Games

Date Earned: 19th October 2020

Although it included mechs, the anime series Gundam GQuuuuuuX stood out as something different within the popular Gundam franchise. The show, which only had one season and was created by Hideaki Anno (known for Evangelion), presented an alternate take on the original Gundam story – what if Char had been the first to find the Gundam? Recently, during an event celebrating the Blu-Ray and DVD release, director Kazuya Tsurumaki and producer Yugi Sugitani revealed the reason why no main characters died during the twelve episodes. They intentionally kept everyone alive to allow for a potential sequel. They specifically mentioned that they’d like to explore the backstory of supporting character Shuji if the show is renewed.

While The Super Mario Bros. Movie played it safe, a potential Super Mario Galaxy Movie would explore the franchise’s deeper history and characters. This sequel would include many lesser-known elements and even change established relationships, like that of Rosalina and Peach. However, these niche references and changes contributed to the sequel receiving poorer reviews than the first film, and the next installment needs to address this.

The SyFy show Resident Alien, which ended in 2025 after four seasons, received a thoughtful conclusion thanks to the show’s creators anticipating its cancellation. Though fans might have wanted more, a new comic book series from Dark Horse is offering a continuation of the story. Resident Alien: One More for the Road, written by Peter Hogan and illustrated by Steve Parkhouse, provides an alternate ending and will be available starting April 15th. It’s not a new season of the show, but it’s a welcome return to the world of Resident Alien starring Alan Tudyk.

Many popular animated shows like Family Guy, Bob’s Burgers, American Dad, South Park, and Rick and Morty likely wouldn’t exist without The Simpsons. So, the announcement of The Simpsons Movie 2 – twenty years after the first film – should have been a big event. However, the news came out quietly in mid-2025 with a release date of September 3, 2027, and hasn’t generated much excitement among fans. It’s unclear why that is, but it could be a worrying sign for the future of The Simpsons.

The challenges facing live service games are becoming widespread, even affecting popular titles like Fortnite. Recently, The Cube, Save Us, a promising new game, announced it will close its servers just weeks after its official launch. This points to deeper issues with the MMO game format itself, and the difficulties these games face in today’s crowded gaming market.

As a big Spielberg fan, everyone always talks about The Land Before Time, and rightfully so. But I think Monster House really deserves more love! It’s this fun, slightly spooky animated movie from 2006, directed by Gil Kenan and produced by Spielberg’s company, Amblin Entertainment. The story kicks off on Halloween night and follows a group of kids who realize the creepy, old house on their street is actually a living monster that… well, eats people! It’s become a real cult favorite over the years, and I was excited to see it recently hit Hulu to celebrate its 20th anniversary this year.

A user named Mayday______ shared a post about discovering a large collection of 1980s Kenner Star Wars figures in her mother-in-law’s attic. She’s been asked to sort and sell the figures, along with collections of Warhammer and Transformers toys. The toys are in remarkably good condition, and the user has previously shown a history of sorting and identifying Warhammer figures, which adds to the collection’s credibility. The collection includes some particularly valuable items, like two R2-D2 Pop-up Lightsabers (currently worth around $500 each) and a lot of accessories. The most valuable find is a Yak Face figure – one of the last 17 figures released, and worth approximately $700-800 if complete and in good condition.

Starfinder is a science fiction role-playing game created by Paizo, the same company behind Pathfinder. It’s set in a futuristic version of the Pathfinder universe. While Pathfinder released its updated rules in 2019, Starfinder just recently updated its ruleset in 2025, followed by a new adventure. Paizo has now revealed more details about its next adventure book for Starfinder 2e, and the approach will likely seem familiar to those who have followed the recent changes to Dungeons & Dragons.

Even well-made science fiction films can be confusing. While using clever concepts can make a movie seem smart, it can also make the story hard for most viewers to understand. This often leads to fans rewatching the film multiple times, trying to fully grasp the more complicated ideas the filmmakers included. Complexity isn’t always a flaw, but the following movies are so intricate that repeated viewings are almost required.