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Gaming News: 25th November, 2016 Edition

Zamfir Waltz
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Gaming News: 25th November, 2016 Edition

 

Mass Effect Andromeda is the upcoming entry to the Mass Effect universe set to launch in 2017. The game is not being advertised as a sequel to Mass Effect 4, however it is being pushed as the largest project Bioware has ever undertaken (wish means look out for a ridiculous Day 1 patch).

Mike Gamble (awesome name) had this to say to Game Informer this week:

“This is the biggest we’ve ever gone, in terms of the number of pieces of content. Although we have a lot of different areas to go to, we want to make it so whenever you go to those areas, you remember them.”

Gamble went onto mention that “There are combat-related encounters…puzzle-related encounters, narrative-related encounters, and a lot of things will happen that add more depth to the critical path.”

He also went onto to describe how planets would come in a variety of sizes, with some of them emphasizing how large the world truly is. The world will be a rich, fun, and challenging place to explore for new players to the franchise, and the veterans. There was tons of information shared in the interview, so if you are interested, check it out at this link.

We turn our attention over to announcements for the week; Gearbox Software will have news to announce on the 1st of December according to a recent tweet by its CEO Randy Pitchford. Many are speculating it could be a new Aliens game (please God no) or a new Duke Nukem game (even worse). More than likely it will probably be Battleborn related, and for those of you who never heard of the game, think of it has Overwatch’s overlooked brother. The games are really similar, it’s just unfortunate the might of Blizzard’s Overwatch completely battered down Battleborn at launch.

So what could it be? Battleborn News? Duke Nukem? Aliens? Duke Nukem vs Aliens??? I sincerely vote for the latter.

I could not post gaming news this week without mentioning the COLOSSAL amount of sales going on for Black Friday today, so as a treat for my gamer brethren, #pcmasterrace, here is a list of most of the good sales I found for the week.

Black Friday Deals:

Steam: http://store.steampowered.com/

-Don’t Starve $3 USD

-Hitman: First Season $30 USD

-Saints Row IV $3.74 USD

-Saints Row IV Game of the Century: $20 USD

-Just Cause 3 $15 USD

-Just Cause 3 XL Edition $21.25 USD

-Chivalry: Medieval Warfare $2.50 USD

-Cities: Skylines $7.50 USD

-Cities: Skylines Deluxe Edition $10 USD

-Batman: Arkham Knight $15 USD

-Batman Arkham Knight Premium Edition $20 USD

-Far Cry Primal $25 USD

-Deus Ex: Mankind Divided is $30

–Dishonored $3.29

–Doom $20

-Quantum Break $30

-Fallout 4 $20

-The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim + all add-ons $18

-The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited $10

-Rocket League $12

-Cities: Skylines $7.50

-Darkest Dungeon $15 USD

-Ark: Survival Evolved $15 USD

 

Origin: https://www.origin.com/irl/en-us/store

-Battlefield 1 $36 USD

-Battlefield 4 Premium Edition $14 USD

-Titanfall 2 $40 USD

-FIFA 17 $30 USD

-Need for Speed $15 USD

-The Division $35 USD

-Rainbow Six Siege $20 USD

-Assassin’s Creed Syndicate $24 USD

Green Man Gaming: https://www.greenmangaming.com/black-friday/black-friday-7/

-GTA V $25 USD

-Fallout 4 $19 USD

-DOOM $19 USD

GOG: https://www.gog.com/

-Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines: $4.99 USD

-Inside: $14.99 USD

-Shadow Warrior 2: $29.99 USD

-Divinity: Original Sin – Enhanced Edition: $19.99 USD

-Darkest Dungeon: $14.99 USD

-Shadowrun: Hong Kong – Extended Edition: $6.69 USD

-Hyper Light Drifter: $11.99 USD

-Kerbal Space Program: $23.99 USD

Rumored upcoming Surface Phone to be Ultimate Mobile Device

Zamfir Waltz
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0
Rumored upcoming Surface Phone to be Ultimate Mobile Device

It is safe to say that the Surface line of devices is what kept Microsoft relevant for the last couple of years. The innovation and outside of the box thinking, is what made the Surface Pro line and now also the Surface Book line, well regarded by tech bloggers and general consumers alike. It is hard it ignore however, the countless missteps they have made in the smartphone market. After contributing heavily to the demise of the once formidable smart phone maker, Nokia, Microsoft continued to see sharp declines in mobile phone market share. Fans of the Microsoft mobile market (all three of them) have been wondering for years about the famed ‘Surface Phone’. The Surface Phone was allegedly going to be a juggernaut when it get to specifications, features, and of course price.

Today however, fans have been given a tease as to the legitimacy of the device’s existence with this quote coming from the big boss of Microsoft himself, CEO Satya Nadella:

We don’t want to be driven by just envy of what others have, the question is, what can we bring? That’s where I look at any device form factor or any technology, even AI,” he said. “We will continue to be in the phone market not as defined by today’s market leaders, but by what it is that we can uniquely do in what is the most ultimate mobile device.

This statement comes in-line with rumors of an upcoming “ultimate mobile device” coming from Micosoft to put it in good company with the current high end Surface brand.

‘Keeping Up With the Joneses’ Review

K.F. Cumberbatch
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0
‘Keeping Up With the Joneses’ Review

keeping_up_with_the_joneses_ver3Keeping Up With the Joneses is a 2016 action, spy comedy written by Michael LeSieur and directed by Greg Mottola. The film stars Zach Galifianakis and Isla Fisher as Jeff and Karen Gaffney, a long married couple who become suspicious of their new neighbours Tim and Natalie Jones, played by John Hamm and Gal Gadot. When they uncover that Tim and Natalie are spies, they are pulled into an international conspiracy that threatens national security. Hijinks ensue.

The film establishes early on that Karen is paranoid and suspicious about everything. Even going so far as to have Jeff refer to incidences in which her suspicions were correct. So when she becomes suspicious of the Joneses it makes sense and doesn’t seem out of character. When she goes so far as to follow Natalie however, it’s annoying even though the audience knows that she is correct in being suspicious.

Once the Gaffneys learn that the Joneses are spies, they do something that is either sensible or foolish depending on your expectations of film characters, your impression of the Gaffneys themselves and what you as a viewer would do in such a situation.

The actors with the most chemistry between them were Galifianakis and Hamm. The married couples didn’t have much between them; Galifianakis and Fisher and Hamm and Gadot did not feel like people who were in love with each other. They didn’t even feel much like friends. Unlike Galifianakis and Hamm whose budding bromance was sweet and watching them bond was satisfying. Their interactions felt genuine.

Fisher and Gadot on the other hand, in their scenes together, did not play off of each other very well and their interactions felt forced.

Galifianakis, as the only comedian in the cast, was the funniest person on screen. Jeff was the most relatable character and Galifianakis played him to great and hilarious effect. He had the best and the most hilarious moments.

Overall the acting was decent. Gadot perhaps was a tad awkward in the lingerie scene from the trailer. It was not entirely clear if she meant what she was saying to Karen or if it was just some schpiel. That may well be the fault of the writing and direction, however.

The film has several laugh out loud funny moments, especially toward the end. It’s a very funny film and for the most part the humour works very well. Even when you can see the joke coming it still lands.

As high as the stakes are said to be in the film, those stakes are never felt. The characters’ lives never feel like they are in any real danger far less the United States.

The trailer does show the entirety of the film right up until a couple of minutes before the climax (it literally can’t be much more than two minutes). Almost all of what is shown is out of context but much can be gathered as to the direction of the film. The only thing left out of it is what the Jones’ mission is and some of the funnier moments to be found upon watching the film itself.

Keeping Up With the Joneses is watchable. It’s a simple film with simple goals; to make you laugh and have a good time. And in that it succeeds. It’s a lot of fun to watch, entertaining and enjoyable.

The Flash S03E07 Recap

K.F. Cumberbatch
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0
The Flash S03E07 Recap

SOME SPOILERS AHEAD.

I was loving this episode, having fun with it and enjoying the thrill up until the point that Caitlin got caught.

It kind of lost steam after that.

flash-307This episode, literally, started beautifully. The sequence in which Savitar was speeding back and forth all over Central City and kicking Barry’s ass was stunning. The CGI on this show has never looked so good. Clearly, the budget went almost entirely to this episode. I was very impressed with the visuals there. It looked like a video game but not in a bad way.

I do like Savitar so far from what I’ve seen of him but, I wish he wasn’t the villain this season. For the pure and simple fact that he is yet…another…speedster.

If he was an acolyte of Dr. Alchemy’s then it would have been a little better because at least the main villain wouldn’t be a speedster.

flash-307_2When Caitlin swooped in and saved Barry by freezing Savitar I was so happy to see her using her powers by choice and participating in Team Flash’s “field work.” As I’ve been saying, I really want her to have the powers but not be evil. I loved how much the showed off her Killer Frost powers and her using the ice breath was my favourite part.

She did start inhabiting the Killer Frost evil persona this episode though. At first I thought she was playing the part of the bad girl to get everyone to leave her alone since she was so desperate to find Dr. Alchemy and get him to take away her powers (which was obvious to anyone who was paying attention, which Team Flash apparently wasn’t because they didn’t figure that out). But then as the episode progressed it became apparent that her bad girl antics were genuine.

flash-307_1I don’t see why her powers are warping her mind and making her turn evil. I don’t recall that happening to other metas on the show; their powers changing their personalities. The ones that were criminals after getting powers were criminals before they had them. I also don’t recall the show explaining why it is happening either or the characters making an attempt to understand why.

It might just be the writers trying to justify her turning evil, but it’s a weak justification in my opinion. It’s not necessary for her to turn evil.

I do agree with her that Barry is at fault for her developing her powers. Every time Barry tries to fix things by going back in time (except the very first time he did it to stop the tidal wave, if memory serves) he pretty much makes it worse and everyone else has to pick up the pieces behind him and help him fix his fix. I’m glad she really is angry with Barry because last week it didn’t seem like she was.

flash-307_5It didn’t occur to me until this episode that Caitlin’s Killer Frost storyline was directly tied to Barry’s emotional journey and coming to terms with what he did with Flash Point. I think that was a bit of intelligent writing to tie those two stories together.

I would have gotten behind Iris’ “your mistakes make you human” speech to Barry if this had been the first time he’d screwed up so royally. The first time is a mistake. Every other time after that is not. He’s made the same “mistake” over and over. After a point, he truly is to blame for whatever consequences stem from his actions and he needs to take responsibility and be held accountable.

But hey, it’s Iris. She’s his forever girl and no matter what he does – it seems – she’ll support and defend him even when he is in the wrong.

flash-307_4I wish the entire episode had focused on Caitlin and Wally’s awakening happened next week. I feel like how they concluded her story in this episode was very anti-climactic and very weak. She did not come to terms with or accept her powers, which I think is what her story this season is all about and what she needs to do. Barry testing her by asking her to kill him probably buried her Killer Frost persona temporarily because that cannot really be the way they end her Killer Frost arc. There was no closure there. Her character is stuck in limbo if she never accepts her powers.

Julian being Dr. Alchemy was expected. What questions remain now are how and why he is working for/with Savitar.

Random thoughts:

  1.  Don’t his acolytes have powers? Why isn’t this one guy using any?
  2. We need more Flash/Killer Frost/Vibe team ups.
  3. Geez! I felt those pokes Cisco.
  4. His super power is hope? Really?
  5. Iris: “You can’t keep doing this to yourself.” What he needs to stop doing is messing with the timeline.

The Flash airs Tuesdays at 8 PM on The CW.

Prepare Thine Wallets Gamers

Zamfir Waltz
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0
Prepare Thine Wallets Gamers

This one is for the Gamers. Black friday is almost here, sales are everywhere. Nothing else for me to say, just grab your wallet and be ready to pay!!

Steam: http://store.steampowered.com/

-The Elder Scrolls Online $10 USD

-Don’t Starve $3 USD

-Hitman: First Season $30 USD

-Saints Row IV $3.74 USD

-Saints Row IV Game of the Century: $20 USD

-Just Cause 3 $15 USD

-Just Cause 3 XL Edition $21.25 USD

-Chivalry: Medieval Warfare $2.50 USD

-Cities: Skylines $7.50 USD

-Cities: Skylines Deluxe Edition $10 USD

-Batman: Arkham Knight $15 USD

-Batman Arkham Knight Premium Edition $20 USD

-Far Cry Primal $25 USD

Origin: https://www.origin.com/irl/en-us/store

-Battlefield 1 $36 USD

-Battlefield 4 Premium Edition $14 USD

-Titanfall 2 $40 USD

-FIFA 17 $30 USD

-Need for Speed $15 USD

-The Division $35 USD

-Rainbow Six Siege $20 USD

-Assassin’s Creed Syndicate $24 USD

Green Man Gaming: https://www.greenmangaming.com/black-friday/black-friday-7/

-GTA V $25 USD

-Fallout 4 $19 USD

-DOOM $19 USD

Instagram launches another Snapchat feature

Zamfir Waltz
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0
Instagram launches another Snapchat feature

In its effort to become more like Snapchat, Instagram has launched a new feature this week that lets users send disappearing photos and videos to followers. To say these new features are similar to those used by Snapchat, would be a gross understatement- as part of the update, users will be able to send disappearing content to followers and friends through direct messaging (it goes down in the dm?).

Instagram users will only be able to send temporary photos and videos to their followers however, so spamming will not be an issue. The new functionality will begin rolling out worldwide Monday so look out for an update to reach devices over the weekend.

This announcement comes just two months after Instagram launched a new feature called Stories, which merges together multiple posts captured in the same day for one smooth recap. If you are asking yourself if that same feature was on Snapchat way before that, you would be quite correct. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness right?

It was also revealed Monday that livestreaming within the application will also soon become available. Tapping a new “Start Live Video” button in the camera viewer allows users to stream live footage for up to an hour. There will be an option to turn off comments, and the app can push notifications to users that alert them when an account they’re following is going live. This feature will operate similarly to Facebook live, however the content will not be saved after the stream has been completed.

Nokia preparing its return to the smartphone game

Zamfir Waltz
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0
Nokia preparing its return to the smartphone game

Nokia has today confirmed its intention of returning to the smartphone arena during Q2 of 2017. Rumours suggest that the new handset(s) will be unveiled during the Mobile World Congress in February, with availability of the products to soon follow. HMD Global is the company that now owns the license to launch Nokia phones for the next 10 years, and it has confirmed its presence at the trade fair show, which is scheduled to kick off on February 27.

Nokia’s chief executive, Rajeev Suri, is scheduled to make a keynote speech at the conference, where the company will also have an exhibition. Microsoft (being a dick) ran the Nokia brand into the ground, then restricted them from manufacturing phones with its name on until 2015 when the company said it would consider re-entering the market.

No more confirmed details have been released about the upcoming products, however the devices are expected to ship with Android Nougat or whatever the current Android version is at the time. (R.I.P Windows phones)

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

Zamfir Waltz
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0
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

Author:  J.K.Rowling, Jack Thorne & John Tiffany

Published Date:  July 31, 2016

Genre:  Fantasy, Drama & Adventure

Publisher:  Arthur A. Levine Books

Summary: It was always difficult being Harry Potter and it isn’t much easier now that he is an overworked employee of the Ministry of Magic, a husband and father of three school-age children.While Harry grapples with a past that refuses to stay where it belongs, his youngest son Albus must struggle with the weight of a family legacy he never wanted. As past and present fuse ominously, both father and son learn the uncomfortable truth: sometimes, darkness comes from unexpected places

Harry Potter is the beloved franchise of millions of fans all over the world. This phenomenon of a collection has become ingrained in pop culture for foreseeable future. After the release of the ‘Death Hallows Part 2’, J.K Rowling promised to not release any more Potter novels. She has, however, continued writing about the Potter universe on Pottermore.com, her personal website dedicated to the Harry Potter universe. Having said that, a play based on the Potter lore was released this year in London. “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” debuted in late July to favourable reviews, so much so that it’s sold out all through to mid-2017.

Today we bring you a review of that play: “Cursed Child” is stated to be the apparent eighth story in the Potter saga nineteen years after the end of Death Hallows.” The play is based on an original story written by Rowling, playwright Jack Thorne and the play’s director, John Tiffany.

The play beginnings no surprisingly at King’s Cross Station: Harry is now 37 and is waiting with his wife and two sons, Albus Severus, who is named after two famous Hogwarts headmasters, and James Sirius. It is while waiting at the station for the train to arrive, that they see their old friends, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy. Ron and Hermione have their daughter Rose with them while Draco is with his son, Scorpius (catchy name I know).

If you were expecting action and magic spells galore…don’t. This addition to the Potter universe is more about drama and the relationships between fathers and their children. Harry may be the “Cursed Child” the title is referring to- the trauma of losing his parents still weighs heavily on his heart, and it plays out often in this play. Harry worries about his son and his worry is driven by his fear that some danger may come to his son because of his past. Lines such as “I wish you were not my dad” said by Albus, and Harry’s dry response of “I wish you were not my son,” really drives home how tense and broken the relationship between Harry and his son is.

The constant question throughout this play, is who exactly is the cursed child- it could be Harry because of the above mentioned reasons or it could be Albus. Even Scorpius feels as though he is cursed since he lost his mother before the events of the play. The vicious rumours of his family’s past haunt him constantly. All the characters in the script are driven by their fears of past events, and future trials.

The cynical among us would call this Harry Potter and The Flashbacks, for this script relies heavily on characters reminiscing on past events, using them as catalysts to trigger important scenes in the present.

Albus wants to forge his own path at Hogwarts, and escape out of the shadows that his father caused, atleast in his eyes. He resents his father for being so famous, the “boy who lived”. Harry on the other hand feels the constant sense of danger as his scar starts to drill him with pain. Hermione is now Minister of Magic (no surprises there) and has to face constant attacks from Voldemort’s allies and sympathizers. All of these events lead to these characters together with Draco, who has now befriended them, to take on these new adversaries in order to keep their children safe from this new dark power.

So who is this for? I would say for the hardcore fans and not casual readers. To me the entire Harry Potter arc ended with Deathly Hallows- at the end of that movie I felt satisfied after witnessing Harry’s journey from a kid, to a semi-powerful wizard (Hermione can still kick his ass any day). So do you need to read this? If you are a deep Harry potter fan I will say yes, bare in mind this is a script for a play, and not written like a typical novel. If you do choose to read it though, you will find the story heart warming, and deepen your love for the characters you already love.

Gaming News: 18th November, 2016 Edition

Zamfir Waltz
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0
Gaming News: 18th November, 2016 Edition

It has been common of late (though some would argue it has always been the case) to receive some  terribly broken PC ports of console games. This would give the indication that games are not at all developed with PC aspects in mind; however Electronics Arts’ CFO said words on the contrary. Speaking at the UBS Global Technology Conference, Blake Jorgensen said the company aims for the highest spec PC, and then scales back accordingly for consoles.305838-ea

He said,

“…we build all of our games to the highest possible spec, which is typically a high-powered PC, and as the consoles come in, [which] may not be the highest spec, we may actually dummy down the console product to meet the spec of the console. In a world where the console looks more and more like a PC, that’s good for us.”

This statement of course is ironic to us PC gamers- after all it has been proven on multiple occasions in the past,  pc ports have had graphical downgrades in order to be on par with the console versions. The Division? Watch dogs? I need not go on.

Sticking with EA for a bit, they have decided to establish new rules requiring streamers and other “influencers” to use special labels to indicate supported or promotional content.

“Any YouTuber, streamer or otherwise active influencer, who enters into a collaboration with Electronic Arts in their content creation and does not yet use their own labeling system, is now requested to use our Hashtags and Watermarks,” EA said. There will be two hashtag/watermark combos:

  • #supportedbyEA: Covers all content that EA has supported, such as through invitations to events or shows, or the coverage of travel expenses. EA will have no direct influence over the creation of this content, however.
  • #advertisement: Actual advertising, covering “content that EA could have editorial influence over or content that EA itself has created.”

This is a good move by EA, transparency with promotional content is always a good thing for us the end users. This announcement so far has only been made in Germany, but its expected to expand to other markets soon.

Moving onto our favourite punching bag; Hello Games did something right this week, of which we should be all thankful for. When I said they did something great, I actually mean something great came out of the huge disappointment that was No Man’s Game Sky. The divide between expectation and reality was so great in that game, that even the folks over at Game Awards have decided to cut down on the rampant use of what gamers call “bullshots”  at these sort of events. What are bullshots? Basically it’s a term used for screenshots and trailers that are nothing like the finished end product. Before, reveal trailers for games would look amazing, but the final content released for players would sometimes look totally different from what these trailers and screenshots promised.

Executive producer of Game Awards Geoff Keighley had this to say,

“I have thought about the story of No Man’s Sky a lot. Did we create this black hole of hype that the developers couldn’t pull themselves out of? Some of that was authored by me…There is a good moral of that story and it’s part of what I’m trying to address this year; to have developers be more transparent about the state of their game.”

This year as a result, new games revealed at the show will take longer looks at the content, rather than just short clips showcasing pre-rendered content.

And finally, short news about Nvidia this week. The company released its new Game Ready 375.86 drivers earlier, however a sizeable number of players have since reported problems. These

Yeh right...
Yeh right…

problems seem to be only affecting the Pascal based GPUs such as some GTX 1080, 1070 and 1060 models. The latest drivers, which are said to provide the “optimal experience for Tom Clancy’s The Division Survival DLC, Battlefield 1, Steep: Open Beta, and Civilization VI,” (according to the Nvidia website) seem to be affecting video memories, jamming them at 810MHz. It is suggested that gamers no install this latest driver, and instead way for an update to correct this issue

What do you think of the stories this week, and for other in-depth game content, stay locked to this space.

Pure Genius S01E04 Recap

K.F. Cumberbatch
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0
Pure Genius S01E04 Recap

SOME SPOILERS AHEAD.

 

It was very predictable that Mrs. Gardener would have something far more serious be wrong with her and that Bashir would regain sight once they implanted the pain inhibitor in his brain.

pure-genius-104For much of the episode I thought that, as I had suggested needed to happen in this show sooner rather than later, Bunker Hill would lose a patient. And I thought that patient would be Mrs. Gardener. She would have been perfect for that; due to her close relationship with James. Not that I’m wishing death on a character, but such an event would better develop the show and it’s characters. James especially.

He really needs to stop going over the doctors’ heads and over turning decisions they’ve made in front of the patients. He should have a private discussion/debate with the doctor first and then tell the patient if they changed their course of treatment. He preaches about teamwork and everyone at the hospital being a team (which was brought to the fore this week because of Wallace’s search for an office) but he does that in literally every episode and it is the antithesis of working together.

Hypocrite much James?

There was a great deal of forced drama in the scene in which one of the robots was changing course for an easier path to Mrs. Gardener’s brain tumor. That moment didn’t land for me. I didn’t feel the urgency and it didn’t help that the writers hadn’t established before that the robots could deviate from their set path in such a situation. It wasn’t foreshadowed so it felt like it came out of left field.

The stakes were there, but it really felt contrived.

Her telling James that he was one of her favourites and him crying in response did land, however. As did Bashir seeing his wife, Natalie, for the first time.

pure-genius-104_1I thought that Natalie’s concern about not looking like his previous partners was that she was black and the women they showed on his social media were white. Did the writers realise that happened? It looked like they were going for one thing and then swerved in a completely different direction.

I’m a bit confused about the timing of this episode. Was it shown out of order? This was Wallace’s first week at the hospital so does that mean that the events of the previous two took place in that one week period as well? It seemed like they had skipped forward in time quite a bit before.

Random thoughts:

  1. I totally forgot about Lewis Keating.
  2. Angie is annoying and needs to mind her own business.
  3. Wallace apologising for James was funny.
  4. James makes some weird faces.

Pure Genius airs Thursdays at 10 PM on CBS.

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