Pick your side... Horde or Alliance, er um, I mean Android or Apple! Today, we dive into the two phone platforms and make a decision on which one is better. In our second segment, The Vault host, James Sherwood, brings us Borderlands 4! Bill shares his experience at this year's SNAFU convention.

William Sikkens, Bill Snodgrass, Gretchen Winkler

Welcome to We Are Technology’s

User friendly.

2

2.0 with host Bill Sikkens,

3

technology architect.

4

And this is user friendly 2.0 as always

I am your host milliseconds.

5

Joining me my co-host Bill and Gretchen,

welcome to This Week show love.

6

There

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I got to ask the question

that's on everybody's mind.

8

Probably not, but on my mind.

9

How is your Halloween?

10

And pretty well,

11

it was busy.

12

Lots of, kids, but I didn't

answer the door because I took the cheater

13

method and put them all out there

and let the camera watch them.

14

Did they steal your ball? No.

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I've never had someone steal the ball

or the or the bag.

16

I've put a bag out before.

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And I usually give instructions,

you know.

18

Happy Halloween, please take one.

19

You know.

20

So the neighbor here,

the reason I bring it up, the neighbor

21

by where I lived in that she is elderly,

didn't want to answer the door.

22

Came out next morning to find the candy,

the bowl and the table

23

that was sitting on her. Gone.

24

Really? She's.

25

They took the table.

26

They took the table.

27

And she's just like, okay, whatever.

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But, okay.

29

Outside of that,

we're now through Halloween

30

to start the time

to start thinking about Thanksgiving.

31

If you can believe it, we're

going to be covering some stuff, including

32

kitchen gadgets, for Thanksgiving here

in a couple of weeks.

33

And you know, from that.

34

And it's amazing to see all the new stuff

that's out there.

35

I would say about 90% of

it is kind of kitsch.

36

You want to avoid it, but there are some

cool things we'll be getting into that.

37

But this week, after the news, we're going

to be taking on Android versus iPhone.

38

Which one is better?

39

And I can hear people

typing the comments now.

40

And the man,

41

what I

talk about a little later in the show.

42

Yeah.

43

All right.

44

Let's go ahead and get through our news.

What do we have this week.

45

All right.

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Coming to you now from steam malware.

47

So explain this to me I want that game.

48

You know.

49

Are you destroying the malware

with the game.

50

That'd be cool.

51

Yeah. That would be.

That would probably be okay.

52

You know.

53

But it's interesting to see this

because it's

54

kind of they're bad

guys are trying these things everywhere.

55

And they put up a game on steam.

56

Obviously,

that's what you would do there.

57

And we it it's actually windows malware.

58

So, you know, the idea of this happening,

I can't say it comes to me

59

as a shock, mainly because,

I think it's more into

60

what I would have to say

is that just this hasn't happened before.

61

The scheme, the way it's set up is indie

62

publishers are really anyone

but any publishers mainly publish games.

63

You know, it's a really cool site.

64

And anybody that's a gamer that does

video games probably heard of it.

65

If not use it.

66

And from that standpoint,

it's a good resource to have.

67

But it is also known

that the duration of the software

68

going up there

wasn't necessarily looked at that closely.

69

So a hacker decided to exploit this

and threw up

70

some software that was malware for windows

and got a number of downloads.

71

And then before it got caught,

72

they've added it to Windows Defender

and it's now to block it as has steam.

73

But there's something to think about,

74

you know,

75

and especially on windows computers

because that's where most of the malware

76

is pointed.

77

It does exist for Apple and, you know,

Android, iPhone and all that too.

78

But the primarily you see it on windows.

79

And one thing that you can do, especially

if you're getting software from a site

80

that, is even known, like steam,

or certainly one that's not so

81

well known, is there's a way to set up

a sandbox in your windows environment

82

and then run it there, see if it's okay,

but it's blocked from everything else,

83

and that kind of thing

is probably a good idea.

84

It's an extra step,

85

but certainly can save you a lot of hassle

of having to reload or the encryption

86

computer or something

when, you get malware and now you can't

87

get access to your stuff,

you know, you are going to get a question,

88

how do I find a sandbox

89

location on my computer from you?

90

Well, it could, but I bet you

some of the, listeners are going.

91

What?

92

I tell you what,

93

I think you're absolutely accurate

in that, And I think it's a valid thing.

94

No. Anticipate.

So let's do this next week.

95

We're going to be doing our full Q&A.

96

Let's make sure

we have that question in the queue.

97

All right.

98

New Robert Downey Junior Doctor Doom suit

99

HD photos reveal two exciting details.

100

Yes, I think the suit is cool.

101

If you haven't seen a picture of this,

check it out.

102

It's it's, somebody really did a nice job

on the costume.

103

And one of the concerns, you know,

104

Robert Downey Junior,

of course, played Iron Man,

105

and he's coming back into the same

universe as a different character.

106

But from looking at this

in the way that they're doing it,

107

I think, I think it's going to work.

108

And then the other thing

109

is, is the, two interesting things

that you're talking about.

110

There are the logos on his suit.

111

One is Thor's hammer,

and the other one is Captain America.

112

So it's just kind of a shout out to that,

too, which is which is a cool thing.

113

And, you know,

to see how that all ties together.

114

But I just I really have to say,

I like the way they get to see suit.

115

It just looks cool.

I wouldn't mind to see like that.

116

Just to wear to work,

I've got to see it then.

117

Yeah?

118

Yeah.

119

All right.

120

NASA's supersonic jet finally takes off

121

for its first super fast,

122

super quiet flight.

123

Yeah. So it's interesting.

124

Some may remember the Concorde,

125

which was, supersonic jet that did

126

passenger service was taken out of use

just mainly because of maintenance costs

127

and that type of thing.

128

But, the idea of a supersonic aircraft

is really nothing new.

129

But what's cool about this one

is there's no sonic boom after quiet on,

130

so it's able to enter the, or,

bypass the sound barrier

131

and not have the big bang that you hear.

132

So just for the record, that's 767mph,

give or take, when you hit that.

133

So, again, interesting technology.

134

You know, the one thing

I have to ask about this kind of stuff

135

is are they planning to bring back

supersonic aviation?

136

It wasn't that it was unsafe.

137

It was just the maintenance

138

of these type of planes and stuff

made it not worthwhile to compete.

139

But it'd be kind of fun

140

if you could fly to, you know,

to Europe in an hour or something.

141

A little longer than

the app itself. Yeah. Yeah,

142

I thought that was usually, Sorry.

143

I thought there were other reasons

why the, the supersonic plane went away.

144

Yeah.

145

There are,

and if we had more time, we dig into it.

146

But the main thing was actually the cost.

147

Oh, okay.

148

I'm sorry, Bill, I that's okay.

149

NASA's Voyager spacecraft finds a blazing

150

wall of fire

at the edge of the solar system.

151

Oh, I don't get why this is unusual.

152

It makes sense that we'd have a firewall.

153

We do for everything else.

154

I keep thinking bad guys breaches,

you know?

155

Yeah.

156

No, no.

157

Yeah, that's the other thing that me.

158

Yeah, yeah.

159

And so this is kind of interesting.

160

So NASA's Voyager

161

one and two have gone out further

than any other human made object.

162

They're both out in interstellar

space now,

163

and they're both still operating

and beaming back information.

164

And this wall of fire

is kind of interesting because

165

technically, it's

tens of thousands of degrees Kelvin.

166

And just

I thought, you know, that's very hot.

167

But the

question that comes out of all of this

168

is, well, if Voyager's going through that,

wouldn't it burn up the spacecraft?

169

And the answer is no, because

of the amount of space that's out there.

170

All the molecules are excited

to that temperature.

171

It's not dense enough to actually damage

the spacecraft with the heat that exists.

172

And it's an interesting way

to look at the physics behind it.

173

But beyond it begins

what they call true interstellar space.

174

It's almost there.

175

And,

176

you know,

177

maybe

we can get a hold of the Roswell Grays

178

and see if they can

179

put a new battery on them so that they can

transmit a little bit longer.

180

You mean the Voyagers?

181

Yeah.

182

Yeah, that'd be great.

183

Yeah. Why not? All right.

184

Okay.

185

What else do we have? All right.

186

Amazon doesn't want eyes

shopping on its side.

187

At least that's what comet says.

188

And comet is apparently not a dog.

189

Oh, it's an

190

AI that, is not allowed

to evidently shop on Amazon site.

191

So company called

perplexity has created the AI comet,

192

and the idea of this

is that this AI is an assistant.

193

Then you can say, comet, order me

whatever off Amazon, right?

194

And it will go out there and do it.

195

Well, Amazon's having problems

with this saying that, well they don't

196

get the right kind of feedback

and they can't do the reviews.

197

The real reason in my opinion,

198

is that if you bypass Amazon's

what they call user experience, you're

199

bypassing all of their ads, promotions

and everything else.

200

The AI doesn't care about all that.

201

It's just, you know, go and order

what you want.

202

So they issued a cease and desist

203

order to stop this from happening.

204

That is still pending, but

205

Amazon blocked

comet by a change to their software.

206

And now perplexity has upgraded

comet to be able to get around the block.

207

So, so what is Alexa think of all of this?

208

Because wasn't

she being asked to shop for people?

209

Oh yeah, I still does.

210

But the thing of it is, is again,

you're looking at an

211

AI that's employed by

and I'll use those terms Amazon.

212

Wherever you want to go with that.

213

But the thing of it is, is that

there is a difference there because Amazon

214

considers that they have control over one

but not the other.

215

And I think probably there is some truth

216

to not being able to look up comparables

and that kind of a thing.

217

But at the end of the day, it's

another example of

218

this is the fire TV stick,

which is Amazon's smart TV adapter.

219

Very good.

220

Product.

221

I like it, but they blocked out

another number of applications

222

that changed the way that it would boot

up, is

223

they wanted their commercials

to be on the top of the screen.

224

In the front,

225

something changes the user experience

that's not allowed on the platform.

226

I think this is a similar idea.

227

So okay.

228

Anyway.

229

All right.

230

So that being said, I'm going

to throw this question out here and ask

231

you Android or Apple, which one is better.

232

So where this topic

233

idea comes from is we get your questions.

234

And a lot of the ones that come in

is that, you know, to what extent

235

that maybe in one way or the other,

does this one

236

do one thing better, another better.

237

But the interesting thing about

this is something that has really existed

238

as long as computers have, is

there seems to be this almost religion

239

between people that like one or the other

240

and you saw that back with the Macintosh,

windows days,

241

you know, and way back in the day, Atari

and Commodore, all this kind of stuff

242

seems to have continued to exist

243

whether you're on a macintosh or a PC,

the files are interchangeable.

244

You know, that didn't used to be the case.

245

I mean, there was a time that you created

a file on your computer,

246

you needed to share it with somebody,

and they didn't have the same system,

247

or even the maybe the same make or not

the same model of the system.

248

They couldn't read your

249

your disk and there were no flash drives

or anything at that point.

250

So the other way was to transmit it

251

over a 1200 board modem,

which was very painful.

252

So in 2025,

we are in a very different situation

253

where your files, if you work in word

as for example, on the Mac, no,

254

but on the PC that I had no idea.

255

I didn't know they fix this.

256

It's been so long since I've been involved

with that kind of graphics and stuff.

257

So yeah, it's it's I'm glad that they have

because it was in the modern era.

258

That wouldn't work, I don't think. Anyway.

259

Yeah, I'm old, you know, my Photoshop

260

doesn't open on your Photoshop

because I'm on Windows and you're on,

261

you know, Mac OS,

whatever the case may be.

262

Yeah. But, yeah.

263

And, you know, just as a little aside

on that, back in the 90s,

264

there were actually hardware devices

that were made

265

that would go in your computer

that would emulate the other one, mainly

266

emulating winter

in those days, dos on a mac,

267

so that you can read the files

in that way.

268

And this, this hardware

269

And, you also had that for the Amiga

computer, which was out at the time.

270

You know, some of these old names

I haven't thought of in a while.

271

And, you know, Safari and,

that's where all of that comes from.

272

And before we circle back to the phone,

just, you know, comparison here,

273

I just want to remind you, don't

copy that floppy.

274

All right, back out of the retro stuff

you have Android and you have iOS.

275

You used to have the Windows Mobile,

which has largely fallen behind the waist.

276

I don't even think

the system still exists for it out there.

277

So those are the two kinds of things

you're going to get.

278

And the question comes out

and it is a legitimate question.

279

Is one or the other better.

280

And to

look at that you really need to consider

281

what you're dealing with

and what you want.

282

So to explain it a little bit,

283

you have two very different methods

of building a computer.

284

And a smartphone is a computer

that does the same thing

285

sometimes

more than than your laptop and whatnot.

286

And at the end of the day, you have one

287

philosophy from Apple,

which is very close source.

288

So you get in there

and you have less applications.

289

It's much harder

to get your application onto the platform.

290

That kind of a thing.

291

It has to be reviewed and whatnot.

292

But what that does end up doing

is there's less of a chance of getting

293

crappy applications or malware or

that kind of thing because it is juried.

294

And then the other thing

that Apple has with

295

that is because they're the manufacturer

296

of not only the software,

but the hardware.

297

All iPhones are made by Apple.

298

You have an environment

where you know it is going to work.

299

Now everything is very

I don't want to say basic,

300

but kind of corporate, almost gray color,

that kind of a thing.

301

You can customize.

302

But out of the box,

that's what you're looking at.

303

So if you want something

that you're going to just grab

304

and don't mind spending a lot of money

for it, and it just works,

305

that might be the type of thing.

306

Now, the other side of

this is Android, which I wouldn't say

307

is 180 degrees different because they do

jury applications and stuff, but

308

it's much easier to get on the Play Store

and that type of thing if, in fact,

309

the philosophy is if they find it

objectionable later, they'll take it off.

310

But as long as your app meets

the requirements and gets through there,

311

I probably will get on the market.

312

The other thing of it

is, is on the Android side of it, there's

313

many, many, many different manufacturers

that can build the phones.

314

And the history of it's different too,

315

iOS was built specifically

for that purpose to run the phone.

316

Android was originally an operating system

for digital cameras.

317

It wasn't created by Google either.

318

It was bought by and later on

319

and then used for the operating system

or the Android phones that we have now.

320

So it didn't start out as a phone

operating system.

321

And the other side of it is since Google

doesn't have control of the hardware

322

ecosystem, it's kind of like windows for

all the different versions of the pieces

323

that are out there.

324

You have to have something

that's going to work universally,

325

universally,

or as close to it as you can get.

326

And there are inconsistencies,

mainly because the updates

327

are usually done by the manufacturer.

328

So if you get a Samsung phone, you're

going to have a different update roll out.

329

And if you have a pixel or something else.

330

So at the end of the day, you have that.

331

However, since there's more competition,

the prices of phones are lower.

332

You can get a good quality product for not

as much as you would pay for an iPhone,

333

and you have a lot more access

to being able to look at different things

334

in different places.

335

And at the point of this recording,

there's some talk about them

336

wanting to change it.

337

I don't know if they will be inside,

load out,

338

back and back in my day,

that was called installing software.

339

You know, where it does doesn't

necessarily come out of

340

come out of the market.

341

So trying to make a decision on which one

is better, I don't think one is better.

342

I think it's more purpose driven

and what you need it to be

343

and what you want and what you can afford

and that type of thing.

344

Now, I think all of us are Android,

I know I am a Bill Rection

345

you guys use Android or iPhone or Android?

346

Android? Yeah. Yeah. Okay.

347

I think it's because, for me,

Android was, well,

348

because I worked with Apple and not Apple,

but, windows applications or softwares

349

when I was doing geological drafting

and AutoCAD and all that stuff.

350

Did windows.

351

It wasn't, on Apple products.

352

Apple

was like some of the more artistic stuff,

353

and it was almost like

they had two different professions

354

or, mind thinking to go with.

355

And and then as time has gone

on, both both sides have broadened.

356

And I think that's been

better. What do you think?

357

I would agree with you 100% on that.

358

And having, you know, the alternative

one drives the other.

359

So one gets innovation.

360

You see it on the other side

that very much

361

there's a part of that kind of thing.

362

If you just had one product out there,

it would not be in all likelihood

363

is advances. We see our phones are today.

364

I'm going to throw this other question

at you, Bill,

365

because this is a question

that comes in from a lot of our listeners.

366

If you were given

367

an opportunity to have comparable phones

to like, say, a Samsung Galaxy versus

368

an iPhone, whatever the newest

version of it is, and they were free.

369

Would you choose Apple at that point

based on the price,

370

or would you stick with Android?

371

I personally would

372

stick with Android,

because I'm a customizer

373

and I've had an iPhone before,

374

for work thing, and I've had an iPad.

375

They're not as customizable

is, say, an Android phone,

376

and I'm a heavy customizer to,

377

you know, what I want

and how I want it to work.

378

And different ways like that.

379

Some of the things that you see

on Android,

380

like if you want your phone

to look differently,

381

you can download a theme

and it'll change it.

382

That kind of stuff is still

I think, what you're talking about,

383

where you can really customize

if you want, you can sit down,

384

make your own icons, make your own layout,

all that kind of stuff.

385

And that is, definitely a big thing

where you'll see

386

that many programmers,

many people that create technology,

387

agree 100% with what you just said

on making that choice.

388

And the funny thing about it

is, is because from a business standpoint,

389

Apple is probably a better idea

because your business,

390

like your department, has one

set of hardware they're maintaining,

391

you know, support for

on that kind of a thing, which on Apple,

392

credit is generally

393

a lot easier

to get to then Android support

394

if you need it to do that,

you can go online,

395

get a lot of answers to things

and that type of stuff.

396

But at the end of the day,

things like AppleCare and a phone number

397

you can call might exist through a vendor

like Samsung or something.

398

But as far as the operating system itself

goes,

399

there isn't exactly that kind of ecosystem

for help, you know?

400

So your businesses are going to look at,

hey, this is much easier to support.

401

Well, not only that,

402

but it is because it is a closed system

and it is less customizable.

403

You know, you're going to be dealing with

404

pretty much one system

and one setup and one

405

your employees are not going to be able to

mess with it too much.

406

Yeah,

407

yeah, yeah, yeah,

it depends on the employee, I suppose.

408

But yeah, it's, definitely.

409

You know, that would be the case

and I know it

410

from even the windows side of things.

411

Back before I really started coding

for many years, I did hardware support,

412

and I had a, couple of clients that were,

you know, bigger, like fortune

413

500 stuff like Wells Fargo Bank

was one of them, more or less at the time.

414

And, and stuff.

415

And what you would see is an environment

in these places where, yeah,

416

it was on windows, but they made sure

that all of the hardware was the same.

417

I mean, as much as possible.

418

So it's like that same idea.

419

They're only having to support one thing.

420

And at the time,

from a business standpoint, for a computer

421

operating system,

422

you had Active Directory or Windows Server

or you had Novell NetWare.

423

If you want to go back a little bit more

424

and all of that and then on the Apple

side, you had Apple talk,

425

but they didn't really get the networking

thing done for a number of years

426

after they did on the PC, to an extent

that it was, you know, stable and usable

427

and something that you would see

in a business environment.

428

Apple Park Works.

429

It just didn't have the adoption

that you saw on the Ethernet side.

430

Now everything uses Ethernet.

431

But again, so you're absolutely right.

432

What you're saying is that, the Windows

433

Android environment is more flexible,

434

and a little more prone

to having bad things happen.

435

But, the apple side is less

436

flexible and stiff, and they have

less of the bad things happen.

437

But there's there's

there isn't that creative

438

openness that you get with the other side.

439

So it kind of evens out.

440

You get some good things on one side

or into bad things, and it evens out.

441

It just depends

on what's important to you.

442

Yeah,

443

I think that's a good way to sum it up.

444

I really do, because that kind of a thing

is what you're looking at from

445

one to the other, where again, it begs

the question, is one better?

446

I don't think so.

447

No, I think the use like environments

what you should use.

448

But it's, it's they both work.

They both do the job.

449

You know, you get on the internet,

you can download apps.

450

I think you can still make phone calls.

451

So, you know, it's.

452

Now. But you've been in all seriousness

453

and the thing new videos is most

454

platforms, the two platforms you offer,

most of the bigger apps, you know,

455

you zoom on mobile, you have discord on

both them, that kind of thing.

456

But there are some differences

and there are some things

457

that are only available on one,

but not on the other.

458

And the other thing that I find

interesting, too, about all of this is

459

when you dig in a little bit deeper,

460

it seems like there's always a premium

when you deal with Apple products.

461

Not only does hardware cost more,

462

but even getting a programmer

to write code for it.

463

If you're an average programmer today,

what makes for $185 an hour writing code?

464

There's going to be a premium

on top of that.

465

If they're doing Apple most of the time,

and it's because of having

466

to deal with the process

of going through and and doing stuff.

467

You can't even really test

a lot of these things on real hardware

468

without having the developers

get information

469

and all that kind of stuff,

whereas on Android

470

you just sideload it to the phone

and you try it.

471

There's virtual environments for both,

and a lot of programmers will use that.

472

But you do get to a point

where you need to deal with real world

473

hardware in that pipeline

to see what works.

474

So at the end of the day, that means

that your software also costs more money.

475

So again, it looks at the perspective.

476

And it really has switched

because in the past it was always windows.

477

That was more for business.

478

And now it's becoming the other way.

479

Both do well.

480

And in windows it's hardly

481

out of the running

or anything like that, or even close.

482

It's still very much

the majority operating system

483

that used, you know, out there.

484

But it is interesting to see

how these things evolve and where it goes

485

and what some of the real reasons are,

why on things are different.

486

So let us know what you think.

487

Send us your comments.

488

User friendly

dot show is the place to do it.

489

We will be back after the break.

490

You see here he's from the future.

491

He's gonna really be computer

492

and he uses it, uses it every day

493

and he uses it in every way.

494

I see it before, you know, I'm

not that sure because he used to be.

495

Welcome back.

496

This is user friendly 2.0 user friendly

dot show is your one

497

stop and send us your questions,

your comments, your ideas.

498

Let us know what you think.

499

And on the idea of review, we are going

to go to the vault game store.

500

What? And talk Borderlands four.

501

Welcome back to the vault.

My name is James.

502

I'll be your host today.

503

And today

we're going to talk about a new game.

504

Just came out a little bit ago,

Borderlands four.

505

Borderlands four is a RPG looter shooter,

which means you're running around

506

trying to collect the best gear

you can, taking out enemies,

507

but there's still a fair amount of story

element to it.

508

It can be a really fun game to play.

509

Was released on September 11th, 2025.

510

It was released on PlayStation, Xbox

and computer.

511

There was some issues on day of release

with computer release.

512

It was crashing, stuttering.

513

It was using way more resources

514

than it was originally said

that it was supposed to.

515

They've released several patches for it.

516

Not all of them

have been the most successful.

517

I was playing it on Xbox

and had very few problems with it.

518

It is also a cross-play enabled game.

519

What that means is

if one of you is playing on PC,

520

another person is playing on Xbox,

another person's playing on PlayStation.

521

You can still all line up and play,

on the same game.

522

One of the neat parts about it is

it is for player,

523

starts out right now

with four different Vault Hunters,

524

but you can have multiples

of the same vault Hunter and a game

525

vault hunters just kind of match up

with your individual style.

526

So again, that's a lot of fun.

527

I've only put in about 60 hours

on this game between me

528

and some of my friends.

529

We're at about 50% completion.

530

But mind you,

I tend to put a lot of time into finding

531

everything I can in a game

and a lot of time into leveling.

532

One thing that is kind of interesting with

this one is it does scale with levels,

533

so you never quite reach

that feeling of having godlike power.

534

Instead, what you get to is a point

535

where you start to learn behaviors,

some tactics of the enemies.

536

Then you'll have jumps and weapons.

537

So as they get better and better,

you'll also find a lot better options.

538

It is an open world game.

539

Unlike previous installments of the

Borderlands series, there was Borderlands.

540

Borderlands three sequel, Borderlands

two, Borderlands three.

541

Those were all pretty straightforward,

542

by way of storyline,

where you started out, the storyline

543

you played through, all new levels

opened up depending on where you were

544

at in the game, and you just kind of

went from A to B to C,

545

they were a lot of fun.

546

I played hundreds of hours

across all of these installments.

547

This one, as I said before, I'm 60 hours

548

in, I'm halfway completed

and the world is huge.

549

It's a big open expanse.

550

The storyline is not quite as potent

in this one.

551

It's not quite as story driven.

552

The storyline is still there,

it's still fun.

553

There's still a lot of very intriguing

characters and, areas to play in.

554

It's just they opened it up into

that exploration a lot more.

555

Some really good

things, some kind of bad things about it.

556

I really enjoy the fact

that I'm not locked in to run down

557

this hallway for the 37th time.

558

It opens it up a lot more than that.

559

It's also a pretty seamless integration.

560

You have three main areas in the game,

561

and then a couple of of

think of them as sub dungeons.

562

So as I'm playing through the game,

I have this huge map

563

that I can run around with.

564

I don't have any load screens.

565

I don't have to worry about any of that.

566

Where the enemies are changes

567

a little bit, where

what enemies you're running across change.

568

You have drop ins from the time

Keepers forces.

569

Who's kind of the antagonist of the game

you have, bandits, of course.

570

Rippers.

571

You have Big Buffalo

looking things called the Wild Warriors.

572

You have a wide variety of enemies

that you're going to be going up against,

573

and you can run across

most of them in just about any area.

574

It's set on Kairos, so it's a new planet.

575

One of the neat parts about what they did

is you have those three main

576

regions, each of them has a little bit

of a different feel,

577

so one of them is more of the dusty

desert expanse.

578

You have another one that is, kind

579

of a lush jungle forest.

580

And then the last one

is kind of snowy mountains.

581

They feel different

when you load into one of them.

582

You can tell, oh, I'm in this area

or the other area.

583

It's really kind of nice.

584

It's, it's a refreshing take on it.

585

The first game,

everything was pretty much desert.

586

The antagonist,

587

the Time keeper is fun.

588

A little bit lacking for me. I'm.

589

I yearn for the days of handsome

Jack in Borderlands two.

590

The Time Keeper, with the storyline

591

being a little more open,

doesn't quite have the same pop

592

as in some of the other ones,

because he's not as integral to the story.

593

He's still there,

the storyline is still there.

594

It's just a little less immersive.

595

The Time Keeper is pretty much a.

596

God, for lack of a better term.

597

He is, extremely powerful

being on the planet Kairos.

598

He was in control for a very long time.

599

And then,

600

a new moon broke its way

601

into the planet,

and things started to change.

602

And you're a vault hunter

that wakes up on Kairos

603

and is trying to find the vault.

604

And I don't want to ruin the story

for you, but through story play,

605

kind of learned a little bit more

about it.

606

As I mentioned in the beginning,

it is still a litter shooter.

607

For those of you who aren't familiar

with it, that means that

608

as you fight, enemies will drop weapons.

609

You pick up the weapons,

610

and, continue on your adventure.

611

But the weapons are huge.

612

In this game,

there are millions of combinations.

613

You have various different,

manufacturers of land off

614

are known for medium power, but super high

magazine rates and high rate of fire.

615

You have Molly one that do

most of your status effects.

616

You have Jacob's.

617

Their guns are made out of freaking wood.

618

Was a lion out of the first one?

619

They are known for extremely high power,

very small magazines

620

and and,

621

depending on what your gameplay is.

622

So it's really what kind of weapon

you're going to look at using.

623

Some people really like that faster

rate of fire,

624

some like some really high accuracy

where you only have to shoot at once.

625

It depends on who you're playing with.

626

Depending on what you like is going

to depend on how you balance it off.

627

My personal style, I use a lot of Mulligan

because I really like elemental effects,

628

but I still carry that Jacob sniper rifle

because

629

when I need to shoot him from a distance,

I only want to have to shoot him once.

630

So this one has a few less

631

gun manufacturers for the base guns.

632

But one of the things that it does, it's

a lot of fun,

633

is you have substitution parts.

634

So I may pick up a Jacob sniper rifle,

635

but it has a Molly one aftermarket on it

that allows me

636

to shoot it with an elemental effect

or torque.

637

As the explosive weapons,

I may pick up a torque weapon

638

that has the Hyperion Force field

when I came down the site,

639

so you really get to cross around

between them.

640

One of the really neat parts, and I will

admit I have not gotten up to this yet,

641

but it was something that has been teased

about in every installment of this game

642

is the fact

that one of the things they wanted to do

643

was have modifiable guns.

644

So if I find that perfect weapon,

645

high fire rate, beautiful power stat,

646

whatever it may be, but it doesn't have

the magazine I'm looking for,

647

I can

648

find a gun that has a better magazine

and put it in.

649

Well, this isn't quite that open,

but you are supposed to be able

650

to take these modified hearts

651

and switch them between guns.

652

It will destroy the original gun,

653

but you get that piece

and you can put it onto the second one.

654

This is seeing some fruition in this game.

655

It's supposed to really open up

being able to mix and match

656

and really build the arsenal to your,

657

really develop it to your gameplay style.

658

One of the other fun

parts is the enemies are fast,

659

so you run across a lot of these

660

that they're a little bit plodding

or they're the same every time.

661

So you know exactly what you're doing.

662

They do a lot of interesting things

with this one,

663

where the enemies have special abilities,

they will have different weapons,

664

they will have

all of these different components

665

that make every fight seem

like its own challenge.

666

And there's also a lot more badasses,

667

badasses, kind of that next tier enemies.

668

So it's a grunt who's just a lot better

669

with more health

and does more damage, or it's,

670

Ripper that does the same thing.

671

They just make the game

a little bit more interesting.

672

They always have special abilities,

and in this case,

673

some of those get really wild to the point

where I have an enemy that's normally

674

susceptible to fire damage,

and they'll have an elemental eater.

675

So if I shoot them with fire damage,

it heals up.

676

So then you have to change tactics

a little bit.

677

Make sure that you're using the right

weapons for the right combat.

678

It really adds that element

679

of tactics to the game,

which I feel is a lot of fun.

680

And again, there are just so many weapons.

681

You may find the same gun

682

eight times, and every time

it looks a little bit different

683

and it feels a little bit different,

and the stats are a little bit different,

684

even though some of the main

core parts of the same

685

and they're all beautiful

when you're looking down them.

686

It's not that,

687

oh, I found a rifle in every type of rifle

that I find is that same way.

688

I may find 20 different shotguns,

and each of them

689

is going to look a little bit different

and a little bit unique.

690

And that holds through with gameplay.

691

As I'm aiming down the sights,

the scope is going to be different.

692

The reflex sight is a little bit

different, or the gun just looks

693

a little bit different,

which is really a neat component to it.

694

Quick note on that.

695

You can also scan weapons.

696

What I mean by that is there's

a customization page where you can go in

697

and you can actually give your weapons

paint job.

698

So if you have that special sniper rifle

that you want to make hot

699

pink in and yellow, go for it.

700

Make it hot pink and yellow

and see what you can do for fun with it.

701

There's also class mods and enhancements.

702

So in Borderlands three

you had artifacts and class mods.

703

Class mods have been pretty much a staple

since the beginning.

704

One of the really cool parts about this,

as you get

705

for the enhancements,

you get them from a manufacturer.

706

So you, let's say Malawian.

707

You get a really useful ability

from Halo one.

708

One of the ones that I got was

if I kill an enemy with elemental damage,

709

they explode and cause elemental effects

on enemies around them.

710

That can be a game changer when you're

running across hordes of enemies,

711

and then

712

it will give you a couple

of additional bonuses.

713

It may make your pistol stronger,

or it may make your life better,

714

or it may make,

your magazine size larger.

715

All of these things,

and you'll get anywhere from 1

716

to 3 of these special abilities.

717

How you utilize those can really change

718

the power level of your character

and make it a lot more fun.

719

One that I did, I play as raw for the,

720

he's got twin

cannons on his back that he uses.

721

He has an exoskeleton

722

and one of the really neat parts.

723

He has an ability that the more times

I shoot someone, the more bonus damage

724

I do.

725

So I'm looking for that

really high rate of fire.

726

I'm looking for a really high

magazine capacity.

727

So that's what I mean. That

728

means that when I'm dealing out damage,

729

my bonus damage is going through the roof

very quickly and on a lot of enemies.

730

And I can sustain that damage

without having to reload, which resets it.

731

So you have this kind of thing

that you can really look at

732

and really play with.

733

One thing that I did want to mention again

is that it

734

is almost too big an open world

for some of this.

735

You can get kind of lost

running around in the world

736

trying to find that perfect gun, or trying

to find that perfect fight, or trying

737

to find all the little sidequests

and things like that.

738

So really is a lot of fun,

really immersive.

739

It's the type of game that I turned on.

740

I'm like,

oh, I've got 20 minutes to play it

741

before bed, and all of a sudden

I'm two hours late to go to bed.

742

But if you're

743

really story driven,

you kind of have to keep on track

744

for going through

just what you want to look at.

745

By way of some of the details,

746

not super linked in the gameplay,

747

the soundtrack is is really quite fun,

748

and one of the things that I like about it

is it's not.

749

It doesn't super jump out at you,

it doesn't

750

overrun combat,

it doesn't really captivate you.

751

But it is good for channeling

the gameplay itself.

752

When you get into combat,

you feel your pulse go up

753

and then the soundtrack changes

a little better.

754

The exploration has some really nice kind

of soothing music to go along with it.

755

It really is an, excellently

well done soundtrack.

756

The graphics are all pretty good.

757

I as I said before,

I played on Xbox One Xbox.

758

The graphics were nice. They were smooth.

759

They still have

that Borderlands esthetic,

760

but you can tell that it's a cartoon,

but the movement in it is really good.

761

The scenery looks lovely.

762

You can actually go swimming in this one,

which is a bit of a change.

763

So the water dynamics

are a little bit different.

764

All right.

765

One thing that I did want to throw out

that I feel does need to be touched on

766

the first game was pretty ribald

767

and, pretty graphic.

768

And then they kind of toned it down

for the next couple of them.

769

I still definitely some innuendo.

770

Still some I mean, you're

you're running around shooting people,

771

so it's not completely grab,

violence free.

772

This one has a lot more graphic violence

773

and is much coarser on the language.

774

The reason I want to mention that

it doesn't bother me necessarily,

775

but it does

let me know that if I'm watching it

776

with a small child in the room,

we need to be aware of that so that we can

777

make that judgment on if that's something

we want to expose them to

778

instead of shooting somebody

and they fall down you in this one,

779

you get things like spray on the wall or

limbs get blown off and things like that.

780

So it can be a little more over the top.

781

And again,

that language can be a little more,

782

coarse than,

than some of the previous installments.

783

So all

784

in all, I really have enjoyed this game.

785

For me to be able to devote 60 hours

and only be halfway through for me,

786

definitely

make sure that that game has worthwhile.

787

I've been a huge fan of the,

788

series as well as the genre

since it came out.

789

I remember waiting in a GameStop store

790

at midnight to get the first one

when it first released,

791

because I was that much looking forward

to it, and

792

I have kept that same enthusiasm

all the way through.

793

If you look on some of the rating sites,

you're going to see it

794

rated anywhere from a low to a high eight.

795

For me, I'm

going to give it nine out of ten hammers.

796

My way of things

that I've played in the last year or so.

797

This has been one of the best experiences

I've had.

798

Again, it does have a couple of slots

going on it.

799

It does have some things that I wish

might have been a little bit different,

800

but at the same time,

the positives really make up for that.

801

Well, I

802

really hope that people have fun

playing this game as much as I did.

803

If you have any questions or comments,

please feel free

804

to drop them on our website.

805

The vault

806

dot show, so feel free to come on,

drop your comments.

807

I love to read them and I will do my best

to address some here in the near future.

808

Well, thank you everyone for your time

and I hope to talk to you again

809

soon and bye.

810

So you've heard what James thinks.

811

Let us know what you think.

812

Do you like Borderlands?

813

Were you agree with this review? Disagree?

814

User friendly and let us know.

815

And speaking of reviews of fans,

let's switch gears a little bit

816

and talk about Snafu.

817

Well, I'm going to throw this to you

818

if you can tell us what

819

Snafu is for anybody that doesn't know

and what you're feeling was on a ten, that

820

well, as we've

821

covered previous years, it's Sierra Nevada

Anime Fans United convention,

822

and it's held at the Reno Sparks

Convention Center.

823

And this is, another year that happened,

824

over Halloween weekend

825

is a three day event,

and it just had a lot of fun.

826

There.

827

Lots of guests.

828

That's like, I know the it's

usually Halloween though, isn't it?

829

Yeah, it has been for a couple of years.

830

I remember it's been a number of years

since I've been to it.

831

But, what's the case? Like you said,

it was a lot of fun.

832

What do you think?

833

I really enjoyed it.

834

I spent a lot of time in tabletop gaming,

which was one of the things

835

they had available, playing some Dungeons

and Dragons and the new Final four,

836

you know, Final Fantasy 14 tabletop RPG,

which was quite a lot of fun.

837

I've never even heard of that.

838

That sounds amazing.

839

Oh, yeah.

840

Yeah,

I hadn't either slipped under my radar.

841

They had called a few little,

and they had some other things.

842

But, you know, gaming isn't the,

the forefront to snafu.

843

It's the anime,

which they have plenty of different panels

844

and guests, voice actors, cosplayers,

and just a lot of fun.

845

Even on main stage, having various games,

like they had one that was named

846

that Pokemon.

847

Let me ask you a question about this,

because there's been some feedback

848

that we've seen here on the show

and other places that this convention

849

was getting a little,

let's say, long in the teeth.

850

You think that there's still looking good?

851

Are they fresh or is it getting stale?

852

I think they had a rough

patch last year especially.

853

I think they are getting better.

854

They're under new management

and I think they are

855

finding themselves to be

where they need to be in this community.

856

It is a small convention,

you know, it's not the smallest convention

857

I went to, which was at an American Legion

hall, and it was about

858

ten vendors.

859

Wow. Oh, yeah.

860

It's even smaller than the Sands event.

861

Yeah, that's the smaller than the sands of

it really was, although I got.

862

Well.

863

So, Sands is a casino in Reno, Nevada

that held a comic con

864

that I think was one day, and it was like

in one of the convention rooms,

865

although I still had fun going to.

866

I enjoyed being there, but

it was definitely tiny and I was there.

867

But, no.

868

So it is.

869

Is snafu still like,

kid or teenager friendly?

870

Because it seemed like the times

that I had gone with Jeremy and I,

871

we kind of noticed, like,

hey, we're the old people here, you know,

872

very it's an all

all ages, family oriented event.

873

And does it still run, like nonstop

874

from start to finish now that they're

in the Reno Sparks Convention Center?

875

They run until about 1030 at night.

876

They used to run all 24 seven.

877

But I decided that, about 10 to 10

878

seems to be a good run time.

879

I can say from a production standpoint,

that's probably better.

880

I thought it was kind of cool.

881

Although you can get up at three

in the morning

882

and the convention was still open and on

and there were people there.

883

But in those days it was at a casino

which is designed for 24 hour,

884

you know, around the clock stuff.

885

And I and I can see,

you know, the convention center different.

886

But I still have the drawings that,

I volunteered, in my costume

887

to be the, the subject of drawings,

because they had like, a little, area,

888

I guess I don't I'm not really sure

whether you would call it a panel or,

889

a special project, but,

anyways, you they,

890

they had, everybody sitting in, like,

a horseshoe shape where the drivers

891

would do their artwork

and I still have the pictures from that.

892

So. Yeah, that was kind of fun.

893

I guess they call that a workshop. Now.

894

Okay.

895

Okay. Yeah.

896

I guess depends on where you go.

897

So what is the difference, really,

898

between an anime convention

and something like a comic con?

899

I know there's some similarities,

900

but the cosplayers

and so there's some big differences too.

901

The focus is on anime,

you know, Japanese animation.

902

Korean animation, Chinese animation.

903

It's very much more focused on that

than, say,

904

Marvel or DC or a lot of comic conventions

905

now have a crossover

where they're adding anime and manga, but

906

they are,

907

very focused here

with an anime convention.

908

So that's why they have a little

909

different things like that

are very specific to that genre.

910

Do they go to the extent of researching,

like the cosplayers and stuff

911

to fit into that genre, or can you just go

show up in your costume,

912

or would that matter?

913

You can show up

and whatever they really don't,

914

you know,

trying to troll that by any means.

915

They do have requirements, you know.

916

No showing too excessive skin

or things like that.

917

So just family event,

918

other

919

events, you know, other conventions

have different rules, but

920

that's one of the ones

that staff holds on family stuff

921

and that stuff like that

totally makes sense.

922

Yeah.

923

The reason I ask is

we had a couple of questions

924

coming in from one

that was held somewhere in the Midwest.

925

I have to look and see what the name of.

926

It wasn't earlier in the year,

927

but they were actually turning cosplayers

away at the door.

928

If you weren't dressed

in what they considered to be anime, and

929

this was a huge, you know, push back

and really didn't sit well.

930

And I kind of understand that.

931

Yeah, you know, with people

that are paying guests

932

and we're not going to let you in

because you're not dressed.

933

Right. Well, I'm in my street clothes.

Well that's okay.

934

You know.

935

So, I was just curious

if that was something that was common to

936

anime or just in this one convention

and nobody else does it, or,

937

you know, must have

been to that one convention.

938

Okay.

939

Can you imagine showing up at a Comic-Con

and a like, a Star Wars thing

940

and they wouldn't let you in the gate

because you didn't meet some requirements?

941

I'd be annoyed.

942

I'd be really annoyed because,

not to be arrogant,

943

but a lot of my costumes

are pretty decent.

944

Yeah, it's like, hey,

945

at the end of the day, I'll tell you.

946

All right, well,

that's it for this week. Until next week.

947

This is User Friendly 2.0 keeping

you safe on the cutting edge.

948

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949

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950

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951

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952

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953

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954

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955

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956

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957

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958

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959

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960

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