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Given how important brand power is to Hollywood’s model for financial dominance, it should come as no surprise that studios would seek a means to cashing in on established audiences. That’s the main reason behind the modern fascination with franchises, sequels and – particularly – reboots, which seek to squeeze as much life out of successful original properties as humanly possible.

Sometimes, continuing after a first iteration comes to an end works: the X-Men franchise reboot initially worked exceptionally well for instance. But that seems to be an exception that proves the rule that Hollywood should steer clear of attempting to remake or reboot films that were already good in the first place.

Inevitably, that logic seems to fall on deaf eyes most of the time. Studios very much believe in the „if it worked once, it will work again“ mantra, and we’ve all been forced to endure their attempts to polish steel and call it silver far too many times. Even when they’re faced with what could reasonably be called definitive performances, Hollywood’s ideas men still insist that they can do better.

And as a result, some movies now only stand as reminders that you should never try to mess with greatness…

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Last year, EA Sports‘ newest entry to behemoth 24-year-old football simulator, FIFA 17, represented something of a new beginning for the series. The game felt like a refreshed take on the franchise, with features such as ‚The Journey‘ and set piece rewrites that allowed you to immerse yourself in the game in ways that had never been conceived before. It was a typically strong release.

This year at E3, EA Sports announced FIFA 18, promising to build upon the mechanics and gameplay of the last game, as not entirely unexpected music to the ears of fans. And excitingly for Nintendo players, unlike previous FIFA games (at least since 2013), the developers also previously announced earlier this year that the Switch would be receiving its own version of the game.

Somewhat annoyingly, they revealed that it will be missing several key features, adding a caveat to the release that has not gone down entirely well.

With Nintendo’s console delighting fans, but an inevitable frustration around a watered-down release, it’s important to look at how the Switch version will differ (and one key way it will be the same)…

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On September 29th, Cuphead [official site] will cease to be the game that I most look forward to seeing at E3 every year because it?ll actually be released. Even though I?m looking forward to playing it, this makes me sad. Since its first appearance, it has become a reassuring presence, a cheeky wink from a place and time far removed from the regular trailer diet of sound and fury.

It?s all very cupsetting.

It?s goodbye to Cuphead?s E3 appearances and we can only hope that the experience of playing Cuphead ? of being Cuphead ? will soften the blow. And, of course, let us hope that one of the big conferences next year will introduce us to a new hero. Gobletbum, perhaps, or Mugheart.

Cuphead is coming to the Windows 10 Store and Steam.

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For all his swagger,  bravado and pure Yeah let?s ave it ! Our Liam has always been a trend setter, and maybe after the One Love Manchester Concert last weekend, see above, we can add a Heart of Gold to that roster. Mr Gallagher junior has built up quite the reputation for fashion empire building on the side with his Pretty Green brand and after wearing this Sassafras Leaf Bud Coat from Oi Polloi, the aforementioned item sold out within an hour off the website!!! But after observing his appreciation for colour and wearing it so well, maybe Liam has stuck a blow for Orange being the colour of Summer 2017, what do you think ?

Retro Rooltop Bag by Poler at The Idle Man

Leather card holder by Aspinal of London

Cardigan by John Smedley at MrPorter.com

Swimshorts by Marks & Spencer

AdidasBermuda Trainers from Oi Polloi

T-Shirt by TOPMAN

Camden leather Business Card case by Tumi

Kensington fit Single Breasted suit by Paul Smith

Heron Preston x DSNY sweatshirt

This month we have been inundated with theatre, it has really become a favourite past-time for many, and I am no exception, I love all the different genre, from ballet to rock band stories, there really is something for everyone, and the great part is, it can be enjoyed alone, as a couple or an entire family.

Arts & Culture covers much more than just theatre, so don?t worry we haven?t forgotten the castles and the museums, I just love the diversity of the subject. So, to begin with, I shall give you all of the different shows that have been attended throughout April and May (I have no idea where the year is going)

Theatre for Adults

There have been quite a few bloggers going along to see Wonderland The Musical, if you are planning on seeing this in 2017, check out the thoughts of Boo Roo and Tigger Too, An Organised Mess, Verily Victoria Vocalises, Practically Perfect Mums and Emmys Mummy. Or maybe Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, reviewed by Cardiff Mummys Says and An Organised Mess, Casanova anyone? Find out what An Organised Mess thought of the Northern Ballet production. Yorkshire Wonders went to see Tenant at Wildfell Hall. An Organised Mess gave her thoughts on How My Light is spent and Escape The Scaffold, and we had an amazing time watching Running Wild and we sang some tunes with Sunny Afternoon and Million Dollar Quartet. Mama Mei watched The Empty Nesters Club.

Theatre For Children

We have had some lovely family visits to the theatre, I love seeing the reactions of the different aged children, if you have not yet taken your child to the theatre, check out Happy Mummy?s Top 5 Tips on taking a young child to the theatre. Viggo enjoyed The First Hippo On The Moon, whilst Eowyn, Kaide and Neva loved Babe The Sheep Pig and Honk. Cardiff Mummy took the children to see Disney On Ice and You?ve Got Dragons, but she wasn?t the only one for dragons, An Organised Mess went along too. Little Pickles Mom had a trip to review Elmer, whilst Emma Reed went along to see Mr Bloom and Room On The Broom. My Boys Club went to see Roald Dahls The Twits. Both Rock and Roll Pussycat and Cardiff Mummy says went to see Naomis Wild and Scary Show. Cardiff Mummy also Introduced the children to Classical Music. Emma Reed took the children to see Dinosaur World which is currently touring the UK

Castles

Life As Mum took a trip to Penrhyn Castle, Plutonium Sox visited Warwick Castle Our Bucket List Lives took a tour of Belvoir Castle

Museums

Cardiff Mummys says gives her thoughts on the Gillian Ayres exhibition and National Coal Museum, Milton Keynes Kids went to the Roald Dahl Museum

Other places to visit.

Life as Mum tells us all about The National trust at plas newydd, My Boys Club have visited Castlerigg Stone Circle (one of my favourite places) and Quentin Blake?s inside stories at The Laing Art gallery. Our Bucket List Lives visited Woodhall Spas historical cinema, Thrifty Mum visited Ferens Art gallery. Falcondale Life discovers the National Memorial Arboretum for Families, Some Place Strange visited Keats House, Talking Mums spent a day at Lyme Park, whilst Our Fairytale Adventure went to Tatton park, finally Happy Mummy shares her thoughts on a day at Forty Hall Estate.

If you would like to submit a post for inclusion in next month?s Round-up, please email [email protected] or tweet me at @BigFamilies

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In The Name of the Tsar is the title of September?s Battlefield 1 [official site] expansion, which producer Andrew Gulotta says will bring ?a revolution? to the game. It?s bringing eight new maps, the Hussar cavalry, the 1st Russian Women?s Battalion of Death, and new forms of player progression to help with specialisation. It?s coming September and you can see a little glimpse below.

The Eastern Front could have a very different feel to the existing Battlefield 1 maps, but it?s hard to say what it?ll bring to the game until we have a proper play. Other upcoming changes include night maps, taking place across a ?massive network of trenches?, and that is an enticing prospect.

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BattleTech [official site] finally brings mechs and mercs back to their turn-based tactical roots, and if the combat is backed by a worthy campaign mode, it?s likely to be one of my favourite games of 2017. I?ve only played the skirmish mode, against AI opponents, so I can?t assess the quality of the campaign. But the actual mech clashes are absolutely glorious, and as spectacular as any turn-based battles I?ve ever seen.

The moment BattleTech?s creator, Jordan Weisman, told me I could punch a mech I knew that I?d be punching a lot of mechs. Melee combat can be useful from a tactical perspective, closing distance on mechs with dangerous ranged weapons, but I?ll be honest; I just wanted to see robots beating the crap out of each other. In that respect, and several others, BattleTech overshot my expectations.

When I landed my first blow, on a mech already staggered and scorched by lasers and missiles, its arm flew clean off and rolled down a hill. Winding up for a second slug, I crossed all of my fingers hoping I?d be able to go full Black Knight and land another flesh wound.

BOOM

Off went the other arm. The mech swayed and for a brief moment, I thought it was going to topple, but it managed to stay upright, armless but not harmless. Its turn was next and rather than fleeing, it headbutted me.

Seeing an armless mech resort to a headbutt is very funny. BattleTech is a serious game about serious business, but this particular situation was pure farce.

A volley of missiles and heavy cannon fire from an ally finally toppled the poor mech and, having already punched its arms off, I felt it was only right to finish it off at close quarters. The killing blow was a stomp to the face, with a grinding of the heel into the junked remains for good measure.

Now, this is a turn-based tactical game, not a reboot of nineties beat ?em up duffer Rise of the Robots, so the bot-punching isn?t all that important in the grand scheme of things. But it sort of is. The most surprising thing about BattleTech is how beautiful the damage models are, and how much weight there is to the combat and movement. Lasers scorch and singe the metal, missiles leave steaming gouges in armour, and flames encase overheating mechs, cooking the poor pilot.

They?re super-weapons, yes, but they?re also giant, heavy, precarious, vertical tanks. Formidable for sure, but when they clash against others of their kind they can suddenly seem terrifyingly vulnerable.

A lot of that comes down to the ways in which they can suffer. Mechs can be adversely affected in three ways. There?s damage, the most direct way to destroy or dismember an opponent. When you fire on a target, you?ll unleash every applicable weapon by default. There are more than thirty mech builds in the game and some are equipped to be effective at short, mid or long range, while others have a more measured spread of weaponry. The point is, you?ll want to keep your distance with certain mechs, in order to ensure your best weapons are functional, while others will want to close in for the kill.

Before letting a salvo loose, you can switch off specific weapons. The main reason to toggle weapons off is to avoid overheating. Every armament creates a certain amount of heat when fired, and a certain amount to the target that it hits. A firebug mech devotes itself to dousing enemies in flames, forcing systems to shut down as they become too hot to operate, but even non-specialist machines can cook their enemies with laser fire and missile bursts. You?re just as likely to overclock your own mechs as an opponents? though if you don?t keep an eye on their heat. Firing a single weapon might tip them over the edge and cause them to malfunction temporarily.

The third and final trait to keep an eye on is stability. Take too much damage without bracing to steady and your mech might end up flat on its back. Once down, individual components can be targeted by opponents, meaning they can aim for the head to injure or kill the pilot, or take out weapons systems located on the arms and shoulders.

Shots can?t be called and targeted at specific ?body? parts in general play, but the game models and tracks projectiles, and they will strike and cause damage to different areas. That brings the terrain into play; hide behind a ridge and your mech can be struck in its visible upper half but not in the legs. There are advantage to being up high as well, in terms of line of sight and accuracy, but you?re also leaving mechs exposed by planting them on hillsides. Adding to this, one mech can act as a spotter for others, and any weapon that fires in an arc can be lobbed toward spotted enemies even if no direct line of sight exists.

There are other uses for terrain, such as letting a mech go for a paddle in a river to cool off, or stomping through woods for a small protective boost. Behind the scenes, BattleTech is undoubtedly rolling lots of digital dice to figure out the results of actions, but on the screen you see everything play out in beautiful detail, right down to the individual missiles in a volley, which might ping off a hill or dent a mech?s chest armour.

In the skirmish mode, there?s no need to conserve energy or protect mechs, which made charging in fists flailing seem like a fine option. There are two keys to the battlefield; managing your mechs heat and stability, and moving them into strong tactical positions. Flanking and attacks from the rear are vital for breaking through enemy armour without having to chip away in a face-to-face war of attrition, and knowing the strengths and weaknesses of your squad is vital.

And that?s why I?m craving the campaign. There?s a story, about a deposed ruler who is trying to regain power and Harebrained have shown their storytelling chops in the Shadowrun games. But that ruler doesn?t take centre stage. She?s important but she can also be ignored, because, Weisman tells me, the real star of the show is your mercenary company. You?re free to take jobs from the various factions inhabiting and fighting over the various planets and systems that the sandbox-y campaign covers, and as you become better known and more well-trusted, you?ll be able to take on bigger tasks for bigger paychecks.

Weisman says there?s a fully functioning merc company management sim in the campaign, where you?ll need to balance the books, hiring employees (including the Mechwarriors themselves, but also engineers and other techy sorts), promoting and levelling up those employees, and kitting out your mechs. That last part involves scavenging parts from fallen enemies as well as buying new bits from marketplaces, and that feeds back into the tactical battles; don?t destroy the parts you might want to steal and stick on your own mechs.

It?s the campaign that I really want to get my mitts on, but it wouldn?t be worth a bean if the actual combat sections weren?t worthwhile. They?re more than that ? the skirmish mode is fantastic, both as an exquisite visual depiction of the tabletop game that Weisman created decades ago, but as a game of tricksy tactics.

If sales are strong enough to support sequels or expansions, Weisman says he?d love to explore other eras of BattleTech, this game being intentionally set early in the history of the fictional future. From my perspective, if the campaign comes together, this will be the BattleTech game I?ve always wanted, so the idea it might eventually span several eras sounds fantastic.

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Welcome to June?s Books Round-up, I hope you have all been enjoying the sunshine? I find that it?s very good reading weather! Nothing better than getting a spare 5 minutes to sit in the garden in the sunshine with a good book. If you?re finding it hard to find time to read then maybe Zoe Prose?s blog post about reading tools to help you make the most of your reading time will help? If you?re looking for some summer reading inspiration then Fashion and Frappes may be able to help you with her summer favourites reading list. If you want to get your child(ren) in the mood for summer Kitty and B has written a review on The Diaries of Robin?s Travels which is a collection of books about Robin travelling the world with his Grandad, I have to say they look really fab.  

I?ve read a couple great posts about classic books this month. I did the Brontës for my dissertation at university so I really enjoyed reading The Ginger Bread House?s review of Take Courage: Anne Brontë and the Art of Life. Boo Roo and Tigger Too shares 3 classic books she thinks every modern readers should try, I?ve read two out of three and would definitely recommend Mary Shelley?s Frankenstein. 

With the political climate being what is is at the moment, I loved Mama Cat and Baby B?s post 5 heroines invited to our fantasy play date, Matilda would definitely be on my list too. Equally, I really enjoyed Hi Baby?s blog on how to build a feminist library for your toddler, I?m going to be investing in some of the books featured for my children. Monkey and Mouse wrote a great post about raising caring sons where she shares 5 books that focus on promoting kindness in children. Finally, another one of the list Along Came Poppy writes about books that promote cultural diversity with some wonderfully looking books that explain culture and differences. 

This month I have written about how I encouraged my son to read with Tranformers phonics books, focussing on books that he will like so he can understand the joy of reading. I enjoyed Buzy Mum?s blog where she shares 8 best books for young children where each of her children share some of their favourite books, it?s a great idea for a blog post. If you have a baby and are looking for some book inspiration,  Teddy Bears and Cardigans has shared some lovely first books for babies that will help you get your baby?s library started. 

I hope you enjoyed the round-up. If you would like to be included in next month?s round-up I would love to hear from you, you can tweet me @laurasummers or drop me an email.

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