Julius

Yeah, Forks is easily one of the strongest episodes in the show. Was definitely fearful when he was driving around a bit recklessly towards the end of the episode blasting Taylor Swift, though. My face was buried in my hands waiting for something bad to happen As someone with a mixed relationship at the best of times with certain family members, I felt absolutely dreadful watching certain episodes of S3 – I love it, but it's a little too accurate for it's own good at times Felt the same way about a lot of S3, though I think there's a structural reason for it which will make sense in the wider show but zoomed in as an individual season, it doesn't reflect well. Same goes for @Hero-of-Time saying the same about S2, I think there's a bit of a meta creative decision behind what they're doing with both compared to S1, but it's hard to get into without a spoiler tag (and doesn't really get into the actual quality and pace of the show even if it is purposeful)

...we're well over a month from launch, wouldn't that be why? I'd expect it to start ramping up at the start of August and have them go nuts for about 4 weeks in particular (2 weeks either side of launch, so mid-August to mid-September). I didn't take them saying they've invested in its marketing so much to mean that it's marketing we've already been privy to, but rather, they've got a whole bunch of stuff paid for and lined up. Which makes perfect sense, considering I've seen plenty of Acolyte marketing which has only really just died down after the show ended it's run last week – wouldn't make any sense for Outlaws to be taking Acolyte's spot on the side of buses until the show had run it's course and it was time to start ramping things up for Outlaws.

Ubisoft have revealed they've put more money into marketing Outlaws than any of their other games before it: Not surprised at all. Fallen Order and Survivor were HUGE, as we're the Battlefront games – why wouldn't you pool all of your resources into marketing a game when it's a guaranteed 5-10 million seller? And that's before even invoking the "open world"-ness of it all. Games is going to be huge. Smart but obligatory move from Ubisoft.

New Boba Fett skin: Add some other Mandalorians to the mix like Pre Vizsla, Din, Sabine and Gar Saxon you cowards!

Pre-orders for the new Splatoon 3 sets for Callie & Marie (Alterna Set) and Pearl & Marina (Side Order Set) are now up:

Mr Deeds is a classic

@Hero-of-Time to @drahkon right now:

America rn When the end of the year hits, may you be living in boring times. Fingers crossed, eh?

Great to see the love for The Bear, keep the thoughts coming @Hero-of-Time and @drahkon get on S3 so we can hear your thoughts on it some heavy and uncomfortable stuff at times, it's not without certain issues or quirks for me but I think it's great. Also, has someone who cooks quite a lot, I've lost count at the number of times I've paused an episode and started walking around my living room with a pen and paper in hand brainstorming something I want to try and whip up – and so far, to great success I can't imagine anything more meaningful than a show about a craft inspiring it's viewers to go and craft for themselves. Completely unrelated, but I started and finished The Boys S4 last week (in the space of a couple of days...whoops; though, that's just how I watch most things these days!), and yeah, it carries on from S3 where my main issue with it is while there's some great stuff there, it's kind of overshadowed by the times they unrelentingly are going for shock value with certain scenes and depictions of events. There's also a string of episodes for a certain character where I can't believe you'd put them through that string of events as a creative, let alone try to justify some of it as being funny when it's anything but, which was a huge yikes from me for Kripke. Glad it's ending with S5 because S4 finally remembered it needed to set it up at the death and holy cheese balls does it, but this wait is going to be painful. S4 was a dropoff from S3 for me, similar to how S3 was a dropoff from the quality of S1 and S2. Also watched Gen V a couple of weeks back to prep for watching S4 of The Boys, and yeah, some weirdness to it - I swear the creators of Gen V/The Boys come across as straight guys who haven't figured out that just talking about and showing dicks all the time makes them appear very incel-ish - but it was good fun, weird pacing and some more questionable decisions aside. Also, I need Maddie Phillips as Emma Frost in the MCU, so Kev if you aren't already mate get on that, please and thank you (she'd also make a great Lady Maria/Doll from Bloodborne if Sony are still planning to go ahead with that, js)

Couldn't find a thread, so here we are. I've wanted to play Knights of the Old Republic for as long as I've known about it - I know the story and, yes, that particular *thing* fairly well from not being able to get my hands on it at any point growing up, be it combing through pages of Wookieepedia or having the awesome The Old Republic timeline records videos on an endless loop - but it's such a revered game, obviously in a franchise I care deeply about, and so it has been a can I've definitely kicked down the road time and time again. It got announced for Switch? Awesome, I'll wait the 12 months or whatever for the inevitable PlayStation release. Oh, PlayStation have seemingly foregone releasing the original game in favour of some form of exclusivity for the Remake? That's great, it'll probably take a while, but I'll wait. Oh, it's Aspyr? Oh. It's Aspyr...game seemingly got cancelled? Whelp. Time to pop it on my list of pledge games for 2024 to make sure that I finally get around to it. And so finally get around to it I have! I started playing this on Friday during the mass IT issues and after close to 7½ hours finally made my way off Taris and have arrived at Dantooine, where based on conversations with Bastila so far it seems like I'll be potentially recruited as a Jedi. Which would be neat, because her lightsabers are the easiest way to slice a locked door down considering I don't have anyone with good security skills on the squad at all times I'm kind of having a blast. Baldur's Gate III last year was my first CRPG I'm fairly sure - I mean, I guess maybe Mass Effect can stake a claim to that honour? But it's presented in such a different way, kind of funny because even this early on I can see the throughline from KOTOR to Mass Effect - and it's very up front about the mechanics going on behind the scenes by how much you see the dice roll, and how well it explains so many elements of games pulling from tabletop RPG ideas and mechanics, of course in the case of Baldur's Gate pulling from Dungeons & Dragons helped because I've listened to a fair few D&D podcasts over the years. This is all to say that I don't think I'd be nearly as comfortable with KOTOR if not for my time with BG3 simply because of how well it explains it's mechanics, although KOTOR has been a relative breeze outside of one or two very unlucky standoffs so far. Back to KOTOR, though, I'm really enjoying just playing it relatively straight as a good guy. With my character, Juwh Dasto (a name I've had planned since the start of the year based on this way to come up with your real Star Wars name) I'm leaning towards plugging points into Paladin typical attributes like Strength, Constitution and Charisma, the latter of which means I'm having a grand old time pushing the limits of being a good guy at times. The Light Side/Dark Side gauge and points stuff is a bit on the nose and maybe too up front for me personally, but hey, if Red Dead is still doing it, who am I to complain? I'm quite enjoying certain quests at times overlapping to complete both criteria - for example, being given a bounty hunting job to kill this guy who was legendary in the now outlawed death matches, but having worked my way up to the top of the tree in the arena is open to the challenge and so I took care of him on the big stage rather than behind closed doors to not feel like I was being too evil. The side content and the variety of it in this game so far has been great, by the way: swooping (I guess best described as KOTOR's take on podracing), bounty hunting, arena fights, Pazaak (a really simply but elegant card game), bunch of side quests with a decent variety of objectives layered into this all too. Heck, I was surprised I ended up sitting in the seat as a gunner firing away at oncoming ships at one point! Combat is fine, it's a game which is 20+ years old at this point and plays how I imagine a simplified MMORPG would play (aka fairly similar to Xenoblade where it's menu-based real-time kinda stuff, though with way fewer options) and is perfectly serviceable. Music has been fine. The story so far has me intrigued but I remember the key beat - or, at least, THE key beat - and so it's kind of interesting seeing how things are foreshadowed so early on, but above all else, it's the characters which have really been doing it for me, they're making it much more engaging and it's one of the few times dialogue options for me have felt believable, and arguments feel legitimate? Take, for example, me prying into Carth's history, a solder of the Republic who was present during the Mandalorian Wars and now feels immense guilt about not noticing his own mentor trying to recruit him to the Sith cause (the Sith, by the way, aren't just Two at this point - but a pretty big army), and it's a conversation which he keeps kicking down the road, is clearly flustered by, legitimately threatens to leave over and he has plenty of questions about my character, too. Some really interesting characterisations of aliens and xenophobia, things like environmental issues have been touched on, and it's handled it pretty well so far, whereas a lot of games even now feels like they do so with such a heavy hand. So far, one of the only real issues I've had with the game is feeling like there's a need to save before every telegraphed big fight or after every battle because the battles aren't that fast or that fun to go through again? I've also had a dialogue glitch where I'll select a response option and in the blink of an eye I'll miss everything the person I'm talking to has said and then need to choose a response, but thankfully their last line encapsulates what they said and so I'm not lost when choosing a response – after looking around this seems to be an issue carried over to the Switch version from the original release where having the game open too long causes this to happen? Which is insane. I saved and closed the game and found the issue was gone immediately after persisting for 5+ minutes beforehand, so that was kind of barmy. Oh, and the other issue I had was I died the first time I was in the gunner's chair (because the game didn't even explain which buttons to use and then blinds you with a literal in-game sun) and then when it loaded back up the screen was black, I couldn't pull up the menu but could hear my shots and the shots of enemy ships being fired at us, and thankfully I saved just before boarding so didn't lose much progress at all, but I easily could have! Anyways, this is all to say: kind of having a blast so far, and really keen to dig back into this tomorrow and see where my adventure picks up on Dantooine. Carth and Bastila are filling out my party for now, but obviously we've picked up some other friendly faces along the way! So – without spoiling anything, does anyone have any memories or thoughts about KOTOR they'd like to share? Is there anyone else here like me who hasn't played the game, despite it potentially being up their alley or having heard great things?

So, the England Head Coach job is up on the FA Careers site Brb, just going to send in some clips from my decade+ of FIFA Manager Mode saves. Just wait until they see my revolutionary 4-1-1-1-2-1!

Great idea for a thread @Jonnas I think generally speaking I'm pretty good at getting out of my comfort zone with the games I play, I don't mind going back and playing older games which maybe aren't talked about as much and am happy to pick something up absed purely off my own curiosity or a recommendation, and don't mind dipping my toes into older franchises - played my first 2D Zelda to completion for the first time earlier this year, for example, and had a great time with it. If I had to nail it down to any particular sort of genre? The biggest gaps I'd point to are probably character-action games (the likes of Bayonetta, Devil May Cry...but even then I've made time for the original God of War, now that I think about it?), and a bunch of 2D things: outside of Smash (which I don't think would count) and a few times being at arcades or friend's houses with cabinets growing up, I haven't really sat down and drilled into a traditional fighting game, and 2D beat 'em ups have passed me by in a similar way outside of arcades and cabinets growing up. But even then, I'd say these genres were by and large out of the mainstream by the time I was growing up or old enough to experience them, for example there are a lot of 2D platformers I'd like to go back to. If I had to talk about particular franchises or companies, there are definitely some noticeably bigger gaps. Some of these are down to being raised in a strictly religious household, others because I simply didn't really know they existed, and others are ones on my shelf waiting in the wings; I've never played: A GTA campaign (to completion, played like a couple of hours of V's in fairness) An Assassin's Creed game Speaking of...any modern Ubisoft game with towers? A Bethesda...anything? A Resident Evil game A Diablo game The list could go on, but I think the main gaps I'm interested in doing anything about right now are getting around to playing more WRPGs (which would include Bethesda and Diablo titles; seen it mentioned a few times in this thread already, but outside of Mass Effect and then Baldur's Gate III last year, they really hadn't been on my radar - generally, I'm much more interested in JRPGs) and Resident Evil is on my list of pledge games for the year, but that just seems like a smart one to save for October It's not for everyone and I think that's fine, and it's come up a few times in this thread actually, but I'd definitely be interested in hearing the thoughts of yourself and others if you do ever get around to playing any of the From Software titles. I think Dark Souls, for its place in modern gaming history, would probably be the one I'd recommend over others, it just feels like the quintessential Souls title in so many ways, even if perhaps it isn't the best considering the titles which have released since. Yeah, think I'm with you on this one H-o-T - the monetisation aspect can do one but otherwise it does seem like the sort of thing I'd be into, and, funnily enough, I've listened to a number of tracks from the Genshin soundtrack and they're freaking ridiculous and right up my alley. For whatever reason this got me thinking about MMOs and JRPGs - and given the number of Final Fantasy fans around this place, I imagine Final Fantasy XIV is a huge gap in a lot of gaming experiences. Though I totally get it, the time commitment and it being an MMO is enough to put me off, as much as I hear great things about the story and love what I've heard of the soundtracks

I only ever have £30 cash on me because my barber's is a cash-only business, unless I know I'm going somewhere which might be a cash-only event (or perhaps potentially a handful of cash-only vendors) or where it might be useful (like a Comic Con or something along those lines). Oh, and a £1 coin for the trolley (I know there are the ones you can add to your keys but then I just got my keys jingling and jangling all over the shop) I don't really use cards via contactless on my phone (reckon I mostly use it for travel passes tbh, or when I'm in London), but assuming we're talking about contactless here - because everyone should have decent enough security on their phone and app logins these days that I'm going to assume we're not leaving our phone without security and then keeping passwords in notes apps - if your phone gets nicked you could just call your bank, go into branch, or freeze the card pretty much instantly via online banking? Though, not commenting on yourself but just the general populace, I work at a bank and people don't seem as quick on the uptake as you might think to get those things actioned when it does happen, so... ...alright never mind I forgot how useless some people can be

One of the key systems I use at work, essential for me doing my job, has been down all morning so far (jumped on at 08:00) Refreshed it every 20-30 minutes, still nothing, so yeah... Podcast and washing up time it is

Second trailer for Dune: Prophecy; Yep, still looks great

Woke up very early yesterday to watch the finale of The Acolyte. Overall, totally agree with you @FalcoLombardi , I think it was just okay – it has some REALLY, REALLY high highs (Episode 5 I've watched the middle part like 10 times!) but they are few and far between, leaving a lot of confusing and meandering lows. The first half of the show lacked so much of the direction and ideas introduced in the second half, and the show ended up feeling like it should've simultaneously been 2 episodes longer and 2 episodes shorter. Big fan of what Manny Jacinto managed with Qimir this season (probably my favourite alongside Sol), really happy to have some representation for more Asians in live-action Star Wars, first time we've really had them at the core of what's going on. Even more so because Manny is mixed/half Filipino (like me!) and so even though I think Luke/Leia/Han/Anakin/Obi-Wan et al are incredibly relatable because of how strongly they're characterised and how well their core values are portrayed resulted in me not really understanding the importance of representation, it did feel pretty damn great and almost fulfilling of an unknown childhood wish for me to see this representation. Obviously, the reactions to the show have been appalling. Star Wars. Lesbian showrunner. People of colour in lead roles. I hate the internet. Crazy just how bombed the reviews were for this, there are definitely points worthy of criticism but there's a way to go about it. Think it also calls into question, once again, the media intelligence of some Star Wars fans. Anyways, I also thought the show was pretty predictable. I won't get into it too much without spoiler tags, but I talked to a friend at various points as the show went on, and I think I was probably right on 80%+ of the things I thought would happen. That's not really a problem when it comes to a mystery or Star Wars - I think a good mystery does need some people to connect the dots ahead of some reveals to be surprised by others - but it definitely made me question the approach to certain aspects, as it wasn't paced as well as I would have hoped. Some characters also just have really weirdly portrayed convictions. Some pretty great lightsaber duels, some solid moments, some moments where I was left stunned by a particular theme returning, and some familiar-yet-not faces. The show is certainly complete in one sense, but has put all the pieces in place for a S2, and I hope it gets one – the pieces they've put in play by the end of this season gets the mind racing with possibilities. With all that in mind, I'd probably score The Acolyte a 6 or a 6.5/10. In terms of ranking the live-action Disney+ shows so far, it's probably something like: 1. Andor 2. Mando 3. Ahsoka 4. The Acolyte 5. Obi-Wan 6. The Book of Boba Fett Worth a watch whenever you're in the mood for more Star Wars, and while I haven't had the chance to do it myself (because of watching weekly), I have seen a few people suggest it flows much better with a binge!

While I do think there are a couple of faces that could return (Shang-Chi and Kate Bishop come to mind), I do completely agree – Phase 4 felt like it was supposed to be an epilogue of sorts to the Infinity Saga (pull the team apart, focus in on how certain individuals react, etc.), but they've basically torn apart that team as much as they possibly could, and now we're some 5+ films/2 years away from the next Avengers film and I don't get where they're going with it. What makes it far worse for me is how we haven't even seen Shang-Chi and Kate in years on the screen at this point? Kind of crazy that at the moment the next two Avengers films are looking like they'll be playing off Infinity Saga nostalgia more than any of the 8+ year build-up it will have had at that point.

The Russo Bros. are reportedly in talks to direct the next two Avengers movies. Obligatory: If I'm remembering correctly they showed interest in returning for Secret Wars before, and they've shown that they can manage a huge cast, though I don't know if the characters introduced since Endgame have been fleshed out nearly enough for them to be fully realised in an Avengers film and actually gel. Their careers haven't exactly been propelled to new heights following the release of Endgame – seems like a good move both for them and for Marvel (who really need to get fans on-side at this point).

A look at some more gameplay: Still just listed as releasing in '2024' for now!

Ooo, I remember seeing someone guess that a new Famicom Detective Club could be what they were teasing, and they seemed super psyched about it...so hell yeah! Of all the IP to revive on the Switch, I don't think FDC would've been the one anyone would have guessed heading into the launch of the Switch back in 2017, that's for sure

Alright this gave me a chuckle

UEFA have just revealed the Team of the Tournament: Only real fault with it I can see is Walker at RB – over the likes of Kounde, Carvajal and Dumfries? Go home UEFA, you're drunk reckon the most deserving English player, if one had to be shoehorned in, would be Guéhi. He was a beast and slotted in pretty much perfectly at the last minute.

Reminder that Mbappé's presentation at Madrid is taking place today! He'll be their new number 9, I assume waiting until Modric leaves to take the 10. It's on now: Right then, see you all in 10 years when anyone else starts to get a chance at the UCL again