That makes a lot of sense. Katamari Damacy is also an excellent game with such a bizarre story. I’m guess I’m a fan of absurdity.

My favorite game in the series was Super Mario 3. I first played it on the SNES when it was part of the Super Mario All Stars cartridge. I really liked the levels, especially the variety of landscapes and the secrets you could find if you had the right powerup.

Super Mario World is just as good imo. Everything I liked about 3 and more, plus the star road levels, that was a good game.

The most recent game I loved was Yoshi’s Wooly World on the WiiU. Excellent art style and super fun levels, especially the unlockable bonus levels.

Oh and let’s not forget Legend of the Seven Stars. That was a fun and bizarre story.

That being said, does anyone else think the Mario universe is just fucking weird? How did the creators come up with Italian plumbers who can jump really high saving a Princess from an oversized turtle in a fantasy land with walking mushrooms? Who thought that was a good idea? What inspired them? I think the only reason it became popular was because Super Mario on the NES was one of the first decent games, and most players were kids who didn’t care about the game’s universe and narrative beyond saving the princess.

If Mario wasn’t the first popular platformer in the 80s and was instead introduced today, nobody would take it seriously. Since we all grew up with Mario, it’s a thing we accept as is. Of course high jumping Italian plumbers discovered the mushroom kingdom and rescued their princess from Bowser, again and again and again. Of course little dudes with mushroom heads are ruled by a blond haired human. Of course giant pipes are a normal mode of transit. Of course goombas and koopa troopas are the baddies.

Seriously, how did this universe come about?

Here’s some pics: https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yjf73vy_VRo/T6rqS_Yec_I/AAAAAAAAAFQ/nAKPcFeo87w/s1600/durendal.jpg

https://www.ancient-origins.net/sites/default/files/embedded-stone-in-Rocamadour.jpg

I really don’t understand why you’re nitpicking someone who is trying to drastically reduce their impact. What would you recommend they do?

Okay so NATO waits until a NATO member or members start something, then they join?

Didn’t they start wars in Iraq and Libya too?

Hopefully NATO isn’t stupid enough to take on anyone either

Did this leak happen before or after NYT published an investigation detailing how Israeli forces were raping and torturing defenseless Palestinian detainees brought in from the Gaza Strip?

I bet an AI could do it

Bah, the data is on their websites, figure out how to collect it.

Okay, anyway, maybe someday they’ll increase the gas tax.

Civ6 has districts. Instead of having all of a city’s buildings existing in the city center tile, the city builds specialty districts that occupy a hex near the city. For example, a science district placed near some mountains will house the city’s library, university, and research lab.

I think the districts are a fun addition because it exposes a civ’s infrastructure to attack. You can pilliage an opponent’s districts to temporarily cripple them and you get some decent loot in the form of gold, science, culture, or faith.

Why is there not an app that tells you which grocery stores have the best prices? I should be able to give it a list and it’ll tell me where to buy each item.

That lifted diesel super duty getting 12mpg will get the state $0.47 in tax per gallon of diesel. If I did the math correctly that’s $391.67 per 10,000 miles. That’s about a years worth of driving for most people.

The gestures are awesome! The best part of my old moto was turning on my flashlight just by shaking the phone. So convenient. Turning it on with any other phone is a whole process that takes forever.

Kiwi farms?

If anything, such an event would create more demand for government actions that mitigate climate change.

About 6 montha ago I wanted to replace my S21 battery and checked with Samsung, who redirected me to iFixit. The only genuine Samsung S21 battery they had was only sold with the screen, which cost ~$130 or something. I didn’t need the screen…

Last month I checked again and saw they had a third party replacement battery for ~$30, same capacity. I bought it and popped it in. It’s been working fine.

Was it Samsung’s requirement that the battery only be sold with the screen? At the time, I would have rather had the genuine Samsung battery and would have paid a bit extra for it, but not $100 extra.

Sexual selection is a subcategory of natural selection

Weaker is in quotes, which suggests to me they don’t mean weaker, just those carrying potentially deleterious traits. Plus, if those people are reproducing, those traits can’t be that bad anyway.