Business

Commercial kitchen cleaning: the importance of keeping your restaurant clean

admin

One of the most important factors for the success of any restaurant is its cleanliness. Do you ever remember a time when you were in a restaurant and it looked dirty? Most likely, you associate it with the quality of the food you were getting. Making a good first impression is extremely important, and this doesn’t just mean keeping the dining room clean. It also means keeping your kitchen spotless.

We all know the importance of keeping the kitchen clean, but Really to know? Not only do you want to provide a safe working environment for your staff, but you are also required to pass a number of health and safety regulations. The last thing you want in a restaurant is the risk of legal action or worse, damaging your reputation. Most importantly, you want the quality of the food you are serving to be top-notch and hygienic for your guests.

As a restaurant owner or manager, you have enough problems to deal with on a daily basis. To keep your restaurant kitchen sparkling clean and like new, you may want to rely on the services of a commercial cleaning company. Leave cleaning worries behind and let the professionals take care of everything. With the latest cleaning products and equipment, the right company can effectively clean the entire exterior of your restaurant, commercial range hood cleaning, exhaust systems, ventilation and more. From deep cleaning everything from the oven to deep fryers, refrigerators, tile floors and grills, they will leave your kitchen looking like new. Not only will your kitchen equipment perform better, it will also be quiet and odor-free.

If you are considering working with a professional cleaning company, you are making the right decision. Consider it an investment in the efficiency, safety and reputation of your overall business. Providing your restaurant with regular and professional cleaning and maintenance is one of the best ways to keep your customers coming back again and again. Most importantly, you will keep your staff happy knowing that they are working in a safe and clean environment.

When it comes to commercial kitchen cleaning, you need to find a company that offers professional service, provides quality, timely, and safe cleaning services. Commercial cleaning companies like AmeriClean do just that and are committed to providing quality service at the highest professional level. Remember: clean restaurants mean more profit!

Home Kitchen

Creating a handicap accessible kitchen that works!

admin

How do you create a handicap accessible kitchen that works for you? Focus on three things. First, focus on accessibility to storage spaces, pantries, and cabinets. Second, prioritize wheelchair mobility. Space in front of and next to appliances is essential. And thirdly, organize your workspace by coordinating utensils, take out shelves from garbage cans, frequently used dishes, etc.

Wheelchair accessible roll-up sinks and ovens are also advantageous for long-term independent living. Upgrading or just doing some home modifications may be just what you need to gain mobility, comfort, and security in your home.

Your home modification design should include ample floor space for mobility, access clearances for handicap accessible kitchen appliances, accessible cabinet doors, drawers, and shelves, and a functional “work triangle.” The work triangle refers to the comfortable workspace created between the stove, refrigerator, and sink. The sides of the triangle must be more than four feet and less than nine feet, with the outer limits of the triangle at a maximum of 26 feet.

When designing a spacious, open kitchen area is your design goal, it may be necessary to consider removing or replacing a wall or moving counters. If your current kitchen layout makes you feel like you’re restricted or constantly struggling with countertops and cabinets, you may want to consider remodeling. Often times, modifying one aspect of your kitchen can make the kitchen much easier to use. Changing the counter on an island or peninsula, or relocating an appliance, can make a difference.

Does your home have a “zero-crossing entry,” an entry point with a flat threshold that is easy to walk through? Each household should have at least one zero-crossing entry for grandchildren taking their first steps and for the visiting family member who may be using a cane or walker, or recovering from illness. Is it difficult to get groceries out of the car? Possibly a small ramp and cart would be useful between the garage and the kitchen to facilitate the entry of packages.

If you need help designing your kitchen, you will find a directory of Certified On-Site Aging Specialists (CAPS) on the NAHB website or on the Atlanta Home Modifications website on the Internet. Your CAPS specialist will schedule a home consultation to observe and evaluate your current living arrangement and help you create a more pleasant and accessible home.

Auto

Improve Gas Mileage With These Relatively Inexpensive Auto Parts

admin

The efficiency of your vehicle can have a significant effect on your monthly budget. There are many ways to improve overall use. Savvy DIY owners can replace specific car parts to increase mileage. Even if you don’t know how to replace car parts yourself, you can have a mechanic do this for you.

Mass air flow sensor

The mass air flow sensor calculates the air flow as it enters the engine. From this point, the sensor passes this information to the engine’s computer. The engine computer is responsible for regulating fuel injection, transmission shifting, and ignition system functions. A clogged mass air flow sensor will cause the engine computer to receive inaccurate information, which could negatively affect fuel economy.

Plugs

Spark plugs have the function of igniting a mixture of air and fuel in the combustion chamber of the engine. Worn spark plugs will not produce effective ignition. Replacing the spark plugs and keeping them clean will provide cleaner and more efficient engine operation.

Air filter

Replacing this filter can be one of the simplest, yet most effective, ways to improve your gas mileage. A dirty and clogged filter will not move air effectively. Restricted flow to the motor will affect efficiency because the more clean air the motor gets, the better it performs. As you explore these auto parts, choose a filter made of cloth rather than paper. You can clean filters made of cloth, so they are reusable. In fact, some of them will even last as long as your car lasts.

Fuel filter

The fuel filter has the function of moving the gas to the fuel injectors. A clogged fuel filter will start to move gas less efficiently, which could lead to increased gas consumption to produce the necessary energy. Automobile manufacturers recommend a specific program to replace this filter. Follow this recommendation to ensure you maintain the best efficiency of your car.

Tires

Tires are an integral component of handling and traction. If you allow your tires to wear out, under-deflate, or go out of alignment, you may notice a decrease in economy. Tires naturally go flat as you drive, so check them once a month to maintain the correct pressure. When you check the tires, look for signs of wear. When replacing tires, choose the narrowest possible tires to reduce aerodynamic drag. Installing low rolling resistance tires can also improve economy slightly.

Fuel injection components

Fuel-injected cars have sensors and systems that must remain in good condition to ensure the best gas mileage. Have a mechanic check the oxygen sensors, evaporative emission control systems, and engine emissions system. Faulty sensors and components could result in a decrease in gas mileage of 20 percent or more.

Many auto parts are inexpensive, but they can produce significant improvements in gas mileage when you replace them. Scheduling regular vehicle adjustments can help ensure that all of the car’s components are working properly for the best efficiency.

Relationship

The 8 best gifts for your family to strengthen your bond

admin

No one can deny how important family is to everyone. It is the family that provides the basic needs and needs of an individual from the moment of birth. The family provides you with all the support and security you need as you grow up. In fact, the family is responsible for becoming the person you are today. Therefore, it is very important to do something for your family in return. Giving them something during occasions can make them feel important. Here are the ideas on eight of those things that you can consider gifting to your families.

  1. Family vacation: A vacation is about relaxing and spending time with your loved ones. So why not make that plan with your family? This will strengthen the bond between family members and will also provide the scope to explore new areas together. So, plan a vacation with your family and see the smile on his face.
  2. A family collage: There is hardly anyone who does not like to take pictures. You can capture those beautiful little moments in your life in beautiful photos. To make it more special, you can take them out of your albums and transform them into collage. Make sure that this collage contains all the little memorable events of your family and that all the members of your family are included in it. You can frame the collage and decorate the walls with these. Nothing can be a better gift than this.
  3. Handmade cards: Whether it’s a birthday, anniversary, or any other occasion, people often give pre-made cards to others. With so many companies designing cards for all occasions and ceremonies, there is no shortage of beautiful cards in stores. But the handmade cards have something different. You can make these cards for each member of your family and design them according to your favorite cards. This will be cherished by them forever.
  4. A family tree: Sounds innovative, right? You can make a family tree including all the members of your family. To make it fun, you can also add your images. Also, don’t miss out on previous generations. This will also help your children to remember and identify their predecessors and will instill in them the habit of respecting their elders.
  5. Personalized coffee mugs: With the ease of technology in recent times, you can get personalized items with your photos. You can also gift such things to your family members. One of the first things everyone does in the morning is sip their coffee with family members. So why not get personalized coffee mugs for your family members with sweet messages? This will make them feel how much you care about them.
  6. Movie tickets: Although the idea of ​​having a family vacation has been mentioned above, it is not possible to go out for many days with this busy schedule. So you can take your family to see a movie, followed by dinner. These plans are great for the weekends.
  7. Flowers: With their sweet fragrance, flowers can win everyone’s heart. Besides, it also looks good in those animated vases. You may consider giving flowers to your family that will simply be loved by them.
  8. Chocolates: Everybody loves chocolates. It’s something that people of all age groups in the family can just delve into. The best thing about chocolate is that it is readily available. You can also get personalized chocolates based on your preferences. To make it more innovative, you can add beautiful messages for each of the members as wrappers.

With these small efforts towards your family, you can bring them closer to each other, which will strengthen the union. You don’t have to wait for any particular occasion to gift them something. You can make them feel more special with the surprises of organizing the gifts. So start planning something special for your family starting today.

Gaming

Sony PlayStation 4 review

admin

The last few years have seen incredible growth in the popularity of game consoles. We see that in addition to established console users, many people are converting every day from the “good” PC to a game console.

Now this happens for several reasons. The main reason is that many great games now have exclusivity for one console or another, provide a better multiplayer experience and, after all, a mental disassociation between working on a computer and playing separately, comfortable on your couch with your friends or family. .

Last year we were presented with great promises of next-gen gaming experience. But did he comply?

Well, let’s review one of the major game consoles, Sony PlayStation 4, and see for ourselves.

Compared to the PS3, the PS4 is a purebred gaming console, with better hardware, slimmer design, and new controllers to meet even the most demanding needs.

Design

The PS4 is slim (just 12.01 × 10.8 × 2.09 inches), sharp, light, with clean lines, and is available in two colors, bright white and jet black.

On the back you can find an HDMI digital optical audio port, Ethernet (no more analog video or audio outputs) and finally the AUX port for the PlayStation Camera peripheral.

On the front, the PS4 has a slot-loading Blu-ray disc drive and on the right we find two USB 3.0 ports. A line bisects the console integrating the power and eject buttons.

The console ventilation is well done and generates little to no noise.

Overall, the PS4 is an attractive one, beautifully shaped, not too big, built with quality materials and fits perfectly with modern type furniture.

Performance

On the inside, we found that Sony used a similar setup to Microsoft’s. Using an eight-core AMD Jaguar x86 CPU, backed by 8GB GDDR5 RAM and a Radeon GPU with 1.84 TFLOPS, the PS4 is very powerful and, one important point, is that it is developer-friendly.

Additionally, the console includes a 500GB hard drive for additional storage that can be upgraded.

The PS4 is capable of playing videos or viewing photos in 4K, but we don’t expect it to run games at this resolution.

Thanks to these specs we found that the PS4 is generally quiet, occasionally gets louder (especially when loading game discs), sometimes gets hot, but not above common sense, games ran smoothly, graphics they were great, so we had no complaint in this department.

Controllers

It seems that Sony heard all the screams from gamers about the DualShock 3 and decided to make an improved and better controller.

And so we witnessed the birth of DualShock 4.

The dimensions of the controller are 6.4 × 2.0×3.9in, it weighs 7.4oz (slightly more than its predecessor) and its design is quite similar to the DualShock 3. But make no mistake, DS4 is far from DS3.

The new controller is much more comfortable, regardless of hand size, and is much more accurate. Depending on the order of players synced to the console, the controller will output a different front color for each player and the peripheral camera tracks the controller’s movement precisely.

The two thumb sticks are much more precise and having a more concave shape really helped keep the thumbs from slipping. The major new addition, in addition to the aforementioned lightbar, is the speaker, a new Share button, and a touchpad.

The touchpad is comfortable to the touch, responsive, smooth, and basically functions like the touchpad featured on laptops. (Note: We hope that developers will make more frequent use of this feature as it is a great addition.)

The DS4 also has a 3.5mm jack so you can connect any headphone directly to the controller.

We’ve seen a lot of people say that the DualShock 4 is the best controller Sony has ever made and we tend to agree that using the DS4 was a pleasure.

Note: PS4 supports control voice input. You can use a microphone or a camera to enable this function.

software

If any of you have a Sony TV, you will see the striking similarity between the TV interface and the PS4 interface. It seems that PS4 moved away from the PS3 aspect and, although it retains the speed of the predecessor’s interface, the new one is much more flexible.

The main characteristics of the new interface are simplicity, flexibility and ease of use.

Booting the PS4 is almost instantaneous (from cold it takes about 15 seconds) and then we are presented with a simple to navigate design comprising a three-level menu.

The main menu consists of the games you have installed and some other additional applications, the top menu is a notification bar (alerts, messages, trophies) and at the bottom, options and updates.

Note: The PlayStation 4 Orbis operating system does not require an Internet connection to function, but being connected to the Internet provides more features.

A new addition to the PS4 (April update) is the automatic connection with a PS Vita. It means that even if you turn off the TV, you can still play on PS Vita thanks to a direct WiFi link.

In addition to the PS Vita, you can also connect smartphones or tablets that can also act as second-screen devices.

One of the strengths of PS4 is social networks. By opening the What’s New page, you can keep track of your friends’ activities, social media, see who’s online, and generally have a better experience trying to play social media-centric games.

Another nice improved feature is PlayStation Store. The store is easy to navigate, you can easily find the games you want, and if your download stops due to a sudden power outage, you are presented with a resume option.

IF you used the old PS3 interface, the PS4 interface will feel much more intuitive, simpler (no more PS3 confusion), and easy to use.

And the games?

All games must be installed in the console storage before they can be played, although a portion of the game can be played before it is finished installing.

Since the PS4 was over a year ago, many games have been created exclusively for this platform. Games like Resogun, Assassin’s Creed 4 or Infamous Second Son played flawlessly on PS4, the graphics were good, but more recent games like The Order 1886 have really shown what the PS4 GPU can offer.

The gameplay feels great in most games thanks to the amazing controller, the graphics are really good, but even if it does provide a great gaming experience, Sony has a tight competition with Microsoft.

What we hope is to see more developers push the boundaries of the PS4 and show us what this little console is really capable of.

In conclusion, we say that Sony PlayStation 4 is a great “purebred” gaming console, with great performance, with great game titles and that it is worth every penny.

For more high-quality reviews, visit http://www.mbreviews.com

Legal Law

Why hire a business coach? Part ii

admin

Business coaching is becoming more popular and the number of people hanging up their tiles to provide the services associated with this activity has increased tremendously in recent years.

This article explores some of the reasons why coaches are adding value, especially for smaller companies.

In a previous post, I noticed that coaching addresses the loneliness of business owners, who simply have no one to turn to to discuss their challenges.

If we look at the word “coach” and think of sports, we ask, how do coaches work to improve the performance of their athletes?

One way is to impart new skills, tricks of the trade that they learned or discovered on their own, that are not intuitively obvious to their players.

For example, this week, one of my clients is involved in building a telesales unit and is trying to recruit college students for his part-time positions. It’s a good idea, but the plan is to advertise in newspapers within student-intensive zip codes.

At best, this is a roundabout way of recruiting, when without out-of-pocket cash, you can post help-seeking ads at college placement offices. YOU KNOW students will see ads that way! And it turns out there are major universities within blocks of his office, and there is a proprietary school in his building!

I have been recruiting like this for years, as a telemarketing job provider and on behalf of my coaching and consulting clients.

This example demonstrates just one small way that a coach improves performance. Sometimes you have a cheaper, more direct and effective method of doing something you just don’t know about.

But assuming you know all the basics, what else can a coach do for you?

Going back to athletics, for a second, coaches make their players play harder.

They do this through all kinds of means, including goal setting and encouragement, to name a few. Left to our own devices, we are tempted to relax, especially after achieving only moderate success. This can lead to setback and a downward cycle of achievement.

With a coach, you’ll get the prodding, shoving, and the occasional kick in the pants you need to beat your previous peak performance.

In our expanding age of coaching services, no small business owner needs to be an island.

That’s good news, right?

In future articles, we’ll explore even more trainer features.

Tours Travel

Hidden Gems in Golf: Finding a Great Golf Getaway

admin

Avid golfers spend hours online searching for the perfect golf getaway for a group of friends. Typically, you can expect the same golf destinations to appear in your search, such as Myrtle Beach, Hilton Head, and St. Destin. With recent changes in the economy and gas prices, many golfers are looking for a golf vacation that does not require a full day of travel, yet offers a unique golf experience. For those reasons, Tennessee is fast becoming a great destination for golfers who want an affordable golf package without the long travel time required from other destinations.

Golfers heading to Tennessee can often travel and play the same day due to the short drive from Ohio or Michigan. Typically, you can be at your destination for 4-7 hours teeing off from towering tees overlooking vast mountain ranges with beautiful fairways and contoured greens. There are some hidden gems in Tennessee: Golfers flock to amazing golf destinations like Fairfield Glade, Smoky Mountains and Tellico Village.

Fairfield Glade in Crossville, Tennessee has thousands of packer rounds expecting great conditions, unique designs, and great weather. The 5 Fairfield courses are Stonehenge, Heatherhurst Brae, Heatherhurst Crag, Dorchester, and Druid Hills. Golf holes at Fairfield vary greatly from one to another, and since the layouts meander through heavily forested areas on the Cumberland Plateau, golfers will experience challenges from elevation changes to strategically placed hazards. There are some great par 3s, like the 14th hole at Stonehenge Golf Club, which is a downhill shot landing on a beautiful green with stacked stones overlooking the water. Dorchester also has a great par 5 that has 3 landing areas that will test your accuracy off the tee and on your approach shot over a small stream in front of the green. Just a taste of what to expect at the first of 3 unique destinations in Tennessee.

The second hidden gem is a promising 20 minutes south of Knoxville called Tellico Village. Tellico has traditionally been a community with many retirees who have moved south to take advantage of the fantastic golf climate. Tellico’s 3 golf courses are Kahite, Tanasi and Toqua. Other great courses in the area include Rarity Bay, Rarity Pointe, and Avalon. Unlike the mountain golf found in Crossville, Tellico is more lake golf with fantastic holes surrounding the lake. These courses are longer than Fairfield’s and generally offer a very challenging game with rolling greens, rolling fairways, and subtle elevation changes that will have you questioning your club selection. Toqua has one of the most beautiful 4 holes along the lake that is not very long, but offers a panoramic view from its green on the lake. Tellico has villas that can accommodate any number of golfers in your group, and are located just minutes from Toqua and Tanasi golf courses. Considering its large selection of courses and the beauty of the lake, golfers will find one of the best packages in the south near Knoxville, Tennessee at Tellico Village.

Smoky Mountain Golf is unique in beauty and challenge with excellent field conditions and incredible layouts near Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. Plenty of golf courses to choose from from as low as $ 30 per round with luxury villa accommodations located right on the Sevierville Golf Club. Sevierville has 36 beautiful holes located at the foot of the Smokies Mountains, while one of the most exclusive courses on the Tennessee River Islands is only 15 minutes away. Gatlinburg’s golf course has one of the most unique nines in the country, including a par-3 12th hole that drops 200 feet from tee to green. Other excellent golf courses in the area include Ruggles Ferry, Patriot Hills, Dandridge, Bent Creek and Millstone Golf Club. Golfers visiting courses in this area can expect to play some of the most scenic courses in the country.

Business

321 area code to reflect the countdown capital of the world

admin

The 321 area code is the Brevard County, Florida code. He was assigned to the area after a successful petition to commemorate Space Coast’s impact on the county. The 3-2-1 code resembles the countdown launched by the numerous spaceships from Cape Canaveral. Part of the 321 also overlaps the 407 area code in the Orlando area. Currently, this is the only code in North America that is both an overlay of one established area code and the main code of another. Furthermore, this is also the only code currently used with SatCom satellite phone units.

The Florida 321 code has been in service since 1999. It has 230 landlines and 87 wireless prefixes (exchanges) served by 44 operators. Covers 4 counties, 387 zip codes, and 39 cities, including Melbourne, Palm Bay, Cocoa, Titusville, Merritt Island, Rockledge, Cocoa Beach, Satellite Beach, and Cape Canaveral. All of these places belong to the Eastern Time Zone (ET).

In December 1998, after the September 1998 “407 Area Code Relief” hearings, the Florida PSC issued this order:

“Customer concerns are also extremely important to our decision. In his testimony, public witness Robert Osband suggested that we implement a split using a new code. He had searched the NANPA database for all available codes and recommended that we implemented the area code “321” to indicate the countdown, appropriate for Brevard County, where the Kennedy Space Center is located and commonly known as “the Space Coast.”

On February 10, 1999, the Florida PSC issued a press release regarding the order that created the 321 code.

As of November 1, 1999, the permissive dialing period begins in non-overlapping areas, so this code completely replaced the 407 code in Brevard County only, allowing residents to keep 7-digit dialing . In the remaining 407 area, code 321 will be an overlay where residents will be required to have 10-digit dialing for all calls, local or long distance. Bravard County callers can use 407 or 321 to reach their group during the Permit Period. It is at this time that the public is informed to use the new code. Brevard County residents will need new stationery and business cards to reflect their new code, but they have 11 months to transition.

On December 1, 1999, mandatory 10-digit dialing begins only in the overlay area. The 321 code began issuing numbers for users in the Orange, Osceola and Seminole counties overlap area. This means that people in the overlay area must use 10-digit dialing, as the number they are trying to reach can be assigned in either code or both. Residents of the Overlay Area will keep their old phone number and will not need to change their stationery and business cards. Only newly issued phone numbers will get numbers in code 321.

On October 1, 2000, the mandatory use of the 321 area code begins in the non-overlapping area. As a result, Permissive Dialing ends. All callers must use the appropriate code when calling Brevard County. Since Brevard County still has only one area code, residents maintain 7-digit dialing for local calls.

Home Kitchen

Add style in a colorless kitchen

admin

Simplistic

Simplistic designs are just as attractive as these colors now. For example, gray shaker cabinets offer a simple style that will complement a modern look without looking too flashy. Homeowners who want to stick with these colors should go for this style to make a modern kitchen shine more than ever.

For inspiration, remember the Shaker movement. That’s when cabinets became more popular than ever, but that’s not all that was created. The Shaker movement consisted of all kinds of chairs, etc. based on the belief that less is more. Simply browsing through the images of the Shaker movement will help anyone come up with ideas on how to add style while keeping it simple.

Contrast

Contrast is the perfect way to spice up anything. For example, painting a delicate white flower on the door of gray cabinets is an affordable way to add elegance. For homeowners who want to stick with the crisp, clean lines modern styles are known for, they can still add some contrast to the area. Hang some black shelves on a white wall and then add some straight white lines on the gray cabinets instead of a flower.

These colors may seem boring, but they provide the perfect opportunity to include the ideal amount of contrast and style in each cooking area.

Reduce gray

This color is best used for appliances and storage along the edges of the area rather than for accent pieces. Gray Shaker cabinets have never gone out of style and blend perfectly with any theme. Each cabinet will look great in this color, and then the rest of the area can be adorned in black and white to get the perfect color combination. Use contrast and a simple style as mentioned above in combination with this tip to make a room more inviting than ever.

Add some color

Whether the lack of color is all the hype now or not, if it makes a homeowner want to avoid cooking in their own home due to the cold, calculating feel it gives off, it’s best to forget about trends and add some color. Hang up some cool wall art, include a few different accent pieces, and pick out a fun rug to lay on the floor; everything that is necessary to help a house show the personality of the owners.

Famous decorators recommend using red and orange to add warmth; Brighter, more fun colors like yellow and purple add energy, and shades of tan can be used to help the colors blend.

Trends are always fun and can be a great way to ignite the creative spark in homeowners looking for redecorating ideas. On the flip side, trends can also lead homeowners to regret redecorating. These stylish tips will help transform a homeowner who is full of regrets into a homeowner who loves the area they live in and cook in, once again, as they slowly bring their wonderful personality to bear.

Auto

The Dream That Will Never Die: Dreamcast Independent Gaming in 2016

admin

I still remember the day I found out that SEGA was discontinuing the Dreamcast. It was early 2001 and the PlayStation magazine I was reading (we used to read magazines back then) was covering the demise of the Dreamcast before quickly moving on to the hits of the PS2. Thanks to those successes and the massive preference for PlayStation over the previous generation SEGA Saturn, Sony had pulled SEGA almost single-handedly out of the console business leaving them to focus on software only from that day forward. With the Dreamcast surpassing a meager 9 million and the turnaround in sales and the PS2 reaching the dizzying heights of over 150 million units sold, the Dreamcast was destined to be little more than a footnote in the pages of history. the games.

If you had told me that day in 2001 that we would still be seeing new games released for the Dreamcast quite regularly in 2016, I would have simply smiled and nodded while slowly backtracking. And yet here we are fifteen years later and SEGA Dreamcast has a surprisingly vibrant community of indie developers still releasing games despite the fact that SEGA has had little to do with the console (other than fixes) since the early ’90s. 2000s. So if you still have one of those nifty white boxes tucked away in the attic somewhere, or even if you’re just looking to get into retro gaming for the first time, there’s probably something on the horizon worth checking out. . .

Although it’s only been a month into 2016, Dreamcast has already seen the release of an exclusive console game at Leona’s Tricky Adventures. Inspired by the Amiga Gem X puzzle game, Leona assigns the player to increasingly, erm, complicated puzzles based on colors similar to the Lights Out handheld game from the mid-nineties that you might remember. Leona’s Tricky Adventures is available for purchase as you read this on Steam, but the Dreamcast version comes with a full case that includes illustrations. Which is obviously much better.

Looking ahead, the long development of Elysian Shadows is scheduled to hit the streets sometime in 2016. After reaching public awareness through a series of YouTube development videos in 2007, and following a successful Kickstarter campaign in 2014, Elysian Shadows is an RPG with customizable characters, a dynamic day / night cycle, and an engaging 2D / 3D hybrid art style. Set in a fantasy world similar to that seen in the classic JRPG Final Fantasy VI, Elysian Shadows tells a story of conflict between religious fanatics who received magical powers from The Creator and atheists forced to rely on futuristic technology. While there isn’t a solid release date yet and the game’s development has had a couple of snags recently, developer GyroVorbis contends that the title will be released in 2016, and who are we to argue?

Scheduled for June this year, Alice Dreams Tournament is a 2D Bomber Man from French developers Alice Team. Players must navigate 2D mazes using their bombs to clear paths and destroy other players on the stage, while searching for power-ups to increase the number of bombs they can drop or the damage their bombs do when detonated. The game features a robust multiplayer mode that includes seven different game types ranging from standard deathmatches to more elaborate modes involving math puzzles.

Hypertension: Harmony of Darkness is a horror first-person shooter that started as an extension of the Blood franchise, but morphed into its own story as development progressed. After some disputes with Atari due to the assets of Blood being used in the production of Hypertension, as well as a brief cancellation of the project due to that, the development of Harmony of Darkness has progressed and the game is expected to see a release in sometime in 2016.

Hucast Games is looking to release Redux 2, the sequel to its remake of the scrolling shoot-em-up DUX sometime in 2016. Pre-orders for the game are now available and there is a stylish collector’s edition that includes a soundtack CD. and a DVD of extras if you’re willing to pay for that kind of thing. The vanilla game features seven all-new stages and a two-player cooperative mode for players who like to do their arcade shooting with a friend in tow. If you’re a fan of R-Type or other such ship shooters, Redux 2 might be a game worth keeping an eye on.

If you’re looking for something a little more out of the ordinary, away from 2D shooters and puzzle games, then Dreamcas t’s indie scene can satisfy your needs with a title like SLaVE by Isotope and Jay Townsend. SLaVE tries to combine the garish aesthetics of 80s arcade games with the addictive first-person shooter of titles like Doom and Wolfenstein. If the flashy color scheme and first-person shooter punishment bothers you, then SLaVE might be a game for you. However, if you are interested in it, you may want to move quickly; The game is planned to be an ultra-limited edition with no more than 484 copies of the game destined for release.

SEGA abandoned the Dreamcast in the face of stiff competition from the Sony PlayStation 2 after just two years on the market, but there is a community of dedicated independent developers who simply refuse to move on. It has a cult following who are still churning out new content fifteen years after the console’s commercial demise. Since the console’s discontinuation in 2001, more than thirty independent titles have been released, including Sturmwind, Rush Rush Rally Racing, Wind and Water, and Gunlord. So maybe next time you’re in the attic and see your old Dreamcast tucked between a Furby and a Spirograph, consider digging it up, dusting it off, and seeing what the old lady can do in 2016.