Saddle up people, Nintendo have announced the launch of the SNES Mini. Move over NES Mini, because this is probably my favourite Nintendo console of all time. As you can see the console looks pretty snazzy, but more importantly, the list of games is incredible:

• Contra III: The Alien Wars™
• Donkey Kong Country™
• EarthBound™
• Final Fantasy III
• F-ZERO™
• Kirby™ Super Star
• Kirby’s Dream Course™
• The Legend of Zelda™: A Link to the Past™
• Mega Man® X
• Secret of Mana
• Star Fox™
• Star Fox™ 2
• Street Fighter® II Turbo: Hyper Fighting
• Super Castlevania IV™
• Super Ghouls ’n Ghosts®
• Super Mario Kart™
• Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars™
• Super Mario World™
• Super Metroid™
• Super Punch-Out!!™
•  Yoshi’s Island™

21 games, over a dozen of which are bona fide all time greats, we’ll have to wait until 29 September in Europe for the SNES Mini to launch. My personal favourites are Contra III, SF II Turbo: Hyper Fighting (I have the original in it’s limited edition tin at home somewhere), and Yoshi’s Island.  Here’s hoping it’s as cheap as the NES Mini was.

Further details from the press release that just landed in my inbox are as follows:

Included with the Nintendo Classic Mini: Super Nintendo Entertainment System are one HDMI cable, one USB power cable*, and two wired Super NES Classic Controllers – perfect for players to dive into multiplayer action right away. Some of the games with multiplayer options include Street Fighter II Turbo: Hyper Fighting, Super Mario Kart, Contra III: The Alien Wars™and Secret of Mana.

Step back into the 90s and re-experience some timeless classics when the Nintendo Classic Mini: Super Nintendo Entertainment System launches in Europe on 29th September.

*Note that an AC adapter for the USB cable is required to play the system but is not included in the packaging.

21 t0 23rd July sees the 19th Nozstock festival and we can’t wait. Not only does it herald the end of term, but we’re returning after a heart scare last year (I’m okay, don’t worry!), so it will be extra epic.

As well as the artists already announced, like the headlining Happy Mondays and Seasick Steve, new acts like The Sugarhill Gang, Hayseed Dixie, Levelz, Ferocious Dog, Goldie Lookin’ Chain, The Baghdaddies, Le Galaxie, Freestylers and Benny Page have been announced. If you wonder how epic some of those acts are, this is my last experience of Le Galaxie:

I see @LeGalaxie are playing @Nozstock again. I’ll leave it to the lads to celebrate. pic.twitter.com/5OEjhTd0GO

— Daddacool (@daddacool) June 14, 2017

It’s funny but one of the things I really like about Nozstock (one of the many actually) is discovering new music. It’s not all about the big bands you’ll hear on the radio or get pointed to on Spotify, if it was I wouldn’t have discovered Le Galaxie, the Computers or the rather niche sub genre of Chap Hop. The boutique feel of the festival is such that just strolling around and discovering new music is great fun.

The Kids Wonderland area is looking good this year too:

Nozstock The Hidden Valley’s Little Wonderland Kid’s Area features a vibrant spectrum of children’s entertainment this summer. The festival embraces a whole family festival experience from beginning to end, and this is a friendly welcoming environment for both parents and little ones alike. All events and activities are free of charge in the Little Wonderland Kid’s Area across the whole weekend, as the festival always strongly believes families shouldn’t foot the bill for festival fun.

There’s even a bottle warming service! Nozstock’s Little Wonderland Kid’s Area this summer includes: Spare Room Arts; Glittery, gluey art boxes; Let’s Go Fly A Kite; Surreal Frames; Marvellous Masks; Wacky sunglasses; Fantastic flip flops; Festival Fashions; Bandhani Tie Dye T Shirts; That’s not a pot! Or is it?; See the world upside down; Freedom of expression table; The Theatre of Endless Possibilities!; Surreal Sculptural Headdresses; face painting; temporary tattoo workshop; Adults & Kiddie Yoga & Meditation; interactive story telling; and Chill Out Corner.

1. Smiling sweetly (41%)
2. Offering a hug (40%)
3. Saying please and thank you (35%)
4. Trying to make Dad laugh (20%)
5. Saying they’ve done well at school (15%)

• Never disclose security details, such as your PIN or full banking password
• Don’t assume an email, text or phone call is authentic
• Don’t be rushed – a genuine organisation won’t mind waiting
• Listen to your instincts – you know if something doesn’t feel right
• Stay in control – don’t panic and make a decision you’ll regret

Every year there is a big Tech Expo in America called E3. Lots of companies announce cool stuff and this year Microsoft announced a new Xbox; the Xbox One X. This is the third iteration of the Xbox One, behind the original launch model and the Xbox One S, which was a smaller form factor, supported 4K BD playback and had a boost in performance. The Xbox One X is an entirely different kettle of fish though, it has a massive boost in performance and really heralds the start of 4K gaming on consoles.

4K, also known as UHD, is becoming more ubiquitous in television sets. It’s now possible to pick a good (branded) 50 inch 4K telly for around £500, and given a year of two, the older style of HD television will be harder to find in stores. It isn’t all about the resolution though.

If you don’t have a 4K telly, the Xbox One X has several tricks up it’s sleeve to keep you keen. Firstly it’s entirely backwards compatible with the Xbox One and Xbox One S games and peripherals. Remember when you used to upgrade to a new console and had to by all new controllers and add ons? No more. It can also use it’s extra power to make games smoother on a standard HD TV. This is done by upping the frame rate and fixing the resolution at 1080P, something that the PS4 Pro (Sony’s updated version of the PS4) does but given how much more powerful the Xbox One X is (50% more graphical power, 50% more memory), it will be much more of a noticeable step up. View Full Post

I wasn’t even aware this jigsaw belonged to “me” when we were sorting out some stuff in the loft the other day. Is it me or were the 1970’s just a bit crazy?

Somewhere, someone set up a load of highly flammable (and possibly homemade) soft toys in a pin the tail on the donkey scene, resplendent with party food and more than a little essence of childhood nightmare. View Full Post

We drove in to London yesterday to attend a screening of the new Diary of a Wimpy Kid movie, The Long Haul (expect a review tomorrow or the day after). The car ride itself wasn’t particularly memorable other than the roads being more quiet than typical for a Sunday morning, but the radio provided some unexpected entertainment.

I have my car radio tuned in to Absolute Radio (Virgin Radio in old money) and they were playing their usual mixture of 90’s onward rock. This annoys my wife as I’m not down with it (her car is tuned to Radio 1) but I’m too old and too set in my ways to change.

Things took a turn for the surreal when we got to Staples Corner. I’ve always had a soft spot for Depeche Mode’s Violator album but not to the point I’ll inflict it on others, so image my surprise when Personal Jesus came on and the boy started singing along to it. By the second verse his sister had joined in. I’m struggling to think where they could have heard it before; they’ve probably heard the Johnny Cash version on his America IV album (they also love Hurt from that album too) but they nailed it pretty perfectly. View Full Post

A post shared by David Pearson (@allmec) on May 6, 2017 at 2:19am PDT

Saturday was, as the title suggests, free comic book day. We failed at this fairly spectacularly. The ten year old had been made aware of it by some other agency than me, so had his usual unrealistic expectations. No, you’re not going to be able to get the shops entire stock of Spider-Man comics for free, what there will be is a limited number of a few specific titles.

As it turned out, when we made it to the comic shop just after lunch, there were no comics at all. As we mooched around, several small boys came in and approached the chap behind the counter who had to tell all of them that the free comics ran out a couple of hours previously. I imagine the people queuing for the shop to open got the majority of them; free isn’t really free if you have to invest the time to queue, and we had plans first thing. View Full Post

A couple of weeks ago now I was invited to the Amazon Now It’s Summer rooftop BBQ in London. It’s taken me a couple of weeks to blog about it as I thought it would sit well with a lovely upturn in the weather but since outside is still doing it’s best impression of late Feb/early March, I’ve scrapped that idea. Ironically Amazon’s  #NowItsSummer store itself is actually weather reactive when it comes to recommendations- if it’s sheeting it down outside, you can guarantee it’s clever algorithms won’t be recommending suntan lotion; you’re much more likely to get brollies or wellies. Perhaps I can stop asking my Echo Dot what the weather is going to be like every morning and just check out the Now Its Summer Store. View Full Post

Whatever Iron Fist have have had in terms of reviews, I’m loving it. I didn’t get the opportunity to binge watch it when it came out last month as I was too busy with work and external commitments (and we were watching Sleepy Hollow but sshhh, don’t tell anyone). It’s more enjoyable than both Luke Cage and Jessica Jones, and, at the moment at least as much fun as Daredevil. Danny Rand is simply a nicer person than Matt Murdoch, which makes it easier to empathise with him. I love the fact that Danny is determined to be nice to everyone, despite their intentions for him, it’s unusual to see but I suppose reflect the Buddhist teachings that sit behind Kung Fu. View Full Post

Recently we were exceptionally decadent and added a second PS4 to our house. We did this through the accumulation of Nectar Points which we used to get a decent discount at Argos on a bundle that was already reduced. Go me!

Although it seems silly, there were a couple of good reasons behind the purchase. Firstly we had pretty much been driven from the living room where MY PS4 lives by kids incessantly playing games on it. Secondly, the high functioning child gets very valuable secondary socialisation from using it. Secondary socialisation is important for people on the spectrum; it involves chatting and interacting with people whilst doing something else. Put kids together in a situation where the sole purpose is to interact and they’ll have trouble, give them something to do that leads to interaction as a secondary benefit of whatever they’re doing, and it works much better. View Full Post