Thestarmoops

Wanted to give my review of what seems to be one of the lesser popular Pixels, the 3 XL, after a few years of day to day use.

Things I love about this phone:

• Screen still looks fantastic. Love the colors (on natural), the sharpness, etc.

• Speakers are absolutely fantastic, and I will miss them dearly whenever I upgrade to a Pixel 5 or 6 XL; two front speakers are still the best set-up for audio; don't @ me

• The software is still an absolute dream; so many things on here that I try not to take for granted, like it being a lag free experience 99% of the time, unlimited Google Photos backup until 2022 I think?, no bloatware, day one updates and access to new Android betas, really nice a

Okay, so with Nier Automota finally hitting Game Pass, I figured I'd finally give it a shot, after all the years worth of hype and acclaim it received since the originally PS4 version launched.

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WARNING: This is just my personal opinion after putting in about a dozen hours into the game. Please do not personally take offense if you disagree, or love this game. The majority of people out there seem to agree with you, not me.

I just can not get down with the story, aesthetics or music. The story feels super over the top, anime and hamfisted. It comes off like an anime version of a post you'd see on r/IamVerySmart, where it's super pandering, one dimensional and flawed. Then you have t

Wow, was E4 tough early on, especially E4M1 and M2. I wasn't sure if I wanted to keep trying E4M1 but after many restarts, I finally got it.

What a fantastic game. Still holds up just as well as any 2.5D FPS, including Marathon and Wolfenstein. I played it many times before, but surprisingly have never played it all the way through. Same for Doom II.

I will say it becomes so much easier once you get past the early missions in episodes, as you'll he stockpiled on weapons, ammo, armor and health. Still a great challenge on UV though.

https://youtu.be/7Fjn4GRw8qE @ 20 minute mark

Basically, Microsoft is using new technologies to add HDR to older, BC games.

EDIT: Also, this channel and Digital Foundry both specifically said the console is 6 months out from launch. I'm assuming this is barring the coronavirus causing a delay, obviously, but this could mean the Series X is planned to launch as early as September or October.

Was curious what people thought here.

I know they've been excommunicated, but I've been listening to the Barbell Logic podcast, and coincidentally need to start a new program, as my reset of LP is nearing its end.

Was just curious about if people here have any opinions or stories about moving from LP to another 3 day Texas Method/Heavy Light Medium program, or a 4 day split.

On the BB logic podcast, they seem to not be huge fans of the 3 day TM/HLM variants, but love the 4 day split. With that said, I think they suggest going to a TM/HLM variant after LP, and then a 4 day split after that.

Was just curious if anyone had any suggestions or resources on this, and why would going straigh

I know Microsoft will never enforce this, but a basic choice between a true 4k mode and a "performance" mode in all games would be fantastic.

I have a pretty good sixty inch 4K TV, with what I've read as optimal viewing angle/distance for 4K, and an Xbox One X. While I do think 4K is noticable, the power of the X1X is put to better use by making a game run at or closer to a consistent 60fps in most scenarios.

Been playing Witcher 3 on X1X, and while it's not necessarily a game that benefits from 60fps like a fighting game or FPS, the fluidity makes the world feel more alive, animations feel smoother and more realistic, combat feels better, etc. I don't think the performance mode in Witcher

Seems to be tough to pick good all arounders, especially for Pixel because the Samsung buds (which are about $110) work better on Samsung phones apparently.

Any suggestions? I don't think the Pixel Buds 2 will be worth it, for me. Would rather pay less for a slightly worse experience.

Anyone with a Pixel and Samsung buds, with a good or bad experience with the pair?

FULL SPOILERS AHEAD

So, want to preface this by saying I've been playing WRPGs since the 90s, and Obsidian games since KOTOR 2, but have missed out on the new isometric WRPGs they've made. (Plan on playing POE soon)

I played on Xbox One X over the span of launch until today, with some days or weeks off here or there. Sank nearly 50 hours in on a single playthrough, on hard. Played all possible quests I found, which I think was all of them, and only botched the one involving the board at the very end, because I refused to end Edgewater.

Loved:

• Graphics

• Music

• Gunplay, including time dilation mechanic

• No stupid mini games

• The worlds are open enough; don't feel empty and a

I like the shade of gray Google used for its dark mode in apps, so I use it as my wallpaper on the home and lock screens.

Problem with this is the gray shows a weird flaw within the Google Pixel launcher. There is a weird gradient, artifact looking strip of the top 1/5th of the launcher on the home screen.

This is a software bug/issue, not a hardware defect. I tested this by looking and not finding it on:

• The lock screen

• The exact picture in Google photos

• Apps with a dark gray background

• If you take a screenshot of the home screen with gradient, you CAN see the gradient in the screenshot

It doesn't appear in any of these.

If you turn on the screen and look at the top of t

So since there's a lack of news or any real info, and a ton of negativity and pessimism, I figured it would be fun to talk about what we'd like to see from Xbox Games Studios in the next few years.

In pro wrestling, fantasy booking is basically when people book which wrestlers should wrestle, who would win and for what title, the storylines, etc.

For us here, I'm curious what everyone would want to see from all the studios Xbox now has. You can make the booking as absolutely ridiculous or as realistic as you want, and you can book the studio out as far as you want.

Here's mine:

• 343i - Obviously Halo Infinite is next, but what afterwards? I would love to see them use this next engine fo