1. Our Wives Under the Sea (Julia Armfield)- A contemporary novel that has Lovecraftian undertones, but is ultimately a story about grief and losing a loved one. It's a book that, in quite frank terms, healed a long-term grief I was carrying around with me for a lost family member, because of this, I would wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone as grief is a universal emotion that we all encounter at some point.

2. Disrupting the Game - Reggie Fils-Amie's half autobiography, half business masterclass is an excellent breakdown of what it takes to make it in the modern corporate world, and Reggie provides some crucial insight that is still incredibly relevant today through his unique 'So What' breakdowns. Whether you want to read it for the career advice or to get an idea of what it took for this man to make it from "The Bronx to the top of Nintendo" as the book puts it, there's a little something for everyone in this short memoir.

3. Uzumaki (Junji Ito) - This wasn't the first manga I read, that distinction goes to Death Note, but Uzumaki is one of the most unsettling reads I've ever encountered, and I would challenge anyone to come out of the other side without a newfound irrational fear of spirals.

I need to see a spin-off from the Scream franchise showing what Stu Macher is doing with his life. I still feel robbed that we had his return lined up for Scream 3 before the Columbine Tragedy shelved the idea for his return and it's still speculated over today.

I love the idea that after his arrest, and once his psychotic tendencies were 'fixed', he would go on to become a police asset when serial killers popped up around the country. I love the idea of Matthew Lillard playing this somewhat still mentally fragile and older version of Stu who is seeking some form of redemption for his sins by helping prevent other mass killings occur, all while giving vibes that he may not be as 'corrected' as we're lead to believe, and he is actually just biding his time until he can get his hands on Sydney and finish what he an Billy started (technically Roman if you follow the full timeline, but that's being picky).

What better than a goal that was so good, it's methodology was banned!

I'm turning to my beloved Coventry City in 1970 for this goal, scored by Ernie Hunt with the help of Willie Carr. The idea was that whenever a free kick was in shooting range, Carr would flick up the stationary ball with his heels and one of the waiting players would belt it on target, well, it only happened once in a game, and it caught most of the crowd and even the Match of the Day camera's off guard. On replay, you can see how effective the tactic was, with Carr's wonderfully weighted flick setting up for Hunt's vicious right-footed volley to fly into the goal.... but this goal is the reason why such tactics are banned in the modern game (there's a fact you can use on your family and friends!)

My favorite film of 2024 is Longlegs, a nightmarish David Lynch-esque thriller that blends supernatural entities, religion, and police procedural drama wonderfully, even if it doesn't quite stick the landing at the end.

All I could think about when watching the film was that it is shot in such a unique way, blending the styles of Lnych, as mentioned, with shots that wouldn't look amiss in Remedy's Alan Wake series of games.

The premise, without spoilers, follows an FBI agent in the 90s played by Maika Monroe, who believes they may have some sort of supernatural power which is then investigated by the bureau through a series of tests. Upon coming to the conclusion that something is aiding Agent Harker in her job, they place her on the Longlegs case, and she gets to work cracking codes, only to realize that she may be closer to the case than she first realizes.

Nicholas Cage's performance as Longlegs is unsettling but kept to a minimum in terms of screentime, and this amplifies its effectiveness. The story also does a great job of setting the character up as a run-of-the-mill psycho serial killer before the truth is revealed and is far more disturbing. Every shot is atmospheric due to a mix of a mixed soundtrack and diegetic sounds.

It's rare that a movie can so easily make a contemporary style and make it so broadly appealing, but even those without any prior knowledge of Lynch movies, or procedural cop dramas can appreciate how Longlegs came together. It also has some truly shocking moments that will have you jumping with fear or screaming at characters through the screen.

Sadly, it's ending feels rushed, and could have used an epilogue, as a sequel would simply ruin what the first film accomplished. However, the films appears to be the breakthrough moment for director Osgood Perkins, who also has two more features out in 2025, The Monkey and Keeper, both of which still maintain an Indie feel but will no doubt catch the eye of movie buffs given Longleg' success.

• The countdown to Marshall's father passing in HIMYM

• The episode Bad News in How I Met Your Mother pulls the mother of all switcheroos but takes the expected storyline, Marshal's fertility, and instead endings with the news that his father has passed. Throughout the episode, a countdown takes place, with numbers appearing in every scene, some more obvious than others, and ending with a 0001 seen on the Taxi that Lilly pulls up in to deliver the eponymous Bad News.

• it's impressive because it will have gone completely unnoticed upon first viewing, and the impact of that moment within the context of the show is heightened even upon rewatching the episode and seeing the countdown come to an end even though you know what is coming next.

  I don't recall a show ever doing something like this before, or since, making it one of the most unique character deaths and general episodes ever. Like or loath the show, this has to be respected for its originality.

Unfortunately, it seems as though the MMORPG genre is slowly falling to its knees, and has been for a decade. Yes, WoW is still somewhat popular, as are long-serving games like Runescape, but new entries to the market have often fallen victim to closures or poor performance (New World being the obvious recent example). Gamers don't necessarily want to pay big upfront for an MMO or expansions and also don't want to deal with a recurring subscription cost.

To save MMORPGs with a single game, I think the key has to be appealing to a huge audience and creating a game that uses a massive IP but doesn't alienate the core concepts of what makes an MMORPG so unique. Too many games replicate popular titles and fail to do anything to bring in lapsed or first-time MMO players. Using an established IP also makes it easier to justify the upfront or subscription costs.

I would create a Witcher-themed MMO game to save the genre. In theory this works great, what is already such a lore-heavy IP lends itself well to countless questlines spread across a large sprawling world. This would work similarly to the FInal Fantasy MMO, but it has a broader appeal in Western markets.

Admittedly, the idea of having so many new witchers roaming the world would be hard to adjust to, but perhaps there could be classes outside of just your basic Geralt template. In an ideal world, there would be multiple factions to choose from, each with unique character stories, classes, and starting areas.

The reason I believe this would work so well is because The Witcher 3 appealed to a huge audience, with gamers who would never have bothered with RPGs even giving it a try. Adapting the IP as an MMORPG could offer the same surprise resurgence for MMOs and Wild Hunt did for RPGs.

My favorite moment is Hannah Cockroft winning the first track gold for GB at London 2012. I had the pleasure of running into Hannah a few months after this, and she was brilliant to chat to, and super humble, admitting that she didn't get recognized often but London 2012 had changed that.

Her T34 100m win was fantastic and was my first exposure to the Paralympics. I've been a huge fan ever since, watching Hannah go on to win a further 6 gold medals (so far!)

It's easily the most negative I've felt about a Geoff show.

So many games have shown off with little to no new detail compared to what we've seen already, instead offering odd details like a release date or platform compatibility. What new stuff we did see felt rushed and it's clear there is still a greed problem with these shows given how many developers have come out showcasing their games while criticizing the cost of being on a show like ONL.

Even the selection of indie games that did appear in the show I would rather see spotlighted in a showcase like Future Games where they will get more time to talk about the project and really sell the game to an audience and just have hosts that either knew what they were talking about or have scriptwriters with an editorial background to help the show feel more natural.

The irony of Geoff trying to take down E3 to effectively start dominating the game presentation space himself isn't lost on people now, and his shows are becoming quite vapid. His trying to then hype up The Game Awards at the end of the show was the final straw for me, and I think I'll just remove myself from these oddly manufactured events.

It's an obvious one, but The Sopranos! I know there have been plenty of theories and assumptions about what happened, but I just need the definitive closure.

Naturally, without Gandolfini, it would never happen, but I would have loved for a one-off episode or mini-series to just conclusively wrap everything up and let the viewers know what happened next.

For me, it was the Men's 10m diving synchro. Me and my Wife are huge fans of the Olympics, and our daughter has never really taken an interest, but this time she sat and watched quite a lot of events with us all because she was gripped by the men's 10m synchro final, where we (GB) ended up taking a silver largely due to the quality of our final dive!

We ended up watching hours and hours of the most random events as a family, but has she not been pulled in my that diving final, it would have been another long wait to try and get her invested in the Olympics!