As of a few years ago he was working on some ai speech related stuff in the old pre generative sense - not sure what he’s doing now that all that has happened.
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Definitely feel the “take a 15 minute break every hour while playing games” is the 8 glasses of water a day of video games. Just one of those things everyone agrees is healthy and no living human has ever done.
Frank really should check out the Nintendo DS cult classic Meteos if he hasn’t already. That’s what you get when Sakurai goes solo and makes something small and cute bursting with unique creativity. There’s intricate dynamic rulesets, tons of side modes, delightful audiovisual feedback and rich presentation. Really, Meteos is one of the best puzzle games ever made!
The fact you’ve been on the show for months and Brandon hasn’t told you about Tempo yet feels like a transgression.
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…at causing damage to your DS touch screen!
(I played so much Meteos that I scratched the absolute hell out of my first DS’s screen)
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this post will ruin your day I needed to post because my brain is broken do not unspoil this post under any circumstances
keep reading this episode title as david uncut somehow
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I had no idea Meteos was Sakurai’s creation. That’s awesome. I played a ton of that game around when it came out. I don’t think I scratched my DS screen like @rejj did but I definitely wondered if I was doing permanent damage to it 
I should go get my copy out and play it again…
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I was thinking about the Meteos credits the other day. I really like the relaxed song and the huge well, so huge in fact that if you never interact with it, the well will only fill up half way. But if you want to play some low stakes Meteos at the end of your journey, you can do that too.
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The credits sequence really is serene and a bit mysterious. Makes you think there’s something you can do on that screen that you’re missing!
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Or when they made Navi even more annoying on the 3DS with all the reminders to take a break so that the 3D doesn’t make your eyes pop out or whatever
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What the hell? I have no recollection of this!
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Still haven’t gotten to the episode this time (week without much alone audio time), so sorry if I’m repeating anything - so much game design works against taking breaks. I can only take breaks in most multiplayer games when my character dies or if we’re waiting on something. In strategy games we can declare bio breaks, but the impetus to make the most of our time keeps the breaks short.
But I have tried taking breaks for more recent games. With Pathologic 2, I’ll hit escape and get a couple of chores done, changing out laundry or getting a glass of water and staring out the window for a bit. It gives me a mental rest and also gives me space to think about what’s going on in the game.
My partner is the 8 glass a day person. I don’t do that, but I probably drink more water thanks to her.
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I have to force myself to even drink one glass of water a week.
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hydrate or diedrate
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I held myself back of replying to your “no living human has ever done it” but i’m breaking my silence. I drink way more than 8 glasses of water a day. So for me it’s more something that is healthy and recommended and I always do it.
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I don’t really do the 15 minute breaks, but I do sometimes hit the 8 glasses of water mark in a day (usually it’s more like 6 though). It’s surprisingly not that difficult if water is your primary beverage
If you drink more than 8 glasses of water then you automatically take those breaks when you game cause you have to get up and pee.
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For the full 15m
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I was gonna say, if I drank that much I would be peeing all over.
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I’ve said it once I’ll say it a million times: go piss girl!!!
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Oh yeah I drink so much water! I probably drink 12 pints or so a day. “always thirsty, always have to pee,” that’s my motto.
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