May Showers (quick thoughts)

Let me just jot something into this space before the month ends. First, I saw Guardians of the Galaxy 3. Fun movie... loud movie. 

(twists a pinky in his ear for a couple of seconds)

It seems like the Guardians, or at least the original cast, have retired, and that this was the final chapter of the series. Spiffy way to go out, I'd say. Brought back fond memories of Secret of NIMH, an earlier flick about genetically augmented woodland creatures. I'm not sure why anyone thought it would be a good idea to put wheels on a walrus (making... a wheel-rus?), but I guess I don't have the creative vision the High Evolutionary does.

What else? Sony just announced a handheld, Project Q, but it's not an independently operating handheld with its own software... more of a peripheral for the Playstation 5. Specifically, it's a controller with a screen in the center that lets you play console games in the absence of a television set. Yes, Sony is imitating the magnificent success of the Wii U, ten years later. Uh, good luck with that? While you're scrounging through Nintendo's garbage can for ideas, they also had this neat all-red virtual reality headset you might want to check out.

One other thing. I'm not playing the Data Frog as much as I did when I first got it, but it's still nice to be able to pick it up, switch it on, and play a Genesis game ten seconds later. Doesn't matter which one... maybe I want to play the Final Fight demo, or Space Invaders '91, or Bubsy, for some unfathomable reason. It's right there waiting for me on my couch, and in a matter of seconds, I'm playing whatever I feel like from the late 1980s to early 1990s, without sitting through obnoxious logos or wading through a counter-intuitive interface, and without tying up my computer. It's far from the best third-party handheld out there, but the Data Frog gets you pretty far on a tight budget.

And one OTHER other thing! The Greek homebrew Tetris for the Game Boy Advance, Apotris, is about ten thousand times better than the official Tetris game released for that system in the United States, and you really ought to get a copy for yourself. Tetris Holdings threatened legal action to stop the creator of Apotris from selling the game on itch.io, and you should know from past experience that a Tetris game Henk Rogers doesn't want you to play is the one you should be playing.