VIDEO GAME: Tetris Effect (2018)

by benmweilert1 Comment
Tetris Effect Year: 2018 Rating: E Time Played: ~10 hours While most virtual reality games attempt to immerse the player in an interactive environment, Tetris Effect is best played sitting completely still. Tetris is Tetris, but Tetris Effect takes this classic formula and adds just enough new mechanics to it for the entire game to feel fresh and engaging. I've played this game both on my PC and on my Oculus Quest, and I have to say that I prefer the Quest version because of how immersive it is. There are no distractions. It's just you and Tetris. Since I recently trained myself on Tetris 99, I still found some levels in Tetris Effect's story mode to be quite difficult. Of course, as a single-player game, Tetris Effect had little to offer past this story mode. That was until they added the "Connected" mode that introduced online multiplayer. The 3-versus-1 mode is some of the most innovative Tetris I've ever played. With the multiplayer aspect...
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MOVIE: The Mitchells vs. the Machines (2021)

by benmweilertNo Comments
The Mitchells vs. the MachinesYear: 2021Rating: PGLength: 113 minutes / 1.88 hours After Sony Pictures Animation released the visually stunning, Oscar-winning Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018), I awaited their next project with great interest. Eventually, they put out a trailer for a movie titled Connected, which seemed to be exactly what I was looking for. Then the pandemic hit. Netflix grabbed the rights, renamed the film, and released The Mitchells vs. the Machines (2021). Ultimately, it was a fun movie, even if it followed many tropes of the family road trip. Visually, I'm finding the new style of 3-D animated movies that look closer to the traditional 2-D animated films to be an intriguing middle ground. There are benefits from both styles, and this movie takes advantage of them. Ultimately, though, I think this kind of movie knows its demographic is millennials and does its best to pander to some of our absurd humor (like a fantastic scene with Furbies) as we...
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