Craig Donaldson's 5 favorite things of 2024

Another year, another chapter. It’s hard to believe that in a few short days, 2024 will be over. This year has been a rollercoaster, but luckily, it was filled with many new fantastic tech products. A few that stand out immediately to me are the iPhone 16 Pro, the OnePlus Pad 2 and the M4 Mac mini.

Our team at Pocket-lint has devised a great list of 2024’s best devices, apps and more. But for me, many of my favorite things this year revolved around tech products that I had been waiting for a long time to finally get. Without further ado, here are my five favorite things of 2024.

5 Indiana Jones and the Great Circle

If adventure has a name, it must be Indiana Jones

Bethesda

Since I was a kid, I have been a massive fan of Indiana Jones. So when MachineGames announced in 2021 that it was working on a new Indiana Jones game, I was immediately hyped. When the game was revealed in January, I was skeptical of its first-person perspective. Having played previous titles like Indiana Jones and the Emperor’s Tomb, my mind had always visualized an Indy game as a third-person action adventure.

However, after putting over 30 hours into the game on PC and completing the story, I can confidently say Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is the best Indy game to date. The first-person perspective works perfectly with the character, story, combat and open-world exploration. At one point during the marketing, I believe it was said, “You’re not just playing Indiana Jones. You are Indiana Jones.” And that statement is on the money. I hope Bethesda and Lucasfilm give the green light to MachineGames to make a sequel.

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Indiana Jones and the Great Circle

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is my favorite game of 2024. The game is set in 1937, and Indy is chasing after the secrets of an ancient power called the Great Circle.

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4 Alienware AW2725DF OLED monitor

Games have never looked so good

Alienware / Pocket-lint

Early in 2024, OLED monitors began catching my attention as panel manufacturers started producing worthwhile displays that didn’t cost a fortune. I had always wanted an OLED display, so after researching for several months, I got the Alienware AW2725DF, a 1440p OLED panel from Dell with a 360Hz refresh rate, for $400 off on Black Friday.

So far, I’ve played Helldivers 2, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 and Star Wars: The Old Republic on it, and they all run smoothly and look fantastic thanks to the 360Hz refresh rate and OLED’s bright and accurate colors. Adjusting to an OLED monitor has taken a bit of getting used to. One reason is the brightness, and two is the need to refresh the pixels every few hours to prevent image burn-in. Luckily, the Alienware model I bought has three years of burn-in protection, so I’m not too worried about it. I’m glad I switched to OLED and excited to try more games on it during the holidays.

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Alienware AW2725DF

The Alienware AW2725DF has transformed my gaming setup this year. Thanks to its 360Hz refresh rate and QD-OLED panel, games are as bright, colorful and smooth as ever.

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3 AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D

The best CPU I’ve ever owned

AMD / Pocket-lint

After going six years without upgrading my PC’s CPU, I decided 2024 was the year to upgrade in anticipation of some new games I was interested in, such as Helldivers 2 and Indiana Jones. I had been running an Intel Core i9-9900k, and while it had served me well, it was struggling to keep up with the demands of new games and bottlenecking my RTX 4080. After researching online, one thing seemed unanimous: the best gaming CPU to get was the Ryzen 7 7800X3D.

Although released in 2023, this chip remained at the top of the charts this year. It’s got eight cores and 96MB of L3 cache, perfect for gaming. Plus, it’s power efficient and has low cooling requirements. And it was on sale for $100 off — what more could I ask? The 7800X3D is also on AMD’s newer AM5 socket, meaning upgrade paths will be available in a few years if something better comes. The first games I tested when I got it in February were Helldivers 2 and Jedi Survivor — and wow, what a difference it made. My frame rate was nearly doubled compared to my old i9-9900k. Although its successor, the 9800X3D, came out recently, I have no regrets getting the 7800X3D this year. Gaming has never been as smooth.

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AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D

The AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D transformed my gaming PC this year. It’s an 8-core, 16-thread desktop processor, with a 5.0GHz boost clock and 96MB of L3 cache.

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2 Shōgun

An unexpected surprise this year

I watched many shows and movies this year, but Shōgun comes out on top when I reflect on which was my favorite. This is the one show this year that surprised me and something I hadn’t been waiting a long time for. The series premiered on FX earlier this year and is based on the historical fiction novel Shōgun, released in 1974 by James Clavell. It was my friend who introduced me to the show. Before I had watched it, I had never even heard of the book. But, after watching one episode, I was immediately hooked.

The show takes place in 17th century Japan and follows the adventures of John Blackthrone, an Englishman who finds himself stuck in Japan, and Lord Yoshii Toranage, the lord of Kanto and a powerful Japanese warlord. If you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend giving it a watch. It’s a fascinating story, and the 10-episode season is beautifully directed and acted. It was supposed to be a limited series, but thanks to its viewership and critical acclaim, FX has billed it for a second season.

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Shogun

Shogun seriously impressed me this year. The show follows John Blackthorne and Yoshii Toranaga and their journey together through a tumultuous time in 17th century Japan.

Release Date

February 27, 2024

Network

FX

Creator(s)

Rachel Kondo , Justin Marks

Cast

Cosmo Jarvis , Hiroyuki Sanada , Anna Sawai , Tadanobu Asano , Yûki Kedôin , Takehiro Hira , Tommy Bastow

Seasons

1

Writers

Maegan Houang , Rachel Kondo , Justin Marks , Emily Yoshida

Streaming Service(s)

Hulu

Directors

Frederick E.O. Toye , Jonathan van Tulleken

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1 Going to Scotland

A check off the bucket list

This year, my trip to Scotland was the most important thing that happened to me personally. I have deep family and cultural ties to the country, and visiting and adequately exploring it was a dream come true. Although I had been there briefly before, I didn’t have enough time to explore it properly. This year, I rectified that.

I went to Edinburgh and walked up The Royal Mile to Edinburgh Castle. The castle is over 900 years old and filled with history, and the view from it overlooking Edinburgh was spectacular. I also had a chance to visit Holyrood Palace, the Scottish Parliament and many shops and restaurants along the way. I also traveled to St. Andrews, the home of golf, and saw the famous Old Course. I didn’t get to see everything I wanted on this trip, notably the highlands and further north — so I’m already looking forward to returning.

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