A.M.B.

Less noticeable with 3 but they absolutely butchered THPS4. Always a bad omen when they don’t even have the original intro song (TNT) in the game. Just like the GTA trilogy, playing them on the PS2 is the way to go 20+ years later.

My main take away from playing Clair Obscur is calling it a turned based RPG feels wrong, as there's a big difference between a game with parry/dodging and a turn based game without it. Completely different strategies, as if you're good you'd never take any damage.

Scary to see Sekimoto’s situation. People were raving about his match with Jeff Cobb in January but to me I couldn’t get past how much older and slower Daisuke looked. Few wrestlers have wrestled a more physical, punishing style than him in the last 25 years, I think he should hang it up.

Hey guys, I've been working on a project the past half year in creating a series inspired by Bahu's History of FMW, but covering the history of Big Japan. There's an intro included in the video, but long story short, it's my favorite company and I've become obsessed with collecting everything and putting it all together. I've always made wrestling music videos dating back to the ROH fan creation board, but wanted to take on a different kind of project. It's very much a pilot episode and proof of concept, as I'm learning what I need to do make these videos better quality, which I'm already seeing means me scripting out every word and getting it all done in one take so my voice sounds consistent, I need an actual proper mic, etc etc. But I wanted to shit out an episode so I can put it out in the universe and get some momentum, while fine tuning the creative process in later episodes. I also tried to record this over like 3 different days but have cats and bad allergies and they kept coming up so I sound a little hoarse and nasal-y. Hosting is tricky as there's plenty of copywrited material too, so I'm looking to create my own website, maybe a substack of something, to host the videos and provide more info on the project once I get rolling and hopefully generate a little more interest. Anywhere, here's part one of maybe 30 (I'm scared this project will burn me out by like episode 20 tho), covering the history of 1995, the debut year of Big Japan Pro Wrestling. https://archive.org/details/1995_20250524

Clair Obscure is incredible and everything I wish FF would have tried to be after X. My favorite RPG since Persona 5, maybe surpassing it, but I’ve got a ways to go still.

Slightly random but am I the only one who can’t stand Matt Jackson and thinks Nick is so much better? Even ignoring in ring where Nick has always been the star, Matt Jackson’s facial expressions and mannerisms are just the most forced, try hard, cringe acting, where Nick’s body language, charisma, and comedic timing feel natural and nuanced. It’s so crazy how similar yet pronounced the differences are to me between brothers.

Her hat says Balenciaga. fun show. Silva is an absolute monster but frustrating to watch him play with his food. Pitbull and Chandler both look like they’re two weight classes above where they should fight. Chandler always looked like he can never get anything going on the ground after the take down because he’s just way too small to wrap guys up. Didn’t think this was some kind of star making match for Paddy like they want to push it as tho, just a solid win against an small and older opponent who was astroturfed from the start. main event was good, I’m probably the only one but I would have been more interested in Movsar getting the shot over Lopes.

Xenoblade Chronicles X Remaster has gotten really good reviews, and I love a game with customizable mechs, and an aesthetic that reminds be of FF8 so I bought it day one. Impressions so far is that the performance feels great, fast travel barely has any load times. The game has so many things happening on a small screen and so much feels like its happening without me doing much. This kind of MMO style combat feels very foreign to me. Lots of numbers and esoteric information when I haven't needed to engage with it at all. Pretty overwhelming but fun. Not too much cringe anime tropes and cutscenes to put me off yet, but it walks the line. Wondering if this game is really gonna catch on and hook me on the series, though the other games don't have mechs and are more story focused apparently, which is not a hard sell for me.

MJF/Hangman segment was good, even if MJF’s promo style feels a little tired to me. I definitely think there should be more history between them 5 years in, but at least we’re getting it now. Honestly it’s the perfect feud to have been a slow burn and now kick into a blood feud, but blood and violence is so overdone I dont really care where it goes.

I feel like people saying WWE should take the financial hit and bring the plain white ring back aren’t met with much resistance, and that’s merely a superficial criticism. But saying AEW should take the financial hit and keep their ring the same, which is superficial but also a deeper issue than mere money and could cause injury, is being framed as nitpicky.

Just popping in to add that this show was fucking awesome and a great showcase of how talented the DG guys can be to work a show on the fly like that. Ring looked super bouncy and indie to me. It’s not some huge deal, but either everything matters or nothing matters. Again TK is super rich and they’ve had this show planned for a super long time, seems weird to me to not bring it over. Switching rings abruptly like that can definitely cause issues and mishaps with your muscle memory and spacial awareness.

Easier to say now but I never understood why Izzy took that fight. Imavov doesn’t have much of a name carried a lot of risk. A fun novelty fight like taking on then undefeated Shara Magomedov or even MVP would have been more winnable and given his legacy might have been enough to grant him another title shot. Though that’s always why I loved Izzy, he really did fight anyone anytime.

I think Mox tapped into the TRT in the last few months.

The big difference is those ROH PPVs, beyond technical difficulties, had awesome matches and succinct match times. GCW’s product just seems like a self indulgent party where no one saves anything for the main event and everything is overbooked beyond belief. It’s my criticism of AEW but way worse, having no limitations on any match is lazy, and leads to zero creativity and innovation. Everything about it came off as low rent and to me really pointed out the decline in branding and identity indie companies have nowadays. Back in the day Chikara, CZW, and ROH all had unique looks to their production that were constant month to month. They all had unique niches to fill and cards that crescendoed. GCW just feels like slop thrown on a plate, Lauderdale coming out to address the crowd of his biggest show wearing sweatpants is a microcosm of the lack of awareness this company has. Allie Katch injury aside that still doesn’t excuse for how poorly planned this card was.

Wat I normally hate guys not staying in their division but Ilia vs. Islam is kind of the best fight they can make at this point. Sure Ilia should face Movsar or Lopez but I think 145 would still thrive if the champ left it; unlike a division like heavyweight that really needs Jones’ to engage with it more. I don’t need to see a Charles rematch with Islam. I wouldn’t hate Arman getting another shot but UFC isn’t gonna do that now. The toughest fights for Islam at this point are probably some rando like Rambetzki (don’t ask me to spell Polish names right) or Orolbai who’s gonna take a few more years to get acknowledged as top talents.