Bobfoc

I like the subplots, but I think you're right to say that such a widespread story wouldn't have been appealing to any television executives. As much as I enjoy reading about rather incident-free plotting in Dorne, it probably wouldn't have made for riveting viewing. Benioff and Weiss weren't even going to include Dorne in the show until they saw Indira Varma's performances in series 4, which explains why it felt so shoehorned in. On the subject of motivation, that could be a factor as well. In his 1993 plot outline, GRRM wrote that he tends to lose interest in writing novels if he knows where the plot is going to end up. The further he gets towards the climax of the story, the less scope there is to keep deviating from the end point, which might make the writing process more of a chore than a pleasure. I get the feeling that his attitude to finishing the main books is akin to that of a tired student trying to finish a tedious essay. The only difference is that GRRM's "tutor" has been granting him extensions for years.

I think the scope of GRRM's story causes him a lot of headaches. A Song of Ice and Fire was initially meant to comprise three novels, which then grew to five, and then seven, with some of them taking up more than one volume. He describes himself as a "gardener", meaning that he likes to explore all the offshoots of each subplot. That's clearly given him so many plot threads to tie up that making them all fit together without plot holes is a logistical nightmare. I fully believe that the subplots involving the likes of Euron, Victarion, Quentyn, Arianne and Griff/Young Griff were ones he came up with as he went along. His original plot outline in 1993 doesn't mention any of them. Now he's got a plethora of stories that aren't even close to being resolved, and only two books to finish them in.

I wouldn't hold out much hope. GRRM's current plan is to finish that after the last two main books and two more Dunk and Egg stories.

It's coming out on Switch next week.

It's been revealed that they're all cloud versions, so you'll need a good internet connection to play them. It's better than nothing, I suppose, but it's not a viable option for a lot of people.

It's hard to believe that they could make such an obvious error. Sony has made some baffling decisions lately.

I don't think there's a way to stop it appearing in your library. You could stop it appearing on the home screen by playing enough games that it gets pushed to the "All Software" section, but that would hinge on your son not looking there.

That's a good method too. I've used it to top up my Game Pass subscription.

The Microsoft Store is a good bet because you can use your Xbox credit to buy consoles and accessories. That's something you can't do with Nintendo or Sony at the moment. It means that you can buy vouchers below the face value and potentially make a good saving on a console.

VGC is now reporting that Konami plans to publish new games in the Castlevania, Silent Hill and Metal Gear franchises. A remake of Snake Eater was specifically mentioned.

They're all shielding their eyes from the horrors they're witnessing.

You might be interested in Eiyuden Chronicle, which is a spiritual successor to Suikoden that's being made by some of its former developers. It has a provisional 2023 release, but it's still something. Also, Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night was more or less Castlevania in all but name. While Konami might be leaving its franchises to rot, there's at least a market for other developers to put together similar sorts of games.

It seems they've been making steps towards turning it into an online casino with a football game attached for some time now. Sports games without features designed to squeeze money out of people with addictive personalities are becoming increasingly rare. Actually, that goes for games in general, not just sport-based ones.

I've tried the Good Life demo. It's like a mixture of Deadly Premonition and Postman Pat.

Has anyone here played Scarlet Nexus? I've read that the combat is fun, but the story is bad. In other Xbox-related news, The Good Life has a free demo. It will come to Game Pass on 15th October. If nothing else, it should be completely mad.

Robert Florence is presenting, which is a good choice. He's very knowledgeable about games. Still, it's hard to see where such a show fits in today's entertainment landscape. As you said, Twitch and Youtube already has a lot of the sort of content Games Master used to provide. It could be an entertaining programme, but I'm not convinced it will draw a big enough audience to last in the long term. Charlie Brooker has done a couple of one-off programmes about games, and I think those were more in line with the sort of things I'd be interested to see on television. I wish he wasn't so busy with Black Mirror these days because I miss his satirical shows.

Forza Horizon has had official partnerships with Top Gear in the past. Forza Horizon 4 had a full series of licensed Top Gear challenges, complete with narration from the presenter. In the PS2/Xbox/Gamecube era, almost every popular show had a bad game spin-off, but The Grand Tour game is a bit of an anomaly in that regard now. A couple of reviews I've looked at say that it really doesn't have enough content to justify itself as a standalone game, so maybe it would be better served as DLC for another established driving game.

The new Bond film is getting really good reviews. The trailers made it look rubbish to me. Apparently, the run time is 163 minutes.

Marvel's Avengers is coming to Game Pass on Thursday. I hear it's a bit crap, but it might be a useful way for people to try it out without spending additional money.

Roger Hunt has died. It hasn't been a good month for the 1966 team.

I finished watching Midnight Mass. I quite enjoyed it. It certainly had me thinking about things after it ended, which is usually a good sign.

It was negotiated into the contract, just as it was for the Ruiz fight. This is a much tougher prospect for AJ, though.