LoFi-Enchilada
Spencer went out to say that they lost the most important generation to lose (XBOX One gen, not the current one. Corrected thanks to @Boldizzle ), and that they were going back to the drawing board to turn things around. They just hiked up the prices of Game Pass and the XBOX Series X. They also basically confirmed that there won’t be any mid-gen “pro” model and that they expect the next gen to come in 2028. And now their plan to buy the industry is also failing.
So what’s next? I doubt they have a queue of heavy hitting first party exclusives in the oven to maintain them until 2028. I’m almost certain that they expected to buy themselves some time by acquiring studios and turning their IPs into system-seller XBOX exclusives.
I like the beach a lot, but I’ve never been able to feel truly relaxed in one as there’s always more people around and with more people more often than not comes shouting, laughing, loud music, etc. I think I associate the beach with being active and joyful, than being in zen-mode.
My idea of relaxation would be at my house, reading my books and magazines on my iPad or playing a solo TTRPG with an ice-cold carajillo or rompope cup in hand, with Portishead, Massive Attack or Nortec Collective playing in the background, during those late summer/early-mid fall months here in Mexico City in which you can hang in the garden, balcony or whatever, and the weather is just warm enough to make you feel cozy, while a breeze of fresh cold air hits you now and then, feeling the best of both worlds.
For me it was RESIDENT EVIL: Code Veronica.
My dad bought a Dreamcast in early 2001. I was 7 years old and long story short, he also bought Code Veronica and Maken X which both were the fuel of my nightmares back then. My English proficiency was barely enough to understand the menus and such, but I couldn’t follow the story. I could never get past the first cabin and all I remembered were the burning, pale zombies, twitching on the ground.
Years later in my teens, I bought it when it was released for PS3 and I couldn’t get past the first half hour of gameplay due to extreme boredom. I thought it took itself too seriously and was super mediocre.
Now, at almost 30, I downloaded it for my iPad and I’m having a blast. It’s not serious or boring AT ALL… all the contrary; it’s the goofiest, corniest RE game I’ve ever played and that’s saying a lot considering "Master of Unlocking”, “Jill Sandwich” and “boulder punching Chris” are a thing. Granted, it has a ton of annoying backtracking, but once you get to the dialogue bits, the cringyness makes all the backtracking worth it.
It’s super easy and comfortable, actually. The only thing that might bother me a little is iPadOS, which has been a little buggy lately. Otherwise, 13 inches of screen and storage isn’t an issue at all.
The screen is not small IMO. If it is for you, you can hook it up to an external display via USB-C to USB-C/HDMI or wirelessly via Airplay and basically turn it into a laptop/desktop with all the bells and whistles like external sound cards, keyboards, mice, external displays, MIDI instruments, microphones, HDDs/SSDs, etc.
I went for the 256 GB model which always has 100+GB of free storage because I always archive the finished projects onto either cloud or my own server, and delete them from my PC/iPad. Storage has never been an issue for me for as long as I can remember, but the iPads go up to 2 TB of internal memory.
I think that my only frustration with this thing is that it has the same hardware as the iMac/MacBook, and only because of the OS I can’t install desktop programs on it. In your case, what part of a full-blown OS would you miss if you were to use an iPad to edit photos?
iPad Pro.
First Apple product I’ve purchased since the 2005 iPod Video. It does live to its hype for publicists/designers: Ridiculously powerful/optimized device for its form factor, P3 color calibrated 120Hz display covered by laminated glass, and with the support of software like Nomad Sculpt, Affinity Photo/Designer/Publisher, Procreate, DaVinci Resolve, Pro Tools and Final Cut Pro.
I think the only thing we’re missing is a hard-surface modeling package like Blender, and actually usable IDEs like JetBrains Rider, but this thing which is the size and weight of a magazine is already an amazing professional toolbox.
By not having a backlog in the first place.
I do have thousands of games on my library, but it’s a library. I only pick up the game I’m having an exact itch for, and I put them on hold until I get the itch again, exactly like I do with music albums.
No pressure, no rushing. I can recommend every single game from my library from firsthand experience because I’ve enjoyed every single second of my time playing them.
Every year I do a playthrough of F.E.A.R., the first 4 THPS games, and Silent Hill 1 and 4!