When I wrote my Disposable 2019 article in December of last year, I closed by thanking the people who have supported us; those who have taken time to read one of our articles. I suggested that together we could discover what the round-up that would be “Qazi’s Disposable 2020” had to offer, but nobody could have predicted the events of the past twelve months. It’s been a rough year for everyone, and I can only hope that we’ve helped to steer you in the direction of entertainment that can help you feel good, or at least distract you enough to help take your mind off things for a while. I’ve tried to avoid bringing the COVID-19 pandemic into too many of my articles… but in a year where many people have been advised to stay at home when possible, we’ve found much more value in our home entertainment. Consequently, the talking points in the following paragraphs held much more value for me than usual…

Qazi’s Disposable 2020 – silver screens and soundbars

In terms of the small-screen shortlist of Qazi’s Disposable 2020…well, I’ve enjoyed getting what I can out of Amazon’s Prime Video service; catching up with films that I missed first time around, or even renting newer releases. Notable mentions – I spent three weekends watching each movie from The Dark Knight Trilogy, and took a look at the spectacular Mad Max: Fury Road. I was pleasantly surprised by the Sonic The Hedgehog movie (ostensibly a “kid’s movie” but with enough light entertainment to satisfy Sega fans of all ages) and enjoyed the time-loop silliness of Live/Die/Repeat: Edge of Tomorrow. I don’t think there’s really enough in my watchlist to recommend a bunch of 2020 film releases, but I guess Sonic The Hedgehog was okay? (As a random aside, I downsized from a chaotic multi-speaker setup to a single soundbar, and it’s been surprisingly satisfying when watching films and playing games, so the minor tech updates made here have been worthwhile.)

Grooves and games

I listened to a few new music releases, but a lot of my usual favourite artists and groups have been pretty quiet, so I’ve had to broaden my range a little bit during this year. Special mentions go out to QZB and their catchy but understated D ‘n’ B tunes in the “Perspectives Vol.1” EP, Special Request’s moody melodies in their “Spectral Frequency” EP and the variety found when listening to Dom and Roland’s “Lost in the Moment”. Of course, I recently covered the new album by The Avalanches as well: “We Will Always Love You” ended up being a much more confident follow-up than Wildflower, whilst re-capturing the mood set by their debut. If I had to pick one standout for 2020, I’d recommend going and listening to the EP by QZB that I mentioned; it was a bit too slight to cover in a full article, but the rapid tempo and moody, crunchy beeps made it one of the more enjoyable releases on the Critical label.

My year in gaming was pretty modest, as I ended up indulging in a few mammoth RPGs and keeping the rest of my schedule open to other distractions. As if the offerings of Final Fantasy VII Remake, Persona 5 Royal and Yakuza: Like A Dragon weren’t enough, I also checked out Final Fantasy VI for the first time, and revisited other old games during my Twitch streaming sessions. (What was surprising was that none of these three “new” RPG releases this year – FFVII, Persona, Yakuza – blew me away in the same way that something like Nier Automata did in 2017. They’re all great games, but none of them had an earth-shattering impact that left a lasting impression. Maybe that will change when we see more of the FFVII project.) I followed the launches of the PS5 and Xbox Series S/X with interest, but held off picking any of them up this year. Put simply, I’m waiting for the games – Microsoft’s fumbling at the start of the last gen already pushed me towards the PS4, but Bloodborne, Persona 5 and the then-exclusive Nier Automata made a compelling case for the console. Nothing on Microsoft or Sony’s new consoles has really convinced me yet, but it’s still early.

Qazi’s Disposable 2020 – moving forward

Much like the aforementioned soundbar, I’m wondering how much of my technology will be refreshed in 2021. Earlier this year I was talking to people about swapping my setup of two displays for one display with more inputs – meanwhile, I’m in a situation where technically I don’t own a current-gen console anymore, with the new generation represented by the Switch, the PS5 and the Xbox Series machines. If 2021 sees us continuing to stay at home, maybe I’ll consider a new gaming box to keep me occupied, but that’s still a distant plan. What is certain, however, is that I’ll keep finding things to talk about here (after all, I’m keen to find out more about the new Nier games and NEO: TWEWY.) As ever, thanks to everyone who’s visited the site this year – please take some time to check out Dan’s Disposable 2020 round-up if you haven’t already, and we hope that you’ll stick around to see what 2021 has to offer.