Ganepark32

XCloud is officially launching in Xbox Game Pass Ultimate on September 15th on Android phones and tablets. Looks like it'll bring with it pretty much everything that's available on Xbox Game Pass Ultimate on Xbox One (there'll probably be some omissions from the overall list but they're saying more than 100 titles out the gate). https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2020/08/04/xbox-game-pass-ultimate-cloud-gaming-on-september-15/ Obviously there's no iOS version currently due to Apple's policy with their store front but I presume it'll come somewhere down the line. Pretty cool that its being included as a free addition to Game Pass Ultimate. With the Xbox Love Gold yearly sub going away (by the looks of it the whole of Gold may be going for Series X coming), this taking the place of that makes sense. Looking forward to trying it out myself at some point. Also good on Microsoft for adding compatibility for Dualshock 4 controllers as well.

More baking goodies from me today. Found a new recipe for my muffins and decided to try and make some Black forest styled ones. Used a vegan buttercream with a morello cherry jam to create the effect and they tasted so good. Photo doesn't really do them justice but they were very tasty. And I'd been meaning to try baking bread at home after getting my hands on some yeast for making pretzels. Haven't made bread since I was a kid and even then, it went in a break making machine. Very impressed with how it turned out. Its soft and fluffy like a bloomer and tastes great heated up slightly with butter. As far as non-baked goods go, I made this the other day as well. A rather nice vegan cottage pie. Opted for a spiced sauce to give it a bit more flavour and it tasted so good. Shame about the horrendous bloat I got half an hour after finishing my portion, which was a third of that casserole dish (my partner had the other two portions, one for dinner and one for her work the next day).

Rather good month indeed. More so for Fall Guys than Modern Warfare 2 (I don't remember a huge amoung about the campaign other than No Russian to be honest, didn't really linger long in my mind compared to say World at War the year previous). Was intending to buy Fall Guys so its a nice bonus to have it included with Plus. Little worried about the longevity that the game will have but it looks like it'll be great fun out the gate regardless.

I've found myself going back to the Outer Wilds soundtrack a lot in recent months and just a few weeks back Andrew Prahlow, the game's composer, did a live performance of a new track for the game to start of the first Day of the Devs stream back in June and I've been listening to it so much because its just a beautiful composition that fits so well with what he'd already done on that game. Every time I listen, I wish so much that I could play the game from scratch with a completely fresh mind, none of the memories of having done it all before because it really is a fantastic game. I do envy people who get to play it for the first time and especially those who stick with it to the end.

Started and finished Carrion yesterday (admittedly on the Xbox One but the game is also available on Switch). Was expecting it to be a little longer than it was before playing but it clocked in around the 4 to 5 hour mark and after going through it I do feel that was the sweet spot for length as it was starting to lose its lustre at the end. Generally speaking it was a decent game. Good pixelated art style (something a lot of the Devolver published indie games have going for them) and interesting premise, though any grander story allusions were lost on me given that its so minimal in presenting why and what is happening in that regard. The gameplay very quickly goes into a rinse repeat situation that, even with the addition of new power-ups, it still feels like more of the same and some of the later sections with more enemies that have flamethrowers, robots and mechs just become a bit tedious as you try to smash them as quickly as possible before you're annihilated. Bursting into rooms with enemies with minimal firepower or just people felt great but when the shocks shields and flamethrowers came out it at times felt like a battle of attrition to get them take down quickly before you snuffed it, especially as your health would drop really quickly. Its one of the main issues with the game, that for all the powers and stuff it throws at you (which isn't much to be honest), it still feels the same at the end as it does in the beginning. Perhaps the bigger issues are the controls and the lack of map for the game. As the small blob, its easy to control, to whip round corners and get away but as you get bigger it becomes a chore trying to get round simple bends and flee fights. The game doesn't know which part of the blob to let you control so when you think you've steered round a bend and try to change your direction in line with that the opposite end of rhe blob will take over control and so you'll go back on yourself. Its a small but consistently irritating thing later on as you need to be certain sizes to use specific power ups and the finesse of the controls is only ever truly there when you have the equivalent of one or two health. Further to this, aiming your tentacle for grabbing things is done with the right thumb stick but it doesn't feel accurate and again comes to bother when you're sizeable and thereby covering up parts of the screen that you're looking at to interact with. Just as with movement, its hard to tell where the tentacle situated for reaching out with the right thumb stick and then the right trigger. Some refinement in these areas would have been greatly appreciated. The lack of a map for areas yours in isn't the biggest issue as the game does tend to drop you in and out of areas that lead on to where you're going next but when you're searching for areas to save and deposit biomass, necessary for opening doors, its hard to keep track of where you've been and where you need to head. Most of the areas have a decent enough flow to them to keep you going forward but some not so great environmental puzzle sections and the control issues can have you sucked into the wrong pipes and have you doubling back on yourself. Just some basic info about where you'd been and where you should head next, even environmentally with signs in the lab areas or something, would have been helpful. All in all, its a decent game but there's a few issues I'd say that hold it back somewhat. It tries so hard to be a metroidvania but to also not be one at the same time and it definitely feels like there's some semblance of an identity crisis there. It's worth a go but I wouldn't say it should be top of people's lists if they're looking at Devolver's output for what to play next.

Having some time to look back on things post showcase and while it was a decent event, I had expected more. We're still without dates for the Battletoads remake and the Cuphead DLC (which I suspect at this time may well have undergone the Hollow Knight Silksong treatment and may be an entirely new game/sequel now) but I don't really see any reason why a studio like Compulsion Games couldn't have shown something is Obsidian can show a game that will no doubt be a late 2022/2023 title in Avowed off. I was already sold on the PS5 and it was always the one I'd likely pick up at rhe end of the year, price and money permitting, but I was needing to see something the really pushed me to consider picking up a Series X but I've not seen it despite seeing several games that I'd happily play (The Medium and Everwild as examples. Heck, with all the expansions for Destiny 2 coming to Gamepass I might jump back in there). I use my Xbox One but given that all of those games will be coming to Gamepass and will be playable on the One, its easier to stick with that until they show something that really shows a need to upgrade. I don't think that's the type of event that would push someone to consider the Series X later in the way and even if Microsoft are holding some stuff back (and they definitely are because Fable has been known about for nearing 2 years now with active development for a lot of that do its beyond the point of a CG trailer at this point. Likewise, The Initiative's game while likely to be a late 2021/2022 game is playable now so they're sitting on it for a later date), they really shouldn't have sat on most of it and shown upfront that they really are committed to making up for the lack of strong first party support this gen. Gamepass is still the difference maker as I see it, though Sony may alter PSNow somewhat to bring it somewhat more in line but not entirely. If Microsoft maintain the All Access bundle for the Series X at launch, where you sign on to a 2 year contract at say £40-50 a month and get Gamepass Ultimate included then that could move some units. Its certainly something I've talked to my partner about and could be something I see families doing end of year especially in light of the current pandemic, furlough and unemployment situations. As I say, out of the gate I won't be dropping the likely £500 on the console as I have Gamepass on my One but if I didn't have either, I don't think I could honestly say I'd seen enough to convince me to get on board. I'd suspect another event coming after Opening Night Live which ends Summer Games Fest so late August/September. As an aside though, can they both stop dilly-dallying and just announce a date for the console launches. We know its likely to be November, probably between Nov. 6th and 20th to get it out before Thanksgiving in the US but this being tight lipped about the specifics that consumers want to know so they can plan around purchasing is silly, especially as both Microsoft and Sony are trying to wait each other out to either undercut or to soften the blow for the cost of their hardware.

Trailer from the Xbox Games Showcase: Looks gorgeous and could perhaps be the most interesting game coming out of Xbox Game Studios but there's still so little known about it other than that its an adventure game. I'd wager that they'll go the shared world route like they've done with Sea of Thieves going by the trailers so far and the heavy emphasis on multiple characters/teammates in there. Hopefully there's a strong single player component because as I say, the visuals are beautiful but not everything needs to be a shared world/multiplayer game. No idea of a launch window but presumably not till late next year at earliest.

Fable is back then, from Playground Games. Very short teaser there so guessing it must be some ways off. Not a huge amount of first party titles shown that are brand new, especially for launch even if they're saying over 100 games for the Holidays on Series X. Was expecting/hoping for more. But I guess the roots are only taking now for their acquisitions and turning that round for content. Wouldn't say it was a dud but they didn't have anything that really stood out, though I'll happily take Stalker 2.

New game from Image and Form, makers of the Steamworld games called The Gunk. Looks like it'll be a 3D action game as opposed to their previous work which has been 2D. Could be interesting. More from Bloober Team and The Medium and it continues to look great. Phantasy Star Online 2 New Genesis coming to Series X in 2021, hopefully with a worldwide release this time round.

Microsoft's turn with console launch exclusives. Stalker 2 coming first to Xbox Series X. Been a long time coming that one. Looked fantastic though. Wonder if they'll consider re-doing the originals in the run up to launch as I believe its supposed to be a 2022 release at earliest.

Full set of dates for all chapters of Tell Me Why from Dontnod.

New Obsidian title, Avowed announced. First Person RPG, had me thinking it might be set within the Pillars of Eternity world but looks to be something completely new. @Ike, yeah coming to PS4 and Steam but as a separate purchase apparently. First DQ game on Xbox though.

First chapter of Tell Me Why, exclusive from Dontnod to Xbox, releasing August 27th. Expecting the 2nd and 3rd chapters to follow shortly after that. Playable on Series X at launch. Special version of Ori and the Will of the Wisp coming to Series X as well, with updated visuals and audio. Should mean it runs smoothly at 60fps on that console. Smart delivery as well for the likes of me who bought it. Edit: Now onto DLC for The Outer Worlds. Peril on Gorgon, September 9th.

Starting off with Halo Infinite. Really does look like they've gone back to the Combat Evolved style of gameplay in terms of more open areas with some modern twists of multiple objective to tackle in whatever order. Looks good, not blown away visually, especially with the character models (that close up shot of the Brute at the end there didn't show the noticeable jump to next gen that I'd have expected especially coming off of what PlayStation showed). CG Trailers for both State of Decay 3 and Forza Motorsport. OK I guess. Now into Everwild, which looks great.

Yuji Naka, of Sonic and Nights, is working with Square Enix on a new title called Balan Wonderworld. Its got the Nights visual style but is a 3d action platformer. Very Mario-esque but looks fantastic. Confirmed for Xbox One and Xbox Series X with smart delivery as well.

Pre-show as part of Summer Games Fest is live in the run up to the main event. Keighley has said to expect a handful of world premieres for Xbox here. First is Dragon Quest XI S is coming to Gamepass Decemeber 4th. Big deal there for them. Sure, it'll be two years old by the time it launches but it coming to Xbox for the first time is a big deal and a big get for Microsoft. And obviously, it'll be playable on the Series X as well a big title to take players through the Christmas break, especially if they haven't tried XI, especially the S Definitive Edition yet as its fantastic.

Rogue Company is reportedly out now. Just been announced during the Summer Games Fest stream. Should be up on the EShop later today I'd imagine (also available on PS4, Xbox One and Epic Games Store).

For anyone interested, it seems that the summer games showcase demo event has started a bit early as a bunch of demos for indie games have appeared on the Xbox One store. They're mostly all smaller titles alongside a demo for the Destroy All Humans remake and there'll likely be more tomorrow and throigh the week leading up to the Xbox Games Showcase on Thursday. Still, I've got demos for Genesis Noir and Welcome to Elk downloaded to looking forward to trying them later. And looking forward to seeing what else gets added in the coming days. Can't remember if Spiritfarer and Haven were supposed to have demos coming as part of this or not but would be nice.

Given the brevity of the Direct mini and the smaller number of titles touched upon, I think what might have been better was to take a leaf out of say Sony's book where they had a series of announcements of indie games the other week (I think there was 9 in total) and they were announced every half an hour through their blog with accompanying trailer and blog post from the developers, thus giving each plenty of space and time. That might have suited this better and done much to dampen the ridiculous hype that was shooting about the net in anticipation for this. From my perspective, I don't think what they showed warranted a Direct but Nintendo don't use the blog style system of Sony or Microsoft for their ID@Xbox stuff and the like. Perhaps, as I say, its something they maybe should consider if they're going to do more of these smaller showing with a handful of titles to shine specific light on them across the day rather than a quick 8 minute video thats now done and dusted and probably being torn apart everywhere. Just such an odd choice with that selection of games that would have greatly benefitted from a different style of spotlight, especially as the games shown speak to very specific niche areas of the games market. Curious more to see the timetable of these going forward and how regular they'll be (i.e. Will it be once a month, every two weeks?). That's definitely something that Nintendo could do with teeing up front to get ahead of this all by saying "If you didn't find something to your taste today, don't worry as there'll be more on this date" or something to that effect. Layout a road map of these and temper expectations by moving things away from the Direct format if not needed. I don't know, just my thoughts. Edit: Also a thought for Nintendo, of you're going to do it as a Direct don't upload the trailers from your two main announcements at the same time as the video for this as it defeats the purpose of watching a Direct that took time to put together from a small team of people (another reason why a series of blog posts about the games would be better. Save the effort for putting together a video package Direct for when its warranted).

I wouldn't say that Bayonetta 3 is out of the realms of possibility for showing up. This is being presented as a partner based Direct mini so that game would fall under that umbrella term given that its a third party property being developed through an exclusivity deal with Nintendo. Will it actually be there? I doubt it, especially as the update on Babylon Fall (another Platinum game) was delayed due to changes brought about by the ongoing pandemic, but its entirely possible and shouldn't be dismissed unequivocally. Its such a weird way to announce a Direct, even a mini one. And the wording is very business like, reads more like something Microsoft would spout as opposed to the rhetoric Nintendo would tend to use. Similarly, announcing it late last night for this afternoon is again weird. Such a short turn around on the announcement for an afternoon Direct. I could understand if it was happening at 11pm as they've done in the past but it really is unusual for them. I'm not expecting much from it. They've allowed third parties to go ahead and announce games this Summer without them yet very little has come to fruition outside of a smattering of indie games across the multitude of streams. And first party wise, what's announced is far off at this point. Likelihood is we'll have an update on Bravelt Default 2 (expecting this to slip to next year), maybe some of the EA ports tgat they announced a little back (Plants vs. Zombies, Apex Legends) but it won't go much beyond that. I do subscribe to the idea that I've seen posited that this might be the start of a series of Directs split across first, third and indie developers in the coming weeks/months. Spread the news out in smaller chunks, especially if they've maybe not got the biggest slate of titles due to delays brought about by the pandemic (they had said things coming this year were progressing as planned but Nintendo do seem to be one of the development groups struggling with adapting to the current situation). It means there'd be a steady stream of news and while nothing might be mind-blowing, they'll still maintain a good supply of titles for the Switch into the Holiday season (though I don't think they'll have that big first party title at the end of the year this time, the timings haven't really worked out for most of their properties).

Even with no update on the tracking from the Royal Mail, Shopto have delivered early Its installing now so thats my afternoon sorted. Looking forward to playing, though I'm bearing in mind some of the issues raised in reviews. Shouldn't hopefully detract and sure it'll be a great game once I get into the swing of it.

- I'm Chris (well Christopher but I hate being called that) - I'm 31 years old - Born in Kirkcaldy, lived in Glenrothes for 23 years of my life but have lived in Dundee since 2013 - Joined the board June 2008, though I'd been reading the main site for years beforehand - Engaged to my partner of 6 and a half years. We've lived together for nearly 6 years now and have managed to not kill each other so must definitely be the real deal. Admittedly, given that we spend much of the day doing silly and stupid things, making faces and the like and have similar sense of humour, it was only ever going to be good times and its certainly been that and has pretty much felt like we've been married for years at this point. Neither of us want kids either so that's a plus (she asked me on our first date if that's what I wanted, so very forward but saved bother down the line) - Had intended to get married this year but as things started coming out with covid, we just held off of pulling the trigger on booking things which ultimately means we'll probably have to wait longer now because wedding dates being sadly pushed back everywhere. We'll sort out a date at some point (genuinely her words not mine, she'd rather buy a house first) - Went to University of Dundee and got my MA in Psychology. Enjoyed it so much I stayed another year and got a MSc in Eye Movements and Visual Cognition. Enjoyed that even more so applied and got offered a Ph.D. place (half an hour after the interview so its the only time I've knocked an interview out the park really). Ended up dropping my Ph.D. after having had to take 6 months out after family and personal issues, my supervisor retiring and being put with a new supervisor who was confrontational more than helpful. Physical and mental health issues meant that I had to call it quits 3 months from submission date but I don't regret dropping as I'd be a shell if I'd pushed myself to hand in. - Currently unemployed and don't really know what I want to do career wise. Been 2 years out of psychology so getting back in would be difficult and have struggled to get in the door anywhere up here with fewer jobs going in Dundee. Would've loved to have gone into counselling but I can't do Uni again. Maybe something in the games industry marketing wise as I seem to be interested in the back end of games development and publishing but not sure - Hobby wise, I love music, playlisting, occasionally drawing and reading and playing games. Have always wanted to learn guitar but have never gotten round to it - Getting older has just brought several health issues to the surface over the last few years. Undiagnosed gastric issue that a gastroscopy, allergy tests and blood tests failed to shine light on. Had to alter my diet drastically so ended up just going vegan (did so for ethical reasons as well) but its still difficult to manage. Have benign tremors and get frequent seizures and convulsions possibly a side effect of medication that I was prescribed but most likely not and have hypermobility in my shoulder joints which causes bother frequently. Also have the potential to develop hemochromatosis if I'm very unlucky in later life (my dad has one of the genes for it and suffers from many of the symptoms of it) - Want to do more travelling and would love to do the whole living in a van thing at some point doing so (the missus is 100% on board with this as well). As long as I can be near the sea and some sand and culture, I'd be very happy Tl;dr: I'm me, I think

Raining!!! So good to see you on here again, along with many others, really does feel like a whole different lifetime ago. Hope you're keeping well during all this I was reminded earlier today of meeting loads of people at the NE meet for the first time and couldn't stop laughing because my resounding memories from that are Jimbob calling me William Wallace and Rez. Think it was 2011 and we'd all shot across Hyde Park to try get out of the rain and ended up under the bridge like trolls and Rez was just sitting on the ground with a pen and paper drawing a massive cock as people were walking passed us all, looking concerned, as he was also trying to warn them not to step in the dog turd that was near by and asking people their thoughts on his drawing by holding it up to them Man, I'd forgotten about that and seeing names crop up brought it all back. Even tho I ended up getting separated from the group, and we didn't exactly have a plan for what to do once the rain hit, that was still a great experience.

84 on Opencritic as well with 71 reviews. Seems to generally be good with a few areas which aren't quite up to snuff, namely stealth, some technical issues and the open world not really deviating from the tried and tested at this point. For me, that's good enough and I've already got it pre-ordered with it hopefully set to be sent later today/tomorrow. Whether I'll stick with the game fully based on some of the cons that are being mentioned about the game is another question, especially on the back of finishing The Last of Us Part 2. Hopefully I'll be able to put some of the issues about the open world aside and hopefully the stealth is at least manageable to make it doable for the most part.

It wasn't intended to be a hobby but I guess its certainly come into that, at the start of the year, I just randomly decided I'd have a go at baking. I had plenty of time on my hands and I'd managed to find a vegan dry mix for brownies so gave it a go and it worked out well. Sadly no pictures but they were so good, gooey and about an inch thick with loads of chocolate chunks through them. Since then, and since lockdown seemed inevitable, I've been baking frequently, making sweet treats to have around the house. Exactly what you need when you're stuck at home and have no place to go. I've mainly focused on different types of muffins and getting the mixture right going by various recipes and just trying out my own takes on them, with chocolate orange being a favourite and a frequent visitor to my belly in the last couple of months, but I've also tried things like using peppermint oil for mint chocolate muffins and they've worked out great. I'd been trying for ages to get that cracked look on the top and finally cracked it with that last batch a week or so ago. Have tried to make vegan chocolate chip cookies but the less said about them the better. The first batch of 6 literally became a slab on the baking try after the merged into one and then the second batch of 6 managed to stay cookie shaped but they tasted awful so I'll need to try that one again at some point or find a different recipe. Did try my hand at making sweet pretzels over the weekend and I'm impressed they turned out as well as they did. Shape wise they could use some work but they were doughy and tasty so I chalked that up as a win. And found that the dough mixture would work really well for doughnuts so that may need to happen down the line as well. Surprisingly, I've not really put on weight with all the baking during lockdown. Going to try my hand at making bread for the first time since I was really young and without a bread maker later this week so we'll see how that turns out. Just generally been doing a lot of cooking during lockdown and really enjoying it, even with the stress of things not going right. Made an incredible vegan cottage pie with a mix of sweet potato and potato mash for the topping and it was delicious (sorry, no picture there but the thing was devoured so quickly by me and the missus that there probably wouldn't have been a chance )