I have no idea how many times I have read this book. I certainly read it when I was in primary school, after one of my teachers read parts to the class at the end of each day. It is a wonderful adventure story, and feels absolutely timeless.
I bought the Virtual Boy accessory for the Nintendo Switch so that I could play the games that they have added to the Nintendo Switch Online service. I’ve never played a Virtual Boy before, though I did nearly buy one in 1996. It is the only time I have ever been to the United States, and I saw one in the shopping mall. The machine was such a flop that I think it had already been cancelled by that point, and it ended up never getting released in the UK. I bought a Game Boy Pocket instead, which was a much more sensible purchase. Though I guess a much less interesting one.
This is the game I bought my PlayStation for. I originally bought one with my brother at launch with Ridge Racer, but completed that in an afternoon and didn’t see much else interesting. We sold that one, and when this game was released I used the money I had from that sale to buy my own. Initially I couldn’t afford a memory card, and so had to start from scratch every time. As such I remember large parts of this game very well thirty years later.
The real name of the main character of this book is never revealed. He is referred to as Theo throughout the story. Theo is the name of his friend at University who lived in the room next door. That friend was murdered in a duel with a rich sociopath also attending the University. This happened after an argument over how said sociopath was treating a woman at a house party. After the murder the main character adopts his friend’s name and life, since he has no real future otherwise and Theo’s parents and family are effectively estranged.
This is a Switch remake of a Game Boy Advance game. I never played the original, but I did intend to. It’s a sequel to the Game Boy Donkey Kong game, which I replayed in September 2024 and have always loved.
This is the game that convinced me to buy a Switch 2. I actually got the console at launch with Mario Kart World but the announcement of this game is what made me want one. It was clear from the original videos that this was made by the team that made Super Mario Odyssey, which was just fantastic.
This is a GameCube game that I played on the Switch 2. You are a cute robot that has been given as a birthday present to a little girl. It’s your job to make everyone in the house happy, for instance by cleaning or returning people’s lost items. You have an internal battery though, and a plug that drags along behind you. You have to keep in mind your remaining charge, and periodically plug yourself in. It’s an interesting game mechanic, especially how your battery gets improved the more happy points you get which allows you to explore more of the house. It never became a frustration to me, because the next part of the house or the next upgrade was never far away.
I’m not actually sure when I bought this game, but it’s in my Steam library. It was probably in a Humble Bundle. I saw it being mentioned online as an excellent Metroidvania, so I thought I’d give it a go.
This book takes place in an alternate history, set in the UK. There are three identical boys in what appears to be some kind of orphanage. They are being cared for by three women that are taking shifts and are called Mother. For instance the woman that wakes them at the start of the day is Mother Morning. She notes each of their dreams down in a large book.
I’d seen multiple people online saying that this is one of the best games ever made. I had bought it in a sale a long time ago, and had started it multiple times but never felt like it was the right time to fully commit to it. I got the impression that I needed to give it proper attention. It’s not really a game to dip in and out of. I’m glad I did. The game is genuinely fantastic, with excellent writing and a fascinating world. It felt like the game truly responded to each decision I made along the way, with the narrative unfolding in a way that seemed unique to me. I think at some point I’ll need to play this again, and make very different choices to see what happens.
This came as a part of a bundle when I bought my Switch 2 in June. In this entry all of the tracks in the game are part of one giant map, and there is a free roam mode where you can drive around and find secrets. It also has a new mode called Knockout Tour where you race from one end of the map to another going through six tracks along the way. In each section you are given a position that you must be above by the end, as everyone below is kicked out of the race. By the end there are only four people left, and the person in first at the end is the winner. I particularly enjoy this mode online. It is absolutely hectic, especially at the start.
I’d been waiting for this game for 18 years. I love the Metroid series, and the first Prime game is one of my favourites. This game seems to have had a very troubled development, it took eight years and they changed developer partway through from Bandai Namco to the developer of the original trilogy, Retro.
This is the second Paper Mario game, a sequel to the N64 one. It was originally released on the GameCube, but I played the recent Switch remake. It’s an RPG with a neat graphical style, all of the characters are made out of flat pieces of paper. This actually has numerous gameplay implications. You can turn to the side to fall down grates, you can fold up into a paper aeroplane to get over gaps, you can slip through tiny cracks in walls, and countless other things.
This is the thirteenth Discworld book, a stand-alone story set in Omnia. It tells the story of Brutha, a trainee monk who has a photographic memory and the Great God Om, who is currently stuck in the form of a tortoise.
I saw this book appear in the Standard Ebooks newsletter since they had just added it to their catalogue. I remember liking Crime and Punishment very much, and I had never heard of this novel so I was intrigued. I ended up not reading that version. Although I think they make excellent ebooks, the version in the public domain is the Constance Garnett translation, and it seems there are far better ones now.