I enjoyed XV after playing it at launch - it’s not amazing, roughly on par with VIII & XIII, but with some exceptionally well done scenes and aspects. That being said, I’ve been incredibly frustrated by SE’s handling of this game. It was already pure hubris to launch this thing with a movie, anime, mobile games, and a…

I agree - I think that most people are too focused on comparing the console features, when they clearly have very different priorities and design philosophies. Voice chat is so low on things that Nintendo cares about when its main priority is creating a fantastic game experience for all ages. Is voice chat going to…

I can see why people would at least want the options, but I personally agree with you. As soon as I boot up online games like overwatch, the first thing I do is mute chat. I play games to relax, and you know what the antithesis of relaxation is? Listening to shitty little preteens. Fuck that. Hell is other people. Yeah…

Net neutrality is incredibly important, but in an election year where nearly every other major issue is on fire / under attack in some way, it’s gotta stand in line.

Clone, more likely. The old EU was swimming in clones.

I’m roughly 10 hrs in at this point, and so far I’ve been surprised at how little I enjoy getting into gunfights (considering I’m still getting used to the controls, running into a gang of bounty hunters is pretty much an instant game over), which feels strange, since it’s kind of the crux of the game. There’s a big…

Not that any of this has affected Diablo 4's eventual success - every one of these raging manchild fanboys is going to buy a copy, most of them on day one. Similarly, they may rag on D3 (after they probably played hundreds of hours), but it’s easy to forget that (per Wikipedia) that ‘disappointing game’ sold over 30m…

You do that - the rest of us will be over here having fun with the 80 other (better) characters.

I bought some of these a while ago, they’re a fantastically simple solution to plugging in a bunch of game consoles (some of which - like the 3ds and SNES - have larger power bricks that normally cover a lot of real estate).

I bought some of these a while ago, they’re a fantastically simple solution to plugging in a bunch of game consoles…

Great article! I’ve recently become much more busy with traveling for work, studying for professional exams, etc, so I’ve had to adapt in similar ways. Something that has especially worked well for my wife and I (in our small apartment with only one TV) is to fully take advantage of differences in routine and…

I think it’s pretty obvious why Apple sold the previous Air model for so long, way after it should have ever been on the market: $$$. How insanely profitable was it to sell the same laptop for half a decade without a single component changing (if a PC manufacturer tried that shit, it’d be a scandal). And how much…

I was having that thought, as there’s a very similar van in my neighborhood. There’s this biker dive bar a block from my apartment that’s frequented by a raving old guy who drives a white van that boldly proclaims on one side in huge letters ‘NEVER FORGET BENGHAZI’, and the rest of the van is covered in smaller…

Looking back, I really wish that Marvel could have kept their marketing plans after Infinity War under wraps in the year between that and A4. The snap was shocking, but immediately and dramatically less so when you know about the upcoming Spiderman, Black Panther, GotG, etc sequels in the pipeline. Plus, it’s not like…

Maybe a couple of decades from now, but until then that seems like a legal / contractual nightmare for both the studio and the actors. An actor’s appearance and likeness are incredibly central to their brand and reputation, so to suddenly have that so far out of their control would be unlikely (or at the very least,…

So my industry has generally had similar issues with unhealthy work/life balance, crunch, and a general pressure to put the artistry of the design process over your own well-being. Even for those of us who are very conscious of the issue and find it problematic are susceptible to that feeling on occasion - in fact, I…

I loved the first RDR and am cautiously excited for the sequel, but I’ve already been feeling some hesitation towards purchasing the game and supporting the company’s practices of what I was already assuming was backbreaking work by a lot of talented people. This adds to that conflicted feeling - I’m sure this will be…

I considered it, but opted for emulation with the SNES Classic instead. $190's a little rich for me just to play games on a console I already own. Thanks for the suggestion though.

I’ve done this a few times on games that require specialization, like in RPGs such as FFXII: Zodiac Age or more recently, Divinity: OS 2. I created a backup save in FFXII right before choosing my first classes, tried them out for an hour or two to see how the party gels, and then went back to the old save to make any…

Great list! I’d add a couple of extra topics (which may come up in the future):

Goddammit. I’ve been holding out for an Android equivalent to the $300 iPad for years and have been consistently disappointed. Guess I’ll be sticking with my Kindle Fire a while longer.