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Not specifically gaming related but I treated myself to some half decent speakers for my laptop. They're a Chinese brand called Edifier which get solid reviews through hi-fi mags and they sound amazing for the price. Our house normally looks like the aftermath of Hamleys toy store after an earthquake so i've been busy creating my own little corner in the dining room where the kids aren't allowed to pile up all their collective shite. Hoping to get some shelves up and some artwork over the next few weeks.

I've been wanting to play this again for about 2/3 years. I was thinking of waiting and getting it on the Switch (when i get one) but i saw in the shop and thought fuck it..

New Read Only Memory book arrived, written by Matt Leone and was originally a Polygon article called Final Fantasy VII: An Oral History. The quality of this book is outstanding, no surprise based on their previous work. My name's in the back as a benefactor. 😊

Vroooooom!

I can't remember the last time I pre-ordered a game. Hope I don't regret it, but the previous one is my longest-played game on Steam, so I'm really looking forward to this.

Bought Origin Access Premier:

On sale atm in the eShop

Fortnite Season 6 Upgraded Battle Pass.

Bought another Annapurna game on iOS, Florence: And I didn't buy this but O2 very kindly and randomly sent me this box of goodies through the post because I've been with them 9 years:

I received this art all the way from Canada this morning. Just need a nice frame for it now, and then see if the wife will let me hang it somewhere. Best game ever made, innit.

Personally I think this is a whole lot of crying over nothing. You can buy orbs off the store for Devil May Cry 4 as well and that didn't ruin the game. Literally the only way this will be a problem is if it impacts the games balancing. Every DMC game has had a bit of a grind to it, I remember spending a food couple of hours on DMC3 and 4 running in and out of the same challenge room over and over to farm orbs. If it ends up ruining the games balancing to the point that it is unequivocally geared toward pay-to-win then I'll hold my hands up and admit I'm wrong, but if it just turns out to be quick fix like in 4 then what does it matter? If a few dipshits want to pay to make the game easier for themselves then fuck it, just as long as it stays a challenge for me.

MFGamers Podcast - Music From Games volume 12 For this edition, we listen to some prominent music from games released in the year so far, from January to June 2018. Theme music arrangement by me from the original theme by Mark. Download the episode here. Subscribe to the feed here. iTunes link - https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/mfgamers/id1318429602 Non-iTunes feed - http://feeds.feedburner.com/mfgamerspodcast

Wish me luck. I hope it’s as daft as I hope.

MFGamers Podcast - Music From Games volume 11 Another variety of tunes, chosen by @Chimay, @illdog, @Jimbo Xiii, me, @Nag, @radiofloyd, @retroed, @Sly Reflex and @wiivo 2.0. Theme music arrangement by me from the original theme by Mark. Side note, when this was recorded, forum nutter hadn't come back yet. Download the episode here. Subscribe to the feed here. iTunes link - https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/mfgamers/id1318429602 Non-iTunes feed - http://feeds.feedburner.com/mfgamerspodcast

This is definitely one of the more unusual games I've played. It's a visual novel but set out in the style of a text conversation with some modern day smartphone features like pictures, GPS coordinates, maps etc. too. It plays out in real time (you can adjust this if you want to speed up the story) with you acting as Majd and typing his responses, chatting to his wife/girlfriend Nour. It tells the story of a refugee escaping the Syrian Civil War and attempting to travel into Europe so on the face of it you'd think the story would be pretty grim and dark, but it is often surprising how normal and down-to-earth the conversations between the two are, often making jokes, taking the piss out of one another and things like that but obviously dark subjects come up when Nour is in a dangerous area or is put in a dangerous situation and all you can do is wait until she comes back 'online' to ask if she's ok. The notifications on your phone pop up like regular text messages throughout the day and I have found myself compelled and caring for Nour and her journey, wondering if she's ok in between messages, I know it sounds a bit silly but after it feeling a bit of a throwaway game/conversation the first day or so it has grown on me and I find myself looking forward to the messages from Nour more and more just wondering what the hell is gonna happen next. Definitely not for everyone but for £3 I'd recommend it, definitely think it's worth a go.

Or not-Overwatch. I can't talk about this game without mentioning Overwatch as it is a massive game that a lot of people have played and Paladins is very similar, to the point of being accused of being a clone. But while I don't believe that since games like this take years to plan and the were announced and released very close to one-another I think it's fair to say it isn't strictly a clone, especially since the devs history shows they've made a number of games that look like they could easily and naturally lead to this. But there is also no doubt that they have certainly leaned into being a lot like Overwatch around and post release. So its a hero shooter where you pick a character with specific skills that are tied to a certain class like Defence or Support, but this time you can't change mid-match which is an alteration I'm not against since it potentially requires some creative use out of a character if things aren't going well. If you have played Overwatch then the characters will be very familiar. Some are like character X from OW, and other are like a mix of Y and Z. And there are the odd few that draw inspiration from elsewhere. I kinda like this even as someone who played a lot of OW because Paladins feels like some weird remix where you have a character who is a mix of Tracer and Mei and trying to deal with that combo is kinda fun. On a pure gameplay level it is some OW style fun but it doesn't have the character of OW. A bunch of them are quite fun looking and charming but OW has some straight up modern iconography which is hard to stand next to. And Paladins doesn't have the character or polished presentation of OW. Character voices don't stand out as much and it makes following the gameplay a little harder since you don't have distinct verbal calls and attack effects. You know, the character and the polish in OW helps communicate the gameplay a lot and that's not quite here in Paladins, or at least its not as clear. I'm sounding more down on it than I actually am. Like I said, I'm enjoying what feels like a remix of characters to me coming from OW. And, tbh, since its been a while since I played OW playing a game that has a much lower current skill level is making it kinda chill (though not all the time). Actually, skill level is wrong... I sometimes get frustrated at some players' I've come across and their decision making. Currently I'm into it. Dunno how long for but I'm on Switch if anyone wants to play some not-Overwatch with non psychos.

Played around 2 hours of this earlier. I pre-ordered this on PS4 ages ago but never got around to playing it for whatever reason, with a small gap between finishing SotTR and AC:OD on Tuesday I have time to go back to a few small games and play through them so this is one of the first that came to mind. It's a PSVR title so unfortunately no one without the headset will be able to experience it but I thought I'd write about my experiences nonetheless. I should mention that I have - briefly - played it already as it was included in the PSVR Demo Disc #2 at the beginning of the year, I was so impressed with it then which is why I picked it up. The game is told in a fantasy storybook kind of way with you as the 'reader' looking in on the events of Quill's story. You play as Quill, a small charming Mouse from a leafy mouse kingdom. Everything is jolly at first and the vibrant opening area is a real treat for the eyes but this being a game things predictably take a turn for the worse and Quill must set out on an adventure that will leave the comforts of her home world and take her to some of the other dark, dangerous regions dotted about in her world. You look in on Quill's world as the 'reader' seeing her scamper about in various diorama-like stages with a page turning sound playing when you get to the next diorama in a chapter. You play with a controller - as opposed to the wands or other input devices - and directly control Quill, but you can also interact with various movable objects in a stage using the light bar at the front of the DS4 controller. The way the game plays early on is a relatively simple puzzle platformer where you have to move blocks, staircases and other objects onto buttons so Quill can proceed into the next room. They do quickly become more difficult though with multi-room solutions, turning switches on and off and manipulating enemies into a position using your 'reader' power. All stuff we've seen before really but the feel to Quill, her animations as she scampers about and how lifelike she is draw you in and the feel of controlling her, manipulating enemies and obstacles blocking her way feels really tactile and nice to pull off. The combat is the only thing I'm not sure about yet. It's relatively simple featuring a sword hit on Square and a dodge on X but it is quite a bit more challenging than I was expecting and am worried that it may become a crutch later on. but it does make it way more satisfying to clear a room of enemies than I was expecting from a game like this. The enemy variety has surprised me with one marksman type, one melee type and one that will follow you everywhere and blow you up with Goo if you're not careful. There's scrolls to pick up whilst you're exploring too, placed in some reasonably difficult locations that really makes you think for a few minutes how you get up to it, which keeps you on your toes and looking at every angle of the diorama possible so you don't miss anything. So, so far I'm very impressed with it, it hasn't blown me away or anything but it's a great charming little platformer on an unusual platform

Odd that Blakey just posted a picture in the Latest Purchase thread as I just finished this myself today. Its only a couple of hours long. The immediate comparison in my mind was Katamari Damacy where as you move something around and as you add to the thing you're moving it gets bigger. In this case it's a hole. The more that goes in the bigger the hole gets and the bigger the things you can swallow. It's more set pieces in opposition to Katamari's sprawling playscape and Donut County is much more story driven. Its about a racoon called BK and his pal, a young lady called Mira. Using an app on his phone that controls the moving hole, BK has basically swallowed up the town including himself and Mira. Turns out the Earth is hollow and all the townsfolk have gathered together underground to try to figure a way out. The levels you play are flashbacks leading up to the current event. In the levels themselves you move the whole around, swallowing things up. Each level is split in to little areas and sometimes the hole size resets, depending on the goal. Also there are puzzle elements. Like in the second level you need to launch a hot air balloon by swalling a flaming kiln. The hole then emitts hot air so you can lift the balloon and end the level. It gets more complicated than that obviously but you get the picture. BK the racoon is quite funny, he's a selfish cunt to comedy effect. The games humour continues in the Trashapedia which is basically a log book of all the shit you pick up with amusing(ish) descriptions. So yea, its nice. Looks nice, nice music. You know, nice. It's just quite short. I liked it though, my kind of game. Nice.

if that's what streaming with Chinese subtitles hardcoded in is, then yes

Choking on that inferior version....😂😂

Fucking hell, that's a sobering perspective on it. And there's people out there worried about the £20 they spent on a season pass for TWD S4...

Not too bothered about the thumb sticks. Can remember they weren't really utilised very well with only a handful I'd call necessary. I'd be interested if it has the games I loved. I mean I have them already on the original machine, and some probably digitally somewhere. Always nice to have a neat little package tho. Three Resi's, Dino Crisis 1/2, MGS, Twisted Metal World Tour, FF's, Jumping Flash, Tekken 3 are some that jump to mind. Ahhh. Good times 😍