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The end of a con is a weird thing. On the one hand, you're sad it's ending. It always goes by so fast that you just can't believe you're already checking out, packing up and going out on the show floor one last time. On the other hand, you're tired, especially after Saturday night's after parties, you've likely spent a good amount of money, and you're lookin' for a good meal and a fast ride home. C2E2 always has something alluring on Sunday morning, and this time, it was the Chris Evans panel. It's by design, since packing the house on Saturday tends to happen with or without huge names, and the lines to see main stage guests we saw at the Buffy reunion, Boy Meets World Panel and Avatar the Last Airbender panel already run wild and start hours early. We got a chance to sit in on the Chris Evans panel on the last day of C2E2. This panel was so anticipated, that there were people lining up well before the gates opened, hoping to get in to see Captain America himself. What we weren’t expecting was how soft spoken, and even dorky, the man behind the First Avenger can seem. While he didn’t take any fan questions on the floor, the host was relaying fan questions to Evans via social media. It turns out that Evans is a movie nerd. Weighing in on his appearance in the upcoming Christmas action movie Red One, he said, “I actually was worried 'Is this gonna ruin Christmas for me?' because it's so special. 'Do I really want to see my mug every Christmas?' But I'm telling you, every day was Christmas, and when it wrapped I was like 'Aww.' Believe me, I couldn't get enough of it.” Evans is very definition of charming and low-key, and we left feeling like there's a chance the people we love to see on screen are just as pleasant, if not more so, in real life. Riding on the good feelings, we decided to head to Family HQ to support the Drag Story Hour. Drag performers are currently under attack all around the country, including here in Chicago, as are drag events, and nerds need to show up in full force to be allies. Not to mention, Drag Story Hour is a fantastic way to refresh on the last day of a con! Performers Muffy Fishbasket, Miss Yooka, Coco Sho-Nell and Amanda Lynn brought the glamour and positivity, and Family HQ was filled to overflowing with attendees of all ages. Kids were treated to amazing costumes and fantastic performances by all the queens, who read stories that reinforced the beauty of being who you are and finding a place for everyone to be themselves. It's a better world, if a temporary one, and it brought congoers together for a little bit of hope and a big boost of confidence, which we could all use a little more of in our daily lives. We, along with C2E2, give our full support to these amazing, charitable, gorgeous queens and the work they do. That wraps up all the best things we saw in panel rooms on the final day of C2E2. Thanks for taking the journey with us and remember to make the world a better place once you get out in it.

Avatar the Last Airbender For the first time since the completion of the series, the main cast of Avatar: The Last Airbender reunited on the C2E2 stage to reminisce about their time on the show and to answer some burning fan questions. Dante Basco, Jack De Sena, and Zach Tyler Eisen, were all smiles as a full room of fans warmly welcomed them. Though Mae Whitman was unable to make it to the panel due to weather complications, the three voice actors still made the panel a memorable one. For Eisen, the reunion panel was his first ever guest appearance at a convention, though he said that he had gone to conventions as an attendee in the past. Even so, the voice actor acclimated quickly and seemed at ease as he shared what it was like to witness the legacy of the show years later as an adult. “We definitely knew it was good [but] never did I think that 15 years later I’d be sitting here in a packed house full of fans. I don’t think anyone could’ve really predicted that,” he said. An ongoing topic discussed throughout the panel was the show’s lasting impact and continued success. Basco had some insight to share as to why he thinks the show managed to remain in the hearts of fans both new and old. “When I grew up, cartoons were very black and white in a sense that there were Autobots and Decepticons and we looked at the world in a certain way. [Especially] when you’re young, your mind is developing and you kind of get these perceptions of the world and what not. Avatar happened and you get to see that the world is much more gray and much more like it is. There’s this epic story of this gang trying to save the world. There are four elements but in these four elements there is good and bad in every element. And with the characters, we don’t know who’s the heroes and who’s the villains,” he explained. “Things change as they do in life [but] this is the kind of story that can change the world.” When asked if there was any particular arc that they really loved to see, Jack De Sena said, “Zuko’s redemption arc is genuinely great. At the time it was like a marvel, it was like: ‘Wow, this is so cool, feels really impactful.” Zack Tyler Eisen, on the other hand, really wanted to see how Zuko’s story played out before the TV show, “I want to see how he becomes the Dragon of the West.” When the three actors were asked what part they would have liked to play, besides their own, Basco said that he would have liked to play Sokka, since he didn’t have the chance to crack many jokes as the angsty Zuko. Zach Tyler Eisen agreed, saying that despite Aang’s silliness, he would have loved to try his hand at Sokka. Neither Eisen nore De Sena would have liked to fill the shoes of honor-seeking Zuko, however, with De Sena saying “I couldn’t be a villain.” Our Flag Means Death The Our Flag Means Death panel was all queer joy, self-love, and sing-alongs. Vico Ortiz, Samba Schutte, and Kristian Nairn recounted wild stories from the set, such as having to improvise major scenes, shared their favorite go-to karaoke songs, and made up drag names for their characters (The They Slash Them for Jim, Orange Blossom for Roach, and Pyromaniac for Wee John Feeney). It was clear that the cast was incredibly in tune with their fanbase and that the actors fully embraced all aspects of the fandom. The actors shared some of their favorite headcanons, fanfiction, and romantic pairings with the audience. Ortiz said that they were always excited to see content of “the throuple situation between Olu, Spanish Jackie, and Jim” which they said is canon in their heart while Schutte shared that he enjoyed seeing content of Roach and Izzy whenever fans tagged him in posts. “I’m all for the Rizzy. Let’s go!” he exclaimed. As for updates on the much anticipated second season of Our Flag Means Death, Schutte had a little surprise to share with the audience. “[Here’s] the teaser for season two… April fools!” he joked. “They told me not to do it, I'm so sorry. But it’s coming, no worries!” It seems like fans will have to wait a little longer before they can receive more news on their beloved pirate show. Buffy the Vampire Slayer It's a hat trick of sorts to have a cult film that spawns a cult hit TV show, but Buffy the Vampire Slayer did just that. It mixed teen drama with quippy comebacks, asskicking, and a whole lot of heart and became iconic for so many of us trying to survive high school horrors that didn't include the hellmouth. While the show's been inspiring generations ever since, it's recently seen even more popularity with Buffering, the amazing and critically acclaimed rewatch podcast that looks back at the show with that same fondness we all have for it and through an lgbtqia+ lens. It was amazing to get so much of the Buffy cast together, with James Marsters, Charisma Carpenter, David Boreanaz and Marc Blucas all in one place. We always enjoy James Marsters take on things, and he was immediately the warmth in the room, despite having played the undead so long. He expressed a deep appreciation for the show and the fans, and likened it to his own fandom for Star Trek. Marsters was apparently a big Trekkie, and even hit conventions dressed as Spock, and drew direct comparisons between them that we couldn't help but love (as fellow Trekkies and Buffy fans) Star Trek was about hope, and working together for a better future, Marsters said -- and in that same way, so was Buffy. He encouraged fans to talk to each other and get to know each other and realize the strength in that, saying that Buffy fans were some of the kindest, smartest, funniest people he's had the pleasure of meeting. He also talked about the difficulty of the role of Spike on the show, especially as he used to portray the role via method acting, and how easy it was for the darkness of the character to take over. "It can eat you alive" he said. "Spike is all the parts of me I try not to show people." He was also not entirely opposed to the vampire life though, at least on the surface- "Sleep all day, party all night, never get old" was the vampire lifestyle, after all. All three of the men talked about their various romantic dalliances with Sarah Michelle Gellar, since all of them had at least some screen time macking with her. And though they joked about how tiny she was and how they were afraid to crush her, and flirted with Charisma Carpenter as a group from on stage, they also delved into the challenges and demands of being a slayer's boyfriend. Boreanaz was also quick to point out how pivotal Charisma Carpenter's role was on Angel, crediting her as "the heart of the show." Carpenter, meanwhile kept the gang on their toes and was at the same time completely charming and positive on stage, reminding everyone she could do all the things they did in their roles, including the ass-kicking, and do it in heels. One particularly amusing moment was Marsters reveal that during his run as Spike, he'd always seen Carpenter as her character, Cordelia, so much, that he would sort of avoid her on set, because he was scared of her, and that it was only years later when the two played a bickering married couple on Supernatural that he realized, in his own words "how stupid that was" because she was just a really good actress, and in fact, a super nice person - and the two became fast friends, which they've been ever since. There was a short Q&A which ended very abruptly and brought some interesting tidbits, like the foursome's favorite episodes. James Marsters was particularly impressed with the incredibly acclaimed and moving "The Body" episode, while Blucas brought up another all around favorite- "Hush" the silent episode, and how impressive that was. Boreanaz brought up the end of Season 2, where he'd gone bad, and some of the big moments from that arc, and Charisma Carpenter brought up Graduation, mainly because she 'finally got to stake a vampire.' It was a panel any Buffy fan would love and it was over far too soon, so we hope to see the gang return again for another con reunion, perhaps with Gellar herself or a few more castmates. That wrapped up our panel day since we were gearing up for the Crown Championships of Cosplay's return to the Main Stage, but there was even more fun to follow on Sunday, so stay tuned for our wrapup on that shortly following this, and don't miss all the amazing cosplay we saw at the contest, either!

Just like we saw a return to the pre-COVID crowds on Day One of C2E2, there was no time to waste as far as programming, either. We kicked off our con with a trip to the Zach Levi panel which was bright and early at 11:30 am, and checked out some of the other awesome programming Friday had for us. In case you missed anything - take a look! Our first stop, as mentioned, was the Zachary Levi spotlight. Levi, fresh off Shazam 2, was boisterous and energetic as we've ever seen him, though he did spend a good portion of the beginning of his panel talking about mental health. According to Levi, he suffered a mental breakdown at the age of 37, about six years ago, and experienced feelings of insecurity and a bit of imposter syndrome before seeking help and working through it. He encouraged fans to face their mental illness head on and not be afraid to ask for help, before moving on to other topics. Levi admitted disappointment at the reception for Shazam 2, but was quick not to blame it on the film or audiences, mentioning that the entire face of film has changed, with streaming and after the pandemic, and though he personally thinks the film was even better than the original, and loved his time with his "Shazamily" he was sadly aware that this may be the last time in the suit. Fans were invited up to ask questions as well, with topics ranging from Chuck to Thor to Broadway and beyond, and overall, it was a fun foray with Zachary Levi, who we hope to see more of in the future. The next stop was the X-Men Animated Series Cast Reunion. where we got a chance to see some of the voice talent from the X-Men animated series. Lenore Zann (Rogue), Cal Dodd (Wolverine), Catherine Disher (Jean Grey), George Buza (Beast), Chris Potter (Gambit) and Alison Sealy-Smith (Storm) went on the C2E2 main stage to talk about their time doing voice work for the legendary X-Men Animated series, as well as some insight about what it was like getting back into character for the forthcoming X-Men ‘97, a revival of the animated series that “takes off right where the old one left off.” The X-Men animated series was definitely one of our favorites growing up, and while we always dreamed that there would be a great X-Men film someday, we didn’t realize that Hugh Jackman actually watched the animated series to get a feel for Wolverine from Cal Dodd’s voice performance. When the two finally met before filming for the first X-Men film began, Dodd said Jackman greeted him by saying, “it’s nice to meet you, but I’m tired of hearing your voice!” Dodd’s performance was the more prominent Wolverine performance at the time, with his Wolverine still iconic. As far as information about the new series, the cast all had to say “NDA!” as they’re ever-fearful of the ears of Disney’s feared lawyers. However, when Gambit actor Chris Potter went in to do some ADR work he saw some of the completed animations, and thought “wow, this is really fucking good.” We can’t wait to see what X-Men ‘97 will bring around. One of our early favorite panels this con had to be Kevin Eastman's. If you were unaware, Eastman represents one-half of the duo that created Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT). According to Eastman he provided the “ninja turtles” name while fellow co-creator Peter Laird added the “mutant turtle” part. As far as the meteoritic popularity of the Ninja Turtles, neither one of them saw it coming. In fact, they thought the first issue wasn’t going to sell, so they created box furniture with boxes full of the first print run. As far as Eastman’s favorite version of the Turtles, he actually thinks it’s the TMNT Motion Picture. On the film Eastman said “it was the perfect storm” as far as the merger between the versions of the Turtles that existed to that point. While Eastman has worked on many other projects since he worked on TMNT, he keeps coming back to it–even after selling his half of ownership in the franchise. While Eastman poured a lot of heart into the “semi-autobiographical” Drawing Blood and worked on popular works like Heavy Metal he’s probably always going to come back to TMNT. After that it was time for one of the con's biggest events -- the 30th Anniversary Boy Meets World Cast Reunion. Not only was Boy Meets World a childhood favorite of ours, we're also avid listeners and fans of the more recent Girl Meets World and the even newer podcast that Rider Strong, Danielle Fishel and WIll Friedle co-host - Pod Meets World. The watch-along podcast with the trio was the brain child of Fishel (!) and has seen massive success since its inception. But it wasn't just these three amigos on the panel -- we were privileged to also be able to see Trina McGee, Bonnie Bartlett and the man himself, William Daniels, who was celebrating his 96th birthday on the day of the panel. And while there were some moderation missteps with too many broad questions that didn't seem well-researched, the cast shone and the panel itself was full of so many wonderful moments. Fishel, Strong and Friedle have an amazing dynamic between them with an off set friendship as strong as the on set friendships they shared with other cast members, and that warm and welcome feeling was felt all panel long. This was probably the biggest panel of the day, with a packed room full of fans, and we were thrilled to see the crowd give Daniels a standing ovation and sing him happy birthday. Daniels spoke so fondly of the younger cast, recalling the last episode of the show with great fondness, if the moment was bittersweet since he'd no longer be with the kids who were, he noted, no longer kids. When told to ad-lib his final words of advice on the show, he could think of nothing more appropriate than "I love you all," a sentiment Daniels clearly still felt, with shining eyes gazing on his fellow actors. It was absolutely clear the feeling was mutual, as well, as Feeny took center stage for most of the panel, and came up in a lot of people's questions and comments for the gang. When asked if Feeny shaped him or he shaped Feeny, Daniels said it was the latter, with Bartlett and Fishel heavily disagreeing for a moment, though later on in a bit of acting advice, Daniels mentioned his belief that great actors bring everything of themself that the character is written for to their roles. There was also a lot of Topanga talk, and we found it well deserved, as Topanga was a trailblazer of sorts for a certain generation of young women - confident, smart, and kind with a no-nonsense attitude that of course inspired so many of us who watched it. We even managed to get a partial "Feeny!" call out of Will Friedle, who only obliged at the request of the man of the hour, birthday boy William Daniels. Friedle said he'd been hanging on to it all day, as the actor had retired the iconic goofy call and passed it along to the Girl Meets World girls, but couldn't resist a direct request from Daniels - and the crowd went wild. One of our favorite things about Boy Meets World is that these characters were not superheroes They were regular kids, like us, facing the same issues we faced as we faced them. Growing up with them meant learning to be okay with who we were, too, and it wasn't just Feeny who inspired us all to grow up good. We could've listened to this cast talk for hours, and we hope to see them all again soon. That's it for today's panel catchups - but we'll be catching you up on all the action Saturday as well, so make sure to keep your eye out on this space- and hey, don't forget to to check out our amazing cosplay galleries while you're at it!

The last day of a con is oftentimes a little more laid back. Vendors start packing up and marking things down, panel programming slows a little, and in general, it's a shorter day with a lighter crowd. Though this still held somewhat true for C2E2 2023, attendance was higher for Sunday than we've seen in years, and that meant the cosplay continued to blow our minds. As before, if you weren't there - enjoy! And if you were and you find yourself -- enjoy and share! Photos: Julian Ramirez And even though the show's over, we've got even more from C2E2 in store for you this week, so don't forget to check back for more exclusives from C2E2 throughout the week.

While the programming schedule is the only thing that still seems a little light on big guests and content, the show floor has expanded. With the demise of the red carpet comes wider, easier to travel aisles and some more sensible setups for things than we saw in years past. More than that though, that sense of community seemed more present than it had in a while. It’s hard for any giant event to feel sort of homey, but C2E2 has a sort of individual identity among big cons that you get to know after a few years, and it’s felt like welcoming an old friend back this year, from dance parties to conversations around the Rev beer truck while you’re in line or swapping Buffy stories in line for the panels. Simply put – for C2E2, the simple joy of it all has returned. The “not quite strangers” feel you get when you’re all standing on your feet cheering on a hometown cosplayer or a little girl in a dance contest before a panel – the sense that the people around you ARE weird but they’re also just like you. Or as James Marsters put it in the Buffy panel this afternoon : “These people like the same things you like. GO MEET THEM” Whether you got a ticket to all the fun today or not we encourage you to meet the amazing cosplayers of C2E2 2023, Day 2! Another huge thanks to our amazing staff of photographers and videographers, Aaron Cynic, Antal Bokor, Julian Ramirez, Pearl Shin and Marielle Bokor.

The weather outside was frightful - with tornado watches and warnings throughout the day - but inside the gargantuan McCormick Place convention center in Chicago the nerds were gathered together to do the three things we all love most - shop for nerdy stuff to add to our collections, go see panels with our favorite nerdy actors and creators, and show off all our finest cosplay! We've been on site with this convention since its beginnings, and through COVID-19, and we're finally seeing that nature - or nerdture, is returning. Friday's crowd was impressive, and so was the cosplay, so even though we don't seem to be at full force yet, we're definitely getting there. Enjoy a heaping helping of the finest cosplay we saw on the floors Friday and make sure to keep your eyes on this page, as Saturday the Crown Championships of Cosplay return to the Main Stage, with regional, national and international cosplay awards being given out - meaning you'll see the very best of the best cosplay out there. Staff photographers: Aaron Cynic, Julian Ramirez and Marielle Bokor

There’s a burgeoning market for games that fall outside of the traditional genres, like the emergence of the so-called “cozy game” obsession during COVID. Now, Tchia doesn’t exactly fit the term cozy game, but it reaches cozy game status enough times to be considered one. But Tchia’s beautiful scenery hides a pretty compelling, and sometimes dark, adventure. Tchia is a third person open world adventure game. In it, you play as the eponymous Tchia as she attempts to free her father from the baby-eating evil half-worm half-human antagonist Meavora. And no, I didn’t throw “baby eating” in there as an exaggeration, as Meavora literally devours an infant in front of you. Despite this, Tchia is a charming, beautiful game that features The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild style exploration. In fact, Tchia is a surprising mix of themes and genres that don’t sound palatable on paper, but is put together with so much love and skill it ends up not only working, but stands out as something special. In Tchia you’ll be able to explore the open world by climbing, swimming, gliding, and possessing different animals and objects. As with Breath of the Wild, there is a stamina system that dictates Tchia’s physical limitations–like how far she can climb, or how long she can hold her breath underwater. Of course, if you’re about to drown you can always inhabit the body of a nearby fish, or bypass obstacles by flying around as a bird. Different animals and objects that Tchia possesses have different abilities. If she possesses a dolphin, she can swim fast, or as a gas can, she can ignite and blow up–which safely expels Tchia. It’s fun taking control of different animals and objects to see what they can do. Tchia is a game that you can play at your own pace, and finding various activities to do in the open world is part of its charm. You can complete challenges like races, or find new clothes in a vast array of styles to customize Tchia for her adventures. Social interactions in Tchia are often accompanied by a rhythm game using percussion instruments, or your trusty ukulele. My only complaint about Tchia has to do with the large number of fetch quests you have to do to get the story moving forward. However, Tchia is a game that never feels like it's rushing you, and it’s casual enough that I could hand the controller to my wife and she could play with little context. If Tchia meets her demise, she’ll simply respawn at the nearest campfire ready to continue her adventure. There is no health bar, so you’ll only perish if you run out of stamina at an inopportune time, or fall too far. The ukulele that Tchia carries is used more than just in the rhythm games. It also works as a way to change the time of day, or even spawn useful items. It’s also fully playable if you wanted to just jam out and create your own tunes. While Tchia is a pleasant game, it does have a bit of violence to it. Sometimes it features rather dark cutscenes, like the aforementioned baby eating or decapitated chickens. The violence does manage to remain cartoon-like, but even so, it’s much darker than I’d expect it–or any game–to go. While most of Tchia is peaceful, there are times you will have to fight. Sort of. You can use Tchia’s possession ability to create fires to burn the fabric enemies you’ll encounter.They attack by wrapping you in cloth, and if you run out of stamina faster than you can mash the escape button, you lose. Combat can be fun, as you discover new ways to take out your foes, usually through a mixture of possessing objects and throwing flaming items at your foes. Tchia is a game that was immediately striking, but continued to grow on me as I played it–and I can say, I have never played anything quite like it. But if Tchia’s fictional archipelago is anything like New Caledonia, I definitely want to visit its real world inspiration. Despite its darker elements, Tchia is a cozy game that breaks the usual cozy game boundaries. It’s also a game that was made with love by an obviously passionate dev team. Tchia is available March 21 on PC via the Epic Games Store and for PlayStation 4 and 5. An Epic Game Store Key was provided to us for this review

It’s rare to come across a video game with a truly novel twist on a tried-and-true genre. City builders have been around for over thirty years, and mostly consist of building various types of structures while balancing the needs of people. But Terra Nil isn’t about building civilization--it’s about rebuilding a wrecked ecosystem. Terra Nil is what developer Free Lives calls a “reverse city builder.” Your job is to take a barren landscape and reintroduce flora and fauna. But instead of leaving a network of machinery and various buildings behind, your goal is to leave no trace. There is no timer, so Terra Nil is a game you can play at your own pace—and I suggest you take it slow and plan each move, because it’s easy to get stuck without resources before you complete your objective. In fact, failure seems part of Terra Nil’s design. There isn’t much in the way of a tutorial for Terra Nil. While the campaign mode does ramp up its complexity and explain its basic mechanics—it also leaves a lot of details for you to discover through tinkering and tool tip perusal. This lead to some early frustration for me, but it grew on me over time. Gameplay consists of three phases. In the first phase you have to establish sources of power, and purify the soil to create green patches. In the second phase, you’ll further refine these patches into specific biomes like beaches, forests, etc. And finally, during the third phase your goal is to remove any trace of your interference. This means recycling all of your buildings. This can be a test in planning, because if you don’t think ahead you might have to create infrastructure to remove any hard to reach buildings. Succeeding in Terra Nil isn't as easy as simply putting things where you want them to go. You have to make sure there are proper atmospheric conditions by burning plants, freezing water, or creating humidity from water sources, etc. Also, a lot of the terraforming equipment is tied to various power generators, which are important to place strategically, lest you run out of room to expand. If you misplace a building, especially in the first or second phase, you may not be able to remove it in the third. There is an undo button, but that only allows you to undo your last action. And any mistake, especially in an earlier phase, can eventually cascade and make your life harder. Though there isn’t a timer in Terra Nil, so you can take your time making decisions, be prepared to fail at least once in each region. Luckily, you can reset your current phase—but sometimes that isn’t enough, and you have to restart the whole level. While the game never says it outright, I think this is by design. But when you fail, you can go back into a level with a better idea how to tackle it. There are four regions in Terra Nil, each with its own quirks and region-specific buildings to deal with that region’s challenges. Each region will require special consideration, and contain unique challenges, like the lack of land in Flooded City or the frozen ground of the Volcanic Glacier. While it doesn’t overstay its welcome, I do wish there was more to Terra Nil. I was able to get through its campaign in less than a dozen hours, where I’m used to city builders that can easily grab my attention for hundreds of hours. That said, Terra Nil does have replayability because of its procedurally generated landscapes. There’s no doubt that Terra Nil carries an important environmental message. But it’s more about the appreciation of the beauty of nature as you wipe away the dirt left behind by failed civilization. It manages to somehow be both challenging and relaxing—but there might be a bit of learning curve while you discover Terra Nil’s quirks. Terra Nil is available tomorrow for PC via Steam and on Netflix. A Steam key was provided to us for this review

I’m no pinball wizard, but I’ve always been fascinated by pinball machines. There’s something incredibly satisfying about all of the electro-mechanical sounds along with the tactile feeling of hitting a rolling metal ball with mechanical flippers. Unfortunately, that’s not something virtual pinball can reproduce, but Pinball FX comes the closest to live pinball of any other pinball video game I’ve played. Pinball FX is a game that allows you to play many different pinball tables. It’s technically free to play, but if you want to play more than the starter table, you’ll have to pay. Pinball FX isn’t a substitute for the real thing, but it’s the closest we’ll be able to get in a video game. However, Pinball FX isn’t so much a game as it is a modular pinball engine where you can play a whole array of different tables. Playing pinball in Pinball FX is fun. It obviously can’t recreate the tactile feeling of real pinball, but it’s as close as you can get in a video game. Of course, gameplay varies greatly from table to table, with every table containing its own goals and tricks. Each table has a gameplay guide, which is a bit of a cheat sheet that shows you how to play each table, and what all of the different parts of each table are called. There was never a time that I thought I was cheated by wonky physics. However, the tables tilt a lot easier in their virtual forms than the ones I’ve played with in real life, making some of the high scoring tricks harder to pull off than you could with their real-world counterparts. If you want extra realism, you can even use Pinball FX on a virtual pinball machine. As cool as this sounds, I don’t have the hardware to test it on, unfortunately. Virtual pinball has never looked so good as it does in Pinball FX. On PC, with all of the graphics settings maxed and ray tracing set to high, the tables really look fantastic. From the original tables to those classic table recreations that look like they were painstakingly reproduced, not a single table is visually disappointing. There are even added extra animated characters on some of the older tables that bring them to life in a way that’s impossible outside of a virtual space. As gorgeous as the tables are in Pinball FX, the rest of the virtual space is a bit disappointing. You can customize your game room, but it’s a little tedious in practice . Each table has unlockables and you can display them around your game room. But to display them, you’ll have to select the shelf you want to display a collectible on, and look for the list of those available. You can’t just select an object and place it where you want. I ended up spending little time on this aspect of Pinball FX. I was given access to most of the tables that Pinball FX has to offer, and I played every single one of them. Out of the bunch there was not a single bad table, though there were a few mediocre ones buried in a few of the bundles I tried out. You can buy tables individually, or you can purchase the Pinball pass which gives you access to most of the available tables. The Pinball Pass comes in two options: 30 days for 150 coins (about $15) or a 1 year pass for 1200 coins ($100). As pricey as these individual tables and table packs can be, getting the pinball pass can be a viable option. But to do so, you’ll need to purchase coins, and the smallest pack of coins is 100 that go for about $10. Tables themselves vary wildly in price, and can be purchased from $5 dollars to $10 dollars each. You can also buy packs of tables—which saves you a bit of money, with most of them going for around $10 dollars, up to $25 dollars or so. Pinball isn’t cheap, even virtually. While Pinball FX still doesn’t replace real tables, it’s the best way you can play a wide array of pinball games in your home. But while it’s certainly cheaper than buying and maintaining a real pinball table, each of the virtual ones still come in at a pretty steep price. But if you’re crazy about pinball, Pinball FX is the best video game pinball I’ve ever played. Pinball FX is out now on Epic Game Store for PC and for PlayStation 4 and 5 as well as Xbox Series S|X and Xbox One. An Epic Game Store Key was given to us for the purpose of this review

The Inspired Home Show, or #TIHS23 (formerly known as the International Home and Housewares Show) is a pretty big deal. Not only has the show been hosted in Chicago since 1927, it survived its own version of the Chicago Fire in its early years at McCormick Place and has grown to include 1300+ members from over 80 nations. This behemoth of a trade show takes up more buildings within McCormick Place than both the Auto Show and C2E2. Visitors, vendors and buyers make their way here once a year to show off innovative inventions, stylish new designs and the latest lines of products both tried and true and all-new. We have been doing our own trend-hunting at the show for the past 10 years and by now, have cultivated a keen eye for what you might want to look out for when you’re shopping for your home in the near future. To that end, here are 8 of the best things we saw at the show. Keep them on your radar and add them to your wishlists and you might just be one of this year's trendsetters. Three by Three Seattle Three by Three as a brand may just be our favorite find overall from this year's Inspired Home Show. COVID showed us that our home is our haven, and paying more attention to our personal space can really make a difference in how productive and peaceful we feel when we spend time there. Since working from home is a lot more prevalent than it was in the past, this is especially true in a home office. Three by Three's Sort it Out! Wall Caddy at the Inspired Home Show 2023. Photo: Marielle Bokor Three by Three has an amazing selection of organizational products and office accoutrements that are incredibly sleek and stylish with organic finishes, clever extras, bold colors and beautiful geometric designs. A few of our favorites from their selection include the Glassencorque Magnetic Glass dry-erase and cork board, which means your planning space is gorgeous but versatile, with places to pin, stick, write and hang things – and it comes with markers, pins, magnets and hooks so you can get to work right away. We also loved their sculptural, modular monitor risers as well as their attractive and clever sliding shelves and the Sort it Out! Wall Caddy that gives you a place to hang your keys, dump your mail and look at your week’s schedule right when you walk in the door. This women-owned, Seattle based small business is absolutely worth a look when you’re looking for any kind of office or home refresh. Aeropress Aeropress has been around for a while now. Borne of an engineer’s desire for better coffee, this little contraption has garnered a huge following without ever really straying from its original, handy, durable design, save for a handy dandy travel version that’s become part of our travel kit. It’s a household name for a reason – less fussy than a French Press, less time-consuming than a pourover, less counter space invading than a traditional drip coffeemaker, and more environmentally friendly than a Keurig by far, this device makes a perfect cup of coffee every time, with very little time and effort involved. While we do generally agree with the “if it’s not broke, don’t fix it” adage, Aeropress has more room to shine in the coffee world, and a little glow-up that doesn’t change its function is welcome. This year, Aeropress comes to the countertop with a bunch of brand-new ideas that we love, like an XXL version that’ll brew 16 oz of coffee in one pull, a brand new clear version of the original Aeropress, and some premium versions of the OG that’ll give it not only a facelift but a bit of a material upgrade to boot, including a well-deserved presentational storage station. We can’t wait to get our hands on the next generation and give it its rightful place of honor on our countertops. Ooni Pizza Ovens We’ve always been all about quality pizza. We’re from Chicago, after all. And while we’re blessed with the ability to order great pies from just about anywhere in the city and suburbs, making pizza at home is its own form of fantastic. You can do some great things with cast iron and your oven on 500, and a Big Green Egg or similar style smoker/grill can give you more options, but there’s still nothing like the magic a wood/coal or stone fire oven can give you. You can spend a few grand building your own (and we’ve definitely thought about it) but of late, there’s a new game in town, and it’s the trendy, capable Ooni oven. These sleek ovens use propane, wood pellets, or mixed fuel to give you that magic with all the bells and whistles of a high-end Weber or Traeger. These ovens come in a variety of sizes and price points, and are on our short list of things to add to our outdoor cookery. This year’s surprise from this trendy pizza oven purveyor was actually meant for indoors though. The just released Ooni Volt is a first for the company – an all electric oven that heats to 800 degrees and cooks a 12” pizza in just 90 seconds, while being cool enough to the touch to have indoors and even lean your arm on, and whose electrical requirements are just that of a standard plug. We’d have had a hard time believing it could do everything its brethren could but there was a live pizzaolo on hand who proved it! As for the icing on the cake – Ooni has an entire lineup of pizzamaking accessories that come straight out of professional pizzerias, from rocker blades to proof boxes and make table ingredient boxes that also provide storage for your toppings. If you’re serious about pizzamaking at home, Ooni is definitely a destination brand for you. Matador If you have ever lived somewhere that’s littered with mountains, lakes, streams and rivers with roaring rapids, you know that your Walmart special luggage just ain’t it. Things need to stay high and dry in extreme conditions. But let’s be real as city-dwellers, too -- we can be awfully tough on our stuff even without the peaks and valleys. And water, coffee and soda can all be introduced to our electronics in catastrophic ways. Matador brings dry bags out of the kayaks and rafts and into your everyday travel gear. The materials are high quality, rip stop, and most excitingly waterproof. There are sleek backpacks, toiletry cases, duffles, hip packs and more, but our favorite (and perhaps being photographers, we’re biased) was the Camera Base Layer. There are a lot of camera bags in the wild, but few allow for your camera and the lens it’s married to (anywhere from pancake to wide angle in size) rest in comfort and dryness, nor do they allow for a smaller lens to be wrapped up in pillowy comfort at the end. Not only that, but if you are into nature photography or need the extra protection somewhere else you shoot, you can use your existing camera strap and securely attach this bag to it. In the few minutes we had to check it out in person it went from interesting and innovative to “new essential kit piece” and we look forward to adding it to our gear bags. Larq There are a myriad of sleek, attractive and expensive water bottles out there to help us remember to hydrate, and to keep our beverages hot/cold for 24 hours. It can sometimes feel like if you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all. Larq takes it one step further, and wins a plethora of awards doing so. It boasts a filtration system that goes far beyond faucet attached purifiers and pitchers, with a filter that’s capable of getting out harmful microbes, meaning it’s safe to drink the tap water and fountain water places it hasn’t been before, and creating a sustainable and safe way to travel and hydrate. Not only does it make safe water accessible more places, Larq comes with an advanced tech suite, great style, and plenty of helpful touches that make it easily packable. While it boasts a high price point, it delivers more bang for the buck than any bottle we encountered, and certainly stands out as most sustainable. Dash Dash rose to the top by thinking small. Their first foray into the spotlight came years ago with tiny little wafflemakers in a variety of fun retro colors that were more than a gimmick – they actually made great waffles. Every year since, they’ve brought great new things to the table, and remained committed to helping people whose counterspace is nonexistent or at a premium, with a ton of great gadgets from tiny toaster ovens to diminutive egg cookers and more. We checked in this year and found a ton of great new items, including a portable usb blender that you can pre-load with a bunch of your favorite fruits and goodies and plug in at work or on the go to blend up fresh when you’re ready. For people who’d love a chance to make their own ice cream who don’t have the room for the traditional churning machines, or singles who just need to make a pint, there’s a brand new mug-shaped pint producer we couldn’t get enough of. Finally, Dash showed off their digital hand mixer – the Dash Turbo Digital Hand Mixer is a full size hand mixer that’s come a long way from your mother’s mixer. This beauty comes with a full range of accessories in a compact and cute stand, and has 7 speeds, attachable nylon beaters, a whisk, and a frother, and features a built in timer to track your mixing, and something called SteadyStart technology that ramps up your mixing speed to avoid a mess. We’ve always found ourselves not only enjoying the retro-mini aesthetic but truly appreciating the mechanics of Dash’s kitchen devices and that’s why we highly recommend this latest batch, too. If you don't see these beauties on the site yet, make sure to keep a lookout for these brand new products in the upcoming months - we know we will be! LeKue LeKue is a name we’ve come to recognize as an annual innovator and creator of great storage solutions and kitchen gadgets. So we were delighted to see a new item that’s straight out of 2020’s sourdough craze. LeKue has introduced a beautiful and easy to use sourdough kit, so you can make your own hybrid pet/sandwich foundation with a lot more precision and a little less mess. This Sourdough Starter Set features glass jars with special venting valves for gases, a silicone strip to use as a marker for tracking the rise, as well as recipes, a spatula and a detailed brochure that’ll guide you through bread-making if it’s your first time or you need a refresher now that you’re not quarantined at home with only YouTube to entertain you. Magnum Opus Our final find is another pandemic byproduct. When the world shut down, things like Twitch and Zoom allowed us to have a presence online. Webcam sales rose exponentially, and even those the most tech-phobic among us learned to use ring lights and hop on Zoom to talk to family, friends, and coworkers. This also lit a fire on the already burgeoning influencer/creatorsphere. More and more people took to places like TikTok to dance, sing, cook, paint and perform whatever it is they had a passion for. In today’s world, a good camera setup, mic, and recording space are becoming a must, and with that comes the desire to make sure your creative space doesn’t just look good – it has to sound good too. Soundproofing is essential, but let’s be honest – it isn’t terribly aesthetically pleasing. Or it wasn’t. Magnum Opus comes to the table (or more accurately, the studio) with beautiful, “aesthetic” soundproofing, from mid-mod style lamps to succulent shapes in sage greens that create gorgeous geometric patterns on your feature wall WHILE they do the job of sound-dampening. Look good, sound good – sounds great! Well, that’s a wrap for this year’s housewares hunt. We hope you like the treasures we uncovered and add a few of them to your own wishlist for the year ahead!

At the tail end of Marvel's unpopular Phase 5, we have Ant Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, a flawed film that fights tooth and nail to maintain the Ant Man spirit but only muddles the already murky waters of multiverse stories. It’s never been more clear that Marvel has been struggling this phase to rebuild what had been mostly lost in Phase 4 with Avengers: End Game, and with Quantumania, they are really trying to finally give direction to what felt like a rudderless ship. We are finally given the big bad that will bring our heroes back for that classic Avengers magic, but is it too little too late? Ant Man begins with a delightful reintroduction to Scott Lang, played gleefully by Paul Rudd. A aquirky montage brings us up to speed on where Scott’s life has gone since End Game. He’s got a book, a podcast, a now grown up daughter Cassie and his estranged Pym family. Things quickly turn treacherous when Cassie’s rebellious investigation into the Quantum realm sucks all of the Pyms into the microverse: Hank, Janet, and Hope, plus Scott and Cassie . It’s here we experience the world of the Quantum realm -- one that we’ve been dreadfully uninformed of by Janet, who’s spent 30 years surviving in it. The Quantum Realm is an Oz-like locale filled with wonders and dangers that are so psychedelically realized, they could have come straight from a Jack Kirby illustration. While the visuals are stunning, its initial impact wanes rather quickly due to subpar CGI moments. There’s a level of CGI integration that can turn viewers from awestruck to eye-rolling, and Ant Man plays jump rope with that line consistently, especially with the inhabitants of the Quantum Realm. The tribal civilization that our heroes encounter are all lovable otherworldly characters which is getting to be a rather tired trope of the Marvel films (see Korg/Doug from Thor and Morris in Shang Chi) but the chemistry works just the same. The stand out of the film is the villain Kang the Conqueror, played by current Hollywood it man Jonathan Majors. He gives Kang a silent rage that is both dangerous and alluring. There’s a deep darkness to his portrayal that balances between being your best friend and cutting your throat. On the other side of the coin, is his sidekick M.O.D.O.K., played by Corey Stroll, who reprises his role from Ant Man. There’s a definite story arc for the Darren Cross character, but it’s played more for laughs than sincerity, leaving the character ultimately flat in his personality. Your mileage may vary for this character, but there’s absolutely no question in how the CGI lacked with regards to M.O.D.O.K. By the film's end, I was left with more questions than answers regarding the plot. Our heroes getting lost in a microverse of shenanigans, revolutions, uprisings is a fun concept on paper, with added surprises like Bill Murray appearing as a Kang officer in practice felt unfocused. Plots were started and then abandoned. There were a lot of confusing choices with Janet’s refusing to provide details of her time in the Quantum Realm. A subplot about Scott with his time with his daughter Cassie was also lost within the film's 2 hour runtime, to say nothing of Darren Cross’ character arc. Despite the film running a full 2 hours, the entire thing felt rushed and that puts a damper on an overall interesting premise. Jonathan Majors does an outstanding job establishing himself as the new MCU big bad, unfortunately the rest of the story doesn’t do justice to its characters. Cassie is given a lot of good screen time but barely any character development and Evangeline Lilly is severely underutilized. Ant Man does best when his stories are contained to their own little world (no pun intended) and Quantumania seems to want to reach past that to the bigger multiverse. In doing so we lost a lot of what we loved about Ant Man, character pieces that focus on development, with the added elements of a heist. Even when they attempt to re-establish the same humor, it often falls flat. Quantumania isn’t the worst movie in the MCU, nor is it even a bad one. It’s just disappointing to be such a departure from what we love, and fall flat on those attempts. As our parents used to say: “I’m not mad, I’m just disappointed.”

Spotify is introducing major changes to its app in an effort to make the streaming behemoth more like TikTok and Instagram. Via Spotify “This marks the biggest change Spotify has undergone since we introduced mobile 10 years ago,” Spotify CEO Daniel Ek said, according to The Hollywood Reporter. “This evolution is really about bringing Spotify to life.” The company unveiled its new user experience at its Stream On event on Wednesday. The redesign promises a more interactive experience that leans heavily into previews and video clips. Underneath the albums and playlists at the top, users will be shown autoplaying previews of music, podcasts, and audiobooks. Clicking on a tab such as “music” or “podcasts” will bring up a feed of recommendations with a look reminiscent of Instagram stories with options to preview more, share, and save. According to Engadget, premium users in the US and Canada will also see Spotify’s AI powered DJ, which will serve up a mix of songs users already like and that the app thinks they will enjoy, delivered by an AI powered DJ that speaks to users in a voice generated by AI modeled after Spotify’s Head of Cultural Partnerships, Xavier “X” Jernigan. In addition to the UX revamp, Spotify also rolled out Smart Shuffle, an update of the app’s “Enhance” feature that recommends songs to add to a playlist. When turned on, Smart Shuffle will add suggestions to playlists that “perfectly match the vibe” and mix up the order. Ek said that the inspiration for the change was the evolution of social media, but with a “unique Spotify twist.” And despite the new changes feeling very much like Tiktok and Instagram, he told CBS News he doesn’t want the changes to be seen as an imitator of the other social media giants. "I don't want people to think that we're making this to be like TikTok," he said. "We're making it to be a much more interactive Spotify." Via Spotify Spotify is the largest streaming music service, with a net worth of nearly $25 billion. And while it remains to be seen if the rehab of the app will be celebrated or reviled by users, the company faces plenty of other justifiable concerns and criticisms. This week the company touted that its all time payouts to rights-holders of music, an important distinction from artists and creators, is nearly $40 billion. According to Variety, Spotify says it has paid out more than $3 billion of that in the last two years. In addition, the company says the number of artists generating more than $1 million and more than $10,000 annually has doubled over the last five years. Currently 1,060 artists on the platform make more than $1 million and 57,000 make more than $10,000. While that may seem encouraging, those numbers are a scant percentage of artists on the platform. At present, there are more than 11 million artists and creators on Spotify. And while the company estimates that there are around 200,000 “professional or professionally aspiring artists” (apparently relegating everyone else to the category of “hobbyist”), that means that less than a percent of artists on the platform made $1 million and only about a quarter make $10,000 a year. Spotify pays out in a pool system dubbed “streamshare,” and as the money trickles down, those who hold the rights to a creation end up getting a fraction of a cent per stream (which means that artists/creators may be getting even less, depending on who controls the rights to their creations). Ek told CBS News: "We don't pay artists directly. Artists have their deals with their record companies and their deals with their publishers, et cetera. And what Spotify does is we pay out to those record companies and these publishers, and don't know what individual deals these artists may have.” In addition to barriers for artists and creators becoming marginally successful or even eeking out a living on the platform, Spotify’s number 1 podcast is still "The Joe Rogan Experience," which among other things is a haven for COVID-19 misinformation, antisemitic tropes and other various bigoted commentary, for which the host has a $200,000 contract. Rogan is also far from the only fascistic podcaster on the platform. And while Ek says the company takes violations of terms of service “very seriously” and removes content that breaches them, and that “the same rules apply to Joe Rogan as it would to any other podcaster,” what constitutes breaking them and what the consequences might be is a pretty murky area. Rogan’s most recent antisemitic comments are still on the platform. Ultimately, Spotify, like other giant streaming behemoths, is most likely going to do what they feel like and appears to be the most profitable for their shareholders and executives, rather than pay attention to user feedback, whether it's a small or large amount. With nearly half a billion users - 205 million of which are premium subscribers - even voices that carry plenty of weight that criticize the company can get lost in the shuffle. Despite the lion’s share of the market however, switching up its seemingly standard UX for one that feels like so many other platforms and giving up more control to the algorithm could turn both users and artists/creators off. In any case, while it’s never been easier to have access to a seemingly unlimited amount of music in our pockets wherever we go, sometimes we find ourselves pining for when we carried a walkman and a handful of mixtapes. Via Frinkiac