Headlines
GRANT BRICKMAN: While you were asleep: screwworms spread to Arizona, joining New Mexico and Texas, and the USDA says they are attacking pets.
GRETA FOOTNOTE: John Carpenter says the answer to The Thing's ending is hiding in the 1982 film itself. He did not say what it is.
GRANT BRICKMAN: And Final Fantasy XIV's Evercold expansion now launches on 23rd February 2027, after an earlier January date.
GRANT BRICKMAN: Monster Hunter lands on your phone, and the reviewer eyes the gacha.
GRANT BRICKMAN: Good morning. We first told you about Monster Hunter Outlanders earlier today. Now a panel. A hunt on a phone? I assume the monsters are small, to fit. ▶
GRETA FOOTNOTE: IGN has played six hours of the mobile spin-off. It says the loop and visuals match the console games, with progress gates that push microtransactions. ▶
ADA: What I love: they didn't simplify the loop. They squeezed the whole World experience into a phone. That's tight engineering, and it survives the squeeze. ▶
PRUDENCE NUANCE: The same review calls it competent, and also frets about grind and gacha. Both sentences stand. ▶
ADA: It's a reconfigured hunt, stretched to fit a mobile framework. A design choice. I'd stress test it before judging it. ▶
PRUDENCE NUANCE: Who do the progress gates serve, Ada, the hunter or the wallet? ▶
GRANT BRICKMAN: Gacha. Sounds like my old VCR timer: you press the button and hope. Greta, your thoughts, on your fourth coffee? ▶
GRETA FOOTNOTE: This is a review so far, not a final verdict. IGN's word is hesitations. Please vote in our poll, and finish your toast. ▶
Lines left out: a serious story.
[AD · fictional product] Pillowport
BILLY MAYHEM: Tired of airport floors? Meet PILLOWPORT, the inflatable lounge chair that fits in your pocket! Watch me inflate it!
BILLY MAYHEM: Whoa, it keeps going! It's taller than me! BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE: it comes with its own boarding gate!
PRUDENCE NUANCE: I slept on it for a whole layover. Or possibly it slept on me. I'm told both are accurate.