#(the company who bought the franchise after this game was made)

[enchi-elm]

Just confirmed for myself that they're remastering Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness and now I'm blinking in the morning twilight, like, "Did hell freeze over?"

[dailyadventureprompts]

Expanded universes really are the final frontier of franchise based storytelling aren't they? The ultimate sign that the brand managers have finally squeezed out the artists and twisted things into a state of maximum profitability.

Crossovers and callbacks can be fun, continuous crossovers and callbacks make the story into a slurry. Canon and what if's and reboots all ground up and served in a trough for the undiscerning consumer to mire in. It's bland, it's exhausting, it's pointless.

Big companies and studios are risk averse, and the profit seeking wisdom steers them away from niche works of art and towards wide appeal content. Why risk money on a movie/game that only a fraction of people will love when you can spread that engagement out across a dozen different products that are just good enough to keep people invested in your extended universe, whether from genuine fandom or just cultural fomo?

Marvel feels ubiquitous as Kleenex doesn't it? It's always there in the movie theatre/store, slightly cheaper offbrands right beside it. While individual works within the marvel universe might be genuinely good in their own right their quality is secondary to their purpose in perpetuating the brand and keeping it relevant.

People like familiarity, and if it's a safe bet for you as a consumer to have a pretty okay time in exchange for your hardearned dollars then it's a safe bet for the investors to receive their quarterly returns. It's no mistake that Disney, the company that owns Marvel does most of its business in theme parks: entertainment on an industrial scale. Just like their movies the rides are made to give you and everyone else who bought a ticket a scientifically optimized amount of fun and then move you along so that that the next batch of riders can have an identical experience.

It's value production as efficient as an assembly line or slaughter house, completely atomized and divested of any trace of the individual for the sake of maximum profitability. The figured out a way to sell you your own fandoms like they sell you happymeals, endless iterations of a product just this side of bad but convenient enough that you never need to go without.

I don't blame anyone for liking things, just like I don't blame people for wanting a quick burger in the middle of a long day. Our minds need entertainment just like our body needs calories, and profit seeking conglomerates exploit that need as they always have. What irks me is the fact that even outside of the commercials I feel like I am being sold something, like the movies and games I actually enjoy are being supplanted by feature length billboards that only serve to advertise the next instalment. The desire to find out what happens next is a powerful thing in media, and that desire is being exploited by expanded universes the same way it's exploited by DLC that contains the "true ending".

You can tell it isn't sustainable.. McDonald's is so inflated in price it's competing with actual restaurants, the gaming Industry guts itself with layoffs every quarter, and Disney's competitors are producing entire movies and tv shows only to destroy them for tax befits. The cracks have been showing for a while but I have no idea what shape the landscape is going to take after the dam gives.

[bronzemettle]

Superhero media is pretty popular IRL. If superheroes are part of the real world in the BronzeRealms, what does that mean for the movies and games and stuff?

Some of it still exists as in-universe licensed semi-biographical media or propaganda.

There is an officially licensed X-Men comicbook published by Image Comics since 2000. It was originally based on the adventures of the original X-Men in the 60s and 70s, but it runs to this day and has fictionalized versions of many more modern events in the current generation X-Men's lives.

Similarly, Fox made X-Men movies starting in 2005 with the participation of Consulting Producer Charles Xavier. He thought both these projects would help normalize Mutants for the public to see them in a heroic light, even if executives demanded they would primarily be fighting against other "bad" Mutants for most of the movies.

Spider-Man, thanks to debuting in Pro Wrestling before he became a superhero, is a copyrighted character whose name and image are wholesale owned by someone who is not Peter Parker. Wilson Fisk bought out that wrestling company in 2006 and immediately started marketing the fuck out of Spider-Man.

Halloween costumes, lunchboxes, popsicles, a newspaper strip, multiple movie series, many cartoons (often running during the same years as other Spider-Man cartoons on different networks), musicals, theme park rides... Spider-Man is just as much of a brand in the BronzeRealms as he is in our world, and he is NOT HAPPY about it.

Marvel Comics exists as a company. It is US government propaganda. It published heavily sanitized and fluffed accounts of the at-the-time recent exploits of Captain America during World War 2, and then continued with entirely fictional stories of Commie-punching after he went into the ice.

The Justice League as an organization assists any heroes who care to do so in managing their brand. They do not partner with any one specific comicbook company, but a collection of smaller companies, Charlton Comics, Fawcett Comics (based out of Fawcett City), Wildstorm, Quality Comics, Milestone, Gold Key Comics, and National Allied Publications.

Some of these Justice League-managed brand deals have led to movies and cartoons, but not anything directly analogous to the ones we know. The 60s Adam West Batman series is culturally more or less replaced by the Fearless Ferret and Grey Ghost franchises.

After the Mortal Kombat tournament concluded in 1990, Johnny Cage got most of the earth-based participants to sign him as their Agent, allowing him to license all of their likeness rights into a fictionalized arcade game retelling the story of their adventures, which quickly became a successful video game franchise under the new NetherRealm Studios, several movies, and more.

In 2005, to go alongside the first movie, Charles Xavier approved the creation of the fighting game X-Men Vs Street Fighter. In 2008, NetherRealm Studios would make Mortal Kombat Vs Justice League, and then in 2013, a much more popular and less charitable fighting game based on real superheroes, Injustice: Gods Among Us.

These two previously unrelated projects would crash together in 2014 with Injustice Vs Capcom 3 (titled such recognizing X-Men Vs Street Fighter and Injustice 1), which later became Ultimate Injustice Vs Capcom 3.

NetherRealm would next attempt to separate from Capcom for another solo game, Injustice 2. However, now that this was becoming an undeniable franchise... the inevitable lawsuit arrived from the real world Justice League after years of being presented in game narratives as murderers, totalitarians, traitors, etc. The game was forced to release a major update renaming and reskinning the entire roster into original characters.

Capcom would return to the franchise with Injustice Vs Capcom: Infinite. Injustice 2: Monsters Never Die Edition would clean up many of the rough edges that the lawsuit-mandated updates had introduced and bring in a handful of new characters. The most recent game in the series, Injustice Vs Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes, is a prequel that uses a retro pixel art visual style and was released in 2024.

Now we've been talking about superheroes, but the BronzeRealms is much larger than that, so let's talk about some other things that have various justifications to both exist as real things, and also be recognized as in-universe media in some way.

The Xena Scrolls, written by the Battling Bard Gavriil before she departed to Themyscira along with the rest of the Amazons, were found by Indiana Jones, and passed through various hands until they were acquired by Ted & Sam Raimi, who pitched an adaption of the scrolls as a tv franchise.

Benny Russell was a comicbook writer, artist, and sci-fi novel author in the 1940s and 1950s. Almost no-one knew it at the time, but he was psychically linked with Captain Benjamin Sisko across centuries into the future. So, when Gene Roddenberry acquired some of his unused worldbuilding notes and directly adapted them into the tv franchise Star Trek, he was unknowingly fictionalizing real future events. This same coincidence would repeat with a different collection of Benny's notes 10 years later for the series Galaxy Quest.

Now, you may wonder why, in the future, no-one starts to notice that these tv shows are coincidentally guessing a lot of real events. This is because, by an extremely convenient coincidence that most definitely wasn't assisted by the intervention of Time Agents, all historical record of the existence of the Star Trek franchise was destroyed in World War 3 and the Post-Atomic Horrors.

There are probably many other similar temporal shenanigans leading to franchises that most people reasonably assume to be fictional actually being loosely adapted from some account of real future events. There are also things like Wormhole X-Treme, a franchise that was knowingly created to obstruct the truth by presenting people trying to claim it's real as obsessive fanboys. This post is not a comprehensive list, just a grab bag of examples.

[wanderersrest]

An Abbreviated History of Mecha Part 5: It's (Dahlia of) Wednesday, My Dudes (2000-2010)

I apologize for nothing.

Welcome back to An Abbreviated History of Mecha! Last time we left off, the 90's had come and gone, bringing with it a whole cavalcade of mecha shows as well as Pokemon in its wake. Now the Torchics have come home to roost, as Pokemon explodes in popularity in the 2000's. This means that mecha shows can no longer rely on child audiences in order to make their money. Add onto this the slow shift into the modern seasonal format throughout the decade, and we begin to see the start of the decline of mecha.

Though not all is bad news, as a fair bit of mecha stories would come out and become some of the most iconic stories of the decade. Heck, this era of mecha stories is rife with at least three examples of "Not Like the Other Girl" mecha shows, two of which are pretty bizarre as "Not Like the Other Girl" shows.

So with that out of the way...

Wake up, Dann!

FLCL (2000)

So, uh... what a way to start, huh?

FLCL (pronounced fooly-cooly) is a Studio Gainax/Production I.G. OVA series made in 2000 supposedly as a way to relieve the studio's stress from working on a little series called Neon Genesis Evangelion. FLCL is, to put it lightly, very bizarre while also being surprisingly heartfelt.

FLCL was another major [adult swim]/Toonami series in the US, and like The Big O before it, the folks at Toonami would eventually reach out to Production I.G. to produce sequels that, in my opinion, generally fail to capture the energy of the original.

Bionicle (2001)

LEGO would release its BIONICLE line of Technic toys in 2001 as a last-ditch effort to save the company from financial ruin, and boy would it succeed. Building off of the success of Throwbots, BIONICLE would have a serialized adventure centered around the six Toa as they fought against the forces of the evil Makuta.

Bionicle would last throughout the decade as well as a little bit into the next, until LEGO, who was at a much better place financially at this point, decided that it was time to pull the plug on the series. Bionicle would receive a reboot in 2017 only to be shut down a few years later.

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED (2002), Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny (2005), & Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Freedom (2024)

Coming in with a bang, Mobile Suit Gundam SEED would air in 2002. The first series of the Cosmic Era timeline is, without a doubt, one of the most important entries in the entire Gundam franchise due to how it renewed interest in the franchise. Gundam SEED would also be the first series in the franchise to use digital animation over the more traditional cel animation.

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED would be followed up with Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny in 2005. There were plans for a movie releasing shortly after Destiny wrapped up its run, bit it wouldn't be until 2024 that the film, Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Freedom, would finally release.

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED is also a, shall we say, very contentious series to talk about. While it is almost always one of the most popular entries in Japan, the series is a lot more hotly debated about here in the west. A lot of people tend to downplay this series' importance (*cough*Professor Otaku*cough*). But that is not for me to say, as I have never really watched Gundam SEED or anything related to it.

Xenosaga (2002)

Returning to the director's chair in 2002, Tetsuya Takahashi and the newly formed Monolith Soft would release Xenosaga for the PlayStation 2. Acting as a spiritual successor to Xenogears, Xenosaga brings all of that complex Gnosticism goodness to a new console generation. Originally planned for six games in total, Xenosaga was ultimately cut down in size into three games.

Eventually, Monolith Soft would be bought out by Nintendo (if I had a nickel etc.), and Takahashi would be given another chance to explore the Xeno series once again. But that's a story for another time.

Diebuster/Gunbuster 2 (2004)

Releasing in 2004 as a sequel to 1989's Gunbuster, Diebuster would be the third of Gainax's Big Four series. If you're wondering why Diebuster is the fourth, that's because this OVA series would be the starting point for a lot of the members of the team that would give us Gurren Lagann in about four years.

With the slow death of Studio Gainax, both Diebuster and its older sister series Gunbuster would transfer ownership to Gaina (formerly Fukushima Gainax) at some point in the 2010's. Gaina has plans to make a Gunbuster 3, though that will have to wait until they at least wrap up production of Grendizer U later this year.

Megas XLR (2004)

Meanwhile, Cartoon Network would also see the release of the mecha parody series Megas XLR. Originally an alien robot whose head has been replaced with a car, this series would lovingly riff on a lot of the tropes present in old mecha shows like Mazinger Z and Getter Robo. Unlike most other shows at the time though, Megas XLR has become hard to find since it wrapped up its run. A lot of that has to do with, if I remember correctly, legal issues.

Gun X Sword (2005)

2005 would see AIC Productions release Gun X Sword, a mecha sci-fi/western mash-up directed by Goro Taniguchi. Set on the wasteland planet Endless Illusion, Gun X Sword pulls a lot of its aesthetic sensibilities from shows like Cowboy Bebop and Trigun, though another show that may have helped influence Gun X Sword is...

Mobile Fighter G Gundam?! I really hope that's a stretch from me...

As a series, Gun X Sword is often left out of the conversation when it comes to 2000's mecha shows. A large part of that stems from people incorrectly assuming its just a ripoff of Cowboy Bebop and Trigun, which is only remotely true due to some more superficial elements like the planet of Endless Illusion being similar to Trigun's Gunsmoke, and Van's name being a riff on Vash the Stampede (a joke early on is that Van is constantly changing his title).

Psalms of Planets Eureka Seven (2005)

In 1999, a group of former animators for Sunrise would leave to form Studio Bones. While they had worked on a fair bit of shows prior to 2005, including one RahXephon, Bones would come to be known for, among other shows, Psalms of Planets Eureka Seven (or just Eureka Seven for short). With a unique style and a focus on romance (specifically the romantic relationships present amongst the main cast), Eureka Seven would leave an indelible mark on a whole generation of mecha fans.

I would also argue, due in part to personal experience, that Eurkea Seven is one of the "Not Like the Other Girl" shows, though I think I can see why some might disagree: You need to have watched Eureka Seven first in order to make a claim like that, and boy is the original TV series hard to find online.

Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn (2007)

The year 2007 would see the publication of the first novel in the Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn series. Gundam Unicorn would be an important series in the history of Gundam due to both its popularity and the fact that it represents a changing of the guard, as Universal Century Gundam stories would now be handled primarily by Harutoshi Fukui instead of series creator Yoshiyuki Tomino.

I think I'd also be remiss to point out that Fukui is a rather divisive figure when it comes to Gundam, as the original Gundam Unicorn light novels lean much more into fascist apologia than any other UC series. This would, thankfully, be almost entirely cut out in the animated adaptation of Unicorn that would air in the 2010's.

Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion (2008)

2008 would see a trio of mecha shows that would more or less serve as a capstone to the 2000's as a decade. The first I will cover is Goro Taniguchi's Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion. Mixing in smaller mechs similar to that of Armored Trooper VOTOMs along with actual magic, Code Geass would cement its legacy amongst mecha shows by being one of the "Not Like the Other Girl" shows.

Which is weird, because the plot of Code Geass is that the show's equivalent of the British Empire is able to conquer most of the world through its use of the show's mecha, known in-universe as Knightmare Frames.

Mobile Suit Gundam 00 (2008)

Also releasing in 2008 is Sunrise's Mobile Suit Gundam 00. Leaning into real life elements like the rising awareness of terrorism while taking inspiration from Full Metal Panic, Gundam 00 would be the second of the three mecha stars of 2008. Whereas Gundam SEED would be Gundam's first foray into digital animation, Gundam 00 would up the ante in what is possible. If anything, part of Gundam SEED's legacy in the west is marred due to it's release being sandwiched between Turn A Gundam and Gundam 00, both of which are considered to be some of the best Gundam shows in terms of animation quality.

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann (2008)

Capping off this post is Studio Gainax's final series of their Big Four, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. Created as a celebration of mecha stories, with Getter Robo in particular being a primary inspiration, Gurren Lagann is oftentimes considered to be the single most HOT-BLOODED entry in the mecha canon. What helps is this series would build off of the general tone of shows like its big sister show Diebuster as well as the aforementioned Getter Robo. I would even argue that other shows such as Mobile Fighter G Gundam and The King of Braves GaoGaiGar also had a hand in shaping this series.

Gurren Lagann is also, bizarrely enough, one of the "Not Like the Other Girls" shows. If you thought Code Geass was a weird example, then Gurren Lagann is far and away the most perplexing example of these types of shows. At least the other three have a "plausible" explanation as to why they're considered to be different. Gurren Lagann is pretty similar in terms of character dynamics and themes, not that similar to pretty much every mecha show I just compared it to.

Conclusion

That more or less wraps up the 2000's in terms of major works in the mecha canon. It's not until the next decade that we really see mecha works go into a true dark age, though the nature of the dark age is largely overstated. The 2010's is marked by a lot of duds, though I will not touch on the two biggest duds of the decade in the next post. It should be noted that the 2010's also has some major hits scattered throughout the decade, though a lot of them tend to be legacy titles from existing works. We'll also see two major entries in the canon appear from western creators that will also homage the works of old.

I...

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.̵̘̀.̶̡̦̄.̴̯̓͜t̷͖̆u̸̠̰͂n̴͇͗͘ḛ̶̥̇͑ ̷̘̃ḯ̶̻̋n̶̰͛.̴͈͈͋̀.̵̖̈́.̶̡̻̋

...

“̵͇͗͂͠͝Ï̴͇̮̝̽̾ ̴̡̜̯̽̽͜f̵̠̘̈́̔̽ể̸͇̗͐͜l̸̻̟͓͉̀͆t̶̢̫̱̜̔́̾͠ ̸͈̙̜̟̊̅̈́t̵̗̟̤͓̿̂̂͑h̶̖͌͌e̶͕̣̅̒ ̵̡̞̀b̶̪̾̾̓̀ù̵̳͊͑͑ľ̸̢͕̺̭́ļ̸̛̰̈́̍̀é̵͈̯̳͐t̵̪̱̾͜ ̸͖͖̃t̵̥̓͆̄̕ȅ̷́̅͜͜a̵̬̘̙̻̋͆͠͠r̷͚̲̟̠̆̔̄̈ ̴̩̂̌̋t̵̨̳̆͜͠ḥ̸̥̿̈́̂̐r̵̩͇̀͛̿͗o̵̟̮̙͋ͅȕ̵̧̳̙̆g̷̜̜̏̐h̶̡̤͔̃̚͝ ̴̨͈́m̴̳̦̅̎̑̕e̷̼̼̣̭͑͝͠.̵͚̌ ̵̟̺͕̈̎̎́Į̵͕̿ͅ ̶̖͙̑͆̔͝f̶̠̉̂̃ḙ̸͝l̵̻̈́̌̈́̃t̷͇̣̱͐͋̀͆ ̸̙̲̎t̸͔̝̀͠h̶̛̜͔͋̿͌͜é̵̦̼̆̋̓ ̶̞̂̕b̴̰̲͈̽́̔u̶̯͛̇̓ḽ̸̭̮̘̔̇͋͘l̵̰̒̇̇ẹ̵͑͠t̵̡̼̫̙͌̈͆̃ ̸͉͙̀̓͒͝t̸͓̣̮͚̽̈́̽ē̷̬̲ą̷͇͙͐̈͑r̵͇̮̬̾ ̷͚̞͕̎͑ͅt̴̤̥̽̏͒ḩ̷̬̌͆́r̴̯̓̍̿̕õ̸̝͓ṳ̶͈̫͒̎͠g̴͍̯͒͌́h̸̰̯͖͕͊͗̕ ̶̳̫͛m̸͉̏̉̋͜e̸͖͉̭̱͗.̵͓̗̞͓́̏ ̷̺͕̖̀I̵̫̟͌̓̄̈́ ̶̢̞̯͗̾͂̽ͅf̸̲̝̖̈́͜ë̴̱͓́́l̸̫͓̪̆̾͝ţ̸̱̟̼͒ ̷̱̇̚t̵̲͔̻̋̏h̷̠͋ẽ̴̢̦̤̦̔ ̵̻̠̊p̴̞͗r̴̗͉͐̒͑e̷̘͙̼̩͊̾s̵͇̰͐s̶̪͔͚͛͌̍ű̴̱̪͖̌̊̎r̶̪̬̿̈́ḛ̷͐̐̑ ̸̝͙̉͗̎̑a̴͍̜̾̒͝n̸̡̹̓d̸̨̲͎͎̏̃̄ ̸̛̱̙̦̤͌͝͠ȉ̵̡̟̱͘��t̷̢̛̥̉̀ ̷̛̺͖w̶̨͋ȃ̶̢͕̃s̷̢̤̦̀̊̈́͘ ̵̛̥̲̰̂͂͗͜m̵̦̋̔̀y̵̮͈̼͐̋ ̸̥̹͕̦̿̄͘b̴͉͔̑͂̓ṛ̵̇̿̇o̵͖͎̗̰̊̾ẗ̶͙́̈́͑̀͜ͅh̶̢̺͉̖͌̔̓͝e̶̬͍̝̞͛r̵̗̩͛̐̂,̶̤͎͎̉̊̎ ̸̨̖͉̬̇͑̈̅h̸͇̏į̴͉̄̚s̷̨̝͈̽̓̅ ̴̟̩̃f̵̦͖̩͂̏ȉ̸̡̯̳̈́̈̾ś̶͙̺ṭ̵̜̯̭̓,̸̮̭̇̓ ̸͚̜̃̑ḿ̷̻͈̓y̸̡͌̊̓ ̵̞̈́̇c̷͍̘͌̃͜͠h̵͖̉͘e̸̮͙̊̎ş̵͚̚t̸̡̗́̈́͋̑͜,̸̜͋͠͝ ̷̧̣͎̙̓͌͝͝a̴̖̥̅n̶̡̯͆d̶̢̠͛̿ ̵̭̈́I̴͎͚̺̥͆̋̕ ̸̧̥͙̦̔w̷̭̐̈́å̵̢̙͔s̷̖̋̿ ̶̫̘̾͊l̴̨̧̙̐́a̸͎̹͕͕̔̓̾y̷̧͈͖͚̌̀̂̊i̴̠̝͗͌̕͘n̵͙̻͌̄g̸̛̥̯̹̫͝ ̷̣̔̋̀͠ọ̸̀̾̃̃n̵̰͐ ̷̼̄͂͗m̴̟͘y̵̩̻̺̪̎̽̐ ̴͔̹̀b̸̛͆ͅa̵̡̧̬̓c̴͇͝k̸̢̐̍̏́ ̸̼̠̳͕̑̃̏͝ä̷̫̣̂̓͝n̴̫̬̐ḓ̵̎̈͝ ̶̦͈̈́̆̓͜t̵̨͗̎̈h̶̭̗͔̣̋̑̆̕ę̷͈̗̰͑ ̷̛̪͎̞͒͌͝s̵̼̝̽͝͠ͅk̶̰̠̥̔͘y̸̝͐̆̓̈́ ̷͉͖̳̀̈w̸̛͇̝̭̺ȁ̶̳̥̰̐̉̄s̴͙̊̈ͅ ̶̟̐̿b̴̭̞͗̔̓l̴͉̰̓ų̴̒̓͘e̴͍̟̐̋,̷̡̀̎ ̷͈̈́̈́̉a̴͈̠̓n̴̽̾̊͜ͅd̴͙͍͇̲̾ ̴͇̭̩́̂͐m̸̛̭͉̈̒͂ỳ̴͙͔͉̾͂̽ ̴̻̙̊͝m̴̨̽̚o̵͍̠͆̓t̸̡̻͖̫̉̈́h̴̛̗̺̖̾ë̶̖r̷̥͗ ̵̟̱̞͖̎̿̒͝ḥ̷̂o̷̧̓̓ļ̵̻̜̊̇l̵̖̬̹͑ḛ̴͚̈̕r̵̪͈͈̭̄̈́̃́ȩ̴͇̥̽d̴̨̼͓̿̽͂ ̴̻͎̬̩̔͐́a̴̫͔͐̃̽t̶̩̏̏ ̷̦̭͋ȟ̴̺͚̤͖ḭ̸̝̺̐̆͗m̶̞̄̋͘͠ ̶͌ͅá̶͉̜̜̪̈́̆͂ń̵̘̪̮̉̃d̸͔̥̟͌͂͗͝ ̶̛̺̪̲̩́̑t̸͓̱͐̀͗͊h̴̠̮̄̐̽͝ę̶͔̏̈́̄͝ ̷̗̖̌̉͝ͅb̷̭̄̚u̷̮̎̇̃̀l̸͉̣̓l̵̦̺̟̔͗̾͜͝è̴̡͔̝̲̑͌ț̵̮̽ ̵͎̗̏̀ȟ̷̹̝͕̀́ȃ̷̪͒̋͜d̸̞̤͕̦̈́̑͠͝ ̸̻̤͆̈́̊͝n̶̼̆͌̑̈́ē̷̳͔̝͙͌́́v̷͍͙̻̘̈́ẽ̷̗̞̳̓͝͝ͅr̴̾̽͜͠ ̵̣̜̂̌͠ͅh̷̦̜̦͚̓i̴͓̠͖͐ţ̸̂̋̿̾ ̶͕̑̕̚ͅm̴̛̥̈́ế̸̟̠͔̳,̵̱͖̳̲̊ ̷̨͍͛a̶̗̞͝n̵̯͇̿̏̚d̸̙͎̭͆͊͠ ̶̬͍͐̇t̴̢̛̲̖̟h̴̙̿͗̎͜è̷͖̱̞́̇̀ ̵͉̆͘l̷̡̬̀̌̌̒e̷̢͋̈̃̓͜g̷̢̢͉͜͝ï̵̟͈͉̞̇̆̐o̴̺̜̒́̔͜n̸͉̏͌ṇ̷̀͝a̶̡̖̓̽͛̍i̸̬̮͂͋̕r̵̲̗̈ë̶̮́ ̵̨̣̓ẅ̷̲̹͓̗͗h̵̻͉̠̱͑̓o̶̹̱̺͉̕ ̶͖̝͚̎͆̂̓s̸̛̛̰͓͜h̵̤̐o̵̭̝̹̅̇͑͜͝t̴̠͊̋̾͐ ̴̠̰̞̟̇͒̾͠ḿ̸̟̤̗͈̊͗ȩ̸̟̏ ̸̻̀h̴͕͈̹̾͛͌̓a̵̻̬̝̰̅͛d̵̨̘̀ ̷̢̹͉͑̿͜n̷̯͔̏͊̌o̷͙̟͔̍t̸̢̮͖̋ ̶͈̞̀̒ͅy̸̠͈͋̿e̷̮̬͍͂͛̑t̵̝̓͐͜ͅ ̶̨̛͓̌̐͐p̵̳̏̎̌̕͜u̴̗̎́̉l̵̢̩̩͇̆̍l̴͚͗̀̔̅e̵̞̼̐̎́d̶̜̲̃͊̈́̚ ̴̨̡͍̀̀̚̚t̶̘͙̤͙̍͋̚͝h̷̢̯͋è̵̹̳͑͒ ̴̳͋t̷̰́r̸̛̭̭̪ĩ̵̯̭̄̄g̶̻̹̥̅͛̀͠g̴͍͓̻̑̿̈́ͅẽ̴̦̞͚̾̀r̴̥̖͈̭̂͆,̷͖͕̊͜͜ ̵̧̤̪̻́̕â̵̯͂n̶͖̊͝d̶͉̠̭̠͆͂ ̵̗̫̪̬͘͠s̸̫̫̱̫̚o̴̡̤̘͊͒̈́ ̸̙̯͋̋ͅÍ̸͕̃ ̶̬͂́͆͝k̵̬̻̊̀̋͝ï̵̪̫̖̜ḻ̶̡͐̈́̂̄l̴͍͎̘̙̊̐̅͠e̵͛ͅd̸͎̰̋̊̾ ̴͇͖̗̃̽͠ḩ̴̟̓̀͆̕ĩ̸͚͐̆ṃ̵̧͍͙̊.̴̮̰͗̓ ̵͈̿̄͐Ḯ̴͖͎̊ ̸͓͍̮̲̀͝͠ḏ̶̘̲̐͋̕r̷͍̔͜a̴̧̛n̵̘̾͗͝k̷̰̋͑͝ ̵̪͙͎̆ḑ̴̱͙̔̈ë̸̙̝́̿͝ë̴̻̓͝p̷͖͔̔̎̎ ̵̢̪̣́͆͠ȁ̴̭n̵̡̧̗͒̌d̸͉̠̔͘ ̴̺͔̠̟́ḵ̵̫̈́̀͛̕ḯ̸̪l̵̠͋̂͋ͅl̸̼̯̬̲͛e̸̯̯̿͜ͅd̶͚͚͕̺́ ̵͎̩̃h̶̪͚̏̚î̵̩͍͍̲̒͗m̵͈͘ͅ.̷͚̼̪̺͐̈́”̶͙̌̊͝

[runawaycarouselhorse]

Iris has no offiicial full-sized figures compared to past heroines and I think that's sad

I lost my old thread a long time ago, so taking a moment to show you how anime Iris only got two chibi pieces of merch, unlike all the main girls before and after (not including Koharu, who was more of a rarely appearing supporting cast member for much of her run), one a cheap Pokemon Kids toy and one a very nicely made (still chibi) collectors’ keychain part of a set.

Update: Iris now has an acrylic stand! Those are 2D, so not. Proper figures, alas, it's the same stock artwork that makes up stickers, just propped up to stand. There are also pins! Sadly, still no proper official 3D figure, aside from the chibi keychain (which was one of the first things I bought online with my salary--chibi Iris and a cute little Deerling plushie ♡).

There was an amazing resin statue of Champion Iris and Haxorus and another beautiful a League Series Iris (also in her Champion dress), but EZM Studios and Trainer House Studios respectively do not appear to be officially sanctioned by the Pokemon Company? There's a lot of Chinese figures that are honestly amazing, but seem to be unofficial/fan-made? Gorgeous, though.)

No figures of Iris as she was shown in the BW! anime/in her younger self's BW outfit from the games, ;^;

Misty is a product of the 90’s and most of her figures were cheap children’s toys! But thers’s still a bunch of them (in addition to the cheap Pokemon Kids toy, assume one exists of every major character.) New merch includes the polished G.E.M. series figure & chibi plushie!

These are sitting plushies, not figures, but they're very new and cute (and her seiyuu/original voice actress owns one and often poses it for photographs on her twitter, fff.)

May is also an early character and primarily has cheap toys, but she also has this very sweet (very tiny) promotional movie figure of her with Manaphy... a recently made very polished G.E.M. series figure, and she has a figure with Torchic! Game May has her own polished figure.

Note: the G.E.M. series commemorates the anime and seemed to be going in order, until it skipped Dawn (despite her immense popularity?!) after May, then skipped Iris for Serena... then, they made the Sun & Moon girls and that seemed it.

Dawn has a LOT of merchandise, ranging from cheap action figures for kids to collectors’ figures for her anime & game counterparts. Also, plushies, more keychains...

That last one is likely her game counterpart, given the loooong scarf.

Some more cheap children’s toy Dawns, trainer pack sets...

Again, keep in mind, EVERY major Pokemon character gets the very homely-looking Pokemon Kids toys and for a long time, that was Iris’ only toy. So, despite not picturing them here, assume all the main girls have them (as do main boys!)

For the record, BW! Ash had character merch like collector’s figures and children’s toys/action figures too, it was only Iris who was excluded.*Cilan has a full figure (Banpresto Partners figure with Pansage, Banpresto Partners Ash is with Pikachu) too! N, the Subway Bosses too also existed...

Serena has a LOT of merchandise. There’s a music box figure of her performing with a key, there’s the new G.E.M. figure with Sylveon, her game counterpart with Fennekin, cheap kid’s toys (Takara Tomy action figure), a plushie of her short-haired look...

Serena’s game counterpart has figures, clearfiles, keychains, stickers, posters, etc. (Iris recently got a pin/badge along with the other Unova Gym Leaders, possibly stickers too)—slightly sidetracking, let’s get back to figures!

A very cute short-haired, chibi XY anime-styled Serena (note she also has the gifted blue ribbon and the second outfit!) for the Pita Poke toys!! I wish I had those, it looks very Polly Pocket and cute, but sadly discontinued.

Moving onto Lillie, she has the most merchandise across franchise, I think! She has two anime-based figures (with Snowy and the Poke Problem blackboard.)

Game Lillie has many figures, a music box like Serena’s that plays her theme (it’s the one of her on the sofa with her diary).

If we count ~related~ merchandise, there’s a cute Terrarium Collection one of Snowy on the shore, with fallen flowers floating on the water, with a paw reaching out to touch Lillie’s hat, lying in the sand. There’s Iris’ Axew stickers and cards, promotional stuff, but all 2D.

I may reblog with the others and anime-related merch that isn't figures... I hit the limit, PFFT.

[alinktoana]

local elderly girl sells stickers at a japanese food festival

not gonna lie, the entire experience is very emotional to me and it's been a month but moon channel's vid essay about cool japan, and the release of smt5 vengeance (lol) inspired me

tldr: i made some stickers, got real existential about it, will keep making more c: if youd like to check them out, here's a link

ive always wanted to draw, i used to say i was gonna become a painter or a fashion designer when i grew up. none of that happened, but i did go to film school. my final project was a script for an animated short highly inspired by nbc hannibal, majora's mask (i know, it was 2016, it makes sense to me lol) and a huge loss in my life from which i havent fully recovered, 10 years later.

the point is, ive always been art adjacent but i never really drew, until i got inspired by_hannibal itself_, noel fielding, kylux (LOL) and a roommate who was who was really inspired by art youtubers like frannerd and drew around the house, so i picked up a pencil and started drawing hannigram fanart bc i was so insanely in love with that show lol i remember who i was before i drew. i spent my days reading and watching tv, bc i love stories and stuff, but i was a consumer. and once i got a job after college i felt so incredibly isolated and directionless. do i have a direction now, as i work as a """"designer""" for a company that sells a mental health app? no. but like demifiend was force fed a magatama and got demon powers (LMAO BEAR WITH ME I JUST BOUGHT SMT3 HD REMASTER), i caught the art demon (like steven zapata says). and i caught it bad. i spend my day to day rushing through my work and chores and everything so i can have enough time to draw in the evening, to do whatever, and sometimes the need is so immense i cant do anything bc im not good enough, my skills are fading, im worthless, what's the meaning of all this? so i took a chance and showed my work at an arts alley on a japanese food festival i was helping organize. mind you, i was juggling that with my 9/5, promoting the event, finishing drawings from years ago. and when i got there, nobody got it. people looked at the stickers and didnt recognize the characters, and went on to buy the stickers my friends had that were more current. it was all japanese fanart. we were there with the single purpose of baiting weebs like us lol

ive always dealt with clients, im used to this. but im used to business to business, bc sigh i am a corporate girly. and im a beginner in the demon arts of arting. i felt so ashamed people were preferring other people, that i had the audacity to think i was worth anything. but i stood there, standing still with my brain boucing off my skull wanting to leave but also enjoying the experience and hoping someone, anyone would get it. and some people did. to my surprise, jack frost was my best selling sticker, lol. jack frost, from the smt franchise, a franchise im so new to but i love so dearly. im 100% a poser, ive never finished a megaten game. but… it just speaks to me. and thats where my cool japan feelings come from bc, like i said, i was selling at a japanese food festival. people my age, from the country i come from, were exposed to dragon ball and cardcaptor sakura from birth. and learning about history and the atrocities of the japanese empire is just. who can you trust. but ive aways resonated with one thing from japan, and it's the way they portray sadness in their works. it's become a ritual since last year that i will listen to smtv's ost when im on my period bc it literally brings me back to life. no one but i know how many times ive drawn goro majima and taiga saejima bc their mere existance and their sorrow resonates with me so immensily and i dont wanna see them being sad, nor do i wanna see me being sad. it's. it's really difficult to be to admit that im from brazil, bc our country sells happiness as an export but for many, many years the most popular genre is butthurt country music, and it makes sense, you know? people dont wanna admit they're sad. and i can only imagine what it's like for regular japanese people, bc we (i) get to see their big exports of bittersweetness… i dont know, maybe other people get to see that from brazil too, i dont know. the arts in brazil, or specially where i live, it's just isnt in the cards for us. but ill keep trying, you know. and i know fanart is a hack. but im trying. despite everything and everyone wanting us (me) to work for mining/metal/oil companies, make the most money, have the least health, drink all the alcohol (but call an uber), consume, reproduce and die, i. i just wanna draw tiny people, you know. it's. not that big a deal. all this to say that yes im gonna keep drawing and making stickers and, who knows, you know. these are stickers that i wont ever find near me, or that im too broke to get them from artists/official stores, so if youre like me, here's some pdfs in case you wanna print them and stick them wherever c: ty if you got this far, this is a big ramble… but it's been years in the making and despite everything im happy about it c:

[avidrawsthings]

based on the datamines, what do reina and ricardo do after hogwarts and the vault stuff is dealt with?

Reina: Baker

By Year 6, Reina was dual enrolled in both Hogwarts and Vytaria Academy. In the former, she only took 4 core classes, while in the latter she took courses focused on getting her business license to operate her own bakery.

After Hogwarts, she moves back to the Dominican Republic to finish her classes and works in her family's bakery to gain experience. She completes one more year of classes, finishing in 1992 and graduating with the requirements to start her business.

In the spring of 1994, she gets married to Talbott. Later that summer, she opens up Crystal Beach Bakery & Café in Diagon Alley. It becomes a hit. Students on their way to start Hogwarts receive a free treat.

Friends and professors often stop by to enjoy the food and atmosphere.

Ricardo: Auror and then Game Developer

After he was rescued from the Portrait Vault, he went with the group back to the school. Moody sought him out and recruited him soon afterward. Ricardo agreed to work with him under a few conditions.

He struck a deal with the Ministry where he'd work for them if they cleared his name of the lies they spread about him in the past. He'd serve as one of the key players in taking down R.

Briefly dated Chester but then got dumped by him. One solo trip to Las Vegas later, Ricardo became a single father to a baby girl he named Rel (born February 22, 1994). She inherited his Metamorphmagus abilities.

Bought his dream vehicle and traveled across the country for a few years. Put his Ministry work on hold to focus on fatherhood.

Reconnected with Kazuhiro (an undercover Auror who also helped in R's takedown) and moved to Japan in 1996.

Started his own company called Studio Dreamscape to follow his true dreams of being a game developer.

They'd create and publish a candy-themed racing game in 1997 named Candy Hollow. It was a hit and would go on to become a successful franchise.

****

Felt great lining and coloring these in SAI again. Final little details were added in Clip Studio on my PC. Ricardo's gun doesn't look like it makes much sense, but do know it's made from magic, has three barrels in the shape of a heart and can fire magic bullets. Unseen but he wields two guns. Dude loves rainbows and designed it himself.

[nerdsworld]

Sony's Spider-Man 2 Video Game Dropped Yesterday But Is The Gameplay Too Short? 🕸️🕷️

Yesterday,might as well have just been dubbed "Spidey Day" with all the anticipation for this games release, even New York City had "somewhat" of a scavenger hunt for fans of the franchise.

And as Murphy's Law would have it,mine did not arrive until well after 6pm via UPS but I ordered the statue, digital package deal from Sony Direct.

This has the best packaged statue/ bust I have ever received from a company,the steel book doesn't contain a disc (when it goes on sale,I'm buying a physical version and sticking it in there).

I only have five statues or busts, Daredevil (mini bust), Xena:Warrior Princess, Hitman (won digital game and disc from gaming developer),The X-Files (Agent Scully) and now Spider-Man 2/Venom.

These are wonderful additions to any collector's collection but you have to stay vigilant with "dusting" them and keeping them "dust free".

My small and it will stay small Spider-Man collectibles.

By the time it was downloaded (about two hours) I played enough to earn two trophies and will play it again over the weekend.

I made the mistake two weeks ago and purchased the digital version of Detroit Becoming Human and wound up playing that game from 10 pm until almost 2 am in the morning.

I finished it in two days and it is an extremely interesting game to say the least,that I went out and purchased a brand new physical copy (you know the goal is to phase out pretty ALL physical copies of movies and games eventually) for $20.00 to keep in my video game collection.

Saturday

10.21.2023

L.George

[candy-floss-crazy]

Today's hero of the burger world is one Wilber Hardee, who launched his namesake restaurant in Greenville, North Carolina on 3rd September 1960. He had viewed the first McDonald's in the area and been impressed by the money it was taking when he clocked up $168 in an hour. As he exclaimed, at 15c a burger that was some sales. He already operated a successful restaurant called 'Silo', but wanted a slice of the burger market. His first years trading was so successful that he looked into expanding. A meeting with James Gardner and Leonard Rawls led to the opening of the first 'Company' store in Rocky Mount. Change Of Ownership Wilber didn't stay in charge of the company for long. Selling his share in Hardees Burger Chain to his other two partners in 1961. There are conflicting accounts of how this arose. Wilber claimed that he lost a controlling share of the business in a poker game to his two partners. Realising he no longer had control he sold the remaining stock. However in a short book he self published in 2000, Wilber told a different story. The other partners evidently plied him with alcohol, getting him drunk enough to begin signing legal papers without understanding what they were, leading to him signing the rights for franchising away to the other men. However in a later interview he claimed that he had just been basically stupid, and agreed to set up a company where each partner had equal voting rights, leading to the situation where the other two could always out vote him on decisions. Rapid Expansion The chain expanded rapidly, not just with the franchising operation, but they also bought two other chains, Sandy's and Burger Chef. By 1984 it was the fourth largest chain in America, for a brief period surpassing Wendy's to become the third largest. New Ownership 1997 saw the chain being acquired by CKE restaurants. Standing for Carl Karcher Enterprises, owners of the famous Carl's Jr. chain, this created a group of 3828 stores in 40 states and 10 countries. The chain however was struggling, problems with the menu, service and quality control meant sales were declining. 2003 saw a new management team planning a turnaround, and a massive sales campaign, coupled with the reinstatement of charbroiling (Wilber Hardees secret weapon) which had been abandoned years earlier. New menu items such as the thick burger saw an upturn in the groups fortunes. Since then the group has grown to over 5000 locations worldwide. The current chain pretty much replicates the Carl's Jr. menu, just with different names. Their flagship offering being the Monster Burger. With two 1/3 lb patties (though knowing Americans they might be better calling them 3/9 lb patties). Wilber Rides Again Not one to rest on his laurels, Wilber launched another burger chain, called Little Mint. The name referring to the fact that he considered burger joints should be little, and the chain was going to make him a mint. Though not reaching the heights of Hardees Burger Chain over the next seven years he grew the chain to 50 locations. When the company went public his shareholding made him worth $2 million dollars'. Sadly by 1971 competition and other adverse factors meant the chain started to struggle and after falling out with the other board members he eventually sold out for $90,000. Ever a tryer Wilber opened three 'Hot Dog Cities' and a seafood restaurant over the next couple of years. None lasted more than a couple of years, and eventually he was forced to sell his house, eventually filing for bankruptcy. His low point came when he planned to kill himself by driving his car into a tree. happily his nerve failed and he never carried the plan through. Beef & Shakes Burger Chain 1978 saw him raising the capital to start 'Beef & Shakes' expanding to three outlets, before selling two and rebranding the remaining one Biscuit & Chicken, before eventually settling on the name Biscuit Town. This was to be his final success, he franchised a couple of stores, before his wife died suddenly. Despondent he sold the chain to his old outfit of Little Mint. you would have thought that was the end of his story, but he used the money to open three Burger Castle stores. Sadly these failed, and though he opened another five ventures over the next few years, his final one at the age of 75, none of them were successful. It was reported that Wilber was always bitter about the lack of recognition in the group. Though it carried his name, the company recognised Rawls as its founder. And the second store was considered the start of the brand, not Wilber's original. This changed when Carl Karcher took over. He honoured Wilber as the founder of the hardees Burger Chain, naming it's most prestigious franchising award after him. Sadly he died in 2008 from a heart attack, just short of his 90th birthday. Resources; The Story Of Hardees Read the full article

[noticiassincensura]

Ubisoft caught spying by sharing user data with Meta without notifying

Ubisoft is a globally known video game company that began developing video games in the mid-1980s. This was a significant time in the industry, as it coincided with the launch of the NES and a moment when video game franchises emerged that have become classics to this day. Ubisoft began to gain popularity with series like Rayman and later Prince of Persia, Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, and others. This French company is currently facing tough times, as its stock has plummeted, and now it has to deal with another problem: it is facing a lawsuit after being caught spying on users and sharing data with Meta.

Ubisoft had a rather humble beginning, and although it did not initially focus exclusively on video games as its primary business model, it soon dedicated itself entirely to this. Games like Rayman in 1995 significantly contributed to the company’s growth, allowing it to create many new IPs, some of which have lasted for decades. Assassin’s Creed is one of the most enduring franchises, and of course, Ubisoft has released numerous games in this series.

Ubisoft caught spying; a lawsuit emerges accusing it of sharing data with Meta

While Ubisoft games have a long history filled with criticism due to bugs, content reuse, repetitive gameplay, and lack of innovation, the French company has recently been involved in other games that have not been well received either. Coupled with the delay of Assassin’s Creed Shadows, things are going badly for Ubisoft. Additionally, rumors emerged that Tencent was going to buy the giant video game company, which has been struggling. Although the stock rose upon this news, it is now likely to drop again.

Ubisoft is facing a lawsuit from Trevor Lakes and Alex Rajjoub, who accuse the company of spying on players and sharing data with Facebook using Meta’s Pixel tracker. To justify their accusation, both plaintiffs claim they were subscribed to Ubisoft+, downloaded a game while connected to Facebook, and that Ubisoft collected information and shared it on Facebook.

Ubisoft could soon be bought by Tencent

The two plaintiffs assert that at no time did they receive a notification from Ubisoft that they would be spied on and their data shared with Meta. This is an invasion of player privacy, and this isn’t the first time we have seen a lawsuit stemming from data sharing using Meta’s Pixel. While no details about potential fines have been released, it will be essential to stay tuned to see if the case progresses and if a conclusion is reached that favors the plaintiffs or if Ubisoft manages to evade this issue.

Ultimately, the only thing that needs to be acknowledged is that Ubisoft is in a precarious situation, where the company could be sold for much less money, especially considering all the poor decisions it has made recently.

[zeroconnectxd]

Emulating Tempest 3000: A Personal Experience

Despite my posting of anime GIFs and misfired commentary on RWBY, one of my all time favourite series to consoom is the Tempest franchise. When I was a child, my mom bought me some cereal, and inside the cereal box was a game called "Atari: The 80 Classic Games." This, by the way, was back when games were on CD-ROMs and you had to have a CD player to play games on the PC. At the time, I had no idea that Atari was a legendary video game company that made some of the most important video game consoles. This was a compilation of the best games Atari ever made. Naturally, Tempest would be on there, and I clicked on the game, not knowing what I would expect.

I was immediately blown away. Dave Theurer's evolution of the ideas that Space Invaders brought on the world showed several monsters crawling out of a technical hole. At first, the monsters are immobile and don't pose much of a threat. Then, the flipper starts flipping. Then, canisters containing the abforementioned monsters start appearing. Then, spikes that have the effect of killing you when you have progressed from the level appear. Then, fuseballs, which are about as bound to the lane as Lain Ikawura is to the real world from Serial Experiments Lain appear, which can destroy you by contact. Finally, the pulsars appear, which when reaching it's mature form, will electrocute you harder than Lum did to the clumsy main character from Urusei Yatsura. And not in the fun kind either.

A GIF of a session of Tempest. Source: Tumblr

===

The game was really tough and unbelievably addictive, and the people who played in arcades unwisely wasting to the point of entire college tuitions I bet thought the same.

Tempest was popular enough for Atari to make a port for the 2600 that never got past the beta stage of development, as well as countless ports onto computers, and consoles. Eventually, a sequel was made called Tempest 2000, by video game developer Jeff Minter, for the Atari Jaguar. Unfortunatley, the Jaguar was a complete misfire by the parent company, as it was panned for a poor selection of games as well as a complete disaster of a add-on that had major technical issues.

The Angry Video Game Nerd (James Rolfe) reviewing the Atari Jaguar, as well as Tempest 2000. Despite panning the console, Rolfe praised the game as "very addictive and fun to play." Credit: YouTube

===

The developers of the console, especially Richard Miller would eventually form VM Labs with the goal of trying again. This time, they would try to emulate the 3DO formula of having multiple manufacturers trying to back their new console, which was to turn DVD players into consoles. The NUON, which launched in 1999, lasted until 2002 when VM Labs went bankrupt, got bought by Genesis Microchip, and then promptly shut down months later. (Genesis would later be acquired by STMicroelectronics in 2007.)

One of the developers for the NUON was Jeff Minter. His rotten luck of producing great video games for obscure or mediocre consoles continued with him developing Tempest 3000 for the system. The game in my view is my personal favourite in the series, as it looks far more modern than 2000, as well as including new spins on the monsters such as the Frank Zapper and the Thombosis/Coronary Thombosis.

Frank Zappers in action in one of my recordings of Tempest 3000. They start off on Level 81, after the green levels are finished. Source: YouTube

===

However, playing it is very difficult. This is because unlike Tempest 2000, it never recieved any ports to any other system, including the PC. This is in contrast to Iron Soldier 3, another game on the system that recieved a port to the PlayStation, and in contrast to how 2000 had a port to the Saturn, the PC (on MS-DOS), and eventually a competent remake in Tempest X3 for the PlayStation. Second, getting your hands on a NUON is very difficult due to the obscurity of the system. Expect, if you are lucky, to pay $800 for the system. For years, the game itself was easy to obtain, but recently, it went out of print as well.

NUON did, quite unbelievably, spawn a community of diehard fans who tried to recreate the NUON on a emulator right from the beginning. One of the developers was Mike "Riff" Perry, who dedicated several hours in perfecting the system. Unfortunatley, cranium aneurysm would take his life in 2007, leaving the project stalled for years. I first came to knowledge of NUON while doing some autistic research onto Tempest, and used footage from 3000 in some school projects I did, despite never actually playing the game due to feasability issues. (Side note: a friend said he had a NUON, but I kindof do not believe him and he didn't show any actual proofs that he had the console to begin with, let alone Tempest 3000).

Very recently, I have had a nostalgia boost when it came to the game, and I found something that I never thought I would see: the NUON emulator had a new developer who had previous experience making a decent game based off Tempest. Even more stunning, he got Tempest 3000 to run on the emulator, which I had long assumed impossible.

===

A session of Tempest 3000 by Carsten Waechter, played on NUANCE. The game semi-crashes, I presume at the end of the video. Credit: YouTube

===

In one of the most blatant and unbelievable moments in my life, I was somehow able to get Tempest 3000 working on the PC thanks to the efforts of Nuance. So how was it?

Well, it's not bad, but there are issues that I hope can be resolved. First, NUANCE can be quite difficult to change. You have to go into the main exported folder and open the .cfg document as a notepad. Next, if you want to change settings, you need to delete the word "Disabled" and add the word "Enabled" in it's place and vice versa. Why was that not on NUANCE's UI? The explanation given by NUANCE's developers is that it is still in beta, which is more than reasonable. (If you had the bad luck of installing it on your Program Files on your C drive, then have fun with your own computer locking you out of editing the document, which is what happened to me!) Second, is the game itself and how it is emulated.

The game has two big issues: for one, the framerates. While in the original NUON, the game was criticised for a drop in framerates, it could be relatively fixed by disabling the 1960s esque psychedelic background. However, in the NUANCE emulator, the bad framerate is very apparent and does not go away. When I played the game, I found that the game would slow down when it came to a lot of vector renderings.

Here's another one of my recordings: the Algo levels, which are accessed only if you beat all 128 levels of Tempest 3000. Credit: YouTube

===

But the framerate issues are not just the only problem: NUANCE is unable to actually render the vector graphics properly unless you first use Tempest 3000's vector test feature. If you do not do that, your game risks crashing.

And speaking of crashing? The most egregious flaw of the NUANCE emulator is the fact that you cannot play Tempest 3000 without disabling the audio. This is because NUANCE, for some reason, does not recognize audio track changes. When I tried to change the audio track from T[NT]'s Intimidation to anything else, the game crashed. When I put in a password to access the higher levels and tried to access one of them with audio enabled, the game crashed. There is currently, no workaround this, meaning you have to play the game with the audio disabled. I've made up for it by listening to YouTube videos, but the experience is just not the same at all.

In NUANCE's defense, they have stated that they are working on all of those issues, and it is still in beta, so when the full version of NUANCE comes out, it is likely that a lot of the issues would be fixed. Evenso, I still think it is necessary to point out those issues so that NUANCE knows what is going on with Tempest 3000 and make the necessary fixes.

Still, it is a very playable game and, finally, I am able to fufill my own childhood desires realistically without breaking the bank. However, it still needs a lot of work before it can be done.

===

--END OF ZERO BLOG POST---

[chocolatejudgepurseauthor]

Yeah for multiple reasons a lot of these big entertainment corporations have gotten the rude arrogance to tell their older fans to fuck off. And have gone out of their way to that what their making “ISNT FOOOR YOU!” Any more. And whenever we go online and complain about it we automatically get labeled by both the entertainment industry and the new and “more open” fans as toxic fans at best or altright Internet trolls and chuds at worst. When all we want is to simply have good stories and to just have a way to be included again.

It didn’t just happen with the freedom fighter fans. It’s happened with star wars when Disney bought it throughout the Star Wars legends Cannon and made the sequel trilogy. It happened with the marvel movies after captain marvel & endgame. It happened with star trek, Doctor WHO, the terminator franchise, Indiana Jones, He-man, battle tech with comstar fans and so many others. Hell they’ve even been attempting to do it with Lord of the rings & warrhammer

the executives, managers, advertisment & finance executives at these studios, and game studios (who sold out to black rocks diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives) are like the current “elected leaders” of nations that are the homelands of the European gentles. For years us fans have given our irretrievabletime, our money, & our support to these properties. And yet the leadership believes all of that is completely irrelevant! They believe that they can just toss us out like garbage and replace us with new demographics of people who are more use to consuming lower brow slop. (I’m looking at you Warner Bros, Cartoon Network, and everyone else responsible for teen titans go.) ans everything will be smooth sailing. Well to the small minority of people making these decisions and the loud vocal feminized minority of people who shout us down as toxic or call us weird internet chuds. Know this You can only keep biting the hand that feeds you for so long before that same feeding had gose from feading u to slapping/punching u. And while i do not endorse or advocate violence & would rather perfer us older fans stick to creating our own works of fiction based on or inspired by the franchises we once loved that now cast us out.

Everytime I hear an executive or their wealthy actor mouth peice say “ the show we’re making is not for move on you STRONGWOMANHATING CHUD!” or some type of phrase that is essentially a more nicer more indirect way of saying exactly that. I am reminded why so many people or sympathizing with that Luigi fella that got famous on the news for plugging a healthcare company CEO. Its kinda like that moment in the movie sausage party were the food learn the Gods(humans) can be killed.

This post from zxnoshima on X, formerly known as Twitter, basically sums how I feel about the whole SEGA, Freedom Fighters, and Sally Acorn situation

SEGA's been showing us they don't care about their fans from the jump.

First, they tell the fans who got on from the Freedom Fighters and comics to kick dust (First Wave Sonic Fans who were Millennials). Second, they tell the fans who got hooked on Sonic from Adventure 1-2 and the darker stories that they're no longer welcome by changing the games' target audience to a younger cohort (Second Wave Sonic Fans who were Young Millennials and Older Gen Z) and Third, they're switching up on the fans who got on from Colors and Lost World by chasing a darker retrospective 2000s tone (Third Wave Sonic Fans who were Younger Gen Z) to appeal to Alphas.

Arguably, the First Wave of Sonic fans got to enjoy a Sonic era for the longest, but starting with Colors in 2010 each Sonic fan wave gets recycled for a younger fanbase as soon as they reach around 11-15 which is CRAZY optics. You never see Nintendo try hard to alienate their fans as much as SEGA does.

But fuck it, since they want me to walk away from this raggedy ass franchise I will. 🚶🚶

[creatiview]

[ad_1] Over the course of this week, the developers of several major live service titles announced that their games would be shutting down. That means that players who actively enjoyed those games — and possibly spent money on them — might have to move on to something else. The shutdowns are a reminder of the challenges facing these ambitious online titles. If they don’t quickly become massive hits, they might be closed down before they really have time to find their footing. Any new entrants have to fight an uphill battle to compete against juggernauts like Destiny 2, Call of Duty: Warzone, and Fortnite.That means, for many of these newer games, they’re stuck in a chicken-and-egg situation: they need players to become a hit, but players may not want to jump in given the glut of other options available. And some games just need time to really catch on; Fortnite, for example, didn’t even launch as a battle royale.Let’s go through what was shut down.Apex Legends Mobile and Battlefield MobileApex Legends Mobile will shut down on May 1st at 7PM ET and won’t be refunding players for any real money they’ve spent in the game. The game launched on May 17th, 2022, meaning it didn’t even last a year.Respawn Entertainment said that the game’s content pipeline “has begun to fall short” of its “bar for quality, quantity, and cadence,” which is why it and development partner Lightspeed & Quantum Studios (a Tencent studio) have decided to close the game down. You can still play the game ahead of the May 1st shutdown.EA is also ending development on an in-development Battlefield mobile game that had been in testing. “As the industry has evolved and our strategy to create a deeply connected Battlefield ecosystem has taken shape, we decided to pivot from the current direction to best deliver on our vision for the franchise and to meet the expectations of our players,” EA wrote in a blog post. However, it seems likely we’ll see mobile versions of these franchises in the future. In EA’s earnings call on Tuesday, CEO Andrew Wilson discussed the company’s vision of cross-platform experiences for both franchises down the line. Knockout CityOn June 6th, the servers for the dodgeball battle royale game will shut down. But in the coming months, developer Velan Studios will release a free version of the game for Windows PCs that lets players host their own servers so that they can continue playing if they want.“Creating such a different game with no points of comparison and running live services for the first time in many of our careers has also made the past couple years particularly challenging,” Jeremy Russo, Knockout City’s director, wrote in a blog post. “Despite over 12 million players and billions of KOs around the globe, there are several aspects of the game in need of major disruption to better attract and retain enough players to be sustainable. Since we are a small, indie studio, it’s simply impossible for us to make those kinds of systemic changes in the live game while continuing to support it.”Knockout City launched in May 2021 as a paid title published under the EA Originals brand. The game went free to play in June 2022, with developer Velan Studios taking over as publisher.I’d like to take a second here to commend Velan for offering a way to keep playing the game after the servers are officially closed. I think it’s an option that other developers should strive to offer if they can.RumbleverseRumbleverse will shut down on February 28th, meaning it will have just exceed six months of life. Players will be eligible for a refund for anything they bought, developer Iron Galaxy and publisher Epic Games wrote in a blog post. “It is our sincerest hope that this news does not mark the end of Rumbleverse,” Iron Galaxy wrote in a blog post. “You may not yet have seen the Rumble in its final form. If we can welcome people back onto the deck of the battle barge again, we hope you’ll be there, laced up and ready to take your rightful place in the cannon.

”CrossfireXThe servers for CrossfireX, an Xbox version of the popular first-person shooter Crossfire from Korean developer Smilegate, will close on May 18th. Access to the game’s single-player campaigns will also go away on that date.There will be no additional content for the game, but players who made purchases within 14 days of February 3rd can request a refund. Sales of the game are being halted on the Xbox Store.“While our team worked hard to push out numerous content updates including fixes, new maps, modes and in-game events, the game was ultimately not where it needed to be,” the developers wrote in an FAQ about the shutdown. “As a result, we have made the difficult decision to close the game.”Echo VRYou can keep playing Echo VR, one of Meta’s flagship VR games, until August 1st at 1PM ET, though the company won’t be offering refunds on in-app purchases, in-game currency, or DLC.“By no means was this decision made lightly,” developer Ready at Dawn said in a blog post. “But it was made for many good reasons and chief among them is the studio coming together to focus on our next project. We can’t say anything about it yet, but we are all excited and need all hands on deck.”I’ve never played Echo VR, but my colleague Sean Hollister is a fan, and you should read his article about the announcement.There was more bummer gaming news, tooMicrosoft will yank some beloved games off the Xbox 360 Marketplace on February 7th. Square Enix is shutting down a Dragon Quest mobile game. Turtle Rock Studios says it’s done making new content for Back 4 Blood, though the game will still be operational.And there were some surprising delays this week as well. The Last of Us Part I on PC has been delayed from the beginning to the end of March, while Star Wars Jedi: Survivor has been pushed from March to April 28th.At least we have Hi-Fi Rush, which rules. [ad_2] Source link

[popculturebuffet]

Screwhead Fiction Double Feature: Evil Dead II: Beyond Dead by Dawn Review: Honey You Got Real Ugly (Comission for WeirdKev27)

Hello all you happy screwheads and welcome back to Screwhead Fiction Double feature, my look at some of the Evil Dead Comics. And since we looked at the beginning of Dynamite comics absolute mountain of Army of Darkness comics, it only makes sense to look at another company who tried to do the same thing but fizzled out for a number of reasons: Space Goat Publishing and their first comic following the other half of the license rights for Rami's goretastic franchise, Evil Dead II: Beyond Dead by Dead under the cut

Bad Goat:

Space Goat was what seemed to be a talent agency that worked with other comic companies and what not before branching into publishing. It's clear on some level Shon Bury

Wanted to do what Dynamite did, use liscened comics as a springboard to get into the game. ANd it worked: from what I can tell Beyond Dead by Dawn was a success and over the handful of years Space Goat published several Evil Dead minis and spinoffs, and they went on to make comics for Terminator and The Howling.

Now you'd likely think that the company simply ran out of gas. Their far from the first comics company to go belly up, nor the first I intend to cover on this blog. For instance if all goes well I intend to start covering the Chucky Comics next year. It's something that happens.

What happened with Space Goat though is far scummier, somehow being both a fairly common story and an entirely bonkers unique one at the same time. I got most of my info and any screencaps from the blog Funk's House of Geekery, which was invaluable and THESE TWO posts. To make a long painful story you can read from someone who actually was there on the ground level short: Space Goat did a kickstarter for a boardgame based on Evil Dead 2. That in itself sounds kickass and were I aware of it I might of backed it as , while I wasn't a horror fan quite yet, EDII is one of the few horror films I saw before diving in deep after seeing IT and one I loved.

I'm glad I didn't as it turned out it was a thinly planned out scam. See after getting the Evil Dead II game backed Space Goat launched ANOTHER campaign for terminator, and fans were understandably uneasy. It's one thing to do MULTIPLE kickstarter campaigns That's fine. Things I love like MST3K, Rifftrax and Team Starkid rely on them , in the latter cases on an annual basis pre covid, to put on shows. But all three are reliable sorts who backers can trust and who have experience and all made good on previous campaigns. Space Goat hadn't done a game before so this was already worrysome for backers. Shon being outed as an abusive shouty mess of a human being didn't help matters.

So not surprisingly it was as shady as it looked: it's theorized that Space Goat did the Evil Dead kickstarter.. but instead of actually making a game, they used the money to get the Terminator license, understandably expensive, and planned to use THAT money to fund both games, and when that went under budget they used it elsewhere and hoped no one would notice. Backers went ignored, infighting started in the comments, things got ugly as they tend to when Kickstarter projects go bad.

Then Shon and co got UTTERLY vile with it by launching a video for ANOTHER crowdfunding campaign to get capital to "expand the business". Which is code for "OH SHIT WE SPENT ALL YOUR MONEY PLEASE HELP US BUT WE TOTALLY DIDN'T DO ANYTHING WRONG GUYS" no one bought it, and the game sadly went unmade while Space Goat burnt up on rentry as it damn well should.

So the question is even with all the grifting, conning and theivery, is "beyond dead by dawn" any good?

Honey, You Got Real Ugly Look I don't judge works based on their parent companies. I try to avoid say buying games from Activision and Ubisoft because their companies suck, but at the end of the day most works of art are the product of the artists and companies generally interfere and do harm (with some exceptions) rather than steer every step of the way. Unless a fault with the work is something the company could correct, it's generally not their fault. The comics faults are it's own.

The premise isn't one of them as once again we have an Evil Dead comic that has a really good idea to continue things just not the execution to actually pull it off. Unlike Army of Darkness: Ashes 2 Ashes which happened when the franchise was in a coma and wasn't coming out of it for at least a decade, Evil Dead II happened while the franchise was still alive as ever: The soft reboot had come out just two years ago and in what I don't remotely belivie was a concidence, Ash Vs the Evil Dead premiered the same year, and the Army of Darkness comics were still going strong. So the time was right for it, but the problem was unlike Army of Darkness which could just pick up where the films left up a combination of not having the rights to that film, said film having already done that and Ash Vs the Evil Dead planning to do the next thing in the queue, follow ash decades later, meant they had to go another route

The route chosen is pretty clever and spiffy, and takes unique advantage of having things the Dynamite Comics simply don't: Beyond Dead by Dawn follows the deutragonist and fan faviorite of Evil Dead II, Annie Knowby after the film. You may be wondering how as she had a bad case of

Last time we saw her. Well this comic follows her into HELL. Yes after having to dance around it due to budget, this comic shows us the Evil Dead version of the underworld, where all the swallowed souls go. Annie is free thanks to the evil dead not having time to deadite her, but is outgunned, outmanned and outnumbered.. but not outplanned. She plans to use the kandarian dagger to absorb souls and free her parents souls allowing them and all the other victims of the evil dead to rest.

The outmanned part is still an issue and since this franchise woudln't be the same without him but we can't use him since present day him is busy on TV, Annie uses the necronomicon to create a simuacrum. Granted it's clearly pulling this spell out of it's ass, but I do like it cleverly using the fact Ash's hand is still there after killing Annie and dead after Ash finally kicked it's wrist, and creates a new ash who only has the memories up to getting cut off and isn't happy to be here but helps anyway.

As I said the setup isn't bad: Ash and Annie have to fight through hell and free her parents. But that's when the problems start. Kicking it off we have the fact that hell is BORING. Yes.. .really> hell. That hell. The setting dozens of shows have made interesting versions of> That one. The fire and brimstone. It's not remotely intresting. I'ts just a brown cavern like endless expanse with the ocasoinal fleshy structure while only the demon with the souls in it, which is supposed to be some kind of god looking KINDA interesting nd kinda is pushing it. It's a green thing that just dosen't have the horror or power you'd expect for one of the gods behind the necronomcion. Add in the fact the demons are almost all just red winged guys, which while not ab ad look is generic and you get the problem. You have a wonderful setup for a truly unique evil dead work but no effort put into actually making it feel unqiue. It's generic in a franchise that dosen't really.. do generic.

Each film feels unique, interesting and has awesome makeup and gore effects. 3/4 of the films only have the one setting, the setting is one of the most iconic in horror for a reason, being perfectly run down, claustrophobic and inescapable as if you go within the woods your dead.. but staying inside is just as fatal and Army of darkness gleefully gives us a castle, a dark graveyard, a small shack with tiny people and more to play with. The monsters inside are some of the most awesome looking in horror with the deadites having a simple shriveled up look yet also having some impressive ones like the cellar woman, the giant monster, or evil ash.

This comic just doesn't have that creativity: it's got a creative premise, but it doesn't continue to innovate BEYOND that. A good hook is fine, but you have to be able to bring it WITH that hook or no one's going to care. Say what you will about Ashes 2 Ashes, I certainly did, but it at least had fun set pieces, took the series global and while the first half was weak and off tone, it made up for it. This book just doesn't have the time or patience to really get into things or fine fun things to do. This story could've easily gone over a few minis but for some reason is crammed into three issues. It has no room to breathe and as such chokes; The characters don't really feel fleshed out or like people with Ash literally being a copy of himself and ANnie despite ENDLESS narration, and I do mean it they do not let up for the first two issues, not really growing much beyond the first film and when she does it's because she's apparently soul bonded with ash. Oh yeah they apparently share traits thanks to being bonded. This goes nowhere other than one of the worst pms jokes of all time

Next up we have tonal issues. Look like last time I get it, it's hard to strike the right ballance with an evil dead proprety. II did such a good job it's hard to match that tone. It's why even if I prefer EDII to Army of Darkness, I didn't mind it going broader or the remake going back to the originals grim tone. Those films have problems sure, but trying something new and exciting isn't one of them.

But you have to HAVE a tone and the comic can't decide if it's an action piece, horror or a comedy. As such the comedy that does show up comes off flat, with said PMS joke.. seriously this was 2015 I can forgive some of the less savory parts of the originals for being of their time but come the fuck on man. This was 2015. Stupid PMS jokes like that shoudl've been on their way out, not in this comic and on modern family. It's a thing that happens not something that turns you into the hulk.

But we also have Annie tryign to find a virigin to stab.. which makes her come off heartless as she's trying to murder someone and the comic didn't make it clear she was just going to.. release the soul later. We also get fat jokes at a guy's expense because the writer of this comic is twelve and his parents shoudldn't of let him see Evil Dead II much less write a comic about it for a get rich quick scheme cleverly disguised as a publishing company. She could just.. ask to kill them telling them they'll be set free but that might be too many steps.

Outside of tone character wise it feels flat. Annie is trying to rescue her parents, but it's hard to tell who she is outside that. The movie did a decent job showing her as an ensastic person who geninely loves this research and out of the five people in the cabin was the only one besides ash holding the brain cell. So i'd love to see more of her but the writer can't really decide what to do with her other than have her ramble in the first person a lot. She's not obnoxious but it's disheratning ot see a character with a lot of potetial brought back to just be kind of vauge and not move much up from where she was at the end of evil dead 2: sh'es about the same. As for Ash it feels like just.. the basic beats for Ash> There's no real character stuff on being connected spirtually to someone else, any feelings for annie, the people he just lost (since being in the same continuity as vs the evil dead, the original film is once again canon), or anything> He's just army of darkness ash but Ashes 2 Ashes at least gave that ash an emotoinal moment.

Artwise it's decent with Oscar Bazulda doing a really good job, having it be mildly stylized but realistic enough to land. Again monster design isn't great, but comics are colabrative and writer Frank Hannah could've put more focus on working with Oscar to make a good monster design instead of jokes about Ash having PMS.

Beyond Dead by Dawn ends with our heroes unswallowing the souls, putting them in a knife and escaping setting them free and setting up the sequel as apparently not ALL THE spirits freed are exactly peaceful. And I am kinda curious to see if this get sbetter so maybe, just maybe.. we'll read from the necronomicon again some day.

For now though Beyond Dead by Dawn.. is disapointing. It has a truly fantastic premise, but rushed pacing, a lack of creativity beyond the basic premise, and a lack of a real tone of any kind sink what coudl've been an excellent sequel before the other sequel. A lack of effort leading to a real loss of potetial.. kinda sums up Space Goat as a whole huh? Thanks for reading screwheads. Follow for more, consider joining my patreon and i'll no doubt see you within the woods again… thanks for reading.

[snowwhitelass]

Sam’s Instagram Story, August 19th 2022

EXCLUSIVE: In the wake of Sony minting the start of a cinematic franchise in its big-screen take of the PlayStation game Uncharted, which made close to $402M WW, we hear the movie division of its videogame arm, Sony PlayStation Productions, is developing the feature rendition of Days Gone, which Outlander‘s Sam Heughan is circling and Oscar nominated scribe Sheldon Turner is adapting.

The Bend Studios -reated game, which has sold 9M units, is set in the Pacific Northwest after a devastating global pandemic. The game chronicles former motorcycle club member, Deacon St. John, as he fights to survive against the forces of despair and mutated, predatory humans in his quest to find the long lost, presumed dead, love of his life. Heughan will play Deacon St. John. I hear Turner’s script will be a love ballad to motorcycle movies; the bike being Deacon’s sole form of transportation, his horse in this would-be, modern-day western.

Jennifer Klein and Turner are producing through their production company, Vendetta Productions. Asad Qizilbash and Carter Swan are producing for Sony PlayStation Productions.

Turner shared a Golden Globe screenplay win with Jason Reitman and an Adapted Screenplay Oscar nom for Up in the Air. He has a story by on X-Men: First Class, and wrote Doug Liman’s upcoming Everest, which Klein is also producing. Turner just did a rewrite on Liman’s Road House starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Conor McGregor for Prime Video. Paramount Players recently bought the original pitch Man of War from Turner and Klein. Vendetta is repped by Kevin Marks at Gang Tyre Ramer.

Scottish actor Heughan stars as Jamie Fraser on Starz’s Outlander. He is cast in the upcoming Liman Everest movie and Jim Strouse’s It’s All Coming Back to Me. Heughan’s feature credits include the Kate McKinnon-Mila Kunis comedy The Spy Who Dumped Me and Vin Diesel’s Bloodshot. He is repped by UTA.

https://deadline.com/2022/08/days-gone-sony-playstation-movie-outlander-sam-heughan-1235096286/

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[goldeaglefire1]

You know, it really is fascinating to think about how fast the landscape of video games has changed and continues to change to this very day.

Now, take all of this with a grain of salt - I am not, and do not claim to be an expert on the history of film, animation, and what have you, and definitely not on the industry of those things. But from what I have seen in my experience as a consumer, change tends to be SLOW for most mediums. Directors will write a compromise between what they want to put on the screen and what they believe the audience wants to see, put it up for the public, either fail or succeed, and then slowly but surely the people behind the scenes change, and after some time the new directors are now the audience the old directors were writing for, and are now ready to repeat the cycle.

Sure, indie projects are a thing, but they rarely see too much success on account of the venues where they can show those visions - movie theaters and TV channels - are run by big companies with VERY strict standards for what they'll show to the world. So, as a result, there tends to be stagnation.

To pull an example - Transformers! A franchise near and dear to my heart, and also one with a notable live action movie series I'm going to be using for this. The very first Transformers movie, now infamous for being a glorified explosion fest, nevertheless gathered massive success at least in part due to using nostalgia from the 80s kids in the audience who were now grown adults. Cut to the most recent movie, set to release in 2023, and they finally decide to tackle Beast Wars, a rather notable series from the 90s. It took them over a decade and a half to try and profit off of 90s kid nostalgia.

Animation fares a little better, with Youtube and Netflix and such, but Youtube's demanding algorithm making it next to impossible to profit off of animation on there and the recent news of Netflix torpedoing it's animation department, it's not doing much better.

But then you get to video games and the entire landscape shifts. Sure, you have your triple A titles, Mario and Halo and Kratos, but not only do indie games have a notable presence, but they are THRIVING. Shovel Knight, Undertale, Five Nights at Freddy's...they've all made it big in the business, and are hardly the only examples. Dozens of tools to help a prospective game developer are out there, with easy to access tutorials available online and plenty of ideas out there considering how relatively young the video game industry is compared to other mediums. Steam and other platforms like it don't have strict standards or expectations, just that you have a product you'd like to share with the world.

So the result of this, of indie games becoming more accessible and easier to create for older and younger generations alike, is that you can see the prospective visions and influences for various games wildly shift. Shovel Knight and Undertale bring to mind early, classic games with their eight bit style, A Hat in Time and Yooka Laylee were made to bring back the collect-a-thons of the 90s, and the example that brought this to mind, Neon White, which I ultimately bought because reviews described it as "yeah this is the early 2000s in a blender. this could be an anime released in 2005 that people would make low quality AMVs to" and that alone was enough to make me go "well shit I have to buy this now." It really is a wonder how the market is so diverse compared to everything else.

All of which is to say, someone making an indie game capturing the vibe of early LEGO games like Lego Star Wars within the next few years is not only feasible, but PLAUSIBLE, and personally I would absolutely throw all my money at a game like that.