[BLOG] A Little Something Extra, Hatton’s Gaming
Tagged 2021, Blog, MetaSince PCR went and did the games he’s been playing – I decided maybe I should do the same thing.. it seems only fair.
So here are some of the games that have taken up a majority of my time while I’ve been sequestered to the inside world. Surprisingly, I’ve beaten a few of them, which is shocking for someone like me that gets distracted by the next bright thing that crosses my p
GOD OF WAR
I was never a God of War guy. I had the trilogy on my Vita, but they were always passing the time sort of games. I know there are some diehards out there that are all about that Kratos life, but Sony had a sale early in 2020 and I had heard enough great things that it seemed a worthy way to waste some time in this lockdown which should obviously only last a couple months, am I right?
So for nights on end, I spent hours grinding away at creating my favorite minmax set of powers and armor, and in the end – I beat every Valkyrie, which if you aren’t aware… is a feat. The game is gorgeous from top to bottom with the conversations between Kratos and Boy never feeling like redundant chores or protection quests – it is an exquisite story, and other than a bit of repetition in enemies that you only start to notice as you reach the end of your 20 hours of gameplay.
SACKBOY’S BIG ADVENTURE
I fall in love with every Little Big Planet game. They are cute. They have great little extra challenges that actually strain your fingers. They have a mix of weird british sense of humor and childlike wonder. I understand completely why they have a hard time finding a major audience, because they are just a little too kid-like for adults and a little too hard for kids.
That said – this game is still on rotation as I try and squeeze out the last few gems… but the sign of a good game is going back to levels that you’ve already beaten and achieved everything and go and play them just because you love the level design. (Which is precisely what I’ve done with every single one of the half-dozen music levels)
MINECRAFT / DEAD BY DAYLIGHT / 7 DAYS TO DIE
So, I’m lumping all of these into the same category. I enjoy each one for their own reason (MC because it is unendingly creative, DBD because it is this hot mix of horror and strategy, and 7DD because I haven’t played enough of it to have eked out all of its secrets) — but they all fall into ‘games I play to hang with friends’. I am mostly an extrovert, and I’m going to tell you that this has been a big old slice of hell to be trapped inside with little contact with the outside world.
These are the games that have kept me in contact with people I may not have had a chance to talk to otherwise.
CRACKING THE CRYPTIC SUDOKU
I’m putting a link to the company that makes these games, and at first you may think.. wait, that’s a bit of money for some sudoku puzzles, doesn’t my local paper have a new game in each and every paper? The answer is yes – but those aren’t handcreated by masters of puzzles. Spend some time on the youtube channel, Cracking the Cryptic and you’ll get it.
Yes, you have to be a certain type of person to want to grind away at super difficult and altogether confusing variations of number puzzles, but – yeah – I’m 100% that guy. I get the occasional free Google money from doing surveys, and the last $20 or so I’ve earned there has paid to have every one of these apps on my phone.
THE REST
There is a whole other slew of games that fall under the ‘play until distracted’ that would make this article waaaay too long. So here’s the short versions and a quick few words.
FINAL FANTASY XV – I decided to beat one of the newer generations. This one seemed as good as any… it is the most gorgeous piece of unintelligible mess I’ve ever played.
LEVELHEAD – It’s like MarioMaker, but for PC – and has the most welcoming online community I’ve ever had the pleasure of hanging out with
DEMONCRAWL – It’s Minesweeper, but with roleplaying elements. Perfect to lose an hour in occasionally.
WHAT’S NEXT
Lastly, the games that are on my ‘going to try next’ list…
SPIDER-MAN: MILES – That’s next on the list, but I loved the original, so it’s a no-brainer.
RETURN OF OBRA DINN – Every reviewer I respect said that Obra Dinn is an amazing piece of adventure gaming that must be tried… and it was on Steam sale over Christmas, so it awaits me.
If you haven’t noticed – I fill the vast hole in my soul with digital enjoyment… what have you been up to?
Every week, the Somethings will be giving you a little something extra, so please check back every week for reviews, lists, cool finds, and more!
[The End] Seinfeld
Tagged The End, TVWhy… are they called.. podcasts.
I don’t see any pod? I don’t see any fish? What are they casting? And why are they doing it in a pod?
Seinfeld, one of the top rated sitcoms of all time. The finale was one of the top comedy finales in viewership. Does the show’s legacy hold up? Does its finale hold to its legacy? The Somethings have a lot to say about Jerry and friends – but is it really a podcast about anything at all?
Ok, no soup for you!
[BLOG] A Little Something Extra, What I’ve Been Gaming
Tagged 2021, Blog, MetaHey Somethings! Been spending a fair more time on my PC over the past few months, mostly due to working from home and many of the social things I’d been doing previously having been shuttered, so I decided to put together a list of what’s been keeping me sane lately.
Now, I’ll start by saying ‘I’m not a hardcore gamer’. Consoles were never really my thing.. my last console was an XBox One S… prior to that.. a PS2 and a Dreamcast. I do most of my gaming PC, but I’m much more a ‘casual gamer’ That being said, here’s what I’ve been playing lately…
Elite Dangerous : Horizons
This game is SLICK. It’s a space sim that has combat, exploration, resource and commodity trading, all with some stunning visuals and great ships. It’s a bit of a ‘thrown in the deep end’ to start, but fairly easy to catch up with as well as having great resources online. The single player is fun, but forming a “Wing” with friends who play is where it’s at.
Dead By Daylight
Been playing this game for almost a year now, and to be fair I don’t play it as much as I did when I started. It’s a PVP based “Survivors vs Killers/Hunters” game (for those unaware) and… let’s just say that I’ve turned off the ‘post game chat’. Back in my OG Xbox days, I will admit my friends and I used to talk a lot of trash over Xbox Live…(a LOT of trash). 70% of DBD post game chat is… beyond that. The Cross-System play means you often wait less time for matches to pop, and the console players (currently) can’t chat. On the upside, they have a number of licensed properties… so if you ever wanted to play AS Freddy Kruger (The Nightmare in the game), or try to escape from Amanda from SAW, it’s certainly worth checking out.
Rocket League
I had played a fair amount of Rocket League back on the ole Xbox One S, and picked it up once again off Steam recently. Since it’s migration to Epic Games, the game has added a lot, and I mean a LOT. Weekly challenges for cosmetic drops, new game modes, it’s definitely been keeping it fresh and still something I’ll get in at least a few matches a day on.
7 Days To Die
Long-time friends from NH had been playing this for years when they introduced me to this roughly 4 years ago. While we don’t go in for public servers, we do have quite a bit of fun on a local private server. For those unaware… think Minecraft, but not 8-bit looking. Oh, and with lots of zombies that know EXACTLY where you are every 7 days and will stop at nothing to feast on your brain. While we had taken a bit of a break earlier this year, we’ve introduced some new friends to it and that has brought the excitement level back a lot. One of our ‘5-6 nights a week’ gaming games. Come for the zombie killing, stay for the camaraderie.
What are YOUR go-to gaming jams? Let us know!
Every week, the Somethings will be giving you a little something extra, so please check back every week for reviews, lists, cool finds, and more!
[Something In Review] Mando Season 2
Tagged 2021, Something In Review, star wars, TVOh, we heard you like yourself some Baby Yoda – well that’s why we are Grogu: 2 Furious coming at you with microphones loaded with Beskar and ready to take down a bunch of cylons… it’s the show that we all binged before Christmas – Mandalorian Season 2!
So settle in and relive some of your favorite moments in a show that has taken the world by storm and even made a Star Wars Sourpuss like Hatton giggle at the adorable machinations of a very hungry muppet.
Ok, and the way we go! (..get it?)
[BLOG] A Little Something From Hatton
Tagged 2021, BlogSix Things That May Make A Show Bad
Because of the Something’s love/hate relationship with Lost over the years, I have found that there are certain things a television show does that make me wonder whether what I’m watching is good TV or not. Every situation and show is unique, of course, and for every item on this list, there is an exception where it’s done to great effect, but if you are watching the newest thing and you can count the number of times these problems arise over two hands in the first season, it just might be that you are watching a bad show.
1. What was the answer to the question?
There is a tense moment. Heroes have just run into a room, the villain is about to reveal a key fact, a group of hackers are pouring over a computer screen you can’t see, the camera pans slowly as everybody’s face goes shocked…annnnnnnnnnnnd we’re on the next scene. Now, more often than not, this is built for tension and we can hope that the payoff will come before the credits roll, but what happens when this sequence happens every episode? What about when it’s the same secret that is always told to everyone except the audience? It can get infuriating, aren’t we good enough to know?
Sometimes, these results come and you feel satisfied, but more often than not they are only the deus ex, the big surprise at the end, that made it safe for the good guys to win the day or the bad guys to live to fight another day. It’s the secret plan they had in their back pocket all along – that you knew they had since minute 15 and have only existed to confuse everyone along the way.
2. Why didn’t they ask twice?
“So what happened to my partner?” The hero asks the knowing intelligence agent of questionable morality.
“I thought we were here to discuss my Netflix Terms of Service?” the agent turns slowly and with purpose.
The hero slams his hands on the table, “THEY DON’T REVEAL THEIR METRICS!”
Now, maybe the hero was there for legal advice about his streaming service, but they did ask a question first. Rarely in television do characters go, “That’s not what I asked.” Instead, they respond to what they’re given. It’s a bait and switch being played on the viewer.. your mystery has been addressed, but can be pushed off until later. It lets you feel like it isn’t a forgotten plot point, but adds nothing to it. It’s a mental trick that works for a little while, but when characters are jumping topic to topic, ask yourslef ‘Would I have more answers if they had only repeated the question?’
3. You waited until now to tell me?
I get that a show where we were privvy to every moment of car rides, jet rides, train trips, horseback sojourns, and rollercoaster uphills may get fairly boring. It makes sense for exposition to be dumped at times where you are visually simulated…. but… if the only time you ever get important, life-saving information is right as the characters are about to jump in the face of danger – something’s up.
“So, what do we have to worry about?” The captain asks, gun drawn, hiding behind a bunch of crates full of dolphin-safe tuna.
“Nothing other than the rocket launchers,” The monster-turn-informant says for the first time ever, shrugging with a wry smile that makes no sense since they are also in a place possibly filled with rocket launchers.
4. WHO DO YOU WORK FOR? Wait.. WHO DO I WORK FOR?!
Changing loyalties go hand in hand with action and espionage shows. Sometimes, like on Alias, the question of ‘who is who they say they are’ is done to amazing effect. Other times, in shows like Alias, it is a constant tennis match of never knowing if you are watching heroes or villains. Finding out the whole season has been the reverse of what you’ve seen can be an amazing and satisfying reveal. Finding out that the hero that was originally the villain was actually the villain, but for a different group of villains instead of the villains you learned previously were heroes… well, you get it.
5. Isn’t anyone normal!?
We pan from the protagonist to their neighbor who smiles jovially and waves while they are watering their plants. The minute the hero is out of shot the neighbor grabs their cellphone, ‘She’s on the move.’ Over their shoulder a mailman is delivering to the next person down the street and pulls a gun from the mailbox. All of this while a dog watches from across the street wearing a blinking collar made of C4, being walked by an assassin with a robotic arm.
A good show needs cool characters, fine… but is everyone in on the mystery? Is everyone a spy or a secret double reverse skip Draw +4 Mossad Cyberagent? Can’t our heroes just have one friend that aren’t in league with the Russians and just enjoys the Smiths and Scrabble night? If nobody in the show’s world is just a normal everyday schmuck, perhaps the show is relying a bit too much on that trope.
6. No, it’s not that.. it’s WAAAY more complex than that…
Chances are, if you’ve ever written a story, outline, game or otherwise – you’ve come up against your brain with a twist or reveal that, honestly, is kind of obvious. How else would any of what had happened before make sense? Or, perhaps you just never really thought out the answer so now you are continuing to complicate it to try and get yourself out of your own maze. Both of these are what happens when you aren’t trying to tell a story, but simply trying to keep your audience on their toes. The deeper your mystery gets, the more satisfying the payoff should be. So, when you get to the final chapter and all of the writers start telling you, ‘Oh it was never about the destination, it was about the people…’ you have every right to be ticked off.
I know that sounds like I’m leaning on Lost with that one, but tons of shows can’t help but over-complicate themselves to keep that seasonal advertising money rolling in. Lost, Battlestar, X-Files… of course you have no idea what happened – nobody does – not even the writers.
So there you have it – what shows have you seen that did these things well? What shows have done all of them? Let us know and we’ll see you next week!
Every week, the Somethings will be giving you a little something extra, so please check back every week for reviews, lists, cool finds, and more!
[Wheel] Elevator Pitch: Movie Mash-Up
Tagged 2021, Movies, The WheelWe are back live and streaming with our first hang-out party of the year – and what are we discussing? Well we’re going to an old favorite of ours, THE WHEEL! Which is a series of topics that now can appear randomly!
So we spin the wheel, make some deals, and Mash-Up two different movie franchises to make one brand new series to see whether we can get it pitched to the invisible director we are somehow stuck in an elevator with.
Want to join the party next time, head to TWITCH and follow so you don’t miss out!
[BLOG] A Little Something From Podcast Rob…
Tagged 2021, BlogWhy I’ve given up on GBBO
I wasn’t always a Great British Bake Off fan. That’s not to say I previously didn’t like it, but I never knew about it or had interest in it until I started watching it on Netflix, and by then, Netflix had 5 Seasons of it already.
I was instantly hooked. Paul, Mary, Mel, Sue… the chemistry was great. The criticisms, witty retorts, double entendres, the bakes, the failures… it was all riveting.
As the seasons went on, the bakes got better, the failures…as one would expect… got bigger, and the judging got harsher.
The tone noticeably shifted when Sue, Mel, and Mary left the show. GBBO brought in Noel and Sandy as the double act, and Prue to replace Mary as judge while Paul Hollywood remained.
I understand these were huge shoes to fill, and while Sandy immediately seemed to fall into a comfort zone, Noel looked overwhelmed at times. The eliminations visibly wore on Sandy as weeks and seasons went on, but the thing I noticed more was Paul seemed to get more …. crotchety? Brutal? Coarse?
When he was part of the original group, he seemed to know he was part of a ‘team’, but when 3 of those 4 were changed out, it’s almost like something awoke in him that he realized HE was ‘The Big Name’ and swung that ego around. While his praises were still there (and, in some cases… even elevated to heights of compliments he hadn’t given previously)… his criticisms became more withering. What hit me the most however, and finally made me give up.. was the inconsistency… real, perceived or edited… of the judging.
Too many times in recent seasons it felt like there was CLEARLY as obvious choice of who would be going home due to “Meh in the Signature, last in technical, middling in Showstopper” only to.. somehow.. have that person stick around and someone who was “Good in Sig, 2nd in Technical, Meh in Showstopper” be the one the judges decided to get rid of.
I won’t name contestant names as getting on the show at all means you’ve got chops… but after the semi finals of the most recently posted season, I tapped out. Didn’t watch the finale and can’t see myself watching again in the future. Maybe the show has run its course, maybe it needs a hiatus, maybe a total rework. It’s still amazingly popular so doubtful any of that would happen, but this former GBBO fan is leaving the tent for good
Every week, the Somethings will be giving you a little something extra, so please check back every week for reviews, lists, cool finds, and more!
Top Movie Deaths
Tagged 2021, MoviesBefore you get to our first brand new episode of 2021 – take a minute and head to our website somethingcast.com and take a look at the new layout. After 200+ episodes, we decided it was time to get with the program and instead of a regular old WordPress blog, we were going to go with a highly edited WordPress blog with new features all over the place.
Be sure to check back on Thursday for one that we’re super excited about, but you won’t see on your Podcast feed.
Now though – settle in, because as we’ve seen 2020 come to an end, the boys want to talk about some of their favorite movie deaths.. from the horrific to the tremendous, here are a bunch of characters who died in neat ways.
Ok, here we go!
[BLOG] Watch This Space
Tagged 2020, BlogIf you are seeing this, then either this post has appeared on our RSS feed, which may or may not be a good thing, or you are coming to the site and seeing all the new stuff we’re working on.
Either way, thanks for being here, and don’t forget that we’re back with a brand new episode on Tuesday, January 5th!
[Throwback] Free For All!
Tagged 2020, Free For All, ThrowbackIt’s the last of the Throwback episodes before we are back on the mic and doing what we do in 2021.
Since December is a five Something month, we decided to give you another episode from the archives that features this very thing. We talk about the show from 2019, so you’ll see how much we wanted to do and how little we’ve, in fact, done.
Last time in the DeLorean, Marty… strap in and Happy New Year!
Ok, here we go!