#5 ads before a video is on par with playing an ad at the same time as a video

[jaythelay]

Wowww Tumblr really just autoplayed an o reily's ad at full blast volume the second I launched, SOMEWHERE in the app hidden from view.

Yeah no straight up I will move the fuck on if that happens again. Fucking absurd advertisements still play any audio when that's what booned the initial adblock users in the first place.

Can't adblock the tumblr app but I'll gladly never come the fuck back. This is how you keep users from seeing premium in any light but pathetic. Awful.

[sexhaver]

ive been playing Cassette Beasts for a minute and it never stops being funny to me how flagrant they are about making this "Pokemon but with features you didn't know Pokemon has always needed". off the top of my head:

super effective/NVE hits have added benefits/debuffs beyond just doubling/halving the damage (hitting Electric types with Ground reduces their evasion and speed, hitting Steel types with Poison gives them poison-coated spikes that do contact damage, etc)

legally-distinct-Pokemon will learn new moves while in your party without having to battle, and you can then straight up steal these moves from them and put them on a not-Pokemon you actually care about using, which gives an actual incentive to hunt down and raise otherwise fringe not-mons beyond completing the not-Pokedex

we all played the Pokemon Infinite Fusion fangame right? we know how fusions work? okay so this game has them as temporary per-battle things instead of permanent ones, which is only marginally less cool while being infinitely easier to balance around

attempting to catch something shows you the percentage chance of success so you know whether you just got unlucky or if you should save your Pokeballs-i-mean-blank-cassette-tapes

leveling up is tied to your not-trainer instead of your not-pokemon, so you don't end up in the classic trap where your starter is way overleveled and everything else is underleveled and then you hit a fight your starter can't solo and have to spend an hour grinding to get the weaker not-mons up to par (funnily enough most Pokemon Nuzlocke romhacks have already figured this out and give you infinite rare candies with the only restriction being that you can't level past the next gym leader's ace pokemon, because Pokemon fans have realized that grinding is the worst part of the game way before Game Freak has)

moves, not-Pokeballs, not-PokeCenter visits, and healing items are all bought using entirely separate currencies which stops you from trivially breaking the economy in half

the soundtrack, fittingly, is pretty good! the vocals were a bit much for my taste but there's an option in the settings menu to straight up turn them off (letting the BGM play on its own), which i've never seen in any other game and really appreciate

downsides:

on a game design level, i understand why can i only carry a max of 5 not-Potions and 1 not-Revive at a time - it's to put a limit on how far away from fast travel points i can get by just running away from everything and healing off damage. on a gameplay level, however, this feels pretty bad

the pixel art style is trying to look as much like Pokemon as possible without actually being Pokemon so the overworld sprites look more like beta stuff from Pokemon that they cut for looking too weird. i have yet to find a haircut that doesn't look bad

this is super petty of me but something about the bloom and lighting of the 3d environments combined with pixelated 2d sprites that still cast shadows makes me painfully aware im playing a video game. it's like they were going for the same aesthetic as Octopath Traveler but fell just barely short. i can't think of a better way to articulate this feeling but if you know you know

it does that really obnoxious half-assed style of voice acting where plot-relevant characters will sometimes (maybe every third or fourth textbox) speak the first two or three words of dialogue before trailing off. mashing through textboxes (as one does) means constantly getting jumpscared by "hmm"s and "haha!"s "okay then!"s

i get that they wanted to make the player feel involved in the story, and it has a pretty decent hook so far, but oh my god. the amount of dialogue "choices" that just transparently do not matter. you know how people memed on Fallout 3 and 4's dialogue choices all leading to the same outcome, to the extent that you were basically choosing between "yes" and "yes (rude)"? and you know how Bethesda would at least attempt to justify how both options led to you accepting the quest anyways, even if it was really dumb? Cassette Beasts has streamlined this process even further by making the options in most of their binary decisions so identical that they don't even require different followup dailogue before rejoining into the main conversation thread. a solid 2/3rds of the dialogue options in this game so far feel like checks that you're still awake. i know this is a minor issue because people aren't playing Pokemon-likes for the engaging "choices matter" approach to storytelling, and i did ignore it at first, but it's so pervasive that you really can't ignore it

[legion1227]

The Last of Us: TV show Review. (Mild spoilers).

This has to be up there as one of the best video game-to-live-action adaptations, correct? 

When the first few episodes dropped, some critics and journalists praised it as the first ever good video game adaptation. However, in the last few years alone, animated shows like Cuphead, Arcane, and Castlevania already broke the "video game curse," as some might describe it. The Last of Us cements itself as a show up there as one of the greats and on par with the equally superb game. 

Years after a zombie outbreak, Joel and Ellie trek across America and endure hardship after hardship that the undead and fellow survivors throw their way. 

As far as an adaptation goes, The Last of Us tv show follows the game closely but also has its own identity. There's a blend and demonstration of respect as the creative team, Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann, who also crafted the beloved game, follow the blueprint the game left, yet also add different and new elements that don't take away from the game, adding depth to the story instead. 

The third episode of the Last of Us focuses on Joel and Ellie shortly before shifting hard to tell the love ballad between characters Frank (Murray Bartlett) and Bill (Nick Offerman) for the majority of the hour. Bill's contribution to the story in the game is vastly different as Frank is already dead, and we get a glimpse into his depressing lifestyle without his partner that's coincided with a boss fight in a school against a bloater. As much as I would have loved to see a throwdown between Joel, Ellie, Bill, and a jacked zombie, the beautiful love story told instead was acceptable. It's one of the first instances the show displays that I always wanted to see with a game adaptation to film or tv. 

When adapting a book, game, or otherwise to a small or large screen, I believe you need to find a sense of balance. You have the original material before you, plenty to adapt with your vision, but also implementing original ideas that fit the story adds to the medium and makes it a more unique experience as opposed to the original material. 

The Last of Us show is what I want from an adaptation. The game is already near-perfect, and the show follows the game close enough while interjecting new ideas that differentiate it from the game while also putting it on par in terms of quality. 

Bill and Frank's love story is not the only story and dynamic that works. Episode 8, titled Left Behind, adapts the DLC from the game where you play as Ellie. A significant portion of the DLC tells another love story between Ellie and her best friend, Riley (Storm Reid), as they explore a mall. The bond these two children share comes off as authentic as they marvel at the sights before them with genuine delight. If there's something the show succeeds at, it's portraying duo dynamics. 

Bill and Frank and Ellie and Riley are two relationships fueled by love and end with tragedies, resulting in breaking the viewer's heart. Episode 5 is the same as Joel and Ellie come across two brothers, Henry (Lamar Johnson) and Sam (Keivonn Woodard). Of all the stories, how theirs ends broke my heart the most, even though I knew how it would end since I played the game before. I suppose I forgot how depressing the story of Last of Us could be. And if the show is going to continue following the route of the games, then when season 2 drops and follows the events of the second game, everyone is going to shit themselves with grief. 

Among the multiple duos and different dynamics, Pedro Pascal as Joel and Bella Ramsey as Ellie is the driving force. Pascal and Ramsey deliver performances that put the two on par with the game's voice actors Troy Baker and Ashley Johnson. ( Sidenote: I love how they got the voice of Ellie to play her mother in the show. A genius choice. However, having Baker play 2nd fiddle to a cannibal as opposed to his counterpart in Johnson was odd and comedic in juxtaposition, but he made the role work.) Pascal's portrayal of Joel has him put up a much stronger stoic front that Ramsey's Ellie slowly breaks down as the two forms a bond by the last episode. Joel may have lost a daughter in the first episode, but he found a new one in the end. 

There are not many complaints I have about the show. It's well-acted and smartly written, the action scenes are shot well, and the story feels grounded for a zombie apocalypse tale. It's literally just as good as the game. 

I do find two gripes. One, I think the show could've used one more episode to help with the pacing. The whole section with Joel and Ellie with Bill in the school was omitted in place of Bill and Frank's love story. While I respect the choice, it would've been nice to find a way to incorporate Joel and Ellie having to traverse a school and watch out for the undead. Ideally, you could have the duo strengthen their bond more in an episode like this while also avoiding and/or murdering more zombies. (which brings us to my second point.) Two, there weren't enough zombies. The huge concern in the apocalypse for survivors appears to be other survivors. Realistically, zombies, clickers, and undead in any form should be just as worrying as other groups of survivors. But across several episodes, the lack of presence of zombies is felt. I hope season 2 rectifies the issue by displaying more zombies as a terrifying threat. 

As amazing as this show was, it was equally depressing. 4.5/5. I am simultaneously looking forward to and dreading the events to follow in the next season. 

[howtodownloadgta5installer8]

Grand Theft Auto 5 is re-released on Mobile phone, as well, such as Android as well as IOS. So GTA 5 Android is precisely similar to the PC/Consoles variation, and also the storyline as well as video game mechanics are simply made mobile with the very same gameplay, so it is ideal for the mobile gamers out there. Generally, the adjustments that are made in GTA V mobile is simply the control and also game mechanism. Riding the vehicles appears rather very easy due to the easy control mechanism developed by RAGE specifically for mobile phones.

After each unsafe battle, gamers can stop anywhere to see the views of the city. Each scene in this video game is carefully brightened in terms of the image. So it is not just a disorderly location however additionally consists of much poetic appeal. They when fell short, however after that they found each other as well as the distinction in their characters is what links them to ending up being a group. Since then, they have been associated with numerous significant missions, showing opposition to the federal government and also at the same time ruining other terrifying opponents in the underworld. Therefore, if you are a player who suches as to check out the criminal world.

Whenever a phone is seen on promotions, it constantly has a battery life with one segment missing out on (the battery degree seems at 69%, another referral to the 69 sex position). Nonetheless, personality's phones have unlimited battery life. In older editions of the video game, if the player has twin handguns possessed and also gets a telephone call, Carl will certainly pull out two phones. In the console variations of the video game, the phone can likewise be used as a type of "super handbrake", to immediately quit any lorry, regardless of the speed.

As an example, the police car chase in the game has actually been completely redone, and the financial institution heist goal. The enhanced variation of the game also includes the brand-new moped automobile, which can go across the countryside without excessive problem. The storyline is based on the famous book/poem 'We Are Older' created by William Christner.

As GTA V go back to Xbox's prominent Game Pass from Thursday, it has also been exposed that the game will certainly now be usable on smart phones also. Make an entrance directly right into the activity ofGTA 5 Mobileby downloading the records at this moment! You should merely get snap for Android catch and you're great to go. Try not to squander your time on remote recurring communications or emulators with different designs.

The video game is presently offered for consoles as well as Windows PC. It will be released for PlayStation 5 and also Xbox Collection X in late 2021. There is also an on the internet multiplayer mode where up to 30 gamers check out the open world where each gamer can engage into a cooperative or competitive communication in between themselves. This video game series is very well-known by players and reviewers for it having a flexible story and also packed with activity. This GTA 5 for Android has the very same feature as the COMPUTER variation and PS3/PS4 variation have. The only thing that differs in this variation is you can not play this video game on your android devices in the first-person setting. We are still attempting to make it possible on this variation.

Keep in mind, you'll be play the prominent video game just by means of Heavy steam Web link, which is the electronic distribution service. Superstar additionally stated that although it may shed some "functionality", it will get new functions also. Rockstar explained it as being a modern phone, with Dan Houser claiming that the player will utilize it for points like "accessing the internet",.

The other one is created apples iphone, iPads, as well as various iDevices that are suitabled for boosting the video game. GTA BOOM is the original source for all points Grand Theft Auto. We are the only web site committed to posting day-to-day GTA information and have the largest collection of GTA video game overviews available anywhere. Making use of the invincibility cellular phone cheat codePlease read our FAQ if you experience any concerns using these cheats, or if you have any type of questions.

More information was released on the internet site on 24 August, 6 September, and also 13 September. Superstar Gamings first confirmed the video game's existence on 25 October 2011 in a news on its main internet site as well as Twitter feed. Take-Two Interactive's share cost subsequently raised by 7 per cent. Journalists claimed the announcement ignited substantial anticipation within the gaming industry, which they owed to the series' social value. The game did not meet its original projected March-- May 2013 launch day. By 30 October 2012, advertising posters had spread to the Internet, as well as a listing by the store Video game had actually leaked the projected release date.

Superstar Games made their fortune from this highly popular along with questionable franchise. The whole series redefined the benchmark of open globe video gaming. Grand Theft Auto V is the most up to date entry in the schedule, initially released on PlayStation 3 as well as Xbox 360 in 2013.

If you bought the video game from one more Store, you would certainly need to include the executable data of the game to Heavy steam. The designer did an excellent job on their criteria and pictures. The programmer attempted to keep all the features as well as move the video game to Android phones and also tablet computers without shedding performance. If you have not attempted the video game yet, after that we advise that you do it today. This video game is not a main advancement of Rockstar Gamings. The game is badly enhanced, so it will be difficult to run it on the majority of mobile phones.

These two games are additionally quite prominent till now in the whole Grand Theft Auto collection as a result of a selection of factors. In this modern-day pc gaming age, Graphics decide how effective any type of game is. There is no contrast between the graphics of GTA 5 and GTA San Andreas, GTA 5 features superb and top quality graphics that look much more practical than GTA San Andreas. We understand there is a major distinction in between the release date of both of these video games, yet to be extremely truthful GTA 5 is a clear victor based on facts as well as logic. Thousands of individuals are now able to play this GTA 5 on their Android devices.

If you remember i have posted GTA 5 Lite 100MB variation prior to however this game is various. This video game is created by MikeGaming who has a working YouTube Network. You will reach play Its GTA5 mod apk Mission with nearly all main video game information on it Grand Theft Auto 5 was launched in 2013 as well as is still among one of the most played games, many thanks to its ever growing on-line mode called GTA Online. And also while the game does not have a mobile version, it's really possible to play on your Android phone if you want. The video game very first released on the Xbox 360 as well as PlayStation 3, after that made its means to PC.

We will certainly upgrade brand-new functioning download links immediately. Do not hesitate to ask your any kind of question pertaining to this tutorial with remark area, we will reply you shortly. After seeing lots of passion of Android users in the direction of GTA 5, Rockstar has determined to make this video game feasible to run on Android OS. SO they had developed as well as introduced GTA 5 Apk in beta variation.

Superstar really made it out of the park from the GTA franchise. With the introduction of mobile pc gaming, they have actually additionally launched several ready Android as well as iphone devices. Darrell is a blog owner that suches as to stay on par with the most up to date from the tech and finance world.

The video game invites you with wonderful affection to realize you for quite a long time or even months. If you have ever before play GTA 5 on your Computer after that I don't think there is any need to tell you features of this video game. But you are playing it for the first time after that let you recognize what amazing functions are added in this brand-new video game of Rockstar Gamings.

Yet is is time to take pleasure in GTA V for all Android Gamings enthusiasts. One of the most distinguishing characteristic of GTA 5 APK is an upgraded tale play consisting of 3 differed lead characters. Michael De Santa, an ex-con who escaped being incarcerated and also set himself in a spacious manor where he fights with locating a meaningful way of living. That intro of 3 separate personalities is most definitely something brand-new as we practically have different stories as opposed to one prolonged plot gone for one personality advancement. In this manner the gameplay of download GTA 5 is way extra appealing.

Substantial modifications have actually been made with the rise in the variety of tools modifiers and the capability to take turns. Consequently, you can proactively change guns and highly versatile resources whenever you go anywhere. This video game's new functions make it much more practical and challenging than previous Grand Theft Auto video games. And also like in other video games of this kind, you will be given several choices in terms of clothes, hairstyles, as well as faces.

The story contains weaves, and also it's quite incredible just how the whole video game plays out. I never ever get tired of skyrocketing mobsters, driving about in my personal Lamborghini, and viewing the residential property of the rich as well as famous refute around you-- all while making money for it. First PC variation development started in parallel with PlayStation 3 and also Xbox 360. PC growth later on paved the way as focus shifted to the console releases yet ultimately resumed. Due to the fact that the team had actually prepared a PC version from early on, they made technological choices ahead of time to help with later on advancement, like assistance for 64-bit computing and also DirectX 11.

The web sites declaring to supply you the mobile variation of GTA V are phony. We can only wait for Rockstar Games to ultimately re-release GTA V for mobile phones. Till after that, we can delight in the various other titles they have currently released. To get the full version of the video game, you need to obtain the OBB file along with the information file. The GTA V APK data alone is inadequate to enable you to play and take pleasure in the premium variation of the video game on your smart phone.

The initial point that you were mosting likely to require to do is confirm that your device hardware is established as well as effective enough to run the video game to begin with. If you  would certainly love nothing greater than to have the possibility to play this groundbreaking game on your favored Android gadgets, you're going to require to get your hands on a correct GTA 5 APK. No, the GTA 5 APK is not established by the official GTA engineer. Some game engineers have actually created the mobile APK variation.

However, with the rising passion of players in GTA V, it projects to discover an option to download and install GTA V on smart phones. Before downloading as well as setting up, you need to guarantee that you have actually entirely gotten rid of the previous variation or totally free version of GTA5 from your Android device. If you missed this action, your installation will certainly be stopped working at any moment and also you will not able to set up as well as play the game properly. Pavlovich located that while Superstar designated the team objectives to create songs for, some of their arbitrary creations influenced other missions and also sparked motivation for further rating development. He reviewed a "stem-based" system utilized to make songs fit vibrant video game aspects where the team would certainly make up songs to highlight results gamers could make right away after finishing objectives.

That song is a streamlined version of the GTA I motif's history music. It was also the pager's ringtone in GTA III, as well as remained in the GTA Vice City introduction under the retro Rockstar Gamings logo design. If the gamer switches or discharges weapons after a call, the phone will certainly not disappear on CJ's hand. Switching to other weapons, or entering an auto would after that remove this technique. If Carl has his phone out as well as encounters water being splashed from a Firetruck, chances are that if he is simply completing a conversation as well as is about to put his phone away, he instead will keep it in his hand.

[metalgearkong]

The Last of Us Part II - Review (PS4)

8/14/20 ***SPOILERS***

Developed by Naughty Dog, released June 19th, 2020

The Last of Us was a game I wasn’t originally a huge fan of when it came out in 2013. Despite it receiving astronomical praise by fans and critics, it took me a couple times completing the game before I fell in love with it. What truly made The Last of Us special was not necessarily its concept or gameplay, but its storytelling and characters. The depth of the interpersonal drama and raw emotion on screen was the true core of the game, with the stealth-action, zombies, and other aspects more like icing on the cake. The Last of Us ended up being one of my favorite games of all time strictly based on execution, even if the game as a whole still isn’t perfect. 

The Last of Us Part II was my most highly anticipated game of 2020, and it feels strange to be on the other side of it finally. This game has been polarizing for fans, and as it turns out, I feel conflicted on the game as well. I finished it a month or so ago, but only now getting my thoughts written out. While some aspects are daring, jaw dropping, and gorgeous, other aspects detract from what is an unexpected story not quite living up to its potential. I respect this game more than I love it, and while I do think critics have been too kind in review scores, the exceptionally low user reviews have been far more incorrect. This is a solid, epic, deep, beautiful, emotional campaign which will deliver its money’s worth, but many contentious points will dictate how much you enjoy this blockbuster of a video game.

One of the aspects I like the most about this game is how similar the gameplay is to the original. Many people I suppose would want more change or innovation in the 7 years since The Last of Us, but personally I’ve always been a fan of sequels that retain what I like about a series. If it changes too much, it becomes too detached from what I enjoyed or got used to. Changes Part II makes are subtle, but natural for the genre and world. The player can duck and go prone in waist-high grass to conceal themselves, a dodge button has also been added, and a huge addition to combat and stealth is the addition of attack dogs who patrol with their owners. Dogs can pick up your scent until you distract it, adding to a lot of tension anytime enemy K9s are around. And yes, I found it difficult to shoot the first couple of dogs I encountered as they yelp out in pain when they get hurt or die.

Part II picks up I believe 5 years after the original. Ellie and Joel live in Jackson, the town they town the become a part of at the end of The Last of Us, and seem to be thriving in a community with food, power, and systems in place for relative safety from the outside world. The story is told in a much more chopped up chronology which I found to be detrimental to the pacing. The first game had a straightforward narrative and it worked very well, and this game has to dice up its story to make it seem more complex, but just comes off as pretentious. For example, by the end of the prologue (about a hour and a half) you play as three different characters. This leads into the strange structure of this game’s story, aside from having the linearity chopped up at times. 

The most controversial moment of the game is the moment of Joel’s death and how it occurred. While this event was not unexpected for myself and others, the manner of which he died is what’s justifiably pissing people off. A brand new character is introduced named Abby (and one of the three characters we briefly play as shortly before) and without any background or indication of who she is, brutally tortures and executes Joel in front of Ellie’s eyes. It’s not difficult to see director Neil Druckmann cackling with satisfaction of his subversion of expectations. It’s simply toying with the emotions of fans, and he has to expect and stand by any criticism he’s gotten for how this scene went down. However, this moment does make more sense as the story unfolds, but its no less a heavy handed and manipulative move for the sake of auteur video game storytelling.

Ever since I witnessed the brutal death of one of my favorite video game characters of all time, my only though was “they better justify this.” It was never “this is horrible and irredeemable, and “Naughty Dog is off its rocker,” like many people seem to have reacted. It was gut wrenching, but I knew Naughty Dog has a pension for organic characters, and in the back of my mind I knew I had to give this game its fair shot, and see if and/or how Naughty Dog justified a scene liable to piss off virtually every single fan of the original game. This is a poor spot of the game, but the structure of the game itself is, for me, the biggest issue of Part II. In the end, I don’t mind Joel’s death as much seeing the context surrounding it, although it still should have been handled entirely differently. 

Neil Druckmann proudly pulls a Metal Gear Solid 2 move, and entirely switches protagonists for a huge portion of the game (about 45%). Abby turns out to be the main character once the halfway point of the game hits. Following Joel’s death is about 9-11 hours playing as Ellie on her revenge quest to find Abby and kill her. The motivation is justified, being in the room with Ellie as she watched her father figure die in agony in front of her. Ellie’s portion of the campaign makes sense, Abby’s makes less. The structure of the story comes to a high point mid way through, where Abby and Ellie finally meet to clash. After all this build up, and around the same time of the game where the first game had its conclusion, everything halts and resets. 

We are suddenly dropped into the Abby story, showing her side of things, and why she would want to kill Joel. I do think the story directly surrounding her motivation is well done, but the problem is, a large portion of Abby’s story has literally nothing to do with Joel or Ellie. We effectively see why Abby would want revenge on Joel, but then we have to tag along on a major side journey while Abby helps a trans kid and his sister escape the cult they grew up in. I get that it helps develop more empathy for Abby as a character, but Abby’s story should have been at least cut in half to keep the overall story more focused and flowing. Many times while deep into Abby’s story I honestly forgot what the point of what I was doing is, and was getting confused on which events had happened and which hadn’t. 

Abby herself is a good character, and after all has been said and done, she is the third best character in this series so far. It’s a shame though that so much of her story is a direct waste of time, despite more of an excuse for more of the same great gameplay and set-piece moments. Empathy and perspective are the two big themes of this game. The best thing I can say about Part II is it convinced me of something I thought was near inconvincible: it made me like and root for Abby after the scene of Joel’s death. However, while the theme of the game is “all of your enemies have their own backstory,” Par II doesn’t teach us anything new whatsoever. Abby’s father was the surgeon Joel killed upon saving Ellie from the Fireflies at the climax of Part I. But Joel (and Ellie) killed a lot of random enemies in the first game, most of them players won’t even remember specifically. 

The fact that we have an entire video game showing us the perspective of one single person who wants revenge on Joel is a story that doesn’t need to be told. Any NPC we killed in the first game had family or friends who would also want revenge on Joel as well. We don’t learn anything new. This whole series is just marauder against marauder. Joel has never been a good guy, and that’s never been a secret. Joel is shown as an anti-hero even before the conclusion of the first game. It’s partially what makes him such a cool character. We only rooted for Joel because we were seeing things from his perspective. If the first game was entirely about Abby and Joel was framed as the bad guy, the results would have been the same: Abby would be our point-of-view “hero” character, while Joel was clearly the villain. Part II is not the epiphany Neil Drukmann likely wanted his audience to experience.

As anyone can see, the graphics and performances of Part II are incredible. While the story and structure are nothing too special (because it ruins its great moments by long drawn out heavy handed moments), at least the game itself is engaging to play and is gorgeous to look at. Growing up in the Pacific Northwest myself, and the game mainly taking place in Seattle, I enjoyed being totally waterlogged throughout the entire experience. If the story isn’t depressing enough on its own, the weather will certainly get to you. The core characters themselves are portrayed extremely well via motion capture and voice acting as well. I’m wondering why Neil Druckmann didn’t just make a Netflix series beings he is clearly so focused on the character’s interpersonal relationships. This is especially true for Joel and Ellie once again. Side characters are well acted, but have less of an effect on the core story, which is a huge tragedy when so much effort was clearly put into bringing them to life.

There’s no doubt Naughty Dog accomplished their specific goal in making you as depressed as possible. To be honest, it reminded me of some of my favorite books about stories of conflicting emotions and ending on depressing notes. Even though Part II is far from perfect, it’s still a juggernaut of a single-player game with amazing graphics, acting, responsive gameplay. I like the ways it proved me wrong on stuff I thought was unchangeable, and for that, it has my deep respect. It may not be for everyone, not even fans of the first, but if you come at it with an honest open mind and let yourself drop your ego enough to take in this entire story, I think it’s a daring piece of media that might age very well in time.

7/10

[obscurewatch]

[PARIS LORE] I found unused interactions for Luna

In the game files I found unused voicelines for Luna that seem like they're interactions with the playable heroes that you can't hear in game for now as far as I know. So, since these can't be heard in game at the moment, this technically constitutes a leak, right? I hope we don't get banned for this :S 

Video made by Discord user Snowflake#5979 from my discord server !

- Déjà de retour, Mme Guillard ? Contente de vous voir.

- Vous demandez souvent « Les Saisons de l’amour ». Ce titre doit avoir de l’importance pour vous.

- Vous me rappelez quelqu’un. Un autre moine, qui était venu me voir chanter.

- Bonjour, cousin. Le chat grimpe sur le mur et scrute.

- Le cabaret Luna est un havre où les omniaques peuvent être eux-mêmes.

- Quelle rareté ! Je n’avais jamais vu une créature comme vous.

- Oh, qu’il est mignon.

- (amusée) Vil flatteur.

- Si vous continuez à me regarder comme ça, je vais devoir vous demander de partir.

- La sortie est par là, très chère.

- Un cow-boy ! Je n’en avais vu que dans des films. Vous êtes loin de chez vous, dites-moi.

- C’est rare de rencontrer un humain que la réussite d'un omniaque ne trouble pas. - Je ne vous effraie pas, au moins ?

- Vous me dévisagez, ma jolie. Vous aimez ce que vous voyez ?

Here's the translation and my guess as to who she's saying these to

- Back already Mme Guillard ? Happy to see you (to Widowmaker)

- You often ask for « Les Saisons de l'amour » (The Seasons of love). This song must mean something to you. (to Widowmaker?)

- You remind me of someone. Another monk, who came to hear me sing. (to Zenyatta, about Mondatta)

- Good day cousin. The cat climbs on the wall and watches. (Cousin? This sounds like a secret phrase with a hidden meaning, this is not a french saying)

- Cabaret Luna is a haven where omnics can be themselves. (???)

- Such rarity ! I've never seen a creature like you. (to Winston/Hammond or a future hero?)

- Aw, he is so sweet. (to Hammond in response to something Hammond had his mech say for him?)

- Oh you flatterer (addressed to a man). (to Reinhardt? Maybe McCree?)

- If you keep on looking at me this way, I'm going to have to ask you to leave. (to Zarya? Maybe Torbjörn?)

- The exit is right this way, my dear (addressed to a woman). (Zarya?)

- A cow-boy ! I've only ever seen cowboys in movies. You're far from home, aren't you. (to McCree)

- It is so rare to meet a human unfazed by a successful omnic. I am not scaring you, right ? (Genji?)

- You're staring at me, gorgeous(addressed to a woman). Do you like what you see ? (???)

As far as I can tell, the heroes involved in those interactions don't have voicelines to go with Luna's but if someone out there has access to the gamefiles as well, feel free to make sure ! Together we are strong !

So Mondatta came to see Luna. She sounds like a proud advocate for omnic rights, it makes sense that Mondatta met her. Perhaps she's part of whatever movement Mondatta was the leader of. Her cabaret seems to be a refuge for omnic revolutionaries too, I wonder if the revolutionary movement of Paris is part of something bigger, something that might be linked to whatever Mondatta was doing.

Widowmaker is a regular there apparently, she seems to always ask for the same love song, perhaps her and Gérard's favorite, proof that she still has feelings for him and is mourning him, her own way. In Masquerade, before heading to Monaco, she was in Paris. She took a flight from Paris to Nice as the boarding pass in Château Guillard indicates, Masquerade took place during the winter time (the carnival in Venice happens in February) so apparently she spends the winter in Paris and she goes to Luna's Cabaret quite often to listen to the same song over and over again. Poor Amélie.

I wonder who the "rare creature" is. I doubt it's Winston. There isn't a lot of super-intelligent talking gorillas/scientists out there (I assume) but he was part of Overwatch and as such he probably got such a media exposure that anyone would instantly recognize him. It could be Hammond, but "creature" doesn't feel right. He's very clearly an animal not a "creature". An animal 10 times the normal size he should have but an animal still. Perhaps this voiceline is for a future hero, one that would better fit this creature description.

I wonder who Luna is calling "cousin" too. An omnic? She would probably call him brother. Cousin sounds like she considers that person as part of her "family" but they're not that close, so perhaps a pro-omnic human? Either way, this person seems to be in on a secret Luna has, this cat stuff is suspicious.

Luna has 4 voicelines about cats.

- Good day cousin (addressed to a man). The cat climbs on the wall and watches. (unused)

- The cat climbs on the wall and watches. From this height he's not afraid to fall.

- If you followed the cat, you're in the right place my friends.

- Like a cat, one can tame me and I always land on my feet.

On the left, real promotional poster for the cabaret Le Chat Noir from 1896, on the right a poster that can be seen in Luna's cabaret as well as in the bakery.

I wonder what the arrow near the omnic cat's tail could mean. Maybe it has to do with the whole "following the cat" thing. Maybe you have to follow the arrow on the poster to get somewhere secret.

Following the cat, a cat watching from up high, climbing the wall, this all sounds like the type of things a secret society would say. Coded phrases. It makes all the more sense when you take into account the omnic revolution that is brewing.

https://playoverwatch.com/en-us/news/22904915

"Expect traffic delays and increased security presence near the Maison Marat over the weekend. A grand gala is being held to celebrate the recent passage of controversial omnic rights legislation."

You better believe this new omnic rights legislation isn't the kind that grants omnics any more rights, very likely the opposite. Otherwise, why would omnics organize themselves in secret revolutionary groups?

"Paris is a city of hidden gems, search out the speakeasies and hidden places as you roam the city. The right word might get you into a place you never knew existed. "

Maybe "the right word" has to do with cats. And mustn't be told to the door with all the graffitis, but to Luna directly? I can't think of a voiceline involving cats, or of anyone from our current roster of heroes who would feel like joining omnic revolutionaries. Well, except Sombra maybe. Ultimately, I think we're on the wrong track if we think using voicelines in different parts of the map will get us anywhere.

Back in the day, on Dorado, Bastion used to have a special voiceline when he would get close to a screen showing that the system had been hacked by Sombra as if he had gotten hacked as well. That was neat. Perhaps some heroes have special voicelines after they played a song on the piano or after they interacted with Luna or the door in a certain way. Time will tell I'm sure. Someone is bound to randomly notice something , like always.

Seeing as how those interactions Luna has with heroes haven't made their way into the game for now, I wouldn't be surprised if whatever the developers are teasing about the map won't be added to Paris until a further patch !

Bonus lore :

The police woman's voice that can be heard around the police station has 12 voicelines, 6 are just pure walkie talkie static and the other 6 are :

-Toutes les unités disponibles à l'Hotel Beau Ciel. Une cellule de la résistance omniaque s'y cache. Soyez prudents.

-Code 5. Suspect Jamison Fawkes repéré. A toutes les unités disponibles.

-Suspect repéré dans la librairie Carpentier. Voss, omniaque féminin d'1m60.

-Code 5. Suspect Mako Rutledge repéré. Le suspect n'est pas seul.

-Agent Bilodeau, répondez.

-Prêt

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-All units available to the Beau Ciel Hotel. A pocket of omnic resistance is hiding there. Be careful.

-Code 5. Suspect Jamison Fawkes spotted. To all available units.

-Suspect spotted inside the Carpentier bookstore. Voss, female omnic, 1m60.

-Code 5. Suspect Mako Rutledge spotted. The suspect is not alone.

-Agent Bilodeau, respond.

-Ready

Voss means fox in northern german. What a fantastic name. So badass and unique. Maybe she's the female omnic whose mugshot we can see in the police station

The bottom right one has a cross? That’s odd

Bilodeau is a french family name that comes from the name Billaud which may come from germanic word Biliwald meaning (likeable, gentle).

The french police seems to be using this system of communication so Code 5 simply means "Relay this information".

They're smart enough NOT to get too close to Junkrat and Roadhog, they're just relaying the information of their presence ^^

That's all I have for today !

If you enjoyed this and want to join the discussion and go on a hunt for clues, feel free to join my discord server !

https://discord.gg/SkVvhJN

A thousand thanks to Snowflake for making the video !

I hope I didn't do a major oopsie by revealing these unused voicelines and spoiled something :S

[puppyluver256]

Why I Defend Video Game Remakes but NOT (most) Film Remakes

Had some thoughts about the slew of half-assed film remakes coming out within the past few years (lookin’ directly at you, Disney) and it got the gears turning further. We all know the main reason that films get so many remakes (it’s copyright retention, plain and simple), but they could at least strive to be a little less obvious in their motives. I just wish Hollywood in general were more focused on creativity than cashflow so the barrage of unnecessary remakes would end. Films do not benefit from remakes in the same way video games do: both an old version and new version will be equally viewable by most audiences.

Due to the nature of film and TV, you can release an old cult classic on new formats and it'll be fine. May look a bit weird due to aspect ratio/camerawork and the acting/effects standards may not be up to modern par, but that's down to preference. How many times have we seen old films like The Wizard of Oz or the Gene Wilder-starring Willy Wonka being re-released on dvd and bluray with digital remastering or added behind-the-scenes content? If a good movie is good, remaking it risks ruining what made it so good in the first place (a risk with all remakes, admittedly), and if a bad movie is bad, an outright remake probably isn’t going to benefit it that much. I’m not going to enjoy Citizen Kane if it’s suddenly in full color and a modern actor replaces Orson Welles. (and yes I know that film’s considered a classic, I respect what it did for film techniques but I just personally do not like the characters or plot and it doesn’t help when the plot twist at the end has been spoiled to hell and back in parodies and no i will not say what it is because i’m not an asshole who spoils endings to films regardless of my personal opinion of said film)

Video games, on the other hand, can't just be ported to a new system without at least making a few tweaks. There are MAJOR differences between consoles made by even a single developer, much less competing systems and the swath of possible PC setup combinations, so even just a slightly cleaned up remaster is going to need updated code to work with the new hardware. In some cases, like with the Pokemon franchise, there’s a strong metagame where features introduced in newer titles could be beneficial to add to older titles (like new moves, new personalization between different Pokemon of the same species, and even new types/type changes), and if those titles were released all the way back before nearly-instantaneous updates through online services, remaking the game would be the only way to bring it up to the current titles’ standards. In situations like the recently announced Persona 5 Royal (and similar cases with P4 Golden and P3 FES/Portable), you can add characters and scenarios that weren’t present in the original version and create a familiar yet simultaneously entirely new experience. And for those who want to play a game in its original state and the devs don’t want to release it on digital shops for a more reasonable price than a lot of those old rare games often end up going for, emulation may be an amazing thing, but too often is it under attack by devs who likely wouldn’t re-release those old games even with the clearly vocal group of people who would be more than willing to buy (if this had been a few years ago I would’ve used EarthBound as this example, but it’s a miracle it had both a Wii U and 3DS virtual console release outside of Japan), and sometimes it just isn't possible for certain games to be emulated at all--iirc the Saturn is notoriously difficult to emulate, meaning that if it weren’t for updated re-releases or people willing to pay exorbitant and over-inflated prices in the second-hand market no one would get to play the gems of that library outside of people who got their hands on it in the initial run.

Obviously not all video game remakes are always better than the original, and not all film remakes are worse than the original. I can’t think of any film examples at the moment (I don’t watch a lot of movies anymore ^^; ), but there’s at least five notable examples of video game remakes that were objectively (I think?) worse than or just not as great as their original counterparts, at least if you care what that dude says, I’ve only played one of the games featured in that video in either original form or remake and I personally have no qualms with that one specifically so my perspective is somewhat limited there. And even with remakes that aren’t objectively worse or better than the original, everything is down to one’s opinion, obviously. I know at least one guy didn’t care too much for ORAS over Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire, and I do personally think that while they were a good pair of games and I enjoyed my run of Alpha Sapphire they weren’t quite as fleshed-out as Emerald was, kind of a symptom of keeping them as separate entities when the third part of that set tied the stories together nicely. I genuinely dread that the much-begged-for Sinnoh remakes (which are inevitable, slap a Pikachu on something and it still basically prints money) will return us to the lack of fire-types and overall slow slog that was Diamond and Pearl or just not include any of Platinum’s improvements.

But what do you guys think? No remakes? Yes game remakes? Yes film remakes? Remake all the things?

[phroyd]

We lost one of the Great Film Makers yesterday.  Her soul will live on In Cinema! Rest In Peace, Agnes! - Phroyd

Agnès Varda, a groundbreaking French filmmaker who was closely associated with the New Wave — although her reimagining of filmmaking conventions actually predated the work of Jean-Luc Godard, François Truffaut and others identified with that movement — died on Friday morning at her home in Paris. She was 90.

Her death, from breast cancer, was confirmed by a spokeswoman for her production company, Ciné-Tamaris.

In recent years, Ms. Varda had focused her directorial skills on nonfiction work that used her life and career as a foundation for philosophical ruminations and visual playfulness. “The Gleaners and I,” a 2000 documentary in which she used the themes of collecting, harvesting and recycling to reflect on her own work, is considered by some to be her masterpiece.

But it was not her last film to receive widespread acclaim. In 2017, at the age of 89, Ms. Varda partnered with the French photographer and muralist known as JR on “Faces Places,” a road movie that featured the two of them roaming rural France, meeting the locals, celebrating them with enormous portraits and forming their own fast friendship. Among its many honors was an Academy Award nomination for best documentary feature. (It did not win, but that year Ms. Varda was given an honorary Academy Award for lifetime achievement.)

It was her early dramatic films that helped establish Ms. Varda as both an emblematic feminist and a cinematic firebrand — among them “Cléo From 5 to 7” (1962), in which a pop singer spends a fretful two hours awaiting the result of a cancer examination, and “Le Bonheur” (1965), about a young husband’s blithely choreographed extramarital affair.

Ms. Varda established herself as a maverick cineaste well before such milestones of the New Wave as Mr. Truffaut’s “The 400 Blows” (1959) and Mr. Godard’s “Breathless” (1960). Her “La Pointe Courte” (1955), which juxtaposed the strife of an unhappy couple with the struggles of a French fishing village, anticipated by several years the narrative and visual rule-breaking of directors like Mr. Truffaut, Mr. Godard and Alain Resnais, who edited “La Pointe Courte” and would introduce Ms. Varda to a number of the New Wave principals in Paris.

These included Mr. Truffaut, Mr. Godard, Claude Chabrol and Éric Rohmer, all of whom had gotten their start at the critic André Bazin’s magazine Cahiers du Cinema, and who became known as the Right Bank group. The more politicized and liberal Left Bank group would come to include Mr. Resnais, Chris Marker and Ms. Varda herself.

Arlette Varda was born on May 30, 1928, in Ixelles, Belgium, the daughter of a Greek father and a French mother. She left Belgium with her family in 1940 for Sète, France, where she spent her teenage years. At 18, she changed her name to Agnès.

She studied art history at the École du Louvre and photography at the École des Beaux-Arts before working as a photographer at the Théâtre National Populaire in Paris.

“I just didn’t see films when I was young,” she said in a 2009 interview. “I was stupid and naïve. Maybe I wouldn’t have made films if I had seen lots of others; maybe it would have stopped me.

“I started totally free and crazy and innocent,” she continued. “Now I’ve seen many films, and many beautiful films. And I try to keep a certain level of quality of my films. I don’t do commercials, I don’t do films pre-prepared by other people, I don’t do star system. So I do my own little thing.”

Her “thing” often involved straddling the line between what was commonly accepted as fiction and nonfiction, and defying the boundaries of gender.

“She was very clear about her feeling that the New Wave was a man’s club and that as a woman it was hard for producers to back her, even after she made ‘Cléo’ in 1962,” T. Jefferson Kline, a professor of French at Boston University and the editor of “Agnès Varda: Interviews” (2013), said in an interview for this obituary. “She obviously was not pleased that as a woman filmmaker she had so much trouble getting produced. She went to Los Angeles with her husband, and she said when she came back to France it was like she didn’t exist.”

Ms. Varda was married to the director Jacques Demy (“Lola,” “The Umbrellas of Cherbourg”) from 1962 until his death in 1990. From 1968 to 1970 they lived in Hollywood, where Mr. Demy made “Model Shop” for Columbia Pictures and Ms. Varda made “Lions Love,” which married a meditative late-’60s Los Angeles aesthetic to the New York counterculture. (The cast included the Warhol “superstar” Viva; Gerome Ragni and James Rado, the writers of the book for the musical “Hair”; and the underground filmmaker Shirley Clarke.) During that same period, she shot the short documentary “Black Panthers” (1968), which included an interview with the incarcerated Panther leader Huey Newton; commissioned by French television, it was suppressed at the time.

It was also during that period that she befriended Jim Morrison, the frontman of the Doors, who visited her and Mr. Demy in France; according to Stephen Davis’s “Jim Morrison: Life, Death, Legend” (2004), she was one of only five mourners at Mr. Morrison’s funeral in the Père Lachaise cemetery in Paris in 1971. That same year she became one of the 343 women to sign the “Manifesto of the 343,” a French petition acknowledging that they had had abortions and thus making themselves vulnerable to prosecution.

In 1972, the birth of her son, Mathieu Demy, now an actor, prompted Ms. Varda to sideline her career. He survives her, as does the costume designer Rosalie Varda Demy, Ms. Varda’s daughter from a previous relationship, who was adopted by Jacques Demy.

“Despite my joy,” Ms. Varda told the actress Mireille Amiel in a 1975 interview, “I couldn’t help resenting the brakes put on my work and my travels.” So she had an electric line of about 300 feet for her camera and microphone run from her house, and with this “umbilical cord” she managed to interview the shopkeepers and her other neighbors on the Rue Daguerre. The result was “Daguerréotypes” (1976).

In 1977 she made what she called her “feminist musical,” and one of her better-known films, “One Sings, the Other Doesn’t,” which also seemed inspired by personal circumstance.

“It’s the story of two 15-year-old girls, their lives and their ideas,” she told Ms. Amiel. “They have to face this key problem: Do they want to have children or not? They each fall in love and encounter the contradictions — work/image, ideas/love, etc.”

One of Ms. Varda’s more controversial films, because of its casting, was “Kung-Fu Master!” (1988), a fictional work about an adult woman — played by the actress Jane Birkin, a friend of Ms. Varda’s — who falls in love with a teenage boy, played by Ms. Varda’s son. The title — it was changed in France to “Le Petit Amour” — referred to the young character’s favorite arcade game. The film was shot more or less simultaneously with “Jane B. par Agnes V.,” another of Ms. Varda’s border crossings between fact and fiction, which she called “an imaginary biopic.”

After Jacques Demy’s death, Ms. Varda made three films as a tribute: the biographical drama “Jacquot de Nantes” (1991) and the documentaries “Les Demoiselles Ont Eu 25 Ans” (1993), about the 25th anniversary of Mr. Demy’s “The Young Girls of Rochefort,” and “L’Univers de Jacques Demy” (1995).

Ms. Varda was then relatively inactive until 1999, when, armed for the first time with a digital camera, she set about making “Les Glaneurs et la Glaneuse” (“The Gleaners and I”), which resurrected an artistic career now well accustomed to under appreciation and resuscitation.

“She was a person of immense talent, but also enormously thoughtful,” said Mr. Kline of Boston University. “When you look at some of the films you might think they were more spontaneous than thought out. A film like ‘Cléo,’ for instance, you might have said, ‘O.K., she just follows Cléo around Paris,’ but the film is extremely beautifully imagined and thought out beforehand.”

In “Vagabond,” an 1985 film in which Sandrine Bonnaire plays a woman who is found dead and whose life is recounted, often in documentary style, “the traveling shots in the film are always ending, and each subsequent shot beginning, on a common visual cue,” Mr. Kline said. “It makes you look at film in a completely different way.”

Alison Smith, author of the critical study “Agnès Varda” (1998), called Ms. Varda “a poet of objects and how we use them.” In an interview for this obituary, she added, “Varda as an artist intrigued, and intrigues, me by the constant freshness and curiosity which she brings to her inquiries into the everyday world and how we relate to it, particularly how she uses the detailed fabric of life.”

Richard Peña, who as director of the New York Film Festival helped introduce “Gleaners” to an American audience, praised that film and Ms. Varda’s “The Beaches of Agnès” (2008) as “touchstones for a new generation of nonfiction filmmakers.”

Ms. Varda is represented at the Museum of Modern Art by photographs, films, videos and a three-screen installation titled “The Triptych of Noirmoutier.” “A decision to change direction and move into installation art when over 80 is, by any standards, remarkable,” Ms. Smith said. “But her energy was awe-inspiring.”

Phroyd

[deertrackgolfclub]

Tiger Woods’ strong finish, Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed squash their beef and a costly rules controversy: What you missed this weekend

Welcome to the Dew Sweeper, your one-stop shop to catch up on the weekend action from the golf world. From the professional tours, trending news, social media headlines and upcoming events, here’s every golf-related thing you need to know for the morning of Jan. 28.

Rose continues historic tear Justin Rose became No. 1 for the first time in his career last season. Don’t expect the Englishman to cede the title anytime soon.

The 38-year-old turned in a three-under 69 to win the Farmers Insurance Open by two over Adam Scott.

  It was far from a Sunday stroll on the front, with Rose stumbling to the tune of three bogeys in the first five holes, and a par on the par-5 fifth did little to alleviate concerns. However, he righted the ship with birdies on the seventh, ninth and 10th holes, subtracting any drama from Torrey Pines’ closing stretch.

“A couple things that didn’t go my way and then it starts to look and feel a bit shaky for sure,” Rose said. “But I always felt somewhat in control. I did a good job today of staying patient and never panicking. I think that was probably a bit of experience coming through that wouldn’t have been the same.”

Experience is putting it lightly. This sounds bombastic, but the numbers back it up: Rose has been downright Woods-ian since the end of 2017. Torrey Pines marked his 15th top-3 finish in the last two years, and his 13th top-10 finish in his last 17 starts. The only thing missing from his 24-month tear is a major, his 2013 triumph at Merion enduring as his lone victory on the big stage.

Of course, he’s currently the Masters favorite. You better believe Jim Nantz is practicing, “A Rose blooms at Augusta!” victory calls.

Tiger finishes with strong Sunday in first 2019 start There was rust, which was to be expected. And his putter didn’t get the memo that hibernation was over. But Tiger Woods’ first outing of the 2019 season, while not memorable, was constructive, highlighted by a final-round 67.

“I think this whole week was good, very positive,” Woods said. “I didn’t quite start out the way I wanted to this week, wasn’t as sharp as I wanted to be, but each and every day it got a little better.”

On the surface, a T-20 finish for Woods should be of little consequence. This was Torrey Pines, after all, Tiger’s de facto stomping grounds, and off that breathtaking finish to 2018, the 43-year-old’s continued comeback is past the point of moral victories.

In that same breath, save for the flat stick, his performance was impressive (10th in strokes gained/tee-to-green), especially so given he had new sticks in the bag. That he hit over 55 percent of fairways on the week, versus 30 percent in his return last year (worst in the field), underlines he’s coming out of the gates in a more formidable fashion than a season ago.

Besides, as Woods noted, the goal is to build towards a certain tournament in the spring.

“If you look at where I was Thursday and look at where I’m at now, Sunday, I got a little bit better,” Woods said. “I drove the ball better, hit my irons a litle bit cleaner. Again, I hit some good putts. Just continue with the track. I have a couple more months of prep before April [and the Masters], so things are heading in the right direction.”

Woods is off the next two weeks before his next scheduled start in the Genesis Open at Riviera.

Spieth, Reed squash beef Fans were expecting—perhaps even hoping for—an icy exchange. At minimum, it promised to be awkward.

Instead, the tension quickly surrendered to a show of détente.

Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed were paired together on Saturday, the first time they’ve teed it up since the reigning Masters champ took a flamethrower to the three-time major winner in a post-Ryder Cup interview. The strained relationship, with an origin story straight out of a comic book, ostensibly gave golf something it hasn’t had in quite some time: a genuine villain, and discord between two of its stars.

While the former holds, the latter was distinguished by Spieth, who greeted his former American teammate with a hug on the first tee:

Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed.

Hugging it out. pic.twitter.com/NiMx9IawC1

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) January 26, 2019

Frazier-Ali, this is not.

“Yeah, I laughed,” Spieth said. “I think he did, too. It was more sarcasm towards y’all (media). We’ve seen each other plenty of times at Sony and here and everything’s been the way it normally is. We knew the cameras were on and we knew people were interested in that, so I just thought it would be kind of funny.”

Added Reed: “Literally when we got off the plane (from Paris) it was old news and we all moved on from there.” Granted, that doesn’t jive with what Reed said in December—he told the New York Post that if Spieth wanted to smooth things out, “He has my number”—but hey, all for revisionist history in the name of love.

In one sense, probably for the best that this strife, real or imagined, was defused. It makes for a juicy narrative, yes, particularly in a sport that’s guilty of being overly neighborly. But a player of Spieth’s prestige doesn’t need to be riddled with such nonsense, the acidity outweighing any possible benefits to the rivalry.

And rest assured, a potential Spieth victory at Augusta National—remember, Reed would be the one awarding the green jacket—remains just as tantalizing.

Bryson wins for fourth time in nine starts On Saturday, Bryson DeChambeau claimed he was “just not 100 percent with my golf game.” This after acknowledging on Friday he didn’t have the right sensations and “proprioception”—for those sans dictionary, that’s the the sense of the relative position of one’s own parts of the body and strength of effort being employed in movement—over his shots.

That lack of symphony matter nada.

The World No. 5 cruised to his fifth victory in the last eight months—and fourth in his last nine starts—in Dubai, dropping a Sunday 64 to win the Omega Desert Classic by seven shots. A display even the Mad Scientist had to appreciate.

“Today I was happy with my game. I executed a lot of great shots,” DeChambeau said. “It’s a lot of hard work with my caddie, really grinding and trying to figure out how to take account of all the variables out there—air pressure, firmness values, mile-per-hour on the speed, putts and ball speed, spin rates. We’re trying to figure out as much as possible so I can be as successful as possible, and obviously it’s shown.”

Has it ever. This time last year DeChambeau was barely inside the top 100, his curious ways mostly ridiculed. Now he’s one of the game’s biggest names, a marquee attraction for all the right reasons.

His detractors, of which there are many, still deem his divergent methods fit for a looney bin. Or maybe they’re just blinded by the glare off DeChambeau’s ever-growing trophy case.

A costly, and dubious, rules controversy Even by the notorious rigidity of the Rules of Golf, this is cold-blooded.

In his final round in Dubai, Haotong Li was hit with a two-shot penalty on the final hole because…his caddie was lined up behind putt. A new rule specifies that from the time a player “begins to take a stance for the stroke” until the stroke is made, a caddie “must not deliberately stand on or close to an extension of the line of play behind the ball for any reason.” As Ryan Herrington notes, Li could have avoided the penalty had he backed off the stroke and retaken his stance.

However, video puts the validity of that penalty into question, as Li is barely into the stance in question:

@EuropeanTour this is a marginal interpretation of the new Rule 10.2b @haotong_li good playing. pic.twitter.com/jNxT0aokxj

— Brian McKinley (@brijon5555) January 27, 2019

And you thought the Saints-Rams refs were bad.

The penalty dropped Li from a T-3 to a T-12 finish, which translated to loss of $100,000 in earnings. Li did not speak to reporters afterwards. Not that he needed to; that replay idiotically speaks for itself.

  Source: golfdigest.com

The post Tiger Woods’ strong finish, Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed squash their beef and a costly rules controversy: What you missed this weekend appeared first on Deer Track.

[adstargets]

Review of Top Ad Networks for Publishers

Top Ad Networks for publishers are characterized by their track records and how satisfied publishers are working with them. There are hundreds of Ad Networks for publishers in every corner of the globe. The number of Ad networks for publishers has skyrocketed in the past ten years. These Ad Networks have however used different Ad formats and different payment and pricing models with specific requirements for publishers. The differences that exist among these Ad networks makes it difficult for some publishers to be accepted. In most cases, publishers are rejected because they do not meet the requirements of those Ad Networks or simply apply to the wrong Ad networks. Understanding these problems, we decided to review the top Ad networks for publishers including their pricing models and other valuable information to help you make the right choices when choosing an Ad network to monetize your traffic.

Our review of Top Ad Networks for publishers

Now let's begin the listing work...

1. Google Adsense Ad Network 

I guess it won't surprise anyone that Google AdSense makes number one on our list of Ad Network for publishers. Google AdSense is known to be the largest and probably the best Ad Network for publishers around the world. With a massive number of publishers, the Ad Network is run and managed by Google which uses pay per click (PPC) and per-Impression (CPM) pricing model to pay publishers. 

Google Adsense has almost all Ad types which enable publishers to create Display Ads, Matched content Ads, Responsive Ads, Link rich Unit, Text Ads, Video Ads all in a customizable format and also responsive. With these capabilities, Adsense did not only manage to become the world most loved Ad network for publishers but also one of the best performing among Ad networks for publishers. see the top performing countries for AdSense below

  Getting approved by Google Adsense 

One of the most asked questions about Google AdSense is how to get approved by AdSense? It seems to many that getting your website or Blog approved is very difficult which is not necessarily true. Of course, all high standard services have principles and guidelines which applies to AdSense as well. To get approved by AdSense, Here are some few tips Make sure your content meets Adsense requirements; Show your site or Blog have spaces for AdSense;   Make sure the blog or site you are using is your content; Make sure your content is unique and clean; Make sure your pages can be navigated easily; Make your pages mobile friendly; Your site should comply with content language. Before signing up for Adsense, please take some time and read these guidelines Before Signing up for AdSense Google AdSense Best practices As a publisher using AdSense, there are several things you would like to do in order to maximize your income. Applying the right strategy will massively increase your earning and get you some level of trust and respect while monetizing with AdSense. Here are the best Adsense practices Experiment with all the Ad units; Find the best ad placements for your type of site; Try out the responsive Ad units; Always create new content as a blogger; Never stop promoting your blogs and website; optimize your content for SEO. Want to read more on how to make more money with AdSense, follow these step by step Google AdSense best practices. https://adstargets.com/blog/banner-advertising-and-how-it-work/ Google Adsense payment threshold Google Adsense threshold is $100 for the first withdrawal. Before your first payment, You will have to Add your bank account and verify your address before your first payment will be deposited once you reach the threshold.

2. AdsTargets Ad Network

AdsTargets Ad Network is a CPC and CPM online advertising technology for advertisers and Publishers. The aim of the Ad Network is to become the most desired Ad network for advertisers and publishers. AdsTargets offers one of the best advertising and monetizing technologies in the market.

It offers both cost per click (CPC) also known as pay per click (PPC), CPM = cost per a 1000 impressions and their ads are servers across desktop and mobile devices globally. Advertiser and publishers can advertise and monetize using their vast ad units such as Banner Ads, Text Ads, Interstitial Ads also known as full-screen Ads, Retarget Ads, and In-App Ads. AdsTargets just like other Top Ad Networks for publishers has few requirements for qualified publishers. Don't be scared its anything to worry about! AdsTargets require publishers applying to monetize their website or blog to have reasonable content and should be updated regularly.  Secondary, As a publisher, your content should not have or include content that is related to violence, drugs, racism and any form of illegal activities and discrimination. Refer to Publisher terms during application for more details. Website and blog with such content will not be approved by AdsTargets. AdsTargets Accept members from all over the world and currently in eighty-seven countries.   AdsTargets Best practices Ad a publisher, You may want to make the most out of your content, that is making money as much as you can while monetizing. If you agree with this statement then here are few things you would like to implement to maximize your earnings at Adstargets  Most use the 300x250, 728x90 Banner, and Text Ads Two Ads par page will give you a better chance 728x90 should be placed at the header and 300x250 at the right or left side widgets Other ad units work well in the body and bellow sections Always create new content as a blogger Never stop promoting your blogs and website optimize your content for SEO Adstargets was created after several years of experimental studies done by interviewing top advertisers and publishers around the world. The founder took the complaints from both sides and worked tirelessly to create a platform that could finally offer the desired value for advertisers budget while at the same time making sure publishers are paid the maximum earning commissions they deserve. AdsTargets Payment threshold AdsTargets Payment threshold is only $35. AdsTargets pay publishers through Paypal and wire transfers. AdsTargets advertising technology is capable of automatically scaling and optimizing advertisers Ads to reach the right people only while they also pay over 80% commission of the Advertising revenue to publishers. This makes AdsTarget one of the top ad networks for publishers globally. Even though they are new to the market. 

AdsTargets Review: Here is what other Publishers are saying about AdsTargets

3. AdMob by Google

AdMob by Google made our list of Top Ad Networks for Publishers. This is because AdMob is simply the biggest App monetizing Ad network in the market currently. AdMob is own by Google and covers the largest share of  In-App advertising. Ad run Native Ads, Video Ads, Interstitials full page Ads, and Banner Ads. Admob is available for IOS, Android Unity, and Cocos applications.

To prove AdMob is the biggest and probably the most preferred by publishers and advertisers, let me break down the figures for you. AdMob currently has over 1 million App using AdMob, Admob has paid out to their publishers over $3.5 billion since the July of 2012, AdMob also increased their CPMs almost or more than 200%, They get over 200 billion global Ad request every day and last but not the lease, they have over 1,000,000 advertiser. see the photo below for more details

Now that you understand what Admob is all about, here are the few benefits you will get as an App developer willing to make money monetizing with them. AdMob Benefits for App developers Google Ad technologies is considered by many as the best in the industry You can run Ads on across multiple platforms Auto update on Google play Fast payments without extra charges Great analytical and firebase for your campaigns You will have the ability to choose the right Ad units for your App You have the flexibility to filter out Ads you don't want on your App You will be able to earn the highest Advertising CPM rates You will always have relevant Ads to show You will have access to all Google advertisers Admob best performing Ads When it comes to making the most money with Admod, the secret is knowing which Ads units are making you the most money. Admob claim the Native Ads and the video Ads. you will have that in mind when once you are ready to start monetizing your Apps.

4. Media.net Ad Network for Publishers

Media.net is number four on our list of top ad networks for publishers. No doubt the company has taken a large share of the advertising market. media.net has over 500,000 publishers websites, more than 70 million paid clicks each month, they have an estimated over 87 billion display Ads impressions per month according to their About page as at 10th 08 2018.

With the above figures, its fair to say Media.net is massive and obviously in the top five list of top ad networks for publishers. Media.net was created to Run Yahoo and Bing Ads and was very successful doing that, some their top publishers include  Hearst, Meredith, Forbes, Yahoo, MSN,  Kiplinger, Reuters, The Street, Ziff Davis, NY Daily News and many more giant publishers in the advertising market. Media.net biggest share of the market comes from the USA with over 90%, the UK and Canada only 5% while the rest of the world has only 5%. By device, Mobile got 63% while desktop got the rest 38%. The company has over 1300 employees and its headquarters in Dubai. More about Media.net can be found here Media.net Ad types Media.net net is known for contextual ads, Native Ads which they run on desktop and mobile devices. They also run a great deal of banner Ads and Interstitials also known as full-screen Ads.

Getting Approved by Media.net as a publisher

Even though the Ad tech giant did not specifically specify their publisher requirements, they approve sites with high-quality content and also a website that updates their content regularly. here we lay down few tips for getting approved by media.net Your content should be in English Update your content regularly Avoid content with violence, racism, drugs and other illegal activities as such will fail to get approval Show you have some space for running Ads on your website or blog This brought us to the conclusion of the top ad networks for publishers. Media.net Minimum payment threshold  Media.net payment threshold is $100. They pay their publishers through PayPal and wire transfers.

Conclusions

We know this list might short when compared with a similar post, the reason is that we don't just want to create a list of affiliate list of Ad networks like most others do, instead, we focus on bringing you the best list of ad networks for publishers based on their track records. we hope you find it useful and also tell us what you think about this post in the comment section. Read the full article

[anapedias]

How To Save Progress In Gta 5 28

Saving your game in gta v is quite simple with there being two options to do so. After launching gta, i logged into social club and started the game, but the progress was gone and i was welcomed with the very first mission.

How To Save A Game In GTA 5 Steps for How To Save

Left direction button when the prompt appears near the bed.

How to save progress in gta 5. Ad install free grand theft auto 5 on android & ios! From what i understand, steam nor rock star social backs up story mode progress. No, this is not possible.

The_zaxster 8 years ago #3. It seems that all local save game data got overwritten, but checking the social. (full tutorial) if playback doesn't begin shortly, try restarting your device.

But if you are moving from cons. Install scripthookv and scripthookvdotnet, and change reloadkey=insert in scripthookvdotnet.ini. You will also have the the money and equipment you had,on that very moment.

If you buy a gun or ammo or just a pair of shoes, your progress will be saved. Go to the house of whichever character you're playing as and sleep in the bed, you'll be. You can also hit the up direction button and move to the quick save feature within the in game phone.

Only users with topic management privileges can see it. Manual save, force a save in gta 5 online If there is save game data tied to that account you will receive a prompt asking if you would like to transfer your online progress over.

How to save progress in gta 5 story mode; There is no feature available to transfer character data or progress from those platforms. The cloud from rockstar replaced it with a new game before i even enabled cloud saves.

But you can also save the game with your cellphone. I'm pretty sure gta 5 and gta online aren't linked together and you can play offline all you want. You can save progress of your current game by hitting ‘up’ on directional pad or ‘t’ on your keyboard.

When you approach the bed you will get an option to sleep. You can also save by sleeping in a bed. I may need to reinstall gta, so is there any way to back up my progress right now and resume after i install gta?

When you make it back into game,it will drop you on the exact location from the last save. Time will not pass, and the character will remain at the same location in the game. Videos you watch may be added to the tv's watch history and influence tv.

Drag the conents of the player companion zip to scripts folder, if you dont have a scripts folder create one. First, you can quick save your game by bringing up your. You have to click on the icon shown by a cloud with an arrow.

I have the rockstar version of gta and want to play between 2 computers. The story should be saved on your console and load from there, its only few kbs anyway (the save file size). Instead of starting afresh many gta v players will transfer their save game and other progress from ps3, ps4, xbox 360 or xbox one to pc and continue.

If you do not explicitly delete your save file, and select delete from everywhere and click to verify the next prompt, your cloud saves will be safe, and the next time you reinstall and then launch the game, it'll take a second and show a progress par for it syncing your progress, which is the system pulling down your cloud saves. I luckily had them on an old pc, disabled cloud support. Grand theft auto v has finally launched on pc.

Prigress is saved,every time you completed an mission. All website stat tracking for playstation 3 and xbox 360 via the rockstar games social club will also be removed. In case you are using a console.

Select yes and the transfer will start. Video show you how to manually save your progress or money in gta 5. And your online data is saved online, you can't just lose it.

You can also hit the up direction button and move to the quick save feature within the in game phone. How can i save my progress on gta 5 in the middle of a mission? Using this method you can ‘quick save’ your progress in gta 5.

It's worth noting that grand theft auto v's story mode won't be affected by this move, though it's not possible to. Pages [t3c] how to save your progress in gta 5 story mode You can save your progress in gta 5 by simply taking a nap.

If your game for whatever reason stops working,you restart the game. For grand theft auto v on the xbox 360, a gamefaqs message board topic titled how does saving your progress work in gta 5?. How to save your game progress in gta 5 !!!

This topic has been deleted. Sometimes i need to get off of the game while i’m in the middle of a mission but i can’t find a way to save besides ending the mission. I found out the hard way after reinstalling winblows that its not saved online by default.

Open the pc version of the game, go to online and login using the same rockstar social account credentials as your xbox/ playstation account. Gold is the best metal. Is there a way to save my status using the rockstar social bloatware?

If you are moving from ps3/xbox 360 to ps4/xbox one then the progress you made in your previous console can be transferred to your new console. Saving your game in gta v is quite simple with there being two options to do so. Your game will be saved automatically after everything you do.

[suzu-kun22]

My Top 10 Favorite Video Games

This is basically gonna be the same as my ranking of the V3 characters. I’m going to list my top 10 favorite video games and then write a small paragraph on why I love them so much. 

Spoilers for the games mentioned.

10. Pokémon: Alpha Sapphire

The characters of Alpha Sapphire are very fun to hang out with and very endearing (since I chose the female protagonist, I found Brendan particularly likable). Plus its endgame content is some of the best of any Pokémon game I’ve played to completion. The Delta episode is just incredibly fun and rewarding to complete, and it ends with a very nice ship moment for my biggest ship in the game. It was nice to revisit a region I love so much with such beautiful graphics and likable characters.

9. Minecraft: Story Mode

I honestly don’t know why I like this game so much. I know it’s dumb and that most of the choices don’t really change the story that much, but I find the characters so endearing and the story so weirdly compelling that I’m willing to ignore most of that and just enjoy the game for what it is. And what it is is a fun ride with really likable characters who actually have well crafted and well-explored dynamics. A lot of it feels like watching a TV show where I have some input, and that isn’t a bad thing.

8. Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc

Most of the first three games on this list’s appeal chalks up to characters for me. However, THH has the added bonus of an intriguing plot and satisfying twists sprinkled on top. The characters all have standout personalities and designs as well as phenomenally developed dynamics and personal histories. The twists are mostly unexpected, and you can tell that a lot of love went into crafting it, even if the actual art is probably the worst of the series.

7. Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls

The main thing that pulls UDG ahead of THH is the fact that I prefer UDG’s protagonist. Komaru is just more relatable for me and her dynamic with Toko is utterly adorable. I always found that Toko never got enough focus in the main game and this game remedied that with ease. Yuta Asahina was also an added bonus, even if he only lasted about five minutes. The only reason this game isn’t higher is that the 3D graphics can look really awkward some(all)times.

6. Doki Doki Literature Club

The Gakkougurashi of video games. Need I say more? Yes? Even with its fake-out cuteness and actually evil characters, the game still manages to get you to love them and become invested in their fates. Of course, the darker second act of the game wouldn’t work so well without the relationship you build with the characters early on. It also wouldn’t work without the game’s amazing art and unsettling music. A game that is almost perfectly designed on both a technical level and a story-level.

5. Pokémon Black Version

I must admit that this one is mostly here because of nostalgia. It was the first Pokémon game I ever completed (and I think the first video game I ever completed) and thus will always have a special place in my heart. The Gym Leaders are cool and interesting, the Pokémon are cute, and the endgame content is on par with that of Alpha Sapphire (A whole other side of the map to explore and battle through!! That’s pretty awesome!!). There’s even a cameo from my favorite champion (Cynthia my girl!!)! For a 2D Pokémon game, you can’t get much better than this.

4. Pokémon X

This is my favorite Pokémon game. The difficulty level is just right. The characters are fun and vibrant, and the world itself is laid out in a very cool way. The Pokémon themselves are all cool and cute, and the endgame content (while not as good as Alpha Sapphire or Black Version), is pretty cool. Working with Looker to get rid of crime in Lumoise city was really fun, and all the restaurants and other areas that become available once you beat the champion are interesting to explore. A truly well-designed and fun-to-play Pokémon game!

3. Super Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair

This one all comes down to characters. The characters all have even more personality than those in THH or UDG. The twist is much more compelling and surprising and even more meta. The murders are more interesting to solve and appear better planned out (though you can still guess the killer most of the time, but there were a few times where the killer legitimately caught me off guard). Chapter 5 on its own was better than the entirety of THH, even if the reveal of the mastermind wasn’t nearly as satisfying because we all knew who it was from the start. However, the Izuru Kamukura and Ultimate Impostor twists were easily enough to make up for that. Just a well-made, well-written, clever game all around. Loved it to death.

2. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Link.

Okay obviously that’s not enough.

Breath of the Wild strikes a perfect balance between being challenging enough to be rewarding to complete, but not so much that it’s impossible to figure out how to do it. Games like Borderlands, while very fun to play, often miss this crucial balance for me. While those games may be fun to play and very rewarding if you actually manage to complete them, they are so challenging that actually completing them is often not worth the rage, pain, and time I know it will take. Breath of the Wild hits this balance perfectly with a difficulty curve that doesn’t actually exist, but really feels like it does just from how the game goes about getting better gear into your hands. The characters are slightly lacking (Sidon and even Link are well-characterized), but that’s part of the point. The game creates a beautiful feeling of melancholy in the player, which I’ve talked about in more depth in a short analysis I wrote on the emotional impact of the game.

1. New Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony

I think the characters pull this one ahead (no surprise). The characters in this game certainly act the most human of any character in any Danganronpa game. They cry when something happens to their friends, they get angry when someone insults them or betrays them, and they’re suspicious of pretty much everyone. Pretty much all of them are completely fleshed out and interesting to watch. The twists are fun and unexpected (even if there are hints towards them early into the game), and there’s even more to do than ever before, with events between trials that aren’t only about getting the characters into a location to find a body. Chapter 5 is yet again the best chapter with the most entertaining and compelling trial in the entire series, culminating in one of the most effectively emotional executions in the entire series (the first one of this game may have this one beat, I’m still not sure). Kokichi Oma specifically is probably one of the most interesting characters in a series filled to the brim with interesting and unique characters and I legitimately missed him once his role in the game was over. This game has so many layers beneath its surface that one could probably spend all day collecting hints to determine if the ending was real or not. The cases of this game are also a lot more complex, with one trial that even goes for THREE HOURS BEFORE THE KILLER IS FOUND OUT!! This is when the focus really shifted from ‘okay we gotta figure out who could have done this’ to ‘okay we have to figure out HOW the killer did this and then figure out who in our group is capable of both coming up with a plan like that and carrying it out without getting caught.’ And the killers themselves are never characters you would expect to kill someone (chapter five is sort of an exception but meh). All of this, plus the detailed art of the characters and environments, (and excellent voice acting if I do say so myself), make this my favorite game that I have ever played to completion.

[patsuantv]

Pars Shell Challenge for SIMS 4

Last Update: Jan 26, 2021    This is a challenge idea created by me in November 2020 and I don’t know if it’s unique or not, just came to my mind and wanted to name it as Pars since it’s special to the Turkish simmers, at least for now. In this clip from my live session done in Turkish, you can watch the general idea of the challenge (automatic subtitles are available): https://youtu.be/QAJybpeG9_k If you had known shell & wheel spin challenges for builds, it’s sort of a combination of two. For those who doesn’t know yet, I’ll summarize them below: Shell Challenge: A person creates a building consisting of walls only. No painting or no landscaping, only the closed walls, a.k.a. the shell. Then the person uploads this to the gallery and decides a hashtag and gives a deadline for people to download and finish their buildings. Basic rules are:  ·       Download the specified shell.  ·       Do not touch the shell walls. No additional walls are accepted.  ·       Design your own house out of the walls provided.  ·       Additional half walls and fences are accepted, only the normal walls additions are forbidden.  ·       No other limit, go crazy and upload it to the gallery before the deadline with the specified hashtag. Wheel Challenge: Well, it’s explained better here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1hyks_rrSqrPGuKc1KPsF0F-RKVh89wC1Ms30jlghdKk/edit PSC in General  I create and announce the shell to be used in PSC from my YouTube channel at Sunday live streams. It has a big shell for 10 people to its design interior and exterior as their random turn comes. After the challengers are found, I announce the shell style and manage the related activities related to it after that point. I also show the latest updates on my live streams in the beginning. *If you’re a content creator for the game, I’ll promote your social media in my video and would expect you do the same for my video in your accounts.  Rules 1.      Challengers will work on their rooms when it’s their turn, before/after submissions are not accepted. 2.      Each challenger will have 5+2 days to complete their task while +2 days mean to be the buffer. For example, if one completes his/her build in 3 days, the next challenger will start at the 6th day. However, if the challenger would be able to complete his/her build after the 5th day, they will have additional 2 days to submit their build and the next challenger would start at the 8th day. 3.      The shape of the room of a challenger is up to the individuals. *As it gets closer to the end, you might leave better/worse shapes for the next challenger to spice up the challenge. 4.      Order of the challengers are decided randomly by the Google random number generator till each challenger is assigned to a turn. This is announced during the live session after explaining the shell’s shape and extra conditions, if there’s any. 5.      If you cannot complete your challenge before the due date, you’re pushed to the end of the list with the same conditions. *If you’re the last person and you cannot make it till the deadline, you’ll be disqualified from the challenge. 6.      If you resign from challenge and somebody else participates instead of you, the conditions for the new challenger will be reassigned. 7.      Once you resign, you cannot attend the same challenge. You would be accepted for the next PSCs, if you like. 8.      First challenge has 4 categories with 6 design tasks under them. Design tasks might differ from one PSC to another, so keep yourself updated for the announcement in the live stream. They’re also assigned randomly with the same system as the sorting. The lists below describes the categories individually:    a.      Budget: Maximum money that you can spend while building. If the interval is given instead of the maximum amount, it means you have to spend the minimum and stay below the maximum. The walls you add to complete your room are included to your budget. You must report your budget to me after completing your    b.      Room type: The type of the room you’re expected to build. Parents’ bathroom can be added to the bedrooms if the challenger desires. Landscaping, exterior painting and roofing are considered as one task. Hobby room could contain one or more hobbies, no limit on that.    c.      Coloring: The main color of the room you need to use. Usually this category doesn’t have single color, so feel free to play around the colors while bringing out the task color.    d.      Style: The style of the room you need to make your design accordingly. If the style is not clear in your head, ensure to hit me on DM to get more information about it. 9.      Once your build is done within your period, you must upload it to the gallery for it to be counted as submitted. The name has to be “Pars Shell Challenge – X” where X represents the number of your turn. 10.   No CC is allowed. Debug item cheats and moveobjects are welcome. 11.   For the first challenge, only base game + EP objects are going to be used.

[nekoladyproductions]

Pacific Rim 2: Uprising Thoughts and Feelings (Spoilers)

First thing off the bat: not nearly as good as the first film but I don't judge things based off of it's predecessors. I like to watch things as individual movies due to a number of reasons, one of them being so I don't overhype myself and end up hating a franchise because of one product not living up to par. Okay? Cool.

I want to get the cons out of the way first because that's the easy part. The look of the film is not nearly as impressive as the original, which is strange considering the previous film came out half a decade earlier. The colours don't pop as much and the camera work has lots left to be desired. There were strange zooms and pans that didn't work out for the movie and made some serious scenes not so serious due to the strange camera work. Most of the time, however, it wasn't interesting at all.

Not enough kaiju. Like. Three kaiju. And a mega kaiju. How dare.

Too many characters I don't care about. Like the nerd kid who died. I don't even remember his name outside of "Boob Job Kid" because his father is a plastic surgeon and the fact that people will proceed to call the movie racist because he was the only Indian recruit. 😐 (Sucks he died though because he was a cute character regardless, even though it was hella obvious he was going to be the one to go down because of how wimpy he was and some foreshadowing.) There's also Vik, a hard ass girl who's friendship works like brawling in Skyrim and who coincidentally looks like my ex girlfriend and has the same haircut. A bunch of others too idgaf. They should have stuck with Jake, Nate, Amara, Shao, Hermann, and Newt. Those were the ones who mattered, not the bajillions of other characters.

I do not judge a movie based on special effects, and here's why: it does not impede my overall enjoyment of a movie. I am a fan of old movies with practical effects, and most of the time, even though real materials were used, they look fake, and most of the time faker than CGI. I also watch almost exclusively animated films, which aren't realistic looking at all. Movies, especially ones that do not take place in our reality (Nightmare on Elm Street, Marvel, etc) cannot look like real life no matter what you do, so I find it tiring whenever someone complains about the graphics. I care about immersion with characters and writing. The visuals are only there to represent objects and creatures. I have never, and will never, judge a video game by it's graphics nor will I for a movie unless it is something along the lines of The Amazing Bulk, in which they didn't put any effort in at all. The CGI was not a problem for me, nor did it put me out of the film.

...

Except for one occassion, when Newt was looking out onto the drones and the camera panned out. It looked very out of place and that was jarring for me, but that was the only instance of the visuals in the CGI department pulling me out. Everything else looked fine to me. Then again, I might be biased because I enjoy much more rough looking films. I don't like too much polish.

The pacing, however, was hot garbage. The action scenes were perfect but everything else was... Not. The kaiju didn't come in until much later. Normal scenes were either too long or too short, and all scenes that were meant to be emotional were much too fast, like with our two gay science buddies and the family getting crushed. Like, bro. With the timing and look of the scene it was borderline comedic.

---

The characters are weaker here, I am not going to lie. Hermann, Shao and Amara are the only good guys with motivations that are easy to follow through without any confusion. Jake isn't a very good protagonist. A lot of his story is quite vague, and his past with Nate is fuzzy and possibly homoromantic if you "turn your head sideways and squint". Amara is a young girl of roughly 15 who labouralsy built her own mini Jaeger called "Scrapper", and became involved in the training program after being caught by the cops for building an unregistered Jaeger. She built the Jaeger because she had a hunch that the kaiju would come back. I mean, being 5 years old and watching your entire family getting stomped on by some macro scalie's wet dream would make anyone paranoid of another attack coming.

I'm gonna get this out of the way; the Jaegers were not used for normal civilian police work as I've seen at least one Tumblr user put it. That is ridiculous. The only logical way to stop a Jaeger is with a Jaeger. The one time saw the blue beauty bot come out to play is when Scrapper was found by the cops and tried to escape detainment. The drones were also being placed on military BASES around the world in case of another kaiju or more homemade Jaegers started popping up, not to flatten a robber or punt a rogue helicopter in Saudi Arabia.

Back to characters.

Gottleib isn't a fucking mechanic/chemist. Like, I get it. They needed someone who worked closely alongside Newt after he went corporate, but Hermann even said life science isn't really his schtick. He's many things, but that field of science was N-- ohhhhhh. Fuck. I forgot that they linked brains for a moment. Oh my god while typing this I just got smashed with a wave of fridge brilliance. Never mind.

Oh, but as I said, Hermann has motivation and is the only character outside of the main villain to be quite passionate in the movie. He was an absolute treat to see on screen, and was the true hero of the film. But that's a pro, not a con. Sorry.

There is one thing that truly upset me in the film and I am sure most of you know by now, but Mako died in a helicopter crash very early in the film before she was able to get more than a few lines of dialog. I get that they wanted a tragedy early on, but it was just so disrespectful to can one of the main characters from the previous film in such a gruesome fashion. Not to mention her message was more or less a MacGuffin to get the Gipsy Avenger to a secluded space to duke out with Obsidian Fury for that sweet, sweet tomato surprise.

The reason why the kaiju came to fuck shit up is dumb but also makes sense in a way. People have pointed out that Mt. Fuji is not the only place to get ahold of rare elements but the plan was to blow up the mountain and chain react with other volcanoes, so the logic lies that it is easier to go to a volcano that already has the minerals needed rather than meticulously searching for other places with these specific materials and then go somewhere. It wasn't specified what these materials were EXACTLY, so whether or not the monsters could have just kamakzied at Yellowstone is unknown, or rather kept intentionally vague so there wouldn't be even more plot holes added to the pile.

If you want to know what the hell I am talking about, the film explains that the Precursors sent the kaiju that teleported from the rim were all on their way to Mt. Fuiji to cause a huge volcanic domino effect, cover the earth in volcanic ash, and kill all life as we know it for the Precursors' gain, which is still largely unknown. Kaiju blood isn't just pretty, but it reacts violently with certain rare terrestrial elements and minerals. Mt. Fuji is the only place in the world that is not only an active volcano, but has such a high concentration of what the Precursors need that sending these large beasts on suicide missions will guarantee success on killing all life on the planet with as little hassle as possible. It's easier to go to a small grocery store with everything you need in one place versus going to a mall with a bunch of different stores spaced out with everything you need in different places and in different amounts.

Once again, kinda dumb, kinda generic, but it makes sense once you break it down.

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Some are saying that the movie sucks the military's dick, and yeah I can kinda see that but not really. I might be desensitized at this point due to the sheer amount of military cock-sucking Hollywood does but I am just not seeing it here. Independence Day and Michael Bay films are super obvious with their gross idolization of American armed forces. I don't think a single, real military branch was even mentioned in the film and the fighting was controlled by some military-esque figures, sure, but the movie featured two rascals growing up to being responsible in battle. Once again I just might be desensitized at this point so if anyone has any points they want to give they can elaborate in the notes. I'm genuinely interested.

<b>Okay, now we're getting into some actual spoilers here.</b>

Shao was set up to be the villain of the film. She is a woman who owns a weapons manufacturing company that created remote controlled Jaegers that are safer for use and easier to handle. With how things were going, the film led us to believe that her company was remote controlling other decommissioned Jaegers so that hers would get approved and she gets loads of money.

H O W E V E R

When Gipsy got a hold of the rogue Jaeger, Obsidion Fury, and peeled back the helmet, it wasn't a human or a computer. It was a kaiju brain. Oh dear.

You seemed to have noticed that I haven't really mentioned Newt very much in this little thoughts and analysis. As it turns out, he's the main villain in the film, and boy is he one hell of a bad guy. Whenever he drifted with the brain in the first movie, he got a connection. Then he shared it with Hermann, making it Hermann's first time... But not Newt. In a disturbing/funny scene in the movie, we get quite the shocker. Earlier he mentioned someone named Alice, whom we assumed to be his spouse.

It was that kaiju brain. He fell under control of it.

If you recall from the first film, kaiju work as a sort of hivemind that is connected through both our dimension and theirs. Whenever he connected with it, his brain was shortly apart of the hive. His brain couldn't handle the power of the brain alone. They took him, but slowly. He kept coming back for more and more, for a reason unknown--an urge, perhaps--until he eventually lost himself to the mind and became completely under their control. Possessed, if you will.

The reason why he sold out to Shao and went away from Hermann was to get private access to powerful robots that he can personally tamper without anyone noticing. He took brains harvested and studied on by PPD and implemented them into the robots in secret so that they can destroy the Jaegers owned by PPD and revive the portal into our own world. It wasn't him. It was the kaiju.

Pretty much no one was anticipating that. Some call it stupid, I was on the edge of my seat. Newt is my favourite character from the first film and I love me some villain angst so I was satisfied.

<b>Okay, time for the pros. (Even though I cited some anyway)</b>

The action kicked all kinds of ass. It was fast paced, yet you knew what was going on which is somewhat of a rarity in modern action films. No misuse of shaky cam, no editing tricks, no seizure-inducing jumpcuts that Nolan is infamous for, no 10 million missle follow-throughs like Bay (there was one though). It was fun, it was exciting, and the only colourful moments in the film. The camera work wasn't revolutionary, but it did serve its purpose and made the last/only kaiju battle something epic.

The acting is decent. I am not sure how old the child characters' actors are, but they were good for the roles they were in. Most child actors are quite shit--not gonna sugar coat it. That's actually one of the reasons why I'm avoiding IT and A Wrinkle in Time. John Boyega was of course charming and smooth, even if his character was quite shallow. Everyone knows that Hermann and Newt absolutely stole the whole show. Their acting was marvelous! Charlie Day does very well as a villain and I hope to see him in more antagonistic roles in the future. You believed him to be evil, but not quite there. You knew that he was there somewhere, but at the same time you believe that he means business.

Oh my god, that twist! At first, you think Newt is just kinda being douchey because he got so wrapped up in money but no. Oh no. All of the weird little things, the brushing off of Hermann but still wanting to be around him just later, inviting him to see his "wife". Having little glimmers of his past self but fading away. It all makes so much sense when the reveal is dropped. He said it in a way that he tried to come off nonchalant but his voice cracked and his eyes moistened. That's good ass acting, Charlie. Holy fuck. People underestimate you, and that's a shame. The movie wanted me to believe that he was being controlled by the enemy and I did. I fucking did.

He genuinely cares about Hermann, and confirmed by Charlie he has romantic feelings for him that are reflected by Hermann. During the confrontation he was trying to stop choking Hermann, and thankfully Shao came in and broke it up before he could do any further damage. Hermann stopping Shao from killing Newt because he knows he's still there, he saw it.

The photos on the desk, the yearning, the dialogue. Ten years away. They would have been together if it weren't for those accursed aliens.

The story itself wasn't too great until it got to the third act. Everything came together and everyone brought their all for it and it showed.

Dude the DeSiGnS. Those Jaegers were so sleek, dawg! Each one was really cool! My favourite was Scrapper. Everyone says that she's just BB8 but I say that she is a reference to old-school gundam where the younger members of a team would usually have the smaller bots. A lot of those characters tend to have faster moving mechs with much more evasive maneuvers and with a cuter design. I'm sure people are associating her with BB8 because both are cute and can roll. The kaiju weren't as cool looking with the exception of the Mega Kaiju that Newt stitched together with his machines.

Ohhhhhh, yes. There's a Mega Kaiju. If there were categories in this film, it would have surpassed Category 6. Fuck me man, probably Category 8 or 9! That fucker was HUGE! AND COOL! And scary. That thing took out three Jaegers and it had to take a Gipsy nose-diving from the stratosphere and hitting direct impact to kill it. The only way that Jake and Amara survived was Shao controlling Scrapper to smash-roll them into safety.

Oh yeah. Shao is a badass. Forgot to mentionnnnn.

The music, like with every film it seems, served its purpose to get us hyped when we needed to be and cry when we needed to. I've noticed that unless your score has a different genre (John Carpenter films,) has a catchy melody (Pirates of the Caribbean, anyone?) or has unique instrumentation (anything that graces Danny Elfman's fingertips) it tends to fade out into the generic. Orchestra is fine and dandy and all, but we don't keep flicking back to video game soundtracks because of its supposed grandeur. It gets stuck in our heads, keeps us coming back. Music ties us to our souls, man! And music ties a movie together.

Generic music makes a generic film. But at least it isn't shit, or barely there. Or so loud you can't hear dialogue, another problem most films have during big scenes.

<b>In Conclusion</b>

This film is not a masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination. Most sequels aren't. This is a stepping stone movie. What's that?

A stepping stone movie is a sequel that isn't that great used to setup a bigger, better movie. This is the Iron Man 2 of Pacific Rim.

To be frank, there's a lot of similarities to Iron Man 2 in this film. Military fuckupery, evil corporate masterminds, extremists, drones. Lots of it. Even though Iron Man 2 sucks, it was the tie into Iron Man 3, arguably one of the best Marvel movies in the MCU. They are called stepping stones because most of the resources needed for the better project are used for the finale movie, but you need something to tide over the audience/help go into the other film if the plot needs some explaining to do that can't be done in one movie/set up certain things and concepts that simply cannot be done in one movie lest you want a clusterfuck a la Batman v Superman.

It isn't the greatest film, but it is not a dumpster fire either. It all depends on perspective. If you want your fancy tickled if you like stuff like Tokusatsu and action movies, go for it. If you just want a fun time, go for it. If you want to see something Pacific Rim but not something crazy good, go for it. If you are a die-hard fan, however, you may want to avoid it if you want to see it as perfect as the original. There are PLENTY of problems with the film and I understand when fans express their displeasure, but please for the love of everything lovely, do not attack others who do like the film.

Don't call them names, don't stomp on their opinions, and don't accuse them of being this or that because of two unfortunate deaths in the film involving POC with one of them being a woman. There are lots of POC in the movie and yeah it sucks that two nonwhite people died, but just remember to not immediately assume that something or someone is racist due to this. The last thing I want is someone to feel guilty by being shamed on the internet for enjoying a harmless movie that had an Asian woman and an Indian boy die in it.

<b>All in all, I give this movie 6.5 to a 7 out of 10. Not the best, not the worst. Could have been either.</b>