Chris2K

God I love that Gladiators is back, and has been kept as similar to the original as possible. There's obviously going to be some modernisation such as slow-motion being thrown in whenever possible, but the concept will never not be intoxicating for me and I will watch every second of it. Most of the Gladiators seem to be pretty good as personalities, I like what they're doing with Viper (although it does perhaps tread on the line of the silent Asian villain stereotype) and Legend has the arrogant fool gimmick down. It might have perhaps been an idea to have one of the female Gladiators be the designated bad Gladiator this time, but ah well. There's not much to differentiate them other than Dynamite being tiny and Diamond being tall and blonde. Nitro is a fountain of charisma and incredibly athletic, if anyone is going to break out of this into other gigs then I hope it's him. I find it funny that they have Giant marked out as this huge man, when there are three other male Gladiators only an inch shorter than him. Powerball remains my favourite event and this week's round was as good as any from the old shows. I agree with Gauntlet, which has always been a weird event in that it doesn't really display any athleticism and usually ends up being stopped for one reason or another. That said, I am naturally a negative person, so here are my gripes as someone who has spent a lot of the last year watching old episodes on YouTube (literally every episode that aired in the UK is on there): - The music. I'm so glad they kept the original theme, but it also needs the epic Duel, Hang Tough and Eliminator music. - Speaking of Duel, I don't like that the Gladiator is on screen left, instead of screen right. - The arena seems really small compared to the National Indoor Arena and it's really noticeable that events like Hang Tough, Powerball and Gauntlet have had their playing areas heavily reduced. The Eliminator also doesn't look as daunting in this setting. - The new games are hit and miss, I think they all have potential that a few tweaks could fix. The Ring for example is pretty good, but by letting the contenders just get straight back up instead of having to go back to the outside once grounded makes it too easy. I can't believe Collision passes health and safety protocols with Gladiators swinging directly into the contender, especially considering the event is exactly the same as Hit & Run and they could have used the balls they did previously. - The Walshes. One I could stand, both is hard to stomach. It's crazy to me that they don't have a female host, with the 90s show being far more gender and ethnically diverse in its presenters than a show in 2024. - Mark Clattenberg is fine as referee, probably better than he was as a football one. And when this series is finished I'm sure he can go over to Saudi Arabia to improve the levels of Gladiators refereeing in the region. - The contenders seem VERY aware that they're on a TV show and seem to be doing anything they can to maximise their camera time, such as doing the worm after every event or doing selfie poses in the background of a shot. This is a show where the members of the public are very much from the post-X Factor/Apprentice/Love Island era of television compared to the past, where the contenders just seemed happy to be out of the house. Anyway, long story short, just hook it to my veins.

It seems the inevitable Timberwolves decline has begun. They looked tired and flat against the Thunder on Saturday (Ant missing all three free throws to tie the game in the final minute being the prime example), and now KAT scoring 62 and us still losing at home to the Hornets is not a good sign. I was getting a bit frustrated that nobody ever had the Wolves in the top 5 of their power rankings despite being top of the west for two months, but I'm seeing why nobody had any faith now.

Oh Kiwami Engine. I've missed you so much. And just as I post this, some guy called Kazuchika Okada just started talking to me. "Rainmaker", what a strange nickname for this video game character. And I've just seen the conversation took place outside a building called JungleBoy. Because of course it did.

I don't really begrudge SEGA or Ryu Ga Gotoku cashing in, the amount of content they put into a standard game usually far exceeds its price tag, especially this time with the Animal Crossing and Pokémon type games in Infinite Wealth. On a similar note, I have just completed Yakuza 5, although I had to re-do the entire final battle after missing the very last QTE when my cat jumped on my lap. Now for Yakuza 6...

It wasn't just Sky though, it was Brentford as well. Making him captain for his return is literally rewarding him and treating him as a hero for getting caught breaking the rules he has to abide by.

It looks like Alpha Tauri are renaming after all. They look set to be called Visa CashApp Racing Bulls. Thanks, I hate it.

It's a good job Infinite Wealth doesn't have an entire second game within it based on Animal Crossing, or when I finally work my way to playing it, I might never complete it. Uh oh.

It was a combination of running around the prison for what felt like an eternity followed by the prospect of running around a wilderness that made me stop initially. Thankfully the next chapter was far more enjoyable, but this completely new guy in a completely new city is really frustrating when I just want to continue the main story. My slow progress isn't helped by my addiction to completing as many substories as possible...

I'm starting to get a bit frustrated with Yakuza 5. I stopped playing it a while back because the hunting stuff was annoying me, but I've gone back to try and get through as much as possible before Infinite Wealth, and the story just veers off in such random directions. I was having fun with the Akiyama/Haruka stuff, but now I'm in a completely different city with a brand new guy who plays a lot of baseball and has no links (yet) to anything I've spent doing in the last three chapters.

My NBA2K24 playtime is well over 1000 hours, mainly because I often leave it playing CPU v CPU games when I'm doing other things to get some extra VC. I have a feeling that a lot of Xbox games are still keeping their playing clocks running if the game is left in auto-resume. (I checked when I got home, it's 1274 hours)

Someone make a flag out of the snow and wave it.

From a gameplay standpoint I suppose it would be Spider-Man 2, although I did enjoy Starfield more than most. But my actual favourite 2023 game, based on both enjoyment and time played, is Chef Life: A Restaurant Simulator. And I make no apologies.

Well if the stadium isn't fit for playing in, that should mean the visiting side go through by default. Right?

If this is what 2024 Andy Murray is then he really needs to consider calling it a day at Wimbledon. His physical limitations in recent years were always somewhat balanced out by his mental toughness, but this time out he looked like he'd run out of that as well.

As far as personal unknowns go, I had no idea who Sam Campbell was before S16 and now he's responsible for some of the funniest TM quotes I've ever heard and I've actively sought out his live performances as a result. And yes, Nick Mohammed does seem to be doing some kind of character based on the official S17 portraits: (The pedant in me is wondering why Steve and Sophie aren't in alphabetical order).

It's not the most exciting line up, I've heard of three of them for definite and I feel like I should know who Nick Mohammed is based on his credits. It certainly doesn't have the excitement that Julian Clary and Sue Perkins brought before S16 started. Steve Pemberton should be good and seems to be fan of the show, I know Sophie Willan but not enough about her off-screen personality to know what she'll be like. My main issue is I find John Robins to be insufferable, so if he succeeds it won't be much fun, but there is the chance that his arrogance and know-it-all-ism will lead to some humiliation too. I've not heard of Joanne McNally so I will reserve judgement on her. It's also quite strange how there's no "young" comedians, Sophie is the youngest at 36 and every time I've seen her she comes across as being older than her years. There's also no more deserving winner of a CoC than Dara, who I would almost certainly put forward as being the best Taskmaster contestant ever. Although it would have been interesting to see how Mae would have done against him...

Can't believe I forgot it considering it was one of my favourite songs of last year, but Flowers by Miley Cyrus is a response/sequel to When I Was Your Man by Bruno Mars. Granted, she's singing it about her ex-husband rather than Bruno, but I think it still counts.

On the plus side, the Steelers stay in the play offs for two extra days. WOOO!

They're planning to make the draft a 2 day event, 1st round picks on a Wednesday, 2nd round picks on a Thursday. They are greatly over-estimating how much people care about the 2nd round. Most fans don't even care after pick 15 in the first round unless it's their team.

I'm happy Dier got his move, he's been a good servant for the club and goes somewhere to win a trophy, and he was obviously not part of Ange's plan even as the last of last resorts. That said, the chances of him getting past the bench at Bayern are slim to none, but at least Harry has a mate in Munich now.

My favourite part is that Dragusin's agent seems genuinely annoyed that he chose Spurs over Bayern because he'd already agreed personal terms with us. I'm going to assume he's losing out on money, so his player's choice is very inconvenient for him. Next course of action: get a chant written for him to the tune of Rasputin by Boney M. A name like Radu Dragusin works perfectly.

No issue at all with scoring as many TDs as you want to, firstly if you want to avoid it, stop them, and secondly there are players getting paid or even contracts based on statistics, and losing out on a bonus because you didn't score a touchdown when you were told not to score because it might upset the other team is bullshit. Anyway, playoffs for the Steelers! Possibly the most undeserving 10-7 team with a 5-1 divisional record in history, but they all count.

Draymond's suspension is over at 12 games. I'm sure he is fully rehabilitated and will never do anything worthy of punishment again.

Bang. A goal this team performance doesn't deserve, but what a hit.

Not that my feelings matter in the slightest, but there's not a chance in hell I'm referring to a team by their betting/crypto company sponsorship name. I know that Sauber are the least funded team on the grid (until 2026) but the amount of power they give to their sponsors is absurd.