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September 13, 2018's Nintendo Direct. In summary: If you paid close attention in the Simon Belmont reveal from the August 8 Direct, you'll notice that Luigi's ghost-hunting vacuum is different than it is in the two Luigi's Mansion games. Well, turns out GameXplain was right; that was foreshadowing for a third Luigi's Mansion game for the Switch, coming out in 2019. Kirby's Epic Yarn is getting a 3DS port as Kirby's Extra Epic Yarn. It's got some new features, such as new power-ups and some minigames featuring King Dedede and Meta Knight. 2019 release. Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story is also geting a 3DS port. Like Mario & Luigi: Super Star Saga, this one includes a new side game called Bowser Jr.'s Journey. January 11, 2019. On the subject of Luigi's Mansion, the first game will be ported to the 3DS. This port includes 2-player co-op mode if both of you have the game, or co-op boss battle mode if only one of you has the game. There's also amiibo compatibility. October 12, 2018 release, just in time for Halloween. Yo-Kai Watch Blasters is out now, but it's also getting a free update with new bonuses and missions on September 27. Splatoon 2 version 4.0 is introduced with the most anime trailer ever. Looks like we're getting new gear, weapons, music, and stages as usual. One of these stages takes place in the single-player areas, it seems. And there might be a new mode, maybe? Mega Man 11 is coming out in time for the 30th anniversary of the series. In addition to the standard new Robot Masters to fight, Mega Man has some new systems that appear to work like temporary powerups that do things like power boost and time-slowing. Mario Tennis Aces is getting some new characters: Birdo, Shy Guy, Koopa Paratroopa, and Petey Piranha. More characters might be coming in by June. There's also some new modes, including one that looks roughly like Breakout, one that involves hitting the ball through hoops, and more. Capcom Beat-'Em-Up games such as Final Fight, The King of Dragons, Captain Commando, Knights of the Round, Warriors of Fate, Armored Warriors, and Battle Circuit are getting a Switch port in the Capcom Beat-Em-Up Bundle. Pre-purchase it now or wait 'til its formal eShop release on September 18. New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe, because every game is getting a Switch port with "Deluxe" in the title it seems. Nabbit and Toadette are playable as well. New Super Luigi U is also getting the Deluxe treatment. The whole bundle comes out on January 11, 2019. Katamari Damacy (which I always misread as Katamari Dynasty) is getting a Switch port. Motion appears to use the gyros in the Switch Joy-Cons, though I bet there's an option to use joystick controls. Katamari Damacy Reroll launches in winter 2018. The online service, Nintendo Switch Online, will kick in September 18. It will feature: Online play (obviously). This probably won't affect Splatoon as that already features online play. A large library of NES games, including Balloon Fight, Dr. Mario, Baseball, Donkey Kong, Mario Bros., Double Dragon, Excitebike, Pro Wrestling, Gradius, Ice Climber, Soccer, Ghosts 'N Goblins, Ice Hockey, River City Ransom, Super Mario Bros. 3, The Legend of Zelda, NES Open Tournament Golf, Solomon's Key, Dodge Ball, Mighty Bomb Jack, Metroid, Super Mario Bros., Yoshi, and more. Cloud storage of game save data Nintendo Smartphone App connectivity Special offers to be revealed later. The service begins September 18. It's a paid service, of course There are NES Controllers for Switch that charge by sliding them into the Joy-Con slots. Nintendo is just rolling in throwbacks lately. Info about Pokemon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Pokemon: Let's Go, Eevee! Where you'd use HMs in the original games, here you use Secret Techniques. Only your starter Pikachu or Eevee can use them, but doing so somehow even summons a surfboard for crossing oceans and a balloon-lifted chair thing for flying around. Like the Pokemon-Amie / Pokemon Refresh thing from X/Y and Sun/Moon, you can use the Switch in handheld mode to pet your Pikachu and Eevee. This can change up their hairstyles even! Diablo 3 for Nintendo Switch. This is also the first time I can think of where Nintendo would use the word "Hell", though I'm not sure if that counts as profanity since it's referring to the place. Super Mario Party! 80 new minigames, four-player co-op games, single-player modes, and plenty more. October 5. Town (working title). It's an action RPG where you never leave the starting town. Defend the town against invading monsters. 2019 release; maybe we'll have a name then. City Skylines: Nintendo Switch Edition. Yes, you read that right. What is with this system? Build your city however you wish. You can track every citizen if you want. This game also comes with the previously-released DLC packs. Available now! Daemon X Machina. It's a mech game (the mechs are called Arsenals here) where you face runaway AI. Like the Mechwarrior games (and I'm only comparing because I own a couple of those, even though I haven't played them in like a decade), you can collect equipment from fallen enemies and use them later. You can also exit your mech and run around as a squishy human, and collect augmentations for your human self that can enhance your mech. 2019 release. That Yoshi game finally gets a title: Yoshi's Crafted World. You can rotate the stage, flip the camera to the other side of the stage and play the course backwards, and play in two-player mode. Spring 2019. Asmodee Digital is releasing digital adaptations of various tabletop games: Carcassonne, The Lord of the Rings: Living Card Game, Pandemic as a start, with Settlers of Catan and Munchkin on the way. Sid Meier's Civilization VI. Now Nintendo gamers can have their time wasted too! Starlink: Battle for Atlas, by Ubisoft. It's multi-platform, but the Switch version includes Star Fox characters and missions. October 16 The World Ends with You: Final Remix will feature a new level based on Shibuya. October 12 release Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna - The Golden Country comes out September 21, but if you have the Expansion Pass, you can get it a week early. As in, well, now. A bunch of other games got release dates: Warframe on November 20. Seriously!? Just Dance 2019 on October 23. FIFA 19 on September 28. Team Sonic Racing available this winter NBA 2K19 available right now NBA 2K Playgrounds 2 available this fall LEGO DC Super-Villains available October 16 Final Fantasy! Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Remastered Edition. We have the original Wii version, actually. The Remastered Edition features online co-op. 2019 Final Fantasy XV Pocket Edition HD. Seriously, they chibi-fied that game and gave it an eShop port! Available now! World of Final Fantasy Maxima. Includes a new mode called Avatar Change, which lets you transform into other Final Fantasy characters (yes, that includes Cloud). November 6 Chocobo's Mystery Dungeon Every Buddy! (yes, that is spelled correctly). Anyone who remembers the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon games knows what to expect, gameplay-wise. Winter 2018 Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age. 2019 We'll also get classics like Final Fantasy VII, IX, X, and X2 in 2019. A hardware bundle for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, including a dock with the original 8 Smash Bros. fighters, a download code for Smash Ultimate, and a Smash Bros. Joy-Con set. This bundle launches November 2, though you can pre-order it now. You can also get the GameCube Controller: Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Edition and GameCube Controller Adapter on November 2. One final thing: Isabelle Turns Over A New Leaf! Isabelle from the Animal Crossing series joins the battle! She has some similar moves to the Villager but is distinct enough to count as her own fighter rather than an Echo Fighter. With that, we also get confirmation of an Animal Crossing game for the Switch, to be released in 2019. Not a bad haul, eh?

(wow, nobody wanted to share their music for months?) Anyway, I've had some Super Mario Odyssey music stuck in my head. Specifically, Fossil Falls, the music used for the Cascade Kingdom. There's segments in the game where you go into a 2D plane and switch to 8-bit graphics. Usually when this happens, the normal background music is turned down and an 8-bit remix of the track is played. And it's no different for Fossil Falls. Take a listen.

Today is a busy morning. We have people here to fix the roof, we have people here to remove a tree, and a kitten. And it's not even nine a.m.! (note 1: the tree has nothing to do with the roof) (note 2: we have to call the SPCA for the kitten. we're not keeping it, no matter how badly I want to) (note 3: no, seriously, this is adorable)

Time for something I haven't done in forever: Panel-By-Panel Analysis! ======== Panel 1 and 2: (I thought panel 1 would be bigger and blocked the screen with my hand; turns out it's a thin panel and I saw panel 2 anyway) Anyway, I thought Diane's reaction in the last page was about those two not recognizing her due to her haircut and outfit. Turns out I was wrong. And yeah, Diane, there's an unfortunate social connotation that comes with the way you used to dress and your former dating habits. I'm surprised you never thought about it. Panel 3: More people talking about her without realizing she's right next to them due to her drastic change in haircut and attire. Light-haired girl seems to think Susan was Diane. Seems to be a trend here. I can imagine it now. "I have a sister/cousin/whatever!" "Suuuuure you do." Panel 4: Spiky-haired girl has a low opinion of Diane. To be fair, it's not entirely undeserved, considering how she acted when we met her. Nobody's noticed her character development, it seems. And light-haired girl does have a point. Spit is surprisingly useless at putting out fires. Panel 5: Well, light-haired girl has a point. Very few people know the real Diane. She's kept her hidden depths hidden. I think Nanase, Ellen, and Susan might have a better gauge on Diane's real personality than Lucy and even Rhoda, simply because the former three have seen Diane when she's scared and unsure (we don't know if the latter two have) while the latter two have primarily seen Diane when she's being smug or manipulative. The majority of the school sees Diane's manipulative side, and as we've seen here, they've brought up expectations and assumptions. Most people never bother getting to know most other people. Reputation is usually the only way we know about someone. Panel 6: Ouch. Low blow, spiky-haired girl. Low blow. Proves my point, huh? Barely anyone knows Diane except by reputation, and her reputation isn't that good, leading to...well, spiky-haired girl's rhetorical question. Panel 7: And a beat panel to let it sink in. Commentary: Dan's right. Their planet needs them. ======== Yikes. When you realize your reputation stinks. Really, this is about the best time for Diane to learn all this stuff. Because of the events at the mall, everyone's talking about her. Because of her haircut, nobody knows they're talking about her behind her back while in front of her face. Two plus two equals a whole lot of eye-opening revelations. (...am I rewriting math or using an overly long variable name?) Is this sort of the opposite of change blindness? They assume she can't be Diane because she doesn't look like Diane and they didn't witness the change? And to slightly misquote something: "They needn't gossip. After all, it's rude to talk about someone who's listening."

When cat that doesn't trust you and seems scared of you decides to sit on your lap and nuzzle your hand.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Nintendo Direct: August 8, 2018 (wow, did I really not do this for the E3 reveal? ...here it is anyway, just in case you haven't watched it) Here's a quick breakdown: Starting with a character reveal: Simon Lashes Out! That's right; Simon Belmont from Castlevania! "Hey man! Haven't seen you in a while. Now we can re-enact-" Mega Man: "SHH! Don't bring that up!" Pit: "Bring up what-icus?" Mega Man: "AARGH!" The same trailer also reveals that Richter Crosses Over! Two! Two Castlevania protagonists! Ah ah ah! *dramatic thunder and lightning* Incidentally, this means we currently have playable fighters from 32 unique video game franchises (well... 30, depending on how you count Yoshi and Wario) across On top of that, we get Alucard as an Assist Trophy and Dracula's Castle as a stage, complete with thirty-four music tracks! Said Dracula's Castle stage has numerous enemies from the Castlevania games, from the Mummy to the Werewolf to the lightning-revealed silhouette of a character only called ????? (some people seem to recognize the silhouette as that of Kid Dracula). Dracula appears as a boss, but the conditions for his appearance are still a mystery. Hmm... Right after that, we got two more Echo Fighters (re: clones... Wow, did I really not post here about E3? I guess I didn't. Huh.) Chrom from Fire Emblem: Awakening. He's a clone Echo Fighter of Roy, though he has Ike's recovery and a completely new Final Smash. Dark Samus from the Metroid Prime trilogy. She's a clone of Bowser (I'm kidding). We got some stage reveals as well. Previously, the GameXplain people managed to find 86 unique stages between the E3 direct and demo, and the character showcase videos, snapshots, and and portraits on the Smash Ultimate website. Well, we've bumped that number up to 103! For the record, there's only 120 stages across the entire series, and we're getting over 85% of them! Stages from the N64 Smash Bros. retain their old look while stages from Melee onwards get a graphical makeover. Only teased at in Mario's character showcase video, we now have confirmation of New Donk City Hall, based on the location from Super Mario Odyssey. It's a scrolling stage that goes up the tower to the top before cycling back down. Tired of playing on the Wily Castle stage and having to fight the Yellow Devil every ten seconds? Say no more! Stage Hazards can be turned completely off. This might open up more stages for professional tournament play without having to stick with their Final Destination or Battlefield forms. Can't pick just one stage? Pick two! The Stage Morph option lets you choose two stages. During the match, it will switch between them. You can set the switch to happen randomly or after a certain amount of time has passed. Mix things up! And lastly, every stage will be available at start. There will be no unlockable stages; they're all available from the moment you turn the game on. We saw a stage roster with all stages revealed so far. Including the random option, there's still enough room for six more... "Vegeta, what does the scouter say about the number of music tracks?" "It's over EIGHT-HUNDRED!" "WHAT!? EIGHT-HUNDRED!?" That's just for music for stages; including menu music and fanfare, that goes up to "OVER NINE-HUNDRED!" For the record, assuming no looping or repeats, that's over 28 hours of music! Yeesh. Trips to Namek don't take that long. Music is now grouped by series instead of by stage, so if you're playing a Zelda stage, you can use any Zelda music in the game. You can also make your own playlists, and listen to them with the Switch in handheld mode like any music player. When setting up a match in online multiplayer, the FIRST thing you do is make a rule set. By the way, Stamina mode is an available mode for multiplayer matches. Final Smash Meter! Enable this, and you can build up a Final Smash meter. When it's full, you can use a weaker version of your Final Smash. Multiple characters can now have Final Smashes ready, though only one can use them at a time. Since Final Smashes can be not random (chasing the Smash Ball was definitely random) and are also weaker in this way, this means we might be seeing Final Smashes in professional tournaments. Game modes! Squad Strike! It's a 3-on-3 or 5-on-5 elimination-style match. Basically a three-or-five-stock battle where each stock is a different fighter. You could also have five players per side. Tournament mode! Back to how it was in Brawl, you can host your own local tournaments with up to 32 fighters. Smashdown! Choose your characters for round 1. For round 2, you cannot choose those characters! Play through the roster with no repeats. Heck, if you wanna play strategically, pick a character you know your friend is good at so that they can't use that one against you later. Training Mode got a redesign. Now there's a grid, so you can judge character sizes and distances. Your opponent in Training Mode is a fighter this time instead of a sandbag, so you can test out grapples too. When you hit someone, you see launch trajectories. Classic Mode! Battle your way against several consecutive fighters on specific stages, just like in the old days. Each fighter has their own set of opponents. New items! Banana Gun. Shoot the innards of the banana like a projectile. The peel turns into a regular Banana Peel. Death's Scythe from Castlevania. Instantly KOs enemies that are badly damaged. Killer Edge. When the blade glows red, it deals more damage. Staff. Deals more damage the farther away the target is. Ramblin' Evil Mushroom from Earthbound. This makes other fighters' controls flip around. That's confusing. Rage Blaster. The more damage the wielder has taken, the stronger the shot. New Pokemon and Assist Trophies Alolan Exeggutor. This super-tall palm tree Pokemon acts as a solid obstacle, so you can't get past it. Characters that can wall-jump and cling to walls can do so to Alolan Exeggutor's neck. Vulpix and Alolan Vulpix. Two separate Pokemon. Vulpix appears to use Ember, shooting a burst of fire forwards like Lucas' PK Fire. Alolan Vulpix does the opposite, shooting ice. Mimikyu. This little whatever-it-is grabs a fighter and takes it under its cloak, dealing damage and KO'ing them. Pyukumuku. This sea cucumber Pokemon only deals damage when attacked. Marshadow. This ghostly Pokemon attacks from the shadows. Ditto. Originally planned for Super Smash Bros. Melee but couldn't be implemented due to technical issues (re: bugs), Ditto transforms into a copy of whoever summons it. Zero from Mega Man X. He attacks using beam swords and other things. Nikki from the Swap Note messaging app of all things. She draws things on a drawing pad. Those things appear on the stage and can do stuff. She's shown drawing a Bonzai Bill from the Mario games, which proceeds to fly off stage, dealing damage to the fighters in its way. She can probably draw other things. SHOVEL KNIGHT. Deals damage and digs up food. Kapp'n from Animal Crossing. He gets in his bus and drives off, picking up anyone in his way (whether they like it or not) and driving them to the blast line. Chef Kawasaki from Kirby. He basically uses Kirby's Final Smash from Brawl, where fighters and items get sucked into a giant cooking pot for a bit before being spat out. A Klaptrap from Donkey Kong. This jumpy little mini crocodile thingy bites fighters. Not that impressive, but hey, they can't all be... The MOON from The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask. The Moon drops from the sky to crash into the stage! Seriously! The freakin' MOON! Is that Rathalos? The Rathalos enemy from Monster Hunter appears as an Assist Trophy. It also pulls double-duty and appears as a boss on a stage we don't recognize. Hmm... The menu looks nice, but there's this one option that's deliberately pixellated as they can't talk about it yet. Hmm... Sakurai said every fighter will be revealed before launch. A bit disappointing if you wanted some surprise, but in the age of Internet, it's really not gonna make a difference to me, so eh. And for the closer? King K. Rool Comes Aboard! So... Hype?

"In the end... You will always kneel." "Not to men like you." "There are no men like me." "There are always men like you."

Why wouldn't they want Tahiti? It's a magical place.

OVERDUE IS RIGHT, ELLEN! I've been waiting for that since I first started reading this thing! (which was New and Old Flames 6, by the way) Seriously, I think this is literally the first time they've referenced Kaoli since Grace's birthday party. (referencing the second life in general doesn't count)

1990 -- Some kid is born in Oregon. He would hike mountains twice before graduating high school. For the next decade afterwards, his greatest achievement would be not finishing anything he writes.

I'm at the theaters. Gonna watch Ant Man and the Wasp for my birthday. Oop, phones off gotta go bye!

Megalodon: "Everybody sees a scale and thinks 'dragon'. ALWAYS the dragons." Basilisk: "Mmhm." T. rex: "Hear hear."

I'm at the theaters. Gonna watch Avengers: Infinity War. Oop, phones off gotta go bye!

So I finally dusted off my old RuneScape account that I haven't used since 2010-ish. They remixed and reorchestrated most of the music in the update from RuneScape 2 to RuneScape 3, and while I'm not a fan of what they did to "Sea Shanty II", most of it's a significant improvement. Case in point: Harmony

I don't know how this ended up in my recommendations, but here's this thing. Basically: LEGO train multi-track drifting, set to "Deja Vu" from Initial D. Catchy song. I'd put it in the 'listening' thread with a lyrics video (here's a link to one), but I felt this was more fun to show than a bunch of words. Also, tire company Goodyear is working on spherical tires, like from the I, Robot movie. I can picture someone driving sideways (literally sideways) to this music.