Today I was browsing the PlayStation Store, as you do, and noticed that the was a trial for OlliOlli World as part of the PlayStation Plus Premium Plus-Plus thingamajigger sub. It is a one-hour trial and I played about 30 minutes of it. That is basically the first 5 or six stages that serve as a tutorial for the game. 

OlliOlli World is a bold new skateboarding action-platformer that’s bursting with personality.

Traverse a delightful and weird world as you take on missions, and challenges and make new friends along the way.

Experience the accessibility, depth, and player freedom as you dive into the signature flow state >gameplay of OlliOlli World.

OlliOlli World marks the third entry in the critically-acclaimed OlliOlli series from Roll7, the BAFTA and multi-award-winning independent studio. 

The art alone in this game is what got me, I have had this game on my Nintendo Switch's wishlist for a while, it had been on sale and still passed on it. Hence why I wanted to check it out. I mean, it is fun, and the character creation is fun, I kinda liked that there is no gender selection for the character, it all depends on how you dress the character up. 

The music is pretty awesome, and the stages look and feel amazing. Given the style, the music, and the vibes this game gives, it'd suggest an easy relaxing game. Well, I guess that depends, if you have played games like Alto's Odyssey, well there's a lot of that. I am always expecting the next obstacle to come so that, at least to me, is cause for some stress. I guess because of the control mechanics, I am not entirely used to it. then again, only 30 mins, I would assume it will become more natural as you go.

I might end up purchasing this game and definitely, it'll be on the Nintendo Switch. Now, the question is, do I wait until is up for sale again, or not?

The truth is, the iPhone mini is just too good a product–and a size–for Apple to ignore completely. I’m . still sad that it’s apparently not popular enough to merit a new version every year, but I can’t believe it’s gone for good. In the meantime, I’ll be holding on to my iPhone 13 mini–and waiting on the mini’s inevitable return.

I truly love my iPhone 13 mini and although I am always skeptical about rumors, it is a possibility that there won’t be a 14 mini.

Source: Why I’m skipping the iPhone 14 | Macworld

Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes on the Nintendo Switch.

Step into the shoes of Shez as they join Edelgard, Dimitri, Claude, and other Fire Emblem™: Three Houses characters and fight for the future of Fódlan. Align with a leader to build and command an army in strategic 1-vs.-1,000-style battles. The house you choose will bring you through one of three compelling stories, each with a different outcome.

Welcome to another episode of, what game I have been playing?!

I am still trying to wrap my feelings around this game. I am about 4 to 5 hours in this game at the time of this typewriting. I have been anticipating this game, mainly for two reasons. One, I love Musou hack and slash action role-playing games, the OG's for me being Dynasty Warriors and the Samurai Warriors game franchises. And two, I like the Fire Emblem Franchise as well. FE's Warriors series replaces its tactical role-playing kind of game with musou hack and slash while maintaining the essence of what makes Fire Emblem a great series. I played the heck out of Fire Emblem Warriors, I have almost 50 hours easily. I unlocked every scenario, played all the DLCs, unlocked every weapon, etc. So getting into Three Hopes was expected. 

I never really got too far into playing Fire Emblem: Three Houses, which this game is basically based on. I also felt like FE Warriors was a lot simpler, as far as the game mechanics and the quality of life in general. Whereas FE: Three Hopes, seems more complicated in some regards, you have a world (or war) map, in which you can pick between main missions and side quests. You also have a camp, where you have Item stores, blacksmiths, armorers, training facilities, and anything and everything you'd expect to find in your typical RPG game. There's much more to it than just hacking and slashing your way. There is also much more strategy involved in battles, sending the right units to certain spots in order to seize the battle. In fact, I am currently stuck on a mission because I keep failing at defending and keeping alive three different people, sorry guys, I am as bad of a strategist as I am as a friend, I will let you die!

Dialog, good-god there's a lot of dialogue in this game, the story overall compared to FE: Warriors is far more complicated and elaborated. It is also like watching Game of Thorne minus the titties, but there are dragons! Again, it is a more robust story in this game.

Again, I am only about 5 hours in and I am sure I will discover more things but for whatever reason, even though my character is level 25 or something like that, at this point in the game, I still feel under power. There is something I am sure I should be doing that I haven't done yet. Going back to FE Warriors, I was always, overpowered. I am sure I'll get to God-level but it is taking me more time. That or I am just extremely impatient.

There is a Demo available for the game in case you are on the fence about getting this game. I do hope I'll stick with it and don't get bored, or discouraged in some way.

We shall see, stay tuned, same Gabz-time, same Gabz-channel.

I should probably start giving these "Volumes" again.

Asura's Wrath on the Play Station 5 via PlayStation Plus

This game was released back on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 days, back in 2012 to be exact.  This game had always been under my radar, I mean, this game hits all the correct stokes for me: mythology, Hindu and Buddhist mythologies in this case, ridiculous over-the-top fights, and a completing story. If you have played games like Devil May Cry, and Bayonetta, this game, is right up there. I cannot remember why I never played it back then but I am glad I have finally got to it.

I have recently signed up for Play Station Plus Premium, just to try it and see if it's something it might stick to or not, and this game is included. It is a stream to play which I don't know how I feel about that, I much rather download it and have it available this way, but, oh well.

The story is presented in the format of an episodic Anime series (very Anime-like), including opening and closing credits, recaps, and previews of the next episode. The game follows Asura a demigod seeking revenge on other demigods who betrayed him. The story so far has been very compelling and it's doing a good job and keeping me engaged in what's going on and where it's going. 

The graphics on this game do hold up pretty well, I mean it's a 2012 game. As I had mentioned before, this game is very over-the-top, the fights are ridiculously crazy, and there is a very few hacks and slash fight sequences, it is all about big fights and there are different stages to them! I mean, your first boss battle starts as a regular fight then your take on his one gigantic finger going down to earth to smash you. If you have played games like God of War, well every fight is kinda like that, pressing the right buttons and the right time, sequences, and such in order to completely decimate your enemy.

Personally, as someone that is a sucker for the ridiculous, I'm having a blast playing this game and cannot wait to see what the story unfolds.

I spent 2 half days and one night in Yakima Washington (Thursday to Friday). Beautiful drive btw, all the grapes and all the hops. Definetly. a memorable and productive trip, I had a great time up there. With a short visit to Bale Breaker Brewing being one of the biggest highlights, beautiful setting.

Now, back to in Idaho, ready for some long-weekend.

The are many good podcasts out there but one that excels over all the others is, the mythical, the legendary show, Hemispheric Views. Please subscribe, and while you're at it, subscribe to One Prime Plus for extra content and stuff. As members of One Prime Plus, one of its benefits, is to suggest topics that they can discuss on the show. A few weeks ago, in their super-secret discord channel, I had suggested or rather asked about what was their process when blogging in their own respective blogs. If you want to hear all about that, go subscribe to One Prime Plus.

Now, it was really interesting to hear how they go about managing their creative process, the behind-the-scenes of each of their blogs, etc. And it made me think a lot about my own process, and, without spoiling anything from the episode I feel like my process these days can relate to most of theirs. I think like for a lot of us, these processes may change over time and very frequently, and also gives us the perfect excuse to try things around and see what sticks.

What is my process or workflow? Well, let's find out because I am not even sure anymore. Especially when I change hosting sites (I know, that's another post). Right now I host things in two different places, Micro.blog and Ghost. The move to Ghost has been very recently and the process to import most of my things was a pain in the buttness (that alone is another post). Short posts and things that need some kind of "logging" go to Micro.blog, Mb is like a second brain.

My main text editor, currently and for the last two years, has been Ulysses, and mostly on iOS and iPadOS, very little on the Mac. And that is the extent of my Apple ecosystem toolbox for blogging. However, I spend most of my day on a Windows PC, so no Ulysses.

I have always considered myself an impulsive, lazy, writer (or blogger). A lot of times my ideas come while I am at work, so it is very easy to open another window tab and start writing. For Micro.blog I use Quill web text editor, simple and yet very powerful. It is almost like using Ghost's web text editor. The best part of using a web editor, for me, is the fact that I have Grammarly's extension installed (I use Chrome, sorry) and that helps with my spelling and grammatical errors. Once anything has been composed, it gets published, and forget about it. Of course, this means no "in-app" record or backup of that post other than its final place.

For posts in Ghost, it is a very similar process, I always have a tab open with Ghost's Control Panel, I go to a "new post" and start typing. At least there is some "in-web-app" record, or backup for these posts.

Tools are nice, apps are nice, but ultimately I really don't care much where I type things. As long as I have the ability to do it from anywhere, my work computer, my iPhone, iPad, etc. And to be honest, once it's published, I care very little about keeping a post in a specific app or folder. Whether I am hosting everything in Micro.blog or Ghost, at the end of the day, to me, blogging, is just another form of journaling. Where I published stories and anything that I find like talking about, even if no one reads it. 

Editor's note: This post was originally composed and posted on 2/29/2022 around 8:20 am  MST. By 1:06 pm-ish, everything changed.

If there are a few things in life that I have always been a junkie for are, watches, backpacks, bracelets, and, most of all, sunglasses. I think I remember my first pair, at least the first legit pair of sunglasses I had as a kid. My dad, being another sunglasses junkie, got me a pair of Ray-Ban Aviators, and that's when it all began...

I have been a Sunglasses junkie since, I cannot count how many pairs and different brands I have rocked throwout the years, colors, and shapes. Or how many have gone lost, stolen and broken.

My most recent purchase, back in 2019 was the New Wayfarer.

Ever since I hadn't purchased any other pairs whatsoever, I was happy with them, they were comfortable, great polarized lenses, and all in all, a good buy.

Until, two weeks ago...

I was traveling for work, I went to Naples FL, then Skokie IL, and somewhere in between, I lost them. No idea when, where, or how, but lost they were and I was sad. Yesterday though, I replaced them!

And yes, they are the exact same ones. Although, I kind of was looking to get the folding ones, not sure why. They did have them in store but the regular size, I got a big face so I need the oversized ones. They offered to order them for me and all that, but they had the non-foldable ones right there and then and I am super-impatient, so, I snagged these.

Part of me may still order the foldable ones, at some point, it is always nice to have a backup I guess. You know, the Rule of Two. In the meantime though, and until then, let us try not to lose these ones.