Dude’s Chronicles 5-30-2019: Wet Paint

So… its been a while but here I am. For reasons I won’t go into I wasn’t here. For reasons I won’t go into I’m back.

Entertainment

• Overboard – This was a remake of an 80’s movie that I remember very fondly. I also remember that it wasn’t very good. The remake is no different. It was entertaining and whimsical in some ways but the premise is so absurd that you can’t buy too far into it. It had some heart and gave some entertaining moments but in the end… 2.5/5.
• Ready Player One – The movie had a bunch of pop culture references and tried so hard to be endearing but somehow fell short. It felt like a movie that should have been made in about 1985 for all the corniness it had. I did enjoy it but I guess I just didn’t have much expectation going into it so there wasn’t much that could disappoint me, so… 3.1/5
• Tomb Raider – It was very true to the game series that inspired it but somehow just felt flat, just like the recent rebooted game series. The look and feel of the movie very much invoked the game but maybe that was the problem. The movie was too much like the game and they didn’t take it in a direction that was more real and relatable. It was ok and I don’t regret seeing it once meaning… 3/5
• The Predator – I was excited to see Jake Busey but that excitement quickly dashed as was my enjoyment of watching this film. I would rate this as a ‘B’ movie but it had a more ‘direct to video’ feel. It just felt like that script was made up as they went along and someone asked ‘how do you make a Predator scarier?’ with someone else answering ‘I dunno, make him taller?’. For abusing the sanctity of the Predator franchise… -1/5
• Game of Thrones: Season 8 – Despite what anyone else may have to say, I enjoyed this final season. It was well written and produced, my only knock would be the pacing. It seems to me all the haters are just disappointed that it didn’t go the way they wanted. Hate to say it but get used to it since many things in entertainment and life won’t. For being on par with all other seasons… 4.87/5
• Giant Bomb: Crime Crew – They recently started this series and I love it. It is the East coast crew playing the GTA 5 heists and it is hilarious. If you aren’t a Premium member on the site I suggest to sign up for a trial just to try it out and see the first few episodes(during your trial also watch the Exquisite Corps).
• Twitch – I’ve been watching Macho run people through and speedrun the raid. He and his crew struggled at first but came in as the third crew to finish it so congratulations.

Games

• The Division 2 – After finally finishing my third specialization, Survivalist, I am done with this game. For some reason I had it in my head that I need to complete the skill tree so that all the specializations would be available to me but now I feel like I just don’t want to play the game. There is no gear I care about getting and the raid looks like a ball busting experience that isn’t worth getting gear I don’t care about. I hope they add modes like Underground and Survival from the first game into this game so I have a reason to come back to it.
• Life is Strange 2: Episode 3 – I’m two hours into and I think I’m at a pivotal moment and I am thoroughly enjoying it. I hate that they are taking so long to complete this game but I am loving it when I get to play it.

News

• A lot of people played Dauntless – Release a good looking RPG for free and 5 million people logon? Huh? I want to play this game and have even downloaded it on PC but I’m waiting until the weekend when I have some time to actually dedicate to the game.
• Sonic the Hedgehog film delayed – A. Why wasn’t it cancelled? B. Why was it made to begin with? C. Why to I have to ask A and B?
• Tariff wars – Trump vs. China wants to raise the tariff on game consoles from 10%(?) to 25% because that will solve things(???). Trade agreements are more complicated than I understand but singling out gaming feels bad. How about we call out cellphone imports? Raise that a percent or two and I think you’ll get more revenue since more cellphones are sold than game consoles. (Which is exactly why they won’t do it because of the broader impact and it is easier to impact a niche consumer group.) Way to address the issue and side-step the real problem while making gamers look bad because if we complain or say anything we are just whining.
• Modern Warfare – The next Call of Duty game is named Modern Warfare, not to be confused with the other game from years ago that was called Modern Warfare. I wish I cared more about this series since Modern Warfare 2 was a game that I put hundreds of hours into but the games since then have just not hooked me at all. I’ve only plated some of them long after their initial release and found them to be mediocre. Hopefully this retooling of the series will be a fresh start
• Death Stranding – The official release date is November 8th of this year. I never thought this game was going to release much less this year. This game is still a mystery to me in that I don’t understand what it is about or what you are to be doing in it. The Metal Gear-ness of this game is obvious but I just don’t know that I want anything to do with it. However, good on them for putting a release date out and hopefully it sticks but I wouldn’t be surprised if the date slips.

Closing Arguments

My absence and disinterest has been caused by several factors that I will not go into at this time. However, I find that things have taken a turn and I feel like doing stuff again.  In that vein, Chuck and I got back together for The Unlikely Herocast, go check it out if you have the chance. I hope we keep up with it(we recorded a second episode but it isn’t up yet0.

The reason I rated several movies and such this week is because I was on-call for work which basically puts me in lock-down mode for the weekend. Since it was a holiday weekend I had an extra day of not really being able to do much outside of my apartment. Others take that as a burden but I take it as an opportunity. Under the lock-down I cleaned my apartment thoroughly to the point that the only thing left to clean is the carpet(see you next weekend). I even repainted my windowsill and surroundings, yea it got that deep. That also led me to getting a trial of HBO via Amazon Prime and that is how I watched most of those movies and Game of Thrones. That trial didn’t inspire me to keep HBO and I will have already cancelled it by the time you read this but hey… thanks Amazon!

Thanks for stopping by, please come again.

Paul Novak

Owner, Proprietor, Typer of Words, Gamer, Jester

A self described Polish ninja toiling away as an IT professional but more into gaming and writing. Physically existing on the western side of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania yet existentially flowing with the ether of the Internet.

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Dude’s Chronicles 3-28-2019: Thinking About Leaving

Been thinking about a lot of things.

Entertainment

• Hostiles – It was a very good movie but a very slow movie. There were long pockets of almost stillness in between flashes of action. It was well done and felt good in the end but could have put me to sleep at times.
• Jack Taylor – Let’s put it this way Jack Taylor > Jack Reacher. The idea of a cop that is drunk enough to get fired then becomes a kick ass private investigator truly works. This series was phenomenal and I hope they make more but I have no idea about the state of the show.
• Ricky Gervais: Humanity – This dude is still funny. He says things that should piss you off but then seems to explain why they shouldn’t in a hilarious way.
• Giant Bomb – I watched almost all the new content this week and maybe some old stock. This site is like comfort food at this point.

Games

• The Division 2 – At one point I was on the verge of quitting this game. They fixed the skills glitch, which is great, but I still feel link I go from fine to fucked too quickly. There have been too many times were I have been holding my own, killing enemies, keeping my health up, and then something happens. Either a molotov cocktail comes from nowhere and damn near burns me a live but leaves me alive enough to try to heal only to have somebody kill me from a mile away with a shotgun. The other scenario is when I’m playing an event, get the entire way to the final boss and he just smashes or shoots me dead in seconds. Sometimes the frustration greatly out weighs the fun.
• Tap Titans 2 – I keep hearing Jeff Gertsmann talk about it and decided to try it. If you need something that is senseless and doesn’t take any thought it’s pretty good.

News

• PlayStation State of Play – Sony sure is doubling down on the VR, huh? I’ve never seen it myself, nor any other VR system, but the reports are that the PSVR is the lowest rated. Balance that against most accessible, taken how many households already have a PS4 versus how may households have PC’s that could do VR. I’m curious how this will blend into their next gen plans.
• Apple Arcade – Is this just like a subscription to the AppStore??? I looked at the game list and didn’t recognize a thing. But hey, I’m sure it will do well. After all I’m a guy that thought the iPad would ruin Apple.
• EA laysoff 350 – Sympathies go out to all these folk and I hope them a speedy bounce back. I’m not sure what this company is anymore after it cancels games, backs out of E3 and even have a press conference, release Anthem to woeful responses, but then green-lit and launched APEX Legends.
• Kaz Hirai to retire – Congratulations. This has been coming since he stepped out of the CEO role last year but now it is official and he will leave on June 18. Seems like there has been a lot of turn-around at the tops of Sony and PlayStation, I’m curious as to why.
• Boderlands 3 – If this is just more Boderlands then I’m not sure I care. The first game was fun, the sequel was a little less, and the pre-sequel was even lesser. They need to do something that is still Boderlands but does something new.

Closing Arguments

There have been many things on my mind of late and one of them is this blog. Doing one post a week that almost nobody reads just doesn’t seem worthwhile. I feel like if I were doing something more collaborative I would be more into. Then I would have other people to bounce of off and keep my energy. At this point, I’m not sure if I’ll continue solo here but I have nowhere else to go.

But I’ll think that over while I watch some PAX East panels this weekend.

Paul Novak

Owner, Proprietor, Typer of Words, Gamer, Jester

A self described Polish ninja toiling away as an IT professional but more into gaming and writing. Physically existing on the western side of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania yet existentially flowing with the ether of the Internet.

Dude’s Chronicles 3-21-2019: What Day Is This???

Image via tenor.com

Seriously wasn’t going to bother with this post just some sheer lack of motivation, yet somehow I’m doing it anyway.

Entertainment

• Layer Cake – Slow, sort of boring. Just didn’t do much for me. Time could have been spent better.
• Triple Frontier – I like salty Ben Affleck. He was salty but… he just wasn’t in it enough. The movie kind of fell flat at a point and didn’t hold up.
• Stripes – I still miss John Candy… and Harold Ramis. This is a classic movie that still entertains me.
• After Life – A funny but touching look at loss. I liked how he could be such an asshole because I relate to that. It was nice how it came around in the end. I recommend this show.
• Extras – I’m not sure what or why I don’t care for this show. It plods along and really doesn’t do much.
• Conan Without Borders – I forgot how goofy and weird this guy is. Very funny.

Games

• The Division 2 – I’m just about done with the main story. The game play is very good and the story in on par with the original. It was nearly game breaking when the skills were glitched but that seems to be fixed.

News

• Stadia – Google has wild ideas but also has the tech and money to back them up. It was interesting to see what they have said but until we get our hands on it I’m not sold. I think of multi-player games where you have to be fast and I wonder how they are going to handle streaming the game and the match at the same time without effecting latency. I also think of people that have bandwidth caps and how this may be a problem. Time will tell.

Closing Arguments

I’ve watched a bunch of stuff and played a lot of The Division 2 during my vacation. Unfortunately I’m going to have figure out a way to pull myself together before returning to work next week.

Paul Novak

Owner, Proprietor, Typer of Words, Gamer, Jester

A self described Polish ninja toiling away as an IT professional but more into gaming and writing. Physically existing on the western side of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania yet existentially flowing with the ether of the Internet.

Dude’s Chronicles 3-14-2019: Ask Me Anything… Else

Image via giphy.com

Everybody asks me how I am. I respond back “Fantastic”, I’m not sure they are picking up on my sarcasm.

Entertainment

• Deadpool 2 – Maybe not the same as the first but just as irreverent. That same sense of heart versus smartass is there and enjoyable.
• Jumanji – The new version was very different than what came out years ago but it stood out in its own way.
• Man on Fire – Badass Denzel is good Denzel. Just saying.
• Bohemian Rhapsody – Even with some historical inaccuracies this is a very good movie. The character performances are immersive for all the major characters. The only thing that gets me about the film is that from what I feel that I know of the band, some of the events did not play out in the order in which are portrayed in the movie. I get why the did it but I also feel that they could have been truer to the real story with out betraying it.

Games

• Apex Legends – Man… I’m just not good at this game. I’ve tried different characters and strategies but I’m just not doing any better. Either I finish top 5 for die right away and it’s usually the latter. Maybe that is just the game or maybe that is just me.
• XCOM2 – My hopes to finish my play-through have been dashed by the fact that I realized that I bought the version of The Division 2 that gives me early access. Legitimately did not remember I bought that version.
• The Division 2 – I haven’t gotten through the same content that was in the alpha and betas yet.  Its be a problem of my own time not allowing me to play more but… I may have more time in the near future.

News

• Crackdown 2 – It is now Xbox One backwards compatible and free. I played very little of the first and none of the second. Perhaps this is just a ploy to get more interest in Crackdown 3 which has seemingly come and gone with almost no notice. It could also just be Microsoft trying to make as many games as possible backward compatible. Either way, I downloaded it with no intentions of ever playing it.
• Apex Legends is more viewed than Fortnite on Twitch – Not surprising but it’ll be interesting if it continues as the more watched game and for how long. Fortnite supplanted PUBG as the most watched but PUBG still maintains a fair share of viewers, therefore I don’t think we need to worry about Fortnite.
• Halo back on PC – Not only is the Master Chief Collection coming to PC it is adding Halo: Reach. To top that off, it won’t only be on the Microsoft Store but also on Steam, this is the surprising part. My thoughts are that they will sell it on both stores but you can’t play the games on Xbox if you but it on Steam as per Microsoft’s play-anywhere with their store purchases.
• Dancing lawsuits – I guess you can still sue for these but you have to have a registered copyright before filing the suit. That makes sense but that means people had been suing for stuff they technically didn’t have a legal right too? Hmmm.
• Xbox Live on Android and iOS – After the service came to Switch it seemed like only a matter of time that it came to other major platforms. There was a game or two, on iOS at least, that had Achievements but I guess this now brings more to the table.
• Stream pc to Xbox One – One step closer to making that Steam Link a thing of the past. The major missing piece is the lack of keyboard and mouse control but there will be controller support.

Closing Arguments

So… I’ll be playing a bunch of The Division 2 since I’m on vacation. I’m not going anywhere so I’ll pass the time with gaming because why not?

Paul Novak

Owner, Proprietor, Typer of Words, Gamer, Jester

A self described Polish ninja toiling away as an IT professional but more into gaming and writing. Physically existing on the western side of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania yet existentially flowing with the ether of the Internet.

Dude’s Chronicles 3-7-2019: Insert Witty Title

Image via gifimage.net

Not much to say.

Entertainment

• The Sopranos – Truly disappointed with how the series ended. Not sure how anybody else feels otherwise. It was not clever, it was lazy.
• Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse – The movie was moving and entertaining. A Spider-Man movie with multiple Spider-Man is maybe the coolest idea and they pulled it off very well. The only thing I didn’t like was the weird framey visuals. It was like trying to watch a monitor that was out of sync.
• Ozark – This show is pretty damn good. I’m surprised it got as deep as it did plot wise as quickly as it did.

Games

• Red Dead Revolver – I bought the game on PS4 but only played about an hour of it. It is interesting so far and I hope to get some more time into it soon.
• Apex Legends – I’ve only played a handful of games and they have been of they type where you get wiped out almost immediately.
• XCOM2 – I’ve not made a lot of progress since I keep save-scumming. There have been several missions that I was going from fine to fucked in the space of one turn. One mission was going so poorly that I load a save from before the mission was started just so I could rebuild a different team.
• The Division 2 open beta – I can’t wait for the game to come out but I’m having some concerns. Not sure I like the different classes. Not sure about the AI ability to kill agents as I feel like even low level enemies seemed to kill me pretty quick. Most of what I’m worried about could have changed in the final build and I guess I have to wait and see.

News

• Fornite adding Apex Legends features – They already added the ping system and will be adding the respawn towers. Is this life imitating art or art imitating life?
• RIP PS Vita – We all new it was coming but its still sad that production has ended in Japan. The little handheld console had such promise but just never became anything in my mind. If only it had had games like the Switch is getting.
• Anthem crashing – Apparently it is crashing on Xbox One and PS4 consoles to the point that EA is asking players to contribute data on the PS4 crashes. This game has had nothing but troubles and it is not being well received. Giant Bomb reviewed the game and gave it a 2 out of 5 stars. That is the same score they gave Mass Effect: Andromeda. I personally don’t disagree. On top of the game being buggy it just isn’t very good. It has problems patches aren’t going to fix.
• Steam pulls game about rape – It’s not a question of whether it should have been pulled or not, the real question was why was it listed to begin with?

Closing Arguments

In the down time before The Division 2 releases i hope to close out my XCOM2 play-through. With that I’m putting off playing any more of Red Dead Revolver. The jumping between them made it feel like I wasn’t getting anywhere in either.

Paul Novak

Owner, Proprietor, Typer of Words, Gamer, Jester

A self described Polish ninja toiling away as an IT professional but more into gaming and writing. Physically existing on the western side of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania yet existentially flowing with the ether of the Internet.

Dude’s Chronicles 2-28-2019: Until the End

Image via youtube.com

Don’t ask questions that you don’t want to hear the answers for.

Entertainment

• The Sopranos – Nearing the end of the final season is both exciting and saddening. I want to see what happens but I also don’t want it to end. That last season feels different than the first five and that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
• Twitch and Giant Bomb – Still not into watching much else at this point.

Games

• Anthem – Even after playing a couple more hours the best way I can describe my feelings on the game is disinterested. I’ve read and heard one sentiment from several content sources, written and video, to the affect of ‘the game does a lot of things but doesn’t do any of them particularly well’. Unfortunately that seems like an accurate assessment of this game.
• Apex Legends – If it is actually possible, I might be getting worse at this game. Even after managing a third place finish I get the feeling that I’m understanding the game less. I’m just not getting the abilities and to a lesser extent I don’t understand the routes my teammates are taking. More often than not I find myself separated from my two squadmates and completely confused as to how to find them. Maybe I just don’t know the map but I fear it is a deeper problem that I am having with the game.
• XCOM2 – Maybe just maybe I’ve stabilized campaign but only time will tell.

News

• New Overwatch Hero – As glad as I am to see continued support for the game I feel just as bad that it does nothing to even spark my interest in playing the game again.
• Anthem loot rates – One patch unexpectedly raises them and then the next patch corrects them. As if this game needed one more thing for people to get pissed about. It’s like the comparisons to Destiny just keep coming.
• THQ’s ill-advised AMA – When a PR person agrees to do an AMA on a website known for child pornography and racism you have to wonder how good they are at they job.
• HoloLens Military use – In a moralistic effort, those working on the technology are asking Microsoft to cancel contracts that would use the technology for Military purposes. Good on them for taking the high ground but I would not expect to see the status of these contracts change.
• Horizon Zero Dawn passes 10 million sold – Two years post launch it seems trivial to talk about this number since the game remains in my mind regardless. I think about replaying the game constantly but I get drawn into other newer games. The idea of a game+ play-through of this game has always intrigued me, I just haven’t done it.

Closing Arguments

The Division 2 open beta is this weekend and it is about the only thing I’m looking forward to.

Paul Novak

Owner, Proprietor, Typer of Words, Gamer, Jester

A self described Polish ninja toiling away as an IT professional but more into gaming and writing. Physically existing on the western side of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania yet existentially flowing with the ether of the Internet.

Dude’s Chronicles 2-22-2019: The March to March

Image via walnutcapital.com

It’s almost March, St. Patty’s day is upon us. You know what that means… that’s right, Shamrock Shakes.

Entertainment

• The Sopranos -It’s still pretty good. I’m a near or at the end of season three. This and Breaking Bad are shows that I feel ok about spending entire days watching it.
• Twitch and Giant Bomb – I haven’t been watching much other than The Sopranos but I’ve been trying to keep up with the regular shows on Giant Bomb and a few streams on Twitch. After popping in and out of a few streamers playing Anthem there is definitely a mix of people that love it, like it, and loathe it.

Games

• Anthem – I’ve been playing some of this game via EA Access on the Xbox but I’m just not feeling it. For the most part it runs fine and looks good. The only graphical issues I’ve seen are frame rate drops while in Tarsis and during cut-scenes. Overall I just don’t find the game interesting. The story seems mediocre and the mission design feels dull.
• Apex Legends – I still suck at this game but man is it fun. Somehow I got a second place finish. Pretty sure the other guy on the team carried me since the third person died early on.
• XCOM2 – Not too sure my play-through is going well. I get the feeling that things are about to fail for me and I’m not sure why. Guess I should pay better attention while I’m playing it.

News

• The Punisher and Jessica Jones cancelled – This is somewhat sad news but it was inevitable but still unfortunate. The Punisher seemed to leave off in a good place and I’m wondering if Jessica Jones will do the same, I hope so.
• Carlton doesn’t own The Carlton? – After a copyright denial points out that NBC may actually own any right to the dance I guess Alfonso Ribeiro’s claim to the dance isn’t going so well. Didn’t Destiny have this dance in it? Why didn’t he sue them? Odd, huh?
• Reggie Fils-Aime retirement – First of all, congratulations good sir. I’m not a big Nintendo person but I always appreciated how his energy was a nice balance against the other public heads of Nintendo being so stoic. Secondly, Bowser? Were there writers to this joke? This can’t be an amazing coincidence.

Closing Arguments

Yes, this post is a day later than usual. That is due to some personal issues. Unto which I will conclude with the statement that to this point I feel that 2019 can go fuck itself harder than 2018 should have.

Paul Novak

Owner, Proprietor, Typer of Words, Gamer, Jester

A self described Polish ninja toiling away as an IT professional but more into gaming and writing. Physically existing on the western side of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania yet existentially flowing with the ether of the Internet.