Recently Microsoft announced a price increase on XBox Gold, the service that allows folks to play games online. Due to the overwhelmingly negative response Microsoft kept the pricing as it was and did one more in that they said they would allow free online multiplayer for all free to play games. Put another way, you can play games like Warframe and Fortnite for free without having to pay for XBox Games Pass or XBox Gold. As someone that recently bought an XBox Series X that doesn't have Games Pass or Gold this is a very welcome change. Feels like I'm getting an upgrade for just having an XBox. I'm well aware the PC versions of these games allow free online multiplayer and Nintendo allows Fortnite as the free lone exception on the Switch of games that don't require a paid sub for online multplayer but XBox has been requiring Gold for online since it's inception so this is a very cool change.

Still seems odd to me that I paid for the Halo collection and then need to pay again for online multiplayer but for now, this is a very welcomed upgrade. I can see a world where a lot of people get an XBox to play the raft of incredible free to play games and Microsoft just made the prospect that much better.

One thing I'm wondering is that since Halo Infinite's multiplayer will be free to play, this means new Halo won't require Gold right? Seems like it, but you never know until it happens as Halo multiplayer has been behind the paywall. If new Halo multiplayer is incredible and also free to play I think this could open up a fun option for everyone to enjoy some shootery action for a fun price on PC and XBox.

For an exhaustive list of all the games you can play online multiplayer for free on xbox click the link below:

https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2021/04/21/online-multiplayer-free-to-play-games-unlocked/
https://www.theverge.com/2020/7/31/21349236/halo-infinite-multiplayer-free-to-play-120fps-rumors

New Marvel trailer so ... you know... here it is! This time for an entirely new set of phase four characters. Phase Four of the MCU features a lot of new characters and Shang-Chi seems to start that out with a fun chop to the face. I’m not sure how this fits into the larger MCU but something, something evil dark magic that somehow things with a character and something something cameo with existing something or other from the MCU. If that’s entirely too specific, sorry I don’t have a whole lot to go on but the trailer looks fun and I’m sure I’ll check this out when I can.

One question I’ve heard folks ask is why all these powerful folks weren’t part of the battle against Thanos? If they were around and powerful, why not show up to the brawl? I’m sure there is a reasonable explanation but until we can see we’ll just have to wonder.

Mystery Science Theater 3000 is the greatest show of all time. At least to me and a zillion other MSTIE's and the show is back with a new Kickstarter after being cancelled by Netflix after two great seasons. The plan with the new Kickstarter is to fund a purely fan supported show and move away from any kind of network so the show can exist as long as the fans want it to. I enjoy this model quite a bit and as part of the plan they want to create the Gizmoplex, which is an app and community based way to release the new shows with a live streaming model. It seems the new shows will also be created with social distancing in mind which I hope they drop more details on because I'm interested with how that would work.

Regardless, I hope the new model sticks and the show can live on as long as it can. I don't mind that Mystery Science Theater 3000 lives on as a smaller show or as it did on Netflix, it needs to be whatever it is to survive well in the new digital world. If you feel the same, check out the Kickstarter and fund the bots baby!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mst3k/makemoremst3k

Not counting Nintendo consoles the last “hardcore gamer console” I owned was the PlayStation 3. I decided on the PlayStation 3 over the XBox 360 because of the enhanced media playback it had and it’s incredible DVD playback as well as Bluray support. I ended up playing a lot of games on it, but I didn’t start out playing much more than a handful of downloaded demos. In a world where consuming media was all on CD, DVD and the fresh new Bluray format the PlayStation 3 really was a great system. Online streaming and YouTube started picking up around that time and I remember getting a Netflix streaming disc so we could try that out. All that to say, I haven’t owned a “hardcore gamer console” since as I felt like the PS4/XBox One era just wasn’t for me. That said, with the prevalence of 4K streaming and Bluray along with the new generation of consoles now seemed like a good time to reevaluate that.

Why Get A Next Generation Console Now?

I’m going to start out and say, for most people, you really shouldn’t get a XBox Series S, X or PlayStation 5. If you get along just fine with your 1080p TV there really isn’t a reason to upgrade and frankly, 1080p is good enough for most folks. This isn’t a dig at anyone, I just think that 1080p might be good enough for most people such that sticking to your XBox One or PS4 might be the best choice for the time being. I’ve planned on getting a 4K tv for a couple years now and have slowly built up a reasonable 4K Bluray library when a new film hit I wanted to buy, I’d put in a few extra dollars and get it in 4K. I also enjoy watching stuff in the highest fidelity possible. Again, this isn’t a thing most people care about, but I really do.

And wowee wow do 4K Bluray films look incredible on the Series X and my LG tv. The biggest difference is the color and the increased resolution really amps things up considerably. Streaming 4K off apps like Disney+ is awesome too but 4K Bluray has quite a bit more available to make things pop even more. It might seem like a somewhat expensive way to watch a movie, but the Series X seems to be one of the only things that supports Dolby Vision and for the films that do it’s quite the sight to see.

Yeah Ok Fine, But Isn’t This A Game Console?

Thanks for reminding me! I’ve been looking up what televisions pair well with consoles and the one I went with was the LG CX. The LG CX is a 4K tv that’s claim to fame in the gaming world is it supports 120hz or 120 frames per second. Film clocks in at 24 frames per second and for a lot of games in this current generation 60 FPS is quite the feat so if a console and TV combo could push 120 FPS that’s pretty wild. The Series X can push 120 FPS on certain games and one such game I picked up was the Halo Anniversary collection. I’ve never really sunk anytime with the series, so picking it up seemed like a good idea and also a good way to see how 120FPS felt. And yeah, 120FPS is really incredible paired with the fact that it’s also in 4K. Everything is so smooth, clear and vibrant it almost doesn’t seem quite possible. That said, even though Halo looks and plays incredibly that’s not really the game I’ve put the most time into.

One Big Reason I Chose The Series X Is Because Microsoft Does Compatibility Better

I love retro games and coming back to play games I love. It’s sad when a new console can’t play the old games and it’s awesome when a new console can play a lot of old games which is what Microsoft is doing with the XBox. The Series X can play original XBox games, 360 games and XBox One games. Now the classic compat doesn’t work with everything but it’s quite a few games more than nothing, which for other consoles and past generations is what they offer. The game I’ve been sinking is Plants VS Zombies on the 360. Plants VS Zombies is a classic game that I originally played on PC that I also played on my phone. I’ve never played it on console but the 360 version is superb and the Series X adds HDR to it making it look more incredible than I remember. In fact, the Series X adds HDR to every classic game it runs and for some offers a speed boost and upscaling to increase the games performance.

I’ve enjoyed playing Plants VS Zombies and the other Popcap games that came on the disc so much (Zuma and Peggle) that I picked up a few other 360 disc collections to get nearly each classic Popcap game that came to the 360. My son has also been enjoying watching me play Plants VS Zombies so much that we actually completed it the other night. I never owned an XBox and plan to revisit a lot of it’s classic catalog through the 360, XBox One and also some modern upcoming games (the Diablo 2 remaster might look awesome in 120FPS 4k).

My First Thoughts Summed Up

The XBox Series X might be one of the best consoles I’ve owned for all the things I care about the most. Does it have a slate of incredible cutting edge games? I honestly don’t know and don’t care, it’s not really why I bought it but some day I do plan to get some current gen games made for it. I don’t regret getting it at all and for me it’s a really great way to watch movies and play some games.

Recently shared this with some friends and decided to post here as it’s a great track one of the best games on the Super Nintendo.

A trailer for a new Ninja Turtles game blew up today for good reason. It looks awesome.

If you loved the beat-em-up Ninja Turtle arcade games Shredder’s Revenge looks like just like what you’ve been waiting for. From what gameplay footage we can see it looks stylistically like the old arcade beat-em-ups with a few new twists. The graphics are using a newer pixel retro flavor while paying homage to the classic look.

I’m hopeful that we will get Internet multiplayer for this as it would be incredibly fun to queue up a group of friends to take on Shredder online. So far there is no release date for Shredder’s Revenge and the release platforms listed so far are just PC and consoles but when more details emerge I’ll drop them here.

One of the biggest news items out of Blizzcon 2021 Online was that Blizzard would release a Diablo II remaster called Diablo II: Resurrected. Featuring a full 3D reskin of the game alongside the original pixel version with a modern online Battle.net offering featuring cross platform progression this looks like it could be on the biggest gaming releases of this year! Currently, it's not easy to play Diablo II as it requires you to install the game and install a handful of mods and hacks to play it on modern systems. One great part of modern gaming is keeping old games fresh for new audiences and remasters are a big part of that. Hopefully Blizzard can dial this remaster in as there was quite a bit of discontent with the last remaster of Warcraft III. In the end I really though the WarCraft III Remaster was quite good but hopefully this one does better with everyone!

Here are a few notable features coming:

* 8 Player co-op
* Revamped ladder seasons
* Personal Stash increased from 6x8 to 10x10 grid
* Shared Stash tab available to all characters on a single Battle.net account.
* Transfer gear easily between heroes—no mules required.
* Bring your characters and loot across all supported platforms. Retain your level, quest, progress, skills, and talents.

https://diablo2.blizzard.com/en-us/#overview

"Pre-register for a chance to take part in the technical alpha: https://diablo2.blizzard.com/​

Arise, Diablo, Lord of Terror. Diablo II: Resurrected is the definitive remastering of Diablo II and its Lord of Destruction expansion — two hallmark entries in Blizzard Entertainment’s genre-defining action role-playing series."

Blizzcon 2021 Online is going strong and hot off the keynote is the news of the Blizzard Arcade Collection release available today on PC, XBox, Playstation and Switch. The Blizzard Arcade Collection features old school classic Blizzard titles such as Blackthorne, Rock & Roll Racing and The Lost Vikings for $20. If you have yet to play these games this seems like the best way to relive them and they are coming home to consoles which is a solid plan considering that's how they were first released.

You can buy the Blizzard Arcade Collection today on PC as part of the Blizzard Celebration pack for $20 alongside a bunch of other DLC for Blizzard games.

https://us.shop.battle.net/en-us/product/celebration-collection

https://www.theverge.com/2021/2/19/22291771/blizzard-arcade-collection-announced-blizzcon-2021

*Update*

The Blizzard Arcade Collection is up on the Switch store: https://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/blizzard-arcade-collection-switch/

Rage is a very hefty feeling but there is no need to be angry while you play it. I paid full price for Rage 2 at launch and I loved every minute of playing it but I could see a world where some people might play games angry after paying full price. If you see red after paying for things you are in luck because Rage 2 is entirely free on the Epic Games PC Store until Feb 25th. While you are there saving yourself a few bucks you can also get Absolute Drift for free too. I have no experience playing Absolute Drift but if my growing backlog is an indicator, I never will but will lament the fact I haven't.

https://www.epicgames.com/store/en-US/product/rage-2/home
https://www.epicgames.com/store/en-US/product/absolute-drift/home

Might not come as a huge surprise to anyone but I picked up Super Mario 3D World on Switch and have been enjoying it quite a bit. I've heard some folks online say that it's a bit on the easy side as a single player game and I get that. That said, I haven't found it to be that easy myself as I've been playing it co-op with a rather energetic four year old. I love the little guy but he's not great at platforming such that he dies a lot and MUST always be the first to get "the kitty suit." So yeah, it's fun playing Mario with your kids but playing Mario co-op with little kids might be the Dark Souls of trying to have fun playing video games sometimes. Let this scenario wash over you "Daddy I don't want to go there. Hey buddy ok let me carry you over there. Thanks Daddy. *he pushes a button and jumps out of my arms and falls off a cliff* Daddy I lost the kitty suit. Ok buddy hold on let me use the extra we have ok come get it. Daddy I can't come get it, Daddy I can't go over there. Ok buddy let me help you there *falls off a cliff* Ok no problem buddy let me pop the bubble there and throw you at the kitty suit. YAY I'm the kitty again, I love being the kitty. *falls off a cliff* Daddy I need the kitty suit."

Frankly I think Super Mario 3D World is the right kind of difficulty for how I play it, but I can see where some gamers might need more of a challenge. If you are a challenge seeker Super Mario 3D World might not be for you but having kids might help you get there.

Oh and we haven't played Bowsers Fury yet but I imagine we'll get there after we complete Super Mario 3D World. We just got to the mid point in World 3 even if the game feels like a continual hunt for the kitty suit.