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iOS/iPadOS 17.5.1 Released May 20, 2024

Posted by Maniac in Game News.
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Apple has released a minor but important update for iPad and iPhone earlier today. The new update, 17.5.1, was released to fix an issue involving the unwanted restoration of previously deleted corrupted images.

Depending on your device, the update will weigh in between 250-400MB. You can download it right now on your iPad or iPhone through your device’s software update menu.

There does not appear to be similar updates for the Mac, Apple Watch, or Apple TV at this time. We have not checked if the update was released for Vision Pro, but we will post a follow up if one does get released.

Star Wars Film Jedi Prime Announced – It Was Originally a Video Game May 17, 2024

Posted by Maniac in Game News, Site Videos.
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Hollywood has recently been set abuzz that director James Mangold (Logan) may be working on a new Star Wars Film project referred to as Jedi Prime. The plot of the film revolves around the first person in the Star Wars universe to discover The Force, becoming the very first Jedi. Shortly after their discovery, another being discovers their own connection to The Force, becoming the very first Sith.

We have a very long memory here at GameXcess.net, and Jedi Prime rang several bells in that memory. It turns out, that was one of the concepts pitched in some of the final years of LucasArts, Lucasfilm Limited’s video game developer/publishing house.

According to the historical record, the Jedi Prime concept was passed on by LucasArts and The Force Unleashed would eventually be released to massive fanfare. However, the concept of the first Jedi fighting the first Sith has a lot of promise, and we think it could make for a great film. Here’s to hoping it will get a wide release!

iOS, iPadOS 17.5 Released May 13, 2024

Posted by Maniac in Game News.
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An important update has just been released to almost all Apple devices and Macs earlier this evening. The new update, 17.5 adds new features to iPad and iPhone including improvements to News+, HomePod and more!

New updates were released for iPad, iPhone Apple TV, Apple Watch and Mac. Depending on your device, the new update weighs in between 850MB-1GB.

There doesn’t appear to be an update to Apple Vision Pro at this time.

Gaming History You Should Know – What Happens When Normal People Try VR Films For the First Time May 12, 2024

Posted by Maniac in Gaming History You Should Know, Uncategorized.
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Happy Mother’s Day everyone! Normally we’d focus our Sunday on featuring some great independently produced content on gaming history, but given it’s a special day, we decided to highlight this great video was recently released on gaming’s present, Virtual Reality!

Since becoming a VR Enthusiast, there have been few channels out there more useful to follow than BMFVR. His insight into recent tech releases, games, and hardware news has been a great asset for someone interested in learning quickly about the medium.

Recently, BMFVR posted a video where he demoed the Meta Quest 3 for a bunch of regular people with no VR experience. The results have to be seen to be believed. To someone who hasn’t decided to get a VR headset, let me remind you regardless of what platform you use, this is all possible in VR RIGHT NOW.

As someone who hasn’t stopped using the IMAX and Apple TV applications on their Vision Pro since getting the device, I can totally understand this is just the beginning of what is possible, the future is EVEN MORE exciting.

Mind of Maniac (and Wife) – Should You Wear Vision Pro To a Wedding May 8, 2024

Posted by Maniac in Mind of Maniac, Site Videos.
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We have a special treat for you all today! In today’s video, Maniac is joined by his wife, Princess Angel, to provide two very important thoughts about a recent public event. Since Apple released Vision Pro earlier this year, the world has not made adjustments in polite society for how people should use a wearable computer in public! Recently, a groom was photographed wearing his Vision Pro during his wedding, and the event immediately became an overnight sensation.

However, the people attacking the groom for wearing a Vision Pro during his wedding clearly had no experience with the Vision Pro or how it functioned. Because of that, their attacks on his character were (at best) surface level on his appearance. That’s not a problem for this website, as we actually have a Vision Pro, and can provide a unique insight into the event based upon the public photos that were posted. Due to some very minor naughty words, we’ve restricted this video to 18+.

Ed. Note – All opinions and conclusions shared in the video are protected under the First Amendment.

Japan Travel Tips – Tokyo’s Bookstore Suburb May 7, 2024

Posted by Maniac in Japan Travel Tips, Uncategorized.
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It’s Tuesday, and I’ve got a great Are you a heavy reader or a collector of paperbacks? I’ve got the town for you! Welcome back to Japan Travel Tips, where we highlight some of the biggest independently produced videos on the nation of Japan!

Today we’re going to be highlighting the work of seerasen, an adorable YouTube creator who visited the town of Jimbocho, which isn’t far from Tokyo. It’s a college town known for its bookstores and coffee shops. Using the word “quaint” to describe it seems insufficient. Honestly, it reminded me of the bookstore in one of my favorite films, “Fine, Totally Fine”. Let’s take a closer look:

Now that international travel has opened up we’ve cut back on featuring our travel tips as a major staple of the website, but we will likely continue to highlight unique or insightful videos about the country as time goes on. Please post a comment below if you have any thoughts about future videos we should be highlighting!

Gaming History You Should Know – The History of The Oregon Trail May 5, 2024

Posted by Maniac in Gaming History You Should Know, Uncategorized.
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Like most of my generation, my elementary school offered a computer lab full of Apple II and Mac computers. This would give me my first exposure to edutainment games like Super Solvers Outnumbered and Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego. However, the school offered one more edutainment title only a few of us may remember, and it was called The Oregon Trail.

Named after the famous historical migration, The Oregon Trail was an early life simulator which put the player in control of a group of settlers eager to cross the untamed United States in search of a better life on the West Coast. The game was a lot different than others of the time, but the functions were easy enough to follow that my peers and I were able to pick up and play. We may have died…a lot, but we left irrecoverable landmarks of our progress for future players to find in the form of our player-scripted trail side tombstones.

How did such a strange game get made? Why do we remember it so many years later? In what may very well be the final episode of The Gaming Historian, they highlighted the history of this groundbreaking game. Take a look!

Did you make it to the end of the trail? Post a comment below with your memories.

The Oregon Trail is out on multiple platforms.

Super Nintendo World Revealed For Universal Studios Orlando’s Epic Universe May 2, 2024

Posted by Maniac in Game News.
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The day I’ve waited nearly all my life felt a lot closer earlier this morning. Universal Studios Orlando Resort is planning to open its next major theme park next year. To anchor this new park is a complete adaptation of Super Nintendo World, a theme park land that made an enormous impact when it opened in Japan several years ago.

What can fans of Universal Studios Japan expect to see come to Epic Universe? Orlando is getting ALL of it and more! Let’s take a look:

Universal’s Epic Universe is opening in 2025 in Orlando, Florida.

Tales from IT – What Certified Refurbished REALLY Means April 30, 2024

Posted by Maniac in Site Videos, Tales from IT.
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Want to save five dollars and get a computer that could theoretically be a hundred times slower than its slightly more expensive counterpart? It’s a PC, they’re all the same aren’t they? Welcome to Tales From IT, where we share the occasional cautionary tale of what happens when you don’t listen to your IT (and the cost associated with it).

If you’re unfamiliar with “Certified Refurbished” PCs, they are PCs made up of older components that cost just a little bit less than a brand new one and are SOOO much slower! So why should you get one if you’re not planning to run legacy software on it? I don’t know. Here’s a story about a client of mine who wanted to save the five bucks. Decide for yourself if it was worth it.

A Gamer Reviews a Car – Toyota 2024 RAV4 Hybrid XLE Review April 25, 2024

Posted by Maniac in Reviews, Site Videos.
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In what is our first, and most likely ONLY review of an actual vehicle, today we’re going to take a look at the Toyota 2024 RAV4 XLE Hybrid. Now, as a gamer, our needs in a car goes way beyond what can be expected by the common man, especially since we expect to spend most of our time using it stuck in traffic. Because of that, we were more interested in the car’s technological features, such as charging capabilities and CarPlay support, instead of (to us) unimportant things like horsepower.

The video for the following review was recorded with a hands free camera. All driving was done by a licensed driver.