Wednesday marked the launch of Paramount+ in the UK, which I was excited about purely due to being able to watch the new Star Trek, in particular Strange New Worlds. As soon as I could I signed up for the free trial, set the app up on my TV (which took way longer than it should as my TV wouldn’t let me log into the store to download it), eventually signed in and started to browse. I went through the TV shows and movies, adding some stuff to my list, not much, but a few things that I haven’t seen before as well as Star Trek. I think the library is okay, but it’s not as strong as what Disney+ is offering, with their back catalogue including Fox’s as well.

Then I went to watch Strange New Worlds, and it just wouldn’t work. A endlessly spinning circle on a black screen until an error message popped up asking me to try again. It didn’t load once, neither did the Oasis Knebworth 1996 documentary, or Breakfast in Tiffany’s (when we wanted to try something not a Paramount+ exclusive). For some reason the only thing that will play is the comedy TV show Cheers, which I’ve seen before but added to the list, so my wife Tabby can watch it, and then we can watch Frasier (which I haven’t seen). That works like a charm, with no issues or buffering. No idea why, but we’ve started watching Cheers now, about 8 episodes in. Still as funny as I remember it. I just thought it was the only thing that would load seemlessly.

If I try Paramount+ on my phone or laptop then Star Trek works, so it’s obviously an issue with the TV app, or maybe my TV is outdated now and is struggling. I don’t really know what to do to fix it, but will look into it more over the weekend. I don’t really want to watch it on my phone or laptop, as that is literally what my TV is for, plus we both want to watch it, so would be a pain to huddle around a laptop for it. I’m hoping it’s just some teething issues and it’ll start working soon.

Yesterday the new PlayStation Plus system launched in the UK, which means that there are PS1 games included in the catalogue now. I’ve been eagerly waiting for this since they first announced it, and on my lunch break yesterday I spent some time downloading mostly PS1 games, and started Ape Escape 1. I loved that game as a kid, and while it has definitely aged poorly, still enjoying it now. I’ve got Syphon Filter, Resident Evil: Director’s Cut, and Toy Story 2 ready to go. As well as Wild Arms, which I’ve never played, but have wanted to check it out for a while. That’ll keep me busy for a while, and I hope they continue to add more games to it in the coming months and it doesn’t become forgotten about, with very sparse and obscure releases like Nintendo’s range of classic games on the switch.

That’s pretty much what I’ve been up to for the last couple of days. Today I’m heading down to London for the Hella Mega Tour, seeing Fall Out Boy (for the 5th time) and Green Day (4th time), and Weezer, who I’ve not seen before. Will also be catching up with Reece, a friend from Uni, who I haven’t seen in 5 years. It’s going to be a good day.

Thanks for reading and until next time,

Ashley