1 Oct 2018

Checkpoint: Autumn Chill 2018 Edition

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October is here again but I’m not quite ready for that crisp autumn morning just yet.

I haven’t been keeping up with these check-in posts because I’ve just been spending more time playing video games with the girlfriend. With a blink of an eye, we’re experiencing our second October together and it’s been good fun.

October also means the arrival of new video games. These are the pre-orders that will be making their way to me:

  • Forza Horizon 4
  • Super Mario Party
  • Pokemon Let’s Go! Eevee
  • Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Forza Horizon 4 will be available to me via Xbox Game Pass. It’ll be my first Forza Horizon game and the first racing game in quite some time. I’m looking forward to giving it an honest go on the Xbox One X.

Super Mario Party will be my first Mario Party game ever. After seeing the shenanigans, the Giant Bomb guys endure, I look forward to checking one out with friends and family.

I think I would have cancelled Pokemon Let’s Go! Eevee if I didn’t get back into Pokemon Go. I own a copy of Pokemon Sun and have yet to put double digit hours in to that so the idea of getting another Pokemon title would have been ridiculous to me 3 months ago. But alas, lots of friends at work got back into it so I reupped.

I don’t know why I am getting Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. I own Melee, Brawl, and the Wii U’s release but I don’t think I put nearly enough time into any of them to justify their price tags. And I got Melee as part of a GameCube bundle that I bought of a high school friend.

Those are the games that are coming but I still have games that need to played like Spider-man and Crypt of the Necrodancer: Switch Edition.

What I’ve been playing? Rise of the Tomb Raider for Xbox One X which has some terrible performance hiccups and equally wince inducing moments by Lara. I’ve also been playing a lot of Overwatch (on PC and PS4), and too much of the FIFA 19 demo.

That’s about it for now.

Since it’s October, I’m thinking about returning to Until Dawn to see how many of the delinquents survive. We started it in October of last year but fell off it. Maybe this year, we’ll see it through.

7 Jun 2015

Checkpoint: Top of the Game Edition

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The UEFA Champions League final between Juventus and FC Barcelona was a great one. I was predicting a Barcelona win but I didn’t know if Juventus were going to make a match out of it. Were Barcelona’s front three going to run circles around Juventus’ defense? Would Juventus’ midfield maintain order? Thankfully Juve stepped up and made a game of it; even going down 1-0 early on didn’t dampen their spirits. It was a very enjoyable final and more so because I’m actually familiar with the teams. I actually accidentally stumbled across the Borussia Dortmund vs Bayern Munich a couple years ago. I watched it but didn’t have any vested interest in the sport at the time.

An hour after the Champions League final, the FIFA Women’s World Cup kicked off in Edmonton and I watched Canada take on China. It was an awful game. Both teams were making mistakes left and right, the Chinese were parking their defense and Canada had no answer. The only way Canada eked out a win was when China’s defense gifted them that silly foul in the penalty box.

I never watched the women’s game before. I’ve watched men’s lower division play in the form of NASL and MLS which was different compared to the top european leagues but the game remained intact. I didn’t expect a quick pace or a lot of physicality between players but I was expecting crisp decisive passes. The Canada vs China game showed glimpses high level play but it didn’t fill me with the desire to watch more. When the most confident looking players on the field were the goal keepers, it doesn’t make for attractive game.

Despite the terrible match, I didn’t give up on it on the Women’s World Cup and decided to watch the Netherlands take on New Zealand. That was a solid match which showcased what I was expecting. By default, I should be rooting for Canada but I think I’m going to back the Orange Lionesses.

I’m looking forward to seeing the top ranked German squad in action later today. They’re pitted against the lowest ranked team in the competition this year, the Ivory Coast. So this should be something.

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I’m still playing The Witcher 3 and FIFA 15. I don’t see that changing next week.

31 May 2015

Checkpoint: FIFA Corruption Edition

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What a week for world soccer. A bunch of high ranking FIFA officials were arrested and Sepp Blatter somehow manages to win a fifth consecutive term as a FIFA president.

How?

If this was any other organization or governing body, Sepp Blatter would have been forced out in the wake of all these arrests. So how did Mr. Blatter manage to get re-elected? Years of attention towards African and Asian countries curried a lot of favor and it pays off handsomely for this man. Since every country — regardless of size or influence — has equal say in who should lead FIFA, it’s no wonder that Sepp Blatter continues to win.

The story surrounding FIFA’s corruption is interesting and has been covered by the likes of John Oliver (seen above) and ESPN E:60 Special Report. Despite the awareness, many of the nation members of FIFA don’t seem to care that FIFA is corrupt because all these little nations continue to receive money from the World Cup and Sepp Blatter ensures that.

So it’s business as usual then? For now. Unless there’s some kind of external power that will force change, it looks like FIFA will operate like it always has.

I honestly don’t care about the World Cup. It may have wooed me into soccer but I am a bigger fan of club soccer. International soccer may have the prestige but it doesn’t quite represent best of soccer. The flopping is more rampant and the quality of the refereeing suffers due to unfamiliarity and the pressures of a big stage. I would rather watch the UEFA Champions League than the World Cup final. But not everyone feels that way. In fact, it’s the opposite which is why the World Cup is such a big deal and why FIFA is so powerful.

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I don’t foresee myself playing anything but The Witcher 3 for at least the next month. The Witcher 3 is huge and I’m enjoying the process of peeling away the layers.

 

1 Mar 2015

Checkpoint: March Rushed Edition

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I can’t believe it’s already March. Where did February go? How did it disappear so quickly? I honestly don’t know. In some ways, I did want the months to fly by but I didn’t expect them to move at this pace.

Last year, there was an air of uncertainty with my life. I was in a relationship but there were many questions surrounding it. This March —  despite being single — I’m feeling very comfortable and focused. This time last year I was focusing on myself while this year, I’m focusing on family.

I’ve also been focusing on StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty’s campaign. It’s been very pleasant and a bit of a surprise for me. I didn’t realize how varied and inventive the missions would be. At it’s very core, it is just build armies and eliminate the enemy but the manner and circumstances surrounding each mission were inventive.

I’ve also started playing my FIFA 15 campaign at “World Class” difficulty. It’s been challenging and forces the game to be played in a realistic fashion.

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