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Entertainment

Dive into the messy NFT ecosystem, binge 'Yellowjackets' and other stuff to do this weekend

Don’t know what to watch this weekend? We’ve got you covered.

Dive into the messy NFT ecosystem, binge 'Yellowjackets' and other stuff to do this weekend
Image: Showtime; Devolver Digital; OpenSea

This week we're sinking (sorry) into how OpenSea is riding the NFT wave (sorry); binging "Yellowjackets" and the first part of "Ozark's" finally season; and playing a gorgeous game that was just added to Xbox Game Pass this month.

The NFT ecosystem is a huge mess

There’s been plenty written about the current state of Web3. But none quite captures the sheer level of absurdity around the NFT market quite like Edward Ongweso Jr.’s new piece that chronicles the scams, security breaches and just outright fraud that’s running rampant in the digital art space.

A deep dive on OpenSea

Russell Brandom published a deep dive this week on OpenSea, the leading NFT marketplace. It’s a great read to understand how one company found itself at the center of an apparent gold mine, and all the side effects of trafficking in unregulated online goods with ballooning price tags.

Have you watched 'Yellowjackets' yet?

I spent most of my TV watching this past week binging “Yellowjackets," the one-part-survival-horror and one-part-dark-comedy series from "Narcos" veterans Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson. It is of course an all-girl "Lord of the Flies," but with multiple timelines showing the events before, during and after a plane crash that strands a high school soccer team in the Canadian wilderness. It’s an uncanny blend of horrifying, absurd and funny all at once.

"Ozark's" final season, part one, is out

When I wasn’t watching "Yellowjackets," I was consuming the seven-episode part one of "Ozark’s" final season on Netflix. We’re back with the Byrd family’s attempts to extricate themselves from a deadly drug cartel’s clutches, all while they inevitably undermine each other’s best efforts in new and more ludicrous fashion. It doesn't feel like there’s a happy ending anywhere in sight here, but it’s still hard to not look on with excitement and horror as Jason Bateman and Laura Linney’s characters fall completely into the deep end.

Death’s Door is a little bit Zelda, with a dash of Hades

The gorgeous indie action-adventure game from developer Acid Nerve is a nice blend of The Legend of Zelda with some more modern artistic and gameplay influences, like the dioramic art of Ustwo’s Monument Valley and the challenging combat of roguelikes like Hades. The game was just added to Xbox Game Pass last month, making it the perfect opportunity to give it a try.

A version of this story also appeared in today's Entertainment newsletter; subscribe here.

Nick Statt

Nick Statt is Protocol's video game reporter. Prior to joining Protocol, he was news editor at The Verge covering the gaming industry, mobile apps and antitrust out of San Francisco, in addition to managing coverage of Silicon Valley tech giants and startups. He now resides in Rochester, New York, home of the garbage plate and, completely coincidentally, the World Video Game Hall of Fame. He can be reached at nstatt@protocol.com.

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Photo: Noah Berger/Getty Images for Amazon Web Services

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Photo: artpartner-images via Getty Images

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