Category: Uncategorized

Skill Up, creator of the fantastic YouTube series TWIV, recently launched a companion site with the same name. This Week in Videogames is a news and review site that is fully fan supported. That means no ads, no SEO headlines, and no AI slop masquerading as writing a human crafted. After almost a month I find myself heading there 1-2 times a week as a new habit.

My history with reading videogame writing and news starts way back with Nintendo Power. Many magazines in between, eventually websites, and the early days of videogame podcast later. That space has evolved, decayed, bloomed, and cycled over and over again. Finding good, entertaining, and informative voices feels harder than ever right now. Ad revenue as a vehicle for writing and other content had the bottom fully fall out. Good writers are losing their jobs and scrambling to figure out what comes next.

New sites like TWIV, smaller projects like Chris Plante’s newsletter, and of course The Besties give me some hope. It is just sadly harder and harder to find now.

I’ve never once come away from a Freddie Gibbs album wanting. He makes music that is in conversation with an era of 90’s/early 00’s rap that I came up in. Not weighed down by it, but building on it with his own creativity and vision. Alfredo 2 is his 10th project since 2013 and his 3rd with The Alchemist on production. Throw in features from JID and Larry and it crushes. Smooth bars stacked on smooth beats.

Back on Father’s Day weekend I took my second trip up to the F1 Arcade in DC. I now have more solidified opinion on it. The short version is, it’s a good time, not a great time. And that it is a solid companion piece to a night of fun, not a main attraction. To that end:

Trip #1

I went up with two friends the month after it opened for a late night start into an overnight trip. We arrived just in time for our 8pm timeslot. Raced for an hour, at dinner, drank, raced again, drank, and walked back to rental at 1am. The whole evening was spent in the F1 Arcade and it started to wear thin.

Trip #2

The recent trip was two couples in DC for a weekend. We paired it with:

• Cocktails at Quill at the Jefferson
• Late afternoon arcade racing + apps + drinks
• Dinner at The Hamilton
• Tickets for Josh Johnson at the Warner Theatre

The F1 arcade shined as a spot of evening fun, but get your food and drink elsewhere. It is a fun time and worth a trip, but there are a few things that could make the racing part better too:

• A party of four can not race at the same time. You either share three sims or trade off two at a time, not ideal.
• Every race is a time boxed event. You fire off the start line and then whoever is in the highest position when the time runs out wins. A fixed 2-3 lap race would feel more competitive.
• Your group races against AI opponents and that feels like a missed opportunity. Every timeslot starts on time and ends on time. It is efficient and ensures they can keep on schedule. That being the case, you could coordinate it and get 20 people racing at the same time.

Part 1 and 2 of a diorama project that is right up my alley. Some scale models, some 3d printing, and some scratch building. They don’t have a lot of other content on their channel, but I subbed it purely off of what you see here. And the attention to production value and story telling.

Three more restaurants for the Richmond Alphabet Challenge. We are up to 13 and running strong. In late June we spent just over a week in Seattle, absolutely crushing some of their best food. Some travel logs are in the works, but none of that counts here, so on to Richmond.

Cobra Cabana

Tucked behind the Siegel Center on Marshall St, Cabana is equal parts punk bar and neighborhood pub. We went for dinner and sipped High Life’s while picking off the sandwichesss menu. The Banh Mi So Hungry and Inna Gotta Da Pita are two great choices and also give you a little hint of the vibe they are going for.

Demi’s Mediterranean Kitchen

We finally got over to this Northside spot after having it on our restaurant to do list for ages. Well worth the wait and hype. Everything was on point. The cocktails, appetizers, entrees, and dessert all got top marks from us. Only after the fact did I find out it is the same owners as Dot’s Back Inn.

Pinky’s

We generally have a planned list of letters and locations to visit for this challenge. In May we walked into Lolita’s and broke that mold. Leaving us open to organically find new places too. In June, on the heels of a work happy hour, we decided to look for a walkable good restaurant near the Veil. Pinky’s was the spot. And Pinky’s was great. “Is this a letter?” “Yeah I think it is!”

This season could have been the worst season for Tottenham since they were relegated from the the league in 1977. 17th place is abysmal. It is the kind of result that spurs talk of rebuilds and clearing the coaching staff out.

But, and it’s a big “but”, this is the first trophy the club has won since 2008. 17 years since they won the least prestigious domestic trophy. The EFL Cup is nothing to sneeze it, but prior to that it was 34 years since they won the FA Cup and 41 years since the last European trophy. It is not a miracle cure for the club, but it is a massive shot in the arm that we’ve need for almost two decades.

Ange in! Run it back! We’ve got Champions League football to look forward to! COYS!

I’ve enjoyed this series since it started in 2019 and have always felt a little guilty knowing how much hard work must go into each episode. They drop and you can slurp them all up in one sitting on a Saturday night. The Animatrix might be my earliest modern recollection of a project like this.

The 4th volume came out on a Friday and by Sunday I’d already watched it all and re-watched my favorite, “How Zeke Got Religion”, a second time. This go round was a little less satisfying than the last three and I don’t think it was a return to form/quality after Secret Level. I liked their video game take on the concept, but it all had a little taste of video game commercial to it.

Still worth a watch. It is short and there are real gems on offer.

It can be hard to convey to others how skilled or transcendent a talent a player in a sport is if they aren’t regularly watching. For me that was a very long period where I just didn’t get how good Nikola Jokic was. It was because I wasn’t watching and when I did, it all clicked into place. It wasn’t just the highlights, it was all the little things he did to impact the game.

Lamine Yamal is 17 and has been setting the soccer world on fire. Last year at 16, he played significant minutes in Euro 2024, assisted the first goal in the finals, and was the youngest player ever to win it. This season he has been pivotal in Barcelona’s offense, seemingly involved in almost every attack. He was electric in the Champions League semi-final legs against Inter. And then promptly took Barcelona to a league title.

If you have not watched, you have to make time for it. He looks to be one of the best players in the world. Hell he might be on that short list already.

V Rising is already on the Best Games of the 2020’s list, but it made it on post 1.0 retail release last year before this new site existed. So why bring it up? Well it is #10 on the list because it is so freaking good and I am fully underwater with it all over again.

A year after the game was finally complete. Meaning out of early access, they’ve released Oakveil (v1.1). Jam packed with a new zone, eight new bosses, three new weapons, and quality of life updates. All for free and worthy of a brand new play through. There are five of us playing this time around, on fresh server, on brutal difficulty, and enjoying this peach of a game all over again.

Two more for the Richmond Alphabet. That brings us to 10 and at this rate, maybe it is feeling realistic to actually get it done in 2025. Said the man who knows every summer life kicks into overdrive.

Lolita’s

This Mexican spot on Cary Street was not on our list for the letter L. We actually just happened upon it while looking for a late lunch. It was such a welcome surprise of delicious cocktails and killer tacos that we decided to add it to the list. The indoor/outdoor seating setup in May, when the weather is nice, was an added bonus. Lost Letter and L’Opossum will have to wait.

Zorch Pizza

Not a ton of options for Z, when I’ve had meals at ZZQ and Zorba’s a bunch of times. Thankfully Zorch, food truck turned pizza parlor serves up tasty slices at two locations. We hit the Carytown spot and had slices, wings, and cold beers. The space is cramped, but cozy, maybe hit the southside location if it is a busy evening in the city.