Technically, at the time of writing, there are two hours left before I have inhabited this planet for 48 years, but... yes... I'm turning 48 today, which feels pretty good. You should remember that I have cystic fibrosis and the doctors when I was little were quite negative about the chances of even surviving adolescence. So... yay science. I still have cystic fibrosis (a mutation, you never get rid of it), but the medicine I blogged about earlier really does its part to keep the old man in pretty good shape.

In honor of the day, I'm going to eat the best thing I know, which is pizza, and I've booked my traditional Jamaica cake (pistachio and banana, hard to beat!). I'm waiting for good friends to visit for some board games and I'm sure there will be some gift (I'm not even going to try to pretend that I don't think it's fun).

It's the latter I have in mind when I now list my four dream gifts, where I've chosen to try to be a little (but only a little) reasonable instead of a list consisting of Cadillac Lyriq, a portfolio of 47 million in unfolded bills and peace on earth.

• Analogue Mega SG – The urge to start collecting retro hasn't waned, but these beasts are so damn expensive that I can't really justify a purchase.

• Switch 2 – I know, it's not out yet, but a booking would do. The Switch is probably the console I've played the most hours on this generation (I'm looking at you, Animal Crossing) and I absolutely must have the successor.

• Larger TV – I have a 60-inch TV in the living room, but it's starting to feel a bit small, I think. Would at least like to get up to 75 inches.

• Trip to Japan – Was it all Japanese role-playing games that were released last year? Perhaps. Of course I'm really hungry for a trip to Japan now.

Congratulations to me, kind of.

Of course, it's highly subjective what is worth watching or not, but for my own part, I have to say that 2025 could very well be my best year ever when it comes to TV series, and I've managed to harvest American Primeval, Cobra Kai and Righteous Gemstones, among others. Right now I'm following Win or Lose, Handmaids Tale, Daredevil: Born Again, Yellowjackets, The Last of Us, The Residence and Andor - and consequently have a hard time finding enough time. 

Then there is still more to come from Stranger Things, Gen V, Wednesday, Alien: Earth, Peacemaker, It – Welcome to Derry, Black Mirror, Alice in Borderland, Squid Game, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, Sandman, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and many more. And then I haven't even had time to start with things that are already out there like Adolescence, The Studio, Your Friends and Neighbours and Severance.

If 2024 for me was the year when Japanese RPGs took up exactly all the time, it seems like 2025 will be the year when I need to watch one full TV series season a week to catch up on everything I actually want to watch.

I'm certainly not complaining. Too much of a good thing is developed country problems I can live with. What are you most looking forward to this year (picture from the Pixar blockbuster Win or Lose)?

Of course, everyone knew it was on its way and that it would happen after a gazilion of leaks from not only insiders - but also Microsoft itself. But... Now it has happened, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered has not only been announced, but also released.

It's something I'm really happy about because it's my personal favorite game in the series, and the stream wasn't even over when I started downloading it. My impressions will come soon, but in the meantime there are three interesting things about the day.

• What is a remaster? - If a game has been remade from scratch in a completely new graphics engine at the same time as a lot of things have been reviewed and remade, then I think the word remaster feels too small. There have definitely been remakes released with minor differences than what Virtuos offers here. I think Bethesda could have called this total revamp of a 19-year-old game to today's standards a remake.

• Why stealth release? - Microsoft seems to have gotten the idea that stealth releases should be their thing after the success of Hi-Fi Rush (which certainly didn't stop them from puncturing the studio) and as recently as two months ago, Ninja Gaiden II Black came on the same premises. I thought that was spectacular, but this is next-level magic. This is a game they could have hyped the crap out of for months with pictures, trailers, information, previews, comparisons to the old and lots of nostalgia. Honestly, I have no idea why they're taking this approach in this case, and besides, it's launching a day and a half before Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 comes to Game Pass, a game that's going to take a huge beating from this. It's not meant negatively against the strategy itself from a gamer perspective (surprises are fun, even if we knew about this in advance), but business-wise, I have a hard time understanding the thinking.

• Only 599 SEK? - Microsoft has made a point of not charging for upgrades of their games or removing old versions when new ones are released, which has made it very smooth with console transitions where all old titles are immediately refreshed at no extra cost. But to charge a reduced price for this seems quite strange. It's certainly a justified remake after almost 20 years and it definitely could have been a full-price title without anyone complaining, and it's not a new brand that could use a little boost for people to give it a chance. Again, as a gamer, I'm not complaining, but the strategy is harder to understand.

Overall, a picture emerges that suggests Microsoft is considering one of the most comprehensive remaster/remake releases ever as an indie title for a narrow audience, rather than an extremely hotly anticipated release.

When I was younger, I loved the Jönsson Gang, which I think stands up as really cozy period documents from the 80s. But... when Gösta Ekman said goodbye, the quality quickly dropped (even though the Black Diamond is fun), and since then I haven't been able to care less about children's variants and horrible reboots.

But when the Jönsson League made a comeback last year in The Jönsson League is coming back, there was still some hype. The new casting was portrait-like, and it felt like the filmmakers wanted to go back to basics. Burned as I was by all the previous shit, I didn't buy a movie ticket, but have during Easter watched the movie that is now on Netflix.

And... It's certainly not a masterpiece, but at least it FEELS like I'm watching the Jönsson Gang and Gustafsson works well as Sickan (possibly a little too much grimaces). If I have to whine about something, there isn't quite that classic heist feeling when Sickan thinks he needs, for example, nine worn toothbrushes, a bale of hay, a group of tightrope dancers and the phone number of the Algerian president to be able to rob Liseberg.

In addition, it is difficult to ignore the fact that it is a Swedish production, which means predictable casting such as that the police chief and also the duo who outsmart Jönsson are women, while male police officers and the museum employees who are responsible for what is to be robbed are portrayed as fools who get it wrong at any given moment. The problem is of course not THAT it is like that in this case, but that it is like that every time, which makes it feel a bit predictable and boring.

But if you know that you like the Jönsson League, this interpretation comes closer to the original than anything else produced in the series in 30 years, and thus it is at least for me clearly worth watching, and I am already looking forward to the sequel.

Absolutely not a masterpiece, but fun for the fans and a good foundation for more movies.

Microsoft itself accidentally revealed two years ago that there's a The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion remake on the way, and since then the rumours have only grown stronger, with renowned insiders and journalists confirming its existence.

But... Yesterday the first images were leaked and during the day Microsoft once again happened to confirm the existence of the game, and we are now talking about one of the absolute worst kept secrets in the gaming world since... well, maybe the Playstation 5 Pro where everyone also knew it was on its way and image leaks existed.

Reasonably, it's only a matter of time before the game is announced, and I couldn't be happier about that. After all, the game is 19 years old. At the time of its release, Halo had a single sequel, Gears of War didn't exist, the Gamecube was Nintendo's console, and the last regular GTA game was San Andreas. Quite simply, another era.

In short, it needs a refresh. That said, I'm not 100% convinced by the leaked images I've seen. I remember Oblivion thanks to the bright colors, the cozy greenery. A slightly brighter role-playing game with extra joy of discovery. However, the leaks seem to tell of something significantly browner.

Of course, I'll play the crap out of it anyway, but I really hope that it's just bad pictures and that whenever we see a formal announcement - it turns out once again that Bethesda's most colorful adventure is back again for real.

Oblivion was a role-playing game with color. And that's how it should stay.