I was chatting with a friend the other day about some of the wonderful cartoons the ABC used to air when I was growing up. It was at that point that someone reminded me just how grim The Animals of Farthing Wood actually was.

A rare occurrence happened this week: someone stood in line for a coffee, genuinely confused. What form of caffeine? Eventually they made up their mind, but it reminded me that it's been a while since I've asked you about your caffeine preferences.

I was sitting with Amanda and Tegan on the weekend, and we were watching old Masterchef episodes. It's funny how weird that show used to be, especially the intro sequence for each of the contestants.

Not long after, I found myself in the finals of a tournament with Nintendo's favourite anti-hero, Waluigi. And it got me thinking something really dumb for this week's Off Topic.

Tuesday's Off Topic discussions are typically unrelated to video games, but for this week I'd like to tackle a semi-related topic: the people, and friendships, we've met and made through our shared passion.

There are some bits of media that are so powerful that we wish we could experience it fresh, all over again.

So, bit of news for those who missed TAY earlier this week: Tegan and I have gotten engaged. And naturally, we've both been thinking about what comes next - and that makes for a perfect Off Topic this week.

There's been a rush of new TVs announced over the last few weeks. And while new hardware is great, it's especially handy because it means the prices on last year's models get a healthy discount.

Mother's Day isn't this weekend, but it's not far away. I know this, because my inbox is already getting a barrage of emails about it. And because I'm not brave enough to put "Tell Us About Your Mother" as a headline on a website with gamers, for this week's Off Topic let's talk about parents in general.

So I've had the misery of working from home today - not because working from home blows, but because we had another of those dreaded rituals: house inspections.

At best, house inspections are painless. Most of the time, they're pretty awful. So for this week's Off Topic, let's talk about the nightmares of renting.

Ever bought something only to immediately regret it? Hands up people, it's your time to shine.

The AFL season starts on Thursday evening, we're a few rounds into the 2018 NRL season and the A-League is drawing to a close. If I had to guess, I'd say right now is peak sportsball season in Australia.

So which game is best?

Keyboards don't seem like the sort of thing you'd pay too much attention to. You pick one that looks nice or fits your budget and plonk it on your desk. Done. Right? Not always.

There are enough different models out there with different bells and whistles that you can pay a lot of attention to keyboards and get quite snobby about it. Especially when you consider the amount of hours you can spend using it.

For a while, this was a simple, default answer: Chrome. Everybody used Chrome. But over the last year or so, there's been good reason to rethink that.

We all have those movies, ones that are so bad that they become somehow enjoyable.

Regardless of your skill with the production of food, everyone has a backup, a go-to. So for this week's Off Topic, let's talk about the little ace everyone has in the hole.

It's Pancake Tuesday again, which means it's time to agree that dried fruit is awful and bacon is actually amazing.

Earlier this week Tegan decided to flex her baking muscle, by way of making shortbread. Every now and again someone in the office has a crack, which tends to cheer everyone up. And it's also a useful opportunity to solve one important question for this week's Off Topic: what's the best kind of cookie?

My partner and I are hoping to break a terrible habit this year: one where we see something at the movies, go "oh that looks awesome", and then promptly never see it.

There is plenty to look forward to in games, but for this week's Off Topic we're going to have a chat about the world of film instead.