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Epic's Christmas Game Giveaway 2023

Read More Epic Games It’s that time of the year. Epic Games is doing their annual 12 Days of Christmas giveaway… well, it’s more like 15 days of Christmas. Already, I’m very happy to now own Fallout: A Post Nuclear Role-Playing Game …

It’s that time of the year again: Epic’s Christmas Game Giveaway. Like previous years, Epic Games is giving away a free game every day around Christmas time.

On top of that, you can also save on some select PC games at an additional 33% savings (prices must be more than $14.99 to use the coupon). Offer ends January 10, 2024 at 11am ET.

UPDATE: The Christmas Game Giveaway kicked off 12/20 with fighting game DNF Duel.

12/20 DNF Duel

12/21 Melvor Idle

12/22 Art of Rally

12/23 Fallout 3: Game of the Year Edition

12/24

12/25

12/26

12/27

12/28

12/29

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The first free preview gift game on the 2023 Christmas Game Giveaway is Destiny 2: Legacy Collection (2023). The game normally sells for $60 and is free until December 20th.

Details about Legacy Collection:

This edition includes The Witch Queen, Beyond Light, and Shadowkeep. Play through three epic campaigns, unlock 37 Exotic weapons, 15 Exotic pieces of armor, and the power of Stasis, allowing you to lock down and control the battlefield.

Destiny 2: The Witch Queen
Delve into Savathûn’s Throne World, a twisted wonderland of corruption and splendor, to uncover the mystery of how she and her Lucent Hive stole the Light. Learn the secrets to crafting new weapons, the power of the new Glaive, and survive the truth within her web of lies.

Destiny 2: Beyond Light
The frontier of Europa holds many lost secrets, including the dark power of Stasis. Work with the mysterious Exo Stranger to harness this new power before Eramis, the Kell of Darkness, bestows it on her Fallen forces. Grow your arsenal, command Stasis, and go beyond the Light.

Destiny 2: Shadowkeep
As the heroes of the last safe city turn their attention to the far-reaching frontiers of our galaxy, new Nightmares have emerged from an ancient evil that once slumbered beneath the Lunar surface. Journey deep into a mysterious Hive Keep and work with Eris Morn to slay the Nightmares before they cast humanity into a permanent age of darkness.

Last year these were the free 2022 games… this should give you a good idea of what you can expect to get.

12/15/22 – Bloons TD6 12/16/22 – Horizon Chase Turbo 12/17/22 – Costume Quest 2 12/18/22 – Sable 12/19/22 – Them’s Fightin’ Herds 12/20/22 – Wolftenstein The New Order 12/21/22 – Lego Builder’s Journey 12/22/22 – Fallout: A Post Nuclear Role-Playing Game

12/23/22 – Encased 12/24/22 – Metro: Last Light Redux 12/25/22 - Death Stranding 12/26/22 - FIST Forged in Shadow Torch 12/27/22 - Severed Steel 12/28/22 - Mortal Shell 12/29/22 - Dishonored - Definitive Edition and Eximius: Seize the Frontline

P.S. Not to be outdone, GOG is currently giving away Legend of Keepers: Career of a Dungeon Manager.

Yours,

Weekend Gamer

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

The Game Awards 2023

Winners Game of the Year > Baldur’s Gate 3 Best Adaptation > The Last of Us Mobile Game > Honkai: Star Rail Ongoing Game > Cyberpunk 2077 Community Support > Baldur's Gate 3 Anticipated Game > Final Fantasy VII Rebirth Independent Game > Sea of Stars ESports Game > Valorant Narrative > Alan Wake 2 Content Creator of the Year > Ironmouse Action Game > ARMORED CORE™ VI FIRES OF RUBICON™ ESports Player > Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok Art Direction > Alan Wake 2 Family Game > Super Mario Bros. Wonder Games for Impact > Tchia Audio Design > Hi-Fi Rush Fighting Game > Street Fighter 6 Performance > Neil Newbon VR Game > Resident Evil Village VR Mode Debut Indie Game > Cocoon Innovation in Accessibility > Forza Motorsport Action/Adventure Game > The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom RPG > Baldur's Gate 3 SIM/Strategy Game > Pikmin 4 Multiplayer Game > Baldur's Gate 3 Esports Coach > Christine “potter” Chi Esports Event > 2023 League of Legends World Championship Esports Team > JD Gaming Players' Voice > Baldur's Gate 3 Read More Games Can you believe it? Baldur’s Gate 3 is out now on the PC. I paid full price ($60) for this game in Oct 2020, and have played a demo or early access of the game. I maxed out my character, and have patiently waited for the full … Fallout Fallout 3. Obviously, I'm still playing the game. At one point in the game, you have to go into Vault 112's virtual environment and it's seriously straight out of the Twilight Zone. You need a high Charisma or Speech skill …

I normally don’t do live streams, but when I got home from work today, YouTube was heavily promoting the livestream of The Game Awards (happening at exactly the time I turned on my computer).

Since I got a really nice Alienware OLED monitor, and I just picked up a Vizio M-Series All-In-One 2.1 Sound Bar (the monitor didn’t come with built in speakers)… I thought, what the hey, let’s play the live stream and see how the playback and audio sounds.

As you would expect, watching the live stream is just like watching an HD live television over the internet. Since it’s on my computer, at some point, I had the video take up 1/3 of my screen, while I do some work on the left side of the screen.

I have to say that the Game Awards show has high production, with very high-profile creators, such as Hideo Kojima with his upcoming OD game.

There were lots of advertisements… but it didn’t feel like ads, because they’re all trailers for upcoming games or for gaming products.

I also really dug seeing the Viking band Heilung play “Maidjan Song”, the main theme from the upcoming Ninja Theory’s Hellblade 2. They look so metal! And they sounded amazing, complete with fire dancers and war drums. I don’t know much about the band, but, man, the next time they are in the Minneapolis area, I want to see them live.

I was most excited to see some of the main cast (Walton Goggins, Ella Purnell, and Aaron Clifton Moten) for the upcoming Fallout television show from Amazon Prime on stage. They even had a guy in a power armor suit! It looks absolutely amazing! I really want that power armor for a Halloween costume.

Apparently, the three actors will be playing three characters. Ella plays Lucy, the former Vault dweller. Walton (any Justified fans will recognize him) as The Ghoul, a gunslinger. Aaron will be playing Maximus, part of the Brotherhood of Steel. Like I said, I’m very excited for the upcoming show, I just hope that they have good writers and it’s a good show.

No surprise, but the big winner at this year’s Game Award is Baldur’s Gate 3… taking numerous awards, including the coveted “Game of the Year”. Larian Studio’s Swen Vincke, came on stage with his plate armor, along with some key staff to take the grand prize.

As I previously said in August 2023, I felt this game was my personal Game of the Year. I’m just glad everyone else agrees with me.

Yours,

Weekend Gamer

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Aaron Clifton Moten, Ella Purnell, and Walton Goggins at the Game Award (07 Dec 2023)

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

Photos: Twin Cities Con (05 Nov 2023)

11/05 Twin Cities Con: Danny Trejo Read More Twin Cities Con 2023 is shaping up to be Twin Cities Con’ biggest show yet! Looking over their guest list, you can see the big draw is the Kevin Smith universe: Jason Mewes, Jason Lee, Brian O'Halloran (Clerks), Marilyn Ghigliotti (Clerks) …

Comic, anime, celebrity convention, Twin Cities Con ended on Sunday. Turnout was still very strong, which is very good for a Sunday show.

Sunday had the advantage of good programming, with panels from Rachael Leigh Cook, Danny Trejo, Ross Marquand (The Walking Dead), and Jason Lee. Lee and Trejo haven’t been in Minneapolis before, so it was a big deal for longtime fans.

As with Saturday’s show, Sunday’s show ended with the Costume Contest.

Again, the Twin Cities Con is one of the best comic conventions in the area. We’ll discuss more on this topic in a later article… but for now, enjoy cosplay photos.

We saw plenty of Genshin Impact cosplayers, indicating what an incredibly popular game it is with the youth. It also felt like the convention had more anime fans than, say comic book nerds or gamers (although they were all well represented). Me? I like it all: anime, comic books, video games, manga, movies… it’s all good.

Everyone who attended the convention said that they had such a good time and are looking forward to doing it again next year. Can’t wait for Twin Cities Con 2024!

More photos of panels and speakers on the way. Stay tuned.

Fizzarolli (Helluva Boss) and Corazon (One Piece) Invaders from Zim

Fallout

Dragon Ball Z

Lady Dimitrescu (Resident Evil) and Fairy Godmother

Ghost BC

Freddy Fazbear

Genshin Impact Genshin Impact

Genshin Impact

Genshin Impact

Jon Snow and Captain America

Joel (The Last of Us)

Halo

Crowley (Good Omens), Vanessa (Five Nights at Freddy’s), Jester and Marion (Critical Role)

Mami Tomoe (Puella Magi Madoka Magica)

Martian Manhunter

Childlike Empress and Falko (Neverending Story)

Nightwing

Sex Machine (From Dusk Til Dawn)

The Outer Worlds

Batman and Gotham City Police Department Star Wars Dance Off: Garrett and Connor

Castle in the Sky and Ponyo (Studio Ghibli)

League of Legends

Spaceballs

Danny Trejo

Raven and Beast Boy

Deathstroke and GCPD

Kinger (Amazing Digital Circus)

Costume Contest at Twin Cities Con, Minneapolis (05 Nov 2023)

vu ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Starfield

Read More Fallout Fallout 3. Obviously, I'm still playing the game. At one point in the game, you have to go into Vault 112's virtual environment and it's seriously straight out of the Twilight Zone. You need a high Charisma or Speech skill …

This week, it’s all about Starfield, the triple A game from Bethesda. As you know, I’m a big fan of this company, I have enjoyed most of their games, including the Fallout and Elder Scrolls series (Skyrim).

All the hype points to that it’s basically “Fallout In Space”, which is the same description that was used for The Outer Worlds, but I hated Outer Worlds… so I wasn’t convinced for Starfield just yet.

I am playing the game, thanks to it being free on Xbox Gamepass, so, again, what an amazing value called Gamepass.

I’m very early into the game, I’ve only made it to the main city. I’m not sure if I like it. I’m certainly glad that I didn’t pay money for it, because right now, it’s not that fun for me.

For me, I like to run and gun and shoot and level up… but Starfield has so many ways to play: ship combat, upgrading ship, building colonies, recruiting crew members, and so on. Maybe I’m not playing it right, or maybe I need to take a different approach.

Also, it’s worth noting that this game is an Xbox console exclusive. You can also play it on the PC via Steam or Xbox’s app (which is what I’m using).

The game is $70 for the basic game, and $100 for the upgraded edition.

Yours,

Weekend Gamer

Read more Weekend Gamer and Technology.

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

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

Fallout Pip-Boy Bluetooth Speaker Stand

Pip-Boy Stand Product Description Replica Pip-Boy stand: As featured in the game, the Pip-Boy stand is perfect for displaying your Pip-Boy 2000 Mk VI. Fully working Bluetooth speaker: Connect to your music-streaming device for an enhanced sound experience via the 10 watt loudspeaker. 10 authentic Overseer audio clips: A Fallout audio clip for every occasion available at the press of a button. Fun to build: Follow the clear directions to assemble over 60 components and pre-built sub-assemblies to construct your own Bluetooth speaker and impress your friends and colleagues with your prop building skills. Plug and play construction: No electronics skills needed. RobCo has already assembled the complex Bluetooth electronics so that all you need to do is plug in the loudspeaker cable where indicated. Read More Fallout Fallout 3. Obviously, I'm still playing the game. At one point in the game, you have to go into Vault 112's virtual environment and it's seriously straight out of the Twilight Zone. You need a high Charisma or Speech skill …

Now that I own the amazing Fallout ’76 Pip-Boy 2000 Mk VI … I realized I needed a display stand for it. The company that designed the Pip-Boy 2000 actually produced a stand four years ago, but since that didn’t really sell, they discontinued it. So now that everyone that bought the Fallout ’76 Pip-Boy is interested in the stand, the prices for these have gone up. I paid about $100 for it, but I’ve seen it going up to $110 on Amazon. I am assuming with more people buying these, it will spike up in price based on the demand vs low inventory.

The stand came with detailed illustrations and instructions and is fairly easy to build. There were moments where I thought I did it wrong or used the wrong screws… but just follow the instructions and you’ll do fine.

Once everything is put together, it is a nice stand for your Pip-Boy. While it is a nice 10-Watt Bluetooth speaker, it also has a built-in mic so you can use it as a speaker phone.

The other nice thing is that it comes with ten audio clip (although I only figured out how to play back 5 clips). They didn’t need to include that, but it’s cool that they did.

While I can justify the $100 stand as a Bluetooth Speaker… I don’t know if it’s a good idea to buy two more for my future two Pip-Boy purchases (for the Enclave and Sugar Bomb color variants). I may have to just come up with a different stand situation for the other two.

I don’t regret the Speaker Stand, I love it… but one is enough for me!

That’s all for now… I’m on the lookout to get the FM/AM component in my Pip-Boy, but they’re not selling those anymore. And if I see someone selling it, they’re asking for well above retail prices for them. I’m going to wait and see if they’ll produce a limited run of these… but at the moment, someone mentioned that there’s no plans on re-issuing the stand or the radio.

Yours,

Weekend Gamer

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

Fallout: Pip-Boy 2000 Mk VI (Limited Edition)

Fallout Pip-Boy 2000 Mk VI Vault-Tec Limited Edition Product Description Limited Edition Only 2,200 worldwide Individually-numbered Includes Certificate of Authenticity Fully-Assembled Light-up display Button on top box powers up display and vacuum tubes Display screen lights up and vacuum tubes illuminate (with metal spring filament inside) Display and vacuum tubes periodically flicker, replicating a loose internal connection – tapping the top of the Pip-Boy “cures” the flickering Read More Fallout Fallout 3. Obviously, I'm still playing the game. At one point in the game, you have to go into Vault 112's virtual environment and it's seriously straight out of the Twilight Zone. You need a high Charisma or Speech skill …

Like all Fallout fans, I’ve always wanted my own Pip-Boy. When Fallout ‘76 came out, Bethesda licensed The Wand Company to produce a build kit. That was four years ago, but I’ve never seen it sold at Gamestop, which was the official distributor.

I have seen the Bluetooth Pip-Boy holder, but never purchased it. It didn’t make sense as I didn’t have a Pip-Boy.

About a year ago, in Oct 2022, Bethesda announced 3 New Limited-Edition Pip-Boys: The Vault-Tec™, Sugar Bombs, and Enclave variants.

They are exactly the same, but in different color variants. Personally speaking, the Vault-Tec (Fallout 76 colors), is my favorite. I just love that color scheme… but the others aren’t bad either. I wish they made a Nuka-Cola variant, as I’m sure that would be more appealing than Sugar Bombs.

Before I knew it, I saw that Big Bad Toy Store bought a ton of these to re-sell to their customers, which I was more than happy to pre-order this item. The nice thing about BBTS is that they won’t actually charge you the $200 until they’re ready to ship. Some companies, such as Hasbro will charge you the money upfront and then takes over a year to actually mail you the toy.

So, I got my Pip-Boy today (April 12th), and it’s just amazing. I knew it had a light-up screen, but I had no idea it flickers or that the vacuum tubes lights up! That was beyond cool, and the effects looks great too. I do wish the screen was animated… perhaps maybe later down the line, I can mod it to include an old phone screen to display the Fallout animated Pip-Boy. It might be fun, but I honestly don’t want to mess it up!

Anyway, for now, I’m super happy with the Pip-Boy.

If I have the extra cash, I may end up getting the other two color variants. I hope The Wand Company might go back and re-issue the stand or offer the working AM/FM Radio add-on (as now I’m interested!)

Yours,

Weekend Gamer

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

Weekend Gamer: Hogwarts Legacy and Encased

Hogwarts Legacy (Original Video Game Soundtrack) Hogwarts Legacy (Study Themes from the Original Video Game Soundtrack) Read More Harry Potter The J.K. Rowling/Harry Potter-themed dance party named Wizard Fest just took place at the Cabooze in Minneapolis on Thursday night (September 27th). ... Harry and the Potters We’ve been kind of fascinated with these guys, Harry and the Potters, ever since we wrote about them as the leading pioneer of “Wizard Rock” (yes, that is a thing) in 2007. The brothers (Paul and Joe DeGeorge) just released …

Hogwarts Legacy
hogwartslegacy.com

Harry Potter fans are loving the new Hogwarts Legacy video game. However, there are some people that are banning the game and some “reviewers” are giving it a 1 out of 10 based on their dislike of J. K. Rowling’s transgender comments.

The people calling for the boycott or gave it a bad review is probably not going to buy the game anyway, so I wouldn’t pay attention to their outrage.

From what I’ve seen, this looks like a great game for Potter fans. Of course, having said that, I personally haven’t bought the game as I’m not a huge Potter fan… but I am mildly interested in picking it up when it goes on sale. I do this for most games, and I know all prices goes down a year later (in some cases like Gotham Knights it went on sale a month after it was released). So eventually, one day, I’ll probably own this game to play on my Steam Deck.

Anyway, if you bought the game and love it and want more… I’m happy to report that WaterTower Music has released two separate albums of music from Hogwarts Legacy. The two albums offer a total of 75 incredible tracks from the game soundtrack composers chuck e. myers “sea”, J Scott Rakozy, and Peter Murray.

The two albums are named The Hogwarts Legacy (Original Video Game Soundtrack) and Hogwarts Legacy (Study Themes from the Original Video Game Soundtrack). The first one, Original Video Game Soundtrack version is available on vinyl (via Mondo), streaming, and digital. The second one, Study Themes version, is available for streaming and digital only.

The composers, Myers, Rakozy, Murray, along with Alexander Horowitz, had this to say:

“We feel so unbelievably lucky, privileged, and grateful to be a part of the amazing team behind Hogwarts Legacy. So many talented and brilliant people have poured their hearts and minds into this game - made by fans for fans. It is so impressive on a multitude of levels. The moment you step foot inside these great halls of Hogwarts, you can sense the love and passion that each person involved gave to this project. It’s an experience like no other. It is our sincere hope that fans of Hogwarts Legacy will experience the joy, the awe, and the magic we felt when immersing ourselves into the game and its music. We’re excited to see players' reactions as they see and hear this world for themselves.”

Hogwarts Legacy is out now on PlayStation®5, Xbox Series X|S and PC. PlayStation®4 and Xbox One will launch on April 4 and Nintendo Switch on July 25.

The Hogwarts Legacy (Original Video Game Soundtrack) and Hogwarts Legacy (Study Themes from the Original Video Game Soundtrack) are available now on WaterTower Music.

Track List: The Hogwarts Legacy (Original Video Game Soundtrack)

1. Overture to the Unwritten* 2. The House Cup 3. Fig’s Search 4. A Proper Hogwarts Welcome 5. Potting Mandrakes 6. Seeking the Keepers 7. Ranrok’s Rage 8. A Lost Friend 9. Everybody Grab a Broom 10. All Roads Lead to Hogsmeade 11. Anticipating Rookwood *(from "Hogwarts Legacy")

12. Miriam’s Memory 13. Grasslands Vivarium 14. A Fitting New Home 15. Isidora’s Pain 16. See You After Class 17. Hog’s Head Jig 18. Guardians Awaken 19. Accio! 20. Legacy of Magic 21. Ruins of a Noted Seer 22. A Portrait of Love 23. The Greenhouse

24. Ollivander’s Wand Shop 25. Coastal Vivarium 26. The Four Houses 27. You’ve Made Your Choice 28. Soaring over Hogwarts 29. Haven 30. The Halls of Hogwarts 31. The Room of Requirement 32. Niamh’s Lullaby 33. Trespassers 34. Tribute

Track List: Hogwarts Legacy (Study Themes from the Original Video Game Soundtrack)

1. Your Journey Awaits… 2. Sorting Hat Ceremony 3. Slytherin Common Room 4. Gryffindor Common Room 5. Hufflepuff Common Room 6. Ravenclaw Common Room 7. Honeydukes 8. Hogwarts’ Best & Brightest 9. Focus on What You Need 10. Gateways to the Far Stars 11. How to Care for a Beast 12. Contemplation 13. Aire on the Side of Love 14. Hall of the Keepers

15. Morning at Marunweem Lake 16. The Room of Hidden Things 17. A Trick of the Light 18. A Delicate Art 19. The Quest Begins 20. Forbidden Forest Waltz 21. A Focused Mind 22. Mysteries of the Cosmos 23. The Escape 24. “Intra Muros” 25. A Faded Path 26. Lost 27. Outside the Castle Walls 28. The Observation Deck

29. Potions Class 30. Meeting with Professor Weasley 31. Caring for a Puffskein 32. Friendship to Be 33. An Intense Aversion 34. Dance of the Mooncalves 35. Central Tower 36. The Arrival 37. Hope Fades 38. A Forgotten Mystery 39. Ancient Magic Coda 40. Submerged 41. Gringotts Vault

Encased: A Sci-Fi Post-Apocalyptic RPG Read More Encase Currently, the free game is Encase. I don’t know too much about the game, but it looks like it was inspired by that Fallout gameplay… so I’ll check it out. …

Encased
encasedgame.com

I’ve been playing a lot of Encased, by Dark Crystal Games, over the weekend (I’ve already sunk 33 hours into the game so far). The game is over two years old now, originally early access in 2019 and a full release on September 2021. I didn’t know about the game until I got it for free via Epic Game’s Christmas Giveaway 2022. I tried it out and I love it, so I bought it again on Steam during their Winter Sale 2022.

If you’ve ever played the first two Fallout games, it plays the same way. My biggest criticism is that, as far as I know, there is no way of resetting your stats. For example, I had to restart the game a few times because I was putting my points into the wrong traits. Wish I’d known that I can’t get a certain “Perk” if I have some stats too low, etc.

My third time restarting the game, I think I have the best solution: go for the Renaissance Perk, since that boosts all your stats to 6. Once I started with that strategy, I was able to level up much faster and it made the game much easier (I’m playing on Normal). The game can be very punishing and unforgiving if you don’t know what you’re doing.

Right now, my build is an Energy Weapon user. I’m at level 12 right now and got my first Power Armor after becoming champion of Junktown. It feels so much like Fallout, I love it. The more I play, the more I wish Bethesda would make a new Fallout game in this style.

Encased is normally $30, but sometime it’ll go on sale - such as GOG currently listing it for $6.

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

Weekend Gamer: Epic's Christmas Game Giveaway

Death Stranding Read More Epic Games I guess all that waiting was worth it, as currently, the game is free on the Epic Game store. I know a lot of people hate on Epic, saying they’re a bully, saying that they’re …

It’s that time of the year. Epic Games is doing their annual 12 Days of Christmas giveaway… well, it’s more like 15 days of Christmas.

Already, I’m very happy to now own Fallout: A Post Nuclear Role-Playing Game (includes Fallout 1, Fallout 2, and Fallout: Tactics) on Epic. I’ve previously own these classic Fallout games on GOG and Steam… so it’s nice to see it on my game list on Epic as well.

Last year, Epic ended their Christmas giveaway with all three Square Enix’s Tomb Raider games on December 30th… which was amazing.

Encased

Currently, the free game is Encase. I don’t know too much about the game, but it looks like it was inspired by that Fallout gameplay… so I’ll check it out.

Update: Wow, can you believe it? For Christmas Day, Epic gave away Death Stranding for free. This is a $60 triple A title. The game is by legendary game creator Hideo Kojima and stars Norman Reedus, Mads Mikkelsen, Léa Seydoux, and Lindsay Wagner.

I’ve always been curious about the game, but never bought it because all the reviews said it was kind of boring and the game was a “walking simulator”.

Hey, for free, I will check out the game someday.

So far, these are the free Epic games giveaway:

12/15 – Bloons TD6

12/16 – Horizon Chase Turbo

12/17 – Costume Quest 2

12/18 – Sable

12/19 – Them’s Fightin’ Herds

12/20 – Wolftenstein The New Order

12/21 – Lego Builder’s Journey

12/22 – Fallout: A Post Nuclear Role-Playing Game

12/23 – Encased

12/24 – Metro: Last Light Redux

12/25 - Death Stranding

12/26 - FIST Forged in Shadow Torch

12/27 - Severed Steel

12/28 - Mortal Shell

12/29 - Dishonored - Definitive Edition and Eximius: Seize the Frontline

Update: The Epic giveaway officially ended on 12/29 with a double free game. The next free games (Kerbal Space Program and Shadow Tactics - Aiko's Choice) will be given away on January 5th, 2023.

Yours,

- Weekend Gamer

PS, Greak: Memories of Azur is the free game over at GOG.

Fallout: A Post Nuclear Role-Playing Game

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

Lenovo Legion Gaming PC

Specs Intel Core i5 11th Gen 11500 2.7GHz Processor NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 12GB GDDR6 16GB DDR4-3200 RAM 512GB SSD+1TB HDD Microsoft Windows 11 Home 10/100/1000 Network 2x2 802.11ax WiFi 6 Bluetooth 5.1 400 Watt Power Supply Free game: Warhammer 40,000: Darktide - Imperial Edition (must be redeemed by 11/10/2022) Read More Lenovo With Lenovo Smart Display, it’s pretty much free. If you want music, you can upload all your MP3s to Google Music and access them via the Smart Display. Of course, if you prefer, you can subscribe to Google Music, YouTube Music … iBuyPower Since owning the new iBuyPower’s Fallout computer, I’ve been spending a lot of time on the computer. I’ve been really into RGB lighting for my computer and recently purchased …

Since I got the the Straight Talk Home Internet, which promises 10-100mbps 5G speed, I’ve been enjoying fast downloads of games for my Steam Deck and Xbox Series X. I average about 30-50mbps. Unfortunately, my aging Fallout iBuyPower Computer could not enjoy the same download speed. This is because the Wi-Fi chip in the system is old (2017) and uses old protocol. Plus the computer was downstairs, far from the router. Whatever the reasons is, it has trouble connecting to the network and the speed it was getting was often under 1-4mps. I suspected it was the Wi-Fi card because the Xbox, sitting right next to my computer, was doing 80mps!

As I’ve previously mentioned, I’ve been looking around for a new gaming computer, and this was just the final straw. There are numerous problems with the Fallout computer, first the fan is starting to rattle and prevents me from doing audio recording because it was so noisy. Next, in order to upgrade the video card, I would have to replace the power supply. Also, the old computer would just not upgrade to Windows 11. Plus, it was just getting slow.

So, it was time. I bought the Lenovo Legion T5i 26IOB6 Gaming PC for $850 today from MicroCenter. This is a great price, it’s about 40% off the original asking price. Most of that money probably goes to the Nvidia 3060 video card. Just a quick Amazon search, shows that the average 3060 card is $400-$500. The 3060 card will be a massive improvement over my old 1660 card.

Download Speed

The key thing for me is the WiFi 6 card, which is the latest protocol. Of course, the first thing I did when I started up the computer was doing a speed test… and yes, it’s now fast and on par with what my Xbox was getting, in terms of download speeds.

With the fast internet connection, I’m able to re-download all the software that I need. All my movies and music are on external hard drives, so physically moving them to the new computer was effortless. I’m just afraid that with so many hard drives (6 in total), that the 400 Watt power supply might not be powerful enough. The first game I’ve re-downloaded is Elden Ring, which I am enjoying on the Steam Deck.

The new computer does have one USB-C, which is great. I’m going to have to get a USB hub to take advantage of it.

This is my first Windows 11 machine, so, at first, I’m not used to it. At first I wish it was Windows 10, as it’s what I’m familiar with… but I suppose over time, I will learn to understand and get used to Win 11.

Otherwise, I’ve zero complaints about the new computer. It’s fast, and it runs whisper quiet, which I absolutely love.

Yours,

- Weekend Gamer

PS I got the free promotional game Warhammer 40,000: Darktide - Imperial Edition when I bought the Lenovo Legion. At first, I thought the game code is inside the box, but that is not the case. If you buy it, look for the game code on your receipt. The promotion ends 11/10/2022, which is in about a week. The game official comes out November 30. You’ll need both an Nvidia and Steam account… but if you’re into PC gaming… you’ll already have one.

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