Let me stop some of you in your tracks right here: this is not a review of the Nintendo Switch 2 in a typical sense. There are other, better avenues to get a proper and comprehensive review of the newest console from Nintendo. I could go through the whole process of breaking down how I feel about the console’s new features, controller(s), game and what have you but c’mon. I’m really not the guy for that. I can give you some quick and dirty thoughts in some bullet points though:

• The console feels good and premium in my hands.
• Mario Kart World is delightful, if not a bit barren in the open world* setting.
• New Joycons feel really good. I can actually play a game with only one Joycon and not feel like I’m going to break it.
• The performance boost really is spectacular in the games I’ve tried.
• Maybe now I’ll actually finish Tears of the Kingdom (that upgrade really is a game changer).
• Nintendo Switch Welcome Tour seems cool, but it should have been free. I did not play this one. I refuse to pay for it.
• Needs more themes, because I’m sick of the basic black/white.
• Would have loved a deeper game to play besides Mario Kart World, but hey. It’s gonna sell systems.

Those are my basic thoughts, but what I really want to get into is the game I really spent the last few days playing: Metroid Prime Remastered.

I love the Metroid series. I’m mostly a fan of the 2D games, as they were much more accessible to me in my childhood. I’ve played just about all of them (Samus Returns is a big blind spot for me, I will cop to that). However, Prime was always a bit of a reach for me to play regularly. I didn’t have a Gamecube growing up, and as a result I only had brief interactions with Prime. Every time I played it, I found myself with the same result: really intrigued by the gameplay, but I couldn’t sit down and get into it because I just didn’t have the time to play it for an extended period of time. Thankfully, that changed once the remaster was released for Nintendo Switch back in 2023.

For a while, I enjoyed the game. I was getting through it, enjoying how well it performed on the original Nintendo Switch. Then I got an OLED model, and I continued to enjoy the performance/look of the game. As time went on though, I found myself becoming disasstisfied. I found myself playing the game less and less, and not just because Tears of the Kingdom was released. The more I played, the less I was enjoying myself. I couldn’t figure out why I put it down entirely.

Then, I got a Steam Deck and figured it out almost immediately.

The Steam Deck is a great and versatile device that has been reviewed and lauded to death. It’s also big as hell, and that is perfect for someone like me. I love the original Nintendo Switch’s form factor, but I’m someone who has hands like a neanderthal. After a while of holding the original Switch, cramping will start to set in. This was largely mitigated by the Steam Deck’s size, which was a Godsend.

Fast forward to the release of the Switch 2, and I gotta say I am loving the size of this thing. It’s bigger than the original Switch, but smaller than the Steam Deck. During my initial testing of the backwards compatability, I decided to give Metroid Prime Remastered another go. I loaded up my save file and quickly realized: I have no idea where the fuck I was. So I went back and started up a new file. A few days later, I’m already farther than I was with my initial play-through. Playing the game comfortably establishes that the Switch 2 is already a worthwhile investment for someone like me.

Whether or not the Switch 2 will be a success is not up to me, or my relatively large hands. It is entirely too early to tell how well the console will do. Ask me in a month after Donkey Kong Bananza drops. Ask me in another few months after Metroid Prime 4 finally releases. Or don’t ask me at all, because I’m not an analyst on any level. I’m just a guy with big hands that appreciates a bigger, better way to play the games I love.

Also, they should add mouse more compatability to Prime Remastered. I’d really like that.

Just yesterday, the long rumored Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered was announced and shadowdropped onto a number of platforms. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is one of many fan-favorites from Bethesda Game Studios, and people who pay attention to leaks have been frothing at the mouth to get their hands on this game. Notably, photos of the game leaked out just last week from the website of the game’s primary developer, Virtuos. The reactions to these photos were varied, from a palpable excitement to a wave of disappointment in the changes made in art style.

Specifically, the attached photo above has caused a bit of discourse among the public. Primarily, people have bemoaned the distinct lack of color in the new graphical overhaul. As of this writing I haven’t touched the game yet, but I also felt a bit of disappointment once I saw the new images. The game technically looked “better,” but what does that mean? A stronger graphical fidelity, sure, but this new version seems to lack the same character/charm as the original. Again, I say seems because I just haven’t played it myself yet. Maybe my tune will change, who knows.

Regardless, the change in visual style has brought about a familiar topic for discourse: the remake/remaster/re-whatever, and what it’s place is in gaming. Re-releasing newer versions of old games is not a new trend in the slightest. It’s been happening since before I was born. That being said, it feels like the amount of re-whatevers has been steadily increasing over the last 10 to 15 years. At some point publishers realized that people will seemingly buy a newer version of an old game, for better or worse. In the eyes of some people, it tends to be for worse.

Some game re-releases have come with significant changes to the original game, which causes friction for fans of the original game. These people tend to refer to the process of these changes as “sanding off the edges” of the original game for a more simple, streamlined experience. For instance there are people who bemoaned the new Silent Hill 2 remake for changing the game’s camera perspective to a more traditional modern third-person experience, rather than the more static camera used in the original to create tension.

Other times, we have remakes that are really little more than a graphical upgrade. A good example of this is EA Motion’s recent Dead Space remake, which really does not change much from the original game. Isaac Clarke, the original’s silent protagonist, now has a voice. The ending is ever so slightly changed. Otherwise? It’s Dead Space, but prettier. I enjoyed the remake quite a bit, but I also had just played the original Dead Space on Xbox hardware via its backwards compatability program. I literally played the game probably a year before the remake came out, and it felt like I played the same game twice.

I suppose I’m in the same camp as some of these people, constantly asking: what am I gaining from this? What makes a game a worthwhile remake? Or remaster? These lines are consistently getting blurred, especially when the quality between some of these games are such a wide gulf. There are remakes like Resident Evil 2 or Final Fantasy VII Remake, which fundamentally make worthwhile and important changes to both the games and the story canon. Then you have your Dead Space or Shadow of the Colossus, which are beautifully rendered coats of paint on older model cars: they look good, and the foundation is still there, but there isn’t a whole lot of new going on.

I don’t have a clean answer to this conundrum. Many other, smarter people than I have suggested that the game publishers should just make the old versions of these games more playable to the general public. I agree with this, but we all know they would prefer to sell you the new version. The cost of developing a video game has only steadily increased over the years, and there are no real signs of this slowing down any time soon. These remakes are almost sure things with regards to cost and revenue: remaking an older game seemingly costs less than a new entry, while also generating profit for the publisher. While I am here shit talking this, I also have to admit that I am part of the problem: of course I also buy these remakes/remasters and enjoy them. One of my favorite games from 2024 was the Silent Hill 2 remake. I’m morbidly curious about this Elder Scrolls IV remaster, and I will absolutely be there for Fallout 3 when that happens.

Gaming is a relatively young medium, in comparison to film or television. Hollywood has gone through this type of thing, and still continues to. In the late 90s and early 2000s, remakes were among the hottest things in Hollywood. These movies, which were mostly horror movies, were produced at a fraction of a standard budget and typically made a profit for the studios. The quality of these remakes were often a point of contention: are they good movies, or are they just familiar? It was usually the latter. Remakes still exist in Hollywood, but the quantity has significantly decreased since the early 2000s. Are we heading towards the same conclusion for video games? Only time will tell.

2024 has been an absolute bloodbath in the world of gaming. It seems that everywhere you look, another studio is being closed/suffering from extreme layoffs. If you’ve been following the news, you have seen every single reason touted as to the cause of these layoffs. While many studios have been affected, the most surprising of these layoffs/closures come from two of the so-called “big 3” of publishing.

Both Microsoft and Sony have had an interesting year so far. As of this writing, we are weeks (or days) away from both publishers having their annual showcases. Gamers are anticipating updates on titles for both platforms, something to keep them coming back for more. First-party offerings from both platforms have been lacking, especially on the Microsoft side. In the coming months, Microsoft is expected to release at least three games that will be the result of its acquisition strategy. Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II, Avowed, and the upcoming Indiana Jones game are all coming from studios that have been acquired in the last ten years. While I am excited about this upcoming slate of games from the Microsoft side, and the eventual games to come from Sony as well, I cannot help but feel angry about the platforms themselves.

Layoffs have been an overwhelming negative in 2024. Microsoft and Sony are no strangers to laying off or closing studios. Just last week Microsoft shockingly announced the closure of four studios, on top of already laying off close to 1,900 people in their games division this past January. Sony has also laid off a large number of people across their studios, around 900 people this past February. These layoffs have been especially frustrating, as both Microsoft and Sony have recently reported an increase in profits. Even more frustrating is the language used in the justification of these layoffs/closures. Tango Gameworks was one of the affected studios last week, shocking me and many others who believed that they were safe. Tango had just recently released Hi-Fi Rush in January of 2023, releasing to critical acclaim. Even more confounding is Aaron Greenberg of Microsoft claiming that the game was a success “in all key measurements and expectations.”

Situations like this have jaded gamers, myself included. I can’t help but wonder what a studio has to do to remain open in 2024. My memory may be short-sighted, but I thought that releasing successful games kept studios open in the past. How am I supposed to place my trust in these major game publishers? I know that “trusting” a major corporation is a fool’s errand in and of itself, but I have trusted in the past. Gamers want these platforms to be successful, that much is true. Most people just want good games to play on the box of their choice. How am I supposed to trust these publishers to put out these good games if they can’t even treat the people who make them with decency? Firing the people who make these games will just result in fewer games, which will just piss people off further.

This situation just leaves me with more questions than answers. When there are fewer games, will we rely on the indie scene to carry gaming? Is that even possible? What about Nintendo, what route will they be going down? I can’t help but be afraid. I know this fear is silly in its essence. After all, these are just video games. I can’t help it, though. This is an industry that is barely fifty years old. Will this moment pass, or will it be the beginning of a brutal end?

All that said, I think I need to start talking about some gaming shit. Without further ado:

What IS a State of Play, Sony?

You probably watched the latest State of Play from PlayStation this past Wednesday. You probably watched it like me, expecting announcements and updates of various sizes. There was a lot of talk going around prior to the presentation, as Sony has quite a bit of stuff to answer for in the coming months. When is God of War coming out? What about the details around the rumored Project Spartacus? What does the rest of 2022 look like, now that two of the big three Sony first party games have been released? Surely, this State of Play could answer those questions! So, did they?

Kinda? But not really?

I’m currently looking at a recap of the State of Play, and I just have persisting conflicted reactions to all this shit. A new bizarre IP from CAPCOM that involves exosuits and dinosaurs? Sure, why not. Take a chance, CAPCOM. Square Enix having four games of varying quality on the show? Bizarre choice, but anything to show more CHAOS. Various smaller reveals that range from “eh” to “oh shit, that one was cool?” I don’t know how to feel about this at all.

In all fairness to Sony, the State of Play format is only two and a half years old at this point. There have been decidedly worse presentations put on under this format, and there are always growing pains when it comes to doing new things. That being said, we can’t act like State of Play as it currently exists is the best move for Sony. Maybe our responses wouldn’t be so tepid or muted if Sony communicated with their fans more often.

Sony tends to hold their cards close to their chest. That could be to their benefit or in some cases, their detriment. Because Sony has such a stellar first-party lineup, people are always expecting some sort of big surprise from their presentations. To be fair, the upcoming PlayStation 5 exclusive lineup is going to do extremely well for Sony. Spider-Man 2 and Wolverine will continue to show why Insomniac is probably their best studio. Naughty Dog is allegedly remaking The Last of Us while still working on its multiplayer Factions game. God of War Ragnarok is going to continue the story of one of the best games from the last generation. Sony is going to be fine with these, other first-party games they haven’t revealed yet, and further third-party games that people will love playing on PS5. Oh, and also Project Spartacus.

State of Play is a fascinating experiment as it currently stands. Not every game can be a certified banger, and it is patently unwise and unfair to expect that. You can’t have a presentation of all small-to-medium-sized games, either! There has to be some sort of hook to make the whole thing worth it. I hope that Sony learns this lesson when it comes to future State of Play presentations, but I kinda doubt it. Weirdly enough, Sony would have another presentation just one week later to show off a certain heavily anticipated game.

Hogwarts Legacy Is Poisoned

Hogwarts Legacy is the game that many fans of the Wizarding World have seemingly wanted for many years. You get to explore Hogwarts without interfering in any of the canon of the books. You create your own story as a student of the wizarding school. It sounds almost too good to be true, and the jury is out on whether or not it is. Luckily, we got another State of Play just one week after the aforementioned presentation to get a good look at the game. It admittedly does look cool, and it does look like a lot of love went into the overall presentation of the game.

It’s a goddamn shame that the game is poisoned beyond belief, though.

J.K. Rowling is a TERF, or a trans-exclusionary-radical-feminist if you wanna be more technical about it. There are many debates out there as to whether or not J.K. meets the criteria of a TERF, but it is the opinion of this writer that she’s just abhorrent in her beliefs. Unfortunately, her beliefs are not just limited to her saying awful shit from time to time. As a billionaire, J.K. has used her seemingly limitless income to further her very TERF-y agenda. Unsurprising, as that’s what certain billionaires do with their money: they further their agendas, and put money towards things that bolster their beliefs. It is what it is in that regard.

As the creator of the Wizarding World, J.K. will still benefit from any and all aspects of the game. She will get a cut of money for every copy sold. She almost assuredly got paid to use the license in a game. No matter how much WB would like to deny it, J.K. has some sort of involvement with Hogwarts Legacy. By purchasing the game, you are directly supporting a person who I believe is a legitimate monster. Not trying to be dramatic when I say that, but that’s just how I feel on the matter.

All of J.K.’s bullshit has absolutely poisoned the excitement that I, and many others, have had for Hogwarts Legacy. It’s hard to be excited about something that knowingly lines the pockets of someone you vehemently disagree with. Even if you don’t care about Rowling’s politics, which is your right to do as a consumer, you can’t escape the discussion around the game. As Rowling gets louder and bolder, so will the publicity around her comments. It’s going to become extremely difficult to ignore as we approach the release of the game.

In all of this mess, do you know who I feel for the most? The goddamn developers of this game. This game has been in development for at least four years, probably longer. Clearly, the development team at Avalanche Software is treating this game with a lot of care. The developers that were shown at the State of Play spoke with such enthusiasm about the project. To know that they poured their heart and soul into something that can’t even be discussed without mentioning the disgusting views of its creator? That’s gotta crush them. It’s unfair, really.

I know that my writing in this aspect may come off as rambling a little, so allow me to end this by directing you to a brilliant piece of writing on the matter. Jessie Earl, a transgender content creator and Gamespot staff member, wrote this piece for Gamespot.com. This piece does more explaining and adds so much more context than I could ever wish to do, and we should commend her for writing this. I urge you all to read and really consider what she’s saying.

Mom, I Can’t Pause #22: I Promise I’m Still Doing These! was originally published in Mom, I Can’t Pause on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Who Announces Games On a Sunday?

Picture this, if you will: You’re in bed on Sunday morning. You’re thinking about all the crap you have to do that day. You’ve heard vaguely that Gamefreak is going to have a “Pokemon Presents” presentation on February 27th. Your ears perk up a little, but you think to yourself “ah, they’re not gonna announce anything huge there. That’s a Sunday. I can skip it.”

Then you wake up on Sunday and look at your phone, and see that Gamefreak has announced two brand new Pokemon games to kick off Gen 9.

In the last few years, I like to think that I’ve learned a decent bit about the games industry and games media. One thing I’ve noticed is that game news of any kind is mostly saved for weekdays. Barring a special occasion, such as an E3 level event, game news just does not trickle out on weekends. Yet here we are: Gamefreak/Nintendo has just announced the latest mainline Pokemon games. Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are expected to be released in late 2022, just making 2022’s Switch lineup even crazier than expected.

What an absolute baller move by Gamefreak here. With both the release of Arceus last month and the upcoming mainline titles, Pokemon is probably going to be among the top-selling games for the entirety of 2022. Hell, they may even claim all three top-selling game spots for the year as a whole. Pokemon is just that damn big. But will the game be good?

I mean, maybe? Depends on what your definition of “good” is for a Pokemon game in 2022. Apparently, this is going to be the first “open-world” Pokemon game. What does that mean for the series? Does it look like Legends Arceus? Or something completely different? I can’t pretend to know the answer to that. Anyone who thinks one way or the other already is simply guesstimating at best.

That being said, I need to say something: You motherfuckers need to chill out when it comes to these new starters! I can concede that the starters look a little bit silly. The water starter has a weird hat/hair thing going on. It’s definitely silly. That being said, have you looked at the other starter Pokemon recently? Have you looked at any Pokemon at all in the last 20 plus years as a franchise? We aren’t that far removed from six eggs and egg tree as Pokemon, you know. Regardless, I’ll be paying attention to these Pokemon games when they come out, whether through osmosis or by playing it myself. It’s an exciting time to be a Pokemon fan, and I’ve missed this feeling!

Elden Ring Is Finally Here

Finally, Elden Ring is here.

Elden Ring has arrived and has made an immediate impact. The reviews have been overwhelmingly positive, and for the most part, I find them to be fair. Like yeah, I kinda knew the game would be good. FromSoftware does good work over there. When you play a FromSoftware game you’re going to get an immense level of quality, regardless of whether or not the game is too difficult for you. Still to see people loving the game at such a high level is pretty surprising. Not since Breath of the Wild have I personally seen such rave reviews for a game.

Mentioning that game in the same breath as Elden Ring seems to be annoying the shit out of people. I can kind of understand why. Comparing *every* open world game to Breath of the Wild sort of cheapens whatever open world game you’re playing. Yet I can’t help but become part of the problem when I play Elden Ring. It’s not a one-to-one comparison, but the inspiration is clearly there when playing the game. After completing a tutorial section, Elden Ring opens up quite a bit allowing you to go out into its vast world and just figure shit out. Kinda like Zelda, but with a lot more difficulty and ugliness. Ugly in a good way though, because this game is beautiful in its art design.

That’s all I can really say about the game, to be honest. I’ve played a good chunk of it, but this game is goddamn massive. I’m basically still in the basic parts of the open world, much like the network test I played months ago. I’ve seen some clips of the game across social media that show just how vast the world will become, and I just can’t see myself seeing everything this game has to offer. Much like Breath of the Wild, actually. Do you guys understand why people keep comparing these two games yet? When BOTW came out, people were saying it was going to revolutionize the open world genre. Finally, the effects are being seen in another massive release that will undoubtedly change the open world yet again.

At least until Breath of the Wild 2 comes out. Then we’ll be seeing an open world revolution again.

Mom, I Can’t Pause #21: Gamefreak Doesn’t Play By Your Rules was originally published in Mom, I Can’t Pause on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Oculus Quest 2 Has No Business Being This Cool

It’s kind of weird that the Oculus Quest 2 works so well. A less powerful spinoff of a Kickstarter-backed VR headset that works internally without an unnecessarily complicated system of plugs? That shit sounds way, way too good to be true. Yet here we are with the latest Oculus headset.

Let me be forthcoming: I haven’t spent that much time with the headset. My girlfriend and I got it as a belated Christmas present just a few days ago, so my time with it has been limited. Still, I do have experience with other headsets, as we’ve also had our hands on the HTC VIVE (not ours) for a bit. While the Vive was cool, there was one main issue we had with it: the fucking thing takes up way too many plugs. Three power adapters for one device is already asking a lot, but then having to wire the headset to a device that plugs into your PC? Too many goddamn wires! Otherwise, the headset worked just fine.

Still, this new (to me) Quest 2? Pretty goddamn sweet. For starters: the thing doesn’t have any wires in the box. Everything that you need is literally built into the headset. The only wire the thing needs is a charger, which is included in the box. If you lose it you probably already have another charger on deck, as the Quest 2 takes the all-too-common USB-C. Already superior to the VIVE in that aspect. With the software built into the device, you’ve got everything you need once you turn on and set up your device. The OS is pretty similar if you’re remotely familiar with Android devices, as it runs a version of Android 10 off of it.

But you don’t really give a shit about the technical stuff, you just wanna know if the thing runs games well. Well, it does. I haven’t had all the time in the world with it but I can confidently say it runs games pretty well, both natively and through Steam. Running games through Steam works pretty well, too. You have the option of running it via USB-C on your PC, or wirelessly through a beta feature called Air Link. While it’s still in beta, Air Link works well enough to enjoy your games with little-to-no latency issues. Even so, I can run Beat Saber with little-to-no latency, and that right there is worth the price of admission alone.

So would I recommend you buy the Quest 2? Maybe! VR is a fascinating piece of technology in a vacuum. VR is very cool tech that has an expectedly high barrier of entry in price. The Quest 2, however, is 300 bucks at entry level. If you can afford it, I don’t see a real reason to avoid buying the headset if you’re looking to get into VR. Could you get a better headset for more money? Sure! Are you going to do that if you’re looking for an entry into the space? Hell no! Why would you do that? Just get the Quest 2. You can buy Resident Evil 4 in VR on it, and RE4 is one of the greatest games ever! If that doesn’t entice you, I don’t know what will.

Sifu’s Lame Ass Bad Ending Makes Replaying It A Hard Recommendation

I finally toughed it out and beat Sifu last week. I found it to be a pretty fun experience overall, even though the difficulty got to me at times. I found it similar to a Souls game at times and approached it as such: throw shit at the wall and see what sticks. Whatever works? Keep doing that. Whatever doesn’t work? Try something else. With that mindset, I found myself at the final boss of the game. I’m going to try to do this section without spoiling anything, so bare with me if any of this sounds vague.

Once you beat Sifu, you’re going to realize that you fucked up along the way. Something happens that sends you right back to the start of the game. You’ll have to complete the levels again and find the differentiating factor that allows you to get the good ending of the game. Here’s the problem, though: the game doesn’t exactly clue you in as to what that factor is. If you look it up online, you’ll find out what changes if you do things a certain way in your boss battles. Unless you happen upon it by being that damn good at the game, however, you’re shit out of luck.

This takes me back to the old days of gaming, both in a nostalgic and frustrating way. On one hand, it’s always interesting to see games pull the ol’ “real ending” move. When it works, I find myself looking forward to playing through a game over again. On the other hand, in Sifu’s case, why the hell would they pull this without even hinting at it? It doesn’t take away from the quality of the game, of which there’s plenty. It’s more-so frustrating to recommend with this caveat in mind. The grind of Sifu isn’t necessarily made for every player out there. To have to grind and figure out the minutia of a game to get the “good” ending can’t be worthwhile for everyone. If I decide to do this, I’ll come back and report how that went. I doubt that’ll be anytime soon with all these damn games coming out, but we’ll see.

Odds and Ends

Got a few odds and ends to address this week, including:

• Street Fighter 6 was finally announced (on my birthday no less), and the reaction has been… mixed. Let’s call it mixed. Ryu looks wide! Luke’s smile looks weird! The logo is bad! Ryu showed feet! All of these are true, but none of it really matters until they actually show gameplay. Let’s keep that in mind for the eventual Summer Games Fest showcase.
• I’m currently playing Horizon Forbidden West. I haven’t made enough of a dent to have a real opinion on the game, but I can say this: damn, this thing is pretty. More on this next week, probably.
• I’ll be picking up Elden Ring a little later than most, but all these reviews posted have me excited to get into it. The little slice I played during the network test a few months back was just so goddamn interesting. Haven’t stopped thinking about it since I played it.
• Nintendo is shutting down the Wii U and 3DS E-Shops by 2023. This absolutely sucks. You should probably go back and buy some games on the 3DS (you never had a Wii U, let’s be honest). Or get ‘em another way, if you catch my drift.
• If you haven’t heard, I started a spin-off podcast of sorts for this newsletter. It’s called “Mom, We Can’t Pause!” I’ll be posting episodes weekly and having guests on to discuss their favorite video games, and what they love about ’em. Let’s call it a deconstruction of sorts. Why not subscribe to the podcast while checking it out here? I would greatly appreciate that!

As always: Thanks for checking this out, everyone! Much love!

Mom, We Can’t Pause #20: VR and Sifu Talk was originally published in Mom, I Can’t Pause on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Hey, everyone. I’ve been conceptualizing and trying to figure out this project for a while now, but last week I figured it was time to kick it into high gear. Allow me to introduce my new podcast: “Mom, We Can’t Pause!”

You guys know I love talking about video games, but I especially love talking about video games with other people! With that in mind, I decided to reach out to people and talk to them about their favorite video game. We all have some games that mean that much more to us personally. I wanted to create an outlet for people to gush about their game while I either try to understand their love, or gush right along side my guest. This is gonna be a fun ride, so please come along with me for it!

While I’m here, I wanna give a special thank you to Sara Masciulli for supporting me along the way, and creating the amazing art you see up top! I also wanna thank, both preemptively and after the fact, any guests that have and will come on. Your love for your games of choice are so appreciated!

All that preamble out of the way, there are rules to this podcast. Simple rules, but rules nonetheless. They’re as follows:

• One game in a franchise. Example: if I have a guest on, and they like Final Fantasy, they have to pick a specific game in the series. Gotta leave people some wiggle room for other games in the series.
• I have to give the game they chose a fair try. I don’t have to beat the game, but I at least have to play it at some point so I can discuss it on a decent level.

Those are the rules. Pretty simple stuff, if I do say so myself. With that out of the way, please enjoy the first of many episodes to come! “Mom, We Can’t Pause” will be available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and other major streaming platforms in the coming days. Enjoy, everyone!

A Mom, I Can’t Pause Special Announcement! was originally published in Mom, I Can’t Pause on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Welcome back to whatever this is.

I didn’t exactly intend to take the week off, but then it was Tuesday and Nintendo decided to announce a Nintendo Direct. So then I ended up taking the week off just so I could figure out what I really liked and didn’t like about the Direct. That being said, here we are. I’m back, and I’m ready to talk about the Nintendo Direct and Pokémon Legends: Arceus. Let’s get into it:

Pokémon Legends: Arceus — A Guest Perspective from Sara Masciulli

Full disclosure here: I personally haven’t played the newest Pokémon game. Don’t get me wrong I think it looks really good, but I just haven’t played it yet. It’s been a busy time for me! However, I do have a guest here to help me talk about Pokémon: Sara Masciulli, my girlfriend who is way more knowledgeable about Pokémon than I am. Sara, take it away:

A new Pokémon game has become less of an event and more of a flash in the pan of nostalgia. Get my starter, muscle my way through gyms and Bad Guy™ side quests, take on the Elite Four…maybe, if I haven’t lost interest already. I don’t care to do EV/IV training, consider natures, or breed Pokémon with hidden abilities. Those aspects of the franchise have gotten to be too much for me. I never battle strangers online because I know me and my team will get absolutely obliterated. I’m okay with this.

To be frank, I’m not completely sure why I still buy the mainline franchise games. The story is perennial, to its benefit and detriment, and the new mechanics be it Mega Evolutions or Gigantamax wash out to be the same nothingness. I don’t think I’ve beaten a game (defeating the Elite Four) since X/Y and I skipped Diamond/Pearl and Black/White. I’ve never completed a Pokédex. Despite all of this, I am deeply nostalgic for this series as Pokémon Yellow was the first video game I ever played on my first console, a teal Gameboy Color. (I still envy anyone who had the Atomic Purple one.)

I tell you all this, dear reader, and yet I can’t put down Pokémon Legends: Arceus. It’s a near 180 from what I’ve come to know and expect. It’s far from perfect, but it’s what this 26 year old franchise needed. To call it the Breath of the Wild of Pokémon games is a bit of a stretch, given how BOTW is now a barometer for open world games. But looking at Arceus in the vacuum of the franchise, it does ring somewhat true.

Arceus introduces long standing tropes of your standard open world RPG or action/adventure game to the franchise. You have some light inventory management (again), crafting, and funny side quests. The best still is being able to point yourself in any direction and go forth…almost. Each area is still confined to its borders so I can’t hop from the grasslands to the coast without fast-traveling, which is odd because all the other Pokémon towns/areas are interconnected. Regardless, I don’t miss the random encounters of days gone by especially with the alpha Pokémon lurking around the corner. I see the big, level 40 Rapidash so me and my level 7 Rowlet will slowly back away.

Speaking of the big Rapidash, having to consider bodily harm to my character adds a new delightful level of excitement (and fear) to the game. There’s actually a modicum of “danger” to the game that I’ve never experienced. I could go on and on about all the changes I love and the glaring deficits that dampen the thrill. But what’s there to say that hasn’t already been said about the pop-ins, and distant asset framerate drops or just how refreshing this game is?

What I will say is this — I hope this new approach to the series is here to stay. I think this could truly revitalize the franchise and offer a game for every level of player now. Arceus is the most challenging Pokémon game I’ve played since I was a kid. I feel like my younger self again, excited and a little scared to see what’s hiding in the caves or just beyond the tall grass.

Thank you, Sara! Your perspective and knowledge is always appreciated, and you are clearly more suited to speak about Pokémon than I am. Follow Sara on Twitter and Instagram at @frnchgrapefruit, and follow her art Instagram at @sarakate.jpg! She’s the best, guys.

Nintendo Direct: The JRPG Edition

Nintendo was back last week with their latest Nintendo Direct after not showing off much since September of last year.

We got a pretty good look at some of the upcoming stuff out of Nintendo and some of their closest third-party affiliates. As a whole I found the presentation to be pretty cool, if not a little too JRPG heavy for my interests. Still, there were some highlights to be sure. I’ll focus on three of them like I usually do, but I gotta hand it to Nintendo for taking some weird left turns in this one. Here’s some highlights:

Mouthful Mode

You don’t need me to tell you that Kirby and the Forgotten Land looks fantastic. Nintendo finally taking the leap and making a 3D Kirby platformer real feels like a no brainer, but better late than never I suppose. Still, we got a new trailer for the game that features a very Super Mario Odyssey-esque feature called Mouthful Mode. This whole thing reminded me of Cappy, and I couldn’t help but be excited when watching the trailer. This shit looks ridiculous, and I can’t wait to get my hands on it. Maybe I should play and finish a Kirby game prior to its release, though.

Super Mario Strikers Is Back!?

I don’t know about y’all, but this one caught me off guard. It’s been about 15 years since we last got a Strikers game. If there was ever a time to bring back Strikers on a modern platform, any time the World Cup is happening would probably be an ideal time. Somehow, Mario and sports games go together in frustratingly good ways. This one looks no different than the others, and I mean that in the most positive way. Still, there have to be other sports for Mario to conquer. What major sports are left, hockey? Where’s my Mario hockey game, guys? In any case Mario Strikers: Battle League will be out later this year, and I’m hoping this leads to more Mario sports games of the extreme variety.

The Switch Is the JRPG Machine

Not sure if you heard, but JRPGs are kind of the rage on the Nintendo Switch platform. Clearly Nintendo agrees because they chose to announce quite a few RPGs for the platform at this Direct. We have classics, like Earthbound Origins and Earthbound coming to Nintendo Switch online. We also have Xenoblade Chronicles 3 coming to the platform later this year, too. Not to mention the litany of Square Enix JRPGs coming soon, like the Live Alive US release and the rumored Switch release of the Final Fantasy pixel remasters. Oh, and the long rumored Chrono Cross remaster as the proverbial icing on the cake. If you’re a JRPG fan, there really is no better time to be a Switch owner. If you’re not, you’re probably gonna end up giving one of these games a try regardless. I know I will!

That’s gonna do it for me on the gaming front this week, but I suspect you guys will want to come back to this newsletter later in the week for a special announcement of sorts. Something I’ve been cooking up for a while is finally ready for presentation, and I really hope you guys enjoy it. Till then, take it easy everyone!

Mom, I Can’t Pause #19: Oh, This One is Nintendo Heavy! was originally published in Mom, I Can’t Pause on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Sony Has Acquired Bungie

A lot of people saw something coming from Sony in the near future. After Microsoft’s bombshell acquisition of Activision Blizzard many wondered exactly how Sony would react, if at all. Most expected Sony to remain on the course they were already on by putting out extremely well-made PlayStation exclusive single-player games, while also cutting deals with publishers for certain games to be PlayStation only. In my view, this would have been a fine enough way to react to Microsoft.

That all changed today after Sony announced the acquisition of Bungie, the developers of the ongoing Destiny games, for $3.6 billion. To be fair to Sony: this deal has seemingly been in the works for months and is decidedly not a reactionary move by Sony. That’s not how this works at all. Thankfully, Bungie will retain their independence to a point: Sony will allow them to self-publish their games on whatever platform they wish to. While console exclusivity is always appreciated, there’s very little harm in reaping the benefits of a game studio you own publishing wherever they like. I don’t blame Sony for looking for a cut of that money.

Still, deals like these bring me pause. Microsoft’s acquisition of many studios in the past few years, especially the entirety of Bethesda and Activision Blizzard, are concerning moves. These will just lead to further consolidation within the games industry, furthering the likelihood of a monopoly games publisher. Do we want a future in which Microsoft is similar to Disney? Or Sony similar to GE? Some may argue that we’re already there, that Microsoft has crossed that line with their purchase of ActiBlizz a-la Disney’s purchase of Fox from a few years ago. What’s to stop Sony from purchasing something like a Take-Two? Or Microsoft further consolidating by purchasing EA or Ubisoft next? These aren’t questions that I want to be answered at all, but I can’t help but be afraid of this future. Even if we get good games out of it, good games aren’t enough to remain okay with monopolies. This could all be conjecture, though. Maybe these deals will be better in the long run than not. Hard not to see these deals being less than savory in the near future, though.

There’s No Shame In Bouncing Off Games

This past week, I’ve been trying to place Horizon Zero Dawn in the lead-up to its sequel, Horizon Forbidden West. When the first game came out, I bought it and enjoyed my time with it up until a point. I don’t remember the specific point in-game, but what I do remember is that it was around the time that Breath of the Wild was released. Once that and the Nintendo Switch came out, it was over. I tried playing it again afterward, but I was pretty bored with it. Since then, I kept telling myself “hey, you should eventually try going back to that game! Give it another try!” So, eventually I purchased it again at a steep discount. Game of the Year edition with all the fixings of DLC included, too. It’s sat in my library for a solid two years until I booted it up this week. In my attempts to play it, I found myself bored as all hell. I didn’t give much of a shit about the story and the gameplay wasn’t doing much to engage me. So I booted up God of War again instead and started killing Valkyries. A much better way to spend my time.

Since I bounced off of it though, I can’t help but think about the idea of bouncing off of games as a whole. I feel like there are two schools of thought I have when it comes to this: on one hand, I paid money for this game and I should see it through to the end. Just to get my money’s worth, whatever that means these days. On the other hand, do I really have the fucking time to play through a game that I’m just not enjoying? Who really does in this day and age? I can count on more than two hands the number of games I’ve bounced off of. I only feel bad about a handful of them, and I do my due diligence to at least try to give some of them a fair shake again. Hell, I can name another popular game that I’ve bounced off of just fairly recently: Inscryption. That game is arguably the indie darling of the year, and my interest in it waned as soon as the second act started. Haven’t looked back yet, but maybe I will.

Hell, I could be talking out of my ass here. I could try to power through Horizon if I really put my mind to it, just to see if it gets much better. I really don’t think I will, though. Maybe I’m getting old, but I think games have to do more these days to hold my attention. Not just Horizon, but all games. Gamepass is going to make this “problem” I have even worse, considering that the only thing tethering me to games on that service is the service itself. It’s really a good problem to have, even though I’m certainly not describing it that way! By bouncing off less interesting games, I’ll have more time to play games that I actually do enjoy! It’s the best kind of trade-off, really.

Raven Software Has Chosen Unionization

Well, it’s finally happened. A major games studio in the United States has opted to unionize.

Raven Software, a major Call of Duty studio within Activision Blizzard, has begun the process of unionizing within its QA department. It was only a matter of time that a studio situated in the US would unionize but if it was going to happen, it was almost poetic that it would be within ActiBlizz during this tumultuous time. You may not have known this, but Raven Software’s QA department has been striking for more than a month, up until the team decided to unionize. Specifically, the QA team has been asking for the reinstatement of 12 laid-off contractors who were let go in December. Not once since the beginning of the strike has ActiBlizz responded to the striking employees. Now the team has begun the process of unionization, which leads us into uncharted territory once again.

This unionization process is about to see some ugly business from the higher-ups at ActiBlizz. The union-busting effort that they’re going to put forth is going to be massive. They’ve already begun this effort as managers at Raven have split up the QA team into separate departments, which seems pretty clear cut as a union-busting tactic. This is only the first in what I assume will be a concerted effort to shut that shit down. Plus, there’s the whole “Activision Blizzard is going to be purchased by Microsoft” aspect of all of this. To say that this is going to be complicated is putting it mildly. Still much like Microsoft’s impending purchase, it’s too soon to tell where this will go. I’ll be following this story closely, but I’ll also be forwarding y’all to those much better situated to talk about it. I’ll include some preliminary links here:

THE PATH TO UNIONIZING HAS BEEN ROUGH FOR RAVEN SOFTWARE, AND IT’S ABOUT TO GET ROUGHER by Ash Parrish of The Verge

The Entire Raven Software QA Unionization Timeline: The Story So Far by Adam Bankhurst

Odds and Ends

• Hey, that Pokemon Legends Arceus game came out! I haven’t played it, yet. Still, there may be some writing about it soon.
• The new Halo series got a trailer ahead of its March 24th premiere on Paramount Plus, a streaming service that seemingly no one has. Still, I’ll be checking it out. I think it looks pretty good, despite the silly ass trailer music! Cortana does look a bit strange, but we’ll get over that quickly I imagine.
• In smaller PlayStation news, there will be a State of Play dropping on Wednesday at 2 PM Pacific time that’s all about Gran Turismo 7. I’ll be checking it out, if only to see if this franchise will be able to reclaim the top spot in the racing genre.

Mom, I Can’t Pause #18: Can We Have One Normal Week? was originally published in Mom, I Can’t Pause on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Microsoft Fucking Bought Activision Blizzard!

Yeah, man. It’s been a few days, but I still have to say it to believe it: Microsoft is seemingly acquiring Activision Blizzard for a whopping $70 billion. There are a lot of things I could say to start, but I think I can start with: holy shit. I can also add a pretty substantial: what the fuck?

Acquisitions in the games industry have been ramping up in the past few years, but nobody could have predicted a move like this. Sure, Microsoft purchasing Bethesda was a pretty large move, but we all assumed that it wouldn’t get much bigger than that. The idea of purchasing a company like Activision Blizzard was unheard of, much like purchasing an Electronic Arts or an Ubisoft. Yet here we are.

There are a lot of questions that have and will undoubtedly spring up from an acquisition like this, and just about all of them are fair to ask. What does this mean for Bobby Kotick’s position as CEO of Activision? What does this mean for the future of Call of Duty? Will ActiBlizz games be console exclusive? What about the extremely dire situation at Activision Blizzard regarding the State of California lawsuit against them?

The unfortunate truth is that we, as a whole, just don’t know what the deal is. We can speculate that Kotick may be gone when this is over. There are reports that Kotick will be gone after the acquisition is completed in June 2023. Further reports also mention that some games will remain multi-platform, while others may go console exclusive. Then again, both of these reports could end up being flat out wrong. We just don’t know yet! We are in uncharted territory. Seventy billion dollar deals don’t happen every day, y’know.

The frustrating thing about this type of story is just how unanswerable the big questions are. The industry is going to react to this news in one way or another, but to assume one way or another would just be conjecture on my part. To make an assumption on any level for a story like this would put me out of my element. Especially since, and I have to stress this, this is a story unlike any other in gaming history. There have always been discussions about someone purchasing one of the big gaming publishers, but these were more theoretical prior to last Tuesday. I’m going to do my due diligence to follow news about the acquisition as it comes, but let’s just say that this story is going to be a complicated one to follow. Still, what a day, huh?

Now, onto something much less newsworthy:

How Long Can We Wait For a New Fallout?

Fallout is an extremely beloved franchise. Whether you’re an old school isometric Fallout player, or a stickler for the modern Bethesda spin, Fallout fans are an extremely passionate bunch. You could see that passion in the rabid reaction to the unfortunately shitty Fallout 76, as fans lambasted the game for being flat-out unfinished and released in an unacceptable manner. They were right to do so, too.

That being said, Fallout 76 released in 2018. It’s been getting updates, fairly steadily at that, since its release. If you’re like me though, you’re probably anticipating the next fully single-player Fallout game. While Fallout 76 has seemingly rebounded into a more playable state, it doesn’t quite scratch that itch like the exploration of a properly built open world like Fallouts 3, 4 or New Vegas. So we’re ready for a new Fallout game, but when will it be coming?

You’re probably not going to like this answer: if Bethesda is to be trusted, we’re going to be waiting for a long, long time for a new Fallout game. Bethesda has been working on Starfield for a long while now, probably since around Fallout 4’s 2015 release. With the game slated for release later this year, that would make for an approximate seven to eight year development cycle. After Starfield’s release, Bethesda is expected to go full steam ahead on another heavily anticipated game: The Elder Scrolls VI.

If you take away anything from these weekly newsletters, start with this: game development is a timely and difficult process. It is truly a miracle that we get any game release in our hands. Let’s say with optimism at the forefront of our minds, that we get Elder Scrolls VI in 2025 at the earliest, followed by a Fallout 5. That game will probably release in 2030.

There is no way that Microsoft/Bethesda can wait that long for a Fallout game.

I try not to think of games in a strictly financial sense, but allow me to do this for a moment. You’ve got a decent money maker in Fallout 76. Sooner than later, there’s going to be the Fallout television series on Amazon Prime Video. In theory, you would capitalize on the release of the show with a new game to go alongside it. The views that the show would bring in would further result in game sales. I can assume that this won’t be the case, as it would be damn near impossible to have a new game completed in time for the show’s release.

Further complicating things is the fact that seemingly, Bethesda will not let an outside developer take a swing at Fallout again. The last time they did that, we got the wonderful, if not busted, Fallout: New Vegas from Obsidian Entertainment. While the game is beloved to this day, the game’s development was not without controversy. A friendly reminder that Obsidian kinda got screwed by Bethesda at the time when the game didn’t hit a certain Metacritic threshold, therefore causing Obsidian employees to miss out on a bonus. That, coupled with extended crunch for the game’s development, is just profoundly shitty for a team to go through.

With the wide array of studios under Microsoft’s employ now though, the idea of Bethesda handing off the Fallout franchise to an external studio is not unheard of. Once the acquisition with ActiBlizz goes through, Xbox will have 33 studios under their belt. Obsidian probably won’t be the one to take on a Fallout game, but one of the other 32 could probably take a swing at it, right? To me, this seems like an obvious answer to this problem. After all, if you’ve got 33 studios, you should fuckin’ use ‘em! Still, all we can do is hope at this point for a new Fallout game before we all get destroyed by the nukes ourselves. The clock is a tickin, Microsoft.

Mom, I Can’t Pause #17: Microsoft Bought Activision? was originally published in Mom, I Can’t Pause on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.