I was incredibly annoyed when 2019 arrived. In fact, I’ve been annoyed ever since. It’s not that I’m the most well-informed K-pop fan by any means, but I did immediately recognise the charm of then-new boy band Verivery with their 90s throwback single “Ring Ring Ring”. The bright colours, random shapes and yo-yos transported me back to my youth. Unfortunately, very few others have come along for the journey back to the era of California Dreams and The Battle of Seattle, but I imagine many more will jump towards that same magical time period presented via The Big Con.
The Big Con reviewPublisher: Mighty Yell Studios, Skybound GamesDeveloper: Skybound GamesPlatform: Played on XboxAvailability: Out now on PC, Xbox One and Xbox Series S/X
You play as Ali, a 17-year-old stuck helping her mum (sorry, “mom”) out at the video rental store. Deep breath: before internet-based streaming and downloading, people used to buy – or simply rent – films on chunky, plastic video cassettes that were the size of a book. A cassette is a thing that stores data on a roll of thin magnetic tape. They were a pain in the ass. Phew. Unfortunately, while your friends and classmates are all busy with much more interesting summer plans, your mom is sending you off to band camp for a fortnight so you can fulfil her wishes of becoming a famous trombonist.
Unfortunately, again, just before you’re set to go, you overhear your mom dealing with loan sharks who are urgently wanting their money back, or else it’ll be goodbye to Linda’s video shop. Despite the motherly assurances, Ali is so about what the future may hold by the time she returns from music camp.
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While hanging around town near the closed-up ice cream parlour, you meet Ted, a grifter passing time before heading out for his next scam. Here lies a potential solution to all of your problems: a way to quickly gain money while also avoiding band camp entirely.