Pocket Card Jockey
Image: Game Freak

Another week has passed in the Nintendo Life, and after a few rather frantic weeks in gaming news it was a little calmer overall. There were interesting reveals, though, with Capcom Fighting Collection in particular getting plenty of retro gamers hot under the collar. Meanwhile it was confirmed that Next Level Games has been working on the new Mario Strikers, and that imposter Elden Ring started jostling with Super Mario Odyssey for critical supremacy - the cheek! In lighthearted news we saw a Star Wars droid turned into the coolest Game Boy accessory ever, and we enjoyed the realisation that the Nintendo 64DD had more online features than Switch.

Now it's time to chill out and discuss our weekend gaming plans. A few members of the Nintendo Life team have done just that below, so feel free to give our entries a read and then join in with your own via our comment section. Enjoy!

Tom Whitehead, deputy editor

I recently picked up The Messenger on Switch; yes, I'm late to the party, and I did play it on a certain subscription gaming service in the past. It's lovely in portable mode and still a hoot, too, so that'll get some playtime. I'll also jump into more Pokémon Legends: Arceus or Monster Hunter Rise, depending on my mood.

And yes, I'll be playing Elden Ring elsewhere.

Austin Voigt, contributing writer

This weekend, I plan to crack open the ol' 3DS and have a bit of nostalgic fun. All of the discussion around the eShop's impending closure - and our fab piece on the Best 3DS eShop Games You Should Get Before They're Gone Forever - has given me a real yen for playing some of the classics in my backlog.

Pullblox, Pocket Card Jockey, Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess Picross (yes, I quickly went and completed some My Nintendo tasks to get the platinum points for this baby), Attack of the Friday Monsters!... (also, I admittedly still play Badge Arcade almost every morning to use my free plays and collect those lovely virtual pins). Ahh, the good old 3DS days. I shall miss you and think of you fondly.

Kate Gray, staff writer

I have become obsessed with Graveyard Keeper in the last couple of weeks, so I'll still be playing that. It's slow, VERY slow, and progress is done in the tiniest steps, but in a way that's sort of soothing?

I'm not allowed to play Elden Ring until my partner finishes his Big Deadline, and that's three weeks away!!! (For clarity: I could play it alone, but it won't be nearly as fun.)

Gonçalo Lopes, reviewer

Will still be spending time on GameCube but the arrival of packages from afar also give me - at long last - the chance to catch up with games I’ve been wanting to try for some time, namely Astroneer and The Opus Collection. Portuguese darling For The Warp is also proving to be quite a fun sci-fi, deck-builder, rogue-like distraction.

Game of the week is Record of Lodoss War: Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth. I do love my “metroidvanias” and loved the anime series decades ago, so no way this will disappoint. Lovely physical edition as well!

Ollie Reynolds, reviewer

Hello! So this weekend, I'll be putting the Switch aside (I'm sorry) for the most part in favour of a little game called Elden Ring. The hype is absolutely justified for this one; it's phenomenal and has the potential to shake up the open world genre as much as Breath of the Wild did.

I may also boot up my 3DS and purchase a few more eShop titles. I still don't have Shin Megami Tensei IV, y'know! I've also been playing Pokémon Blue again, because Elden Ring just isn't quite big enough for this mad man.


As always, thanks for reading! Make sure to leave us a comment below with your weekend gaming plans!