I will also vote for Biden. But you don’t care? Damn. Sounds like you’ve got a pretty cushy life, not having to worry about the fact that Biden likely won’t rein in corporations, won’t actively pursue racial equality, and won’t do nearly what is necessary to curb climate change. I have that kind of life too, but I…

Yeah, I guess they were just too busy working three jobs. Bunch of losers, those people.

Maybe he stayed in the race because he truly believed America needs what he’s offering. Maybe, just maybe, it’s not all about horse-race politics.

Does anybody really take VP pick into account when deciding who to vote for and whether to go to the polls? If so, why? Unless Biden dies, it’s really not going to matter much.

Yeah, I have no idea. I guess even if we assume there are fewer than 700 pieces in the castle set (a reasonable assumption), there may be other factors. The pieces may be bigger, so the total amount of plastic may be comparable. And in the video, the guy says they’ve been developing these sets for 4 years now. I don’t…

Yeah, that’s fair. There may be more pieces hidden inside, but probably not a ton.

I’m think they might have more substance than is first apparent. It’s a bit hard to tell from the very limited glimpse we’ve gotten. I do think the raw number of bricks in these sets is going to be relatively small, but the gimmicks I’m seeing look right up there with my favorite LEGO sets I had as a kid. Stomp on a…

Apparently the game part is collecting coins. When Mario scans the starting warp pipe, it starts the “level” and a timer starts. Then he goes through the level, collecting coins from various enemies and objects. Then when you scan the goal pole, it totals up your coins and gives you a score. Now I don’t know how that…

Well, different kids are different, I guess. My son likes watching me play video games, and he occasionally plays them. But he keeps coming back to Legos. And he loves Mario games. Plus he puts Legos together himself. I’m guessing this is going to have legs for us.

If it changes the value proposition for anybody, pre-ordering the starter set also gets you a bonus little desert set which I guess normally retails for $15. It’s got a POW block that I think topples a Stone Eye (statue thing from NSMBU), a Monty Mole that pops out of the ground, and a super mushroom.

I’m a bit more optimistic. The fact that Mario senses color and reacts accordingly (blue is water, red is lava, green is grass, etc.), means that you should be able to use a bunch of other Lego stuff to augment the experience. My 6-year-old already makes pretend worlds like that, so this seems exactly up his alley. I…

Counterpoint: that does look like shit.

Is anybody else now regretting donating all their masks to nearby hospitals? Kind of wish I’d kept one or two for myself, now that it’s being recommended I wear one.

Sorry, accidental reply.

I basically agree with all of this. Unfortunately for me, the demo’s quirks brought the experience down to the point that I just quit in the middle of fighting the thief boss.

That’s pretty standard on demographic surveys. I’m not sure exactly why, but Hispanic is not mutually exclusive with Caucasian, etc. You can be black and hispanic, for instance. Again, I don’t have the background on why that is, and it may or may not be racist, but it’s not new.

I believe you.

The virus won’t magically get less virulent or deadly after three weeks. If we relax restrictions before a vaccine or treatment is widely available, the number of cases will go right back to climbing.

Well I will admit it was a smart move to make ARMS free to play for a while. That way people like me who never touched it will have the chance to get into it and then be excited about the next character.

I’ve not played these games so I was excited, but having huge downloads just so they can save some money on game carts is a downer. Probably I’ll pass.