Bobfoc

BBC might like a Blackburn/Newcastle match for the Alan Shearer factor.

My main memories of his performances were in Hang Tough, which he was statistically very good at (thanks to @Chris2K). Viper, however, has been beaten easily twice in Gauntlet and lost in three seconds in Duel. He's been a complete jobber Gladiator so far.

It's quite hard to buy Viper as a villain because we've only seen him get beaten easily. Wolf used to win most of the time, which made it more special when a contender beat him.

Maidstone are two wins away from Wembley.

12 minutes ago, gunnar hendershow said:

Is this the biggest since the famous Hereford upset?

I'd say it's the biggest since Lincoln's run to the quarter-finals.

They've done it. Bring on a massive Premier League away day now.

Medvedev won in the end. Great comeback. It will either be third time lucky for Medvedev or Sinner becoming Italy's first male singles Grand Slam winner.

Sinner beat Djokovic and will play either Medvedev or Zverev. A new winner is guaranteed.

The original series used to take hours to film, so that's probably an accurate observation. Someone I went to school with went to a Gladiators taping in the 90s and said that spectators were advised to bring books and suchlike along with them to keep them occupied during all the downtime.

As for Skytrak, it hasn't been on yet. I remember thinking it was like watching a slow, upside-down Slalextric set, but in a much better way than that sounds.

28 minutes ago, Cymbols said:

Also it gave us Mason Ryan.

And Nick Aldis.

I'd be more interested in the Wrestlemania showcase if they just used obscure midcard matches. Give me Hillbilly Jim vs. Uncle Elmer and The Bushwhackers vs. The Beverly Brothers.

Ivory Coast just got thrashed by Equatorial Guinea and could well be going out.

I think VCARBs are what Fortnite players on the Atkins Diet try to avoid.

They're bringing back guest referee matches. I don't know why they were gone in the first place.

Visions of Mana has been confirmed as a day one Game Pass entry.

I know it's an event from the original series, but Gauntlet has never done much for me. There evidently isn't much the Gladiators can do when they're standing still to stop a contender running at full speed, especially with the little arm pads. It's not really a great way for them to demonstrate their skills.

Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth will have a New Game+ mode that's exclusive to a paid DLC bundle. Poor form.

Sounds like the name of a terrible free-to-play mobile game.

All this coverage around Ivan Toney is strange. The pundits seem to be acting as though he's a returning hero, instead of someone who got caught breaking rules.

I always end up getting lost in those games. I have a really bad sense of direction.

17 hours ago, gunnar hendershow said:

"See, I never took any of their blood money"

"I merely worked for an oppressive regime for free."

1 hour ago, Ruki said:

Also hoping we get news on Outer Worlds 2. 

I wouldn't expect anything outside the four games mentioned. We got Hi-Fi Rush as a surprise shadow drop last year, but there had been rumours about that for a couple of weeks beforehand. I haven't heard anything similar this time round.

Ara is the one I'm most curious about. It's supposed to be akin to the Civilization games, which will always pique my interest, but Oxide's only previous game was generally considered quite mediocre, so I won't go in with lofty expectations.

I'm yet to be convinced about Hellblade 2, partly because we've seen hardly any gameplay. I'm concerned it's going to be Microsoft's attempt at "prestige" storytelling, i.e. the gaming equivalent of Oscar bait, where you're funnelled down a corridor and expected to gape in amazement at the cutscenes. Hopefully, this showcase will allay some of those fears.

It says it's a free trial when I looked. I think it must be one of the occasional "Free Play Days" offerings you sometimes get with Game Pass.

Well, I might as well give it a go, then.