#in many ways it really feels like a highly polished evolution of the systems in stardew valley

[translucio]

idk how they did it but cult of the lamb is just so hard to put down. i think it's the incredibly juicy feedback for literally everything (particles! cute funny sounds! filled up the meter now it's empty again! lizard brain go brrr) + how extremely short the gameplay loops are (5-15min runs, 8 min days, most minigames are like 10-30sec with the exception of knucklebones which is like 1-2mins) + how despite having limited content they really stretch the replayability and give you tons of unlockable stuff as rewards. it's TIGHT and very impressive

[revenantwinery]

For the sake of Art

This article came about because of a discussion between two longtime friends who have happened to have built their careers in the wine industry.  Each of us reside on opposite sides of the country but speak frequently about all things wine, food and sports.

Earlier in the week during a phone conversation with my good friend Tim, who resides in The Garden State  (New Jersey), I made a comment about a piece of art his eldest daughter Ashly had just completed and shared on Instagram @ashmyersdesigns.  It was a portrait using spray paint on an 8’ by 8’canvas. The subject of the painting, Gary Vaynerchuk, of The Wine Library, a prominent retail wine shop in New Jersey.  Gary used to host a series of video posts where he reviewed wines and sometimes interviewed winemakers as they made their way up and down the east coast on sales trips. The posts originated on Gary’s Wine Library TV platform.  There is no argument in the fact that Gary garnered a cult-like following on the internet, while creating his own viniculture vocabulary.  Let us not forget his contorted facial expressions while growling “the oak monster” or commencing a tasting with the words, “it’s time for a little sniffy-sniff.”  Was it all part of his shtick?  Undoubtedly it was but objectively I offer these observations, Gary “Vee” made it fun, he made it informative, albeit based on his opinions. Gary also spoke in an unpretentious and unceremonious bit of banter to anyone who appreciates wine and is willing to spend 15-30 minutes online watching his latest episode.

My colleagues, many of whom are national or regional winery sales managers along with state wide distributor representatives, eagerly awaited the Wine Library TV link featuring the latest installment to arrive in their inboxes.  They sat in horror as Gary made negative comments or throws of elation when the scores matched the accolades given to a particular wine in their portfolios. Such is the fault with selling a bottle of wine based on the 100 point rating system.

As I spin through this yarn there are a few disclaimers to put out there.  It is not my intent in this post to offer any personal opinions or criticisms about the wines or wineries presented in the two video clips.  Now to be transparent, I have never sold wine nor interacted with Gary Vaynerchuk or the Wine Library in a professional setting.  My good friend Tim does in fact sell wine to the Wine Library on an ongoing basis.  His daughter Ashly “The Artist” does not know Gary Vaynerchuk personally but is simply inspired by his positive attitudes and does follow him on twitter.

What started as an acknowledgement of a talented young artist painting led me to reexamine a wine critics videos from 2006 & 2008.  I then compared those same wines using their current vintages, prices and scores supplied by an independent retailer on the opposite coast as a way to illustrate the changes in the Napa Valley wine industry over the last twelve or so  vintages.  But to further entice the reader I felt the story would have been incomplete had this piece not contained the data supporting those changes.

Embedded in this post are two old Wine Library TV videos that I suggest you view so as to better digest the points being presented.  The first is from 2006 and the second released in 2008. The subject of the 2006 video is the tasting of Napa Valley Cult Cabernet Sauvignon.  

The wines with the vintage and retail prices per bottle are as follows.  I have chosen not divulge the outcome of these tastings so you will have to view the videos for yourself and discover the outcome.

Wine Library TV video links

Napa Valley Cult Cabernet Sauvignon

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdGQURCdnaE&feature=youtu.be

Napa Valley Cabernet (Tasted Blind)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdGQURCdnaE&feature=youtu.be

Video One… 2006 – Napa Valley Cult Cabernet Sauvignon

2003 Opus One $125.00

2003 Insignia, J. Phelps $110.00

2003 Cabernet Sauvignon “Reserve”, R. Mondavi $88.00

2004 Cabernet Sauvignon “Special Select”, Caymus $120.00

Video Two…2008 – Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon’s Retail Price $30.00 - $60.00 per bottle (Tasted Blind)

2005 Beringer, $30.00

2005 Barnett Vineyards, $52.00

2004 Stelzner “Reserve”, $54.00

2005 Newton “Unfiltered”, $40.00

2005 Cliff Lede, $45.00

As the Wine Library is an east coast retail wine shop with great national exposure I have decided to compare what these wines look like in today’s retail environment by enlisting the help of my friends at the San Francisco Wine Panel, which is the wine tasting group for The Napa Valley Winery Exchange. They are one of the premier west coast based retailers with both national and international customers and exposure.  I chose not to include Stelzner in this updated comparison as the label still exists but is under new ownership and the original vineyard has been sold to another prominent Napa Valley producer. There are a couple of wines that did not meet the criteria of NVWE and have been omitted altogether.  When a San Francisco Wine Panel review was not available a Wine Spectator review was substituted and noted.

The Wine Library TV reviews and prices are documented in the two videos but I have chosen to enlist the San Francisco Tasting Panels extensive tasting notes and today’s current retail pricing to illustrate and compare how the Napa Valley wine industry has developed over the last 12+ years. In addition there will be a chart depicting the rising cost of grapes by utilizing past and current harvest data from the California Department of Food and Agriculture’s Annual Grape Crush Reports for District 4 to substantiate the numbers.

Present Day Update on Napa Valley Cult Cabernet Sauvignon – Video One from 2006

San Francisco Wine Panel - 98 Points                     Retail: $383.00       2017 Opus One Proprietary Red Wine Oakville Napa Valley                  This year’s Opus is at once notably creamy and fruit-rich to the nose, where blueberry, dark plum sauce, mulberry, black currant, fig, sweet tobacco, vanilla, clove, cedar and hints of dry dark rose and laurel all fan-out. The impression of creamy-edged ripeness is mirrored on the palate, where the polished tannins are almost entirely submerged by a wave sweet vanilla, toffee, clove, mace, tobacco and peppercorn that support juicier flavors of blueberry, mulberry and plum. The finish is plush and full and beautifully food-balanced. Everything is deliciously satisfying now, but those with patience can expect four or five years of steady evolution. A blend of 81% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8.5% Petite Verdot, 5% Cabernet Franc, 4.5% Merlot & 1% Malbec. - DG

San Francisco Wine Panel - 99 Points                     Retail: $169.00       2016 Robert Mondavi Cabernet Sauvignon “Reserve” To Kalon Vineyard, Oakville Napa Valley                                                                       In really great years Mondavi almost always makes great Cabernet and 2016 is one of their classic vintages. The aromas are a dense, tightly focused melange of Cassis, black raspberry, sour red cherry, pomegranate syrup, crushed dark rose, dried herb, tobacco, leather, cedar and mace scents poised above a drying mineral undercurrent. Despite all its savory counterpoints the wine remains fruit-centric on the palate, where substantial yet highly polished tannins bring a chiseled raciness to the mouth-feel. The finish is extremely long, fruit dominant and never less than satisfying. Truly dinner-worthy now, it will reward at least six year years of cellaring and should prove long-lived. - DG

Wine Spectator - 91 Points                                         Retail:$274.95       2015 Insignia, J. Phelps Red Wine Napa Valley                                        This red offers lots of spice, cedar, gravel and lead pencil flavors, with a woodiness overshadowing the trim fruit.  A Bordeaux style version that begs for cellaring. - JL

Wine Spectator - 95 Points                                          Retail: $180.00     2015 Caymus Cabernet Sauvignon Special Selection Napa Valley              This delivers unbridled plum sauce, blackberry preserve and melted licorice flavors, but keeps a smoldering edge for form while picking up alluring black tea and incense notes on the broad finish. There’s a long echo of chocolate adding to this hedonist’s delight. – JL

Present Day Update on Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon (Tasted Blind) – Video Two from 2008

San Francisco Wine Panel - 95 Points                     Retail: $85.00         2017 Cliff Lede Cabernet Sauvignon, Stags Leap District Napa Valley      If still a bit youthfully reserved, this Cabernet shows its class in the focused array of blackberry, Cassis, licorice root, cocoa nib, vanilla, mace, cedar and clove scents that the nose gradually unveils. Tannins and fruit zest tighten the mouth-feel at opening, yet once again airing reveals the wine’s energy, depth and length. If certainly closer to maturity in three years or so, it wants service with fatty meats to show its best at this stage. - DG

Wine Spectator – 90 Points                                         Retail: $59.002017 Newton Cabernet Sauvignon, Unfiltered Napa Valley                         Solidly built, featuring a core of plum and blackberry notes, threaded with mesquite, mineral and savory hints.  The finish shows a twinge of the rustic tannins that mark many 2017’s, but ample fruit keeps them well absorbed. – JM

Wine Spectator – 91 Points                                         Retail: $95.002016 Barnett Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley MMV                                      This mixes bright cherry and plum fruit with dark black currant and licorice snap notes.  A briary spine adds energy, while the frame of roasted apple wood slowly melds on the finish. - JM

Questioning the escalating cost of your favorite Cabernet Sauvignon? This graph illustrates the rising price of Napa Valley’s dominant red varietal.

6 Year Average Price per Ton for Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

At the time of this writing only the preliminary numbers from the 2020 Napa Valley harvest are available but I have one more observation to leave you with and that being a list showing the highest dollar amount paid for a ton of Cabernet Sauvignon grapes with coinciding vintage.  Preliminary reports show that Napa Valley grape crush for Cabernet Sauvignon was down 43% for 2020. 

2020 – A total of 17.8 tons were purchased at $65,919.21 per ton.

2019 – A total of 20 tons were purchased at $50,000.00 per ton.

2018 – A total of 18 tons were purchased at $50.000.00 per ton

Despite wild fires of 2020 raging through the valley creating hardships for owners of vineyards and wineries, winemakers, cellar hands and picking crews alike there was still over 120 tons of Cabernet Sauvignon picked priced at or over $30,000.00 per ton. Perhaps this might be better served in another discussion.

The expression of art can be created in different forms, with paint on canvas being the obvious or in the vineyard and then the cellar where the crafting of wine is refined while both should be admired and enjoyed.

Anthony Knox

Revenant Winery

Publié (Blog): @revenantwinery

Instagram: @revenantwinery

Twitter: @RevenantWinery

[michaelandy101-blog]

6 Methods to Use Icons in Your Infographics [+ Where to Find Free Icons]

New Post has been published on https://tiptopreview.com/6-ways-to-use-icons-in-your-infographics-where-to-find-free-icons/

6 Methods to Use Icons in Your Infographics [+ Where to Find Free Icons]

Whether or not it’s an explainer on photo voltaic panels or the farm-to-cup course of of creating your favourite espresso, infographics compress a world of data into one easy, digestible format.

However designing an infographic that efficiently communicates plenty of data in a easy visible format requires greater than a fast thought and a template.

Thankfully, there’s one design component that the perfect infographics all have in widespread, and it could possibly enable you to construct an expert infographic that will get your level throughout and appears good doing it.

Icons are the key device that designers use to take your eye from one level to a different so that every one that data involves you in simply the precise order.

Icons kind the key language of infographics, and when you learn to converse it, yours will probably be more practical and (hopefully) broadly shared by your viewers.

Why Do You Want Infographic Icons?

Infographics is usually a nice supply of data once you’re introducing a posh subject to an unfamiliar viewers. Folks love sharing them as a result of they will talk an unlimited amount of data in a sublime, easy-to-digest format.

Nonetheless, it’s simple to create an infographic that’s overwhelming or which merely falls flat. Icons streamline the method of making the infographic and be certain that it successfully communicates the knowledge it’s meant to share.

Infographic icons give construction to your infographic and can be utilized to spotlight key items of data. They’ll additionally effectively clarify what occurs at vital junctures of the method with out counting on phrases. You’ve got a restricted quantity of house on an infographic, and icons enable you to say extra with fewer phrases.

6 Causes To Use Icons in an Infographic

1. They assist your viewers focus.

A very good infographic is a buffet for the eyes, and your readers may have hassle specializing in only one a part of it at a time. Icons present a much-needed sense of construction to the knowledge in your infographic and create a guided expertise for the viewer. Good icon placement makes navigating your infographic a extra intuitive expertise on your viewers.

Within the excerpt of an infographic from Infographic Journal that covers all the historical past of forex from 9000 BC to the current, the creator makes use of icons to mark key occasions and add curiosity to what may have simply been a boring timeline. Small (however vital) arrow icons alongside the timeline additionally preserve the reader transferring alongside in the precise path.

2. They make the phrases you employ rely extra.

Wish to make your textual content stand out in your infographic? Attempt pairing it with an icon. It’s simple on your phrases to get misplaced among the many visuals of your infographic.

Icons can convey consideration to particular phrases or charts, and assist the viewer go away with clearer, extra memorable takeaways. They’ll additionally tip off the reader what to anticipate from every part, permitting them to deal with the topics that curiosity them first.

On this excerpt of an infographic from Futurism.com, advanced ideas (that would have every required plenty of textual content to elucidate) are accompanied by customized icons that assist reinforce the titles of every part with fewer phrases.

You won’t instantly know what “ingestible robots” means, however once you see the picture of the robotic coming out of a tablet capsule, you get a greater grasp on it instantly.

three. They make knowledge simpler to know.

Graphs displaying advanced data might be difficult for many individuals to understand at first, however a easy icon can prime your viewers to know the information it presents and why it issues to them.

For advanced graphs, a number of icons can break down particular person sections and permit the viewers to derive extra worth from it, making it extra doubtless they share it with their networks. You may as well use icons to characterize quantities in a graph as an alternative of uncooked numbers to make them simpler on your viewers to understand.

On this excerpted screenshot of an infographic from USC Marshall School of business, icons are used to convey knowledge instead of a extra conventional graph:

four. They may help you say extra with much less.

Icons are a super medium for telling a easy story that hits on the principle theme of your infographic. This could kind a unifying message that permits your target market to attach with the knowledge offered.

Your infographic’s knowledge tells a narrative, and icons can present it to your viewers instantly. From cave work to fireplace exit indicators, icons can be utilized to create highly effective, participating tales with the best of shapes.

You may get a really feel for the way icons can successfully talk advanced items of data within the besides of an infographic from USC Rossier on the science of classroom design. Describing every of those classroom codecs would have been cumbersome and required plenty of textual content, however with icons, plenty of data might be condensed in a easy visible.

5. They faucet into shared meanings.

The most effective factor about icons is that they usually imply the identical factor in each context they’re used. This lets you introduce which means into your infographic with out having to elucidate it to your viewers straight (and take up useful house in your design). This in the end makes your infographic extra accessible and simpler on your viewers to know.

Within the infographic excerpt from Daily Infographic under, the designer makes wonderful use of two immediately recognizable symbols — money and folks — to elucidate the evolution of crowdfunding.

6. They contribute to your model’s character and voice.

The icons you select can add character to your infographic and are a superb alternative to showcase your branding.

What do cute, enjoyable, icons, or hand-drawn ones say about your model or the knowledge you’re offering? What about modern, polished ones? The aesthetic you select on your icons is simply as vital as another piece of data you select to incorporate in our infographic.

Within the instance under from Printsome, an organization that focuses on printing and design, it is sensible that the creator selected to make use of a clear, constant icon aesthetic that matches in neatly with the branding of their website.

  The Finest Free (and Virtually Free) Sources for Infographic Icons

There’s all kinds of free and nearly-free sources for infographic icons and components online. We’ve listed a few of them right here on your subsequent venture.

Flaticon

On the lookout for free vector icons created by all kinds of designers? Flaticon is a superb place to start your search. With three,641,000 (and rising) free vector icons obtainable on the positioning, this web site is a stable possibility you probably have a particular design in thoughts and a restricted finances.

Icons8

For those who’re in search of a extra curated choice of choices, Icons8 affords free icons which are designed completely by a single workforce. It is a nice possibility you probably have plans to create a sequence of infographics and desire a constant look between all of them, no matter the subject material.

Noun Project

Noun Venture believes icons assist create an vital world language, and their distinctive (and intensive) assortment consists of extra particular choices — we’re speaking all the things from icons representing summary synthetic intelligence ideas to Beyoncé — that you simply doubtless will not discover wherever else on the net.

DaFont

For those who’ve ever sought out free fonts on the net, you’ve got most likely encountered DaFont — however do you know in addition they have a stable choice of icons? For those who’d desire to make use of icons in customized font format as an alternative of downloading them as photographs, DaFont is an effective free possibility.

Iconshock

Most of Iconshock’s library is free to make use of for noncommercial functions. In case your infographic is for business use, you’ll pay a one-time payment for many icons right here, which is a budget-friendly possibility if you happen to’re nonetheless testing out infographics as a marketing technique.

Iconfinder

Iconfinder affords a pleasant stability of in depth choices with some knowledgeable curation — which is a bonus if you happen to’re not all for filtering by lots of of pages to search out icons that suit your preferrred aesthetic. Most icons featured right here can be found without cost for private use, whereas pricing plans can be found if you happen to plan on utilizing any of the icons commercially.

Behance

Behance is a platform the place designers all over the world can showcase and promote their design work and join with potential shoppers — however many beneficiant designers additionally supply some design goodies without cost. For those who’re keen to spend a while looking, there are actually some hidden gems on Behance which are well worth the search.

Icons give your infographics form.

Icons are important instruments that may convey which means and construction to your infographic whereas enabling better phrase economic system in your total design.

They may help to orient the viewer to the knowledge and supply cues that point out the movement of the infographic. Even when your viewer is totally unfamiliar with the knowledge in your infographic, icons with a widely-recognized which means may help to enhance their understanding of it.

In the end, the icons you select on your infographic and the best way you employ them can enhance its total utility on your viewer.

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[dwestfieldblog]

THOSE WHO DO NOT WANT TO HEAR MUST FEEL

This temporary apocalypse could be seen as a globally overdue Long Night of the Soul, an initiation of sorts which might result in a deeper understanding of what actually matters for human evolution (despite the very best efforts of the scum who are trying to reverse any spiritual progress because it weakens their hold.) There are several ways in which the negative side could truly take over, starting with the horror nightmare prospect of DT (aka ‘Just Another Scumbag’ as Bannon once called him) re ‘elected’. The realistic pessimist in me is sure that if he wins, this planet in this dimension is finished. His winning will be a final signal to the world to give us up. In my lifetime, we have never been so close to the mass breakout of totalitarianism and utter lack of empathy than we are now. Actual fascist populists, not some wet Liberal bleating but the real thing, ready to go live. Covid has bankrupted hundreds of thousands of businesses, millions have lost their jobs, migration from the truly poor and dangerous countries continues...into the becoming poor and dangerous countries. Those who live there and are already ruined by the disasters in every home will be easy prey for the populists. Speaking of whom...

Steve Bannon has spent a great deal of time and other people’s money in setting up a network to overthrow the (arf arf arf) ‘deep state’ and replace it with... a new deeper state...still run by the rich, who will use the populists, who in turn will use the mass of the angry and frightened...etc etc...And power, as most people recognise it, will stay in the hands of the unhuman swine with the most gold and the least soul. WER NICHT HOREN WILL, MUSS FUHLEN...

‘...the human nervous system properly programmed, can edit and orchestrate all experience into any gestalt it wishes. We encounter the same dismal and depressing experiences over and over again because they are repeating tape loops in the central programmer of our brains. We can encounter ecstasy over and over by learning the neurosciences that orchestrate all in coming signals into ecstatic tape loops.’ R.A.Wilson. Prometheus Rising, Hilaritas Press.

It takes a lot of effort and Will to do this but what else is worth it other than to attempt to break out of the vicious cycle and evolve? Even I have managed this when I focus on choosing it. Giving up ingrained behavioural habits often hurts; this is, however, a choice. It doesn’t have to unless you are a masochist.

Flew to England for three weeks in August, full flight sold out, all of us wore masks (apart from one 6 foot 6 mad eyed American who kept pacing up and down the cabin.) Right up to the point where we were all given a bottle of water, some crisps and two biscuits...All masks off at the same time, all passengers attempting not to breathe while we drank and ate. Love seeing how many in both countries wear masks under their nose or even only on their chin. As Bill Hicks would say ‘Any questions why we’re f.....d up as a race?’ As Jonathan Pie does say; ‘Put a f...... mask on.’ I have been coughing since February, and drinking heavily, so not especially optimistic about getting C19.

I avoided almost all of the news while in UK, watched five minutes in total on the TV and only read headlines in the paper. It was enough. Since I have been back in Prague I have continued to avoid the news other than that which I am told by friends and students but I can tell from daily receiving over one hundred emails that things are truly breaking. Hexagram 23 and total Weltschmerz is upon us. Mental health is twisting up globally. One by one, all my friends are suffering serious damage, one way or another. Hearts are breaking apart and many damnable souls, who should be burning, are not. People are afraid to breathe or to embrace, looking to the very worst set of leaders in my lifetime for answers and being manipulated en masse to mass crises.  

(Jaz Coleman....On the Day the Earth went Mad...watch the video, listen. Feel. Weep. Rage. Change.) QUI NOLERUNT AUDIRE DEBERE SENTIRE.

Love the interviews I saw with those who voted for Trump and realised they made a mistake...after FOUR YEARS. What clued them in? Which particular excremental atrocity of his foulness gave them the alert? Will the Electoral College let him ‘win’? Before I left, I saw the Trump interview where he said ‘It is what it is’, with regard to the massive number of deaths in the USA. ‘We are below the world’. Blood pressure rising, I even checked his Twitter account where he published two letters, one from the eternally unlovely NRA and the other from the American Police Federation, assuring him he was the best president to ever serve their interest and they would back him to the hilt. His plan to stir the US up into open civil war continues and Putin sits back and smiles. As does Jared it seems, the smug sadist advisor in the same style as (England’s off Broadway Trump) Boris’s Dominic Cummings.  Herd Immunity? Well yes it might work at some point after a few years and millions dead. You evil alien bastards. The  main individuals in the British Government will make millions from a no deal Brexit, perfect timing. The country will die.

The newest PC bullshit has got even the wonderful JK Rowling into trouble just for speaking her mind politely about transgender issues. I love PC... it is how dumb useless Liberals can act out their secret fascist impulses and feel hard of c..k and wet of p...y...feel good to be so righteous... same with overly ill humoured religious folk,  but the PC tribe cannot use God to justify anything so they are a bit weaker...You morons... ‘People who menstruate’, People with a cervix’? PEOPLE? Really? Women is a bad word is it? Too specific? (Well it has the word men in it, so seems almost inclusive.) You bastards are annihilating language; raping semantics...get another hobby you ridiculous cretins. (Be sure the populists well understand how to manipulate such fools.)

Extinction Rebellion is being used (among a multitude of other groups in other countries, hello Black Lives Matter) by the Kremlin to stir up shite, they are mostly well meaning on the road to Hell. Stop being so dumb and stop helping those who are against you at home and abroad. Dogmatic faith leads to mistrust, violence and hatred, says the lone derranger...And as for the absurd Q Anon, it is those who seek a Deeper State who are using you to do it. Well done.

Jacob Blake, shot seven (count them) times in the back by police even though charged with no crime and paralysed was handcuffed to hospital bed. That goofy twat of a 17 yr boy who wanted to be a policeman, shooting at blacks because he believed he had carte blanc (arf) from Trump to defend his country against ‘terrorists’...he will probably escape much punishment because... he was bullied at school...WHO WASNT?? The only people who weren’t were bullied at home. Guns ‘open carry’ in various states as the NRA rejoice in what they encourage. ‘Your first amendment means I can say your second amendment sucks d...s’. JimJeffries. Damn straight. By the time even I was 17, I had grown out of wanting to kill half the world. Wannabe cops are a little slower. 

Everything is the new normal. Too late for a mid life crisis unless I die at 108 but I never forget that statistically there is more chance of being killed by death than anything else. ‘Heres to my love! O true apothecary! Thy drugs are quick. Thus with a kiss I die.’ Walking... see three funeral services shops in the road leading to/away from the hospital, clever businessmen...walking...masks off, between two conveniently placed flower shops and smoking outside the fuming crematorium in black suits and highly polished shoes. Waiting. That’s us.

I MISS YOU MARLENE. I MISS YOU MARLENE. I MISS YOU MARLENE. Nice headline seen on US newspaper...‘Can any good from cyberstalking your online crush?’I wondered that after falling in fascination with a woman in Germany who wrote like a poet and wove a spell of stories to charm and beguile. I would have walked from London to Hamburg to see if she was real. Everyone expresses love and the need for it in different ways. Reprogramming a deeply imprinted circuit is usually uncomfortable and so it proved for both of us. We shall see...if there is time. ‘One of us is crazy and the other one’s insane’

I can remember one of the days I Changed (seven years old?) We had a history lesson and were told about English kings and their ‘Divine Right’ to rule. Because God told them. And they told the people. And the people believed them. I remember the light in the classroom, where I was sitting, the smell of the tables, old unused ink wells, pencil shavings... and just thinking whatever a child’s version of F..K OFF...THATS BULLSHIT ISNT IT? would have been. That was the first moment I started questioning the class system, gullibility and bastards. A couple of years later, the absolute freedom of being, sent to collect the class register, walking down the empty corridors and not in the classroom...a beautiful feeling of being OUTSIDE. Free. Two of many experiences which have never left me. (The Angel Choir, the Rituals, the EYE across the Multiverse dream, the Reconnection...) Even if Freedom turns out to be as much of an illusion as everything else, it is still as beautifully sensual to me as music.

One summer night in 1990 after my 3rd breakdown, I had a dream. I think. Bear (or even bare) with me on this, I know how this sounds but it is only reporting what I saw in my mind. Two Aliens, thin and shadow like, came though my open bedroom door in the night (I could see the silhouettes) and one took a long shiny silver needle like a hypodermic for a horse and stood behind me and pushed the needle in through the top and centre of my skull, penetrating my brain. I FELT it slowly being pushed in, it hurt but I was paralysed. There was no voice but I heard (try not to laugh) ‘So now you have Superintelligence’. They moved out, the door closed, I slept. As usual with me, I remember every single dream I have ever remembered as if they were films I have watched over and over...and after a dream, the atmosphere stays with me for 23 whores. Later that day, I picked a big hardback book to find some info on something (A Cyclopaedia) with pages as thin as a bible. I sat almost motionless and without food for eight hours, DEVOURING every subject in it. Economics, geometry, geopolitical events, medicine, beliefs, systems.....the next day I finished ninety percent of it and went on to read books by five philosophers from second hand shops, started watching insects, stopped swearing, worked out, and read and read and read. All the knowledge I hadn’t cared about in school and college I picked up that one summer. It led to making new friends, new possibilities, new work, new love and led me to fly to Prague in this sequence while continuing to practice many ‘New age’ techniques by a writer called Stuart Wilde. They all worked and I continued...with regular fallings and breakthroughs.

‘Religion was invented when the first scoundrel met the first fool’. Faith is believing what you know not be true’. The seeker finds a belief and stops thinking for themselves...‘Every ideology is a mental murder, a reduction of dynamic living processes to static classifications, and every classification is a Damnation, just as every inclusion is an exclusion.’RAW

I had a four hour conversation with a Christian bloke, thirty, intelligent, believes in Satan as an actual being with horns. Etc. He couldn’t quite see any flaw in saying that any prophet who saw angels, white light and heard the voice of God, healed, etc but was not actually Christ, was only being tempted and used by the devil. He told me to watch the beautiful side of evil...

‘Every act of authority is, in fact, an invasion of the psychic and physical territory of another’. Human progress ‘is the concrete manifestation of some person’s refusal to bow to Authority.’  

‘WE GOT ELECTED ON DRAIN THE SWAMP, LOCK HER UP, BUILD THE WALL. THIS WAS PURE ANGER. ANGER AND FEAR IS WHAT GETS PEOPLE TO THE POLLS. THE DEMOCRATS DON'T MATTER, THE REAL OPPOSITION IS THE MEDIA, and the way to deal with them is to flood the zone with shit.’ Said Bannon, who also said. ‘Darkness is good. Dick Cheney. Darth Vader. Satan. Thats power.’ Has he met Putin yet? Is he also on speed dial along with Boris and Trump? People! Create better leaders. NOW.

Happy birthday Aleister Crowley on the 12th October and Happy Halloween to all readers, stay healthy and sane (arf) Remember you are magick...buy the re-release of Musick to Play in the Dark by COIL and become moonlight... And those in America, if you actually do truly believe in a good God...go and vote and remove that evil ego and his cohorts in the White House with absolute overwhelming victory or we are done in this lifetime. Be healthy.

LOVE!!!

[xb-squaredx]

The Capcom Quagmire

Once a name highly regarded, a mark of quality, and a producer of some of the most well-loved video game franchises around, Capcom hasn’t been having a good time as of late. Drawing the ire of fans and critics with every action, financially they’ve also struggled, and while they seemed to be making a bit of a comeback in recent years, the backlash against Street Fighter V and Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite seemingly has the company back at square one. The question then should be…just how did we get here? It’s a long, depressing journey. Are you brave enough to take it with me?

One of the first things to look for when examining Capcom’s fall from glory is just who makes up the company. People come and go from companies all the time, however in Capcom’s case, many of their more acclaimed members have left and no one’s really stepped up to the plate to fill those voids. One of the first big departures was Street Fighter II producer Yoshiki Okamoto in 2003, but more would follow suit. One of Capcom’s more well-known studios, Clover, was closed down in 2007 following the financial failure of Okami. This included the likes of Shinji Mikami (considered the “father” of Resident Evil), Atsuchi Inaba (producer for Clover Studio’s work) and Hideki Kamiya (the man behind Devil May Cry, Viewtiful Joe and Okami) with them going on to form the now-acclaimed PlatinumGames (even though Mikimi would later go independent). Meanwhile the franchises they created would begin to decline in the eyes of critics and consumers. For many, a major death blow to the company was the loss of Keiji Inafune, the “creator” of Mega Man and a major creative force for the company in 2010. Inafune’s departure meant the cancellation of several Mega Man games in development, including the hotly-anticipated Mega Man Legends 3 on the 3DS. It is undeniable that Capcom of today is far different from the one a decade ago, a shadow of its former self.

Following these departures, Capcom would release a string of games that were controversial with fans, either for their content or the business structures put in place around them. While Resident Evil 5 & 6 were financially successful, they faced a variety of criticisms for the gradual move away from survival horror into pure action games. 2013’s Dmc: Devil May Cry faced a lot of criticism, it being a reboot that barely resembled the series it drew its name from. Fans were put off by developer Ninja Theory’s seeming indifference to the criticisms, believing Capcom to no longer care about one of their beloved franchises. But by far the greatest amounts of criticism surrounded Street Fighter X Tekken in 2012.

(They even went and made Angry Joe angry!)

Perhaps because Capcom’s name has been so tied to fighting games, the bad press this game received seemed to sting all the more. What should have been a legendary crossover of two fighters, in a similar vain to the Capcom vs. SNK series, Street Fighter X Tekken instead was ridiculed for a variety of gameplay decisions and what was perceived as dishonest, money-grubbing business practices on the part of Capcom. The game’s tag mechanics, “Gem” system to customize fighter’s stats and choice of guest characters was a point of contention. Both Capcom and Namco placed two of their mascots in the game, in the form of Pac-Man and Mega Man…in the style of his legendary off-model North American box art. Many felt Mega Man’s depiction here was a kick in the groin after the cancellation of the Mega Man games in development, but it didn’t end there. The PlayStation 3 and PS Vita versions of the game also received Toro and Kuro (Sony of Japan’s feline mascots) as well as the protagonist of the Infamous games, Cole MacGrath. Microsoft Xbox 360 players, however, did not receive any of the guest fighters, nor a Microsoft equivalent for Cole or Toro and Kuro, in addition to lacking online tag-team battles, despite it being advertised on the game box. But by far the greatest point of criticism were the 12 DLC characters included on the game disc and locked behind a paywall, as incentive to buy the PS Vita version, which included all characters by default. This was also hot off the heels of Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, which already tested fan’s patience with Capcom’s business decisions.

With Capcom’s larger franchises either put on ice or receiving mixed reception, their lesser-known franchises weren’t getting much love either. The likes of Rival Schools or Darkstalkers received little to no attention, though there was a highlight in a Strider reboot in 2014. For many years, the Monster Hunter series was about the only big franchise that kept Capcom afloat, with a rare Ace Attorney game here or there. Capcom did seem to be undergoing a bit of a course correction of sorts following all of the negative press, with a number of game announcements generating buzz…at least at first.

It’s here that we move into the present, with 2016 and 2017 being rough years for the company yet again, and while there is a silver lining in the form of Resident Evil VII, the next installments in the Street Fighter and Marvel vs. Capcom series have received a fair share of backlash. Street Fighter V, despite initial hype being high, was met with lower sales than Capcom expected and criticism from both hardcore and casual fans. Many pointed to the bare-bones nature of the release, criticism of the visuals, the lack of many classic characters and online connection issues at launch. Hardcore fans disliked the perceived “dumbing down” of mechanics, as well as input lag that seemed to be intentionally placed into the game, among other reasons. The game’s console exclusivity on PS4 also drew backlash, though Capcom stated they would learn from these mistakes with their next title…until history would indeed repeat.

(Left, Chun li and Dante, from 2008. Right, Chun li and Dante, from 2017.) 

The lead-up to release for Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite has been littered with issues, critics and consumers alike picking apart the game’s visuals, perceived lack of depth with the scaled-back 2-on-2 combat, a lacking roster and announcement of DLC characters well ahead of release. Many of Street Fighter V’s flaws have seemingly returned with a vengeance, such as a new “auto combo” system that allows players to mash the same button and perform a powerful (though not entirely optimal) combo for each character, faces on the character models attracting vitriol, and the lack of many classic characters, most notably the X-Men characters. The game is set to release in September, though many feel the production is being rushed, and in a rare move for gamers, many seem to be asking for a delay to polish the game. But Capcom has continued their course, all the while sticking their foots in their mouths.

They attracted mockery from fans when addressing various criticisms, at first attempting to laugh off the various complaints about visuals, before stating that a day one patch would be released to fix several character’s faces, most notably Chun li’s, as an example. When addressing complaints over certain characters missing from the roster, Capcom’s community manager, Peter Ross, stated that players wouldn’t care if certain characters made the cut, so long as a given character’s “functions” were present in the game, which has since become an infamous statement for the game’s detractors. Following a leak of the game’s base roster, many have proclaimed the game “dead on arrival,” though obviously the jury is still out on that. But it is the latest in a series of blunders in the Capcom stable…so what can be done?

As much as fans might wish for Infinite to be delayed for polish, it’s too far along in development for such a hasty action to be made, not to mention Marvel likely has a say in the matter. Street Fighter V is already being written off as a lost cause, though at little over a year old, it’s unlikely that a fresh start is in the cards as of now. It should be noted that it is not all doom and gloom for the company. The Ace Attorney games have continued to enjoy relative success, as has the Monster Hunter franchise, with the return to non-Nintendo platforms with the release of Monster Hunter: World in 2018. The above mentioned Resident Evil VII was also a success and seen as a return to form for the franchise. Despite the many issues Infinite faces, many who have played the game’s versus demo have noted there to be plenty of depth to the combat, so there still exists hope for the game overall. But it is clear they must learn from their mistakes going forward.

More than anything, I think Capcom has a major disconnect with what consumers actually want. Their recent comments concerning “your modern Marvel fan doesn’t even know who the X-Men are” or “characters are just functions” feels remarkably condescending, and this kind of corporate spinning language needs to stop. At times like this, a little transparency and humbleness would go a long way. Capcom needs to look in the mirror and admit they’ve done wrong and that, in order to move forward, they must rise above where they are now. A company known for some truly influential games in many different genres, at present they don’t exactly seem to be much of a competitor in the field. Compare the excitement in the announcement of Geese Howard as a guest character for Tekken 7 to the rather cold reception Abigail received when revealed for Street Fighter V during the Evolution Championship Series (EVO) in July of 2017. Then there’s the real lack of a running and gunning platformer in the vain of Mega Man that Capcom seems hesitant to try and fill, while several competitors are jumping at the chance to become the next Blue Bomber. Despite the finished product, the initial hype for Mighty No. 9 demonstrates that there’s a market out there Capcom is ignoring. The bare-bones nature of Street Fighter V’s story mode and the perceived flaws in Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite’s story mode show them lagging behind Western fighters like the newer Mortal Kombat series and the Injustice series, and looking at the number of fighters and features or modes in Injustice 2, it’s honestly quite hard to recommend Infinite over the DC fighter. There’s no contest at all.

It’s clear Capcom can’t do all that it used to do, at least alone. The Strider and Devil May Cry reboots were outsourced, for one, not to mention they required funding by Sony for Street Fighter V to be made in the first place. If they have certain roles that can’t be fulfilled alone, various partnerships could still be reached, if they choose the right people. Imagine a new Devil May Cry being worked on by PlatinumGames, or Inti Creates working with them on a new Mega Man. Hell, there actually HAVE been several Mega Man games made by Inti Creates anyway, so one has to wonder why there’s been silence.

At this point, it’s clear Capcom’s lost the trust of a lot of their fanbase, and it’ll be a long road to get it back. Their recent blunders will likely stain them for a while, but if they look back on the feedback they’ve received and demonstrate they both listen to and respect their fans, there is hope yet for them. Here’s hoping we can have the term “Crapcom” retired as soon as possible.

Until next time.

[entergamingxp]

The Last of Us Part 2 review

The most common joke about the difficulty video games have reconciling their storytelling impulses with the violent action so many of them depend on revolves around the character Nathan Drake. Star of the Uncharted series, Drake is famed for his easygoing, flippant charm – yet over the course of a single game he will typically kill hundreds of people. They call him the smiling psychopath.

The Last of Us Part 2 review

Developer: Naughty Dog

Publisher: Sony

Platform: Reviewed on PS4 and PS4 Pro

Availability: Exclusive to PS4, released on 19th June.

The joke must have stung the Californian Sony studio Naughty Dog, Uncharted’s maker. In 2013 they started to grapple with its implications in The Last of Us, a moody post-apocalyptic thriller that upped the graphic brutality while seeking to frame it in the context of a desperate, cruel world, and also contrast it with the delicate bond developing between the protagonist, gruff smuggler Joel, and his cargo, a teen called Ellie.

Now The Last of Us has a sequel, and in that sequel the wrestling match between the game’s violent action and its thematic intentions has developed into a full-on, bareknuckle brawl. It is, perhaps for the first time in the history of big-budget action games, a fair match. It gets messy and problematic, and neither side comes out unscathed. But, by taking some big gambles, the developers land decisive blows that will send you reeling.

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This isn’t even all that The Last of Us Part 2 is attempting. This is a game about women – not about the female experience per se, but a game in which almost all the notable characters are women and in which they are not only shown exhibiting great capability and physical prowess, but also contending with dark impulses typically ascribed to men: trauma, obsession, rage and revenge. It is also a game featuring LGBTQ+ relationships and characters in a prominent but matter-of-fact way – it’s not a big deal, they are just there.

And it is doing all this, remember, while remaining very much a crowd-pleasing action spectacular in the Naughty Dog mould, with thrills and spills and scares, beauty and ruin and high adventure. It is a lot. Too much, really, and it is no surprise that this game gets away from its creators at times. (Yes, even the famously controlling Naughty Dog.) Not all of it works. Sometimes the tone veers into a depressing, distasteful nihilism. The characters’ motivations don’t always stack up. The cast is overstuffed and the subplots are often over- or undercooked. Some of its points are made with an almost laughable bluntness as it hurries on to its next big idea. At other times, it operates with rare subtlety and understatement. You will be halfway through the game before you understand what it’s actually doing and more than that before you really begin to feel its dread pull. Towards the very end, it is devastating.

The cast is great, but Ashley Johnson’s rawness, vulnerability and rage as Ellie is the standout performance.

It’s a very hard game to discuss without spoilers. I won’t share any specifics, but if you want to go in completely cold, it might be wise to stop reading.

The action is set four years after the events of The Last of Us, with intermittent flashbacks that fill us in on how the characters got from there to here. Joel and Ellie have settled in the self-sufficient community of Jackson, Wyoming. The awkwardness between them after Joel’s fateful actions at the end of the previous game seems to have widened into a rift. Ellie, less precocious and more defensive and spiky as a young adult, is on the verge of a relationship with a woman called Dina. In the aftermath of a snowstorm, something happens that sees Ellie and Dina set off for Seattle with revenge on their minds.

Seattle, where we spend the majority of the game’s runtime, is in bad shape. It’s in total ruins, partly flooded, and initially seems deserted but for pockets of infected, the grotesque fungal zombies that have brought society down. In fact, there’s a turf war raging here between two factions of survivors. The Washington Liberation Front, or Wolves, are a paramilitary organisation – a more warlike version of the first game’s Fireflies – that assumed control of the city from the government after a brutal uprising. They have a darkly charismatic leader called Isaac (a cameo by the magnetic actor Jeffrey Wright), and once we learn more about them, they paint a strikingly different picture of post-outbreak survivalism than the frontiersman stylings of the Jacksonites. The Seraphites, or Scars, are less well drawn, a cut-and-paste post-apocalytpic spooky cult that is never given a plausible reason for existing.

Once again, the score is by Gustavo Santaolalla and is excellent, pairing banjo ruminations with threatening electronic minimalism. There’s also a surprisingly touching musical cameo from a certain 80s pop hit.

On the warpath, Ellie inserts herself into this struggle and starts causing all sorts of havoc – but only after a lovely lull. When she and Dina first arrive in Seattle, the game’s remorseless linear momentum is briefly broken for a pocket of open-world exploration of the ruined downtown district (an evolution of a similar episode in Uncharted: The Lost Legacy). It’s a wonderfully atmospheric scene-setter. After this, we’re back on Naughty Dog’s beaten path for the rest of the game, although the environments are roomy and complex enough to allow for satisfying close exploration as you scavenge for supplies, as well as affording a great deal of flexibility when it comes to combat encounters.

It’s during combat that you’re most aware that you’re playing a sequel from one of the world’s most fastidious developers (albeit one that has seldom been known for the refinement of its gameplay mechanics). The careful iteration and professionalism of the design team are very evident. It retains The Last of Us’ lean, muscular set-up, in which scarcity of ammo and supplies constantly forces you to experiment. Some of the rougher edges have been knocked off, but not so many as to eradicate its essentially scrappy nature – panicky, desperate scrapes and unintended messy bloodbaths are very much part of the vibe.

So is stealth, which thanks to some mechanical lifts from Uncharted 4 and the addition of a prone stance is much more viable and satisfying to play; this is now a pretty well-sorted stealth game in its own right. Like any game in which death comes quickly, it can still frustrate, but a very clever smart autosave system keeps good pace with your progress and means you’ll seldom need to restart a whole encounter. (The whole game experience is unbelievably slick and seamless, even by Naughty Dog’s standards.) My chief complaint is that you spend more time battling humans than infected, and they’re actually the less interesting – as well as less scary – combatants to face.

Who knows why Naughty Dog really chose to break off development of Factions multiplayer, but we can be grateful in a way – entering a jolly deathmatch fray with these characters after playing the campaign would feel very off.

The violence is extremely graphic, uncomfortably so. It’s full of ugly flourishes, like the splattering sound of shotgun pellets ripping apart flesh, or the vicious flick that Ellie uses to slice open a neck as she performs a stealth kill. It can be sickening. Intentionally so? Surely. But I still can’t help but detect a sour, grubby note of gratification to it, particularly in the repetitive context of the combat. Sometimes it breaks your connection to Ellie in a way that doesn’t serve the game. Sometimes, in cutscenes, it’s just taken too far, more than is needed to leave an impact or make a point.

This is one reason why I initially suspected The Last of Us Part 2 of being too caught up in its own grim attitude, of just being highly polished misery porn. Another is that, with its attention divided between so many ambitious gambits, with an expanding cast of characters and with most of the action taking place over a matter of days, it doesn’t have the first game’s gentle but constant emotional core – that delicious slow thawing between Ellie and Joel, melting into love as you journey with them over the course of a year. (Ellie and Dina’s romance might have been that, but it doesn’t get the necessary screen time – admittedly for good reasons.) Without that warmth, that heart, it seems a bitter world to spend time in.

The guitar is fully playable using a thumbstick to choose chords and swipe of the trackpad to strum. It’s a sweet addition, although springing a sentimental country ballad on us in the first 10 minutes is perhaps a bit much.

I’m happy to report that my first impressions were wrong. Unfortunately, I can’t and shouldn’t fully explain why. I’ll limit myself to this: Druckmann and his team have a grand plan that rests on a radical structure for the game which isn’t initially apparent. Once you finally understand it, it’s still a slow burn, as the writers’ delicate character-building – the dialogue is wonderfully understated and naturalistic – needs time to do its work. So it isn’t until the game’s final stretches that it gathers its true power, as you approach a point that is all the more horrifying for its total inevitability.

It’s a huge roll of the dice from the developers, but it works, and the pay-off is almost indescribable. It would be too much to claim that you will never feel the same about video game violence again, but the shock is profound and discomfiting. It’s gut-wrenching stuff. There’s more to come as the game approaches an ending that is just as affecting and emotionally complex as its predecessor’s, if not, perhaps, as ambiguous.

The thing that really struck me – and pleasantly surprised me, coming as it does from a developer so transparently in love with the language of cinema – is that The Last of Us Part 2’s power is wholly unique to it being a video game. There is a special kind of empathy that develops between a player and a game protagonist that no other medium can reproduce. It’s this bond that Druckmann and his team have exploited to such devastating effect. It is a sad and timely reminder of the simultaneous importance and impossibility of living someone else’s experience. Play it, and listen.

from EnterGamingXP https://entergamingxp.com/2020/06/the-last-of-us-part-2-review/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-last-of-us-part-2-review

[truetgirl]

Kelly’s Top 10  Video Games of the Decade

I’ve seen a bunch of gifsets going around of people’s favorite games from the last decade. I’ve got no talent for making gifs or many other creative endeavors, but I can write. So I’m making a top 10 with a little blurb summing up what I love about each of the games on the list.

10: Splatoon 2 (2017)

No other games really bring together everything that Splatoon 2 does for me. It gives me a multiplayer experience I actually enjoy, it gives me a pleasant and colorful world to relax in, and it gives me one of my pet loves in gaming: a highly flexible and fun character and outfit customization system. This one isn’t among those that I would say everyone ever should play, but it’s a nice, solid, and downright fun game that I really enjoy. No better way to start the list.

9: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (2011)

I debated for a while whether or not to include this game but after considering how many hours I’ve played it across dozens of characters and two platforms, the fire it lit in me for high fantasy, and the sheer impact it had on me in terms of how I thought about video games? Yeah, yeah it makes the list. It’s not perfect, but it’s more than good enough to make the list. And it’s a bit of a backdoor way to mention my more recent love of Dungeons and Dragons which I might not have gotten into without skyrim awakening my inner high fantasy nerd.

8: XCOM: Enemy Unknown (2012)

This and the next entry form the core of “games/series that made me realize I really like turn based strategy” from this decade. XCOM is wonderfully well designed, phenomenally paced, and a masterclass in the use of organic tension and release through mechanics. The entry carries an honorable mention for XCOM 2, which I’ve put more overall time into, but the original I think is still a superior game on the whole.

7: Civilization VI (2016)

And the other turn based strategy epiphany. Where XCOM is nitty gritty tactical simulation and the strategic questions one faces in a war against an alien threat, Civ is a sprawling representation of the great march of history across hundreds of worlds from the ancient dawn of society to the interconnected world of today. I’m a historian with a thing for turn based strategy. How could I not love it? THis one carries an honorable mention for its predecessor, Civ V, which was my first game in the series. Between the two I have played CIvilization for 1044 hours (roughly a month and a half) over the course of the last 5 years. No other game has ever come near that sheer time investment, and I don’t even really regret it which surprises me.

6: Smite (2014)

And it’s the farthest a multiplayer focused game is gonna get on this list. Smite is a pleasing mixture between the team play and strategic thinking of MOBAs and the raw power fantasy appeal of getting to take hands-on control of gods, monsters, and heroes from real world myths. The game is nicely laid out in such a way that allows pretty much anyone to play on whatever level of personal and/or financial investment suits them. It’s a great way to bond with people too, in my experience.

5: Pokemon Shield (2019)

Take this as being the representative of pretty much the entire series in the 2010s. Ever since Black and White way back at the start of the decade Pokemon has been evolving and modernizing and this game continues a trend of my loving every main series Pokemon game more than the last that began with Black and White 2. I could go into specifics, but it all boils down to: it’s Pokemon but even better than last time. It’s a comfortable and nice place to be and while that might not be enough for everyone, it means something to me.

4: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (2017)

This was my first Zelda game. I went in basically knowing nothing about Zelda games outside of what has come to me through cultural osmosis. And I’m sad, because I don’t think I can ever go play any Zelda game that came before it now. This is the game that made me understand the phrase “nintendo polish.” The game that made me remember what a truly satisfying single player game felt like. The game that made me feel like a kid again in a way no other pretty much ever has outside of plucking at nostalgia. I love this game, and I believe it deserves to go down in history as one of the greats of all time.

3: Fire Emblem: Three Houses (2019)

And now the series that took my new love of turn based strategy and said “ok that, but make it more anime.” This entry is also packing an honorable mention for Fates and Awakening (and to a lesser extent echoes), but Three Houses is the one. It’s bigger, the character interactions and hub world that started their evolution on the 3DS burst into life on the switch like never before with full voice acting and a full hub area to explore and do stuff in, and it strikes this perfect balance of gameplay and narrative focus that the other games had a bit of trouble with by incorporating the exploration into the narrative heavy parts. Combine that with my favorite cast of characters yet and multiple story paths that come together to form one whole and you’ve got yourself a winner.

2: Life is Strange (2015)

It is honestly difficult to overstate the impact Life is Strange had on me. This game starting premiering episodes right before I started questioning and it’s really hard to explain but the overall atmosphere just hit me so hard and yet also comforted me as I started to explore for the first time who I really was. To this day it’s one of those stories that has stuck with me in the bedrock of my soul both on its own merits and on its timing coming into my life. This is one of a select few games I would tell people to play if they wanted to understand me better as a person.

1: Mass Effect 2 (2010)

It barely scrapes into the decade with a release in January of 2010, but here it is. My favorite video game of all time. It’s a dozen character focused dramas, it’s an epic tale of heroic daring, it’s a deeply human (and many other species) experience among the stars, it’s a fist-pumping power fantasy, it’s a story of love and loss and triumph. It’s all of that and more. It is my golden standard of gaming, it is the narrative focused game I have played from start to finish more times than any other and whatever second place is it’s not even close. It is the apotheosis of all the things I love most in games with interactive and character focused drama, fucking sweet superpowers, a grandiose story of a hero’s great deeds, and a hero made all the more compelling by the fact that everything they do they do by choice, your choice. If I had to choose one game to play for the rest of my life, this would be it. I cannot sing its praises loudly enough or for long enough, I really can’t.

[mysticwxllow-blog]

How Can a Amateur Translator Make a Prosperous Job

sworn translator Praha 1 A single of the main road blocks that any beginner translator faces immediately after finishing college education and learning or postgraduate diplomas and classes lies in the most qualified way by which he can confirm his competence and proficiency as a freelance translator. Whether or not approaching a translation company or a immediate shopper, the whole course of action can be genuinely much more intricate than it appears to be, with view to the truth that each conclusion people of his services are only soon after accredited/sworn translators or knowledgeable translators with verified data and references. If so, how can a amateur freelance translator handle to preserve out of this vicious circle? If you are approaching translation organizations, you will have to abide by specified principles and suggestions. To embark on your new profession as a freelance translator, you might find it essential to work for cost-free a couple of months or even a year as a trainee in any translation company. This will empower you to add practical expertise to your information, discover out the knowhow approaches of the work, study how to use CAT resources competently, obtain ability and acquire proper speed and competence in your fields of desire. You need to constantly remember that your mind is your asset. It is the college of cause that should be on a regular basis broadened and updated with appropriate up-to-day gatherings, and knowledge. Therefore, you must by no means forget the value of enriching your issue knowledge and boosting your knowledge by substantial studying in a variety of domains and disciplines to be prepared to deal proficiently with this kind of specialties as the need arises (regardless of whether this be in the commercial, complex, clinical, authorized, financial, literary, or IT domains). You must also preserve observe of the most up-to-date CAT tools' releases and generally be eager to develop your performance in working with these tools in an skilled and dexterous manner. Following gaining the simple knowledge and preliminary know-how expertise, you have to begin your look for for a trustworthy intercontinental translation company that would be inclined to employ you and shell out you for your providers. You have to go down with your price to stimulate these companies to contract with you. Placing into consideration that most translation agencies established a trial period of time to all recently-employed translators in which they can closely analyze and keep an eye on these translators' function, you will be expected to deliver, as significantly as can be humanly feasible, an error cost-free qualified translation, that is a real rendering of concept, model, and initial composition, as properly as a concentrate on textual content that is reliable in high quality and accurate in articles. To assist you supply an correct translation and a very first good quality conclusion merchandise, you must always vacation resort to related authoritative references, methods, complex dictionaries, glossaries and terminologies. The due dates predefined by your businesses have to usually be observed and confidentiality of all handled projects need to constantly be highly regarded no matter whether or not you have been asked to indication their non disclosure arrangement. Try to advantage from your existing complete time work by devoting all your exertion to more enrich your topic understanding in your fields of specialty and improve your initial hand practical experience. In spite of the trouble in abiding by all the above mentioned nuts and bolts, but observing them is your only way to guarantee that you will be the target for any translation company.

On the other hand, if you are approaching a immediate client, no matter if company customers or persons, this will be your next stage in the area as a licensed specialist translator. Once you have polished your abilities and experience and come to feel you can start your individual job, you really should transfer to a part-time contract so that you can have the time to build your own clientele database. You will, probably, face a lot of problems making an attempt to gain access to these consumers. Even so, to facilitate these kinds of method you have to create your individual website and endure all the stages that it would entail from creation of the web page, to optimization of its articles to be Search engine optimisation helpful, to the lookup of techniques and indicates to acquire visitors, to the use of all doable free or lower spending budget e-promoting campaigns. In this regard, most smaller corporations start out building use of all free of charge signifies obtainable on the internet to achieve website traffic to their websites by means of registering at free directories, developing free adverts, or building hyperlinks and reciprocal hyperlinks to their sites. Meanwhile, you really should also bear in mind that corporate clientele and companies choose, in the initially spot, to outsource their translation requirements to partners who are ready to offer you detailed answers. They research for businesses that can satisfy their translation wants in a selection of different languages, are offered 24/7 several hours a working day, can accept managing translation of specialised domains, have DTP and typesetting solutions, keep processes that ensure all deadlines are fulfilled and observe the private character of all taken care of work. Using into consideration their need to have for variety, capacity, continuity, and confidentiality, it is scarcely shocking that numerous this kind of organizations direct their choice to a 1 end store translation agency relatively than individual freelancers. Though a translation company might be far more high-priced than a freelancer, but the additional thorough provider and excellent received justify the added financial commitment. As to particular person clientele, you are unable to get entry to this type of clientele except if you have a wide scope of social acquaintances and relations or a internet site to showcase and market your providers. However, this does not usually operate and shortly you will locate that you have to commence your marketing and advertising campaign. Getting in touch with a qualified company to cope with your e-advertising campaign at lower spending budget for small companies is 1 of the uncomplicated and immediate options to get accessibility to your possible purchasers. Social promoting has also come to be an important instrument which accounts now for a wonderful share in the marketplace with look at to the fact that about 96% use social networks these kinds of as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and MySpace. When your freelance perform gives you with a function move that engages you twenty to 22 hours a 7 days, you can now terminate your portion-time contract and begin your individual occupation and non-public enterprise. When likely by way of all the higher than processes, you have to be systematic, logic and client. You ought to never embark on a stage besides following getting positive that you are heading to stand on strong ground. Being in the identical stand as a medical doctor, a translator are unable to demonstrate himself in his occupation devoid of having wide information backed with state of the artwork systems. Although translation experienced been just one of the most crucial pillars of civilization and cultural improvement, and had marked the evolution of many present day sciences, it continues, today, to occupy an elevated rank following the introduction of globalization and the start of the net. It goes with no expressing that translation presents a fascinating and satisfying profession to anyone who has the suitable mixture of language expertise, the ample specialist determination and intuitive enterprise acumen. Despite the fact that starting up up can be very hard and the levels of competition can be very intense, but the actually experienced, thoroughly competent and adequately determined professionals have great prospects to results.

[warmandpunchy-blog1]

How Can a Amateur Translator Make a Prosperous Job

soudní překladatel 1 of the main obstacles that any novice translator faces following completing college education or postgraduate diplomas and classes lies in the most skilled way by which he can prove his competence and proficiency as a freelance translator. Whether approaching a translation agency or a direct client, the whole procedure can be genuinely additional intricate than it appears to be to be, with watch to the truth that the two finish consumers of his services are only following qualified/sworn translators or seasoned translators with demonstrated information and references. If so, how can a amateur freelance translator control to keep out of this vicious circle? If you are approaching translation companies, you will have to abide by specified rules and guidelines. To embark on your new occupation as a freelance translator, you may discover it necessary to work for absolutely free a several months or even a 12 months as a trainee in any translation company. This will help you to insert practical knowledge to your know-how, uncover out the knowhow strategies of the job, learn how to use CAT resources effectively, acquire ability and acquire ideal speed and competence in your fields of fascination. You have to generally remember that your brain is your asset. It is the faculty of reason that should be regularly broadened and up-to-date with suitable up-to-date gatherings, and know-how. For that reason, you must in no way ignore the significance of enriching your matter understanding and boosting your practical experience by comprehensive looking at in several domains and disciplines to be prepared to deal successfully with these specialties as the need occurs (whether this be in the business, complex, clinical, lawful, monetary, literary, or IT domains). You should also hold track of the most up-to-day CAT tools' releases and always be eager to produce your effectiveness in utilizing these kinds of applications in an expert and dexterous manner. Following gaining the fundamental practical experience and preliminary know-how knowledge, you have to start off your search for a reliable intercontinental translation company that would be prepared to retain the services of you and spend you for your expert services. You have to go down with your price to stimulate these companies to contract with you. Putting into thing to consider that most translation businesses established a trial time period to all freshly-employed translators in which they can closely examine and check these translators' get the job done, you will be essential to produce, as much as can be humanly feasible, an mistake cost-free professional translation, that is a genuine rendering of concept, type, and authentic composition, as nicely as a goal textual content that is steady in quality and precise in information. To support you provide an exact translation and a first top quality conclude solution, you must always resort to related authoritative references, sources, complex dictionaries, glossaries and terminologies. The because of dates predefined by your businesses must often be noticed and confidentiality of all dealt with initiatives must always be highly regarded no matter if or not you were asked to sign their non disclosure arrangement. Consider to advantage from your present whole time employment by devoting all your work to even further enrich your subject information in your fields of specialty and improve your 1st hand experience. In spite of the problems in abiding by all the previously mentioned talked about nuts and bolts, yet observing them is your only way to assurance that you will be the goal for any translation company. On the other hand, if you are approaching a direct customer, whether or not corporate purchasers or folks, this will be your next phase in the industry as a accredited specialist translator. Once you have polished your techniques and encounter and truly feel you can start your own job, you ought to transfer to a portion-time deal so that you can have the time to construct your very own clientele databases. You will, potentially, deal with a lot of problems trying to get entry to these clients. Nonetheless, to facilitate these procedure you have to create your possess internet site and go through all the stages that it would entail from generation of the site, to optimization of its content to be Search engine marketing welcoming, to the search of methods and signifies to achieve visitors, to the use of all attainable absolutely free or minimal funds e-marketing campaigns. In this regard, most modest firms start out producing use of all free of charge signifies offered on the net to achieve website traffic to their internet websites through registering at cost-free directories, developing free adverts, or developing inbound links and reciprocal back links to their internet websites. In the meantime, you really should also bear in head that corporate consumers and firms desire, in the first spot, to outsource their translation requirements to associates who are capable to present thorough remedies. They look for for organizations that can satisfy their translation demands in a range of diverse languages, are readily available 24/seven hours a working day, can take dealing with translation of specialized domains, have DTP and typesetting expert services, preserve techniques that assurance all deadlines are achieved and notice the confidential mother nature of all taken care of work opportunities. Taking into thing to consider their require for range, capacity, continuity, and confidentiality, it is scarcely surprising that numerous this kind of businesses direct their decision to a a single halt store translation company rather than specific freelancers. While a translation agency may well be more expensive than a freelancer, however the extra complete assistance and good quality received justify the extra investment. As to particular person purchasers, you are unable to get obtain to this sort of customers except if you have a wide scope of social acquaintances and relations or a web page to showcase and marketplace your companies. Nonetheless, this does not typically perform and quickly you will come across that you have to start off your marketing and advertising marketing campaign. Making contact with a expert organization to handle your e-marketing campaign at low finances for smaller companies is a single of the uncomplicated and direct remedies to get entry to your probable customers. Social promoting has also occur to be an important device which accounts now for a wonderful share in the industry with see to the truth that about 96% use social networks these kinds of as Fb, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and MySpace. When your freelance operate supplies you with a work circulation that engages you twenty to 22 hrs a 7 days, you can now terminate your aspect-time contract and start your possess occupation and personal company. Whilst likely by all the above treatments, you have to be systematic, logic and client. You have to under no circumstances embark on a phase besides immediately after currently being positive that you are likely to stand on strong floor. Being in the similar stand as a health practitioner, a translator are unable to prove himself in his profession with out having vast understanding backed with condition of the art systems. Despite the fact that translation had been one of the most essential pillars of civilization and cultural progress, and had marked the evolution of many modern-day sciences, it carries on, nowadays, to occupy an elevated rank after the introduction of globalization and the start of the world wide web. It goes with out expressing that translation delivers a intriguing and gratifying career to everyone who has the appropriate blend of language capabilities, the satisfactory expert commitment and intuitive company acumen. Despite the fact that starting up can be extremely difficult and the competitiveness can be extremely fierce, nevertheless the really skilled, entirely certified and sufficiently inspired pros have good prospective clients to achievement.

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Playseat Evolution Computer Gaming Chair Race For Example Pro

Car Games Car Games Car Games Car Games Car Games

"Do you want to play baseball? Do you wish to play football or basketball? Come over to my place!" "Hey let's race our bikes, no let it be a car race. Mine is a Toyota which is yours?" IF you thought this was a conversation in a park or a between two youth wishing race on a racing ground, here is the twist... we were talking about an indoor basket ball game, an indoor football game and indoor car racing game etc. Today is the world of online games. Every game that could never be imagined as an indoor game is played within the four walls of your room. Internet and computer made every game an indoor computer game. Online games are not only easy to access but you can play them any time you wish to. If you really like the game, you can download and play later at the time of your choice. Talking of online games, one of the most popular and engrossing in this category is car games. Children love racing. Even when they are with their family, they love their car ahead of the passing by. They do not like other cars or vehicles racing ahead of theirs. Thus car games offer them the freedom to try their own stunt, fulfill their wish to not allow the other cars in the vicinity to cross them, and race through as if speed never has a limit! Car games are fully thrilling experience for those who love to be behind the steering. Especially loved by those who have not yet reached the age to get a license to drive, car games give them the license to be steering the wheels and accelerate and feel the power and the adrenalin rush. Car games have improvised time and again. These days the player gets to choose his car, and also the color of the car. Besides, he also gets to decide the place he wishes to drive. These games have beautiful locations choices to drive, and each with graphics for real. Also the modern car games have ventured into 3D effect. 2D was always interesting, and 3D made it more real. The player actually feels he is in the car, and sees the head light of the opposite car nearing, adjusts the steering to direct the path etc. Thus in a way, the child or the youth also learns to loose the road fear. With no rules like real, you can race ahead without bothering of dangers which are life threatening in real life. So hitting against a pole, or speeding over a narrow hill top, or speeding when someone is crossing the road hardly matters! Is it good? We all know every coin has two sides. The same can be applied for these car games too. These being so thrilling in experience, children actually get hooked on easily. One has to fix a time to play. Online games like car games are relaxing and truly engaging. Parents find these a relief since children sit in a place, concentrate, learn skills like mental planning deciding tactics; also it improves hand and eye movement co-ordination etc. There are a lot of plus points one has to credit. But the dark side of online games cannot be over looked too. A right balance is fine. But many people spend a lot of time playing online games. Since these online games are free, even parents hardly realize and find out. Thus not only do these children face the risk of obesity due to lack of activities, they also slowly deviate from studies.

Car Games Car Games Car Games Car Games Car Games

What an individual do when you are bored? Watch a movie, read a book or watch some programs on Television system? But for how long will to complete this. If you want to play board or card games you need friends. If you have a money crunch or the weather conditions is inclement then even going out is expensive. So what is the next alternative? Concept: A lot of the shoot-em-up games of the era were horizontal shote-em-ups. This game changed the playing field by to be a vertical present shooter. Yet again aliens are intent of doing nasty in order to earth - this time they try kidnap 10 humans. You are in charge of your sole defender and must kill the aliens before they kidnap the human beings. You fly over a 'landscape' and are able to see your humans mulling around on leading. The aliens appear and drop to get the humans - you can kill them at this point, but should they grab an alien, you'll want to shoot the alien, and catch a before the alien reaches the top of the screen.

Speaking of early indications, many of yourself have probable seen early release teaser clip called "Secrets" from the Cars 2 video game that has been floating around the web. Kind of forces you to want more right? Well, sadly express that is all we could have until the discharge date. Are car racing games their solution? Mario Kart Wii is waiting! Along with a roster of various Mario characters and tracks set in locales from over the Mushroom Kingdom, this highly polished title is particular keep them entertained for months! A good deal twelve players can go online together! Certainly getting a motion simulator similar to this 1 is past yes most every sima racing. If it was not, why also purchase a actual race vehicle? The super bike world championship likewise known as the premier worldwide championship. Globe championship, will be the major two rounds of competitions. The results of each race are combined to determine two annual world championships, one for manufactures yet another one is riders. Europe is a 1 of the super bike world championship market center. Play Barbie games from the right places and you'll relish the experience more. These games can relieve you of stress and anxiety, most especially so an advanced real Barbie fan. Find relief . actually use games for their therapy for makes them forget their sorrows even for a short time. Try the Barbie 'n Me Happy Meal game offered at Free Game Station and that you will definitely far better.

Car Games Car Games Car Games Car Games Car Games

"Do you want to play baseball? Do you wish to play football or basketball? Come over to my place!" "Hey let's race our bikes, no let it be a car race. Mine is a Toyota which is yours?" IF you thought this was a conversation in a park or a between two youth wishing race on a racing ground, here is the twist... we were talking about an indoor basket ball game, an indoor football game and indoor car racing game etc. Today is the world of online games. Every game that could never be imagined as an indoor game is played within the four walls of your room. Internet and computer made every game an indoor computer game. Online games are not only easy to access but you can play them any time you wish to. If you really like the game, you can download and play later at the time of your choice. Talking of online games, one of the most popular and engrossing in this category is car games. Children love racing. Even when they are with their family, they love their car ahead of the passing by. They do not like other cars or vehicles racing ahead of theirs. Thus car games offer them the freedom to try their own stunt, fulfill their wish to not allow the other cars in the vicinity to cross them, and race through as if speed never has a limit! Car games are fully thrilling experience for those who love to be behind the steering. Especially loved by those who have not yet reached the age to get a license to drive, car games give them the license to be steering the wheels and accelerate and feel the power and the adrenalin rush. Car games have improvised time and again. These days the player gets to choose his car, and also the color of the car. Besides, he also gets to decide the place he wishes to drive. These games have beautiful locations choices to drive, and each with graphics for real. Also the modern car games have ventured into 3D effect. 2D was always interesting, and 3D made it more real. The player actually feels he is in the car, and sees the head light of the opposite car nearing, adjusts the steering to direct the path etc. Thus in a way, the child or the youth also learns to loose the road fear. With no rules like real, you can race ahead without bothering of dangers which are life threatening in real life. So hitting against a pole, or speeding over a narrow hill top, or speeding when someone is crossing the road hardly matters! Is it good? We all know every coin has two sides. The same can be applied for these car games too. These being so thrilling in experience, children actually get hooked on easily. One has to fix a time to play. Online games like car games are relaxing and truly engaging. Parents find these a relief since children sit in a place, concentrate, learn skills like mental planning deciding tactics; also it improves hand and eye movement co-ordination etc. There are a lot of plus points one has to credit. But the dark side of online games cannot be over looked too. A right balance is fine. But many people spend a lot of time playing online games. Since these online games are free, even parents hardly realize and find out. Thus not only do these children face the risk of obesity due to lack of activities, they also slowly deviate from studies.

Car Games Car Games Car Games Car Games Car Games