Watson Game Topper

This is a description of a game topper from GameToppersLLC. It's not meant as a review per se, but a tale of my experience. TL;DR: The Watson Game Topper is a great product, but I wish I'd spent more time thinking about its physical properties: size, weight, etc. Tables and toppers I'll start by stating the obvious:…

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Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla wrap-up

Awhile back I wrote a review of Assassin's Creed: Valhalla. I liked the game, though I felt it had its flaws. Since that review, I've played other games, at least one of which (Ghost of Tsushima) was better than AC:V. Yet, in the long run, it was Assassin's Creed: Valhalla to which I kept returning. Part of…

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Return to Monkey Island

This is a review of Return to Monkey Island from someone who never played the original games in the Monkey Island series. The TL;DR version: My apologies to the Monkey Island fans out there, but I don't understand what the fuss is about. While I enjoy the occasional hunt-n-click game, such as the various Telltale games, I'm…

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Tom Swift, Strange New Worlds, Lost in Space: Minor media maunderings

As a result of consuming too much television, I have idle thoughts on some shows I saw recently. What all these thoughts have in common is my dissatisfaction compared to the source material. Tom Swift This is a new CW series. Like Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys, Tom Swift is based on a long-running series of books…

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The Wheel of Time

I started reading the Wheel of Time series about 30 years ago. I don't remember much about the plot. When I got to the third book, I felt that the author was spinning his wheels and didn't know how to finish a story. By the time I finished the fourth book, I thought, "Well, at least I'm…

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The Matrix Resurrections

A mini-review: The Matrix Resurrections assumes that you are familiar with all the previous Matrix movies. If you haven't seen them, this movie will be meaningless to you. The movie is filled with call-backs, flash-backs, and fan service. This is absolutely deliberate on the part of the director, Lana Wachowski, because... This is the most meta and…

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Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy

The TL;DR version: After playing one of the best console video games I've ever played, unfortunately I followed it up with one of the worst. In writing about Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy, I feel I must make comparisons to an earlier game based on the characters: Guardians of the Galaxy: The Telltale Game. To spare you…

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Ghost of Tsushima

The TL;DR version of this review: Ghost of Tsushima is now my second-favorite video console game, after Horizon: Zero Dawn. The (fictional) island of Tsushima is part of the shogunate of Japan. The Mongols have invaded, led by Khotun Khan. At the start of the game, an army of samurai is defeated by Khotun. You are Jin…

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