Author: Sardoken

Just a dude playing games and watching TV.

Categories
Blog

Connected Watches & Confinement

A few years ago, Soforah and I purchased an Apple Watch serie 2 for our wedding anniversary. At first, it was new and fun, we could track the amount of steps we walked during our lunchtimes and it looked cool on our wrists.

Not being a big fitness guy, I never used it for anything else than checking the time or tracking the daily amount of steps I walked. But still, I enjoyed it, it was a cool gadget and I love gadgets.

Then, we got confined for months and I didn’t even recharge it anymore. Why would I? I am home all the time and I don’t wear a watch at home, it would make me feel uncomfortable, like wearing shoes inside.

We had planned to purchase the latest Apple Watch (which was announced yesterday evening) as a New Year’s Eve gift, but I really don’t see any reason to spend 400,00€ for something that will stay on my bedside table 99% of the time. Even if the confinement ends (you never know), I still work from home 3 days a week, which brings the grand total of days outside to 2, it’s a little bit weak to justify such an expanse.

Now I know that the definition of a gadget is something you don’t really need, but still you should at least use it…

All in all, I start to wonder if I shouldn’t go back to wearing Swatch watches. I’ve been wearing them since the 80s and I love them. Also, they don’t need to be recharged every 2 days, which is still a big plus for something that’s supposed to give you the time.

Categories
TV Shows

I can’t stand it anymore

We love love zombies, we love deserted cities and we love the Walking Dead franchise but what the hell happened to this TV show?

Drama was one thing and it has always been part of The Walking Dead, you can’t have humans fighting for their survival without moments when they ask themselves a bunch of existential questions… But, for crying out loud, what’s up with the slow facial expressions every 5 minutes?

In a TV show with so many characters, there’s always a few that you’ll like less, but I can barely stand any of them! From Rick to Morgan, they’re all a bunch of whining pussies and don’t even get me started with the gay drama. Yes, you read it well, I’m tired of every single TV show being plagued with gay drama. Oh, I dare to say it! After all, this is my blog and not Twitter, freedom of speech still exists here.

I already think that we’ve been very patient… After all, we’ve made it to season 8, but that’s it, no more! We’re still fan of the Telltale game, the comic books and Fear The Walking Dead, but this TV show is dead to us.

Categories
TV Shows

Buffy – Restless

We might have just seen the worst episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The last episode of the 4th season is a “dream episode”, where each member of the team is hunted by the first slayer in each of their respective dreams.

Not only am I not a fan of surrealism, dreams, visions and all that stuff on TV, but this episode has a special place in the most boring ones of all times, it almost feels as if David Lynch has been directing it.

Since I didn’t watch it in the 90s, I’m only discovering Buffy now and I enjoy it a lot. This episode was actually the first that I didn’t like. Hopefully, it’ll be the last.

Categories
Miscellaneous TV Shows

Norsemen

It was about time that someone released an humoristic take on our favourite scandinavian barbarians. Were vikings really as intense as depicted on TV? That’s a question that only Norsemen can answer.

We enjoyed all three seasons and we can’t wait for more. From the Norwegian accent of the actors to Orm’s schemes, Norsemen made us laugh to tears.

All scenes were first shot with Norwegian dialogue, then in English. The Norwegian version is called “Vikingane,” produced by NRK (Norwegian television) while the English version can be seen on Netflix.

The first season averaged more than one million viewers in Norway, a country with a population of a little over five million. (source: IMDB)

Neither Norwegian channel NRK nor Netflix have announced whether Norsemen will be back for season four. But a potential fourth season could head back to the show’s original time period, answering the cliffhanger left lingering from season two. Fingers crossed!

Categories
Video Games

Voting for Shadowland’s Free Mount

Blizzard is gifting us with a new free mount in Shadowlands and they let us vote for the one we’d like to receive. The mount isn’t created yet, we vote for the concept that will serve as base for the final design. Of course, community artists have already created fan art for the contest.

Both Soforah and I voted for the Nerubian Swarmer. We thought that the Ancient was more for druids, the flying book for mages and the other mounts didn’t really look appealing.

Unfortunately, as we voted, we discovered the results and, so far, the Nerubian Swarmer is last while the Ancient is first… The poll will run unil September 19th, so everything can still change.

No matter which mount wins, I’ll be very happy to receive a free mount and I found the contest to be an excellent way to include the community in the design of the game.

Categories
TV Shows

Westworld – Season 2 & 3

There is no doubt about it, Westworld is probably the best TV show we’ve been watching over the past few years. While the second season brilliantly brings the western story to an end, the third season completely blew my mind in a Blade Runner kind of way.

Warning, what comes next contains a few spoilers.

When the android that was created to be abused for entertainement in a theme park manages to break free, it puts its new found freedom and very existence at risk to free human kind from the chains of its own condition.

I wanted to share my thoughts about simulation theory, but philosophical skepticism is pretty heavy and I gave up half way writing about it.

I just think that the androids in Westworld and mankind in our reality have a lot in common.

Androids don’t have the power to get out of the loops for which they’ve been created.

You could argue that, unlike androids, we’re free, we can escape our loops and change our lives. But, could you really say, from one day to another: I quit my job, my family, I let my half-paid house behind, I walk into a train and go to live in Paris? While some people manage to escape their loops, most people don’t. Our routines create a false sense of security that pressure us to stay who we are until the end.

I know, this is heavy stuff but that’s what Westworld got me thinking and those thoughts aren’t from yesterday, wasn’t the entire punk movement built on the anti “work-consume-die”?

Categories
Video Games

The Best Possible Date

Finally a release date that’s perfect for Soforah and me. First, it’s far from the heat of the summer. Second, it’s only a month away from our end-of-the-year holidays. For once in a long time, Blizzard’s timing and ours seems to match perfectly.

But this isn’t only the best release date possible, now is also the best moment in a WoW player’s life… We’re only a few weeks from the pre-patch, the new expansion is around the corner, the hype is going up, there are news every day, Blizzard releases shorts to introduce us to the new lore, we even have a book to read.

Since I started playing WoW, I hear people say that Blizzard is going down or that World of Warcraft is dead. To me, it seems that what’s changing the most are the players, because Blizzard still provides amazing entertainment and I’m proud to be part of it.

Categories
Blog

ACNH made me do it!

After a very unpleasant experience with Pixelmator Pro, followed by an OKish experience with Affinity Photo, I finally subscribed to Adobe Creative Cloud. After all these years screaming that I would never pay a monthly fee to use a software, why did I finally do it?

Well, it wasn’t a comparison spreadsheets on Reddit, no Sir… What truly got me are the Lightroom presets for Animal Crossing made by creative folks like Saturn and quinn on Twitter. Yep, you read it correctly: I now pay 12,00€/month to Adobe because I want to make my Animal Crossing screenshots look cute.

After a few days of using the combo Lightroom/Photoshop on my Mac, my Ipad and my Iphone, I’ve learned a few things:

  • Adobe softwares are the most intuitive, I found back my PS automatisms faster then it took me to develop new ones on any other software;
  • If you read online comparisons between Photoshop and its alternatives, you don’t really do it for the results. You do it because you don’t want to pay a monthly fee and you need to be comforted in the idea that you won’t be using Adobe softwares anymore;
  • 12,00€ is cheaper than the enamel pin I buy from Etsy each month (now, I’m convincing myself).
Categories
Music

Radio Mirror Park

We had to wait the middle of August to get some real summer, but it’s finally here. It’s time to slow down, eat cold pasta salads, drink ice cold coffee and enjoy the blue sky.

If you’re searching for a good playlist for times like these, Rockstar Games provided it a few years ago in GTA V. Among all the in-game radios, my favourite is Radio Mirror Park. It features a lot of soft fresh synth-pop titles that are perfect for the morning coffee or a lazy stoner afternoon at the swimming pool.

The last title of the list – Heartbreak by Age of Consent – has been our favourite song several years in a row, but there are many excellent titles that we still discover years later. As usual, it is an Apple Music playlist, not only because I’m an Apple slave, but also because it’s the best streaming service (this opinion is a fact, totally).

Categories
TV Shows

Unsolved Mysteries

The iconic series UNSOLVED MYSTERIES is back. Fusing signature elements from the original series with contemporary immersive, character-driven storytelling. (source: IMDB)

To be honest, I didn’t know that it was a reboot… We watched it during our July holidays and we had a great time. I think that the narrative and the camera work are what’s making this show so entertaining.

Ok, we’re mysteries fans and we love to come up with our own theories about what happened, but this show is as much about the way the story is told as it is about the actual mysteries. Don’t take this the wrong way, some mysteries made us curious… But it just can’t rival with cases like the murder of Teresa Halbach, which, to this day, remains the murder mystery I am the most curious about.

Anyway, if, like us, you enjoy to have your curiosity piqued with mysterious unsolved cases, this show will surely entertain you. Good news: there will be a second part with 6 more episodes!