After a couple weeks of pretty big, pretty notable releases, we suddenly find ourselves back in the lazy days of Summer. Now, are we lacking major titles because San Diego Comic-Con starts this week? Maybe, but it might also have something to do with a movie that releases this Friday, Deadpool & Wolverine, heard of it?

Top Releases:

However, if you aren’t joining the massive crowds in downtown San Diego or braving the packed theatres this week, you do have a few things to check out. Our most notable release of the week is an expansion (that’s kind of how you know things aren’t so hot right now), The Sims 4: Lovestruck. This is the, if I’m counting correctly, SIXTEENTH expansion for The Sims 4 and, if current rumors are true, we can expect many more to come with the quiet cancellation of The Sims 5. In Lovestruck, players can take their Sims on romantic getaways and partake in a slew of new activities. The way romantic partnering works appears to have been tweaked as well, but hopefully I can still get Biz Markie and Flo from the Geico commercials to make “woo hoo” on the new Basic Breakup Double Bed.

The Sims 4: Lovestruck (PC/PS4/Xbox One/Series X|S) – Releases Jul. 25^th

Developed by: Maxis
Published by: EA

Other than that, we’ve got a new entry in the EDF series with Earth Defense Force 6, a survival horror puzzle adventure called Conscript, a first person shooter (that gives my intense nausea when I watch the trailer) called Exophobia, a cozy puzzle adventure called The Star Named EOS, and one of those Octodad/Surgeon Simulator type games, Exhausted Man.

Earth Defense Force 6 (PC/PS4/PS5) – Releases Jul. 25^th

Developed by: Sandlot Games
Published by: D3 Publisher

Conscript (PC/PS4/PS5/Switch/Xbox One/Series X|S) – Releases Jul. 23^rd

Developed by: Jordan Mochi/Catchweight Studios
Published by: Team17

Exophobia (PC/PS4/PS5/Switch/Series X|S) – Releases Jul. 23^rd

Developed by: Zarc Attack
Published by: PM Studios

The Star Named EOS (PC/PS5/Switch/Series X|S) – Releases Jul. 23^rd

Developed by: Silver Lining Studio
Published by: PLAYISM

Exhausted Man (PC/PS4/PS5/Switch/Xbox One/Series X|S) – Releases Jul. 24^th

Developed by: Candleman Games
Published by: Candleman Games

Honestly, the only thing that I find remotely interesting is a shadow dropped game from this year’s EVO fighting tournament, SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos. While, in my opinion, not as good as the Capcom vs. SNK games, this classic brawler has been stuck on old hardware for nearly 20 years, so it’s great to see it finally available on PC and modern consoles. Oh, and in case you’re wondering, yeah, it has Rollback Netcode. No word on if it has Ray Tracing or some other gaming buzzword tied to it, but I’ll let you know if I hear anything.

SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos (PC/PS4/Switch) – Released Jul. 20^th

Everything else:

Here’s the rest of this week’s lineup. We’ve got a couple of cool looking indies (Valley Peaks, Slider, Arranger: A Role-Puzzling Adventure), a sports title (F1 Manager 2024), and a port of a game that came out last year (One Piece Odyssey: Deluxe Edition).

• Valley Peaks (PC/Switch – Maybe?) – Releases Jul. 24^th
• F1 Manager 2024 (PC/PS4/PS5/Switch/Xbox One/Series X|S) – Releases Jul. 23^rd
• Lilja and Natsuka Painting Lies (PC) – Releases Jul. 24^th
• Slider (PC) – Releases Jul. 24^th
• Arranger: A Role-Puzzling Adventure (PC) – Releases Jul. 25^th
• One Piece Odyssey: Deluxe Edition (Switch) – Releases Jul. 26^th
• Wéko The Mask Gatherer (PC) – Releases Jul. 26^th

Notable Releases from 10, 20, and 30 years ago:

Our notable releases are like this week’s new games, forgettable. However, it’s isn’t necessarily because they’re bad, no, no. In fact, our 1994 title is one of the greatest video games of all time, it’s just that Nintendo is the one making sure you forget it exists. Read on…

First up, from 2014, we have the failed MMO Firefall from the Red 5 Studios. Production on the game began sometime around 2008/2009 , with a full, public announcement and showcase in 2010 at the Penny Arcade Expo in Seattle. Initial reception to Firefall was positive, with Red 5 hopeful that they would have a hit on their hands. There was a lot of buzz around Firefall, and expectations, as many of the staff had come from Blizzard, including Mark Kern who you might know better as the right wing Twitter troll, Grummz.

By 2011, the team had announced that Firefall’s story was to be co-written by sci-fi author Orson Scott Card, another right wing douchebag, so, you know, things were looking GREAT for Firefall. Just kidding, it wasn’t. In 2013, Kern was removed from Red 5, which he co-founded, and the 2014 release of the game was a disaster. Critics hated it, players were bored with it; in 2015 Red 5 laid off over 40 employees, and on Christmas Day they failed to pay their current staff due to insufficient funds (they eventually got paid). In 2016, Firefall no longer accepted new players, and in July of 2017 the servers were shut down and the game was dead. Womp, womp.

The only good thing to come out of this game was a bizarre live stream that Red 5 did with the comedy group Mega64. For the 2012 “Firefall Fest”, the studio invited the troupe to come play the game and do some of their comedy bits. Instead, they came not as themselves, but as goth personas that spent the entire three hour stream taking the piss out of Firefall and creating chaos, rarely stopping to talk about the game. It’s amazing, it’s fantastic, and it has spawned one of the best set of recurring characters in Mega 64 history, The Game Crypt.

From 2004, we’ve got the PS2 exclusive Bujingai: The Forsaken City, an action title developed by Taito and Red Entertainment (no affiliation with Red 5 Studios). Bujingai was a typical, generic, third person action game. It clearly took inspiration from other, more successful games of the day, most notably Devil May Cry and Ninja Gaiden. Billed as a title that would celebrate the 50th anniversary of Taito, the company went out of its way to enlist some top names in the anime industry, with character designs by Toshihiro Kawamoto (Cowboy Bebop) and a story written by Yosuke Kuroda (Trigun).

Despite their best efforts, Bujingai wasn’t a hit. It got decent, but not great, reviews, and it also didn’t light up the sale charts. It was accused of being basic, generic, and dull. Despite easy to learn controls and a solid effort by the team to make a fun game, Bujingai didn’t catch on; what a shame.

Our last notable title is the 1994 Game Boy title Donkey Kong, a remake of the 1981 arcade classic. While the game starts off with the original four levels from the 1981 Donkey Kong, players are then transported to an entirely new area, moving around on a map in an attempt to clear 97 more levels.

The goal in each level is for Mario to find a key that unlocks a door to the next level. Along the way, he’ll come across various hazards, as well as enemies that he can pick up and throw (similar to Super Mario Bros. 2). Aver four levels, Mario must battle Donkey Kong by either throwing barrels as the big ape, or attempting to save Pauline.

Critics were very excited about the new Donkey Kong, praising the way that Nintendo slyly introduced the new levels. Critics found the game to be highly engaging, expertly crafted, and was the “killer app” for Nintendo’s recently release Super Game Boy peripheral for the SNES, which allowed you to play Game Boy games on your television.

While the game wouldn’t receive a proper sequel, it’s ideas would be expanded on in the Game Boy Advance title Mario vs. Donkey Kong (which we talked about earlier this year). Over the years, Donkey Kong ’94 has been placed on numerous “Best of…” lists, including ranking 67 in EGM’s list of the 100 greatest games of all time (in 1997), while most recently appearing on PC Magazine’s “Top 10 Best Game Boy Games” list.

Sadly, Donkey Kong ’94 is not available on any modern console, which is an absolute shame. This is, without a doubt, one of the best Game Boy games of all time, and one of Nintendo’s best. All we can do is hope that the Big N comes to its senses and let’s us replay this absolute treasure.

Stepping into the world of notable films, 2014 gave us the wacked out sci-fi film Lucy, which features an ass kicking Scarlett Johansson with super powers and a mind so full of knowledge that she goes full Tetsuo. 2004 gave us one of the most 2000’s movies of all time, Zach Braff’s Garden State. Like Napoleon Dynamite, Super Size Me, Anchorman, and Fahrenheit 9/11, the DVD for this movie sat on every college freshman’s book shelf. The somber, nihilistic, but also warmly touching, film was supposed to be this generation’s St. Elmo’s Fire, or whatever. Instead, it’s just one of those movies that makes every 40 year old kind of wince in embarrassment. Oh, in case you’re wondering, yes, I had this DVD on my bookshelf (for many years) and I also had the soundtrack because The Shins changed my life.

1994’s notable film is a VHS tape I had on my shelf for a long time (before buying the DVD), it’s Jim Carrey’s second massive hit of the year, The Mask. Infinitely better in every way to the funny, but dismal, Ace Ventura, The Mask helped show that Carrey could play a normal, every day schmoe. It’s only when he puts on a magical mask that he gains cartoon like super powers that allow him to unleash his wild side. Mild mannered and timid around women as the doofus Stanley, confident and suave as The Mask.

Made on a shoestring budget, The Mask was Jim Carrey’s highest grossing film of the year, making over $350 million worldwide, and still stands as one of his most financially successful films to date. It was, at the time, the second highest grossing super hero film of all time (behind Batman) and was the most profitable comic book movie of all time until 2019’s Joker. The popularity of the film helped bring classic cartoons back into focus, as well as a style of music that hadn’t been popular since the 1920’s, Swing, thanks to its use of artists like Royal Crown Revue and The Brian Setzer Orchestra on its soundtrack.

Critics and audiences loved The Mask, even getting Siskel & Ebert to change their tune on Jim Carrey after their absolute hatred of Ace Ventura. This was also the film debut of Cameron Diaz who was also praised for her performance, which, I mean, she’s okay, I guess. There must have been something else that all of these male critics liked about her but I just can’t put my finger on it, hmmmm.

The film would receive one Oscar nomination for Best Visual Effects (losing to Forrest Gump), and got Jim Carrey his first Golden Glob nomination for Best Actor – Musical or Comedy. The Mask was a very important film for me in my formative, junior high years, helping a shy, dorky kid feel like he could be confident enough to make friends and, one day, have someone to love. Thanks, The Mask.

For this week’s notable albums, we start off with 2014’s The Voyager by Jenny Lewis, her third solo album, and first since Rilo Kiley’s official break up. The album performed very well, peaking at the #5 spot on the Billboard Top 200, thanks in large part to the single “Just One of the Guys” which featured three of 2014’s emerging actresses, Kristin Stewart, Brie Larson, Anne Hathaway in the music video (fun fact, Jenny Lewis herself was an actress of several years as a child and teen). While not my favorite Jenny Lewis album, its not bad, it just isn’t really my thing.

2004 gave us Taking Back Sunday’s breakthrough album Where You Want to Be, which debuted at #3 on the Billboard Top 200 and stayed om the chart for 19 weeks. The album was a huge commercial success for the band, going gold within the year, with the lead single “A Decade Under the Influence” being a radio mainstay throughout 2004. This album, along with My Chemical Romance’s Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge are often mentioned when talking about emo’s commercial breakthrough. While this is an album and band that I never had any interest in, I’m glad that their sound was able to be a part of many teenagers lives in the early 2000’s. I’m happy that they’re nostalgic for it.

Finally, from 1994, we have the album Re by the band Café Tacuba (or Tacvba, whatever floats your boat). The album, sung entirely in Spanish, wasn’t one that was on my radar as a 13 year old, wannabe punk rocker. I was too busy listening to Green Day and soundtrack to The Mask to get into Re; what a chump. It wouldn’t be until a few years later, in 1999, when my buddy Art introduced me to the band.

I was instantly blown away for just how eclectic the album was. The band moved through so many genres, rock, funk, R&B, punk, ska, ranchero, mariachi, and ballads with ease. These were real musicians who clearly loved music and the music that they were making. Critics also felt the love that Café Tacuba had for their art, calling it one of the best albums of the year.

Over time, Re has received a reputation as one of the best and most important Rock en español album, being referred to as “The White Album” of the genre by The New York Times in 2006. It’s legacy and accolades have only grown stronger over the years, with Rolling Stone magazine placing it as number one on their 2012 list of The 10 Greatest Latin Albums of All Time. Re is brilliant, wild, and above all, an outstanding work of art that should be in every music lover’s collection.

Firefall (PC) – Released Jul. 29^th, 2014: Wiki Link

Bujingai: The Forsaken City (PS2) – Released Jul. 22^nd, 2004: Wiki Link

Donkey Kong (Game Boy) – Released Jul. 22^nd, 1994: Wiki Link

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