Edward's September 2020 Mix

 

 Everything good is bad and everything bad is good. This is how my mother describes these crazy days making up the year 2020. It continues to be one really strange year. I lost a cousin in the month of September. When I heard he was ill, I imagined this planet without him in it and found it a difficult thought to fathom. And then it happened. I’ll adjust like we all have to, but man, am I going to miss him! I’m still living at work. I’ve gone a few days in a row not turning my PC on. Can you believe that? I still managed to partake in a few diversions, if anything, to keep my sanity.   

1. The Trouble with Harry on DVD: More like a high school stage play than a “teleplay” this movie reveals Alfred Hitchcock’s ability to put comedies in his movies. The movie centers on the discovery of a dead body on a hillside of a small New England town. Each member of the community ponders what to do about it without making other citizens of the town privy. The oddity is everybody in town in his or her own way has been made privy and is in the same predicament of what to do with the body. The movie gets bonus points for the picturesque autumn scenery which actually is the star of the show. The “co-star” of the show is Bernard Hermann’s elegant campy score, which accents the films humor wonderfully. This marked the beginning of the Hitchcock/Hermann director/film score relationship.   

2. Far Cry 4 on PC: I’ve enjoyed all of the Far Cry games up to this one. It’s not that I don’t like it. What’s not to like? The game’s setting, the Himalayan mountain region is spectacular looking, especially on a vivid 1440P monitor, and the story concept is compelling enough. I thoroughly enjoyed Far Cry 3 enough to write a lengthy Steam review of it, and admittedly, I still carry the soundtrack around in my car. Yes, I was a devoted fan. I raced through to the game’s end, relishing the story like a good novel. And perhaps that was enough, hence my lack of focus with Far Cry 4. It just seems really repetitive and the story is fragmented compared to its amazing predecessor. Maybe the story will pick up and I’ll find my way. I’ll stay the course, regardless.   

3. F1 2016 on PC: I’m about to finish my very first season in this Codemasters racing sim. It certainly hasn’t been easy. I play full on: full length practice sessions, qualifying and 100% races too. I don’t use “cheats” such as HUD track layouts either. And still I’m lucky to finish 19^th or 20^th place out of 22 drivers. I never quite worked my way up from the lowly team I started with despite unlocking R&D upgrades that were never quite enough. I’ll go through another season to see if any last season upgrades enhance the car a bit (before moving on to F1 2017.) With this all being said, the game is anything but boring. Each race offers a glimmer of hope because the game feels so authentic. Tire wear, weather changes and the AI feel like the real thing.

4. Wake of the Red Witch by Garland Roark: I’ve always been a sucker for stories occurring on the high seas (I even wrote one!) This one is every bit as compelling as Jack London’s stellar The Sea Wolf or Joseph Conrad’s often copied Heart of Darkness. The tale concerns a half-crazed captain of a schooner who is cruel to his men, but ever loyal to his lust for gold and women. My first exposure was to the movie starring John Wayne. Unusual for John Wayne, because it wasn’t a western nor a war movie, yet Wayne’s character dies in the end. The book is sending me to the dictionary quite a bit (always a plus.) It’s truly a man’s adventure tale straight out of the old Saga or True or Argosy magazines that dotted the newsstand magazine racks from the 1940s to the 1970s.

5. Explosions in the Sky “Take Care, Take Care, Take Care” on CD: I’ve always been a fan of Explosions in the Sky, a band that self admittedly creates “cathartic mini-symphonies.” If you’ve ever watched the movie or the TV series, Friday Night Lights, you know their music. Yeah, that good stuff. The band is comprised of three guitars and a drum machine, and I don’t know why, but it just works. This, their sixth studio album (2011) is a bit slower than their other stuff, the build ups are longer which is a good thing because it makes their beautiful choruses blossom more achingly beautiful. EitS was the first time I’d ever heard of a genre called post rock. And because of them it may be my favorite genre of music.  

6. The Who: Live at Leeds on CD: Rolling Stone Magazine included this in their list of the top ten best live albums. (The same magazine included a 2012 reader’s poll result in which this album was voted the best live rock album of all time.) I understand the legacy made by The Who, but this album didn’t do it for me. I should post a disclaimer, however. I’ve never had an affinity for live albums. The instruments on this album, like most live albums for me, simply sounded hollow and “tinny.” I listened to it a third time and then something happened. I realized how “raw” this album was. And suddenly I couldn’t get enough. I love this album! Townshend’s Gibson SG and Moon’s tribal drumming make the album what it is.

7. Lost in Space on Netflix: Per a few suggestions by friends, including my long-time friend, Vic Berwick, I decided to indulge in this Lost in Space redux. I’m new to it, but so far, it’s interesting though totally unrelated to anything Irwin Allen ever created. So, Doctor Smith is a nefarious female? The B-9 Robot hails from alien technology and from another planet? It’s definitely incongruent with the old series, but I’m finding it very interesting to watch. Indulge for the story, but stay for the incredible visuals.

8. The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing on PC: This is simply put, a Diablo clone. But it’s one of the better action RPGs I’ve played. It’s not your usual trappings of giant rats, orcs and trolls. It’s more a Transylvanian twist with vampires and werewolves. The night backdrops are illuminated by silvery full moons and an ominous score by Gergely Buttinger. The game is definitely a clickfest done surprisingly well, though there are some glaring omissions. On my first play-through some years back I wrote a review on Steam lauding its high points, but bringing to light the developers suggested watching YouTube videos to learn how to play the game rather than using a manual that should have been included with the game. I’m playing a melee character (which makes the game difficult enough) on Hero level (which ups the difficulty even more so.) It’s a fun stress reliever, but I feel the real stars are the great OST and the wonderfully wisecracking, Lady Katarina, your supernatural sidekick who heals you and kicks butt alongside you.

 

Edward's August 2020 Monthly Mix

  

 Funny how I went from three months of quarantining at home to now working so many hours I didn’t even have time to post a Mix for July. Bet you didn’t notice! I slowly got my footing back in August, however. It was still 50-60 plus hour weeks, but you have to draw the line somewhere. I had to get my game back one way or the other, despite the chaos that has become life in these United States. There remains comedy in everything, still. I drive my Mustang about town with my windows down, my COVID mask on, and I feel like I’m Tom Hardy in Mad Max: Fury Road.  

1. Star Trek: The Next Generation Season Five on Blu Ray: This will go down as one of the best written television series I’ve ever watched. And having my TV go on the blink and acquiring a newer bigger set makes ST:TNG all the more spectacular. I suppose the real ebullience that comes from watching this remarkable series is the fact I’ve never seen them before. Yes, really. I’m watching them for the first time.  I used to wrestle with the question, which series is better, TNG or Classic? It's safe to say I'll always love the classic series, but TNG has it beat.

2. The Killers “Imploding the Mirage” on Hi-Res 96kHz-24 bit: I’ve always liked The Killers. They remind me of a 1960’s band that accidentally stepped into a time machine unbeknownst, and then stepped out at 2020 recording albums obliviously. This album hosts Adam Granduciel, the front man for one of my favorite indie bands, The War on Drugs and Lindsey Buckingham (Fleetwood Mac) and K.D. Lang. I’ve heard reviewers call out a Bruce Springsteen type sound, but I’m not really hearing that. The album is poppy and bright, despite Brandon Flowers’ typical gritty and dull subject matter: small dead-end towns, the desert, and big dreams with no way to fulfill them. Favorite tunes: “Blowback,” and “Caution.”

3. Grid Autosport on PC: Still working my way through this “sim-cade” racer. Each track is lovingly recreated and the cars are beautiful, especially for a 2014 game. The races themselves are fun and exhilarating, but the AI has a propensity to cheat. It seems they always get advantageous starts and they take corners inhumanly fast. I average a 7^th place finish (out of 16) in about every race I participate in. I’ve just started the open wheel league, and I seem to be doing a bit better, often placing 3^rd and 4^th. Back to the AI, the cheating notwithstanding, I have to admit the AI cars act realistically (for the most part.) It’s a sight to behold to watch a pack of cars swipe each other in a first corner and see clouds of smoke as one car careers into the turf beyond the track. Simply typing this makes me want to boot up the game.

4. Steelseries Arctis Pro + Gamedac for PC: My Steelseries Syberia V.3s served me well, and they still have life left in them, but it was time for something new. As much as I’m gaming on my PC I’m also writing and listening to music. I’m always searching for something to really do the music justice, and it was a weighty decision, but I decided to go with these premium Hi-Res Audio certified cans. No regrets. For gaming, they’re nothing to write home about (though they do the job quite adequately) but for music, they sound simply incredible. I suppose they should considering I paid more for this headset than any of my high end ear buds or Sennheiser cans.  

5. Blue Oyster Cult “Cult Classic” on Hi-Res 96kHz-24 bit: My friend, Brian Bartley, pointed out there was far more to Blue Oyster Cult than simply, “Don’t Fear the Reaper,” and “Godzilla.” I picked up this all-inclusive collection when it went on sale at ProStudioMaster.com and boy howdy, was Brian right! I picked up one of their albums a few months ago but discovered it was a live album. This album is much more akin to a greatest hits album I'd wanted in the first place. The band’s songs are so “busy” but not a note is wasted. BOC were rockers in the truest sense, but they had enough technicality to them they seemed to be wading in prog territory. I always liked what I’d heard of them, but never considered myself a fan. This album has changed that, and I guess I’m not alone. The band has sold 25 million albums worldwide since they started in 1967.

6. Euro Truck Simulator 2 on PC: This is my ultimate chill game. Disassembling the parts that make up its sum, it’s a pretty straightforward game. You haul freight through different cities and countries of Europe while earning enough money to buy more trucks and drivers so you can earn even more money. But there are nuances, oh, the nuances. Driving your own rig and listening to real Internet radio being streamed into your cab, watching sunrises on beautiful Italian landscapes, getting drowsy at two in the morning to the drone of pouring rain and monotonic windshield wipers. It’s a thoroughly engrossing game. Game is almost the wrong word for it. It’s more . . . an experience.

7. Smoke and Mirrors by Neal Gaiman: I only read my first Neal Gaiman book a month ago. And then immediately dove into this one. It’s a collection of short stories. Of Gaiman’s writing, Stephen King admitted, “His fecundity, coupled with the overall quality of his work, is both wonderful and a little intimidating.” Each of these stories are tiny jewels and it’s hard to stop at just reading one. We have a boy who bargains for his life while meeting a troll under a bridge, an old woman who buys The Holy Grail from a local thrift shop and is accosted by one of King Arthur’s knights to acquire it. There’s a mousy bachelor looking to off his two-timing girlfriend by locating a killer under “Assassins” in the Yellow Pages. These stories are fun and compelling reading. I’m surprised I’ve not read anything by Gaiman earlier.

8. Indianapolis 500: 104^th on TV live broadcast: This was a gorgeous sporting event to watch on an OLED TV. And due to the COVID this year, it was the only possible way to watch the event. I must admit it was odd seeing the empty grandstands and from what I’ve heard it was even off putting for the drivers involved in the race. It wasn’t a series of incredible passes, expert pit stop timings, or amazing reel-ins that made this race. It was the cool experience of Japanese driver, Takuma Sato, allowing him to work his way to the front and maintain his lead (sometimes aggressively) the last half of the race. The one exciting highlight was probably Alexander Rossi inadvertently brushing tires with Sato coming out of the pits and acquiring a behind the pack penalty. He used his anger to overtake numerous drivers in an attempt to get to the lead pack. And it became his undoing when he slammed into the wall, ending his day on the track. Too bad he didn’t use that energy to focus. The low part of the race was the stupid commercials. You already know I abhor TV commercials. They’re really getting to be a deal breaker for me. They kept showing the same exact commercials every break, and with twenty laps left to race they announced there would be no more commercials. There was a yellow flag and suddenly there were more commercials than ever.

9. Tropico 5 on PC: I used to watch my brother in law play Tropico 3 and get a kick out of the game’s humor and delightful gameplay. Fast forward a few years, and I saw Tropico 5 pop up on a Steam sale. I picked it up and got into it pretty heavily, and then I got stuck on a difficult level. I revisited the game this month and finally got past that hard part. So now I’m looking forward to the next level and ultimately beating the game. It’s definitely an RTS lite, well suited for beer and pretzels. The soundtrack score is excellent, quite fitting for an island sim in which you play a heavy-handed Caribbean dictator ruling over your denizens and lining your pockets with the fruits of your corruption. Your advisors are always saying funny things, I mean, laugh out loud funny things. And the beautiful seemingly hand-crafted graphics will have you salivating for a Pina Colada. It’s nowhere near the depth of City Skylines, but the game offers a charm all of its own.

10. World War II Day by Day by Antony Shaw: In light of the great old movies and the bevy of PC games I play on the subject, I consider myself a World War II buff. This remarkable book reads like an objective diary of each day in the five year span of the world's greatest conflict. Filled with photographs, many I've not seen before, this book would make a fine addition as a reference book for anybody interested in world history. 

Edward's June 2020 Monthly Mix

The world has become tumultuous: COVID-19 is slowly taking over the planet. The Cancel Culture movement is killing coolness, the woke (sic) mob is aggressively rewriting history (for once not being written by the victors), the Black Lives Matter activity, it seems as if most everyone has to have an external enemy to be felled. I think it’s sad people have stopped thinking for themselves and the others are simply standing by allowing this to happen. But it’s a good time to lose one’s self in alternate worlds, even if they are artificial ones. And that’s what I did this month. 

1. Razor’s Edge on DVD: After fighting in the trenches of WWI, an adventuresome young man returns home with “survivor syndrome,” afflicting him because he survived the war when many of his comrades did not. This phenomenon weighs upon him so heavily he goes off to find himself and loses his socialite fiancée in the process. Years later, when he returns, she will stop at nothing to get him back, even though she is already married. This was greatly portrayed by Tyrone Power and Gene Tierney as the flustered fiancée he left behind. I wouldn’t call it a remarkable movie, but I’d confidently say it's a movie done remarkable well.

2. The Jesus and Mary Chain “Psychocandy” on CD: How could a band with a drum kit consisting of two drums, a forever out of tune guitar and a bass with two strings be any good? Maybe they’re not, but they’re different, so different in fact you can’t help but take notice of this two-brother duo from Scotland. William and Jim Reid sing with vocals not unlike that of boys whose voices are undergoing physiological teen aged changes, but there’s something about this band I find truly compelling. Their first hit song, “Just Like Honey,” spawning from this debut album, basically stole the drum rhythm from 1963’s The Ronnette’s “Be My Baby” and went on to 45 in the UK record charts. The stand out song for me, however, is “The Hardest Walk,” which was featured on the seminal John Hughes film, “Some Kind of Wonderful.”  

  

3. The Day it Rained Forever by Ray Bradbury: A collection of short stories by the esteemed Ray Bradbury who admitted his stories weren’t about science fiction per se, but more like stories about people, which they indeed, were. I’m halfway through the book on my Kindle. There’s nothing stand out so far, but Bradbury’s stories are as exquisite as sipping ice tea on a hot night from a squeaky chain porch swing on an old front porch. His stories always leave you with a certain kind of gentle pay off. He makes prose writing sound like poetry and he will always be one of my favorite writers.

4. Crysis 2 on PC: I’m about ¾ of the way through this exciting adrenaline pumping inducing action shooter. It’s sort of a weird cross between War of the Worlds and Independence Day. Only instead of being the victim of circumstances as poor Ray Ferrier (Tom Cruise) was in Spielberg’s underrated film, you’ve been proactively sent to dispatch this alien invasion, given an incredible array of tools, especially a living cyber-skin of armor capable of multiple modes (extra armor, invisibility, extra strength.) I’ve enjoyed all of the games occurring in the Crytek universe, or inspired by them (The FarCry series.) The original game which came out in 2007 became a running paradigm joke, “Yeah, but will your rig run it?” I’ve just upgraded to a newer gaming PC which doesn’t even bring the question of this second one in the series into play, but I have to admit the graphics are incredibly good looking. The game frequently goes on sale on Steam. If you like shooters with a story, this is worth a play through.

5. Blue Oyster Cult “Some Enchanted Evening” on CD: I picked this up, and eager to get home and listen to it I was chagrinned to find it was a live album. (I thought it was a greatest hits album when I read the track list.) Still, after two playthroughs it’s grown on me. All I ever really knew of BOC was their radio hits, “Don’t Fear the Reaper” and “Godzilla.” Listening to this, I discovered “E.T.I (Extra Terrestrial Intelligence)” which is now my favorite BOC song by far. Now I really do need to find a greatest hits album. Interestingly, it turns out this album is by far their best selling album of all time. Interesting trivia: BOC was one of the first bands to use lasers onstage.
   

6. Days of Thunder on 4K Blu Ray: I remember going to a theater to watch a move in late 1989, early 1990 and seeing the preview for this movie. I was a Tom Cruise fan, and the movie depicting him as a mysterious race car driver showing up late to test drive a car was the ultimate tease. And then I went to the same theater to watch the movie when it came out. I wasn’t a fan of NASCAR, but the movie was done so well it ultimately made NASCAR an interesting subject for me. Revisiting it again after all these years on its 4K presentation made me see it more for what it was: a heavily stylized Hollywood roller coaster ride, but that’s okay! It’s a fun movie. In an interview with director Tony Scott, he stated he and Cruise both loved showing “the flight of the cars.” The 4K treatment pulls this off with aplomb, the stock cars aglow with colors, screamingly loud making their way around the round venues. Tom Cruise stated he loved Scott’s energy for films, and Jerry Bruckheimer (producer) described Cruise as hard charging and a brilliant actor. And they all admitted casting Robert Duvall in his role as the car builder/crew chief truly brought something special to the movie.

 

7. Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman: (I’m borrowing this from my Goodreads review, but it sums it up exceedingly well.) This book was as fun of a read for me as The Wizard of Oz series. It began slow and the characters took a while to earn my interest, and then suddenly I didn't want to put the book down. And that ending, best ending I've encountered in ages. It made me instantly yearn for a sequel. Gaiman's characters will hold a place in my heart and I won't be surprised to find myself searching for Lamia in the crowd of any public place from now on. Gaiman's diction and his use of description caused me to reread sentences just to hear the melody of the words again. "Seeing the Marquis' bloated body slowly float by face down in the brown sewage like a stately funeral frigate," this is golden. And this is why I can't wait to discover more Neil Gaiman.

  

8. Elite Dangerous on PC: Often called Euro Truck Sim 2 in space, I realized I had been way too long away from this game and decided to revisit it. I had forgotten how difficult landing at spaceports was in the game. After several attempts I finally rage quit and wrote the game off in a Steam status entry. The next day after I had cooled off, I tried again and met with some success. The game really is a chill game. Who would have ever known as a kid in the late 60’s when the space race was in full swing that fifty years later, I would be piloting through the universe in my own space ship, hauling goods to and from distant planets and making money doing it? This game is an absolute gorgeous game with an uncanny ability to make you feel as if you really are flying a space ship complete with the loneliness and the required attention to detail you’d need to do the real thing. Andy Kelly, my favorite PC Gamer writer once wrote about a pilgrimage he made in this game to a far outpost space station. His journey took him 90 minutes of real time flying just to get there. He said it was a rite of passage of sorts. Every trip in this game feels like that to me. The game universe is so huge that if you discover a star in the game the developers name it after you. How cool is that?

Edward's May 2020 Monthly Mix

It's been another month of staying home. I don't mind; I've been keeping myself busy with all sorts of cultural things, not to mention having the living room painted and our floor fixed. It was in a major state of disrepair which we discovered when we tried to get new flooring laid. Seems someone in the past tried to cover it up. As Gomer Pyle would say, "Shame! Shame! Shame!" Speaking of covering, the state is being niggardly with my unemployment. It's always fun to see the ol' checking account get smaller and smaller as nothing comes in. Come on Indiana! You can do better than this. But hey, I got to be home another month. No complaints there. I took advantage.

1. Battlefield Bad Company 2  on PC: For the sake of nostalgia, I began playing this again. Not since Battlefield 2 have I had as much fun in an EA multiplayer shooter. I was surprised it still has a very active server base, but then with some of the best sniper mechanics in a multiplayer shooter I’ve seen and the fact it was Dice’s introduction to physics based destructive environments, I’m kind of not surprised. The 10 hour single player game is worth the price of admission, but that’s not the reason to play. It’s those perfectly designed multiplayer maps. I struggle with my twitch reflexes anymore, given my age, but this is a multiplayer shooter I can still be decent at. It can be found for very cheap at g2a.com. Pick it up and see if you can best me.

2. Star Trek: The Next Generation – Season Five on Blu-Ray: Nothing feels better than being immersed in another great season of this venerable series. I’ve been introduced to a new member of the USS Enterprise, the illustrious Ensign Ro. She’s strictly business. Her cold clinical demeanor is what attracts me. Were I to be stationed on the Enterprise I could see myself turning her into my special project. I’d crack that hard shell with 3D chess in the Ten Forward with glee. In this season I’ve gotten to see Counselor Troi take over the ship as the highest ranking officer. She brazenly opened herself to suggestions from junior officers. She was honest in her uncertainty. How cool is that to be able to admit something like that?  

3. Standing in the Rainbow by Fannie Flagg: It was interesting to come to the realization this is book two in a series of 3 books revolving around a small town in Missouri in post WWII. More 1-3 page “vignettes” than full fleshed out stories or chapters, this is a compelling book. I initially fell in love with Flagg’s wondrous Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe years ago. This includes similar type writing. The main character is Neighbor Dorothy and her family. Neighbor Dorothy runs a syndicated radio show out of her house with the assistance of a group of well being, but humorous  helpers. The book is set in a time when people were more virtuous and goodly to one another. Reminiscent of The Waltons or The Andy Griffith Show the book is sappy to the point of becoming cheesy, but it just might make you wish these tumultuous times we live in were just a little bit different.

4. Assassin’s Creed on PC: I’d been putting playing this game off for a very long time. I’d heard the terrible stories of how wonky the controls were, and they were right. I finally beat it, and I have to say it's been one of the worst games I've ever played. I didn't buy it on Steam, but if I had, I'd probably write it an awful review. The artificially ramped up difficulty, and the repetition, and the bait and switch final bosses were just uncalled for. Shoot, the final boss intermingled with cut scenes and bait and switches took 3 hours and 10 minutes. Fortunately, none of them were difficult. If I failed the first time, I took them down in the 2nd or 3rd try. I've been told by numerous people the series gets easier to control and better to play with each successive title in the series. If this were not the case I probably would have given up on this game and threw my controller out the window.

5. Steel Division on PC: I’ve played an incredible amount of Company of Heroes. I wanted to try something similar, but different. I had Steel Division in my library and decided to give it a go. It’s like COH only on a platoon level rather than a squad level. It’s fun, and I’ve been knocking out achievements acquired for each campaign mission I complete. Unfortunately, each mission ramps up in difficulty at a crazy rate. I’ve almost given up. Even after watching YouTube Let’s Plays I have a very hard time with it. Here is a classic example. The last mission I completed gave me 30 minutes to get my German forces through a French city held by the British. As I convoyed through, I was being attacked from both sides. At a bare minimum you must get 30 units across. After about my 30^th try I was able to get 41 units through and completed the mission. Here’s the clincher though. Those 41 units are all I have remaining of my German army, and furthermore are the only forces I’ll have left for the final mission of the German campaign. This is the most difficult single player RTS I’ve ever played. But the Normandy topography and the attention to detail of the units (which are depicted with complete authenticity) make this a game worth playing despite its insane difficulty.  

6. Car Mechanic Simulator 2014 on PC: This was my go to game after struggling with ulcer inducing Steel Division. It’s a strange little garden of zen game involving repairing cars. It won’t teach you how to be a car mechanic, but it will educate you on little things like what a tie rod looks like and where it goes on a car. You start in a small oil stained cement floor cracked garage and as you complete customer orders and make money, move up to an intermediate garage and finally a state of the art repair facility complete with chip tuning capabilities. The game does get repetitious, but each order is a challenge and I have to admit I could feel the dopamine flowing when I completed a job and saw my funds increasing.  

7. The Power Station  on CD: I’ve always regarded John Taylor of Duran Duran as one of my favorite bassists. When this album came out in 1985 I thought the song, “Bang a Gong” was one of the coolest songs I’d ever heard, especially with Taylor’s masterful bass play. Listening to this album again after many years, I’ve picked up on something I totally missed 35 years go (my goodness, it’s been that long!) Any Taylor is an incredible guitarist. I never realized how underrated he was. And of course Tony Thompson and Robert Palmer making up the rest of the group made this band a bonafide supergroup. This was a one album band, but man, what an album, a real shooting star with an accompanying lifespan. The album did spawn a tour in which Robert Palmer walked out of whilst in the middle of. (Garnering much criticism for the gesture as well.) This was a hallmark album from the 1980s, a real touchstone of my youth at the time. 

8. Everspace  on Nintendo Switch Lite: After an extended hospital stay I learned the valuable lesson of having a gaming device for any subsequent stays. I’d had a Sony PS Vita, but after Sony kicked it (and all support of it) to the curb I sold my Vita and went with a Nintendo Switch Lite. So far, I’m pretty impressed with it. I’ve been chipping away at Everspace, a space shooter along the same vein as Origin’s Wing Commander series. This game, however, harbors roguelike characteristics. You cultivate credits and sundries by fighting outlaw ships and mining ore. You use money earned to unlock ship upgrades. When you are killed and lose your ship you are able to use that money for upgrades and ultimately better, faster, stronger ships. I’ve not gotten far into it, only the 2^nd sector so far. But I’m having fun doing it, and its portability enabling me to take this gaming system anywhere is unequaled. 

9. Battlefield 1942 on PC: After I found out an old gaming clan I used to play with was still playing this ancient game on a rented server I couldn’t wait to reinstall it and join the fray. As it turns out, there are a bevy of patches that need to be installed just to make it work right. I dabbled around with the single player game and it was obvious I was wearing rose colored glasses when I made the decision to give this game a try after all of these years. I played the crap out of this game when it came out, and I can glance over to my gaming shelf at the game boxes of this series on my shelf, with pride. But I’m almost glad I couldn’t connect to the servers out of the box. I suppose it’s true: some things are better left alone in the annals of memory and nostalgia. This game is definitely one of those things.