Ganepark32

I've seen a couple of notices being put out by transport companies up here in Scotland reminding people that the mask mandate hasn't changed here and to keep wearing them on buses, trains, etc. Though it does look like we're going to be following suit despite being having the worst infection rate in Europe at the moment. Boris Johnson gave his usual unclear messaging on it last night but even up here, the Scottish Government has muddied things by saying that they'll be moving things to level 0 on July 19th when most restrictions will be peeled back but that everything will go back to normal from August 9th. Most people are taking it as the mask mandate and social distancing are going this month and some of the wording from the government leans that way one day but the next its that things will be staying till August and others will be saying they'll stay after that point From the few times I've been out to the shops for groceries it seems most people are just doing their own thing. People are just gathering at homes in large numbers, pubs are packed to the rafters and then Dundee City Council have allowed every pub to use up pavements to allow for even more customers (it was supposed to be to allow for social distancing but thats gone out the window) and public transport is just full of people not wearing masks up here. It'd be fine if numbers were low but Dundee City has the highest per 100,000 rate in Europe at just over 900. Its just nuts. Whats worse is that my partner's work has sent round a notice of change to work conditions which means that management, cleaners, cooks won't have to wear masks and that care homes will be letting people in without masks to see families in larger numbers, no testing for them or anything. The care home is following the changes coming in in England because despite being based in Scotland, the company is registered in England. So an EMI unit taking in the most difficult neurodegenerative cases for most of Scotland will pretty much be running as it was pre-pandemic but staff need to wear masks but aren't being protected by those coming in when plenty staff have been tracked and traced due to the high numbers in the area. Oh and not all residents are vaccinated as it wasn't/isn't mandatory and the same for staff (there's a few pulling the same chap getting passed round groups on the Internet about getting ill from it or even catching Covid from people who have been vaccinated). Its all gone to the dogs and the governments up here and in Westminster know now with all the cock ups that they can't get anyone to follow the rules anymore because of their hand waving at stuff they've done. Its disheartening as sure, I'd absolutely love things to go back to normal. I've been couped up at home for most of the last 16 months and have only gone out for food shopping or twice on a bus to see my in laws. Haven't been able to see my mother or father and don't trust public transport to be able to, especially with the health of my parents not being good. But masks really should be kept. Boris' excuse of it we delay now we'll open when the virus will hit us the worst is all well and good (combo of winter flu and covid is probably going to cause high hospital rates regardless of being open or not) but delaying would bring cases down and making masks mandatory longer would certainly help. I won't be ditching the mask any time soon. Only had my first vaccination 3 weeks ago and have 5 weeks to wait for the second but I know I'm not immune to this thing and neither are those who are fully vaccinated. Its just stupidity and selfishness from people.

I'm already sold on Deathloop as I love what Arkane makes so I don't need to see any more. Little disappointed that its the focus of a new State of Play for that reason even with how excited I am for the game myself. A strong indie and third party showing is good though. We've seen a slice of Horizon Forbidden West and I'm not thinking that Sony have any other first party titles coming at the end of the year beyond the PS5 upgrade to Ghost of Tsushima. So shining light on what will be the tent pole titles for your console from third parties and indies is a great idea, even in light of the long standing issues that indie devs seem to have been having with Sony. Think we'll finally get dates for Solar Ash (this I don't think is very far off), Jett: The Far Shore and Little Devil Inside with a very brief showing of Hades (a kind of "Hey its coming to PlayStation as well just like all of Supergiant's previous games did before"). Not expecting the likes of Stray to be there, Last Stop perhaps but Annapurna have their own showcase at the end of July for their games and may choose to keep it for that as they've built up a strong following and a lot of cachet in the industry with a strong lineup of games they've been published in recent years. Third party wise, wonder if we'll see CoD being shown off briefly but can't think of other games they'll show as Microsoft seem to have snagged a lot of the big third party games for the end of the year as having exclusivity for advertisement. Still, interested to see what they show. As disappointed as I am at it being Deathloop being showcased when I'm already sold, Arkane have nailed the aesthetic and there should be plenty of indie games so it'll be a good show for me.

As its coming to Gamepass on August 19th and I don't think there's a thread for it, thought I'd share the poster the team creating 12 Minutes have created for the game because its a fantastic poster, one that hopefully they'll print: Curious how this one will turn out. I do worry that the gameplay loop will be a bit lacking but its on my purchase list for August, even with it being on Gamepass which I'm subbed to. There's just something about it that in spite of the worries about how it'll play that intrigues me and thats enough to get my attention. A lot of good indie content coming in the next couple of months on Gamepass. 12 Minutes, Cris Tales, The Ascent, Hades, Aragami 2, Sable, possibly Lake (it was originally included on an ID@Xbox trailer saying Gamepass but it seems to be unknown whether it'll actually come to Gamepass or not at the moment, with the developers saying that its up to Microsoft). The lack of big AAA releases towards the end of the year is definitely being outweighed by indie releases so very happy indeed (sure there's AAA titles coming but we're definitely feeling the effects of the pandemic on releases and I suspect there'll be a few more delays for some bigger titles supposed to launch this holiday).

A slightly different trailer that was put out the other week showing some different boss battles footage and different areas: Very excited for this, its genuinely become one of my most anticipated games for this year. The game just looks really good and I'm just hoping that the reviews confirm this, though I'm pretty much settled on picking it up as I'll be putting in a pre-order next week as there's a pre-order discount on the Xbox Store.

Looks like there's some weekend deals on the PS store until Monday on PS5 titles, with the likes of Demon's Souls, Miles Morales, Sackboy and Returnal amongst a few others on discounts. The first 3 I mention there are discounted more this weekend than they were during the Days of Play sale and Returnal has a nice 25% discount that makes it a bit more palatable digitally for me at least. Demon's Souls - £52.49 (£71.99 for Digital Deluxe) Spiderman: Miles Morales - £33.49 (£52.49 for Ultimate Edition) Sackboy - £42.59 (£62.39 for Digital Deluxe) Returnal - £52.49 (£62.39 for Digital Deluxe) Nioh Collection - £52.49 (both remasters are £33.49 each) Not bad price wise. Brings them somewhat more in line with what you can get them for physically at least. Bit gutted I jumped at Miles Morales during the Days of Play sale as I could've saved a little on it, but that price for Returnal is very tempting. As I say, sale is until Monday 28th.

Sat down and watched Bo Burnham: Inside last night as I've been seeing it getting banded about all over the place and thought I'd finally give it a look to see what everyone was going on about. And by god was it good. God damn is that man talented in being able to set up those shots and do that all himself. The songs were great throughout, some of which definitely struck a chord with me (30 in particular definitely rings true from my turning 30) and I just thought the whole look and sound of the show was fantastic. I'd never given his stuff a watch previously (though he apparently directed Eighth Grade which I really enjoyed when I watched it) but very interested to see more of his work after that. Didn't know what to expect going in but was genuinely wowed by it throughout. And White Woman's Instagram will be stuck in my head forever now, both for its comedic setup of all of those shots which ring true to what you'll see every day on there, for how catchy it was but also how heartfelt and real it got in the interlude there and explaining why someone might go about posting these cliques on Instagram. So good. Going to watch again with the missus (she was working when I watched) to see what she thinks but also because its well worth another watch.

Also ended up grabbing a pair of these myself just before Prime Day ended last night. Been looking into headphones for a while as I'm still rocking a pair of Panasonic RP-HTX7s that I got back in 2015 and they were discontinued at that point. The cuff is starting to flake and there's a little bit of crackle at the beginning and end of songs so I thought I'd grab something new while I had some extra scratch. Spent the last day checking reviews and comparing things but the Q30s sound like they're a great buy at the asking price, especially with what they were selling for on Prime Day. Supposedly a little bass heavy but the app that comes with the phones means that can be tweaked so looking forward to putting them through their paces when they arrive tomorrow. Also picked up: Was going back and forth on it but with having finished and platinumed Ratchet and Clank, I wanted something that would require a bit more focus so looking forward to trying it out.

Have you tried it on a different TV? Not able to try another TV as I don't have one. Don't think it would've done much as my Series S was working in both HDMI ports and with both HDMI cables on my TV. Thankfully changing one of the screen settings looks like it might be working for now. Changed the screen resolution from automatic to 1080p. Seems to be working ay the moment so I'm hoping it'll stay that way as I don't really want to be sending my PS5 off with having bought Rift Apart and Chicory (and I'm also contemplating picking up Hitman 3 as its on sale as well as a few other things like Scarlet Nexus depending on reviews). Its weird that it done that since the last firmware update as no issue like it previously. Fingers crossed it keeps working with the settings change I made.

Looks like I'll have to send my PS5 away for repairs. Yesterday when I went to switch it in, the console would just flicker between static and a black screen. It eventually resolved and turned on to be used. Had the same issue again this afternoon but again it started to work but this evening its taken 20 minutes for a picture to come up despite the flickering. Couldn't boot into safe mode as that was producing the same effect. I've tried a few quick fixes when I've managed to get a picture, like different HDMI cable, different port, etc. but still the same issue. I've changed the screen setting to just go to 1080p to see if that'll steady things for a bit but I know its just a matter of time before I have to send it in as its likely a faulty HDMI port. Bit annoying I'll have to go through Sony's customer services to get a repair as I've heard nightmares and people's consoles not actually getting repaired for what they're sent in for (with Sony saying there was no issue). To be honest, the console has been a bit of a pain for small issues since I got it and the coil whine that I've got does seem to be getting louder so here's hoping that they can hit two nails on the head and sort out both.

I saw the rumour yesterday that its supposedly going to be the game for PS5 next month and with this remaster being announced, it just seems to much of a coincidence. Regardless of whether its a PS+ title, I'm very tempted to pick it up again and play through it with the PS5 upgrades and because it is just a brilliant game. I do hope it comes onto PS+ though as more people should really give the game a go as its just a really well done AA game. Very excited for the sequel coming next year as well.

So A Plague Tale: Requiem was announced as coming to the Switch when it launches next year. Focus Home, the publisher of the game, have just announced that they're bringing the original game in the series, A Plague Tale: Innocence, to the Switch on July 6th as a Cloud Version. And for those interested, its being enhanced for the PS5 and Xbox Series consoles, with it being a free upgrade for existing customers.

Its not been a banger of an E3 this year but there's definitely been a lot across the board thats grabbed my attention, and I've certainly filled out my release schedule for the rest of the year. Looks like there'll be a lot of games to play across my Xbox Series S and PS5, my poor wallet. My favourites from E3 though were: Forza Horizon 5 - I absolutely love the Forza Horizon series. I love the simplicity of it for just bombing down roads and taking in the scenery but also for being technical when it needs to. I'm not much of a sim racer fan so the more arcadey nature of these games has always suited me more and I've played all but the original up to this point, with Forza Horizon 3 being my favourite so far. 5 looks absolutely stunning and while most are sad its not Japan, I'm happy that will get such a varied landscape as Mexico to drive through. Cannot wait to jump in on November 9th, already itching to get my hands on it. Replaced - I've not really taken a shine to these 2D-HD titles that have come along sporting the look so far but this really stood out. I love the Cyberpunk vibe in that art style and it looks like it'll be great to play. Trek of Yomi - This one is another that came out of nowhere and blew me away. Its obviously aping that Kurosawa film style with the black and white visuals but it works so well and just genuinely looks phenomenal. Another indie darling in the making but like Replaced, sad I'll have to wait till next year for a release date but hoping for great things from the game. Death's Door - This looked great when Devolver announced it during a recent ID@Xbox showcase and it continues to look fantastic now. The art style is great, the combat looks to be tight, taking from the Zelda titles and dungeon crawlers with possibly a splash of Soulsborne in there perhaps. Its an instant buy for me when it releases this month and I can't wait to get my hands on it. Somerville - It might have been leaked that it would show up at E3 but I didn't know what to expect from Jumpship's first title since the split from Playdead. But the game looks like it'll build upon the foundations of Inside and take things that bit further, bringing in a sci-fi story that looks to be intriguing (that baby in the trailer can clearly sense/communicate with the aliens or whatever they are) and it once again looks phenomenal in its art style. I'd say Inside is as close to perfect as a video game has come in the medium and if this hits anywhere close to that then we're in for a treat. Those were my top 5 from the E3/Summer Games Fest showings. There's loads of indie games that have really stood out on top of these, like Sable, Harold Halibut, Vokabulantis, 12 Minutes and Planet of Lana to name a few. Far more indies have stood out than bigger games, though I will say that even I as someone who hasn't really gelled with any of the Soulsborne/Sekiro titles thought that Elden Ring looked fantastic. Stalker 2 is one to watch for me; even though I've never played the originals its tapping into that Metro vein for me and has me very interested. Getting a sequel to A Plague Tale was always going to happen off of the back of the success of the original so I'm so happy we'll see that next year. Very excited for it. As I've said a few times, indie games won E3 for me. The variety and quality of what these smaller studios is offering is amazing and them getting the push everywhere was so good to see. At the end of the day, gamers won with all those titles, not Microsoft, not Nintendo, not any particular publisher. When there's a wealth of unique and interesting games spanning every conceivable genre and art style, I think at the end of the day we as gamers should feel lucky to have such ingenuity in the industry. I know a lot will say Nintendo won or this or that but really, as I say, gamers won with the shear amount of quality indie titles coming to all platforms. And we've still got Annapurna's showcase on July 29th and themays sure to be fantastic too.

One of the games that drew my attention during Microsoft's E3 conference, among the swathe of games they showed that looked great, was a little indie game hidden in amongst the ID@Xbox clip they showed and that is Sable. The trailer gave very little away as to what the game is but the art style of the game looks incredible. There's a definite Journey vibe about the game but with more exploration and openness. Apparently it's a coming-of-age story where you'll uncover the history of the world and your place in it. So it may end up being a more story focused experience than it's clear inspiration. They've said release is on PC and the trailer was shown during the Xbox conference but they're also saying more generally that it's coming to consoles so a PS4 release may be in the cards. Not sure about a Switch one but with indie devs chomping at the bit to release their games there, it could happen as I don't think the art style would be too taxing on the hardware. But yeah, I think it looks incredible. Hoping that it plays as good as it looks.

Guardians of the Galaxy is a Cloud based version for the Switch, much like Hitman 3 and Control are. If anything, further Cloud version announcements of third party games probably point to any potential new hardware being pushed back till next year (A Plague Tale: Requiem was announced as coming to Switch as a Cloud version and thats supposed to launch next year). I wouldn't expect Cloud versions to be announced for big third party games if there was new hardware capable of running them natively on the immediate horizon. My guess is that the current chip shortages affecting the industry has perhaps caused Nintendo to put the brakes on some what to let things sort themselves out there. There have been instances of shortages of Nintendo consoles at point of sale because demand has outstretched supply but that's never been because of manufacturing constraints like graphics card, phone and console manufacturers are facing.

Not a bad showing. Metroid Dread coming back from 15 years in limbo is a hell of a surprise but the footage didn't really wow me, Advance Wars is great is you're a fan (I could never get into the games), Wario Ware is nice I suppose but nothing special and BOTW2 looked good. By and large a standard Nintendo Direct with a couple of big names thrown in. Wasn't exactly wowed but there's variety there and good things coming so plenty to look forward to. Curious about the lack of indies in the Direct though as they've always brought some with them to their E3 Direct. That Game and Watch is a buy for me but beyond that, I'm not itching to get back to the Switch. Didn't think they'd show the new hardware here so not let down by that, expect that that may have been pushed back somewhat with chip shortages. It's a shame some of their other classic franchises don't seem to be coming back. Wave Race and F Zero are crying out for a new entry and neither need a hook or gimmick as Miyamoto has said in the past. As I say, a decent showing overall but I still think the showcases/streams that have focused on indie titles that have wowed me this E3.

God damn it! A Zelda Game and Watch with 3 games? Gahhh, where's my wallet, can't pass that up.

They're finally doing it, after all these years and leaving it abounded generations ago, Metroid Dread. Anything really is possible.

Interesting that Guardians of the Galaxy isn't the only Cloud version game coming to the Switch announced at E3 (A Plague Tale: Requiem is another). Does seem to go against there being a Pro console announcement any time soon. Oh and woof at the frame rate for Worms Rumble.

Scarlet Nexus is out in June 25th, so in a week and a half. I guess Bandai Namco think that with a demo available for people to try, they're not too fussed to get the word out there more for the game and think their job is done there. Personally, I'm not 100% sold on the game myself. The demo was fine but thats about it, seems like it could be good but also looks like it could fall on its face very quickly with all the systems in play. I'm waiting on reviews myself, though if that rumour that it was coming to Gamepass had been true (the devs have debunked it sadly) then I'd have been in for giving it a try but I just feel little lack the polish of Astral Chain and even then that's saying something (should point out that I liked Astral Chain but it also got in over its head with throwing too many ideas at the wall I feel). Anyway, curious to see how Nintendo will do. While I did enjoy Microsoft's conference, I personally think its indie games that have come out of E3 looking the best this year and I'm more than happy with that as I've been heavily invested in the indie scene since the 360 so I've been well and truly catered to with Day of the Devs, Guerrilla Collective 2, Tribeca Games and Wholesome Games Direct. Even the likes of Somerville and Replaced in the Microsoft showcase looked better than most of everything else that we've seen on show this year. Not really sure what Nintendo can bring to the table that would make me take notice. I've tried with the Switch twice and felt burned both times despite a healthy indie scene (and even then, I'd argue that the balance between good/great indies vs. shovelware/awful indies was well and truly tipped in the first year of the console). I'd love to see something new from them, something risky that they've not tried. Hell, get Mercurysteam involved with one of their IPs again to give it a Western style or partner with another Western dev team to try something new and exclusive. They've done we'll working with Ubisoft on Mario + Rabbids and they've managed to get good/great games out of partnerships with Japanese studios but I do feel they're missing that big Western style game that would appeal to the wider audience over in North America/Europe. Not saying Zelda doesn't but Metroid Prime isn't a big seller (though 4 should buck that trend if it makes good on the originals) but yeah, I'd just like to see them take on the WRPG genre or something like that, some kind of sprawling, narrative and lore rich world that isn't hung out with the melodrama that seems to permeate a lot of JRPGs that turns me off somewhat.

I thought it was actually a pretty good showing but wasn't expecting it to light up most people here. Kept the speaking to a minimum throughout (though they could've tightened up the Forza Horizon 5 bit) and just focused on the games, and there was a steady stream of those. Sure, there's a lack of Japanese developers present but they've done a lot to get them already invested in the system with the Final Fantasy titles on/coming to Gamepass, DQ XI being on Gamepass and all of the Yakuza titles to name a few. Sure they could do more to get new games there day and night from Japanese devs but its a damn sight better than it was. Odd they showed so little of Halo Infinite campaign wise. Unless they're setting up for a specific showcase of it down the line, they could've done with revealing it again to prove they've put the work in to improve how it looks. The multiplayer looks great though and it being free to play is a great initiative to bring more people in. A new Forza Horizon is always a plus point and 5 looks fantastic. Cant wait to jump in on November 9th. That leak doing the rounds a couple of days ago was dead on with the games that would be at E3. Seeing Somerville was nice, looks great and definitely in keeping with what they've done with Inside previously but taking it a bit further. Replaced also looked phenomenal. Loved the look of Stalker 2. The little details like the floorboard moving when the character waltzed over it was a nice touch. Knew that we'd see A Plague Tale: Requiem and liked what I saw. Can't wait to play it as I loved the first one. Surprised they didn't announce that they'd acquired Asobo but that may come down the line. Psychonauts 2 looks great. Was wondering about Arkane Austin but not sure Redfall did it for me. We're getting a lot of Left 4 Dead style co-op titles at the moment, very odd. The lack of an ID@Xbox trailer was a weird omission this time around as things like Tunic are still without a release date. Hopefully there's one coming. We did get an announcement of Hades coming to Xbox (and Playstation) so I can't wait to finally play it on the big screen (I had a Switch Lite when playing it). But yeah, I thought it was a good showing. I can take a heavier focus on Western releases what with having a PS5 as I'll get more of a Japanese showing there. Didnt expect it to turn the needle for those who aren't invested in the system here though but for those that are and for those who have Gamepass its a good show.

Took advantage of the current trade in offer GAME, traded in my OG Xbox One and a couple of games and got a Series S for £68. Already mainly use Gamepass on Xbox bar a few digital purchases here and there (getting codes off of CDKeys has helped there) and thought I might as well take advantage of the deal while I can afford to at the moment. Lovely bit of kit, absolutely tiny but looks nice next to my PS5 Digital Edition. Also picked up:

Anyone interested in seeing another succinct and interesting slate of indie titles, the Tribeca Games Spotlight was streamed earlier today focusing on 8 indie titles: The likes of Sable and 12 Minutes are well established by now but getting to see games like Harold Halibut, another beautiful stop motion game to run alongside Vokabulantis, was fantastic. Also getting to see more of Kena in motion was great, though the combat and traversal mechanics don't look as fluid as I'd hope. Still well worth a watch, it is an hour but the 8 games are all superb.

Second ID@Xbox Summer Games Fest demo showcase is happening, starting next week on Tuesday 15th. https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2021/06/10/our-second-summer-game-fest-demo-event-coming-june-15-to-an-xbox-near-you/ Last year was great for getting to try out a bunch of WIP games prior to release and the games announced so far for this years showcase sound great: Sable Tunic Lake The Riftbreaker Echo Generation Apparently there'll be demos for 40 titles so looking forward to seeing what else will be there but definitely looking forward to trying Sable, Tunic and Lake myself as they're all on my radar as pickups down the line.

It looks superb. Instantly liked the look of it when it was announced a few months back and looks like we'll get that release date on Saturday during Devolver Digital's stream so yeah, looks like it isn't far away. Really like the aesthetic of it and just hope it plays well but at the moment, I'm sold on what they've shown, more so after what was shown in the Day of the Devs stream.

So Chicory: A Colorful Tale has been showcased in a couple of State of Plays and on the PS blog. Its out today on PS4 and PS5 (as well as PC) and its reviewing extremely well (IGN have given the game a 9, Destructoid a 9.5 as examples). Looks to be one to keep an eye on. I've got it wishlisted on PS5 and was going to wait and see how it faired but think I'll be picking it up sooner rather than later going hy the review scores.