Notices by captain typ0 (inkslinger@coales.co), page 29

What's a reasonable age to introduce a gaming console to a child? Let's assume it'll be a Nintendo system (Switch, unless something new is on the way that I don't know about).

I got my first console, the original NES, when I was either 5 or 6. I'm pretty sure I'd just finished Gr. 1, but it might have been Kindergarten (we got it at the end of the school year). My brother would have been two years younger, at the time and was able to play pretty well, but games were simpler.

@adasauce I think you're right, but it's been a long time since I've played. I've played Super, 64, Double Dash (I think that's what the Gamecube one was called) and Wii. Nothing since then, since I've not owned any console since the Wii (so I was initially confused when I started flying with a hang glider mid race a moment ago).

I've never not enjoyed a Mario Kart game...until now. :(

@adasauce Yes! Drifting is THE BEST way to play pretty much every Mario Kart game since...well, Mario Kart 64. I think only the original doesn't have some form of drifting. You can *kind of* drift in the simple steering mode in Tour, but it's hard to do and then, well, manual drift is just impossible to steer because you can't actually turn...

@blinry Indeed, that's why "safety orange" is a thing! Most people experience it as incredibly vibrant and hard to ignore.

This whole thread is fascinating, btw.

BTW: I quoted from the Android Police article partly because they said it well, and partly because it proved to myself that I'm not just terrible at the game.

I selected "Manual Drift" during initial setup, because that's normally the best way to play Mario Kart when given an option between "auto" and "manual" modes. I was confused why I could *only* drift and not just turn normally until I read that this is, in fact, the way the controls are designed.

So, uh, it kind of sucks, which is disappointing because I love Mario Kart games.

The controls are truly awful: "If you'd like to perform drifts on command, you'll have to select the Manual Drift mode in the options, but this is even worse than the regular steering mode since you can't turn and can only drift."

https://www.androidpolice.com/2019/09/25/mario-kart-tour-android-release/

@interneteh That's a great t-shirt.

@jaranta As if any professor would believe a student would pay for access to a journal to which the school doesn't have a subscription.

@eldang So, corded duroy, I guess?

@eldang According to Wikipedia: "The word corduroy is from cord and duroy, a coarse woollen cloth made in England in the 18th century."

@erinbee Corduroy is working class velvet.

Discovering that corde du roi is not the true etymology of corduroy and that my pants are not, in fact, made of the king's fabric is pretty demoralizing.

@keithzg This one? https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39918548-salvation-day?from_search=true

Reading the reviews, it sounds like a lot of people liked the concept but hated the execution and, like you, wanted more world building.

@david social.coop is a cooperatively run instance and members must pay a membership fee (on a sliding scale).