redo that puzzle a third or fourth time would be super annoying.
I have a guide open for reference because I'm playing casually and don't want to get stuck, and I'm apparently still pretty early into it. But I can see why it left an impression on players. It's definitely interesting! I'm going back to playing it now.
-
Comment on November 2026 Backlog Burner: Week 1 Discussion in ~games
CannibalisticApple LinkFlow Custom bingo 1/9 Simplicity Beauty Organization Transformation ★ Wildcard Mystery ✅ Ecco the Dolphin Unorthodox Humor So, joining with a smaller card this month! I have stuff to do, but...Flow Custom bingo 1/9 Simplicity Beauty Organization Transformation ★ Wildcard Mystery Maneuver
✅ Ecco the DolphinUnorthodox Humor So, joining with a smaller card this month! I have stuff to do, but also... Three days ago it was announced this big Vtuber role-playing GTA server/event called District V is returning this month. And the one Vtuber I follow is participating again. I got into watching the first round midway through, and it then consumed my nights until it ended (literally fell asleep at like 6 am the final night), so I expect similar to happen now. Starts technically tomorrow night due to time zones.
So, I'm just... Preemptively expecting it to screw up my expectations for free time. (At least it'll be a good distraction from the AO3 outage? xD)
But anyways, here's my card! Made it a blackout card since it's so small. I may roll a new, bigger card later though, we'll just have to see.
-
Comment on itch.io reveals just how much AI slop is flooding gaming storefronts in ~games
CannibalisticApple LinkWell that's disturbing. I also took a glance at the linked Bluesky post, and the comments, while overwhelmingly in favor of banning AI (which I agree with), seem to overlook or oversimplify one...Well that's disturbing. I also took a glance at the linked Bluesky post, and the comments, while overwhelmingly in favor of banning AI (which I agree with), seem to overlook or oversimplify one detail:
How, exactly, could a platform go about banning AI and successfully enforcing it at a large scale?
Itch is getting 6,000 pages a day. Even two months ago, they were getting 3,000 submissions a day. That's a LOT of submissions to go through. While you can tell at a glance most things are AI or clones (someone shared a screenshot of the recent games page where most of the thumbnails were near-identical), that's still a lot of games to look through every day.
A lot of AI slop also copy an existing game or demo. There's been recent concerns for indie devs sharing their development progress before release because of the AI clones popping up. It'd be easy for the original games to get swept up in a mass-removal.
That's the problem with scale: it becomes harder to moderate adequately because companies have limited manpower compared to the entire world. Companies can only hire so many people.
Made worse by the fact that currently, AI usage isn't always as obvious as people believe. Even back when Gen AI was first starting to become a problem, I remember someone on Steam accused a horror game of being AI-made because it had bad writing, used stock assets or reused assets from previous games, had a "mismatched" environment (they called out the layout of the house, and the choice of items in a house only present at the very beginning of the game)... Things that are honestly fairly common in low-budget indie horror games. I think plenty of newer devs would get false accusations based on criteria like that.
All this to say, while obviously AI needs to be banned, the biggest roadblock is how to adequately enforce the ban on a large scale. One solution would be to have AI and automated reviews... But we've also seen the extreme end of how badly that can be abused and still fail with Youtube, which seems to just never have humans involved unless the channel is big enough to have a direct contact or the story goes viral. There NEEDS to be a human element at some point, but again: the bigger the scale, the harder it is to ensure adequate moderation.
-
Comment on First few levels of F-Stop (Cancelled Portal prequel) leaked online in ~games
CannibalisticApple Link ParentI'm sure I will! It's been on my list for years now, it was one of the first bundles I bought on Fanatical after getting my Steam Deck. I was planning to finally play it this month (I need to free...I'm sure I will! It's been on my list for years now, it was one of the first bundles I bought on Fanatical after getting my Steam Deck. I was planning to finally play it this month (I need to free up space on my Steam Deck, it's only 64GB and even with the micro SD card, I think all the shaders have filled up the space), but this just pushed it to the front of the line~
-
Comment on First few levels of F-Stop (Cancelled Portal prequel) leaked online in ~games
CannibalisticApple Link ParentEh, I don't think we have enough info to make that claim. The leaked game is fairly short since it's basically a demo. At bare minimum, it would provide a lot of world-building information though...Eh, I don't think we have enough info to make that claim. The leaked game is fairly short since it's basically a demo. At bare minimum, it would provide a lot of world-building information though (seriously, seeing the lab when it was still a lab is fun).
This clip makes me realize they could've had a whole series of Aperture Science games focusing on various unique mechanics. It's a good setting for exploring heavily mechanic-driven puzzle games like this.
-
Comment on First few levels of F-Stop (Cancelled Portal prequel) leaked online in ~games
CannibalisticApple Link ParentSame. This actually pushed it up to the top of my list for the backlog burner!Same. This actually pushed it up to the top of my list for the backlog burner!
-
Comment on First few levels of F-Stop (Cancelled Portal prequel) leaked online in ~games
CannibalisticApple LinkAccording to this article from Kotaku, it's fully playable. Honestly from what little I see, it seems fun! It's also neat to see Aperture Science when it was actually functional. Looking it up,...According to this article from Kotaku, it's fully playable.
Honestly from what little I see, it seems fun! It's also neat to see Aperture Science when it was actually functional. Looking it up, seems the playtesters just didn't like the lack of portals...? Fair enough, but this still could have been a good spin-off though!
-
Comment on Halloween night! in ~talk
CannibalisticApple Link ParentAs an update, the plan evolved into a mild party in the driveway with several neighbors present. After trick-or-treating time ended, even more people showed up. So that was a fun night! Got to see...As an update, the plan evolved into a mild party in the driveway with several neighbors present. After trick-or-treating time ended, even more people showed up. So that was a fun night! Got to see the girls I'd babysit before moving too, which was a treat.
Also got to see the family who moved into our house. It's nice to hear they're now friends with our old next-door neighbor's daughter, their families went trick-or-treating together as a apck.
Definitely felt a bit slower than the last year we lived there though, and based on our neighbors' commentary also slower than last year. But hey, we didn't run out of candy this year! (And now I'm realizing we left one of the spare candy bags behind... Oh well, at least I got some candy to take home~)
-
Comment on Halloween night! in ~talk
CannibalisticApple Link ParentThat sounds seesome! I remember at one Halloween party, my friend hosted a very loose DnD-esque "session" also based on our costumes. Remains my only experience with it so far, but we had a blast....That sounds seesome! I remember at one Halloween party, my friend hosted a very loose DnD-esque "session" also based on our costumes. Remains my only experience with it so far, but we had a blast. Dread might actually be a good option for game nights for us...
-
Comment on Halloween night! in ~talk
CannibalisticApple LinkFor me: our new neighborhood doesn't get trick-or-treaters, so we went back to hang out at an old neighbor's house. Our old neighborhood has gotten a LOT of trick-or-treaters in the past few...For me: our new neighborhood doesn't get trick-or-treaters, so we went back to hang out at an old neighbor's house. Our old neighborhood has gotten a LOT of trick-or-treaters in the past few years, we're pretty sure people bring their kids over from other neighborhood. The last year we lived here, we were the only house that didn't run out of candy among our neighbors. And last they reported they ran out again. So we brought some extra candy with us, just in case.
Last night, I also watched a couple scary movies with some friends. Ended up seeing Buddy and The Blob (the remake from the 80's). It was fun! Lots of body horror and dead children...
-
Halloween night!
So tonight is Halloween. Obviously mainly a US holiday, but figure it'd be fun to ask what everyone's nights are like anyway. I think I've made it clear how much I love Spooky Season~ Anyone...
So tonight is Halloween. Obviously mainly a US holiday, but figure it'd be fun to ask what everyone's nights are like anyway. I think I've made it clear how much I love Spooky Season~
Anyone having trick-or-treaters tonight? Going to any parties (or already been)? Have a costume for the night? Seen any fun ones? Watching some scary movies?
38 votes -
Comment on Announcing the Backlog Burner event for November 2026: Shrink your unplayed games list this coming month! in ~games
CannibalisticApple LinkI'll be joining again! Though I need to decide what sort of Bingo I'll be doing this time. I might be busier this month than I originally expected, so may try to aim for a flow card with a...I'll be joining again! Though I need to decide what sort of Bingo I'll be doing this time. I might be busier this month than I originally expected, so may try to aim for a flow card with a standard bingo.
-
Comment on Growing number of families in Denmark are taking children with special needs out of regular schools, saying the system fails to accommodate neurodivergent students in ~life
CannibalisticApple Link ParentSpeaking from personal experience, I disagree, and I also don't consider it "hiding them away". I attended a middle and high school specifically for kids with special learning needs (ADHD,...Speaking from personal experience, I disagree, and I also don't consider it "hiding them away".
I attended a middle and high school specifically for kids with special learning needs (ADHD, high-functioning autism, dyslexia, and anxiety were among fairly common issues). Every single student there had been failed by the standard schooling system in some way, some more than others. We weren't dumb, we just needed additional help and attention that couldn't be offered in regular schools. Sometimes in big ways, sometimes in small.
One of my favorite examples of a "small" adjustment was from our science teacher. Years ago, he had a student who would absolutely freak out at the word "test", but was fine with "quiz". So he adjusted his vocabulary to always use that, and was still using it by the time I had him. Such a tiny thing, but a world of difference for the student in question.
Besides that, it was so much easier to make friends in that school since everyone was neurodivergent in some way. Even if we didn't share interests, everyone was on fairly friendly terms, and the school was small enough for teachers to easily catch and prevent any bullying. Having that sort of safe environment on every level really did wonders for all of our social skills. My own friend group had several people really blossom and open up over the years we were there.
We were called "the school of second chances" for good reason. We all just needed the right environment to thrive, and regular schools couldn't offer that.
-
Comment on Why is this fingerprinting script creating bioweapons? in ~comp
CannibalisticApple Link ParentOkay, this is just funny to me. Imagine all the classics rewritten to include that... Or reading "Junie B. Jones and the Gross Terror Sniffles" to your kid.And every novel has to involve biowarfare and tianeman square throughout, to prove an AI didn't write it.
Okay, this is just funny to me. Imagine all the classics rewritten to include that... Or reading "Junie B. Jones and the Gross Terror Sniffles" to your kid.
Yeah... This one would definitely mainly appeal to hardcore gamers today without save states. This sort of difficulty was fine when game libraries were small and players could spend a whole month on one game. I imagine a lot of modern gamers would just rage quit after having to redo the levels constantly.
The last level in particular is tricky with that camera threatening to crush you... And then the final boss requires replaying that whole level if you die. And you can die ASAP, which happened to me. (Apparently the Japanese version of the game has a checkpoint halfway through the level, so lucky for them.)
In retrospect, kinda wish I kept a death counter. Some of the deaths were just me exploring and taking advantage of the ability to rewind, but would have been interesting.
The movement is really interesting for sure! Frustrating at times (trilobites are the worst enemy by far with how fast they are, they'd constantly get in hits before I could turn around and dash/use damage sonar), but never in a way that felt like specifically bad design. Actually, overall I found swimming and jumping to be really fun. I wish there were more opportunities to just do some fun breaches and jumps rather than have most of the gameplay underwater.
And glad to provide some Genesis representation!