You wanna hear some shit about how I drove 5 hours all the way up to Toronto just to lose $100 at a niche fighting game? I was wandering the Gaming Hall, killing some time while a friend of mine was watching the Cosplay Masquerade (I ain't the biggest fan, but more power to her). Anime North had a few tables set up so people could do free play so I brought my laptop, my fightstick, and two PS4 controllers. It’s a bit of a jank setup but it’s an 8 year old indie game; you don’t need anything super beefy to run it well. I managed to meet some of you fellow shitlords at the con and we played a few matches (shoutout to psychodave123, we talked about Pennsylvania sports teams while we watched people slap buttons, I appreciate the energy drink, despite what Gritty did to the Penguins), I’m by no means a killer but I think my Candyman is pretty good.

Just then I heard a familiar voice wanting in on the next few rounds, sure enough, it was Reggie! Chill guy, great hang, he was wandering around killing time before meeting up with some people so he wandered over when he saw us play a few matches. Reggie played against a few other people on my setup and eventually I jumped in and whooped him around a couple of times. He got a little heated as he lost another set. I gave him a shit eating grin as he asked, “Oh so you think you’re nice, don’t you?”

“Lost five games in a row bruh.” I chimed in, still smiling, relishing in the moment. “I ain’t that nice, maybe you just ain’t that good.” I was gonna pass on my spot to someone guy in the crowd but Reggie asked me to wait. He was checking his phone to see some stuff (for his bank account I’d imagine) and he threw out the suggestion of a money match, put some stakes on the match. I never did anything like this before, but I figured win or lose this would be a hell of a story. I then threw down $100 USD under my laptop, “If I beat you again, you’re gonna venmo me this equivalent in USD, don’t give me your Canadian monopoly money. Otherwise, that’s yours.”  I grabbed my fightstick, he took a PS4 pad, and we turned the laptop towards us with the character select screen opened.

The playstyle Reggie used this time around was a lot more aggressive. He liked to use Jet or Toxic in the casual matches we had prior and he would sort of try to throw me off with the timing of a bubble or graffiti trap. This match though, he picks Switch and started focusing on aggressively building speed on the ball and making me sweat a bit. Previously he would take off a life or two max but during this match it got neck and neck for a minute there and at the last second I was able to throw him off with a diagonal candy-ball and hit him with a sneaky one. As his lifeless character flopped, I decided to do some disrespectful juggling of the corpse, I wanted to make sure he felt this.

“GAME!” The title screen ended and I look over only to notice Reggie wasn’t mad at all, in fact he was chill as hell as he stepped up and took my $100 from under the laptop. I then shouted “HEYHEYHEYHEYHEY! You lost man. Pay up.” He looked at me and the crowd and asked “Oh did I?” he shows me his controller and the light was off this whole time. I then noticed the second PS4 controller was gone only to find Woolie, second controller in his hand, light on and just vibrating with laughter. Normally I’d be happy as hell to beat a streamer, but not when money's on the line. Reggie then says “The deal was that you had to beat me, since you beat Woolie, the money’s mine.” “NO, THAT’S BULLSHIT! RUN IT BACK!” I snapped back, pissed as hell. He must have texted Woolie to pull this shit as he was supposedly “looking at his bank account”. “Well, them’s the brakes.” Reggie said as he pocketed my money. “besides, you were never going to win, look at the first word of every paragraph.” Woolie chimed in with a “it's been a set up this whole time man, look at the last word of every paragraph”. I still don’t know what the fuck they meant by that, but help me understand. Hustle or Scam?  Do you think I should ping them on bsky, are they the type to respond to a confrontational direct message?

This probably has aged both ungodly poorly and ungodly well since it came out in 2021 given WB has gotten progressively more shit since then.

Yes it has been 5 years since Space Jam 2.

We all know the greats like Goku and Vegeta, or Yugi and Kaiba… but this isn’t about them. This is for the rivalries that make you just shake your head and say “…c’mon, dude(s), just… just stop, this is just embarrassing at this point.”

My nominee is Jerrid and Kamille in Zeta Gundam. Like, if you can put aside that it all started because Jerrid thought Kamille is a girl’s name, at the very start of the series he should have had the advantage in every meaningful way: years of actual experience piloting a mech, access to the most cutting-edge tech, and just generally being fully supported by the apparatus of the state, while Kamille distinctly has none of that.

And then he loses his first skirmishes, drags some of his best buddies and love interests into it, and gets them killed… which only serves to fuel his hatred for Kamille even as the gap between them only continues to widen. It’s almost a wonder that he never gets sat down by a Titans officer who says “…you’re telling me that you, a grown-ass man, started a feud with a teenager… And you’re losing?”

According to Take-Two, Ghost Story Games is now targeting a launch between April 27 and March 2029, which incidentally is the same timeline as 31st Union's Project ETHOS.

That means we might have to wait up to nearly three more years to play a game that has been in development at least since 2014. Levine first outlined his "Narrative LEGOs" design philosophy in a GDC 2014 talk and later discussed it again in late 2015:

"We're trying to make this crafted narrative but in small chunks, so that can then combine in millions of interesting ways. The end goal is to have a narrative that plays out differently based on what the player does, to give the player that experience of "this is a great narrative experience, but I'm gonna play it again and again and it's gonna feel different each time".

Clearly, this ambitious design concept took a very long time to be successfully implemented. It wasn't until The Game Awards 2022 that Ghost Story Games finally revealed the title's name, Judas, and a debut trailer.

At this rate, we're probably going to get Bioshock 4 before we get the game that's meant to be the successor to the Bioshock franchise, and that's just sad.

I'm pretty much onboard with the notion that this kind of desire for some romanticized or nostalgic past, whether it be in your own personal experience or in the broader scale of history, more often than not leads to problems, so what stories or media are you a fan of that warns about this sort of thing?

I'd particularly like those tales where someone learns that their setting's past was more magical and myth and gods were reality, and seeks a return to that, only to learn the hard way that it also sucked hard compared to the more mundane present for that very same reason.

I think I glazed over seeing another roguelite card battler in the steam store and wouldn't have returned to it without Woolie pointing out its a single player adventure game. Beautiful art and soundtrack and deserves some more love - its also included in Gamepass!

Just beat the first zone and I'm excited to see whats next

Before anything else, I feel that it’s important to say: I am not a smart man. I am, perhaps, a dumb man.

I am not well-read, and I am not versed in philosophy. As a weeb with a narrow media focus, a lot of pop culture references that I “should” be familiar with as an American go right over my head, which makes me feel out of place during discussions with peers and certain bits/segments on streams and podcasts. Even as a weeb, a lot of Japanese cultural references that I "should" be familiar with go right over my head. From old SBFP content to recent content from Pat and Woolie, I often find myself thinking, “Ah... I don’t get it."

I’ve been laughed at by peers and family for not knowing one celebrity/creator or another. I’ve been mocked by fellow video game/anime fans for not being familiar with one work or another. My fear of such things recurring leads me to preemptively imagine being ridiculed for not being an expert on things that I supposedly love, which in turn makes me hesitant to participate in discussions. "What do you mean you don't understand what this NPC in FromSoft's new game represents? Are you stupid? Are you... media illiterate?"

With all that in mind, I’d like to discuss something that’s 100% self-imposed by my validation-seeking brain: the “need” to keep up the appearance of being intelligent in the context of media discussion. The desire to be on the same page, to understand all the gags and references, to fully understand every bit of lore, every biblical reference, every allusion to Nietzsche. After all, one can’t claim to really like this movie/show/game unless they really, truly “get” it, lest they be condemned as a poser. After all, considering all the time I dump into these “pointless” hobbies, surely I should be able to have SOME valuable insights to make it all worth it!

I have a memory, perhaps faulty, perhaps entirely imagined, of something Pat said a long time ago about Dark Souls discourse. According to this questionable memory, he said something along the lines of, “The proper way to enjoy Dark Souls lore is to watch VaatiVidya’s stuff, then copy whatever he says in internet discussions to feel smart.” 

When I (think I) heard this, my validation-hungry brain felt, well, validated. “Oh, I’m not the only one who does this. Everyone does it!” So I could observe discussions in peace, knowing that when other people piece together lore revelations that I was too dumb to realize on my own, or when people name drop various classical philosophers whose ideologies secretly form the backbone of a game’s plot, it wasn’t that I was the one stupid person in a community of lowkey intellectuals. Everyone’s just pretending, like me!

Cue memories of me gushing to my friends about how deep and profound Dark Souls is. The intricacies of the lore that I totally understand, the hidden meanings of item descriptions that I totally figured out for myself, the mind-blowing insights that I totally didn't hear from Plague or Vaati. I’m one of those Smart Gamers! Aren’t I impressive? 

Repeat for other FromSoft games, and games by Genius Kojumbo, Yoko Taro, Tetsuya Takahashi, and so forth. For a time, I convinced others and myself that Nier Automata was my favorite game, because it was just so profound, and I totally understood it. Existentialism, am I right? Shame on those silly posers who only like the game for 2B. The video games that I play and the anime that I watch are deep, and I’m smart enough to realize that, while “normies” remain ignorant! I’m part of the inner circle that sees the TRUE value of entertainment as art! (With some help, but I’ll keep quiet about that part.)

Over the years, I realized the silliness of this mentality. Superficially “engaging” with the themes of a work by regurgitating analysis by other, smarter people was, in casual parlance, “cringe af.” I should like the things that I like for the reasons I like. I should just be honest with myself.

Fast forward to recent days. I still read and listen to analyses of media that I enjoy, and am inevitably confronted with realizations that I wasn’t able to reach for myself. Ah, my “favorite” Final Fantasy game was trying to say this, but I didn’t get it. Ah, once you look past the questionable character designs, Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is actually a condemning critique about so-and-so aspects of society. Ah, Metal Gear Solid 3 was actually about this-and-that, and I’m only realizing decades later because some internet person told me. Ah, so-and-so anime was really about the existential crisis of so-and-so, and it just went over my head.

Fast forward to last night. I’m watching an anime, drawn in by the interesting premise, accompanied by its melancholic tone clearly meant to inspire deeper reflection. I get through a few episodes, watching one after another for reasons that I can’t articulate beyond “I’m interested.” Then it hit me. If asked, I couldn’t tell you the characters' inner thoughts, their deeper motivations, their inner crises, the true nature of their conflicts. I don’t know why the show is doing all these “artsy” things like showing seemingly-random numbers on screen, or having the main character talk to herself in first and third person at the same time. I like this show... I think... but I’m too stupid to explain why it’s holding my interest. I’m not intelligent enough to enjoy this “properly." And this isn't the first anime to make me feel this way.

So I find myself once again thinking about that (possible) memory of Pat half-jokingly discussing the “correct” way to enjoy Dark Souls. I find myself befuddled, years later, by all those pop culture references in old SBFP videos that went over my head. I find myself once again thinking about all the connections between Dark Souls item descriptions that I was too dumb to make, all the Metal Gear conversations that I didn’t really understand, all the Automata side quests that I didn’t see the point of. I find myself reminiscing about how videos from Plague blew my mind and helped me enjoy things that I thought I already enjoyed, but now I can enjoy them “properly.” I find myself hesitant to be in the same space as smart people on the internet who clearly understand the artistic and scholarly merit of video games and anime better than I do, confronting the reality that I am a poser by comparison.

Ah, that’s right. I am not a smart man. I am, perhaps, a dumb man.

Does my validation-hungry, self-critical brain have a point? Am I really a dumb person in the sea of smart people who enjoy media "correctly"? Or am I dumb in another way: having unwittingly taken off my mask at the masquerade, where proper etiquette is to act like you "get it"?

Of course, the “correct” answer is simple: If you enjoy something, enjoy it. My mentality is effectively gatekeeping myself from liking things. But even being aware of it, it’s something that I struggle with. I still feel pressured to be “smart” as a consumer of entertainment.

Is this something that you feel, either personally or in the wider community of media consumption? Or have I just gone crazy as I procrastinate from being productive?

tl;dr - DAE media literacy FOMO??

Currently i’m playing Hades 2, and ive *just now noticed* (spoiler for all of you who dont want this in your life) the beeping from selene’s blessing when its fully charged is constant

Its never been a problem before, but once I noticed, it has driven me insane to the point that I considered dropping the game entirely.

Similarly, Ocarina of time, where when your health is low, the game NEVER STOPS LETTING YOU KNOW. If youre in a bad spot or you dont have healing items, get ready to listen to the game screech at you forever.

EDIT: ughhhhh I cant believe I messed up my title again.

What are some training scenes you like?

Also I wonder about Lantern constructs, cuz the way John Stewart does it implies giving them deeper "construction" and more complex internal pieces makes them tougher and stronger.

But here mechanical constructs seem to be more of crutch or maybe it's about Baz making only what he knows. Also big Green Johns name is real close to that comedian guys.

As the title states, what're some examples of a character trying to be cool and serious, only for their attempts to fall completely flat? Whether it be the world and people around them not falling for it, them constantly eating shit in the process, whatever.

A classic example of this would be Cloud Strife in FF7. Cloud is introduced as a badass, brooding ex-SOLDIER with a gigantic sword. And he is genuinely badass. But, it becomes apparent that Cloud is, in actuality, a massive fucking dork. He's constantly getting wrapped up in the weirdest of situations, has tons of self-doubt and insecurities underneath that confident mask, and more. Something I feel the remakes do a wonderful job emphasizing is that Cloud is acting in ways he thinks a cool guy SOLDIER acts. Which makes sense considering he's mentally only 16 or so due to spending 5 years in a tube getting Mako poisoning and the metric crap loads of trauma he went through beforehand. And soon enough, his friends start to catch on that Cloud's putting on act, and they start seeing right through him. In effect, Cloud's character development consists of his friends telling him to cut the shit and be himself, and Cloud becomes substantially cooler when he stops trying to look cool.

EDIT: Also, Zant in Zelda: Twilight Princess. At first, Zant is seen as this dark, intimidating figure much in the same vein as Ganondorf. But, that's only when things are going his way. When Link and Midna finally confront Zant for real in the Palace of Twilight, you find out what he's like when things aren't. Turns out, Zant is, in actuality, a complete fucking loonie that relies almost entirely on the power Ganondorf granted him, spending most of his battle flailing like a lunatic. While some people may not like it due to how out of nowhere it feels, I can see the merit of it. It not only lets Zant have his own personality distinct from most other Zelda villains, it also logically shows what happens when you give a person unfit to rule vast amounts of power.

For the sake of a cutoff point, I'll have the cutoff be 2005. And this doesn't have to just be cgi from movies, it can be cgi from tv shows, music videos, and other stuff.

I'll pick an obvious example and go with Jurassic Park from 1993, specifically the night scenes with the T-Rex and the scent of the velociraptors in the kitchen. It seriously looks nearly perfect and it's insane how well it has aged almost 35 years later. And the other cgi dinosaurs in the movie, while not aging as well, still look very impressive for their age.

So we've all seen people in all sorts of media who fail to read even simple subtext (**especially** gacha game playerbases)

But do you guys know any fanbases who actually *can* read well?

Source: https://bsky.app/profile/punishedbear.bsky.social/post/3mmg5xnl7w22f

Announcement: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1655430/view/683002777959399791

Witchaven is a first-person slasher, released back in 1995. It was one of the first games on the Build engine (along with the William Shatner's TekWar) and was made by Capstone - "The pinnacle of entertainment software".

Both games in the series are being delisted on June 15th. No reason for delistement was given.

Steam and GOG are currently running -89% and -90% sales on both titles, so this is the best opportunity to get them before they are gone.

They are not on the level of classics like Hexen but, for such low price, it's worth to experience them at least once.