Sunday Snooze 6/7/26: How you June?
Happy Sunday folks, I unfortunately skipped another week of my gratitude journal. I just never got around to finishing it last Saturday, and part of that is because I'd taken Friday off to off-set Memorial Day. It's been a busy time, but I also think that despite some mounting work stress, I'm starting to get through the tunnel. My wife is back at work and seeing a future plan start to materialize, I'm on more and more medications that should help me out. We're moving. We're making things happen.
I ended my last post gushing about how game releases and announcements were looming. Boy has it delivered. Mina has been a mixed bag, but 007 First Light has been a treat, and I'm excited for Yoshi and Lego Batman. On the announcement front, the State of Play was pretty good: Newish Rayman, New God of War, Wolverine looks fun, I am so goddamn excited for Control Resonant. As of writing, SGF's main show hasn't even happened yet, not to mention the Nintendo Direct or the xbox show, and September/October is already looking stuffed to the gills. But none of that is what I want to focus on today for my weekly wonder.
Weekly Wonder: Nintendo 3DS. Yes, this started out as an ill-advised, perhaps hypomanically motivated, impulse buy. But when a dual-IPS screen, gorgeous red New 3DS XL pops up on Facebook Marketplace in your city, I don't know, I jumped on it. I know own like 5 3DS devices but this is the nicest one yet and I've been playing quite a bit of it. I finished New Super Mario Bros 2, and I've been playing through the postgame of Super Mario 3D Land, playing a bunch of Picross E, and been replaying the excellent, the iconic, the unbeatable Captain Toad Treasure Tracker. Playing Captain Toad again reminds me of both how amazing it is and how amazing the 3DS is.
Captain Toad is a game where every pixel is accounted for and every puzzle box can be turned upside down and inside out to be fully understood. It rewards your time ten-fold and there is not an ounce of fat on it. It is great for short play sessions which makes it a lovely fit on the 3DS, a powerful yet pocketable device that is as charming as it is comfortable and modern. I wish there were more switch games that I could just, play on 3DS instead.
What I've been playing: The gaming headline has been 007 First Light, a game that has really blown me away and exceeded my expectations. It is a blockbuster cinematic game, so it's not going to be the most artsy or award winning affair, but it's a slick and successful game and I'm really impressed with its storytelling. I didn't know the hitman folks had it in them to write dialogue this well and string together character arcs as well as they string together big fun immersive sim set pieces. Add in fun Bond camp, typical wacko stealth gameplay, and some truly fun gun play, and it's been a blast. I'll likely beat it this weekend and I can't wait.
What I've been reading: I really enjoyed the first volume of Matt Fraction's Batman run, I've been growing on G Willow Wilson's Poison Ivy (pun intended) as I read volumes 3-6, and and I've also been reading a bunch of the World's Finest stuff. But my favorite read of the last two weeks is either Ram V's New Gods, which really landed and met my high expectations for it, or Phillip Kennedy Johnson's Batman and Robin (Vol 1 and 2) which delivered a great crime story that was grounded yet supernatural and had a great dynamic between Bruce and Damian. Some lovely character touches. But if I had to pick one, I'd pick Ram V's New Gods. I just love the constant art changes, it made it feel so... unpredictable, yet the art was still top notch across all styles and feels.
What I've been watching: Taskmaster's current season is fantastic. Armando Ianucci, known as a genius comedic writer, is this lovable goofball completely detached from what you might expect based on the cynical tone of Veep. Kumail, who I am a huge fan of, is shockingly the least funny person on the season. It's been a blast and I'm sad that next week is the season finale, but that's okay because Game Changer is back!
What I'm looking forward to: Supposedly, Tuesday morning of next week should be the first true Nintendo Direct of the year. If true, that makes it immediately of the best days of the year for me. I hate to be such a bootlicker but I can't help who I am.
So long for now, hopefully it doesn't take 2+ weeks for me to take another snooze. Keep it sleepy everyone and please go easy on yourself. You're doing okay.











