The Nintendo Switch

Very recently, Nintendo revealed their new console—the Nintendo Switch—and as expected, it is a hybrid console.



What that means is it's much like an Xbox One or PS4; it's connected to your TV, it's next to your TV, you're playing on the TV…



…but if you need to go outside—or where I predict 85% of Nintendo Switch gameplay will take place—or you need to go to the bathroom…



…BOOM! It pops out! Now you're in portable mode.



You can play it by either attaching the Joy-Con controllers to the side.



You can also play with a regular standard controller.



If you want to play with a friend, you can turn the Joy-Con controllers sideways so y'all can play like this:



Not like the Wii U and the GamePad situation, you don't need to be near it to play it, you can take this on a plane—this is the console.



The games you play on a Switch will either be digitally downloaded or in cartridge form.



In the footage released, we have the new Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild being played:



Mario:



Splatoon:



Skyrim:



NBA:



Mario Kart:



The Switch is scheduled for March 2017.



As of right now, we don't know how much it would cost, or the specs. But at the very least, we know what it's powered by. According to Nvidia, the Nintendo Switch is powered by a custom Tegra processor…



…saying…



…also saying…




Here's what I'll say: I LOVE the concept! Portable gaming is better than ever thanks to Nvidia graphics cards.



I have a laptop—which crashed last Christmas—that has a GeForce 1060. I'm playing games at high or ultra settings on a laptop that weighs around 4 pounds! Now my laptop doesn't look nearly as portable as the Switch. It most likely cost way more than what the Switch will cost, but I'm all for a better, portable gaming experience.



The questions I have right now on the Switch are as follows:

•How do those graphics compare to the Xbox One and the PS4 right now?



•Also, when you pop it out into portable mode, how does the quality change? It's no longer getting direct power, it's switching to battery, does the resolution go down? Does the frame rate go down? What is the expected battery life?



•Will I destroy a Joy-Con controller because my buddy wants to play with me and all of a sudden I have to play on this tiny baby controller but I have fat fingers?



And these are just the questions I have based off of years and years of being promised certain things and how awesome stuff's going to be—in a trailer—and then things actually ship and it's a different, lesser experience, usually.



That said, I'm hopeful that it's going to be awesome and honestly, it's Nintendo! I'll end up buying it eventually 'cause I want to play the new Zelda or the classic RPG, Skyrim or NBA 2K17.

But also, to the gamers out there (whether you're hardcore or casual), does this interest you at all? What are some make or break features around this for you?



And a reminder as you're leaving your comment(s), just remember that Mario is watching.

Rockstar Releases Ravishing Red Dead Redemption 2 Trailer

As Rockstar promised, we got a first trailer for Red Dead Redemption 2. And the trailer really showed off a bunch of really awesome things that are going to be included in the game. Like trees…



…and rivers…



…and buffaloes…



…and cutscenes.



It is a really quick trailer that didn't really show off much of anything, but it looked pretty.

If you want to see the full version of the trailer, here's the link.

Grabbing Her by the Brain

Okay, focus.

This morning, for some strange reason, I stumbled upon this two weeks old headline:



This reference features actor Gregg Sulkin. He tweeted this picture with the caption:



You go to the site, it has a buy link for a twenty-one-dollar hat, and on the site you see—for the months of October and November—they're donating part of the profits to charity. Specifically, ten percent of all sales.



So, this is a little bit of a mixed bag situation. There were a good number of people that were angry about this. Some people writing:











So, firstly, I think I can (kind of) understand people getting annoyed at the idea of ten percent. You're saying that it's about empowerment, but you're only donating ten percent of the money to a charity and the rest is just profit. Talk about a brand with a message to do good. But really, it's all about that sweet-sweet much more than ten percent profit.

So I definitely understand where those people are coming from, but you also need to realize that a lot of brands do that. I mean, you can look at Apple and all those places that offer RED products. They be like: Buy this thing, you are actually helping fight AIDS—and also giving us a sweet ass profit.



Stick a minute on Google and look at how little the NFL actually does give towards breast cancer research. And that's why the charity things can be a little bit tricky. Now as far as the argument that it's a group of guys that are profiting, that's just misinformation. It's a great headline, but it's just not true.

Secondly, the “ambassadors” of this program are five people—including Gregg Sulkin. Only two of them are men…




…and the founder is actually a woman. I mean, I don't want to assume her gender, but I think that she's a lady: Elizabeth Ariosto.



And thirdly, to the ladies, does it feel disrespectful if someone calls you a female? Does it feel that much different than a woman? This is a genuine question; I'm not being sarcastic. I've asked some of the ladies in the office and the answers have been a little bit of both yes and no.

It's also an example of seeing people jump down the throat of someone because they used the word they didn't like—that originally used to be offensive. Like I remember when I was originally trying to understand the trans community, I would every now and then use the wrong pronoun and some people would just GO at me. I was like no, let's have a conversation, don't fucking kill me. But that's also understanding that I don't believe everyone is like that.

I'd just love to know what you think.

A Blast from the Past

Remember this guy?



Well, this guy is 31-year-old Carlos Rodriguez. You might remember him because his mugshot went viral back in 2012.



He was reportedly brought in for allegedly soliciting prostitution. For those of you wondering why his head looks like that, reportedly he was in a car crash, he flew through the windshield, landed on his head, they had to remove a lot of his skull and brain.



But 4 years have passed and he is now back in the news. Unfortunately, it is not for a good reason yet. Reportedly, he has been arrested for arson and attempted murder.

And there is not really much to add to that. It's just like seeing an old friend.

Phillip Klemenov Killed in Colorado Car Crash

In case it's unclear who Phillip Klemenov was, he was a professional Call of Duty player, Twitch streamer, YouTuber. Many knew him as “Phizzurp”, he was 23 years old and he died in a car crash in Colorado.



Now the reason I didn't blog about this when it happened is it didn't seem like a clean story. A local CBS report said that both speed and alcohol appear to be factors in the crash, but his girlfriend Adrianna Lemuss disputed the claim, saying:



So, for that part of the story, I want to wait until more information comes out. The last thing I want to do is cause more pain for someone.



But, the reason I'm blogging about this today is to blog about his funeral. Some people were weirded out and some people were happy that they live-streamed his funeral on his Twitch channel.



Some people have said ‘Isn't this weird and exploitive?’ and my answer to that is: No, I don't really think so. The way I see it it's just to have a connection with his fans. Especially people that are on Twitch and YouTube. And when you have that more direct connection, you have fans that feel like friends—even family. So, for those that it doesn't make sense for them to show up in person, why not give them a place to show respect online. And more specifically, his Twitch channel (really the home for their relationship).

I mean, obviously, this is on different levels, but Michael Jackson's entire funeral was televised! There were performances by people like Mariah Carey, there were people who spoke, it was a whole two and a half hour special.



So, if you didn't think it was weird for Michael Jackson, why is it weird for this guy? It's not like the live stream was sponsored, or there was something dirty in there, it was just people saying goodbye.



That's just my opinion on this, I want to know what your opinion is as well. What do you think of this story?