Red Dead Redemption 2

I am currently playing Red Dead Redemption 2 on the Playstation 4. A game made by Rockstar, with nice graphics, an interesting story, and a lot to do. I am about half of the way through the game at this point.

The world of the game is a fictionalized version of the American West. Both using and satirizing the the cliches of "Western" media. This makes for an inconsistent tone, as the same cliches are played straight at times, only to be used for satire at other points.

You play as the member of a outlaw gang. The gang has many members, all of which have backstories if you are interested in getting to know them. Your gang is multiracial, and has men as well as women. In an anachronistic twist, the members of the gang all seems to be treated equally.  Throughout the game you are meant to give money to your gang to maintain and upgrade the camp. Other members of the gang will also donate, but not much.  

The map of the world is very large, almost to a fault. As there are times you will start a mission near one corner of the map, and have a goal that is set in an opposite corner. This is annoying in any game, but worse here as you are limited by the speed and stamina of your horse. Fast travel options are very limited, and mostly unavailable during missions. This can make a very simple mission last for over an hour, the vast majority of which is travel time.

The story is relatively simple: your gang is on the run, and your gang keeps moving form camp to camp as they keep having various crimes go wrong. Bigger and bigger risk keep getting taken, and more and more of the cast slowly dies off.

There are a huge number of things to do other than story missions. You can play cards, do some bounty hunting, robs home, steal stagecoaches, cook, and many other things. Most of which involves more time spent traveling than doing the activity.

The actual game play is repetitive. Most of your time is spent riding a horse to a place, then shooting up the place. Sometimes there is a stealth element. Sometimes there is a fist fight. Most of the time you take cover, and you shoot.

The best part of the game is the protagonist. Arthur Morgan is a good character. He spends most of the game clearly conflicted. I won't spoil the story. I will say he is complex and well written.

Overall, there is a lot about this game I don't care for. Most of what this game does was done better in the first game. However, the character of Arthur Morgan compels me to keep playing. I would say it is a worthwhile game to play, but is not likely to be on that will be replayed.

Snakebyte Game: Pad S Pro Controller Review

This is a wireless controller for the Nintendo Switch. I got this one on sale for 20$. My expectations were low, as an official controller cost around 70$. This however turned out to be a great controller, and a great deal.

This worked great both 2d and 3d games. Playing Hollow Knight and Dark Souls for several hours each, never had a problem. While the plastic used is not the best, the buttons, sticks, and d-pad all feel pretty good.

It also was superior for playing NES classic games. Having the D-pad in a better position than the official pro controller. It also has the option to use turbo on all the buttons, which is very nice for many NES games.

It does lack a few features. No gyro control. No amiibo support. It also cannot be used to turn on the system. None of these are all the important, but worth noting.

Definitely worth getting.

PS3 Controllers

It seems it is impossible to get first-party Playstation 3 controllers these days. Third-party controllers are also becoming scarce. Only three options seem to be readily available, and I have one of each.

The first two are both made by Powera, one wired, one wireless. They use the same case, and feel the same in the hand.  The wired version will run you 15-20$, the wireless 30$.

The wired Powara controller is very light, and feels cheap. It has no rumble motors, or sex-axis support. However, it handle modern games well, with the sticks being accurate, and the buttons being responsive. 2d games are not easy to play with this controller due to the placement of the d-pad.

The wireless version is heavier, and feels a bit better in the hands for it. In addition it has dual rumble motors and six-axis support. This has the same strength and weaknesses as its wired counterpart. It has decent battery life running for about 20 hours on 3 AAAs.

Both of these are alright, at least for modern games. If you play a lot of 2d games, or PS1 classics, these are not very good options.

The final controller is made by PDP. It runs 20$, wireless and is made of clear plastic with lots of LEDs. Thankfully the LEDs can be turned off.

Unlike the other two this controller has the same layout as a first-party PS3 controller, while being a little thicker in the hands. It runs on two AA batteries, getting roughly 18 hours play. It has dual rumble motors, and supports six-axis. The buttons are responsive and springy, and sticks are accurate and feel good on the thumbs. The d-pad is decent, having a central pivot.

Overall, of the options available I think PDP Afterglow is the way to go. Combines a low price, with the proper Playstation controller layout. Making it good for all game, not just modern ones.

Powera Xbox One Wired Controller

I was in need of a controller for my Xbox one. I also didn't have interest in paying for an official one. At Walmart I found a cheaper option. 

This is a wired controller made by Powera. It was only 20$. It is a pretty good deal.

It has a good hand feel. The buttons and d-pad are responsive. The analog sticks are accurate. As mentioned it is wired, it comes with a removable 8 foot long cable.

The controller is much lighter than standard controller, and its rumble motors do not seem to be as powerful. Neither of these are real problems, but worth noting.

For 20$ this is a great deal. Good to have around as an extra for player 2, or as a back up when your first party controller runs out of batteries.  It also works perfectly on a Windows PC.

8Bitdo SN30 Pro review.

Before we start, I am not getting paid for my this by 8Bitdo for my thoughts on their product.

Recently, I picked up this controller at Fry's Electronics for 50$.

The short version: It is easily the best controller I have ever used for 2d games. It is also a fine controller for modern 3d games.

The long version: This controller has a lot going for it, both tangible and intangible. Making for a controller that not only feels good in the hands, but is also make you wax nostalgic.

Firstly the contoller can be used on multiple systems, both wired and wireless (through Bluetooth). There are botton combinations printed on the bottom of the controller for quickly switching between systems. Windows, Mac OS, Android, Nintendo switch, and Raspberry Pi, can all be easily be paired to this controller.

The build quality is very good. The buttons feel good, and continue to feel good even after several weeks of heavy use. The d-pad has a very definite feel to it, with a proper pivot. The analog sticks are very precise, and work well for any modern game might play. The plastics used seem to be at least somewhat resistant to the natural oils of your skin. It has built in rumble motors, and motion controls that both work very well. The batteries last about 16 hours on a charge, and can last longer if you are using it for something without rumble support. It also has built in turbo for the buttons, which while not very useful in modern games, can be very useful when playing older retro games.

This controller tries very hard to invoke nostalgic feeling.  It is designed after the standard controller of the Super Nintendo, only with twin analog sticks, and an extra pair of shoulder buttons. This is taken further, as the plastics used are textured to feel the same as the ones used by Nintendo for their SNES controllers. The buttons also have the same height and resistance. Meaning that if you spent a lot of time with an SNES, you will undoubtedly be very fond of the SN30 Pro.

"To the Moon", a review.

"To the Moon" is an independent video game develuped and published by Freebird Games. It is available for PC, Mac, and Linux systems. Easiest way to get it on Steam http://store.steampowered.com/app/206440/

The game is short, and easy to play. It is presented in a 16 bit style, and should be easy for anyone to pick up and play. It will only take about 4 hours to play-through completely.

Where the game shines is in its story telling. Telling a beautiful and profoundly sad story. No details or spoilers will be given here, as I don't want to rob anyone of the experience to be had in this game.

While not hard, and rather linear, it is however interesting and enjoyable. It also had me in tears by the end. No game has ever had that effect on me before.

Circle Pad Pro XL Review

Oh, and happy mother's day to any mothers that might read this.

Bauducco Panettone Cake Review

Gameboy Micro Review

Well I am really sick right now. So lets keep this short.

This is a review of the Game Boy Micro I did. It is a little system that came and went fairly fast. While a quality system and good at what it did, it wasn't what the public wanted at the time.

I would like to movie on from photo-montage videos, but sadly I don't have a camera that can do any good video work. Hope you liked the review. Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and what ever the hell you want to hear this time of year.

Some Random Thoughts and a Review.

Election time is near. Since the last election we learned that having a black guy in office is the same as having a white guy in office, I figured as much, but some people seem surprised by this. The people that are surprised would generally be racists... or "set in there ways" if you want to be politically correct.

Superman sucks. He is a relic form the early days of comics, and need to take some time off. Maybe they could kill him... again... but this time actually mean it. Or they could bring back Bizarro World comics, that would be some interesting PR for the franchise.

Could religious people just shut the fuck up? For that matter could anyone that is really deeply into something just the fuck up? It might be god, it might be politics, it might be a lack of god, it might be a book or movie, whatever it is just stop talking about. Leave other people alone. Keep your shit to yourself. Or if you are really into something, just blow your brains out. I heard someone where that "suicide is painless", test out that idea for us.

Also I made a review. It is a review of the second generation camera for the Sony PSP.