What We're Playing This Weekend: Fire Emblem Twilight Princess Edition

Editor-in-Chief Chuck Husemann is going to preorder multiple copies of Star Wars: The Force Awakens and have them shipped to himself, one a week, every week, for five weeks. And even on weeks that he doesn't say so, he's hopping into this mech or that mech in Mechwarrior Online. With a newborn lying on his chest, Senior Hardware Editor John Yan can't do much gaming except to check on his Fallout Shelter once a day. Hopefully he can fit in time to do the new weapon and armor modding stuff once he's off diaper duty.

What are you playing this weekend?

Sean Colleli, Staff Writer, @scolleli
While I continue to re-explore The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess in 1080p, I'll also be going on a not-so-fun adventure as I look for a new car. The old one is costing more than it's worth to maintain at this point. Hopefully it won't throw off my finances too drastically, as I'd still like to build a new rig to play all the amazing PC games coming out this year.

Randy Kalista, Staff Writer, @randykalista
My wife doesn't play video games. But she is playing Firewatch. Well, she's directing where to go and what to say, and I'm holding the gamepad. Something lifelong gamers take for granted is just how complicated a gamepad really is. Knowing what two thumbsticks, a D-pad, four thumb buttons, two shoulder buttons, two triggers, a Start button, an Options button, and (in the PS4's case) a touchpad all do? Without looking? That's a remarkable mental feat, when you think about it.

Eight missions into the Darkest Dungeon, and these dungeons are only getting darker. The first trait I'm being hit with as a player is False Hope. I bet I feel so smart right now. I bet I feel like I'll survive this. I bet I even bet I can get through without any fatalities. I bet I'm wrong.

I have to watch all the Aaron Sorkin things now. Two seasons of The Newsroom have left me stunned. While I'm not "on a mission to civilize" like lead character Will McAvoy, the show does make me want to journalism so hard. *Looks up News Writing I in a community college bulletin*

Dan Keener, Senior A/V Writer, @zoboa
I will be getting into some Rock Band 4, Diablo, and Skyrim, as well as spend some more quality time with gear that has come in from CES. Looking forward to listening to games in full 5.1 surround again after hanging with speaker bars for the majority of 2016.

Rob Larkin, Staff Writer, @Rob_GN
The evolution of the game controller is something that I've long thought about, and very much appreciated my own age/place in that evolution. My first console was an Atari 2600. It has one stick and one button. Eventually the NES came along with a game pad and two buttons! To get the point of navigating a Dualshock 4 with it's 20+ different navigation actions, which are also nearly all analog inputs, it's a feat. I think that's been a major factor in the continued success of mobile gaming, not just recent phenomenon of phones and tablets but the prolonged success of handheld systems as well. They've provided that entry point for younger or casual fans to learn the ropes before graduating to the advanced studies of the modern game controller. And, conversely, I wonder if that's been a major push in Nintendo's troubles as well. They've historically served as that entry point but of any of the manufacturers are probably most at risk to the rise of mobile gaming.

This weekend should see a decent amount of gaming. No pilgrimages are planned, but if the weather's nice I could do a short day trip somewhere. I'm really not sure what I'll be playing though. Probably some more Destiny and I think my wife wants to start playing The Witcher 3, so I'll be sherpa'ing her through that a little bit. I've also been working on a chrome extension as a side project in my spare time and I need to get that finished so I would like to log a few hours in that arena.

Matt Mirkovich, Staff Writer, @Stillmywords
I'm recovering from being sick, which means trying to get through the DLC for Fire Emblem Fates, and trying to get through Digimon Cyber Sleuths. The 3.2 patch for Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward means there is plenty of content to get through in that game as well. I also still haven't even started Project X Zone 2, so hopefully I can get into that soon. But wait, I'm picking up The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD today. Damn it.