David Kenny

I'd been waiting for that compilation and then forgot about it, thanks for the heads up. I really like that Kokoroko track. I've been listening to this one two or three times a day for about 2 weeks. I found it on a compilation of Belgian 1970s Jazz Funk (the compilation is called Funky Chimes and has a few great tracks on it). It takes a while to get going but once the distorted guitar comes in it turns into some pretty special psychedelic Jazz Funk. Unfortunately, this song is not indicative of the rest of the album pictured. Most of it is poppy ballads in the Carole King vein, except sung in Flemish. Probably the least appropriate language for poppy ballads.

It's definitely not the best story, but it's not the worst either, and to be honest it's fairly standard. Exiled princess, warring factions, evil empire, plucky rebels, some late reveal evil power, none of it makes a lick of sense. Your basic Final Fantasy story checklist.

Unfinished! I spent upwards of 150 hours on Final Fantasy XII. Thank god they didn't add anything else. My only disappointment with Final Fantasy XII is that they didn't use the Gambit system again.

I have still never finished Vagrant Story (despite multiple attempts), I just never got my head around the weapons system, and always end up stuck in some place surrounded by a type of enemy I can't touch. It's a real shame as everything about it is amazing.

The ISO code for Japan is JPN. So obviously the ISO get it. See also their abbreviations for Nigeria and Niger.

That's a great Freddie Hubbard track. Love it. Regarding recommendations, I have a few more contemporary tracks you might like. This track by Nubiyan Twist has a really nice Brazilian flavour. The band itself is incredibly tight, which I love. Then there's an album by Paolo Fedreghini and Marco Bianchi which is full of latin influences, and it has that same 1960s vibe you hear in much of the music you referenced. Also it's worth checking out Into The Infrasounds by Monophonics. It's funk but with again with a Latin flavour (this band is also unbelievably tight).

Yeah the detachable controllers would be a problem I guess. It's not going to happen I know, I just want to play Mario at work. (I already carry a laptop to work and a switch and a case just make the whole thing too bulky).

The man is allowed to want something to happen without believing it actually will happen. I also would love a smaller clam-shell design switch, as the switch is not really portable to me. I don't think they'll do it, but I'd like them to.

The debate is tied to the game, in that this game has a boob slider in it. We could try and have this debate in the thread for the new Kirby game but I'm going to guess (and I may embarrass myself here because I haven't checked) it does not have a boob slider in it.

I thought Horizon was absolutely amazing from start to finish, but it is massive.

John Steinbeck from The Grapes of Wrath. For the last two sentences really. "What if they won’t scare? What if they stand up and take it and shoot back? These men were armed when they were children. A gun is an extension of themselves. What if they won’t scare? What if some time an army of them marches on the land as the Lombards did in Italy, as the Germans did on Gaul and Turks did on Byzantium? They were land-hungry, ill-armed hordes took and the legions could not stop them. Slaughter and terror did not stop them. How can you frighten a man whose hunger is not only in his own cramped stomach but in the wretched bellies of his children? You can’t scare him--he has known a fear beyond every other."

Did anyone pick this up in the end? I really like the look of it but have a lot of top down dungeon crawlers in my backlog untouched. Is it better than them?

This is terrible advice. Consumer rights in this country are very weak in practice and you are unlikely to win any case against a retailer without spending money. The only recourse you really have is under the Sale of Goods Act 1979 or the Consumer Rights Act 2015, and neither of those sets any kind of limit on how long things should be expected to last. Only that they should last a reasonable time. You might argue that 2 years is not a reasonable time, but that would depend on how it was used what condition it was kept in and any number of other variables the retailer can argue led to the fault. The other avenue is to argue that the item was not fit for purpose when it was sold to you, but crucially it would be up to you to prove this. A very difficult and potentially expensive thing to do. The only option Strafe has is to contact the retailer and argue that the item was not fit for purpose and hope they replace it, or to appeal to Nintendo's good nature to waive the fee. The legal route is expensive and risky and the law is against you.

Great album.

Amazing. Simply amazing. Surely the greatest jazz ensemble of all time.