Trending
Finding the time to write about everything that happened this summer in the nerd world was a real drag. Sometimes, other work here at the Mirror or just life has gotten in the way. Fortunately, dear readers, late night boredom provides a solution.
Let's take a quick, rapid-fire look at some of the bigger news that happened this summer, updates on some things we've talked about before and what there is to be excited about heading into the last four months of the year.
In honor of the first full weekend of the college football season (sorry, Notre Dame and USC fans, Week 0 isn't the start), I present to you the first edition of what I'm calling "The Two-Minute Drill."
– Diablo 4 and Final Fantasy XVI were two of the bigger titles to come out in June, and also among the latest entries onto the list of "Games Dan will probably never play or play in like 5 years." FF16 may come sooner for me, because if nothing else, it's likely coming to PC next summer anyway, and it will give me some time to finish Tears of the Kingdom. I know. I'm not done yet. I'm ashamed of myself. Also, shout out to Pikmin fans on the release of Pikmin 4 last month. Y'all are patient because 10 years is a long time (Excuse me while I look at the sad part of my soul still waiting for "The Winds of Winter" and die a little inside).
– Speaking of waiting around, Microsoft and Bethesda's long tale of "will they, won't they" was finally laid to rest as early access for Starfield began Friday. I'm writing this prior to the game actually being playable, obviously, but I'll assume a game that's been in development at a major studio for seven years probably isn't going to be a waste of your money.
– October is setting up to be a huge month in gaming, and it's going to leave some little turnaround time with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 releasing Nov. 10 on all platforms. Assassin's Creed Mirage releases Oct. 5 on all platforms, then Forza Motorsport hits PC and Xbox Series X Oct. 10.
Ten days later, Oct. 20 is like second Christmas with the release of TWO major, AAA titles -- PS5 owners can pick up Marvel's Spider-Man 2, while Nintendo fans get the latest in their flagship franchise, Super Mario Bros. Wonder. Diablo 4 is also getting some DLC the same day SEGA presents Sonic Superstars.
– 81,035 crazy and enthusiastic British wrestling fans packed into Wembley Stadium in London last weekend for AEW All In for something UK fans very rarely ever get in a supercard-calibur show. And despite many great matches and moments on that card, OF COURSE the only thing anyone has talked about all week coming out of it was the latest incident(s) involving one Phil Brooks, A.K.A. CM Punk, fellow AEW wrestler Jack Perry and president Tony Khan. Various outlets this week have reported that Brooks took exception to comments Perry made during his match that led to a physical altercation, after which he allegedly quit the company in the wake of a "heated confrontation" with Khan, though it was later announced that he and Perry have been suspended pending an investigation. This in addition to plenty of other Punk-related drama since his return earlier this year. It's truly an embarrassment for the company to have such a truly special night upstaged by this nonsense, and makes me wonder if Punk will even be at the Bryce Jordan Center for the Sept. 16 episode of AEW Collison (Andy Stine, Mike Boytim and myself are planning to go. If you see us, come say hi).
– Wrestling also lost three legends this summer -- and a legend who never was. "Superstar" Billy Graham died on May 17 due to sepsis and multiple organ failure at 79. On July 7, Hossein Khosrow Ali Vaziri, also known as The Iron Shiek, died of cardiac arrest with congestive heart failure and hypertension, and just last week on Aug. 23, WWE Hall of Famer Terry Funk died at 79. Funk suffered from dementia and lived an assisted life since 2021. But the one that hurt current fans the most was the passing on Aug. 24 of Windham Rotunda, known in WWE as Bray Wyatt, at 36 years old after suffering a heart attack due to complications from the COVID-19 virus. Wyatt was known for his creative storytelling and inventive gimmicks that had the whole world in his hands. He leaves behind his wife, JoJo, and four children.
– Less sad, but still sad. Charles Martinet, the voice of Nintendo's Mario and Luigi since the 1990s, has stepped away from his iconic roles to take on the new role of Mario Ambassador for the company. Martinet was famously not cast as his iconic character when the cast listing for "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" came out in favor of Chris Pratt, but still made it into the movie as the character Guiseppe. And while that was disappointing, it was even more sad to learn that Nintendo later confirmed to IGN and others that he is not involved in Super Mario Wonder, and that his characters have been recast and have yet to announce the new voice actors. I'm looking forward to that upcoming development, but until then, thanks for the wahoos, Mr. Martinet.
– Have you ever wondered why we're here? For the last 20 years, fans of the longest running Machinima series in history, "Red vs. Blue," have asked, and been asked, this incredibly benign question. We may finally get our answers this fall when the series returns to RoosterTeeth.com for the 19th and final season of the raunchy parody set in the universe of the Halo game series. Series original Burnie Burns is set to return to write the final season and reprise his role as one of the favorite main characters, Church, thought to have sacrificed himself at the end of season 13, and Matt Hullum, the voice of Sarge, will be directing and also reprising his role. Gus Sorola (Dick Simmons) and Geoff Ramsey (Dexter Grif) are also set to return, though it's unknown, and probably unlikely, that Joel Heyman will be back to reprise his role as the Blue Team's loveable idiot/genius, Michael J. Caboose. Whatever the case, I'm hoping that this will be the best finale ever. Of all time.
– Our house is done! Longtime readers will know the Isenbergs had been having work done on our home after a drunk driver struck it in April 2022. Well, after many, many, many delays, I am proud to report that our house is finally done. Ok, sort of. There is still some trim that needs finished along one wall, and we're still waiting on our bookshelf for the den and some trim in there, but the outside has been completed for a little under a month now and we've finally been able to relocate our furniture out of the dining room and there isn't a giant wall of plywood blocking off the front end of the living room. With the dawn of a new college football season in front of us, my friends, I have to admit that the timing could not have been better.
Dan Isenberg is a copy editor who writes regularly on gaming, tech, fantasy, science fiction, pro wrestling and other nerd culture topics for the Mirror. He can be reached at disenberg@altoonamirror.com or on Twitter @TheseDanTweets.