Some Updating

So, October, with the Puerto Rico fundraiser, wiped my ass out, but it was a great success.

I took most of November to rest, as I went from summer code crunch time to neck surgery to recovery to a month-long intense fundraiser, and I needed to breathe.

So, here's some random shit for you.

The 1UP Rejects
First, some of my fellow 1UP.com community alumni and I have got this thing going called The 1UP Rejects. It's a ... thing. Videos and writing and streaming and shit. Check it out. It's actually very, very early, and doesn't really launch until next year, but take a gander and feel free to go ahead and start enjoying it.

I'm streaming there every Tuesday evening, at 8PM central. Last night was the first stream from the new channel, and it was ... an adventure, but ended up being very successful.

So watch me there, and/or follow this playlist (warning: some NSFW mods in there):



We have a show we're doing every Thursday on the channel, too. 8PM central, also.

Really, there should be stuff going most evenings over there, with a great variety of streamers, and we're starting to get some lunch slots filled, too.

Check us out:
Blog
Twitch
Twitter
YouTube
Facebook

Moving on ...

2017 Games
I've played a few games this year, and the two that left the biggest impact were Divinity: Original Sin 2 and Horizon Zero Dawn. Each of them are easily my favorite games of the year. They are wildly different games, and fed different parts of my soul, but I loved them both. DOS2 tickled my intellect deeply and let me stop and think. HZD was a really cool world and equally cool story with very rewarding combat and exploration.

Go play them both.

Also, any 'best game of 2017' nominee list that doesn't include them both is wrong and should be ignored.

This year, I've also enjoyed Torment: Tides of Numenera, Elex, Mass Effect Andromeda, Dishonored: Death of the Outsider, Uncharted: Lost Legacy, ESO: Morrowind, and Guild Wars 2: Path of Fire. Go play all of those, too. Especially Torment.

What did I miss? What are your favorites from this year? Have you played HZD and DOS2? What'd you think?

I'm still playing through Elex, and I'm really looking forward to Seven: The Days Long Gone, which releases Friday. It's coming from some ex-CDPR devs, and it's isometric stealth parkour steampunk awesomeness.



Shit looks dope.

Follow me on Twitter for more stuff, probably streaming and random thoughts and shit. See ya.

-Blaine

Gamescom! WOOHOO!

Gamescom 2016 is almost upon us. I'm stoked.

If you wanna watch some of the live coverage, IGN has it. I'm gonna check around more tonight and see if I can dig up any other live streams.

I'm still coming to understand Gamescom, as it is a bit different from E3. It's in Cologne, Germany, for one, but it also has an 'open to the public' component, as well.

It's bigger, in terms of attendance, but it's temporal proximity to E3, I think, has diminished its overall profile. It seems to have fewer pressers every year, but there's still lotsa great looks at games there.

It's also a chance for a lot of my favorite European developers, like Larian, Piranha Bytes, and CD Projekt Red to shine and get some love.

SERIOUSLY? This guy?

Oh, and Final Fantasy XV got delayed. Hmm. I have the game preordered, but I can't say that I'm really expecting a lot from the title. I despise the character design, I like that they added pause-and-play to combat after foolishly ditching turn-based, and the characters themselves seem to be somewhere between bland and melodramatic fucktards. Still, it's a numerical Final Fantasy, and I'm a slave to that series, so ...

But, I'm still looking forward to the game. I just wish it was coming to PC. YEAH YEAH YEAH, I know. You hate being able to tailor your gaming experience to your exact desires. Sure.

Anyway ...

FFXV will also be at Gamescom.

Hey, if you're not watching Dark Matter, you're part of the problem. Give it a look. I love this show.

I'm super-stoked for Nuka World. Give it a look.



Once Nuka World releases, I don't think we're seeing any actual big new games from MGS for a long, long time. Elder Scrolls VI is way, way down the road, and don't even bring up Fallout 5. Of course, it would be awesome to see New Vegas 2 from Obsidian. I'd greedily devour that shit. New Vegas is probably in my top 10 games of all time.

Games I'll be watching for at Gamescom:

Elex
Deus Ex: Mankind Divided
Dishonored 2
Divinity: Original Sin 2
Final Fantasy XV
Prey
Seven
Warhammer 40k: Dawn of War 3
Warhammer 40k: Inquisitor: Martyr
Watch Dogs 2

And, oh look, IGN has a couple unannounced games in their coverage. That's interesting. Hmm.

What about you? Anything that might be at Gamescom that's got you stoked?

Alright, that's enough for now. Yeah, I still owe you more Star Trek pics, I know. We'll get to that ... uh ... soon.

-Blaine