Poll of the Day > Sports Discussion Topic #178: Simon Belmont Stakes

(+) Yeah! (+)

Which ones have you played? I'm pretty new to the series but I've played a lot in the last year.

They're all kind of samey and too easy. Kirby's Adventure is one of the better ones for sure, and the last boss (or is it second-to-last?) is one of the best in the series. It's annoying that you have to press up to fly though. I think Return to Dreamland, Triple Deluxe and parts of Super Star are better.

But the best one of all might be Kirby's Dream Course, which isn't even a normal Kirby game.

Tecmo Bowl is a blast. Punch-Out is of course a classic too. Do they have any other sports games? Like one of those ones that's just called Hockey or something.

No, that's it. I wish they had more sports games. I'm going to probably mod mine to get those (and others) but I feel like I want to play through some of the existing stuff first in the off chance I could brick it. I've heard they are really easy to mod anyway but who knows what could happen

Yeah I'm hesitant to mod my SNES too just in fear of brickage even though it would rule to play the Home Improvement game on there.

For NES, it's pretty lame honestly they have Tecmo Bowl instead of Super Bowl so that's an important fix. RBI Baseball and Blades of Steel should be in the original version too.

I used to have this NES game called "Golf" which had some Mario looking mfer on the cartridge

RBI Baseball rules.

They used to put Mario into everything in the early NES days

He's the line judge in tennis and the ref in Punch-Out.

Chewster posted...

Which ones have you played? I'm pretty new to the series but I've played a lot in the last year.

They're all kind of samey and too easy. Kirby's Adventure is one of the better ones for sure, and the last boss (or is it second-to-last?) is one of the best in the series. It's annoying that you have to press up to fly though. I think Return to Dreamland, Triple Deluxe and parts of Super Star are better.

But the best one of all might be Kirby's Dream Course, which isn't even a normal Kirby game.

I don't think I've played triple deluxe but I vehemently disagree that the other two you mentioned are better. Return to Dreamland sucks! That may have been the last Kirby I bothered playing. I have the demo for the new one on Switch and it seems like complete dogshit. Planet Robotbot seemed kind of cool though when I played it for a few minutes at Target. Kirby's Adventure is the best one because it's got the best aesthetic (yes even on NES) and it feels more like an action platformer than the other ones even though you can still just fly over the entire screen.

Punch out has one of the coolest theme songs ever

Up there with Mega Man 2

STLCards1991 posted...

Yeah I'm hesitant to mod my SNES too just in fear of brickage even though it would rule to play the Home Improvement game on there.

For NES, it's pretty lame honestly they have Tecmo Bowl instead of Super Bowl so that's an important fix. RBI Baseball and Blades of Steel should be in the original version too.

Yeah I love Super Bowl. The summer after it came out a group of the neighborhood kids would go to one kid's house where his parents were gone all the day and spend all day every day playing a season. We would all pick a couple of teams each.
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I don't think Return to Dreamland is that groundbreaking or anything but I guess it's just like a very good execution of the typical Kirby formula. Same with Triple Deluxe. I can see how one might think those suck, cause Kirby in general is a bit lame.

Super Star was cool but there is admittedly a lot of dead weight. The best ones were Great Cave Offensive and Milky Way Wishes because they change up the formula. I wish more of the whole game was stuff like that.

Adventure is the hardest one I've played, which is good, but when we're talking Kirby that's not saying much. Plus I think a lot the difficulty is due to some annoying stuff, like the flying controls and losing your power after only one hit.

Muguruza is about to lose in the second round. It is a sad day

Some recruiter on LinkedIn contacted me about a game testing position in Irvine. Chances are it's probably some small company nobody's heard of, but I thought what if it turned out to be Blizzard? That would be kinda cool.

Though I'm aware testing (and working in the game industry in general) isn't really all that it's cracked up to be. Also just from looking at salaries, it doesn't seem like it pays that well for California

Are you gonna try it though? That would be kind of sweet

If I got an offer I'd almost certainly take it but it's nowhere near that point yet

I just meant are you gonna try and get it which it sounds like you are

Yeah, if she actually messages me back or calls me. Not that it's been that long, but you'd be surprised how many people contact me for an interview and then never follow back up when I reply. At this point I expect that to happen more than an interview actually taking place

Chewster posted...

I could be playing my NES Classic I just bought, but eh, I don't really know that there's anything I want to play. I've already played the major classics like Mario, Zelda, Metroid, Mega Man and Castlevania, and then everything else seems like it's a tier or more below.

@SkynyrdRocker are you playing yours? Have you played much of these games before? I don't really know what your NES history is.

I haven't played many of them and I probably won't play it much. I just kinda wanted to get it because I know it won't be around for long. It's fun but the controller cord is stupidly short so I use the SNES Classic controller for it (which is also shorter than it should be). I was happy Galaga was on it, it probably is the game I've spent the most time on so far strangely. I used to play it at the sportsplex I played inline hockey at, so I have sentimental attachment to it.

The cords are way too short. I bought a two pack of 10 ft extension cables from Amazon.
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Wii3Kings posted...

The cords are way too short. I bought a two pack of 10 ft extension cables from Amazon.

Thanks. I just ordered that now. Now I'll be able to sit on my couch instead of right against the TV.

Take it from someone who has modded several consoles and handhelds which were way more time consuming than these classics: It's simply a test of following instructions. If you do that, there's almost no chance of bricking it. It's basically the same risk you run when you normally update your consoles, except this time there's no warranty if it happens.

I haven't looked at video game tester salaries in a while, but I remember when I was young, I thought that would be the coolest career. I looked it up and realized it's not a livable wage in California and my dream died.

Well I looked at a few COL calculators and they seem to say that $50k in Denver is equivalent to the $64-67k range in the Irvine area. I saw some salaries around $60k but that seemed like more on the high end. If I did get $60k though I think it would be livable

It's really that much? When I looked it was around $12 an hour. I always assumed the job was in high demand so they didn't have to pay anything to get people to do it.

Well I was just looking at Glassdoor so take that with a grain of salt. Also just for Blizzard. But like I said, $60k is more on the high end, most were more like 40-50. Though I saw one as low as 30k which is about $14 an hour.

Wow the Nationals came back from a 9-0 deficit against the Marlins today

The Giants will do the same

I'll never forget years back when the Rockies were down by 8 or 9 against the Marlins and then won the game on a walkoff like 18-17. I think it was a 4th of July game too which meant that they actually had a big crowd that stuck around.

Not like Rockies games are that expensive or boring but I don't quite understand paying to sit through a baseball game for 3+ hours to watch fireworks (from the perspective of somebody who wouldn't go to the game otherwise), yet the fireworks games are always a huge draw. There are fireworks all over the place in the Denver area that you could just watch from home or very nearby

There's an Activision office here and it pays video game testers $11 an hour. I've heard this particular one is a pretty shitty job.

Lol....DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS:
B.A. or B.S. in Computer Science or Entertainment related area (in lieu of prior work experience).
Experience with Quality Assurance testing of software projects
Understanding of the software test cycle process
PC and console game troubleshooting
Experience and familiarity with multiple gaming platforms and genres

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/COL/COL200807040.shtml

The top four in the order went 16-22

Wow. It would be frustrating enough to make $11/hour when you have a CS degree. But it's another level to be making $11/hour while your CS degree is part of the job requirement.

Okay, I know those are rarely hard requirements, but companies are just insane with the kind of shit they seem to expect of people nowadays. "Entry-level" seems virtually nonexistent in my experience

There's no such thing as entry level. I guess at one point there probably was, but not since we've become adults looking for jobs.

MNTwins1991 posted...

There's an Activision office here and it pays video game testers $11 an hour. I've heard this particular one is a pretty shitty job.

Lol....DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS:
B.A. or B.S. in Computer Science or Entertainment related area (in lieu of prior work experience).
Experience with Quality Assurance testing of software projects
Understanding of the software test cycle process
PC and console game troubleshooting
Experience and familiarity with multiple gaming platforms and genres

All that for $11 an hour.

I've applied for random video game jobs before knowing I wouldn't get them just to say I did. I applied for localization editor at Nintendo of America which is like an $80k job and of course never expected anything of it but like four days later I got a call from Seattle, WA and I freaked the fuck out. I called the number back with my heart beating quickly and it was some stupid telemarketer thing of course. That's the only time I've ever received a call from Seattle I think. It was just close enough to reality for me in that moment that I actually got bummed out and regretted applying for it

Some people at my job make $11 or less I'm pretty sure. Completely stupid. The place is so stupid and sucks pretty bad but at least I'm making a relatively decent living for a single man with a roommate

Those are the extra qualifications...I left out the normal requirements. Still pretty ridiculous.

REQUIREMENTS:

18 years of age or older

High school diploma or equivalent

Availability to work forty or more hours per week including weekends, when required

Strong interest in video games

Sharp attention to detail

Honesty and a strong work ethic

Aptitude to learn quickly and effectively

Ability to remain focused in a team-oriented environment

Basic PC knowledge, as well as being familiar with Microsoft programs such as Word, Excel, and Outlook

I was reading reviews of game tester jobs at Activision. Kinda interesting

CaptainHammer posted...

applied for localization editor at Nintendo of America

Is that the guy who runs the Twitter account?

Wouldn't you need to know Japanese for that localization job? I've applied to something at NOA before too though, and it was definitely a reach.

I think working for Nintendo would actually be weird though because I play their games. Somewhere like Blizzard would be cooler because I'm familiar enough with them and appreciate them but I'm not a huge fan. Like can you imagine how unexciting it would be to play BotW after you already have a bunch of experience playing disjointed and possibly broken sections of it?

Not that I think they do that kind of testing at NOA, but I'm talking more hypothetical than that at this point.

Editor not translator. Obviously Japanese knowledge is preferred but not required. Again I knew I wouldn't get it, I just think it seems like a fun job and it gave me the opportunity to write a cover letter to Nintendo which was fun kind of

The position I applied to was a development position, btw, but I don't even know what they do development-wise over here. I thought it was basically just localization and the business side of things. IIRC, from the description I got the impression it would be more peripheral stuff like websites or apps, not actual games

MNTwins1991 posted...

CaptainHammer posted...

applied for localization editor at Nintendo of America

Is that the guy who runs the Twitter account?

No that would be like social media editor or something. Localization editor would be working with translated text to make the writing work in English and a host of other duties related to making the game work in a Western context. Stuff like changing names too. Cordelia in Fire Emblem Awakening used to be named Tiamo until they decided that was too weird in the localization process. See doesn't that sound like a fun job, naming Fire Emblem characters and making their flirtatious banter more cute

I bet Blizzard employees all go home and play WoW and Overwatch with each other.

I'm not sure if you're being sarcastic but that actually sounds kind of interesting. Not the FE part specifically but stuff like potentially being able to make your own punny names and references to stuff you enjoy. The localization editor can do that? That seems like a lot of power. They probably have a lot of oversight and won't let you change major characters but even if I got to name some one-off minor Zelda character I'd be super stoked

He's not being sarcastic. That's the dream job.

I would like to have some dumb desk job at a game company since I'm not qualified for a real position. I'll get people coffee or something I don't care. Just let me work in a building that has big statues of like Master Chief or the Dragonborn or Mario or any of em.

I listen to a podcast by guys who do localization in Shibuya. That is the life I dream of

I'm secretly like a wannabe game-design auteur but most gamers have probably felt like that at some point. I haven't actually done jack shit but I like to tell myself that if I straighten things out, get a solid "real job" in the meantime, that I'd feel more motivated

Hey, ConcernedApe did it. Ya never know

STLCards1991 posted...

Wow the Nationals came back from a 9-0 deficit against the Marlins today

Turner had 8 RBIs. Most for a leadoff hitter in MLB history

Ultima_Dragoon posted...

The Giants will do the same

Of course, instead of scoring the 6 runs they needed, they simply gave up 6 more to the Cardinals. Yeesh.

It was a good game except that it went too well so I stayed up past my bedtime and now I'm sleepy