Did you understand that pokies are one of the most played games in gambling enterprises and also on the internet video gaming? Actually, the pokies produce concerning 70 percent of the average gambling establishment's income. This is because they are so simple yet thrilling and also do not require any discovering or special skills. Unlike other gambling games, pokies depend primarily on the player's good luck in mix with couple of essential strategies.
Pokies maker are recognized around the world by different names. In fact possibly you have actually heard a few of them and you just did not recognize that they describe the exact same game. Pokies are referred to as fruit machines, casino poker makers, or gaming machines Australia.
Pokies are wagering makers that have 3 or even more reels that spin whenever you push a switch or move an arm attached to the maker. The land-based pokies also have a coin detector which detects if a coin is inserted. When the coin is put the video game begins quickly. Pictures as well as signs on the screen begin to move up or down and afterwards unexpectedly quit. You win if the images match Complimentary Pokies
A raising number of people have tried playing pokies in real gambling establishments or in the on-line gambling enterprises. Do you understand why? Because as soon as you attempt it, you appreciate it so much that you are being literally formulated to it! You get pleasure from the enjoyment you get every time you rotate the wheel. You enjoy the uncertainty whether you win or shed, which provides a moment of adrenaline thrill. However, for sure, I understand that you like to win as opposed to shed Australia.
Although with pokies you rely mainly on good luck, recognizing its ins as well as outs with the right approach surely helps in raising your chance of winning. If you are aiming at winning a great deal, it is best that you familiarize on your own with establishing reasonable money management and also techniques.
Let's discuss pokies myths. Perhaps you've heard the idea that if you keep playing on one certain equipment and invest a lot of cash there one way or another you will definitely win. Well, sorry to bring an end to your conviction yet this is most definitely not true! There are no premises that would support this concept. As an evidence, there are even instances when a player wins a prize after just two spins while others fail to win also after rotating the entire day. The real concept behind the pokies device is that it follows the complex theory of randomly generating numbers, and also each number stands for a certain combination of the reel.
So what's your best technique when playing pokies? To start with it is finance. Before playing, decide on how much you agree to spend. Have a certain bidding quantity and constantly, and also I mean constantly, adhere to it. Whether you win or lose do not differ your strategy. In cases when you happen to lose, do not try to maintain playing up until you win everything back since if you do, you obtain available to more losses. It is necessary that you preserve self control.
An additional equally crucial point to keep in mind is to kick back during the video game. Bear in mind, you are there for satisfaction. Once you obtain distressed, after that the major factor for having fun is lost. So, it is much better to quit, regroup, and play the next day. Try playing devices that provide totally free games, below you are under no pressure and hence you can invest a long time there till you obtain your cool back. You can not win or lose cash right here yet instead you can acquire more experience.
Australian Fruit Machine Or Pokies.
In the 1950s, an Australian company called Aristocrat established their very first one-armed bandit called the "Clubman." They modified it 2 years later on with a brand-new as well as better vending machine called the "Clubmaster." Nevertheless the first vending machine was originally created in the USA of America by a man named Charles Fey Free Pokies.
It wasn't until the 1900s when the slots lastly struck Australia. In 1956, the NSW Australian government legalized gaming machines in clubs.
The next few years provided nothing new in terms of the video game technology. They all had three spinning reels as well as either one, three or five lines. The rewards were by today's standards tiny and also the interactivity was limited to drawing the manage and also waiting for the reels to quit Australia.
It was not until the mid 1980's when the very first video ports rolled off the production lines and also were launched to the public. This was the most significant growth in video gaming given that Charles Fey had designed the very first video game. Not only did the video games have 5 reels but the likewise had many more lines as well as provided added means to win such as cost-free spin attributes as well as perk attributes.
Nowadays, you are likely to see these slot machines all over you enter Australia; from clubs to gambling establishments. They are just one of the most prominent types of betting and also enjoyment.
Pokies is a slang word in Australia for vending machine. There is no recorded day for when the term "Pokies" was first utilized in Australia. Individuals in Australia usually state points like "I'm off to the bar to play some pokies" or "I'm off to have a wager at the pokies."
Discover Pokies Online!
Pokies are frequently described as port video games. These games are tremendously prominent amongst casino players worldwide. It is mainly based upon the idea of sheer good luck and hence the requirements of winning or losing becomes uncertain. On the internet pokies are created according to the precise feel and look of land based casino sites. This game supplies hard competitors to all its gamers. Pokies online includes functions such as multi line bets, reward function games, particular gambling functions and lots of various other qualities comparable to an initial casino.
There are many advantages while selecting to play pokies online as contrasted to the land based ones. The primary reason regarding why people opt for such online poker video games is the high percentage of payouts. Typical casino site has reduced payments because they need to consider the maintenance of these casino sites. Yet on the internet pokies above expenses are incredibly low and also hence they account to high payouts. Aside from these benefits, these video games also offer particular considerable tips to the player so that he/she can make use of these reminders and also win the video game. The slot video games provide you a great chance to make money unlike any various other on-line gambling enterprise video games. A gamer does not need to break his head constantly in order to get necessary skills because it entirely relies on your luck Free Pokies.
There are different slot machines that have released several versions of these games to please the gamers. A number of these pokies games have gained immense appeal amongst people. Some of the popular ones are: Queen of the Nile, 50 Lions, Super Bucks, Wild methods and also Burial place raider.
Queen of the Nile is the very first amongst all pokies games because the moment of its launch. It features an Egyptian style and also offers cost-free video games bonus offer. Consequently 50 Lions video slot is also being extensively played among several players. It has teams which presents the top having fun lion icon on each of the reels. Wild methods includes a Wild African style with specific icons such as lions, zebras as well as elephants. In A Similar Way Super Bucks are on-line pokies games that supply a chance to pick between cost-free spin choices.
Burial place Raider is taken into consideration to be the very first brand that accredited itself to an on-line computer game slot. This video game consists of numerous features and also excellent graphics. It is a 5 reel port game with additional 2 video game bonuses. It likewise includes the function of free spin mode. These unique top quality animated graphics puts it amongst the preferred pokies on-line games.
The phenomenon of Australia and casino poker is identified with each other due to the victory of fellow Aussie Joe Hachem at the WSOP in the year 2005. His triumph has brought interest amongst people in Australia and hence has motivated them to play this sporting activity. Words "Aussie pokies" has actually been derived from it, as poker is one of the most common leisure games in Australia.
How to Wager Online With a Poker Device
Every location around the globe has its very own term for every casino site game known to guy. The same opts for poker. Online poker is known as pokies in Australia as well as, in Britain, it is labelled as slot machine. Regardless of what its name is, one thing stays the very same, casino poker has never ever fallen short to intrigue casino players specifically with its video game play that is majorly based on pure chance Free Pokies.
Nevertheless, with the coming of on-line innovation, on-line betting also entered the photo and also this was just one of the very best benefits that British gamblers experienced in their years of playing in casino sites. What deals with do these online betting sites offer? First off you get to play all type of games such as various sort of poker as well as complimentary roulette suits. Nevertheless, British gambling establishment players stop working to appreciate their very own variation of the fruit machines. This is due to the fact that most on the internet gambling establishment supplies five duplicates of the Las vega ports that have a great deal of winning lines. This kind of texas hold'em is entirely various to that of the fruit machine Australia.
Rather surprisingly, on-line betting would not simply sit down as well as let the needs of bettors pass undetected. Certainly, they would constantly get this sort of opportunity as putting up a gambling enterprise consists of needing to deal with teeth and also neck versus competitors. To do so, they need to satisfy and even go beyond the expectations of their clients. A great deal of pc gaming sites make use of Pub design replicas with the aid of Microgaming software. What this does is it assists boost the experience of playing on-line slot machine. It is capable of providing the ports specifically how a person would certainly see them in land-based gambling establishments. Furthermore, the on-line variation also has additional features such as super hold, pushes, holds, to name a few.
Restriction Your Number of Sheds
As you have fun with the on the internet variation of the video game, you would certainly notice that the functions very closely appears like that of those located in the fruit machine, the UK variation of poker. Comparable to any various other gambling enterprise video games, it is additionally based a lot on good luck. That is why among the most effective methods that a player might utilize is to stop while he is still has even more wins than losses. He must have the ability to know when to quit especially if he is on a losing streak. If, as an example, you still continue playing the video game, you run the risk of ending up bankrupt after the game Free Pokies.
Finest No Down Payment Incentive Gambling Enterprises
On the internet casino sites are getting an increasing number of prominent nowadays. They provide different rewards to their present participants as well as likewise lots of special bonuses to brand-new participants so as to draw in more gamers. These incentives are supplied on conditions that you will certainly have to stay in the play for a specified time. If you are a gambling establishment video game enthusiast as well as are looking for an on the internet gambling establishment then the most effective alternative will be to try to find no deposit perk gambling establishments.
A few of the most effective are gone over below.
Awesome Pet cat - It is among the best no deposit bonus offer gambling enterprises which is much preferred amongst game enthusiasts. If you are a new member then you will be offered a $50 no down payment bonus by the casino site. There is a maximum withdrawal limitation of $100 over which you can not withdraw the quantity at a provided time.
Silver Oak - This gambling enterprise also provides $50 to its brand-new participants. If you are looking for no down payment perk gambling enterprises then you can simply go for Silver Oak Casino whose reward quantity must be bet 40 times prior to making any withdrawal.
Custom - This gambling establishment is also consisted of in the checklist of such casinos and also provides $30 as no down payment perk to its new participants. If you experience the conditions of this on the internet casino site after that you will discover that the players are called for to gamble the bonus offer 99 times prior to they can go for any type of withdrawal. You can make a maximum withdrawal of five times the perk quantity while the minimum possible withdrawal amount is $30. The most effective thing about this casino is that the players are used extra $50 on their birthdays.
Club Player - Club Gamer is one of the popular online casinos which is just best for all on-line gambling establishment fans. It uses $65 to its new participants and also the amount should be wagered 30 times before any kind of withdrawal.
Palace of Possibility - This is once more a superb no down payment incentive online gambling enterprise which uses $50 to its brand-new participants. The quantity is offered as no down payment bonus, as used by most of the no down payment perk gambling establishments today. You are allowed a $100 optimum withdrawal that too only after the bonus amount is bet 40 times.
Sorts Of Online Casino Perks
Among the most effective factors that gamers require to on-line gaming is the suggestion of enjoying casino site incentives. While standard land-based gambling establishment perks such as complimentary drinks and dishes obviously can not fit right into the world of internet gaming, betting internet sites still take care of to draw in and compensate consumers by providing them rewarding bonus offers.
Online gamers can be forgiven for getting a little perplexed regarding all the various bonuses as well as promotions offered in the market. Besides, the buzz as well as marketing projects bordering the various type of bonus offers are enough to make any individual concern specifically what type they must benefit from and also just how much they will certainly gain from a certain promo. Therefore, it is absolutely imperative that gamblers have a clear understanding of the different kinds readily available as well as make notified, educated choices regarding their options Free Pokies.
Invite Incentives
Invite bonus offers are specifically as their name suggests - a reward that invites players to a certain online gambling enterprise. Invite (or 'sign-up' rewards) are the online gambling establishment's way to draw in players onto their site as well as try their online casino. With a lot of on-line gambling establishments available, it is essential that welcome bonuses take care of to catch the player's eye with more-than-generous offers and also problems. Sometimes, players may feel that the deal is ALSO excellent to be real; nevertheless, it is certainly worth looking into every promo as a lot of websites really are using wonderful terms merely for players to experiment with their casinos. There are numerous kinds of welcome perks, both most typical being a match benefit as well as a no-deposit perk.
A match reward suggests that the online casino site will match the gamer's initial down payment by a particular percent, usually as much as a particular amount of cash. So, for example, if a site provides a 100% match bonus offer approximately $100, the gamer requires to deposit as much as $100 and will instantly be awarded with another $100 (or 100% of the first deposit) to spend at their pc gaming sessions. This is a great method of increasing one's playing time at the online casino site as well as for that reason putting oneself in line to win a lot more.
A no-deposit bonus is an extremely profitable bargain that is not supplied at all sites. Basically, gamers do not have to make any type of first down payment at the website after registering. Rather, they will instantly be rewarded with credit reports to begin their gaming session. As with all bonus offers, it is important that gamers read the conditions of these kind of promotions very carefully.
Month-to-month Incentives
As soon as players have attempted a particular online casino site with making use of the welcome rewards as well as enjoy the games and features, the opportunities are that they will certainly continue dipping into the online casino over a size of time. To make sure that gamers really do return for even more, sites reward returning consumers with generous month-to-month bonuses - so called due to the fact that they are typically offered on a monthly basis. These incentives are additionally known as reload incentives since they start when gamers reload their accounts at the online casino. The monthly benefit is normally awarded on a percent basis, as an example 20% of the amount that player spends moneying his or her account.
High-Roller Incentives
Obviously, on the internet casino sites are eager to draw in gamers that spend big quantities on their on-line pc gaming home entertainment. Thus, these gamers, called money players, are compensated additional amounts for depositing and also playing at on the internet casinos. High-stakes gamblers likewise take pleasure in one-of-a-kind promos, VIP clubs and other benefits to make their remain as satisfying and also beneficial as feasible Free Pokies.
Repayment Technique Bonuses
Great on-line gambling enterprises use a vast array of payment approaches whereby gamers can transfer as well as withdraw their funds. Some websites wish to motivate players to utilize a certain payment approach (such as Click2Pay or Moneybookers) and therefore supply gamers an extra 10 or 15% additional bonus simply for making use of these techniques.
Online Casino Site Incentives
As can be seen, there are many sorts of bonuses to choose from in the on the internet gambling enterprise industry. The technique is to learn about every one of these as long as feasible and then choose one (or numerous) that suit the gamer's specific gaming requirements and also lifestyle. In the long run, the incentive needs to offer the gamers well as well as ought to not make them invest more than they originally laid out to. When all is claimed as well as done, on-line gambling establishment benefits are among the most effective reasons to check out web video gaming.
A Quick Guide To Online Gambling Establishment Bonus Offers
One of the big attractions of on-line casinos is the various types of rewards provided by them. Remain updated concerning the selection of incentives you can anticipate when you gamble online, to make sure that you can make use of the benefits that profit you the most. Here are one of the most typical type of online gambling establishment bonuses you can anticipate.
Invite Or Sign-Up Benefit
Additionally referred to as the new player perk, the welcome or sign-up perk is the very first point you will come across and the most popular type of bonus offer. These on the internet gambling enterprise perks are usually additional set apart into percentage, no-deposit, or match rewards.
* Suit perks are the most common sort of on-line casino incentive where you obtain one debt for each credit scores you acquire. This is usually a 100 percent benefit on your very first acquisition with a restriction of $100. This bonus might differ as well as it is not mandatory to spend the $100. Most online gambling establishments enable you to purchase a minimal $20 to make you eligible for the match benefit Free Pokies.
* The percent bonus is anything more than 100 percent and provides you 200 percent or 300 percent. Almost all casino benefits are similar to percent perks, no matter whether they take place to be suit or portion Australia.
* The no-deposit benefit is certainly the most preferred bonus offer. It can be cost-free cash in the kind of cost-free gambling establishment credit reports that are included in your gaming account when you subscribe and free play online casino where you obtain a complimentary newbie's equilibrium. You can maintain any kind of earnings that surpass this quantity.
Reload Bonus
A reload bonus offer is offered to get you to keep reloading your account as well as remain to wager online. It is generally comparable to the welcome or sign-up incentive as well as offers a 100 percent pair up. This may be on a monthly, once a week, or day-to-day basis, relying on which on-line gambling establishment you are playing.
Down Payment Method Perk
When you pick a specific down payment method with a casino-usually your credit card or an on-line repayment provider-to fund your gaming account, you obtain a deposit approach reward. This can be in the series of 5 percent to 15 percent, and also is independent of other rewards you get Australia.
High Roller Bonus Offer
A deposit of $1,000 or more receives a money player perk and also ranges from 25 percent to half Australia.
Loyalty Rewards
Loyalty bonuses are used by on-line casino sites as Players Club bonus offers as well as special acquisition bonuses.
* The Players Club perk is typically called a player rewards or "compensation" reward as well as involves accumulating factors based on your on the internet casino games wagers. This is typically set aside as one factor per $10 bet. When you gather 1,000 factors, you can retrieve them in United States dollars in casino site debts. Most gambling establishments enroll you in the casino site players club by default. It is, nonetheless, far better to confirm.
* The special purchase benefit is a deposit bonus offer used to players that have actually already made a deposit. This might be in the kind of a match perk, portion incentive, or a no-deposit reward.
Proceed and also discover a trusted online gambling establishment that fits you and begin your gaming by seeking a no-deposit gambling enterprise reward.
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We are all literally lost at sea. Events are happening right in front of us and we don't even notice them, let alone remember them. And it's a big problem.
Am I exaggerating. Nope. Are you reading this thinking that your memory is fine? Probably. Are you right? Probably not.
Want proof? Of course you do. Perfect. Strap in and let me save you from drowning in a sea of information.
Forged By The Sea.

2014 August 19 – A Shenyang J-11 intercepts a U.S. Navy P-8 Poseidon anti-submarine warfare aircraft flying in international waters the South China Sea. 2015 October 27 – US destroyer USS Lassen navigates within 12 nautical miles of the emerging land masses in the Spratly Islands as the first in a series of "Freedom of Navigation Operation".

Most of us realize that the South China Sea is a flashpoint. A few of us know that we are alrwady engaged in a Gray Zone war and this Sea is the most probable area where the war will become overt.
How close are we to this tipping point? A lot closer than I thought.

December 05, 2017. After more than 18 months of research, development and focus group testing, the Navy has announced its newest recruiting slogan: “Forged by the Sea.”

Granted, getting a new slogan is normal, and normally I wouldn't even think twice about it. But we don’t live in normal times anymore, we live in New Normal times.
Sail the World. Join the Navy.

Jan 6, 2017, 11:59 AM. The US operates the most aircraft carriers of any country, but for the first time since at least 2000, and possibly since World War II, not a single US carrier was deployed, the US Navy has confirmed to Business Insider. The US had the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower deployed in the Persian Gulf carrying out an air campaign against ISIS in Iraq and Syria until late December, but that carrier returned home December 30

This isn't normal. The Navy insists it is. And yet they were carrying out Freedom of Navigation patrols at the time. Wouldn't you want your most powerful vessel's sailing? Instead all of them are docked. Sounds more like last minute upgrades to me.

2016 August. The Louisiana, a nuclear ballistic-missile submarine, and the Eagleview, a Military Sealift Command support vessel, collided while conducting routine operations in the Strait of Juan de Fuca off the coast of Washington State. There was damage to the hulls of both the Eagleview and the Louisiana. No one was injured. 2017 May. A 60- to 70-foot South Korean fishing boat collided with the Lake Champlain, a guided-missile cruiser, on its port side while the cruiser was conducting routine operations in international waters. No one was injured. Fishing boat crew members later said the fishing vessel did not have a radio, so they did not hear the calls from the Navy, a Navy official said at the time. 2017 June. The USS Fitzgerald collided with a Phillipine container ship in killing seven sailors. Then, just two months later, the USS John S. McCain collided with a Liberian merchant vessel, killing 10 sailors. Megan Eckstein, deputy editor for USNI News, part of the U.S. Naval Institute, told me the National Transportation Safety Board found the USS McCain collision was caused by a helmsman who was confused by his touch-screen displays. He meant to slow the ship down, but instead made a sharp right turn.

Those are a lot of accidents in a very short time frame. Maybe it's all the New Normal training procedures in the Navy leaving sailors unprepared to execute? Or maybe they're part of the Gray Zone tactics of an adversary, or adversaries?

2017 February. Additionally, there isn’t enough money to fix the fleet’s ships, and the backlog of ships needing work continues to grow. Overhauls — "availabilities" in Navy parlance — are being canceled or deferred, and when ships do come in they need longer to refit. Refueling and Complex Overhaul. RCOH is a process for refueling and upgrading nuclear-powered aircraft carriers in the US Navy. The nuclear reactors that power some aircraft carriers typically use up their nuclear fuel about halfway through their desired 50-year life spans. Because carriers can last so long before being retired, they are refueled and refurbished with an RCOH to extend their usable lifetime. At the same time a ship is refueled, it is given a complex overhaul in which broken, worn or obsolete parts are repaired or replaced and systems are modernized. The modernization typically includes an upgrade of ship’s combat systems and warfighting capabilities, its internal distribution systems are upgraded, and allowance is made for future upgrades over the ship’s remaining operational service life. Given the size of an aircraft carrier and the number of systems and subsystems it has, an RCOH is extremely complex, costly (several billion dollars), and time-consuming. Each RCOH is planned to take 46 months.

There is no money to fix the fleets. Crap. Perhaps the USA will turn to rowboat or Viking Longboats? Maybe they could borrow some money from other countries that all started upgrading their Navies at the same time.

2018 January. All the New Aircraft Carriers That Are Under Construction. The Royal Navy is continuing course on its plans to field a force of two carriers. The first carrier, HMS Queen Elizabeth, was commissioned in 2017 and is awaiting the F-35B Joint Strike Fighters that will make up her air wing, which should be ready by 2020. The second carrier, HMS Prince of Wales, was floated out of construction dock in late December 2017 and will undergo sea trials in 2019. Long an aircraft carrier power, the Indian Navy currently sails one carrier, INS Vikramaditya. A second carrier, Indigenous Aircraft Carrier-1 (IAC-1), began construction in 2005. The ship has recently been named INS Vikrant and is projected to be complete in 2020. In late 2017, Japanese news outlets reported Tokyo was considering modifying its two Izumo-class helicopter destroyers, Izumo and Kaga, to fly the F-35B Joint Strike Fighter. Chinese pressure on Japanese airspace over the Senkaku Islands and East China Sea and a shortage of airfields in the area were cited as reasons. In 2017, Italian defense contractor Fincantieri began construction of the Trieste, a new amphibious assault ship. South Korea has one amphibious assault ship with a full-length flight deck, Dokdo, commissioned into the Republic of Korea Navy in 2007. A second long-planned ship, Marado, finally began construction in 2017. A third ship, Baengnyeong, is projected but has not yet begun construction. In December 2017 South Korea, like Japan, also reported interest in flying the F-35B off its Dokdo-class ships. Like Japan’s ships, the Dokdo vessels will need extensive upgrades to make this conversion a reality.

Hmmm, are we having a party out at sea? Must be. We couldn't be heading to a war that's about to escalate into open hostilities, are we? That's madness! Nobody would go to war without the USA, and they don’t have enough money to fix their fleet, that's why they're all at port, isn’t it?
Follow the Money.

2019 November 18 More than half of the nation’s aircraft carriers are not currently ready for deployment, as the massive ships sit off the Virginia coastline in various states of repair or testing. When asked by Luria if the Navy has “all the resources you need to maintain our carrier,” Moore responded: “We do.” “When Admiral Moore responded that he needed nothing, I was pretty shocked. I almost fell out of my chair,” Luria said in an interview weeks after the hearing. “That is the first time I have heard anyone say they don’t need anything else.”

WHAT! Hallelujah, they found the money! It must have rained down from Heaven! Or somebody checked the couches at the Pentagon and found the missing 21 Trillion dollars from 9/11 under the cushions. (Don't laugh, this game has been going on for a really long time, so nothing would shock me at this point.)

2017 July 18. A group of cybersecurity researchers is having a field day online with the discovery that the configuration of certain ships' satellite antenna systems leaves them wide open to attack — and the possible consequences are startling. Anyone who gained access to the system in question, and was so inclined, could manually change a ship's GPS coordinates or possibly even brick the boat's navigation system entirely by uploading new firmware. And why would anyone want to do that? "Next gen boat ransomware?," suggested the security researcher x0rz over Twitter direct message with Mashable. "Military special operations? Somalian pirates 2.0?" 2017 August 24. The Navy's 4th accident this year is stirring concerns about hackers targeting US warships.

Oh come on, hacking computers on military boats? Really? Watch, how much do you want to bet that Bill Gates gets to work on a new Anti-virus program for the American Navy once he fixes the pandemic?
The Hack Attacks Are Back.

2019 April 3. The Hawk “veered off course” and struck a test barge next to the Delbert D. Black, a guided-missile destroyer under construction at Ingalls, the suit states. The barge then struck the destroyer. 2019 July 9. U.S. Coast Guard Issues Alert After Ship Heading Into Port Of New York Hit By Cyberattack.

Uhm. Nope. Nothing going on here. Keep Calm and Carry On. Only smooth sailing from now on.
Maybe We Should Call John McAfee

2019. the Navy’s Cyber Readiness Review released in March offered a scathing critique, calling weak spots and persistent holes in the system an “existential threat” to the existence of Navy and Marine Corps. The unsparing 80-page assessment concluded the Navy is under “cyber siege” and has so far failed to secure its IT systems. 2019 December 4. Still, unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs), cyber warfare attacks, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and hypersonic weapons are making the aircraft carrier increasingly vulnerable.

Call me paranoid, but doesn’t this play out like an actual war and they don’t want us to panic? If we happen to get hit by a pandemic in the next few years, I'm going to get really crazy paranoid. Not like this Covid-19 hoax that everyone is going on about, right? No way that's real? But maybe? Just maybe? Let's think? It would be a good way to move around military gear without us freaking out. Or it could be a bioweapon. Or it could be used to mask the environmental collapse that we're about to go to war over for natural resources. Nah. That's crazy talk. We aren’t at war.
GTA: Gray Zone Naval Battles Edition.

2018 October 04. US, Chinese warships within metres of collision in South China Sea, leaked pictures show. 2019 June 7. Russia and US warships almost collide in East China Sea. 2020 January 10. Russian ship 'aggressively approaches' Navy destroyer in Arabian Sea.

I didn't know the world's Navies started playing bumper boats during our Bread and Circuses. That's gotta be a ton of fun, right? We don't have tense sailors that people love out on the frontlines, do we? Crap, we have Frontline workers here too! That's strange.
Loose Lips Burn Ships.

2019 December 12 MOSCOW — A major fire broke out aboard Russia’s only aircraft carrier, the beleaguered Admiral Kuznetsov, while undergoing repairs at a dock in the northern port city of Murmansk early Thursday morning. Russian media outlets reported that fire control teams were struggling to contain and extinguish the blaze, while dramatic videos of the ship surrounded by thick plumes of smoke have proliferated on social media. 2019 December 14. Fire That Scorched Russian Carrier Could Happen At U.S. Navy Shipyards, Too. Outside of the USS Miami, 11 U.S. sailors were injured last month in a fire on the USS Iwo Jima (LHD 7), a critical Marine-toting mini-carrier. USS Oscar Austin (DDG 79) also suffered a fire in November 2018, and repairs will keep the ship out of the fleet for almost two years. 2020 April 11. Black smoke has been seen billowing from China’s first assault carrier in Shanghai. The new Type-075 carrier, which is similar to the U.S. Navy’s America Class assault carriers, is designed to carry helicopters and hovercraft to support amphibious landings. 2020 July 12. 21 injured after an explosion and fire on a naval ship in San Diego.

We must have a pyromaniac on the loose! And he or she hates boats! I guess some people just want to watch the boats burn.
Right Back Where We Started From.
I've written that this war has been hidden in plain sight for a long time. And it has. The middle east was about blocking China from energy resources and accessing rare earth elements. China already has rare earth elements, but they need oil. Controlling the South China Sea gives them a buffer zone and oil, that's some bang for your buck. Like a two for one special.

The South China Sea is a potentially energy-rich stretch of water and home to more than 200 specks of land. It serves as a gateway to global sea routes where approximately $3.4 trillion of trade passes annually.

And Africa.
Jun. 12, 2019. China's national energy companies are set to channel more of their overseas investment to Africa than to any other continent.
Mar. 1, 2005. Oil industries in Venezuela, Colombia, Brazil, Bolivia, Peru and other Latin American countries have emerged as contenders for China's energy.
2005? What? Why that's shortly after the Iraq War and Afghanistan. Is that why the West is still over there? Nah. And maybe China is investing in other countries to help them and not to find fuel for the upcoming war?
Read the headlines. Look at what's happening the last week in the South China Sea. If this doesn't somehow de-escalate, there's no telling how bad it's going to get. I know that people keep asking me for answers, but what answers can I give you? In an era of long range strike capability, all you can do is be ready. Pack a bag. Have food. Keep your gas tank full. Buy extra fuel and keep it on hand.
At the very least read some prepper webpages. They know what they're talking about. Do you really think all of those prepper Doomsday entertainment shows became popular for no reason? The government has warned you to be ready in case of civil emergencies. They've been testing the emergency alert system since 2018. They've been increasing their disaster drills. Take this seriously and pray that it blows over. Maybe it will. But don't shrug it off like this isn’t a big deal, it is. And I have more waiting to write that I hope can keep strengthening my case to just be prepared in case the unthinkable happens.
Because the unthinkable doesn't seem so unthinkable in our New Normal.
Keep your head up and eyes open. Talk soon.

Game Information

Game Title: Days Gone
Platforms:

• PlayStation 4 (Apr 25, 2019)

Trailers:

• Days Gone - Infected Predators | PS4
• Days Gone - Gameplay Trailer | PS4
• The World of Days Gone | PS4
• Days Gone - Countdown to Launch | PlayStation Store
• Days Gone - One Bullet TV Commercia| PS4
• Days Gone – Story Trailer | PS4
• Days Gone – Sarah & Deacon's Wedding | PS4
• Days Gone – World Video Series: Fighting To Survive | PS4
• Days Gone – World Video Series: Riding The Broken Road | PS4
• Days Gone – World Video Series: The Farewell Wilderness | PS4
• Days Gone - E3 2018 Gameplay Demo | PlayStation Live from E3
• Days Gone – E3 2018 This World Comes For You | PS4
• Days Gone - E3 2017 Trailer | PS4
• Days Gone - PS4 Gameplay | E3 2017
• Days Gone - E3 2016 Announce Trailer | PS4
• Days Gone - E3 2016 Gameplay Demo | PS4

Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment
Review Aggregator:
OpenCritic - 71 average - 49% recommended

Critic Reviews

ACG - Jeremy Penter - Wait for Sale

Video Review - Quote not available

Attack of the Fanboy - William Schwartz - 4 / 5 stars

Days Gone offers a dangerous and desolate world full of bad things and bad people. if you're willing to put up with some shortcomings the reward is one of the best open-world zombie apocalypse games to date.

CGMagazine - Preston Dozsa - 6.5 / 10

Days Gone is an above average open-world game that is brought down by a weak first act, poor shooting, and a lot of technical issues.

COGconnected - Paul Sullivan - 80 / 100

Is it an excellent open world game? Not quite. Is it worth playing? Oh yeah. The gorgeous and well-built environment is a treat, and the mechanical twists on the Sony’s first party formula make Days Gone a nice spring surprise.

Critical Hit - Alessandro Barbosa - 6.5 / 10

Days Gone has moments where it reveals its brilliance, but they're buried under a litany of uninteresting and repetitive missions and numerous technical issues.

Daily Dot - AJ Moser - 2 / 5 stars

The apocalypse has never been more aimless than in Days Gone

Daily Star - Rebecca Stow - 5 / 5 stars

Post-apocalyptic Oregon is clearly a place developer Bend Studio have thought a lot about, and crafted with tremendous amounts of care and attention to detail.

Destructoid - Chris Carter - 6 / 10

Days Gone ups the open world survival ante but doesn't have enough cash to pay for the rest of the rounds of betting, making it one of the weirdest AAA releases in recent memory. If enough people buy it, its stronger moments will likely be immortalized in YouTube videos for years to come. Yet, most people will probably remember it as the open world zombie game that didn't bring much mechanically to the table. With some tweaks to the pacing, it could have reconciled its warm, frank look at humanity and been something special.

Digital Trends - Steven Petite - 2.5 / 5 stars

Days Gone is a generic open world zombie fest riddled with tedium and performance issues.

Digitally Downloaded - 4 / 5 stars

For its strengths and its faults, I kept finding myself drawn back to the game’s evocative narrative all the way through.

Easy Allies - Brandon Jones - 7.5 / 10

Standing out from the ravenous zombie genre, Days Gone brings a lot of heart and massive open-world freaker hordes. It's ambitious in the length of its campaign and the size of its map, but some things just don't work as they should. *Review Copy Provided by PlayStation

Eurogamer - Malindy Hetfeld - No Recommendation / Blank

A frequently gorgeous, sadly generic open-world game that runs out of steam well before its extended play-time is over.

Gadgets 360 - Rishi Alwani - 6 / 10

As it stands, Days Gone is a flawed PS4 exclusive that delivers less than what we've come to expect from an open-world game in 2019. There's fun to be had here, but it's layered with so much busywork that playing it feels like a chore more often than not.

Game Informer - Matthew Kato - 7.8 / 10

Surviving the zombie throngs can be a thrilling experience, but the story and open-world structure come in second

Game Rant - Anthony Taormina - 4 / 5 stars

Days Gone offers a lot of excitement when facing off against its Freaker hordes as Deacon St. John, but some generic open world elements and gameplay hold it back.

Game Revolution - Jason Faulkner - 4 / 5 stars

The story is a slow-burn, but once you start getting into it, you’ll want to finish the ride.

GameSpew - Kim Snaith - 9 / 10

Don’t write Days Gone off as “just another generic open world game”; it’s so much more than that.

GameSpot - Kallie Plagge - 5 / 10

Days Gone has its exciting moments, but it fails to say anything interesting or meaningful about its story and characters.

GameZone - Cade Onder - 6.5 / 10

As it stands, Days Gone isn't some abomination but it's not up to par with what we expect from a Sony first party game. It has significant redeemable qualities to be found in its story but still fails to deliver a tight, focused narrative without loads of extra fat or a compelling enough gameplay experience.

Gameblog - Rami Bououd - French - 6 / 10

For sure, Days Gone have a good story and characters that are pleasant to follow. But missions and gameplay are too repetitive, AI is too silly, bugs and freezes too frequent (even on PS4 Pro) to have us considering it as a fully enjoyable game. Too bad.

Gameplanet - Dan Grayson - 7.5 / 10

Days Gone is an ambitious new IP that borrows heavily from its influences. It still maintains its own identity and features some genuinely fun gameplay. It's unfortunately held back by countless technical issues, but if you're willing to tolerate these, the moment to moment gameplay is enjoyable. While there's nothing revolutionary about the game, it's worth a go if you're a zombie fan

GamesRadar+ - Leon Hurley - 3.5 / 5 stars

Days Gone is a keen and engaging open world zombie adventure despite some issues.

Gaming Nexus - Randy Kalista - 8 / 10

It took a few hours to get under my skin. But now that I've gotten into a rhythm with its post-apocalyptic horror-survivalist aspects, Days Gone puts on a good little self-serious road drama.

GamingTrend - Bryan Lawver - 60 / 100

Days Gone features some potentially interesting community-building mechanics and the appeal of a bikers vs. zombies game is hard to ignore, but it never lets its best ideas take center stage. Instead, it focuses on lackluster combat and a repetitive set of missions. It moves along on the kind of momentum that exists almost by default in big open world packed with activities, but I could never get fully engaged, partly due to its dragging pace, scattershot story, off-putting protagonist, and frequent bugs.

Glitched Africa - Marco Cocomello - 8.6 / 10

Even with its snail-pace plot, Days Gone manages to deliver a truly chilling open world experience.

God is a Geek - Chris White - 6.5 / 10

Days Gone has some moments of brilliance, but there're far too may bugs. The hordes improve the game drastically, it's just a shame that a lot of the game suffers in other avenues.

Guardian - Keith Stuart - 3 / 5 stars

This is a game of fun and fury – it’s thrilling at times, but it signifies nothing.

Hardcore Gamer - Kevin Dunsmore - 4 / 5

Like the winding roads of Farewell Wilderness that contain both serenity and danger, Days Gone is a journey with a winding range of emotions.

Hobby Consolas - Álvaro Alonso - Spanish - 87 / 100

Days Gone might be one of the most entertaining survival games we've ever played. It presents a strong narrative and systems that make the game always unpredictable. It may not be a "must have", but it sure is a damn fun video game.

IGN - Lucy O'Brien - 6.5 / 10

Fun in small bursts, but Days Gone's repetition, bland world, and meandering story make for an unremarkable ride.

IGN Middle East - Moustafa Gad - Arabic - 7.7 / 10

There is a lot to be enjoyed in Days Gone – variety in gameplay, large arsenal of weapons, satisfying stealth mechanics, and riding a motorcycle through a vast open-world. But the game takes a beating when it comes to its story, which is an in-cohesive mess with bland storytelling and shallow characters that lack any sort of charisma or real motives.

Merlin'in Kazanı - Ahmet Özçilingir - Turkish - 77 / 100

I played Days Gone, I thought that if Sony Bend Studio had more time to develop this game, it could be something way better than this product, even one of the best games of this generation.

Metro GameCentral - 6 / 10

A peculiarly constructed open world zombie game that sidelines its most unique features in favour of generic action and unengaging storytelling.

New Game Network - Alex Varankou - 66 / 100

Days Gone is a fairly typical open world post apocalyptic survival title that offers a few memorable mechanics and story beats, but is eventually consumed by genre clichés. Poor technical performance further hinders its chances of survival, but perhaps with time that wound will heal.

Next Gen Base - Ben Ward - 8.5 / 10

If you tore chunks out of Dying Light, Far Cry, The Last of Us, Sons of Anarchy and a bunch of other open-world titles then threw them all into a blender, you’d probably end up with something akin to Days Gone. It’s a game with lots to enjoy, a ton of world to explore and some sensational visuals to take in. As seemingly generic as much of it is on first glance, Days Gone opens up to prove that it’s capable of punching its weight in a crowded area of the gaming landscape. A slow start to the story might put some off, and there are still a few technical issues that raise their head on the odd occasion, but there is plenty in here that gives you cause to overlook them. Farewell, Oregon, I had a great time clearing you out of Freaks.

Nexus - Robert de Wit - 8.8 / 10

Overall, Days Gone is an absolutely brutal, rewarding, and phenomenal narrative experience, mixed with great action, and fun gameplay. It's the perfect combination of survival mechanics to make the title more intense, with natural characters, a rewarding storyline, and addictive gameplay.

PSX Brasil - Bruno Henrique Vinhadel - Portuguese - 89 / 100

Days Gone may not bring so much originality into a theme already quite spent in the entertainment industry. The similarity with other games is remarkable, but does not overlap with the quality that the title presents. An interesting story, a lively and aggressive world, well-defined protagonist and excellent combat makes the Bend Studio title an excellent choice for owners of a PlayStation 4.

PlayStation Universe - John-Paul Jones - 8 / 10

Though a touch derivative and brought low on occasion by the odd technical issue, Days Gone is a sprawling and handsomely made open-world adventure that contains a surprising amount of heart and ample amounts of violence to match.

Push Square - Sammy Barker - 7 / 10

The story can drift, and the overall package isn’t quite as polished as its PS4 exclusive counterparts – but as far as gaming comfort food goes, you could feast on much worse snacks than this.

SA Gamer - Marko Swanepoel - 7 / 10

Days Gone, when it has moments of clarity, skirts the line of being brilliant. It could have been an instant classic if it weren't for the giant missteps that happened with regards to the story's pacing and some very strange decisions regarding Deacon as a character. With an expansive open-world worth exploring and well-crafted mechanics, Days Gone is an enjoyable ride, but expect to get some bugs in your face.

SECTOR.sk - Tomáš Kuník - Slovak - 8 / 10

Huge and fascinating open-world action-adventure with unique experience and some bugs.

Saudi Gamer - Arabic - 5 / 10

Days Gone is an optimistic start for Bend Studio as a open-world but it is a critical need for more polishing

Screen Rant - Ty Sheedlo - 3 / 5 stars

Days Gone follows every post-apocalypse cue in the book. It does combat, level design, and bike riding well but struggles to overcome a basic story.

Slant Magazine - Steven Scaife - 1.5 / 5 stars

The game meets the baseline level of quality we might expect from a big-budgeted joint, yet it remains a tiresome, empty experience.

Spaziogames - Domenico Musicò - Italian - 8.8 / 10

Days Gone has an astonishing and rich open world with great characters and a lot of quests to accomplish. Bend Studio is finally become great. Sony must be proud.

Spiel Times - Caleb Wysor - 8 / 10

Nothing else quite captures the experience of being hunted by a mammoth horde or finally taking them down with equal parts brain and brawn. Yes, it has its issues, there are some annoyances and oversights, but they aren’t enough to keep me from recommending Days Gone to just about everyone with a PS4.

Stevivor - Steve Wright - 6 / 10

While patches may be able to salvage quite a few of its bugs, there are some questionable design decisions that certainly can’t be fixed as easily.

The Games Machine - Marco Ravetto - Italian - 8.2 / 10

Days Gone is a very nice game. It's not original or perfect, but it's really enjoyable from the title screen to the ending credits.

TheSixthAxis - Jim Hargreaves - 6 / 10

There are glimmers of true excellence here; small stretches of Days Gone can be especially fun and polished. However, the assembly of these various parts suffers from the lack of an engaging story, compelling characters, or an open world that feels organic and worth exploring.

TrustedReviews - Ryan Jones - 3.5 / 5 stars

Days Gone has a couple of fantastic ideas, including the blockbuster horde battles that offer some of the most heart-pounding zombie spectacles I've seen yet.

Twinfinite - Zhiqing Wan - 3 / 5

Days Gone is an alright first step for Bend Studio. It’s a competent open world game with massive, diverse environments for you to explore, even if there aren’t actually a lot of interesting things to do. It’s also very vanilla, and there just isn’t much substance beneath its glossy surface.

USgamer - Mike Williams - 3.5 / 5 stars

The zombie apocalypse is well-trodden territory and the open-world spin of Days Gone can only differentiate it so much. There's a strong narrative focus, but Deacon St. John doesn't carry that weight as deftly as he could. There are highlights and fun tools available within, but the game doesn't push those forward first, leaving the players to deal with some tedium first. Days Gone is a great foundation for something better though, so hopefully Bend gets the chance to improve upon it.

Unboxholics - Λεωνίδας Στραβάκος - Greek - Worth your time

Days Gone in addition to being an exciting survival adventure, is also a journey into a new, tough world. A world where one's death is the life of another, and the values that once constituted the civilized society have long since collapsed.

VG247 - Kirk McKeand - Unscored

While it’s still slightly better than most recent Xbox One exclusives, Days Gone just isn’t anywhere near the quality of the majority of PS4 first-party releases.

Video Chums - Tyler Hall - 8.8 / 10

Days Gone is an exceptionally refined and gorgeous open-world action adventure game.

VideoGamer - Joshua Wise - 8 / 10

Days Gone is a grim, beautiful B-movie; its action and writing are full of pulpy thrills, and by the end of it, I found myself liking a character called Deacon St. John – an achievement in itself.

Wccftech - Alessio Palumbo - 8.4 / 10

Days Gone puts Bend Studio once again on the map of all PlayStation gamers after many years of oblivion. While it doesn't deliver any meaningful innovations in terms of open world and gameplay mechanics, it's a fun game that sports gorgeous graphics and a surprisingly great story/cast of characters, easily paving the way for a sequel to the stories of Deacon 'the Drifter' St. John. The links above are affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, Wccftech.com may earn from qualifying purchases.

We Got This Covered - Todd Rigney - 4 / 5 stars

Days Gone overcomes loose controls, familiar mechanics and gameplay loops, and a well-worn setting to tell a very relatable story featuring one of my favorite characters in recent years.

Worth Playing - Redmond Carolipio - 8.5 / 10

Even with all the promotion we're seeing now, Days Gone still carries the aura of a title that could be miscast and possibly overlooked at a glance, like it was for me a few years ago. You don't know until you play, and this stands as one the more pleasant and satisfying surprises of the year for me. It's been a long road to this game, but the ride is worth it.

Game Information

Game Title: Days Gone
Genre: Action-adventure, survival-horror, zombies, post-apocalyptic, open world, Sam Witwer
Platforms: PlayStation 4
Media: E3 2016 Announce Trailer | Gameplay Demo
E3 2017 Trailer | Alternate Playthrough | Gameplay
E3 2018 'This World Comes For You' | Gameplay Demo | Hands-On Gameplay
World Video Series: 'Riding the Broken Road' | 'The Farewell Wilderness' | 'Fighting to Survive'
Sarah & Deacon's Wedding
Story Trailer
'One Bullet' TV Commercial
The World of Days Gone | Inside Bend Studio
Gameplay Trailer
Deacon's Bike | Infected Predators
Developer: SIE Bend Studio ^Info
Developer's Headquarters: Bend, Oregon - Home of the world's last Blockbuster Video
Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment
Price: $59.99 USD
Release Date: April 26, 2019
More Info: /daysgone | Wikipedia Page
Review Aggregator:
OpenCritic - 72 | 48% Recommended [Cross-Platform] Current Score Distribution
MetaCritic - 72 [PS4]
Flexibly arbitrary list of past games from Bend Studio -

Entry	Score Platform, Year, # of Critics
Bubsy 3D	51 GameRankings PS1, 1996, 5 critics
Syphon Filter	90 PS1, 1999, 19 critics
Syphon Filter 2	81 GameRankings PS1, 2000, 29 critics
Syphon Filter 3	73 PS1, 2001, 19 critics
Syphon Filter: The Omega Strain	65 PS2, 2004, 47 critics
Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror	87 PSP, 2006, 58 critics
Syphon Filter: Logan's Shadow	85 PSP, 2007, 41 critics
Resistance: Retribution	81 PSP, 2009, 67 critics
Uncharted: Golden Abyss	80 PSV, 2012, 80 critics
Uncharted: Fight for Fortune	67 PSV, 2012, 25 critics

​

Reviews

​

Website/Author	Aggregates' Score ~ Critic's Score	Quote	Platform
Eurogamer - Malindy Hetfeld	Unscored ~ Unscored	A frequently gorgeous, sadly generic open-world game that runs out of steam well before its extended play-time is over.	PS4
VG247 - Kirk McKeand	Unscored ~ Unscored	While it’s still slightly better than most recent Xbox One exclusives, Days Gone just isn’t anywhere near the quality of the majority of PS4 first-party releases.	PS4
ACG - Jeremy Penter	Wait for Sale ~ Wait for Sale	This is 'Wait for a sale' and I would say that, depending on your technical issues, there's gonna be a lot of people who might want to actually look at this as a 'Deep, deep sale'. It still looks better than a lot of other titles out there, especially even in 2019, because Sony knows how to produce titles and polish them; but the polish here is nowhere near as high as it is in those other games. That doesn't mean it actually doesn't elevate itself above others.	PS4
Unboxholics - Λεωνίδας Στραβάκος - Greek	Worth your time ~ Worth your time	Days Gone in addition to being an exciting survival adventure, is also a journey into a new, tough world. A world where one's death is the life of another, and the values that once constituted the civilized society have long since collapsed.	PS4
Daily Star - Rebecca Stow	100 ~ 5 / 5 stars	Post-apocalyptic Oregon is clearly a place developer Bend Studio have thought a lot about, and crafted with tremendous amounts of care and attention to detail.	PS4
GameSpew - Kim Snaith	90 ~ 9 / 10	Don’t write Days Gone off as “just another generic open world game”; it’s so much more than that.	PS4
PSX Brasil - Bruno Henrique Vinhadel - Portuguese	89 ~ 89 / 100	Days Gone may not bring so much originality into a theme already quite spent in the entertainment industry. The similarity with other games is remarkable, but does not overlap with the quality that the title presents. An interesting story, a lively and aggressive world, well-defined protagonist and excellent combat makes the Bend Studio title an excellent choice for owners of a PlayStation 4.	PS4
Video Chums - Tyler Hall	88 ~ 8.8 / 10	Days Gone is an exceptionally refined and gorgeous open-world action adventure game.	PS4
Spaziogames - Domenico Musicò - Italian	88 ~ 8.8 / 10	Days Gone has an astonishing and rich open world with great characters and a lot of quests to accomplish. Bend Studio is finally become great. Sony must be proud.	PS4
Hobby Consolas - Álvaro Alonso - Spanish	87 ~ 87 / 100	Days Gone might be one of the most entertaining survival games we've ever played. It presents a strong narrative and systems that make the game always unpredictable. It may not be a "must have", but it sure is a damn fun video game.	PS4
Worth Playing - Redmond Carolipio	85 ~ 8.5 / 10	Even with all the promotion we're seeing now, Days Gone still carries the aura of a title that could be miscast and possibly overlooked at a glance, like it was for me a few years ago. You don't know until you play, and this stands as one the more pleasant and satisfying surprises of the year for me. It's been a long road to this game, but the ride is worth it.	PS4
Next Gen Base - Ben Ward	85 ~ 8.5 / 10	If you tore chunks out of Dying Light, Far Cry, The Last of Us, Sons of Anarchy and a bunch of other open-world titles then threw them all into a blender, you’d probably end up with something akin to Days Gone. It’s a game with lots to enjoy, a ton of world to explore and some sensational visuals to take in. As seemingly generic as much of it is on first glance, Days Gone opens up to prove that it’s capable of punching its weight in a crowded area of the gaming landscape. A slow start to the story might put some off, and there are still a few technical issues that raise their head on the odd occasion, but there is plenty in here that gives you cause to overlook them. Farewell, Oregon, I had a great time clearing you out of Freaks.	PS4
Wccftech - Alessio Palumbo	84 ~ 8.4 / 10	Days Gone puts Bend Studio once again on the map of all PlayStation gamers after many years of oblivion. While it doesn't deliver any meaningful innovations in terms of open world and gameplay mechanics, it's a fun game that sports gorgeous graphics and a surprisingly great story/cast of characters, easily paving the way for a sequel to the stories of Deacon 'the Drifter' St. John.	PS4
The Games Machine - Marco Ravetto - Italian	82 ~ 8.2 / 10	Days Gone is a very nice game. It's not original or perfect, but it's really enjoyable from the title screen to the ending credits.	PS4
We Got This Covered - Todd Rigney	80 ~ 4 / 5 stars	Days Gone overcomes loose controls, familiar mechanics and gameplay loops, and a well-worn setting to tell a very relatable story featuring one of my favorite characters in recent years.	PS4
Attack of the Fanboy - William Schwartz	80 ~ 4 / 5 stars	Days Gone offers a dangerous and desolate world full of bad things and bad people. if you're willing to put up with some shortcomings the reward is one of the best open-world zombie apocalypse games to date.	PS4
VideoGamer - Joshua Wise	80 ~ 8 / 10	Days Gone is a grim, beautiful B-movie; its action and writing are full of pulpy thrills, and by the end of it, I found myself liking a character called Deacon St. John – an achievement in itself.	PS4
PlayStation Universe - John-Paul Jones	80 ~ 8 / 10	Though a touch derivative and brought low on occasion by the odd technical issue, Days Gone is a sprawling and handsomely made open-world adventure that contains a surprising amount of heart and ample amounts of violence to match.	PS4
Hardcore Gamer - Kevin Dunsmore	80 ~ 4 / 5	Like the winding roads of Farewell Wilderness that contain both serenity and danger, Days Gone is a journey with a winding range of emotions.	PS4
Digitally Downloaded - Harvard L	80 ~ 4 / 5 stars	For its strengths and its faults, I kept finding myself drawn back to the game’s evocative narrative all the way through.	PS4
Gaming Nexus - Randy Kalista	80 ~ 8 / 10	It took a few hours to get under my skin. But now that I've gotten into a rhythm with its post-apocalyptic horror-survivalist aspects, Days Gone puts on a good little self-serious road drama.	PS4
COGconnected - Paul Sullivan	80 ~ 80 / 100	Is it an excellent open world game? Not quite. Is it worth playing? Oh yeah. The gorgeous and well-built environment is a treat, and the mechanical twists on the Sony’s first party formula make Days Gone a nice spring surprise.	PS4
Game Rant - Anthony Taormina	80 ~ 4 / 5 stars	Days Gone offers a lot of excitement when facing off against its Freaker hordes as Deacon St. John, but some generic open world elements and gameplay hold it back.	PS4
Spiel Times - Caleb Wysor	80 ~ 8 / 10	Nothing else quite captures the experience of being hunted by a mammoth horde or finally taking them down with equal parts brain and brawn. Yes, it has its issues, there are some annoyances and oversights, but they aren’t enough to keep me from recommending Days Gone to just about everyone with a PS4.	PS4
Game Revolution - Jason Faulkner	80 ~ 4 / 5 stars	This is a game that doesn’t innovate or do anything new. Instead, it’s one of the titles you start seeing near the end of a console generation that polishes the ideas that other games have introduced. The story is a slow-burn, but once you start getting into it, you’ll want to finish the ride.	PS4
Game Informer - Matthew Kato	78 ~ 7.8 / 10	Surviving the zombie throngs can be a thrilling experience, but the story and open-world structure come in second	PS4
Merlin'in Kazanı - Ahmet Özçilingir - Turkish	77 ~ 77 / 100	I played Days Gone, I thought that if Sony Bend Studio had more time to develop this game, it could be something way better than this product, even one of the best games of this generation.	PS4
Easy Allies - Brandon Jones	75 ~ 7.5 / 10	Standing out from the ravenous zombie genre, Days Gone brings a lot of heart and massive open-world freaker hordes. It's ambitious in the length of its campaign and the size of its map, but some things just don't work as they should. Written	PS4
Mysca - Mysca	75 ~ 75 / 100	Once you get over the initial bump in the road, the rich world of Days Gone is easy to enjoy and can keep you occupied for hours on end. The concept is not groundbreaking, but it’s executed with intent and purpose. Featuring gameplay integrated well enough with its post apocalyptic setting to make it a special experience.	PS4
Push Square - Sammy Barker	70 ~ 7 / 10	The story can drift, and the overall package isn’t quite as polished as its PS4 exclusive counterparts – but as far as gaming comfort food goes, you could feast on much worse snacks than this.	PS4
TrustedReviews - Ryan Jones	70 ~ 3.5 / 5 stars	Days Gone has a couple of fantastic ideas, including the blockbuster horde battles that offer some of the most heart-pounding zombie spectacles I've seen yet.	PS4
USgamer - Mike Williams	70 ~ 3.5 / 5 stars	The zombie apocalypse is well-trodden territory and the open-world spin of Days Gone can only differentiate it so much. There's a strong narrative focus, but Deacon St. John doesn't carry that weight as deftly as he could. There are highlights and fun tools available within, but the game doesn't push those forward first, leaving the players to deal with some tedium first. Days Gone is a great foundation for something better though, so hopefully Bend gets the chance to improve upon it.	PS4
GamesRadar+ - Leon Hurley	70 ~ 3.5 / 5 stars	Days Gone is a keen and engaging open world zombie adventure despite some issues.	PS4
New Game Network - Alex Varankou	66 ~ 66 / 100	Days Gone is a fairly typical open world post apocalyptic survival title that offers a few memorable mechanics and story beats, but is eventually consumed by genre clichés. Poor technical performance further hinders its chances of survival, but perhaps with time that wound will heal.	PS4
CGMagazine - Preston Dozsa	65 ~ 6.5 / 10	Days Gone is an above average open-world game that is brought down by a weak first act, poor shooting, and a lot of technical issues.	PS4
Critical Hit - Alessandro Barbosa	65 ~ 6.5 / 10	Days Gone has moments where it reveals its brilliance, but they're buried under a litany of uninteresting and repetitive missions and numerous technical issues.	PS4
GameZone - Cade Onder	65 ~ 6.5 / 10	As it stands, Days Gone isn't some abomination but it's not up to par with what we expect from a Sony first party game. It has significant redeemable qualities to be found in its story but still fails to deliver a tight, focused narrative without loads of extra fat or a compelling enough gameplay experience.	PS4
IGN - Lucy O'Brien	65 ~ 6.5 / 10	Fun in small bursts, but Days Gone's repetition, bland world, and meandering story make for an unremarkable ride.	PS4
GamingTrend - Bryan Lawver	60 ~ 60 / 100	Days Gone features some potentially interesting community-building mechanics and the appeal of a bikers vs. zombies game is hard to ignore, but it never lets its best ideas take center stage. Instead, it focuses on lackluster combat and a repetitive set of missions. It moves along on the kind of momentum that exists almost by default in big open world packed with activities, but I could never get fully engaged, partly due to its dragging pace, scattershot story, off-putting protagonist, and frequent bugs.	PS4
Destructoid - Chris Carter	60 ~ 6 / 10	Days Gone ups the open world survival ante but doesn't have enough cash to pay for the rest of the rounds of betting, making it one of the weirdest AAA releases in recent memory. If enough people buy it, its stronger moments will likely be immortalized in YouTube videos for years to come. Yet, most people will probably remember it as the open world zombie game that didn't bring much mechanically to the table. With some tweaks to the pacing, it could have reconciled its warm, frank look at humanity and been something special.	PS4
TheSixthAxis - Jim Hargreaves	60 ~ 6 / 10	There are glimmers of true excellence here; small stretches of Days Gone can be especially fun and polished. However, the assembly of these various parts suffers from the lack of an engaging story, compelling characters, or an open world that feels organic and worth exploring.	PS4
Gameblog - Rami Bououd - French	60 ~ 6 / 10	For sure, Days Gone have a good story and characters that are pleasant to follow. But missions and gameplay are too repetitive, AI is too silly, bugs and freezes too frequent (even on PS4 Pro) to have us considering it as a fully enjoyable game. Too bad.	PS4
Twinfinite - Zhiqing Wan	60 ~ 3 / 5	Days Gone is an alright first step for Bend Studio. It’s a competent open world game with massive, diverse environments for you to explore, even if there aren’t actually a lot of interesting things to do. It’s also very vanilla, and there just isn’t much substance beneath its glossy surface.	PS4
Gadgets 360 - Rishi Alwani	60 ~ 6 / 10	As it stands, Days Gone is a flawed PS4 exclusive that delivers less than what we've come to expect from an open-world game in 2019. There's fun to be had here, but it's layered with so much busywork that playing it feels like a chore more often than not.	PS4
Stevivor - Steve Wright	60 ~ 6 / 10	While patches may be able to salvage quite a few of its bugs, there are some questionable design decisions that certainly can’t be fixed as easily.	PS4
Guardian - Keith Stuart	60 ~ 3 / 5 stars	This is a game of fun and fury – it’s thrilling at times, but it signifies nothing.	PS4
Screen Rant - Ty Sheedlo	60 ~ 3 / 5 stars	Days Gone follows every post-apocalypse cue in the book. It does combat, level design, and bike riding well but struggles to overcome a basic story.	PS4
Metro GameCentral - GameCentral	60 ~ 6 / 10	A peculiarly constructed open world zombie game that sidelines its most unique features in favour of generic action and unengaging storytelling.	PS4
Digital Trends - Steven Petite	50 ~ 2.5 / 5 stars	Days Gone is a generic open world zombie fest riddled with tedium and performance issues.	PS4
GameSpot - Kallie Plagge	50 ~ 5 / 10	Days Gone has its exciting moments, but it fails to say anything interesting or meaningful about its story and characters.	PS4
Daily Dot - AJ Moser	40 ~ 2 / 5 stars	The apocalypse has never been more aimless than in Days Gone	PS4
Slant Magazine - Steven Scaife	30 ~ 1.5 / 5 stars	The game meets the baseline level of quality we might expect from a big-budgeted joint, yet it remains a tiresome, empty experience.	PS4

​
Thanks OpenCritic for the quick initial review import formatting

Part 1 of the history of Peckham in south London. From the early Peckham Boys era to Zone 2.
Peckham is one of the most legendary ends in London, and probably had the biggest impact on UK Rap music from the 2000s onwards. The history of the Peckham Boys goes back decades, and everything posted here barely scratches the surface of their history.
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• For Part 2 of the 'History of Peckham' click here
• For Part 3 of the 'History of Peckham' click here

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Context

The Peckham Boys gang originated in the estates of Peckham (SE15), in the borough of Southwark.
A large area of Peckham - between the town centre and Burgess Park - is dominated by council estates (public housing complexes). The main cluster is called the 'Five Estates' and consists of the North Peckham Estate, Gloucester Grove Estate, Willowbrook Estate, Camden Estate and Sumner Estate:

• Image: Aerial view of the 'Five Estates' area of Peckham

Nearby are the Goldsmith Estate, Bells Gardens Estate (Yellow Brick), Acorn Estate, Friary Estate, Ledbury Estate, Southampton Way Estate and several others. The Peckham 'frontline' is the area around Peckham High Street, including local landmarks like Peckham Pulse and the Crackerjack store.
The estates of Peckham were notorious and suffered underinvestment, deprivation, unemployment and crime. The area was termed 'Vietnam' due to the level of violence there, which is the origin of the hood nickname 'Pecknarm' (Peckham + Vietnam).

• Video: 1987 news footage on the problems of the North Peckham Estate
• Video: driving around the Gloucester Grove Estate in the late 1980s

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1990s

Evolution of the Peckham Boys
Originally, several of the major Peckham estates had their own individual sets: the Peckham Grove Boys, the North Peckham Boys, the Gloucester Boys, the Yellow Brick Massive, the Outlaws and the Acorn Boys. The earliest sets date back to the 1970s, and are the origins of the Peckham Boys gang.
By the 1990s those sets had evolved, and the two main sets in Peckham were the Firehouse Crew and the Younger Peckham Boys - also known as Pecky Man Soldiers. Other groups of Peckham included the yardie sets the Sunrise Crew and the Spanglers. Collectively these sets were known as the 'Peckham Boys' . There was sometimes friction between the Peckham sets but it was never deep, and they were united whenever opposition tried to slide on Peckham territory.
Alliances and rivalries
Peckham's main war was with the Ghetto Boys, a gang headquartered in New Cross and controlling Lewisham borough. Their other major conflict was with Brixton. The decades-long Peckham v Ghetto and Peckham v Brixton conflicts were some of the longest and bloodiest gang wars that London has seen. Peckham's main allies were Dulwich (Circle Crew) and Walworth (Wooly Road), and they often used to roll as one.
Legendary members
YPB/PMS members included the boss Mad X, Tipsy, Timer, Splash, Joker, Titch, Timer, Rampage, Rage, Temps, Twitch and others. Firehouse Crew members included Rhymer, Mixer, Major, Beans, Breaker, Player, Skipper, Fame and many others. Peckham yardies included the likes of Kirk, Bigga and a bag of others. The Peckham-Circle linkup included names like Mad Danny and Big Lee, legends in both Peckham and Dulwich. It goes without saying that there's many more names from that era of Peckham legends.
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Early 2000s

In the early 2000s the Peckham Boys had consolidated as a single gang and its sets were structured by age. The most active sets by now were:

• the Peckham Boys (PB) set - youngins of the PMS/Firehouse generation
• their youngers, the Younger Peckham Boys (YPB) set
• their youngers, the Younger Younger Peckham Boys (YYPB) set

Prominent PB members included Knuckles, Raver, X-Fighter, Crimer, Rocker, Giggler, Breaker, Glamour and many others. Prominent YPB members included Killa Ki, Diamond, Timmy, Tiny Ryder, Young Snap, Motion, Taz and many others. Below are very brief examples of what went down in Peckham during this period.
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Peckham nightclub shootings
Peckham had been notorious for gang violence for decades, and this reputation continued into 2000s. National headlines were made in July 2000 when up to 9 people were shot outside the Chicago's nightclub on Peckham High Street:

• Article: The Independent - Gunman fires into club crowd and injures eight
• Article: BBC News - Nine injured in 'Yardie' shooting

Six months later, a man was shot dead in a double shooting outside the same nightclub:

• Article: The Telegraph - Man shot dead outside nightclub

The nightclub was shut down soon afterwards. Giggs refers to this nightclub in the 2007 track Greaziest Freestyle: "Don't think I'm coming here to rave if you see me 'round the back, big strap inside Chicagos"
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Death of Damilola Taylor
Peckham made international headlines in November 2000 with the murder of Damilola Taylor, a 10-year old boy that lived on the North Peckham Estate. He was stabbed to death by two 16-year old brothers & members of the Untouchables, a small but old set within Peckham:

• Article: The Guardian - Death of a schoolboy
• Article: CNN - Arrests over London boy's killing

Nine days before Damilola's murder, a 17-year old guy was also stabbed to death on the North Peckham Estate:

• Article: The Guardian - Earlier Peckham stabbing revealed

The schoolboy murder, plus the general level of gang activity in the area, put a hard media focus on the amount of senseless violence in Peckham:

• Article: The Telegraph - Life and death in the Peckham ghetto
• Article: The Guardian - Real lives: Gang violence in Peckham

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2003 Peckham Civil War
Even though the Peckham Boys and Ghetto Boys were involved in a multi-generational war, there were some instances of Peckham and Ghetto members that fw each other. The most prominent example at that time was Spender from Peckham (a younger brother of Giggler) and Younger Kraver from Ghetto (a younger brother of Kraver) - they used to roll together and make money. That type of association was rare though, as the two gangs remained at war with each other.
In 2003 the first 'civil war' in Peckham kicked off because the Peckham Boys were divided over the presence of Mender. Mender was from Lewisham sides but defected from the Ghetto Boys and started rolling with Peckham. Some YPB members trusted him and some didn't - claiming that he was still rolling with the Ghetto Boys and even robbed a Peckham member. This caused tension between Peckham members, including stabbings. In September 2003, Mender was stabbed to death while posted outside the Old Kent Road McDonald's by some YPB members:

• Article: Evening Standard - Burger bar killer faces jail
• Article: BBC News - Life term for McDonald's murderer

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Death of Tipsy
Peckham legend Tipsy was released from prison after doing 3 years of a 10 year sentence for firearms offences. Soon afterwards in July 2004 he was rammed off his motorcycle by gunmen on Camberwell High Street, who then stood over him and gave him five headshots. His murder remains unsolved to this day:

• Article: Evening Standard - Assassinated in the street
• Article: Surrey Live - Convict shot in gang slaying

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Shootout in the financial district
In October 2004 the Urban Music Awards was held at the Barbican Centre. Peckham Boys and Ghetto Boys members were local and had a shootout outside the venue, in which 18 shots were fired. This was the first ever shootout within London's 'Square Mile' financial district, one of the world's financial centres:

• Article: Evening Standard - 18 shots fired in Barbican gang fight
• Article: BBC News - Woman saved when bra stops bullet

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2005

The Peckham Boys were also known as Black Gang due to the gang's association with the colour black. From the mid-2000s, the main Peckham sets also began going by other aliases:

• the Peckham Boys (PB) → Spare No 1 (SN1)
• the Younger Peckham Boys (YPB) → Shoot Instant (SI)
• the Younger Younger Peckham Boys (YYPB) → Pecknarm Young Gunners (PYG)

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Giggs release from prison & first SN1 mixtape
In early 2005, SN1 member Giggler - now shortened to Giggs - was released from Brixton Prison after serving a couple years for firearm possession. He had dabbled in music in the past, but his jailtime made him determined to take music seriously. Not long afterwards, SN1 released their first project: the 'Bloody Raw' mixtape.

• Audio: Giggs - No No No Freestyle/Fresh Out The Pen | Track 5

At this time Giggs took part in an SN1 block freestyle in Peckham for the Rap DVD. During the clip Giggs raps verses from the 'Bloody Raw' mixtape. The footage is famous for handguns being shown, and for Giggs not flinching when a handgun is fired:

• Video: Rap DVD - Pecknarm Freestyle

In this era Giggs also released tracks on other people's mixtapes, a couple examples:

• Audio: Giggs - Got A Gun Again
• Audio: Giggs - I'll Bang

At a time when Grime was the dominant sound of music on the streets, Giggs's style was very different for its time.
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Death of Ruthless
In August 2005, four YPB members aged between 14 and 16 - Bertz, Tiny Ryder, Timmy and Diamond - stormed a christening on the Wood Dene Estate in order to rob the attendees (and pay back a debt to Big Larry, a Peckham older). During the robbery Bertz shot his gun in the air, and a ricochet bullet hit a woman in the head killing her:

• Article: The Independent - Woman shot dead while cradling baby after gunmen gatecrash christening party
• Article: The Mirror - Christening: Police question boy aged 14

A couple of weeks later, Bertz ambushed Ruthless (an 18-year old high ranking female in Peckham) and stabbed her to death for disrespecting him. Bertz was given a 30-year prison sentence for the two murders. Ryder, Timmy and Diamond were given indeterminate manslaughter sentences for the christening incident, and were deported after their sentences:

• Article: BBC News - Life for teenage double murderer
• Article: Evening Standard - Refugee teenager to serve at least 30 years for two murders in 15 days

Ruthless was a loved person in Peckham. In this 2006 cameraphone footage you can see young Peckham members pay their respects at her grave. In early 2008, Giggs released the 'Ruthless Freestyle' titled in her honour (but more on that track later).
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2006

SN1 drop 'The Beginning' mixtape
In early 2006, Giggs and other SN1 members dropped the 'SN1: The Beginning' mixtape. This is the first mixtape in which production was handled by their in-house production team at Unit 10 Studios. Their dark sound would go on to have a large impact on the future of UK Rap. A few classics:

• Audio: SN1 (Giggs, Kyze, Joe Grind) - Niggaz Don't Know | Track 1
• Audio: SN1 (Giggs, Slums, Kyze, Fem Fel, Buck, Foss) - Champions League | Track 11

Another classic SN1/Unit 10 track from the same period:

• Audio: SN1 (Giggs, Slums, Tiny Grem, Colours) - Born Alone Die Alone

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Hot September for Ghetto v Peckham
In September 2006, a group of up to 40 Shoot Instant (YPB) members went on a rideout to the Woodpecker Estate in New Cross - the main Ghetto Boys block. A brother of Ghetto members Smiley and Kraver ended up getting shot and stabbed to death. Another man was attacked in nearby Deptford but survived:

• Article: The Independent - Gang war returns to streets where Damilola died

That murder on Woodpecker remains unsolved, as did five other murders on the Woodpecker Estate within the past 5 years at the time (5 unsolved murders in 5 years on a single block - when people say the 2000s in London was hot, they aren't lying):

• Article: News Shopper - New Cross mother speaks out over Woodpecker estate unsolved murders.

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Ghetto v Peckham war causes Peckham schools to be evacuated
Later in September 2006, police received 'specific intelligence' that the Ghetto Boys would carry out drive-by shootings at Peckham schools at the end of the school day (in order to smoke YPB members as they left). Police decided to immediately evacuate Peckham Academy and Harris Girls Academy in the middle of the school day, before the plot could be carried out. The schools reopened in the following week:

• Article: Londonist - Peckham Academy reopens
• Article: BBC News - Peckham schools reopen after gang threat
• Article: Evening Standard - Battle of the Peckham: Rival Gangs bringing fear to South London

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Giggs drops the 'Hollow Grind' mixtape
In 2006, Giggs and brother Joe Grind dropped the 'Hollow Grind' mixtape. This is the first of four collaborative mixtapes that Giggs dropped between 2006 and 2009. The mixtape includes several classics:

• Audio: Giggs ft. Fem Fel, Sizzle, Tiny Grem - Load Em Up | Track 1 - "Niggas think their kids are cool coz they're outta Pecks? I'll hang around their school like an alphabet 🔫😈"
• Audio: Giggs - Love To Make G's | Track 8 - London hood classic
• Audio: Giggs ft. Dubz - Pushin | Track 16

SN1 and OTB (Wooly Road) collaborated on the track 'Up In The Shoobz', and released a music video for the song. The video was shown on Channel U (a channel for underground music videos) but was blocked from the mainstream channels like MTV Base:

• Video: SN1 & OTB (Giggs, Buck, Kyze) - Up In The Shoobz | Track 7

By this time, Giggs and the SN1 movement had a buzz in the streets of London. Giggs was trying to make moves in the music industry but he was blackballed by radio and television (thanks to the police) because of his gang ties/content. He refused to water-down his content in order to blow. Giggs released his frustration on Hollow Grind in 'Fuck Da Industry':

• Audio: Giggs - F Da Industry | Track 11 - "Ima give it to 'em raw, so fuck the industry. They won't let us in? We'll be kicking in the door"

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Peckham Boys acknowledged by Time Out Magazine
In November 2006, Time Out magazine named the Peckham Boys as one of the 100 most influential people or organisations in London: Time Out Magazine - London's 100 top movers and shakers 2006
Time Out magazine is a major international publication, with a circulation of millions, so their inclusion of the Peckham Boys was a big deal. A good demonstration of how 'big' the Peckham Boys were, even in mainstream society.
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2007

At this point, prominent members of Shoot Instant (YPB) included Snap Capone, Killa Ki, Nuttie, Butch, Blacks, Billy Da Kid, Taz, Prover, Tem, Capo, Ross etc.
Prominent members of PYG (YYPB) included Shocks, Tiny Boost, Young Spend, Young Lap, Jim Jones, Young Killa, Young Butch etc.

• Audio: PYG (Young Killa) - Da Family - a 2007 roll call of PYG members
• Audio: GAS (Shallow) - Da Family - a 2007 roll call of Brixton's GAS (their opps) in response

PYG members looked up to SI, and both sets looked up to the SN1 bosses. From 2007 onwards, SI and PYG started to become very active in music.

• Audio: PYG (Young Killa, Young Lap, Shocks, Tiny Boost) - PYG 3Style

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Deaths of Javarie Crighton and Michael Dosunmu
In February 2007, 21-year old Javarie Crighton and 15-year old Michael Dosunmu were murdered in internal Peckham dispute over money. Members of a group that had successfully pulled off bank robberies were arguing about the split of the proceeds. Michael Dosunmu was shot dead in his bed in a case of mistaken identity, the gunmen had meant to get his older brother (who they believe didn't give them their fair share):

• Article: The Guardian - Schoolboy was killed by 'spray and pray' machine gun
• Article: The Times - Peckham killings are linked, police say, as latest victim is named

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Giggs drops the 'Hollowman Meetz Blade' mixtape
In early 2007, Giggs dropped the 'Hollowman Meetz Blade' mixtape in collaboration with Blade Brown. This mixtape continued to advance Giggs' buzz in the streets, and included several classic UK gang/rap tracks. The mixtape is considered a classic in the UK scene:

• Video: Giggs & Blade Brown ft. Fem Felon - Sink A Boat | Track 12 - London hood classic
• Audio: Giggs & Blade Brown - Boom Exclusive | Track 2
• Audio: Giggs - Ice Cream | Track 9
• Audio: Giggs - Pecknarm Freestyle | Track 11
• Audio: Giggs - Killzone | Track 20

Sidebar: 'Hollow Meetz Blade' and 'Sink A Boat' were referenced by 67 in their 2016 track 'Lets Lurk': "Like Hollow Meetz Blade, manaman got guns that'll sink down a boat".
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Peckham boss Raver jailed
In July 2007, Raver (SN1) was caught in possession of a Mac-10 submachine gun, 3 handguns, 2 silencers, 379 rounds of ammunition and thousands of pounds worth of drugs. Raver was a Peckham boss and very close to Giggs. Raver is referred to as "Carlton" in Giggs' lyrics. He received a minimum 10-year sentence:

• Article: Evening Standard - Peckham gang leader faces jail
• Article: The Times - Jail for leader of drug gang who kept huge gun cache in car boot

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Young Spend jailed for shooting
In October 2007, 14-year old member Young Spend (PYG) shot a man in Peckham for disrespecting him. He was convicted of attempted murder the following year and jailed on an indeterminate sentence:

• Article: BBC News - Boy detained for revenge shooting

Young Spend appeared in one track in 2007 before being arrested:

• Audio: SI & PYG (Tiny Boost, Billy Da Kid, Young Spend) - The End

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New Cross shootout changes UK legal history
In October 2007 there was a shootout widely reported involve Ghetto Boys and Peckham Boys members. During the shootout, a Polish nurse was hit by a stray bullet and died:

• Article: The Telegraph - Woman, 26, shot dead after being caught in crossfire
• Article: The Independent - Innocent Polish carer killed by a stray bullet in gang shooting

The police caught Ghetto member Toner - one participant in the shootout - but they didn't catch the person who actually fired the fatal shot. Toner did not snitch on the person he was having a shootout with. The Supreme Court of decided to convict Toner of murder as if he fired the fatal shot, even though he didn't. In English law, this landmark ruling is known as Regina v Armel Gnango
At the same time in SE London, the Woolwich Boys shot dead a man in his car - because he answered "Peckham" when they asked him where he's from:

• Evening Standard: Shot teenager 'a victim of gang war'
• News Shopper: Student murdered in Plumstead for being from Peckham

In Greenwich Borough, Woolwich were beefing heavily with Thamesmead (allies of Peckham).
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Shoot Instant & PYG drop the 'Blackgang Broadway Vol.1' mixtape
In 2007, Shoot Instant and their youngers PYG dropped their first project together: the 'Blackgang Broadway Vol.1' mixtape. With SN1 (Peckham bosses) making noise in the music game, this is the first time that their youngins made their mark. Two tracks from the mixtape:

• Audio: SI & PYG (Killa Ki, Ross, Billy Da Kid) - I Rep Pecknarm | Track 1
• Audio: SI & PYG (Shocks, Billy Da Kid, Prover, Snap Capone) - This Is Pecknarm | Track 24

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Giggs drops the 'Ard Bodied' mixtape
In December 2007, Giggs (SN1) dropped the 'Ard Bodied' mixtape in collaboration with Dubz. The mixtape included 'Talking The Hardest' and 'Pain is the Essence', which are considered all-time UK anthems, alongside multiple hood classics. A selection of classic Ard Bodied tracks:

• Video: Giggs & Dubz - Ting Dem | Track 1
• Audio: Giggs & Dubz - Pain is the Essence | Track 6 - London anthem
• Video: Giggs - Talking The Hardest | Track 9 - UK anthem
• Audio: Giggs & Dubz ft. Gunna - 28 Grams | Track 10
• Audio: Giggs - List Hello | Track 13 - very popular with the ladies
• Video: Giggs ft. Tiny Grem - Soldier Riddim | Track 14
• Video: Giggs ft. Joe Grind - Greaziest Freestyle | Track 17
• Video: Giggs - Be Careful | Track 21

Ard Bodied is generally considered the most influential mixtape to drop in the UK scene. It was the first time that UK 'gang' rap (Road Rap) broke into the mainstream, and marked the shift in general popularity from Grime to UK Rap:

• Ed Sheeran tweet in June 2010: "ard bodied, it's emotional right now"
• Chip tweet in May 2011: "Sheeze! ARD BODIED was a moment for UK RAP!!!"
• Skepta tweet in March 2012: "Still... Till today, Giggs & Dubz's #ArdBodied mixtape is a uk classic."
• Don Strapzy tweet in May 2012: "Free Giggs. Listenin 2 Ard Bodied. I remember this tape shit inspired me to start Rappin. SN1 n dat whole movement der done a lot for UK Rap"
• Burna Boy tweet in June 2014: "Dubz/Giggs - Pain is the Essence. This is a song that saw me through the darkest nd hardest times of my life."
• Afro B tweet in February 2015: "Giggs - talking the hardest will never die. He don't even need to make another tune. UK Rap general"

It's hard to underestimate the impact Ard Bodied had on the culture. It had youngins in every block wanting to rap that gang shit and rep their block through music. From this point, UK 'gang' rap (Road Rap) - the foundation of the UK Drill scene - started to take off in London.
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2008

In 2008 the Shoot Instant set split into two branches:

• The S.I. members based on the Aylesbury Estate (Snap Capone etc) remained as S.I
• The S.I. members based in the Peckham blocks (Killa Ki etc) formed OPB

S.I. and OPB moved as two different sets within the Peckham Boys, but they were all still brothers.

• Audio: SN1 & OPB (Tiny Grem, Giggs, Capo) - Pecknarm Da Narm

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End of the Peckham Boys v Ghetto Boys war
For a few years the Ghetto Boys had undergone major internal divisions, including the murder of leader Sparkz in 2006 by another Ghetto member. These events caused a big shift in the street politics of South London, with Lewisham dividing and fighting amongst itself.
By 2008 the decades-long beef between the Peckham Boys and Ghetto Boys was over. The end of the beef was publicly 'announced' by Giggs when he dropped the 'Ruthless Freestyle' in early 2008:

• Video: Giggs - Ruthless Freestyle - "Ghetto v Peckham? I ain't on that dead beef... so I holla at my motherfucking nigga Smiley"

That was a major moment in South London street history, with maybe the bloodiest gang war London has seen officially coming to a close. From that moment, it became safe to play Giggs's music publicly in Lewisham 😂

• Young Adz (DBE) tweet in April 2012: "When Giggs sed 'Ghetto vs Peckham I aint on dat dead beef' everybody in da hood starting banging Giggs in public lol"
• Rapman tweet in November 2013: "Ghetto v Peckham I aint on that dead beef"

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Giggs drops the 'Best of Giggs 2' compilation mixtape
In early 2008, Giggs released the 'Best of Giggs 2' mixtape. The mixtape is a compilation of classic Giggs verses from 2005-2007, alongside some new releases. The last track is one of Giggs' best freestyles:

• Audio: Giggs - End Of Season 2

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Giggs is banned by police from Lil Wayne concert
The Metropolitan Police were determined to stop Giggs career in music. Despite being the hottest artist in the streets, venues weren't allowed to book him, and television & radio were pressured not to play his music.
In early 2008, Lil Wayne was arguably the hottest rapper in the world, and in March he had a headline concert in London. Giggs was booked as the opening act for Lil Wayne, and the sold-out crowd were there to see Giggs as much as they were to see Wayne. At the last minute, the police blocked Giggs from performing. The crowd was so angry that they started moving unruly. Lil Wayne was hit with a bottle and stormed off stage, cancelling the show. This footage making shockwaves around the rap world:

• Video: Lil Wayne gets hit by a bottle!
• Article: The Guardian - When Lil Wayne couldn't handle London

Giggs then addressed these incidents by releasing the freestyle 'Banned from Lil Wayne':

• Audio: Giggs - Banned From Lil Wayne - "I'ma come in rage, they said they'd stop the whole show if I come on stage..."

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SI, OPB and PYG drop the 'Blackgang Broadway Vol.2' mixtape
In 2008, SI/OPB and PYG continued making movements in music, releasing the 'Blackgang Broadway Vol.2' mixtape. The mixtape included the classic track 'Gunshot Riddim', which included 8 Bar verses from 10 different members:

• Video: SI & PYG - Gunshot Riddim | Track 1

Two other music videos were made for tracks on the project:

• Video: SI & PYG (Prover, Young Killa) - Made Niggas | Track 5
• Video: SI (Snap Capone) - Freestyle | Track 18

In the summer Shoot Instant members released classic music video filmed on their block (Aylesbury Estate):

• Video: Shoot Instant (Snap Capone, Blacks, Nuttie) ft. Troopz - I Ain't Heard Of You

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Peckham 'Gunshot Riddim' v Brixton 'Bullet Riddim'
With the war between Ghetto and Peckham over, the war between Brixton (OC/GAS) and Peckham (SI/PYG) started cracking in 2008.
That summer there were back-and-forth shootings between OC and SI members. In one incident, OC rode out on Walworth Road and caught Snap Capone (SI) and Butch (SI) slipping. Snap and Butch ran into the Costcutter store and OC shot at them from the outside, but ended up killing a civilian. That made big media headlines:

• Article: The Telegraph - Teenager shot dead in Costcutter supermarket in London
• Article: The Guardian - Teenager shot dead in London store was innocent bystander

Not long afterwards, OC/GAS released a response track to SI/PYG - Gunshot Riddim in which OC members mocked Snap and Butch for running in the above incident: "remember what we flew in Wooly Road" ... "had you running in the shop like you're buying suttin" ... "my dargs only run when they see the riot van" (etc): OC/GAS - Bullet Riddim
Gunshot Riddim v Bullet Riddim was the start of the back-and-forth diss music videos between Brixton (OC/GAS) and Peckham (SI/PYG). Cracking on the streets and over Youtube. As I stated before, this era was the origins of what we now call the UK Drill scene.
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SN1 and Boomblast release 'Welcome 2 Boomzville' mixtape
In the run-up to Giggs' debut album, SN1 released the 'Welcome 2 Boomzville' mixtape - entirely produced by SN1 producer Boomblast. The mixtape included various street classics:

• Video: SN1 (Giggs, Fem Fel, Gunna D) - Do Dis Ting | Track 1
• Video: PYG (Tiny Boost, Young Lap, Tiny Darks) - Who U Talking 2 | Track 14
• Audio: Giggs ft. Dubz - Do or Die | Track 15 - personally my favourite Giggs verse ever
• Audio: Giggs ft. Blade Brown - Take It Back | Track 17
• Audio: Spender ft. Fem Fel - Lights Off | Track 18

SN1's allies OTB (Wooly Road) released their first project: the 'Woolyhood' mixtape:

• Video: OTB (Buck, Fix Dot'M) - Woolyhood | Track 9 - video filmed outside Bagel King
• Audio: Fix Dot'M ft. Giggs - Psycho Riddim | Track 10

​
Giggs releases his debut album
On 4 August 2008, Giggs released his debut album 'Walk In Da Park' through his independent label SN1 Records. The album cemented the rise of Giggs within the UK scene after his run of mixtapes (Hollow Grind, Hollow Meets Blade & Ard Bodied) made him king in the streets.

• Audio: Giggs - Intro/Black Bandana Town | Track 1
• Video: Giggs - Uummm | Track 2
• Video: Giggs - Saw | Track 8
• Audio: Giggs ft. Kyze - Rat-A-Tat-Tat | Track 12
• Video: Giggs - You Raised Me | Track 15 - a mother's day anthem
• Video: Giggs ft. Tiny Boost - Let Em Ave It | Track 17
• Audio: Giggs ft. Joe Grind, Kyze & Gunna D - Test Out Da Nine (Remix) | Track 18

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Ghetto Boys and Peckham Boys linkup
In August 2008, Killa Ki (OPB) arranged the linkup of Peckham Boys and Ghetto Boys members for the Notting Hill Carnival. Up to 180 members from both gangs linked up and started making their way to the carnival, but the police stopped them before they could reach it:

• Article: Metro - Carnival gang ‘stopped’

Killa Ki addressed the Ghetto-Peckham linkup in the track Krept & Konan feat. SI (Killa Ki, Snap Capone, Nuttie) - Let Em Ave It: "I organised Ghetto linking Narm, I made history. Darg I'm a boss in the Narm. It was a South East Link Up, anyhow we got Carni it would've been nuts"
The following video includes news reports and footage of the Ghetto-Peckham linkup:

• Video: Ghetto Boys 2 Peckham Boys - South East Link Up - Carnival

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Flying squad detain Peckham robbery members
It was previously mentioned that Javarie Crighton and Michael Dosunmu were murdered in 2007 during a dispute between members of the Peckham armed robbery team. In September 2008, the police arrested seven members of the gang, including the likes of Moaner.
Police suspected them of committing 120 robberies and called their criminal enterprise "prolific". It took 150 police officers to conduct the raids on the Peckham Boys and arrest 7 members:

• Article: Evening Standard - Seven held in swoop on Peckham Boys gang
• Article: The Guardian - Seven held in swoop on armed robbery suspects

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Giggs becomes first ever winner of the 'Best International Act' at the BET Awards
In Autumn, Giggs was nominated for as 'Best International Act' at the BET Hip hop Awards alongside grime artists Skepta, Chip and Ghetts (much more established/mainstream artists):

• Video: 2008 BET Hip Hop Awards - UK Cypher (Chip, Giggs, Ghetts, Skepta)

Fans voted for the winner and Giggs won, becoming the first ever artist to win the 'Best International Act'. This was a big deal, because despite the police applying serious pressure to stop Giggs, he was still able to rise to the top. It was also another demonstration of the fall of Grime and the rise of UK Rap. Here's a video of Tim Westwood congratulating Giggs for the win:

• Video: BBC 1Xtra - Westwood/Giggs live phone call from Atlanta
• Video: Footage of Giggs in Atlanta for the BET Hip Hop Awards

Even though Giggs won the BET Award, when he came back to the UK the pressure applied by the police intensified. In frustration, Giggs released the 'Last Straw' freestyle in which he directly dissed Ray Paul (BBC executive) and Jasmine Dotwala (MTV executive):

• Video: Giggs - The Last Straw

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Death of Termz
In October 2008, 20-year old SN1 member Termz was shot dead as he left his house by Brixton olders. This further heated up the Brixton and Peckham beef at the time:

• Article: Metro - Man shot in Kennington amid ‘hail of gunfire’ at lunchtime
• Article: Daily Mail - Man, 20, who was shot in busy street by 'up to three gunmen'

Termz made one music video before his death:

• Video: Termz (SN1) - Touched Nobody

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Younger PYG members start releasing music
In late 2008, the younger generation of PYG members started releasing music videos. The young members included Tiny Snap, Young Size, M1, Stigs, CS and others. Most of the bars at this time were disses towards Brixton's OC (now 410) and GAS (now 150/GBG):

• Video: PYG (Tiny Snap, Ounce, Young Size, Tiny Sykes) - I'm Me Freestyle - "Pecky man aim up, A-Town soon get sprayed up"
• Video: PYG (Stigs, M1, Tiny Snap, Young Size) - Coming Up - "you little pricks make me laugh when you're talking cruddy"

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From 2009 onwards, the beef between Peckham (SI/PYG) and Brixton (OC/GAS) became the biggest story on roads and in the UK Rap scene. For the Brixton perspective, check The History of 410.
Part 1 is a demonstration of how Peckham gained the notorious reputation it has, and the rise of UK Rap within it.
Click here for Part 2.