Yes, it’s that time of the week where I link to a bunch of stuff I’ve written recently, even though anyone who still bothers to read this site also probably reads the other sites I publish on. But what the hey.

Last week was E3, and I saw some really great stuff:

Aliens: Isolation looks and plays even better than when I saw it a few months ago. It really could be one of those rare games that excels because of its license rather than being diminished.

Mario Maker is the baby of Mario Paint and WarioWare D.I.Y., so no need to explain what’s so great about that one.

Ori and the Blind Forest is an exploratory platformer, but it’s stunning, not retro.

1001 Spikes, however, is retro, and it will leave you stunned. And possibly weeping.

Meanwhile, this summer sucks for new releases, so the USgamer team is playing old releases and discussing them amongst ourselves. We’ve begun with Final Fantasy Tactics. Please join us!

I have also resumed breaking down the anatomy of Mega Man 2 in earnest. Several entries have gone up this week. Thank goodness for the convenience of tagging!

I keep meaning to play Demon’s Souls. And now it has two spin-off-sequels that I’m behind on. And it’s about to get a third, Bloodborne. Dammit, From Soft. You really are sadists.

Girls are cool, especially in video games. Vita’s cool, too, but you wouldn’t know it from the way Sony treats it.

Wow. Video games!