#if it’s any consolation you can have 15% of all profits | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

roman-catholic-mass-readings · 5 months ago

Text

9th August >> Mass Readings (USA)

Friday, Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein), Virgin, Martyr.

Friday, Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time

(Liturgical Colour: Green. Year: B(II))

First Reading Nahum 2:1, 3; 3:1-3, 6-7 Woe to the city of blood!

See, upon the mountains there advances the bearer of good news, announcing peace! Celebrate your feasts, O Judah, fulfill your vows! For nevermore shall you be invaded by the scoundrel; he is completely destroyed. The LORD will restore the vine of Jacob, the pride of Israel, Though ravagers have ravaged them and ruined the tendrils.

Woe to the bloody city, all lies, full of plunder, whose looting never stops! The crack of the whip, the rumbling sounds of wheels; horses a-gallop, chariots bounding, Cavalry charging, the flame of the sword, the flash of the spear, the many slain, the heaping corpses, the endless bodies to stumble upon! I will cast filth upon you, disgrace you and put you to shame; Till everyone who sees you runs from you, saying, “Nineveh is destroyed; who can pity her? Where can one find any to console her?”

The Word of the Lord

R/ Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm Deuteronomy 32:35cd-36ab, 39abcd, 41

R/ It is I who deal death and give life.

Close at hand is the day of their disaster, and their doom is rushing upon them! Surely, the LORD shall do justice for his people; on his servants he shall have pity.

R/ It is I who deal death and give life.

“Learn then that I, I alone, am God, and there is no god besides me. It is I who bring both death and life, I who inflict wounds and heal them.”

R/ It is I who deal death and give life.

I will sharpen my flashing sword, and my hand shall lay hold of my quiver, “With vengeance I will repay my foes and requite those who hate me.”

R/ It is I who deal death and give life.

Gospel Acclamation Matthew 5:10

Alleluia, alleluia. Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness; for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel Matthew 16:24-28 What can one give in exchange for one’s life?

Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? Or what can one give in exchange for his life? For the Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father’s glory, and then he will repay each according to his conduct. Amen, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his Kingdom.”

The Gospel of the Lord

R/ Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

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

Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein), Virgin, Martyr

(Liturgical Colour: Red. Year: B(II))

(Readings for the memorial)

(There is a choice today between the readings for the ferial day (Friday) and those for the memorial. The ferial readings are recommended unless pastoral reasons suggest otherwise)

First Reading Hosea 2:16b, 17b, 21–22 I will espouse you to me forever.

Thus says the LORD:

I will lead her into the desert and speak to her heart. She shall respond there as in the days of her youth, when she came up from the land of Egypt. I will espouse you to me forever: I will espouse you in right and in justice, in love and in mercy; I will espouse you in fidelity, and you shall know the LORD.

The Word of the Lord

R/ Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm Psalm 45:11-12, 14-15, 16-17

R/ Listen to me, daughter; see and bend your ear.

Hear, O daughter, and see; turn your ear, forget your people and your father’s house. So shall the king desire your beauty; for he is your lord, and you must worship him.

R/ Listen to me, daughter; see and bend your ear.

All glorious is the king’s daughter as she enters; her raiment is threaded with spun gold. In embroidered apparel she is borne in to the king; behind her the virgins of her train are brought to you.

R/ Listen to me, daughter; see and bend your ear.

They are borne in with gladness and joy; they enter the palace of the king. The place of your fathers your sons shall have; you shall make them princes through all the land.

R/ Listen to me, daughter; see and bend your ear.

Gospel Acclamation Matthew 5:10

Alleluia, alleluia. Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven. Alleluia, alleluia.

Or: John 17:19

Alleluia, alleluia. I consecrate myself for them, so that they also may be consecrated in the truth. Alleluia, alleluia.

Or: 2 Corinthians 1:3b-4a

Alleluia, alleluia. Blessed be the Father of compassion and God of all encouragement, who encourages us in our every affliction. Alleluia, alleluia.

Or: James 1:12

Alleluia, alleluia. Blessed is the man who perseveres in temptation, for when he has been proved he will receive the crown of life. Alleluia, alleluia.

Or: 1 Peter 4:14

Alleluia, alleluia. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of God rests upon you. Alleluia, alleluia.

Or: cf. Te Deum

Alleluia, alleluia. We praise you, O God, we acclaim you as Lord; the white-robed army of martyrs praise you. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel Matthew 25:1-13 Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!

Jesus told his disciples this parable: “The Kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones, when taking their lamps, brought no oil with them, but the wise brought flasks of oil with their lamps. Since the bridegroom was long delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep. At midnight, there was a cry, ‘Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’ Then all those virgins got up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise ones replied, ‘No, for there may not be enough for us and you. Go instead to the merchants and buy some for yourselves.’ While they went off to buy it, the bridegroom came and those who were ready went into the wedding feast with him. Then the door was locked. Afterwards the other virgins came and said, ‘Lord, Lord, open the door for us!’ But he said in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, I do not know you.’ Therefore, stay awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour.”

The Gospel of the Lord

R/ Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

1 note · View note

market-news-24 · 8 months ago

Text

A recent listing on Sony's PlayStation 5 website has sparked speculation about the possibility of native, upscaled PS2 emulation coming to the next-gen console. This potential feature has gamers buzzing with excitement as they eagerly await further confirmation from Sony. Stay tuned for more updates on this exciting development. Click to Claim Latest Airdrop for FREE Claim in 15 seconds Scroll Down to End of This Post const downloadBtn = document.getElementById('download-btn'); const timerBtn = document.getElementById('timer-btn'); const downloadLinkBtn = document.getElementById('download-link-btn'); downloadBtn.addEventListener('click', () => downloadBtn.style.display = 'none'; timerBtn.style.display = 'block'; let timeLeft = 15; const timerInterval = setInterval(() => if (timeLeft === 0) clearInterval(timerInterval); timerBtn.style.display = 'none'; downloadLinkBtn.style.display = 'inline-block'; // Add your download functionality here console.log('Download started!'); else timerBtn.textContent = `Claim in $timeLeft seconds`; timeLeft--; , 1000); ); Win Up To 93% Of Your Trades With The World's #1 Most Profitable Trading Indicators [ad_1] Years ago, Sony began offering select "PlayStation 2 Classics" as emulated downloads on the PlayStation 4. And now, it seems that certain PS2 games will soon be available for direct download on the PS5, complete with new features like "up-rendering, rewind, quick save, and custom video filters." The hint at Sony's upcoming PS2 download plans comes from a new PlayStation Network listing for the 2002 game Star Wars: The Clone Wars. The listing, which appeared on tracking site PSDeals, indicates a planned June 11 release for the emulated Clone Wars port on both the PS4 and PS5 consoles, with newly added features. These new features, including up-rendering designed for the 4K-capable PS5, promise to make these classic games look even better on high-end TVs. Additionally, features like rewind, quick save, and custom video filters are set to enhance the gaming experience beyond what was previously available on the PS4. Implicit Conversions, a retro-focused porting company, has been working with Sony to add support for PS1 titles on the PS5. They have recently included support for PS2 games in their Syrup Engine, hinting at a broader effort to bring classic games to modern consoles. While the ability to download select PS2 games to the PS5 is exciting, some players are still hoping for the ability to play their existing PS2 discs. Hackers have previously unlocked the PlayStation Classics emulator on the PS4 to run generic PS2 games, and similar exploits may lead to wider PS5 support for PS2 game discs in the future. Win Up To 93% Of Your Trades With The World's #1 Most Profitable Trading Indicators [ad_2] 1. Can the PS5 play PS2 games? Yes, the PS5 has native, upscaled emulation for PS2 games. 2. Do I need to buy a separate download or subscription to play PS2 games on the PS5? No, you should be able to play your PS2 games on the PS5 without needing any additional purchases or subscriptions. 3. Will all PS2 games be compatible with the PS5's emulation? While most PS2 games should be compatible, there may be some exceptions. It's best to check with Sony for a list of supported games. 4. Do I need to transfer my PS2 games to the PS5 or can I play them directly from the disc? You should be able to play your PS2 games directly from the disc on the PS5 without needing to transfer them over. 5. Will the graphics on PS2 games look better on the PS5? With native, upscaled emulation, the graphics on PS2 games should look better when played on the PS5 compared to the original console. Win Up To 93% Of Your Trades With The World's #1 Most Profitable Trading Indicators [ad_1] Win Up To 93% Of Your Trades With The World's #1 Most Profitable Trading Indicators

Claim Airdrop now Searching FREE Airdrops 20 seconds Sorry There is No FREE Airdrops Available now. Please visit Later function claimAirdrop() document.getElementById('claim-button').style.display = 'none'; document.getElementById('timer-container').style.display = 'block'; let countdownTimer = 20; const countdownInterval = setInterval(function() document.getElementById('countdown').textContent = countdownTimer; countdownTimer--; if (countdownTimer < 0) clearInterval(countdownInterval); document.getElementById('timer-container').style.display = 'none'; document.getElementById('sorry-button').style.display = 'block'; , 1000);

0 notes

tyrantchimera · 1 year ago

Text

I wonder if part of this issue isnt the sheer SIZE of most triple A games these days. (Prepare for a rant, I'm Nintendo biased.) As mentioned earlier, brand name studios sink significant costs into their projects, and a single failed investment can be catastrophic for their back end. Just look at the size of Pokemon Red or Silver in comparison to Scarlet or Sword. The sheer difference in scale is almost insulting. Perhaps as a result of this difficulty, more and more large companies turned to subscription based game services (to earn a STABLE profit, I assume), or to making games "bland" to appeal to wider audiences. That's not even touching on the necessary marketing to get the names out here: "shadow dropping" a game is no longer the norm but an exception.

It was a necessity, but.... well. It distanced these games from the sort of uniqueness that people love. Just look at the original LoZ: Majora's Mask in comparison to, say, LoZ: Skyward Sword. Both good games. But the level of personality in LoZ: MM is ridiculous. (Maybe it's not the best of examples, but if any mainstream Nintendo game could look like an indie if you squinted, it was Majora's Mask.) And frankly? Sometimes big games are just too BIG. I used to consider myself a completionist, but Breath of the Wild and its 900-something koroks are daunting at best. I love seeing all the corners of a video game world. But when a world is too goddamn big, my depressed ass has little recourse but to give up on completely playing the game I'm enjoying lest it become a chore.

Soon people began turning to indies for the same sort of individuality, avante garde ideas, and quirkiness that started to (mostly) disappear after the gamecube/PS2/etc era (imho). Lovingly crafted, smaller worlds to explore, but each and every corner is brimming with detail. And because they were smaller studios with smaller budgets, they had to make a more memorable, unique experience if they wanted any success. The indie renaissance, games like Undertale, Hollow Knight, or A Hat in Time, filled in for a lack of personality in triple A titles. A lack caused by the necessity to generalize a game for wider marketability. The sheer personality in many of these indie games would not have been allowed in modern studios. (Yet for every tale of success, there are probably 3 dozen failures, or mediocre games, or games that were really good but just didn't get a chance).

But now Unity may have started an incredibly unfortunate precedent with trying their own hand at 'subscription' services (ie the gaming companies having to pay them an egregious cut every time a game with Unity's game engine is installed, which, if this does indeed become a precedent, would cut many indie developers from an already saturated and competitive market). Indie games may decrease soon. And like someone else mentioned earlier, more recent games these days just haven't been optimized. Not even Indies! Most NES games could probably run on a modern calculator for crying out loud! People have played DOOM in Minecraft! And yet as small as they were, these games mostly worked as intended. And modern games have lag and loading screens. Ugh. I hate loading screens.

As others on this thread have discussed, I think there will have to be a "correction" in the market. Workers will need to protect their rights, and companies will have to re-evaluate the distribution of time, effort, and other resources when it comes to making games. Technology should focus on long term usability, not constant expansion, and with resources as tight as they are, we may see average console lifetimes go from 5 to 10 or even 15 years. (I hope we do anyways: bigger isn't always better. And we need to be careful of the resources squandered or mined.)

genuinely, i think we're heading for another video game crash. Triple A games are continually abusing workers while putting out lower and lower quality games at higher and higher price points. Consoles and gaming pcs are approaching the same price as a used car, for games that take up 90% of the memory because they're so poorly optimized.

the constant grind for new games or new content for previous games is quickly becoming annoying and underwhelming, we already have constant complaints about the new day one patch system every game release seems to come with. more and more games are just endless remasters and franchise sequels instead of anything new.

and now unity wants to charge developers for every install

11K notes · View notes

mybeautifulchristianjourney · 2 years ago

Text

Job: God will Punish the Wicked

1 Then Job answered,

2 “Listen diligently to my speech. Let this be your consolation. 3 Allow me, and I also will speak; After I have spoken, mock on. 4 As for me, is my complaint to man? Why shouldn’t I be impatient? 5 Look at me, and be astonished. Lay your hand on your mouth. 6 When I remember, I am troubled. Horror takes hold of my flesh.

7 “Why do the wicked live, become old, yes, and grow mighty in power? 8 Their child is established with them in their sight, their offspring before their eyes. 9 Their houses are safe from fear, neither is the rod of God upon them. 10 Their bulls breed without fail. Their cows calve, and don’t miscarry. 11 They send out their little ones like a flock. Their children dance. 12 They sing to the tambourine and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the pipe. 13 They spend their days in prosperity. In an instant they go down to Sheol. 14 They tell God, ‘Depart from us, for we don’t want to know about your ways. 15 What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? What profit should we have, if we pray to him?’ 16 Behold, their prosperity is not in their hand. The counsel of the wicked is far from me.

17 “How often is it that the lamp of the wicked is put out, that their calamity comes on them, that God distributes sorrows in his anger? 18 How often is it that they are as stubble before the wind, as chaff that the storm carries away? 19 You say, ‘God lays up his iniquity for his children.’ Let him recompense it to himself, that he may know it. 20 Let his own eyes see his destruction. Let him drink of the wrath of the Almighty. 21 For what does he care for his house after him, when the number of his months is cut off?

22 “Shall any teach God knowledge, since he judges those who are high? 23 One dies in his full strength, being wholly at ease and quiet. 24 His pails are full of milk. The marrow of his bones is moistened. 25 Another dies in bitterness of soul, and never tastes of good. 26 They lie down alike in the dust. The worm covers them.

27 “Behold, I know your thoughts, the plans with which you would wrong me. 28 For you say, ‘Where is the house of the prince? Where is the tent in which the wicked lived?’ 29 Haven’t you asked wayfaring men? Don’t you know their evidences, 30 that the evil man is reserved to the day of calamity, That they are led out to the day of wrath? 31 Who will declare his way to his face? Who will repay him what he has done? 32 Yet he will be borne to the grave. Men will keep watch over the tomb. 33 The clods of the valley will be sweet to him. All men will draw after him, as there were innumerable before him. 34 So how can you comfort me with nonsense, because in your answers there remains only falsehood?” — Job 21 | World English Bible (WEB) The World English Bible is in the public domain. Cross References: Genesis 31:27; Exodus 5:2; Judges 18:19; Judges 20:34; Job 1:3; Job 3:13; Job 3:19; Job 6:11; Job 9:24; Job 10:3; Job 11:3; Job 12:6; Job 14:5; Job 17:14; Job 18:5-6; Job 20:11; Job 20:29; Job 22:1; Psalm 17:14; Psalm 55:5; Psalm 82:7; Psalm 107:41; Proverbs 14:10; Jeremiah 9:6; Jeremiah 31:29; Romans 11:34; 1 Corinthians 3:12; 2 Peter 2:9; Revelation 14:10

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash

#Job #God #wicked #punished #Job 21 #Book of Job #Old Testament #WEB #World English Bible

4 notes · View notes

cappelloscreations · 3 years ago

Text

Gaming Beyond the Concept of Triple A Video Game Titles

An interesting point in the news (courtesy of wccftech) this week was made by Cliff Bleszinski (Cliffy B) of Unreal Tournament and Gears of War fame and more recently the co-founder of Boss Key Productions.

During industry conference Reboot Develop 2017, Cliff took to the stage and put forward his view that ‘AAA games’ cost too much to make and the development of such games are a ‘nearly unsustainable’ model, his reasoning behind this is based on a number of points including the fact that:

Customers can only afford a few $60 dollar games a year and this price is a high point for most consumers Consumers have been burned with DLC / Bugs in their games Player expectations are very high in terms of Graphics. feature sets and polish and quality Citing Horizon Zero Dawn as an example, Cliff went on to posit that the seven year development cycle for a project like this can be undertaken and afforded by Sony with the reason that they can get so heavily invested in something like this is that they will be the ones profiting from the sale of their consoles, which a game like Horizon Zero Dawn is very likely to have a positive effect on. So Sony – whom Horizon Zero Dawn’s Developer Guerrilla Games belong to – has two branches here, both the software and their hardware, with which they can recoup their investment and further to this make a profit. Pink gaming decor.

In contrast to this he then made a comparison to the financial commitment that was made by Take-Two with regard to Bioshock Infinite where the outcome of overstretching to fulfill a AAA vision resulted in a number of lay offs over at Irrational Games.

A remedy for this, he suggested, would be the advent of the ‘AA game’. These games would be games that despite a restricted budget focused on what matters most, giving examples of his type of game being the likes of Rocket League by Psyonix and Digital Extreme’s Warframe adding also that digital only would also be a consideration for success.

So, have our expectations got out of hand, or is the amazing high standard and polish of the games we see nowadays simply a result of the evolution of technology and the desire of creators to improve, innovate and deliver that next big thing? Is it all simply about the bottom line (obviously to a great degree, it’s business), or is there something to be said for the ambition of developers and creators to express themselves and push the limits of the gaming medium via the technologically impressive consoles we use today?

Whether it’s gamer expectation, businesses pushing for profit or creators with the passion and determination to bring their ambitious gaming visions to the gaming community, it does look like there is a point here. No one likes to hear about studios closing, job cuts, or devs not getting paid for their hard work and if this can be avoided by simply scaling back ambition on a project and being more realistic in financial terms of what can be achieved then that’s great. Though conversely, it would definitely be a shame if the spectacle of the ‘AAA game’ was only within the reach of the hardware manufacturers.

Ultimately, if the costs of the AAA’s continue to get out of hand and cause businesses problems the amount made will dwindle as the lessons are learned.

In the ‘What We’ve Been Playing’ section this week the guys have been getting themselves involved in some – dare we say it – fantastic AA titles. Antony has been braving the enigmatic and alluring world of ‘What Remains of Edith Finch’, this PS4 console exclusive title from Giant Sparrow, makes of the amazing ‘Unfinished Swan’ couples an exciting narrative driven story with interesting gameplay, a must play for any PS4 owners who may have like titles like ‘Gone Home’, ‘Firewatch’ or ‘Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture’ Gaming laptop overheating.

While Darren has been getting himself all done up like a super sleuth of murder prevention in his new favorite haunt – The Sexy Brutale, this clever and original game has Darren eager for more after only a few hours of play, with it’s mix of thoughtful gameplay and ingenious puzzles. Definitely a game worth checking out if you feel like something different.

The Sexy Brutale is available now on Xbox One, PS4 and PC.

Also this week Darren is getting geared up and ready for a gaming exhibition near him as Game Mania comes to the Winter Gardens in Blackpool on the 6th and 7th of May.

Celebrating gaming from past and present it looks like this event is catering for the whole family with an array of free to play pinball machines arcade games and consoles plus a kids area full of Minecraft, Lego and Marvel fun. With VR making it’s presence known and a NES Mini Classic up for grabs it sounds like a great day for any gamer.

It’s time for free monthly game announcements, On Xbox One, we have Giana Sisters: Twisted Dream’s – Director’s Cut will be available May 1 – 31, followed by the co-op adventure Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris on May 16 – June 15.

Then on Xbox 360, and Xbox One through Backward Compatibility, we have a pair of great Star Wars games. Starting with Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II and the return of Darth Vader’s Secret Apprentice on May 1 – 15, followed by LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga and the opportunity to play through all six classic Star Wars movies in LEGO, what’s not to love there!

The free PS Plus games for May have also arrived this week and it starts with a MUST PLAY title, the fantastic Tales from the Borderlands by Telltale Games. Set in the unforgiving world of Pandora after the events of Borderlands 2, follow the journey of Rhys and Fiona as they are thrown together to recover a fortune they both believe is theirs.

Even if you’re not a fan of the Borderlands series, this game is a must play; it’s incredibly funny, well written and has a stellar voice cast too, what’s not to like!

The rest of the line up looks like this:

Tales from the Borderlands, PS4 Abzu or Alien Nation, PS4 Blood Knights, PS3 Port Royale 3: Pirates and Merchants, PS3 Laser Disco Defenders, PS Vita (Cross Buy with PS4) Type:Rider, PS Vita (Cross Buy on PS4)

And finally just before the Sparks went to pod news broke of an awesome new add-on for a Spark favourite, Forza Horizon 3 that you never saw coming.

Forza fans, your Hot Wheels fantasies are about to come true! The second Forza Horizon 3 expansion – Forza Horizon 3 Hot Wheels – arrives on May 9 exclusively on Xbox, and is included in the Forza Horizon 3 Expansion Pass. This expansion lets players travel to a brand-new location in Australia, a place where lazy Sunday drives are replaced by insane high-speed stunts on miles of looping, banking, giant iconic orange Hot Wheels tracks. Starring famous Hot Wheels vehicles like the Twin Mill, the Rip Rod, and the Bone Shaker – THE SPARKS CANNOT WAIT FOR THIS!

#gaming #video games #gamer #aaa games #pc gaming #xbox #playstation

3 notes · View notes

dubiousdisco · 4 years ago

Text

Mark 10:25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.

Matthew 19:23 And Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven.

Luke 16:13 No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.

Luke 18:22 When Jesus heard this, he said to him, "You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."

Acts 4:34-35 There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.

1 Timothy 6:9-12 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs. But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

Luke 12:15-21 And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.

Proverbs 23:4-5 Do not toil to acquire wealth; be discerning enough to desist. When your eyes light on it, it is gone, for suddenly it sprouts wings, flying like an eagle toward heaven.

Mark 10:23-25 And Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” And the disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how difficult it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.

Luke 6:24-25 But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep.

1 John 2:15-17 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

Luke 6:20 And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.

Mark 8:36 For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?

1 Corinthians 15:50 I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.

Proverbs 11:28 Whoever trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous will flourish like a green leaf.

Mark 12:41-44 And he sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums. And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny. And he called his disciples to him and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”

Matthew 16:26 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?

James 5:1-6 Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming on you. Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. Look! The wages you failed to pay the workers who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered the innocent one, who was not opposing you.

#bible #christianity #religion #idk how else to tag this #the bible says to distribute your wealth

4 notes · View notes

nickcifonie · 3 years ago

Text

In 2021, Anyone Can Make $ Playing Video Games!

I grew up playing games like Risk, Monopoly, a little Chess... and still remember buying my first computer somewhere around 1986 solely to play a computer game on. It was an Apple IIc, and that first game was some type of Pirate Adventure. I wish I remembered the name. It wasn’t all that good, but still, I was hooked!

Since that first adventure, I’ve spent thousands of hours as well as dollars playing just about every type of digital game that has followed! PC games, Atari, Wii, mobile games... you name it, I play it! I’d always generalize the cost (to myself at least) thinking “some guys play golf 3 days a week at $100 a round... I play computer games”.

That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it! However, the story has changed...

“Pay to Play” has become “Play to Earn”!

If you would be to search terms like “crypto games”, “blockchain games”, “make money playing video games”, and others, you’d find some really incredible statements. Today, quotes like the ones below are becoming more and more common!

“I made $400 last week playing a computer game” “I just sold my RPG character for $200 profit”

“I was offered $1k for a skin for my laser rifle of doom” (I made up the “laser rifle of doom” part)

“I bred my pet thingamajig yesterday and sold the baby!” (it’s digital, for those of you wincing)

In 2021, thanks to the blockchain, there’s a growing community of gamers who are making real dollars daily, mining, fighting, shooting, jumping... all while playing the same type of mobile and PC games that you had to PAY to play just a short while ago...

...but let’s start at the beginning.

You paid $172,000 for a what!?

Yes... all the way back in 2018 a CryptoKitty named “Dragon” was sold for an incredible $172,000. (300 ETH) Don’t be too surprised, it’s justified! It’s an adorable digital image, or “NFT” of a cat, after all.

It’s a lot of money, but for NFTs and blockchain gaming, flipping a Kitty today may as well be considered the stone ages. It’s still a record, but while you can still get started collecting these digital felines for as low as a couple of dollars, big-dollar trades still happen daily.

On the flip side of mortgaging your home to buy a digital picture of a CryptoKitty, Bored Ape, or CryptoPunk, you may feel better if you begin your adventure into making crypto (it’s real money, dear!) by playing a video game where you can “make money” instead of spending it.

I’m not saying owning a CryptoKitty or any of a plethora of “Avatar NFTs” we see popping up on various exchanges isn’t one way to do it... I’m saying to me at least, as a life-long gamer I’d much prefer playing a mobile, console, or PC game to collecting pictures in a digital wallet.

So what the heck is an NFT?

I could go into a long explanation... but since this article is about gaming and not cryptocurrency, I’ll tell you an NFT is a “non-fungible token”, and leave you google it if you really want to dig in deep. I do want to share more, so I’ll ‘splain it as simple as I can for you Lucy!

A CryptoKitty, as stated above, is a type of image called an NFT. (the collection is called “CryptoKitties) It’s a digital picture of a cartoon cat. There are thousands of different ones that have different shapes, colors, expressions and traits. (kind of like a real cat, but eats less)

The difference, is only one of each design is actually a legitimate “CryptoKitty”. (or a legitimate whatever type of image it happens to be) To be clearer... each NFT is a “one of a kind”, so if you’re thinking “but can’t I just make a copy?”, nope you can’t.

I mean... you “can” make a copy of it if you really dig the design and want it on your desktop, but it would only be a copy of that particular NFT, not the real McCoy! Ok... so what makes one real, and the rest fakes? The blockchain.

Now, I’m going to be true to my word and keep my promise of not making this an article about crypto or the blockchain, so just know this: the difference between an image that is an actual NFT, and a copy of one, is there is an underlying digital code that designates the real thing.

So real in fact, that artists are creating or importing their paintings and creations to the web as NFTs, numbering them as they would a lithograph, and selling their entire collections. So if you are an art fan, check with your favorite creators... you may be surprised to find all of their “works of art” on an online marketplace!

NFTs are viewed on certain marketplace websites and digital wallets where the copies cannot be displayed, so that is how we know one is real, and the others are not! Having said that, sure, there’s more to it, but just know that there’s a 100% secure way of knowing an image is a real NFT.

In addition, there can be more than one NFT with the same identical image. However, each has a unique underlying code, so even if they look exactly the same, they are not! Look at it like the playing cards or comic books of old... there may be 1,000 created (or “minted” as it’s called in NFT land) but they will each be numbered 1 to 1,000.

And guess which is more valuable.....? I knew you’d get it!

And these NFT’s make money how?

You’re getting warmer! There are a lot of different types of games coming out these days where you can make money playing. There are RPG’s, MOBA’s, Shooters, games in first person and in third, dungeon crawls... you name it!

If you’re thinking “how did I not know this!”, I was the same until recently! I have been gaming almost daily since I stepped into Ultima Online back in 1997, and I can’t even begin to tally how many hours and/or dollars I’ve invested into gaming.

Now, our hobby pays!

After 30-something years, my wife still thinks I’m bonkers... but I got a totally different look from her a few days ago when I told her I sold my game character for well over $200. Legit. I sold two more yesterday, and another this afternoon.

Some of these only cost me $10 or $15, some much more. Some are free. I sold another NFT character last week for $1,950, and it was sold on the game’s website, not on the black market.

So not only can an NFT be a picture of an Ape, Vegetable, Duck, or Stripper on a pole (we’ll leave it at that) but it can be a character in a game, a weapon, a mount, armor, or more.

One game is giving away free pet turtles with each character. For the uneducated on “pets” in computer games, it’s not the kind you keep in a bowl in your bedroom. It’s a companion that fights with you in an online game and may shoot fire from its eyes, heal you, or similar.

Soon after being handed out for free, they’re now selling for around $60 each.

So an NFT can be an image, a video, music, a meme... or even a shirt or shoes! But we’ll leave the NFT clothing explanation to another article. ;)

Remember that rare skin you paid out the nose for a year ago in Apex? Or the L33T character you built up in Fortnite or Warcraft? If you’re no longer playing that game, it’s money under the bridge. And you don’t own the bridge!

In this new breed of blockchain games, you could have LEGALLY sold that character, skin, weapon, land, house, mount, or whatever it was when you tired of the game. For a profit. Maybe for a LARGE profit.

Yes, in the past we were able to find ways to get around the system and dump our pixels from time to time. We’d sell the account on the black market, or cut a deal with someone like a drug dealer on a Chicago Street corner. Then we’d over who went first...

“You give me the account and weapon first!” “No you give me the money first”. Sometimes the deals even went through. Others well... let’s just say half of the parties walked away happy.

I made good money when after 4 years of daily playing I sold my Ultima Online account for somewhere around $2,000, but I needed to find a trustworthy “go-between” to broker the deal. Even then, I was sweating it!

With today’s crypto games, not only do the games provide the platform to buy, sell, or trade your character and items, but it’s encouraged, and done with good old U.S dollars! I’ve made $ playing 4 or 5 different games already this week, as well as flipping (buying low and selling higher) NFT characters!

How else can I make money playing games?

The way you earn varies from game to game, but each week seems to reveal another new strategy, platform, or idea. Many are new strategies, and while some have “triple A” 3D animation and graphics, others are simpler and use basic one-dimensional graphics for the gameplay.

Some of these games are actually tied to a token on the blockchain. The game developer creates their own token, not too unlike Bitcoin or Ethereum, and it can be bought or sold on the open market as well as used in the game as currency.

Could you imagine if back in League of Legends, Guild Wars or Final Fantasy, when you were ready to move to a new game, you could sell or easily convert your gold to cash? Some of today’s blockchain games encourage it!

Not only can you now buy and sell characters and weapons, the gold in the game can be traded, bought, sold, or saved like real currency, stocks, crypto, or collectables. Never have I been as excited about PC and mobile gaming as I am today!

As an example, I am doing some work for a new game that will launch soon called Pepper Attack. Pepper Attack has its own token or coin... called MYTE. It can be used in the game as currency, but also be traded like Bitcoin. A lot of today’s blockchain games offer this same benefit.

Hi ho, hi ho, it’s off to mine I go!

Just by owning an NFT from the game, you can login on a daily basis and click “mine” earning real-value tokens passively. Your Pepper goes to work like one of the 7 Dwarves mining MYTE, and later on you can convert it to other tokens or cold, hard cash.

There's more to do in this particular game as well. Like any good RPG or MMORPG, each pepper has a unique combination or skills like attack, defense, evade, hit points, and more. As an example of the possibilities, if you have a high attack score, other characters will be able to pay you in MYTE to “train” them, raising their score as well.

In addition, these NFTs have unique physical traits, some are common and some are very rare. This game in particular have toons that look more like anime-ish elves with weapons and a stem... I have to admit the artwork is really spicey! (see what I did there?) Other games are of course totally different.

Some people will simply collect these NFTs/characters as an investment, like playing cards or comics. Others will use them in the game, and still others will do both. Either way, they can be held, or sold for a profit!

Unlike the games of the past, when you’re ready to move on you don’t walk away and lose all the $ you have spent for characters, skins, weapons, potions, and other items. When you’re done, you’ll be able to sell your character and items... possibly for a profit... maybe a lot of profit... and move on.

These are not your father’s computer games!

As we move ahead in the genre, we are seeing AAA studios coming out with big-dollar productions, like Blankos, Mist, Illuvium, Ember Sword and others. Some of these games actually let you buy the land you build on!

Did you have your own house in Ultima Online, Star Wars Galaxies, or Archeage? What if you could have used It as a shop and been paid in dollars for your wares, rented it to another player, or sold it for cold hard cash at a huge profit down the road?

In many of today’s games, not only is it common, but extremely hard to come by, and quite expensive. Not only are people paying thousands of dollars for a plot in some of the games that have land, but they’re paying it many months before the game is even released.

They do it, because in many cases they know that they can easily 2X, 10X, or even 50X their investment a short piece down the road. Seriously? Seriously... and the early bird catches the worm!

Other games with lesser budgets are more graphic-based, but have super earnings potential as well, and are just as fun to play. These include Splinterlands, (a card game like Magic!) Crypto Blades, Axie Infinity and more.

Regardless of if the new blockchain game of your choice is a RPG, MOBA, a card game or racing game... the fact that you can put some coin into your pocket playing adds a whole new element. It’s heckafun making money playing a game!

The early nerd catches the worm!

In many cases, if you can catch a game before it releases, the land, characters, weapons, and other items... in most cases all NFTs... can be grabbed at a tiny fraction of the future value.

Of course, always check out the game details and team first, and be confident it’s a good place to put your money. Not all games are made the same.

If you’re lucky enough to find out about and partake in an early sale, for example, like grabbing a character NFT or two in “Pepper Attack” before the late September launch date, you may be in for a real treat!

There are plenty of new titles coming down the pipe that look to be fun, have great communities, and offer earning opportunities. A web search will find services and websites that will keep you on your toes and alert you of upcoming blockchain game releases, marketplace opening, and more.

As we look forward, the future of gaming on the blockchain is really, really exciting! Not only are the games getting better and more fun, but they’re getting better at making the economics work more smoothly as well.

The games are not without challenges, as they need to be made to sustain themselves economically over the long haul. In addition, they need to have higher levels of security (thanks blockchain!) and of course, work without becoming “pay to win”. Thankfully, the new breed of developers have risen to the challenge!

The next time you look for a new game to add to your phone or desktop, or just want a change of pace, look to a game that pays to play! Your wallet might thank you.

Another perk, is your husband or wife will appreciate it as well! Instead of hearing “are you going to play that stupid game all night again?”, you may start to hear things like “I’ll put the kids to bed tonight sweetheart, so you can get online and play”.

One can only hope...

Author - Nick Cifonie

Nick is a lifelong gamer, who cut his teeth at the local Chicago arcade playing Tetris as a teen. Better known as Znick or Deacon Z, Nick became a Game Master in Ultima Online in 1997, ran a large multi-game guild for 15 years, and now spends his time in the “play to earn” arena. Professionally, Nick is a writer and 4-decade marketer working with the Pepper Attack team, as well as others. Nick is also a Catholic Deacon.

#nftart #nft marketplace #nftdrop #nftgallery #nftnews #nftcrypto #cryptoart #nftcommunity #nftartist #crypto #blockchain #nonfungibletokens #nft games #nft

1 note · View note

holdenurow679 · 4 years ago

Text

Enough Already! 15 Things About GTA 5 Online Money Generator We’re Tired of Hearing

The voice acting and activities of all the personalities, playable as well as NPCs, are on factor as well as very well done. While GTA 4 was everything about eliminating the American dream, GTA 5 is everything about executing the modern American fact.

Money in GTA Online makes use of a system of having 2 accounts, which is extraordinary in the collection. Gamers lug with them their "held" money, stood for by a dark environment-friendly money counter. This money serves for many small and/or unlawful deals. In Free Setting, if the gamer is eliminated while lugging $5,000 or more, a fraction of their held cash will certainly be dropped for other gamers to pick up for a short time. After earning money from different goals and also tasks, players may bank their cash money by either going to an ATM MACHINE or using the Maze Bank site on their phone/computer.

youtube

Pick the quantity of money you intend to move to the character. GTA Money Glitch is a 100% free means to earn money and also track record.

Best Starting Goals In Open.

We currently do not have any Grand Burglary Automobile V cheats, rip off codes or tips for PC. Please check back at a later date for even more cheats as well as codes to be included. UNIVERSE is a free self-service gamehacking tool as well as memory scanner developed by Cheat Happens.

That objective is Superstar straight up trolling their gamers.

Thus far as that goes, we advise checking out this comprehensive guide on installing and also troubleshooting GTA 5 mods.

Our Grand Theft Automobile V +12 fitness instructor is currently available for version 2189 and supports HEAVY STEAM, LEGENDARY SHOP, ROCKSTAR LAUNCHER. These Grand Burglary Automobile V cheats are made to enhance your experience with the game.

The system guarantee duration is set up to secure the interests of buyers.

It will include added technological enhancements as well as performance upgrades.

It's the begin of a brand-new month which suggests that GTA Online players on the PlayStation consoles have an additional 1 million in GTA$ waiting for them when they visit so long as they additionally have a PlayStation And also subscription. Nonetheless, this month's free gift looks a bit various from the previous months since there's a bit a lot more initiative called for on gamers' components than just logging into the game. The good news is that getting your free money is still a simple process, as well as you'll have the ability to have it included in your GTA Online account quicker than ever before. We know how crucial it is to have an onward strategy in this money game, so you can adhere to the online overviews to obtain rich swiftly. As well as crucial of all, avoid the temptation to acquire Vehicles as well as Defense you don't require in the very early areas of GTA 5 as well as invest your money right into a stock that you assume is on the rise. A clear and very easy path to money is never ever truly the very best for large earnings in GTA Online, as gamers will certainly need to dig a layer much deeper and also uncover what works for them. Once they have enough money conserved up, they have to invest it right into an organization or a building that will net them cash over the course of time.

About The Game Settings.

However the designers took the tings to the next level with the launch of GTA 5. There are no easy methods to make online dollars, and also every penny GTA Online Money Generator from linuxwallonie.org is hard-earned. If you are looking for some codes that will enhance up your checking account, we have bad news for you.

The online-only, online service catapulted the franchise business to new elevations of productivity. Isn't it fantastic to play the game that you love most without even paying a single penny for it? When his family came to know about Michael's recent criminal task, they leave him alone.

Fast-track your course to treasures by getting GTA V Online money at PlayerAuctions, the leading marketplace for trading GTA 5 Online money. Purchasers are ensured distribution, and sellers are fully secured versus repayment fraudulence. Our traders are actual players, as well as we do not sustain using scamming robots. These are the major factors I can think about, and also honestly, it's still insufficient to make 120 million duplicates, 4x the sales of its closest similar rival, make sense to me. I just do not recognize that range regardless of the number of adding variables I can generate. It Was Cross-Gen, Cross-Platform In A Huge Way - GTA 5 was huge when it was first released near the tail end of the PS3/360 generation.

GTAV OBB coincide version; otherwise, your game will not work. At first, GTA 5 was just for Xbox as well as Play Terminal, but now it is additionally readily available for Windows and cell phones. Besides, it is not officially offered for Android, however lots of people changed this game and prepared it to remain to deal with the Android operating system. Today, you can value this terrific fun of graphics on your mobile phone. As a result of its brilliant pictures, it needs a COMPUTER setup for pc gaming with the elite. i can't ask for more, hacked tons of sources as well as i'm coming for more.

You have to download and install as well as mount a particular program to your COMPUTER or various other gaming console. Take contracts of assassination from high account business, and also obliterate targets to gain in-game cash. Probably you understand that the land of GTA computer game has plenty of encounters. You need to complete numerous tough missions to develop your criminal empire and will stay genuine with your managers. Think or not-- it gets on you, finishing the challenging goals of the major tale is the very best and most convenient method to gain in-game currency. Throughout the journey, the game will toss you right into different robberies that might be profitable and exhilarating.

1 note · View note

roman-catholic-mass-readings · 1 year ago

Text

30th September >> Mass Readings (Except USA)

Saint Jerome, Priest, Doctor

Saturday, Twenty Fifth Week in Ordinary Time.

Saturday, Twenty Fifth Week in Ordinary Time

(Liturgical Colour: White: A (1))

(Readings for the feria (Saturday))

(There is a choice today between the readings for the ferial day (Saturday) and those for the memorial. The ferial readings are recommended unless pastoral reasons suggest otherwise)

First Reading Zechariah 2:5-9,14-15 'I will be the glory of Jerusalem'.

Raising my eyes, I saw a vision. It was this: there was a man with a measuring line in his hand. I asked him, ‘Where are you going?’ He said, ‘To measure Jerusalem, to find out her breadth and her length.’ And then, while the angel who was talking to me stood still, another angel came forward to meet him. He said to him, ‘Run, and tell that young man this, “Jerusalem is to remain unwalled, because of the great number of men and cattle there will be in her. But I – it is the Lord who speaks – I will be a wall of fire for her all round her, and I will be her glory in the midst of her.”’

Sing, rejoice, daughter of Zion; for I am coming to dwell in the middle of you – it is the Lord who speaks.

Many nations will join the Lord, on that day; they will become his people.

The Word of the Lord

R/ Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm Jeremiah 31:10-12,13

R/ The Lord will guard us, as a shepherd guards his flock.

O nations, hear the word of the Lord, proclaim it to the far-off coasts. Say: ‘He who scattered Israel will gather him, and guard him as a shepherd guards his flock.’

R/ The Lord will guard us, as a shepherd guards his flock.

For the Lord has ransomed Jacob, has saved him from an overpowering hand. They will come and shout for joy on Mount Zion, they will stream to the blessings of the Lord.

R/ The Lord will guard us, as a shepherd guards his flock.

Then the young girls will rejoice and will dance, the men, young and old, will be glad. I will turn their mourning into joy, I will console them, give them gladness for grief.

R/ The Lord will guard us, as a shepherd guards his flock.

Gospel Acclamation cf. Acts of the Apostles 16:14

Alleluia, alleluia! Open our heart, O Lord, to accept the words of your Son. Alleluia!

Or: cf. 2 Timothy 1:10

Alleluia, alleluia! Our Saviour Jesus Christ abolished death and he has proclaimed life through the Good News. Alleluia!

Gospel Luke 9:43-45 They were afraid to ask him what he meant.

At a time when everyone was full of admiration for all he did, Jesus said to his disciples, ‘For your part, you must have these words constantly in your mind: “The Son of Man is going to be handed over into the power of men.”’ But they did not understand him when he said this; it was hidden from them so that they should not see the meaning of it, and they were afraid to ask him about what he had just said.

The Gospel of the Lord

R/ Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

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

Saint Jerome, Priest, Doctor

(Liturgical Colour: White: A (1))

(Readings for the memorial)

(There is a choice today between the readings for the ferial day (Saturday) and those for the memorial. The ferial readings are recommended unless pastoral reasons suggest otherwise)

First Reading 2 Timothy 3:14-17 All scripture is inspired by God and can profitably be used for teaching.

You must keep to what you have been taught and know to be true; remember who your teachers were, and how, ever since you were a child, you have known the holy scriptures – from these you can learn the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All scripture is inspired by God and can profitably be used for teaching, for refuting error, for guiding people’s lives and teaching them to be holy. This is how the man who is dedicated to God becomes fully equipped and ready for any good work.

The Word of the Lord

R/ Thanks be to God

Responsorial Psalm Psalm 118(119):9-14

R/ Lord, teach me your statutes.

How shall the young remain sinless? By obeying your word. I have sought you with all my heart; let me not stray from your commands.

R/ Lord, teach me your statutes.

I treasure your promise in my heart lest I sin against you. Blessed are you, O Lord; teach me your statutes.

R/ Lord, teach me your statutes.

With my tongue I have recounted the decrees of your lips. I rejoiced to do your will as though all riches were mine.

R/ Lord, teach me your statutes.

Gospel Acclamation cf. Acts of the Apostles 16:14

Alleluia, alleluia! Open our heart, O Lord, to accept the words of your Son. Alleluia!

Gospel Matthew 13:47-52 The fishermen collect the good fish and throw away those that are no use.

Jesus said to the crowds: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet cast into the sea that brings in a haul of all kinds. When it is full, the fishermen haul it ashore; then, sitting down, they collect the good ones in a basket and throw away those that are no use. This is how it will be at the end of time: the angels will appear and separate the wicked from the just to throw them into the blazing furnace where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.

‘Have you understood all this?’ They said, ‘Yes.’ And he said to them, ‘Well then, every scribe who becomes a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out from his storeroom things both new and old.’

The Gospel of the Lord

R/ Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

0 notes

britesparc · 4 years ago

Text

Weekend Top Ten #471

Top Ten Settings for a Stardew Valley Spin-Off

Have you played Stardew Valley? It’s great. It’s this sort of farming sim-cum-RPG where you move into a dilapidated old farm and have to turn it around, selling lots of produce and turning a tidy profit. But as well as tilling soil and milking goats, you also have to mosey on down to the local village, befriend the curious townsfolk, repair the battered old community centre, and eventually settle down and get married. And on top of all that, there’s a really weird Lynchian mystery, with monsters in the mines and wizards and witches and a war between dwarves and some kind of race of shadow-people. It’s bonkers and it’s delightful and it’s incredibly, incredibly dense. It’s like a cross between a casual mobile game and six seasons of a prestige fantasy drama.

However good the game is – and it is very good – I never really got too into it. Possibly because in its structure I see too much of the “just one more turn” ethos of Civilization (time passes in days and you can only save when you go to bed, but every morning new stuff has happened or new crops have grown, so you always want to get up and see); as I’m already in the grips of a crippling addiction to the world’s greatest strategy game, injecting more of the same into my veins is a recipe for disaster. Fortunately, my wife got addicted instead, and since the recent console update, we’ve been able to play together in co-op.

So anyway, the long and the short of it is I’ve been playing it pretty much every night.

Whilst I’ve been playing, I’ve been thinking of ways the game could be expanded. Not necessarily improved, but just sort of… spun off, in wild and exciting new directions. A different flavour of Stardew. New settings, new options, new challenges. Do you remember “total conversions”? When teams of modders or developers would essentially build an entirely new game out of an old game? Happened a lot with the Quake and Half-Life engines back in the day; I think it might even be how Gearbox got started, if I remember rightly. Anyway, how’s about a Stardew Valley total conversion? Something along these lines. It’d be good fun at any rate! So let’s play Stardew Valley…

…on Tatooine: you play a moisture farmer with a small place just outside of a bigger town – maybe someplace a bit smaller and friendlier than the likes of Mos Eisley and Mos Espa. You have to install moisture vaporators, buy droids to maintain them, trade with passing Jawas, and fend off Sandpeople attacks (unless you can learn their language and befriend them, Mando-style). Romance townsfolk! Save up enough for a new speeder! Take your T-15 down Beggar’s Canyon to bullseye womp rats! But seriously, the idea of farming in an entirely inhospitable location, and farming in a way that’s not done at all on Earth (except maybe you can also breed whichever animals make the blue milk), is really interesting.

…in the Wild West: you get to be an old-timey rancher out in the West. Are you growing corn? Are you raising cattle? Build yourself a cozy farmhouse. Get one of those windmills going. Basically, you’re creating the Kent Farm in Smallville. Perhaps this could go a bit more serious and look at the relationship between the settlers, townsfolk, and the indigenous people; maybe you could try to get everyone to get along? Or just make it stereotypical and wildly offensive. Godless meets Little House on the Prairie.

…in the Vampire Apocalypse: basically Stardew Valley by way of I Am Legend. There’s no romance here, you’re the only human. During the day you farm, you gather, you build; at night you hunker down as wave after wave of vampires attack. But just like in the book, there’s a deeper, creepier, much sadder mystery to unfold. I mean, this is probably the best possible adaptation you could make of I Am Legend, especially as presenting in a top-down pixel art style would rob it of any sensationalism.

…with Pokémon: you’re always shoving Pokémon in creepy breeding centres in the games, right? Well what if this was basically a Pokémon farm. You have to build specific enclosures for the different Pokémon, make sure they’re well treated, and also grow sufficient crops and foods to keep them happy. Your ultimate aim is to sell the Pokémon themselves (or their produce, I guess) but you can also sell what you grow. And, of course, you can wander into whichever little village in Kanto or Galar or wherever it is we set the game, and have your usual mild RPG entanglements and romantic sub-plots. Meanwhile Team Rocket are trying to mess up your lovely farm. The dastards!

…at the North Pole: kinda similar to the Tatooine farm, this has you managing a remote outpost in the freezing wilderness. Barely anything can grow outside so you have to construct and maintain habitats to farm indoors, and rear animals, etc. You can trade (or romance!) local indigenous people, befriend penguins, and ride polar bears, which I assume is a totally realistic thing to do. On top of all this there could be other research projects to complete and the opportunity to expand the station itself. If you explore far enough, you find a crashed UFO buried in the ice, but whatever you do, don’t let it anywhere near your dog…

…in Yorkshire: basically not much different to Stardew as it exists now, but it’s set in the UK. I think very specifically a small North Yorkshire village. Think of the comedy accents and regional humour! This is the sort of thing Team 17 could have made a lot of headway with in the nineties. You’d be growing and harvesting typical British crops, dealing with eccentric British townsfolk, encountering Sunday bikers and car boot sales and dancing round the May Pole… the more I think about it, the more it should basically be a Wicker Man game, to be honest.

…in Bedrock: farming great big huge caveman crops! Building big rickety stone houses! Driving cars with your feet! And – of course – rearing dinosaurs. Dinosaurs! Think about it: everything would have to be bigger and chunkier and funnier. Maybe you could invent fire or the wheel, or something. Who owns the rights to Chuck Rock? Because if the Flintstone people aren’t on board, this could be a great way to bring back a classic gaming icon.

…during the War: sorta similar to the Yorkshire Farm game above, but specifically set during WWII. I guess this is a more serious sort of game, but the added complications of rationing and a reduced workforce (I think maybe you’d have to hire land girls or something?), making produce for the army and stuff, would add a lot to the gameplay. Perhaps there could be bombing raids, blackouts, and maybe even enemy spies to deal with. All this combined with older technology could be interesting.

…on Cybertron: a totally different way of farming. Imagine: you’re in charge of an energon farm on one of Cybertron’s moons. You have to harvest energon from the ground and then convert it; there could be different energon ores and different ways of converting them. You could also drill for nucleon or something, or rear turbo-rabbits, sharkticons, and scraplets (but don’t let them get loose!). Meanwhile the war is brewing down on the planet below, and eventually you have to decide if you can remain neutral, or if you have to pick a side.

…in the Shire: on the one hand, it’s a fairly straightforward pastoral game, similar to Stardew as it exists now; plant seeds, grow crops, rear animals, do up your farmhouse. But your farm is in the Shire, you’re a hobbit, and everyone else is a hobbit. Grow pipeweed and learn to blow smoke rings! Expand your hobbit hole by digging further into the hill! Go into the Green Dragon and romance the barmaid! You can go adventuring, befriending wizards like Gandalf or Radagast, making friends with dwarves and maybe even meeting elves and men… but if you do, your hobbit neighbours might think a lot less of you. Man, now I really want this game! It sounds fantastic!

So there we are. Ten possible Stardew spin-offs. This started as a fun exercise and ended with me inventing a game that I want more than any other game that exists. This is crazy. Someone make me my gentle hobbit social RPG… please?!

#top ten #games #gaming #stardew valley #hobbits #transformers #star wars #flintstones

1 note · View note

aion-rsa · 4 years ago

Text

The Best Games of 2020

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

Despite how almost every other aspect of the year went, 2020 was a landmark year for video games. Not only did it see the release of highly-anticipated titles like The Last of Us Part II, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Ghost of Tsushima, and Cyberpunk 2077, but 2020 also marked the beginning of a new generation of console and PC gaming with the release of the Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, and new GPUs from NVIDIA and AMD. We even got a new Half-Life game this year!

What would’ve made the gaming year ever better? Big-name video game companies could have done more to eliminate development crunch and be more transparent about their business practices with customers and the press. And we definitely could have all been nicer to each other.

But video games also helped keep us connected when we couldn’t see our friends and loved ones in person. They helped us travel to new and interesting places when we couldn’t leave our homes. Most importantly, all 20 games on our best-of-the-year list made us feel excited about this medium at a time when it was so difficult to enjoy anything else.

To that affect, Den of Geek is celebrating 20 video games our contributors and critics, as well as our community of readers, voted as the very best of 2020.

20. Star Wars: Squadrons

For the last decade or so, most Star Wars games have focused on the power fantasy of being a lightsaber-swinging, Force-wielding Jedi. That’s all well and good, but for a long time it seemed like everyone forgot that some of the most beloved Star Wars games of all time were actually space shooters like X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter and Rogue Squadron. In many ways, Star Wars: Squadrons is a throwback to those games, both in terms of gameplay and design. Controls are a pitch perfect mix of arcade simplicity and strategy, requiring quick thinking about whether to focus your ship’s power on attacking or defending.

Squadrons is also much more tightly focused than other recent games from large publishers, with a breezy yet enjoyable single-player campaign, and a multiplayer mode that, while light on modes, eschews the more annoying modern conventions of the online PvP like invasive microtransactions. But Squadrons is not stuck in its old school ways.

If you have the hardware for it on PC or PS4, you can jump into the cockpit of any of the playable ships for one one of the most immersive VR modes around. Similar to how The Mandalorian has rejuvenated the live-action side of the Star Wars media empire, Squadrons is a perfect mix of all of the best things we’ve always loved about Star Wars video games, and everything we want them to be going forward. – CF

19. Journey to the Savage Planet

Science fiction writers have long held on to this idea that, if and when humankind eventually colonizes the universe, it will do so as some sort of united, utopian entity, like Starfleet. But that future seems less and less likely every day. If and when humanity spreads across the stars, it will likely be messy, absurd, and profit-motivated. Journey to the Savage Planet wallows in that type of future. As an unnamed human (or dog, if you choose), you’re dropped onto the planet AR-Y26 by Kindred, the fourth biggest intergalactic exploration company with the simple goal of collecting as many resources as possible and leaving.

The Metroidvania gameplay loop of crafting equipment to access new areas is compelling, a rarity for 3D games in the genre. And it offers plenty of surprises too. You’ll start off with the typical blaster and scanner before eventually unlocking a grappling hook that lets you swing around levels like Spider-Man. But it’s style that ultimately lifts Journey to the Savage Planet above so many other games released in 2020. For one thing, the world and the fauna you’ll encounter are incredibly unique, and well, alien. And the regular live-action updates from Kindred beamed directly to your ship are among some of the funniest and most bizarre cinematics out this year in any game, providing plenty of motivation to see this journey through to its end. – CF

18. Half-Life: Alyx

As VR gaming continues to evolve, it’s becoming clear that the technology is more than just one truly great game away from widespread adoption. If that were all it took, then Half-Life: Alyx would have put a VR set under a lot of Christmas trees.

It’s truly wild to think that we got a new Half-Life game this year and that it sometimes feels like the game’s release was barely a blip on the cultural radar. While its somewhat muted debut can be attributed to its VR exclusivity (and the fact it launched at the onset of a global health crisis), Half-Life: Alyx surpassed all possible hype by offering a truly incredibly narrative-driven adventure bolstered by some of the cleverest uses of VR technology that we’ve ever seen.

Half-Life: Alyx isn’t the first great VR game, but Valve’s glorious return to form does shows how VR can advance fundamental elements of gameplay and storytelling rather than just show familiar games from a new perspective. – MB

17. Carrion

The indie game space is where you typically see the most experimentation, and this year proved no different when the gruesome and morbid Carrion released back in July. Highly inspired by the likes of John Carpenter’s The Thing, Alien, and other cult classic horror films known for their excellent use of practical SFX, this platformer cleverly flips the script, putting you in the role of the monster to dispatch helpless scientists in the claustrophobic depths of an underground lab as an ever-growing amorphous blob creature. What follows is a brief but effective 2D platformer that is fast paced and delectably gory.

The controls could have made controlling the creature a real pain, but Phobia Game Studio recognized that the key here was letting you move swiftly through the levels. As such, gliding through vents to take down scientists from above or underneath quickly becomes second nature. Encounters still pose a good degree of challenge, however, thanks to the heavily armed soldiers that show up later in the game, but this never stops Carrion from fulfilling every horror aficionado’s devilish fantasy of being the bloodthirsty monster. – AP

16. Kentucky Route Zero

Calling Kentucky Route Zero an homage to classic point-and-click adventure games is technically correct, but it doesn’t come close to doing the experience justice. Kentucky Route Zero is more like a poem or fable in video game form. It’s a feeling, a distillation of what it’s like to come of age in the Great Recession and its fallout over the last decade. Kentucky Route Zero is an epithet for rural America told through a fever dream, an examination of a version of rural Appalachia where talking skeletons and robotic musicians live alongside gas station attendants and truck drivers.

Nothing about Kentucky Route Zero fits the typical confines of what we expect from a video game, and that includes its release. Developed by a team of only three, the first episode of the five-episode experience was released in 2013, but the final product was only realized in early 2020. That lengthy development cycle meant that the game’s scope and story could grow to only better encapsulate this moment in time, and the final product stands out as one of best games of the year. To say more is to spoil its excellent story. – CF

15. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2

Though it’s been a hot minute since skateboarding games dominated the console space, Vicarious Visions’ excellent remake collection of the first two Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater titles was a reminder of how the entire series captured a whole generation of players in the late ’90s and early ’00s. Whether it’s grinding down rails, performing kickflips, or landing the gravity-defying 1080 on a vert ramp, everything in Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2 feels and looks exactly as you remember it but touched up with modern flare. That’s the mark of any great remake, and why this game in particular was the best example of the practice this year.

Classic skating locations like Warehouse, School and Downtown have all been faithfully remade from the ground up for a 21st century audience, effortlessly delivering the same thrills and balanced challenge as they did before. The fact that select mechanical features like reverts, which wouldn’t arrive until later entries, have been retroactively added is also a nice touch, instantly making Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2 the definitive way to experience these skateboarding classics. – AP

14. Ori and the Will of the Wisps

The fact that Ori and the Will of the Wisps managed to usurp the critically acclaimed 2015 original in most design aspects speaks to just how well Moon Studios has mastered the art of the Metroidvania. Whisking players off on another tight 10-hour journey set within a mystical forest full of secrets to discover, this 2D adventure gives off a fantastical vibe in a way few others do. It’s an expert blend between smart combat mechanics, highly polished platforming, and emotional storytelling. That it runs at a silky 60 fps both on Nintendo Switch and Xbox is the cherry on top.

The major improvements Will of the Wisps makes over Blind Forest relate to saving and combat. Whereas previously it was the responsibility of players to lay down specific checkpoints, progress is now more in line with other 2D platformers and less punishing. Combat, meanwhile, has been completely revamped with the inclusion of special charms and upgradeable skills, most of which result in more flexible enemy encounters. These tweaks are implemented without ever compromising on Ori’s core hook of magical exploration and challenging platforming, instantly making it one of the best Metroidvanias out there. – AP

13. Call of Duty: Warzone

Call of Duty: Warzone was a natural and perhaps even necessary evolution for the long-running shooter franchise, carving out a space for it in the ever-crowding battle royale genre. While it’s largely derivative of battle royale titles that came before, the staggering 150-player count, always excellent CoD controls, top-notch presentation, and flexible cash system have made it eminently popular and fun for casual players and series vets alike. The CoD fan base feels vibrant again after years of stagnation in the shadow of breakout titles like PUBG and Fortnite, and that’s without going into how Warzone has revitalized the franchise’s presence in the streaming space.

One of the best facets of the game’s design is that the large player count all but ensures that, even if a player is new to the genre or series, the chances of them being the absolute worst player in the field is very low. Better still, the “Gulag” respawn mechanic opens up the possibility for ultimate revenge should you earn your way back into the match, which is a nice way to up engagement for those who suffer disappointing deaths.

The game doesn’t feel quite as dynamic or high-stakes as some of its competitors on the market, but it’s definitely one of the easiest to pick up and play. It’s no wonder Warzone has expanded CoD’s already enormous audience over the course of 2020. – BB

12. Astro’s Playroom

With launch lineups mostly filled with graphically enhanced releases of last-gen games, the release of the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X has been more than a little underwhelming. The one bright spot is Astro’s Playroom, a little first-party Sony game that received virtually no pre-release hype and comes pre-installed on every PS5.

While at first glance a typical 3D platformer, Astro’s Playroom soon reveals itself to be a fantastic showcase of what’s possible with the new DualSense controller. In one level, you’re feeling the resistance from the controller’s adaptive triggers as you spring jump through obstacles dressed as a frog. In another, you’re expertly moving the controller back and forth to climb walls in a robotic monkey suit. Even just standing in the rain causes the controller to pulse ever so slightly with each drop. And all of this takes place across worlds celebrating the entire history of PlayStation, where you collect classic consoles and accessories, culminating in an unexpected boss battle throwback to an original PSX tech demo.

Astro’s Playroom may be short, but it’s an oh so sweet and exciting taste of what’s possible with the power of next-gen consoles. – CF

11. Doom Eternal

It would have been easy for Doom Eternal to be more of the same. After all, 2016’s Doom became the surprising gold-standard for single-player FPS games by virtue of its clever writing and gameplay that blended the best of classic and modern design concepts. Yet, Doom Eternal proved to be something much more than “the same but bigger.”

With its arena-like levels and resource management mechanics, Doom Eternal sometimes feels like a puzzle game set in the Doom universe. While the transition to this new style can be jarring, you soon find that Doom Eternal is speaking the same language in a different dialect. The brutal brilliance of a classic Doom game remains but it’s presented in the form of a kind of FPS dance that puts you in a state of pure zen once you figure out how to make that perfect run through a room full of demonic baddies.

Four years after Doom showed this old franchise could pull off new tricks, Doom Eternal proves that this series is at the forefront of FPS innovation once more. – MB

10. Demon’s Souls

Although initially released in 2009 for the PlayStation 3, Demon’s Souls would help define the next generation of gaming by establishing the Soulslike genre, which has influenced everything from recent Star Wars games to The Legend of Zelda. The “problem” is that the legacy of Demon’s Souls has been sort of eclipsed by the accomplishments of its successors.

That’s the beauty of the remake for the PS5. Aided by the power of the console’s next-gen hardware, developer Bluepoint Games pays homage to one of the most historically significant games of the last 15 years while wisely updating it in ways that show that the foundation of FromSoftware’s breakthrough hit remains arguably the best entry in a genre that isn’t exactly lacking in modern classics.

In a year where finding a next-gen console proved to be more difficult than any Soulslike game, Demon’s Souls remains the best reason to battle the bots at online stores in the hopes of joining gaming’s next generation as soon as possible. – MB

9. Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout

There were multiple times this year where couped-up players relied heavily on “bean” games to help maintain a human connection. Before Among Us dominated the Twitch streams, it was Mediatonic’s intentionally clumsy and hilarious Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout that had us competitively raging with our friends. It did so by merging the wildly popular battle royale genre with the inflatable-fueled antics of early ’90s game shows, where dodging swinging hammers and battling giant fruit against 59 others became the norm for a few weeks – all in the pursuit of winning a highly coveted crown.

Needless to say, making Fall Guys free to PS Plus subscribers for a month turned out to be a genius marketing move, urging everyone to hop into the game’s inventive gamut of levels and make a fool of themselves. Much of what sets it apart from other battle royale attempts is its low-skill barrier to entry, and thanks to frequent seasonal updates, new unlockable outfits and fresh mini-games always being added, bumbling to the top of the pack as a colorful bean remains consistent fun. – AP

8. Animal Crossing: New Horizons

It’s not an exaggeration to say that Animal Crossing: New Horizons should be included in history books about the Covid-19 pandemic. Releasing just as lockdowns were being instituted across the globe, New Horizons provided the escapism we so desperately needed while quarantining, attracting not just the usual Nintendo fanbase, but even those who had never played games in the past but were now looking for something to occupy their time at home. Whether we played it with friends or alone, New Horizons provided the routine and distraction that so many of us needed in a world suddenly thrown into chaos.

Of course, it helped that New Horizons is the best Animal Crossing game to date, with tons of new ways to customize your island (and yourself). And as Covid-19 restrictions have stretched much longer than many of us anticipated, New Horizons has kept pace, with Nintendo releasing a steady stream of new fish to catch, fruits to harvest, and events to participate in throughout the year. It may not be the game that everyone wanted, but New Horizons is the game that 2020 needed. – CF

7. Cyberpunk 2077

When Cyberpunk 2077’s legacy is written, there’s no doubt that the opening chapter is going to focus on the bugs, technical shortcomings, and empty promises that have turned what looked to be one of 2020’s guaranteed hits into one of modern gaming’s most debated debuts.

Yet, the reason that this game’s initial issues will likely not ultimately define it is that Cyberpunk 2077 reveals itself to be a special experience whenever you’re able to play it without crashes or bugs ruining your experience. From its stunning side quests that revive one of The Witcher 3’s best elements to its shockingly human narrative, Cyberpunk 2077 regularly showcases the undeniable talent of the individuals who battled internal and external factors to deliver their vision.

Cyberpunk 2077’s technical problems wouldn’t hurt as much as they do if there wasn’t a truly great game at the heart of them that people are begging to be able to play as intended. – MB

6. Final Fantasy VII Remake

The pressure was on for Square Enix from the moment it announced Final Fantasy VII Remake back in 2015. For those who obsessed over the original back in 1997, the prospect of a remake was the stuff dreams were made of, and this year we finally got to relive Cloud, Aerith, Barret, and Tifa’s grand adventure (the first act of it, at least) with fully updated, well, everything. Astonishingly, the remake actually lived up to expectations and delivered not just a faithful update to the original game but a modern RPG that stands as one of its generation’s best regardless of nostalgia.

The key to Square Enix’s success was its approach, which aimed not to duplicate the experience of the original game, but to capture the essence and spirit of it while using modern game design to deliver the story in a way that doesn’t feel retro or rehashed at all. The game looks dazzling by 2020 standards (Midgar never looked better) but doesn’t compromise the integrity of the original designs, and the real-time combat—arguably the biggest departure from the original—is a blast to play.

Time will tell how exactly Square Enix will follow through with the rest of the remake as we enter a new console generation, but in the meantime, they studio has left us with a terrific reimagining of the most celebrated title in the studio’s expansive oeuvre. – BB

5. Assassin’s Creed Valhalla

Ubisoft deserves credit for keeping a franchise like Assassin’s Creed, which is 13 years old at this point, thriving in an industry that is flooded with more open world games now than it ever has been. The series is always competitive in the genre, and Assassin’s Creed Valhalla proves why: it’s as refined as any of its predecessors and delivers a balanced experience with a rich world to explore, tons of strange stories to uncover, and a mash-up milieu that combines the eerie atmosphere of 5th-century England with the otherworldly spectacle of Norse mythology.

No open world game is perfect, and Valhalla certainly has a handful of shortcomings. But it’s a bloody good time to play, and there’s so much to do that there’s no question that you get your money’s worth. Eivor’s quest for glory and domination is also arguably the most cinematic story in the entire AC catalog, with some truly breathtaking cutscenes that rival those found in more linear games that can’t sniff Valhalla’s scope. Some of the more otherworldly moments in the back half of the game are pure, unadulterated, nonsensical fun, and overall, this is one of the best entries in the series. – BB

4. Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales

Insomniac is one of those studios that you can always rely on to deliver fun, polished games that shine in every category, and Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales only adds to the team’s sterling reputation. Building on the already brilliant formula the studio created with the original Marvel’s Spider-Man, Miles’s story is one of loss, friendship, identity, and the strength of the Black and Hispanic communities of Harlem.

The side-quel is also one of the best launch titles arguably ever. While it is a cross-gen game, the PS5 version is currently the best showcase of what next-gen gaming is capable of from a visual and performance standpoint. You won’t find a better-looking New York City in any other video game, period, and Insomniac’s outstanding animation work looks insanely good when bolstered by the PS5’s considerable horsepower. Miles plays differently than Peter Parker did in the original game as well, with his Venom Powers giving enemy encounters a new feel and rhythm.

Insomniac outdid itself with an excellent follow-up that would’ve been a forgettable DLC expansion in the hands of a less ambitious studio. But Miles Morales is one of the best modern-day superhero characters ever created, and it’s only right that he get a game that lives up to his greatness. – BB

3. Hades

The popularity of roguelikes has been calmly bubbling up for years now, yet only in 2020 did it truly become mainstream thanks to an ideal balance between gameplay and story as demonstrated by Hades. Players who previously took umbrage with the genre’s nature to wipe out all progress at each run’s end suddenly had a reason to jump back in, now inspired by Zagreus’ various tries to escape hell and overthrow his eponymous father. This alone sees Hades tower over most of its peers in terms of balance, further backed up by rewarding gameplay and a gorgeous comic book art style that makes the well-worn mythological Greek milieu feel fresh.

Developer Supergiant Games proved its penchant for creating flexible mechanical loops in prior titles, and in many ways, Hades feels like a culmination of all those ideas distilled in one neat package. It’s a great example of semi-randomized systems layering perfectly on top of other systems, until players eventually find themselves completing runs using distinct weapons, upgrading persistent abilities and slowly discovering which of the god’s many boons gel best with one another. Hades is always a hellishly good time. – AP

2. Ghost of Tsushima

The concept of honor has never been explored in a game as lyrically and philosophically as it is in Ghost of Tsushima, Sucker Punch’s story-driven samurai epic. Jin Sakai’s grand adventure is both brutal and beautiful, stretching across the grasslands and snowy peaks of the titular island, as he pushes the oppressive Mongol army out of his homeland, all the while wrestling internally with the kind of man, warrior, and leader he ultimately wants to be.

This game is outstanding on so many fronts that it’s difficult to list them all here. Visually, it looks so stunning that anyone who walks past your TV as you play is all but guaranteed to stop and stare for a while. The combat is fast and challenging, the stealth mechanic is on-point, the score is sweeping and sentimental, the character models are incredibly realistic, the online multiplayer mode “Legends” is actually a blast to play…and the list goes on. This poetic, pitch-perfect modern masterpiece is emblematic of the soulful, cinematic storytelling PlayStation Studios is known for, and it’s a wonderful way to send the PS4 off into the sunset. – BB

1. The Last of Us Part II (Also Reader’s Choice)

You can’t even say the name of our 2020 game of the year without sparking numerous debates that often make it nearly impossible to have a productive conversation about the game itself. That makes it that much more tempting to somehow find a kind of middle-ground that will “justify” the game’s lofty position to everyone regardless of where they stand.

The thing about The Last of Us Part 2,though, is that its divisiveness is very much part of the experience. Naughty Dog’s follow-up to arguably its greatest game is a bold attempt to live up to the franchise’s legacy by furthering what came before while trying to find its own way. Much like Ellie herself, The Last of Us Part 2 doesn’t always make the right decisions. Yet, at a time when bigger budgets are seen as an excuse to play it safe, The Last of Us Part 2 impresses through its willingness to present a big, bold, and personal adventure that is often anything but what was expected.

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

Anyone can generate a little controversy by saying something stupid, offensive, or hurtful. The beauty of The Last of Us Part 2’s controversy is that it stems from a heartfelt attempt to advance the conversation through indie-like passion and big budget production. – MB

The post The Best Games of 2020 appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/2KKY9QG

#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

3 notes · View notes

cosmiccalliope · 4 years ago

Text

It shouldn't be piracy on the consumer's end if a company hasn't produced that console in 10/15/20 years. Of course, the company would still retain copyrights, so Sony can't make Mario Golf on the PS5, but these companies sit on their legacy content for so long, and getting a hold of any of it is either expensive as hell, shitty quality, or technically illegal.

Imagine, if you will, this applying to us all now. 10 years ago from Nintendo gives us the DS and Wii, 15 gives us the GBA and Gamecube, and 20 gives us the N64 and GBC. Everything before those is fair game. Nintendo's not selling those games any more, they aren't making those consoles, why should they be allowed to sit on them indefinitely? If they want to continue making money on it, they have remakes and rereleases they can make, and can't pull this Super Mario 3D All Stars which is just a ROM and two ISOs with extremely minor touches because getting those games is now really, really easy and the exact same quality. Why would you buy something you can easily get for free?

Besides, with the rise of portable emulator consoles that can play up to the N64, Dreamcast, and PS1, some even being able to play DS games respectably well, wouldn't that be better? If the original company isn't going to support their legacy content, someone has to. Or, they can start actually supporting their legacy content, and fans of their older stuff.

They aren't selling these games, they're barely acknowledging they exist and getting pissy when fans try to keep those games around. They already aren't profiting off these games anymore, so what's the deal? Console lifespans sit around like 7 years, and people Do want to play these older games again.

And even if you still want to support the original company, they can make a way to do so. Leaving their legacy content to rot is just scummy seeming to me.

#retro gaming #cosmic speaks

2 notes · View notes

appacs · 4 years ago

Text

Best MacBook and Macs

There's a motivation behind why the best MacBook and Macs are so mainstream. They're probably the most persuasive gadgets ever constructed, because of their smooth, versatile and strong plan that is for quite some time been imitated by the huge number of Windows PCs and personal computers that followed.

More than that, nonetheless, the best MacBook and Macs have since quite a while ago consumed their very own space in the registering scene. To a great extent because of the macOS condition – with macOS 11 Big Sur delivering soon – these MacBooks and Mac convey such a consistent encounter to which no Windows 10 or Chrome OS PC can very gauge. Consolidate that with some quite incredible specs in the engine and Apple's particular plan, and you have a powerful invention. read more

Basically, the best MacBook and Macs are an obviously engaging alternative, regardless of that lofty sticker price. From the most recent MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2019) to Apple's amazing workstations like the Mac Pro 2019, these are our top picks.

Look at the best MacBook deals and costs accessible at this point

MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2019)The MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2019) is genuinely the best MacBook for content makers, planners and other innovative experts.

1. MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2019)

The best Apple PC

Central processor: ninth era Intel Core i7 – i9 | Graphics: AMD Radeon Pro 5300M – Radeon Pro 5500M | RAM: 16GB – 64GB | Screen: 16-inch Retina show with True Tone | Storage: 512GB – 8TB SSD

Staggering 16-inch screenNew and improved keyboardExpensiveLimited to four Thunderbolt 3 ports

While we are dismal that Apple has resigned the 15-inch MacBook Pro, we're glad to see the MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2019) hit the racks. As dainty, light and smooth as could be, this doesn't feel like a 16-inch behemoth. In case you're stressed this would have been cumbersome and off-kilter to utilize, don't be. However, notwithstanding its smooth edge, you're despite everything getting that additional land on that shocking showcase, just as the best in class segments behind it. Apple at that point adjusts those out with astonishing (and noisy) speakers and an a whole lot better console. This is really the best MacBook for content makers, architects and other imaginative experts.

2. MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2019)

Apple's profitability machine gets the most recent Intel tech

PowerfulDecent setup optionsScreen remains gorgeousExpensiveLack of portsKeyboard concerns remain

On the off chance that you need the most presentation you can get in a MacBook without expecting to pull off a heist, you'll need to investigate the MacBook Pro 15-inch. Presently revived with hexa-center ninth era processors and up to 32GB of RAM, you won't be kept down by anything you toss at it – particularly since you can get Radeon Pro Vega 20 illustrations. With that sort of execution, the MacBook Pro takes a grandiose spot on our best Mac and MacBooks list effortlessly.

3. iMac (27-inch, 2020)

A considerable redesign

Computer chip: tenth era Intel Core i5 – i9 | Graphics: AMD Radeon Pro 5300 - Radeon Pro 5700 XT | RAM: 8GB – 128GB 2666MHz DDR4 | Screen: 27-inch (corner to corner) 5120 x 2880 Retina 5K show | Storage: 256GB – 8TB SSD

Improved internalsCan be arranged to be very powerfulDesign is getting oldJust two Thunderbolt ports

Despite the fact that the iMac 27-inch's last update was just a year ago, Apple really wanted to step up in the redesigns office with its 2020 development. Specs-wise, this model games some gigantic enhancements while additionally redesigning its webcam and amplifiers for a fitting update. More individuals are telecommuting nowadays, and this seems like the best across the board PC to put resources into without being compelled to make some significant space in your current zone. Indeed, its general plan hasn't seen to such an extent as a change, making it look somewhat drained, however on the off chance that force is at the head of your rundown, this current one's the best Mac for you.

Peruse the full survey: iMac (27-inch, 2020)

MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2020)(Image credit: Apple)

4. MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2020)

Worth the redesign at the most elevated design

Computer chip: eighth era Intel Core i5 – tenth era Intel Core i7 | Graphics: Intel Iris Plus Graphics 645 | RAM: up to 32GB | Screen: 13-inch Retina show with True Tone | Storage: 256GB – 4TB SSD

Improved specs (on some models)Larger limit SSD for beginning modelNew console is greatEntry-level model despite everything has eighth gen Intel CPUYou still just get Thunderbolt 3 ports

The MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2020's) entrance level model may pass up a portion of the setup's new toys. Be that as it may, going for the better quality designs will get you new (and amazing) Intel processors and improved RAM speeds for better execution, all pressed in the 13-inch unbelievably smooth body. Apple balances everything with that unbelievable Magic Keyboard from the new 16-inch, at last disposing of that dangerous console. Regardless of whether you don't go for the tenth era Intel Core arrangements, you may in any case value the way that all models accompany more stockpiling limit with respect to similar cost as their antecedents.

5. MacBook Air (2020)

Better than ever for 2020

Computer chip: Intel Core i3 – i7 | Graphics: Intel Iris Plus Graphics | RAM: 8GB – 16GB | Storage: 256GB – 2TB PCIe-based SSD | Dimensions: 30.41 x 21.24 x 1.61 cm

Lower cost of entryNew tenth era processorsImproved keyboardScreen hues a little mutedBattery life just OKWebcam still simply 720p

Mac's most slender and lightest MacBook return in 2020 intensely. Not just has it fixed a great deal of the grumblings with its antecedents – specifically, that hazardous console is presently gone, supplanted by a definitely improved console. However, it additionally accompanies new and all the more impressive inner parts, significantly more extra room choices, and a lower cost of section. There are a few things we'd improve, similar to the quieted screen and the normal battery life, yet this model of the MacBook Air is better than anything we've seen from the line to date.

6. iMac Pro

Crude force

Central processor: 8 to 18-center Intel Xeon W | Graphics: Radeon Pro Vega 56 - Radeon Pro Vega 64 | RAM: 32GB – 256GB DDR4 ECC | Screen: 27-inch 5K (5,120 x 2,880) Retina show (P3 wide shading) | Storage: 1TB – 4TB PCIe 3.0 SSD | Dimensions (H x W x D): 65 x 20.3 x 51.6cm

Most remarkable Mac you can purchase Gorgeous, shading precise showcase Very costly

Experts and creatives need something that can deal with any remaining task at hand they can toss at it. In case you're one such client, the iMac Pro isn't only probably the best macintosh for you; it's the main Mac to consider. In addition to the fact that it has a lively 27-inch 5K show with a P3 wide shading array, yet it likewise flaunts the most impressive equipment Apple could get its hands on. It's very costly however, so it's truly just implied for people who have profound pockets and need that unbridled capacity to overcome their every day remaining tasks at hand.

7. MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2020)

Worth the update at the most elevated setup

Improved specs (on some models)Larger limit SSD for beginning modelNew console is greatEntry-level model despite everything has eighth gen Intel CPUYou still just get Thunderbolt 3 ports

The MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2020's) entrance level model may pass up a portion of the arrangement's new toys. Be that as it may, going for the better quality designs will get you new (and amazing) Intel processors and improved RAM speeds for better execution, all stuffed into the 13-inch unbelievably smooth body. Apple balances everything with that amazing Magic Keyboard from the new 16-inch, at long last disposing of that dangerous console. Regardless of whether you don't go for the tenth era Intel Core setups, you may even now value the way that all models accompany more stockpiling limit with respect to read more

1 note · View note