Co-op games need to become #1 priority for Nintendo. Don’t get me wrong, I love playing single player just as much as the next guy, but something about teaming up with your friend to go on a virtual adventure together is so fascinating to me. Hopefully, Nintendo never stops pumping out exhilarating co-op games like “New Super Mario Bros.”, “Mario Party”, and my personal favorite, "Overcooked." I put Overcooked as my personal favorite for a reason, and that reason is because it gave me the opportunity to become Gordon Ramsey and lead a team of chefs in a crazy kitchen. Picture this: It’s a hot and sunny Saturday with four friends sitting on a couch inside, exhausted from shopping. Being so exhausted, these four friends were looking for something fun to do that required less moving around. I, being one of those four friends, remembered that I brought my Nintendo Switch, assuming that we might’ve needed it sooner or later. I pulled out the console from my bag and asked, “Do you guys wanna play a game?” One of my friends shot up and said yes immediately. I hooked up my switch to the TV and went through my games. Most of the games I had were only single-player since my little brother plays them more than me, but while scrolling, I stopped at Overcooked. I turned to tell friends about the game. “It’s pretty much a game in which you work in a restaurant as a chef, having to cook and serve food as fast as you can.” At first, they didn’t seem interested, but after a good 5 minutes of me preaching about how fun it is, I managed to convince them, so we loaded up the game. Overcooked now booting up, I pass around the controllers to everyone. Before I clicked on the first level, I gave them a little warning about how it tends to get a little stressful. Of course, they didn’t believe me, but they were soon proven wrong. The first level begins, and they pick it up quickly. Just figure out who’s going to cook the food and who’s going to serve the food. But as we progressed in levels, the more and more chaotic it got. You see, the layout of the kitchen changed every level, so there were times where we were running all over the screen trying to get from one station to another. We were all both shouting and laughing at each other for messing up a recipe or serving the wrong food. I tried my best to help direct everyone, but I struggled to focus because of the tears of laughter in my eyes. After what felt like days of playing straight Overcooked, we finally made it to the last level. All four of us are sweaty and missing a voice because of the constant shouting, but we were at least happy because of the amount of fun we were having. I quickly clicked on the last level, and we became hyper-focused on the game quickly. It felt like we had years of kitchen experience. We got every order cooked and served in no time. We ended up beating the entire game that day and gladly watched the credits roll. It solidified our victory, proving our team's chemistry was powerful. That night with my friends immediately became a core memory for me. It reminded me how much I love multiplayer and working with others to beat a level, a boss, or a whole game. So thank you, Overcooked, and thank you, Nintendo, for providing such an amazing experience.

The notorious Blockbuster killer ‘Netflix’ took the world by storm when it first released back in 2007. Since then, it has stood as one most popular streaming platforms in the world, constantly beating out competition. Netflix became the home to its own original incredible films and series like Stranger things, Squid Game, and They Cloned Tyrone. But if I were to pick out of the huge catalog and recommend any Netflix original to anyone, it’d have to be the family fun movie: The Mitchells vs. the Machines. Because of its relatability, message, and visual prowess, this animated film would surely have someone seated and eating popcorn by the first minute. At first glance of the title you’d think it was a little basic, “Okay, so it’s a movie about a family fighting robots?” But it’s actually so much more than that. The story follows a filmmaking young adult named Katie who is more than ready to get out of the house and live her college life. This already makes the film relatable to a huge selection of teen audiences including myself since I am also more than ready to leave for college. Katie’s dad- Rick- isn’t so ready to see his little girl leave, so he plans a family road trip with him, Katie, the silly little brother Aaron, and the passionate mom Linda. Any family member or friend could easily relate to Rick since they’d wanna do the same thing: keep their loved one as close for as long as they can. Unfortunately, the road trip gets interrupted by the evil up-rise of sentient robots plotting to rid the earth of humans. As one may be able to tell, this film is of course very silly but also very important because it highlights how important family is. There are many scenes showing how it’s better to work alongside your family instead of against, as well as how you should never be the one to hold someone you love back from something great. The movie makes it incredibly easy to laugh and enjoy the film while also realizing the messages it’s trying to tell you. Another thing is that you can’t watch The Mitchells vs. the Machines without showing appreciation for the animation style. Netflix, alongside the same studio that created “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” (a film known for its revolutionary animation techniques), brings in a new, very flashy yet also stylistic animation. This film is animated at 24 frames per second, making it look smooth and put together. During the movie there are comically timed splashes of art that appear on the screen, a unique approach that most animated films don’t do. Oftentimes, in other movies, the action scenes are hard to make out because there’s so much going on. The Mitchells vs. The Machines avoid that by using proper camera movement and wide shots to show you exactly what’s happening at all times. It’s also worth mentioning that this film was released in 2021, so animation has come a long way. This means that you’ll be able to see things like the clothing and hair on a character actually move how they’re supposed to instead of sitting all stiff and blocky like the first Toy Story. Any lover of animation can easily stand to appreciate this film for what it is or how it was developed. This film exceeded my expectations ten fold. It even had my nonchalant parents cackling with tears in their eyes. I heavily implore everyone to grab their family, and watch this film because it is something truly everyone can enjoy.

Whoever thought that a game about blocks, dragons, and exploding green creatures would get so popular? Well, apparently over a million people did, including myself. Launching on November 18th, 2011, Minecraft almost immediately turned into one of the most famous video games of all time, selling over 300 million copies as of October 2023. Since then, this seemingly enchanted video game has touched the hearts of many, connecting players all around the world. That “connecting” part is why I love the game so much and why it holds a special place in my heart. Sometimes it still surprises me that this game holds up. I mean, my first experience with it wasn’t really the greatest, given how I’d go mining at night and lose my two stacks of iron (my punishment for breaking the first rule of Minecraft) or how I would always dig myself into the dirt in fear of losing my new leather armor because I heard a spider hiss near me. But that was back before I knew that Minecraft had a brand new game mode called multiplayer. I was still pretty young, so I had no idea what a “multiplayer” was or how it worked until my cousins invited me to play with them. I was amazed at the fact that I got to build houses, fight mobs, and ride horses with them in this mode. This alone made me obsessed with the game, connecting with my friends and family to build whole fortresses within the span of a week. Or joining Minecraft servers to play Skyblock with others and end up as the last one standing. The multiplayer options of Minecraft were endless, meeting the goal that the developers set out for the game. The connection capabilities of Minecraft didn’t just stop in the game; they branched out to communities. With such a fun, popular, and adventurous game, there had to be someplace where people could chat about it without having to be right next to each other. Thankfully, YouTube became that place. Stampylonghead, Popularmmos, and DanTDM are all examples of YouTubers who I watched build a Minecraft gaming community from the ground up. Now people all around the world get to watch these “mod showcase” or “lucky block” videos and talk about them in the comment section right after. A few years later, there’s a huge convention like Minecon dedicated to Minecraft fans and their love for the game. There were new annual events I loved participating in, like the “Mob Vote,” where fans got to directly impact the game itself by voting on a choice of three separate creatures to be added to the game. Minecraft’s way of bringing a whole community together was truly an unmatched aspect of the game. I’m happy to say that the magic of Minecraft remains to this day. I will never skip the chance to craft and build with others. I still like to ask my friends if they want to join my Minecraft server and attempt to defeat the Ender Dragon for the 30th time. But even though other games now have their own multiplayer modes, Minecraft’s multiplayer continues to be a beacon of connection and community.

Being a huge fan of Spider-Man means you get to see a lot of faces, hear a lot of voices, and witness a lot of responsibilities. I, for one, have been consuming Spider-Man content before I could even say his name, so I definitely know a thing or two about the wall crawling menace. But when it comes down to it, out of the hundreds of actors to play the web head, my overall top pick is Josh Keaton. Many people might be confused by my choice, wondering why I didn’t pick a household name like Tobey Maguire or Andrew Garfield. Well I can assure you, Keaton isn’t my favorite Spider-Man because of his amazing theme song, but for other spectacular reasons. What resonated with me about Keaton's Spider-Man is both his consistency and adaptability for whatever continuity his Spider-Man is in. Some of Keaton’s roles as Spider-Man are still talked about and loved by fans to this day. His performance in the 2008 “Spectacular Spider-Man” still has me begging Disney for a third season. In the show, Keaton’s voice acting made it easy for me to feel for his Peter Parker, going from your average nerdy teenager getting shoved in lockers, to a venomized angsty anti-hero doing more harm than good, all the way to a newly matured joke-cracking hero. Keaton made it a no-brainer for me to watch another episode. This adaptation of Peter wasn’t only comic accurate, but unique in a way that kept me hooked from start to finish, showcasing both his consistency and adaptability. Even though this show was my first ever introduction to his work, it immediately solidified him as my favorite web-head of them all. Some of these big name Spider-Man actors really only have one version of Peter Parker under their belt, but that’s not the case for Josh Keaton. In fact, his performance as Pete was so good that studios developing Spider-Man projects were picking him up as their first choice for the wall crawler, and I honestly don’t blame them. Keaton managed to score a whopping eight different video game roles as Peter Parker/Spider-Man. One of these games being “Spider-Man: Edge of Time” an ironically timeless Spider-Man game still played by fans today. In this iteration, Keaton gives an applaud worthy approach to an older Peter facing a threat across time. What makes this game so special to me is this speech that Keaton delivers halfway through the game, "what's important is not standing by while allowing someone to suffer or die because you do nothing. If you don't get that, then you don't know the first thing about being Spider-Man." This line- combined with his manner of speech and delivery- helped me truly define what it means to call oneself Spider-Man, solidifying him as an acting powerhouse for the character. Now, I still have respect for other Spider-Man actors, but to me? Keaton proved himself as the best many times. I get excited whenever there’s new Spider-Verse related content because it gives Keaton the chance to reprise his role. He recently did this in the 2023 film “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse". But in the end, no matter the faces, voices, or responsibilities, whenever I'm asked "Which actor do you hear when reading a Spider-Man comic?” My answer will always stand to be Josh Keaton.