Ghost_MH

I'd like to apologize if the rest of the Massholes around me vote that legacy brat in. I don't understand why all these white people around me are so obsessed with the Kennedys.

Ha! RahXephon for some wild reason ended up being my one movie review immortalized in Wikipedia. I didn't even know that until like 7 or 8 years ago when a friend pointed it out while trying to figure out if the movie was original content or not.

Apple is going to make the same argument they always do. They're going to argue they can't possibly hold a monopoly anywhere because iOS has a smaller marketshare than Android. They're going to claim that their App Store competes with Google Play. They're going to claim proof of this in Google's Play Pass as being a competitor to Apple Arcade. They'll claim they aren't Microsoft because Microsoft used the 90+% marketshare to push IE into 90+% marketshare driving a competitor out of business. I think the biggest thing Epic had going for themselves is that the rules are unevenly enforced and that really messes with competition within the App Store. Microsoft can provide Office 365 on iOS when the subscription is managed on the web, but Hey gets in trouble over it. Amazon doesn't pay the same 30% tax everyone else does on digital goods. Services like Uber and Door Dash don't pay any fee at all. I guess it's because they offer a service that isn't digital. What would you call what steamers offer? YouTube and Twitch tips are subject to a 30% cut. How different is that from Patreon? As far as I'm aware, Patreon doesn't have to give Apple a 30% cut. I think Apple says it's because the service being rendered isn't within the app, but I watch videos and comics within the app, itself, so I'm not sure how that works. Google's biggest issue here is going to be enforcement of their own rules as well. If Google stopped Epic from offering Fortnite pre-installed on phones outside of the app store, then that's going to be a big problem. All the Samsung apps on my Galaxy S10 are controlled by Samsung's own competing app store that was pre-installed on my phone. There's no reason Epic shouldn't be allowed to negotiate with phone manufacturers to get Fortnite of the Epic Game Store pre-installed on Android phones. As far as I'm aware, the only rule here was supposed to be that you have to pre-install Google's software suite to gain access to the Play Store. That shouldn't stop anyone from being able to pre-install any other game, apps, or app stores.

If folks are looking for more recommendations, I do have them. Kingdom - I have a super soft spot for historical anime and this one is a retelling of the unification of China. So good. Vinland Saga - Did I mention that I have a soft spot for historical anime? This one is a retelling of Vikings moving trying to settle North America. Tower of God - I am a huge fan of the manhwa. It's a Crunchyroll original with the manhwa available on Webtoon. Noblesse - I'm from the future. This one starts in October on Crunchyroll. It's one of my all-time favorite manhwa. It's also available on Webtoon. Unless they absolutely butcher it, it's impossible this won't be good. Just ignore that it's a series about very handsome vampires and werewolves. Trust me. This series is phenomenal. Did someone else already lost Mob Psycho 100? I might actually like it better than One Punch Man. The new Fruits Basket seasons are good. I tater enjoyed Psycho Pass. Ajin isn't so bad if you can get passed the CG animation. There were new seasons of Hajime no Ippo like five or so years ago. Those were great. It's wild to think I reviewed the first season on IGN like a million years ago. Silver Spoon was great, and I don't know why it feels like it was forever ago that it came out. I guess having kids ages you fast. Beyond the Boundary was also quite enjoyable. That one came out around the same time Silver Spoon did. It can't be a coincidence that a lot of these dropped right before my oldest was born.

Sure, but there's no argument to be made that the money going to Apple helps the devs and consumers more than the same money going to the devs. What? Apple drops below is $2T valuation? That's a big boohoo from me.

Nah. Supporting developers is good for consumers. Any money that goes to devs I like is more money going toward keeping products and services I enjoy alive.

What? I think more money going to developers I want to support is a good thing and of a benefit to me because it means developers I like will have more money to do more stuff. Why shouldn't we be all about actual creators getting to keep more money for their creations? There's a reason I back creators on Patreon. There's a reason I signed up for Defector. If all those BIPOC chefs that quit Bon Appetit created they're own website, I'd sign up for that as well.

Yes, but both studios make more money if Apple's and Google's cuts were smaller or even nonexistent.

Sure, but I don't see how that's beneficial to consumers.

That doesn't make any sense. If smaller devs have to give up 20% instead of 30%, that's 10% that fits straight into their pockets. This was the issue Hey was having with their email app. They couldn't afford to offer Some a 30% cut, so they didn't offer in app payments. Instead, you had to purchase a subscription through they're website. Apple still kicked them off and refused to show them to patch their app.

There was was also Yu Yu Hakusho. That was a pretty damn good early/mid 90s dub. Also, it's not our fault that most of you people weren't exposed to the fantastic Spanish Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z dubs. Watching that on Telemundo was the best.

Sure there is. You can't ignore all the small developers that would benefit from a larger cut. Not everyone that makes an app is EA, Facebook, or Netflix, you know. Just looking at my phone, it certainly would be nice if Broken Rules Interactive, 88 Games, or Inkle got a bit more money to make more games. It's there any reason to not be in support of that?

So anyone on the fence on Spiritfarer, don't be. It's such a good game. It feels like Animal Crossing, only that all the animals you keep inviting onto your boat die. It's a nice/weird combination of like Stardew Valley, Animal Crossing, and Night in the Woods? There is no fail scenario in this game. Failure is just your attempts to remain happy when you get attached to an animal, they forget your name, and you have to walk them to their death. Good stuff.

I was wondering if anyone posted anything about Wordpress. You can't even buy anything wit the Wordpress app. A combination of hatred for Epic and/or love of Apple completely clouds the good that Epic winning here would result in. I don't care if Epic winds up being happy as a result. There are a TON of publishers and developers that would benefit greatly.

Absolutely. That's my biggest problem these days. I lack time and there's a lot of stuff that I can't watch and do if I can't involve the kids. The last really great movie I caught was A Silent Voice and my kids were mostly bored with it. Outside of that, it's a lot of Mamoru Hosada, Makoto Shinkai, Studio Ghibli and Studio Ponoc, Pokemon, and Dragon Ball Super...sometimes. Having my 4yo jump onto couches and throw balls like ki blasts is cute until he smacks on of his sisters. I should note. My wife is a HUGE action and horror fiend. Doens't matter if it's live action or animated. One of the big reasons I can get away with the previous list of stuff with the kids is because of her number one rule for anime we watch around them. No fan service. No tons of blood and gore. That leaves stuff like Attack on Titan and Inuyashiki to after hours.

@Greatoneshere Ha. I'm about in the same boat until around 2007. I have seen some pretty stellar anime in the years since, but not nearly as much as I would like. I'm not going to bother going all time, but I think I can list a top five for the last ten years. In no particular order, is go... Inuyashiki - It's a rather faithful adaption of the manga, I believe it's available on Amazon Prime. Who doesn't like a wrinkly old man tearing gangs to shreds? One Punch Man - Because who doesn't like this series? I love the manga. The second season was a disappointment, in large part because it didn't really tell a full story. I hate seasons that end mid-arc. Attack on Titan - It's incredibly popular for a reason. Kids on the Slope - Nobody seems to ever talk about this series. Why? It's so good. Watanabe and Yoko Kanno teaming up for a series about jazz and life? Yes please. Madoka Magical - I actually get to church to see if this was from the just ten years. It feels like it was so long ago. Then again, January feels like so long ago.

My favorite one is the excuse that in absolute numbers, more white people are killed by police; as though that's an argument for not doing a better job of holding police accountable for these crimes.

Maybe this case will get some attention now. This is pretty bad and likely nothing will happen but tax payers footing the bill for police depravity.

That's one of the dumbest argument I've ever seen, and we have a joke in the Trump admin. If Epic wants to make a public interest claim, their best bet would be arguing that Apple pulling they're ability to release signed software on macOS or iOS will negatively impact developers who rely on their software for a living.

People in PR are brown. It's there any other reason?

Please tell me this is one of the school districts that went with half days and they're rotating the kids for morning and afternoon to lower the number of kids in at a time.

Well, yes. Epic was probably the only company that could get cross play working on PlayStations. That said, Epic doesn't have much away with Apple or Google. Fortnite profit didn't equal to much compared to what Apple would lose if they got less than a 30% cut. This isn't just about games for Apple, where as it is just about games for Sony.

Every major publisher has more leverage on console manufacturers than they do on PC or mobile. Steam has a near monopoly on PC game sales. Google has a near monopoly on game sales on Android. Apple had a complete monopoly on game sales for iOS. The console manufacturers still rely very heavily on retail while also directly competing each other. If you don't think retail is as big as it used to be, look at every Nintendo game that tops the sales chart and remember that doesn't include digital sales. If you don't think they're actually competing with each other then you don't know why they even bother with buying up exclusives. Not you, specifically, but you know what I mean. A large portion of console game sales are controlled by Walmart and Amazon, outside of the console manufacturers hands. Apple would have a very different relationship with publishers if half of their app sales were controlled Walmart and Amazon.

I actually picked up a number of these games, specifically A Short Hike, Takeshi and Hiroshi, and Spiritfarer. I'm also interested in Raji, but I'm too on the fence. I might have to wait for some impressions from others on that one. Spiritfarer seems pretty good so far. The art is so good. The only thing that weirds me out about the game is that I swear the lead artist for this game must have a Patreon where they share rather compromising artwork of the cast of Zootopia or something. There's some incredible artistic talent here being used to animate anthropomorphic animals getting hugged by the protagonist.

Oddly, it seems very fragmented. Microsoft seems interested in all of TikTok minus Douyin whereas Twitter and Oracle only seem interested in TikTok's US operations.