Julius

Friendly reminder that Summer Game Fest is tonight: Don't think I'll be tuning in live, I didn't for The Game Awards last year – just seems a better use of my time to check out the highlights or tune in if I catch wind of anything major being shown off. Got to imagine we get a new Armored Core VI trailer with it coming in 2½ months, maybe some Death Stranding 2 (and maybe show the Kojima doc trailer here for the sake of it?), but other than that? I think Microsoft might have actually snagged some of the more spicier stuff this time around (such as a certain Persona, according to the rumours). Demos for AC and Final Fantasy XVI getting announced would be awesome, and the timing seems potentially right for those? Up until the Naughty Dog update on Factions a few weeks ago I would've hoped a little for that even after it wasn't at the PlayStation Showcase, just because of how they turned up last year with some concept art and some stuff for the show, but now...I don't know what Naughty Dog talks about this year to celebrate the 10th anniversary? Which is such a shame! But yeah, expectations are low outside of From and Kojima turning up in some capacity, as they're known to do for Keighley

We're two weeks away people! And I'm so not reading anything else on this People asking about the demo...wonder if it drops/is announced tonight during Summer Game Fest?

Totally agree, and I mean, I've still got stuff to catch up on when it comes to Star Wars too. I really think in the landscape of today's streaming services, where there is an overwhelming amount of content - not to mention that this has also become the case in every corner of entertainment, from books to games - it's a lose-lose unless you get comfortable with picking your battles. Because of how long TV shows are compared to, say, films, I've become really, really picky when it comes to watching shows...and honestly, outside of Star Wars and a few select anime, I rarely keep up with anything releasing on a weekly basis. Instead I go back and dive into older shows; for example, I finished The Wire a couple of weeks ago and it was absolutely phenomenal, but shows like that which are considered must-watch aren't part of the current conversation, so they get absolutely buried by the constant stream of new releases. We're in a time when people seem to be seeking out new releases rather than just looking for new experiences, and I think it does way more harm than it does good (see: the rate at which these shows now release and how much tighter schedules have become). As for Marvel, yeah, I watch a film here and there but have more or less given up on the TV shows. Really doesn't help that the quality dipped massively after Endgame (from my perspective), so it makes it easier to justify, but yeah, there's simply too much, so just deliberately pick and choose They rebranded like halfway through The Last Jedi back to The Rebellion™ and it absolutely killed me I've said it before, but a big problem with TFA and how it laid the foundation for the sequels - as someone who enjoys TFA! - is that it draws inspiration from Star Wars, and not the things that inspired Star Wars. I think there's one way you can do that well, and that would have been to lean so hard into being inspired by Star Wars that you don't copy the earlier film, but you mirror it. Have the First Order start off in the position the Rebellion were in. Have the opening shot mirror the Star Destroyer chasing the Tantive IV...but with a New Republic cruiser chasing down a small First Order ship. Immediately sets up this idea in a single frame that the New Republic became the thing it swore to destroy, and that heroes can sometimes live long enough to become the villains. Have Kylo and co. actually get caught on purpose, take control of the ship, looking for blueprints to something that the New Republic is building: their version of a Death Star, justified by wanting to protect the galaxy from outside threats, etc. I think something like that would have worked, and worked pretty damn well. Also would've given us more Kylo. Have him and his little band of new age stormtroopers think they're part of this small fringe group, but in fact just basically be a First Order cell (again, going back to Cold War spy stuff). Kylo's entire reason for turning could have been him seeing what the New Republic was destined to become: another Empire. It just adds room for nuance and commentary and is exactly the sort of thing George would've done ("it's like poetry...it rhymes") but Disney wouldn't touch with a pole the size of a space elevator. If he destroyed Luke's new Jedi Order in a story like that he can also see what they're destined to become. The entire trilogy could've then been a commentary on destiny and taking things into your own hands, and the sheer irony of it all (I'm imagining a Macbeth-style "by trying to stop the New Republic from becoming the Empire, they ramped up their armies and the galaxy broke out into war...again", and have Snoke/Palpatine be the one to stoke those fires by giving vague ideas of what will happen like the three witches in Macbeth, too). I do think as an overarching narrative that Palpatine returning made sense, because if there's one overarching villain to the Saga it's pretty much got to be him. It's the lack of planning and "somehow he returned!" of it all which weakens it for me. I'd definitely recommend checking out Andor because it feels more like dystopic sci-fi than it does Star Wars. It's just great television. I love Mando too, for the fun it is, and it feels like a Saturday morning cartoon, but Andor, for me, is one of the best Star Wars productions released under the Disney flag. The Clone Wars, much as I love it, is a difficult sell these days I find. Release order isn't chronological order so a dead Nodian one season could very much be alive the next, and it's a kids show above all else - I grew up with it, so maybe that's where some of my love of it comes from, because it filled a huge Star Wars-shaped gap for me after the prequels were done. There's some more mature and great stuff in there, but early on its not front and centre as it was in later seasons. It's also just A LOT to commit to!

I mean, he didn't exactly leave under the best of circumstances last time, did he? Joan Laporta, who was vying for the position of Barcelona president, publicly made the re-signing of Messi the reason to make him president. It was the start and end of his entire campaign. But he would have known ahead of time looking into the job that it was a practical impossibility – unfortunately, for both of them, I don't think anyone realised just how much Barto had absolutely screwed the pooch with Barça's finances until Laporta came in, and then recognising that the financial situation of the club was much, much worse than they feared. Remember, they had four signings that summer they'd already made - including Aguero, who left City to play with one of his closest friends in Messi! - that they couldn't sign until players were off-loaded. It was a mess. And so Messi ended up having to uproot his entire family from a place he'd lived for, what, some 20 years? Because of the club's absolute incompetence and broken promises. It was clear he never wanted to leave in the first place, and he never got a chance to say goodbye. But what does he gain from going back now? Don't get me wrong, I wanted him back at Barça for that romantic ending everyone else wanted, but look at just how dependent Barcelona became on him in his last few years there, or how dependent Argentina were on him at the World Cup last year. Other than getting a chance to say hello again, and then getting to say a proper goodbye, I don't think Barcelona are seriously going to be competing for the UCL for a few more years (now I've said that they'll probably come close in three!), and other than Xavi as manager, everyone he played with from the glory day has left the club. I don't think it would be a Ronaldo at United situation - I don't think Messi has the same ego to begin with - but I could see it being a frustrating time. Ultimately, I think it's a family decision. He never planned to leave, but people adapt, and after he'd left Barça, do his family want to move back? Why not go somewhere a shorter flight from Argentina, with an overwhelmingly Hispanic and Spanish-speaking population? If I were Messi I'd take that over taking my wife and kids to Saudi, that much is certain. As for retirement, I mean, he's clearly not done. He probably just wants to try something new. He once again finds himself perfectly placed as the poster boy for an upcoming World Cup (US 2026). He's won all the major stuff in Europe, he realistically wasn't going to tie Ronaldo for UCLs won (could've surpassed him in goals scored, but again, don't think that sort of thing was ever a real priority for him), and I would be a bit surprised if Miami is his final stop to be honest. I say we bring this thing full circle and he goes back to Newell's. Haha yeah I saw that, and I mean, he's right to point that out because I'd be concerned too. I don't know if it's accurate but I just read in passing that all of their games have been sold out for the rest of the season too, but because of the way sport works over in the US, I think strings will be pulled to have them play at another home stadium (the reason for the temporary stadium is because theirs won't be finished being built until 2025) because it's money left on the table, and have other teams play at bigger stadiums when Messi is in town. Totally agree that it's weird, but if not directly after the World Cup win, would've been weird to have Messi retire on a whimper with PSG. I think he's prioritised the day-to-day and his family life with this move, it seems like there's potentially more to him not going to Barça than meets the eye (like him saying not everyone wanted him back?), but all of that is hearsay. Hopefully we hear more at some point in the future, but for now I'm just gutted we won't get to see him in the UCL again. Seeing Messi on a midweek night of European football is gone and it's come so out of the blue!

And it's official: Messi to Inter Miami confirmed. Bunch of tweets by Fabrizio Romano pulling from the interview, some interesting stuff: From a rumour building steam this afternoon to reality this evening, football news is always wild. EDIT: completely missed it in the early stages of the rumours earlier today, but seems like they've taken a page out of the Juve-Ronaldo book and sponsors and the like are sweetening the pot. Adidas and Apple (for MLS streaming) reportedly offering profits in addition to the previously reported option to purchase a % of an MLS team. Kind of nuts.

While strange, I do think a little sense can be made of it (well, at least more than Ronaldo's move to Saudi Arabia). Miami has a massive Hispanic community, and last I heard, I think the majority (like 60%+?) of Miami speaks Spanish, and the sense I always got from Messi is that while he can speak a little of some other languages, his preference has been - and always will be - to speak Spanish. There's also the fact that it's much closer to Argentina than, well, Europe is, and having now won the World Cup, Argentina is obviously now nowhere near as hostile a place for Messi as it was, say, 5 or 6 years ago, because he's a hero and nothing but. I think Messi is likely to see what's happening with Barcelona first - remember, when he left, he wanted to stay, just thanks to their finances and Javier Tebas (the La Liga president) having a raging hard-on for Barça, it was actually impossible. They couldn't even afford him on a €1/year contract, he had to go (thank former president Bartomeu for that, I'm still convinced his choices as president were some type of inside job). Now Tebas still has a hard-on for Barça (and Real, and people of colour, apparently, after his terrible handling of the Vinicius situation; the guy's a freaking spoon), but they actually could afford Messi to sign Messi for a more typical wage and potentially defer a % of pay after major sponsorship deals (Spotify) and the continued trimming of the club's wage bill. I think his preference would be to go to Barça, but if he's already learned that that's not an option, then yeah, I can see him leaving Europe, and if that's the case, I can see it being to somewhere like America rather than Saudi Arabia. PSG fans treated Messi pretty terribly (alongside Neymar) during his time there, especially since winning the World Cup in December, so why risk - in the latter stages of his career - going anywhere else in Europe? While I'd argue he's still one of the greatest in the world, his reach of play is only going to become increasingly limited as age (eventually...right?) catches up to him, and I don't really want to see another club treat him the way PSG did these past few months. It's a shame, though, because I would've loved to see Messi in Italy (though a return to Barça is the obvious first choice). The real sad part of all of this is we just missed out on Phil Neville potentially managing Lionel Messi after his recent sacking as manager of Inter Miami. What a timeline that would have been!

New TV spot for Ahsoka featuring some of the footage shown off exclusively at Celebration in April, as well as a release date: August 23rd. Yep, still looks awesome This comes following some new images from and interviews with Empire, with Ahsoka being their story for the month: Eh, I think it's less on you and more on the storytellers. I thought it was weird to use BBY for two reasons: it's incredibly meta to use, but also, does anyone casually watching actually know what it stands for? So I totally agree. I think they could (and probably) have taken steps to make it more accessible to casual viewers, it would take all of 30 seconds at the absolute top end! Totally get what you're saying about it not having the level of distinction that day the prequels and originals had, and I'd say that just how similar the sequels ended up being compared with the original films is perhaps it's biggest failing, and I don't just mean in terms of repeating similar beats (it is what it is), but the overall vibe: similar themes, and similar looks. While we did get some cool new ship designs...X-Wings, but newer? TIE fighters, but newer? Come on! I know they've retroactively justified this with flavour text in the encyclopedias, but as someone who loved how the prequels went out of their way to design ships that would serve as precursors to these staples we all know and love, it just all seemed a bit...risk-averse. And obviously, I'm not saying this is on the Lucasfilm folks, because these sort of calls are made from the top and trickle down. It's such a shame because the sequels could have been the Cold War to the original trilogy's World War II and Vietnam, and I think that would have been awesome. Instead we're now getting that in the books that will bridge the thirty year gap.

Been quiet in here, but with the European season coming to an end on Saturday with the UCL final this Saturday, it seems like people have started doing their shopping early this summer. Such as Bellingham signing for Madrid for a reported €100m + €30m in add-ons, a good deal for both them and Dortmund: Then there's also Saudi Arabia, who have set up a committee to oversee their league and pump funds in, which is seeing some more silly signing following Ronaldo's signing earlier this year. I'm getting early-to-mid-2010s China vibes, except, well, there's no end to SA's funding. Kanté is reportedly being targeted with a salary of €100m/year, and Benzema has already made the move to Al Ittihad for a reported €200m/year, instead of retiring at Madrid which he seemed destined for. They seem to be going for Muslim players first and foremost, but there had been rumours about a club also looking at Wilfred Zaha, who reportedly wants to move to a UCL team. Anyways, back on this continent, Zlatan got the send-off he deserved, taking his chance to say farewell to Milan and transforming it into an off-the-cuff retirement announcement: And, lastly, also concerning Milan, they have sacked Paolo Maldini as technical director for...reasons?...certainly beyond my comprehension. They seemed destined to return to the summit of Europe after winning Serie A with a relatively young squad last season, made the UCL semis this season, but their new American (because of course they're American) owners seemingly don't want to invest as much as Maldini wanted to make the team increasingly competitive. For those wondering why Maldini leaving is important for them, besides him being perhaps the Milan legend and his whole family history at the club, he was reportedly a huge asset in signing many of their key players (because, well, how do you say 'no' to Maldini?), including extending Rafael Leao's contract just a few days ago. And to spell out his importance further, Leao weighed in on Twitter after the announcement: So, back to the banter era for Milan it is, then.

I have no idea where this belongs, but PlayStation Studios, Kojima Productions and Filmworks are collaborating on a Kojima documentary: Okay Geoff saying that he's probably the most well known game creator in the world seems a little hyperbolic (surely it's Miyamoto?), but he's certainly up there. Either way, looking forward to this! I've said it before, but I would love more documentaries on the minds of creators/teams/studios in gaming (as well as, you know, maybe things like Nintendo vs PlayStation as a docuseries).

Looking up the A54, it's RRP is £450, so in that price range on Android it might also be worth considering a Pixel 7a (the "budget" version of the 7), which has the same RRP. Because of how weird Google is and the timing of their budget releases (~6 months after their standard and Pro releases), you could probably even get a Pixel 7 for a little bit more if you missed around? But the 7a (and previous 'a' revisions for the Pixel) are some of the best bang for your buck, so definitely one worth taking a look at to see if it vibes with you and what you're looking for Fellow Pixel person here, have been for a while too (stock Android for me >>> all other Android experiences I've tried), and while I love the camera and prefer Android to my (admittedly dated) experiences with iOS, I absolutely agree that these days it's more of a use case/preference thing rather than one being outright better than the other. I think Apple has a far tighter ecosystem of hardware and software (because, well, walled garden and all that), but if you want your phone to do more than just be a phone and basically a portable computer, having that option with Android is a really attractive prospect. And the Pixel in particular definitely has the best built-in post-processing software of any phone camera out there. I'm toying with the idea of upgrading to an iPhone this year for a change because my 6 Pro seems keen to try to off itself and I also kind of just want to try something a bit new. I haven't had an iPhone since the 6S and I'm not particularly allegiant to either "side", but I think the big tipping point for me this year is probably that USB-C is coming to iPhone so I won't need to buy a bunch more cables if I do make the swap. Plus, if I'm not a fan after a few weeks, I guess I can always send it back

A new (short) trailer: Really wonder what the plans are post-Pikmin...but for now, I'll say the customisation looks cool

Actually, The Mandalorian takes place 5 years after ROTJ for S1 (and potentially S2? We've never had solid confirmation on that) and S3 is likely 2 years after S1/7 years after ROTJ – which puts it at taking place roughly between 9 ABY to 11 ABY (ABY being [Years] After the Battle of Yavin, which takes place in ANH). Andor, by contrast, has its first season take place 5 years before ANH (5 BBY, or [Years] Before the Battle of Yavin), and it's second season will be bridging the 4 year gap between Andor S1 and ANH (so 4 BBY to 1 BBY – though they've already confirmed that it's leading right up to the start of Rogue One, which leads right into A New Hope, so likely ends in 0 BBY). @bob can definitely see your confusion, I don't think it helps that so many Star Wars projects under Disney's tutelage so far have been centred around the original trilogy (and especially in the gap between the prequels and the original trilogy, but leaning closer to the original trilogy side of things). Even aside from the confusion about when things take place, it just makes the galaxy feel a bit smaller. What I personally find funny is that they used the year system (BBY/ABY) in Andor, for what I believe was the first time, at the start of the show, but it's a completely meta year system (which they also didn't explain): it makes sense for us, the audience, to use the first film as the point at which we compare everything as happening either before or after, but it makes all of zero sense for the characters inhabiting this world. Sure, the Battle of Yavin was a big thing for the Rebels, but in-universe, is it really a bigger deal than, say, The Clone Wars, or any other war, enough so to use it as the foundation for their calendar? Definitely not. Also makes zero sense to have it in Andor - even if it's meta and only seen by the audience - because, well, it's comparing the time Andor takes place in to a time that has yet to happen in-universe. A long time ago, yeah, I know, but I think you catch my drift. Honestly, I think they should have found a way to keep an opening crawl around in some way, whether it's opening up by reading off someone's screen in a show, having someone provide voiceover, etc. It just grounds the time and place when you say "5 years before the destruction of the Death Star", "5 years after the Empire's loss at Endor", etc., and I really think it's something they should consider doing for Ahsoka. Doesn't need to be every episode, just the opening one, but man, are so, so many people going to feel a little lost in that show if people don't know when Mando takes place (and, bob, you definitely aren't the first I've seen ask the question which says to me that they should just put it out there in the show, not using the year system, rather than leaving it exclusively for marketing materials).

Capcom Showcase has been announced and will be taking place on 12th June 2023 (next Monday!) at 23:00 BST: "Roughly 36 minutes" is very, very funny to me (also hopefully they continue the trend from last year by improving on the previous year's show)

Kirby Tilt 'n' Tumble and Blaster Master: Enemy Below have both been added to the GB NSO Library:

Harvest Moon and Mystery Tower have been added to SNES and NES Online, respectively!

Kitase has said that development is going smoothly and that they're working on nailing down a release date: Think the proof will be in the pudding – if we haven't seen it crop back up by the end of September, I'll start being sceptical about it making its "winter" slot (again...whatever the heck that even means), but by all means it sounds like it's on track!

A new line of pastel Joy-Cons are releasing June 30th: Look lovely

Well, I'll confess, this certainly wasn't on my bingo card. In case you missed the story on it published by Fanbyte last summer, which sheds some light on why the game is probably turning up and putting out so suddenly: More at the link and I think it's well worth a read, which is why I won't quote it all here, but yeah... ...what were they thinking? We are well and truly in the twilight of the Switch with this having somehow got through to see the light of day

Demo spotted on the PlayStation Store over on Reddit Reckon it'll drop by the end of next week? Been under the impression for a while now that a demo would drop 2 weeks ahead of launch based on what Yoshi-P and co. have said about it in the past, plus there's that showcase next weekend, and we're just 3 weeks away as of today...

Digital Foundry's analysis of last week's Showcase footage is up:

The Indiana Jones films have been added to Disney+ ahead of The Dial of Destiny's theatrical release next month:

Free monthly games at the Essential tier for June are NBA 2K23, Jurassic World Evolution 2, and Trek to Yomi: Was really excited for Trek to Yomi leading up to its release before hearing some middling things about it around launch, but hey, if it's a monthly game, guess I've got a good excuse to give it a go!

Yeah, definitely use it! It's pretty OP when you figure out just how crazy Recall is, just be careful with getting it caught on corners when moving platforms around and it's a godsend. Think the first time I used it was on one of the sluice puzzles on the Great Sky Island, put a huge smile on my face That's good to hear at least! I didn't have so much an issue with going the same way around, but more with having to uproot myself from my current path and go in a completely direction to get something, but I guess it's not essential so I'll just stick to my original plan Jumping in here to talk about the game definitely has me wanting to get back to it, which is good, because I was a little worried I might've drifted from it like I did at one point with BOTW

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts! I've not really been keeping tabs on this game as I don't have any real history with dungeon crawlers (and especially Western developed ones), but I know a lot of the discussion around the game has it being a GOTY contender on the fringes (seem to be getting a whole lot of those this year!), so like with Street Fighter, it's one I'm definitely giving the side-eye. You know me, I'm open to playing pretty much anything – which Diablo would you recommend I check out first if I wanted to try one out? Or would you maybe recommend holding fire and seeing how IV pans out?

The reviews for this came in yesterday and it's currently sitting at a 92 on Metacritic. Some reviews: Absolutely insane, Capcom now have two 90+ rated games on Metacritic for the year (the other being 93 for RE4 Remake). I know Metacritic certainly isn't the be all and end all on quality, but it's definitely a good way to gauge what the general feeling is about a game, and it seems like this is going to be coming hot out of the gates – just hope Capcom's plans for support keep it there, it's so important these days for a game like this to not rest on its laurels. Won't be there at launch but definitely going to be considering picking this up during the Black Friday sales later on in the year