Nier:Automata Is a Great Game

I finished Nier:Automata (PS4) early this morning, but it isn't a game that one can just finish and immediately put away.  Its haunting story, characters and music stays with you even after you are done.  It wouldn't be a surprise if you went on Youtube afterwards to find out more about it because you don't feel ready to walk away from the world that Nier creator, Yoko Taro, has presented so beautifully.

Intel NUC from CES 2018

As I try to get over a cold at home, I'm glancing at the different products people are talking about at the 2018 Consumer Electronics Show.  One item that caught my eye is Intel's new NUC named Hades Canyon which will include AMD graphics rather then integrated graphics.

It's being touted as a VR-capable computer, but that's not what I'm looking for in a PC nor do I plan to do much gaming on it.  Instead, I look for small form factor PCs that can last many years, drive dual 4K monitor setups and have dual gigabit Ethernet.  The max memory is limited to 32GB which is one downside.  I would prefer it supporting 64GB and I don't know how loud the unit is.

It's something I'll be watching for when it goes on sale in the spring.

Upgrading to Fedora 27

Upgraded to Fedora 27 from Fedora 26.   The upgrade itself went quickly and without issues.  On the first boot, everything seems to work but I did get a bunch of SELinux prompt which I haven't looked into.

Note that the end-of-life for Fedora 25 was Dec. 12, 2017 now that Fedora 27 is released.

Super Mario Odyssey First Impression

I'll admit that historically I've not followed Nintendo and their games.  I owned an NES as a child but then didn't get another Nintendo system until the Gameboy Advanced.  Basically, while I've played the occasional Mario Kart at friends' house, I'm fairly lukewarm when it comes to Nintendo titles.

However, I started Super Mario Odyssey over the holidays and found myself enjoying it a lot more then I expected.

Nier:Automata First Impressions

My first PS4 game is Nier:Automata, the sequel to the 2010 PS3/Xbox360 video game Nier.  Nier is a spin-off from the Drakengard series, but I'm going to leave the explanation of the series to more qualified and dedicated Drakengard historians.  After playing it over the final week of 2017 and completing the first run-through, here are my first impressions.

Starting a New Year!

Happy new year to everyone!

2017 is now in the rear view mirror and we're onto 2018 and this is exactly how I feel about it:

from Sarah's Scribbles

Tis the Season for Video Games

This holiday season turned out the to be one of video game consoles at our house.  We added a Nintendo Switch, Playstation 4 Pro, Playstation Vita, and my previously mentioned RetroPi.  I give my first impressions of each console and the accessories.

Youtube TV vs Hulu

Youtube TV and Hulu TV are two options for cord-cutters to get live TV.  After trying each for a few months, I decided to go with with Youtube TV because of its superior quality even though it had a smaller channel line-up.

A Return to Blogger

I've moved back to Blogger after about 6 months of using Hugo + Google App Engine.

Retro Gaming

When Nintendo announced the NES Classic it brought back memories of playing games like Duck Hunt and Punch Out!  This year, Nintendo announced the SNES Classic and although they promised more availability I wasn't as interested given that I mostly played Atari then NES and then skipped to the Playstation.  I don't have as much nostalgia for the SNES, but its announcement again brought up a desire to play some of the old NES games.  I decided that I'll set up my own retro gaming console.