W♥M: Amazon

Weekend Gamer: Update (May 2025)

Galaga Arcade1Up

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So, I accidentally bought my second Arcade1Up, an Atari's Asteroids machine. Of all the cabinets that Arcade1Up released, this was my least desirable.…

Now that I’m starting to settle down in Jacksonville, I’ve been requesting shows in the area to get a better lay of the land. Right now, the only venues I’ve been to are Decca Live and Jack Rabbits. Jack Rabbits, based on the bands they are booking, is fast becoming my favorite venue in Jax.

Tonight, I’ll be heading out to Underbelly, or rather re-named/re-branded to Albatross. I know ‘underbelly’ sounds scummy and shady, but at least it’s a known name for the last decade. With the new name, I’m not sure what that is! Is it a bird?

Anyway, hopefully I’ll get to check out more music in the area.

As for the gaming, I finally got around to putting together my Galaga Arcade1Up. I’ve had this thing in the original box for more than a year, because I knew eventually, I had to move to Jacksonville, and it was just easier to leave things in its compact state. When I put it together, I soon realized I did not bring my Pac-Man and Street Fighter II console controllers… so instead of putting the Galaga side art, I prefer the bright yellowness of the Pac-Man side.

I seriously don’t really have the space for these cabinets. If you’re in the same boat, do yourself a favor and invest in a cab that has a ton of games on it, rather than a cab that only plays Galaga and Galaxian. That’s my biggest complaint about these first generation Arcade1Up machines. For about $300 (on sale), you can get a Pac-Man machine that has 14 other games on it, including Galaga.

My computer is all setup. I lost two computer monitors in the move (all my fault), but thankfully Alienware OLED monitor is in working order. I had the original Alienware box with all the protective cardboard that helped with the long move. I suggest, if you are planning on moving, to keep the original box, if you can.

I also kind of lost my Corsair keyboard, so I’m using my Asus Azoth keyboard, as my main driver, with a cheap (but very good) Inland 10-key. Both are wireless, but sometime I’ll plug them in to recharge the battery or have instant connection (to conserve battery when in Bluetooth mode, the devices often go to sleep).

I also lost my Razer Speakers (it just broke in the move!), so now I’ve reverted back to an old Sony Portable Bluetooth Speaker. This thing is built like a tank and just as heavy… but it still works after 11 years and it sounds great. I have other speakers in the house, but this one has the best sound (in my opinion).

In free video games news, Dead Island 2 is currently free on Epic Games. I bought this game when it first came out in 2023 on Steam. I got it on sale and never really played it… one day, maybe last year, I found out I got an automatic next-gen upgrade for Dead Island 2 for free. That’s the cool thing about PC gaming… unlike Nintendo or Sony that charges $10 for something like this.

If you have Amazon Prime (gaming.amazon.com), you can get Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus for FREE on Xbox/PC (Games Anywhere). The Xbox free games are great, I previously got Wolfenstein: Old Blood, Wolfenstein: Youngblood and Mindcraft Legends for Xbox. I love it, keep it up with the free Xbox games! At the rate we’re going, I feel like we’re going to get Doom next.

Yours,

Weekend Gamer
[email protected]

Weekend Gamer’s Keyboard

Spectra 6

Huessen - ePaper Photo Frame

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reMarkable Paper Pro

Now enter the reMarkable Paper Pro, which was just announced. This large 11.8” color display uses Gallery 3. As I previously mentioned, Gallery 3 is the superior color e-Ink display, but unfortunately, it’s very slow to refresh ....

The next generation of e-ink is here, and it is called Spectra 6.

The original Spectra had only three pigments (red, black, white), but over the years, they evolved to Spectra 6, featuring six colors: red, yellow, blue, white, black, and green… and through those combinations can produce about 60,000 colors.

The technology was introduced in April 2023, but it’s taking a long time for it to make it to market. I’ve seen earlier version of Spectra, but it was limited to two or three colors, like those red with black and white small tags in retail stores. Unfortunately, because of its slow refresh, about 20 seconds per refresh, the technology is limited to fine art, photo frames, or signage.

I’m mostly interested in seeing this tech adopted as a comic book reader. I do not mind the 20-second refresh, just as long as I can read the comic book and it looks just as good as a printed page.

Most of the photo frame is small (8 inches): Bloomin8 ($240) and Reflection Frame ($350).

The larger frame (13 inches), which is what I’m interested in, will launch with Ink Poster and Huessen, but neither have pricing or availability.

Based on the $200+ pricing of the 8-inch frames, I am going to assuming the price will double for the larger displays. The Verge said prices are expected to hit $600 for 13.3-inch and $1,700 for the 31.5-inch displays. Unfortunately, I’ll probably never buy them, as it is a little expensive for me. At that price, you can get a very nice gaming computer or maybe the Nintendo Switch 2 and not worry about their $80 game prices… or maybe a down payment for the new Sony 50-150mm f2 lens.

Anyway, that’s all future-stuff for my future-self to deal with… What you probably want to know is: what is the current state of color e-ink? Well, currently Kaleido 3 is still king. Amazon finally entered the color e-ink market with Kindle Colorsoft, using Kaleido 3, in Oct 2024. The product is a flop, because, as of this writing, the inferior glue they were using causes a yellow tint at the bottom of the screen that readers are complaining about. It is also $280 for a 7-inch product.

Remarkable Paper Pro vs Boox (note the color differences)

The biggest problem with Kaleido 3 is that the screen is dark. You cannot use Kaleido 3 without the usage of a front light. The other problem of Kaleido 3 is the resolution is often 50% of its black and white counterpart. For example, most of these panels have B&W 300ppi, but for colors it is only 150ppi. And if you compare Kaleido 3 colors to Gallery 3 colors - you can clearly see that Gallery has some additional colors - particularly yellow-ish tones.

I’m mostly interested in using these devices for reading comic books, so I need them to be the size of a typical modern comic book, which is about 12 inches (see video below for size comparison). Right now, the only product I have that fits that large 12 size is the Remarkable Paper Pro.

There are a few large 13.3 Kaleido 3 devices coming out (or came out): BOOX Tablet Tab X C ($820) and the Fujitsu Quaderno A4 3rd Gen ($720). Since they’re both using Kaleido 3 and costs more than the RPP, I feel they are dead in the water. The pricing is a little crazy, but considering that they are probably paying 150% tariff, it suddenly makes sense why they’re so expensive.

For now, between all my e-ink readers, my go-to device is the Remarkable Paper Pro, simply because comic book reading is an absolute pleasure to read because it’s using Gallery 3, which has more colors.

On paper, both Gallery 3 and Spectra 6 seems to be using similar tech, but Gallery 3 uses CMYW particles, while Spectra uses RYBW. It’s also noted that all the Spectra colors are reflective (so they look better in light), while Gallery 3 uses some transparent colors. I haven’t seen Spectra 6, but I’m almost sure it’s a better e-ink than Gallery 3. From my usage, Gallery 3, it is okay, but I wish it was better and brighter (like bright white paper).

As I’ve previously mentioned in my original review the Remarkable Paper Pro is just very expensive for a limited use device.

If you’re still interested, I have made a little video talking about my favorite comic book reader at the moment.

Yours,

Weekend Gamer
[email protected]

My number one choice for reading comic books is on the Remarkable Paper

Crime Time: Harry Bosch, Renee Ballard, and Levon Cade

Bosch Legacy Season 3 (2025)

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Bosch Legacy

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. …

Bosch Legacy: The Final Season
amazon.com

I’ve been watching Bosch since the pilot in Feb 2014. I have pretty much enjoyed all the Bosch shows, including its conclusion with Season 7 in 2021.

The show evolved to Bosch Legacy in 2022, which I have mentioned that I did not like how Harry Bosch isn’t really the main character anymore (instead focusing on Maddie Bosch and Honey Chandler).

I’m still enjoying all the Bosch Legacy seasons so far. I do find that Madison Lintz (who plays Maddie) is just so distracting beautiful. How can some look so good be a cop? She should be a model or actress.

Anyway, Season 3, which started airing March 27, 2025, on Amazon’s Freevee service or on Prime Video, will be the last season for Bosch Legacy. The last season is based on the 24th book, Desert Star by Michael Connelly.

At first, at least in the first four episodes, I had trouble understanding what the story is about. The plot seems to be all over the place.

I’ll break down the various plots: (1) Bosch under investigation for the murder of Kurt Dockweiler (he was Maddie’s kidnapper last season) by Det. Santiago “Jimmy” Robertson and Perry Lopez, (2) Bosch is trying to find out what happened to the Gallagher’s family, (3) Maddie is trying to catch some jewel thieves, and (4) Honey “Money” Chandler is running for Los Angeles District Attorney.

There’s a lot going on, but I’m sure the writers will tie it all up in the end.

We’re only six episodes in, and I’m itching to find out the assassination of a certain character. In this case, I’m glad I haven’t read the book. The death was a total surprise to me.

Also, leaked photos tell us that Maggie Q will debut as Homicide Detective Renée Ballard this season. Again, I haven’t read the books, but all the fans are excited about this main character, who will have her own spinoff series in the Fall of this year. I believe Bosch will still appear in Ballard’s series. I am excited to see more of Ballard.

Bosch Legacy’s finale to air on April 17, 2025.

A Working Man (2025)

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Sylvester Stallone

When I asked for “Judge Dredd”, it gave me only the Sylvester Stallone film (which I did not want), and nothing else. So, the best way to get what I want is to just to type in a search bar. …

A Working Man
mgm.com

The #1 movie last week was A Working Man, starring Jason Statham, based on Chuck Dixon’s Levon's Trade (the first book starring Levon Cade).

Originally Sylvester Stallone wanted to star in the film, but he might have aged out as an action star, so giving it to Statham was the smart move, in my opinion.

This is the second film to star Statham with director David Ayer. The two previously produced The Beekeeper, which I thought was a pretty good action film. The Beekeeper was sometime dumb and over-the-top (especially with those Beekeeper assassins), but it had a lot of good action, which made up for the story.

With A Working Man, it is also a bit dumb, but again, the action is pretty good that you don’t mind the bad story. The story starts off with Levon as a construction worker. He’s friends with the family who owns the construction business and decides to help the family when their daughter Jenny was kidnapped by Russian traffickers.

Levon, using his special skills as a former Royal Marine Commando, tracks down the leads and basically kills very cartoonish characters to save the daughter.

A Working Man is playing in theaters now.

Crime Time: Born Again and Persuader

Daredevil: Born Again (2025)

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Punisher

I did enjoy The Punisher quite a bit, which was a win, considering that I thought Iron Fist and The Defenders were lackluster. Ever since The Punisher appeared on Daredevil …

Daredevil: Born Again
disneyplus.com

It’s been so long since the third season of Netflix’s Daredevil series, that I had absolutely no idea what was happening at the beginning of Disney’s Daredevil: Born Again series.

To start off, I don’t actually remember watching the final Netflix series, but apparently Bullseye at the beginning of Daredevil: Born Again was trying to finish his job from Season 3. It was so confusing that I’m actually going back to watch and finish Season 3 now.

So far, we only have two episodes of Daredevil: Born Again, which is a bit of a slow start, in my opinion. There’s a lot of court room drama, and while that is fine when you’re binging the show, right now, there’s not a lot of things happening.

The cool thing is that we’re introduced to White Tiger, the first Puerto Rican super hero, co-created by George Perez (who is Puerto Rican in heritage). Unfortunately, the actor Kamar de los Reyes, who plays Hector Ayala / White Tiger, passed away in 2023… so I feel like we’re not getting more of White Tiger in the future… unless Marvel writes that he passes the mystical amulet to his daughter or something.

The other cool thing is that we’re probably going to see Jon Bernthal returns as The Punisher, which I’m really excited to his story continues.

P.S. Although the show is called “Born Again”, it is actually not based on Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli’s famous Daredevil run. The two was also responsible for one of Batman’s greatest story ever: Batman: Year One.

Reacher: Season 3 (2025)

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Reacher

Hobo muscleman Jack Reacher is back. Where we last left Reacher, he continues his life as a nomadic bum, helping people where he can. In some small town …

Reacher: Season 3
amazon.com

Amazon Prime’s Reacher is currently on the third season… and it’s very good! The new season is based on Lee Child’s novel Persuader. I have enjoyed all the Reacher series so far… although on retrospect, I felt Season 2 focused too much on Reacher’s old MP squad.

With Season 3, it’s all about Reacher, but this time he has a new team to work with: East Coast accent DEA Agent Susan Duffy, rookie Steven Eliot and retiring old man Guillermo Villanueva. Reacher finds himself infiltrating a criminal rug king and he’s basically killing everybody in the criminal organization. It’s pretty brutal, and it’s so weird that Reacher is just so cold blooded!

I think my biggest complaint about the new season so far is that the rug king is played by Anthony Michael Hall, who doesn’t really give off a murderous, ruthless killer. I’ve watched him for years on The Dead Zone television show, and I think he makes for a good leading man, but not as a criminal. To be fair, you do find out that there is a mysterious mastermind pulling the strings, so perhaps the reason why I don’t find him believable… is because he’s probably good guy, just trying to protect his family. Who knows… the season has about three episodes left, and I have no idea where it is heading! So good, so far!

Justice is Blind

Zatoichi: The Blind Swordsman (Television Show)

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Zatoichi

If you've never heard of Zatoichi, he's a blind swordsman, who wanders Japan in the Edo period as a masseur (although he seems to make most of his money at dice games). …

Zatoichi: The Blind Swordsman
tubitv.com

Do you ever wonder why there are so many Zatoichi films (26 in total)? That’s because it was really meant to be a serial for television, but back in the early sixties, televisions weren’t as common. By the mid-seventies, almost every home in Japan had a television, so Zatoichi continues his adventures in a television show. Between 1974 and 1979, a total of 100 episodes of Zatoichi were produced.

Distribution rights for those television shows were made available on DVD via Tokyo Shock, but they are somewhat hard to find and is expensive for subtitled shows. I have a few of those Zatoichi television shows at home, but gave up on trying to collect the whole 100 episodes.

The cool thing is that you can now stream those Zatoichi shows on Tubi for free as of September 2024. Remember how I own a giant Vizio 65” TV? Tubi is one of the apps on Vizio! This is just perfect. If you don’t have a TV, you can download the free app or watch it via your web browser on your computer.

Since I do own the DVDs, I have watched the first few episodes, but let me tell you - I have no memory of it! It’s good to re-watch the first episode and remind myself of the old television aspect ratio (4:3) and how almost black-and-white and grainy it seems. They must have shot this on cheap film. I wonder if some company might re-master or enhanced the shows to add a little more color and saturation?

If you’re itching for more Zatoichi, you can purchase each film on Amazon for about $4.50 each.

Eye for an Eye 2: Blind Vengeance (2024)

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Defiant

Defiant (目中无人), aka Blind Sword, a 2022 Chinese movie, is clearly a rip off of Zatoichi. You know me, I love Zatoichi, I own all of Toho’s films on DVD and Bluray (thanks to the Criterion boxset), and even owning the …

Eye for an Eye 2
amzn.to

I was pretty sure I’ve seen the first movie, yet the title Eye for an Eye 2 didn’t sound familiar. It turns out that I’ve seen the first movie, but it was titled Defiant. Of course, it was also known as Blind Sword… so the film makers didn’t even know what to call the first movie. The film was eventually re-titled to Eye for an Eye: The Blind Swordsman when it was released on Bluray by Wells Go USA.

Just before the new year, Eye for an Eye 2: Blind Vengeance dropped on streaming through Hi-YAH! subscription, and unfortunately, because it came from the source, the film felt like it was heavily censored. There were some moments in the film that just abruptly cut into the next scene. It’s possible that the director isn’t very good and made some bad edits.

The other thing is that the trailer advertised part two as a prequel, which it is not. I wonder if something got lost in translation? If you watch the new film, there is a husband-and-wife kill team recognized the lieutenant and said they served under his direction (indicating that this happened after the first film).

Eye for an Eye 2 starts off with a good action sequence, which sees the blind swordsman kill a bunch of criminals. Then the film flashback and explains how (and why) the blind swordsman ended up there.

While the first film was China’s blatant rip off of Zatoichi, the second film doubles up and also rips off Lone Wolf and Cub. This time, the blind swordsman (I don’t think he’s given a name) is traveling the countryside with a child. The young girl (age 10?) wants revenge for the murder of her brother (?). The father-daughter bounty hunters tracks down all the people who were responsible for her brother’s death.

I find the whole child as an assassin unrealistic. For example, am I to believe that a small child can hold onto an item in a tug of war with a grown man and wins? That’s stupid. Just any scene with the girl fighting, it just looks so stupid. A small child, weighing like fifty pounds, there is absolutely no way can kill a grown man. In fact, any scenes with the girl, I absolutely hated.

I also didn’t like was the inconsistent skills of the blind swordsman. One moment, he’s clearing out a room full of deadly fighters … but in another scene he’s bumbling around and walking into tables. It doesn’t make any sense! I know they had those scenes for comedy relief, but I would take it out! That tone doesn’t belong in this serious movie.

The last thing is that the final boss feared the child assassin. He’s shaking! What??!? It’s a small kid, can’t you defend yourself against a small child? Then later he faces the blind swordsman, and he’s confident and becomes a masterful fighter that can stand his grounds against the blind swordsman. Again, it’s inconsistent.

The only thing good about Eye for an Eye 2 are the fight sequences. I think those scenes are done very well.

If they are going to make a Eye for an Eye 3, I hope they kill off the kid right away and that sets up a revenge plot. You don’t need a story, it’s all action and kills. Also, make use of more darkness/turning out the lights scenes, it’s always a hoot to see Zatoichi take advantage of darkness… it also leaves it up to the viewers’ imagination and saves on budget!

Vizio 65" 4K Smart TV

Vizio 65" 4K Smart TV

65" 4K Smart TV Details

With vivid 4K picture quality complemented by Dolby Vision HDR, 4K models offer versatility and value with streaming-centric features like WiFi 6 and instant access to built-in apps.

WiFi 6 Dual-Band

4K UHD Resolution

Auto Low Latency Mode & VRR

Dolby Vision HDR/HDR10+

Bluetooth Compatible

DTS Virtual:X

QuickFit™ Compatible

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Technology

I think I have my heart set on the Alienware AW3423DW 34" 2K WQHD Curved OLED Gaming Monitor. It is an ultrawide curved 2K screen (3440 x 1440), and has support for NVIDIA G-Synch at 175Hz …

We recently upgraded to a new Vizio 65” 4K Smart TV, as part of leftovers from a Black Friday campaign from Walmart. I’m very happy with the display for the price (less than $400).

It’s not a V-Series or an M-Series, this is just the base 65” Smart TV. I know Vizio strips out certain features in those other television line to bring the cost down, but whatever they took out (such as Freesync), I don’t really mind if I’m saving money. If you really need those features, you’ll have to pay more.

I haven’t purchased a new television in a long time. The last time I got a TV was when 2K was all the rage, and I got a 40-inch no-name brand. Of course, I never watch TV, so it was somewhat of a useless purchase for me. To be perfectly honest, the so-called 2K resolution of the television didn’t look good to me. Images looks too bright, and the blacks were terrible, and the details weren’t there.

Size and Resolution
The first thing about the Vizio television is the big size: 65 inches! It’s much better than the old 40-inch TV. Despite the large size, like all LCD screens, it’s not as heavy as you might think. I believe the whole thing is about 40 pounds.

While the resolution (3840 x 2160) looks great with no signs of uneven brightness that you find on very cheap displays. Image quality looks very good, sitting at a couch about 3 feet away, but when you look at the image very close up, you can see jaggedness. That’s because the DPI (dot per inch) is only 68 DPI at the large dimension.

Currently, the highest resolution consumers can buy are UHD discs, which I have been very slow on converting, simply because I didn’t really have a 4K television. You can also stream in 4K, but that requires very fast internet. The WiFi6 helps, but for the best steaming options, you need to use Ethernet, which the TV does not include (that is on the more expensive models).

Smart TV
With this Vizio “Smart TV”, it comes with its own computer built inside the television, running its own SmartCast OS. SmartCast offers all the streaming services, such as Netflix, Vudu (now Fandango), Amazon Prime, Apple TV, I Heart Radio, and, most importantly, YouTube. This has it all, and it’s not a bad interface. It’s not slow or ugly. This is amazing, if you do not own a Roku, an Apple TV, an Amazon Firestick, or Google TV… and even if you do own them, like I do, you might not want to even hook them up because it’s easier to just use Vizio’s system.

Signing into each streaming service you subscribe to was very easy. When you launch the app, like the Apple TV, you’re given a QR Code. When you scan it using your phone’s camera, you’re immediately logged in. I was streaming all my Apple television shows in no time.

My only complaint is that it took a long time to update all the apps, even using the fastest WiFi6, it felt like the Vizio television took over 15 minutes to update, restart, update, restart, etc.

Audio
The two 10-watt speakers, certified as DTS Virtual X, sounds fine to me, but if you’re an audio enthusiast, you’ll want to add in your own soundbar or custom audio setup. I think Vizio knows their shortcomings on audio, so the TV is “QuickFit” compatible. The QuickFit are standards with soundbars, designed to integrate with your TV. Eventually, I would like to upgrade the television’s audio, so I will sure to be looking for the QuickFit feature. If you prefer to use headphones, the television does offer built-in Bluetooth connectivity.

Remote
The remote control doesn’t have a numpad, instead it works like a directional d-pad, with some dedicated buttons. Like the convenient “Free TV” button, which brings up Vizio’s free tv service (it looks like Pluto TV). I do not think you can bind or change the buttons on the remote, so if you don’t use Sling, too bad that button isn’t going to change.

Anyway, Vizio prefers you to use your voice to direct the TV, but I find that it’s not good at interpreting what I want. For example, I wanted to watch the film DREDD, but all it gave me were films called “Dread”, not fuzzy search misspellings. When I asked for “Judge Dredd”, it gave me only the Sylvester Stallone film (which I did not want), and nothing else. So, the best way to get what I want is to just to type in a search bar.

Typing on the remote is unbearable, so you need to use the Vizio app… which also sometime sucks, because it sometimes just disconnects from the TV.

Summary
For the price, for the 4k resolution, for the large 65-inch display, for everything that the television offers (free programming), I am actually very happy with the Vizio television.

P.S. For whatever reason, my iTunes can’t connect to the Vizio TV’s Airdrop. So, it seems the best way is to sneakernet (by putting the movies on a USB thumbstick and using Vizio’s USB player).

Yours,

Weekend Gamer
[email protected]

Black Birds of a Feather

Black Doves

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Keira Knightley

Admittedly I have not seen the movie, but apparently hot-girl Keira Knightley was nominated for an Oscar in her role. I have been in love with her since "Bend it Like Beckham". …

There are a couple of spy thrillers with similar names out right now.

Black Doves
netflix.com

The new Netflix series, Black Doves, just aired. This British spy thriller series was created by Joe Barton and stars skinny girl Keira Knightley (as previously mentioned I have been in love with her since “Bend it Like Beckham”).

The pilot starts off with the murder of three people, one of which was Knightley’s (former?) love affair. It sets off a revenge plot. Knightley calls back her old colleague shotgun Sam (played by Ben Whishaw), and they try to find out what is going on.

Personally speaking, I didn't really like seeing all the backstory of how Knightley got recruited into Black Doves, or “Triggerman” Sam’s backstory (or current love situation).

I also didn’t particularly like the humor of the two women assassins. They looked so beautiful, it’s like they were models doing a comedy bit as professional assassins. I think their tones were off, because the rest of the series is taken so seriously. It’s a dark thriller with lots of blood and deaths. If the two girl assassins had their own television series, with a funny tone, I would watch that… but they just didn’t belong in Black Doves.

As the show progresses, you find out that the murders involve the US, the UK, the Chinese, and some new underground modern-day “Freemasons” the Carters.

I think the show is fine as a spy-thriller… and Netflix thinks so too, so they are renewing the show for a second season. I’ll look forward to seeing Knightley again next year!

Canary Black

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Black Canary

White Canary: Basically the same character as Black Canary (who often teamed up with Green Arrow). Based on the explanation in the pilot, she was paying tribute to Black Canary (obviously I didn't keep up with the Arrow series). …

Canary Black
amazon.com

There is film called Canary Black from Amazon Prime. The movie is about a spy who is living a normal life, until her husband gets kidnapped and forced to obtain the mysterious “Canary Black.”

Originally, I thought this was called Black Canary, based on DC Comics’ super heroine... but it was apparent that this action, spy-thriller, was far from it.

The film does star one of my favorite girl action stars, Kate Beckinsale, who you may remember is the lead in those Underworld movie. I think she’s still very good looking, even though some people might say she’s aging out of that action star role.

Canary Black is a forgettable film, with a very predictable ending. Of course, Beckinsale saves the day and there's a dumb twist at the end (that everyone saw coming).

I’m not the only one that didn’t like the movie, the film got one-star reviews and the Tomatometer shows 18%. One fan/reviewer wrote that this was Kate Beckinsale’s worst film.

My favorite scene in the movie is how Beckinsale dealt with an explosive mine, it looks pretty cool (even though implausible).

Black Friday Week

Black Friday 2024

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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 …

If you’ve been paying attention, Black Friday (and Cyber Monday it goes without saying), have been happening earlier and earlier every year. Last year, I said deals were happening as early as November 1, 2023.

This year, it appears that deals were introduced very early, as retailers were stocking up products in anticipation of big sales. If you have all these inventories – why not start selling them at a discount? It makes sense to me, sell as much and often as possible.

I did look at what all the major retailers are discounting. Amazon is already discounting all their branded-products, like the Kindles or their Ring cameras. I wouldn’t be surprise if they discount their new Colorsoft, which is getting terrible reviews due to the yellow bar at the bottom of their readers. As it turned out, this is a hardware defect, because of an inferior yellow-ish glue they were using, and the yellow light is showing up. The crappy thing about Amazon is that they are not listing prices until you click through their product page. Most of the time I find myself disappointed in their discounts, which are generally 20% off.

I am mostly interested in getting SSD storage for my Legion Go. For the speed (“speed up to 7200MB/s”), this KingSpec 2TB M.2 2242 PCIe 4.0 SSD for $168 is a good deal, typically these drives goes for $200. There is a much slower drive (“2,500 MB/s”), selling at $125.

The two popular sizes are 2280 (laptops) and 2230 (portable handhelds), so it’s somewhat annoying that the Legion Go is using the odd size of 2242. You can buy a $10 adapter that extends the drive 2230 drive to 2242, so that’s something to consider if 2230 drives are cheaper.

I’ve mentioned this before, but personally speaking, I won’t buy from Amazon on Black Friday or their semi-annual Prime Day sales, because a few years ago, it was an absolute disaster. Things that would’ve taken one day or, at the most, two days to deliver, were taking twice as long, if not a week. And amidst all the orders and deliveries… Amazon lost not one, but two packages (delivered to a different address).

Google will likely discount their Pixel 9 phones to something like $100 or $150 off. For years, I thought the Pixel phones were a bargain, but starting last year (or the year before), their prices skyrocketed to $1,000 for the Pro Line. At that price, why not just get an Apple iPhone?

I would look at Google discount their Pixel Tablet. I don’t need another tablet, but what’s cool about the Pixel Tablet is that you can turn it into a Smart Home controller or photo frame or calendar using their dock view. If they sell it for $200 or less, I just might buy one.

Apple doesn’t really do sales… however some retailers like Best Buy and Amazon are selling this year’s 11 inch iPad for $500. I love my iPad, I use it every day, so if you don’t have an iPad, I think $500 is a fantastic price. If you can afford it, I would recommend the larger 13 inch at $600. The larger display makes watching movies and reading comic books more pleasant. I’m quite happy with my 2020 iPad 12.9, it does everything that I need it to do and is a great alternative to a laptop (especially with the magic keyboard).

For many years, the sales were on big televisions and laptops, and sure, we got plenty of that. I really think the big entry to this year are the PC handheld gaming devices. I was excited to see that Target was stocking three major PC handhelds in stores: Claw, Legion Go, and ROG Ally. This is near or alongside the Xbox and PlayStation.

With Black Friday in mind, I think Lenovo made the smart move and discounted their $700 Legion Go to $550, which, at that price, now I’m interested. And I did make an impulse purchase. Some gamers reported that using an extra discount on Target Circle and an additional discounting using their Target Red Card, they were picking up the Legion Go for as little as $500. What a deal.

You must remember, this is a full Windows 11 PC, but in a small compact design. You can even remove the controllers and use it as a regular tablet PC, I’m serious. I currently have the Legion Go in the official Docking Station (with 4k monitor, keyboard and mouse) and using it as third computer.

While I was at another Target (on a different week), I noticed that they were running low on stock both the Claw and the ROG Ally (with the Legion Go sold out), because those other devices were also on sale at $349 and $529.

PC Handheld at Target

Yours,

Weekend Gamer
[email protected]

Ten Reasons to avoid the Kindle Colorsoft

Kindle Colorsoft

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Amazon Kindle

As you may have heard, Amazon is releasing its first color Kindle called the Kindle Colorsoft on October 30, 2024. The device is a 7-inch tablet that use Kaleido 3 does not appear to be competing with Remarkable Paper Pro ....

The reviews for the Kindle Colorsoft are in, and it’s not good. As you know, I was considering buying it before it was released, but now reading all the negative reviews, I’m definitely avoiding it.

Colorsoft Customer Reviews (02 Nov 2024)

It’s funny how none of the reviews that got free review units points out or were critical of the Colorsoft’s flaws. Can you really trust all those YouTubers or review websites? It takes getting the units in the hands of regular consumers will you see a true review of the product.

Reading through all the recent reviews, they all mention one thing: there is a yellow bar at the bottom of the Colorsoft.

I’m assuming this is just a simple software fix, perhaps something a full refresh of the screen will remove the yellow tint? If it’s a software thing, Amazon really need to push out an update now, if not yesterday!

Reasons to not buy a Kindle Colorsoft:

#1 Yellow tint at the bottom of the Kindle Colorsoft
It sounds like this can be fixed with a software update… but, as of this moment, it’s unwanted and it’s distracting.

#2 No System-Wide Dark Mode
Everybody’s favorite system-wide dark mode (useful when you read in the dark) is no longer available. You can invert each book, but system menus are still bright white.

#3 Non-Kindle Content
You can sideload your personal PDF and ePub, but Amazon won’t display their covers or have all the features like Glideview. At first, I thought this was a bug, but as time goes on, I realize that this was a deliberate choice by Amazon. They are giving you an inferior experience on purpose so you’ll want to buy their books to get all the features.

#4 No pen support
You can’t write or take notes on the Colorsoft. If you want to write and take notes, you’ll have to spend more money on the Kindle Scribe.

#5 No physical buttons
For those who wants physical page turn buttons, there are none on the Colorsoft. Its competitors in the 7” color e-ink market have buttons, including Kobo Colour and Boox Go Color.

#6 Kaleido 3
The problem with all current color e-ink screens (with the exception of the Remarkable Paper Pro), is that it is only 150dpi with only 4,000 colors and it casts a grey overlay over the black and white pixels. As a result, the black and white is more like black and grey and the text are not crisp, but slightly hazy. Some people describe this as a “screen door effect” (like you’re look at the world with a screen door in front of it). Having own a Kaleido 3 device, I will agree with all the negative items of this technology.

#7 Power Button
A lot of people are complaining about the placement of the power button being at the bottom of the device. That means if you set it down to a stand or a wireless charger that you can accidentally turn it off. Or if you hold it at the bottom, you can accidentally turn it off. Most devices have the power button on top (like the Remarkable Paper Pro) or the right side (like the Boox devices) or in the back (like the Kobo).

#8 Kindle Software
You can praise the Kindle for its simplicity… but it’s also a problem. Do you want to fine-tune the color saturation? Do you want to full refresh every page? Do you turn the whole page to black and white? Sorry, these options aren’t available to you.

#9 No Kobo, no Google
To be fair, this is a Kindle and there are no expectations that Kindle will allow other book stores. Still, wouldn’t it be nice to access your Kobo or Google Books on the same device? With my iPad and my Boox Note Air 3 C, I can access all my books (including the Kindle) with no issues.

#10 Price
There’s no way around this, at $279, it is expensive for its size. With a cover, this thing will be well over $300. The Colorsoft is more expensive than its competitors like the Kobo Colour for $219 (you can also buy a pen and take notes) or Boox Go Color at $249.

Yours,

Weekend Gamer

Weekend Gamer: Scorn

Scorn

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Diablo

With the announcement of Diablo IV’s first expansion Vessel of Hatred coming out October 8, 2024, I’ve decided to go back to the game before the expansion is released. As you know, I’ve been playing the game since March 2023 ..…

If you have Amazon Prime, they’ve been giving away a ton of GOG (and some Epic Games) titles about three months ago. If you haven’t gone there recently head over to gaming.amazon.com and pick up about 50 free video games!

For October, Amazon has a ton of spooky free games, including Scorn. This survival horror game came out in October 2022 and was inspired and based on H. R. Giger (famous for creating Alien) and Zdzisław Beksiński.

I originally bought the game, according to Steam on Oct 17, 2022 (a few days after its original release date) and played for an hour before never looking back. I love the art style and I think I really just wanted to try it on the Steam Deck (which I bought Sep 2022). I don’t think it ran that good on the Steam Deck so I just never looked back.

What I love is the art style and art direction... but unfortunately, the game is too puzzle-y for me. I thought it was more like a shooter, but it’s not fast pace at all…

Now that it’s free on GOG, I may return to the game over the weekend, just to give it a second chance.

Game synopsis:

Scorn is an atmospheric first-person horror adventure game set in a nightmarish universe of odd forms and somber tapestry. It is designed around the idea of "being thrown into the world". Isolated and lost inside this dream-like world, you will explore different interconnected regions in a non-linear fashion. The unsettling environment is a character itself. Every location contains its own theme (story), puzzles and characters that are integral in creating a cohesive world. Throughout the game you will open up new areas, acquire different skill sets, weapons, various items and try to comprehend the sights presented to you.

P.S. Witch It and Ghostwire: Tokyo are free on Epic Games this week, meanwhile Return of the Phantom is free on GOG.

Yours,

Weekend Gamer