W♥M

Genshin Impact

Read More Games When The Witcher television show came out last year on Netflix, there was a massive uptick on newfound fans playing the game again. That’s because, like the game, the show was very well done and had a compelling story. …

According to some people, Genshin Impact is the biggest game in the world.

I don’t normally play “phone games”, but I recently upgraded my iPad and wanted to check out the game that everyone is talking about. I remember hearing about how much this game was a clone of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (which was my favorite game of 2017).

So, you know what? Genshin Impact is pretty good! They basically took the best part of Zelda, such as cooking, gliding, climbing, and sense of discovery. And the best part is that the game is free. There are some “free-to-play” mechanics, like loot boxes, disguised as “wishes”… but it’s to be expected when you play these sort of games. However, from what I’ve experienced so far, you don’t really need to spend any money to enjoy the game. I’m sure as I progress further in the game, that might not be the case.

Also, there are some things in the game that I wish I understood better when I started playing the game. I started leveling up as fast as I could, only to realize that I can’t go beyond level 20, unless I “Ascend”. This ascension requires some resources that can only be earned by doing all the quests in the Adventure Guild… If I had known this, I would have had started on this path. I guess making mistakes is part of the game. If I had known, I would have taken a different approach.

Another thing I wish I had known was that you really need certain characters (with different powers), in order to unlock some dungeons. The game does give you certain characters to keep as an introduction, but you can also unlock various characters by redeeming “Wishes”. If you do 10 wishes, you’re guaranteed a 4-star character… so, in my experience, I just save up my 10 wishes and do it all at one time.

The only negative that I can give is that the game requires you to be online all the time. This means if you disconnect with its server, your progress won’t be recorded or the game won’t work. Since it’s a popular online game, they’re subject to hacks. Recently, the game publisher miHoYo announced two-factor authenticity (which as of this writing did not work for me).

Since my iPad had a faster processor and updated internals, playing Genshin Impact on a touch screen is pretty good. Trying out the game on Android, on my aging Moto Z4 (from 2019) proved disastrous. My phone could play the game, but it had a lot of lagging and various issues that I did not experience on my iPad… it could be that the game was not optimized for Android.

Surprisingly the game is not available on the Xbox or Nintendo Switch yet, but it’s available on all major platforms, including Windows, iOS, Android, and PlayStation 4 (available on PS5 as backward compatible). It’s free, so give it a try, if you think this might be fun.

vu (vu@weheartmusic.com) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ facebook.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

Xbox Series vs PlayStation 5

Xbox Series vs PlayStation 5 Read More Xbox One As a weekend gamer, I’ve been following the Xbox One X (formerly known as Xbox Scorpio) for a while. Over the E3 gaming expo weekend, Microsoft … Playstation 4 Last week my PlayStation Network account got hacked/compromised. The person removed my email and added his or her email and took $50 from my bank account (that is tied to my account …

With the console war coming up this Holiday 2020. Let’s talk about the new Xbox Series and PS5… and possibly the dark horse in the race, Nintendo Switch.

The exciting news is that both MicroSoft and Sony have unveiled their pricing: Xbox Series X is $499, Xbox Series S is $299, PS5 is $499, and PS5 (Digital Edition) is $399.

Breaking it down, and looking at the specs on paper, it clearly looks like the Xbox Series X is the winner. There are some major things to consider: it promises backward compatibility with previous software and previous controllers and accessories. That means, if you already own the Xbox One controller and want to use it as a second player controller, you can do that with the S and the X.

The other secret weapon is that Xbox has Xbox Game Pass, which is the “Netflix of Gaming”, where you pay $10 a month and can play over 100 games on its service (including new games). For the price-conscious, particularly with the $299 S model, it’s worth looking into if you’re on a budget.

While the S model does not keep up with its more powerful big brother X, I feel the $299 will be fine for any gamers. For serious players, you’ll probably need to look at the X or PS5, because their games will supposedly run on 4k.

As for storage, believe me, 1TB is not enough for me (experiencing this on my laptop). If you install 10 games, you’re tapped out. I’ve compared speed between NVME and standard Harddrive (USB or IDE) on my computer, and I can, without a doubt, say that NVME is much, much faster (and more reliable).

The only advantage that PS5 will have is that they’ll have exclusive games only playable on their devices. With Xbox, because of its relationship with the PC, their games will always be available on computers (which I appreciate).

There is no news on the Nintendo front, but there’s rumors that they’ll come out with the Nintendo Switch Pro in early 2021. The more powerful portable console will support 4K (I’ll believe it when I see it).

Personally speaking, I will not be buying any “next generation” consoles. I think they all look ugly, particularly the PS5’s design with the fat belly of a disc drive. I hate the name “Xbox Series X or S”. It sounds stupid. Games for these new consoles will also cost $69.99 each ($10 more than previous generation). Plus, I barely touch my Xbox One or PS4 for over a year, since I’ve gotten a great gaming PC and laptop. That doesn’t mean that I won’t be following and seeing who will win this console war this Holiday 2020.

Here’s the breakdown - green is good:

Compare	Xbox Series S	Xbox Series X	PS5 (Disc/Digital)
Price:	$299.99	$499	$399/$499
Release Date:	10 Nov 2020	10 Nov 2020	12 Nov 2020
Optical Disc	None	Ultra HD Blu-ray, Blu-ray, DVD, CD	None / Ultra HD Blu-ray, Blu-ray, DVD
CPU/GPU	AMD 8-core Zen 2; 3.6 GHz, 3.4 GHz with SMT	AMD 8-core Zen 2; 3.8 GHz, 3.6 GHz with SMT	AMD 8-core Zen 2, variable frequency, up to 3.5 GHz
Memory	10GB of GDDR6 SDRAM	16GB of GDDR6 SDRAM	16 GB GDDR6 SDRAM
Storage	512 GB NVMe SSD (with Storage Expansion Card option)	1 TB NVMe SSD (with Storage Expansion Card option)	825 GB SSD (with upgradeable NVMe M.2 SSD, or external USB-based HDD)
Resolution	Up to 1440p	Up to 4K	Up to 4K
Backward Compatible	Games (limited), works with previous controllers and accessories	Games, works with previous controllers and accessories	Games (limited), does not work with previous controllers

vu (vu@weheartmusic.com) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ facebook.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

The PlayStation 5

Read More Playstation 4 Last week my PlayStation Network account got hacked/compromised. The person removed my email and added his or her email and took $50 from my bank account (that is tied to my account …

This is just a quick update. As you know, I used to be a big fan of gaming consoles, owning practically every console released since the Nintendo Entertain System. I retire them after the new ones comes out, and at the moment, I do own an XBox One, PS4, and Nintendo Switch. I have always had some sort of gaming PC as well, but with my ownership of my iBuyPower Fallout PC… I have practically given up all console gaming.

Why? There are many reasons why the PC is superior … first, it is because of the loading time is very fast on my PC, thanks to the ultrafast NVME storage. You don’t realize how much time you waste on a console when you’re launching a game or loading up a save file. On my PC, it’s almost instant when games launch or loading up game saves. Plus, depending on the graphic cards, my games looks a million times better on the PC than on any current console.

The other main reason is that games on the PC are much cheaper than on Xbox, PS4, and especially the Switch. In fact, Epic Games consistently gives out free games on the PC (this week it’s ARK: Survival Evolved and Samurai Shodown NeoGeo Collection).

Finally, in order to play online games, such as Fallout 76, you have to pay MicroSoft, Sony, or Nintendo, a monthly or annual fee. Sure, you get access to “free games”, but you don’t keep the games if you stop paying them the membership fee. I guess I’m just a cheapskate, but I just don’t want to pay for something that should be free.

Still, you know I’m still somewhat interested in seeing the next generation of gaming consoles… and today, Sony showed up what the upcoming PS5 will look like. And holy crap, it is so ugly. Particularly the optical disc drive looking like a belly bump. To me, it’s clear that Sony originally designed this “sleek” looking system without the disc drive and it looks uniform and centered. Then they added that drive and it just looks awful.

Anyway, I’m probably not going to buy one at launch. It really depends on pricing. If the rumors of it costing $600, it’s a hard pass for me - especially given how ugly it looks. Obviously, the disc-less version will be cheaper… but if we’re talking around $500 for that version, I still wouldn’t want it. Without the disc-drive, it means that you can’t play UHD or Blurays or DVDs or CDs! The only reason why I started collecting gaming consoles was that they also serve as a great media center, as it’s a powerful machine to play my discs.

I guess we’ll wait and see how well the PS5 performs, according to The Verge, the system will be powered by an eight-core AMD Zen 2 CPU and a custom AMD RDNA 2-based GPU. Based on Sony’s proprietary SSD, it should boost load times for games.

Even though I have no desire to buy the PS5, the main reason why I’m interested is for the new gaming technology. The PC can eventually adapt to it or offer their version of it… and that’s exciting.

vu (vu@weheartmusic.com) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ facebook.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

Play at Home

With the current Coronavirus / COVID-19 climate of self-isolation, many businesses are offering free games and books to help keep us entertained, while we’re stuck indoors.

Read More Playstation 4 Last week my PlayStation Network account got hacked/compromised. The person removed my email and added his or her email and took $50 from my bank account (that is tied to my account …

SONY’S PLAY AT HOME
playstation.com

Jim Ryan, President & CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment, is introducing Sony’s “Play At Home” infinitive. They are offering two free games: Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection and Journey, completely free from April 15 to May 5.

I already own both games (one game on physical discs), but it’s a nice and convenient way of playing these games. Also note, technically the Nathan Drake is actually three games (Uncharted 1, 2, and 3), and well-worth the price of admission (Free).

My only complaint about these free games is that Sony doesn’t exactly advertise them when you launch your PS4. You think it would be under the “FREE” section, but it’s not. You’ll basically have to do a search for these games and click on “Download” to get those games into your library.

If the shutdown continues well passed May 5th, I wonder if Sony might follow up with two additional free games.

Also worth noting, Epic Games usually offers two free games on their website, epicgames.com. This week’s free games: Just Cause 4 and Free Now. On April 23rd, you can grab For The King for free.

Bethesda is bringing their games back on Steam. As a promotion for Fallout 76 being on Steam, if you already own Fallout 76 on Bethesda’s Launcher, it’s FREE on Steam for you (plus you also get the Fallout Classic Collection for free as well). The biggest news about Fallout 76 is that it’s now worth playing with the new and free update called Wastelanders. They’ve finally added NPC (Non Player Characters) back into Fallout, and it’s awesome! Nice job, Bethesda.





MARVEL FREE COMICS
comixology.com

This is pretty impressive! Marvel Comics is offering about $100 worth of digital comics for free! I recommend just grabbing them all, even if you’ve no interest in reading them.

I can recommend X-Men: Dark Phoenix Saga, the classic Chris Claremont/John Byrne run.

Available titles:

Amazing Spider-Man: Red Goblin Avengers: Kree/Skrull War Avengers by Jason Aaron Vol. 1: The Final Host Avengers vs. X-Men Collection Black Panther by Ta-Nehisi Coates Vol. 1 Collection Black Widow Vol. 1: S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Most Wanted

Captain America: Winter Soldier Ultimate Collection Captain Marvel Vol. 1: Higher, Further, Faster, More Civil War Fantastic Four Vol. 1: Fourever Thanos Wins by Donny Cates X-Men Milestones: Dark Phoenix Saga

Also worth checking out Devil’s Due is offering their digital catalog for free on their website. If you have a My Shopify account (if you purchased anything from indie developers), you basically don’t need to sign up for a Devil’s Due account. Instead, you’ll get an email from Devil’s Due with a unique download link. The link will expire if you try to download more than 3 times, so I hope you don’t have a bad internet connection.

vu (vu@weheartmusic.com) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ facebook.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic