nostr:npub1ly78yugcfmr9lmxwt0p66cjg39r8mrvvdhyy04xm2ykqhl9mzm6spfmcx6 Mid range projectors are pretty good for response time. High end projectors use lasers, so are excellent for gaming.

nostr:npub1c375tza6pwxwlpht0xrf9w6nksadkn50xzld36ykcklwd9l8ehsq3cyqd2 Yeah, it’s not just Internet connectivity that bugs me about smart TVs. It’s boot time. I want a dumb display.

Carrot.

I’m still debating whether or not I want to buy Baldur’s Gate III. I definitely have the specs for it, and I love what they’re doing. Any game that pisses off the gaming industry for being “too good” sounds like a game that I should be playing.

But for now, I’m playing Ember – a game that has already been in my library, and was partially inspired by the original Baldur’s Gate.

Ember was originally made for iOS, then got a release on PC. Recently, they ported it to Switch and Xbox One as well.

Because of its mobile origins, this is about as casual as this kind of RPG gets. It’s not hardcore and doesn’t require a lot of investment in terms of time.

There’s a story here about these beings of light called “embers” and the hero has to save them from going extinct.

But honestly, this is about grinding, levelling up, going on quests, and getting better abilities. You know, a typical RPG game.

The studio, N-Fusion, that made Ember is kind of hit or miss. They’ve produced a lot of shovelware, but it seems as though whenever they make something RPG-related, it’s decent enough.

I like how easy it is to do battles. If you see an enemy, you automatically attack it. And if you want to have better odds, you use your abilities – usually acquired from a weapon.

If I have to complain it’s that the map takes a super long time to traverse. I really wish there was a run button so I could zip by faster. Other than that, this is a decent game.

The graphics are serviceable. They’re not incredible, but they do their job.

It doesn’t require a demanding PC either. You need a 2.5Ghz dual core CPU, 2GB, and 4GB RAM. They say you need an Nvidia 8000 series, but let’s just say that integrated graphics on modern PCs will do just fine. I, myself, am running it on a Steam Deck, and it works without a hitch. This game was only released for Windows, but it works fine with Linux via Proton.

Again, this isn’t anywhere close to a AAA title, but it’s CAD$10.99 on Steam and GOG.This isn’t a long game, but if you’re looking for an RPG that is cheap and simple to play, this one fits the bill.

When it comes to soccer, I only follow MLS. And then, only casually. My kid likes the Whitecaps, so I take her to a few games every year.

So count me shocked to see Messi do his thing with Inter Miami. It’s bloody amazing.

Okay, let me get to another reason I keep returning to Of Carrots & Blood.

If you played Asteroids now, you will not be blown away. It’s as basic as shooters get. But you kind of had to be there to get it. Specifically, you had to have an Atari 2600, with the original joystick, played on a CRT TV.

And same with Double Dragon. There’s better beat ‘em ups out there. But you had to be there. You had to experience the zeitgeist, when that game had actual pop culture power—it even had a movie.

Now I’m 2016, I had a really awful Windows laptop. It was an HP Stream. It ran on a Celeron, with 2GB RAM and 32GB storage. This was my primary gaming PC.

Now my laptop was good enough to play Half-Life and Doom, which was nice. But I also wanted to play some new games.

Enter Steam. Of Carrots & Blood was playable on my laptop. When I plugged in my Logitech controller, it was very good. And at the time, I got this game for less than $1. It gave me lots of gameplay on a device that was never meant for gaming.

And you know what? As awful as that laptop was, it also gave me hours of fun PC gaming. For that reason, I’m grateful that Of Carrots & Blood exists.

Again, you had to be there 😊

I’ve been playing Of Carrots & Blood for nearly 7 years. I don’t know why I keep coming back to it. It’s not the most amazing game but it has a unique premise.

Of Carrots & Blood is an arena twin stick shooter. You start off as a rabbit trying to protect a carrot from hungry mutants. These mutants also want to eat you. There’s various power-ups. You can’t shoot the carrot or let the mutants eat the carrot – if the carrot’s life reaches 0%, it’s game over.

At different points of the game, you can upgrade your equipment or play as a different character. But the same stage remains the same – there’s no variation.

I wish there was more variation. As in, wouldn’t it be nice if I didn’t have to keep protecting a carrot in a forest?

But the aesthetic is nice. I tend to like pixel art. And the graphics really remind me of the 16-bit era.

Not very many people have played Of Carrots & Blood, and I doubt it will ever be regarded as a classic. But I keep trying to beat my old high score anyway.

I guess I keep coming back to it because of just how bizarre this game is. It’s one thing to kill mutants. But a rabbit protecting a carrot? Why?

I mean, if mutants want to eat a carrot, just let them. I eat carrots all the time. I don’t even think anything of it. And hell, don’t rabbits eat carrots too?

One nice thing about Of Carrots & Blood is that it requires minimal specs and can be played on most PCs. It just needs a 2.16Ghz single core CPU, 1GB RAM, and 200MB hard drive space. A controller is recommended. It’s available on Windows and Mac, though Linux requires Proton.

This game can get repetitious. But it also has charm. One nice aspect about this, almost unrelated to the game, is that there’s a vinyl shop. And if you collect enough vinyl in the game, you can go to the shop and listen to chiptunes. And the chiptunes are awesome.

That part is really nice. In some ways, I like that aspect perhaps more than the game itself. I wish other games had a vinyl shop.

The men’s final at the Australian Open has to have been the most intense badminton I’ve ever seen. 24th ranked Weng Hong Yang of China barely—and I mean barely—beat 9th ranked H.S. Prannoy of India.

nostr:npub14k23hl0c7a0ecs42wndgxg4l7w9ve03jtdlg48hvj93zdtq2cf9q3ted68 Apparently, the “real” in real tennis is a retronym.

Looked at the world squash rankings because I thought maybe the UK would dominate it. But nope, Egypt is the best country at squash.

You want to go into a weird sporting rabbit hole? Look up real tennis.

No, this isn’t tennis as we know it. It’s the original form of tennis. Hence the “real”.

It’s played indoors. And bizarrely, it features three sloping roofs.

This is what a court looks like.

One more sport that Brits dominate: lawn bowling.

nostr:npub1grkyx7g4mf5rah6t3mrnsqcsj4fthqh9wxn4t7d33y500u9p9rwqndnqea Darts is pretty popular in Canada but nobody takes it seriously.

I feel like the reason Brits dominate snooker and darts is because these are pub games.

So maybe that’s the secret to British sporting success: make it something playable in a pub.

Also, darts. Brits are the best in the world at darts. The world rankings are full of Brits.

Why they are so god damn good at darts, I don’t know.

Okay, I found one sport that Brits completely dominate. As in, no other nation is close. The UK is emphatically the best at it: snooker.

The entire world rankings are dominated by Brits.

nostr:npub1ms4k7ucnapgrejsaudmzz7spvatf5n7y43nmha3w65jf4tfhy7kqdcza2g Okay, equestrian sports are also big in the USA. For example, the Kentucky Derby.

But I got curious about polo. That was apparently invented in India and now Argentina dominates it.

I also looked at dressage. Germany and Denmark dominate that.

nostr:npub1ms4k7ucnapgrejsaudmzz7spvatf5n7y43nmha3w65jf4tfhy7kqdcza2g nostr:npub1e0sg4hfxaeu67vmpx2vfedru765lyw35yp7t4r7uhwswra3hxzsqjan6zr South Korea has a smaller land mass than the UK yet is the #1 country currently at badminton.

Ireland and New Zealand have a smaller land mass than the UK and they’re top performers at rugby.

But it’s an interesting thought.

Hypothetically question: if the best MLB team and the best NPB team squared off against each other, what would you call it?

As a name, the World Series is already taken. Would this be the Solar System Series? Or the Galactic Series?

I mean it could be worse.

At least Brits have never invented a sport, called their most prestigious event the “World Series” and never allowed international clubs (except one in Canada) to participate.