Does Reading Really Make You Smart?

Last year I read a book every second day. Not literally, obviously, but on average. And not quite on average. I actually read 183 books, rather than 182.5. None of them were about maths, or I’d have been more precise.

In any case, reading 183 books must have made me pretty damn intelligent, and super knowledgeable. On the contrary, I now feel dumber and more ignorant than ever! However, I did manage to come up with 18 things I learnt from reading 183 books this year. That’s just one thing every 10 books. 10 books take awhile to read (on average), so it’s probably fair to say that reading is a waste of time.

Plus, the 18 things I learnt may have actually made me stupider (though not more ignorant). You be the judge!

Don’t read by candlelight. It’s bad for the eyes.

Wattam's Wonderful First Impression

Wattam’s trailers intrigued me, but were not very good at explaining just what Wattam was. Reviews didn’t help much, either. Nevertheless, using Epic’s Holiday coupon I decided to take the plunge. I’m glad I did, as the opening of Wattam is truly magical. So magical that I, Tom Towers, wrote about it here.

What I wrote contains spoilers for the first twenty minutes or so, and it’s worth experiencing yourself, so what I’m really saying is you probably shouldn’t read what I wrote unless you’ve played it already. Which you probably haven’t. So this was a bit of a pointless exercise. Oh well.

Xbox Antiperspirant by Lynx

So, finally in Australia we have something that the rest of the world does not. We can apply an antiperspirant, or deodorant if you wish, that makes us smell like an Xbox. Indeed as I type this, I have applied the smell of an Xbox and feel like you could insert a disc, or code into me, and I’d know what to do with it (Play of course). CLICK ON IMAGES BELOW TO SEE ALL

I’m not sure how I’d feel about you side-loading an app, but for one thing, I definitely feel very green, with undernotes of wood and dark vanilla with a citris like finish. I also feel fresh and ready for the night ahead (meaning reading a book to my daughter, having a beer, attempting to watch Netflix and falling asleep while earnestly attempting to play Gears 5).

It does feature a very smart power switch, you have to turn the lid to activate the “on” button. Overall, an 8 out of 10.

Phil Fogg

Game Informer Magazine Leaves Australia

In April of this year it was announced that Game Informer was ending operation of the Australian version of one of the world’s largest print magazines devoted to video games. Since 2009 Game Informer employed an Editor-in-Chief to localise the US-based publication. Beyond adding superflous “u’s” to words, the magazine often ran pieces from Australian freelancers and would issue their own reviews from time to time, lending a much needed local feel to the publication.

Game Informer’s parent company is GameStop, which operates as EBGames in Australia. The US version of the magazine continued to be released in Australia through magazine re-sellers as well as their video game stores, but in October, without announcement, magazines were no longer to be found.

Citris Media, the Australian distributor for the magazine, confirmed to me this morning that as of October 2019 Game Informer has “closed down in Australia” and “will not be releasing any more issues”.

The magazine was the last generalist video game magazine still appearing in Australian news stands on a monthly basis. Game-specific magazines, and imported magazines from the UK are the last still remaining for Australians who enjoy physical print media.

Phil Fogg Reviews Spy Hunter: Nowhere to Run

Rarely does a licenced game starring a major motion picture star like Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson gets made without any studio supervision, but in this case a rag tag crew of 13 developers from Midway pulled it off.

Check out my review.

“Oh my tooths”

Game Under Podcast Episode 118

Tom and Phil go over Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2019, Call of Duty WWII and Call of Duty Advanced Warfare, and if you don’t like Call of Duty, listen anyway as we go deep on various gaming topics and writing themes while examining the topic. We also discuss briefly the new Xbox. Thanks for listening.

Check out that mud…

Phil Fogg Reviews Judgment

I honestly did not know what to expect when SEGA announced their new twist on their classic and popular Yakuza series, but still yet I was surprised.

Please check out the review.

Phil Fogg

Tom Towers' Guide to Building a PC

As regular listeners to the show would recall, Tom Towers challenged the audience to undergo the fulfilling experience of building a PC. But he understands that to the uninitiated this might seem like a dangerous adventure, which is why he wrote this handy strategy guide to help out any PC building noobs!

Bonus Tip: You also needn’t spend so much money as he did. You can end up with a beast of a budget gaming PC with as little as $750, and solid little budget battler for anywhere between $250-$500 depending on whether you’re willing to buy used and refurbished parts!

P.S. While the PC is now built, it’s not quite finished. The hard drive needs to submit to its bondage, and the GPU can’t lean on its best friend, the GPU bracket, until Tom has washed some washers so it clears the soundcard.

Please enjoy Tom Tower’s PC having an epileptic fit to a Brother Ali song!

Game Under Podcast Episode 117

In this week’s episode Tom gives his final impressions of Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2019, and we also touch on the action film Demolition Man, and one of the first MOBAs Future Cop LAPD for the original Playstation. We also talk about our preferred keyboard selections for PC.

Thanks for listening, and be sure to subscribe in your podcast app of choice.

Game Under Podcast Episode 116

Tom and Phil take a break from the usual games talk and go deep into the writings of Ayn Rand and in part how they influenced the Bioshock series, after a brief round of Trademark banter.

Spoilers and profanity abound in Episode 116 of the Game Under Podcast.