Utopia

 

A new look at civilization in this political satire and fiction from 1516, Utopia tells about an island where life seems idyllic, but the way it is written is although extraordinary for the 16^th century readers as an original idea, not so marvelous for me from the 21^st century.

As Utopian and Dystopian are commonly understood as a look into social and political structures, More’s book is only loosely based on this definition of the concept, and was not interesting to read. Some things just feel and are outdated.

I'm sorry, but sometimes I just gotta be straight to the point and say that I did not like something, without dwelling too long on arguments or reasons as to why that seems to be the case. After all, it is impossible to like everything in life, and Thomas More's Utopia happens to be a boring read.

Rating: *

Serbia

The recent history of the Balkans region are complex, man. I wouldn't dare to understand it completely as a foreigner, hence this is why I decided to visit it first by starting with Serbia, a key country in the former Yugoslavia republic and beyond.

Many years ago, I used to play skirmish matches with my Serbian buddy Marko for online games like Warcraft III, Defense of the Ancients and Heroes of Newerth. Now he has welcomed and guided me towards this capital he was born in, and it made my stay more special.

Belgrade is for a tourist like me easy to explore, as pretty much all of the sight seeings and highlights can be walked or done with public transport in a close range of proximity, plus since the Euro isn't used here, but the Dinar instead, the prices in general are low.

My main reason for visiting was to experience the Nikola Tesla Museum, which does not offer much once you're inside, but the scientist gets plenty of respect for me, for the various important inventions he has given towards humanity.

Seeing the Yugoslav Museum and the House of Flowers gave me an introduction to the Balkan communism, and the various landmarks such as the Kalemegdan Fortress, the Church of Saint Sava and "downtown" Zemun all offered different kinds of visual reactions.

I was also introduced to many of Marko's social circle, including his roommate, his colleagues at his office space, friends who arrived at a Serbian picnic and band members of two rock bands in Studio Sova where he would do rehearsals, which sounded nice!

Serbia might not be the first country you think of visiting considering it's recent history, but what I found was not only a wave of interesting culture phenomenon, but also friendly people who were curious and open. And I might have never drank as much beer, or have eaten as much meat before, as when I stayed over here!

Decline of Konami

What's going on with Konami?

At Gamescom, the only upcoming game that was shown is Pro Evolution Soccer 2019. What happened with the rest of Konami's work? Where are the sequels and the originals? Where are any actual games?

Where are Castlevania, Contra, Silent Hill, Metal Gear and so much more? I'm flabbergasted if you would compare Capcom with Konami right now,  but apparently, Konami announced around 2015 that console gaming would no longer be a priority for them.

It's quite exceptional to see Simon still making it in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, but other than that, seeing Konami now mainly as a pachinko parlor producer is embarrassing for me, not to mention the horrible sounds they made while I was in Japan.

The various controversies of recent years, such as the Hideo/Konami conflict, the treatment of employees, the cancellation of Silent Hill/P.T. and the development with Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain gave the company a bad reputation.

Now it's just almost out of the picture, and it's sad. Could Konami at least sell or borrow their IP's
to some developers? The franchises are too iconic to just let them be...in overall, Konami's business might be elsewhere, but someday they ought to return to gaming.