Author Archives: Joshua Sanchez

Descending into development hell

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A lot of things can go through development hell at any time, whether that would be production issues or other factors. Development hell is when a piece of media that has been announced hasn’t been officially released for ten years without any confirmation of it being cancelled.

One thing that I’ve been waiting for a long time is Time II by Wintersun, a metal band from Finland. Time was announced in 2006, but half the songs wouldn’t be released until 2012 as Time I. The second batch of songs has yet to be released. Most of the delays are from production issues due to the complexity of the tracks, with each song containing at least a few hundred tracks. This level of production has caused major slowdowns with computers crashing during the process. As of right now, the album is around 90% done but with no official release date as of right now, we can’t tell when it’s coming out.

Something that a lot of people were waiting for a long time was a sequel to the 2009 movie Avatar. Sequels were announced one year after with a possible 2014 release day, but many factors such as James Cameron being busy, the VFX crew wanting to get the water motion capture right, and the COVID-19 pandemic got in the way. Eventually, a sequel was released with mixed results. While people were impressed with the film’s visuals, people were underwhelmed with the film’s stories.

Things shouldn’t be in production forever, but taking time is still better than rushing something for it to end in disaster. As Shigeru Miyamoto once said, “A delayed game is eventually good, but a rushed game is forever bad”. When the rushed thing gets released as bad, that’s all people will end up talking about for its existence. Remember, quality doesn’t just happen overnight. Quality happens when people pay attention to detail.

Your betrayal: A cheating tale

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Cheating in relationships is weird. We’ve seen a few controversies over the past year with Ned Fulmer, Adam Levine, and Goo Min-chul. I’m not getting why these guys think cheating on the people who are their perfect spouses is a good idea.

As someone who has never been in a relationship before writing this, I can’t understand why people cheat on their significant others. Are they seriously unsatisfied with their current relationships that they don’t even want to communicate this with their partners? Wouldn’t you want your partner to know this before betraying their trust? Relationships are built around trust and breaking that trust is throwing away the entire relationship.

In the case of Ned Fulmer, he built his entire brand around his family. Breaking that trust threw out his entire brand overnight, leading him to get kicked out of the Try Guys and leaving a bad taste in everyone’s mouths. Having your dark side revealed can also be cartoonish, just like in Adam Levine’s case where his text messages showed what kind of person he is when it comes to trying to get women. His text messages looked like a teenager’s according to a lot of people. As for Goo Min-chul who dated solo K-Pop artist JAMIE, he was exposed by her to have dated 4-5 men during their relationship (As of writing this, there hasn’t been too much follow-up).

One thing that is common with the women these three were with is how perfect they are according to people that follow their lives. When checking information about these people, I get why people would be hurt seeing the relationship getting thrown out. These women have been nothing but good and for their spouses to break their trust is heartbreaking.

https://twitter.com/nuguize/status/1617376502521434112?s=20&t=ns8MBRxjBwh60XcrA9Sy2A

No one deserves to get their hearts broken all because the people they dated decided it would be okay to date others behind their backs. Unfortunately, I don’t think this will end soon. As long as people keep learning it from others, this kind of behaviour will probably stay around.

Popularity contests in music

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Metallica and Fall Out Boy released new songs this week, with people talking about them all over the internet. Other artists have released new music this week but don’t get the same level of attention as the other two.

By no means are Metallica and Fall Out Boy trying to undermine other artists, but sometimes it makes me think about the disadvantages musicians have when they aren’t universally known names. Not a lot of people are talking about the new Katatonia, Twilight Force, or Freja the Dragon releases outside of their respective fanbases or adjacent communities. It can make fans of these artists feel left out at times when bigger artists are in the picture. Who can even blame them? We spent all of this time getting hyped up over new releases just to get overshadowed by the big dogs in the music industry.

I’ve been a fan of less popular music for years now. Whenever I try to talk to people about the music I like, people often don’t care at all. No one is entitled to like the same stuff as me, but sometimes I wish people cared to some extent just like how I have thoughts about the music they like that I’m not necessarily into. I’m always open to talking about all kinds of music and people should be open to at least trying. They don’t have to like it, but they should at least give something a chance.

When it comes to these artists that try their best to fit in, there’s always going to be some comparison with more popular artists. People always try to find the next Nirvana or the next Guns N’ Roses but don’t often try to let these artists stand on their own.

Music is one big popularity contest whether you like it or not. The most we can do about it is just keep talking about smaller artists when we get the chance.

Games should not be super expensive in 2023

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New games are getting a lot more expensive each year. They should not cost $80, considering how much is getting released every year.

Let’s look at sports games which get released every year. The amount of changes between each game is pretty minimal to the point where they might as well be the same game. Despite that, they still cost the same price as every game that is new. This feels completely pointless if the game is going to be on a heavy discount the following year.

Nintendo is also guilty of doing this now. Games used to eventually become cheaper but since the release of the Switch, there hasn’t been a price drop for any of the older games minus sales. The worst contender for this, in my opinion, is Mario Kart 8. The game first came out on the Wii U but got ported over to the Switch, Despite how old the game is, it still costs full price. As someone who owns the Wii U version of the game, I can’t justify buying the Switch version. I wish Nintendo brought back Nintendo Select for the Switch, which is the label they use for games that get a price drop.

You would think that games sold digitally would cost a bit cheaper, considering they don’t need to be in a physical form that costs money to be produced. But nope, it still costs the same as a game sold physically. There is no incentive to buy the game digitally minus some bonus features if that’s the case. The advantages of buying games digitally aren’t there if you care about having games you want to play for the rest of your life.

Games should not cost almost $100 dollars. Considering the cost of consoles, computer parts, and peripherals, games should at least be affordable enough for people to have the core experience of gaming.

Social Media Shake Up

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Platforms always love to change their user experience. Recently, Twitter changed their interface on mobile by adding two categories on your home page: For You and Following. For You can get Tweets that are trending but not something you follow. Following only has things that involve people you follow. Wait, isn’t the explore page already the place to get Tweets for people you don’t follow? Yes, but it looks like Twitter likes to shake things up.

I remember when YouTube changed its layout back in early 2013. Before then, every YouTube page had cool backgrounds. After the change, it was changed into a banner. All of a sudden, every channel started looking the same. Those backgrounds gave each channel personality and for them to be gone is a shame. We got used to banners by now because they have been around longer than the backgrounds. To be fair, it’s not like the average person is going to spend most of their time on the channel page, but for those that take pride in their appearance, this was probably a huge blow.

The worst contender is when platforms start adding things that make the user experience less than ideal. When Snapchat changed its interface, people started to get confused over what each thing does. I tried getting used to it, but in the end, I was more frustrated with it than I should’ve been. It doesn’t help that Instagram, the second major platform to use stories, had a significantly better interface. After that, I stopped using Snapchat altogether and haven’t touched it for personal use for a few years now.

Platforms are going to change things up, whether you like it or not. It’s your choice whether to continue using it or not. At the end of the day, it’s all about the content, not the interface.

First party or first to go

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Technology has always had peripherals of some sort, whether that would be chargers, controllers, or other things that would be helpful for the device. These past years haven’t been friendly to pricing such items.

An official Apple 5 Watt power adapter costs $25, which wouldn’t be a problem if Apple devices kept including it in their products. My dad’s new iPhone didn’t come with a USB-C brick so I had to lend him my spare charging brick before he got a new one. Not including the essentials is inexcusable. If people want to use their devices, they need everything to make them work especially when it comes to chargers.

Even buying a second controller for game consoles is expensive, such as the Switch Pro Controller and DualSense for PS5 retailing for $90. I know controllers aren’t cheap to make, but these prices feel ridiculous. I get the push for online play, but what if your friends don’t own the same console as you? Sure, cross-play exists but not every game is on every platform and some games still don’t support it.

You might say “Get a third-party version”. That’s a hit-or-miss option. There are times when you hit gold and get something that’s significantly better than the official product. Most of these options still cost quite a bit which will make people buy cheaper products. These ones are usually worse than the official options and can even damage your devices, such as chargers. Companies sometimes advise consumers to only use official accessories for their devices so they won’t risk any damage.

 

I’ll probably still buy official accessories whenever I can. But sometimes I can’t justify the price for certain things such as cables and other things that should be included. I hope in the future the cost of these items goes down enough that I can consider buying them.

The complicated thing known as buying second-hand online

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Buying things on sites such as eBay, Craigslist, and Kijiji can be pretty scary at times. Even if you check the photos to see if the item is legitimate, you never know how it’ll arrive. Whether the item got damaged from shipping or the item being completely wrong, there is going to be some kind of risk of buying second-hand things online.

A few months ago, I was buying a camera from someone off Kijiji. I made sure to go through a bunch of safety precautions. I reverse-Google searched the images, checked the condition, and made sure the person I was interacting with had a good vibe. When I was buying the item, I made sure we did it outdoors in a public space so there would be witnesses when I got the item. Thankfully the transaction went well and I have a camera I like.

Sometimes things can be misleading. People will try to sell something unopened or as-is, but there will be signs where that is clearly not the case. There’s also the case of buying things that are counterfeit. People will try to sell their thing as the real deal but once it lies in the hands of someone, they will find out it was a phony. Thankfully there are some protections but it still won’t stop people from doing such a thing. People have spent thousands of dollars on items before only to find out their valuable item is a fake.

Websites for buying things used won’t go away. With people liking older things, there will always be a place for these sites. If you ever decide to buy things online, remember to check photos before committing, especially if the item is expensive. You do not want to be in a situation where you get scammed.

Zellers: Return of Canada’s Target

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With the return of Zellers, people feel like a part of our history is coming back. Everyone remembers the day Zellers got traded for Target. Target did not last long due to a few factors including but not limited to poor management and the constant need for renovations. Outside of these issues, Target just didn’t capture the same energy as Zellers. Sure, it had a lot of similarities but Zellers felt distinct since it was a version of Target we can call ours.

As someone who experienced half their life without Zellers, I can’t exactly have the same sentimental feeling that older generations had. But I’ve been there enough times to know what it feels like. It felt like Walmart but less intimidating. Those bright red colours were in your face which helped me stay energized compared to stores with more muted colours. The toy selection, as far as I can remember, was better than Walmart’s by a mile, the clothing quality was immaculate (we had clothes from there that lasted longer than some other places), and the smell felt like a home inside a store (even more than furniture stores).

One of the unfortunate parts of these reopenings is that these aren’t going to be dedicated places like before. They’re going to be located inside Hudson’s Bay stores. This is something that was already being experimented with in other locations. That isn’t the Zellers we remember. I would love to go to Target, but having it inside Hudson’s Bay feels depressing. Every time I enter that place, I feel like I’m about to go to sleep. On top of that, there’s a good chance we won’t get the Zellers restaurants inside these locations, one of the main sources of the distinct smell.

I’m still excited about Zellers’ return. Even if it’s not the same as before, there’s still something to look forward to. Maybe one day we’ll see the return of dedicated locations.

Escalators: Stairs of Death

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Everywhere you go nowadays in the Metro Vancouver area, you are bound to find an escalator that doesn’t work. As of yesterday at Metrotown station, one of the escalators isn’t functioning. There have been fixes to other escalators, but people like to joke about how there will eventually be another escalator repair.

I remember when stairs were common in indoor spaces like malls. Over the past ten years, they started disappearing. Metrotown station used to have a giant staircase going down where it would split into either going to the mall or outside. Since implementing tap systems for payment, they redesigned the station where the only staircase is the one in the center. There’s nothing wrong with this, but it makes me wonder why they felt like removing stairs was necessary. Are people seriously that lazy to walk down some stairs? Before anyone talks about people with leg problems, let’s remember that elevators still exist. Stairs will always be perfectly functional (unless there are some structural issues) and will never face any need for maintenance minus cleaning.

Escalators can also be freaky. I had a few of going down escalators for 8 years before finally snapping out of it because of a time I went out with my friends. Even now, I still feel a bit uneasy when getting on. I worry that I might slip or misstep which could lead to me falling. I can’t walk fast on an escalator so whenever I need to move, I make sure there’s no one behind me.

I don’t think escalators should be the dominant way of getting up and down places. With the possibility of them breaking down, to people having fears of them, it still makes me wonder why we thought these things were a good idea in the first place

New year, new start (but only when you feel like it)

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New Year’s resolutions have always been interesting. People hype them up, only to completely ditch them in a few weeks. A lot of new year’s resolutions are usually self-improvement related such as going to the gym, eating healthy, meditating, and other things that would be good for you. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to improve your life, but sometimes I feel like these kinds of resolutions are just because someone is obligated to make a new years resolution. I can understand the logic behind it. People want to start fresh and see the new year as the perfect opportunity to get started. However, sometimes your old life gets back to you and you end up ditching your new year’s resolutions. Honestly, that’s okay. You only miss 100% of the shots you don’t take and you’ve taken your shot.

I’ve never been the one to make a new year’s resolution. Considering how many other things start around the same time such as a new school term, new year’s resolutions never work out. You can’t start anything new when other things are going on. If you try to do so, you’re going to eventually get overwhelmed and feel like you failed. When people feel like they failed, that’s their sign of giving up. That should never be the case for anyone. Failing is part of the process, and you can’t grow from it. So what if you messed up early on? No one expected you to be a pro right away, you’re just getting started.

You might think that you need to start on the first day of the year, but you can always start whenever you want. You shouldn’t need to wait for the new year to start just to get your life on track. If there’s something you’ve always needed to do, start it whenever it feels right.