Will

Watched the 40 minute video and it really is a good expansion on the clips, everyone should watch it. The main takeaway I have from is that we have to recognize people’s identity (race, sexuality, whatever) and work towards a society where those things do not matter to people having equal opportunities and a protected way of life. Of course that should be obvious, but it’s good to write it down and think about it. The quote at the end is really quite depressing “When am I going to quit? When racists quit. Do I have a job for a lifetime? I’m afraid so” - it’s the one time you see her get completely cut up by it all and just terrible that even now we have so far to go. We’re in such a weird time, we seem to have an even mix of people who are all about division and “me first” mentality and others who want everything sanitized so we don’t even have to think about anything that might upset us. From my observations the UK is better than most, with the vast majority of people having the right mindset though probably not actively doing anything to drive things forward (I guess I’m in this group). We have such a bad past though it’s hard to know what to do. I agree with the remove of slave trade statues but what the hell do you do about someone like Churchill? He was at the very least a supporter of our colonial past and held views that would be abhorrent today, but he was also our leader at the darkest time of the last century and symbol of us coming through that - so what do you do about the statues? I don’t see a solution where all people can be happy. Other things such as the monarchy really have no place in modern society yet we have it and many people (myself included) quite like it - what do you do there? It’s very hard for people to let go of the past and things that benefit them, there is still a very long way to go.

Well that’s pretty cool. Also awesome that the whole thing can be played in VR. Quite looking forward to it now.

Well, now I feel stupid. I've seen these before and never put it together that they were from the same person. One thing I'd not seen before is the full 40-minute version of that clip. Going to grab a cup of tea and watch that now. Looking forward to seeing the aftermath of that clip. From the shorter version you see it's very easy to be against racism and agree with what people are saying, but as soon as it's directly on you and your actions it's very hard to change and stand up and say you were at fault. I don't think I've ever been in that kind of situation but I'm sure I would find it just as difficult. I do agree, but how do I translate that to practical real-life action that makes things better?

It does look cool, I’m quite looking forward to playing this one. I guess the single player is not too big and intended as training for getting into the multiplayer. They also seem to suggest that all of the upgrades are just collected in-game rather than things you need to pay for. That can’t be right can it?

It’s been a while since I’d seen that but it’s still super interesting. It’s amazing how quickly views can take hold and just become something that causes ongoing discrimination of whatever kind it may be. While we’ve moved on (for the most part) from the absolute racism of the past there are still far too many systems and constructs that lead to inequality in our society. Even with the very best of intentions I think most of us have some sort of bias on other people for no good reason. On a personal level I find all of this quite hard to deal with or know what the right thing to do is. As a relatively well off white British person you’ve pretty much won the social lottery and never have to experience a lot of what other people go through. I want to do whatever I can to support equality for everyone but don’t really know what that should look like to actually make a meaningful change.

I actually thought it was a new Rocket League trailer when this one started. Not sure if they will manage that level of success but it does look interesting enough to pick up when it launches.

Yeah! I think sometimes people (myself included) forget lego is actually a toy. I can imagine kids would have a great time playing with this.

I still think it’s generally pretty horrible but the black is definitely better than the white. I really hope they offer that at launch.

Finally, after what seems like forever, they’re easing most of the lockdown measures here at the weekend. Big events and things like bars and clubs will still not be allowed but the majority of normal life looks like it’s finally going to restart. Cannot wait to get out and feel normal again.

I imagine the team behind this had a very innocent idea for some sort of tribal scenario in the game and this is the design that came together. It’s a Korean team who have probably been influenced by old western stereotypes without realizing it and it never even crossed their minds to think about how it could potentially be viewed. Add in to the mix the current situation and it’s definitely better for them to get ahead of it and show they’re trying to improve things than wait for it to potentially become something much bigger. Hopefully it doesn’t have any negative impact on the title, it’s one that I thought looked pretty cool.

Very nice! I have quite a few friends that have made big item fitness purchases over the last few months that definitely usually wouldn’t have. Hope it helps you get in the shape you want!

Definitely came through, certainly tempted me into wanting to buy a lot of the games you were talking about! Appreciate the effort on the game names, but don’t worry about it too much. Looking forward to the next episode.

I’ll be buying at launch and I’ll get every game that I have some interest in. The current amount I have set aside for it is $1,000 (US), but if it takes more than that I don’t really mind. The only thing I’m not completely sure on is whether to go for the regular or digital version. I intend to buy everything digitally but the flexibility of the disc drive is nice. Will decide later once a bit more info is released.

From the article, but also from the fact I don’t think them saying “it is a standalone game” is particularly clear. What does that mean exactly? Given they’re not explicitly saying anything more it sounds to me like it’s effectively a DLC for the original game that will also be available as a “standalone game” in certain circumstances. I don’t think there’s anything particularly wrong with that, and it definitely doesn’t impact my buying it, but I don’t think it’s what a lot of people were hoping for.

From that I take away that what is being launched on PS5 is an enhanced version of the original game which includes the “standalone” Mike Morales content built on the upgraded engine. Which is cool for me, but I’m not sure how much extra/new content it means for someone that’s played the original?

Would definitely be nice if it was something totally new. As someone that didn’t play it originally I’ll look forward to playing this expanded version but I’d definitely be disappointed if I’d already played it,

So not only is it the ugliest console ever but it’s also ridiculously huge to the point it won’t actually fit anywhere to hide it away? Having slept on it a little I’m really having trouble putting into words how much I hate the design of this console. If it wasn’t for the huge (IMO, of course) advantage this has on the games side I’d be considering moving camps to the Xbox it’s so bad. I was having a bit more of a think on whether the digital only version was better, the only real downside for me is whether my library can fit on the console. I recently had to delete a few things from my PS4 which got me worried. However I still have 50 games on it so I’m not too worried. Unless some great reason for having the disc drive comes up I’ll definitely be going digital.

I haven’t bought a disc since the day I bought my machine, pretty certain I’ll go digital only too. Double win if it’s a nice amount cheaper.

It really looks awful, worst console design in a long time.

The cooling on this machine had better be damn good, it’s going in a cupboard and never coming out.

Wonder if they’re going to close this out with something huge?

I wan pretty much everything they’ve shown so far. After being totally underwhelmed by the Xbox stuff a few weeks ago I now can’t wait for some new console action.

I've (based on absolutely nothing other than unguided guesses) been expecting a price point of $500 in the US. What that would translate to could be anything but I'd guess £500 given the artistic licence people seem to take with exchange rates nowadays. I'm setting aside $1,000 in the hope that will get me a decent selection of stuff on launch day.

Listened for the first time while jogging and really enjoyed it, will add this to my rotation of things to listen to. My only suggestion/request would be to mention game names again when you finish talking about them. Maybe it's because I'm running but I quite often found I'd be interested in what you guys were talking about but had missed/forgotten the name of the game and they never got mentioned again and just referred to as "it" in the conversation. I don't think it took anything away from the quality of the show, but it would be a nice thing to have. Really impressed with the work on this, you guys have done a great job.

What about swimming? If there is somewhere nearby you can do it then it's a good all-round, low-impact form of exercise.