Today's Notes 3/22/21

Good afternoon everybody,

Last night's stream of Overwatch was one of those nights where nothing seemed to flow to well in terms of match ups, with either horrible selections from damage-role players or just people over thinking what they should do. But we did have a lot of fun, big thanks to PandaSweet for joining in on the fun! Even picked up three plays of the game last night.

With the expansion in terms of options of what types of games I can feature on my twitch channel, the need to use a wireless controller for some consoles has popped up, and so I finally caved and got a rechargeable battery / stand for the Xbox One controller. With the strong possibility that later in the year or early next year we'll add the Series X or S to the roster, the need for a wireless controller does indeed grow.

Staying on that subject, we've added a few things to the collection with three new factory sealed Playstation 3 games, Persona 5, 007 Legends  and Records of Agarest War 2. The later of which is part of a trilogy and I'm looking for the other two games in the series at this time. In addition, two new Switch games, Overcooked 2 which was recommended by PandaSweet last night, as well as ARMS, which was the first year Switch game release that actually showed that boxing aerobic games were possible for the console

Today's Fitness Boxing 2 Session was.... bad, not because it was stream, it was bad because I missed way more motions than I'm use to seeing, as I was particularly bad from the South Paw stance which almost never is the case. Sway Backs was a major problem. Still we reached a new milestone with the Heavyweight Puncher Lv. 3 achievement which is to have a total punch count of 135,000 with my exact total being 136,317. Since this was a streamed session we did three extra workouts as well so I have set new personal bests in Estimate Calorie Burns and  Exercise Duration. 

Tonight we'll return to Dragon Age Inquisition, and I will admit (again) that since last Tuesday, I've been doing some off-stream game-play with it, advancing a lot of dialog by accident and doing war table stuff. Safe to say though that probably the first thing we'll do with tonight's stream is probably lock in the Inquisitor's relationship with Sera... I do wish I didn't advance dialog as much as I did off stream, as the prank sequence was a lot of fun. 

Anyway, we'll see you later today over on twitch.tv/fredcasden!

Today's Notes 3/21/21

Good evening everyone,

No I did not over sleep today, actually I got distracted with a few things and nearly forgot to do my daily notes.

Last night we started up Zero Escape: Zero Time Dilemma, and I can safely say this game certainly takes the elements know from the SAW franchise that were implied in various ways in the first two games and just goes over the top with them, with deadly traps and scenarios. ZTD does see the return of Junpei, Akanae, Sigma and Phi, but they are all secondary characters, and the flow chart and progression of the story certainly is more random because it's split between three groups of people. So we focused on one group last night and I think we'll keep that pattern for the next few Saturdays/

Now since we now have PlayStation 3, finding content to feature using it becomes a challenge, because my existing PS3 library either has stuff I've featured on other platforms or are games that I know I can't get much out of for a stream. So looking into the library of PS3, seeing what I can get cheap because retailers still have their inventory that they are looking to move we started adding things... probably the luckiest find so far is Lego Dimensons, finding the 'starter set', which is not just the game but the basic Lego set that came with it... and I have this dumb idea that maybe if I can find the add on sets, we can do streams where I'm putting the gimmicks together then play out the actual levels. Part of why I think this will work is that I have two web cams and I could set one to angle down at the top of my desk as I assemble stuff.... which would expose the fact that I'm not really good using my hands with stuff,  which is something I always tell people when they say to me, 'you can upgrade your computer yourself'.

I do love the fact that now in terms of what I stream has become more varied in terms of the platforms I can use, there is something really awesome about having the options to say lets do something super new, or lets go back to a prior gaming generation. Now if I could only remember to run my mouth and don't get super focused on what's in front of me, I could build some momentum.

Today marked 100 days of doing Fitness Boxing 2 (258 days since we started using the first Fitness Boxing) and thus with today's session we reached the Supreme Stamper Lv. 3 milestone, which was to perform the daily routine 100 times.  Today's session lasted 47 minutes (55 with stretching) and things were going well, didn't have any misses until late in the session, and even then at least a couple were questionable. 

Tonight's stream will be focused on Overwatch as we do every Sunday, we'll do some Quick Play matches, and if Mayhem is in the Arcade mode today, we'll do that too!

And on that note we'll see you later over on twitch.tv/fredcasden

Highlights from the week of 3/14/21

 Here are highlights from my Twitch channel (http://twitch.tv/fredcasden) for the week of March 14, 2021, where we featured Overwatch, Dragon Age Inquisition, Fitness Boxing 2 Rhythm & Music, ESPN Major League Baseball, Star Trek Online, Gran Turismo 5, X-Men The Arcade Game, TNA Impact, Sonic The Hedgehog (2006), Marvel vs Capcom Clash of the Superheroes, Lego Indiana Jones 2 The Adventure Continues and Zero Escape: Zero Time Dilemma! 

Today's Notes 3/20/21

Good evening everybody,

Yup I overslept today... but hey, it's not like I had any serious plans for the afternoon anyway. Last night's stream saw no frame drops, so Comcast is staying on the ball, but getting in touch with Jerry from their Corporate Customer Service division is proven to be a damn trial in and of itself, because if they say to the FCC they spoke with me directly,, that will be a damn lie. Yes everything has been going great, but I want to make damn sure they know why I took the steps I did.

Anyway, we kicked off last night's stream with Gran Turismo 5, a racing game that featured all sorts of awesome vehicles, and I was surprised at how gorgeous that game still looks. Last time I played it was back in 2013, and it was a real joy. Now remembering how to corner and the fact that acceleration and break are not the triggers on the controller meant there was some interesting moments of me going off track.

We then jumped to X-Men the Arcade Game, doing a complete run using Dazzler, and I did start an online lobby, and near as I can tell it all still works. Granted no one stumbled into my game, so we couldn't see if that worked and what the latency would be like, but hey we had fun going through it.

Now I did say we were going to try Sonic The Hedgehog 2006... and while I remember beating this game way back in the day, I clearly don't have the patience to deal with the horrible camera angle and very loose controls. The fact that Sega rushed Sonic 06 into the development and basically merged it with another game they were working on in a desperate attempt to celebrate the Blue Blur's 15th anniversary was very much exposed by the fact that the games in the franchise that came out after it like Sonic Generation and Sonic Forces are far superior by not trying to do as much. Of course we did have a bit comedy with the fact that Sonic 06 is not listed on Twitch, which goes to show how Sega feels about it.

TNA Impact, the game that could be blame for driving Midway out of business was also featured last night, and for a game that was hyped to be like WWF No Mercy, I can safely say TNA Impact after all these years is nothing more than an arcade style wrestling game like the WWE SmackDown games. With a clunky control scheme and perhaps the stupidest gimmick match in wrestling history (Ultiamte X), it's a good game for a laugh and that's about it. That said, it does have a story mode... and maybe we'll suffer through that... who knows.

Marvel Vs Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes was also on the lineup, as part oft he Marvel vs Capcom Origins collection, and it was certainly a struggle to get through the arcade mode, thanks to the input reading the game does at various points. Still we got through it, with Ryu and Chun Li after trying various combinations, and there is something excited about getting through games like that. Maybe cause it was an arcade game first and thus every time you loss you had to put a quarter in to continue, so when you finally beat you are super pumped!

Lastly, we closed out with a little Lego Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues, which was released about the time of Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. I remember not liking this one as much as the first Lego Indiana Jones game and never finished it, so maybe we'll do that in full at some point, question is do I lay the PS3 version or the Steam one.

Today's Fitness Boxing 2 Session started late because I did over slept, bit we did do a 45 minute workout, which meant seeing and hearing how Hiro acts during the No Mercy mode. and his voice actor really didn't get into delivering his lines. Still we burned a lot of calories... and now it's time to gain those calories back with dinner!

Tonight we'll be starting up Zero Escape: Zero Time Dilemma, the final game (as of this writing) in the series, so looking forward to seeing how the plot and details of what's going on is revealed!

And on that note we'll see you later over on twitch.tv/fredcasden!

Today's Notes 3/19/21

Good morning everybody,

Last night's stream of Star Trek Online was all over the place, with doing at least one thing for every character, so some folks were doing full missions, others short patrols or special task force operations. So it was rather blah... that said, there was issues with STO's servers last night, and I know it was on Cryptic's end because out side of one blip there were no noticeable frame drops during the stream... so Comcast had their shit together.

On a side note, the mission Destiny on the Klingon Defense Force side is bugged to hell to the point where every time we left Kahless' ship it said to continue from an earlier point. It did mean we could farm some melee kills as it related to dealing with one of the Klingon Recruit objectives... so that was a positive.

Tonight's stream will be focused on putting the PlayStation 3 we received recently through its paces for an extended period of time. We'll start with Gran Turismo 5, do some racing and such and probably bounce around to a few different games. The whole point is to see if it can handle heavy use, as thus far I've done a few minor things, getting some of the games I had digitally installed and so forth. Basically tonight is gonna be random. 

Today's Fitness Boxing 2 sessions was pretty good outside of performing right weaves from the orthodox stance, just couldn't really get that good bounce for that today. We did reach a new milestone with the Heavyweight Puncher Lv. 2 achievement, which involved reaching a total punch count of 130,500, with my exact total being 130,791 at the time of this writing.

My job set out word that anyone who got vaccinated for COVID-19 will have the option to return to work at the office, granted I haven't yet, but there is no real incentive for me to want to go back to the office as a) it's expensive to travel and b) I hate being around a large group of people (and for me anything more than 5 people is way to damn much. Plus I take public transit to get where I need to go...  and yeah, if you've ever been on a bus in New Jersey you know the mutants you can see on it. The only up side is that certain assignments would be easier to do at the office, but the down side is over powers that.

And on that note we'll see you later over on twitch.tv/fredcasden

 

Today's Notes 3/18/21

Good morning everybody,

So Comcast Update, I again tried calling the Corporate Rep that tried to reach me on Tuesday afternoon (outside of time times I told them that I could easily be reached) and again got their voice mail. thankfully yesterday's work day and last night's stream didn't have any issues of note.

Last night's stream of ESPN Major League Baseball saw six games being played, two wins over the Detroit Tigers, two wins and a loss against the Kansas City Royals and a win over the Montreal Expos. I joke that my Philadelphia Phillies are so far ahead of the Atlanta Braves in the National League East (and 18 game lead) that I could probably simulate the next month of the season and still have a decent lead. I think though that I would continue to play every game up till we clinch the Division, then simulate the remaining games in order to get to the playoffs. We'll see, because even at doing six games a week it'll take a while to even get to that point.

Also Last night I finally tested the disk drive of the PS3 off-stream we recently acquired, and it reads discs find, however it is a little snug in terms of inserting the disk and ejecting them. This was noted to me before I received it, but other than that it does work fine. I was reminded at how long it takes for things to be installed on it when trying out Gran Turismo 5 last night (and how unnatural the controls feel after years of playing kart racers). Also we did give Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe last night, doing an arcade ladder run with Scorpion. There might be some trophies that I could possibly get with some of the older games to boost my PSN score which is nice to know.

Over on the Ghostbusters Youtube channel, two episodes were added yesterday, The Scaring of the Green from the Real Ghostbusters series, and The Luck of the Irish from Extreme Ghostbusters. Both episodes revolve around Saint Patrick's Day, and kind of revolve around the same plot as the decedents of those who stole a pot of gold are pursued by a ghostly force (a Bog Hound in the RGB episode, a leprechaun in the XGB one). The funny thing is, by putting both episodes up yesterday, that means the episodes for both series are now out of order so we'll see if that gets fixed retroactively or not down the line. Also kind of a cool note, The Scaring of the Green first aired November 16, 1987.... and The Luck of the Irish first aired on November 3, 1997... real cool that these episodes aired nearly 10 years a part!

Today's Fitness Boxing 2 session was solid, kept focused on the task at hand, only had one miss. Because by the time I started my workout, there was no an opportunity to start working on doing Free Exercise's with Hiro as the trainer, but we'll get to that probably over the weekend.

Tonight we have Star Trek Online planned
as per usual for a Thursday night stream, and so we'll see how things go, as last night's stream of STO was plagued with issues that all traced back to Comcast.

And on that note we'll see you later over on twitch.tv/fredcasden!

 

 

Today's Notes 3/17/21

Good morning everyone,

So Comcast update, on Monday I got an email from their corporate offices which asked me what times I can be reached directly so they could communicate verbally... and I was really detailed in my response, indicating what times for the entire week. So imagine my surprise when I was working yesterday afternoon, I get a call from them 15 minutes before I finished working and before I could easily take the call, I tried calling the rep back directly, got the voice mail. Called the main number directly, got hung up on twice and the third time had to leave a message. Tried calling the rep back directly twice more before the start of last night's stream... got the voice mail. Nice professionalism their Comcast... real nice to see they can't follow the instructions given to them.

Anyway last night's stream ran pretty smooth, a couple of minor instances of instability but not enough to disrupt anything. We covered a lot of ground in Dragon Age Inquisition in regards to doing everything I could find in Crestwood and doing a lot of stuff around Skyhold, which involved tot talking to just about everyone repeatedly. We also took down a second dragon, and got Sera's War Table mission done, and by the looks of things it's looking as if that's gonna be the romantic path our hero will be going down. Pun intended. 

We had a solid half hour work out with Fitness Boxing 2 today, and since I did not over sleep, nothing felt like I was pressing to over compensate.  We unlocked the Hiro's Trainee achievement which was to perform 10 daily workouts using Hiro as the instructor.  The question of what counts towards the 'Instructor' Best Friend achievement has popped into my head, as I'm guessing stretching counts towards it too. 

Tonight's stream has ESPN Major League Baseball scheduled as we continue the 2004 season of the Philadelphia Phillies, picking up in mid-June during the Interleague portion of the season. If memory serves me right, we are starting with either a game against the Twins to finish up that series or we're starting a series against the Tigers. One or the other. 

Also picked up another set of PS2/3 RCA connector cables and a second RCA-to-HDMI so this way I don't have to keep swapping the one I had back and forth between the PS2 and PS3, all I would have to do is just plug in the correct RCA-to-HDMI adapter into the Elgato Capture Card and USB slots depending on which console (PS2 or PS3) I intend to use. Just one less thing I have to do.

And on that note we'll see you later over on twitch.tv/fredcasden!