shinymcshine

Probably a weird, but relevant place to mention the Neverwinter Nights 2 Remaster that's coming out (PC & Consoles) in just a couple of weeks ... https://www.rpgfan.com/2025/06/11/neverwinter-nights-2-gets-enhanced/ Well I never....

Re. Super Mario Strikers Is it a similar thing with Inazuma Eleven too - which has a huge number of games and multimedia spinoffs but never feels like it particularly gets much of a mention in the UK ? It has a new game, IE Victory Road, coming out in Aug 25. I played one on the DS - it was okay, but didn't particularly grab me. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inazuma_Eleven

Well it was if you'd played one before (on 360) then DA pretty much had always been a bit 'Mass Effect with swords' hasn't it....?

I'm pretty sure that's either a whimsical tease, or outright wind-up.......

For all the plaudits that To Kill a Mockingbird gets .....

TBH I don't really know what the demographic of the gaming market is anymore - and those games that are appealing as they create enduring income (live service sub, in app purchases etc) against the single player offline experience (which is still my preference, but doesn't seem to fit too much in the AAA profit margin) and those companies that focus on mobile phone and VR games. I'm predominantly onboard with the Gamepass experience - I'm way past even contemplating buying a £70 new release (not sure how that fits having recently bought the NS2 with MKW bundle) but I will buy the occasional heavily discounted item. So yep, I'd love them to keep making games that I like, and fortunately that some niche devs still do (Solasta, Pathfinder / Rogue Trader, Wartales etc) so there is at least a market for them.

I get frustrated at work with almost every issue someone will say "Can we use AI to solve that ?" then when I say "What do you actually mean by that?" or "Is the benefit of that approach worth the environmental impact?" or "Have you considered any safety or security impacts of using AI?" then I'm usually met either with silence or some sort of response akin to 'stop being obstructive and move with the times...' It infuriates me that AI often just used as a catch all term now for any sort of computer assisted modelling, regardless of whether it's an open or closed system, and whether or not any machine learning is actually occurring. Further, when people keep using AI to find basic information, often repeatedly, rather than bookmarking a given source or actually researching themselves to find out whether the given answer is correct (or even at times relevant).

Rebekah Del Rio died a couple of days ago (age 57) - most notable for her performance in Club Silencio in Mulholland Drive, she also performed in Twin Peaks The Return (Ep. 10 singing 'No Stars'). https://variety.com/2025/film/obituaries-people-news/rebekah-del-rio-dead-mulholland-drive-1236442508/

I'm just hitting the 90 hour mark on Rogue Trader - it's a fantastic CRPG (irrespective of whether your hugely into Warhammer 40k or not)

On one hand it's nice that someone is putting out new content, but on the other they hardly look like they are titles to entice new hardware sales.

Just a week ago it seemed pretty dead, when they pulled support for Beat Saber.... https://www.pushsquare.com/news/2025/06/psvr2-to-lose-the-support-of-its-best-game-this-month

Thought I'd blown it at the end of Act 3 as I was struggling a bit with an end boss type fight, where I was overwhelmed by numbers, reinforcements and it's mid life refresh (and emergence of a couple of turrets). So down to 3/6 companions, noting that it also allows mid fight saves games, and having been wiped out on previous efforts (and feared that my party either wasn't skilled enough (sub optimal builds, or I'd just got the wrong party members with me (and couldn't change as I was way into Act 3 by now)) I tried a slightly different approach, and it paid off !

I hated the whole cinematic overlay on God of War (2018) and didn't progress much into the game since I felt like it was trying too hard to present itself as a different form of medium, rather than just sticking to actually being a game. When I got to the fight The Stranger part I wasn't really convinced if it was an actual fight or just of bunch of scripted sequences to drive the plot - so off it went and I never returned to it.

Blimey, I've not seen that and wasn't aware !

Caught up on a couple of older films on iPlayer that I'd not seen: The Commitments - despite being reasonably aware of the musical style of the band (as loads of wedding bands in the 90s took a lead from the movie) I had no idea it was actually set in Dublin, or that they'd predominantly cast musicians rather than star name actors in the roles (aside from Colm Meaney). Was alright, but despite actually quite liking many of the original versions of the soul songs, the band versions nowadays sound too much like some risible ensemble efforts from one of those Jool Holland music shows. Starter for 10 - enjoyable, with a number of early roles for later notable British actors. Couple of weird quirks though - Catherine Tate playing James McAvoy's mum, whilst only having a 10 yr age gap between them*, and despite some filming being done in Jaywick and Clacton, McAvoy's character is later introduced as being from Southend. Also, and I know they were in a hurry, but when someone said, "Come on we've got to be in Manchester in 2 hrs" - well that's about 170 miles from Bristol, it's not happening (esp. with 4 of them in a 2CV....). *Wonder if this is the smallest age gap in movie parentage - the main notable one that often gets mentioned is the 12 yr age difference between Sean Connery & Harrison Ford in Indiana Jones & The Last Crusade.