Haha, funny how fast life comes at you… and how you forget your login to Word Press to update your dumb blog. That is not about me, obviously. Anyways, it is a new year, so why not give people an update on what I have been doing lately workwise.
For one, I am doing mostly freelance writing. I got let go of my last writing gig a while back, so I have been doing the freelance thing. It is cool to write for different outlets but sucks because the pay is crippling. That said, experience is experience and money is money when you’re a college student. (Feel free to give me work via my e-mail tszelden@gmail.com)
In other news, I have a new-new podcast. I say “new-new” because we evolved Whiskey Talks to Arbitrary Arguments. Turns out a podcast where two of the three hosts get super drunk is a terrible idea. Anyways, check that out to listen to my friend and I get into dumb fights with some moments of agreement. You can find us anywhere you get your podcasts.
I am still making YouTube videos. I quit the Let’s Play styled videos as I was not having fun and editing those were miserable when I am not even making money. I break down news stories in gaming, react to trailers, and do reviews. If that sounds boring or interesting, check it out.
That is essentially it for now. Check out my latest work and follow me on Twitter for my dumb takes, liberal opinions, and any promotion of my work. See you there!
Hello readers, long time no see. The world has changed a lot since I was frequently posted. The United States is about to have a new President, COVID-19 has engulfed the planet, WordPress updated the look of the writing section here and its a fucking mess, and I have some new work to show off.
If you read my blog posts before and were wanting to know what I have been up to then this will give you an idea of everything for you to check out.
Let’s start with KeenGamer.
KeenGamer is a small, independent gaming journalism website. I have been writing there for almost a year now. I have written game reviews, guides, and plenty of news covering the games industry. I also revamped the site’s podcast where we talk about all things video game related.
As of writing this update on my blog, I have been writing a lot on Cyberpunk 2077, which I am beyond excited about, so I have become the Cyberpunk guy at KG.
Since then, I got promoted twice to become a Senior Editor. Meaning, I edit and publish people’s articles across all the different types we put out for our readers.
Time to transition into my other podcast, Whiskey Talks.
I did not start this project, but my two buddies did. The idea is that they drink a lot of whiskey and shoot the shit. I came on board to keep the conversations on track.
We talk about a bunch of random topics from cults to time travel. At the end, we review an album of the week. Just something that we like or find to make for an interesting discussion about. It is a less official and quite arbitrary take on reviews, but its fun and introduces us and our listeners to a wide array of music.
We also have a store, so go check out our merchandise.
Finally, onto YouTube.
This is a recent endeavor, but I wanted to learn how to edit video. It is mostly for my resume to be more desirable for any employers out there. Also, it is a fun hobby as I survive the pandemic.
I got into it mostly because of a class I am taking where I learned how to use Premiere Pro and Adobe Spark. You can check out a story I developed, both in video form and as a multimedia package, on how the tattoo industry has been hit by COVID.
Regarding the personal YouTube channel, I make videos all about video games. I make gameplay videos for now, but I plan on expanding the kinds of content I produce.
Thank you for supporting me to get to this point for the old time readers. For the newcomers, welcome aboard. I hope you all follow me on some of these new adventures.
UPDATE (Oct. 26): Naughty Dog announced the game will be delayed to May 29, 2020.
Two years of silence, and now Naughty Dog gave the world some information on the sequel to the 2013 release, The Last of Us. Physical goods, a release date, a trailer, and more has been announced in the past few days between State of Play on the 20 and today, Outbreak Day, the day in which the developer celebrates anything related to the zombie infested world.
The latest trailer gives some insight into the journey that Joel and Ellie will embark on. Neil Druckmann, creative director of the games, stated that the first was about “love” and this sequel will be about “hate.”Now the meaning behind his words are revealed as Ellie gets kidnapped by a new faction of bandits and witness her new girlfriend die, so it is time to start killing in this revenge story.
The video shows off gameplay and locations. Snowy rural areas to dilapidated cities will give the same variety of environments as the first adventure the two protagonists experienced.
Journalists got some hands on time with The Last of Us Part 2. They got to play three hours through two levels. I won’t walk through the demo since I did not play, but you can read Kotaku’s article on the gameplay along with the snippets of story and characters that were shown.
Last year Anthony Newman, the game’s co-director, told Polygon the new title would have multiplayer like its predecessor, but that changed to opt out of having an online mode. Newman said, “I know we had kind of announced that [it would have multiplayer], but as the game has developed, it’s become so ambitious, so grand in scope, and so intricate in its complexity, that it really required the full focus of the studio to deliver this single-player experience.”
Pre-order editions have been announced:
Standard comes with the base game for $59.99. Some in-game goods are given like an ammo capacity upgrade, crafting training manual, and digital pre-orders get an avatar of Ellie’s new tattoo.
Special Edition for $79.99. You get what the standard offers plus a PS4 dynamic theme, six PSN avatars, a steelbook, and a 48 page art book.
Collector’s is priced at $169.99. Anyone who gets this will get what is listed in the $79.99 edition along with an Amray case, 12″ statue of Ellie, Ellie’s bracelet, five stickers, six pins, digital soundtrack, digital version of the art book, lithograph art print, a behind the scenes documentary and a thank you letter.
Ellie Edition is a sold out product, but it did cost $229.99 and came with everything from the Collector’s plus Ellie’s backpack, logo patch, a vinyl record, and a keychain.
The Last of Us Part 2 releases on Feb. 21, 2020 exclusively for PlayStation.
Header image via Naughty Dog/Sony Interacting Entertainment
The MCU is going to get more complicated as its roster of characters and lore expands in phase four. One movie releasing that will change everything is The Eternals, a group of immortal aliens who look after Earth from afar and have been doing so for thousands of years. The big question is, who are they? While the movie adaption might change characteristics or story threads, this is a good basis to get background on this team of heroes.
Eternals concept art. Image via Marvel Studios
Azura AKA Thena (Played by Angelina Jolie)
Born Azura, her father Zuras changed her name to Thena, similar to Zeus’ daughter Athena. This Greek warrior is more than her strength. She is as educated as she is fierce.
Her powerset is impressive. Naturally, she is abnormally strong, but honing on her powers gives her even more super strength. Her agility, durability, stamina, and reflexes beat out most superpowered beings on Earth. Flying, self-healing, telepathy, telekinesis, teleportation, and cosmic energy to manipulate the world around her with extreme heat or transforming objects.
Image via Marvel Comics
Ikaris (Played by Richard Madden)
A Siberian Eternal who has Greek relations as he is the father of Icarus who dies by flying too close to the sun in Greek mythology. During the Great Cataclysm that sank Atlantis, Ikaris guided an ark carrying human and animals to safety. The ark had been created by another Eternal named Utnapishtim.
Image via Marvel Comics
The second most powerful Eternal on Earth, first being Zuras, Ikaris has cosmic energy powers like the rest. He has all of the same capabilities as Thena and other Eternals, but more advanced like being the fastest flier. His perspective on how he utilizes his powers is quite different as he has a more modern sense on how to protect humanity like using various devices and gadgets.
On a weirder note, he becomes a professional wrestler names Iceberg, yes comics get bizarre. The wrestling does tie into his excellent ability at various fighting styles that are used by humans.
Kingo (Played by Kumail Nanjiani)
A Japanese Eternal who learns the ways of the Samurai. Over hundreds of years, the Samurai master becomes a movie star in Japan and often portrays the classic warrior.
Image via Marvel Comics
Despite having God-like powers similar to his fellow Eternals, Kingo mixes his abilities with traditional fighting styles as he sticks to his Samurai roots.
Ajak (Played by Salma Hayek)
A male character in the comics, this female version could still take after aspects of the source material. Ajak is the father (mother in the MCU) figure of the Eternals, a leader who guides them. Most of his time was spent in Central America where the Aztecs thought he was Quetzalcoatl, the feathered serpent, and the Incas worshiped him as the lord of flight, Tecumotzin. In Greece, he was confused for the hero of the Trojan War, Ajax.
Image via Marvel Comics
His close relationship with Celestials grants him the ability to communicate with them on top of the other typical powers the Eternals hold.
Phastos (Played by Brian Tyree Henry)
Mistaken for Hephaestus from ancient Greece, Phastos is the genius of the group. He is a weaponsmith who develops various technology. He is the most mysterious as there is little to no information on his background.
Image via Marvel Comics
Gilgamesh (Played by Don Lee)
The brute of the group, Gilgamesh, is physically the strongest Eternal. After his exile, he took on the title as “The Forgotten One.” He roamed the Earth, helping out humans from tyrants and dangerous beasts until he learned of his true powers as an Eternal.
At one point, he becomes an Avengers. During a demon invasion on New York, Gilgamesh aided Earth’s Mightiest Heroes and became a member of the team.
His powers remain the same as other Eternals, the main difference is he is far more developed than most of his kind. The Forgotten One has knowledge of hand to hand combat and a wide range of weapons throughout history.
Sprite (Played by Lia McHugh)
Essentially a more moral version of Loki, Sprite is full of mischief and trickery. He, a male in the comic books, often gets in trouble due to lack of any concern for human safety. Always wanting to have fun with his powers leads to trouble despite having good intentions.
The central powers that separate him from others are his manipulation of the world around him. Turning objects to whatever he wishes or creating illusions to trick other Eternals or humans.
Makkari (Played by Lauren Ridloff)
Not only does Makkari get gender-swapped like Sprite and Ajak, but the race of his character has also been changed for the MCU. With the casting of Ridloff, this makes for the first deaf superhero in a Marvel movie.
Image via Marvel Comics
Like Thena, he is born in Greece and shares similar characteristics like his brilliant mind and combative skills. He has taken part in major historical wars like the Trojan War and later in the Battle of the Alamo.
His abilities set himself away from everyone else by his super speed. Not only fast but by running in circles, this Eternal can create cyclones. He is an expert in transportation with his advanced knowledge of vehicles.
Now you have a good idea about the new faces coming to the MCU. The Eternals is scheduled to come out Nov. 6, 2020.
Google’s streaming platform for video games was supposed to releases all of its information today at 12 p.m. ET, but the report has leaked by Canadian newspaper La Presse.
The translated report reveals that Stadia will launch in November with a subscription for $11.99 Canadian per month to access games at 4K resolution and 60 FPS. Newer titles will need to be bought. By 2020 a free version of Stadia will be available called “Stadia Base,” but games will only have access to 1080p resolution. The highest tier titled “Stadia’s Founder Edition” will launch this fall for $169 Canadian will include Chromecast Ultra, the Stadia controller, three-month subscription, and Destiny 2, which was reported yesterday from Kotaku. For people not getting that high-end subscription, the launch titles for everyone will include the latest Tomb Raider trilogy, DOOM, Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey, and The Division 2 The recommendation for internet speed will be at least 10mbps download and 1mbps upload.
Just as reported before the streaming service will allow players to play any game by streaming it on their device without the hardware required like a gaming console or PC.
An official stream came in which confirmed everything along with other details.
A reveal for Baldur’s Gate 3, created by the minds who developed Divinity Original Sin 2, will launch for Stadia and PC along with an announcement for Ghost Recon: Breakout, an adventure game developed by Tequila Works called Gylt and a multiplayer cooking game called Get Packed by Moonshine Studios.
The relationship between internet speed and quality of gaming is shown here:
Avengers: Infinity War is still taking the world by storm even months after its release. Since the film has come out on DVD and streaming services, fans have been able to discover a lot more secrets that nobody was able to catch the first time. A part of all of this discovery is the commentary which reveals a lot about the story and characters, especially the main antagonist Thanos.
Many people tended to ask when the film came out, “Why doesn’t Thanos increase resources rather than murder everyone?” It is the proper question to ask because it sounds so obvious. In the commentary, we get a new insight into his motivations which explains why the Mad Titan chose genocide over increasing resources. Here is the answer from Anthony and Joe Russo, the directors of the film:
“People have asked us why Thanos didn’t just use the stones to double the resources in the universe since he clearly he has not. Well, he was told no to an idea that he felt was the only solution and then proved right to himself when that solution was not acted upon. So in his messianic complex, he is now committed to following through on the idea that he had made many many years ago.”
This explanation shows more about the mind of Thanos, but more would have actually been shown in the actual movie. Drafts of the script and scenes involving Thanos were either written off or deleted at various stages of production. Scenes were meant to make it in showing his life on Titan and different other scenes involving the Mad Titan to flesh his character out further.
With one last movie with Thanos has the main threat to the universe for the Avengers, we will probably get more information about his character then since both movies were filmed back to back. Ideas for Infinity War such as a further explanation behind his motivations or his life on Titan can be shown in the untitled Avengers 4. Until then we will just have to decipher everything we can from what we have now.
The 2016 DOOM reboot was a highlight for so many people like myself. How could you hate on a beautiful, violent, fluid, heavy metal-induced FPS? The game was practically flawless with its stunning visuals, tight gameplay, creative enemies, and weapons, along with one of the best soundtracks I have heard in any video game. On top of its excellent single-player campaign, the multiplayer was a ton of fun with a ton of customization. Now we are getting the sequel that we have been waiting for.
This past E3 was pretty great, but Bethesda stole the show in many ways. We got to see a teaser trailer of the follow up to DOOM with the reveal of DOOM Eternal. It was a surprise to some, but I did write up my predictions, and I was right.
Just a few days ago we had Quakecon which revealed not only multiple gameplay videos, we got to see concept art and some information on what is new to come in DOOM Eternal. Everything we saw was impressive, and for a 25-minute presentation, we got a lot of information. Let’s break it down.
Let’s get to what we know so far about the upcoming sequel. The game will go more in-depth into the lore of DOOM. With new areas such as Hell on Earth (we see plenty of gameplay) and at Phobos, one of Mars’ moons that a station is set on. Some areas in the game will be entirely new to the DOOM franchise and others we have seen before. Along with places to go, we have enemies. Just like the 2016 predecessor, we get to look at classic demons from the series, reimagined classics, and brand new enemies too. Our protagonist, Doomguy aka Doom Slayer, is getting a brand new look also. His armor is more advanced along with his weapons. His double barrel shotgun has a grappling hook, a bayonet attached to his arm, and a cannon on his back which can fire explosives or be used as a flamethrower. While multiplayer was not mentioned, the only online mode we got to know is an invading mode. You can play your campaign then all of a sudden another player invades you, or you can invade others. Of course, players have the option to turn this off if they want a purely single-player experience.
The core to this series is the movement while brutally killing demons left and right. From the footage we got to see, Doomguy got to swing around the map with boosters, the double barrel shotgun grappling hook, his sheer speed, and jump boosters around the map. Everything was fluid as you can possibly be in an FPS. Transitions from combat and movement are perfect. We got to see a variety of old and new weapons. Everything got a variety of new features such as the double barrel shotgun that I mentioned, The Plasma Rifle now can electrocute enemies it hits, and many more coming in the game. Including in all of this action, the executions for injured demons are back and brutal than ever. I can’t count how many different executions I saw for each enemy. From bashing in heads, slicing demons in half, sticking body parts where they shouldn’t be, and my personal favorite is sticking the bayonet down a demon’s throat. If you want things to ramped up with the violence, trust me, you got it.
Along with those gameplay mechanics, something new was added to enhance combat and visuals. Enemies, especially harder ones to kill, will lose armor and body parts as you shoot them. Large, intimidating enemies are shown losing flesh and armor as Doomguy unloads with whatever weapon he has decided to slaughter them with. It looks not only brutally awesome, but it gives the player a hint at how damaged the demon is.
The game looks fantastic. We will be getting a more developed version of the 2016 title. A bigger, more violent DOOM that will involve new mechanics, more fluid movement, and double the types of demons to slaughter. Not much is known, but so far this is all that was said during Quakecon. With a listing on Amazon appearing as a placeholder and the well developed looking gameplay, hopefully, we can play this beast sooner rather than later.
DOOM Eternal will release on Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, PS4, and PC.
Tristan Zelden 