In the City of Las Piñas, Mayor Imelda Aguilar announced that a diagnostic center will soon be opened by the City Government and the said center will provide locals free laboratory services, according to a news report by the Manila Bulletin.
To put things in perspective, posted below is the excerpt from the Manila Bulletin news report. Some parts in boldface…
The Las Piñas City local government will soon open a diagnostic center that will give free laboratory services to residents, Mayor Imelda Aguilar announced.
Aguilar said Vice-Mayor April Aguilar met with the department heads and the team from the City Health Office (CHO) on Tuesday, June 21, in preparation for the opening of the diagnostic center.
She said the diagnostic center will give free laboratory services like CBC (complete blood count) with platelet, fasting blood sugar, lipid profile, blood urea nitrogen (BUN) test, creatinine test, uric acid, SGOT (a blood test part of liver profile), Serum Glutamic Pyruvic Transaminase (SGPT) or blood chemistry, urinalysis, and chest X-ray.
The mayor said the opening of diagnostic center is part of the city government’s health program for the residents of Las Piñas.
Let me end this piece by asking you readers: If you are a Las Piñas City resident, what is your reaction to this recent development? Are you happy that a diagnostic center from the City Government will be opened to provide laboratory services that you need? Do you see the future diagnostic center as a solution to help you save money when it comes to your health-related needs?
For more South Metro Manila community news and developments, come back here soon. Also say NO to fake news, NO to irresponsible journalism, NO to misinformation, NO to plagiarists, NO to reckless publishers and NO to sinister propaganda when it comes to news and developments. For South Metro Manila community developments, member engagements, commerce and other relevant updates, join the growing South Metro Manila Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/342183059992673
Disclaimer: This is my original work with details sourced from reading the comic book and doing personal research. Anyone who wants to use this article, in part or in whole, needs to secure first my permission and agree to cite me as the source and author. Let it be known that any unauthorized use of this article will constrain the author to pursue the remedies under R.A. No. 8293, the Revised Penal Code, and/or all applicable legal actions under the laws of the Philippines.
Welcome back superhero enthusiasts, 1990s culture enthusiasts and comic book collectors! Today we go back to the year 1993 which was a wild time for entertainment not only because of the comic book collection craze of the time but also because the whole world marveled at Steven Spielberg’s sci-fi film Jurassic Park which was simply unavoidable.
Jurassic Park was released into cinemas worldwide at a time when computer-generated imagery (CGI) was advanced enough to show and animated dinosaurs in a photo-realistic way on the big screen. Unlike films of today, CGI in Spielberg’s movie was sparingly used and they cleverly used computer graphics to show dinosaurs in their entirety especially on really wide shots that literally made human actors look really small compared to them. What added also to the photorealism of the dinosaurs was the use of animatronics (read: physical models) when capturing close-ups of the dinosaurs. For millions of people, Jurassic Park was a dream come true for those who wanted to see very convincing and lively dinosaurs on the big screen in ways that stop motion animation could not do.
As mentioned earlier, Jurassic Park was unavoidable as it was everywhere from the cinemas to the TV and print ads, to the stores that had licensed toys and merchandise of the movie, to the book stores that sold copies of the novel written by Michael Crichton, and also in the comic book stores that had copies of the comic book adaptation published by Topps Comics.
With those details laid down, here is a look back at Jurassic Park #1, published in 1993 by Topps Comics with a story written by Walter Simonson and drawn by Gil Kane with ink work done by the late George Perez. This comic book was the first of a 4-issue mini-series based on the Spielberg movie.
The cover.
Early story
The story begins at Isla Nublar, an island located over a hundred miles west of the nation of Costa Rica. Uniformed men and heavy equipment operators carefully moved a heavy containment unit that has a dinosaur inside. They are trying to connect the unit into an unusual looking containment facility which has vegetation inside. Their objective was to move the dinosaur into the facility and that includes lifting up the containment unit’s door.
Suddenly, the containment unit shakes as its door opened causing one man (who was responsible for opening the door from the top) falls down. It turns out, the dinosaur inside played a trick on them and it grabbed and pulled the fallen man inside which leads to tragedy.
A short time later, lawyer Gennaro arrives at an amber mind in the Dominican Republic searching for John Hammond for an important matter about a $20 million lawsuit from the family of the injured worker and an insurance company that thinks the accident raises serious safety questions about Jurassic Park.
Over at Montana, Dr. Alan Grant and Ellie Sattler are conducting work at a dig site not knowing that an unexpected visit will happen to them…
Quality
Nothing like entering a large gate going into a theme park.
I will start with what is very obvious about this first issue of the mini-series adapting the events of Steven Spielberg’s movie. This is one very wordy comic book filled with lots of details spilled all over by lots of expository dialogue clearly sourced from the movie. To be clear, this comic book follows the movie’s opening scene until the start of the iconic scene in which Dr. Grant, Ellie and Dr. Ian Malcolm saw the large dinosaur for the first time ever (note: this scene stunned and amazed viewers back then).
As the comic creators really pushed themselves to fill in the key details straight out of the movie most of the time, this comic book lacks spectacle and it is unsurprising that it has very few images of dinosaurs.
Like most comic book adaptations of movies, there were certain cosmetic differences between scenes adapted from the movie such as the traitor Dennis Nedry meeting with Lewis Dodgson in a very urban city street setting (as opposed to the location with lots of trees and vegetation in the film). Also notably different looking was Dr. Grant’s place where he and Ellie first meet John Hammond (in the movie, Dr. Grant’s place looked more lived-in).
In what looked like the creators’ attempt to emphasize something more than what was shown in the movie, the scene in which Dr. Grant scares a kid by showing what a Velociraptor would do to him was visualized with two panels of a dream sequence.
Gil Kane’s art looks good here but don’t expect to see the characters resembling their cinematic counterparts at all. I can only guess that Topps Comics had no authority to capture the likeness of the actors for this adaptation. Dr. Grant does not look like Sam Neill. Ellie Sattler looks nothing like Laura Dern.
Conclusion
This is easily the most entertaining and the most intriguing page from the comic book. The comic book creators succeeded in making Dr. Alan Grant scare the kid more convincingly than the movie.
Jurassic Park #1 (1993) is not a fun read due to its heavy load of expository dialogue and explanations of key details. This issue, to say the least, was done mainly to get readers oriented with terms and details in order to help them understand Jurassic Park’s concepts. Due to the exposition and explanations, the storytelling here moved at a slow space which ironically provides readers opportunities to understand Jurassic Park. The way this comic book script was written, there was clearly too little space for entertainment. If you are the brainy type of reader or if you like junk science mixed with real science explained, then this one can still entertain you. When it comes to visuals, Gil Kane’s art made this one attractive and also established this comic book’s own look.
As new COVID-19 infections in Metro Manila keep rising, the City Government of Muntinlupa announced through its health office that almost 11,000 people have received their 2nd booster shots locally, according to a Manila Bulletin news report. Along the way, the number of Muntinlupa City patients described as fully vaccinated has reached over 500,000.
To put things in perspective, posted below is the excerpt from the Manila Bulletin report. Some parts in boldface…
Nearly 11,000 people have been given their second booster shot in Muntinlupa, the City Health Office (CHO) reported.
As of June 17, 10,972 individuals have been given the second booster shot out of the 141,449 who got their first booster shot or 7.75 percent.
Of the 10,972 recipients, 2,168 came from Barangay Putatan, 1,254 from Ayala Alabang, 1,182 from Alabang, 1,103 from Tunasan, 1,046 from Cupang, 1,014 from Poblacion, 710 from Sucat, 463 from Bayanan, and 157 from Buli. A total of 1,875 recipients were unclassified.
The total number of first booster recipients is 31.96 percent of the target population of 441,517, or 80 percent of the total population of 553,146.
There are 501,452 individuals who are fully vaccinated in Muntinlupa, or 113.32 percent of the target population.
Among 12 to 17 years old, a total of 49,594 have been fully vaccinated, or 71.85 percent of the total population of 56,499.
The Department of Health (DOH) has approved giving booster shots to 12 to 17 years old but guidelines have yet to be released.
In addition, 16,080 minors aged five to 11 have been fully vaccinated in Muntinlupa, or 23.58 percent of the total population of 68,198.
Having read the above news report excerpt, I encourage you to get vaccinated or boosted for COVID-19 whenever you have the chance. Be aware that the anti-vaccine fanatics here in the Philippines are spreading their deceptive propaganda to fool people from getting vaccinated/boosted. Be aware that anti-vaccine fanatics themselves have NO REAL SOLUTIONS AGAINST COVID-19 itself.
To all Muntinlupa City residents reading this, if you need to get vaccinated or boosted for COVID-19, you should contact MunCoVacas soon as possible.
More on the aspect of immunizing people around the country, I can only hope that the incoming administration of President-elect Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos will reach out to Russia to acquire new supplies of Sputnik V and Sputnik Light vaccines as they registered strong resistance against the more infectious Omicron variant.
Let me end this piece by asking you readers: If you are a Muntinlupa City resident who already received your first booster shot (following the first two doses that made you a fully vaccinated patient), have you checked with the local authorities to find out if you are eligible for the 2nd booster shot? Did you encounter any anti-vaccine fanatic online or in person lately?
For more South Metro Manila community news and developments, come back here soon. Also say NO to fake news, NO to irresponsible journalism, NO to misinformation, NO to plagiarists, NO to reckless publishers and NO to sinister propaganda when it comes to news and developments. For South Metro Manila community developments, member engagements, commerce and other relevant updates, join the growing South Metro Manila Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/342183059992673
Starfield, the ambitious sci-fi role-playing game (RPG) from Bethesda Game Studios led by Todd Howard, is easily one of my most anticipated games for my Xbox Series X since I myself played RPGs of Elder Scrolls and Fallout produced by the said creators. That game, which is set for exclusive release on Xbox Series X, Xbox Series X, Windows PC plus Xbox Game Pass (XGP) sometime in 2023, was one of the highlights of the recent Xbox-Bethesda games showcase which had a real-time gameplay showing which you watch right below…
To put things into perspective, posted below is an excerpt about the related Starfield gameplay reveal as published in an official article at Xbox.com. Some parts in boldface…
The year is 2330. Humanity has ventured beyond our solar system, settling new planets, and living as a spacefaring people. From humble beginnings as a space miner, you will join Constellation — the last group of space explorers seeking rare artifacts throughout the galaxy — and navigate the vast expanse of the Settled Systems in Bethesda Game Studios’ biggest and most ambitious game.
In this next generation role-playing game set amongst the stars, you will create any character you want and explore with unparalleled freedom as you embark on an epic journey to answer humanity’s greatest question: What is out there?
Bethesda Game Studios “can’t wait for all of you to experience the game,” Howard says. “It’s been an incredible journey for us making it, but we know that’s only the beginning, for it’s when all of you play it that the journey begins.”
Like anyone else, I was very disappointed by the news that Starfield would not be released this year. I have been craving for more new, great single-player gaming experiences from Todd Howard’s team and I am done replaying Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and Fallout 4. The November 11, 2022 release date was promised several times before the delay happened. As of this writing, there is still no firm date about the new 2023 release for Starfield.
Actual gameplay from Starfield.
Fortunately, the gameplay reveal of Starfield this past June 12 was very entertaining to see. I really liked the sci-fi look and feel of it while the in-game shooting reminds me somewhat of Fallout 4 which itself was pretty functional and fun with shooting. The gameplay shown did not run at 60 frames-per-second (60FPS) which is insufficient in my view because I personally prefer a 60FPS frame rate even with open-world environments implemented. Like Skyrim, Starfield allows players to view the game in 3rd person or 1st person when controlling the in-game protagonist.
There are also key game features that were shown such as the customization of your character’s own traits and skills, crafting systems (by running in-game research using resources you find), and creating mods for your weapons. What struck me is the new outpost creation feature which I find intriguing and attractive. Have you ever dreamed of creating your very own outpost on the surface of an unknown planet you visited and hire people you find qualified to help you operate it? The Starfield feature looks really promising.
Apart from the exploration and action, they also revealed the in-game construction and customization of space ships complete with varying differences in terms of performance and efficiency which players will realize and feel. Not only that, there was also the showcase of space battles in the game which looks really nice and promising. In recent times, I’ve been playing Chorus on my Xbox Series X (thanks to the benefit of my Xbox Game Pass subscription) which is strongly a space shooter in design with exploration and flying as strong gameplay features.
To see opposing space ships get blown into several pieces shows how much attention to detail was done by the developers supposedly to make the gameplay experience immersive.
Personally, I don’t expect space flight and shooting in Starfield to be the same as those of in Chorus but I do expect the experience to be fun and that the controls should be fully functional and work precisely. Starfield is, after all, a sci-fi RPG with shooting and exploration as strong features. We will find out soon how efficient and engaging space flight and shooting in the game will really be.
While it is understandable that plot details are very light, I find questionable Todd Howard’s claim that Starfield has over a thousand planet that are open for players to explore. That is pretty wild! I am not a game developer nor am I an expert one making digital worlds but can Todd Howard and his team really deliver on that promise with Starfield? Did his team really in far exceeding what BioWare achieved in their Mass Effect video games that had several worlds composed of those truly explorable (on-foot with the protagonist and teammates engaging on missions or searches) and those which are not explorable (limited to orbital scanning)? Can the developers ensure that each planet has its own distinct environments, alien life forms and other creative designs? Whatever Howard and his team did with regards to in-game world exploration, I can only hope that Starfield will turn out great.
Here is hoping that space travel will be fun and engaging to do.
Overall, I am personally looking forward to playing Starfield on my Xbox Series X sometime in 2023. After seeing what was revealed at the recent Xbox-Bethesda games showcase, I can say my disappointment over the delay has waned a lot. Here is hoping that Bethesda will be able to fully polish the game in-and-out, and somehow they can increase the frame rate to 60FPS. Take note that Starfield is just one of many Xbox-exclusive games coming as a result of the seismic Xbox-Bethesda acquisition and integration and the good news is that current Bethesda-published games have been added into Xbox Game Pass and future games will follow! Starfield will eventually solidify Xbox as the best ecosystem for gamers who love role-playing games!
Watch out for more details about the Xbox-exclusive Starfield coming to Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Windows PC plus XGP in 2023.
A few days ago, the City Government of Las Piñas and its strategic partners renewed the local campaign against dengue and this includes a pledge of commitment signing that happened on June 20, according to a Manila Bulletin news report. Vice Mayor April Aguilar-Nery symbolically led the pledge signing.
To put things in perspective, posted below is the excerpt from the Manila Bulletin news report. Some parts in boldface…
Las Piñas City Vice Mayor April Aguilar led the signing of a pledge of commitment for the city’s campaign against dengue on Monday, June 20.
Aguilar said the city government conducted a meeting with the City Health Office (CHO), City Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO), and barangays officials on June 9 to launch a synchronized clean-up drive against dengue on June 24.
During the kick-off ceremony held at the Mayor Nene Aguilar DRRMO (Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office) Building in Talon Dos, barangay officials and other attendees were given a lecture by health professionals on how to fight the spread of dengue disease in the city.
Mayor Imelda Aguilar encouraged residents to participate in the synchronized dengue clean-up drive in destroying the nesting places of dengue-carrying mosquitoes (aedis egypti mosquito) and make Las Piñas dengue free.
Let me end this piece by asking you readers: If you are a Las Piñas City resident, how do you feel about this recent development? Is there a dengue hot spot in your local community right now? Are there lots of mosquitoes in your neighborhood? Are you concerned that more cases of dengue will increase over the next several months in relation to the change of weather?
For more South Metro Manila community news and developments, come back here soon. Also say NO to fake news, NO to irresponsible journalism, NO to misinformation, NO to plagiarists, NO to reckless publishers and NO to sinister propaganda when it comes to news and developments. For South Metro Manila community developments, member engagements, commerce and other relevant updates, join the growing South Metro Manila Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/342183059992673
Anyone who owns an Xbox console or a Windows PC who loves Japanese role-playing games (JRPGs) should be delighted to know that the popular Persona game franchise will have three of its established games released for Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S and Windows PC with availability through Xbox Game Pass (XGP) soon as confirmed in the recent Xbox-Bethesda games showcase! For clarity, Persona 5 Royal is slated for an October 21, 2022 release.
For starters, watch the official video below…
To understand the Persona games better, posted below is an excerpt from the official article published at Xbox.com written by SEGA Communications Manager Stacy Lee. Some parts in boldface…
Cheers to 25 years of Persona! In this very special anniversary year, we are bringing the worldwide hits Persona 5 Royal, Persona 4 Golden, and Persona 3 Portable to Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC, and with Xbox Game Pass. Starting this fall, fans will get to experience this beloved RPG series.
To kick things off, on October 21, don the mask of Joker and join the Phantom Thieves of Hearts when Persona 5 Royal arrives with Xbox Game Pass, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and Windows PC. We’ll have more to share on the release of Persona 4 Golden and Persona 3 Portable so be sure to stay tuned here to Xbox Wire.
For those who missed out on these games originally, or are excited to play Persona on Xbox and Windows PC, the 25th Anniversary is a great time to join in the celebration. Here’s a quick refresher on each game:
Persona 3 Portable – If I say there’s an hour “hidden” between one day and the next… would you believe me? This unknown time is the “Dark Hour.” Unfamiliar stillness swallows the city, people turn into eerie coffins, and otherworldly monsters called Shadows swarm. One night, the protagonist is attacked by these Shadows. When all hope seems lost, the power of the heart, their Persona, is awakened.
Persona 4 Golden – They say your soulmate will appear if you stare into a television set on a rainy night… This strange rumor slowly spreads through the rural town of Inaba, the protagonist’s new home, just as a chain of mysterious murders begin. As the protagonist and his teammates chase after the truth, they find themselves opening the door to another world.
Persona 5 Royal – Forced to transfer to a high school in Tokyo, the protagonist has a strange dream. “You truly are a prisoner of fate. In the near future, ruin awaits you.” With the goal of “rehabilitation” looming overhead, he must save others from distorted desires by donning the mask of a Phantom Thief.
In my personal experience, the one and only Persona video game I ever played was Revelations: Persona on the original Sony PlayStation way back in 1996. I never finished that game but I spent many hours playing it and that includes the loading times and the not-so-efficient pacing of the gameplay.
Image from Persona 5 Royal.
The upcoming release of the recent Persona RPGs on Xbox and Windows PC with access through Xbox Game Pass (XGP) should help the franchise reach even more gamers worldwide. As far as Japanese gaming goes on Xbox right now, I enjoyed finishing Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising on my Xbox Series X and I’m looking forward to the Suikoden-inspired Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes RPG which will be released sometime next year. Square Enix has Star Ocean: The Divine Force and The Diofeld Chronicle coming to Xbox this year but no release dates have been announced as of this writing. Most recently, Square Enix announced that Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion will be released on Xbox consoles although no release date has been announced.
Combined with those mentioned Japanese games or JRPGs to be exact, the addition of Persona games is indeed a welcome addition to the Xbox ecosystem which has lots of gamers craving for such games. It’s nice to see that Team Xbox head Phil Spencer has been working hard negotiating with Japanese game companies and makers to release their games into the Xbox ecosystem. In fact, during the Xbox-Bethesda showcase, a special Xbox project with Hideo Kojima’s company was confirmed to be real and there was also the announcement of an Xbox release of Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty developed by Team Ninja.
Let me end this piece by ask you readers: Are you happy that the Persona game franchise is coming to Xbox with the mentioned three games? Do you think that more Japanese RPGs and other kinds of games made by Japanese game developers will continue to be released on Xbox? What other past JRPGs do you want to see released on Xbox and Xbox Game Pass? Do you think that all the JRPGs already announced coming to Xbox and mix in with Western RPGs (examples: Starfield, Fable reboot, The Outer Worlds 2 and Avowed to name a few) will result a wide variety of games for those who love playing role-playing games? Do you see Xbox as the definitive ecosystem for RPGs right now?
Recently, a study (involving Russian scientists including representatives of the City Clinical Hospital No. 67 and the Gamaleya National Research Center of Epidemiology and Microbiology) revealed that the Russian vaccine Sputnik V demonstrated 97% efficacy against hospitalization caused by the Omicron variant following revaccination with Sputnik Light or Sputnik V, according to a press release published online.
To put things in perspective, posted below is the excerpt from the press release published by SputnikVaccine.com. Some parts in boldface…
The Gamaleya National Research Center of Epidemiology and Microbiology (Gamaleya Center) today announced that Vaccines, the leading peer-reviewed medical journal, has published the results of a joint study conducted by team of scientists including representatives of Moscow’s City Clinical Hospital No. 67 named after L.A. Vorokhobov and the Gamaleya Center showing the two-dose Sputnik V vaccine is 97% effective against hospitalisation caused by the Omicron variant of coronavirus (B.1.1.529) among those vaccinated with 3 or 4 components (re-vaccination with Sputnik Light or Sputnik V after Sputnik V).
The corresponding article has been peer-reviewed and is available at:
The study was conducted from 11 January to 21 February 2022 involving over 1,000 patients in Moscow. Sputnik V showed high efficacy against hospitalisation at 85.9% among patients vaccinated with at least one component. Efficacy among those vaccinated with 3 or 4 components (re-vaccination with Sputnik Light or Sputnik V after Sputnik V) rose to:
o 97% against any cases of hospitalisation;
o 97.7% against moderate-severe and more severe cases;
o 98.6% against severe and critical cases;
o 99.4% against critical cases.
As authors note, “the study shows that vaccination with Sputnik V and Sputnik Light has a high effectiveness for protection against hospitalisation. The reduction in the severity of COVID-19 regarding the Omicron variant was also observed. The greatest effectiveness was evident in protection against a critical course of the disease requiring patients to be admitted to the intensive care unit.”
I can only hope that the incoming administration of President-elect Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr., will consider acquiring more doses of Sputnik V and Sputnik Light even though the national authorities are trying to balance supply of COVID-19 vaccines with the rather slugging public response in terms of getting vaccinated or boosted at their local vaccination sites. The formulation behind Sputnik V and Sputnik Light should be strongly considered when it comes to immunizing as many Filipinos as possible from COVID-19, including the more infectious Omicron variant and its sub-variants.
Let me end this piece by asking you readers: What do you think about this new development? Have you ever been vaccinated or boosted with a Sputnik vaccine? Did you receive at least two doses of Sputnik V already? Does your local vaccination site have Sputnik V or Sputnik Light in supply right now? Did anyone from the anti-vaccine fanatics community turn violent against you because you refused to believe in them?
For more South Metro Manila community news and developments, come back here soon. Also say NO to fake news, NO to irresponsible journalism, NO to misinformation, NO to plagiarists, NO to reckless publishers and NO to sinister propaganda when it comes to news and developments. For South Metro Manila community developments, member engagements, commerce and other relevant updates, join the growing South Metro Manila Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/342183059992673
Before Microsoft’s megaton acquisitions of Bethesda and Activision-Blizzard, Team Xbox organized its very own Xbox Games Showcase in mid-2020 and one of the announced games back then was As Dusk Falls which I found intriguing and artistic at the same time. The game, which is being developed by London-based Interior/Night in cooperation with Xbox Game Studios Publishing, resurfaced at last during the recent Xbox-Bethesda Games Showcase and here are the hot news…As Dusk Falls will be released on July 19, 2022 for Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Windows PC, Steam, and will be available also via Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass! Watch the official release date announcement video below…
For the newcomers reading this, the game is an interactive drama that has a very stylized visual design. To understand As Dusk Falls better, posted below is an excerpt from the official article published at Xbox.com written by Kelly Lombardi. Some parts in boldface…
As Dusk Falls has been eight years in the making for CEO and Creative Director at Interior/Night Caroline Marchal. Her goal was to create a deep interactive experience for all levels of players, something meant to be shared with loved ones. Inspired by prestige TV shows, Interior/Night’s debut game is an uncompromising tale of family, resilience, and sacrifice, coming to Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC, Steam, and with Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass on July 19.
This cinematic story is brought to life by the performance of actors that are digitally rendered into a beautiful art style, creating a unique experience that plays like a motion graphic novel.
In As Dusk Falls you’ll have agency over the lives of relatable, far from perfect human beings, inviting you to empathize with their real-life struggles and aspirations. Starting in 1998 with a robbery-gone-wrong in small town Arizona, the choices you make have a powerful impact on the characters’ lives in this decades-spanning story told across two intense books:
Sacrifice vs Survival: Can you break free from your family’s toxic influence? What will you sacrifice for the ones you love? Can you overcome your past? Your decisions will shape the characters’ fates.
Interwoven Destinies: Follow two families in their struggle to survive, protect, and endure through challenges rooted in the previous generations’ mistakes.
Experience Together: Reveal insights about yourself and those you play with as you discover the underlying values of your decisions in cooperative gameplay with up to 8 players at a time, locally or online (or a mix). The As Dusk Falls companion app makes making choices in game easy, just use your phone or tablet to vote with or against your friends.
Replay the story again and again to uncover vastly different outcomes for the characters and explore hidden nuances behind every decision. Will your characters survive unscathed? What kind of people will they ultimately become?
The above article ended stating that As Dusk Falls will also be made available on mobile phones, tablets and lower-spec PCs via Xbox Cloud Gaming.
A law enforcer in a scene.
Considering the obvious lack of high-profile Xbox-exclusive games for the 2nd half of 2022, As Dusk Falls is definitely on my list of games to play on my Xbox Series X with the benefit of my Xbox Game Pass subscription. As such, its July 19, 2022 release date is good news as it has been two years since the game was first announced. This is an Xbox-exclusive of a very different kind!
This screenshot from the game shows how choices are presented on-screen.
In terms of game design, the Xbox-exclusive As Dusk Falls is highly unusual and also intriguing to look at. I really am interested to play it and witness how the actors will perform and bring their characters to life on-screen. The mentioned decision/choice making as a gameplay function alone interests me as I used to read Choose Your Own Adventure (CYOA) pocket books long ago. How high the quality and fun factor As Dusk Falls is a question mark right now but the wait for it will end very soon.
Looks like these two characters are up to something. As Dusk Falls will be released on the Xbox ecosystem.
If you are the type of gamer who loves narrative adventures, decision-making interactivity or if you simply want a really new form of video game that stands out among the rest, watch out for As Dusk Falls on the Xbox ecosystem.
To put things in perspective, posted below is an excerpt from the GMA news. Some parts in boldface…
The National Capital Region’s COVID-19 cases one-week growth rate climbed to 71%, independent group OCTA Research said Saturday.
The group said NCR’s “7-day average increased from 103 to 176 (as of June 11 to 17), a 71% increase.“
“This translates to an ADAR (average daily attack rate) of 1.24,” it added. ADAR pertains to the incidence showing the average number of new cases in a period per 100,000 people.
“The NCR reported 282 new cases on June 17, 2022, based on DOH data. With the exception of April 3 (when there was a high number due to possible backlog), this is the highest number of new cases since February 26, 2022,” OCTA said.
The coronavirus reproduction number meanwhile also went up to 1.80 in NCR as of June 14, an increase over the 1.40 as of June 7. The reproduction rate refers to the number of people infected by one case. A reproduction number that is below 1 indicates that the transmission of the virus is slowing down.
Also climbing up is the positivity rate in the region, now at 3.7%. This refers to the percentage of people who were found positive for COVID-19 among the total number of individuals tested.
OCTA however noted that despite the rise in these metrics in NCR, the hospital bed utilization and ICU utilization rates are still low at 22% and 17%, respectively.
“So far, the numbers we are seeing have been in line with our projections: a weak surge and no escalation of alert levels or restrictions because we expect our healthcare system will be able to manage the relatively low number of hospitalizations,” the group said.
OCTA then reminded the public to be responsible, follow health protocols and get COVID-19 booster shots to prevent infection.
As seen above, the COVID-19 situation in Metro Manila is getting worse in terms of infections but not with hospital bed utilization and ICU utilization which have registered low rates respectively. There’s no need yet to move the alert level system up. Such upward adjustments will depend on the metrics of the IATF. As we have seen before, more restrictions mean serious economic damage.
Key solutions to preventing a surge of new COVID-19 infections include getting vaccinated/boosted, wearing face masks and following health protocols properly. Along the way, I urge you to never let the anti-vaccine fanatics around you to fool you with their propaganda and misinformation tactics. Those anti-vaccine fanatics are loud and they don’t really offer any solutions on dealing with COVID-19.
Ignore those anti-vaccine fanatics and get vaccinated or boosted whenever you have the opportunity to do so. Call your local vaccination site or the local authorities now to find if you are eligible for a vaccine shot or a booster shot. When traveling around, wear your mask and follow local health protocols to avoid infection. The national authorities, meanwhile, should move quickly to allow comorbid patients access to 2nd booster shots and make adjustments to improve access to vaccines and vaccination hubs.
Let me end this by asking you readers: Does the recent spike of COVID-19 infections in the NCR scare you? Could it be possible that some of those who recently got infected were victims of the misinformation tactics of the anti-vaccine fanatics in our country? If have been boosted already for COVID-19, have you made moves to find out if you are eligible for the 2nd booster shot?
In my pre-event article of the Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase, I mentioned RPG specialist Obsidian Entertainment (an Xbox game studio) and their two upcoming games that I hoped would be showcases somehow in the June 12, 2022 event – the fantasy role-playing game (RPG) Avowed and The Outer Worlds 2.
While those two mentioned games did not appear in the showcase, Obsidian announced two new games that will be hitting the Xbox ecosystem this year – the full version of Grounded (already a hit in its pre-release form) and the brand-new game Pentiment(a narrative adventure).
In this post, we will take a close look at Pentiment which I must admit I was surprised as I did not anticipate to see another project from Obsidian whose works in The Outer Worlds and Fallout: New Vegas I enjoyed. To begin with, watch this official announcement video of Pentiment.
To learn more about this newest upcoming game from Obsidian, posted below is an excerpt from the official article published at Xbox.com. Some parts in boldface…
Today, we have the pleasure of introducing the world to Pentiment, a 16th-century narrative adventure game directed by Studio Design Director Josh Sawyer. As you will see, this game is brought to life by a talented team who were inspired by illuminated manuscripts, woodcut prints, and history itself.
In Pentiment, you play Andreas Maler, a journeyman artist working in the bygone scriptorium of Kiersau Abbey during a time of great social unrest. While finishing his masterpiece, Andreas inadvertently becomes entangled in a series of murders that take place over 25 years. Peasants, thieves, craftsmen, monks, nuns, nobles, and even saints must be investigated and interrogated to expose the truth.
You get to shape Andreas’ background and characteristics which should affect the narrative.
It will be up to players to decide Andreas’ choices, from his educational background and lifestyle to how he investigates the murders. One day he may be digging up a dead monk in the abbey cemetery, the next might be spent eavesdropping on peasant gossip at the ladies’ spinning bee. Every decision and accusation he makes carries consequences that will impact the tightly-knit Alpine community for generations to come.
We are very excited to share this unique interpretation of life in 16th-century Germany, and we can’t wait to release more information with you about Pentiment leading up to its launch this November.
The above article ended stating that Pentiment, which is an Xbox-exclusive game, will be released specifically for Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Windows PC and also through Xbox Game Pass (XGP), Steam and PC Game Pass sometime on November 2022 with a declared price of $19.99. Team Xbox and Obsidian have yet to announce a final release date as of this writing.
A scene from Pentiment.
Having seen the video during the recent Xbox-Bethesda Games Showcase, Pentiment looks really inspired and the artistic style looks nice. I find the player decision mechanism very appealing as it reminds me of my experience reading Choose Your Own Adventure pocket books in which readers must make decisions to move the narrative forward and also impact somewhat key aspects of the protagonist.
Pentiment clearly looks back at a certain part of history and has religious and cultural visual elements included. I don’t know what Josh Sawyer and his team think about religion nor European culture, but if you have read my past faith articles, you should be aware that religion and faith are not one and certainly not the same. I should also state that culture itself is a hindrance for any person who desires to establish faith in the Lord and have a personal relationship with Him.
Going back to the game, the November 2022 release of Pentiment and the September 2022 release of the full version of Grounded somewhat soften the lack of high-profile Xbox-exclusive games in the final four months of 2022. I was hoping to play Starfield and Forza Motorsport (2023) on my Xbox Series X console via Xbox Game Pass before the year ends but those games will be released sometime next year. That being said, Obsidian Entertainment has Xbox-exclusives set for release a few months from now.
If you are an avid Xbox gamer who seeks new exclusive games this year or if you are the type of gamer who wants to play something new and fun, pay close attention to Pentiment and the other Obsidian game.
Author Carlo Carrasco 