Will

Here we’re back into full lockdown until the middle of August. Hopefully the vaccine rates pick up during this period and they finally start easing up properly. We’ve just hit 50% fully vaccinated but apparently 100k people in the critical group have not even had their first. I’m really quite shocked by the skepticism to vaccines here and now it’s starting to hold everyone back. I’m definitely not a supporter of the authoritarian rule here but I am starting to think they should use some of them to force this thing through.

Yeah I think doing something a bit different is good and if it can allow different cars/setups to shine then I’m all for it. I feel like the way they’ve done it just makes the race a bit longer with a planned red flag and agree that everyone just let it be as they got to the end. Given they have two direct feeder series following them around I don’t really get why they don’t test with those and then introduce what works to F1. The sprint race formats in those series work well and I don’t really get why they didn’t go for something like that. If they don’t want to “dilute” the perception of the race why not just run a sprint championship as an entirely different thing and make it so that teams have to alternate their lineups in them to get younger drivers some proper racing experience? I reckon something like that would be a great addition to the weekend.

Quite intrigued by this thing. I’ve posted before about wanting to get a PC and I think this will tide me over until components are a little easier to get hold of. Thinking I’ll go for the top end model, stick windows on it and then use it for emulation and a few media bits too. With the dock I think it will be a great option for a living room PC. Definitely doubting my Switch OLED now.

I am! Only because the streaming is terrible here on iPlayer though. The ITV coverage really is awful, I’m not sure if it’s intentional or they just don’t know they’re currently on?

For sure it’s a shame. I can totally relate to those who haven’t seen family in a long time.

That’s definitely a strange one. Generally I’m not a huge fan of Tag Heuer but I quite like the Monaco collection. Quite interested to see what comes out of this.

Isn’t this the risk people take booking vacations at this point in time? I still don’t really understand why anyone would think it’s a good idea to be having holidays at this point in time.

Your keyboard could do with a good cleaning!

Yeah it’s total madness dropping it all in one go. In Singapore we opened up one thing, the case numbers shot up and we were straight back into lockdown. I get that people are keen to get back to “normal” but totally agree with you on the mask rule, why not just keep it for a while until things are stable? I have no doubt that we’ll be wearing masks here through to the end of the year at the very least. Given the choice I would probably continue to wear one anyway. We’re heading back to the UK at Christmas (I hope) and unless things have changed massively I’ll be wearing one then too.

That’s me! Also, can we just take a moment to acknowledge how nice the packaging looks? Think they’ve done a great job on that side.

I’m the opposite, the joy-cons I think look great but the white dock is a bit too in your face for my liking. Seems a bit of a missed opportunity if they haven’t actually changed any of the internals. Still, I do think it looks fantastic and will be getting one as soon as I possibly can.

Made my way through and got the platinum last night. I kind of agree that there were a lot of missed opportunities both with what the trophies were awarded for and the lack of additional stuff within the game. As a linear story experience I still think it’s up there with the best, but it’s missing that something special that makes it stand out from the rest. Really enjoyed my play through and glad I’ve got the platinum before F1 launches later this month. The PS5 really has been great for me so far, glad I jumped in on day one.

I’m ashamed to admit I’m most looking forward to WWE Battlegrounds.

Finished up the main story last night, totally loved the game and for me it was pretty much the ideal length. Wasn’t as keen on the sub-levels but they were still OK I suppose. Still blown away by the look and feel of it, the production values are really top notch - Insomniac are at the top of their game with stuff like that. Only real complaint would be that there were quite a few invisible walls which broke me out of the experience a little, nothing too major though. The use of the controller is also pretty fantastic. When utilized properly I do think that the Dual Sense is a bit of a game changer. Can’t wait to play more proper PS5 games with the haptics and adaptive triggers really taken advantage of. Got about 50% of the trophies and will work through to the Platinum. Trying to make that a regular thing with PS5 games.

Just had my first dose of the Pfizer vaccine! Feeling totally fine so far, just glad it’s finally available. Next shot is on the 29th. Hopefully some of our never ending lock-down will ease up soon.

Oh that’s interesting! Thinking about it I always go to the dashboard before I put my machine in rest mode. I’m going to try doing it in a game and see if I get the crashes.

Oh if that’s the case it really sucks, guess there isn’t much point doing anything until they know why it happens and how to fix it. Have you tried taking it out of the cabinet? I know my PS4 Pro would occasionally fire up all the fans as it was overheating itself while shut away. Could be something similar and it’s not handling it properly?

Are you going to get the machine looked at? Doesn’t seem like something it should be doing at all.

You thunderstorm lovers should come and spend some time in Singapore. We get the most insane storms I’ve ever seen on an almost daily basis.

I decided to take a bit of a gamble and book tickets home: Three weeks over Christmas and New Year, hopefully by then travel will at least be possible and we can see family for the first time in two and a half years. Already getting excited for it!

It seems like our current lockdown is going to be extended even further. In addition to that there is still no word on when we’ll be able to get vaccines. The situation here started out a total disaster and then they brought it round and we were basically up there with Australia and New Zealand for a good while. Seems to be slipping back to disaster again. We still have a super low number of cases but the slow rollout of the vaccine here is leaving everything unclear. Singapore isn’t the most interesting place at the best of times, the current situation makes it less appealing than it’s ever been.

Oh I’ll definitely buy that Game & Watch to sit never being used wherever the Mario one ended up.

Yay Advance Wars, another classic I’ll be glad to play again. Some interesting stuff overall but nothing to get really excited about. Are they saving all the good stuff for something else I wonder?

Super happy for WarioWare, always loved those games. Have been playing the GBA version a fair bit recently and it’s still just as good as always.

Monkey Ball is nice, 1 and 2 were the only decent ones imo.