Patrick O’Rourke’s 5 favourite issues of 2024

2024 was a yr of change for me. I left my job because the Editor-In-Chief of MobileSyrup after working and serving to to construct Canada’s premiere expertise web site for greater than 10 years, for the units managing editor position at Pocket-lint. I then discovered myself again within the EIC role a few months later, however this time at Pocket-lint.

I am thrilled to take the helm of a historic publication like Pocket-lint, and the stellar workforce and I’ve huge plans for 2025, together with content material that goals to supply a glimpse on the small however nimble editorial workforce behind the positioning. This “my 5 favourite issues” story is an instance of this — and sure, if you happen to’ve adopted my work previously, you will recognize the format from MobileSyrup 😉. You will see different members of the Pocket-lint editorial workforce’s 5 favourite issues tales hit the positioning within the coming days.

Outdoors of work-related adjustments, there are a variety of issues I preferred this yr, starting from taking part in Ship of Harkinian (a PC port of Zelda: Ocarina of Time) on the ROG Ally X to the Fallout TV present and a surprisingly empty pop-punk pageant expertise.

1 Ship of Harkinian on the ROG Ally X

Reliving one in every of my favourite childhood video games has been a blast

Should you informed me a number of months in the past that I might spend 30 plus hours taking part in Nintendo 64 traditional The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time in the direction of the latter half of the yr, I fairly merely would not consider you, however right here we’re. I’ve identified about Ship of Harkinian, a PC port of Ocarina of Time, for fairly a while, however I’ve by no means bothered to get it up and working till not too long ago. It looks as if the proper recreation to play on the Steam Deck OLED, however any time I regarded up the steps to get it engaged on Valve’s handheld, it simply appeared too difficult.

That is the place the Home windows-based ROG Ally X is available in. As a result of it runs Home windows 11 (which is each its greatest and worst function), you are able to do just about something you may with a laptop computer on the hand-held, permitting me to get Ship of Harkinian and a 4K texture pack referred to as OoT Reloaded put in in just some minutes. Ocarina of Time has aged remarkably properly for a recreation that launched manner again in 1998, and that further sheen of high-resolution textures and 60fps brings its visuals as much as par with its outstanding gameplay. I am stunned at how a lot I keep in mind about Ocarina of Time but in addition how a lot I’ve forgotten, particularly in the case of some puzzles early within the recreation (the variety of instances I’ve wanted to make use of a walkthrough is embarrassing).

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2 Fallout TV present

I am nonetheless stunned at how a lot I loved it

Amazon

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Fallout

Style

Sci-Fi

Variety of Seasons

1

Studio

Amazon

Creator

Jonathan Nolan

Starring

Walton Goggins, Ella Purnell, Aaron Clifton Moten

Format

TV collection

Broaden

Until it is The Last of Us, I’ve just about given up on online game TV reveals, however I am glad I gave Amazon’s Fallout TV present a shot. It just about completely captures the sport collection’ tongue-in-cheek tone, and Ella Purnell (Lucy MacLean), Aaron Moten (Maximus), and Walton Goggins (The Goul 🥵) provide wonderful performances. It is a bit crude and shockingly gory at instances, however there’s additionally coronary heart to it, identical to the long-running recreation franchise.

A part of why I believe the Fallout TV present works so properly is as a result of it is solely set within the recreation’s universe, giving its creators (which incorporates govt producer Jonathan Nolan) free rein to do just about no matter they need throughout the confines of the sport’s universe. I am wanting ahead to season 2 when it doubtless drops in some unspecified time in the future in 2026. The Fallout TV present is on the market to stream on Amazon Prime Video.

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3 Attending All Your Associates Fest

Getting a non-public live performance from Gob was fairly cool

I am a sucker for nostalgia, so when my associate managed to get her fingers on VIP tickets to All Your Friends Fest, a pop-punk/emo pageant that appeared prefer it aimed to be a smaller scale When We Were Young, I used to be all in. Then I came upon it was manner out in Burl’s Creek, a pageant venue that is roughly two hours away from Toronto, and my pleasure shortly disappeared. The truth is, at one level, my associate and I deliberate to skip the pageant altogether, however I am very glad we did not.

As a compromise, we hit up solely the Friday date, and to my shock, the venue was just about empty. This gave us the prospect to look at Silverstein, Gob, Billy Talent, and extra, from the entrance row. In a manner, it nearly felt like a semi-private live performance expertise. I doubt subsequent yr’s pageant will probably be as low-key, so I am going to at all times treasure having the chance to see a number of of the manufacturers I grew up listening to up shut and private. And hey, Gob could not have performed Ming Tran, however no less than I obtained to take heed to Soda whereas standing 5-feet from the stage.

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4 Anbernic’s RG35XXSP taught me the significance of authenticity

Enjoying retro video games is all concerning the platform you are gaming on

Your adjustments have been saved

I used to suppose it was foolish to need to play retro video games with old skool controllers or, on this case, a familiar-looking machine. “It is the sport that issues, not the machine,” was the opinion I held for years. Then I got here throughout Anbernic’s RG35XXSP, a retro handheld that is slightly greater than impressed by Nintendo’s traditional Game Boy Advance SP, the primary backlit Sport Boy launched in North America.

Should you put the 2 handhelds side-by-side, most individuals most likely would not even have the ability to inform the distinction. Anbernic has recreated the GBA SP in a outstanding manner, proper all the way down to its clamshell design, button format, and the a number of good software program methods it presents, like pixel scaling, a digital drop shadow border across the show, and extra. In some methods, I’ve discovered that taking part in GBA video games on a handheld with this acquainted design is a greater expertise than the far dearer and premium-feeling FPGA-based Analogue Pocket (you may choose up the RG35XXSP for just $60). I can also’t complain concerning the numerous ROMs which will or is probably not already put in on the RG35XXSP relying on what storage configuration you go for, or its small measurement, which makes it simple to take with me on work-related journeys (the above image is me gaming away on a aircraft).

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5 Going to the Tea Home on the Royal Botanical Gardens

Trying out flowers and consuming tasty treats

I actually like expertise, and that is an enormous a part of why I obtained into the journalism area. However I additionally like completely unplugging, flowers, gardening, and consuming tea. In an effort to briefly disconnect from our busy lives, my associate purchased tickets to the Royal Botanical Gardens Tea House, a fantastically adorned and historic tea home positioned in southern Ontario, for my birthday. For a number of hours, we munched on scones, macarons, tarts, and extra, and, in fact, additionally had tea. We then spent the afternoon wandering across the Royal Botanical gardens, testing the sprawling park’s strolling trails, beautiful flowers, and its tropical plant-filled greenhouse.

It was a brief respite throughout a yr that feels prefer it’s been completely continuous for the each of us, and each time I am having a tricky day, I believe again to that very chill expertise and do my greatest to keep in mind that life is not at all times a relentless whirlwind.

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