I have gone down a massive Alexa path in my household, between turning on and off my lights, blasting Spotify music to appease my kids, to showing what’s happening at my front door. Having used Echo devices, I was pretty keen to check out one of the bigger Echo Shows, and so with that, I have now got to take the new Echo Show 8 for a spin, and I am digging it. Design https://youtu.be/LF80qMf-YyU These devices wind up in a pretty central part of your house, so their design is pretty important. The Echo Show 5 I had been…
Author: Blair Loveday
My Hero Academia has done a good job with its movies. They have been easy to pick up and watch even without the context of a previous season. Well My Hero Academia: You’re Next keeps this rolling with a cracking new movie that you can now pick up on Blu-ray. https://youtu.be/22hBq1cvemE You’re Next kicks off with a man who is watching an old All Might film and is inspired by him. We then jump to our classic heroes who are fighting some villains when some mysterious characters turn up. Suddenly a man looking a lot like All Might turns up…
3:10 to Yuma has been one of those movies I have meant to watch for far too long. You know how you know something is supposed to be good, and you have every intention of watching it, but with so many good movies and TV shows coming out, you never quite get to it? Well, this has been on my backlog for over 10 years. Well, with a new release on 4K, it seemed like it was finally time to check it out. If, like me, you have waited too long to watch it, I highly recommend that you correct…
After the awesomeness that was Avatar: The Last Airbender Magic set, I was chomping at the bit for some in-universe Magic. I had never played with the plane of Lorwyn before, but when I saw Elves, Elementals, Goblins and stuff, I was so keen. The Magicest Magic I had ever seen. So after Lorwyn Eclipsed got pushed back to the start of this year, I felt the hype rising. Now it is here and… well… It was worth the wait! Why is Lorwyn Eclipsing? https://youtu.be/mCQ5EF69rSQ If, like me, you are going in without knowing about Lorwyn, it’s a fascinating world.…
When it comes to family movies, there is so much to choose from. From the old timeless animated flicks to timeless live-action flicks like The NeverEnding Story. But what new movies might sit in that space for newer kids that don’t have 90s nostalgia goggles? Well, The Legend of Ochi is one that is making a good case for being a child’s future classic. https://youtu.be/_jTFLg3arYU The Legend of Ochi takes us to an island in the Black Sea where there is a small village. This village goes out on hunts for a terrifying creature called the Ochi. Yuri sneaks along…
This year I have checked out the JBL Clip, the JBL Flip, and now I am checking out the JBL Grip to find out whether you should clip, flip, or grip your own JBL. As with everything I check out from JBL, I will say I am impressed, but I will dig into why below! That classic style https://youtu.be/vvp2Hy9IPsw At first you will notice the JBL Grip looks a lot like the Flip, and it does but upright. Where the Flip is oriented to lay down, this bad boy is designed to look right sitting on its end. This may…
It’s that time of the year again, and while Black Friday may not be a thing in Aotearoa, Black Friday sales have become one. Ignoring the hype, it can be a great way to buy X-Mas presents for your whānau, so here is our 2025 Black Friday guide based on some of the things we have tested out and recommend. Keep in mind that during Black Friday we quite often buy stuff we don’t actually need. But stick to what you want and gifts, and it can be a great time to save! WiZ and Philips Smart home kit! We…
In 1986 and 1987 a legendary series was born and sequeled; that franchise was called Dragon Quest. Like any JRPG nerd, I have, of course … played sod all of them. I played and adored Dragon Quest XI but never got the chance to go back and play them all. Well, with some re-releases, the chance has finally come, and now you can play the first and second entries in this amazing series in waaaaay prettier fashion. The Dragon’s Quest begins https://youtu.be/Po2KYy6MgfE Dragon Quest 1 tells a simple story of a hero who travels to a castle. Here he discovers…
There are so many ways to smarten up your home these days. The easiest and most noticeable I have found is with lighting. Whether you want to add ambience as you watch a movie, or if you want to be able to tell your smart assistant to turn off the lounge lights as you run out the door. These things are so damn handy. With Philips Hue’s latest Bedside Lamp, I was keen to find out if I needed one of them on my bedside. It turns out, yes, I did. So much light! https://youtu.be/SC6zSrRF5aw The first thing I noticed…
This year has been an interesting one when it comes to Magic: The Gathering and Universes Beyond. With 3 UB sets there was plenty of reasonable and fair criticism. Personally, I like UB and absolutely adored the Final Fantasy set. I liked a lot about the Spider-Man set, even if it didn’t achieve what I felt it could have. Fortunately the new Avatar set that has been released is much more on the Final Fantasy end of the spectrum, and I am digging the hell out of it. What’s it like to play? https://youtu.be/4CGL-Cjx0r0 Avatar, like Final Fantasy, is kind…