Julius

The BBC just casually sneaking on one of the best defenders in the world during my early childhood in Nesta, you love to see it, one of the reasons Milan was the team to pick back on PES was wondering who we'd see to speak about Italy other than Klinsmann!

BBC is doing one hell of a job with these recaps of our past failures of jinxing us tonight. I think if there's going to be a difference for us, it's going to be here. Italy have been the best team since the first day of the tournament, but they're not untouchable. They've made mistakes on the way, pretty glaring ones, which teams haven't capitalised on too well until now -- so, if we can take that chance whenever it comes - and I have a chance that it will - I think we might have a shot.

I feel the way I normally feel before having to give a presentation or speak up. Butterflies, shaky jaw, et al. I'm absolutely bricking it

I'm not too sure if it's only mods that can add tags, as I went through a couple of weeks where I would add them when starting a new game thread (I eventually gave up as the mess of next-gen arrived). Such as the 'PS5' tag I added for the Final Fantasy XVI thread:

Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic is taking him up 50 miles today in Unity at 14:00 BST, a feat that if attained will make him and those aboard recognised astronauts, and the company the first to complete a commercial spaceflight. This is after they moved their schedule up upon the announcement that Blue Origin were making their first commercial flight this month back in May. Meanwhile, next Tuesday on July 20th, Bezos, his brother, Wally Funk, and an unknown individual - who paid $28 million for the privilege - will be making their trip up some 62 miles to sail by the Kármán Line with Bezos' Blue Origin aboard New Shepard. This will be the first commercial spaceflight with a paying customer. Nice to see that billionaires' companies egos and need to flex extends to space: The Wall Street Journal put up a good video on how the flights will differ: The future is now?

For anyone that missed it: [free agent] Lionel Messi finally won his first major international trophy with Argentina earlier against Brazil, also winning the awards for Player of the Tournament and Top Goalscorer (with 4). He also had a chance to seal the victory towards the end but slipped and fluffed his lines -- it was nice for a change to see this Argentina carrying Messi rather than Messi carrying them. And here's a pretty insane stat: this Argentina is the first side to defeat Brazil in a competitive match at the Maracaná since 1950. That defeat in 1950 to Uruguay, by the way, was so traumatic that Brazil eventually changed their home kit from white to the yellow we see today. Pretty nuts. Black next? As if the Messi vs Ronaldo debate couldn't get any more heated. Great for Messi to finally have his first major international team trophy, you can't say he hasn't deserved it.

We finally got a small update on this from XIV's live letter: So basically, they're aiming to show something at the end of September during TGS, but they're not sure how realistic that is. It seems to me like it could get its own State of Play in October or November, as Yoshi-P also mentioned wanting to dive into the battle system next time they show it. If we are still going to get news for it in 2021...then maybe it will turn out to be a release in the first half of 2022, just based on what Yoshi-P said about not wanting to keep people waiting much longer after they next show the game? Though, I could also see them releasing a demo too. Either way, I appreciate them staying quiet if it's still a ways off, but it sounds like development is going pretty smoothly.

I might come back with a better answer (I now find myself looking up the start of some walkthroughs to hear what's playing when you first gain control in some of my favourite games ), but what immediately came to mind was: Immediately gets you in the mood for raiding Palaces and some Phantom Thievery!

Probably one of my favourite episodes of The Bad Batch so far this week. Look forward to next week's!

And so the CDPR PR rebuild begins...

Hands-on previews are up, and GameSpot is the only one with a video up...probably because there seems to be some weird embargo where we can't even see the console in their hands. IGN's preview is here and The Verge's here. They seem like positive impressions. All I really learned was that IGN has this annoying habit of linking to their own articles from 15+ years ago with no real reason to do (they link to a GBA SP article in their Switch OLED preview).

Yeah, I think they're going to phase the original out and replace it with OLED version too. I think the biggest hint of this is the fact that the OLED version will also have a neon blue/red colourway -- there's no way they'd risk the potential confusion this could cause on store shelves unless it's a short-term situation. The fact that their advertising goes in hard on the new white colourway makes me think this too: you don't even see the neon blue/red variant of the OLED version in the trailer, we didn't see it until the website press release went up and it was eventually tweeted out, and the fact that they're utilising the neon colourway to represent the original Switch for now. In fact, I reckon there's a good chance that you'll get a 70/30 or 80/20 split for the first few months between the white and neon colourways just to help avoid that confusion (and also because white Joy-Cons are the new thing and they'll continue pushing that as a big differentiator). I think they'd have a very tough time marketing the original and OLED versions alongside each other unless they absolutely need to. I think it makes sense that they haven't outright said "this is replacing the original mode" at the moment, though, firstly because they will already have a pretty sizeable amount of original Switch models to sell in this next quarter, and don't want to get in the way of that. Parts shortages continue to get in the way of big electronics launches too, and so I wouldn't be surprised if they had both production lines going until they're positive that they can produce enough of the OLED model to keep up with demand. Assuming production goes smoothly, I think we'll start to get the sense that it's being phased out by the end of this financial year (next March). However, if not - due to potential production issues - they've given themselves enough space to potentially pivot, if they really need to, and could always slash the price on the original model like @Ronnie suggested. Not that they need to, though, and they could just as well go the other way and stick with it at its current price until it's gone, just to make the OLED version look all the more appealing to new Switch owners.

So, Odd Taxi was an anime I came across when it was announced earlier this year, and I added it to my watchlist on Crunchyroll a few months later. Something about the thought of a walrus taxi driver in a pretty soft art style just gave off a vibe I wanted to check out, and this is from someone who is incredibly selective when it comes to watching anime. However, it wasn't until I saw videos go up last weekend that I gathered that it had finally reached its conclusion, and after confirming that fact - and with it only being 13 episodes long - I dove right in. I think a concern I had going into this was that the second season of Beastars is coming next week, and while I'd steered clear of much of Odd Taxi's promotion and fan discussion, there was always the potential for overlap in themes and content, kind of like how Beastars feels like a more mature - and anime - take on things we saw tackled in Disney's Zootopia. After watching the show, I can safely say that both my initial instinct that it would be a relaxing show about a walrus driving passengers around and that it would tackle issues around society, our places in it, and societal constructs like Beastars did were completely unfounded. This isn't a show about society; this is a show about individuals. It's really tough to talk about Odd Taxi without giving much away, and even that feels like it might be saying too much. Jumping in like I did, virtually blind and with very little context, is absolutely the way to do it. And trust me when I say that you should check it out before you hear much more. To put it very simply: GO WATCH IT NOW. It is initially a slow burn, with individual narrative threads across a diverse cast of characters slowly drawing you in to the intimacies of their interactions -- there is a mystery aspect here, and some questions you'll probably find yourself asking, but there's nothing really front and centre. Early on, especially in setting things up, it really gave me Yakuza vibes, which I obviously loved. As the show goes on, the layers of the mystery get peeled back, raising more and more questions as thread after thread, character after character, crash into each other. Coupled with some genuinely superb writing - the dialogue in particular feels just beyond being steeped in realism, but is wacky enough that it doesn't feel like it's playing it straight, and it also has one of my favourite characters when it comes to their dialogue structure too - and what turns out to be a very well constructed mystery, the show just builds upon itself episode after episode, and by the time it ends, it feels like it's really hit it's stride and delivered a truly meaningful and surprisingly mature narrative - and ending - that I won't forget anytime soon. One of very few shows where I felt so satisfied by it all that I really do hope they aren't considering a second season. They also did some really cool stuff to promote/tie in with the show, such as the fact that a Twitter account in the show actually exists on Twitter, or how there's a radio show they've released weekly (I checked out the English text translations after and it adds an entire other layer to the show). I really enjoyed Odd Taxi, and hope it doesn't get lost in the shuffle of what is shaping up to be a massive year for anime; it seems like it might be one you find in hidden gem lists at the end of the year, and in a way, I really do think it is a hidden gem. It's only the second anime series I've checked out this year (the other being Berserk), but it's set the bar incredibly high for everything else that I watch after. I implore you to go watch it!

Never mind what I said before, I guess PlayStation sensed that people wouldn't want to check out the VOD once they heard how dull this event was, so here's their own recap 53 second recap: It definitely felt like a step down from previous State of Plays, where it felt like they were starting to finally find their rhythm. I think it was smart to say that there would be no PSVR2, Horizon Forbidden West or God of War sequel news here, because it meant I went it with very low expectations anyways...which emphasises just how poor a showing it was that I was still disappointed. And yeah, Kena is still scheduled for next month. It was part of a smaller show at E3 and had some previews, but you feel like it could've been pushed here.

Yeah, I'm just going to come out and say it: That was bad. Starting with Moss Book II was cool, but knowing that there wasn't any news on PSVR2 coming today, it was hard to be excited as someone who doesn't already own a PSVR headset. Imagine it fell flat for most others watching too. Arcadegeddon...I couldn't care much less about to be honest. And I was surprised by just how long the overview trailer for post-launch content was for Tribes of Midgard. F.I.S.T.: Forged In Shadow Torch looked neat enough, but it's not something for me, and Hunter's Arena Legends (wow that's a generic title) looks like it could like a unique enough battle royale concept which could carve out it's own corner...but again, not for me. Sifu still looks cool, and I'm really into the aging mechanic. It's a shame about the delay to Early 2022, but like @Ganepark32 said, such a silly move to make an animation for a delay like it's some grand reveal that the audience would want. Now my most recent impression of that game will be how silly a move that was. Real smooth. Jett: The Far Shore might have been one of the few shining lights in this thing, thought it had a really good showing here. It looks very unique in its look and gameplay loop, shame they're not even committing to a particular month yet though, it's hard to be bullish on that arriving this year if the developers aren't either. Demon Slayer: The Hinomaki Chronicles -- I'm sure it'll have it's fans, but this series deserves more than a generic (and pretty poor looking) arena fighter which follows the anime. So just go watch the anime instead, it's on Netflix and is well worth your time, much more than this game will be, I'm sure. Lost Judgment had a decent trailer, I haven't played the first game so I'm in no rush to get this, but it continues to look fantastic, and just based on the trailers I'd seen for the first game, you definitely get the sense that they're taking it to the next level with this one, adding loads of new content (as RGG always do). Did find it funny that the closing shot had plenty of yakuza in the background The Death Stranding Director's Cut is pretty wild with just how much new content it's adding - the racing circuit?! - and considering that it didn't seem like a short game by any stretch of the imagination before, I'm a bit surprised by how much they're adding now, and some of it even seems to potentially be addressing some of the criticisms I heard around launch (specifically combat and bosses). No word on upgrading from the PS4 version was a bit disappointing (and concerning), and the lack of mentions on any adaptive trigger or haptic feedback additions was surprising. Probably another trailer at Gamescom's Opening Night Live I guess. And then Deathloop. Music was cool, that's pretty much all I gained from that showing, we've seen it plenty up to this point and there's not much new to say about it. My Totally Official Score: 4.0/10. Save yourself the time and just go read an article summarising the State of Play instead. Had my fingers crossed for Little Devil Inside or XVI, but that was a hope more than anything. Still, the lack of news for games like Kena (out next month - I know we had a bit of a look at E3, but it was at a smaller event, so I was surprised at it not being here; maybe Gamescom?) and Solar Ash (sometime this year still I think?) meant I came away completely unsatisfied.

Director's Cut coming 24th September: The circuit looks wild! EDIT: guess I regret my words and deeds from the State of Play thread; details on the PS5 features and upgrade path from the PS Blog:

Agreed. I'll post thoughts on the rest of it after it ends, but if it's ending on Deathloop...this has been pretty poor. It'll take us up to the 30 minute mark at least. Fingers crossed for a "one more thing"...

Trailer from State of Play: Looking real good!

Anyone tuning in for this? Coming out with first with some PSVR in a Moss sequel...interesting!

What If...? looking good. August 11th.

So while I think the penalty was (extremely) generous, am I remembering right that there was another ball on the pitch in the corner, which Sterling ran past to make the run into the box which ended in the penalty being awarded? I remember thinking that he could've easily swapped balls if he wanted to. Obviously it's too late to do anything about now, but that's got to sting even more for Denmark. Swear there was a free kick call towards the end in their favour too that Maguire shrugged off and played on from, and the ref didn't seem to care much. And the laser in Schmeichel's face for the penalty too. Sincerely hope that it's Felix Brych refereeing the final, he was brilliant in the Italy v Spain match last night, letting the play run and making some great calls.

No fairytale ending for Denmark, then, but the way they bounced back and showed resolve since their first match day after what happened to Eriksen, wearing their hearts on their sleeves and going to the last minute, they've done themselves and their country proud. Schmeichel was immense in goal tonight, really unlucky with the penalty save falling back in the path of Kane, but Denmark just dropped off a bit towards the end of the second half and in extra-time, and you had the feeling it wasn't meant to be after Christensen and then Delaney went down. We deserved it on the night, Southgate made the right changes at the right time, Sterling was spectacular, as were the team, doing well to keep their shape and focus up until the end. Very happy we didn't need to experience the stress of penalties, but I agree with @killthenet, Germany felt much, much more stressful, and more momentous, just given how much that rivalry (on our side, at least) has been drilled in from such a young age. Italy are absolutely going to be the favourites going into Sunday, they've been the best team in the tournament since the opening match, and have shown a real passion throughout the competition so far. It's hard to see them not winning it, but anything is possible in a one-off game of football, especially when their weakness is being overrun on the flanks, and that's arguably where we're strongest. Their midfield give us a torrid time though, I can see us trying to avoid the middle of the pitch. Our run so far feels similar to Chelsea's in the Champions League, where we've had a bit of luck in the draw but have beat what's in front of us, and now find ourselves with a great chance to make history. Time to look ahead to Sunday!

Yeah that was a terrible penalty, unlucky for Schmeichel that it fell back to Kane, not much he could do after that. We've been in top since the end of the second half and dominated the first half of extra-time, I can't remember Pitchford getting a touch. Another 15 to go. Time to start believing.

You just had the feeling that no-one was going to take their chances in that second half. Denmark definitely having to dig deep and absorb a lot of pressure, having two of their core players in Delaney and Christensen go off with minor injuries certainly didn't help them and gave us a bit of a boost in terms of momentum. Think Southgate was smart to leave subs for extra-time, think Foden could help us shake things up a bit more directly through the middle as we're having to drag Denmark wide at the moment. Hope this gets settled in extra-time. Also get to mention these two absolute peaches from Lee Dixon: • "There will be subs made at some point." • "And that should be time" -- 10 seconds before we actually reached the 5th minute of a 6 minute stoppage time.

Good first half from both sides. Been pretty different to Italy v Spain in that it's not a constant back and forth from the right of the pitch to the left, with the sides working each other out and one side dominating possession briefly before the other side counters, but rather England and Denmark both having periods where the other side just can't seem to get on the ball. Hopefully plenty more goals to come in this second half, that goal from us was certainly coming. You'd hope we'd go out and grab another in the opening 15 minutes of the second half to just get control of the match a bit, we haven't looked too confident at the back so far, and Pickford always looks like he has a mistake in him.