What are you playing this weekend?
Eclipses and games. What a neat combination.
Today is an interesting and rather awe-inspiring day in a part of the Americas: we had an annular eclipse. Unlike a total eclipse, where the moon covers the sun in its entirety, an annual eclipse does not. That's because with the moon is at its furthest point from the earth, our celestial sister is not close enough to cover the sun completely. This results in what is called a Ring of Fire - produced when the moon is centered with the sun, resulting in a bright ring around the dark spot that is the moon. It is super neat.
Here in the US, the annular eclipse started in Oregon before cutting a swath through the Southwest and moving across the Gulf of Mexico into the Yucatan Peninsula. It then headed across Central America and curved into the Amazon basin before traveling across Brazil and ending somewhere in the ocean off its eastern coast.
Where I live, we only saw 45% of it because we were outside of its main path, and even then, we didn't get to see very much because Mother Nature decided she wanted it to rain today. However, clouds parted a couple of times, allowing us to catch a glimpse of the new moon passing over the sun before once again becoming obscured. No ring of fire for us, though, what we saw looked more like Pac-Man than anything else. Still, it was very cool. The next annular solar eclipse visible from the US won’t happen until 2039, and the only way to view it is if you live in Alaska - as it is the only state in the path. While that is a bit of a bummer, the US can look forward to a total eclipse, which will occur on April 8, 2024. Where I live, we'll only have to drive a couple of hours west to experience it.
Check out more amazing photos of the eclipse over on Space.com.
Now that the annular eclipse has run its course, it's time to figure out something else to do with our time. For VG247 staffers in the UK who didn't experience the celestial event, it was weekend business as usual: relaxing, watching TV, heading to EGX 2023, or just playing games. For those of us who chose the latter, here's what we're getting into:
Dom Peppiatt, Editor-in-Chief – Lords of the Fallen
Right now, Britain is a miserable little land, teeming with ideological nutjobs that would rather see the country brought to its knees than act with kindness. It’s hostile, it’s grim, there’s an undertone of misery to everything, and those in power seem to delight in their rampant corruption and selfishness. It’s like a work of fiction, and I need an escape, a release, some fantasy to balm my shattered nerves.
So, I’m playing Lords of the Fallen (2023). It’s set in a miserable little land teeming with ideological nutjobs who would rather see the country brought to its knees than act with kindness. It’s hostile, it’s grim, there’s an undertone of misery to everything, and those in power seem to delight in their rampant corruption and selfishness. It’s like a work of–– oh. Oh, no.
Kelsey Raynor, Guides Writer - Everything at EGX
This weekend I'll be playing lots of games because I'm at EGX! I'm super excited to see how Super Mario Bros. Wonder plays out and plenty of other indie games, too. There's also Pokemon cards here, so we might as well say goodbye to whatever is left in my bank account right now!
Mark Warren, Senior Staff Writer - Starfield, Madden NFL 24
As someone who loves playing games that just sort of go on forever in a manner that doesn’t mirror most of my op-eds, I’ll be dividing my time between the field and the cosmos this weekend. I’ve just finished the Freestar Rangers quest arc in Starfield, so I have to work out what my ditzy space bandit’s going to do now that he’s finished talking to the good folks of the not-quite NCR.
I suppose he might look into doing some work for Ryujin Industries because landing a crushing corporate gig in a game just after you’ve started a fresh (and non-crushing, please don’t fire me) job in real life is good escapism. Other than that, I’ve got an interesting thing I want to try out in Madden NFL 24, so wish me luck navigating the terrifying AI pass rushes of the NFL.
Rebecca Jones, Guides Writer - Ghostwire: Tokyo
For the first time in years, I'm spending most of the weekend by myself, and this morning I began my temporary bachelor lifestyle by reorganising my sock drawer, so I feel like I owe it to myself to plan something fun for after work. I've got nowhere in particular to be and uncontested control of the big TV; I ought to seize this rare opportunity to go full goblin mode and no-life something on the PS5 for a couple of days! I think I'll use my excess of me-time to make further headway in the massive open world of Ghostwire: Tokyo, which I'm determined to 100% one of these days.
Stephany Nunneley-Jackson, News Editor - Steam Next Fest Demos
This evening, the husband and I are hanging out with my best friend since kindergarten. She has a new beau, and wants to introduce him - plus, she's making dinner, and wow can that woman cook! I'll bring some homemade sangria with me and my Cards Against Humanity decks to add a bit of hilarity to the evening.
When Sunday rolls around, I plan to try out a few of the demos available through Steam Next Fest. There are so many I want to try that I doubt I will be able to get to through the lot over Sunday and Monday. But I am really keen to give as many as possible a try. Some of the ones I am eyeing are: Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley, Songs Of Silence, Wizard with a Gun, Cattails: Wildwood Story, Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew, The Rewinder, Pioneers of Pagonia, My Horse: Bonded Spirits, and Weko The Mask Gatherer.
As you can see, picking which ones to play or not to play will be a tough call.
What about you, folks? What are are your plans this weekend? Are you planning on playing any games? Let us know! We're nosey like that.