vili's recent activity

  1. Comment on David Bowie on the Internet in ~tech

    vili
    Link
    There is quite a bit more in the original interview from 1999, in terms of both depth and width. Here's a timestamped link to where the subject comes up in the BBC Newsnight programme. Bowie...
    • Exemplary

    There is quite a bit more in the original interview from 1999, in terms of both depth and width. Here's a timestamped link to where the subject comes up in the BBC Newsnight programme. Bowie starts by talking about the historical role of rock music and how the Internet is taking its place as an agent of change, subversion and rebellion.

    For context, Bowie was one of the first major musicians to embrace the possibilities of the internet. He launched his own ISP BowieNet in 1998 and his 1999 album hours... was released digitally before its physical release.

    It was an exciting time. hours... was actually the first Bowie album that I got (I was a bit late to the party, I know), and I was intrigued by his internet presence. My other big favourite, Prince, had also been building an internet community and distributing music online through the late 90s, later opening his somewhat BowieNet-like subscription website and distribution channel NPG Music Club. Both artists had also appeared in video games: Bowie in Quantic Dream's first game The Nomad Soul (1999), while Prince released his very own Myst-like game Prince Interactive in 1994.

    Interestingly, both BowieNet and NPG Music Club closed in 2006. The same year Spotify was founded and Facebook became available to everyone. Both men seemed to know that things were changing. Again. In hindsight, you could perhaps argue that the internet's rebellious, inventive and subversive era was coming to an end, as monolithic corporations and platforms were increasingly starting to take over.

    6 votes

  2. Comment on Terry Pratchett’s novels may have held clues to his dementia a decade before diagnosis, our new study suggests in ~books

    vili
    Link
    The published paper can be found here. It’s an interesting study, although like the study itself also notes, it is a case study with no control data, leaving the question open how much of...

    The published paper can be found here.

    It’s an interesting study, although like the study itself also notes, it is a case study with no control data, leaving the question open how much of Pratchett’s stylistic changes were the result of his illness and how much was due to an artist’s natural stylistic change. I have no data to back this up, but it often feels to me that as artists get older, they drop unnecessary complexity. Young artists try to be clever, older ones wise. In Pratchett’s case, the fact that the change specifically targeted his use of adjectives might perhaps be related to a conscious attempt to tighten up writing.

    24 votes

  4. Comment on German chain Aldi bets big on cheaper groceries as US shoppers feel squeezed in ~finance

    vili
    Link
    In case someone else was wondering, I believe this refers to Aldi Süd, or the Aldi brand that operates in Southern Germany, as well as countries including the UK, Ireland, Italy, Switzerland,...

    In case someone else was wondering, I believe this refers to Aldi Süd, or the Aldi brand that operates in Southern Germany, as well as countries including the UK, Ireland, Italy, Switzerland, Austria and Hungary. Aldi Nord, which operates in Northern Germany, France, Spain, Portugal, Poland, Belgium and the Netherlands, is also doing business in the US, but under the Trader Joe’s brand name.

    25 votes

  5. Comment on Fable | Gameplay reveal in ~games

    vili
    Link Parent
    I can definitely understand that, although I’m sort of the opposite. I love it when people are passionate, at least as long as that passion is positive and not uncontrollably obtrusive. It doesn’t...

    the more you love something and want me to give it a shot, the less you should hype me

    I can definitely understand that, although I’m sort of the opposite. I love it when people are passionate, at least as long as that passion is positive and not uncontrollably obtrusive.

    It doesn’t mean that I believe the hype, of course. I just like to see people enthusiastic about something, even if I know it won’t be for me. And sometimes, especially in the case of creative passion, the love and enthusiasm can filter through in a way that makes me thoroughly enjoy something that, in terms of the underlying experience, or political, philosophical, religious or whatever view, I don’t necessarily agree with.

    3 votes

  6. Comment on Fable | Gameplay reveal in ~games

    vili
    Link Parent
    Sadly, I don't think Peter Molyneux is involved with the new Fable in any way. So, those who are expecting to be overpromised and disappointed may end up, well... disappointed? But fear not,...

    if Molyneaux can deliver

    Sadly, I don't think Peter Molyneux is involved with the new Fable in any way. So, those who are expecting to be overpromised and disappointed may end up, well... disappointed?

    But fear not, Molyneux is working on a game that he has described as the culmination of his life's work. Because of course he has. And to be fair, as far as I'm concerned, with the portfolio that he has created he has fully earned the right to make bold statements and dream beyond what is realistic. I know some see it as problematic, but I just see him as inspirational. We need more dreamers, and fewer PR people, making games.

    11 votes

  7. Comment on CGA-2026-01 🕹️⛵🛡️ REMOVE CARTRIDGE ⏏️ The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker in ~games

    vili
    Link
    I'd be curious to hear what you guys see as the biggest strengths of The Wind Waker and/or other Zelda games. Is it the story? The world? Skill challenges? Intellectual challenges? Aesthetics?...

    I'd be curious to hear what you guys see as the biggest strengths of The Wind Waker and/or other Zelda games. Is it the story? The world? Skill challenges? Intellectual challenges? Aesthetics? Collectathons? The humour? Are they games that you play to test yourself, or something that you play to relax? If you love The Wind Waker or Zelda games in general, what is it that you love the most?

    I'm asking since I've always found it difficult to stick with Zelda games, and it wasn't different this month, either. I didn't complete The Wind Waker. I don't think I even got a third of the way through.

    This is not to say that I didn't like the game. I have very fond memories of it. But in the end, whenever I thought about continuing the game, I found something else to do that I wanted to do more. I just didn't seem to be able to find the "hook" that would capture my interest. It's been the same with every Zelda game that I have tried over the years. I think I have played about half of them, yet never completed a single one. As charming as they are, the games in the series don't seem to either challenge me or allow me to be creative, and I don't find their stories all that interesting. I just seem to be moving from one place to another and stuff happens, with relatively little meaningful player agency.

    Or that, anyway, is my feeling about the games. And so, I have started to accept that me and Zelda games just aren't compatible. Which is fine. But at the same time, I would love to be able to love Zelda games. There is clearly much to love about them and they are exceptionally well made. Just for some reason, they don't hook me.

    I would therefore really love to hear what it is that hooked you in The Wind Waker. And was it different than with other Zelda games? Help me see the game through your eyes.

    7 votes

  9. Comment on Pluribus full season discussion in ~tv

    vili
    Link Parent
    The way I took it is that while they could easily create new art, they could not experience that art as an audience. As a hive mind, they would all be the creator of that art, and an artist’s...

    The way I took it is that while they could easily create new art, they could not experience that art as an audience. As a hive mind, they would all be the creator of that art, and an artist’s relationship with their own work is quite different from anyone else’s. They also know practically everything there is to know about pre-existing art. Therefore, the only way for them to now experience art as a naive recipient is if someone like Carol creates it.

    For me, this was the strongest argument why I’d personally not want to join them.

    6 votes

  11. Comment on CGA-2026-01 🕹️⛵🛡️ INSERT CARTRIDGE 🟢 The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker in ~games

    vili
    Link Parent
    This raises an interesting (?) Ship of Theseus question that is often at the very heart of retro gaming: if we take an old game and apply a range of third party mods to it, at what point are we no...

    This raises an interesting (?) Ship of Tetra Theseus question that is often at the very heart of retro gaming: if we take an old game and apply a range of third party mods to it, at what point are we no longer playing the original game but something else? Or if you take a game that came out in 2002 but play a reworked version that was released with the gaming conventions and audiences of 2013 in mind, are you actually playing a "true retro game", or a modern one?

    I don’t mean this as a loaded question, just a thought experiment. Ultimately, the goal is to enjoy what you are playing. It would be interesting to hear though where everyone personally draws the line, if anywhere. When you play a retro game, what are you primarily trying to get out of it?

    Naturally, the answer can be very game dependent. So, more concretely: what are you aiming to get out of The Wind Waker and how do you see the choice of mods or the remastered version helping you reach that goal?

    I personally enjoy the archaeological aspect of playing older games and like to see what the original team put together, even if it hampers my enjoyment of the game itself. In the case of The Wind Waker, I’ve been playing the European GameCube version without any modifications, other than emulation and the save states that it offers. The camera controls took several hours to get used to, but they are now starting to become second nature. Other than that, I must say that the early game has held up exceptionally well.

    I have tried The Wind Waker a few times before, but never progressed too far. I’m not sure I’ll complete it this time either — there is something inherent about Zelda games that I don’t quite click with — but there is an undeniable charm to this game that has maintained my interest through the first roughly five hours. So, thank you everyone who voted for this one! I wasn't too elated when I saw it on the schedule, but I had a similar initial reaction to Chrono Trigger's inclusion and that one pretty much ended up being my favourite game of 2025. I'm curious to see where the wind takes me this month.

    3 votes

  12. Comment on Stranger Things finale discussion in ~tv

    vili
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    I thought season 5 was an improvement over seasons 3 and 4. While the storyline was predictable and quite bloated, and things seemed to move on rails, I still enjoyed the ride. Kudos to them for...

    I thought season 5 was an improvement over seasons 3 and 4. While the storyline was predictable and quite bloated, and things seemed to move on rails, I still enjoyed the ride. Kudos to them for concluding the story and wrapping things up to the extent that they did. I particularly liked the coda, seeing how life went on with everyone.

    The last episode could perhaps have been shorter. I agree that it was disappointing that they didn't do more with the army and Dr Kay. I was also hoping that El's sister would have made a more meaningful impact. But I must also say that I lost any real interest in the central conflict already a couple of seasons ago, so I guess I was just happy that things came to an end.

    During this whole season, and in the finale in particular, I felt like the producers had been buried under song offers from artists and estates after the show catapulted Kate Bush's song back into the charts in a previous season. Some songs worked better than others. I love Prince but I'm not sure the two song snippets that they chose were particularly suitable for the scenes in which they featured, although I suppose Purple Rain is at least in some sense about the end of the world (the titular purple rain is supposedly blood raining from the sky: red and blue make purple).

    While watching, I was thinking that I wouldn't mind a spin-off series with Dustin and Steve running a paranormal investigation agency in the early 1990s, with Nancy making appearances in her full-on Rambo mode and Rockin' Robin providing commentary.

    11 votes

  13. Comment on Histories of the Nintendo Entertainment System and a lost communist game console in ~games

    vili
    Link Parent
    Perhaps. I just didn't think either video would really generate discussion here, while I the contrast between the two might.

    Perhaps. I just didn't think either video would really generate discussion here, while I the contrast between the two might.

    2 votes

  14. Histories of the Nintendo Entertainment System and a lost communist game console

    ~games Text 189 words
    Here's a a double feature about game console history: two YouTube videos that were released in the past few days. While the videos are unconnected, both are great quality little documentaries and...

    Here's a a double feature about game console history: two YouTube videos that were released in the past few days. While the videos are unconnected, both are great quality little documentaries and I think when watched together offer an interesting contrast between the two worlds that existed at the time.

    The Untold History of the Nintendo Entertainment System (45 min) by The Video Game History Foundation documents how the NES was launched in the US 40 years ago. While I was familiar with the main story, many of the details were totally new to me, including the prototypes and the initial ideas of what the NES might have been, and could well have been had the market and initial test audiences reacted differently.

    The Hunt for the Lost Communist Console (18 min) by fern looks at the BSS-01, a video game console manufactured in East Germany in 1979. It was the only game console released in the country and I think somewhat similar to the Soviet console Turnir, as both used the same AY-3-8500 chipset imported from the West and offered a collection of Pong clones.

    11 votes

  15. Comment on Tips for becoming a tea person in ~food

    vili
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    As I was brewing my morning tea today, a thought popped up into my head: how's @tomf doing with their tea journey? Are you a tea person yet?

    As I was brewing my morning tea today, a thought popped up into my head: how's @tomf doing with their tea journey? Are you a tea person yet?

    1 vote

  16. Comment on CGA-2025-12 🏴‍☠️🏝️🍌 REMOVE CARTRIDGE ⏏️ The Secret of Monkey Island in ~games

    vili
    Link Parent
    There is clearly traffic to Monkey Island, not only with LeChuck's ship, but also with the sheriff and the navigator. The number of skeletons and human skulls in the cannibals' village also...

    So where did the second ship come from?

    There is clearly traffic to Monkey Island, not only with LeChuck's ship, but also with the sheriff and the navigator. The number of skeletons and human skulls in the cannibals' village also suggests that they likely haven't been the only visitors. Maybe that could explain an additional ship or two?

    If I had written the game, I might have leaned on using the row boat and Stan's compass as a solution. Although now that you suggested it, I do prefer the visual image of a fancy high-tech yacht sailed by the cannibals!

    2 votes

  17. Comment on CGA-2025-12 🏴‍☠️🏝️🍌 REMOVE CARTRIDGE ⏏️ The Secret of Monkey Island in ~games

    vili
    Link Parent
    The game has two different endings. If you don't sink the ship, you leave the island with the three crew members (and your ship) and get a cutscene at the end where Guybrush wonders about what...

    though I have a question: how DO Guybrush and the others leave Monkey Island without the ship??

    The game has two different endings. If you don't sink the ship, you leave the island with the three crew members (and your ship) and get a cutscene at the end where Guybrush wonders about what happened to Herman Toothrot. If you do sink the ship, you leave the island with Herman instead (he has a ship), and get a cutscene at the end showing that the three crew members have been captured by the cannibals.

    You can watch both endings here.

  18. Comment on CGA-2025-12 🏴‍☠️🏝️🍌 REMOVE CARTRIDGE ⏏️ The Secret of Monkey Island in ~games

    vili
    Link Parent
    I actually think that it's not just humour, but that the secret of Monkey Island is, or was at least at some point meant to be, that it is a video game. (I also believe it is contractually...

    Even many of the fourth wall breaks felt well-done ... There was a lot of self-aware humour, and many cute references to other LucasArts games too.

    I actually think that it's not just humour, but that the secret of Monkey Island is, or was at least at some point meant to be, that it is a video game. (I also believe it is contractually obligatory for any respectable discussion of The Secret of Monkey Island to have at least one fool who confidently claims that they have solved the secret.)

    The first game is full of pointers that suggest this, but to put together a coherent argument why I think this is the case, I would also have to discuss Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge, Return to Monkey Island, and Ron Gilbert's 2017 adventure game Thimbleweed Park. And perhaps this is neither the time nor the place for that discussion.

    But if anyone here is considering playing those titles in the future, perhaps do so with the thought that the Monkey Island games might be video games about video games and video game making.

    By the way, have you played Loom™?

    I have. It is absolutely magical. In my head, it kind of exists outside of time and genre lines, as an experience more than a video game. It is very unique in that way.

    Now, I know that I've been the annoying weirdo who insists that the best version of The Secret of Monkey Island is the original EGA version, but with Loom this is especially true. If anyone here is considering playing Loom, please for the love of dogs, seek out the original EGA release. I think it's one of the best examples of a remaster of a game turning visual art into "game graphics". Here's a comparison, and here's the game's creator agreeing.

    4 votes

  19. Comment on CGA-2025-12 🏴‍☠️🏝️🍌 REMOVE CARTRIDGE ⏏️ The Secret of Monkey Island in ~games

    vili
    Link Parent
    Some fun trivia: the term "cutscene" as used in gaming today was (or so they say) coined by Monkey Island creator Ron Gilbert for his first adventure game, Maniac Mansion. I believe the SCUMM...

    The cut-aways to LeChuck

    Some fun trivia: the term "cutscene" as used in gaming today was (or so they say) coined by Monkey Island creator Ron Gilbert for his first adventure game, Maniac Mansion. I believe the SCUMM engine that both that game and Monkey Island use refers to these sequences as "cut-scenes" in the script. The concept of non-interactive sequences in games is older of course, but the term apparently was coined by Gilbert.

    Your background and latest reaction to The Secret of Monkey Island sounds very similar to mine. The game still holds up really well, but is not quite perfect.

    I actually played through Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge as well this month, and I must say it felt a bit worse than I remembered. I remembered it to be objectively the best game in the series, even if the first one is my personal favourite, but somehow Monkey 2 didn't quite click with me this time around. I mean it's not bad by any means, but felt a step down directly after Monkey 1. It could of course be just a case of too much of good stuff in one go. These games were not meant to be played with the speed that I went through them this time around. I had actually planned to play through Return to Monkey Island as well, but decided to take a break before I jump into it again, as I don't want to ruin the experience.

    4 votes

  20. Comment on In most countries, imports from China account for less than 10% of GDP, even where China is the top partner in ~finance

    vili
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    To be honest, I don’t really know what this actually means beyond the surface level, or what the actual macroeconomic implications are. I just found it interesting.

    To be honest, I don’t really know what this actually means beyond the surface level, or what the actual macroeconomic implications are. I just found it interesting.