I disagree that Black Panther could be any monarch. I mean, his superhero name is a squared up reference to a black power movement that’s firmly ensconced in the American psyche, post 1960. I don’t think anyone reading that in America would be unaware of at least the basics of the history of the Black Panthers (for…

I think he’s already starting to lose a step, but credit where credit’s due: his trainers had some serious foresight in terms of extending his league longevity. Getting him to cut weight probably didn’t help him in terms of his ability to push guys around in the post, but it almost certainly extended his career.

I know that reading within context is really, really hard. Trump’s administration gave the go-ahead to conduct what could be described as a boondoggle bombing, on the heels of a boondoggle missile strike in Syria. Therefore, it makes sense to talk about this in the context of Trump’s administration (quick reminder:…

Your last paragraph is completely spot-on. I mean, the entire concept of video game narratives is that they largely exist in a universe divorced from the history of racial violence in our own, which allows tremendous freedom in terms of how you use race to push the narrative. There are no tropes, no stereotypes, so as…

You really think that ISIS members have a hard time getting around in the ME, such that a network of caves outside of major population centers serve as their only means to move around? Do you also buy that the missile strike against Syria was a significant move that altered Assad’s/Putin’s overall strategy and…

I consume a lot of media from a lot of outlets, just not Fox and Stormfront and, nearest I can tell, striking a cave network that killed off, what 100 people, doesn’t really change the strategic situation. It doesn’t shore up support for pro-western forces in the ME and it doesn’t do anything to fix any of the…

So, you don’t have a coherent answer as to how bombing a militant group local to the Middle East (hey, we’ve never engaged a local militant group in the ME before! /s) helps make America great. Cool story.

Is ISIS making America great again? Also, we were fighting ISIS before Trump took office, so unless Obama was making America great again, your answer is profoundly stupid.

I’ve not seen the show, but I imagine that the reason Fiennes was cast was to portray some nuance to the character, something beyond just an agent of a far-right theocracy, carrying out his state-sanctioned monthly duty. I’m sure that there were Nazi commanders that were dashing and charismatic, but still swore fealty…

Mario Kart and Star Fox were both pretty revolutionary, but both are games that were overshadowed by their N64 counterparts. Those are fantastic games, in their own right, but I can’t help but feel like I’d rather just play the N64 versions.

Yeah, but at a certain level I just want a toy to play with, not something I have to build out and work on and tool around with. I feel like that’s a huge draw for these kinds of products - the community that really wants to, will build a Raspberry Pi emulation machine, but for everyone else that just likes older…

I’m sure I could have found one, but honestly didn’t try. Love the idea, but I couldn’t rationalize spending any money on those games that feel so dated.

I played the ever-loving shit out of Chrono Trigger. And the first DK Country, not so much any of the others. Super Mario Kart, also. It’s not the best MK game out there, but it did kick off the whole genre of semi-serious racers.

It just seems so much neater, cleaner, to have an all-in-one like an SNES Classic. That and I’m a consummate American: why build when you can buy?

One of my buddies mentioned that it probably had to do with supply chain issues and the fact that, even historically, Nintendo hasn’t been great about keeping production in line with demand; given that they’re trying to keep up production of the Switch, it was probably a total capacity issue for them.

I’m gonna go out on a limb here and ask, why not Ogre Battle? Only because of your handle, here.

Now that’s a game I haven’t thought of in a long time...

I was just too young to really get into the NES craze. I had several games I liked playing, but for the most part, it didn’t really grab my attention. The SNES was the console that really got me meaningfully into gaming with Super Mario World and Link to the Past. There are probably a boatload of games that I’ve…

Earthbound, Mega Man X, Super Metroid, Super Castlevania, Final Fantasy IV and VI, Link to the Past, Super Mario World, Yoshi’s Island, Super Mario RPG, Ogre Battle, Secret of Mana, Illusion of Gaia. If like half of those games are on the SNES Classic, I’m buying one.

I had both, at one point (mom got me an SNES, dad got me a Genesis...one of the benefits of divorced parents) and, while there were some really fun games on the Genesis (Phantasy Star IV, Beyond Oasis, Sonic, etc.) it didn’t really grab me the way that the SNES did. The SNES felt more polished, like the developers…