Topic: The Chit Chat Thread

@LiamCroft @RogerRoger I’m..99% sure I have not downloaded/played Syphon Filter since it came out on PS1, in fact I didn’t think it had been released at all on PS3/Vita? As for Resi, I might have bought that on Vita but I’m really sure I only got Resi 3. And even so, wasn’t it the original version that released on PSN before and not the Directors Cut?

But, I guess that’s the most logical reason so maybe I did pick them up years ago and just forgot!

@kyleforrester87 If it helps, I frequently look at my PSone Classics folder on my PS3 and think "Wait, when the heck did I buy that?!" so I'm pretty sure there must've been some incredibly tempting sales over the years. I'm hoping for a few more pleasant surprises on PS5 as the new service expands!

For the record, all three PSone Syphon Filter games are (or were) available on PS3. Also, not sure when Resi got updated to the Director's Cut, but it's definitely the version I've got on my PS3.

Also also, the six minute difference between me an' @LiamCroft up there betrays how slow I type!

@RogerRoger you’re probably bang on then. Really surprises me I don’t remember getting Syphon Filter though, perhaps I just opened it, thought “hell no!” and deleted it!

I’ll leave it on my PS5 and try and give it a fair shake in the future.

mumble mumble thought I got free games bursting my bubble mumble mumble.

@kyleforrester87 Yeah, sorry about the reality check!

Given your reaction to Gabe's controls earlier, I wouldn't be surprised if you bounced off it before. I tried using the analogue stick to start with, and it made me feel physically ill. The DualSense might have a rubbish D-Pad, but it's still preferable to whatever the heck that was doing!

Looks like it'll be an easy trophy list, if that's your sort of thing, and the instant rewind function is a godsend in the stealth missions, so it's quickly become the best way to play.

@kyleforrester87 Looks like Sony syphoned you out of a freebie there! 🙃

@JohnnyShoulder talk about insult to injury

Hope you lot in the US are doing alright. Absolutely abhorrent news, that I couldn’t even imagine happening here.

@ThereThere @nessisonett Look at what Clarence Thomas said. They'll be going after gay marriage next. No doubt. What a horror show.

@LN78 Yeah, from what I understand, he said they’d be going after contraception, same-sex marriage and sodomy laws next. These are fundamental human rights and you wonder if Amnesty and other organisations listing the US alongside less ‘civilised’ countries for their human rights record will be a wake-up call.

@nessisonett it truly beggar’s belief that this is even a point of discussion at a government level in 2022. Hope this whirlwind doesn’t spill over to the north.

Edit: “going after contraception…” it’s honestly hard not to laugh at this.

@nessisonett An activist supreme court packed with conservatives is undoing every major civil rights advancement in the last century. One of our major political parties is full of fascist theocrats who want to kill everyone who's not a heterosexual white male, and actively ousts anyone who isn't full-on christian nationalist. That same party tried to orchestrate a coup back in 2021, and has openly signaled its intention to do so again in 2024. Elections are being rigged via partisan redistricting efforts and voter suppression schemes, which prominently target ethnic minorities. Hate crimes and open bigotry are on the rise. Our society is so crippled by tribalism that we can't even accomplish basic infrastructure spending. Dark money and corporate meddling have permanently corrupted our ability to regulate monied interests. Basic social safety nets and programs go underfunded as our defense spending balloons infinitely. Inflation is ballooning. Rent is skyrocketing nationwide, making it difficult for underprivileged people to even live on their own.

I really don't see how this ends without wide-scale, organized, and destabilizing levels of political violence. Otherwise, the world's wealthiest nation is going to become an openly fascist state.

This is what a failed nation looks like.

So, yeah, we're doing alright.

@Ralizah I think this is the point where it goes beyond ‘politics’. It’s now impossible to switch off or take a neutral stance when millions of people, whether pregnant or not, have had their bodily autonomy revoked overnight. You know it’s bad when even bloody Boris over here is condemning it, it’s genuinely unfathomable for every single political party in this country. Hopefully there’s a path forwards but I can’t deny that it’s looking grim.

@nessisonett It went well beyond "politics" years ago, frankly. Don't forget the numerous people in our government who plotted a coup haven't been punished in any capacity to date.

At this point, I don't think much of anything is going to motivate people in this country to push back against our slide into theocratic fascism. I mean, we'll have protests, but those don't mean anything. Wide-scale political change only happens at the ballot box or through the use of violence, and access to the former, frankly, is being systematically stripped from us.

Roe vs. Wade being overturned at Federal level means it gets pushed back to the state legislator. It doesn't mean abortion is illegal outright only that it's up to the states to decide.

Even if it was people can still use contraception. If what Clarence Thomas said was true then yeah that is terrible about wanting to ban contraception but there will be very little public want for that.

There is a massive difference between preventing a human life coming to term and just preventing one being formed via contraception.

@The_Moose A number of those new laws states have "decided" on restrict a resident's ability to seek abortions in states where it's legal, btw. Now that R v W is gone, the right will eventually start pushing for a nationwide abortion ban.

You can't really have a functioning society where different states can't even agree on what basic human rights are. When half the states are semi-modern and half are speedrunning the transition process to becoming mini-Saudi Arabias, conflict is inevitable.

@Ralizah Despite what many believe, this is a very nuanced debate though.

If you fundamentally believe that the child growing inside a woman is a human with as much protection under the law as you or me, which isn't a wild assertion (just think anyone of us could have been aborted and you wouldn't be alive today), it does not mean they are theocratic fascists.

The USA like most western countries has its problems but still remains one of the best places in the world to live because again for the most part its society functions pretty well, especially in comparison to elsewhere in the world.

@The_Moose I appreciate your perspective but with all due respect, take a look at the bigger picture here. The precedent that this ruling sets is a very slippery slope. You say that there would be very little public want for a ban on contraception, yet by every available metric there is little want among the American people for a ban on abortion. This is not the result of a fair and functioning democracy, and all bets are off on what will be in the crosshairs next. This ruling is 100% political but the real world implications are anything but. It’s rightfully frightening for a lot of people, and at this moment in particular, a massive step backward for women.

@The_Moose I'm not interested in debating the abortion issue. Regardless of how you feel about it, the supreme court's willingness to casually overturn a long-established half-century old ruling is alarming (especially considering the two most recent Trump nominees openly and flagrantly lied about their willingness to overturn it during their confirmation hearings), and will have ramifications far beyond giving the green light for red states to violate the reproductive rights of their citizens. They've already signaled they're going after rulings that protected the right to same-sex marriage and access to contraceptives as well.

Most of the same people who who have worked tirelessly for this outcome are the same types that generally want to limit voting rights, reinstate sodomy laws, and impose their Christian beliefs on the rest of the nation. Much of this same right-wing bloc also openly promotes the use of violence against political enemies and questions the outcomes of national elections. They're absolutely theocratic fascists.

If you think our society is going to remain a welcoming or stable one in this environment, you're profoundly short-sighted.

@Jimmer-jammer Thank you for your understanding.

When it comes to public opinion on abortions in the USA I honestly don't know what they would be (if there was a referendum for example).

However it's a much hotter topic (even more than abortion) when it comes to banning the use of contraception. You hear a lot more about the pro-choice/pro-life debate than whether contraception is right because it's not even entertained.

Also many of those who are pro-life from what I've seen don't have an issue with contraception, their issue is the abortion of the baby which has already been formed and is a life. Contraception prevents the baby even taking form therefore there is no life there to begin with (not saying you don't know this just laying out their position).

Anyone concerned about this in the meantime still and rightfully have the choice to use contraception.

@Ralizah Though I take issue with what I would consider hyperbole in your post, if you choose not to debate this issue further then I will certainly respect that.