Comments 28

Re: Xbox Becomes Official Partner Of The England Football Teams

DrEagleG

@BeautyandtheBeer who are the 'many others' I used it to tar? Did I say ALL English fans are racist?

Read my comments again. I was illustrating that even though these messages were from a minority, they had real affects on people like myself. But you reduced my experience to a 'rant'. Which, well, thanks for the empathy I guess.

I was also illustrating that you suggesting it could've been bots sending those messages was laughable. I'm sorry, but if you really think there's a chance those messages weren't from real people (after many of those people have been literally been named and dealt with by the police), then I don't know what planet you're living on. You may not want to divert attention away from the racists, but comments like that really aren't helping your cause. I'm sure you're a cool bloke, and probably not a racist yourself, but stuff like that just makes it seem like you're unwilling to accept the evidence staring you right in the face, and that you don't actually understand the problem.

Maybe I haven't made my point clear - even though people like you think the UK doesn't have a problem with racism because you haven't personally witnessed it, or you can pass it off as something that has always happened and always will, there's still enough of a problem that people like me are being profoundly affected by it in 2021.

For me, this isn't even about whether England has a problem with racism or is a racist nation, as I can appreciate that as whole were far ahead of where we were in the 70s and 80s.

It's about how every person of colour knew exactly what was coming after three black players missed those penalties. It's about the stories I heard of people of colour walking back from the final at Wembley, just as upset as anyone else that England lost, but having white England fans shout at them 'We lost cos of YOUR people!' (after no doubt cheering Sterling's goals that helped them get to the final). THAT is a problem.

I actually consider myself lucky - I'm 41 years old and I haven't experienced a massive amount of overt racism throughout my life, but I can remember clear as day the few times I have, exactly what was said, and how it made me feel, and I'll never forget them.

So yes, racism may not be widespread enough that it passes your threshold to officially categorise it as a problem, but it only takes one hateful comment or experience to have a long lasting effect.

We all know racism isn't the same as it used to be in decades past, that clear progress has been made, and that England is a much more welcoming nation than some others, but when obvious racism rears its head on social media, and someone comes out with 'Maybe it was bots!', it makes you think twice.

If your comments had begun with some sort of condemnation of the idiots who sent the messages instead of a list of reasons why this country isn't that bad when it comes to racism, followed by a theory about the social media stuff which is quite frankly ridiculous, (and makes it look like you're doing the exact thing you're trying to avoid) I don't even think we'd be having this back and forth.

Anyway, I reckon a Three Lions Xbox would be bloody cool.

Re: Xbox Becomes Official Partner Of The England Football Teams

DrEagleG

@BeautyandtheBeer

I'm a black man who's been born and raised in England. I was cheering for England to win at the Euros, but when I saw some of the vile stuff posted on social media, it really made me question my national identity; am I even 'English', or am I just some black person who just happens to be living in this country, who'll never truly be accepted?

Now you may say it's a minority, and that the media loves to stoke the flames of division. Both true, but minority or not, media agenda or not, those events had real, deep effect on people like myself.

So do me a favour, please show me these bots which are able to coincidentally post racist messages after three black players missed penalties, making totally innocent and obviously non-racist people seem very guilty indeed. They've been framed! Of course they're not racist, their accounts have been hacked!

Because they weren't racist at all, the real explanation is that a shady cabal of international tech experts holed up in a bunker somewhere in Afganistan picked the exact moment three black players missed hugely important penalties to hack into the accounts of dozens of white England supporters to send fake racist messages, in order to make them look really really naughty.

Also, in another huge coincidence, the people who own these accounts don't even live in England, (because as long as the England fans who were racist don't actually live in England, everything is A-OK) meaning when the police traced the accounts back to their owners and arrested them, they were totally wrong to do so!

So which is the more likely explanation? The above, or the explanation that we simply still have a lot of racist scumbags who live and work in the UK, who probably have friends who are people of colour (so, you know, they definitely can't be racist), and who have kept their thoughts to themselves for years, but who now feel emboldened to voice their views by the anonymity of social media?

Occam's razor, my friend.

Re: Hands On: Second Extinction Feels Tailor-Made For Xbox Game Pass

DrEagleG

Playing it today. It's decent but a bit bare bones and a little repetitive.

Guns are chunky, booming and loud. Not too much variety in them, but what's there feels great to use.

My biggest complaints are the open world feels a bit samey - it's all frozen tundra which can be hard to see through as there's always a blizzard swirling, and there seem to be no flying dinosaurs.

Still, it is a preview, so I'm sure there's much more to come. Worth a blast for sure.

Re: Soapbox: Outriders Is The Perfect Looter Shooter For A Single Player Gamer Like Me

DrEagleG

It's weird. There are so many things that irritate me about this game - the corny dialogue and cliched story, the fact it's always online and you can't pause, the botched launch where I couldn't matchmake with anyone for over week so was forced to play solo, the crazy difficulty spikes, the ridiculous cutscenes every few minutes, the bland, brown levels, the 360 era feel to the shooting, the repetitive gameplay (clear the ruins, clear the street, find the key, open the door...) - yet I keep playing, mainly due to how cool the special powers feel and the flexibility of the class system. They've really nailed it there.

Credit to People Can Fly for somehow managing to make a game with so many obvious flaws still be so fun to play. The core loop is very addictive.

Having said all that, I wouldn't have paid full price for this, and I reckon they realised a lot of people were feeling the same way, hence it moving onto Game Pass.

Re: Early Impressions: We Take The Xbox Wireless Headset For A Road Test

DrEagleG

Yep, they sound good, look good and fit good. Really like the way you rotate the earcup to adjust the volume. For me it's one of those 'Now I can't go back' features.

Downloaded Dolby Access for the six month trial of Atmos, but I couldn't really hear any real difference when playing Modern Warfare. Sound was great - loud, booming bass etc, but there wasn't anything that diffrenciated it from other headphones I've had. Only had a few minutes with it though, maybe I need to dig into the settings a bit more.

My only gripe with the headset in general is that when you're using the EQ to customise your sound, you have to go into the Xbox Accessories app, adjust the sliders, then go into a game to see how it sounds. Very fiddly to have to jump back and forth. Wish there was a way of doing it live.

Re: Did Xbox Just Accidentally Reveal A Batman Series X Upgrade?

DrEagleG

Oooh. Hope it does receive an upgrade. Me and my son still play this and it still looks fantastic after all this time. One of the titles that works almost flawlessly with Quick Resume (other than an annoying bug which every so often mutes the sound when you resume, making you have to restart the game).

Re: Control Ultimate Edition Is Now Available For Xbox Series X

DrEagleG

Aww crap. I was looking for a reason not to buy this. I played the original Control for around 2/3 hours but since I'm such a wuss who hates anything mildly scary (I don't play horror games and although Control isn't outright frightening, it is madly unsettling, which might actually be worse) I couldn't go back to it.

But with these enhancements, the DLC and for £24, I can't resist. Now I just have to find someone to hold my hand while I play...