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Is Returnal Any Good? Reviewing The First Big PS5 Release

Marty
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0
Is Returnal Any Good? Reviewing The First Big PS5 Release

I’ve had my PS5 a few months now. While the console is as amazing as Alex says it is, my personal experience has been disappointing. Sure, I’m enjoying PS4 games and the superior online experience versus Xbox, but the game selection is still very slim. That’s why I was excited to see a review code for Returnal land from Sony. I’ve logged a couple of nights of gamete and I’m going to weigh in with what I think of this first big PS5-only release. It’s good.

What Is Returnal About?

When Returnal starts, you’re largely in the dark about what’s going on. You assume the role of Selene Vassos, space pilot. After detecting a mysterious “White Shadow” signal coming from the planet Atropos, Vassos crash lands on martian soil. The game begins. Your goal is to explore, work out why you are finding your own corpse everywhere and, above all else, survive. As you adventure through Atropos, you’ll encounter a range of enemies, gather weapons and die. You’ll die a lot. And that’s part and parcel of the whole experience. Let’s talk about the gameplay.

Returnal Gameplay

Honestly, Returnal is like nothing I’ve ever played before. Some of the mechanisms in the game are just genius. There are about ten weapons for you to play with but no ammo for you to worry about. Instead, after some sustained trigger-happy gunfire, your weapon will pause to recharge. Like the classic Gears of War “perfect reload”, a well-timed tap of a button speeds up your recharge getting you back into battle.

There are loads of consumables to find on Atropos too and this is where things get really cool. Of all the things you can pick up, parasites are the coolest. These alien beings latch onto you giving you benefits while also costing you something. For example you’ll lose some health every time you pick up something.

Beyond these on-going mechanisms in the game, Returnal rather intimidatingly combines the two gameplay genres of rogue-like and bullet hell. Let me explain.

Rogue-like Games

This genre literally relates to another game called Rogue. In this game, once you died, you lost all of your items and progress and start over. Levels are typically generated from scratch on every restart too and this is exactly what Returnal does too. You’ve crashed landed on Atropos and your ship is thrashed. You leave and explore until you die. Every time you die, you wake up back at your downed ship as if you’ve just crashed.

The difference with Returnal is that you do keep some of your gained strengths or items. Dying is an important part of the progression within the game. Many times during my runs I wasn’t sure if I was dying over and over in the same spot of making ground. But something small would usually be gained to make the next run easier.

Bullet Hell

Is another popular genre to emerge in the mid-nineties gaming scene. If the genre doesn’t sound familiar it would almost certainly look familiar. In these games you’re often dodging multiple points of fire from multiple enemies. It’s not unusual for the entire screen to been full of enemy fire.

In Returnal, you’re immediately taking on alien enemies capable of firing rows of energy orbs at you. Your job is to dodge and return fire. It starts out fairly easy to handle, but the enemy fire keeps growing and eventually, you’ll be taking on bosses and screens of death balls.

Is Returnal Fun To Play?

After the first few minutes of gameplay, I wasn’t sure how much longer I’d be spending on this review. It was tough and I wasn’t sure how much I could mentally handle dying over and over again. Was I making any progress at all?

Practice Makes Perfect

But then I pushed through and the rewards started to roll in. It’s sometimes really hard to know if you’re making progress. While it’s really difficult to actually get lost, thanks to a great map system, it’s really easy to feel lost. I’ve had runs in the game where I live for 5 minutes and runs where I lasted well over an hour before dying.

On paper, I just didn’t think a game like this could be fun but then I realised I couldn’t stop myself going back for more. I can’t quite put my finger on what makes Returnal so much fun, but it a great way to pass a couple of hours every evening.

Life Returnal Each Run Eternal

Returnal has come in for some criticism since launch. Mainly, this surrounds the lack of both difficulty settings and any kind of traditional save option. Yes. By playing return, you’re playing the same difficulty as everyone else in the world. And, when you choose to play Returnal, you need to commit a fair bit of time for your runs in between deaths. The reason is very practical. You cannot save progress.

If you need to stop and take a break, the only way to do so is to pop your console into rest mode. If you load something else, like I’ve already done a few times, you lose your run. The next time you load Returnal, you’re back at the ship starting a new run from scratch.

I personally don’t get why people are criticising the game so heavily for this. The runs get somewhat faster with certain elements remaining unlocked and skills or items retained after death. At least enough is retained to ensure the game doesn’t become monotonous. Quite the contrary. At certain points I welcomed death.

This isn’t like Cyberpunk. By that I mean this is a great game. It’s not a rushed and incomplete game. It’s a fantastic game that’s brought some features to the table that some people don’t really like. While I thought I would hate this type of game I can’t wait to get this review published so I can wake up next to my ship and get going again.

The Verdict: Is Returnal Worth Buying?

At €80, return surely isn’t cheap. If you’re going to hand over that kind of money, it’s important you know that Returnal will likely leave you frustrated and wondering if you’ve made a mistake is parting with that kind of cash. The true rewards come as you push through the early doubts and learn the finer details of the in-game mechanisms that help you win key gunfights. Once you start to nail these aspects, Returnal quickly became one of the most enjoyable experiences I’ve ever had on a games console. Well worth a try.

Some Other Returnal Questions Answered

I’ve scoured the internet looking for questions on Returnal and I’ve gone and pulled together some answers too.

Will Returnal come to PlayStation 4

No. Returnal is a PlayStation 5 Exclusive. As of right now, there are no plans to bring Returnal to PlayStation 4, PC or any other platform.

Can you play Returnal online?

No. Returnal doesn’t have a multiplayer mode. There is an online mode that connects your game to a wider network in the game, but there is no multiplayer.

Does Returnal have a photo mode?

No. While visually stunning, there is unfortunately no photo mode.

When does Returnal come out?

Returnal is already available to download on PlayStation 5 or purchase from stores like GameStop.

How long does it take to beat Returnal?

You can expect to complete Returnal within 30 to 40 hours.

How big is Returnal?

Returnal will take up 56.101GB of your PlayStation 5 hard drive.

Samsung’s Newest Laptops are Here and they’re Mighty Impressive

Alex
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Samsung’s Newest Laptops are Here and they’re Mighty Impressive

Here we go again with Samsung’s third (yes, third!) Unpacked event of the year so far. The event promised us a look at the most powerful Galaxy so far which turned out to be a little bit of a misdirect. I’m sure a lot of folks were expecting a new phone with all the bells and whistles dialed up to 11. What we got however is something a little different.

The Galaxy Book Series

“True mobile computing”, that’s the promise that TM Roh, Samsung’s president of Mobile Communication, began the presentation with. How can laptops be more like Smartphones? Roh seems to think that this will come from a focus on Mobility, Connectivity, and Continuity. He offers seamless connectivity between all Galaxy devices, something we already see with Samsung’s phones, tablets, and wearables. This smells awfully like an Apple-like approach to a device ecosystem to me. That’s not exactly something that’s been a million miles away as of late, nor is it a bad thing. Seamless connections between devices are fantastic as long as you’re willing to invest in the minimum requirements.

Partnering with both Intel and Microsoft, Samsung’s latest laptops are here with an OS that we’re all familiar with. This is something that I’m sure will put people’s minds at ease. I, for one, was expecting a brand-new custom OS on these devices. Samsung’s eagerness to put its stamp on its devices’ systems has been a bit of a contentious point for me in the past. My watch can’t get Google Pay, for example, just because Samsung won’t let us choose to use the Android OS.

Galaxy Book Pro

Samsung’s thinnest laptop to date shows that big things can come in small packages

Seeming to be the more traditional laptop of the two models announced with a standard clamshell design boasting Samsung’s thinnest, lightest laptop to date. Offering an AMOLED display, this device will be sure to offer an experience similar to the best smartphones, including Eyecare filtering that will remove the harshest blue lights from the display to protect your eyes. Thankfully, all your favourite ports are here, with USB Type-B, USC-C, Thunderbolt, SD, and a headphone jack as standard. You can also connect up to 3 external monitors through the in-built HDMI port. The whole device is powered by Intel’s Evo chips with IrisXe graphics. In the ultimate post-pandemic move, the devices are focussed on video conferencing with dual mics and in-built intelligent noise-canceling. The redesigned battery offers between 16 and 20 hours of standard. The redesigned battery offers between 16 and 20 hours of standard use or video conferencing on a single charge, with 30 minutes of charging offering up to 8 hours of use. That’s pretty bonkers if you ask me. Finally, ensuring that connectivity is always guaranteed, the devices will be 5G enabled to ensure lightning-fast speeds when not in WiFi range.

Galaxy Book Pro 360

All that quarantine yoga paying dividends in the flexibility department

This model seems to fit more into the 2-in-1 category of laptops, offering everything the Pro model offers, but in a much more versatile package. It’s clear that Samsung’s research into the Galaxy Fold hinges really helped them make a best-in-class hinge for a full range of motion. This is something that I personally love. The choice between laptop and tablet is increasingly being made less and less relevant. Parts of this laptop have been milled down to being half a millimeter thick enabling the whole device to be just over 1Kg. That’s unheard of for a laptop of this kind and will do wonders for its portability. Equally impressive is the promise that this device will be “as thin as a smartphone”. Really impressive stuff here. In a lovely touch, this model comes with the Samsung S Pen right in the box, really encouraging users to be as productive as they can from the get-go. This model will be touchscreen-enabled while the other models will have an old-fashioned one-way display.

Galaxy Book

For those who are more function over form, this is the way to go

For those of us who might not have as much cash to splash, or not as much need for bleeding-edge tech, there’s also a more standard Galaxy Book model. While being a little chunkier and not having as much battery life the standard model is pretty much the same on the inside as the all-signin’, all-dancin’ Galaxy Book Pro. The only noticeable interior downgrade is support for LTE (or 4G) as opposed to 5G. As was pointed out during the presentation this would be ideal for students or offices who want great connectivity at a reasonable price.

Galaxy Book Odyssey

Sometimes it pays to stand out

Ok, this one surprised me. This is Samsung’s new laptop that’s focussed on gaming. The in-built NVIDIA RTX 3050Ti chip and the Intel TigerLake processer seems like it’ll offer a lot of bang for your buck. While not a huge amount is known about the new GPU at the moment there’s good evidence that it will offer solid 60fps gaming at 1080p on most current games. It’s not going to be able to compete with the beefier 3070s or 3080s but for a starting price of €1,150, you’re not likely to find much better in such a neat unit.

A handy spec-sheet for the Odyssey

That’s All, Folks

So that’s pretty much everything we know at the moment. The devices aren’t due out until mid-May with the Odyssey coming out in August so it’ll be a while before there are any hands-on tests but we’ll be sure to keep you in the loop as always right here!

The Thousand Day Old GDPR Complaint: Leaving The Church

Marty
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The Thousand Day Old GDPR Complaint: Leaving The Church

It’s time I put pen to paper on an update here. It’s well over 1,000 days since I lodged my GDPR complaint against the Diocese of Ossory. Coming up on three years later, I’ve learned a lot but. Unfortunately, one thing I’ve not learned is what the outcome is going to be. Not even close. On a personal level, I have found more meaning than I ever thought possible in this whole journey as it’s become more clear than ever why I’m trying to leave the Catholic Church using European Data Protection law, also known as GDPR.

From the outset, if you have been following this closely, I apologise. There’s not a lot new here. But I think I do get my reasoning for what I’m doing better than I did previously.

The Quick Catch-up

I was born in the late eighties. Ireland was a different place. Ireland was a very Catholic place. As was the done, and expected, thing, my parents had me christened in the local church. I was a Catholic. Fast forward to my primary school days. I put up my hand and asked “how can all religions be right”, a point in hindsight I’m quite proud to have made. A point that Ricky Gervais makes better than a ten-year-old me could have.

As the years went by, I continued to keep the act up. I attended mass on Sundays and at weddings and funerals, I’d continue going to communion.

Then Ireland had two massive moments; Marriage Equality and Repeal the Eight. I was now, in the eyes of a church that I had become increasingly out of touch with, a sinner.

It hit me.

Why Leave The Catholic Church?

I’m not a Catholic. I’m not even Christian. I’ve just been going along for the ride and doing what everyone else was doing around me too. There are fewer and fewer Catholics in Ireland every year, most apparent in a lackluster turn out for the 2018 visit of Pope Francis.

I’ve been asked so many times, “why are you doing this”, in the thousand days since I made my complaint. A lot of people believe I’m doing this for clout or as a bit of a PR stunt. I can assure you, while this story has literally made front-page news, that was not my motivation.

During my teens and twenties, I was living a life of what I now refer to as “passive Catholicism” and not really questioning my own beliefs. With Marriage Equality and Repeal the Eight, my own personal empathy to others in society, including close friends, who were increasingly marginalised by conservative church beliefs, left me at odds with the church I was a “member of” and I wanted out.

I was surprised at how difficult this was. Fortunately, GDPR came into being in 2018 and it appeared I had the mechanism to leave through “The Right to Be Forgotten”. I requested the Diocese of Ossory delete my records. The response was that this could not be done, and instead it would be noted that I no longer wished to be a member of the Church.

This is the Catholic Church believing they are above the Civil Laws of Ireland and Europe, laws which say I have the right to be forgotten among some other articles of GDPR giving me the right to request my data be deleted.

Church Abuse

I’m going to say this directly. I was never abused in the church nor was I ever even in a scenario where I felt nearly uncomfortable. But the term I used earlier which is so important here is “empathy”. I can empathise with those who have been abused. Innocent children raped and abused by priests in positions of power. I’ve watched documentaries which honestly, were tough things to sit through. Deliver Us From Evil documents the abuse inflicted by Father Oliver O’Grady. I was so incredibly lucky to make contact with the makers of Revelation, who provided me with access to watch their piece of work which left me speechless at how little wrong abused priests believe they’d done.

There have been many other things I’ve watched and read in the time since I submitted my GDPR complaint which helped me better understand why I’m doing this.

The Catholic Church believes Canon law is above Civil law. This is why a priest can confess to child abuse to another priest, safe in the knowledge nothing will happen due to the seal of the confessional. This is why paedophile priests, instead of being reported to local authorities, were moved from parish to parish where they could prey on new victims.

In a roundabout way, my GDPR complaint had become a proxy challenge on the very authority of the Catholic Church. And this is why I’m taking it very seriously.

With all of that said, how is it actually going?

My GDPR Complaint Is Paused

As of right now, my own case has been effectively paused. I’ve had discussions with solicitors and data protection specialists from around the globe, but as of right now the whole lot is paused. The good news is that this is happening because I’m not alone in this. Many others have lodged similar complaints and the Data Protection Commission has launched an “own volition” inquiry into how the Church handles the personal data of people who are, or once were, members.

What’s all of that mean? Well, instead of looking directly at my case, the DPC is looking more broadly at the Catholic Church, namely the Diocese of Dublin. Once they reach an conclusion there, the decision will trickle down to all other cases. Sounds somewhat positive right?

Max Schrems And The Oireachtas Justice Committee Hearing

The reason for this update is twofold. One, it’s been ages, and loads of people have asked me for an update. First and foremost, thanks to every single person who has messaged me. I truly hope we get a positive result because I know a lot of you are hoping to follow suit. Secondly, I’ve just been watching an Oireachtas Justice Committee hearing on the role of the Data Protection Commission in Ireland. Those speaking are the superstars of the data protection world including Max Schrems, Fred Logue, Johnny Ryan, and the Data Protection Commissioner, Helen Dixon.

max schrems
Max Schrems

After two hours of watching this hearing being streamed live online, it became apparent why my complaint had been open for over a thousand days with very little progress. In his opening comments, Schrems highlighted “of ten thousand complaints the DPC will have six or seven decisions this year”. Schrems points out that this is 99.93% of all complaints will go undecided.

Ryan, speaking on behalf of the Irish Council Of Civil Liberties said that “in the three years since the GDPR was applied, the Data Protection Commission asserted its lead role in 196 cases but delivered decisions in only four”.

Dixon refuted many of the claims aimed at her organisation, stating some claims were simply “erroneous” but perhaps most poignant statement of the night went to Independent TD Thomas Pringle who claimed that there’s too many people saying something is wrong for the DPC to be justified their stand that claims railed against them are exaggerated.

This is why my complaint against the church is now going for more than one thousand days. The DPC is a complete bottleneck, incapable of making decisions. Well, incapable or capable and for some reason choosing not to. Perhaps in the hope of securing more budget on top of the €19 million funding the DPC was awarded for 2020. On the night, Senator Lynn Ruane asked, fairly, what the DPC could have done with the the other half of the funding it wasn’t awarded, and what would have been achieved.

Personally, I’m left wondering what the €19 million we’ve spent has achieved.

How To Top Up Your Leap Card With iPhone

Marty
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How To Top Up Your Leap Card With iPhone

It feels like an age ago when Android users could start topping up their Leap Card with their phones. It was another of the niche humble brags Android users help over iPhone owners. Today, that changes as iPhone users can now top-up their Leap Cards with their phone.

Be careful though. When I went looking for the app, there were paid apps already there. You do not need to pay for this app. It’s absolutely free to download. Here are two of the apps you do not want to download:

apps you don't need to but for leap card
The Leap Card app is free. You do not need to buy these ones.

Top Up Your Leap Card With iPhone

To do so really couldn’t be easier.

  1. Download the latest version of the Leap Card App for iPhone.
  2. Open the app
  3. Tap and hold your Leap Card to the back of your iPhone
  4. From here you can either check your balance, add credit or collected a pre-paid ticket.

The Leap Card app will only work with iPhone 7 and above due to hardware or software constraints. Here’s a neat “how to” video that might help you out too.

If you’re having an issue with getting this to work to have further questions about topping up your Leap Card with iPhone or Android, check out the Leap Card website.

It’s been ages since I used my Leap Card, for obvious reasons. As you can see in the image at the top, I owe Transport For Ireland money. Sorry about that guys.

Huawei Launch Huawei Band 6 With Two Week Battery Life

Marty
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Huawei Launch Huawei Band 6 With Two Week Battery Life

I’ve recently noticed something. Nearly everyone has some sort of activity tracker. I was organising a step challenge and of nearly thirty people, no one had the issue of not having one. There’s a lot on the market too. Fitbit is probably one of the best known. Personally, I’m using the Fitbit Sense and I love it, but I’ll be first to admit it’s a bit on the pricey side. And this is the space Huawei finds itself most comfortable, disrupting. The Chinese tech giant has announced the HUAWEI Band 6. Here are some of the key features.

Meet The Huawei Band 6

Huawei has been creating fitness bands for a few years now, in line with their approach to not only develop great phones like the Huawei P40 Pro, but also great accessories like the Huawei FreeBuds Pro or collaborating with Gentle Monster for sunglasses. The Huawei Band 6 is the latest fitness tracker to join the Huawei range. I’ve been a massive fan of Huawei wearables over the past few years, stretching back to the first Huawei Watch which I bought because it actually looked like a watch, an approach Huawei has kept running with to this day.

Looks And Features

The Huawei Band 6 does seem to take some design prompts from the world’s best selling watch; the Apple Watch. Again, this is not an unusual approach from Huawei, but the important thing is that they don’t also bring the Apple prices.

Huawei band 6

The Huawei Band 6 features a 1.47-inch colour display which is a lot larger than previous models. The Band 6 also brings SpO2 monitoring which first featured on the Huawei Watch GT2 along with a wide range of other well-being metrics. You’ll be able to track heart rate, sleep, stress, and menstrual cycle tracking. The band also supports 96 workout modes to help track your activity more accurately.

Two Week Battery

You always expect that Huawei will bring a great battery life to the table and the Band 6 is no different. Huawei promises that you’ll get two weeks between charges. This is impressive given my Fitbit Sense is between five or six days between charges. If you are caught on the hop, a five-minute charge or the Band 6 will give you two days of battery, so your watch shouldn’t be holding you back at all.

I’m not sure if this will be coming in for a hands-on review or not but hit the bell in the bottom left corner of your screen and you’ll be first to know if we publish a full review. One call-out I do want to highlight is that if you’re using a fitness app you love, double check that this integrates with it.

The Huawei Band 6 launches today and is very competitively priced at €59 and is currently available from Eir, Euronics and Mint+.

Is Stowaway On Netflix Worth Watching?

Marty
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Is Stowaway On Netflix Worth Watching?

Don’t worry. This is a spoiler-free review. Anna Kendrick takes to space as the crew doctor aboard a troubled mission to Mars. But is Stowaway, now streaming on Netflix, worth watching?

Stowaway doesn’t break new ground with the story here. Space always brings the same challenges to a movie’s fictional crew and the usual issues arise here. Also, it’s worth noting there are two kinds of space movie. The one with a massive budget that shows the actors floating around and the other space movie that spins the ship to simulate gravity. This is the latter.

STOWAWAY (L to R) DANIEL DAE KIM as DAVID KIM and SHAMIER ANDERSON as MICHAEL ADAMS. © 2021, Stowaway Productions, LLC, Augenschein Filmproduktion GmbH, RISE Filmproduktion GmbH. All rights reserved.

While the “gravity solution” isn’t unique, there are some new takes that I’ve never seen in a space movie before. Also the story develops and allows for some real drama even if, in parts, you need to be a bit liberal with how close to reality it all is.

Netflix almost seems to take massively successful movies and recreate them for the streaming platform with a few tweaks for copyright reasons. Stowaway would appear to be trying to recreate elements of the 2013 movie Gravity which won seven Academy Awards. Stowaway succeeds in posing unique dilemmas with sprinkles of drama, but nothing to match Gravity.

Regardless, it’s absolutely a worthwhile watch. It’s a nice way to pass an evening.

Why Is Formula E Failing?

Marty
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Why Is Formula E Failing?

Unless you’ve firmly decided to bury your head in the sand, electric cars are the future of motorsport. It’s completely unavoidable. It’s so set in stone that we now have the Formula E World Championship. Now in its seventh season, Formula E is the only single-seater racing World Championship outside of Formula One. As you read that, you might find it hard to believe that this has been going for seven years because it’s rarely hitting the news for good reasons. Which begs the question. Why is Formula E failing?

History Is Important In Sport

If ever there was a week to make this point, it’s the week that American-owners and financiers tried to create the European Super League. This whole move stomped all over the long history of some of Europe’a biggest football clubs and led to fans protesting in the streets. What drives such a reaction? It’s passion that’s driven by history, and this is what Formula E is very light on.

Formula One Is The Benchmark

While it’s impressive the championship has been running for seven years, that’s a dot on the motorsport timeline. In Formula One, Ferrari provides much of the history the sport needs. Some of the most historic rivalries involved the team with the prancing horse. Senna and Prost in their McLaren cars before Prost moved to Ferrari where the two’s intense rivalry hit new heights. These two motorsport brands alone sit atop the list of Grand Prix winners with over 400 wins between them.

Yet, Formula E doesn’t feature either team. In fact, if you look at the top ten teams to have won Formula One races, only Mercedes features in both championships. Red Bull Racing is a modern-day success story in F1. On the surface, Formula E seems a perfect cross over for them yet the team’s advisor, Helmut Marko, said it’s not a good fit, stating is a team of “racing purists”.

These are the key reasons why Formula E is failing. Formula One is the pinnacle of motorsport. If the teams who define the very best in the world do not feature, it’s difficult for the championship to earn credibility.

Making History

The good news for Formula E is that the one big Formula One brand to make the leap more recently is currently the best is the business. Mercedes returned to Formula One in 2010 and has been massively dominant since 2014. There’s history and there’s modern history. Mercedes is dominating modern history and has won the Formula One constructors championship seven times in a row, a championship since Formula E began.

Mercedes, racing under the name Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team, have yet to win a championship in Formula E but there presence is worth its weight in gold to the sport. While it’s unlikely Ferrari will join the E-championship any time soon, earlier this year, McLaren confirmed they had signed paperwork that gives them the option to join next year’s competition. McLaren CEO Zak Brown didn’t want to commit completely, instead saying that the “option” approach gives McLaren “the necessary time to decide if Formula E is right […] a future competition platform”.

Jaguar formula e car
Jaguar not considered premium racing pedigree

Another historic Formula One team, Williams, is involved in Formula E and the new Extreme E Championship as a battery manufacturer under the name Williams Advanced Engineering but doesn’t have a competing team as of yet.

While Formula E is all about the future, it needs to absorb more of the past. The reason football fans didn’t want to see their teams going to the European Super League is that it doesn’t mean anything. It has no history. When those motorsport rivalries of old join the sport of the future it will lead to a massive hike in interest.

The Valencia Fiasco

Formula E is like a sport on probation. It doesn’t just have to be ok, it has to be good to the point where people can barely pick holes in the sport. Essentially what I’m saying is, Formula E bosses need to make it really hard for the sport to be criticised. The Saturday racing of this year’s Valencia E-Prix demonstrated the kind of farcical mistake that Formula E simply cannot afford to make.

Just before lights out the race took a turn as the rain poured and Formula E teams dusted off their wet tyres for the first time in nine months. A spate of safety car periods including a late one which meant nearly all teams didn’t have enough energy to complete the race. In the final lap, the race leader changed and just nine drivers officially finished as power limits were hit. The FIA, motorsports governing body, claims the teams miscalculated and pushed too hard. The teams are blaming the FIA for reducing the available power too much following the final safety car.

Regardless of who is to blame for the events of the closing lap in Valencia, it served up Formula E critics the perfect ammunition on a silver platter.

Formula E: The First Track Outing

The Valencia E-Prix was not a regular race on the Formula E calendar. While the track is where the teams do their testing, this was the first time they’d race in anger on a recognised racetrack. Until now, Formula E has raced on City street circuits. Early on Saturday, it was quite the sight to see Formula E cars racing on open tracks and dodging gravel pits. I tuned in and it looked great.

Indeed the entire race has garnered quite a bit of interest and as both existing and new fans tuned in, they were greeted with what many are describing as a farce.

When Formula E started out, energy was a massive issue. Earlier seasons required drivers to pit, jump out of their car and into a second fully charged car to finish the race. The second-generation Formula E car packed enough power into a single battery for a full race. Still, Formula E struggled to shake ridicule from the car swap days. The events of Valencia do little to promote the mission of the sport and win over petrol heads.

It’s Just Not Formula One

Again, attention turns to Formula One. While there are many shared aspects across both sports, even the once divisive halo system critics can only see where Formula E just isn’t Formula One. Attention often turns to the gimmick aspects of Formula E, like Fanboost. This allows fans to vote for a driver to get an extra speed boost during the race. The boost is somewhat insignificant leaving the whole concept flawed in many ways.

Formula E also features Attack Zones where drivers can leave the racing line to get a speed boost. It’s was just like Mario Kart.

Both of these features are visible on the track when the driver’s halo glows a different colour. This is a personal take, but that’s a bit gaudy and the features themselves have “Bernie Ecclestone energy”

Formula E Is Elite With Poor Accessibility To Watch

I started watching Formula One when I was young because it was on terrestrial TV. Network 2 at the time would show Formula One in Ireland. Little did I know that it was only because of Bernie Ecclestone’s “charity” was letting me. RTÉ had secured the broadcast rights for a song because there was an Irish team. Ecclestone believed the people of Ireland should be able to watch and support Jordan F1.

Pay To Watch Only

Today, to watch Formula E in Ireland, you need to subscribe to either Virgin Media Sports or Eurosport. There is no way for people to organically stumble upon the sport. You can argue that Formula One is purely for people who can pay to watch, but again, that sport has dedicated fans and a history which compels people to watch.

Many people in Ireland can only watch the sport if they are paying for Virgin Media broadband and getting sports for free, have a paid subscription to Sky and have Eurosport or are paying for these subscriptions specifically.

Business To Business

The sport itself is massively focused on business. The fact that this is an electric series means that most companies getting involved are simply doing so to be associated with the concept. This is the primary focus of the sport and only in the past year has Formula E started to really focus on merchandise at all. The reason is simple. Fans don’t make the money. Broadcast rights and businesses do.

formula e business to business

The obvious rebuttal here is that attending the races is free and prior to the pandemic, Formula E had put on a decent show for the public to attend. But Formula E has just 12 races and some races during “normal times” were sparsely attended. All of this suggests a sport that is struggling to connect with fans, a sport that is left feeling shallow.

What Does Formula E Need To Do?

It might seem obvious, but Formula E just needs to keep going first and foremost. The technology has developed at an incredible rate and continues to do so. While Valencia was a big step, the track did still need to be modified to suit the Formula E cars. The goal for the sport needs to be something like sharing a Formula One race weekend, much like Formula Two does.

Big names like McLaren have to be convinced to join the sport. While the likes of Ferrari is unlikely to be convinced of the merits in joined Formula E any time soon, Red Bull needs to be won over and brought in as soon as possible. Once some of these big names add their clout to the sport, their fans will follow. Hopefully, Formula E becomes more of a headache for top motorsport talent too. Right now, it’s more of a place for drivers to play out the end of their career or to pass some time when they’ve fallen out of favour in Formula One. The obvious example being Stoffel Vandoorne.

Finally, the sport needs to win over the fans. It’s very hard for the person in the street to care about Formula E if they can’t even watch it. We live in an era where attention has become a precious commodity. A commodity as previous as oil used to be. It’s a beautiful metaphor given this is an electric sport looking to replace the sports driven by fossil fuels. But going after attention isn’t easy. TikTok zaps my attention and it doesn’t cost a penny. Formula E is perilously close to online E-sports.

Formula E’s YouTube channel has over 600,000 subscribers. Formula One’s Lando Norris’ Twitch Channel alone has 830,000 subscribers.

Formula E has come a long way, but it’s nowhere near where it needs to be.

Godzilla Vs. Kong; Review

Alex
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0
Godzilla Vs. Kong; Review

The biggest movie of the year is here. Literally. Godzilla vs. Kong is the latest movie in Legendary’s so-called Monster-verse, and it promises a showdown we’ve all been waiting for since… well since the last time it happened actually. That time, the 8th wonder of the world had to be given special electro-shock abilities to combat Godzilla’s atomic fire-breath; this time all he needs are his fists, and his ability to use tools. I’ll do my best to refrain from major spoilers but there’s one major point that I’ll have to go into to truly do the movie justice. So, does this movie measure up to its stars? Or is it more like the goofy head of King Gidorah from the last film?

Let them fight!

On a surface level, the plot of the movie is quite simple. Godzilla’s and Kong’s species have a millennia-old rivalry that flares up every now and then. The ensuing battle will only end when one titan either yields or dies. No more explanation needed. However, as with all these movies, there’s a deeper plot that involves the human world too. In a nutshell, a billionaire tech mogul (whose name I honestly couldn’t remember by the end of the film) wants to find Kong’s homeland in the center of the Earth because he believes it holds a secret power source that could end the world’s energy crisis (and he definitely won’t use it for any nefarious purposes at all). To do this, he recruits a scientist whose brother once ventured to the Hollow Earth but died on the mission. This scientist then theorises that Kong should be able to lead them to his homeland due to Genetic Memory. The only trouble with this is that this necessitates Kong being moved from his home on Skull Island which will alert Godzilla to his existence.

…and my axe!

Meanwhile, Godzilla has gone rogue. Yes, the titan once hailed as the King of the Monsters and Saviour of our City has been attacking Apex Cybernetics facilities (which are owned by Mr. Billionaire) around the globe, seemingly turning on the people he once fought to protect. During one attack, an Apex employee discovers that the company has been working on an enormous, off-books project and vows to find out what it is.

Seriously, how can Kong compete?

The employee in question is Bernie Hayes and, quite fittingly for the year the film released, he’s the host of a conspiracy theory podcast. Practically every insane idea gets mentioned at least once in this movie from the aforementioned Hollow Earth and Genetic Memory ideas to the Illuminati. He even suggests that the Nazis intended for fluoridated water to be used to control people’s minds. Be prepared for a lot of poking fun at these kinds of flights of fancy throughout the movie.

The Sound

One of my favourite things about the Monster-verse is the sound design. Even the old Godzilla movies had this nailed. The original Godzilla roar from the 1950s is, to this day, one of the most iconic sounds in cinema. This movie is only too happy to follow in the footsteps of the films that came before it and offers a best-in-show experience. The rumbling of Godzilla’s spines, while he’s charging his atomic firebreath, is top-notch as always, and Kong’s roar is even more primal and bestial than it was in his stand-alone flick a few years ago. I watched this with a good friend of mine who had a much better setup than I did. During one scene in particular the subwoofer was working overtime and causing some DVD cases on top of it to move. If you’re watching this movie without at least a soundbar you’re doing yourself a disservice.

The Sights

The visuals are similarly impressive. The Monster-verse films are great at giving a true sense of the awesome scale of these titans and GvK is no different. Godzilla is almost always in an urban setting (or at least one with manmade objects to provide reference) so the wide, establishing shots of his appearances are always a joy to see. Kong, on the other hand, is a little tougher to size up. I feel like this is due to him usually being in a natural environment or, in the hollow Earth, in an environment that’s designed around his size. Don’t get me wrong, he does get a chance to measure up but if you hadn’t already known that he’d been up-scaled for this movie you’d be forgiven for wondering how he’d measure up to the King of the Monsters.

A great homage to the olden days

The CG in this movie is top-notch in my opinion. Admittedly the opening close-up shot on Kong’s hand is a bit iffy but that’s a 3-second exception to this otherwise fantastic film. This is the first Godzilla film (in this continuity) to feature him prominently in daylight and it’s a great change. Usually, a director will use the cover of night to cut down on some CGI costs, or obscure aspects of a scene that may be poorly done, but even the night-time scenes are well lit. The final fight takes place in Hong Kong (arguably giving the ape a home-field advantage) meaning the neon and glaring lights on the skyscrapers make the showdown feel like some kind of synth-wave nightmare in the best possible way.

A couple of nit-picks (fair warning there are a couple of spoilers here)

I do love this movie and I would absolutely recommend it to anyone who wants 2 hours of in-your-face action and entertainment. However, I do have a couple of complaints. My number one will be the same as all of these films; we don’t care about the humans so stop showing us little details to try and make them more sympathetic. Maybe this is just me but the idea that Bernie’s world-saving drink was given to him by his late wife doesn’t add anything to the plot, nor does the fact that one of the Apex employees sent to the Hollow Earth is the Billionaire villain’s daughter. Thankfully, this film doesn’t pull away from the action at any point to focus on the human stories as the previous films did. That’s a big step in the right direction.

Secondly, I can’t help but feel that this film played it too safe. King of the Monsters was something of a box-office flop, barely making back its budget. I think there were a lot of things planned for this movie that were cut in order to make a more bankable film while minimizing hype for a sequel if it didn’t perform. For example, the pilot of Mechagodzilla was the son of Dr. Serizawa from previous films. This is never explored but could have been initially proposed as a “Godzilla killed my father”-style revenge story. There’s also no post-credits scene or any hint that there may be future films in the franchise. Seeing as this movie has outperformed its predecessor already and is the highest-grossing movie from a Western movie studio, I think we can be hopeful of more monster mayhem in the future. This would be a disappointing way to leave the franchise and is an indication that there’s certainly an appetite for more titan fights.

Definitely give it a go

There’s nothing I can really say to sell this movie beyond “you get to watch enormous creatures duke it out for dominance”. If that doesn’t grab your attention in some small way, then this film definitely isn’t for you. If your interest is piqued, however, you’re in for one hell of a ride. You can check out Godzilla vs. Kong on Now TV. Sky Cinema and HBO Max (for all you VPN users) right now. You can also check out director Adam Wingard’s Reddit AMA right here if you want to know more about the behind-the-scenes work!

Bohs Drone Video: Stunning League Of Ireland Video

Marty
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0
Bohs Drone Video: Stunning League Of Ireland Video

It’s been a week and a bit of football news and there’s still a few days left. A couple of weeks ago, I decided to leave my memories of Kilkenny City behind, get a Watch LOI subscription and adopt my local club St. Pats. It’s a decision I’ve not looked back on and with the news of the past week in Europe, I feel more justified than ever in doing so. I used to live in Cabra, so despite the obvious rivalry I do still have a few feelings about Bohemians too. Today, the club revealed a stunning drone video showcasing the North Dublin football team.

The Bohs Drone Video

Posted on Twitter today, the drone video released by Bohs is simply stunning and does a lot more to show how the League of Ireland can look as good, if not better, than clubs considered to be far grander. Before I go on about it, take a look at it yourself in all its glory.

The continuous shot is just stunning. I don’t for one second believe this was a 30-minute shoot that got nailed in a single take either. It’s nigh-on perfect.

It opens with a drone barreling down on the entrance to Dalymount Park in Phibsboro. You overhear two Bohs fans chatting, a “welcome to Bohs” and the sound of a crowd in an empty stadium. Somewhat fitting for the year we’ve all had.

The drone zooms into the stadium, ducking under a narrow entrance and heading out onto the hallowed turf to see two footballers juggling a ball. The second player hoofs the ball into the corner as the drone follows to introduce us to a poet in the stands. He says “the bond with Bohs only grows stronger. Absence makes the heart grow fonder”. The drone zooms into the club shop, back outside to an artist do their work before we hear the crows again chanting Bohs songs. Fade out to The Peoples Club

An Inspired Video

I think this video hit me because it goes to show that the League of Ireland can looks as beautiful as any football when it’s show in the right light. If you’ve read my review on Watch LOI you’ll know my opinion on that is that the RTE built streaming platform absolutely doesn’t do the game any favours.

This video by Bohs is pure quality though. The timing of the transitions and production quality by Taller Stories and Aerial Photography Ireland is truly second to none. It might be no coincidence that this drone video reminds me of another POV capture recently released that blew minds around the globe.

Anyway, check out the video. And sure look. If you feel a bit out of place supporting your usual team, give your local League of Ireland team a chance.

Carphone Warehouse To Close More Than 80 Stores In Ireland

Marty
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0
Carphone Warehouse To Close More Than 80 Stores In Ireland

Carphone Warehouse has confirmed it is closing over 80 stores in Ireland with immediate effect. This follows the recent withdrawal from Carphone Warehouse by Vodafone and similar rumours that Eir would withdraw.

Despite confirmation from Three, which has over 2.6 million customers in Ireland, confirming they remained “committed to continuing to work with Carphone Warehouse here in Ireland”, the company has had to close its doors in Ireland. Prior to the pandemic, the company employed over 580 staff here in Ireland. Today’s news sees 486 people lose their job across retail and head office positions.

Why Is Carphone Warehouse Closing?

Carphone Warehouse has had spluttering performance over the past few years. In the UK, parent company, Dixons Carphone, closed more than 530 stores last year with nearly 3,000 job losses. Here in Ireland, the launch of ID Mobile should have been a winning formula but it failed to land with the buying public. Ireland’s “one stop shop” for all mobile networks, on paper, should have been a success but Vodafone’s recent withdrawal from Carphone shelves proved to be a death nail for the company.

Like many stores over the past 12-months, Carphone Warehouse has had to close or work on the basis of restricted footfall. The company’s online presence was largely based on driving customers to store instead of being able to purchase directly online. Naturally, this meant the past 12-months were incredible difficult for the UK-owned company here in Ireland.

Carphone Warehouse omni
Carphone Warehouse is headquartered in Omni Shopping Centre, Santry

The company website has closed and now says “As part of Dixons Carphone’s broader transformation, of one joined up and profitable business, it has made the difficult but necessary decision to close Carphone Warehouse in Ireland, in line with its decision to close all standalone Carphone Warehouse stores in the UK in 2020”.

The Changing Mobile Landscape

In closing, Carphone Warehouse highlighted that “customers are changing the way they buy mobile devices and connectivity, replacing their handsets less often and buying them separately or as part of more flexible bundles”. This comes as the ability to buy phones in many new ways does indeed change how customers buy their phones. Right now, I’m testing an iPhone 12 from Refurbed.ie and it’s perfect. That’s just one sustainable way of reducing the number of phones in the market while others continue to buy new but spread costs across credit cards or payments plans, saving money versus long term contracts.

More on this breaking story as we learn it. Hit the bell in the bottom left corner for updates.

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