apewins

I went digital pretty much as soon as possible, on PC with the launch of Half-Life 2, and on console the Xbox 360. Games tend to go on sale so quickly that I almost never buy games at full price, and it the digital is 24.99 and the physical is 19.99, that's a difference I'll easily pay to not worry about discs. Besides, if you buy the DLC you have to go digital anyway and you usually get a better price buying it all in a bundle. I will say that I miss going to the stores and browsing games and going home with a new one, or maybe a DVD movie instead, but those shops don't really exist any more.

I'm not worried about game conservation. Companies nowadays are doing a pretty good job of putting all their catalogue on sale in some form, and if they don't you can eventually emulate it. Why worry about the GTA Definite Edition shitshow for example when you can easily go back to the source yourself.

Having moved long-distance several times in my life has also made digital far more convenient. Though part of me of course envies people with big houses where they can build their own video game museums when just about all I own can fit in a back of a van (and the few furniture that doesn't fit can be tossed away because it wasn't expensive). Well, I'm sure many young people in big cities who live in more or less literal closets can relate.

However with the Switch I've gone back to physical. Games are often significantly cheaper physically if you're willing to look around and wait, Nintendo games hold their resale value much better than others, and Nintendo's online offering is still shit so there is a good chance that none of your purchases will carry over to their next console. I will admit that they look nice and it's good that they are much smaller, the cases are smaller than DVD cases used to be, and the cartridges are much easier to handle than discs, they're small and no need to worry about them being scratched.

I don't like how the GB crew always goes to "it's on Game Pass so try it out yourself". First, it takes time to download some games on crappy connections, but more than that, a lot of games take time to get going because you've got so much mandatory tutorials and world building. For Giant Bomb employees who get paid to play games, playing a game for five hours might be one work day. For me, that's 1-2 weeks of game time that I have after work and other responsibilities and I'd really like to spend that time on content that I'm likely to enjoy rather than testing out random games to see which ones stick.

Carrion was one game that I really didn't like, but by the time that I realized that the game wasn't going to get any better, I felt I was committed to it and suffered my way to the end of it. I don't necessarily need to see critics shit on games just for the sake of it, but some seem to be reluctant to say anything bad about games that are free* (*not actually free) and instead go to their default "try it out yourself, see if you like it". And to that I say, I can easily find a list of games available on Game Pass on the Internet, so you're not providing me any real value by just listing games that are on there.

I also agree with the Achievement cluttering. Maybe I'm a little sick in the head and I get that most people aren't bothered by it, but it hurts me to see a long list of games that I have one achievement in, you know the one that you typically get as soon as you start the game. And the solution is obvious, let us delete (or at least hide) achievements we don't want.

With the PS5 now being more than a year old, the concept of buying one seems less enticing. I still have my preorder in, and I have to believe that it's getting closer, but I'm not so sure if I would go and pick it up if it became available tomorrow. The inevitable PS5 Pro is getting closer.

Where I'm from the scalpers asking price isn't much higher that what they're supposed to cost, and you potentially lose out on the warranty. Have to wonder how long are they going to keep doing that for a somewhat marginal profit, running the risk that they'll end up with units that they'll eventually have to sell at a loss.

Frozen is a better movie than any F&F movie, and I'm not even a massive fan of it. I had a decent time listening to the Film and 40s versions of the F&F franchise but can't imagine watching any of those movies on their own.

No Time To Die - 2/5

At almost 3 hours in runtime, this is a bloated mess of a movie that hugely overestimates how much the audience cares about Bond's feelings. The plot remains paper-thin and it spends too much time retconnecting the mistakes of the previous movie rather than moving it along. Much could be forgiven if the action was good, but it isn't. Despite another madman trying to take over the world, the action lacks any kind of spectacle that the series has been known for, instead Bond is mostly brawling in tight spaces that makes the movie feel cheap.

I will give props to the cast, especially Rami Malek and Lea Seydoux give amazing performances even though their characters stink. If Malek had been utilized better he could have been one of the all time memorable Bond baddies.

The movie makes some controversial choices (some of which have been openly talked about in the marketing), but overall it feels the movie uses controversy to shield itself from critique. It wants people to feel conflicted rather than disappointed, and judging by the mixed reception it seems to have succeeded in that.

Oh, the cinematography is excellent, for the most part the movie looks very good.

Answered your survey. I was impressed by the game worlds and mechanics that they had made in early 3D, not so much the graphics. I don't believe that anyone looked at those games and thought that they were incredibly life-like, that's more of a nostalgia effect that we are looking back on. The graphics looked just as much of a mess back then as they look now, it's just that it was impressive that we got there at all and it really sparked our imagination on what was possible, or going to be possible soon.

Have to pick GTA 4 on the strength of its story, even if it loses steam towards the end. Niko is just one of the most likeable protagonists in gaming, aside of being a psychopath and all. And the open world in that game is better than in GTA 5 with much more interesting things to do and see, even if it is smaller in scope.

I haven't finished Infinite but I still can't get over the Cortana storyline. So the AI is set to shut down after seven years, but instead of just closing it goes crazy and puts everything around it in jeopardy. This may be commentary on planned obsolescence but it's pretty wild that the military would make its own products like that, especially in space. But suppose there is some good reason for that, and then John Halo, Mr. Military himself, just decides that he can't allow the military to do its thing and shut Cortana down because he would miss her, and thus he puts the entire universe in danger. Wouldn't it be ironic if it was Master Chief that eventually destroyed the world just moments after saving it.

First race that I've tuned in since Mika Häkkinen retired and I had absolutely no idea what was going on. It looked like fun though and if Hamilton never gets his 8th championship I look forward to the debates about who was better, him or Schumacher.

I picked this up with the Oled Switch and I'm finding the opening to be a terrible slog due to how easy it is. I'm maybe 10-15 battles in and haven't even had a single character die (or "die" as they do in this universe). The 100% hit guarantee for character out of cover feels a little unfair, no matter which side you're on - if you're caught without cover, you're absolutely going to get smoked, there's no "maybe" or "probably" about it because every shot hits every time. And your tactical options are very limited too, you don't even get the overwatch function until you're a fair amount in the game. I'm glad to hear that it gets better because I was about to give up on it, but maybe I'll try to play a little bit further.