Newsletter Exclusive Intro

You're a wonderful lot, aren't you? Off the back of last week's email a good number of emails expressing and sharing your own varied ways at attempting to cut down on social media usage.

Thanks specifically to Bushra for this piece on 'Why I quit Twitter' - by @fraying, certainly makes a compelling case. And also to Ru for offering advice on giving up the smartphone entirely and maybe switching over to something like the new Nokia 3310.

I've been giving this some serious thought for some time (Dan started it really - hi Dan). With the extra nudge, I've been looking at what keeps in. Fundamentally, right now at least, it comes down to messaging (WhatsApp and Messenger - mainly). Most of the advice I get Nokia Banana phone (the 8110) - which is nice, and different enough to make me think about it. 

And, as a side point, I won’t be upgrading to the Pixel 3 this time around; my Pixel 2 is doing just fine and I’m not massively taken by the new device style. Oh, and it’s £700 I don’t have to spend right now. 

If you are looking for a new high-end smartphone, a pixel loving mate (hi Olly) just jumped to the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 (the new one with the yellow pen; you've seen the ads I'm sure) - and he seems to be very happy with his choice. Or wait and see what Google confirms (everything has pretty much leaked at this point) on its announcement (October 9th). 

Anyway.

I digress. 

That’s enough tech chat. It’s been a great long week (off work, spending time with friends and family - and playing a ton of video games; more on that later) and we should just crack on. 

Shall we? 

• CAPTAIN MARVEL
• STAN & OLLIE
• MARY POPPINS

This is an important read.

And an Instagram account you should follow.  

If you follow me on Twitter you may be forgiven for muting or even unfollowing given the amount of gaming stuff I’ve been putting out since returning to the platform post-summer.

A combination of a spate of great releases (looking at you, Spider-Man and Destiny 2: Forsaken) and my annual jaunt to Birmingham for the Eurogamer Expo, it’s pretty much wall-to-wall gaming.

So by way of an apology, let's talk games some more! 

FIRST:
Last Monday I got myself along to the DESIGN PLAY DISRUPT (check) exhibition at the V&A museum in London.

And it is excellent. 



A thoughtful and well-curated look at what video games are today, Design/Play/Disrupt is recommended to you for all kinds of reasons. 

Looking, as the name suggests, what it means to design a game, what the societal disruptive forces are at play (covering gamergate, inclusion, the use of non-english language, and more), and of course play itself.

There are nuggets to be found here. From understanding the impact of representation in gaming (see: Mafia III) through to a BRILLIANTLY presented set of short films on the SIZE of the gaming world.

It has the original notebooks of Neil Druckman, creative lead for THE LAST OF US, to some of the weirdest games you’ve ever seen/played - #DesignPlayDisrupt is worth a couple of hours of your time (and you can see my photos here).

It's on until February next year and tickets are £18. We did it in two hours and saw everything - your mileage may vary. But GO. It is great. 

NEXT:
As I mentioned, I’ve been at EGX this weekend (got back this afternoon). I saw my friends, hung out in town, drank a bit, ate infrequently but overall I played A LOT of games.

Here’s a quick overview of that (in no particular order): 

• The Division II. Surprisingly enjoyable. 
• Assassin’s Creed Odyssey. If you played and liked Origins, you’ll like this. I didn’t get a huge amount of time on it but I’m sure it’ll be great. I’ll probably get it next year when it drops in price. 
• Metro Exodus. Very Fallout. Not for me. 
• Destiny 2: Forsaken. I have this game but wanted to play it with a few friends that hadn’t touched it before. They enjoyed it, you might too. Bonus: I went to the panel with the game designers on the Friday and that was fantastic as well. Happy to nerd out at any point on any of this. 
• Nintendo Labo. OH MY GOD WHAT FUN (that's me in the video). You can’t see in the video but I was laughing and grinning like a mad person throughout. This is definitely something I’ll be doing with the children at some point next year. 
• Figment. Utterly charming little indie game - out now on Steam/Switch (it's about £13 too) definitely worth a look, I was smiling at the joy it brought. 
• Untitled Goose Game. Yes, that's it actual name. Your job is to be a total dick to a farmer and it made me laugh - a lot. This will be huge. 
• Beat Saber is coming to PSVR. These guys were insane at it. 
• Starlink. Really interesting concept tying toy/model ships that interact with your controller (see this link for a selection of photos + a video that shows how it works). Fun. Probably a money pit, mind. 
• Call of Duty 4. The new battle royale one. I hated it. Blergh. 

THE ESSENTIALS: 

If you're new here, the section known as THE ESSENTIALS is about highlighting the stories that continue to come to light in regards to the #MeToo movement. It's been here since it began and will remain so until it ends. 

Only one this week and it is simply: #WhyDidntIreport
(sorry: two - 'Everything I can remember')

These should come with trigger warnings by the way. Just, FYI. 

THE BONUS LINK SECTION OF BONUS BONUS LINKS

THESE LINKS ARE YOUR BONUS. B-A-N-A-N-A-S. 

...

• Video Game Skies are lovely.
• Americans are changing how they eat. Interesting read.
• We lost Dennis Nordon; this obituary from the BBC is excellent.
• If you've not read about the prisoner who painted Golf courses, you should.
• MDMA + OCTOPUS + ? 
• A great thread on Chas from Chas + Dave (who we also lost).
• Christine and the Queens (Again) in GQ. READ IT!
• I'm here for Joaquin Phoenix as Joker.
• Looking for something on Netflix? Try MANIAC.
• Big fan of the Wolf Alice Mercury Music Prize acceptance speech.