Ghost Recon: Wildlands. Taking down drug cartels - yes, please. Online with 3 mates itās genius. Got the odd bug but looks beautiful and is massive.
Pap will not like this post.
Finally did what Iāve been threatening to do and got myself a PS4 Pro. There has been a 4K TV in the clean man cave waiting for it. As a smug PC owning bast, it was never going to have the allure that it might have to console owners. 4K is not exactly new for us types, nor as it turns out, is universally achievable on the PS4 Pro. It tends to be indie stuff only that gets the 4k treatment, although games that are naturally limited in scope, like FIFA, PES and NBA2K17, all do native 4K without probs.
The stuff that isnāt 4K but improved regardless tends to use a few graphical tricks to up the res without maxing the machine out. Itās 350 notes, FFS. One cannot expect the earth. The second PS4 has now been handed down to Juvy #2. The first one went to Juvy #1 when she moved down to London. Will be picking up co-op stuff in the sales to make the most of that.
Games-wise, straight back on the Resogun after I saw it was both native 4K and having @redjoane 's cousin with a larger score than I. The latter was quickly rectified.
Stuff that doesnāt directly support the PS4 Pro can still benefit from boost mode, although if a developer has gone for a locked frame rate, you might not see an improvement. Sadly, that would seem to be recognition of the fact that Sony has had difficulty getting third party developers to do Pro versions of older games, but Iād expect to see it used a lot more in forthcoming titles.
Quite a few things to report on, so Iāll keep each brief.
**Tekken 7 ** is the latest in Namcoās long running fighting series. Everyone has their game for a specific genre. Tekken has been the fighting series I care about the most for some time, especially as I can still use moves learned in 1996 
**Nex Machina ** is a collaboration between Housemarque, second party Sony devs, and Eugene Jarvis, inventor of the twin stick shooter, responsible for the likes of Robotron 2084 and Smash TV. Itās a marriage made in heaven. Housemarque were already excellent at updating the classics ( Resogun is sublime ). Itās a tight, memory based twin stick shooter with a lovely time-limited dash mechanic which gets you out of the shit.
I have completed Party Hard , an excellent indie stealth game in which you play a man with noisy partying neighbours, trying to stop the party by any means necessary (usually killing the guests), and having to avoid line of sight and coppers and suchlike.
Finally, gotta give some love to Streets of Rogue , an open world roguelike which bears more similarities to the likes of Nuclear Throne than it does to Streets of Rage. Excellent game, still only in alpha, but offers lots of very interesting playstyles.
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Party Hard looks great fun/infuriating/addictive 
Itās all that and more. One of my favourite aspects of the game are the phone calls. There are a couple of phones you can use which bring certain people into the party. Itās usually tied down somewhat per level, but itās always amusing when a UFO starts hovering over the pool and sucking people up.
Mostly just flitting between Zelda & Mario Kart 8 on my Switch.
Zelda, itās just bloody fantastic. Itās certainly a contender for best game of all time, imo. Which, considering the rather large performance disparity between it (and the Wii U, which the game is also availabe on) and the mk ii versions of PS4/xbone is pretty hilarious.
I have to confess, Iām not usually a huge fan of āopen worldā games. I kind of find alot of AAA games now make games open world simply because itās the done thing. Itās not actually adding anything to the game, and in reality there is actually a fairly linear path of progression in the game. In other words, what you usually get is an illusion of open world. Not so in Zelda, once you get through the early stages, the only thing holding you back is your ability. You can go anywhere, do any mission, or explore anything, in any order. Itās not the first game thatās done this, but few have come close to executing it so well.
The game world is amazing in itās ambition. It is fucking huge, Iāve dropped a good 50 odd hours on the game, and still barely scratched the surface. Itās not some dreary asset copy & paste job like in Fallout 4, every region is distinct and unique, each with itās own challenges, creatures, items, plants etc. Itās a genuine joy to just explore the environment, something the game actively encourages you to do too. Not only is it just fun to climb every fucking mountain and survey all that is around you, but more often than not youāll be rewarded with something for yur exploration. Be it, a new quest, some rare items/ingredients/animals/weapons/ an incredible view over Hyrule, or a shrine. Time spent exploring is never wasted, itās an incredible feat.
Iām bowled over by the shrines too, from a level design perspective (yes, itās nerdy, but itās what I do so indulge me), they are just fantastic. Thereās so many shrines in the game (i donāt want to look up the exact amount tbh, and havenāt done them all) and the challanges they pose are so unique. Thereās a few duds in there, a few fucking annoying ones (i hate anything with gyroscopic/motion controls), but the majority are ingenius. The ability to constantly iterate and layer up a few core mechanics is executed perfectly so consistently. Itās fucking impressive.
Buy this fucking game.
Mario Kart 8 is loads of fun too. Itās pretty much the same as the Wii Uās Mario Kart 8, but a bit more polished and they actually gave it some Battle arenas. I think most people know what to expect with Mario Kart by now? Silly, slapstick kart racing, with some of the most perfectly executed examples of game balancing I can think of. Itās such a perfect title for the Switch. Itās so easy to sync up with your mates and jump into games, which we regularly do in the office. Was quite surprised to see recently that it even works on a plane.
As you may have guessed, I absolutely love my Switch. Iāve hardly touched the ps4 since I got it. Iāve got Horizon Zero Dawn sat still in the wrapper. It can wait for now. The only probably with the Switch is that the games on offer are a bit sparse at the minute. But, E3 recently showed off some really fun looking games coming soon. Mario Odyssey looks bonkers, in the most Nintendo way. Canāt wait to play it. Mario + Rabbids Kingdom looks like some Mario/Xcom love child. Excellent. Sonic Mania looks like a proper, nostalgic blast (sidescrolling Sonic ftw!). Annnnd Rocket League is getting a Switch release too. Thatās gonna be such a match made in heaven.
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Found a reason to dust off the PS4, which was rapidly becoming an All4 box (albeit an exceedingly expensive one) for krGF.
Went full nostalgia gamer and got myself the remastered Crash Bandicoot trilogy (the original 3 games from the ps1). The games look fantastic, and have stayed mostly true to their original forms, with a few little tweaks around the edges and some little easter eggs.
One thing that stands out, however, is the difficulty. The original games were always challenging, often devilishly so. But my word, the remasters are something else. I canāt for the life of me work out whether this is deliberate, linked to the remastering, or a move to analogue controls. The game is now SO DAMN HARD! Even progressing through some of the earlier levels is an absolute pain in the goddamn arse. Cue much frustration, air turned blue and significantly raised blood pressure.
That said, perhaps through sheer bloody mindedness, I keep going back. I will not be beaten.
Crash Bandicoot, making Dark Souls look easy.
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Only really played one game this weekend. Phoenix Wright : Ace Attorney. Iāve got the trilogy on 3DS, about as perfect a platform as youād want to play them on. A little clunky in terms of the overall experience, but some great storylines and characters, along with some genuinely amusing moments.
Iāve just finished the last case of the first game, which involves murder and reports of a new Loch Ness type monster in the local lake.
If youāve not played these games, theyāre mechanically that simple that you could do them in a web browser. People give testimonies, which you can press them on or contradict with any of the evidence youāve gathered. The whole investigation phase is a little clunky and very linear, but despite the inherent simplicity, it still manages to be an inherently great experience, largely because so much of the action takes place outside your console, inside your brain.
Well worth checking out if youāre after a change of pace.
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Always reassuring to know that Iām not going mad and that yes, the games are definitely harder than they were.
Probably the best bit about teaching is the relationships you build up with kids over the years. Since the end of year 9 Iāve been promising the, now year 12, boys that I would hook a console up to the big screen and play FIFA with them. Today was the day.
There is currently a video clip doing the rounds on Snapchat of me being bundled by about 30 kids after scoring a last minute breakaway goal in a 3-0 win (Long 2, Tadic 1) against the braggart plastic scouser (who aside from that is a lovely kid).
Itās a great job. Thank fuck Iām half decent a FIFA though.
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I thought teachers wanted the best for their charges.
PES, man. PES.
This week I have mostly been playingā¦ Rimworld!
It is an amazing game! 
This week? The past twelve weeks from my Steam notifications, possibly more. Worth 23 quid?
Absolutlely. Highly recommended.
Have you watched any youtube footge of it? Any questions about it?
Do you ever have a day off?
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Lots. Recently spent five glorious days in Glastonbury. Iāve two days in the capital next week, and my weekends off.
PES is a perfect demonstration for work ethic. The only thing it lacks is the money EA lavishes on official and exclusive licences.
It has had the edge on Fifa for the past three years.
So Iāve just played through this. Itās a really interesting little thing.
Iām really fascinated by āgamesā like this. Itās, perhaps, something that many may suggest is not a game.
For me, it shows the power of games, their ability to draw together interaction and narrative. The power of play, and games in education seems hugely untapped, imo. This seems a really great example of how well games can teach stuff qucikly, and in interesting ways.
Worth a look, itās free, pretty simple and, as I said above, really interesting.
Probably should have posted this elsewhere, as itās only me and pap that will see it here 
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So I took @matthew-le-god 's RimWorld reccy (an entirely different game from āWorld of Rimmingā, btw) - and am a bit fascinated with it. I havenāt gotten very far in it yet. Iām spending most of my time re-rolling. Iāve read pretty much all of RimWorld Wiki (an entirely different site from āWorld of Rimming Wikiā, btw).
I am not sure whether I can give it the full recommendation to the whole site yet. I am probably going to re-roll another RimWorld (entirely different from rolling into a world of rimming, btw).
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So Iām interested, six hours on, did anyone actually Google āWorld of Rimmingā to see if I was fibbing?
If so, where did you land?