Disposable Media

Art, Music, Games, Life

You are here: Home / Archives for Reviews

An early look at The Upbeats’ Gamma Ray EP

By Leave a Comment

As regular visitors to Disposable Media will know, I enjoy a lot of the newer music released by The Upbeats – the De-Evolution trilogy had plenty of standouts, and Punks also featured some catchy tunes – so when I found that another new EP was on the way, I couldn’t have clicked the stream links any faster. The new Gamma Ray EP from The Upbeats isn’t being released for purchase until later this week, but the three new tracks have been made available to stream on various services. I’ve been tracking news of the EP for a little while, as the three tracks were drip-fed on places like UKF Drum and Bass’ Youtube channel (“Gamma Ray”), Insomniac Events’ SoundCloud (“Necking”) and Critical Music’s own SoundCloud (“Trauma”.) Of course, this is a smaller selection of tracks than we’ve seen on earlier EPs, but each one is definitely worth listening to and helps to make up a satisfying whole.

The squishy FX found in the Gamma Ray EP

The title track “Gamma Ray” is a collaboration between The Upbeats and Rockwell, and it begins with catchy beats, squishy FX, excellent build-ups and simple but effective bass noise. It’s not the most extreme track but it definitely has a catchy beat, and the weird “Gamma Ray” vocal sample segments the track well. As you’d imagine, there’s an excellent descent into near-silence towards the middle of the track, lingering just long enough before the build-up brings you back into the rhythm. Generally it’s a pretty safe and inoffensive track that nevertheless provides great BGM when you’re drafting WordPress articles.

Gamma Ray EP

Effective bass noise in the Gamma Ray EP

The Gamma Ray EP follows up from this opener with “Necking” – a track with similar pacing and structure to Gamma Ray but less intense FX. Opening with a creepy intro that distorts a vocal sample asking “Why are you like this?”, it’s not long before the beat is slipped into the mix and the synthy effects build up to the main event. The “melody” of the bassy noise is less aggressive and gritty than that found in the EP’s opening track, but it’s equally as effective when it comes to establishing a potent combination with the beats, complex fills and escalations. That vocal sample never really makes much of a reappearance after its introduction at the beginning of the track – not necessarily a bad thing when you think about repetitive sampling in drum and bass – but by the time Necking finds its groove you won’t even mind.

Gamma Ray EP

The Gamma Ray EP – subdued, but effective

In fact, Necking goes really well with the final track “Trauma” – both tunes providing tight beats, trippy sounds and enough variety to keep the tracks interesting. Admittedly, none of the bassy hooks on the Gamma Ray EP are anywhere near as catchy or in-your-face as something like “Elevator” (from the De-Evolution part I EP) or “De-Evolution” (from De-Evolution part III), so if you’re looking for a track that leaves a similar impression you may come away from the EP feeling a little disappointed. However, the Gamma Ray EP shows how The Upbeats continue to experiment and refine the way they structure and layer their tunes, and how they deliver rhythms that are effective without being a mess of noise and confusion. I don’t know how many of the EP’s tracks will make it into my phone’s music library once Gamma Ray is released – again, I prefer the tracks that are keener to make a strong first impression – but they would fit well into the kind of enormous drum and bass mix you’d listen to in order to survive those long train journeys, or the mixes you use as a means to worm new tunes into the subconscious of your colleagues.

The Gamma Ray EP will be released on Friday 3rd August. See Critical Music’s page for more information.

The new SF 30th lobbies are the best bit of the collection’s update

By Leave a Comment

It’s fair to say that the SF 30th lobbies turned out to be one of the biggest disappointments when I first tried Capcom’s most recent collection of fightjng games. You can talk about how the product is just a lazy collection of roms with a few token extras, how the museum could have had more content, how the display filters seem limited, and so on… but online play has the potential to inject new life into those old classics. That potential, however, was not shown in the initial release – attempting to set up SF 30th lobbies on launch day only resulted in a bizarre situation where the game would never register your opponent readying up at the lobby – and when your opponent had the same issue on their end, it led to some amusing exchanges. Happily, a patch was released this week that addressed the SF 30th lobbies (as well as fixing sound issues in the SFIII games, adding a connection-based matchmaking filter and banning Akuma from ranked Super Turbo games), and I was able to play a few games of Street Fighter II recently.

(Note: as I was joining a friend’s lobby I didn’t check to see if the previous issues with filtering by game were resolved, but the next day I tested some filtered searches myself and they still seem as bizarre as before, with search results ignoring the deselections you make – once again, if you only tick Super Turbo in the filter, you’ll see lobbies that only host Super Turbo, lobbies that host ST and Hyper Fighting, lobbies with all four games available, etc. So this is still a curious oversight.)

SF 30th lobbies – the stutter

SF 30th lobbies
Embarrassingly, the biggest issue I faced during my matches was probably a result of my own connection – I noticed a few momentary split-second pauses in a few matches as the netcode and my own connection tried their best to keep up with the action. These micro-pauses weren’t really an issue with a game as slow as Street Fighter II, but I think they may have had a worse impact if we were playing Street Fighter Alpha 3 or Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike. Like I said, I’m willing to take part of the blame here as I don’t know how much other network activity might have been going on at the time, but in casual friendly games where I don’t care about frame-perfect actions I think that these momentary stutters can be overlooked a little.

SF 30th lobbies – the spectators

SF 30th lobbies
When not in the middle of a match, waiting players can pass time in one of two ways. If they hit the Spectate button before the next match is underway, they can spectate the next match in the way we’ve become used to in SFIV, SFV and SFIII 3rd Strike Online Edition. If they don’t push the button, the lobby’s player list updates to show not only the active combatants, but also a crude graphical representation of their lifebars, a basic indication of round wins and the characters selected by the players. It’s a cute way to keep the spectating player engaged in the lobby activity even if they missed the button prompt, but it probably would have been better to assume players would want to spectate, and instead offer a button press if players want those basic lifebar and round win indicators. (As an aside, I didn’t look into voice chat that much, but I would assume it’s perfectly fine to use something like PSN’s Party feature – making sure that you have a headset that slots into your fighting game controller or a USB port, of course!)

SF 30th lobbies – getting there

SF 30th lobbies
Like a lot of aspects of the collection, online play doesn’t feel revelatory but at the same time you can still play it without wishing you were in the middle of another Fighter with seemingly solid netcode. Online play in this game is neither flawless nor a disaster, but it is “good enough” and perhaps makes up for the lack of substance elsewhere in the collection. I still have to give the other online-enabled games more lobby time, but if you’re keen on killing a few hours with online friends, SF 30th lobbies might tick that box for you.

Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection is available now for PS4, Switch, Xbox One and PC.

Innokin Pocketbox Review

By Leave a Comment

I’ve been vaping for quite a while now, and largely I’ve been happy with my existing kit, like my Aspire Zelos. But there are new vape kits coming to the market all the time. So when the nice people at e-cigarette Direct got in touch to offer me a review product, I jumped at the chance. And that’s why you’re now reading this Innokin Pocketbox review.

The Innokin intrigued me for a few reasons. It’s an all-in-one (AIO) device which are becoming increasingly popular. But coming from a well-established brand, it offers more power than most of the similarly small kits. And it also comes ready to use as a Direct-to-Lung (DTL) device. Until now, I’ve mainly stuck with Mouth-to-Lung setups, which are the most similar to the technique you would use to smoke a normal cigarette. Whereas DTL is a quick inhale and exhale, producing bigger clouds and potentially releasing more flavour.

And finally it’s also an incredibly cost-effective option, so it makes vaping, and particularly DTL vaping, that bit more accessible.

 

The Innokin Pocketbox Review

The Innokin Pocketbox comes in at just £25.99, and has a weight of around 150 grammes. But it’s no lightweight when it comes to the vaping experience. The packaging is nicely put together and comes with everything you need aside from e-liquid. And it’s easy to get everything unpacked and skim through the quick start guide. As an all-in-one device with a coil on the bottom of the tank, it’s very easy to get started.

Innokin Pocketbox Review Box Open

The build quality is great and feels nice and solid. The carbon fibre effect stickers are covered by the shell of the Innokin Pocketbox, so they shouldn’t fold up and peel off with use. Unscrewing the tank is nice and easy, and the threads feel solid enough to put up with plenty of use. And there’s a rubber coated fire button on the top of the device which feels reliable and fairly satisfying to use. So it’s an attractive unit, which is important when it’s about simplicity and ease-of-use rather than looking like a home-made Steampunk creation.

The biggest shock is realising exactly how tiny the Innokin Pocketbox is.

Innokin Pocketbox Review Box Contents

Innokin Pocketbox Kit Contents:

Inside the box, you’ll find everything neatly packed away:

  • 1 Innokin Pocketbox
  • 1 DTL Coil 0.35 ohm
  • 1 Micro USB Charge Cable
  • 1 Quick Start Guide
  • And some spare rubber which isn’t listed but always handy to have.

The quick start is easy:

  • Unscrew the top/cap and remove
  • Screw coil into the housing
  • No need to prime the coil
  • Fill e-liquid to max fill line
  • Replace top cap finger tight
  • Leave it to sit for 5-10 minutes to soak the coil
  • X3 clicks of the fire button to turn on and off
  • Hit fire button to vape
  • Battery level LED: Green, Yellow, Red when the battery is getting low.

 

Using the Innokin Pocketbox:

The Innokin Pocketbox itself is roughly 4.8cm long, 5cm high excluding the tank, and around 2.5cm wide, according to my slightly wonky tape measuring. Including the tank only takes it up to 7.5cm high. That compares with about 13-14 cm for the likes of the Aspire Nautilus, ELeaf iStick and other similarly taller designs, which makes it a lot easier to slip into a coat pocket, or hide in the palm of your hand.

What this does mean is that the fire button takes a slightly different technique. I’ve got relatively small hands, but even I found it hard to comfortable vape using my thumb on the fire button. Instead, using my thumb and second finger to hold the device allows me to comfortably use my first finger to trigger it.

Innokin Pocketbox Review In Hand

Is it worth adapting? I’d definitely say yes, based on my experience. It’s a little strange that an AIO device at a low price point comes with only a Direct-to-Lung 0.35 ohm coil as standard (rated for 20-40W). But it works incredibly well for creating surprisingly large clouds from such a small device. I’ve tried a few different DTL devices borrowed from friends and in local shops, and in terms of vapour output, it definitely outperforms for the size of it.

Using 50/50 VG/PG juices I’m familiar with, like IVGs Pineappple Blast and Blackberg, it delivered a decent amount of flavour. Certainly for the type of device it is, the Pocketbox definitely worked well. The dual airflow holes are easily turned to reduce the amount of air and increase the flavour a bit if you like, but honestly I didn’t feel the need as I like things pretty airy anyway. Switching to 70/30 or 80/20 would have been more appropriate for DTL vaping, but I wanted to mainly compare to the MTL experience I’m used to. But I did also check the Pocketbox will handle the thicker 70/30 without issues.

Innokin Pocketbox Review Vaping Indoors

Not necessarily the most subtle!

Charging is easy enough via your computer with the supplied USB cable for 1-2 hours. And it supports pass-through so you can vape at the same time. The internal battery is a 1200mAH for those interested. That generally lasts around 1.5-2 tanks of juice, with a bit of a drop in performance as the battery indicator turns to yellow and red. But you can’t really expect all day performance from something so small and discrete to carry around.

So far so good. Being a DTL kit, you will get through a tank of liquid relatively quickly. And refilling is simple, by just unscrewing the top, dropping your liquid in to the Max Fill line and doing the top back up.

Refilling is probably the biggest Achilles heel for the Innokin Pocketbox. It’s simple enough to do, but having a black max fill line on a dark background means it’s really easy to go over. And there’s not a lot of leeway before reinserting the coil inevitably causes liquid to leak around the top of the tank. Obviously if you go a lot over, that’s a lot of potentially wasted juice down the sides of the Pocketbox.

You get used to it over time, and learn to keep some tissue handy. But It’s much easier to keep overfilling than with other tank designs, and has happened to me far more than with other kits.

Sadly the Pocketbox only comes with the one DTL coil. So I can’t compare it to my MTL kits, beside a few puffs with the airholes almost closed. And it’s just about usable in that way, but it would have been good to have an MTL coil included, particularly as that’s often the style chosen by beginner vapers who smoked before switching. Which is exactly the sort of market the Innokin Pocketbox seems ideal for.

It’s also slightly harder to find replacement coils for the Pocketbox than for more establish tank set-ups. So you’ll probably need to order replacements online from somewhere like e-cigarette Direct, with a five pack costing you £9.99 – comparable to other vaping kits and coils.

 

Innokin Pocketbox Review – The Conclusion:

I’ve been really impressed by the Innokin Pocketbox, as this review probably shows. Having been tempted to switch to more Direct-to-Lung vaping, I wanted to be able to try it without investing lots of money. And it does that job perfectly. It’s simple, easy-to-use, and immediately went into daily rotation at home alongside my Aspire and Eleaf kits.

The build quality is also great for the price and I’ve had no problems with it besides overfilling. And that’s really the only flaw. You’re going to get through liquid pretty quickly, especially if you’re out and about. And refilling pretty much guarantees some spillage if you’re not in good light and very careful. So while it’s great to fit into a pocket, purse or handbag for a night out, you’re probably also going to need to pack a fair bit of kitchen roll. And you might not make it all the way through the night before needing a recharge.

Innokin Pocketbox Review Being Used

Would I recommend the Innokin Pocketbox? Definitely if you’re mainly vaping at home, and you’re either looking to try Direct to Lung vaping as a new vaper or after using MTL for a while. And also as a back-up, spare or alternative to have when your main kit is out of action or with an alternate flavour. I’ve always run two kits with different flavours at the same time, which really helps minimise getting bored or having issues if there’s a problem with one of my kits. And for £25.99, the Innokin Pocketbox is great to have around to play with some DTL flavours.

 

 

Disclosure: The Innokin Pocketbox and 3 eliquid samples were supplied for review by e-cigarettes Direct. No payment or editorial input was supplied and our review is based entirely on our honest opinions of the product.

House of Feasts Restaurant Review

By Leave a Comment

When you think of gastronomic destinations, Peterborough might not be the first place that springs to mind. For a city of around 200,000 people, the choices have always been a little limited. But that’s changed over recent years with a number of new restaurants opening. One of the most notable has been House of Feasts, which began offering European and Polish rustic fine dining in June, 2017.

It’s actually located in Eye Green, which is a short 10 minute drive from the city centre. And noted chef Damian Wawrzyniak recently invited a group of bloggers and journalists to sample a new 12 course tasting menu to demonstrate why it’s definitely worth the journey.

House of Feasts Smalec & Sourdough Bread & Pickles

House of Feasts Smalec & Sourdough Bread & Pickles

Damian has a comprehensive pedigree as a chef. He’s been voted a UK Top 10 Food Pioneer by BBC Good Food, appeared on the BBC Mary Berry Easter Feast programme, gained experience at the world-renowned NOMA, and was a Head Chef at the London 2012 Olympics. And he’s also recently become the first chef to be awarded the Polish Knights Cross, a prestigious award equivalent to an OBE in the UK. He also cooked for Prince William and Kate Middleton during a Royal visit to Poland, including the traditional Polish Smalec pictured above.

But despite his accolades, House of Feasts mixes tasting menus including the ‘Feast 5’ and ‘Feast 7’ with more affordable set menus and roasts from £18 per person for two courses, and outdoor events including hog roasts and barbecues. And the vast majority of ingredients come from nearby East Anglian suppliers, including Damian’s own garden on some occasions.

 

The House Of Feasts: ‘Feasts 12’

The menu for my visit actually consisted of 13 courses. And that certainly wasn’t unlucky as it allowed the dishes to cover a wide range of British and Polish influences. Obviously it was a considered selection, which encompassed a variety of meat, fish and vegetable delicacies in a way which allowed the meal to flow from one combination to the next.

And it started strong, with an Aged Beef Tartare, accompanied by a cured egg yolk and pickles. If House of Feasts occupies a light, airy and pleasant former pub location, the food delivered the impact you might be needing. The beef was perfect, and the dish was lifted by the sharpness of the pickles to be the perfect starter for me. In fact, I could have quite happily eaten 12 more portions and not tired of it.

House of Feasts Aged Beef Tartare

House of Feasts Aged Beef Tartare

The tartare was followed by the Smalec, which is a traditional Polish pork lard spread. The House of Feasts interpretation is made from three cuts of British Pork with apple, herbs and in-house made pancetta. Plus a choice of Sourdough bread, charcoal bread, and pickles.

Charcoal then reappeared as a Tuile de Pan, alongside a beetroot puree and lemon pear to accompany another of the highlights of the Feast menu, which was a Cured Herring. I’ve tried various cured and pickled herring dishes in various trips to Europe, and this was certainly one of the best. Delicately balanced, moreish, and just delicious.

House of Feasts Cured Herring

House of Feasts Cured Herring

Next up was the visually impressive Leek Tree in tempura, with a light cream and smoked cheese. Served on hot coals, it provided a break before the double act of Beetroot Cured Salmon, followed by a particularly nice Sea Bass with fermented asparagus and lovage leaves. If the salmon was another delicate fish dish with leek ash and star anise cured beetroot, the sea bass was perhaps even better.

It was time to move towards the meatier end of the menu, via a Potato Cottage Cheese and Ash dish with spinach and potato ash to lift what might have otherwise been a little too plain, even as a palate cleanser and respite. And with hindsight, it was a good break in the menu before we were served a deliver Short Rib of Beef with preserved elderberries and cured carrot, a wonderful Lamb with preserved nettles from Damian’s own garden and a lamb jus, and a Brined and Slow Cooked Pork Belly with Pickled Tindora. In the midst of this meat trio, there was an unusual vegetable dish with ‘All about Parsnip’ involving lemon preserved, honey cured, and pickled examples of a generally overlooked vegetable.

House of Feasts Short Rib of Beef

House of Feasts Short Rib of Beef

Just about the only criticisms of the entire meal came with a perhaps slightly underdone example in my trio of parsnips, and a pork belly which was perhaps a tiny bit over. Which meant both dishes were only good, rather than amazing. But when it’s up against the sublime Beef Tartare, Cured Herring, Sea Bass and the extremely tender and tasty Lamb, it’s hard to keep perspective about any dish which is good but not great.

Finally came the desserts and two more highs. First was a Faworki Mille Fuille. The combination of the French pastry slice with deep-fried Polish pastry worked brilliantly. It’s possible to order home-made sourdough bread for collection from the House of Feasts online shop, but I could quite happily order a box of the Faworki Mille Fuille and finished them before I finished the 10-minute drive home.

House of Feasts Faworki Mille Fuille

House of Feasts Faworki Mille Fuille

The final of the 13 courses was an aerated chocolate mousse which rounded everything off nicely. And it’s fair to say that after so many delicious plates of food, it was almost a struggle to finish the final spoonful. Although I probably could have been tempted by just one more plate of tartare or another mille fuille.

The House of Feasts Tasting Menus are available on selected dates, and start from £48 for a five dish selection accompanied with Amuse Bouche. Normally, you can choose from the A’La Carte Menu from Wednesday to Saturday, and the Sunday Roast, along with the special events offering a more set menu at a lower price. It’s certainly something I’d recommend as a treat for anyone with an interest in amazing food and casual fine dining. Damian has also opened a similarly modern Polish-influenced restaurant named Jan in Clapham, London, so it’s proof that you don’t need to travel to the capital from Peterborough any more to experience extremely high quality food from an accomplished and renowned chef. You don’t even need to drive down to Cambridge. Instead you just need to take a trip out to Eye Green. And if you’re not from the area, it’s more than worth making a detour and a stop-over for.

 

House of Feasts is located at 41 Crowland Road, Eye Green, Peterborough, PE6 7TP. Find out more and make a reservation, book a wedding or BBQ, or purchase from the shop on the House of Feasts website.

Disclosure: The above meal and drinks were provided to us for the purposes of unbiased and independent coverage.

Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection review

By Leave a Comment

Never underestimate the strength of “convenience” as a selling point. A new compilation of games from your favourite series has been released – that’s great! Oh, but what about when you move on to the new generation of hardware, or when more games from the series have been released? You’d better make sure that you pick up the next compilation as well. And so it goes on. I’m bringing this up because when I saw the amount of games listed as part of the Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection, I felt relieved that I didn’t have to dust off my Xbox 360 to play 3rd Strike or the SFII series – similarly, I thought it would be nice not to be left digging out the PS2 every time I wanted to play the SF Alpha games on the Anthology. And sure, there’s nothing on this collection that you couldn’t emulate on PC, but even that would involve BIOS hunting, controller configuration, hooking the PC up to the TV and more bits and pieces that feel… well, inconvenient. Let’s take a closer look at those listed games – the Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection has the original Street Fighter (itself something that I haven’t seen since maybe the Capcom Classics compilations on PSP), all major SFII games (with the exception of the Switch-exclusive Ultra SFII), all three SF Alpha games and all three SFIII games. It’s the most generous and convenient collection of Street Fighter games I’ve seen in a while, and you can play it on the same system you use for SFIV and SFV matches. Well, if you own a PS4 or PC.

Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection – curious lobbies

Street Fighter 30th

Unfortunately, some people may be disappointed if the best thing to say about the Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection is “well, all of the games are there”. Training modes are stuck in the past as you practice against a dummy – there are no trial modes or combo examples that help you learn. Online lobbies are a welcome feature, but searching is unusual – first, you toggle the games you wish to find lobbies for, and then it shows results based on those toggles. You’d think this would be useful if you’re never going to play Alpha 3, but instead the results ignore the games you’ve deselected. If you just want to play 3rd Strike, you’ll see results for purely 3S lobbies, but also lobbies for combinations of games that include 3S. I’m not too bothered because most of my online play will probably come from invites to private lobbies from friends, but it’s still peculiar.

There’s also a Museum segment with a series timeline and zoomable art, character details (including bio details and a neat sprite viewer), a “Making of SF” segment and – my favourite inclusion – a Music menu with playlists from all twelve games. There are even shuffle and repeat modes for when I want to listen to Jazzy NYC all day. The repeat function won’t go as far as making clean loops from the songs, but it’s a fun distraction.

Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection – memory lane

Street Fighter 30th

As for the games themselves? They mostly play how you remember – SF1 is still a nightmare to control, Alpha is all about daft custom combos and neglected ISMs, and 3rd Strike isn’t the labour of love that Iron Galaxy released last gen, but it’s still lots of fun. The online play seems smooth enough – I’ve had hardly any issues jumping around with my SFII Honda, getting guard crushed in Alpha or dashing through opponents with my Ibuki in 3S. After a win or loss there’s the option to rematch, but again, there aren’t the bells and whistles seen in 3rd Strike Online Edition such as visible ping or disconnect rates. Of greater concern is the weird nature of joining friends’ games – right now people are running into situations where both players will try to ready up for a match, but they can only toggle what looks like the ready status of the opponent, and even if both players try this it still looks like only one player is ready. Cue a lot of “why haven’t you hit the button” confusion until both players realise that the game can’t communicate the ready status correctly. Hopefully this gets fixed soon.

For the time being – especially in terms of local play, where a lot of my time will disappear – I’m satisfied with the Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection. Again – it’s hard to think of another Street Fighter collection that’s this generous in terms of games offered, and whilst more could have been done in terms of training/challenges, better lobby filters, more display options (there are screen size and filter toggles but they seem more like a token gesture) or even dipswitches (something I appreciated in 3S: Online Edition)… if you just want to play the games without swapping consoles or configuring emulators, it might be worth a look.

Street Fighter 30th

Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection is available now for PS4, Switch, Xbox One and PC. The official website can be found here.

Nier Automata Piano Collections – impressions

By Leave a Comment

It isn’t too much of an exaggeration to say that Nier Automata – just like Gestalt/Replicant before it – has a good soundtrack. 2017 was an excellent period for videogame music in general, whether you were getting into Persona 5’s tunes, turning up the dial whilst in the middle of Sonic Mania, or enjoying that atmospheric FFXII score all over again when playing the Zodiac Age remaster. It’s no secret that videogame soundtracks play a vital part in forging strong, lasting memories of our favourite titles, and Nier Automata excelled in this regard. From the powerful “Birth of a Wish (This Cannot Continue)” piece that plays when the androids first encounter Adam, through to the gentle track “Vague Hope” – playing as you reach one of the game’s conclusions – Nier Automata had plenty of memorable musical moments. (And that’s before we even get to the brilliant covers of songs from Gestalt and Replicant…) It helps that the game itself was captivating in its own right, with an intriguing storyline and engaging gameplay that made hours seem like minutes; however, even after I had seen the main endings, I would still listen to key pieces of music from the game. Although I’ve yet to pick up the main game soundtrack, I was interested in the announcement of the Nier Automata Piano Collections CD – a selection of tracks from the game covered by a number of musicians, all under the supervision of original composer Keiichi Okabe. I’ll admit that I was simultaneously nervous and excited to find out how well the diverse music of Nier Automata lent itself to piano compositions… however, since listening to it, I can safely say that there’s a lot to enjoy here.

Highlights from Nier Automata Piano Collections

Nier Automata Piano Collections

The Nier Automata Piano Collections CD has a selection of twelve tracks, and whist this might not seem like a big number when you consider how much music is in the main game soundtrack, I get the feeling that most of the best tunes are captured in this collection. Fittingly, the collection of tunes is bookended by Weight of the World (one of the main themes of the game) and Vague Hope (a tune you hear in one of the game’s endings); both of which are recreated as soothing, gentle melodies… although Weight of the World builds up nicely in the middle of the track, and Vague Hope toys with a slightly slower tempo at times which fits the tune’s “feel” extremely well. Elsewhere, the lonely, gentle atmosphere of the City Ruins piece is captured well (although the tune gets a little excited before it winds back down at the end), and my personal favourite piece is probably the Copied City rendition. I remember this theme being a complex and busy melody in the game (not to mention having a key piano part in there already), and hearing the piano rendition brought back memories of that moment in the game immediately.

Nier Automata Piano Collections – worth a preview

Nier Automata Piano Collections

If there are any downsides to the Nier Automata Piano Collections CD… well, you might not get as much out of it if you haven’t already played Nier Automata, although that shouldn’t come as a surprise. Also, the piano music is impressive but may feel slightly “stark” compared to the more fleshed-out pieces of music you hear in the game. As well as this, it might not be easy for everyone to get hold of – my own copy is a Japanese import, and although there are third-party sellers on Amazon UK at the time of writing, these could still be pricey. However, I believe a lot of the music is streamable on YouTube (again, at the time of writing), so track it down and – if you like what you hear – consider picking up the CD for all the high-quality tuneage you desire (and to support the people behind the collection, of course!)

Nier Automata Piano Collections is out now.

The Avalanches: Because I’m Me Remixes review

By Leave a Comment

When I covered The Avalanches’ album Wildflower in 2016, Because I’m Me was something that stood out among the 21 tracks as a catchy and upbeat piece of music, and it’s one of the tracks that I still keep in my playlists today. The main vocal hook and rap interludes complement each other well, and the melodies are rarely anything less than bright and uplifting. In truth, I would have liked to have more songs as charming as this one, but for a moment it looked like I was going to get the next best thing when an EP of Because I’m Me remixes was released in February. Unfortunately, the Because I’m Me remixes have been unavailable on most services here in the UK, and this is why I haven’t had a chance to listen to them until quite recently.

The EP of Because I’m Me remixes has a promising start

Because I'm Me Remixes

The EP of Because I’m Me remixes consists of five tracks – four remixes of Because I’m Me (by Bondax, Dâm-Funk, Black Milk and Moor Mother) and a Zero Percent remix of The Noisy Eater. Some of these run with the moods and melodies of the original, whilst others apply the vocals to much more interesting backing tracks. For instance, the opening remix by Bondax has a gentle and laid-back twist to the familiar melodies and tempos but still stays true to the spirit of the song. Rather than feeling like a lazy imitation, it provides a catchy and enjoyable complement to the original tune, and is a great way to open the EP. This is then followed by the Dâm-Funk Re-Freak remix, possibly my favourite of the Because I’m Me remixes. Instead of going for the cheery melodic vibe, this remix feels like it offers more of a slick hip-hop variation – lazy rhythms and low bass tones are joined by a neat melodic hook, and the rap verses of the track are perfectly fitting.

The EP of Because I’m Me remixes has variety

Because I'm Me Remixes

Following this, the Black Milk remix is another example of a remix with a more soothing backing track, with a smooth vocal chorus joined by a steady backbeat. It’s more of a departure from the feel of the original than Bondax’s remix, but both are successful in creating a uniquely chilled atmosphere. At this point in the EP of Because I’m Me remixes, everything has sounded nice and accessible and “safe”… however, the final remix of the song is perhaps the biggest departure of the four. The Moor Mother remix of Because I’m Me plays with slices of samples from different parts of the track, mashes and distorts things, plays things out of order and introduces uniquely bizarre effects. It’s definitely the most daring of the BIM remixes, and although it might be a bit of a shock to those who want more of the same easy-going vibes, I think that it adds to the variety of the EP.

The final track is the Noisy Eater remix by Zero Percent. I liked the raps and melody of the original track, but this remix has more of a focus on dance-y rhythms, moody beeps and even the occasional bit of beatboxing for good measure. Again, it’s very different to the original but enjoyable in its own way. As a whole, I think that the EP of Because I’m Me remixes has a little something for everybody; I personally don’t know if I’ll have the original and the Bondax remix in my library since they both go for a similar mood, but I can easily see myself adding the Dâm-Funk or Black Milk tune in a playlist somewhere. Anyway, if you liked the original track you should definitely seek out the remix EP – you might not enjoy the whole thing but there’s likely to be something in there for you.

The Geeky Chef Cook Books Review

By Leave a Comment

My main problem with cook books and recipes is motivation. I might enjoy a well-written guide to cuisine, and great photography along with it. But actually making a list, picking up ingredients and creating something rather than spending time on the computer, TV or Xbox? It turns out that there is an answer to this problem, and it’s the Geeky Chef cook books.

 

The Geeky Chef Cook Books

Until now, my only recipes tended to be a handful of tried and trusted Jamie Oliver and Nigel Slater examples, picked for simplicity. But when my girlfriend kindly bought me The Geeky Chef Cook Book and The Geeky Chef Strikes Back, she might have finally found the way to inspire a more adventurous side in the kitchen. Especially as my son has actually stopped playing video games on occasion to go through and request specific creations.

 

The Geeky Chef Cook Books Appetizers Snacks and Sides

There are several things to love about these cook books. The first is that the range of sources covers something for pretty much everyone. There are recipes from films, video games, TV, cartoons and more. And they’re all titles that most self-respecting geeks and nerds will be familiar with. Even if you’re not a particular fan of Blade Runner, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, or Calvin & Hobbes, you’ll know enough to appreciate White Dragon Noodles, Pizza Gyoza and Chocolate-Frosted Sugar Bombs.

Next up is the writing style, which you can sample at the Geeky Chef blog, along with some of the recipes from the books. Cassandra Reeder has a great informal writing style which means any geek will feel welcomed into cooking. It’s obvious that Cassandra shares the same interests as her intended readers, which means she’s able to pick out exactly what we’re most excited about when it comes to food from Harry Potter, Minecraft, Doctor Who etc.

Most of the recipes are based around fairly accessible ingredients, and are reasonably short and easy to follow. Which is good if you have a short attention span. Or need to cook for a child with a short attention span and an empty stomach. And there’s a good blend of sweet and savoury, quick and more complicated, which means most palates are covered. Plus it stops small people only going for puddings.

The Geeky Chef blog was originally started in 2008, and the time spent testing and refining each recipe shows in the results.

 

The Geeky Chef Cook Books Poe Poe Recipe Example

Finally as you can see from the random selection of pages I’ve captured, the photography is great. Pretty much every dish is captured in an appropriate themed setting by photographer Bill Milne, and there are also great illustrations by artist Denis Caron. Which makes it really fun to browse, and really easy to imagine each dish in the right setting.

It’s not often a recipe book actually makes me cry out loud. But along with favourites remembered from the likes of Firefly, I almost shed a tear when I saw a recipe for Otiks Spiced Potatoes. It took me a split second and then I was transported back to binge reading Dragonlance books as a young teenager many years ago.

 

The Geeky Chef Cook Books Wife Soup

Basically, if you’re a geek or nerd who either already cooks or wants to start, then you need these books. And if you’re looking to encourage a geeky partner into the kitchen, they need these books. And we need to find the best way to store my new and growing cookbook collection.

And if you fancy buying them from Amazon and use the following links, you won’t pay any more, but a percentage will help us fund more kitchen gadgets to test, more cookbooks to review etc…

Buy The Geeky Chef Cookbook from Amazon

Buy The Geeky Chef Strikes Back from Amazon

Dragonball FighterZ full game impressions

By Leave a Comment

It’s easy to feel lost when you first start Dragonball FighterZ. No, not lost in the numerous gameplay systems that are introduced in the tutorial, or the cast of characters that are unknown to anyone who doesn’t follow the anime (although either of those things can still happen…) In the absence of a traditional menu, one can literally feel lost in the map that you walk around in order to get to certain kiosks that allow for training, online matches, rankings and the like. When I originally played the beta I assumed that it was just a decision made to streamline the whole beta experience, and that this map would be a hub that you would first access through a traditional main menu in the full game – instead, it’s one of the first things you see after setting up your profile and selecting a server to join. It’s a little weird at first, but it’s nothing to dwell on – with the press of a button you can quickly pull up a list of locations to warp to, which may as well serve as your traditional menu, and the gameplay outside of the lobby makes you forget about the initial confusion soon enough.

Dragonball FighterZ – fully featured

Once you know your way around the map, you can appreciate the fact that Dragonball FighterZ is more of a “complete” launch than something like Street Fighter V. Yes, you need to disconnect and set up an offline lobby every time you want to do single-player stuff (or risk using them in online lobbies), and there’s a risk of lost connections, and your friends might be scattered across different lobbies (the game can automatically load you into a lobby with spaces, although if it’s not the one your friends are in you need to talk to Gate Reception at the entrance and switch)…but there’s still more to keep you occupied on day one than there was during the launch of Capcom’s game. Story and Arcade modes are here, there’s a shop where you can buy DLC or open loot boxes for cosmetic items, you can set up private matches with friends using the “Ring Match” feature… and of course you can do training, play matches locally or try your luck against strangers online. Even if you’re starting the game up and not knowing what to do first, Dragonball FighterZ offers quests that work like the excellent daily challenges introduced in SFV’s September update – for instance, the quests I had at launch asked me to try tutorials, combo challenges and ranked matches. It’s nothing new, but it’s a great way to keep players coming back and hopefully we’ll continue to see more varied challenges in the future.

Dragonball FighterZ – what’s the story?

I know that covering the single-player campaign in a 1v1 fighting game is like talking about the graphics in a rhythm-action game, but with the possibility of casual players feeling intimidated by human opposition (and the state of Street Fighter V’s story mode at launch) it deserves a mention. The story mode of Dragonball FighterZ consists of numerous “arcs” that task the player with moving around a map, fighting battles, recruiting allies and ultimately facing a boss encounter for the map. As the player continues to recruit more allies, they can add them into their team of three fighters, and after each battle you can change your team if some of your current fighters look like they need to recover. If anyone played Street Fighter EX3, they might recognise this format from the partner selection of the tag battles in EX3’s Original mode (maybe it exists in other ArcSys fighters that I haven’t played but I can’t be sure.) While the team mechanic reminds me of EX3, the map movement – where you have a limited number of “moves” and shift between connected nodes – feels more like something out of NES curio Godzilla: Monster of Monsters, and I never thought I’d be subconsciously making that comparison when playing a videogame from 2018.

Some nodes have nothing happening on them, others trigger battles against predetermined enemy individuals or teams, and there are allies on the map that you can rescue and recruit. In addition to the map movement, team management and character levelling, you can also obtain “skills” that behave like gems in Street Fighter X Tekken (another comparison I wasn’t expecting to make today) – you can use them raise attack, raise defence, obtain health regen and more. In short, there’s a lot to enjoy in the story mode, and so if you can’t keep up with the online warriors, it’s a nice way of keeping yourself occupied. Meanwhile, if you’re a fan of the anime there are enough cutscenes between battles to keep you engaged, and the initial tutorial battles help ease you into the game if you don’t play a lot of fighters.

Dragonball FighterZ – demanding but fun

I know that I covered the general gameplay feel in my beta impressions, but it’s worth reiterating – the actual matches in Dragonball FighterZ feel immediately satisfying and fun in a way that hasn’t been captured since Persona 4 Arena Ultimax. The shared gameplay options available (normal attack chains, Dragon Rush moves that are like Persona’s All-Out Attacks, Ki Blasts that act as ranged projectiles, Vanish teleports that use a meter to escape a combo) mean that even before you’ve explored the unique special moves of a character you can enjoy the abilities that are more common amongst the roster. Maybe you want to rush in with your auto-combo but someone’s keeping you away with Ki Blasts, so you air-dash to close the distance but they activate a super, but you use *your* super meter to vanish… and on it goes. The worst matches are the ones where your opponent just won’t get off you and you’ve wasted all of your meter on escaping combos; the best matches are the ones where you’re both evenly matched, keeping up with the pace and (hopefully) clawing back an overall life lead. Dragonball FighterZ is definitely harder to wrap your head around than Street Fighter because there’s so much going on and lots of gameplay mechanics that are shared between characters, but these systems open up a lot of possibilities for every player.

I can’t promise that there won’t be moments where you find yourself unable to keep up with whatever an opponent’s doing, but there’s a lot of depth to enjoy for those players who want to invest time in learning the systems… at the same time, if you’re not after ranking glory and just want to have fun with friends, it’s definitely a more flashy and dynamic experience than certain other fighting games. Nobody is ever going to criticise a game like this for being “too busy”, and the depth is there for those who want it; the more casual players can still enjoy it at their own pace, and if you hook up with likeminded players you’ll have a lot of fun. The only other hurdle for people getting into matches has been the handful of connectivity issues – it’s nothing dissimilar to the issues seen during the beta, but they don’t happen often enough to ruin the experience for players. My only hope now is that the player base grows and continues to accommodate both the experts and the newer players; confusing lobby maps and online killers aside, Dragonball FighterZ is the most entertaining game out of the “new generation” of fighters that I’ve played, and it would be a shame to see people bounce off it as a result of a shrinking playerbase that only caters for the hardcore elite. And even if I do drop it when 3rd Strike comes back, the fun matches would have made it worthwhile.

Dragonball FighterZ is available now for Xbox One, PS4 and PC.

Puzzle Fighter on iPhone – a mini-review

By 1 Comment

Puzzle Fighter on iPhone is a rare thing for me to be covering on the (web) pages of Disposable Media. I really enjoy puzzle games, I like fighting games too, but versus puzzlers are something I’ve never been too good at (you could say the same thing about me and versus fighters, but that’s something for another article…) Even so, I like the idea of pitting your block-matching dexterity against someone else and seeing who can hold out the longest and build up terrifying potential chains without unleashing them too soon and having to start over. I haven’t played many modern versus puzzlers in this format for some time, but when news of Puzzle Fighter on iPhone appeared on my feeds I thought I’d have a look. I first heard about the game coming to mobile in late August-early September, but it wasn’t released until earlier this month. The game is free and supported by in-app purchases, but you can still thrash about with other cheapskates after going through some mandatory tutorials on how to play.

Puzzle Fighter on iPhone – old man reflexes

Puzzle Fighter on iPhone

The gameplay of Puzzle Fighter on iPhone is nothing that’s too unfamiliar. Place blocks of the same colour beside one another, land orbs of the same colour onto those blocks to destroy them and deal damage to the opponent, cluster blocks together to form bigger blocks that hold more potential damage when destroyed, and know your enemy – characters have affinities which mean that you’ll want to destroy certain colours more often, depending on the matchup. Whilst the game features Ryu, Chun-Li and other Capcom favourites, you don’t need to know anything about those games as it’s really just window dressing for a block-matching versus puzzler. Personally I’m not sure if I like the super-deformed look of the characters and the simple cartoony backdrops, but you’ll barely be looking at them because the gameplay will hold your attention. That is, if you haven’t thrown your phone across the room in the mobile equivalent of a ragequit.

Yes, my old man (well 30something) reflexes can’t keep up with the kids as well as they used to, but I did manage a few wins and some very close losses. When it comes down to the wire there’s always that moment where you think about going for low-damage setups and chipping away, rather than trying to join a big bunch of blocks together, and it makes for a tense few last moments, but if you like your versus combat to be about reads and skill, you might be a bit frustrated when the game doesn’t give you the colours you need. Then again, that can be said for most versus puzzlers, so it’s not really a criticism of Puzzle Fighter on iPhone.

Puzzle Fighter on iPhone – rolling the dice

Puzzle Fighter on iPhone

However, salty defeats are the least of the game’s problems. As you’d expect, it’s supported by IAPs – including loot boxes – and it features an experience points system, so if you want to get a head start in online play you’re either going to be grinding levels or paying to roll the dice. Anyone who read my October article will know how I feel about loot boxes, and here they exist in the form of chests – there are three tiers of chest that contain coins, costumes, cards and more. This might mean that versus matches may sometimes be a battle of who has the biggest wallet, and the internet has already responded as you’d expect (just thank Christ that you didn’t have to pay for the app itself – an £11.99 price tag slapped on to something containing this many shopping and loot box options would be even more of a disgrace.)

For this reason alone, I found the novelty of Puzzle Fighter on iPhone to wear off quickly – there’s a fun game in there (albeit one that came out on PSX in the late 90s – which you can still buy on the PS Store via the HD remake) but the joy of versus puzzlers is knowing that you’re both working with the same tools and you’re not going to be at a disadvantage because there’s no downloadable extra characters. Here, you’ll start to enjoy yourself but only feel worn down by the prospect of grinding or rolling the dice to stand a chance in versus play. By all means, create ways to support your free to play game, but not to the extent that the game feels like a chore. Have cooldowns, have banner adverts, have a giant pop-up promotion that won’t go away until 30 seconds… but buying your way to victory can turn a fun premise into something that nobody wants a part of.

Join Us…


Privacy Policy

Cookie Policy