Jason, Author at Thumb Culture

9Mar

By JasonNo Comments

Edifier MR4 Studio Monitor Review

People that know me well know that I love gaming, music and playing my bass guitar. When I had the chance to try out the Edifier MR4 Studio Monitors I was ecstatic! While I have always been a bit dubious of quite how much bass small speakers can generate, I had high hopes that the MR4's would deliver. Let The Beat Control Your Body It's time to open up the box and take a deep dive into the world of Edifier. How will they perform? How compatible are they? Are they value for money? Read on and find out! Design At 288mm high, 140mm wide and 198mm deep, the MR4 studio monitors are a fairly decent size in comparison to some of the other desktop speakers I have navigated through. My desk isn't the widest in the world, however, they certainly didn't look out of place given that my Samsung...

27Feb

By JasonNo Comments

PC Reviews

Golazo! 2 – PC Review

Golazo! 2 is an arcade football game by Argentinian indie developers and publishers Purple Tree. It is a follow-up to the well-received 2020 Golazo! Soccer League. Back to the 90's Football Era! While there are many football games on the market, Golazo! 2 is an anything-goes version of the beautiful game where fouls and offsides do not exist. Created in Unity and available at around £11 on Steam, how would this indie title fair? Gameplay Right from the (kick) off, there is something very arcade-like with Golazo! 2. Remember the good old days when you were ordering some takeout, and while you were waiting for your order to be ready there would be some form of coin-op arcade machine in the corner? Well, Golazo! 2 would fit right in there. Instantly transported back to the mid-90s,...

be quiet! Silent Base 802 PC Case Review

27Jan

By Jason2 Comments

Hardware & Tech

be quiet! Silent Base 802 PC Case Review

While be quiet! has a huge following when it comes to its fans, they have also quite a diverse selection of PC cases. Ranging from goliath-sized high-end towers to smaller non-budget-breaking units, they each serve to give the best cooling possible as well as have a focus on acoustics to lessen any audible sounds. I as lucky enough to get my hands on the Silent Base 802 which sits in the middle of the range and is classed as a "premium" PC case. be quiet! Silent Base 802 AKA The Beast! I guess it is time to have an explore and transplant my PC innards so that I can give you a good practical overview of what working with a Silent Base 802 unit is like! Design The first thing that is noticeable with the be quiet! tower is the sheer size of it. It is a monster in comparison to my N...

24Jan

By JasonNo Comments

Switch Reviews

Toy Soldiers HD – Switch Review

Released on Nintendo Switch NYE '22, Toy Soldiers HD is an overhaul of the easily recognisable 2010 tower defense game by Signal Studios. Published by Accelerate Games, Toy Soldiers HD supports handheld, tabletop and TV mode. Toy Soldiers HD - Construct your Defences Carefully I was a big fan of Toy Soldiers: War Chest back in the Xbox 360 days however I haven't had the pleasure of playing an HD version of Toy Soldiers so far or on the Nintendo Switch. Let's get the band playing and move onto the battlefield! Gameplay There is something quite nostalgic when it comes to the Toy Soldiers franchise. Admittedly I have been so busy that there have been some old classics that I have simply forgotten to go back to. As Toy Soldiers HD loads you are greeted by a haunting male voice accompa...

13Jan

By JasonNo Comments

PlayStation Reviews

Need For Speed Unbound PS5 Review

Need for Speed Unbound is the latest in the NFS franchise and is available on PS5, Xbox Series X/S as well as PC. Developed by Criterion Software, famed for their Burnout games, and published by EA, will Unbound be a winner or one to drive by? NFS Unbound - The World is your Canvas With a bit of a twist when it comes to graphics, I know that many have been a bit wary of how this iteration of NFS looks. The ultimate question is a simple one; Does it work and play well? Gameplay While Criterion has made some of my all-time favourite arcade racing games such as Need for Speed: Most Wanted and Burnout Paradise (A title I have somehow managed to buy since its launch in 2008 on almost every platform along the way!) NFS Unbound has seemingly ventured into a very vibrant and graffiti-cultu...

JBL Announces New Sound Bar & Quantum Gaming Headsets

5Jan

By JasonNo Comments

News & Updates

JBL Announces New Sound Bar & Quantum Gaming Headsets

Announced at CES 2023 Las Vegas today, JBL has unveiled their latest launches in gaming and home audio! 2023 Just Got an Audio Upgrade! Let's see what we can look forward to in the next few months! JBL Bar 1300 First on the list is the JBL Bar 1300! While we found out about the flagship JBL Bar 1000 along with the slightly smaller variants; 800, 500 and 300, back in 2022, JBL have once again raised the (sound) bar. Boasting a whopping 1170W power output, 6 up-firing drivers, an 11.1.4 sound system along with a 10" subwoofer, they have truly surpassed their flagship JBL Bar 1000. In comparison that had 880W, 4 up-firing drivers and a 7.1.4 sound system. Both systems come with Dolby Atmos®, DTS:X 3D surround sound and MultiBeamTM technology along with wireless satellite speakers, ...

22Dec

By JasonNo Comments

Xbox Reviews

I, AI – Xbox One Review

Our new writer Savvas writes his first review for Thumb Culture! I, AI was initially released in July 2020 by Satur Entertainment. It is a single-player vertically scrolling shooter that has used the classic scrolling shooter formula and added modern graphics. Scrolling shooters are a genre I have always been fond of, playing 1942, Super Airwolf and Metal Slug as a kid got me hooked, and it’s a genre that I still gravitate to. Going into the recently launched I, AI on the Xbox platform, I was pretty excited and hoping for that experience, so here are my thoughts. I, AI - Ratatat-tat your way to freedom! In I,AI you play as a self-aware AI who was created in a lab to develop weapons. Realizing this, they are now trying to make an escape. They escape the lab and take over a spaceship...

20Dec

By JasonNo Comments

PC Reviews

Cities: Skylines World Tour – PC Review

Ever wanted to add a bit more character to your Cities: Skylines world? Well thanks to the Cities Skylines World Tour DLC you can do just that. With 4 themed DLC packs now dropped across all platforms, what do they entail and how will they enhance your experience? Around the World in 80 Days! I'm excited to bring a bit of culture and pizazz into my ageing cities. It's time to play my Willy Fogg theme tune and go around the world! Gameplay Cities: Skylines is incredible, let's face it. While I grew up with Sim City back in the day, Skylines is to me the ultimate evolution, showing off how graphics, sound and gameplay have now expanded into futuristic realms thanks to technological advancements. The latest Cities Skylines World Tour DLC features a number of content packs that draw...

19Dec

By JasonNo Comments

Hardware & Tech

JBL Quantum Stream Microphone Review

When you hear the name JBL, the first thing that comes to mind for most people will be speakers. With JBL branching out into gaming headsets, I was quite stunned to see a streaming microphone during a recent press event in London. JBL Quantum Stream - What is This Witchcraft? Sitting tidily next to a gaming pc, showing off the perfect JBL setup, was a JBL Quantum Stream mic. While chatting with one of the amazing hosts from the PR firm as well as the JBL technical guru, I was puzzled as to how we seemingly did not know much about this foray into the streaming world! Entering a packed mid-market with some serious hitters such as the likes of Blue, Hyper X and Razer, how would the JBL Quantum Stream fair? Design Standing at just 25cm tall, the black shroud and base of the Quantum ...

Jurassic World Aftermath Collection – Switch Review

8Dec

By JasonNo Comments

Switch Reviews

Jurassic World Aftermath Collection – Switch Review

Leaping like a raptor onto its prey, Jurassic World Aftermath Collection is out now on PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch. Developed by Coatsink and published by both Coatsink and Thunderful, just how would this original Oculus Quest VR Jurassic World game play out on console? "What Fools We Were, Trying To Run Before We'd Learned To Walk." Set between Jurassic World and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, you find yourself literally crash-landing onto Isla Nublar in the Aftermath Collection. With your original mission to grab some priceless information in tatters, you now find yourself trapped at the abandoned research facility that is patrolled by a whole host of roaming dinosaurs. Can I escape? Gameplay In a nutshell, Jurassic World Aftermath Collection is a single-player game that c...