Patrick O’Rourke’s 5 favourite issues of 2024

2024 was a 12 months of change for me. I left my job because the Editor-In-Chief of MobileSyrup after operating and serving to to construct Canada’s premiere expertise web site for greater than 10 years, for the gadgets managing editor function 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 staff and I’ve massive plans for 2025, together with content material that goals to supply a glimpse on the small however nimble editorial staff behind the location. This “my 5 favourite issues” story is an instance of this — and sure, for those who’ve adopted my work prior to now, you will recognize the format from MobileSyrup . You may see different members of the Pocket-lint editorial staff’s 5 favourite issues tales hit the location within the coming days.

Outdoors of work-related adjustments, there are a whole lot of issues I appreciated this 12 months, 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 among my favourite childhood video games has been a blast

For those who informed me a couple of months in the past that I would 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 12 months, 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 operating till not too long ago. It looks like the proper recreation to play on the Steam Deck OLED, however any time I seemed up the steps to get it engaged on Valve’s handheld, it simply appeared too sophisticated.

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 characteristic), you are able to do just about something you possibly can with a laptop computer on the hand-held, permitting me to get Ship of Harkinian and a 4K texture pack known as OoT Reloaded put in in just some minutes. Ocarina of Time has aged remarkably properly for a recreation that launched method again in 1998, and that additional sheen of high-resolution textures and 60fps brings its visuals as much as par with its outstanding gameplay. I am shocked at how a lot I keep in mind about Ocarina of Time but additionally how a lot I’ve forgotten, particularly on the subject 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 shocked at how a lot I loved it

Amazon

Your adjustments have been saved

Fallout

Style

Sci-Fi

Variety of Seasons

1

Studio

Amazon

Creator

Jonathan Nolan

Starring

Walton Goggins, Ella Purnell, Aaron Clifton Moten

Format

TV sequence

Broaden

Except 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 sequence’ tongue-in-cheek tone, and Ella Purnell (Lucy MacLean), Aaron Moten (Maximus), and Walton Goggins (The Goul ) supply glorious performances. It’s kind of 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 feel 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 trying ahead to season 2 when it doubtless drops sooner or later in 2026. The Fallout TV present is out there to stream on Amazon Prime Video.

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3 Attending All Your Mates Fest

Getting a personal live performance from Gob was fairly cool

I am a sucker for nostalgia, so when my accomplice managed to get her palms 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 method out in Burl’s Creek, a pageant venue that is roughly two hours away from Toronto, and my pleasure rapidly disappeared. The truth is, at one level, my accomplice 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 method, it nearly felt like a semi-private live performance expertise. I doubt subsequent 12 months’s pageant will likely be as low-key, so I will all the time treasure having the chance to see a number of of the manufacturers I grew up listening to up shut and private. And hey, Gob might not have performed Ming Tran, however no less than I obtained to hearken to Soda whereas standing 5-feet from the stage.

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4 Anbernic’s RG35XXSP taught me the significance of authenticity

Taking part in retro video games is all in regards to the platform you are gaming on

Your adjustments have been saved

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

For those who put the 2 handhelds side-by-side, most individuals most likely would not even be capable of inform the distinction. Anbernic has recreated the GBA SP in a outstanding method, proper all the way down to its clamshell design, button structure, and the a number of sensible software program methods it provides, 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 costlier and premium-feeling FPGA-based Analogue Pocket (you possibly can choose up the RG35XXSP for just $60). I can also’t complain in regards to the numerous ROMs that will or is probably not already put in on the RG35XXSP relying on what storage configuration you go for, or its small dimension, which makes it simple to take with me on work-related journeys (the above image is me gaming away on a airplane).

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5 Going to the Tea Home on the Royal Botanical Gardens

Testing flowers and consuming tasty treats

I actually like expertise, and that is a giant 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 accomplice purchased tickets to the Royal Botanical Gardens Tea House, a superbly embellished and historic tea home positioned in southern Ontario, for my birthday. For a couple of hours, we munched on scones, macarons, tarts, and extra, and, after all, additionally had tea. We then spent the afternoon wandering across the Royal Botanical gardens, trying out the sprawling park’s strolling trails, beautiful flowers, and its tropical plant-filled greenhouse.

It was a brief respite throughout a 12 months that feels prefer it’s been completely continuous for the each of us, and every time I am having a troublesome day, I feel again to that very chill expertise and do my greatest to keep in mind that life is not all the time a relentless whirlwind.

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