GreatAuk

@Green-Bandit Thank you! Despite skipping the upgrade this year, there's no way I'll be able to hold out 3 years so I'll be upgrading to the Pixel 8 Pro when it's released.

I'm also a big fan of the latest iphone, I think it's very refined. I love flat screens so +1 to Apple for not getting suckered into that trend.

I actually have a Macbook but a Windows desktop (I know, zero consistency.)

I find the M chips incrediblly impressive to the point where I will be buying the new M2 Mini. I'm just waiting to see if Microsoft will release Boot camp for the M chips. If I don't see any movement in this area soon (I honestly don't think there will be) I'll buy the Mini anyway and install Windows with Parallels.

I don't game on the PC anyway, I don't need a powerhouse GPU. That's what the PS5 is for.

One day I hope to be in the market for a Micro LED Sony panel!

@Green-Bandit I agree regarding phones, I am technology obsessed and they just don't do it for me anymore the way they used to.

I upgraded every year going back to the original phone in 2007. I've had so many different phones (I have zero brand loyalty haha) went from iphones to Samsung Notes, to LG, briefly to Nokia, and then Pixels. Never a Sony though, they were hard to get and very expensive.

I have a Pixel 6 Pro and for the first time I don't feel compelled to upgrade.

I think Sony can reemerge in the TV business more than they currently are. I have the LG CX 77 but the Sony was too expensive for me so it was a nonstarter. A more competitive price would change that.

There are definitely areas for growth for Sony.

@KundaliniRising333 I'm seriously asking for for what you mean by deception and predation, because if you level such accusations I need concrete examples and a higher level of specificity than just saying, "it's so clear to me that they employ these tactics, why isn't it clear to you."

@NomNom there's pros and cons to everything, I agree.

Look what happens when there's no competition, you get stagnation. Look what Intel did the last decade+, for awhile they had no serious competition and they got lazy and innovation dropped off dramatically. They fell behind their own roadmap.

If we want to solve the world's problems we need healthy competition. Technology will solve the big issues of today, such as climate change. Ironically it will probably be capitalism that gets us out of that hole. The green economy will be MASSIVE.

And don't let anyone tell you that some other economic system wouldn't have caused climate change. How else would you have clothed, fed and warmed 8 billion people?

You (not literally you btw) think if instead of capitalism we had worldwide socialism or communism they would have somehow advanced the science of photovoltaics and battery storage/capacity to be several decades ahead of where we are now?

Of course not. We would have the same environmental issue, only technology would probably be several decades behind.

@KundaliniRising333 Can you be specific when you use the words predatory and deception? Especially since you say it's entirely, not even partly.

To be fair I think regulated capitalism is the best economic system in existence, not laissez faire.

But I see "capitalism" being blamed for everything under the Sun these days by an ignorant online community so I always feel the need to defend it.

It's truly the economic equivalent of the "Thanks Obama" meme, only these people actually mean it.

Btw Sony has plenty of room to grow, it's nowhere near saturation. When that day comes though then they should shift strategies to maintain what they created instead of trying to force growth where it cannot be achieved.

Man I WISH we could go back to the days before capitalism was invented so we could have.......99.99% of the world's population living in poverty?

@BoldAndBrash

The show runners are stupid if they thought people would not notice that scene LOOKS NOTHING LIKE THE BOSTON AREA.

As you see from the fact that this article even exists, it became a meme for a reason. And as the show is primarily made by Americans for an American audience, it's an ugly oversight on the part of the show creators.

Try not to use ugly stereotypes in the future by the way, they are usually just a crutch for your own personal shortcomings. Its not very nice.

@BoldAndBrash You don't need to live here to know some basic topography.

If they said "10 miles outside of London" I'd laugh just as much.

@Ludacritz I thought that too! I'm like how did that happen? Impossible.

And regarding Boston, immediately said to myself that image was absurd and literally laughed out loud.

That is a Rocky Mountain landscape. Boston is on a coastal plain.

I was obsessed with geography as a kid and actually went to the state finals.

@TheCollector316 A few people being loud on the internet (ON BOTH SIDES) doesn't make it a common line of thinking.

The show will continue its success I have no doubt.

Don't let anybody tell you that you have to be perfectly represented in media in order to feel connected to the characters. We all share the same emotions of love, hate, joy, sadness, etc.

Bill and Frank were wonderfully portrayed, just a truly great episode. I can't imagine someone watching this episode and not feeling something in their heart.

When a game is listed as just PS4, that just means there's no dedicated PS5 version correct?

I'm on Team Abby baby.

I mentioned this before, I want them to cut to her in the last scene of the season 1 finale watching her dead father and the very last shot to be slowly zooming into her face staring into the camera and she expresses intense feelings of sadness that slowly turn to intense anger. And then cut to black.

@itsfoz Give me a sequel to The Order: 1886.

Now that IP is overflowing with potential.

I agree that Horizons did get stale quickly, I didn't think it was possible but I started feeling that way about halfway through the sequel.

Random thought but maybe Sony can take another stab at a sequel for The Order: 1886 now that it seems this game isn't going to do anything for their portfolio.

I really enjoyed that game and it deserves a more fleshed out sequel.

@ShogunRok I think we all knew the answer. We were just saying that it's a greedy, sleazy move, that's all.

@WolfyTn It's an Auk! Lol

But seriously though I was heaping praise on the episode.

@roe I'm not a big fan of ignoring or blocking people who are not outright trolls. True trolls, not the haphazard way the term gets applied nowadays to anyone who may harbor a different opinion than the one you hold.

Nothing gets solved in the dark and in a safe space/personal bubble.

It doesn't mean I have to perpetually engage with such a person, but I'd like to be able to respond to and/or see their views. This is another reason why I'm not a fan of heavy moderation. As you say, all these comments may disappear soon when they really didn't need to.

I've been blocked myself right on this board! :/

Anyway, people can disagree amicably. We should be able to do that without the moderators getting involved.

@GoodOlDubs No one hates anyone here.

This is a great community.

@roe I am the same. My whole life I played on 30fps until I got the PS5.

I never thought much of 60fps and I thought 30fps was fine. Now it annoys the hell out of me.

Luckily 40fps at 4k is a very very well functioning in between because I don't want to sacrifice resolution.

A poster here made a great post on how 40fps is actually giving you the vast majority of the smoothness of 60fps despite the number being closer to 30fps.

Every game should give you the option for 40fps. If the most demanding games can offer it then they all can.

@UltimateOtaku91 Frey got her dialogue tips from Aloy

I have never played a more punishing game than Hollow Knight.

The amount of cursing and shouting I let out while playing that game is more than my 30 years of every other game I've played combined.

@ChrisDeku This is a weird take, you're basically equating a certain skin tone to being black, and everything else is irrelevant.

Why do you choose to call her black? She's exactly 50% black, 50% white, and she absolutely looks it.

Any normal objective person can see that. Yet the progressives and racists have decided that she is black.

This is what slaveholders use to do, the one drop rule. You are literally employing a tactic racists used. If there was any black heritage, then they're just plain old black.

I feel that I must remind you yet again that the game is called Forespoken and the main character is called Frey. It's not called "Ella in Magic Land with an American Accent."

Miles Morales was a smashing success and everyone loved it. Why wasn't that game bashed?

I will admit that there are in fact people who are bashing this game for more than just the poor writing and (for me, the music.) But to act like the criticism this game is getting is mostly because of bigots means most posters on this site hate black people because most posters have found the demo unsatisfactory. You sure that's what you actually believe?

And lastly, the "both sides" argument I am making is literally the opposite of what the right wing does that you accuse me of also doing.

I'm saying they are both negative to society, progressives and racists. Both obsessed with ridiculous identity politics, it's absurd, annoying and tiresome.

Trump got 40% of the Hispanic vote in 2020 (higher than in 2016) and even gained some ground with black voters compared to 2016. I bet the left didn't expect for him to not only hold on to his results from 2016 but to actually increase them.

I ascribe that result to people's complete distaste of progressive politics. Progressives are insufferable. All of us in the middle are forced to have discussions about Frey' actress' racial origins because the left and right fringes just can't help themselves and so we have to defend our opinions regarding a game's quality against accusations of racism or misogyny.

@ChrisDeku Can you be specific on what exactly I said is nonsense?

I swear I am asking in good faith, I'm not just trying to waste your time.

Maybe she identifies as black culturally, I 'll take your word for it (even though she has acknowledged her Polish heritage in conversations) but she clearly presents as a mixed race person. What's so bad about that?

Why is it ok for you to erase half her heritage and just unilaterally declare her black? Who are you to make that determination? You can feel a certain way and look another. Frey doesn't look black to me, she simply doesn't. Neither does Balinska. You know why? Because she shares a heritage from two different groups!

Frey is not Ella Balinska, Ella Balinska is not Frey.

Apparently when racists see Frey they see a black woman, and when progressives see Frey they see a black woman.

The rest of normal people see a an ambiguous mixed race presenting character that's been given crappy writing and bad music.

The only reason why we're even talking about what Frey looks like is because racists and progressives shoehorned this conversation into a game's review.

@ChrisDeku And your point regarding your first statement?

Then it's just as accurate to call Frey a white character.

I don't see you doing that though. It's very clear that posters of a certain political persuasion have all agreed that this is a black woman and that's it. Just as a disclaimer, I am not left or right so I usually get hate from everyone so I am used to disagreements.

BTW, just because a voiceover is of a certain heritage, doesn't mean the game character is as well.

Kratos for example is voiced by a black Canadian.

Balinska is also British, does that mean Frey is also British? She sounds like an American to me.

Do you see why this connecting of voice and motion capture actors to game counterparts can be silly? Sometimes they'll match, sometimes they won't.

@ChrisDeku The actress is half Polish. She calls her self mixed race (which would be accurate as that's what she is.)

I don't see black or white when I see Frey. So I find it very strange that a bunch of you have just slapped a label on Frey as "black" with such confidence and without hesitation.

I say that with complete sincerity, I am not being sarcastic.

BTW the cover art for this game is awful. Frey looks terrible there. Her hair just screams Brooklyn transplant leftist with trust fund to me.

That's why I once said that she looks as if she was designed by a committee on how to attract the most young progressives.

Seeing the character in trailers, she looks so much nicer. And it makes sense since Balinksa is a good looking woman.

Can we all agree and acknowledge the fact that this article provides literally no substance and is specifically designed to illicit a large amount of responses in order to drive viewership and engagement?

Got to look out for that bottom line.

My opinion: Frey is cute as hell but sounds terrible (the things she says, not the voice itself.) I can sort of live with the dialogue, especially if I bought the game at a discount, because it does look like it has some cool elements.

But for me, the real nail in the coffin is the music.

Like wow, that music is just awful. Awful. I haven't played the demo but if the game sounds like the trailer it's a hard no for me.

it reminds me of those movies where they have these insane guitar riffs meanwhile the setting is that of an ancient epic. Every time I saw a trailer for such a film I said no thanks.

I want Conan the Barbarian (1982) music.

@ChrisDeku I'd like to know how you determined that the character is black. Was it part of some game description released from Square Enix?

If we did get another game please god no more mini games.

The third one had so many it didn't even feel like I was playing a Spyro game at all.

I'd love for the final scene in the show to be little Abby with the camera slowly cropping closer to her face looking very angry vowing revenge for what happened to her father and then the scene immediately going to black.

It would be a nice cliffhanger for season 2.

I know this is a hugely minority opinion but I like Abby a lot. More than Ellie.

Ellie was a sympathetic character in game 1 but she turned me off a bit in game 2.

I don't not like her, and of course I feel bad for what happened to Joel, but I think the right call was to sacrifice Ellie. At the very least he should have incapacitated the doctors, not kill them all.

Abby was 100% justified with her anger.

@Balosi I did that near the end of the second game in that huge compound. I took out each of the bad guys (are they bad guys? Who knows anymore) by just lying still and patiently waiting and luring them to their death.

@SillyBoyJudas 100% fresh rating can be achieved just as long as everyone thinks it's positive rather than negative.

All critics can think something is rated 6/10 and it will show as 100% fresh.

The data must be looked at more granularly (reviews must be read, not just looking at the overall rating.)

I'm not surprised that it's 100% fresh because it would be shocking to me for someone to rate it negatively, even if they thought it was mediocre.

@grapetrap I am really disappointed in you. Why do you think you know better about this topic than I do?

Why are you diminishing my thoughts and feelings as an actual Greek person? I know who we are. I know the history of my own people. All of it.

In fact Greek culture specifically stated that skin that was too dark to their south and skin that was too light to their far north was undesirable and that of barbarians. I am not sure if you knew that.

I want to know specifically what wars you think occurred that resulted in incorporating large amounts of people from far away lands. Because I am very curious where you got this idea from.

You are trying to shoehorn 21st century "progressive" views into my people's history and behaviors. I put "progressive" in quotations because it's not progressive at all.

I guess Ubisoft wasted their time by looking for Greek actors to play the parts in Odyssey?

Anyway, you are trying to justify the use of a non Greek actor to play the role of Kratos. I am legitimately upset that you also fall into this faux progressive viewpoint.

It seems you have ignorant preferences as well and you try to justify them just like everyone else does.

@Bez87 You know the finale I assume.

I mean how many people here have not played The Last Of Us?

It's hard for me to generate a huge amount of interest for this since I feel we've had an over-saturation of all things The Last Of Us.

I really think they should have released the re-remake now along with the series.

@SerJosh97 Regarding Kratos, I have seen posts right on this site from people who claim to be progressive erase my culture and appropriate it to fit their priorities regarding identity politics.

They said Kratos should be a black man, especially since the voiceover is. Excuse me?

As a Greek person I find that personally insulting. You can use my people's culture, characters (and what was once their religion) to make money/profit off it, and you can't even be bothered to find a Greek actor play a greek demigod? How is that the progressive viewpoint?

For Assassin's Creed Odyssey, they found Greek actors for both main characters. We exist. You can find us, we are out there, I promise you. There are also Greek actors still, shocking I know.

The progressive viewpoint would be not to compound an error which was started by using a voice that doesn't match the historical and cultural roots of Kratos by insisting that a black man play Kratos. That's cultural appropriation.

I bet they would blow a gasket if a white man played Black Panther, and that's just a comic book character started by white men. So I have every right to be insulted by the idea that a Greek actor need not apply for the role of Kratos.

The progressive viewpoint should be that we will correct the initial error by finding a Greek actor to play the live tv version.

Dave Bautista is part Greek, part Philippine, and I think he would do a fine job as Kratos. He has the acting ability and proper physique. He is also interested in his Greek roots and has explored them.

So long story short, certain white males have their preferences, progressives have their preferences.

Everyone has their preferences. It's not necessarily racist/misogynist or benevolent. People can just be misguided and still mean well or are just generally ignorant.

@grapetrap If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like nail.

I am sorry my friend but it seems that with your mind already made up, you are trying to find and manufacture problems where there aren't any.

Can you at least provide an example and be specific with a post you read that can be interpreted in the manner in which you described it?

@grapetrap NO ONE has said anything of the sort. What in the world are you reading?

Please stop this nonsense, try to live in reality, not some fictional fantasyland that only exists in your head.

I caution everyone not to hype this thing to the stratosphere, as you may set a bar that will be too difficult to clear when you actually watch the show.

I liked the games, but I think there's a bit of group-think happening with everyone just falling all over each other and trying to out-praise everyone else's thoughts regarding The Last Of Us.

@LP09 Leftists make bold accusations without evidence all the time.

@IamNotPerfect Just what we need, more filler.

A 10 episode season 2 should be more than enough to show Part 2.

There's more money to be made with 2 seasons though, even if it will be at the expense of tight story telling.

The Entertainment Weekly writer is the one reviewer who's played the game.