Playdate

June 13, 2019
2 min read

One day in May, I opened Twitter and everyone was talking about one thing only. Surprisingly it wasn’t another story about Trump, it was an announcement for completely new game console. I’ve checked the calendar, yeap, it’s still 2019 and yet here we are.

I was pretty late to the Mac party, when I got my first Apple computer, so I’m not personally amazed by the Panic (company behind Playdate), but I’ve heard a lot about it. Considering I follow mostly Apple enthusiasts on Twitter, I see that name mentioned often. I also haven’t played Firewatch, their video game, but heard only nice things about it.

But after looking at the device, I knew that it’s something I would like to buy. And I could see why everyone was so excited about it. Nowadays nobody launches a new platform for video games. Even some old ones struggle to compete in the market. So one thing that’s going for the developers is the desire to support something new and fun.

Another reason why I think people love this new device – they are tired of huge corporations sucking all of our data, of games consisting mostly from lootboxes and monetization. They want something simple, pay the fair price and get a couple of fun games. That’s all. No paying to get to the next level faster or to get another try. Just plain old game. 

The device itself is very simple, but very attractive. It has black-and-white screen, but also the best connectivity options there are – Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and USB-C. There is also the crank, which is used for some game mechanics, which is very interesting to see.

We still don’t know a lot about the games, but I’ve already signed up for the e-mail, so when it comes out, I sure want to get one. Hopefully they will ship to Latvia.

Red Dead Redemption 2 – Impressions

November 10, 2018
4 min read

For almost two weeks I’ve been fishing, hunting, riding horses, played poker, drank whiskey, robbed a bank I could go on and on again, but there is no need. It’s probably impossible to mention everything you can do in the Red Dead Redemption 2.

I loved video games, but I’ve had my console (or any console) only for two years, so I’ve never played the first Red Dead Redemption. Actually I’ve never played a lot of games. That’s why I don’t buy games for the full price when they come out. The backlog of the amazing games I’ve yet to try is too big to spend my money. By the time I get for today’s new hotness, it will be sold with the discount and that was until the RDR2 came out.

This is the first game I’ve bought the week of the release for it’s full price (I would have bought on the first day, but I was away from home for two months and couldn’t play, but that’s a totally different story.

This is also the first game I’m thinking I’ll spend a lot of time in even after finishing the story. I’ve never done that before. After finishing GTA V, I’ve had similar thoughts, but I never did. The very big difference is even in the way I play from the very begging. In the GTA V I’ve moved through the story, rarely looking at some side activities. Here, I’m trying everything I can find. Hell I even chopped some wood at the camp today. The game is so immersive, for the first time I liked crafting something and I’m not even mad there is no fast travel (most of the time). But the world feels so alive, you can spend more time in it, not less. Oh, and also, I’m grateful I’ve learned that you should go on white missions first, as if you progress through the story and miss those, they will go away eventually, but there are some interesting stories told there sometime.

The dialogue and social commentary in this game… it’s even hard to describe. Rockstar are masters of those, this was the one thing I loved the most about GTA V and here again. Racism, sexism… there is no theme Rockstar won’t touch and it’s amazing. I applaud them for having balls in today’s society and political climate, especially in the US.

Of course the game is not perfect, you’ve probably heard and read already about the broken economy – you will have excess of money early on in the game (I’ve finished about 50% in the story and there was no time when I’ve though – “oh, I would like that, but I don’t have money”, it’s more like trying to find places to spend all the time). The controls some times are too unwieldy, from playing domino (it takes too much button presses) to dealing with the horse. Maybe the problem is with me, but there were a couple of times, when I’ve been Wanted after jumping someone after pressing something accidentally.

Still, with those couple of problems, the game is just amazing. The world feels alive, the way you look after your horse, weapons and even yourself doesn’t bother me for the first time in any game, it made fun.

If you didn’t try the game already, do yourself a favour and grab a copy. You will most probably love it.