I played a lot of games this weekend. I got an early code for the new Smash Bros. on 3DS and had a hard time putting it down. I’ve always enjoyed Smash although I’ve never been especially good at it. I can’t believe how good this portable version looks and plays. I burned through some of the single player content and unlocked five or six new characters. Then I decided to try out the online play. The only people playing right now are in Japan but still my games were incredibly smooth. There’s so much stuff packed into this game that sometimes it can be hard deciding how/what to play. That’s honestly the worst thing I can think to say about it.

Lust for League of Legends has reached such a boil now that I can hit our voice server virtually any time I want to and get a game going. Except last night, for some reason. It was almost midnight by the time anyone popped in, and I was genuinely surprised to hear a voice when they did because I'd forgotten I was even connected. I am always hoping this will be the night my computer achieves sentience. Alas.

We have a really cool PA Presents live stream coming up this Monday. We will be playing Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor! It will be a day before it hits stores and you can watch it all right here on my Twitch channel. Tycho and I will be joined by a few of the developers so they can field questions as we run through a bit of the game. I’ve been looking forward to this one and I’m really excited to check it out. It will happen on Monday the 29th at 2:30 Pacific time right here on my Twitch page.

As Tycho mentioned yesterday, we are both playing the new Theatrhythm: Curtain Call for 3DS. He lamented the lack of a cooperative multiplayer mode but I have to say the new competitive multi is ridiculously fun. I had been avoiding it because while I enjoy rhythm games, I’m not especially good at them. So the idea of playing against another person was a bit intimidating. I gave it a shot though and once I started I was hooked. You play a Battle Music Sequence (BMS) against another person and you’re trying to get the higher score in order to win. However as you’re playing you can inflict all sorts of crazy status effects on your opponent. These really mix up the gameplay in some fun ways.

Blizzard cancelled "Titan" apparently, whatever it was; I have faithful crows at practically every level of their organization and I was never able to get much. Then again, I suppose I never really turned the screws. I was fine not knowing. They should have put a timer up! That always seems to yoke the reptilian substructures of my brain.

I got an early copy of the new Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes last week. It actually hits stores tomorrow so I thought I’d share my impressions of the game so far. I’m playing the PS4 version although I’m not sure how much that matters.

We were invited by NASA to see the SpaceX launch with our sons, though the weather didn't cooperate while we were there and it had to launch the next day. The trip was rad, though. A trip whose core purpose did not occur still managed to be rad. So, imagine how rad it must have been. We brought Van (who does PA: The Series) over with us; I think there's still something good there.

We're out of town, you know how it is. Before we left though, our boys in tow, Gabriel and I talked about how at his house everybody wants to play Didney Infinty but for different reasons.

We had to act quickly because Gabriel told us the ride was over - he was quitting League of Legends for the whateverth time due to a string of nightmare losses. I was in one of those games, a game we managed to lose even though the opposing team had fewer players, and it recalled the days when you were playing on dial-up and your foes were on broadband. That was a thing, and not a good thing. That night's malefactors were having a LAN party at a crossroads, no doubt, their ears stuffed with demonic counsel.

We're doing another PAXAus in a month or so, Melbourne, and I'm ready to deliver a premium Q&A Experience. The only thing we're missing is The Questions, which you can stock us up with here.

I just happened to see this article over on Kotaku about the new Disney Infinity Marvel toys looking “a bit rough”. Just as a counterpoint I figured I would share my experience. Fahey suggests that perhaps he got a bad batch and I think he might be right. He posts his Nova as an example of the sloppy paint jobs. Here’s a shot of mine for comparison. I think he looks awesome.

I knew that once The Tracksuit had weighed in on Destiny, the conversation would get interesting. And it has.

I have to say that despite the garbage story and the horrible voice acting I’m not having a terrible time in Destiny. In fact I like it a lot more now than when I first played it. There was a very early alpha phase that we played and it was pretty disheartening. I went back through my email and found the mail I sent to Jerry at the time. This is right after I had played Destiny for the very first time.

I guess we'll find out to what extent this selling Minecraft stuff is real, or which parts of it are real, in the next few days. I saw Notch at PAX once, years ago, a fact that has cemented my role as Cool Dad for eternity with my son and his fellows. The last time I said anything to Notch was after he was dealing with the fallout from the EULA changes, to offer words of comfort from someone who has experience being Internet Satan. I think that had to get tiring for him. I think doing the best you can, the best that can be expected of any finite entity, and still getting fucked in the eye-hole is a hard business.

Titanfall had "hype" behind it, but I don't think it compares to the Destiny hype. The pitch to Activision must have been blissfully short: "We will make you a Halo MMO." I try to imagine the acquisitions manager opening their briefcase so fast that papers fly everywhere, and they're trying to read them in mid-air to find the right one, and they're swiping at them like a cat in a kind of slow motion, billion-dollar snowglobe.

I spent a good chunk of yesterday with Destiny. It’s definitely got some solid RPG hooks. The desire to go back in for one more mission is strong. Someone during my Twitch stream yesterday asked if it lived up to the hype and the honest answer is “no I don’t think so.” but to be fair what game could? I’ve been playing games a long time and I cannot remember a game with this much hype surrounding it. It is not the second coming of Christ. It’s just Halo by way of Phantasy Star Online and that’s pretty cool.