W♥M

Sci-Fi-A-I

Read More The Expanse Possibly the best Science Fiction television show on air right now is The Expanse (no, it’s not Star Trek: Discovery). As I previously mentioned, I love this show. In the world of the Expanse, there are three major …

Beacon 23
amazon.com

There is a new Sci-Fi show on Amazon Prime called Beacon 23. The show is based on the short story series of the same name by Hugh Howey. Originally it was meant to air on Spectrum Originals and AMC Networks… but it’s currently on MGM+ (which is own by Amazon).

The show stars Lena Headey, from Game of Thrones. She is a survivor from a spaceship crash and finds herself woken up on a space lighthouse called Beacon 23. The sole occupant named Halan Kai Nelson, but there’s more to his story than he lets on.

It’s a bit of mystery, and I’m not going to give away too much details… but let’s just say that it’s not what you think it is. Halan is locked out of control because of the A.I. malfunction. The Artificial Intelligence is written in a way where it has “emotions”, which is quite odd. Why would anyone program anger and sadness in a computer program?

Update: I’ve just watched Episode 4 of Beacon 23 and have concluded that this show is absolutely no good. The problem with this series is about the AI. Let me tell you, computers should not have feelings or are they children. It’s just dumb. In this episode, the computer is written like it is a three-year-old and it decides to murder someone. This is just bad writing.

Also, while we’re at it, for a space station, why is there only one person living there? Don’t you need a crew to keep maintenance on the space light house? Or how come the computer didn’t know someone was in the airlock? My home camera and sense motion, don’t you think an advance space craft would have basic sensors? It doesn’t make any sense.

If you’re looking for smart Sci-Fi, I suggest checking out The Expanse.

Read More Star Wars It seems like no one is watching Andor… or at least you rarely hear people talking about this Star Wars new television show on Disney Plus. Maybe it’s because fans are tired of Star Wars or maybe they’re just not interested in this weird prequel to Star Wars: Rogue One? …

The Creator
20thcenturystudios.com

Gareth Edwards’ latest film The Creator has gotten positive reviews. The film grossed $103.5 million with a “low” budget of $80 million.

Edwards is no stranger to Science Fiction, having debut with Monsters (a film I own on Bluray) and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (easily the best “new” Star Wars film).

Since Edwards was a visual effects guy, he shot the whole film and used visual effects sparingly, which probably kept the budget low.

The story is about how the artificial intelligence (AI) detonated a nuclear warhead over Los Angeles, California, which started a war of humanity vs the robots.

There is a new threat and so the humans brought in an ex-undercover human to navigate the AI’s base.

I won’t give away too much, but the robot’s weapon is not what you think… and their goals are not what you expected.

It’s a simple story, maybe it might have worked better as a television series, where it can explore more on what it is to be human. Are AI really the enemy … or are the humans the true villains.

Read more Television and Sci-Fi.

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Weekend Gamer: Black Friday 2023

Steam GOG Epic Games Read More Black Friday With Black Friday coming up this Friday (November 25), we are already starting to see some really good deals on Bluray/UHD discs. Some of my favorite A24 films are on sale, including X, Everything Everywhere All At Once …

It’s that time of the year again, Black Friday is this Friday, November 24, 2023, and with digital game sales… they all started on November 21st, and ending on November 28th.

As usual, the biggest event is Steam with their annual Autumn Sale (aka Black Friday sale). All the major triple A games released last year at full price (Street Fighter 6, Starfield) are discounted to 20% which isn’t great in my opinion… but it’s the first sale and might be worth it if you’re itching to play. I have downloaded the demo to SF6 and played Starfield for free via Xbox Game Pass, and I wasn’t all that impressed with these new games. So I am probably going to play the long game and wait for at least a 50% discount.

Meanwhile, my favorite GOG’s Black Friday sale has the usual games on discounts… however, I already own all the games I want on that platform. The biggest news is that GOG will eventually get all the PlayStation games that were available on Steam. Unfortunately, I already own those PS games on Steam… but now that I know these games will eventually make their way to GOG, I may wait it out.

If you want the latest games at a discount, the best deal I’ve seen is Epic Games with their 33% off coupon, which you can use on any game priced at $15 or more. So you can get the new RoboCop: Rogue City or Alan Wake II game for $33.50, which is the best price currently. The other thing is some games are exclusive to Epic (for a time), such as Assassin’s Creed: Mirage.

The only problem is that you have to use the Epic Game launcher, that is my only complaint.

Of course, Xbox, PlayStation, and Nintendo, all have their Black Friday sales… but just note that you’ll be confined to their respective platforms. Xbox does have “Xbox Play Anywhere”, which means if you own the game on Xbox PC, you also own it on Xbox. However the titles are somewhat limited, and you need to buy the game using the Xbox Game Store.

Also, we can’t rule out Amazon, which has been running their Black Friday Sale all week. Whatever you do, do not buy into Amazon’s Luna Gaming, which is their online gaming service. Like Google’s Stadia, I don’t see a future for Luna either.

While we’re at it, most the PC games can be played on a Windows-based device. I still recommend the ROG Ally, which is currently on sale at Best Buy for $100 off. While everyone still raves about the Steam Deck, it is limited to only Steam games … so you can’t play Epic Games or Blizzard Games or Xbox Games on the Steam Deck. Plus, the Steam Deck is limited to 800p, while the ROG Ally is 1080p native.

Yours,

Weekend Gamer

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vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Spin-offs

Read More Bosch Out of nowhere, I got notification that the new Season 7 of Bosch just dropped on Amazon Prime! I was so excited that I launched the pilot and after viewing the “Last Season on Bosch” recap… I realized I had totally missed the entire .…

Bosch Legacy
amazon.com

You guys know I love Bosch, the Amazon original series based on Michael Connelly’s detective novels and crime books. They’re well-written, and the television show does a great job adapting Connelly’s books.

If you’re not familiar, Bosch is named after LAPD Detective Hieronymus “Harry” Bosch. After seven seasons, the show runners decided to end Bosch in 2021. Not to spoil anything, but Bosch decided to quit the LAPD. It’s a good ending… but that’s not the end of his story.

The show re-launched in a spin-off called Bosch Legacy in 2022, which still takes place in the Connelly’s detective universe - but its focus is on Harry’s daughter, Maddie Bosch, and Honey Chandler.

At first, I did not like the fact that Harry Bosch took a backseat to other characters, but since the plot is still very good, you can forgive the show’s spotlight on other characters. Bosch still overshadows everyone, as most of the stories somehow involves Bosch, so at least he’s not gone away. At the end of Season 1 of Bosch Legacy, I was still not convinced about the change.

Now in Season 2, which Amazon premiered on October 20, 2023, with four episodes (the remaining episodes will be released two at a time per week) … and I’m a believer again! The first two episode wraps up the story of Maddie’s kidnapping, and, wow it was gripping. I was on the edge of my seat as Harry raced against time to save his daughter. I felt like the first two episodes of Season 2 would have benefitted by being the season finale of Season 1, because it’s that good as a bookend.

Episode 3 and 4 seemed to be starting a brand-new storyline, which is, as of this writing, very intriguing. I’m very interested in seeing where all this setup is going. The focus seems to be on Honey’s case and the B-plot is on Maddie as rookie cop.

So, yeah, I’m on board, patiently waiting for Amazon to drop the next two episodes.

Bosch Legacy is available to watch for free (with advertisements) on Amazon’s Freevee. New episodes will land on Friday.

Read More Cheers Apparently Woody Harrelson, taking a break from filming Wilson, stopped in at Rock the Garden to check out Oberst's set. .…

Fraiser
paramountplus.com

It’s 2023, and there is a new Fraiser. This 2023 is the sequel to the acclaimed 90s sitcom, based on the character Fraiser Crane (who was a spin-off of the popular Cheers television show).

If you’re not familiar, Fraiser was introduced in Cheers Season 3, and became a main cast in Season 5. Kelsey Grammer, who plays Fraiser, stars in his own series when he returns to his hometown, Seattle, as a radio show host.

While I didn’t follow Fraiser religiously, whenever it was on television, I would watch it. It’s not an exciting show, and the show’s humor isn’t really for everyone.

Fraiser ran for 11 seasons, from 1993 to 2004… and for the 30th anniversary, Paramount launched the 2023 series… I believe only Kelsey Grammer is the only person from the original cast.

In this new series, Fraiser is back in Boston (where Cheers takes place), and he’s trying to re-connect with his son, Frederick, a Boston firefighter. It’s clear that his son wants nothing to do with his father. In an effort to build a better relationship, Fraiser decides to buy the apartment building where his son is living and had him become roommate. Who knew Fraiser was a millionaire?

Maybe it’s just me, but I just don’t like the new (younger) cast. The old guys, like Harvard professor Alan Cornwall, I like and I felt fits well in the Fraiser universe. The new generations, David Crane, Freddy Crane, and Eve (no last name given) are just annoying to me.

I guess, if you enjoyed the 90s Fraiser show, you might like this new 2023 series. I’m still on the fence about the show.

Read More Nintendo Switch Nintendo Switch doesn’t even compare to power and graphics (it will upgrade to 900p when docked, not even 1080p!), but what it does offer is the ability to take games with you on the go. Plus, only Mario, Zelda, Metroid, Pokemon, etc., are playable on their consoles. …

Castlevania: Nocturne
netflix.com

Based on the popular video game that inspired a whole genre (called Metrovania), Castlevania the animation series, written by Warren Ellis, first debut on Netflix in 2017. I liked the anime so much, that I did buy the Bluray.

The series for four seasons, ending in 2021, with an approval rating of 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. It was a bittersweet ending to the series.

Now, in 2023, we have a new spin-off series called Castlevania: Nocturne with a new Belmont. The star of this new series is a young Richter Belmont, the previous Castlevania series starred Trevor Belmont. In this series, Belmont is battling a vampire from ancient Egypt, and he could use all the help he could find.

Castlevania: Nocturne is loosely based on the video games Castlevania: Rondo of Blood (1993) and its sequel Symphony of the Night (1997). Many fans considered Symphony as the game series’ finest moment.

While I did enjoy Castlevania: Nocturne, it really felt unfinished. The story will wrap up in Season 2, which was renewed and pending a release in 2024. We have to wait a year to get some resolve.

Description:

As revolution sweeps France, Richter Belmont fights to uphold his family's legacy and prevent the rise of a ruthless, power-hungry vampire ruler.

Starring: Edward Bluemel, Pixie Davies, Thuso Mbedu
Creators: Clive Bradley

Read more Television.

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Shocktober

With Halloween just around the corner….

Read More Horror From the creator of The Haunting of Hill House and The Haunting of Bly Manor, Mike Flanagan’s Midnight Mass came out just in time for Halloween, on Netflix. Flanagan and his crew, .…

The Fall of the House of Usher
netflix.com

The new king of horror, Mike Flanagan, is back with his latest Netflix series, The Fall of the House of Usher. Loosely based on the works of Edgar Allan Poe, you can see elements of “The Raven”, “The Tell-Tale Heart”, “The Masque of the Red Death”, and so many of Poe’s stories throughout the series.

Obviously it’s been updated, but these horror stories are timeless, so fans will recognize and love this modern update.

This new Flanagan series The Fall of the House of Usher, is about the Usher family. The head of the family is Roberick Usher with his twin sibling Madeline Usher. Roberick has six bastard children, and he loves them all… but suddenly each of his children dies in horrific ways.

The story starts with Roberick confessing that he was responsible for all of his children’s deaths… and so the story unfolds and you find out what led to each Usher’s death.

After a few deaths, the family thinks they’re intentionally under attack… but little do they know, it’s from a supernatural entity that haunts the family.

While I love Poe’s work and I love Flanagan’s dialogue-driven storytelling, I find it hard to like the Usher family. They’re ruthless, they’re not likeable, so as they die, one by one, you don’t really have any sympathy for them.

I’ve loved Flanagan’s first debut horror film Oculus and have seen most of his horror television shows, starting with The Haunting of Hill House (2018), then The Haunting of Bly Manor (2020), and really loved Midnight Mass (2021). His 2022 project, The Midnight Club, was pretty good… except Netflix won’t renew it for Season 2 based on lack of viewers.

P.S. I love that Mark Hammill (Luke Skywalker) is almost unrecognizable in The Fall of the House of Usher. He plays the family fixer and enforcer.

Read More Rachael Sage NYC singer-songwriter, poet, actor, visual artist Rachael Sage recently announced the release of her new studio album, Blue Roses, set for November 4, 2014 on MPress Records. .…

Rachael Sage
rachaelsage.com

The “Jewish Norah Jones” Rachael Sage recently released her new video “No Regrets”, which was directed by Nick Clark and filmed by Mike Flanagan. The video shows Rachael and her Dad as they enjoy the small things that make a life – strolling through Central Park, journaling together, savoring a cold drink and simply reveling in a loved-one’s company.

Talking about the song, Sage said, “‘No Regrets’ is the first song I’ve ever written based on someone else’s poem, and that someone happened to be my wonderful Dad. He had written a few poetic lines on a little notepad while he was recovering from lymphoma, and they were so touching to me that I didn’t ask for permission – I just started immediately setting them to music. Thankfully his health returned fully within some months, and due in large part to music, which he enjoys so much and was absolutely a major part of his healing. Honestly, I’ve never met anyone who loves music more than my Dad – especially the ‘oldies’ and songs that bring him back to a more innocent time. I asked him what other things he’d like me to include in the song that inspired him the most, and the list was much longer than I could ever incorporate but ultimately he was very pleased I focused on his friendships, his affection for ping-pong and Loretta Lynn – and his strong penchant for rhyming!"

You can watch it on YouTube.

The song is taken from her album The Other Side and the song features Jack Petruzzelli on guitar (Rufus Wainwright) and Russ Johnson on trumpet (Elvis Costello).

Rachael Sage just played the Bowery Vault in Nashville today (October 20). Her next appearance is at the Beacon Bonfire Music + Art Festival, in New York.

BONUS:

Read More Linda Lindas I was actually excited to see that The Linda Lindas will open the show. If I were to guess, the band is named after the Japanese film, Linda, Linda, Linda, which I wrote about in May 2007. .…

The Linda Lindas
thelindalindas.com

California’s The Linda Lindas recently announced their cover of The Music Explosion’s “Little Bit O’Soul.” The song is in Amazon Prime’s comedy horror film Totally Killer.

The Linda Lindas (11 July 2022)

We saw the group in July 2022, and wrote, “For a young (literally teenagers), new band, they sure had plenty of songs under their belt, as they played a rock/punk fun 43-min set on the first night of the tour.”

Tour dates:

11/13 - The Showbox - Seattle, WA !
11/14 - Revolution Hall - Portland, OR !
11/16 - The Regency Ballroom - San Francisco, CA !
11/19 - The Observatory North Park - San Diego, CA !
11/20 - Observatory - Santa Ana, CA !

* w/ Thundercat, Smino, Zack Fox
! w/ illuminati hotties

Read more Television.

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Amazon Locker

Read More Amazon Speaking of which, there is a strange “Pre-Order” page for the ROG Ally on Amazon, so eventually I am assuming you can get it from any retailers. …

I order a lot of things through Amazon and I’ve only had one or two problems. Sometime they say they’ve delivered something, but it won’t show up for days… but I’ve never had an issue with my home address. Then, since Amazon Prime Day/week, I’ve had two packages that were delivered to the wrong location. I believe both were delivered by the USPS… so now I have very little faith in the post office.

After spending a little time chatting with someone in India about my missing Amazon packages, I have decided to now only get deliveries at an Amazon Locker. This Amazon Locker service is free for Prime members.

It is a little inconvenient for me to drive to a public location, but knowing that I won’t lose a package again, I am willing to do this. Thankfully, there are a few lockers located near me, so it’s not all terrible.

My first Amazon Locker pickup will be tomorrow (Thursday), so I’m a little nervous about this.

From what I’ve read, once the package is delivered, Amazon will email me a special code. I can punch in that number at the pickup location and get my order. I hope it goes smoothly for me.

In the meantime, I have looked at other locker locations… one being inside a pizza place, so now I’m thinking I could order a pizza while I’m doing my Amazon pickup. I’m not sure if you actually need to talk to someone behind the counter or are you there to use a self-checkout. It’ll be a learning experience once I experiment in shipping to different lockers.

Amazon Locker

Update: The pickup was a success! Everything went smoothly, meaning the code worked, my package was there, and absolutely no issues. I have heard that sometime you may see someone else’s package (in addition to your package) in your locker. So that is concerning if it is true. I also had a hard time locating the Amazon Locker. However, once I found it, I do not think I will have any problems getting future deliveries at this location. It’s well-lit, it seems like a safe area, and I am going to love getting packages there. The sad thing is that not every items can be delivered to a locker. This has to do with third-party sellers or deliveries from overseas. Still, there are enough products on Amazon that will deliver to Amazon Locker... so I am looking forward to buying more things soon.

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Weekend Gamer: ROG Ally is here!

ROG Ally Read More ROG Ally Now enter the ROG Ally from Asus. The ROG Ally will address all the things that I wanted in my Steam Deck: Windows, faster chip, better screen, higher resolution, pleasing looks, and the ability to dock in their enhance graphics … Steam There’s no more waiting… You can now buy Steam Deck, right now, without reservation. According to steampowered, it’s been more than a year since it was first announced, but due to numerous supply chain issues and …

There’s an unexpected change in my schedule, so my weekend has been reduced to just Sunday for my one day off. The amazing thing is that my ROG Ally that I pre-ordered last month came in today (Sunday). That’s amazing, considering that I wasn’t expecting it until June 13, when it officially launches.

At the moment, the only place you can buy the ROG Ally is at Best Buy, and that has not been a good experience for me. While I am happy that I am getting the device a few days earlier, I would have just preferred to get it from Amazon. Speaking of which, there is a strange “Pre-Order” page for the ROG Ally on Amazon, so eventually I am assuming you can get it from any retailers.

There seems to be a lot of hate for the ROG Ally from the Steam Deck community, which I honestly don’t understand. I own both devices, and while I have previously praised the Steam Deck, there are some short comings on a Linux (SteamOS) system. My Steam Deck, at this moment, is just limited to Steam games… while my ROG Ally will be used for everything else, such as GOG, Epic Games, Battle Net, Bethesda, playing videos, playing YouTube, using MicroSoft Office, using PhotoShop, and Steam games too.

Look, if you already own a Steam Deck, and is happy with it, there is no reason for you to get the ROG Ally.

For me, I think the Steam Deck is ugly, I think it’s too big and heavy. I don’t really like Linux. There are certain games that just won’t run on the Steam Deck… I’m not entirely sure that the ROG Ally will answer all my problems… but being a Windows device (with Xbox Gamepass), it’s certainly a step in the right direction for me.

Windows is both a curse and a blessing. While I love the Windows compatibility of it all, it wasn’t really designed to be run on a handheld gaming device. You start to notice these things really quickly, as text can be unreadable or unable to pull up the on-screen keyboard can be really frustrating. Asus tried its best to make it usable with their Armory Crate software, but that’s also not a great solution either. What MicroSoft need to do is release their own gaming handheld, call it the Xbox Deck or something. Then they can finetune their operating system to suite the need of a tiny 7” inch screen. Still, despite all of Windows’ problems, the good outweighs the bad.

So far, I’ve had the ROG Ally for a few hours, and all that time, it is spent updating and downloading some games to try out. The first game that I will run is Diablo IV… but it’s a big game and will take a few hours to load up.

The next step is to buy another 1TB Micro SD card to install more games… and a screen protector. Unfortunately, since Asus did not release their files or mock models to third party manufacturers, there are really no cases or accessories designed for the ROG Ally. Give it a month or two when companies get their hands on the device - they will start making all sorts of accessories for it, such as a good dock or some skins, etc. At the moment, the only things available are officially from Asus… and it’s limited to just a cheap carrying case and a charging brick with HDMI out.

P.S. It’s confirmed that the battery life on the ROG Ally is not great. I dropped to 50% just doing normal Windows things, like updating and downloading software. On the bright side is that the 65-Watt charger can quickly charge the ROG Ally to 90% in ten minutes. It’s pretty amazing to see this.

Yours,

Weekend Gamer

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vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Weekend Gamer Update: Memorial Day Weekend

Windows 11 Pro Product Description Instantly productive. Simpler, more intuitive UI and effortless navigation. New features like snap layouts help you manage multiple tasks with ease Smarter collaboration. Have effective online meetings. Share content and mute/unmute right from the taskbar (1). Stay focused with intelligent noise cancelling and background blur. (2) Reassuringly consistent. Have confidence that your applications will work. Familiar deployment and update tools. Accelerate adoption with expanded deployment policies. Powerful security. Safeguard data and access anywhere with hardware-based isolation, encryption, and malware protection built in. Read More MicroSoft That’s because I just bought the Microsoft Office Professional 2021 lifetime license for $30, after reading about it on C-Net. The article referenced Stack Social, which I’ve never heard of until today. …

It’s Memorial Day Weekend, which means I have this Monday off and it’s a long weekend for me. As usual with these holidays, there are a lot of sales and deals all across retailers. I’m planning on going to a few Half-Priced Books to take advantage of their 20% instore purchases. The problem with HPB is that their stocks are limited and are vastly different from store to store. You never know what you are going to see, day to day, store to store.

Best Buy is selling a lot of Bluray for under $10… but the cool thing is that the new Pixel 7a is being sold for $450, the first sale price since it was launched on May 10. That was fast! Even though it’s a $50 savings, it’s still not enough for me to want it. I’ve already committed to buying the upcoming iPhone 15 Pro Max, so I need to set aside roughly $1,200. I was never an iPhone guy, until I started using the $25 unlimited data/phone service from Visible. Now, it’s impossible for me to break away from the Apple ecosystem.

Anyway, over at Stack Social, I just purchased Windows 11 Pro for $40. This is the full product key, not an “upgrade” key, meaning you could use it on a freshly built computer. I just basically upgraded my Windows 11 Home on my current computer.

For most people, Home is just fine for everyone. There are some differences, such as local accounts and Hyper-V and some extra security options (as well as more faster updates), but for the most part, I personally didn’t need to upgrade to Pro… But the sale price was so good (it’s normally $199), that I couldn’t pass it up. As of this writing, I don’t have buyer’s remorse.

When Windows 11 first launched in late 2021, video gaming was a problem with stutter and lag… but it was related to driver issues for video cards. Now that it’s been out for a few years, there are no issues with gaming. Since I started using Windows 11 Home in Nov 2022, I have been impressed with its performance over Windows 10.

Fallout New Vegas Ultimate Edition

Speaking of games, Epic Games is offering Fallout New Vegas Ultimate Edition for free. You guys know I love Fallout, so naturally, I’m going to encourage you guys to get it for free. Of course, I already own this on various platform (GOG, Steam, Xbox, etc.), and you can usually find it on sale.

This is the Ultimate Edition, which means all the DLC are incorporated in this game, so there’s a ton of great content to go through.

Of all the Fallout games, New Vegas is one of my top three. A lot of fans did not like the game when it first came out, but over time, I believe they’ve turn around and would agree with me that it’s a great game. The game is 13 years old, and it could benefit from a remaster or remake of the game, in my opinion.

Also, ROG Ally Update: On the day that it was available to pre-order on May 11, 2023, I overreacted and immediately ordered it from Best Buy. It was at a location and a time (noon-ish) and at Best Buy, that I normally don’t buy from online, and at such a high amount, that the unusual activity alerted my bank to issue a stop on my bank card. I had to basically go to the bank and told them that I did purchase the ROG Ally. Unfortunately, the bank already put a stop on the payment. That’s fine, I suppose I’ll just have to go to the physical store on June 13th to see if I can just buy one at their store. It kind of sucks because my local Best Buy closed this year, so I need to travel to another city to visit a Best Buy now. You know, all this could have been prevented, if ROG Ally would just make it available at all retailers… meaning if I had purchased it from Amazon, my bank would’ve just allowed it.

I suppose it’s probably better this way. Now that I’ve seen early reviews, it’s not exactly “twice as fast” as they’ve been claiming. The truth is, it sounds like the ROG Ally is about the same as the Steam Deck… the only difference is that the ROG Ally runs Windows 11 out of the box. Basically, once I get the ROG, I’m calling it my ROG GOG because it’ll be my GOG and Battle Net machine. I just cannot wait to play Diablo IV on handheld.

Yours,

Weekend Gamer

Read more Weekend Gamer.

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

The Last of Us

Read More The Last of Us As for The Last of Us, I'm in the middle of the game right now. It's hard. The clickers are impossible to kill, basically one attack will kill you right away. Having said that, the play style is a lot more fun than Beyond: Two Souls ....

The Last of Us
hbo.com

I love the video game The Last of Us, probably my personal Game of the Year in 2018 for the PS3. The game was so good, that I re-purchased it for the PS4. I probably would’ve have bought the PS5 version if it wasn’t so hard to find the Sony console. I kid, I saw one at a retail store, but am waiting for a “slim” or new version. I absolutely hate the look and massive size of the current PS5 console (I think it’s ugly).

I love the game, I know the story well, so I’m very interested in this HBO Max’s television show based on the game.

I just saw the pilot, and there are some sequences that are straight out of the video game. Of course, the show made some changes to the story, like adding more store to Joel’s daughter. It’s weird, but the show cast a girl that doesn’t look (or mix race?) anything like Joel. As for Ellie, they also cast the girl from Game of Thrones… and she doesn’t look anything like the girl in the game. Personally speaking, I would have preferred they casted someone who looked like Ellen Page. I get it, they cast people who can act, but it’s just my personal preference to have them look exactly like the characters in the game.

I think whenever they lifted the scenes from the game, I’m very happy. It’s when the show decides to change things or add stories and characters that has nothing to do with the game, that’s when I’m not interested. There’s enough from the game that I think the pilot does a good job in setting up the story.

As for the story, if you’ve never played the game, it’s about how this fungus destroyed the human race. It’s somewhat based on real life fungus that would take over ants and control them, like puppets. Anyway, this random girl, Ellie, may hold the key to saving humanity, and it’s up to Joel to transport her across the country. It’s a simple story, I don’t know if they can stretch it out to more than one or two seasons.

Here is my fear: I haven’t played the sequel to The Last of Us, but I’ve heard fans absolutely hated the game. According to these gamers, they made Joel into a bad guy and everybody revolted against it. So my fear is that fans will absolutely hate Season 2 or something. I don’t know, I haven’t played the second game, so I’m reserving judgement.

I am excited enough that I may re-buy The Last of Us for the PC when it is available on Steam (which I previously mentioned will be available Mar 3, 2023).

Update: Now that I’ve seen up to Episode 3 of The Last of Us, I thought I would share my opinion on what I’ve seen so far.

Of the three episodes, I think Episode 2 is by far the best. That’s because it’s so close to the game, that I’m really happy how it turned out.

I hated Episode 3, because it had nothing to do with Joel & Ellie. For whatever reasons, the show creators devoted a whole 70 minutes to two random characters Bill and Frank. Look, it’s a beautiful love story… but it didn’t really fit into the grand story! I wish HBO Max would have made this episode a “special”, I wouldn’t have an issue with it. Instead, I’m spending so much time with Bill & Frank, and it’s all for nothing! Maybe they could have cut the time in half and devote half the episode to Tess?

In the video game, you do meet one of these characters, but it’s a totally different story. In the game, the two hated each other.

Of course my opinion on Episode 3 is in the minority… as the whole world seemed to love this episode.

I’m hoping Episode 4 goes back on track and we can see those deadly fungus creatures and more action.

The show is doing so well that they’ve already announced a Season 2!

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Prime Gaming: Dishonored 2

Read More GOG As you know, I’m a huge GOG (Good Old Games) fan and was very excited about the news of GOG Galaxy 2.0 in June 2019. I have been using the GOG Galaxy …

I always forget that Amazon has their weird Prime Gaming (over at gaming.amazon.com).

Every so often, Amazon actually just gives away games - providing that you are a Prime Member (which I have through my brother’s membership under the family extension). I guess it’s just one of the perks, such as free video stream of some of Amazon’s library (including their own funded shows such as Reacher and Jack Ryan).

Recently, for the Christmas holiday, Amazon is giving away Dishonored 2 for free via Prime Gaming. But the best part is that you do not need some sort of Amazon launcher, the free game will be redeemed through GOG, which is the gaming platform that I had championed for years.

I do actually own the Dishonored series on Steam, so I have played a bit of it. I’m not a massive fan of sneak games… and so I didn’t really give Dishonored a chance. It’s just a nice way of saying that I didn’t really like the game.

Speaking of GOG, currently they are running their own Winter Sale, which rivals Steam’s Winter Sale. Unfortunately, due to GOG’s stance of DRM, some Triple A games, such as God of War, can’t be sold on GOG.

While you’re over at GOG, they’re giving away Worms Revolution Gold Edition for free.

Yours,

- Weekend Gamer

Read more Weekend Gamer.

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Humble Bundle

Read More Humble Bundle Game On: Humble Bundle I already own at least five of these games (on discs and digital), but I couldn't resist paying the average price to get these games again. When I donated, they gave me a breakdown of how ....

I’m currently a Humble Bundle subscriber since September 2022 when I got my Steam Deck. I previously joined for one year, starting April 2019 to April 2020, because it was a great way to building up your Steam library without paying too much. The only downside is that you don’t actually know what you’re going to get.

It’s a good deal, but unfortunately, because you don’t know what games you’re going to get - you may end up getting duplicate copies (if you previously own these games).

Anyway, there are some great charity Humble Bundle going on this month.

The Essential Content Creator Bundle

First, I wanted to spotlight the The Essential Content Creator Bundle, from Magix. You get six software (one of the software ProDAD mercalli v5 is only good for two years), but the clear stand-out product is the video editor VEGAS Pro 18 Edit. This is a $250 software that you can get for $25. For $25, it’s worth it just for Vegas alone.

Just a little background, but I used to use Vegas when it was own by Sony, it was one of the best video editor that rivals Adobe’s Premiere. Sometime in 2016, Sony sold it to Magix.

I own Vegas Pro 14 and I recently tried to install it on my new Lenovo Legion PC and it wouldn’t register unless I de-activate previous installations. Keep that in mind if you intend on installing the software on various computers.

When I installed it on the new computer, last month, I contemplated on actually paying $150 to upgrade to Vegas 18… but I decided against it because it’s just too expensive. I’m glad I waited, because now I can upgrade to Vegas 18 for $25.

The other amazing deal is the Black Friday Encore: Lone Wolf & Cub and More by Koike from Dark Horse. If you missed the Black Friday deal (like I did!), here’s your second chance. For $18.00 you are getting over 7,000 pages of Lone Wolf and Cub. That, by itself, is an amazing deal. You also get Kazuo Koike’s other works like Crying Freeman and Samurai Executioner. I’ve own most of Koike’s works, so was happy to see they’ve included some books I’ve never read before.

I started reading Color of Rage, and it’s a hoot. It’s about two prisoners who escaped from a slave ship. One of them is a ronin and the other is a black man. The two travel throughout Japan helping people and trying to survive. It’s about racism, it’s about a stranger in a strange land... it would make for a great television show.

I’ve been reading the manga on my iPad Pro 12.8, and although it looks fine… the battery life is terrible and reading for an extended period time on a glossy LED screen is not recommended. I’ve been giving a lot of thought on buying the new Kindle Scribe (10.2 inch) or the Boox Nova Air Color (7.8 inches) to read comic books. They’re both e-ink, but the Boox having the ability to display in e-ink color (which is what I need if I want to read digital color comics).

Yours,

- Weekend Gamer

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vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com