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The Positive NES Classic Thread


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You can't take advantage of the willing. It is not taking advantage of when people knowingly bid and pay 2-3 times more than retail. You can't even use the BIN excuse because in live auction people bid against each other with these prices.

I know how the temptation can make people just put all kinds of money out there on something because it's hard to find. I'm not someone that will use that to profit off of something. That's just how I was raised. I'm not saying there is anything inherently wrong with it, I just can't do it.

 

I put a launch Wii on ebay and it sold for three times what I paid for it. I felt like crap after I saw that. I just wasn't thinking it through. I refunded the shipping charge, and since the person actually lived a few hours away, I drove it to them on Christmas Eve. The father had been driving around Georgia/SC for four days straight trying to find one for their disabled kid. They wouldn't accept me giving them the amount over they paid for it. Since then, I don't sell on ebay unless I use a BIN and just cover the cost and shipping. lol. I know it sounds weird, but I can't live with myself by profiting off of someone.

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I was one of the lucky to successfully order one last week from Amazon. It arrived today.

 

The menu presentation is what really elevates this above many other options out there. The menu is a big improvement over the other plug and play systems I've owned. The NES Classic menu is fun to browse before even playing the games.

 

The emulation is good, but it doesn't seem any better than Retro Pie or other modern emulation options.

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It's slightly less nice if you're like so memory ingrained on sound effects and also some visuals ones too. Someone decided to ruins people fun doing a real vs 'true' emulation that's 100%, vs the NCE and some DPCM level sound effects aren't as pronounced but that's more or less about it I think, basically effects aren't as nice. Kirby was used for one in the sounds made like with a slashing effect I believe it was, easily found I"m sure on a youtube/google search. Also there's an ongoing growing list over at gbatemp where hakchi was dropped of people cataloging the games and a few have issues, and a few others since they used special chips don't work. Visually because of being scared of some sue happy losers out there looking to make a buck they tweaked some games with flashing effects to be slower or bleed some color to minimize/remove a strobing effect that can kick off a seizure. Final Fantasy for one using magic in battle used to do a fast flashing effect for a second or two, but now it's not the same, honestly it looks cooler.

 

Overall it's a good 95th percentile quality job though so almost anyone won't even realize and fewer will get all whiny enough about it to compare and be turned off.

 

I'd argue given the box itself, the menu presentation, and the rest give it a total pass.

 

 

One thing I've notic

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Visually because of being scared of some sue happy losers out there looking to make a buck they tweaked some games with flashing effects to be slower or bleed some color to minimize/remove a strobing effect that can kick off a seizure. Final Fantasy for one using magic in battle used to do a fast flashing effect for a second or two, but now it's not the same, honestly it looks cooler.

 

They incorporated an epilepsy filter into the mini, not the roms. While installing Hakchi you have the option to disable that filter.

 

https://youtu.be/E9aCrSRzJAc?t=2m49s

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That was a question I was wondering about and forgot to dig into last night. I actually like the filter as it has some really cool effects on games. When you do magic in FF1 it looks awesome. Before it was just a one color triple flash flicker of whatever color the spell was. With the filter it has this wicked splotchy bleed off that looks awesome. Maybe it will suck in some games, but others it's a benefit really even if it's not 'accurate.' Kind of wonder how it handles lightning in the 3 castlevania games.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Well it's almost official: is there ANY good news about the Mini? :D

 

I've had mine since launch and it's been quite fruitless to find another controller. Turns out my original prediction that the controllers (official ones) will become even more collectable than the systems, and a quick boo at ebay shows that they're getting nutty.

 

I managed to put some time on my Mini tonight..I noticed a few more oddities. Left/right issues with SMB, where Mario get's 'hung up' in jumps and won't move when he lands...thought the controller was getting a bit screwy but every other game showed no issues. Punch Out was fun, but pretty inconsistent with timing. Knocked Bald Bull on his ass the first round when he charged, but that was it after that, I was lucky to dodge his uppercuts let alone anything else. Had some fun with Metroid, and found some spots though where if you get stuck in the quicksand, you can't get out as easily as the original. I compare all these to my regular rig, and I've logged in enough decades now to tell when something is 'up', and I'm kinda glad I didn't pay more than retail...overall, the thing is really cool. I'm too old school, however, and I wouldn't be totally happy with it unless it could deliver 100% the performance of my regular NES. So far, it's not. Still a lot of fun though and the look on an HDTV is fine once you get used to it. I was counting pixels on SMB :D

 

For the record my tv has a game setting and I use it all the time...in fact, it's still faster when I use my NES on that setting than this thing using HDMI. It's too bad, because for what it does, you'd think lag wouldn't be any sort of an issue at ALL. It really shouldn't be, because how can my NES do just fine? I guess it has to be in the emulation. I've tried it on a few HD tvs now they're all pretty much the same...the audio lag being the worst. The video lag isn't noticeable in most games, but Punch Out requires split second timing, so I don't think I'll get to hang out with Super Macho Man on the Mini anytime soon. Won't stop me from trying though.

 

I stopped by my ToysrUs and the dude there tells me aftermarket is the way to go for official controllers. His source told him that Nintendo isn't manufacturing the controllers. They still get one or two systems randomly, however. The Switch is totally sold out too, but he's an old school gamer like me and understands the demand for the Mini...unlike most bozos working at EB.

 

I cringe to think of what would happen should they decide to do another mini console, say for the SNES. But maybe not, because the regular folks in the world merely liked the SNES compared to the devotion of the NES...in any case, I'd buy that too :D Sucker for punishment I suppose.

 

The 'good' of this post is that I finally managed to get in a solid couple hours on the thing, and had a lot of fun. Metrold was hilarious, and like old times, you can't fire this thing up for just a few minutes...good thing it has save states :D Dr Mario, Galaga...fired up a bunch. And it reminds me of why I prefer this style of gaming: in 2 hours I covered a LOT of ground, scratched the itch and am good to go for the week :D

 

I hope that Nintendo is still making these, and hopefully puts out a nice LARGE shipment of them at some point before NEXT holidays...but who knows.

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I'm with you I'd buy a SNES one. The NES may get more of the love just because (whatever) but I think a SNES one given some of the release overlap into the mobile market (like Square RPGs) could really get some good attention to it. Imagine the sequels of every title you find on the NES one on the SNES, and where one doesn't apply because of a change (like Tetris & Dr Mario in 1 cart) or some new IP -- Starfox, it could round out to a real magic selection of excellent stuff given the specific third parties who jumped on board with it.

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One thing I hope they do if we ever see a mini SNES is to include TWO controllers. They've already proven there's a demand, so why make it harder for folks out there? And sure you can use a Wii classic controller, but that's missing the point entirely.

 

I've been logging a lot more time on the mini. I can actually now a/b compare these emulations, and surprise surprise, they're not 100% accurate. Games like Punch-Out suffer the most, but even in SMB there are some weird quirks...part 2 as well, with the timing of jumps, control overall. Some may have to do with the controllers, as they're very nice but there's an ever so slight 'bounce' missing from them (not noticeable if you're used to playing NES with shot controllers, however) but there's enough times where you do a facepalm for control entries that don't register...Pac Man is a huge offender in this case.

 

I haven't delved into the RPGs yet, but I don't think there will be as many issues as they're menu driven. Link 2, perhaps.

 

Anyways, I've convinced myself not to go too crazy to get another official controller, as they are now priced at Collectard prices (a term I don't like much, but fitting in this case)...and they're just not worth the purchase price, above retail.

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  • 4 weeks later...
  • 2 months later...

So I FINALLY got one of these! I could afford one, and got the blessing from my wife to buy one for Father's Day. I got scammed on my first attempt at owning one about a month ago. I had come across one at a low and appealing price recently (which was still 2x retail), and I took a chance on a new seller. I only took the chance because of Amazon's A-Z guarantee. So I got scammed, but the money was back on my card within a short number of minutes after placing the complaint call to Amazon. They refunded it without blinking, especially as the seller's email was ghost when I tried to contact him or her. It was a safe risk to take, and I was half expecting it anyways.

 

Anyways, this time I chose a seller with 100% feedback and over 10,000 ratings. So I paid a bit more than I intended to, but it was worth the peace of mind. It fortunately arrived in perfect condition the day before Father's Day, so I only had to wait a day before I was allowed to open it :-D . By the time I did open the box, and started to see how classy and high quality this thing was, I was pretty surprised. It was really well done in pretty much all of the most important areas...from packaging (the box design, the retro poster included, etc.), to the controller looking and feeling exactly like the original, to the sturdy build of the controller and console, as as well as each's design. I would have designed it differently in some areas, but it's just fine the way it is.

 

This thing gets quite a bit of unfair heat imo. It's probably often from people who simply weren't/aren't willing, or able to do what was/is/will only get wor$e, is (unfortunately) necessary to own one. I'd shrug the console off too, if I wasn't willing or able to own one, but ideally would like to. The only valid complaint, I can see, is the audio latency issue. That doesn't really matter much to me. It's not likely to be my primary NES gaming device. The fact that there's a Nintendo coded emulator to be dumped from this thing and bugs fixed, features added, etc., along with a strong and healthy dev/modding community. It's hacked. This allows the audio lag issue to possibly be be fixed...along with being able to easily put a full N/A ROM set, or whatever variety of over 7,000 games you want on it. I consider this thing to be more than the sum of it's parts. The fact that there were only 2 million produced, with a demand that far exceeds that number, really make this a rarity. Nostalgia and novelty really make for a strong layer of extra appeal. Yeah I chose one over a PS4. *shrug* I have an Xbox One, and zillion other platforms, along with a physical and digital library that I will probably never be able to even just sample in my lifetime. There have just been SOOO many video games developed over the last 50 years. I'm fine with buying a PS4 later on. I really am much happier to own a $60 MSRP "flashback device", than another "similar to an Xbone" modern day console powerhouse. The NES Classic Edition is a rare and unique device in so many ways as far as I'm concerned.

 

Oh and some icing on the cake. I had recently bought two different 8bitdo NES wireless controllers (the regular and Pro), and had ordered the wireless receivers about a month ago, so wireless is good to go. 8)

 

And sorry if anybody is reading this, wants one, is having issues with getting one, and this was yet another painful read. They can easily be found, brand new, on Amazon and eBay for $200-$250. Probably cheaper if you hunt long enough, but it's only going up in price. If you want one, and can afford one, but despise paying more than MSRP (which I can relate to)...just fucking pay the money and get one. Is (whatever amount of) happiness that it will bring worth some silly "principle". Stop being a stubborn @$$73R!$K about it, and go have some fun. Life is too short. ;-)

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Well if you overpaid and don't care because it does what you want, that's good enough I'd think. I got lucky on the couple we have being retail bought thankfully.

 

You brought up a community. What community? I'd love to see some forum going at this thing with a hammer trying to pry out the emulator and see what can be done to it. I wouldn't mind re-flashing the stock system with still the same games it was intended with if it added any real improvements to the functionality of the core device. I may even be tempted to throw a top 100 games at one of them too if the emulator could be improved plus add/bug squash any mappers.

 

Can't say I've run into any latency issues with lag some do on some TVs and I hadn't noticed audio but maybe it's there but doesn't affect the games so it's not so obvious when you're sucked into it. Truly to me the only real viable complaint on it from what does exist is that joke of a 2.5ft cord.

 

A few weeks ago I was in a BB and they were blowing out their brand of accessories and snagged their last extension cord for $2 so now I got one for my kids device too so I could take back the emio gamepad that I think was confusing her with the added 2 buttons and switch on it.

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Well if you overpaid and don't care because it does what you want, that's good enough I'd think. I got lucky on the couple we have being retail bought thankfully.

 

You brought up a community. What community? I'd love to see some forum going at this thing with a hammer trying to pry out the emulator and see what can be done to it. I wouldn't mind re-flashing the stock system with still the same games it was intended with if it added any real improvements to the functionality of the core device. I may even be tempted to throw a top 100 games at one of them too if the emulator could be improved plus add/bug squash any mappers.

 

Can't say I've run into any latency issues with lag some do on some TVs and I hadn't noticed audio but maybe it's there but doesn't affect the games so it's not so obvious when you're sucked into it. Truly to me the only real viable complaint on it from what does exist is that joke of a 2.5ft cord.

 

A few weeks ago I was in a BB and they were blowing out their brand of accessories and snagged their last extension cord for $2 so now I got one for my kids device too so I could take back the emio gamepad that I think was confusing her with the added 2 buttons and switch on it.

 

I'm the same way. Obsessive when it comes to media I'm into. I received the Sgt. Pepper's 50th Anniversary Deluxe box set. Wow is that super nice too.

 

As far as communities, I don't know that there are many of them in number. But what is out there seems good to me so far. There's a subreddit community, nesclassicmods, that seems to be the most popular online group:

 

https://www.reddit.com/r/nesclassicmods/

 

There are other emulators being coded for it. It has Genesis, SNES, GBA and another 1 or 2 emulators coded for it. Though I'm not interested in anything but having NES games on mine. I'd like to get a second one for doing more toying around with. I would really hate to brick my only one! There are other mods developed too (such as being able to setup "down+select" to return to the main menu, instead of having to hit the reset button).

 

As far as the audio lag, it may be the TVs some people are using, and they're attributing it to the NES Classic. Idk. It's situations like this that make me regret getting rid of my Sony KD-34XBR960. I still wouldn't have the room for it right now though, and it'd be more of a liability than an asset. Those things are a nightmare to move too. I might buy one again, once I have room. For now it'd be cool if there was an audio latency fix mod (to fix whatever might be the cause of that issue that many have reported).

Edited by MadZiontist
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See now that is one mod I'd download a custom setup for, remote reset button.

 

I think the audio lag perhaps is the same as the display lag, it all kind of goes together as what you're getting is a feed that is delayed due to multiple layers of processing and post processing on various TV settings thrown against the NES CE. Game Mode makes a LCD run as stock as possible with all that junk turned off and perhaps more that isn't a usual user defined setting. All the TVs still will suffer it to a point without a custom model with added hardware in there to negate it down to the level you'd find off a computer LCD monitor. A few years ago Sony made a TV with that added processor in it dropping the ms rating into the mid single digits much like a computer panel. Problem is they hit the end user for like $600 on a 20" TV which was garbage and I ended up getting a Vizio that was 29" with a 25ms lag for $250 that I could handle games with no problems (compared to another TV I have, the big screen too, that is horribly lagged to where SMB3 is unplayable.) I didn't even realize it because it was lagging visuals and audio so I thought the game was poorly coded (SMAS for Wii) and it ended up being the dumb TV which I figured out a couple years after selling it off angry about it.

 

Aside from my arcade cabinet, like you, I have zero interest in backwater CRTs anymore as they're just a dying breed and a big space eating liability I can not fix. If my neo geo CRT ever fails I'm converting it to a computer LCD which has none of the lag issues but a very crisp and pretty screen.

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While I don't agree that anyone from this board go actively looking for one at double MSRP, I hope those that do source one are happy with their purchase. For what it is, I am. Like MadZionist said, this won't be (and isn't) my main 'go to' for NES gaming. The audio lag issue is well known, and I actually heard about it in the first video review of the system on youtube. I have no intention of tinkering further with it, as I enjoy it as is. I really LOVE the save states...I never thought I would, but man are they great to use. I can now design Excitebike tracks to my heart's content (not that I ever had a burning desire to do so, but let's BURN THIS MOTHER DOWN, shall we?)

 

Tanooki, I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooove CRTs and CRT technology. To me, I guess I'm just too old school that way. Nothing I've seen so far can replicate the things I like about tube tv sets, and I've got my supply to last me until I'm nearing the End of Days :D Now if I could only source a reasonably priced CRT monitor for my MAME project...

 

I'm considering picking up some 3rd party controllers, the remote control ones, but they're pretty pricey. I tried my hardest to get an official 2nd controller, but they were (and still are) far more rare than the actual system. I refuse to pay the going rate though, so...tough titty said the kitty, right? :D

 

I hope we see another version of this thing in the future, or something similar. I doubt it will be anytime soon, because if they do an SNES version, I'm sure they'll do it closer to some sort of important anniversary date. For me, though, I'd be happy they leave it at this unit.

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I guess I just don't have any respect much for the old CRT anymore. Against LCDs of a decade ago, certainly. But now when I look at how the old games looked with blur, ghosting/bleed, and other oddities of the tech and cheap wiring for video games it's an annoyance. The CRTs in an arcade cabinet I don't feel the same about they'll do just nicely, much like those in a computer monitor too. Yet you go into the consumer level TV style and I can't think of any positive about them at all other than light gun games work. I could not care less about real let alone emulated faux scan lines.

 

Because I fear it going down at some point in its life, and it will, I'd give that CRT I have in my cabinet away if I had a very nice LED(LCD) installed in there of the 1-5ms display lag kind you find in a high ball computer screen. I'd prefer the sharp and crisp imagery and lack of the fuzziness along with the worries of parts are now going to get more increasingly scarce since CRTs have been terminated as far as new production goes as I read earlier this year or last some components needed for them can no longer be made.

 

 

Anyway ideally I'd honestly like to see a two front effort from Nintendo going into this or next (2018) holiday season. Re-issue the NES, no change in papers, boxes, nothing so collectards and scalping garbage don't have an excuse, and shovel out far more units (3-4x) they did with the last go around. Make it a holiday thing you know? And then like ATGames branch out and do a SNES too. Same sponsors of 3rd party stuff could easily round out another evenly done sample of a top30 titles there as well with no issue at all. I imagine it could do better if for any reason other than being the SNES is the fact the a/v production values of the games on that system match up with what has been cool with the retro lovers on the android, ios, etc formats for the last 5 years or so now. If they held out for a SNES anniversary we'd be waiting until 2021 as last year the 25th year was missed.

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I completely missed this thread, but I will share my NES Classic story.

 

I was lucky enough to pick up two NES Classics on different days. Both were pretty much the exact same story. Both times I was on my lunch break and stopped into a GameStop just to kill some time. Neither time was I there to look for a Classic. However, both times the employee just happened to open a box and set it down on the counter. This was two different GameStops and on two completely different days. It was pure luck, but neither time did I hesitate to snatch it up.

 

The first one I kept for my self and still have today. The only reason I bought the second one was to keep it out of the hands of a scalper and try to trade it with another collector. So the second one went up on my local facebook collecting group for trade. I listed the trade value at $60, but I was very strict on what I would accept as a trade. I'm big into collecting PS1 games, so I said I would only trade for non-common PS1 games. One member offered me some really nice PS1 stuff that I didn't have and we made a deal. It worked out for both of us really well. He was super excited to find an NES Classic and offered me more than $60 worth of games. The PS1 games ended up being worth around $90, but he had picked them up for $10 at a garage sale. So he got what he wanted for very little money out of pocket. I got some really nice PS1 games and made a small profit on my investment. Both parties were happy, and one less Classic ended up in the hands of a scalper.

 

I made sure to take a picture of both of my Classics at the same time back when I had them. I figured I would never see two together like that ever again, and to this day, I've never seen another one in person.

 

lrhtvy6d1v7vulr6g.jpg

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I guess I just don't have any respect much for the old CRT anymore. Against LCDs of a decade ago, certainly. But now when I look at how the old games looked with blur, ghosting/bleed, and other oddities of the tech and cheap wiring for video games it's an annoyance. The CRTs in an arcade cabinet I don't feel the same about they'll do just nicely, much like those in a computer monitor too. Yet you go into the consumer level TV style and I can't think of any positive about them at all other than light gun games work. I could not care less about real let alone emulated faux scan lines.

 

Because I fear it going down at some point in its life, and it will, I'd give that CRT I have in my cabinet away if I had a very nice LED(LCD) installed in there of the 1-5ms display lag kind you find in a high ball computer screen. I'd prefer the sharp and crisp imagery and lack of the fuzziness along with the worries of parts are now going to get more increasingly scarce since CRTs have been terminated as far as new production goes as I read earlier this year or last some components needed for them can no longer be made.

 

 

Anyway ideally I'd honestly like to see a two front effort from Nintendo going into this or next (2018) holiday season. Re-issue the NES, no change in papers, boxes, nothing so collectards and scalping garbage don't have an excuse, and shovel out far more units (3-4x) they did with the last go around. Make it a holiday thing you know? And then like ATGames branch out and do a SNES too. Same sponsors of 3rd party stuff could easily round out another evenly done sample of a top30 titles there as well with no issue at all. I imagine it could do better if for any reason other than being the SNES is the fact the a/v production values of the games on that system match up with what has been cool with the retro lovers on the android, ios, etc formats for the last 5 years or so now. If they held out for a SNES anniversary we'd be waiting until 2021 as last year the 25th year was missed.

 

Tanooki, not to derail, but...what's your definition of a collectard? :D (from another thread, funny that it showed up so quickly :D )

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Too slow, Tanooki!

 

Collectard: One who, despite repeated warnings and examples from prior fiascoes, repeatedly attempts to track down Unobtanium (eg: "I'm certain I'll get my hands on a Super Nintendo Classic THIS time, I'm SURE of it!")

 

:D

 

I saw the announcement a bit earlier. Allow me to admit I didn't see it coming. Nintendo continues to surprise.

 

I'll use the same technique I used last year to secure a unit, but...pre-order would be the best bet, if only it were easier to do in Canada. No retailer I knew of did so. And I can just imagine how 'cheerful' the sales associates at EB and Walmart and Toysrus will be THIS time around....yikes.

 

Here's a prediction I do stand by: this thing will be just as hard if not WORSE to locate than the NES Classic. On a brighter note? At least it comes packed with two game pads.

 

http://ca.ign.com/articles/2017/06/26/super-nes-classic-edition-announced-and-dated

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Someone who just stupidly grabs up anything of interest to whatever their hobby is. Money tends to not seem like an issue, until often enough inevitably that oh shit moment hits when you see the typical firesale of goodies to cover the damage, or it isn't sold off and it just rabidly continues until it ends up like some non-bug and cat poop infested version of Hoarders. Given the gaming focus here, someone who just collects a complete set of X just because they can say they have it, not to use much of any of it would be one example, all the better if they do it fairly fast without thinking of the consequences.

 

Either way so-so to bad/poor decisions end up being a factor in the mess, even if it's just an accident buying something to hold onto it because it was just a deal as the driving factor adding to the overall hoarders heap.

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  • 2 weeks later...

@atarilovesyou, nice, looks neat! Only 21 games?! Kinda weak considering the number of classics on that machine. I'm not so sure that it will be so much of a debacle as the first go out though. Ninty sold 2.3 million NES Classics, which is far than they would have, if they had handled keeping retailers stocked (and not discontinuing the thing so soon). The first one was possibly discontinued because it was hacked, you can have a whole ROM set on it, and Ninty got butthurt (as usual) over something so benign. I'm thinking there will be far more stock of the SNES classic, it will probably more of an issue to hack, and it might not end up discontinued so soon.

 

@Tanooki, I hear ya on that hoarding business. My wife and I are in the middle of clearing out our 15 years of hoarding business. It gets to be sorta amusing when it's time to make a decision whether to toss something or not. The irrational pleas, attempts at justification to keep junk, etc. lol.

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