I’ve been a PC gamer since 1990. I’ve watched different iterations of consoles evolve through the ages, but they were never a temptation to me. I was always more attracted to my pc and learning how to put it through its own evolution. I started buying better PCs as I could afford them until I learned enough about them to upgrade and eventually build my own. But rather than build or upgrade, I’d rather just play the games. And oh boy, the games through the years. I keep a document detailing every game I’ve played and whether or not I’ve beaten them. My best years have seen twenty plus games conquered. My worst years (which were fairly recent) saw me beating one game. Everything comes with a price and those decades of gaming are becoming costly. At my age, I have far more years behind me than I do ahead of me, and that’s where I have to start budgeting. My Steam library is overfilled with games. I won’t live to play through them all, but I’m wondering if it’s time to try. But where do I draw the line? I tend to play games on their more difficult settings; it’s just the way I roll. How far deep do I go before I decide I’m not going to complete a game, uninstall it, and try another one? It’s an answer I’m probably always going to wrestle with.
Railroad Corporation on Steam: I love railroad strategy sims. I guess that’s the simple term for them, massive economic systems in which you are required to move freight using railroads (usually 19th-20th century timeframes) and buy and sell stocks, and compete with robber barons. Sid Meier’s Railroad Tycoon was the first one I ever bought way back in 1990. I’ve played many more since then and I’m disappointed that there aren’t any out there that live up to Sid Meier’s venerable series. Railroad Corporation is close, however. At first it served as the inspiration for this month’s header. I got into a scenario in which the difficulty spiked harder than fruit punch on prom night. I ended up rage quitting and uninstalling. A day later after I had cooled off, I reinstalled it, got through that dastardly scenario and it’s been smooth sailing since. I’m just about finished with the main storyline campaign and it makes me long for Sid’s old games, but Railroad Corporation 2 recently released. That’s a good consolation prize.
Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak: I’ve mentioned it before, when I was 8 years old my mother and my aunt took me to see a movie with them. The movie, which won 5 Academy Awards in 1965 and directed by the venerable David Lean, was called Doctor Zhivago. Had my mom known better, she wouldn’t have taken me. It was too heavy of a film. The opening has little Zhivago attending his mother’s graveside service. She’s young and beautiful, even in death, lying in her casket. As the eulogy is spoken, a windowed lid is quickly and delicately hammered down onto the coffin. His mother is lowered into the earth, and we see her face fade from view as shovels of dirt rain down upon it. And poor Zhivago stands there, sadly stoic, holding a bouquet of flowers. That scene traumatized 8 year old me. And now, over five decades later I finally read the novel. I’ve read many Pulitzer Prize novels in my life. This is the first novel I’ve read that garnered the Nobel Prize. It was a long and sad Russian novel (aren’t they all?) but admittedly, it was an absolutely beautiful story. I don’t have a bucket list, but this book is bucket list worthy.
Filter The Very Best Things on Amazon Music: I first heard Filter back in Austin in probably 1997. They had an interesting sound, the few songs I heard. They were one of those bands I would hear, but then quietly forget about. One of their songs (“Nice Shot”) popped up on my car radio and I hadn’t even realized they were the band that played the song. I spun through their greatest hits on Amazon Music, and was surprised at all of their songs I’d heard but didn’t know was them. I ended up putting this one on auto repeat a few times. They formed in the middle of the grunge era, but are often considered post-grunge, which, their sound truly is: hard rock with an overdose of drum machine. Believe me, it sounds much better than it looks on paper.
Blood of Elves (The Witcher 1) by Andrzej Sapkowski: This is actually the first book in the Witcher series because it’s the first novel, whereas, the actual first book was a collection of short stories. But man, what a novel this one is! It basically encompasses the second series of the famed Netflix episodic series. Despite its translation from Polish, it translates just as well from the TV screen to the skull cinema. Sapkowski has a way for sure. If you like medieval fantasy complete with its swashbuckling antics and political intrigue but A Song of Fire and Ice is a bit much, then you should definitely check this series out. I’ve already read this one before, but it’s that good I’m rereading it. I don’t do that often.
Alien on Blu Ray: My grandson, who is now playing the excellent game, Alien Isolation, was intrigued enough he wanted to watch this with me. I’ve seen it numerous times now, but it seems, like when I rewatch any favorite movie, I discover something new. This viewing was no different. This time, it was the dialogue. This was a tightly written script in which every verse of diction lent such credibility to each actor. It almost makes me think the casting was so perfect I couldn’t imagine anybody else playing the roles these actors performed. And then of course, there’s everything else that makes this such an amazing horror/SF movie: the story, the sets, the Nostromo, and the xenomorph itself.
The Hard Way (Jack Reacher #10) by Lee Child: Edward Lane is a wealthy ex-special forces guy who hires his former mercenary compatriots to find his kidnapped wife. Jack Reacher, sitting at an outside bistro, sipping his coffee just happens to be in the right place at the right time to watch the ransom money pickup. Lane hires him to join his colleagues and track down his missing wife. And so, begins what I believe is Lee Child's best Reacher book I've read thus far. The last half of the book, occurring in rural England was so vividly described it became the novel's main character. And having read it I feel as I've been to England. The only thing that surpasses that aspect of the book is, indeed, the final twist of the book. I was blindsided.
Rainbow Six: Siege on PC: When this game released in 2016 I played it until my eyes bled . . . well, almost. I did play it until my eyes burned like fire, and I still couldn’t quit. I played with a paper towel crammed into the space between my eyeball and my eyeglasses, the other eye glued to the screen. I ended up writing a review on Steam that pushed near two hundred likes. Deeply seated in slow burn psychological strategies and not the 15 year old twitch reflexes of a Call of Duty player, this is a game that even my old man reflexes can keep up with, but the sad truth is, I still suck at it, unfortunately. It’s still a good time, however, especially with my friend Dalton Gallaher that got me back into it. I’m glad he has a bit more talent at taking out the bad guys than I do. It makes for a decent victory now and then.
The Curse of the Werewolf on Blu Ray: My favorite horror movie when I was a kid, and often cited by film historians as the best werewolf movie ever made, this was one of Hammer Film’s greater achievements. And it was Oliver Reed’s debut role, which I noticed this time around was something that I would have paid more attention had I been older when I first watched it. But, his acting in this movie is excellent! No wonder he went on to become such a renowned actor. He plays the titular werewolf, struggling with the suppression of the evil beast that comes out of him, and he is truly heartbroken at the burden he must bear. He portrays it so well that I got emotional at the film’s end. How often does one cry at a horror movie? This movie is part of a Hammer Blu Ray collection I picked up. It’s remastered so well and the transfer is remarkable enough I’d say skip the DVD version and go straight for this one.
Platoon on 4K Blu Ray: I’m losing track of how many times I’ve seen this movie, which happens to be my favorite Vietnam war movie amongst a plethora of really good ones. It shares the same authenticity as Brian De Palma’s venerable Casualties of War. This was my first time to watch it on 4K Blu Ray, and I have to admit some of it was almost a bit oversaturated. But the olive drab greenery that abounded in the film and the grass green foliage sparkled in this version. The characters in the film, and especially Charlie Sheen’s performance and his background narrative (which he recites as passages in letters to his grandmother) make this a keeper.
Gunner, Heat, PC! on PC: Microprose released M1 Tank Platoon in 1989 and it’s often hailed as the best PC tank sim of all time. And then I discovered this one thanks to my friends, Tommy Stevens and Ed Humes. The game is still early access, which could be a good thing or a bad thing, but one thing that puts this one in the winner’s circle is how often it’s updated. Despite its lack of an actual playable campaign, the developers are constantly dropping patches. The game is quite reminiscent of Microprose’s superb game, but with modern graphics. And it’s certainly no drop in the bucket. The AI is smart enough to give you a bloody nose or a kick in the crotch if you get overconfident or don’t play smartly.
