Steve

Nice! When's the album out?

Taken down already?

I've been playing Puzzle Quest 3, which is a free to play "match 3" puzzle game with RPG elements. It's a cool game to play while listening to a podcast. The gameplay is simple enough; you move gems/skulls on a grid to try and make lines of 3 or more which trigger attacks against your enemy. There's a bunch of different modes. There's several character classes to choose from with tons of gear to unlock, as well as minions and followers to accumulate who can help you on your quest. You can create or join a guild, where up to 30 people can contribute towards tasks for extra rewards (definitely do that if you give the game a go). Of course, being F2P it has micro-transactions. Thankfully, you're not forced to spend any real money at any point, but if you do you will progress considerably faster. It's available on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, iOS, Android, and Windows. No Switch version for some reason.

It's gonna be a headache for manufacturers! It won't just affect phones and tablets either as it applies to all small portable batteries. They're also considering phasing out non-rechargeable portable batteries entirely, but that wouldn't happen until 2030 at the earliest. News article: - https://www.pcmag.com/news/eu-smartphones-must-have-user-replaceable-batteries-by-2027

This site claims to use AI to summarise any Twitter user based on who they follow: - https://twittergpt.com/ I don't have a Twitter account, so I got a summary for Dirk: -

This looks dope! I'm not sure what platforms it will be on, but presumably Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC.

Trailer for some upcoming content: -

Hey @KLH! Good to see you here man!

The Uncharted series is great IMO. I enjoyed the first game a lot, but there is a pretty decent jump in quality between the first game and the rest of them, so if you like the first one, you will probably love the others. I've just started The Last Campfire, which is a story-driven environmental puzzle game from Hello Games, who made the Joe Danger games and No Man's Sky. If you like puzzle games, I would highly recommend it. It's available on most platforms and it goes on sale fairly regularly. Right now you can pick it up on Xbox for £2.39, which is a bargain. It's 5-7 hours long, but I think that's about right for this style of game.

Yeah, I had a HAK 310, which was my first proper scratch mixer. I really wanted a 360, but at the time I didn't have a lot of spare cash, so I went with the 310 instead. After a while I swapped the crossfader out for a Pro X Fade. When the Native Instruments Z2 came out, I sold the HAK to Dopp and bought one of those, which I still have, although I haven't used it in years.

Yeah, that should work. I can't think of a better way to hook this kind of setup up. And yeah, it's funny how such small physical differences in faders can make such a big difference to your cuts. I think the Pro X Fade is still my favourite fader, in terms of feel and sound.

This is the problem, because you are not directly connecting a turntable to phono inputs. Try connecting an output from the mixer on the right to a line level input on the mixer on the left.

This one is even better, lol: -

Damn, that is pretty bad! I don't think Sony are as highly regarded for their hardware quality as they were in the past, but they still make some really decent stuff IMO, but when it comes to gaming, the built-in batteries they use are ass. For example, Microsoft's Elite Series 2 controller has a 2,050 mAh battery in it that lasts 30+ hours, but Sony's even more expensive DualSense Edge controller only has a 1,050 mAh in it, even though it has higher power draw than the Elite, and therefore it only lasts 5-10 hours between charges. I get that people are only using the Project Q thing at home, maybe for short sessions lying in bed or sitting in the garden or whatever, and it's not gonna be a full replacement for using their PS5 and TV, but it still sucks to have to charge it so often, assuming those rumours are true.

I assumed they're a VTuber who is using VR from their own perspective as a replacement for the real DJ gear, but I don't know for sure. I guess I can see some of the appeal of VR clubbing, cos you can hop in and out of different "clubs" at the click of a button, so you could find the one playing just the kind of music you want - which I definitely have zero chance of doing in real clubs near me - and you still have a level of interaction with real people, with zero risks. Obviously, you can't beat going to a real club, festival, gig etc. but I can see how it could be a nice supplement to real world stuff, rather than replacing it.

That's pretty cool. I had no idea such a thing existed!

It's not a stand-alone device, so you can only stream games from a PS5 to it. It's getting a lot of negative feedback, probably cos people were hoping for a successor to the PS Vita rather than this.

LOLLL Fuck AI! It's already doomed.

It's releasing on October 12th for Windows, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PS5, and PS4. I'm looking forward to this as it's supposedly a return to the game's roots, with more linear story telling and focus on stealth gameplay compared to some of the more recent AC games.

It'll be available for Windows, Xbox Series X/S, and PS5. I really enjoyed the first one, so hopefully this turns out to be good!

I've been playing Supraland: Six Inches Under. It's a Metroidvania-type game, where the main gameplay is exploration and environmental puzzle solving. There's a tiny bit of combat, but not much. As you unlock new skills, you can revisit previously visited areas and get to places you couldn't reach before. I decided to give it a go as it got added to Game Pass and it's very highly rated amongst players. It's really good IMO. If I'd only watched the trailer I don't think I'd have given it a try, but the high praise from players definitely seems deserved, as you get sucked in pretty quickly and it's satisfying when you figure out how to get to a new area. If you have Game Pass for Xbox or PC, I'd definitely recommend giving it a try.

"My favourite DJ podcast is the one where I talk about myself for 2 fucking hours!" 😛

According to the terms and conditions, you are effectively renting the TV for no monthly fee as long as you keep it connected to the internet at all times, don't block the ads, don't disable data collection, don't modify the device etc. You have to give them payment info up front and if they decide that you've breached their terms and conditions in any way, you have to return the TV. If they decide that the TV is not in perfect condition, they will return it to you and charge you $500 for it, then presumably you can use it as a regular TV with another service provider. I really don't like the idea. It's too intrusive, and if someone finds a way to hack/jailbreak it, if they can't patch it, their business model is done. What options are there for free TV in the US, as in, the actual TV service? Here in the UK, there's Freeview and Freesat, with both offering a fairly decent selection of non-premium channels, including HD and limited 4K content, plus they have apps you can use on your phone to watch TV there too. There's an initial setup cost, cos you'll need a digital TV aerial or satellite dish, and you may also need a set top box, but the actual service costs nothing.

I'd definitely need to see more before I signed up to get one. For example, does the TV stop working if you cover up the camera? How intrusive are the ads? Also, is there a shipping fee you have to pay? It's got a "too good to be true" feel about it.