steeznson

Playing Hellblade 2 at the moment myself. Personally I'm fortunate not to need any of the accessibility features but I found this review to be a fascinating read.

The reviewer also compares the accessibility options to some other recent AAA releases in this reddit comment.

In terms of my opinion of the game: I've only got the Series S version so it's not the full fat graphics but even then they are stunning. I think some of the negative reviews were from people wanting it to be a different type of game, however, if you are aware it is basically a walking simulator with Punchout combat every so often then the story and world takes centre stage. The world is similar to God of War (2018) but grittier and focusing on other aspects of Scandi mythology. I think I like this world more.

Tohou Artificial Dream In Arcadia is hands down the best SMT-clone I've ever played. It's extremely cheap, got it for a fiver. Devs are regularly updating it. The gameplay is closer to SMT1/2 than anything else I've ever played. Clearly a labour of love from the devs.

EIF tickets are so much more expensive this year. They used to be cheaper seeing the opera during the festival than during the rest of the year due to subsidies from the arts councils. This year it is more than double the price! A ticket for Carmen in the upper circle with a restricted view was more than £100.

Granted, I did have a concession for being under 25 at the time, but I saw La Boheme at the festival a few years ago for £15. In some good news they've raised the concession age threshold to 30 this year but not sure how large a discount it applies.

FWIW I still think that the quality of the EIF is worth the price. Comedy shows in the Fringe can be like ~£25 these days and the quality is extremely variable. Will probably only go and see my mate's show at The Stand this year

Free Fringe can have hidden gems but I've ended up being trapped in some extremely awkward shows with 3 other audience members before. Might be a while before I spin that paeticular roulette wheel again lol.

Tuipulotu is such an asset. Great interview with him and excited to have his brother joining Edinburgh. Hope they got that supposed nonsense with Dave Cherry sorted out!

Interesting story since it's my old school. From what I've heard the headmaster can't be arsed dealing with these difficult parents anymore and is retiring.

My wife was a teacher and she believes the school made the right call since it sounds like the family were not coping with their child's needs and needed extra support.

Rumour from the school is that the child had socially transitioned but the parents were not aware of this until their other child informed them. Mother is currently campaigning on twitter and name dropping all of the teachers involved in an unpleasant manner.

One interesting angle is that this is a private school so the parents probably feel that they ought to be able to dictate exactly how the school ought to handle the situation. At the end of the day they are still a school though with a duty of care to the students. They need to follow government regulations assiduously and at the time the guidelines were clear.

Careful with this one, it's an antique

I've really enjoyed this radio4 series about internet culture and the impact that messaging apps have had on our lives/politics.

Each episode is a half hour with different themes: WhatsApp groups, Politicians using WhatsApp, Slack, Chatbots/AI, Discord leakers, Telegram in Russia.

Probably would say the first half is more UK-specific but the show does a good job of making the later episodes relevant, thought provoking.

Looks like something out of Robocop or Judge Dredd!

Ladies and gentlemen, strap yourself in for the gaming event of a lifetime. We're going to Fife!

Finally a new game for the PS5 that we can get excited about.