Julius

Finished catching up on this week's episode, Episode 3: Long Long Time. We're three episodes in of nine now, and while the first two episodes certainly felt like a near 1:1 adaptation with some reshuffling (for pacing and to throw off players a little bit, and definitely more changes in Episode 2 than in Episode 1, which was virtually 1:1 with some stuff added in) and stuff thrown in to give context to new viewers, this is the first episode to feel like it was taking the source material of the game, fleshing it out, and taking it to greater heights. Again, still some weird stuff when it comes to reshuffling the deck on lines, like getting the final line from the Boston QZ at the end of this location instead, but it still kind of works, it's just a little distracting. To sum up my thoughts, this wasn't just a great episode of The Last of Us, this is a damn great episode of television, and a beautiful one at that. There is no doubt in my mind that this is the best episode yet, and honestly, I think it's going to be a hard one to top. That I'm saying that about this part in the story, though, when my favourite parts are yet to come? This episode is a 10/10 for me, the first (and hopefully not last) episode I'm going to give that score to. Adapted excellently where necessary, built out the world naturally, and expertly handled fleshing out two characters we simply didn't get enough of in the game and were excavated wonderfully in a medium suited more to doing so than a game. BRA-f'ing-VO If you aren't watching this show already, I've got to ask – where the hell have you been, what on earth are you doing, and why are you still waiting for me to finish this sentence before bringing up Episode 1 on your TV?!

PlayStation are promising a steadier supply of PS5s in the wild this year, which they announced alongside the release of a new TV spot:

Reggie chiming in has definitely put a smile on my face

Already been renewed for a second season after just two episodes have aired: Find this super interesting, and I don't feel like it's a foregone conclusion that they jump straight to adapting Part II. For one, II takes place roughly five years after I, so they might want Bella Ramsey to age up a bit (was shocked to learn she's already 19!). I could see them maybe trying to do that through having her lose weight (I think her round face and cheeks are definitely what helps her portray an early teen), and considering where Part II takes Ellie it would make sense, but personally I'm never a fan of that being forced on someone for a role. On the other hand, though, I don't think you'd call an adaptation of Part II, well, The Last of Us Season 2? At least not with Druckmann around, considering how clear an homage it is to The Godfather and Part II, which he loves. A second season could absolutely get rebranded to Part II down the line and this could just be an early marketing thing, but I also feel like waiting a few years and then coming back to adapt Part II is the obvious way to secure platform growth (more people will watch the show in the years that pass once it's finished ending, streaming will become more widespread, etc.). Selfishly, I also do just think they could do a prequel series here with Tom and Joel earlier on in their adventures, which is a new and unique story they could tell designed from the ground-up for this medium. Druckmann seems like the type (kind of like Kojima) where he loves the idea of tackling actual film/TV just as much as he does games, so I feel like not needing to adapt an already beloved story could give him free reign again. I also just think it'd be smart to potentially tie into their new live service Factions game. And it bides them time to prep for adapting Part II, which will likely be at least twice as long as adapting Part I, and is much, much, much heavier. Anyways, as for why this is happening after only two episodes, well the numbers and growth they've seen week-on-week over at HBO are all kinds of nuts: Lastly, I didn't write up my thoughts on Episode 2, and I don't think I'll flesh it out as much as I did for Episode 1: it's still a great adaptation (still solid 9/10 for me), but much more than in Episode 1, there's a lot of creative liberty taken. Some additions, like the intro, I loved, whereas elsewhere they've grabbed distinct lines from later on in the game than when the show is currently up to and kind of forced it in earlier, which was...honestly, really disorienting. And the way the episode ends, well, that's a very interesting change (you'll know what I'm talking about if you've seen the episode). There's also a change to how the Infected work here compared to the games which makes me wonder if it's a hint at some mechanics for next-gen TLOU, such as Part III or Factions II? But yeah, still 9/10 for me. Can't wait for Monday!

GoldenEye arrives this Friday (27th January): (direct trailer embed for the lazy):

Yep, couldn't agree more. It's got some interesting set-pieces and concepts, but for a few years now I've viewed Nolan as being to film what Kojima is to games: he's really interested leaning into doing things only possible in the medium he's working in, and, like Kojima, can occasionally take things too far when there's no-one else in the room. And at this point there isn't, so a biopic like Oppenheimer should (I hope) rein him in a little bit. It's a strange question, but how did you got on with the sound/volume of the film? Rewatching Nolan films the last few years - and this was PAINFULLY apparent when I watched Tenet, which I did at home because, y'know, COVID - I've started to take note of how often I have to reach for the remote to put the volume up or down, sometimes even in the same scene! It's crazy to me that someone so invested in film and film history has absolutely zero interest in making his films suitable for anything other than an IMAX format. Which is stupid when 99% of the people who will ever watch his films will be doing so from the comfort of their own homes In fairness, they got Ludwig Gorannson (Creed, Black Panther, Mando) in to replace him, but of all of Nolan's films, this did feel like the first since Inception which was really screaming for Zimmer's BWOOOOOOOOOOMPing drones. I still find it a little funny that Zimmer chose Dune over Tenet (the right move, his score for the film is stupidly good and it's something he's said he's wanted to do since he first read the book) because at the time they were planning on releasing them pretty close together, but because of COVID, Nolan forced Tenet's release through anyways and Dune didn't release for another year or so after that, so he very well could have done both! You know, if he were a psychic or something

It's a bunch of UK-only stats, and shouldn't be much of a surprise, but the show has resulted in a huge jump in sales for both Remastered and Part I. Seems like it would be really smart to announce something around the time the show ends, huh?

Was joking with a friend the other day about how AoT would get a Part 3 announced for Final Season and it'll end on a cliffhanger for a film. But oh no it's worse, Part 3 is being split into two parts (cours): And the trailer: This...surely...it's actually going to end this year right? Right?!

Anyone else getting deja vu? Let's try this again; here's the latest trailer for Relink! And there was also another demo shown: Looks incredible, even more so than it has before. Animations look fluid, the colour pops, it looks ready to go. It really looks ready to go, so here's the release date from the trai– ...aaaaaaaaand they're still just saying it's arriving in 2023. See y'all once again later this year (I hope). There's no way my next update in this thread will once again be in December...right? Right..?

Yep, totally agree. I mean we've still got eight episodes to go, so it could still go that way...but I'm pretty confident it won't. Well, I really hope it won't... I think the interesting thing about the games you mention which are already heavily reliant on narrative that could be adapted is that it speaks more than anything else to strong writing, whether it be in terms of dialogue, pacing, or structure, in ways many other games just aren't (and in fairness, may not even be attempting to). I think it just speaks to a very strong understanding of good storytelling based on the foundations of the last 50 years of film and learning lessons from that and then finding ways to make that fun to experience interactively. I think the really exciting thing with narratives in games like TLOU is that we are still incredibly early in terms of really seeing where great storytelling in games can go, and I do think the possibilities are pretty much endless. Not to say there weren't great narratives in games before TLOU and the like, but being able to convey emotions through voice and motion capture in HD allows for easy interpretation of the source material. I think of something like MGS which is heavily reliant on its medium at some of its most interesting story beats, and it's clear there's just so much in a game of that time that would be difficult to translate without losing something – the experience of it being a game for and depending on the medium for great moments for one, but then also the limitations of the hardware really help your imagination to fill in the gaps. Bit of a ramble but oh well, that's what I'm here for Looks over at Uncharted...

We previously heard that Returnal was coming to PC in early 2023, but now we have a date: February 15th.

Tchia is coming this Spring:

My opinion? Absolutely. Again, only one episode in, so it's tough to tell how it'll flow overall, meaning I'm not sure if it'll be better to wait and binge it all or just keep up with it weekly, but - if they can keep up the pace they've set with the first episode - a 9/10 adaptation of a 10/10 video game story is still excellent and well worth checking out. It's really clear that they've taken the time and care the source material deserves with this adaptation with what we've seen so far. Would love to read your thoughts if you do check it out, especially as someone who isn't familiar with the source material, because I feel like that would be a very valuable perspective to hear!

The trailer for Mando S3: And well... Very solid trailer. Less than two minutes, which I like (save some surprises!), a little lacking on the music side of things (not at all indicative of the show's OST, but hey, hype trailer music has its place!), some good reveals, didn't pull all that much from the Celebration trailer. Very curious to see how this is received by those not caught up on Book of Boba Fett... Anyways, not the best Mando trailer we've had, not the best Star Wars trailer we've had, but again, just very solid – its enough to get people thinking about subscribing to Disney+ again if they aren't currently, that's for sure. For me at least, the third season with Star Wars shows has usually been where things have really started to pick up, so I can't wait to see what's in store; I'm super excited! What's it now, a bit under six weeks to go? All aboard the hype train (also think this might be the sign I need to start thinking about catching up on Andor and TBB!)

Just finished Episode 1: When You're Lost In The Darkness. I have some scattered thoughts to share, and always knew this would be an interesting show for me to watch at this time just given how many times I played through TLOU last year alone (four times, by the way), so it's hard to not draw very direct and specific comparisons with the game burned into my mind. Yes, I will be comparing this with the game, but no, I won't be jumping ahead and spoiling the game/story, I'll be focusing on the show. Anyways, scattered thoughts: Overall, for a first episode lasting nearly 80 minutes, if this is a sign of things to come, then this is very easily going to be one of the best adaptations of a video game to live-action to date. It's a bit shy of perfect, but honestly, I'm surprised they got it as close to perfect as they did. I'll gladly take it. That being said, there are already some creative decisions made in this first episode which have me scratching my head a little bit when I think of how much the game absolutely nailed every story beat we've seen so far, and it falls short of reaching that bar a few times. With all that in mind, I'm going to give this first episode a 9/10 – I can't wait to see how they go about adapting the rest, and certainly hope they can stick to this high bar they've now set themselves, but am a little nervous about how other major scenes might be tweaked in this adaptation. It opens up in Boston, Pittsburgh comes down the road (heh)

Poster for Mando S3: Looks like a comic book cover, which is to say I love it

Game Science released a fun little stop-motion short to commemorate the Chinese New Year... ...and the end of the short reveals that Black Myth: Wukong is taking aim at a Summer 2024 release. Still no platforms announced outside of PC just yet, though from my point of view this one seems ripe for Xbox to pick up, but I guess we'll have to wait and see. Would love to see this on PlayStation (I mean, some Chinese games do release on PlayStation exclusively, so maybe there's hope?), but I'm not going to hold out for that, considering how much Xbox loves to throw money at people these days. Anyways, I'll see y'all next January for the delay to 2025

Honestly, when you say that, I think he's genuinely one of the few minds I wouldn't mind having uploaded as an AI to continue to compose if it were an option. Probably one of a very select few geniuses alive today who can rightly be mentioned in the same breath as some of the greatest legends in his field.

John Williams has gone full Hayao Miyazaki and has walked back his retirement to continue collaborating with Spielberg for as long as time allows. Well, this seemed inevitable. You don't work until your 90s and then retire without potential for a comeback

The trailer for Mando S3 will be releasing during Monday night's NFL Wild Card game, which starts early in the evening, so that should give us something nice to wake up to on Tuesday: (just please don't be the exact same as the Celebration exclusive trailer from last year) Yeah, sorry, to be clear, I was referring to the shows' overall output upon conclusion (i.e. the entirety of TCW/Rebels) rather than the consistency of individual seasons (well apart from TBB I guess, but I think that's probably the most consistent first season of an animated Star Wars show...but it probably helps that it's kind of a TCW pseudo-sequel though?). I guess the way I'd put it is that the range of perceived quality of their live-action shows and films is much broader than I think it is for the animated series. This isn't to say that there hasn't been some great stuff in the live-action realm of course (there's a lot I love), I just think any drops in perceived quality have been much more noticeable and substantial than anything we've had for a long time in the animated Star Wars space. Yeah, it's scary how fast it's come around! Do wonder how they'll handle any panels around Mando, but I can't wait to be surrounded by hordes of Star Wars fans and feel that unquestionable positive energy again – it's one I haven't really experienced in-person with other Star Wars fans since probably Rogue One's release? Crazy to think that was over six years ago now

Glad to hear it's living up to the hype! Always love seeing animated Star Wars get more love, think I saw a SWE video just the other day in my YouTube feed about why people should dive into the animated stuff, and couldn't agree more with the sentiment. If nothing else I think it's probably been the most consistent in terms of quality and output since Disney bought Lucasfilm? Personally, I'm on a bit of a Star Wars fast at the moment, and think I'm going to see if I can hold off until mid-March for The Bad Batch, same goes for Andor. Then I'm going to binge the hell out of them, play Jedi Survivor, maybe revisit the other live-action shows, rewatch all the films and my favourite episodes/arcs of TCW and Rebels to prep and get hyped for Celebration in April

Not a dedicated Ubisoft thread I know, but given the reported underperformance of Rabbids yesterday, think it needed to be highlighted that Yves seems to be putting the responsibility of Ubisoft's recent slips (and three titles being delayed) squarely on the shoulders of employees. From Kotaku: urgh.gif

Yeah, that was my first thought too, it's got to be a case of someone jumping the gun (right..?), so I think that's a good shout Agreed on it potentially being a PS+ Essential title too, I actually had to double check if it had already been part of the "free" monthly games lists before but it doesn't seem like it has from a quick Google search. I'd say it absolutely fits the vibe and cost of a game that seems like it'd end up on there eventually?

Those are such...bizarre mistakes to make? PlayStation intern shaking off the holiday rust I guess