Nicktendo

That's the one I was on about! Remember having a lot of fun. Think I must've rented it a couple of times because we definitely didn't own it.

That's not correct I'm afraid

Loving how Red Dead Redemption 2 looks.

If the core gameplay remains the same and the battle pass goodies / micro-transactions are purely cosmetic, it seems sensible to make it F2P. People who just want to play can ignore the cosmetic stuff. I'd prefer it if that stuff wasn't there too, but it's not difficult to ignore. I think it's pretty clear what the most lucrative multiplayer model is now, so ignoring that seems silly. This is pretty much what they have in MCC. You can't spend money or buy a battle pass, but the more time you play, the more cosmetic stuff you unlock over various seasons. I don't think it detracts from the experience at all. It's still classic CE / 2 / 3 / Reach multiplayer. A lot will depend on how it's implemented of course.

The thought of playing games at 120hz is very appealing to be honest. Especially for FPSs and stuff like Rocket League. But I've always held off on upgrading my monitor as I have a feeling it will ruin other games (particularly 30fps) for me. I can't imagine going from RL in 120hz to Dark Souls or BOTW on Switch, for example. Would be jarring as hell. Good to see it getting support though. I feel 60fps is enough for me and I will never be good enough at any game to feel the tactical benefit of 120fps. F2P multiplayer is a good move. It means the player base will be huge. However, I'm sure it would have been anyway, and this does open the door for shady mechanics. This gets a wait and see from me.

Haha, @Ronnie that is great stuff. To be honest, I would be perfectly OK with Wind Waker taking the best game of all time N- Europe. Also, we finally have confirmation Banjo-Kazooie > Mario 64. Glad we have finally, after 23 long years, come to our senses.

Apparently his mum was in hospital which is why he flew home. Feel super bad for him to be honest. This virus can do one, so tired of it now.

I'm sure he will have been tested many times since two weeks ago. I find it quite unlikely that he already had it in Hungary and that they took two weeks to find it. Reading reports that was he photographed with fans in a restaurant in Mexico during the break and he likely picked it up there... Pictures on instagram seem to confirm it. Pretty silly really.

It's coming to Steam in December. Despite all the noise and chatter about how bad it looks, I think the gameplay looks phenomenal. Really looking forward to it.

Day 30 - Personal gaming tradition Every Christmas Eve / Day I play this. Not finish, mind as I never end up doing it. But I usually stick it on to get myself into the mood. I should play it to completion again, it's been too long

I finished Donkey Kong Country on the SNES app today. Mixed feelings about this game. The music and atmosphere are the peak of Super Nintendo but the game hasn't aged terribly well in my opinion. The first four worlds are fantastic, but the game nose dives a little once you get through the snow world. I just didn't find the industrial zone and the caves as inspiring as the rest of the game (though that could just be nostalgia speaking). There is no doubt the collision detection is simply awful, a result of the technology used, I'm sure, but there were numerous silly or cheap deaths, something I wouldn't expect from Super Mario World, for example. The game is still great fun though, and the level design is still consistently good, if not amazing. The bosses, however, are underwhelming and exceedingly easy. After beating K. Rool I was kind of left with a "is that it?" feeling. The game also chugs pretty badly on a couple of the levels, most notably the second level when it starts raining. Simply shocking for a 25 year old game on modern hardware, but what can you do? Having played DKC2 on the 3DS a few years ago, I can definitely say I prefer that game, but this one still has its moments. I still think it's an incredible achievement in the context of its original release, but as time's gone on, I do feel it was maybe carried quite heavily by the initial wow factor back in 1995. The sequels are fundamental better games, especially the Returns duo, but this game will always have its place in the history books. 2 hours and 20 minutes for a lights-to-flag play through. 68% completion. Much, much shorter than I remember but I was speed running the early stuff which I still have pretty good muscle memory for. The temptation is there to push that higher, but I may pursue other stuff in the meantime. Really happy this game was added to the service and I'd really like to see the other two games drop, particularly the second, which is maybe my favourite SNES game. Awkward ending shot snapped for @nekunando because I don't use Twitter anymore.

Yeah, the A rating is much harder to get this year, it's incredibly frustrating. I got up to a high B last week and have plummeted back down to a low C this week due to an absolutely awful session last night. My performance rating is slowly going up and I've managed a few wins and a good deal of podiums, but the timewasters and crashers are really starting to wind me up.

Day 27 - Best Boss Battle The original and best. I challenge anyone to say they didn't hear "So long, gay Bowser" in the heady days of 1997. I mean, it's not even close to "King Bowser". I wonder if an uncompressed version of this audio clip was part of the recent Nintendo leaks to end this debate for once and all.

Day 26 - Favourite NPC

I hated the abilities at first, but I'm finding myself playing Reach more than any other game in MCC. I miss not being able to sprint when it's not there.

Day 25 - Online Multiplayer This one is easy. The best new IP Nintendo has come up with since Pikmin and now a mainstay in their biggest sellers after only 2 games. Splatoon, for me, is proof that Nintendo can move in the right direction and go with the times while still retaining everything that makes them unique. Give youth a chance Nintendo, let them express themselves and have more creative freedom! Splatoon / Splatoon 2

Imola and Portimao are coming in October!! https://racer.com/2020/07/23/imola-nurburgring-and-portimao-set-to-join-2020-f1-calendar/ Nurburgring is also coming after Sochi. Man, I'm so excited to see these two races (and Mugello as well). Finally, some tracks without tarmac runoff! Hope they have good races and finally prove that turning a circuit into a car park isn't the most exciting way of running the sport. Apparently they're still in discussion about a back-to-back weekend in Vietnam and Malaysia (yes please to both). This current calendar really is an F1 fan boy's wet dream. Edit: Forgot to mention that F1TV Pro was made available in my country today. I can still watch F1 through my parents SkyGo account, but I might give this a go if the quality is better than Sky's 720p 30fps stream. It also means I'll never have to listen to Simon Lazenby ever again It's 8 Euros a month or 65 for the year. Once my Access subscription runs out next month, I'll probably try a month of Pro.

Finished Halo: Reach this evening. Having only finished the first one almost 20 years ago, I loved this game. Gone are the endless corridors and repeated levels (except for one section) and there are a couple of really cool surprises mid-game that I really wasn't expecting! A much tighter experience than the original with more of an emphasis on certain set pieces rather than just wave after wave of the same enemies. Each level throws something new at you and the added abilities, while I'm not a fan in multiplayer, really add something to the campaign and allow you to change tactics on the fly. The sense of scale is just as grand as the original, and even though you don't play as the Master Chief, I thought this prequel added something to the overall story of the first. Obviously I haven't paid any attention to Halo in the past 10+ years so had no idea what to expect with this game. I went in completely blind and had an excellent time with it. Around 10 hours to finish the campaign, which I think was the perfect length. I'm already close to the end of the original as I've been playing both these games simultaneously, but I'm looking forward to the other games after this one. I've only ever done the first level or two from the second and third and this one really picked up around the 3-4 hour mark, so hoping the others do too. I remember being fairly disappointed by the early campaigns in both back in the day.

I think Sony had a better showing overall but I’m super hyped for Halo Infinite, like @Sckewi, I hope it comes to Steam. Nice to see a lot of new IP but nothing really grabbed me. Definitely didn’t sell me on a Series X but it’s good to see MS trying to go toe-to-toe with Sony on exclusives and first party games, there was a lot of variety in that pres.

Day 23 - Licensed video game I'm gonna go with @Vileplume2000 on this one - Star Wars Rogue Leader I've never been a big Star Wars fan (only seen the first two films and Episode 1) but I LOVE a few of the games in the Star Wars franchise. This was the first game I had on GameCube and it absolutely blew me away. The visuals were stunning and the dog-fighting was amazing, be it over land or in space. I sat and played this on launch night until 8 o'clock in the morning and kept coming back for more. Never quite managed all the gold medals but got a fair few of the unlockable levels and ships. I recently played it on Dolphin and it really does hold up still. Amazing achievement on the GameCube. This opening to the first mission still looks great 20 years later. Additional shout-out to Star Wars Episode 1: Racer and Knights of the old Republic, two of my favourite games from that era.

Things have slowed a bit for me. I'm still walking 4-6km every day and eating well (despite the odd couple of slips) and I'm currently down 16lbs. Considering I'd lost 13 about a month ago, I think I need to change up my regime a bit. Considering getting a bike, though there isn't much point with only 6 weeks of Summer left. I've been trying to pick up my pace when walking, I'm at 7km/h now, which is pretty comfortable, where at the start even walking slowly for 30 mins would make me break a sweat. I need to play more Ring Fit as well, it's only been a couple of times a week recently. I've been weighing in about once a fortnight, but it's frustrating when the scales barely move.

Day 22 - Favourite Playable Character This wholesome lad

It doesn’t have cross progression and the Switch version is not great. Stick with wherever else you own it.

Yeah so I really suck at Halo This is great, thanks for sharing. When I eventually get around to playing Halo 3, this will come in handy.