Chris2K

Whilst I have no desire for her to win this in any form, part of me would love it if they were forced to rehire her, and in the opening scene of the next Star Wars TV show they mention that Cara Dune was killed off-screen.

Everywhere I've seen is calling them Sauber, and the Visa CashApps are just referred to as RB. Hopefully the media refusing to co-operate with these sponsor-based names will lower the interest in doing it. The alleged issue with Horner, which is completely unconfirmed and only from a Dutch newspaper, is that he sent unsolicited pictures to a female employee, who went straight to Red Bull HQ to report him. He is denying all allegations.

I have been really tempted to switch back to the Japanese voices having become so used to them during the 0-6 playthrough, but I do find being able to listen during cutscenes instead of having to read every line is much more pleasant for my eyes. There is a workshop I believe, it's down at the south of the map near Hello Work.

The Yakuza/Like A Dragon games are really good in general, there are however a few things to consider if you want to play through them: - The cut-scenes are very long, and incredibly frequent. To put some numbers on that, it takes around 2-3 hours in Yakuza Like A Dragon before you're even in the main area of the game, and about 75% of that is cut scenes. - In addition to that, a lot of people are put off by the voice acting being in Japanese for the first 7 games. It certainly threw me off for a while, but you do get used to it and soon the voices of the main characters become as ingrained as any English speaking game. - There is a massive downgrade in gameplay quality when the series jumps to different versions of re-masters. 0, 1 and 2 are in the superior engine (0 was the first game made in it, 1 and 2 are re-masters), but 3, 4 and 5 are in their original engines which causes a sudden drop-off in things like inventory space, combat-systems and features. It comes back to the main engine for 6, but then Like A Dragon changes the whole concept completely into a turn-based RPG. Those are the main negatives, but everything else about the games is positive. The story, the characters, the missions, the side-stories, the acting, the animation is all top tier. Plus they're all free on GamePass, with the exception of the most recent release.

Yeah, I actually properly laughed at his "shoo" line after Diamond threw the shoe away. Bradley has the reputation, drawing power and comedy chops to be a decent host for it, Barney really feels like a nepo hire and he has none of those attributes to back it up.

This is said with extreme bias, but Diane Youdale wouldn't be a bad choice . Speaking of Jet, there is a Gladiator podcast (hosted by Jet) which has a lot of the old crew telling stories, plus the new guys are starting to appear. https://www.gladiatorstv.com/podcast/index.php

It's a good job the Bucks won last night otherwise this decision would seem ridiculous. (He has said he will be passing on the bonus money he gets to Adrian Griffin)

Their decision to cancel Robot Wars was bizarre, but I can see Gladiators staying put for a while if it keeps drawing the same level of viewing figures. Just to warn you, I'll likely use this thread for discussions of my re-watching of the old episodes as well. I've just stated the fourth full UK series which is the first one after Shadow got axed for his many, many drug and steroid issues, and he got replaced by Rhino who is one of the all time greats as far as I'm concerned. Also Vogue joined who is another of my favouries, as did noted bigot and TERF Amazon/Sharron Davies, who is not. Also Raider, who I had forgotten existed, and is openly mocked by John Sachs because his interviews are Ahmed Johnson levels of incomprehensible. Scorpio also left after the third series, and I could have sworn she was around for the whole thing. I also nearly did a spit take when one of the contenders rolled out, and it was future Olympic 400m hurdler Chris Rawlinson, then working as a lifeguard in a Sheffield leisure centre. The big new games were Pendulum, which was a great event, and Whiplash, which was terrible.

Tonight's Gladiators breakdown: - Diamond showed she would make the perfect female villain if they ever wanted to go down that route. - They need to change up the timings for the Wall, it's a much smaller wall and the contenders are over halfway up before the Gladiators begin. - The Nia/Dynamite game of Hang Tough was the worst Hang Tough in the history of Gladiators. - I'm beginning to wonder if they're playing up Clattenburg's questionable refereeing decisions, Guy Mowbray was openly mocking the Power Ball stoppage. - Bradley Walsh made me genuinely laugh with his "shoo" comment. Barney Walsh remains unnecessary.

My word, Yakuza 6 was so, so good. Great story, great gameplay, great side stories, great mini-games, just so much fun from start to finish. As much as Kiryu is the ultimate badass I have to say I like Akiyama more. He's just so damn cool. I'm sure the cutscenes are too much for some, my XBox for example which nearly went into standby mode due to inactivity 4 times in the final chapter and post-credits scenes, but it's all so brilliantly acted and animated that it doesn't bother me at all. Now back to Like A Dragon again, then Man Without A Name, then I might actually get around to buying Infinite Wealth.

I did wonder how he got out of his 2 year deal, I bet Mercedes didn't think that release option was going to get triggered when they put in the contract though. Sainz is making the best of it, but this must feel like a kick in the teeth when he's done nothing wrong. And I was right, it does look weird.

I didn't realise Lewis had such a strong connection with Fred Vasseur from before F1, so I wonder if that's part of the reason he's made the decision. Its reported that the Ferrari contract has been signed, and the Mercedes personnel have been briefed that Lewis is leaving, so... it's properly done. It's going to be so weird seeing him in red.

This is a really weird one, and I'm not entirely sure it's the best of ideas for him. At least he'll be loved in Italy now. Who Mercedes get in will be interesting, assuming Sainz is a lock for an Audi seat in 2026 they probably wouldn't want him for just one season, and their reserve driver ranks aren't exactly as stacked when they had Russell waiting in the wings. Maybe the big return for Mick Schumacher is on? Also, it's crazy that the biggest transfer on transfer deadline day is going to be in a completely different sport.

Fast forward to whatever reason they can come up with to deny them entry in 2028. "Hmm, in the team name, is that Andretti, with an "i", or Andrett1, with a "1"?" "We have no way of knowing, so we simply can't allow them to enter. A confusing team name would have a negative impact to the F1 brand."

The Arkham series is probably my favourite trilogy of games ever (Spider-Man has a chance to beat it though), and I was so engrossed with Arkham Knight that it's the only game I've ever 100%ed on the first run, playing it constantly until there was nothing left to do. It's crazy to me that I have absolutely no interest in playing the next game in the Arkham-verse made by the same company as Knight, but that's what everything that has happened in the build up to Suicide Squad's release has caused. All the gameplay changes are the complete opposite of what I like, and that's before all the online issues started.

Crazy day with England beating India after being 190 runs behind in the first innings. Definitely didn't see that coming. It's the first time ever that Australia and India have lost a test match at home on the same day.

Allow me... In the first 3 series, plus international series and celebrity specials, the Hang Tough stats were: Male Saracen - Played 21, 17 takedowns, 4 time limits, no defeats Wolf - Played 14, 10 takedowns, 4 time limits, no defeats Shadow - Played 6, 4 takedowns, 2 defeats Cobra - Played 13, 6 takedowns, 4 time limits, 3 defeats Hawk (Series 1 only) - Played 2, 1 takedown, 1 time limit Female Lightning - Played 24, 21 takedowns, 3 time limits, no defeats Jet - Played 20, 15 takedowns, 5 time limits, no defeats Scorpio - Played 8, 6 takedowns, 1 time limit, 1 defeat Flame (Series 1 only) - Played 2, 2 takedowns Nightshade - Played 2, 1 takedown, 1 time limit Phoenix (Series 1 only) - Played 2, 2 time limits Falcon - Played 3, 2 takedowns, 1 defeat

Another really good show that I am over-analysing far too much for a Saturday night game show. That Clattenburg decision in Gauntlet was absurd. Evidently the Gladiators agreed, and whilst I had nothing against Ash, watching Bionic absolutely obliterate him all the way back to behind the start line was probably my favourite moment of the series so far. Not entirely convinced he deserved the 6 points after that. They really seem to be pushing some Gladiators more than others, in this show alone Sabre was in three 1-on-1 events, and Diamond and Fury were in 2, meanwhile Athena, Electro and Fire are just thrown in the Gauntlet and nothing else. Comet is barely shown at all, but I have to figure her (really bad) injury happened early on in the filming so they only have footage of her competing on The Wall. So I should come clean on how dull a person I am, whilst watching the old shows I've been keeping track of wins and losses for the Gladiators in all the events (or for things like Power Ball, the amount of points they concede). I'm up to Series 3 (plus 2 international series) in terms of the stats keeping, and I hate to disagree, but Wolf isn't doing well. At all. In The Wall he has 1 successful chase out of 15 attempts, he's the second highest points conceder in Swingshot (behind Cobra), he has only won 1 out of 4 of his Duels (which was against Vinnie Jones in a celebrity show, during which he was loudly cheered), he's won 1 out of 5 in Skytrak, and he's the highest average points conceder in both Power Ball and Atlaspheres. Hang Tough is really the only event he has been good at, with 10 takedowns and 4 time limit reached in his 14 attempts. I have a feeling the Gladiators given the heel gimmicks might be "encouraged" to lose more than they win, in the same way a heel wrestler would lose at a house show to keep the crowd happy.

Perhaps it's flippant of me to say, but I'd suggest there's an element of business about it. Playing defence may earn you respect with your teammates and coaches, but scoring points earns you endorsement deals and media attention. I'd say players are much more interested in the latter these days.

Two people have scored 62 points this week, not only did both of their teams lose, but both times they weren't the top points scorer in the league of the day. Madness.

Rozier has been pretty badly treated in Charlotte, when he's allowed the ball he puts up great numbers, but that tends to only be when LaMelo isn't on the court at which point he becomes an afterthought. The Heat just need to let him shoot and he'll o a good job. Meanwhile, the reason for the Wolves losing to the Hornets last night appears to have become apparent; the team became focused on how many points Embiid was on, and spent the entire second half trying to get KAT the opportunity to outscore him, whilst ignoring things like other open players, and defense. Chris Finch spent the post match conference calling them out for their immaturity, but I have to wonder why he didn't have enough control over them to stop it happening in the first place.

I'm surprised Atlaspheres hasn't been featured because that's about as iconic a Gladiators event as there is, along with maybe Duel, and I have to assume that is based on the arena size. From what I've read the events we've seen are the whole lot (Duel, Hang Tough, The Wall, Powerball, Gauntlet, The Ring, The Edge, Collision and the Eliminator), so Skytrak won't be in this series. Here's the YT channel with all the old episodes by the way: https://www.youtube.com/@tewolde103/playlists

But the water... why did they need to use water... Aldis did play his role perfectly though, and I did enjoy when the old Gladiators came back to challenge the new ones. Can't see that happening this time around seeing as most of them are in their 60s (and Wolf is 71). Worrying times ahead for the Gladiators themselves, as the BBC have a poll up for people to vote for their favourite Gladiator. They did a magazine poll during the first series in 1992, and the three Gladiators with the lowest number of votes (Flame, Phoenix and Hawk) got kicked off the show. They wouldn't do that again, surely...

They even run Gauntlet lengthwise down the arena, which is longer than it is wide, so there seems like there would be enough room for 5 Gladiators. The only thing I can think is that they want more room for a run-off area as they're running directly towards the crowd. I had noticed during all the Duels that the first shot seemed to land before the whistle started, so either Clattenburg's time is off or there's some kind of delay between the audio and the recording. I also like that every media outlet is just pretending that the Sky reboot never happened.

No, it isn't.