wipeout omega collection

Qazi’s Disposable 2018 – highlights from the year

30th December 2018 By Qazimod Leave a Comment

I’ll be honest: I wasn’t expecting a whole lot from the past twelve months in terms of new entertainment releases. Let’s not forget that 2017 delivered the sequel to my favourite JRPG with Persona 5, gave me a new Nier game, brought me new material from The Upbeats, Major Lazer and Shobaleader One… heck, we even got a decent Sonic game in Mania. With all of this in mind I kind of expected the shortlist titled “Qazi’s Disposable 2018” to provide evidence of a “filler” year – one with plenty of content to enjoy but nothing on the same scale as 2017’s output. This is why I was so pleasantly surprised with the things that I’ve been enjoying in 2018.

Qazi’s Disposable 2018 – music

If the Qazi’s Disposable 2018 shortlist was in physical form it would be full of hasty scribbles and Tipp-Ex as new things regularly edged into old lists, and nowhere was this more apparent than when I was checking out new music. There are a few albums I simply couldn’t cover on this site because I was spending too much time listening to things and not enough time talking about them, but notables outside of the website include The Pack EP by the Upbeats/Truth, Deep News by Halogenix, Collapse EP by Aphex Twin and where’s the drop? by deadmau5. Whether you like layered melodies, big beats or atmospheric wobbles, there was a lot to enjoy – however, I think the best thing I ended up reviewing was No Tourists. It marked a maturing of The Prodigy and showed that they were willing to embrace their older electronic roots when Fat of the Land came so close to discarding them. Elsewhere, The Pack EP was probably the best thing that missed a review: four compact but punchy experiences that all have their own identity and are all worth listening to.

Qazi’s Disposable 2018 – gaming

As mentioned in my intro, I didn’t think there would be a whole lot of noteworthy titles in the gaming segment when shortlisting names for Qazi’s Disposable 2018. I couldn’t be more wrong. Dragonball FighterZ started the year with a bang, boasting some of the prettiest visuals of any game I played this year and maintaining an enjoyable balance of accessibility and depth. Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition finally finished the game’s transformation from a rushed-out mess to a fully-formed fighter. PSVR continued to remind people that the right combination of game and hardware can create an experience as intoxicating as Tetris Effect or the Wipeout Omega Collection update. Oh, and Celeste propelled itself from “that thing I bought with spare PSN change” to the top of my game of the year list because the difficulty is pitched so well and it’s wrapped up in some great presentation. (In hindsight, however, I think it runs the risk of beating you over the head with its theming… and although the writing gets praised for acknowledging a minority, there are a lot of smaller narrative elements that speak to other audiences. I’d argue that the broader themes of crushing self-doubt and glimmers of self-belief – things that everyone can relate to – are every bit as valid as the examination of anxiety and the exploration of mental health.)

Qazi’s Disposable 2018 – miscellany

As for other stuff? I ended up catching up with a slowly building backlog of Blu-Rays, returned to some old favourites via Amazon Prime and the like… and I sadly had no time to watch Die Hard on Christmas Eve (however, during the holiday I somehow ended up randomly discovering old episodes of Batman: The Animated Series on Amazon Prime, which was as entertaining as it sounds.) A special mention to Rampage – the Dwayne Johnson film based on the Midway arcade game – I ended up renting this digitally before it came out on Blu-Ray, and it’s the perfect celebration of Hollywood excess and dumb videogame setups.

Tips for 2019

So what have we got to look forward to? The third season of The Grand Tour will be released, so hopefully that will maintain the stronger format of the second series… In music, Major Lazer will release the Essentials collection in physical form (and – despite there being no indication of it – I’ll personally be crossing my fingers for The Prodigy to announce “No Tourists: The Remixes” or something similar…) With regards to gaming, Sekiro will be released and everyone will pigeonhole it into pigeonholes instead of praising the game for its own ideas, we’ll finally find out what Babylon’s Fall is about (because they’ll reveal more information and it won’t just vanish into obscurity, right? Right?) Oh and maybe I’ll follow up my Persona 1 rambling with a look at P2: Innocent Sin. Don’t hold me to that though.

Thanks to anyone who’s taken the time to read our content during 2018 – leave a comment if you’d like to let us know what your highlights of 2018 were, or if there’s anything you’re looking forward to next year.

PSVR update for Wipeout Omega Collection brings the futuristic racer to headsets

28th March 2018 By Qazimod Leave a Comment

The PSVR update for Wipeout Omega Collection seems like the kind of thing that was more than 20 years in the making. We all know that when the original Wipeout launched in 1995 it defined a big part of the new generation – with its bombastic techno soundtrack, striking aesthetic and blistering speed, it didn’t just feel futuristic in terms of the in-game fiction… it felt like gaming was finally moving away from the compressed audio nightmares and awkward early 3D of the past. Sure, the game itself wasn’t free from criticism – I personally felt like it wasn’t as lively as later games and I had more difficulty with racing than I did when playing 2097 – but with its effort to deliver a striking futuristic setting, it dragged gamers into a new future as well. Sequels soon followed – my personal favourites being PS1’s 2097 and Vita’s 2048 – and with the Omega Collection, the PS4 got its very own slice of the F5000 Racing League. Today, with the PSVR update for Wipeout Omega Collection, that feeling of gaming taking another step forward is present once more, and if you have a PSVR headset and some experienced VR legs, it’s another worthwhile addition to you library of PSVR games.

The PSVR update for Wipeout Omega Collection – first steps

With a copy of the game to hand and the PSVR update for Wipeout Omega Collection downloaded and installed, getting started isn’t too difficult. Unlike the VR modes of Dirt Rally and Gran Turismo Sport, there’s not really a “VR mode” option in the main menu – instead, you can turn on your headset whilst on the PS4’s dashboard, navigate to the game, launch it, and after using the ingame menus to start a race you’ll be enjoying the PSVR update for Wipeout Omega Collection in all its glory. The only hurdle I faced was a hefty download in order to get everything patched and up-to-date, but I’m someone who heard that the PSVR update for Wipeout Omega Collection was on the way and hurried out the door to pick up the game, so I’m not surprised that a lot of downloads were necessary since I was updating the game from scratch.

The PSVR update for Wipeout Omega Collection – first impressions

I’m currently writing this on day one of the update being released and I’ve just admitted to being a bit of a newbie with Wipeout Omega Collection, but my immediate impressions are positive – the gameplay is smooth even when having to put in the processing work for VR, the visuals still look as great as they need to be when you’re moving at such speeds, and – as I mentioned at the beginning of this article, it’s easy to get the impression that PSVR and Wipeout were always meant to be. Playing a Wipeout game on a TV felt like peering into a possible future world from the safety of your sofa; trying out the PSVR update for Wipeout Omega Collection feels like that future world is right here, and you’re in that lithe metal frame inches from the ground. The limited edition copy of the game may have given a lucky handful of fans their own miniature hovering Tigron ship, but if you’re fortunate enough to have a PS4, the PSVR headset and the game, the PSVR update for Wipeout Omega Collection delivers a thrilling Wipeout experience that’s slightly easier to get hold of.

The PSVR update for Wipeout Omega Collection – a new showcase

It’s been a little while since I’ve played a game that I immediately want to show to other people so that they can share in the experience (sadly when it comes to the offline world I don’t know quite as many dedicated Persona, Nier or Street Fighter fans as I’d like.) However, if you want an instantly entertaining PSVR experience – and a solid racing game whether you’re wearing a headset or not – the PSVR update for Wipeout Omega Collection is definitely worth a look.

The PSVR update for Wipeout Omega Collection is available now.

Wipeout Omega Collection soundtrack revealed

25th May 2017 By Qazimod Leave a Comment

There’s nothing like a good gaming reveal party, and the Wipeout Omega Collection soundtrack stream was nothing like a good gaming reveal party. Okay, that might be a bit harsh, but whilst the people awkwardly dancing to electronic tunes were having a good time on stream, the online viewers had somewhat mixed experiences. To start with, there were the people tuning in to the stream expecting to see a ton of gameplay rather than a bunch of people bobbing around to music and an over-enthusiastic DJ spinning tunes – this wasn’t really billed as a gameplay reveal and the tweet announcing the stream mentioned that it was a broadcast designed to showcase the music, rather than the gameplay. This would all be okay, but the more the stream went on, the more viewers began to suspect that something was amiss –that surely the Wipeout Omega Collection soundtrack couldn’t have this many tunes in it for the game’s release. Sure enough, on the same day there was a post on the US PlayStation Blog showing what would actually be in the soundtrack for the final game – 28 tracks from Airwolf, Boys Noize, Swedish House Mafia and more… but crucially there were a few glaring omissions. The 28 tracks on the blog post show no sign of Firestarter, no Loops of Fury, no We Have Explosive, no Papua New Guinea mix… I could go on. This was a bit confusing when some of the classic tracks were played in the stream mix but aren’t on this track list. If the streamed event had no intention of showcasing the Wipeout Omega Collection soundtrack, this would be a fair misunderstanding, but the tweet from PlayStation Europe that provided a link to the stream opened with “Want to hear the #WipeoutPS4 soundtrack first?…”

Worse still, there were one or two technical hiccups during the stream itself – in particular a moment where the audio feed cut out for the people watching online, turning the event into the weirdest silent disco seen in some time (spare a thought for the unfortunates who fiddled with their audio levels and suffered for it when the audio came back louder than expected.) During the silence me and a few other viewers wondered if John Cage’s 4’33” would make it into the Wipeout Omega Collection soundtrack, but the official listing on the PlayStation Blog disproved that theory.

All is not lost, however – if you’re looking for a killer Wipeout Omega Collection soundtrack to suit your anti-gravity racing needs, there’s no harm in doing your own thing if you’re not satisfied with the selection on offer in the final game. I already know of at least one colleague who has taken to Spotify in order to create their own personalised list of Wipeout-friendly tunes, and I might end up doing the same if I find myself pining for certain tracks that aren’t in the final song selection. Whilst I was a fan of dance music before being introduced to fifth-gen gaming, Wipeout was a catalyst that helped me discover ever more impressive beats and bleeps. I was already looking forward to the game after the PSX reveal, and I’ll still try the intended Wipeout Omega Collection soundtrack to begin with (despite those omissions, the included tunes may still fit well with the gameplay) but once I tire of those 28 tracks I know I’ll have plenty of other material to help the flow of adrenaline as I slam into corners and scrape along edges with all the grace of an AG shopping trolley. If you have any favourites that you listened to when playing classic games in the Wipeout series, why not leave a comment below?

Qazi’s Disposable 2018 – music

Qazi’s Disposable 2018 – gaming

Qazi’s Disposable 2018 – miscellany

Tips for 2019

The PSVR update for Wipeout Omega Collection – first steps

The PSVR update for Wipeout Omega Collection – first impressions

The PSVR update for Wipeout Omega Collection – a new showcase

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