Top Releases:

• Gothic 1 Remake (PC/PS4/PS5/Xbox One/Series X|S) – Releases Jun. 5^th
• The 7th Guest Remake (PC/PS5/Series X|S) – Releases Jun. 4^th
• eFootball Kick-Off! (Switch 2) – Releases Jun. 3^rd
• Tour de France 2026 (PC/PS5/Series X|S) – Releases Jun. 4^th

Well, the Summer season is upon us and I gotta say, it’s looking pretty bleak! Gas prices at an all-time high, multiple wars going on in the world, Republican leadership screwing over taxpayers, AI data centers wreaking havoc on the environment, ICE agents harassing people in the streets. Do video games even matter right now? Have they ever mattered?

Gothic 1 Remake (PC/PS4/PS5/Xbox One/Series X|S) – Releases Jun. 5^th

Developed by: Alkimia Interactive
Published by: THQ Nordic

The 7th Guest Remake (PC/PS5/Series X|S) – Releases Jun. 4^th

Developed by: Vertigo Games/Exkee
Published by: Vertigo Games

eFootball Kick-Off! (Switch 2) – Releases Jun. 3^rd

Developed by: Konami
Published by: Konami

Tour de France 2026 (PC/PS5/Series X|S) – Releases Jun. 4^th

Developed by: Cyanide Studios
Published by: Nacon

Ports and Expansions:

• Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (Switch 2/Series X|S) – Releases Jun. 3^rd
• Blood West: Scavengers (PC/PS5/Series X|S) – Releases Jun. 3^rd

Everything else:

• Ourlands (PC) – Releases Jun. 2^nd
• Alruna: End of History (PC) – Releases Jun. 4^th
• Solarpunk (PC/PS5/Switch 2/Series X|S) – Releases Jun. 8^th

Notable Releases from 10, 20, and 30 (and sometimes 40) years ago:

Games:

In notable games, 2016 gave us Mirror’s Edge Catalyst, the sequel to the cult hit Mirror’s Edge. While the first game was seen as a hidden gem by most critics, Catalyst was seen as an inferior follow-up that didn’t quite meet the expectations set by the original. Audiences also didn’t seem to care for the game as, according to website VG Chartz, Catalyst only moved about 600k copies, far less than the 2.5 million copies that Mirror’s Edge sold.

From 2006, we have Armored Core: Last Raven, the eleventh game in the series and seventh for the PS2, which concludes the story that was started in Armored Core 3. Fans of From Software’s Souls series will be interested to know that this was the first game at the company that future company President, Hidetaka Miyazaki, would work on, being part of the design team.

The core gameplay elements remained the same as they had been for each subsequent Armored Core release and, thus, wasn’t exactly loved by critics. With little difference to prior entries, and a ridiculously high barrier of entry for novice players, Last Raven felt like another niche title with limited appeal to the burgeoning “casual gamer” audience that was starting to take shape in the mid 2000’s.

From 1996, we’ve got the game Baku Baku, a quirky puzzle game that was released for the Sega Saturn. The name Baku Baku is an example of onomatopoeia, in which a word is created to mimic the sound of something happening. In this case, “baku” is meant to mimic the sound of the on-screen characters opening and closing their mouth, which sounds like “baku baku”.

The gameplay in Baku Baku is not unlike most other falling tile puzzle games, with players needing to clear the tiles to ensure their play field does not become overrun. To do this, players must place a tile with an animal face next to that creature’s favorite food (i.e., placing banana tiles next to a monkey tile). In doing so, the tiles will be removed from the play field and cause random tiles to enter their opponent’s play field.

Critics were really impressed with Baku Baku, calling it highly addictive and one of the best new puzzle games to hit the market. While falling tiles games were pretty ubiquitous following the success of Tetris, the added element of only being able to clear tiles by matching them with a specific kind of tile added a new layer of complexity that challenged genre experts. This ingenuity helped earn Baku Baku few end of year “Best of…” award wins & nominations, including “Classic/Puzzle Game of the Year” from Computer Gaming World, and GDC’s “Best Trivia or Puzzle Game” (losing to You Don’t Know Jack XL).

Heading to 1986, we’ve got the arcade title Ikari Warriors, a vertical scrolling shooter from SNK. While the company was already well known in Japan, where Ikari Warriors would be the second highest grossing cabinet in 1986, the company hadn’t really broken out in the US. Ikari Warriors changed all of that, where the game would be a massive hit, finding itself in the top 5 highest grossing arcade games in both 1986 & 1987.

Ikari Warriors was one of several titles created after the success of Capcom’s 1985 game, Commando, but what set Ikari Warriors apart from the others was its unique control scheme. Typically, players would use a standard joystick to move their character around, but Ikari Warriors joystick also acted as a spinning dial, allowing players to better aim their shots as they moved around the screen.

The success of Ikari Warriors prompted SNK to create not just two sequels (1986’s Victory Road and 1989’s Ikari III), but also two similar games. Both released in 1987, the first was Guerrilla War, in which players took on the roles of Che Guevara and Fidel Castro, while the second was called Time Soldiers, and had a more sci-fi feel.

With Ikari Warriors finally giving SNK their break in the US, the company would continue to thrive through the late 80’s and early 90’s, becoming well known for their fighting games like Fatal Fury and King of Fighters. The latter would also feature the two main characters from Ikari Warriors, Ralf and Clark, as playable fighters, and would later appear in Metal Slug 6 & 7, also as playable characters.

Movies:

In notable films, 2016 gave us X-Men: Apocalypse, the third film in the rebooted X-Men film franchise, following First Class and Days of Future Past, while acting as the ninth film in the series, overall. As the film’s title suggests, the movie is all about the classic X-Men villain Apocalypse and his desire to rule the world, or whatever. This film also introduces younger versions of the classic X-Men team that would appear in later films, such as Cyclops, Jean Grey, and Storm.

Critics weren’t super keen on the film, calling it generic with a one-note villain who has zero depth. Audiences, however, were much kinder, leading the film to a worldwide gross of $388 million, making it (at the time) the third highest grossing X-Men film of all-time (behind Deadpool and Days of Future Past). A fourth film in the series, Dark Phoenix, would arrive in 2019, with new parent company Disney halting plans for future releases with the reboot cast.

From 2006, we have the film The Break-Up, an anti-romantic comedy starring Vince Vaughn and Jennifer Aniston as a couple who still live together following a messy break-up. Like X-Men: Apocalypse, The Break-Up was hated by critics by loved by audiences, who helped it earn over $200 million at the worldwide box office. While the idea of a simple, romantic comedy being a hit might seem bizarre in a world where those are now just dumped onto Netflix, the drawing power of Vince Vaughn and Jennifer Aniston was too great for much of the movie going public to ignore in 2006.

1996’s notable film is the fantasy action Dragonheart, starring Dennis Quaid as a dragon hunter who, surprisingly, befriends a dragon, voiced by Sean Connery. Following the death of a cruel King, his son, the Prince, is poised to take over as ruler. However, the Prince is killed by a peasant girl during an uprising, prompting the Queen to take the boy to a dragon (played by Connery) who has the power to save his life.

Having been trained by a noble knight (played by Quaid), the Prince is expected to be good and pure, so the dragon breathes life into the boy, bringing him back to life. However, the weight of the crown and the desire for revenge has poisoned the mind of the Prince and he becomes ever more cruel and vile than his father. After some years have passed, the knight and the dragon come to a mutual understanding that they must save the people of the kingdom from this new, evil King that they both unwittingly unleashed on the people, learning that friendship was the real journey all along.

Critics didn’t really care for Dragonheart, though it was praised for its (at the time) spectacular visual effects, which earned it an Academy Award nomination in that category (losing to Independence Day). Audiences liked the film well enough. Despite opening in third place behind two hold over films, Mission: Impossible and Twister, it still grossed $115 million on a budget of $57 million. The success led to four follow-up films, though all were direct to video and had much smaller budgets, and a video game (Fire & Steel) that released for the PC, PlayStation, Saturn, and Game Boy.

From 1986, we have the film Back to School, a college-set comedy starring Rodney Dangerfield. A traditional fish out of water, snobs vs. slobs kind of picture, Back to School sees Dangerfield as a successful, but uneducated, businessman entering college in order to spend more time with his son, who also attends the same school. In typical Dangerfield fashion, he insults snooty professors, helps uptight students “loosen up”, and makes a mockery of higher education.

The film famously ends at a diving competition in which Dangerfield must, of course, take part after another student on the diving team gets a cramp. Having been a champion diver in his youth, the coach assumes Dangerfield has “still got it” and, of course, he does, pulling off an insane dive that was clearly done by someone else in a bad wig.

While you might expect that critics would have hated the film, they actually really enjoyed it. While the film’s story is non-existent, Dangerfield’s comedic chops were on point, which forgave any and all plot holes in Back to School. With his charming, can-do attitude, even Dangerfield’s most crass jokes and behavior are kind of waved away as a “boys will be boys” bravado. With a domestic gross of $91 million, Back to School was a box office smashing, becoming the sixth highest grossing film of 1986, and the second highest comedy (behind Crocodile Dundee).

Albums:

In notable albums, 2016 gave us The Dream Is Over from the Canadian punk band PUP. This was the group’s second album, following 2013’s PUP, and helped to solidify them as, mmm, not quite mainstream, but certainly no longer niche. While The Dream Is Over didn’t hit on the Billboard Top 200 chart, it did reach #82 on the Top Album Sales Billboard chart, which is just pure album sales (no streams), #20 on the Top Rock Albums chart, #12 on the Independent Albums chart, #13 on the Top Alternative Albums chart, #5 on the Vinyl Albums chart, and #1 on the Heatseekers chart.

The album was a critical success as well, earning rave reviews for its energetic, “youthful” tone. Multiple outlets placed The Dream Is Over on their “Best of 2016” lists, including Stereogum, Noisey, and The New York Times, with Stereogum even going as far as calling the album one of the best of the entire decade in a 2019 list.

From 2006 we have the album Rather Ripped by Sonic Youth. This was the band’s 14th album and their last for record company Geffen, who had them under contract for over a decade. To critics, Rather Ripped was Sonic Youth’s most “accessible” record, featuring a collection of straightforward rock songs that could easily slot into any alternative radio station’s airplay.

The lone single was the track “Incinerate”, a hard rocking alternative tune that is super easy to listen to, but still has that Sonic Youth grit. In terms of sales, Rather Ripped reached #71 on the Billboard Top 200, and peaked at #3 on the Tastemaker Albums chart, which is a chart that only counts physical album sales and small chain/independently owned record stores and shops. This would also be the band’s penultimate record, with their next offering, 2009’s The Eternal, being their last, as they would disband (or go on hiatus, depending on your point of view) in 2011.

Moving on to 1996, we have the album Hot by Squirrel Nut Zippers, which peaked at #27 on the Billboard Top 200 and was the 86th best selling album of the year. I don’t know why, but in the mid 90’s we all collectively as a society decided that swing music needed to make a comeback. We dressed in bowling shirts, put on pork pie hats, learned how to do the Lindy Hop, and made bands like Squirrel Nut Zippers, Royal Crown Revue, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, and Cherry Poppin Daddies household names with their various hit singles.

The big track on Hot was called “Hell” and was, out of all the big swing songs, probably my favorite. I think a lot of it had to do with the music video which is, as you see above, a lot of fun to watch. Squirrel Nut Zippers (aside from having the best band name) really seemed to embrace the 1920’s in a subversive way that was also, in a way, a big celebration of it. Something about their sound and look gave them more authenticity (even if it wasn’t that authentic to the 1920’s).

Closing things out this week, from 1986, we have the album So, from singer/songwriter Peter Gabriel. While Gabriel had already established himself as a popular musical artist, first as front man for the band Genesis, then as a solo artist, it was So (his fifth album) that pushed him into the mainstream, thanks in large part to the groundbreaking music video for the song “Sledgehammer”.

With its highly inventive use of stop motion animation, provided courtesy of Aardman (eventual creators of Wallace & Gromit) and the Brothers Quay, “Sledgehammer” exploded on the still relatively young cable network MTV, where it would win Video of the Year at the MTV Video Music Awards. It was one of ten nominations for “Sledgehammer”, and with two nods for another video, “Big Time”, Peter Gabriel became the most nominated artist in the award show’s history, a record he held until Lady Gaga received thirteen nominations in 2010.

MTV awards aside, Gabriel and So would receive three Grammy nominations, Song of the Year and Record of the Year for “Sledgehammer” (losing to Steve Winwood and Burt Bacharach, respectively) and Album of the Year (losing to Paul Simon’s Graceland). Awards be damned, though, as So would go five times platinum (that means it sold over 5 million copies), peaking at #2 on the Billboard Top 200. “Sledgehammer” would reach #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, with “Big Time” reaching #8, and “In Your Eyes” peaking at #26.

While both “In Your Eyes” and “Big Time” were major hits for Gabriel, with “Big Time” featuring another innovate video that featured stop motion animation, the real standout was “Sledgehammer”, bar none. At the age of five, “Sledgehammer” just captivated me. The bizarre stuttering of Gabriel singing the song, the cute but demented clay animation provided by Aardman, and the surreal imagery across the entire video was probably my first exposure to high art, in a way. I can’t say that I’ve been a huge Peter Gabriel fan all my life, but I can easily say that “Sledgehammer” is my all-time favorite music video and I can almost guarantee I’ll have the song played at my funeral when the time comes, so be sure to stop on by if you wanna rock out.

Mirror’s Edge Catalyst (PC/PS4/Xbox One) – Released Jun. 7^th, 2016

Armored Core: Last Raven (PS2) – Released Jun. 13^th, 2006

Baku Baku (Saturn) – Released Jun. 19^th, 1996

Ikari Warriors (Arcade) – Released Jun. 1986

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