Julius

Imane Khelif has made the final of the women's boxing 66 kg weight class, after all of this nonsense surrounding her time at the Olympics, meaning she will at least be a Silver medallist. Going to be something else if she wins Gold. That would be sweet ass freaking retribution, and then some.

Another video, this time on the Heavy Bowgun: Seems like we'll be getting these daily, I guess leading up to Gamescom at the end of the month and Tokyo Game Show next month? This game's marketing strategy has been really weird so far

The PS4 and Xbox One version of the game has finally been announced for release on 17th September: Still can't believe they're attempting this, already anticipating the Digital Foundry breakdown!

Having not played many a Zelda game I don't know if there's an in-universe story reason for this (if there is someone please enlighten me, I'd very curious), but I take it as basically just being a descriptor for their respective appearances? Sea Zora = look like sharks, dolphins, etc., from the sea River Zora = look like ugly river fish that grew legs (and would give you recurring nightmares if encountered out in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night)

Game has gone gold:

Roadmap for the game's Season Pass has been released: Almost feels a little nostalgic because I can't even remember the last time I saw a single player Season Pass roadmap, yet here we are. Bleh.

Traversing Hyrule trailer, which gives more of an overview – lovely to see so many of the classic Zelda races in this style! Clothing options too

Saw this before I managed to get to sleep last night and I didn't know what to think about it then, and I still don't now, mainly because it could be virtually anything. It could be a standard Yakuza set in earlier times when wars were more frequent – there's a LOT of history to explore to the series, I guess, so a bit of a history lesson through the eyes of an older character could be neat. It could be a Musou. It could be an SRPG. ...or it could be a mobile game. 'Yakuza Wars' fully sound like it could be a Yakuza game But I think you're right H-o-T, the title definitely seems to like up with what they teased previously. They're in such a weird spot where a final Judgment title (which should obviously be called 'Final Judgment') seems to be in complete limbo because of the fiasco with Yagami's actor, 9 is obviously going to be a ways off seeing as we only got 8 earlier this year, it feels too soon for another Gaiden (though I do seriously hope they circle back to do another one sooner rather than later!), and so something completely fresh and a bit of a departure for the series makes total sense. Personally, I think a Yakuza SRPG could be rad, and that's probably what I'd be hoping for based on its title, but even then, there's so much space that could be – something like Valkyria Chronicles or Sakura Wars, which are both SEGA franchises? Something more like XCOM? Or even something more traditional, akin to Fire Emblem or Final Fantasy Tactics? Being a lieutenant who works your way up through the ranks of a yakuza war in SRPG fashion as an actual strategist with the typical fun side activities of Yakuza could be a blast!

Just got back from a Columbia 100th Anniversary screening of Spider-Man (Raimi's, 2002) and...wow. I watched the film a few years back in preparation for No Way Home, and it's the Spider-Man film I grew up on alongside its sequel, and it means so much to me for how large a part it played in my childhood – one of a few films which are the personification for me of much simpler times. Chills throughout, genuinely close to tearing up at points, and Danny Elfman's score for the film is just phenomenal. Some things I found interesting/funny in hindsight: • name-drops for both Eddie Brock and Dr Connors in this first Raimi film, when they turn up later on in the trilogy and it makes no real sense for them to be around at this point in the context of the trilogy. Remember when Easter eggs could be just that? • obviously Willem Dafoe's Norman is known for his mirror conversations as he spirals into his Green Goblin personality, but something I found super interesting on this re-watch which I'd never noticed before but kept a keen eye out for when I started thinking that maybe they did do it: Norman's hair swoops, face-on, from left-to-right and over, and is parted accordingly; meanwhile, obviously, this is reflected in the mirror, so it swoops from right-to-left and is parted accordingly that way. We see him without the helmet once in the film, when he pleas with Peter at the end – and which way did I think his hair would be going, and which way was it? That's right: it matched the mirror. Freaking subtext, you know what's coming anyways but the film couldn't be more clearly saying to the audience that Norman was assuming his Green Goblin persona and not that of Norman when making those pleas with Peter. • maybe my favourite takeaway straight after coming out of the theatre ~ growing up, it seemed obvious to me why Harry would hate Spidey after this film and going into the second, obviously seeing Spider-Man over his father's body at the end of the film. I feel like that's the read for just about everyone I've talked to on the film, he hates Spider-Man just because of that. While it is undeniably partly down to that, the final scene Harry and Norman share, after an entire film of Harry feeling like he'd failed his father and that their relationship could never be better, is that of an apology and a promise to do better by Harry, that he'll be a better father. Obviously this doesn't come to pass due to his demise, and so Harry is holding onto the "what if?" of his father fulfilling his promise and being the father he never got to have growing up, and the next time he seems him, he's dead – which starts his next arc and hatred of Spider-Man*. Meanwhile, this juxtaposes almost perfectly with Ben's and Peter's final talk in the car about power and responsibility, and whereas Harry and Norman have had a rough relationship but end on a high note with the promise of being better, Ben and Peter leave things on a sour note which results in Peter taking that final lesson Ben imparted to heart and assuming the role of Spider-Man, with the regret following being a result that the next time Peter sees Ben, he is about to pass away. I'm sure if Spider-Man 3 were better you'd be able to compare Spidey's chasing down of Ben's killer with Harry's chasing down of Spidey. *the real kicker here, and something I've JUST realised after getting home and checking the final scene between Norman and Harry again...Norman's hair is almost perfectly split down the middle because of how it is disheveled – so it can be said to be left somewhat ambiguous in that scene whether Norman or Goblin is in control at this point (he learns of Peter's crush on MJ which hints at Goblin, but the earnestness of his words hint at Norman – perhaps it could even be argued that this is the last time we saw Norman Osborn in the movie?). Anyways, I absolutely adored it, and it puts so many of the superhero films we get today to shame. The CGI looks a little aged at times, but it's also used sparingly, and some of that shots still genuinely look really good, particularly the final swings around NY. I genuinely think it might be my favourite (and I might also argue the best?) first film of any superhero? Maybe only Batman Begins challenges it? Spider-Man 2 next week, and I seriously can't wait. Wouldn't be surprised if that one cracks me. Otto, pizza time, and the power of the sun in the palm of my hand – sign me up

But yeah, like H-o-T said, I think it's a very understandable position to be in – I feel like we're all still in that state of playing more PS4 games than PS5, despite now being close to 4 years into the life of the console, and a lot of those older games are making their way to PC now with remasters/remakes/what have you these days anyways, so if that's where you're playing everything anyways There's part of me which feels like it might be worth waiting until next month for the probable Showcase before pulling the trigger, though, because we know next to nothing about what PlayStation's roadmap looks like for first-party games beyond this year, and if they do have a Showcase, I feel like their hand has to be forced and they have to make some worthwhile announcements, and I imagine you might be interested in a few of those. At the very least, they'll probably talk about that leaked Spidey spin-off if it's coming next year, and could also give an update on Wolverine to give us any confidence that it's coming out in the next few years (Insomniac is virtually the only studio of theirs where I put stock in a game being announced years out and making it). Besides that, though, it's the usual wait and see with all their other big studios and whether or not they actually turn up and make some announcements: Bend and the Ghost of Tsushima sequel, Naughty Dog and Santa Monica with their potential new IPs, etc., though I'm not sure how much interest you'd have in those offerings over Insomniac and their upcoming Marvel games.

Still chipping away at this, unfortunately I feel like it's the sort of game which benefits from longer, dedicated play sessions, and I haven't really been able to give it that level of attention the last few weeks Just finished off everything on Tatooine by getting the second part of the Star Forge map, the swoop races were good fun (learning that I could trade in my wins with a certain Rodian over Yavin IV made them that much sweeter), enjoyed resolving the local conflict, and a smattering of other quests were really solid too. I'm really surprised by how much I'm enjoying the side content in this game, it's doing a great job of keeping me engaged consistently whereas the main story definitely takes its time and meanders. We've also picked up HK, who has given me a few good laughs already. My reaction when seeing how the krayt dragon in this game is handled after remembering how it was handled in Mando S2: Onto the Wookiee home world of Kashyyyk next...

I...honestly can't think of any, especially if we're talking a big gaming magazine with a print media element. Which is really insane to think about, and such a massive shame you've reminded me that I want to take the time to track down certain old copies of Edge though, they have some stellar covers from time to time

Thanks H-o-T, I'll update the release date in the thread title Kind of mental to me that they're still projecting Indy makes it out this year. For crying out loud, put that one on all platforms!

Yep, absolutely appalling. The number of people sounding off about "him", and in some cases even "it" (people are freaking vile), are another level of inhumane. Like, just think about it, too – even if it were the case that Imane was a transgender woman, it would be just as bad to then be labelling her as the gender she no longer identifies as (or, again, completely dissolving her of the respect of a gender label entirely in some extreme cases). I'm no Italian but the fact that one of their top senate guys was sounding off about this BEFORE THE FIGHT and the dude has a freaking far right, neo-fascist background (as in, it LITERALLY SAYS SO ON HIS WIKIPEDIA PAGE!) talking about Imane being trans, and we've since seen the likes of Elon and JK Rowling sound off on the same disgusting side as him...like, how could you possibly look at that situation from the outside before educating it and just assume that these transphobic douchebags are the ones in the right?!?! Yeah, I read into all of this the other day (my original post was much longer but I just kept finding more and more details about her treatment in the past) – like you say, by all means she's a cis woman who "failed" some tests by a corrupt organisation so bad that the Olympics actually wouldn't let them run the event in Paris and was never advised of the results, which has then painted her in such a negative light. It's also worth pointing out that she wasn't the only one to "fail" those tests at the World Championships only to be disqualified from that event but allowed to compete at the Olympics, as Taiwan's Lin Yu-Ting has also gone through the same. I mean, freaking Taiwan – golly, I really wonder if any of the major powers that be would want to embarrass Taiwan on the world stage in such a way? And, look, on the extremely small chance that she actually does have some XY chromosomes – some cis women can be born in such a way, as a condition like Swyer's syndrome would literally explain how that would be the case. It would perhaps make the conversation a whole lot more complicated in some ways if she did have Swyer's (more XY, more test, etc.) but don't virtually all elite sports ultimately lean into people literally being genetically unique (the phrase "genetic freak" is thrown around at the top level a lot) in a way which would be advantageous? Think Phelps not being the tallest swimmer but having a crazy wingspan, basketball players being as tall as they are, runners with certain slow- and fast-twitch muscle fiber ratios. Are the people who want her banned from the Olympics and the sport in general basically just saying they want to watch a case study of some lab rats who are all genetically identical manage some feat, with the difference being...their attitude and training? On top of all of this, and not that it's really the greatest justification in the world, but Algeria as a nation is, by all accounts, transphobic as hell. Bottom line – if they had any reason to believe Imane was transgender, they wouldn't send her to the Olympics as a representative of their country, period.

Writing has been on the wall for a long time now, but it's still a sad day to see GI close down, especially seeing as they were still seemingly managing to get by both online and in print. I've said it before but back when I first got into gaming The Game Informer Show was one of many I caught up on and tuned in for on a weekly basis during Ben Hanson's time as host, so yeah, this one hurts. Some of their cover stories were genuinely best in the biz, too. Yet it refuses to go quietly into the night, and seems to all end on an incredibly sour note – it seems to be the case that not only has everyone been laid off effective immediately at GI, but no-one was made aware of what was going on even after the tweet went out. Abhorrent from GameStop and Ryan Cohen.

I actually think some of the recent moves Nintendo have made would suggest that there won't be a straight and simple price cut to the Switch models (even if I think it's the logical next step) this holiday period, but rather, they're going to have the consoles bundled with NSO+Expansion Pack, games, etc. – and heck, they seem to keep announcing more games being bundled with their expansions, too. The potential evidence for this is the upcoming limited edition Switch Lite for Echoes of Wisdom coming bundled with NSO+EP, and elsewhere Splatoon 3 is being sold physically with its expansion Expansion Pass bundled in, both announced between the period from the middle of June to the start of July. I think it's definitely the smart move, and it entices new Switch owners into subscribing, which they and many others will see as potentially being more important for growth - especially going into a new console release next year - than console sales alone. If they're willing to go really aggressive but not outright drop the Switch price, I'm thinking something along the lines of a console bundle with a game like Animal Crossing or Mario Kart 8 Deluxe + NSO+EP (to include their respective expansions) all for the same price as the console itself would sell gangbusters. Those two particular games also seem primed to have physical releases which bundle in their respective expansions also. Once the Switch 2 is on the way/arrives though, totally agree @Hero-of-Time – drop that thing as hard as you reasonably can and chase that PS2 record, be it through bundles or a straight price drop. Get that Switch Lite down further to be more comparable to 3DS pricing, the base Switch down to something like £220/£230 and OLED to £250, which then gives you the space to price the Switch 2 at £350+.

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team arrives on the service on 9th August: Well that's...certainly something. First GBA Pokémon game to make it onto NSO already has a remake available on the system, so I feel like it's a bit of an awkward one. Slim pickings on the GBA for the franchise when it comes to Pokémon spin-offs, sure - and by slim I mean literally just the two games, because it's this and Pinball Ruby & Sapphire - but I'm surprised they didn't just drop Pinball R&S alongside this.

This Imane Khelif stuff is insanely messy

Haven't watched nearly as many events as I would like to live, but have been catching bits and pieces where I can, as well a lot of highlights. The Men's Tennis Doubles has been absolutely superb and full of drama so far, probably my favourite set of events at this Olympics up to this point. Murray and Evans the other day battling it out until the death and Murray digging them out again and again and again and dragging them into the quarters was insane, and despite going out in the quarters, Nadal and Alcaraz looked absolutely ridiculous at times for a casual pairing for Spain and could just as easily still be in it if it had been their day. The noise when they initially pulled it back from ADV-40 to 40-40 in the final game (which they ultimately lost) was immense, swear I've never heard the Philippe-Chatrier that loud before, not to mention the place looking virtually unrecognisable without the green of Roland Garros! The swimming has been great too (even if I'll always be more fond of the times when the US crushed anyone and everyone in their path, as was the case when I was watching the Olympics growing up), last night Marchand really turning up for France and winning two Golds in just one session (!!!) with the 200m fly and 200m breaststroke, and setting new Olympic records in both!! The chanting towards the end of the 200m breaststroke from the home crowd was INSANE, another time where I swear I've never heard the crowd quite like it. As has the gymnastics. Seeing China bottle it and Japan step up to the mark in the men's team stuff, and then, of course Simone Biles is just a freaking beast. Not surprised at the big American names in the crowd when she's on, she really puts on a show and adds flair in a way I don't feel like has ever really been the case at summer games before.

I seem to remember it actually getting a lot of buzz around launch, it reviewed really well. It's getting a sequel called Ender Magnolia (I mean, the titles don't help, do they? ) which has been in early access since earlier in the year, so I wouldn't be surprised if Lilies' inclusion in PS+ is a lead-in to Magnolia's full release being announced.

Grasshopper Direct is up:

A free demo for the game has been made available on Switch from today, with save data carrying over to the final game.

A bunch of previews have dropped for the game: General consensus is that this set of previews is much more positive than what we heard coming out of Summer Game Fest last month – which makes sense considering that the demo at SGF was linear whereas this seems to focus more on the open areas. Still going in expecting a mixed bag, but hey, positive previews are positive previews!

And this is why I commit to a three episode minimum when I start a new show In terms of "more mature" storytelling and quality TV which can compete with the likes of HBO, Andor is the only thing close to that for me in Star Wars, from the performances, to the sets, to the music, it's all fantastic and feels like Star Wars trying to be competitive and do something fresh but necessary with its commentary or mirroring of certain topics/organisations and yet is still very much in line with George's original vision. After a decade of Disney Star Wars, it's perhaps one of the few projects in like with what A New Hope put forth, and certainly the only one to do so not graced by the hands of Filoni. That's probably not for everyone, and also probably not what everyone looks for in Star Wars, but given a fair shake I think you'd find some enjoyment in it. It straight up had me tearing up at times and easily has some of the most powerful moments in the GFFA, very easily some of the best acting in Star Wars, too.

My stroopwafel, Arco, has finally been given a release date of 15th August...and will also launch on Switch the same day! Very much looking forward to giving this a try