Howdy :)

Here again for a little writing update. Officially on my work holidays, and thus far have just been taking it easy, seeing friends and all the sorts.

Prompted to write this after last nights gaming session, where myself and a handful of friends hopped on the new coop game PEAK. For those unaware, PEAK is a proximity voice chat game where you have to go on an expedition and climb a series of mountains which are uniquely generated each day. It was, sensational fun. Coop proximity voice chat games are already a recipe for a good time, but goodness, the combination of climbing mechanics and the daily level design of PEAK makes for an incredibly engaging experience. It starts off silly, but can very quickly become this challenge - where the group of you feel this push to conquer that days level that you have thus far spent so long trying to master.

Group photo! A screenshot from last nights play session.

I would highly recommend anyone get into this game. For the low price of like 7 euro, this seems like something you could farm infinite fun out of.

The climbing mechanics are surprisingly intuitive as well. I've played a handful of climbing games now (they seem to be becoming a popular genre in the past few years) and this one, while simplistic, works really well with the world and item design. Oftentimes you can make a certain ascent with the right items, with energy boosting food/drink buffs, or by working together and hauling people up the last bit of the way they otherwise couldn't make.

This turns scaling the mountains of PEAK into an incredibly engaging experience. Get the right items? You can take off yourself and leave your team behind but then become isolated and cut off from comms. Make a wrong move? Or some world hazard like rain makes you slip and fall? You're now lodged in some crevice, reliant on your expedition mates to seek you out. You can head off with a group or a buddy and attempt a perilous ascent together, barely making it, then potentially watching your friend slip and fall off into the abyss, leaving you on your own to complete the mission.

I'm doing a lot of studies into affective gaming experiences at the moment, I think the combination of proximity chat and great environmental design can create these amazing, isolated experiences that no other medium quite can.

Still haven't had the time to properly return to Death Stranding 2 just yet, but in time will properly sink into it. Another game about environmental expedition no less.

PEAK stands out to me as part of a great phenomenon going on right now in the gaming scene - the coop revival if you will. Since COVID in particular, coop games have had an incredible burst in sales and popularity like they have never seen before. The rupture of proximity voice chat mechanics, as well as the advent of streaming cultures has made many of these games into new gaming experiences that are growing increasingly popular. Juniper Dev recently put out a great video about this, I'd recommend giving it a scope out as she lays it out fairly concisely, and in general makes good game dev videos to boot!

I truly cannot wait to see more games like these come out. I am in particular beyond excited for Big Walk by House Panic - the Untitled Goose Game people. It seems to tap into these new shared, affectional, explorative mechanics in a major way, and I'm pumped to try it out when it drops.

In other news, I saw the new F1 Film on Sunday - in 4DX no less, and honestly, it was a very solid film. I'm not a massive F1 viewer, but have watched from time to time and have friends much more into it than I am. That being said, it was very enjoyable, I think they did as good a job as one could in making a movie about a sport like F1. It definitely pushes the boundaries of realism, but I think does it in a way that does not overshadow the sport itself but makes use of many of its elements in I guess a more engaging way for a cinema experience. First time in 4DX too, and literally had to hold onto my seat during racing segments to not get thrown off. Water spray to simulate rain, or champagne spewing. Smoke cannons to simulate tires burning out. Fans to simulate wind amidst moments of high speed - It was an incredibly immersive experience, admittedly I feel in a way that worked exclusively for this kind of film.

That's everything from me for this week. Thanks for giving this a read!

Have yourself a good one, bye bye.

First journal post here. I usually keep my journal writings physical and private, and I will continue to do so with my more intimate thoughts and ponderings - but I figured here would be a good place to jot down more of the media related reflections I have that don't warrant full reviews or essays.

I rewatched The Social Network (2010) last night and God, talk about a film that doesn't get old. I think this is my third time seeing the film? And it's one that genuinely gets better with each and every rewatch. Phenomenal score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, who since my last watching of The Social Network, I know have worked on Challengers (2024), which I have still yet to see. Reminds me that they also did Gone Girl (2014), another Fincher classic that I have yet to return to but have been meaning to.

There's something prevalent about rewatching The Social Network around a time that such developments surrounding AI are taking place at silicon valley. Gives a bit of an insight (however fictionalized) into the workings going on there and the minds at play. What a simpler time though, when social media was a big money making experiment that was going to liberate and network the world. TSN does a good job at the very least at highlighting how scummy and manipulative social media was from the start, re: Zuckerberg's insights into the demand of exclusivity.

TSN is a film that fights for a spot in my favourites of all time upon each watch, and I feel soon I will have to allow it to slide in to my top 10 (if it hasn't already). Especially being part of a generation that was born into / lived through the conception of such social networks, I feel it really stands as a reflective piece to the sort of digital and societal shifts we have been seeing in the past two decades. The events that TSN encapsulate are ones that truly fundamentally changed the world we live in forever - its like a historical film but instead of a war to end all wars, its the publishing of a social networking site.

I feel TSN will age quite well as a film, and will one day be considered richly not just for its quality as a film, but for the moment in time it so perfectly captured - a rupture in digital sociality that would forever shift the silicon valley pipeline and the digital tech industry as a whole.

In other news, I've been playing Death Stranding 2, a game that will of course warrant its own dedicate review here at the lounge, but for now I must simply point out how fantastic it has been so far. Visually, it's one of if not the most beautiful and realistic games I have ever played. Kojima really has set an unfathomable bar with this one, and like he has promised time and time again, blurred that line between film and gaming more than it has ever been. Intently looking forward to what else that game has to offer, and to writing a more detailed review here for you all to read.

On that note, I'll leave off. It's July now, which is crazy because May feels like an eternity ago, yet June was so fleeting. Soon, summer will have flown by, so make the most of it, and make sure you do one or two things memorable!

Been considering ditching the whole months and years thing and living life by seasons going forward, thoughts?

Any who, bye bye, have a good one!