September 2016

Video Games

Some Thoughts on the Battlefield 1 Beta

The beta has ended.  B1 is now purchase only. For the past week, I’ve been playing the beta, learning as much about the ins and outs of the game as I can, and engaging in copious amounts of shenanigans.  Now, I’m asking myself the big question:  is the game worth its $60 price tag? This is a big thing for me.  I’m a huge fan of Battlefield 4.  It is one of the few games I play on a semi-regular basis while I’m doing this whole PhD thing.  The rounds are short, and the game, while extremely fun, doesn’t suck me in the way other games do, leaving me with good feelings but no pressure to play for 9 hours in a row while putting off things I should be doing as an adult critter. So, you can imagine my excitement when DICE announced Battlefield 1, set in the First World War and featuring brand new gameplay, weapons, vehicles, etc.  Equally exciting:  getting access to the open beta! Let’s dig into the pros and cons:

Rants

On Colin Kaepernick, Free Speech, and Bad Arguments

So, Colin Kaepernick. What’s the deal? Over the past week, a lot of folks have had some pretty strong opinions about Colin Kaepernick’s choice to refuse to stand for the national anthem — and his reasons for doing so. If you don’t know what’s going on, I’ll let you read a more detailed account here. My job, today, is to offer a few scattered thoughts about responses to Kaepernick’s protest. Since I don’t feel like writing a proper introduction, I’ll just get right into it: 2. He has freedom of speech, duh!

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