Ben Taylor

Enjoys big pretzels and Pixar shorts. Tweets & opinions are my own.

[Ben Taylor @Benjamin1Taylor]

@PaulTassi @Forbes As a unicorn "never really played Destiny but got way into Marathon" guy, it's a shame Sony couldn't have supported *both* D3 development and Marathon. I like the idea of Destiny as the mainstream series, and Marathon as the lighter-weight, arthouse alternative.

[Ben Taylor @Benjamin1Taylor]

@Jonathan_Blow Will progress carry over from the PC demo to the Switch 2 version if I want to go that route later?

[Ben Taylor @Benjamin1Taylor]

@PaulTassi Play Marathon

[Ben Taylor @Benjamin1Taylor]

@PeepsRebellion @edmundmcmillen I could see this once you’re consistently breeding great cats, but “auto-freeze one enemy at the start of battle” was critical for my first Act 2 clear. Basically took one whole enemy out of the game for the first turn, then let me deal with them after.

[Ben Taylor @Benjamin1Taylor]

@PaulTassi @Forbes Back in November, I was too scared to play Arc Raiders, so I got Escape from Duckov (cartoony, PvE-only extraction spinoff).

I picked up Arc a month later. Now I'm 30 hrs into Marathon — it's a blast.

Wish more PvP skeptics could experience my progression here. It's worth it.

[Ben Taylor @Benjamin1Taylor]

@Shironeeeki @GenePark Agreed. In Silksong, I can usually learn a boss in 10-15 minutes and overcome it by the 40-minute mark at the latest. In Souls, there are almost always a couple bosses that wind up taking me 2+ hours.

Meanwhile, the platforming can be tricky, but it’s rarely unmanageable

[Ben Taylor @Benjamin1Taylor]

@NateSilver538 I broadly agree with your conclusions about nothing replacing Twitter/X in terms of cultural/political relevance.

But dismissing Threads with a single sentence makes it seem like you’re out of the loop on the platform’s 300 MAUs and alternate strategy.

[Ben Taylor @Benjamin1Taylor]

@NateSilver538 Interesting article, but 90% focuses on the consequences of year-round *Standard* time, which it seems everyone (except maybe Trump himself?) agrees is a bad idea.

You nod to a mild critique or two of year-round DST, but that's prob where the entire debate should be focused.

[Ben Taylor @Benjamin1Taylor]

@SnazzyLabs This is such a cilantro topic. Some see it as one of Apple’s worst design decisions ever and a fatal flaw for the Magic Mouse. I’m on the side that thinks it’s kind of amusing but deserves a one-sentence aside in the 3rd paragraph of a 1,000-word review.

[Ben Taylor @Benjamin1Taylor]

@RisonSimon @MKBHD Always interesting to see these download vs revenue numbers by OS. iOS 3x the downloads but 8x the $$$

[Ben Taylor @Benjamin1Taylor]

@PaulTassi I’ve found it’s a “cilantro thing” where certain players love knowing they customized what’s “under the hood” of all their in-game gear (that covers the character), and some like me kind of feel it is wasted as a result.

[Ben Taylor @Benjamin1Taylor]

@PaulTassi Haven’t heard of this creator and I wouldn’t put it nearly that harshly…but as a general sentiment, I do find it strange how detailed character creators can be relative to how little you usually see of them while playing.

[Ben Taylor @Benjamin1Taylor]

@agentbizzle Not as extreme, but feels like what Apple tried with the 1st generation, $17K Apple Watch Edition made out of gold.

The strategy is you just admit it's only for the highest-end and jack up the price to make sure the low % that actually buy still get you to your revenue targets.

[Ben Taylor @Benjamin1Taylor]

@breakfade @ShitpostGate I agree kids=complicating factor. It’s not a pure binary between zero issues and “dire emergency.”

I’m a lifelong “always return the cart” guy. But for a 6-month window when I had two kids under 2? My return rate was like 50%.

[Ben Taylor @Benjamin1Taylor]

@MKBHD I'm curious how well his works for us left-hand phone holders. Seems designed primarily for using your right thumb?

[Ben Taylor @Benjamin1Taylor]

@NeonNoodle22 @MKBHD Yep. Clearly they wanted the more dramatic contrast, but the whole appeal of Series 7 was the bigger screen. So it's unclear whether this is "pretty much Series 7/8/9 still," or another meaningful jump up.

[Ben Taylor @Benjamin1Taylor]

@feelsdesperate Lots of replies suggesting no reliable difference above ~$80, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the the same held true for anything $15+. Truly blind taste tests often show things like temperature, guests and environment trump the wine itself.

[Ben Taylor @Benjamin1Taylor]

@c0eseph @ericowensdc @bendreyfuss For a single outcome, yep, it’s impossible to prove the exact probability.

But you can def gauge how accurate each forecaster is by taking a large sample. Did the 40% predictions tend to happen ~40% of the time? What about the 70% ones? Here, Nate/538 has been pretty solid.

[Ben Taylor @Benjamin1Taylor]

@ArloStuff Also: how would Zelda getting a sword and shield be empowering?

Mechanics and abilities that complement and flesh out a character >>> Link->Zelda avatar palette swap

[Ben Taylor @Benjamin1Taylor]

@ArloStuff Sword combat in the Zelda series has always been kinda bad. That's why Zelda getting the Tri Rod instead is a huge win for both her and players.

[Ben Taylor @Benjamin1Taylor]

@DekuDelight @ArloStuff Felt exactly the same way. I needed something that would have given the game a whiff of its own identify. A flash of a giant new boss? A tease of a new ability? A quick lore moment?