Saturday, April 18, 2020

Year 4: April Update

As I noted last month, I try not to write anything negative here but the pandemic continues and the area I live is largely shut down through April. It feels as if nothing will ever return to the way it was but hopefully things will improve soon. I continue to work from home and have been going through some stuff to get rid of, and really haven't been gaming too much at all. Last weekend I completed the Fisher-Price video and aim to get some more "Let's Play" videos done next week.

Conventions continue to be canceled and video games keep getting delayed, such as The Last of Us Part II and Wasteland 3. There have been some new announcements too, like compilations of previous BioShock, Borderlands, and XCOM games releasing for Switch in May, and a new standalone XCOM game for PC coming April 24th. As much as I enjoy XCOM 2, I don't own its War of the Chosen expansion and I'm not sure if I'll grab this new game either. It's mostly about the time commitment as I know I'll lose many, many hours if I do start another XCOM. Currently the Switch and physical copies of Final Fantasy VII Remake have been hard to come by so if you're looking for one of those expect to see ridiculous prices. Just be patient as they'll be restocked eventually. In other game news Sony showed off the PlayStation 5's controller a couple weeks ago that is named DualSense.


Something I spent a few hours trying to get to work recently so that I could make a video is The Sims 2. There is an old project I'd like to show off but I just cannot get the game to run on Windows 10. Compatibility problems with old computer games is always such a hassle. My attempt was with the DVD release and I'm wondering if the digital version might be worth trying or if it would be the same. I do have old parts that would allow me to build a Windows XP or even Windows 98 machine, however, I don't want another computer and am trying to find where to unload old motherboards, processors, etc. The project was a video game neighborhood that I never completed but I think it's still worth sharing. I'll post a couple of screenshots I have of it here. Looking at them now I see things I could definitely do better and I didn't use mods so I just had to get the closest matches I could from the base assets.


I forgot to mention in March that Nintendo is working with LEGO on some unique Mario-themed sets. They aren't standard LEGO toys with mini-figures, instead the figures are larger and the sets have interactive parts with sound effects. The starter course is expected to release in August for $59.99.


If you have kids to entertain or just want some simple entertainment for yourself, I've continued to add many scans to the activities album on the Vault 1541 Facebook page. It's not all my typical favorites either, like Batman, Star Wars, and G.I. Joe. There are also Smurfs, Care Bears, Garfield, Woodsy Owl, and many other characters featured, and I have more books I'll get to when I have time. Thanks for reading and please continue to stay home and stay safe.

-Jonathan

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