Words On Wednesday

“ Hitman: Absolution ” is a stealth game released on the most platforms in 2012. With a name like "Hitman," it's pretty clear what the game entails: you kill targets in creative ways and escape (ideally) undetected. As the fifth game in the franchise, one might expect the game to be immediately in line with its predecessors, but Absolution makes some polarizing changes to the Hitman formula. Story -2/10 I really hate to give such a low score, especially when previous Hitman games didn't really *have* much of a story, but it's just so heavy handed. To quote Family Guy, "it insists upon itself." The prequels didn't NEED a story. Give me a target and let me kill them however I can: gunshot, poison, or perhaps drop a chandelier on their head. Absolution has fairly lengthy cinematics before and after each mission, and they just feel forced and unnecessary. There's this big plot about a young girl and "The Agency," but I just don't care. ...

I've covered a lot of branded beer and spirits lately, but I wanted to try something new. I want to feature one cocktail per month; something seasonal or somehow themed around that month. For September, it had to be apple. Apple picking is a regular thing for my family. We go up to Sky Top Orchard each year to pick far more apples than we will eat, gorge on apple cider donuts, and pick up a jug of apple cider to take home with us. I've even discussed their  hard apple cider  before, and it's fine, but the non-alcoholic fresh apple cider is just amazing. When the idea for monthly cocktails occurred to me, September was an easy one because I knew it HAD to include apple cider somehow. Problem is, most of the cocktails I make are admittedly very low effort. A craft ice sphere in a mason jar, a shot or two of liquor, fill it the rest of the way up with some sort of mixer. Apple cider and liquor is great, don't get me wrong, but it's rather underwhelming. What could I do...

I've often heard "there's no free lunch" referring to the idea that free things often come with an unexpected cost elsewhere and I think the same theory applies with video games. Especially with my recent shift to more PC gaming, I'm seeing how "no free games" looks different between consoles and PC. Nearly a decade ago, I wrote a post detailing the advantages and disadvantages of console gaming vs PC gaming. One of my biggest points was the availability of free games from the public library, as well as the ability to share games with friends. Now that I have more experience with PC gaming, and especially with the recent industry trend away from physical games in the form of key cards and consoles without disc drives , I wanted to revisit that idea. Specifically, how "free" games work on both PC and console. My original point on the free availability of library games still stands, but I do want to hedge that a bit for the sake of transparency...

After a sequence of self-improvement and management books, I wanted a breather book; something that didn't take a lot of thought or attention to process, and ESPECIALLY something that didn't require input or response from me. I didn't really want to jump into a new series that would require me to continue with another few books for the full picture. In fact, I didn't want fiction at all. I looked into my library's catalogue of audiobooks for titles related to video games, just as a starting point. "Blood, Sweat, and Pixels" came up, and it seemed to fit all those conditions. The general formula of the book is that each chapter picks a video game, most of which are extremely well known and had significant market presence, and talk through some of the struggles the team went through during the planning and development process. On the tail end of the process, it's easy to think that creators KNEW what a success their game would be from beginning to end. H...

The best selling video game of all time got another sale: me. I mostly avoided the first wave of Minecraft popularity after it came out. I played a bit of some online hosted version around 2011-2012. After that, I played the PS4 version that I checked out from the public library around November 2016. Beyond that? Minecraft was basically just that game that everyone else plays. It seemed fine, but it never pulled me in. That changed when my kids watched A Minecraft Movie (2025). They watched it first at a friend's house, then again when our local library hosted a showing of the audience participation version. They were throwing popcorn and screaming when the chicken jockey popped up, but I just dismissed it as kids being kids. On the way home after the movie, my oldest asked if we could get Minecraft. My youngest had already played it some from our family library on Android . I figured we could pick up the PC release and play it together. In particular, I wanted to see if I could ...

I'm not a weeb , but I think everybody should keep a bottle of sake on hand. Name: Sake Gekkeikan Source: Gekkeikan Style: Sake ABV: "15% to 16%" Price: $5.99 Volume: 750ml Price per oz: $0.24 Sake is a very... specific drink, for lack of a better term. I'm not opening up the liquor cabinet and arbitrarily landing on sake. And honestly, I don't ever get a craving out of the blue for sake. However, if I'm at a ramen shop? Sake hits the spot. Getting hibachi with the family? Sake would be great right now. It is very much associated specifically with Japanese cuisine for me. Truthfully, I don't even really like sake all that much. As a rice wine, it sits with most other wine in my opinion: below most beer and FAR below most distilled spirits. I couldn't tell you why, but wine isn't really my bag. But something about the combination of sake AND Japanese food is just appropriate. I listed $5.99 for a fifth because that's what Total Wine had availab...

Leaks are starting to come out about the Steam Deck 2, but there are also theories about a potential home console running SteamOS. As much as this was tried in a similar way in 2015 with the Steam Machines , I think now is a perfect time to give it another shot with the widespread adoption of SteamOS and the compatibility that Proton offers. I love my Steam Deck . I maintain that it is probably the best gaming-related purchase that I've ever made. It is the most powerful gaming hardware that I own, and I have played SO many games since I bought it. It's just an incredible device and an EASY recommend for anyone who wants to get into PC gaming. I bought the Steam Deck KNOWING that it was slightly outdated. When I bought my 512 GB Steam Deck LCD, it was already three years old. That's ancient in computing hardware. A lot of people recommended getting another PC handheld, either a Windows machine or another SteamOS device, with better specs and newer hardware. That was an opt...

I've been going through manager training at work and for our next training session, we were asked to read 1 book from a list of options prepare three takeaways. I ended up reading "The First 90 Days," and it seemed like the best way to really internalize the content would be to write a book report about it. The list was standard fare management topics from well-known authors. Any one would have been adequate, and I could probably even have suggested " The Five Dysfunctions of a Team " or " Extreme Ownership " if I didn't want to read a new book, but I figured it would be more true to the spirit of the assignment to read something unfamiliar to me and try to gain new skills and understanding. From Bud to Boss: Secrets to a Successful Transition to Remarkable Leadership – Kevin Eikenberry The First Time Manager – Jim McCormick Leadership is Language: The Hidden Power of What You Say and What You Don’t – L. David Marquet Primed to Perform: How to Buil...

“ Axiom Verge ” is a Metroidvania released on the most platforms in 2015. Frequently listed on the best Metroidvania games ever, and especially lists of those released this century, it certainly has a following among indie fans and more mainstream gamers alike. I love a good Metroidvania and I was looking for something short to play after finishing Oblivion Remastered and Wind Waker HD . The last Metroidvania I played was Astalon: Tears of the Earth , and I really enjoyed it. Maybe it was worth checking out a few more of these indie favorites on Steam. Axiom Verge was on sale for $3.99 at 80% off. I figured at such a low price for such a well-received game, it was worth a shot. It's very clear from the beginning that Axiom Verge is a love letter to the original Metroid and other games of the era. Even beyond retro graphics and gameplay loop, there are references that most people would only get if they physically played a Metroid cartridge on original hardware. In particular, the ...