Halloween I always think is a highlight. I like horror movies and autumn, and the decorations with Jack-o'-lanterns and all sorts of occult stuff are wonderful. Getting an extra good excuse to watch one of the many horror movies that are usually released, eat snacks, watch zombie walks in the city and be visited by happy children who give the ultimatum "trick or treat" - are things that contribute to the well-being.

This year, the day fell on a Friday, and I would think that was why this year's Halloween was the most successful in Sweden in a very, very long time. Often it falls in the middle of the week, but we don't have any red weekdays in the second half of the year from Midsummer, which usually leads to a diluted Halloween. Some come and beg for candy the weekend before, some come on the right day and some come the weekend after (personally I only give to those who come on the right day). And there will be no parties because people have to work.

My bell rang constantly, and the giant sack of sweets I had bought - the leftovers of which I thought I would have to munch on myself - was almost completely consumed. And I was just happy about that. For this, I had time to both arrange and be at a nice Halloween event, and I had time to play some horror with my partner (the highlight Little Nightmares 3) and also watch some horror on TV.

All in all, very successful.

Next year it's Halloween on a Saturday, which hopefully means more nice celebrations.

If there's one game I've been waiting for more than any other in recent years, it's a new Animal Crossing. When Nintendo announced similar Pokémon Pokopia last month, it was clear that it won't happen anytime soon. As if to clear up all doubts about it, a significantly upgraded Switch 2 version of Animal Crossing: New Horizons was announced today.

Of course, I'm very happy about this, and I'm going to restart my dear island of Iacon to start a new life with new neighbors, gather all the insects and try to keep up with all the crazy antics. At the same time, it now absolutely means that there will be no new Animal Crossing for a long time, probably not for years. A serious guess is the next game will be released in 2029.

Nintendo has done strange things before (I wrote a whole article about it the other day), but to release a Pokémon clone of the concept almost at the same time as they release an upgraded Animal Crossing: New Horizon – and at the same time load up with a brand new game... I really don't believe it.

I'm looking forward to getting to grips with the updated game next year, but my longing for a real Animal Crossing with a pronounced live service component remains. I want a game and a world that lives and grows, month after month, year after year. I want to be able to sell and buy things online, participate in auctions, check out other people's islands and be able to travel to new places and have significantly more details for interior design.

And I'm convinced that I will... But not in the next few years.

This will be fun, but it feels undeniably a little sad that the next Anmal Crossing will undoubtedly be delayed. Long.

The fact that Nintendo is bigger than ever has hardly escaped anyone, but the fact is that few things illustrate it more clearly than the interest in their newly opened pop-up store in London and the Nintendo Museum in Kyoto. When they confirmed that they would temporarily open a store - those who were Nintendo members and registered interest were given the chance to get priority.

There will be a few days of exclusive chance to visit the store before it opens to everyone. You must therefore pre-register your interest to get the opportunity to buy from Nintendo (as if they are the ones who are doing you a favor), and after that, record-long queues are expected when everyone is allowed to leave.

If we look at the Nintendo Museum, the seat is even more strange. For those who want to go to Nintendo's museum, you need to be a member. It is through your membership that you can pre-book tickets. But... It's not really the ticket you book, but your place in a lottery to go. However, this is also something that ends several months in advance, and if you want to go to the Nintendo Museum, you should book far in advance and have a lot of luck - then you might be able to get the tickets you want.

Next year I'm going to visit Japan and the Nintendo Museum is something I hope to visit, but if that will be the case remains to be seen. And the convoluted process of customer demands, extremely early bookings and the need for luck - and the fact that people still think it's worth it - is a clearer acknowledgement of Nintendo's popularity than anything else.

Next year I hope to visit Nintendo, which is not the easiest thing apparently, but if it goes my way, there will be an article with my impressions.

The fact that different games have different terminology is of course something completely obvious, and often it can be downright difficult to keep up when people in the know are talking about the game they are currently most into. There are plenty of actual game terms and of course also Swedishizations.

During this weekend's Borderlands 4 game, a group of good friends and I laughed as I walked around cursing over my bulky packing that meant I couldn't pick up all the loot I walked past. I also want things, just to be able to sell if nothing else. A gentleman we usually play with suddenly asked if I had "loot anxiety"... And I did. I understood exactly what he meant.

Since I think this with languages is very nice, I was curious to hear what your favorite terms are when you play whatever it is you play in the company of happy friends? Is it perhaps W-rushes, construction spins, enpuffs, ganka, smurfs or something completely different? The more personal and incomprehensible - the better.

You can get loot anxiety for less...

Of course, there are all kinds of gadgets for the kitchen, from hand blenders to air fryers and egg cookers. Most are completely unnecessary for most people - but then there are also the things you can't do without.

For my own part, I mourned when our rice cooker for two decades recently collapsed, but thought nothing more about it. Now we boil manually, my partner and I reasoned. It lasted about a week. To get absolutely perfect rice without effort that is also kept warm so you don't have to try to time the other food, turned out to be worth more than I thought.

Despite the fact that there are plenty of food influencers who are trying to make rice cooking a bigger art form than it actually is, it is basically impossible to do more better results than what a simple rice cooker for 500-1000 SEK is capable of, And now a new one has been ordered. It had to be the successor to the Tefal we had before (NB, no advertising, there are probably 100 better models, do your own research), this also lasts 20 years so it must be considered good value.

So... That said, what single kitchen gadget (in addition to the standard stuff) would you not have been able to do without?