FF7 Remake is a masterpiece

Hard to believe it’s still nearly impossible to buy a PlayStation 5 without paying a markup to scalpers. Supply drops from major retailers are still few and far. We’re nearly two years into this new generation of consoles! Even with supply chain issues, I didn’t expect the shortage to last thing long. Naively, perhaps. I’m definitely lucky to have snagged a PS5 early this year on a chance encounter with a flash in-stock situation at Best Buy.

No such luck yet for my friend who’s been trying to buy one. Without markups, obviously.

The console isn’t just sitting next to the TV doing nothing. I’ve been steadily playing through some games on the weekends. Can’t play on a school night! After Ghost of Tsushima and finally finishing Grand Theft Auto 5, the latest game on the list is Final Fantasy 7 Remake. I guess you can say my gaming preference skews towards role-playing games with a long runtime.

FF7 Remake is absolutely breathtaking. I’m glad the producers chose to expand upon the first arc of the original FF7 into a fully realized game. Even though we will have to wait many years more for parts two and three to complete the story (hashtag sad face). The city of Midgar shines and awes, especially on a giant television in 4K. Often times I would pan the camera around just to look at the surroundings. It’s surreal to see things we’ve only imagined from the original game come to life in full digital detail.

I would akin it to seeing the pages of The Lord of the Rings come to fruition in the Peter Jackson movies. It’s pure wish fulfillment.

The voice acting adds a layer of drama and emotion to the FF7 story in Remake, one that’s missing in the 1997 version’s endless wall of scrolling text. The player is more attached to the characters, more invested in their journey and what motivates them. The infamous and impending death of Aerith later on in the story will be extra emotional - if it happens!

But that’s something to find out in the sequels. As it stands, Remake is a fantastic start to retelling the beloved Final Fantasy 7 story. I enjoy playing it immensely.

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The giant pie in the sky.

All about games

This past weekend I spent a cumulative 10 hours playing Ghost of Tsushima. Not since beating Gran Theft Auto 4 on the PlayStation 3 have I spent this much time playing video games. For those familiar, that is a very long time ago. I forgot how addictive all of this is! The royal you would delay going to the bathroom or making dinner just to keep going. No wonder it was easier back when we were kids: mother cooked the food!

As interesting as Ghost of Tsushima is, I am not playing it on weekdays. That’s the difference of being an adult: we can exercise self control. Sacrificing sleep for video games? No freaking way.

Anyways, the major gaming news over the weekend is that the review embargo for the highly anticipated Steam Deck expired. All the major players put out reviews for the new portable gaming device from Valve. From what I’ve read, the verdict so far that the Steam Deck is an incredible piece of hardware for the price, but the thing still need more time in the oven to be truly great. Electing to run the operating system based on Linux - rather than Windows - seems to be a major hurdle yet to overcome.

But it’s incredible to see PlayStation 4 level performance in a handheld device. Computing power vis a vis packaging size have reach a point where that is possible. It made me ponder: perhaps the moment is right for Sony to make another PlayStation Portable. I had a second-generation PSP and I absolutely adored playing MLB The Show on it. Seeing such demand for the Steam Deck - and the utter popularity of the Nintendo Switch, I think the market is there for Sony.

I’d certainly buy one to pair alongside my PlayStation 5.

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What you want to see.

How the turntables

I was writing yesterday about how difficult it still is to buy a new-generation gaming console. The PS5 and the XBOX Series X is out of stock everywhere, and the periodic drops the retail stores do are infrequent enough to miss unless your’e super lucky. I even wrote at the end that I reckon my gaming days are over!

Well, I was super lucky shortly after that. Just as I was done with breakfast, I saw on my twitter feed a post by The Verge saying the PlayStation 5 is in stock at Best Buy online. Without getting my hopes up, it was a worth a shot, so I got in on the virtual line. Meanwhile, I created a Best Buy account as that was a prerequisite for purchasing. The stars must be aligning, because soon as I was done with account creation, it was a my turn to finalize a purchase.

I’ll be picking up a PS5 this Sunday at my local Best Buy store. What a surprising turn of events!

Sadly I won’t be actually playing on the PS5 anytime soon. I will need to buy a TV as well. The most suitable unit would be the 42-inch LG C2 OLED that was just announced this week at CES. That is scheduled for release in the Spring, so I’ve got a bit of waiting to do. It’s been a relatively long time since I actually had a gaming console, so what’s another few months of waiting? No need to compromise on the TV I want simply due to impatience.

Besides, there isn’t yet a truly next-gen game out that I’m desperate to play. Gran Turismo 7 isn’t out until March. If anything, I will probably be playing PlayStation 4 titles that received quality updates for the PS5. Final Fantasy 7 Remake is one such game.

Anyways, I guess if you shout at the universe enough, sometimes it will give you what you want.

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Love will set you free.

The chip shortage

The global semiconductor chip shortage is no joke. I ordered a new 16-inch MacBook Pro with the “M1 Max” processor during the preorder period back in the last week of October. The laptop isn’t scheduled to arrive for another month. The delivery timeframe given by Apple is the first week of December. The struggle is real, the direst of first world problems.

I am very anxious to get my hands on these properly “pro” laptops with the vaunted Apple silicon. For work, I’ve handled the regular “M1” Macs, and their speed is always amazing. The M1 Pro and the M1 Max chips should be yet another significant leap forward. More exciting for me is the mini-LED display of the new MacBook Pros: full local dimming with variable refresh rate up to 120Hz. It’s basically the $5,000 Pro Display XDR, but in a laptop-sized package. Delicious.

Too bad it’s four week out. I’m hoping Apple will surprise me and get it to me much sooner than early December. I’m taking the entire Thanksgiving week off from work and it would be lovely if I have the brand new MacBook Pro to play with.

Or perhaps a PlayStation 5. Sadly, after one whole year since launch, I still cannot simply walk into a Best Buy or click on Amazon to buy one of these next-generation consoles. I’m far too old and don’t care about gaming enough to play the lottery game or wait in lines (virtual or physical). Good thing there isn’t really a new game that’s impelling me to buy a PS5 now. We’re closing in on nine years since the release of Grand Theft Auto 5, Rockstar Games; how about a new one, eh?

The waiting game continues.

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