BitPunch News April 2021
Looking to the Future and enjoying Chicken Sandwiches
Top 3 Spicy Chicken Sandwiches Showdown
Michael
Over the past couple of weeks we’ve been testing 8 different fast food style spicy chicken sandwiches. The criteria was it had to be close to where we live and minimal driving back home to test. I’m a little shocked at how my top 3 sandwiches were ranked but it’s crazy times right now. Here are my top 3 spicy chicken sandwiches:
#3: Burger King: Only 2 pickles and a spicy sauce but this was a great tasting chicken sandwich. Some may be turned away by the amount of spicy oily weirdness was on the chicken but I thought it was nom nom.
#2: Chick-Fil-A: It’s crazy how good this chicken sandwich is. Chicken was thinner, not dried out, crunchy with a small hint of a spicy kick. I’m happy with this sandwich.
#1: Popeye’s: The bun and chicken were tasty. I had some thick pickles which provided an additional audible crunch for the few bites they lasted. Sauce could be spicier but overall a fine addition to the great chicken sandwich war of 2021.
Rich
The war for the best chicken sandwich heated up about a year ago. Companies were launching social media campaigns against one another which I found to be pretty hilarious. I hadn’t realized up until Michael had this idea that the whole thing had extended to spicy chicken sandwiches as well. This battle has produced a lot of bad chicken sandwiches. Here are my top 3.
#3 Wendy’s: This is the OG spicy chicken sandwich in my opinion. It still holds up and has the added benefit of being at Wendy’s where they have a pretty unique menu.
#2 Popeye’s: I have never had Popeye’s before. This was a revelation and will become a standard in my fast food rotation. Really enjoyed the taste and spicy nature of this one.
#1 Chick-Fil-A: This is the best spicy chicken sandwich. It if basically an entire half chicken breast thrown on the bun. The pickles add just the right amount of tangy flavor to set it over the top.
Looking Forward to Gaming in 2021
By: Rich Matney and Michael Perry
If you follow gaming news, you’ll notice a lot of games that were scheduled to release this year be pushed to 2022. The pandemic has definitely slowed production of video game development down, but there is still a great list of games coming this year. Here is an unordered list of games we are looking forward to playing this year.
Michaels Picks
Baldur’s Gate 3
Michael - For the past 6+ months, I’ve been playing Larian Studios amazing game Divinity: Original Sin II. It took a few different tries but I have a group of friends I play with and it’s something I look forward to every week. I would put Divinity as one of the best games of all time, but there is a barrier there you have to get through. Once you do though you are rewarded with some of the best tactical RPG gaming I’ve ever played.
Larian proved themselves and are taking up development of Baldur’s Gate 3. I have been following this game since its announcement and cannot wait for it to finally be released. It’s currently in Early Access on Steam but I’m staying away until it hits 1.0. This game reminds me a lot of Divinity but has it’s own spin to the combat and storytelling. GiantBomb has an early access look recorded in October 2020. A lot has been added since then but it’s a good look at the game and what to expect. Hopefully this game gets fully released before the end of the year. Until then, I’ll keep playing Divinity and may even start a solo run to play on the side. IT’S THAT GOOD!
Monster Harvest
Monster Harvest was written up as Pokémon meets Stardew Valley as you are using your crops to help you fight in turn based style battles. I always enjoy a Pokémon game and cannot talk highly enough of Stardew Valley. Looks like they are on track to releasing in May as he posted a code complete blog back in February. I’m hoping the farming aspect is streamlined as I’ve played farming games in the past that felt more like a chore and wasn’t fun at all. Check the link to see if this game would be for you.
Mass Effect Legendary Edition
What a roller coaster of emotions I’ve had with this series. Had a really hard time getting into the first game. Thought it was slow and didn’t pay attention to the story as much as I should have. I’ll blame myself for that but think they could have done a better job. ME 2 is amazing and one of my favorite 360 experiences. Then 3 comes along and I was met with what I thought was a slow fart of a game. It had a lot going on but I just started losing interest. I hear the DLC adds a lot to both 2 and 3 and I’ve never experienced those.
Now with the remake, I can experience the entire series, excluding Andromeda, with all the DLC in one continuous playthrough. Achievements carry between each game if you are into that and everything just has a fresh coat of paint. With a year that is lacking in many high profile games, this is one I’m really looking forward to replaying. I’m hoping Bioware pulls this off.
Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance
D&D is huge and something that I admire from far away. I dabble in some properties of D&D, like their board games and such, but haven’t played many video games around this series. Dark Alliance looks to be a type of Destiny/Outriders game except it’s set in the D&D universe. This is something my tabletop circle and I will probably get into as long as it’s good.
Age of Empires IV
Age of Empires III was one of my favorite games I played on PC Game Pass last year. I love RTS style games and am looking forward to what Microsoft is cooking with the next entry in the series. I’ve checked out just a few screenshots of this game but really don’t need anything else for me to be interested besides we are making this game.
Rich’s Picks
HALO INFINITE
I still haven’t been able to secure a new XBOX Series X. My lust for one has somewhat dwindled over the last several months. Mostly that is due to the platform not having an exclusive game that I am dying to play. HALO INFINITE would change that. Being a lifelong HALO fan, I need to see what this game ends up being. There is so much riding on this version after the last two games made by 343 were pretty average experiences. That was all ramped up after the initial reveal was very poor and the game got pushed out an entire year.
New Pokemon Snap
Okay, this is a strange one. This is 100% here because I want to get my two kids more into gaming in 2021. They honestly just haven’t had much of an interest until very recently. I feel like this game is something they would really like. This could be a start of a dangerous path I set them on with Pokemon. With great power comes great responsibility.
Everwild
While this game hasn’t officially been confirmed for 2021, it is still one of my more anticipated games. This is the next game from RARE, whose last game. Sea of Theives was met with a pretty mixed critical response. RARE however has made some great games in the past and this appears to possibly be their take on a Breath of the Wild style of game. I love open world games and can’t wait to learn more about Everwild.
Fae Tactics Consumed My April Gaming
By: Michael Perry
As a big fan of the Final Fantasy Tactics series, I’m always on the lookout for a game that can capture that feeling I had endlessly grinding through those games. Fae Tactics is close enough that I’ve spend easily 50+ hours with this game this month alone. If I found 30 minutes free I was playing through a battle on my laptop with no graphics card. The old school art style allows this game to run on virtually anything and still be something I want to play in 2021.
There isn’t anything unique or special about this game. I think they just have solid tactics combat, interesting characters, and enough customization to play around with. Final Fantasy Tactics allows you to customize your characters more by assigning dedicated jobs to characters. You would choose any character to be a white mage, or a warrior, or whatever. Fae doesn’t allow that much depth, but still gives you some wiggle room with different scrolls that can be assigned to characters that can alter how you use them in battle. There are other ways you can customize but your characters are pretty set in their ways of either “I’m a tank” or “I’m your healer.” There are also multiple characters you collect throughout the game that you can fully miss out on. I like that your decisions you choose throughout can dictate how your party is built.
Fae Tactics is $20 on Steam and is easily recommended to those that enjoy tactics style RPG games. Watch the trailer on Steam to get an idea on how this game is played out.
April Podcasts:
EP017 - Tesla, Chicken Sandwiches, Tactics | BitPunch Radio
This week's episode discusses Tesla, reviewing chicken sandwiches, video game news, and loads more.
EP018 - Apple News, Outriders, Invincible | BitPunch Radio
Rich is jazzing over his Tesla, playing MOBA games on the go, and enjoying Outriders. Michael is reading comics, playing games, and being disappointed with mail food. We also discuss Invincible on Amazon Prime, Falcon & the Winter Soldier on Disney+, Made for Love on HBO Max, Apple's Spring Loaded Event, and lots of gaming.
News News News
Here are some interesting headlines that happened this month:
Apple had their Spring Loaded event and announced a ton of expensive products including some familiar looking iMacs, new Apple TV box, iPad Pro, and the long rumored Apple Airtags. | TheVerge
MLB The Show will no longer be exclusive to Sony platforms and will be launching on Microsoft’s monthly game service Xbox Game Pass. | Polygon
Speaking of Sony, they announced closures of the Vita, PSP, and PS3 Online store. Then shortly after, reversed the decision after outcry from some fans. | Kotaku
Best Buy is entering the yearly subscription service called Best Buy Beta. Their focus is based around services like extended warranties, Geek Squad support, and free shipping. It’s a little pricey at $200 per year but if warranties and tech support is something you use often this may be a service worth looking into. | Ars Technica