#Nintendo Switch Wins Product of the Year

[hardcore-gaming-101]

Shredded Secrets

Many kids dream of making a video game for consoles one day.  But few can say they actually achieved that at the age of 12. However, there is an organization named Girls Make Games, which tries to encourage more women to join the video game industry by introducing them to game development at a young age. The idea came about after the married couple founders of a game studio named LearnDistrict discovered that the vast majority of job applicants were male. After a tweet about the idea of creating a summer camp for girls to learn game design received a great deal of support, including from industry veterans such as Tim Schafer (creator of Psychonauts), Girls Make Games was established. The organization also holds game jams, in which kids throw out their ideas for video games and then the ideas are judged by a panel which decides the best one. The idea that wins moves on to Kickstarter to receive funding to hire professionals to improve the game’s production values, and ultimately moves on to Steam. The first of these games to make its way to a console, the Nintendo Switch, was Shredded Secrets, designed by a team of 12-year-olds who called themselves Team Sarcastic Shark Clouds. It was judged by a panel which included Phil Spencer from Microsoft’s Xbox division, Shawn Laydon from Sony’s Playstation division, and Devon Pritchard from Nintendo. They were shown a very early beta of the game with simple graphics and unfinished gameplay mechanics, and onscreen unspoken dialog. The game’s concept in its early form was enough to impress the industry executives and win first place.

Read more...

[morgana-ren]

Alrighty, everyone mute me here cause I'm about to go on a tirade.

Look, I've been playing video games since I was young. Very young. Probably too young, if we're being completely honest. We had an old Nintendo 64 from my step-dad's youth that I used to play religiously. I played my ps2 for hours and hours a day as a way to cope with a.. shall we say unstable household. I had Gameboy Advanced, Gameboy color, all the way up to Nintendo DS to the switch. This is something I've been doing since I was barely old enough to speak. I used to get games at Blockbuster, okay? I played the OG Baldur's Gate and Neverwinter Nights on a clunky old computer. Even when we were flat-busted ass broke with absolutely no money to spare, I would play at friend's houses. I would play old AV consoles on those fat ass TVs. It's my oldest hobby besides reading, is the point here.

My point is I'm old enough to remember when gaming was a niche hobby that you could actually get bullied for. It was back when studios made games mostly out of passion, and not to sell to a broader audience. There wasn't really even such a thing as microtransactions. You bought a full and complete game. Blizzard released good products, actually (unbelievable, I know.) Games knew their audience, and there wasn't necessarily an assload of money in it, so it was mostly made out of love for the games and their community.

Gaming has grown in popularity over the last 10-20 years, and that can be an excellent thing! Really! It can be! But Baldur's Gate 3 winning game of the year brought something to my attention that has been driving me mad for a few days now. It's a concept I've found myself repeating for a long time, but barely just sort of sat down to analyze it:

Not everything is for you.

The last few winners of GOTY have had some... sour people be very upset. Not that this is uncommon, but especially the last few years. People saying Elden Ring is 'too hard,' people saying that Baldur's Gate 3 is nothing but pedantic dice rolls, etc. People who, in general, were very unhappy that these games did not appeal to them in particular, and they were very vocal about how these games should be changed to appeal to them personally.

What I'm saying is that these people, along with most others, were not there during the days of niche gaming, where when you didn't like a game, you didn't necessarily throw a tantrum and stamp your feet and demand that these games aren't good and that they need to change, but rather, you just... didn't play them. They weren't made for you.

We live in an age where absolutely everything is being scraped for every last dollar. Games that used to be made out of passion for their communities are now being made to sell, sell, sell as many copies as physically possible to everyone. If it won't pander to every last person, it's not going to be made. Things are being 'streamlined' to make the games appeal to anyone and everyone who might play them.

'Streamlined' in this case, means 'dumbed down.' As Bethesda famously says, KISS: Keep It Simple Stupid.

Games that used to be a little bit more 'niche' and 'complex' like Morrowind, are now games like Skyrim, that are dumbed down to sell to everyone. They remove a lot of the aspects that made them beloved in the name of 'garnering a new and broader audience.' Older folks, adults, children, everyone. But this attitude of inclusivity isn't as great as it might seem initially. It isn't done out of community. It is done to get absolutely every last person possible to empty their wallet at the altar. To get every last fucking dollar out of everyone.

Games are passionless money pits. They sell you a half-baked, simple product that insults your intelligence. It's impossible to fail quests, because God forbid one person doesn't like that and asks for their money back. They won't touch on complex topics, because they don't want to cause a controversy that might drain their prospective bank account. They can't make things so intricate that God forbid a toddler might not understand them. They are milquettoast, miserable little games that appeal not even to people who enjoy games, but rather, people who don't.

Yes, they are making games to try and get money from people who don't even like them. They can't make anything nuanced or put a learning curve or put any actual work or fun into the game, because people who don't actually like playing games might realize "Hey, actually, I'm not enjoying this at all." and not give anymore money.

I'll get to the point.

Games being disliked by certain people is a good thing. It means those companies were unwavering on their vision and their loyalty to their fans. It means it was a game made from passion, and not just to be marketed and sold to literally every living person. They were made with their communities in mind, and no offense, but if you aren't one of the people that likes the things those communities stand for, maybe you should seek it elsewhere rather than trying to change something someone loves to suit you instead. You are not the demographic here.

You hear people that hate turnbased saying that Baldur's Gate 3 should not have been turnbased. Guess what? That's literally DnD. It's a DnD game. Don't like the lack of day cycles? Again, that's long resting in DnD. Pedantic dice rolls? That's fucking DnD, baby. Maybe you don't like it, but just because the game got popular does not mean it was made for you. Too much gay? Go away. Baldur's Gate was not made to sell copies to everyone. In fact, it was a relatively niche prospect that gained massive popularity near the end because of a scandal. I've been with them since Patch 2 of Early Access, and it very much was a passion project by people who loved DnD and TT games. They did not think it was going to hit this level of popularity, and they stuck to their guns even when it did. I cannot tell you how rare and remarkable that is.

Dark Souls is too hard? Maybe it's not the game for you. If you don't like certain design aspects, that's fine and okay! But Miyazaki and Fromsoft should not be forced to change their vision of their passion project because you personally do not like it. It was around before you, and they have a loyal community that does love the game just how it is. If you want a game with a difficulty slider, maybe you should play a game that has one. I'm sorry if you don't like the fundamentals of the game, but they exist for a reason, the community likes it, and no, it's not just for elitist reasons like I see all too often. You just do not understand because you don't like the game and do not like being told no for once by a company that has integrity.

I'm not trying to insult you. I'm being honest when I say that it's an attitude that is expected in the current climate where everything is changed when people complain the loudest because changing it means more money, and more money is the goal. These people are not your friends. Do not forget that. They are not changing it because they care about you. They are changing it because they think they can con you out of another dime.

People have a masochistic relationship with these companies. They have gotten used to being pandered to. They have gotten used to being sold a shitty game that everyone from their grandmother to their toddler niece and nephew can beat. And no, there's nothing wrong with games for everyone. But it's not because they wanted to make a game for everyone. It was because they wanted everyone's money.

People make hour long youtube videos about how Baldur's Gate would have been better if it was real time, and if it was more like this game and that game (namely games that pander to everyone) and then, in the same week, release a video bewailing that all games are so bad now and they don't understand why. They grasp that greed has a part in it, but they don't understand that they are directly contributing to the problem.

Games are bad because when everything is for everyone, nothing is truly for you. You won't have a chance to be passionate about anything, because on the off chance you find something you love, you will inevitably watch it die the same way that those of us who have been here forever did, because someone outside of the community doesn't like it, so it has to go because Christ forbid they don't sell two more copies.

And no, I am not talking about 'woke' or 'political correctness' so you alt-right weirdos can keep the fuck off of this post. I am talking about things like a lack of quest markers. Complex puzzles that you can fail. Political nuance. Things that take brainpower and are fun but not everyone likes.

Maybe not everything is for you. Maybe a game is allowed to exist even if you don't like it. Maybe communities are allowed to have their thing while you have yours. Maybe you have gotten so used to being pandered and catered to with every game being this blase, half-baked experience that is sorta liked by most, but... beloved by none. It's a forgettable, boring experience that garners no real loyalty, but at most a "Ha, that was alright." And then you put it on the shelf never to touch it again.

It means these companies aren't thinking of money; they are thinking of their communities. They are thinking of their fans and the people who love their games. Every time Miyazaki says 'no' to changing the formula that we love about his games, he is thinking of his loyalty to his community and his passion to the game. When Sven refuses to change aspects of the game to suit people who don't like DnD, he is staying loyal to the DnD community.

More companies should be doing this. Not less.

But consumers need to remember that one little creedo: Not everything is for me.

It can exist and I can exist. I do not have to play it and I do not have to enjoy it. It doesn't mean that it's bad. It means it's not for me. And that's fine.

[dragonflute]

making a slight update not really but a lot of stuff was asked and said in the notes of this post so im just going to clear some things up (under a readmore cuz i hate how god damn long this was)

1. the original lawsuit was filed due to nintendo cracking down on piracy.

some points made in the documents were as follows:

- to use yuzu at all it first needs to be able to decrypt nintendos games. to do this one would need to get their hands on a prod key which would either be attained through hacking the switch itself or pirate the keys themselves. nintendo acknowledged both acts as unlawful.

- a major issue that led to this lawsuit is how through yuzu people were able to play pirated copies of the latest zelda game, tears of the kingdom, before the game had officially released. this relates back to yuzu's ability to decrypt code in order to play games. nintendo obviously believes that they have lost profit due to this.

- finally yuzu's "project lead" was quoted in saying that the main priority for yuzu was to get the program to play the most recent games, as they would be the most in-demand. yuzu's patreon gave the patrons access to early access builds of yuzu. the ea builds plus community made mods for yuzu helped tears of the kingdom play on yuzu before the official release of the game.

2. the lawsuit did not go to trial. yesterday the management behind the emulators decided to pay $2.4 million dollars to settle the case with nintendo. a part of this settlement was the agreement that any emulator handled by said management was to be shut down effective immediately. now this is a better case scenario than if the lawsuit went to trial and leaned in nintendos favor, as that would call forth more lawsuits for other emulators that require similar decryption codes to work. though, it still sparks an issue in the fact that it proves nintendo (and any other company that may decide to follow in their footsteps) has the power to keep pushing emulator development teams (as they have in the past) until they see their desired resolution, which in this case was the total shut down of anything regarding emulation of their products.

3. now the issue that i find most upsetting in relation to the point above is the fact that citra is also affected by this lawsuit settlement (and also tbh i dont care for yuzu lol). citra is being taken down despite the lawsuit being targeted at yuzu because they share the same management team. citra, as stated before, is an emulator for the 3ds, which is no longer supported by nintendo, as of march of last year they had shut down the 3ds eshop, and this coming april nintendo plans to shut down the online service capabilities of the system. i understand that the settlement required for the management team to cease any and all work regarding emulation of nintendos intellectual property, but to make this a bit less formal it sucks ass!!!! the 3ds no longer has any use to nintendo as they plan to finally make it fully obsolete this year, yet nintendo multiple times has shown that they are still strict on how their products (even obsolete ones) are to be used (i.e. the updates they released for 3ds in an effort to stop people from hacking their systems, the cease and desist sent to dolphin over the now indefinitely postponed steam release, etc). citra, one of the best 3ds emulators (despite its issues), got caught in the crossfire, which is definitely a win on nintendos side.

for anyone who cares about emulation, unfortunately today we lost both yuzu (switch) and citra (3ds) emulators due to the lawsuit nintendo filed against the management that handled both emulators. this is a major loss for emulation as a whole. if you support emulation i recc downloading emulators that you may want to have in the future in the case that they get taken down in similar lawsuits

[microscopicsalt]

I guess I have to learn to repair my own game controllers and devices (switch right joy con and 3DS battery)

The 3DS battery isn’t a huge issue (I initially thought it was just a charging problem but uhhhh nope; the battery is indeed inflated so I gotta carefully dispose of it and buy a new battery, which I’m fine with but still ._.)

The switch right joy con however…

It’s not even drifting, nor is the left one. I’ve had these controllers for at least 3 years, and they’ve never drifted on me. No, it’s the R and/or ZR button being pressed randomly on its own and somehow pressing anything ranging from: the home button, the X button, the R button, and/or the + button.

I accidentally closed Splatoon 3 in the middle of a turf war. During SPLATFEST. (For those unaware, splatfest is a weekend-long competition to see which of three teams win based on a question; this one is Which day of the weekend is best? Friday, Saturday, or Sunday? Very competitive and limited time)

The home menu was brought up, the close game prompt popped up, and I accidentally pressed A instead of B and I’m still pissed about it. I almost want to not play the whole weekend which sucks because I’m on team Saturday and we got the most conch shells during the preview and that makes me want to play. But if I can’t use my weapon, throw bombs, or even open up the map without risking closing the game? Unplayable.

So now I have to figure out from various websites how to either fix the problem or replace parts myself (which I’ve never had to do since the switch is the only device I’ve had with this many issues) or replace the whole joy con. I’ll probably have to buy a new one if I can’t fix it myself because it’s not a drift issue, it’s a button issue.

I wish Nintendo wasn’t cheap in their production of the Nintendo switch joy cons. I get it, capitalism, maximize profits, all that, but if this many people still to this day have issues with your product and have been vocal about for literal years, (and the switch has been out since 2017) just release like… joy-con 2.0 or something, I don’t know.

I hope my brother is cool with lending me his pro controller once I get used to it. It feels like I’m gonna have to get into the tech renovation thing in order to fix my problems because updating controllers is literally impossible for me because they’re “up to date” all the time (ACNH joy cons btw) so any issues are on a physical level.

I just wanna play video games.

[itswavelengths]

Google Stadia Failed Before It Was Announced

Phil Harrison on the official Google Blog:

A few years ago, we also launched a consumer gaming service, Stadia. And while Stadia's approach to streaming games for consumers was built on a strong technology foundation, it hasn't gained the traction with users that we expected so we’ve made the difficult decision to begin winding down our Stadia streaming service.

Pretty much my entire Twitter timeline is dunking on Google Stadia's closure today, deeming it an inevitability we all saw coming. For my part the few experiences I had with Stadia were exceptional, I felt as though they'd totally nailed the technology end despite the business model being absolutely wild. For example, to play a Stadia game on my television I'd have needed a Google Chromecast, the official controller, have paid $10 monthly for access to the service, and then would need to have purchased each game individually. This was, obviously, nonsense. Although Stadia's technology was compelling at launch, competition quickly shifted the balance away from the model Google seemed convinced would work... eventually.

And to be clear: I love cloud gaming. I played the (until recently) Windows-only hit Inscryption months ago on my Mac via the free tier of Nvidia's GeForce Now. I played through a majority of Halo Infinite's single player campaign via Xbox Cloud Gaming, Safari, and a Nintendo Switch Pro Controller. I played through the entirety of 13 Sentinels Aegis Rim by streaming my PlayStation 4 into an iPad I brought to a remote cabin in the woods. I should have been a day-one fan of Stadia given my compulsion to adopt new tech earlier than is healthy. Skill Up nails what held me back:

Despite being interested in the service and seeing how well it works first-hand on more than one occasion, this is why I never took the plunge. Again: Every experience I had using Stadia was excellent, but how could I invest dollars into an account of my own and the hardware I'd need knowing it could — like many other Google products before it — disappear one day. I'm seeing a lot of coverage of this in games media, but I think this poses a more existential threat for Google as a company holistically than it does as a one-off failed attempt to break into this one specific industry. Ralph from Skill Up and I are not the only two people in the world who believed Stadia would fail because of Google's track record for throwing products and services into the bin, or letting them languish unsupported until they fade into obsolescence without even a blog post like this one. This was a widely held assumption back in 2019 when the service first launched. That they displayed a Sega Dreamcast, Nintendo Powerglove, and Atari ET cartridge in glass cases at their own reveal event only fanned the flames of group-think-supposition.

I truly think this is yet another example of how Google has not only become too big to fail, but maybe too big to succeed as well. For every win in the form of Pixel or Nest, there is an ever growing pile of Stadias, of Waves, and of Daydreams. To announce a service like Stadia and be met with an immediate chorus of potential users saying "sounds great, but let's see if you really stick this one out" speaks to a larger problem with Google's reputation in the tech landscape as a whole more than it does a lack of faith in their ability to deliver a new and innovative experience to the gaming audience. In the eyes of the public, Stadia failed when Inbox failed. Stadia failed when Clips failed. Stadia failed when Google+ failed. Stadia failed before it was even announced, back when people stopped believing Google could launch and support an ongoing service.

Their best bet was to prove the naysayers wrong.

That's not what happened this time.

⏆

[gaming]

Indie Game Spotlight: Cake Bash ( @playcakebash​)

We hope you saved room for dessert with this week’s Indie Game Spotlight. Cake Bash is a four player party game where you fight to be the tastiest cake! There’s loads of game modes and minigames to battle it out in, and you get to be a cake.

We spoke with Laura, the artist and director at High Tea Frog, who makes all the cakes, environments, UI, particle effects and lighting. She also helps with the design and production, a bit of finance. When you’re an indie in a tiny team like theirs, you have to do a bit of everything!

When did you conceptualize the idea behind the game?

Our first prototype was inspired by the sentence “what if you play as a doughnut and punch each other”, back in April 2018. It’s evolved a fair bit since then after nearly two years of development.

What are the different kinds of desserts we can expect to meet?

There are seven different treats to meet! We have Casie the cupcake, Slice the cheesecake and Chip the muffin to name a few. They each have a bunch of flavours to choose from, so hopefully we’ve covered all of your favourites!

What are some gameplay mechanics introduced in Cake Bash?

Our five main game modes have the same chaotic combat but different goals, like chuck the most fruit into a pie, grab the most sweeties, break the most fortune cookies and more!

We noticed pigeons are in the game! How do they play a role in the game?

The pigeon is very popular! It flies into our Patio level and pecks at whoever is currently winning. It can also drop ‘bombs’ which you need to avoid because pigeon poop isn’t tasty.

If you woke up tomorrow as the last food item you ate, what would you be?

I’d be a lotus speculoos biscuit. I ate nearly half a packet yesterday which is gross, but they’re so good dipped in tea...

Do you have any good baking stories?

My sister and I spent ages making a lemon drizzle cake when we were younger, put it in the oven so excited and it exploded. No idea what we did wrong but we had to spend hours cleaning the oven, and didn’t even get a cake for our efforts. Luckily I can make better cakes in the digital world.

Cake Bash will be launching on Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Playstation 4 and Steam later on this year - there is also a free demo available on Steam now if you’d like to try it early! You can learn more by following Cake Bash here!

[emilyplaysotome]

Queen's Choice - Part 5

This is the fifth chapter to a multi-part smutty fic with the MLQC boys.

Catch up:

part 1 part 2 part 3 part 4

He’s up before I am, but I’m not surprised. I wake to the smell of coffee and breakfast, and my stomach lets out a growl. I usually do without or pick something up on the way to the office, but I can’t pass up his cooking.

I’m surprised at how sore I am from the previous night’s activities and my cheeks burn as I think about everything that transpired.

I think about what it felt like to be under him and on top of him and how despite what we did I still want more.

I wonder when I got so greedy and I also realize I only have a week of having my cake and eating it too before I have to start making hard decisions, so I do my best to push down the unpleasant thoughts and focus on the man in my kitchen.

As I’m getting ready, my phone lights up with a notification from Kiro.

“It's just that I'm...back in town! You doing anything tonight?”

I can still smell Victor on me and it feels almost wrong to reply, but I do.

“Nada! Want to hang?”

“Something like that 😈 - I have a concert tonight and got you a VIP pass. I want you in the front row”

“…And I have a surprise for you before.”

“Oooh! A surprise. Like candy?” I type back with a grin.

“Something a bit spicier…”

With that he sends me the address with a time and I open the door to see Victor enjoying coffee and a plate of eggs with toast waiting for me.

“Good morning sleeping dummy. I thought I’d be off on my work trip before you even woke up. So glad you could join me.”

He’s laying it on thick, but we kiss good morning as if we’ve been together for years. It’s just a peck on the lips but it makes this all feel very domestic and I take my seat next to him before digging in.

The food is amazing, which isn’t a surprise.

Victor smiles as he watches me eat with gusto and even though we’ve done this kind of thing before, having followed what we did last night it feels more intimate. There’s a moment where I look at him and smile and realize that the pendulum to my clock has stopped moving and I realize that he’s frozen us in this moment.

“I need to leave,” he explains, gently wiping some crumbs from my mouth. “But I don’t want to quite yet.”

It’s romantic and sweeter than I’m used to him being.

I feel myself swooning a bit and I take a gulp of the juice next the coffee he’s made and kiss him. A real kiss where I hope I taste like OJ and everything sweet instead of the savory breakfast he’s made for me. I can feel it starting to escalate but he gently pushes me away and says, “I need to go.”

“When do I get to see you again?” I ask before I can stop myself.

“I’ll be away on business. I’ll write when I’m back.”

I nod but am reminded of how important Victor is.

How unavailable he is at times.

He must see this and he kisses me gently again and says, ”I trust you’ll keep yourself occupied so you won’t miss me too much, yes?”

I nod, guiltily thinking about the fact I’ve already made myself plans with another man and that after signing the contract I thought about how I could see the others before time ran out for one of them. I don’t know if he sees through me, but he kisses my forehead and tells me to be a good girl while he’s away before putting on his jacket.

When he’s at the door he looks at me with a naughty smirk and says, “When I’m back we can live out your fantasy in my office. Until then I look forward to hearing what you dream up next in your bed about me.”

I feel myself go bright red and yell, “Have a good trip!” and hear the sound of his low laughter and the click of the door before I’m left alone with my breakfast and thoughts.

I think about how easy it’s been to float between four men and how they all come and go in a way that makes me question if any of them could be present in the way I want.

In the way my perfect one would be.

—

I forget about my worries and get lost in work, planning our next episode of Miracle Finder with Anna. We budget and make phone calls and laugh about challenging production experiences and before I know it the day is gone and it’s time to hit the gym.

I change into my clothes and I catch a small mark on my breast. I question who it’s from and why I don’t feel more satiated.

I had thought that by being with each of them, I would have some clarity but if anything I feel it has muddied things. I wonder if I need to try again. Or until Victor’s contract forces my hand.

It’s then that I shower him off of me and I feel a pang of melancholy.

I’m surprised by the fact that I liked having him on me but I’m about to meet Kiro and that feels like a personal line I don’t want to cross.

—

The security at the venue is insane and I question if I’ll be able to make it back to the green room where Kiro instructed me to meet him. It’s only by chance that I run into Savin by the entrance and he escorts me through the labyrinth-like backstage, dropping me at the door before running off to take care of something else.

I knock and hear a cheerful voice inviting me in. I open it and enter, seeing Kiro in all his pop star glory, styled to the max but reclining on the couch, Nintendo switch in hand.

“Miss Chips you made it!”

“I did.”

He throws the switch aside and jumps up to greet me, giving me a deep kiss before evaluating my appearance.

“So cute. I don’t know how I’m going to stay focused on the concert with you up front looking like this…not to mention what I’ve planned for us.”

“For us?”

I can’t help but giggle as he gives me a little twirl before running off to get the surprise he’d mentioned but that I’d already forgotten about. It’s a box that gives few clues about its contents, and I open it and discover what looks like a sexy underwear set.

“Put it on.”

“Now? But…”

“Now. It’s locked, no one will come in.”

There’s an impish look I haven’t seen before and I obey, surprised that he runs over and turns his attention to his laptop instead of on my naked form. I can feel that there’s something…in this underwear, pressed up against my most sensitive spot and I don’t quite understand until I’m in it and he’s looking at me with a smile.

“I made this just for you,” he says with a smile.

“Made it?”

“Programmed it for your pleasure tonight…”

He starts to sing a soft melody that I recognize as his song “Key to your Heart” and the moment his voice hits the word “Key” I feel a vibration that’s subtle enough to go unnoticed by someone next to me but present enough to trigger a moan out of me.

His eyes are glued to me and he gets up and reaches out to gently touch my face before running his hand down lower to play with my breast the way he did when we were in the shower.

“Clever isn’t it?”

I realize that the word “Key” activates the mechanism, and knowing that I alone know his secret alter ego, I desperately try to regain my composure and say, “It’s a nice touch. How do I stop it?”

“I love you Kiro.”

“What?”

“Say it.”

I pause and he smirks and sings, “The KEY to your love…” and the intensity of the vibration increases.

I moan, “I love you Kiro” louder than I expect and the vibration stops.

He laughs and kisses me.

“Anyone else will think you’re just a fan, but I’ll know what’s happening.”

“I didn’t realize you played dirty.”

“I play to win…always.”

I can tell he’s serious and his gaze has an intensity it usually lacks. He doesn’t feel like the jovial, playful boy that I spent the past couple years with. He suddenly feels more mature and I find myself wanting his touch before the concert, but Savin’s knock interrupts us.

“Be right there!” He yells back, switching into his sweetheart persona.

“5 minutes,” Savin says from behind the closed door.

“Got it. I’ll see you backstage.”

Savin grunts in reply and it feels like my heart is the only one that’s racing.

“We’ll finish what we’ve started after the concert,” Kiro says, slipping a VIP lanyard around my neck. “See you here after the encore.”

He doesn’t touch me, even though I’m riled up and I have no choice but to find my place in the crowd for his concert. When it starts I realize he’s only a few feet above me and while he does his typical amazing performance, I can feel him watching me through most of it.

He insists on saying the secret phrase more than usual, and I do my best to keep my composure in the crowd, too embarrassed to shout “I love you Kiro” as often as he says “Key”. The girls around me all squeal when he looks our way, which is often, and I struggle not to let his toy get the better of me.

I can tell he’s getting riled up too, watching me from the stage, because his eyes turn gold and he lets everyone know that the encore is coming early tonight. None of them care, especially not me, and within 20 minutes of the last song I’m back in the green room being bent over a couch that has seen years of this kind of behavior.

My clothes are still on but the underwear he gifted me is down around my ankles and he makes lewd comments as to how his toy has made it easy to have me. I’m almost embarrassed by my own wetness but he continues to moan filthy commentary as he fucks me which is far filthier than I ever expected him capable.

I realize that neither one of us were as sweet as we pretended to be with the other.

He flips me over and lifts me in a princess carry for a moment before laying me down on the couch. He spreads my legs in a way where I'm half laying, half sitting, exposed on the very edge to him and he enters me again. He nips at my neck, and lightly pinches my breast, toying with me, teasing me like he did all night and once again there’s a knock from Savin.

“Kiro - you’ve got a meet and greet in 15.”

He smirks but doesn’t stop.

“But I’ve got 15?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s all the time I need. Thanks Savin.”

I cover my mouth as to not alert his manager to what’s actually happening behind the door as he ups the intensity of his movement. He has full control over me and my pleasure and much to my excitement (as well as my disappointment), Kiro keeps his promise to Savin.

—

We say goodbye a few minutes before the meet and greet, drenched in our own sweat and fluids but riding some endorphin high from the night.

He doesn’t mince his words this time.

“You know I’m in love with you right?”

“I…”

“And you know I play to win, right?”

I nod.

“Then I’ll be seeing you soon."

I watch him pause at the door before he looks back and adds, "Sooner than anyone else if I have to.”

“But what about your world tour?”

Savin knocks from beyond the door, but doesn’t want to leave this time.

“Kiro come on. Chop chop. I promised my wife I’d be home to put the kids to bed tonight, let’s go.”

I don’t know why, but I hide when he exits so it seems as if Kiro was in the green room alone before I compose myself to head home. I pass girls wearing t-shirts with Kiro’s face plastered all over them and I think about what we just did.

I think about how he’s off to meet fans, covered in me just as I am covered in him.

I think about what he said and how they all basically said it.

How I keep being asked to choose.

I still don’t want to choose.

It feels like a helpless situation, being pulled in all directions. I approach an intersection and looking at the traffic light, a lightbulb goes off in my head. I stop where I am on the sidewalk to send the exact same text to all four of them.

“Can I see you on Saturday?”

I have no idea what it is that they'll say, but on the small chance that this goes the way I think it might, I might have found a catch. I smile to myself, no longer feeling as conflicted and walk to pick up some dessert to enjoy when I'm home.

Cake perhaps.

It seems fitting for an occasion where having cake and eating it too applies to more than just sweet nothings...

--

Part 6

I hope you liked the fifth chapter of my steamy fic. If you liked this, please comment, share, and like! I love seeing that :)

As always, if you’ve enjoyed the story, please show your support by sharing it with a friend, liking it, or buying me a coffee!

Just lmk if you don’t want to be tagged and I’ll take you off.

tagging:

@hifftn

@ho-lee-snow-balls

@redheadkitty11

@superllamaathleteshoe

@mamafishfound

@clilee

@uniunikilla

@x-klamstrakur

@itsannaslife13

@exosexosekai

@galaxystarrr

@minvirsa

@xxnxcxlx

@thirsty-for-mlqc-bois

@the-rlyn

@crystalrainwish

@kazuyaasai-serenaspencerli

@nad-zeta

@crystalcrystalcrystal

@britishatheartamerican

@goldenrosefae

@caitvoyancy

[samuraispirit365]

The Legend begins ~JUNIOR HERO LEAGUE~

__ BG Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2L6fNBmiK0

JOIN one of these three Elite Middle-School Teams: FURANO - TOHOU - MUSASHI, and CREATE A NEW LEGEND alongside your favorite Captain!!!

I- FURANO FC

“THE BATTLE IS OURS.”

_ INTRO ANIMATION & Sample GAMEPLAY: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBmDfWb9ljI

Prelude : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ox_c6j036bY

Story Theme : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWJqfaXNpa0

Battle Theme : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FiATCFhvwo

V-Zone Theme : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEr2fvLpz0U

II- TOHOU ACADEMY

“KING’S PRIDE.”

_ INTRO ANIMATION & Sample GAMEPLAY: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHTJAy9b7RI

Prelude : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpdbZu6UMq0

Story Theme : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egJR-YwButQ

Battle Theme : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNtIUQFhAHY

V-Zone Theme : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SScQPC9QGCY 

III- MUSASHI FC

“RISEN FROM THE ASHES.”

_ INTRO ANIMATION & Sample GAMEPLAY: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIrs5xSEKJk

Prelude : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLiHu5saEY0

Story Theme : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpmwOUW-hYY

Battle Theme : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQMMuqw63eo

V-Zone Theme : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6iuRVPCRXA

===>>> For more Info: EPISODE -NEW HERO- from Official Website (EU)

—

Hi everyone, ^-^)/

At last, I’ve returned after spending more than a month long of serious gaming, learning and analyzing the lastest Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions - an association soccer sports video-game developed by Tamsoft and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment for PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and PC.

I'm honestly impressed at how much time, effort, and budget have been invested in crafting its many varied thrilling story developments, especially when it comes to the NEW HERO Mode. Not only did the developers do an excellent job on character portrayal and plot consistency, each route written also introduced a new original animation and allowed us fans to have a never-seen-before glimpse at Tsubasa’s three main rivals (Jun Misugi / Kojiro Hyuga / Hikaru Matsuyama)’s ATTEMPT AT GLORY.

Closely supervised by Takahashi-sensei himself, the newly written story revolving around this JUNIOR HERO League (NEW HERO Mode) will take place right AFTER the National Middle-School Tournament in which both Nankatsu & Tohou are declared champions. Since the U16 Junior Youth originally held in France is cancelled for unspecified reason, a brand new one is set to be organized in the USA. However before that, in order to determine the members of All-Japan Junior Youth team that will play in this International Tournament, each of these three famous schools: Furano, Tohou, and Musashi, whichever you choose to play for as an inexperienced-yet-full-of-potential first year soccer kid, will have to break through the Junior Hero League and confront, fight and BEAT Nankatsu in the National Final.

And then... after winning the Junior Hero League?

Depending on the different choices you make over the course of the story and the friendship rank / bonding you get with certain specified characters, each Alternative Storyplot will eventually take us to THE NEXT Alternative Junior World Youth, where you will relive the CLASSIC EPIC BATTLE against Germany, Brazil, or USA in the U16 World Championship Final!!!

Sounds FANTASTIC!!?

Believe me, Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions is a MUST-HAVE for all CT lovers whether old or new!!!!!

Yes, I know the game is not yet perfect and there is still room for improvement (many bugs / crashes, etc) right off. Nevertheless, Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions remains an ULTIMATE PRODUCT OF PASSION that revives this Soccer Manga Masterpiece in fans’ hearts and adds another BRILLIANT NOTCH to its already impressive 40-year Legacy.

Thank you for your patience & continued support!!

(*˘︶˘*).｡.:*♡

——

**1st Pic/Fanart by 春之助.

**Game Character Artworks © Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions.

**Wallpapers Creator & Editor: ME - SamuraiSpirit365 a.k.a Indomitable Samurai Blue.

—

!!!!!! DISCLAIMER: I do not own the fanart above. Every single artwork belongs to their respective owner and this CT gallery of mine aims to be inclusive space to showcase some of the best fanworks for completely NON-PROFIT and NON-COMMERCIAL purposes. Please do not hesitate to contact me shoud you have any questions or concerns. Thank you for your understanding.

^-^)/ !!!!!!

—

++ Related Topics ++

1/ Dream of the Genius -PRELUDE-

2/ RISE OF NEW CHAMPIONS

—

==>>> Click on the Images and Open them in New Tab for HD Quality. ;)

[lihimsidhe]

Full Review: https://youtu.be/nMBgmV3QMwY

Summary

Stories Untold is a sci fi psychological horror adventure game released in 2017 by the studio No Code Lt and published by Devolver Digital.(1) Adventure games are characterized by exploring, puzzle solving, and narrative interactions with game characters. (2) The ‘adventure’ label hails from the 1st known adventure game Colossal Cave Adventure developed during the 1970’s. (3). In Stories Untold the player will do mostly 3 things: enter text into a writing prompt and hope what they entered progresses the game forward (text adventure), click around the environment to find interactive elements and utilize these elements in a specific order (point and click), and do some very light exploration.

Stories Untold’s origins lay in Ludum Dare; an event where game developers around the world challenge themselves to make a game from scratch in just a few days aka a ‘game jam’. (4)  House Abandon was the product of such a game jam. (5)  House Abandon would prove to be so well received that it is the very spark that would grow to become Stories Untold. (6).  House Abandon became just one of the four stories featured in Stories Untold.

Each story has the player assume the role of an unidentified person using various electronic equipment ranging from locations that include an abandoned house, a laboratory, and a remote radio station in a blizzard. There is a fourth chapter but to explain its location and tasks can easily wade deep into spoiler territory.  

It’s very difficult to reveal if this game attempts to execute on a specific message or not without spoilers. So treading as carefully as I can I will say that yes there is a message to be found here. A tragic takeaway that can hit hard for some players who put in the work to leave no narrative stone unturned.

Analysis

Disclaimer: I’m not a fan of puzzle games, or puzzles in games. They too often devolve into ‘guess what the developer was thinking’. More on this in a bit.  Back to the regularly scheduled program:

The development studio behind Stories Untold, No Code Ltd, describes the game as the following:

“Four Stories. One Nightmare.

From the prototype 'The House Abandon' comes the critically acclaimed, and BAFTA winning, 'Stories Untold', the latest madness from No Code. Four short stories, tied together in a complex web of psychological-horror, intense visuals and genre-bending adventures.” How does this game execute on these selling points? Let’s address the last line first: genre-bending adventures. In my playthrough I walked in expecting a fairly basic adventure game with excellent presentation and left having experienced that same notion.  This is all to say that Stories Untold, as far as I can tell, is not bending any genres.

The text adventure portion of Stories Untold doesn’t make a noticeable departure from one of the earliest text entry experiences ELIZA; a program created in the 1970’s that simulates a psychologist by responding to a user’s text entries (7).  In fact after having played around with some ELIZA clones online (8) I’d say that Stories Untold actually underdelivers in this genre compared to ELIZA that was developed nearly fifty years ago. Point and click began with the game Enchanted Scepters in 1984 released on the Mac (9). In that game you do much the same as you do in Stories Untold: Moving your cursor to find an interactive point that hopefully drives the game forward. An activity unfavorably described as ‘pixel hunting’. 

While I do concede that Stories Untold executes well enough on its mechanics would I also concede it is genre bending?  Absolutely not.  Mechanically speaking it falls very strictly within its genre.

As for the intense visuals the game advertises it has? I’m strongly inclined to agree.  This game’s visuals are a love letter to the 80’s. It’s as if the game reached into the past and brought a portion of that era forward in time both temporally and visually. 

Stories Untold also executes on psychological-horror aspects as well. There were times I was genuinely frightened both via jump scares and/or the dense atmosphere the game draws the player into. This game evoked feelings of fear, mystery, and foreboding of what was behind the next event.

“It is up to the designer to provide the appropriate information to make the product understandable and usable. Most important is the provision of a good conceptual model that guides the user when things go wrong.” (10) -Don Norman

The promise of a text adventure sounds great on paper: enter some text and the game reacts to what one entered driving the player’s progress forward. Just the thought of that fills my mind with excitement at being able to utilize my conversational skills I’ve learned in life to interact with a game sounds incredible The thing is, and the reason I’m personally not a fan of puzzle games is that they almost always seem like playing a game of ‘guess what the developer was thinking’ instead of the player applying their common sense to solve a puzzle.

If for example in a text adventure game you are trying to walk around a house you simply typing ‘walk around the house’ may or may not work. Perhaps the developer perceived ‘walk into yard’ as walking around the house. For me this creates a schism where it stops being about me vs the game and instead becomes a battle of how my exact wording for doing something very simple differs in verbage in how the developer would write it. So instead of walking around the house and losing myself in the story I’m now trying to guess what the developer thinks are the right words to say.  What compounds this here is that the feedback is binary; either what I typed works or it doesn’t and I get the equivalent of an error message that doesn’t offer any guidance on exactly what the developer was thinking. This ‘guess what the developer was thinking’ issue wasn’t as pronounced in the point and click sections of the game. These were almost always tests on one’s observational skills and parsing over every little detail until the path forward reveals itself.  Some of the puzzles I was willing to endure and some… I just looked up a walkthrough to solve them so I could get back to enjoying the game’s incredible atmosphere. The crazy thing about Stories Untold is me as a player desperately trying to scrutinize every little detail to move forward shares a strong connection to the game’s narrative.  I really appreciate that despite my misgivings with this game’s puzzles.

As for the game’s narrative itself… I say I left the game mostly satisfied. Throughout the game the music, visuals, and gameplay really got my mind racing with the possibilities of the world that was spilling out before me. “Where could this story be leading?”, I excitedly pondered.  And sometimes I was even afraid the game would provide an answer.  Seeing how it was resolved was a bit underwhelming.  I won’t lie.  I went from a mind racing with possibilities to a flat, “Oh it’s that? Well that’s something I guess.”

If there was one thing I wish this game did differently it would have been to have focused entirely on the text entry mechanic presented in House Abandon. I said before I went and played with some ELIZA programs online and I loved that there was no failure state. The conversation just continued even if the code emulating a human would sometimes spout nonsense. I don’t expect anyone, let alone Stories Untold, to conjure up a fully realized artificial intelligence to amuse me for my 3 hour adventure game. But I can’t help but muse about a more realized text entry loop.

This game has 12 total achievements to earn. (11)  Since the game utilizes a level select system, there are no missable achievements.  Most achievements are earned by just progressing through the game.  The ones that aren’t awarded in this manner are obtained by light exploration and finding some collectibles. All in all very easy to 100% in one sitting.

Significance

Stories Untold has received several notable awards (12) including British Academy of Film and Television Arts Game of the Year in 2017 (13).

Steam Reviews has it sitting at ‘very positive’(1)  while Metacritic has it at a 7.0/10 user score. (14)

It has sold at least over 100,000 copies on Steam (15). If Steam sales remained roughly the same on the other platforms it was ported to (Nintendo Switch, Playstation, Xbox) that would imply at least a few hundred thousand people have decided to enter the world this game provides. While adventure games have drastically changed since the days of Colossal Cave Adventure with games like The Walking Dead and Until Dawn, text adventures have mostly fallen out of mainstream gaming discourse. For that reason the fact that Stories Untold managed to break through in the way it did favors it being a touchstone for many adventure and text adventure games going forward.

Recommendation

Ask yourself the following: Do you like arbitrary puzzles?  Do you mind some psychological horror in your entertainment?  Do you ever wish you could just play through chapters in your favorite book? If you answered yes to both these questions then this game was made for you.  

What if you’re like me and you can barely stand puzzles in games because they seem to evoke a ‘guess what the developer was thinking’ type of feeling? 

I would still recommend this game.  The reality of the game is that it can be completed in just a few hours.  When you get stuck, look up a guide, solve your roadblock, and get back to enjoying this game’s stellar atmosphere.  It’s really worth experiencing. Especially if you lived through and/or are a fan of the 80’s

If you’re completely puzzle adverse but still enjoy interactive narrative?  It might be worth looking up a playthrough or livestream.

Sources

1. Dev & Publisher: Stories Untold on Steam (steampowered.com)

2. Adventure Game Def: https://www.britannica.com/topic/electronic-adventure-game

3. colossal cave adventure: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colossal_Cave_Adventure

4. ludum dare: https://ldjam.com

5. game jam: http://www.nocodestudio.com/development-updates/2016/9/5/the-house-abandon

6. dev interview: https://www.pcgamer.com/crafting-the-unique-genre-defying-horror-of-stories-untold/

7. ELIZA (origins): https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00146-018-0825-9

8. ELIZA (interactable): http://psych.fullerton.edu/mbirnbaum/psych101/eliza.htm

9. 1st point click game: https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2011/01/history-of-graphic-adventures/

10. Don Norman: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00E257T6C/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_2BZA3S6D0KPFSKXFKHVM

11. Achievement List: Steam Community :: Stories Untold :: LihimSidhe

12. Various Awards: http://www.nocodestudio.com/nocodegames

13. BAFTA: https://www.bafta.org/media-centre/press-releases/british-academy-scotland-awards-2017-winners-announced

14. Metacritic: https://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/stories-untold

15. sales: http://www.nocodestudio.com/development-updates/2017/9/21/stories-untold-news-patch-indiecade-awards

[repentantsky]

5 Gaming Controversies in 2020, That Just Seemed So Avoidable

Gaming has over the years, been full of controversies, some caused by bad management, some caused seemingly by human error, and some that just seem avoidable. 2020 has had a slue of these controversies, so let's talk about what happened this year that ticked all of us off, but didn't need to. 

5. Joy-con Drift. 

Nintendo will probably appear on this list more than once, but the most obvious controversy caused by them that could have been avoided, is Joy-Con drift. The Switch has had issues with this since not long after release, and if the PS5 and Xbox Series X are anything to go by, it's natural to assume that issues on a new console are expected, in fact given the history of console launches, I 'd say that is unavoidable. However, the Switch is going to be four years old this coming March, so for this persistent issue to still exist, it seems like a lack of concern from Nintendo. A number of class action lawsuits have been filed against them because of Joy-Con drift, and as recently as October, in order to try and deny the problems coming from those legal cases, Nintendo denied there was anything wrong at all. They've had years to fix this problem, and didn't even manage to do so with the Switch Lite, which is a much worse situation for Lite owners, as they'd have to give Nintendo their whole console to get it repaired. Then there's the fact that they originally charged almost as much to fix Joy-cons on regular Switches, as new Joy-cons cost to buy, and even suggested that Switch owners should plan to buy a new set of Joy-cons every two years. While they did eventually reverse course on that due to pressure from lawsuits and general backlash, it's safe to say, Nintendo went really anti-consumer with this, and as you probably know, it's not the only time they did it this year. 

4. Crunch 

While crunch has been a part of this industry for far longer than the Switch has, people really started to take notice of it this year after many developers were interviewed about their horrible working conditions. Naughty Dog, who was seen as one of the better developers out there got hit pretty hard after Jason Schreier wrote a piece about how bad their hidden crunch culture was. Crunch in the industry is seen as a major problem, because at times, due to a lack of a union, developers are overworked, and underpaid, and many of them, are either looked down upon by their fellow developers for not partaking in it as much as others, or more importantly, by their management, which could jeopardize their career. Mandatory crunch is also a thing, sometimes seeing developers work twelve to sixteen hour days, and only getting paid for the first eight or so. It only gets worse, when you realize, that delays tend to cause more crunch, because more ideas are shoved into a game when more time is given to develop it. An article by Kotaku, made a valid point recently, when it called out The Last of Us Part II and Naughty Dog for winning best direction of the year at The Game Awards, despite their crunch culture. Many games have gone through it this year, espeically after COVID caused delays, but none may be more announced than CD Projekt Red, something you've probably seen me talk about here before, but that I'll save for another entry down the line ... when it called out The Last of Us Part II and Naughty Dog for winning best direction of the year at The Game Awards, despite their crunch culture. Many games have gone through it this year, espeically after COVID caused delays, but none may be more announced than CD Projekt Red, something you've probably seen me talk about here before, but that I'll save for another entry down the line ... when it called out The Last of Us Part II and Naughty Dog for winning best direction of the year at The Game Awards, despite their crunch culture. Many games have gone through it this year, espeically after COVID caused delays, but none may be more announced than CD Projekt Red, something you've probably seen me talk about here before, but that I'll save for another entry down the line ... 

3. Xbox Series X and PS5 pre-orders. 

Microsoft and Sony, despite being on the cusp of a new generation, spent the majority of the year keeping certain secrets from the public in a bid to outdo each other price wise for their console. While in the end, it played out exactly as most people predicated, top end consoles priced at $ 499 with variations priced one hundred, and two hundred dollars cheaper respectively, they took too long to get to that point, and pre-orders were a mess as a result. Sony announced it's prices and said PS5 would go on sale only a few days removed from that reveal. While that was already a problem, most people need more time than that, the fact that certain retailers let the pre-orders go out early, only added to the confusion, and bots ended up sweeping the majority of the consoles anyway, because those were easier to set-up for scalpers, than buying the system outright. Microsoft tried to be a bit better about that, and give people more time to prepare, but that also fell through, as the demand for the console, was much higher than the supply even tried to prepare for, an issue both systems faced. Even Japan, which is notorious for not selling Microsoft consoles, sold out far quicker than anyone could have expected. Had Sony and Microsoft just put the prices and pre-orders up earlier, and let them be bought over a period of a month or so, instead of just one, super hectic day, all the issues could have been avoided. which is notorious for not selling Microsoft consoles, sold out far quicker than anyone could have expected. Had Sony and Microsoft just put the prices and pre-orders up earlier, and let them be bought over a period of a month or so, instead of just one, super hectic day, all the issues could have been avoided. which is notorious for not selling Microsoft consoles, sold out far quicker than anyone could have expected. Had Sony and Microsoft just put the prices and pre-orders up earlier, and let them be bought over a period of a month or so, instead of just one, super hectic day, all the issues could have been avoided. 

2. Smash Bros, Splatoon and musical takedowns

Nintendo is back on this list as they recently fell under fire from fans of the Smash Bros community, for disallowing a major tournament to take place, because it simply chose to emulate a game that is out of print, using a mod called the Slippie Mod , so those partaking in the tournament, could play from home, instead of having to meet and risk spreading COVID to each other and tournament goers. A few weeks later, several people in an official Splatoon tournament changed their names to show support for the Smash Bros community and Nintendo's response was to shut down the whole finals of said tournament, in an attempt to try and lower the visibility of support for people who simply felt wronged by Nintendo. This of course backfired because it's the internet, and that's not going to go unnoticed, which only made them look worse. Not long after that, Nintendo started taking down videos and songs on YouTube that were from Legend of Zelda, Mario Kart Wii and others. Hundreds if not thousands of videos were taken down, and while Nintendo was within their rights to do so, they crippled several channels by issuing copyright strikes against them, which not only removed their ability to make money on their channels, it can disable streaming, and even cost them money they are no longer making, to try and get their channel back. In the end, Nintendo was in their rights to do all that they did, but that doesn't mean it was the right thing to do, especially in 2020, where leaving these things well enough alone, would have only led to more people enjoying Nintendo products. Instead, games like Bravely Default II and other major upcoming Switch game releases, are facing potential boycott's, because of Nintendo's sour attitude towards it's own communities. It was once said, that a corporation, is within their rights to make people hate them, and Nintendo has embodied that well in 2020.

1. Cyberpunk 2077, The Whole Thing

Cyberpunk 2077 is a game that has been worked on for years at this point. It was announced the January before the 8th gen consoles, the PS4 and Xbox One released, and only managed to come out, about a month after the following 9th gen began. Despite this fact, the game runs horribly on consoles, and requires a pretty beefy PC to run well. The delays that happened in 2020, which lasted 8 months, were supposed to be about optimizing the game for 8th consoles, which are by far still the largest market for any multi-generation, multi-platform titles, but it came out recently that CDPR lied about that, and were instead focusing on the PC release. They also lied to Sony and Microsoft about how well the game ran, lied to their consumers when they didn't put out any review copies for the game before launch, lied to everyone regarding returns, which only came up three or four days after the game launched, meaning digital owners were pretty much out of luck, lied to retailers who's reputations were put on the line based on their return policies, and oh yeah, they lied about crunch to. They also promised the game would release “when it was ready” and obviously lied about that as well. Lying is a choice, and CDPR has lied, and lied, and lied. It wouldn't be shocking to find out more lies were made by them in the coming months, such as maybe the two major upcoming patches in January and February not being as effective as they are proposed to be, or the fact that they will need more patches after those to run properly. They even lied about in game content, making it seem like the path you choose in the start of the game would last a long while and have a major effect on the game, but that doesn't appear to be true either, as many people have gotten through the start of the game, in about 20 minutes. It's a shame really, to see a game with such promise, be ruined by such habitual liars, but alas, here we are. Even time might not save CDPR as they are currently as a loss of billion dollars total because of this disaster, and their trust with consumers is all but gone. 

Can you think of any other avoidable controversies for 2020? Let me know with the notes below.   

[icarusaturn]

BNHA Quarantine Headcanons

Kirishima convinces Bakugo to teach people how to cook. Sato teaches baking essentials obviously lol

Iida is the Mother Hen™

Sero has made many jokes about using his tape as toilet paper (luckily Momo is there to literally save everyone’s asses)

Midoriya spends an obscene amount of time training. He’ll spar with anyone - because he’s nice, plus “the more ways I learn to fight people with different quirks, the better I’ll become!”

The kids who’ve got Nintendo switches all play animal crossing together

Classes 1a and 1b hold a Mario Kart tournament - things get i n t e n s e

Online school is much easier, albeit still a struggle, with everyone in the same place

Momo has gets tutoring sessions in the living room of the common area

Training is obviously limited, but students make due with what they can (laps in the common room, outside sparring, etc)

Movie night is every night - so far the students have watched the whole Star Wars saga, all the Harry Potter movies, and pretty much all of the marvel movies

The students regularly call their families over FaceTime - Midoriya lends his computer to Ochaco when she wants to talk with her family

The Bakusquad is going insane

Momo has postmated McDonalds for everyone on multiple occasions

Todoroki used Endeavor’s credit card, also on multiple occasions, for cleaning/sanitizing products

Kirishima helps Midoriya strengthen his arms during training

Iida and Momo have made a schedule for everyone in class A to follow; class is held in the common room to increase socializing so no one feels as alone

M*neta gets more annoying every day

Mina and Hagakure online shop together

The amount of games invented is insane - there’s “who can float the longest” for example, and the classic “who can make Bakugo the angriest”

The class goes on walks around the campus

The A Band is a great form of entertainment for everybody

There is a mask making competition - Aoyama and Momo are the judges

Mina teaches more people how to break dance

Koda’s bunny is the comfort bun

Sato is stocked up with enough baking supplies to last 10 years, so there’s more than enough baked goods to be made and to go around

Tokoyami and Shoji play chess - they keep score of who wins and Shoji is in the lead

Kaminari is learning more guitar from Tokoyami and Jiro

Momo makes a croquet set for the class and it’s a huge success

Ochaco gives everyone tips on how to ration supplies

Everyone misses their families; some more than others *Todoroki glaring at Endeavor *

Momo is banned from Pictionary “you can’t make what they’re supposed to be guessing! It’s supposed to only be actions!” *momo trying to keep a straight face* “Technically, it was still an ac-” “It’s an unfair advantage!” *everyone cackling while Kaminari pouts*

Momo points out Shoji and Ojiro could use their quirks in Pictionary as well - quirks are now banned from Pictionary

The class saw the tik toks about “Quarantine Olympics” and are planning them

Everyone in the class (m*neta doesn’t count pff) is there for each other when times get rough and quarantine is getting old and they’re sick of it

[lovemesomesurveys]

So, should I tell my worst enemy about her boyfriend's cheating on her? Yikes. I wouldn’t get involved. She’ll probably accuse of you lying and being jealous or something. I’d just stay out of it anyway, it’s not my business, we’re not friends.

What magazines are you prescribed to? None.

Do you have any Estee Lauder makeup? Nope.

Ralph Lauren or American Eagle Outfitters? Neither.

DKNY or Tommy Hilfiger? Neither.

What is an example of acceptable PDA? Holding hands, a peck on the cheek, a kiss. 

^ and, unacceptable? Full on make-out sessions, groping, straddling, actually having sex...

Chanel or Marc by Marc Jacobs? I really don’t purchase stuff from any of these brands you’ve listed. 

Louis Vuitton or Betsey Johnson? Sigh.

Betsey Johnson or Tarina Tarantino? --

Fossil or Coach? I didn’t realize this was a brand survey.

bobby pin, dime, or a sewing needle? [just pick one] Bobby pin.

Damien Rice or Biffy Clyro? Blahhhh.

What hair products do you use, regularly? Regularly I just use shampoo and detangingling spray, but recently I’ve been using conditioning hair masks and products cause I had to do some damage control.

Piperlime or Banana Republic? Annnnnnd we’re back.

Do you have a crush on any '''older''' celebrities? Alexander Skarsgard, who’s 13 years older than me.

Y'know, like, Johnny Depp, Leonardo, James Franco... --

If you HAD to dress up for Halloween this year, what/who would you be? I really don’t know.

What's the scariest thing you've EVER done? Uhhhh.

Essie or Opi? I think out of the two I’ve used Essie.

Have you ever accidentally bumped teeth with someone you were kissing? lol yes. Awkwarddd.

Do you live in a big city? Yes.

What is there to do, where you live, within walking distance? Eat. That’s really it.

Who is your favorite person to be around, and why? My family.

What are your parents' names? I don’t want to give that out.

And, what do they do for a living? My mom is a shift lead at Walgreens and my dad works at a car repair shop for Hondas.

Who is the last person that told you that they loved you? My mom.

Push a _______ down the stairs. (: ...

Are you laid back, or a go-getter? I used to be both, but now I just appear laid back but really I have no energy or motivation.

Would you rather work hard, or play hard? I need some fun in my life. Not that I’ve been working hard or anything, but I’ve been going through some hard times and need a good change.

What gaming system(s) do you own? I have an Nintendo Switch.

What games do you have? A few Mario Bros games and Animal Crossing.

What matters to you most, right now? Getting better.

How do you unwind? Good question. What could you use more of in your life? Positivity, good health, fun.

Would you rather spend a week in Aspen, San Francisco, or New York City? Ooh. All 3 would be awesome.

Has there ever been a movie you couldn't/refused to watch, simply because the leading role guy looked a lot like an ex?? No.

If Pluto's not a planet, what is it? It’s a planet to me.

Would you rather be given a single rose, or a dozen? I’d appreciate either one. Would you rather have (as a pet) jellyfish, baby sea turtles, or seahorses? None.

Favorite Starbucks drink? Peppermint white chocolate mocha.

Describe your room, in detail. [: Nah.

Head vs. heart, what usually wins? My feelings and emotions more often now.

Have you ever tried to ''save'', or ''fix'' someone, before? You could say that.

What are you thankful for? My family.

What has been the best thing to happy to you, this year? Hm. This year has been really rough...

Have you ever seen a double rainbow? Yeah.

Do you miss the summer, too? Ugh, nooooo. I’m so beyond ready for it to be over.

Were ethics discovered or invented? Uh.

[created by: kaleighloves]

[aion-rsa]

The Pandemic in Pop Culture Trends

https://ift.tt/32wrfZT

The first year of the COVID-19 pandemic was both a universal and incredibly personal experience. While not everyone’s life in the first year of the pandemic looked the same, there have been some common joys, struggles, and tragedies. And there have been stories that have helped get us through the first year of pandemic. The global COVID-19 pandemic is not over, but it has hopefully reached a turning point. Multiple vaccines protecting against the worst of the virus have been developed and have begun to be (unevenly) distributed around the world, with Israel, the U.K., Chile, and the U.S. currently with the greatest percentages of their populations having received at least one dose. As we hopefully move into a less deadly phase of the pandemic, we’re taking a moment to look back at the TV series, games, movies, and other pop culture moments that brought comfort, distraction, critique, and catharsis for many in the pandemic’s first year, as well as some of the major trends and news stories that shaped the industry itself between March 2020 and February 2021.

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

March 2020

NBA To Suspend Season Following Tonight's Games pic.twitter.com/2PTx2fkLlW

— NBA (@NBA) March 12, 2020

The NBA Suspends the Season (March 11th)

Many use the NBA’s March 11th announcement that the 2019-2020 season would be suspended until further notice as an unofficial start of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. The season would continue four months later in the “NBA Bubble,” but no one could know what the future would look like, only that things were indeed very serious for the billions-dollar professional basketball and media industry to shut down.

Everyone Watches Contagion

Though Steven Soderbergh’s pandemic thriller came out in 2011, Contagion jumped from Warner Bros.’ 270th most digitally rented movie in December 2019 to their second most rented one in February, and that trend would only continue into March. As the pandemic continued, we would see audiences turning towards more “escapist” fare, but, in the early days of this international crisis, people turned towards this matter-of-fact, fictional imagining of how a global pandemic might play out to help process their new and frightening reality.

Movie Theaters Essentially Go Dark

In addition to the immense loss of human life the COVID-19 pandemic has caused, there has also been an economic cost that will no doubt continue to impact human health and livelihood in the coming years. On March 17th, the movie theater chains Regal and AMC announced their temporary closures, an early sign of just how bad the pandemic would be for the movie theater business.

Movies in Theaters Begin Going to VOD

With movie theaters closed, studios needed to get creative about how best to distribute their movies still “in theaters.” Universal Pictures was the first to make the decision to move its new releases to a video on-demand model, bringing The Invisible Man, The Hunt, and Emma to VOD on March 20th.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is Released (March 20th)

On March 20th, Nintendo released Animal Crossing: New Horizons for Nintendo Switch, allowing players (most of whom where stuck at home) to digitally move to an island and nurture their own community. The fifth game in the Animal Crossing series, New Horizons would go on to major commercial success. It broke the console game record for most digital units sold in a single month, became the 15th best-selling video game in history, and the second best-selling game of all time in Japan. It was also the most blogged-about subject on Tumblr in 2020!

Tiger King Drops on Netflix (March 20th)

Netflix remains the largest streaming service worldwide, with over 200 million global subscribers and roughly 74 million of those subscribers in the U.S. Because of this, when a Netflix Original becomes a hit, it usually becomes a major part of online discourse, especially in the United States. This was the case for Tiger King, the true crime (and truly wild) documentary series that dropped on Netflix on March 20th. With most watchers stuck at home, the online discourse around the show felt even more intense than usual. For a few weeks, you couldn’t throw a stone without hitting a Tiger King meme.

April 2020

Quibi Launches (April 6)

While not necessarily pandemic-specific (did Quibi ever really stand a chance?), 2020 saw the launch (April 6th) and death (December 1st) of Quibi, Jeffrey Katzenberg’s short-form streaming platform that squandered $1.75 billion in investment capital and star power like Sophie Turner, Kiefer Sutherland, Idris Elba, Chrissy Teigen, Karlie Kloss, and Laura Dern before bowing out in December.

Trolls World Tour Becomes First Movie to Break Theatrical Window (April 10)

Remember when it was radical for a movie to break its theatrical window? Yeah, that was in April, when many media professionals were shocked with Universal’s decision to release Trolls World Tour, the computer animated musical comedy sequel to 2016’s Trolls, as both a limited theatrical release and via video on demand services. The move led AMC Theatres to temporarily announce that they would no longer be distributing Universal films, but the two companies quickly came to an agreement shortly after.

Extraction was a Thing (April 24)

Honestly, every week in 2020 felt like its own lifetime. Remember when Extraction, the Chris Hemsworth-helmed action-thriller, became the most watched original film in Netflix’s history? Directed by Sam Hargrave and written by MCU vet Joe Russo, the film follows a black ops mercenary who must rescue the kidnapped son of an Indian drug lord in Bangladesh. As self-reported by Netflix, the movie was watched by 99 million households in its first month of release.

May 2020

TikTok Pops

TikTok was already firmly a thing heading into 2020, but the pandemic was when more people found it—especially the olds… by which I mean millennials. In October 2019, TikTok had almost 40 million U.S. users (and 507 million global users in December 2019). By June 2020, that number was at almost 92 million in the U.S. (and 689 million globally by July 2020). This was part of a larger trend over the course of the pandemic that saw people spending more time on their mobile devics than ever before: According to a report from mobile app intelligence agency App Annie (via Social Media Today), by the end of 2020, Americans spent more time on TikTok than they did on Facebook, and the average American now spends more time per day on their mobile device (4 hours) than they do watching TV (3.7 hours).

Avatar: The Last Airbender is Released on Netflix (May 15th)

In many ways, the pandemic has been an accelerant of global processes, and this applies to pop culture as well. While we were already seeing the rise in more foreign-language TV, including anime, and the return to some major nostalgic properties due to broader and easier accessibility because of platforms like Netflix, the pandemic really ramped that process up. When all three seasons of Avatar: The Last Airbender became available on Netflix in May, the American animated TV series that originally aired on Nickelodeon from 2005 to 2008, was discovered or re-discovered by millions of viewers, becoming one of the top Tumblr fandoms of 2020. It was indicative of a larger trend of old shows becoming new again through release on major global streaming platforms.

Read more

TV

Avatar: The Last Airbender – What Can We Expect From the New Avatar Studios?

By Shamus Kelley

TV

Avatar: The Last Airbender Co-Creators Exit Netflix Live-Action Series

By Shamus Kelley

June 2020

Buffy Lands on All4 (June 1st)

In a year where what’s old was necessarily new again, all seven seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer came to UK streaming platform All4, and were broadcast on E4 every weeknight at 11pm. Elsewhere in the UK streaming market, the BBC iPlayer saw its best-ever quarter from April to June with 1.6 billion requests, an increase of 59% on the same quarter last year (according to a BBC press release).

Staged Premieres (June 10th)

As it became apparent that TV and film production would not be going back to normal anytime soon, many creators got, well, creative and began making things in lockdown. One of the best and most high-profile examples was BBC’s Staged, in which David Tennant and Michael Sheen play fictionalized versions of themselves, trying to rehearse a performance of Six Characters in Search of an Author via video chat, alongside director Simon Evans. The low-budget, high-charisma series is filmed in the actors’ real-life homes but, unlike some celebrity efforts during the pandemic (see March), strikes the right tonal note in relation to its subjects’ privilege.

July 2020

Ray Fisher Speaks Up About Alleged Abuse on the Justice League Set (July 1st)

Actor Ray Fisher raised his voice on July 1st in a tweet, calling out director Joss Whedon for alleged abuse on the Justice League set, and WB execs Geoff Johns and Jon Berg for “enabling” that alleged behavior.

Joss Wheadon’s on-set treatment of the cast and crew of Justice League was gross, abusive, unprofessional, and completely unacceptable. He was enabled, in many ways, by Geoff Johns and Jon Berg. Accountability>Entertainment

— Ray Fisher (@ray8fisher) July 1, 2020

Later, in December, Fisher would add WB exec Walter Hamada’s name to that list, following a December 11th announcement by WarnerMedia that their investigation connected to Justice League “has concluded and remedial action has been taken.”

Hamilton Blows Us All Away (July 4th)

One of the deepest cultural cuts during lockdown was the necessary elimination of live, in-person theater, which is probably one of the reasons why Hamilton, the Pulitzer Prize-winning stage musical that originally came to Broadway in 2015, made such a splash when it became available in its filmed format via Disney+. Even without a pandemic, Hamilton (and all Broadway theater) is only accessible to a select group of people, making the addition of the pop culture phenomenon in a more accessible form so very important.

Read more

TV

From Bridgerton to Hamilton: A History of Color-Conscious Casting in Period Drama

By Amanda-Rae Prescott

Movies

Hamilton: Thomas Jefferson Controversy Explained

By David Crow

Host Becomes the Most Zeitgesty Movie of 2020 (July 30th)

Another particularly impressive entry into the “filmed from lockdown” genre that sprouted up during the first year of the pandemic was British found footage horror film Host. Written and made over 12 weeks in a pandemic and based around a haunted Zoom call, few pandemic-made stories managed to nail the balance between both frighteningly topical and escapist quite so well.

The NBA Bubble Begins

Professional sports went into their bubbles, aka tightly controlled settings in which pro sports players live, practice, and play their respective seasons—to varying degrees of success. The NBA’s Disney World bubble went into effect on July 22nd for exhibition scrimmages, before launching into the final eight games of its regular 2019-2020 season and then the 2020 NBA playoffs. Twenty-two of the NBA’s 30 teams were invited to participate and ended the bubble in October with no recorded cases of COVID-19 amongst its participating players. The MLB bubble was… less successful.

SDCC @Home: WTF Was That? (July 22)

San Diego Comic-Con is one of the most important and lucrative pop culture events of the year, bringing hundreds of thousands of people into downtown San Diego to celebrate and discuss some of the largest franchises in the world. SDCC was one of the many in-person conventions that attempted to transfer its programming online in 2020 and… it didn’t really work. Part of the fun of Comic-Con is in the excitement of the crowd and the exclusivity of the events. (Though not on Thanksgiving, thank you very much.) There is nothing quite like getting to be part of a major Hall H announcement, and watching via video chat is just not the same.

August 2020

Tenet Comes Out in the UK (August 26th)

In what was largely a year without theatrical cinema in the U.S. and the U.K., a brief respite in COVID-19 cases and therefore lockdown meant a proper theatrical release for Christopher Nolan’s latest in August 2020. Sci-fi blockbuster Tenet hit U.K. theatres on August 26th, bringing in $5.3 million domestically in its first week of release and marking the first major studio release since the pandemic began.

American Sports Leagues Go on Strike to Protest Jacob Blake Shooting

Many professional sports in the U.S. came to a temporary halt when some players and teams refused to take the field or court following the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old Black American who was shot in the back and paralyzed by a police officer in front of his sons on August 23rd in Kenosha, Wisconsin. The incident re-ignited ongoing protests over racism and police brutality, with which many players and teams stood in solidarity. The NBA, WNBA, MLB, and MLS all postponed games as players protested Jacob Blake’s shooting.

Chadwick Boseman Passes Away (August 28th)

In a devastating loss to American culture, Chadwick Boseman, the star of Black Panther and many other films, passed away due to complications from colon cancer, a condition with which he had been living and working since a 2016 diagnosis. Boseman was one of the most successful Black actors and creators working today.

“He … knew that his voice was now strong and people were listening and paying attention,” wrote Kelley L. Carter in The Undefeated. “And he knew that even as this moment was victorious, Hollywood still needed to be called to task on the things that make this industry problematic, even as it was in the infant phases of creating a groundbreaking blockbuster with a mostly Black cast.”

September 2020

Tenet Flops in the U.S., Hollywood Abandons Ship for Fall 2020 (September 3)

While Tenet may have been a hit in the U.K., the Nolan blockbuster flopped upon its release in the U.S., where many theaters remained closed or empty through the summer and fall. The film would make around $58 million in the U.S. and Canada, prompting Hollywood studios to further push back major releases slated for the fall.

Mulan Becomes First Disney “Premier Access” Release (Sept. 4)

After several pandemic-caused release delays, Disney’s much-anticipated, live-action adaptation of Mulan became the first “Premier Access” release for Disney+, causing a bit of a stir. In the U.S. and in some other markets, Disney forwent releasing Mulan in theaters, instead offering a “Premier Access” window on Disney+ that viewers could access for an additional fee of $29.99. While the film received middling reviews from western critics, it was not received well in China. Additionally, a #BoycottMulan movement, which started out as a response to social media comments star Liu Yifei made in support of the Hong Kong police in their (sometimes violent) suppression of pro-democracy protestors, gained some traction in the lead up to the release.

Read more

Movies

How Mulan Maintains The Animated Film’s Queerness

By Natalie Zutter

Movies

Mulan: Disney Plus Grosses Exceed $200 Million? (Report)

By David Crow

I’m Thinking of Ending Things Makes People Go “Whaaa?” (Sept. 4)

As our Rosie Fletcher wrote in the “Ending Explained” for I’m Thinking of Ending Things: “[this story is] a movie, and a book, which really requires you to watch/read twice to actually fully understand.” It’s a gloriously confusing movie, and many in September dove right into the mystery chiller adapted by Charlie Kaufman from a novel by Iain Reid. As Fletcher put in her review, the film is “a perfect storm of philosophy, ambiguity and wankery.” What’s not to love?

October 2020

Trial of the Chicago 7 Debuts on Netflix (Oct. 16)

However you may feel about Aaron Sorkin, the man knows how to make a taut political drama. Trial of the Chicago 7 is a dramatic retelling of (as it says on the tin) the 1969-70 trial of the Chicago Seven, a group of anti–Vietnam War protesters charged with conspiracy and crossing state lines with the intention of inciting riots at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. The movie has an all-star cast of dudes, and is both written and directed by Sorkin. It made many critics’ best-of-the-year lists and made a cultural splash when it dropped on Netflix in October, after a summer of American and global protests ignited by the killing of George Floyd and other Black Americans.

Borat 2 Makes (a Bigger) Fool Out of Rudy Giulilani (October 23rd)

Rarely do the paths of pop culture and politics so explicitly intersect as they did in Borat 2. The mockumentary comedy sequel came out in October, in the long, plateau-ed height of the lead up to the presidential election, and featured a scene in which Republican politician Rudy Giuliani puts his hand into his trousers in front of actress Maria Bakalova, who is impersonating a conservative journalist. While Giuliani attempted to spin the event in both the lead up to and following the release of the film on Amazon Prime, Sacha Baron Cohen told Good Morning America in an interview after the film’s release: “It is what it is. He did what he did.”

Read more

Movies

Maria Bakalova is Ready to Do Borat 3 in ‘Five Minutes’

By David Crow

Movies

Borat 2: Sacha Baron Cohen Reveals Dangerous Deleted Scene

By David Crow

The Queen’s Gambit Turns Everyone into a Chess Player (Oct. 23)

Odds are that, in October 2020, you either knew someone or were someone who watched The Queen’s Gambit and then fell hard into the world of chess. The Netflix period miniseries tracks the highs and lows of fictional chess prodigy Beth Harmon (the brilliant Anya Taylor-Joy), from her upbringing in a Kentucky orphanage in the 1950s to her time at the top of the competitive chess world in the 1960s. In its first month of release, The Queen’s Gambit became Netflix’s most-watched scripted miniseries, and sent chess set sales soaring—yet another sign of just how commercially and culturally powerful Netflix has become.

November 2020

PlayStation 5 Alleges Launches, But No One Can Get Them (Nov. 12)

Even if you aren’t a gamer, you probably heard about the release of the PlayStation 5. Though the PS5 technically became available in Australia, Japan, New Zealand, North America, Singapore, and South Korea on November 12th (and worldwide a week later), the limited supply of the console made it almost impossible to find.

As Matthew Byrd wrote in his November article on the subject: “We know that the initial PS5 shortage can at least partially be attributed to a shortage of the console’s chips (as well as distribution and manufacturing problems caused by the complications related to the COVID-19 pandemic), but as we’re already seeing in Europe where some who pre-ordered a PS5 were warned they may not receive their console until 2021, Sony faces some notable additional issues moving forward.”

This is partially a story of supply and demand, and the growth of gaming in general. According to a report by market researcher SuperData (via Venture Beat), the game industry grew 12% (to $139.9 billion) in 2020, with console games revenues up 28% from 2019. While growth is expected to be slower in 2021, as fewer people will hopefully be stuck at home, more people than ever are gtting their story fix in the world of gaming.

Read more

Games

PlayStation Bets on Big Games as Game Pass Slowly Wins a Console War

By Matthew Byrd

Games

Why PlayStation Store Closing on PS3 Should Matter to You

By Matthew Byrd

December 2020

WB Announces HBO Max Release Hybrid Model (Dec. 3)

In a move that seems to be paying off, in December, Warner Bros. announced that it would be moving to a release hybrid model through 2021, putting its entire 2021 film slate on HBO Max. As David Crow explained in our film section: “The move will put all 17 of WB’s scheduled 2021 films on a ‘hybrid’ model where films will premiere on HBO Max the same day as their theatrical release in the U.S. Technically speaking, the films will still be playing in theaters, particularly in international markets without HBO Max as a streaming option, but for the first (and most lucrative) month of their release, they’ll also be available on WarnerMedia’s streamer.”

People Actually Get to Play Cyberpunk 2077, Immediately Realize It’s Broken (Dec. 10)

Hooboy, Cyberpunk 2077. In December, after literal years of anticipation, CD Projekt released action RPG video game Cyberpunk 2077 to disastrous results. While the narrative and design of the game is ambitious and has its rewards, the rollout was plagued by performance issues (particularly in the console versions) that led to player backlash and actual lawsuits.

Read more

Games

Cyberpunk 2077 Lawsuits Explained

By Matthew Byrd

Games

Cyberpunk 2077 Roadmap Proves the Game Should Have Been Delayed to 2021

By Matthew Byrd

The Mandalorian Finale Breaks the Internet (Dec. 18)

Um, spoilers.

The second season of The Mandalorian may not have technically been the most-watched series of 2020, but it certainly felt like the most-talked-about, proving that, even in the era of streaming, there’s still such a thing as appointment television. This all came to a culmination with The Mandalorian Season 2 finale, “The Rescue,” which featured an appearance from Luke Skywalker himself.

Read more

TV

Could Durge’s Star Wars Return Lead to a Role in The Mandalorian or Book of Boba Fett?

By Joseph Baxter

TV

How The Mandalorian Challenges Star Wars’ History of Bad Dads

By Lacy Baugher

Wonder Woman 1984 Premieres (Dec. 25)

Wonder Woman 1984 dropped on Christmas Day in the United States, and quickly became the most-watched straight-to-streaming title of 2020 (knocking Disney+’s Hamilton out of the top spot), despite its middling reviews. In the U.S., it would be the first of WB’s “hybrid model” releases, getting a simultaneous release in theaters as well as on HBO Max.

Read more

Movies

Wonder Woman 1984 Star Connie Nielsen Defends Patty Jenkins’ Vision

By Don Kaye

Movies

Does Zack Snyder’s Justice League Set Up Wonder Woman 3?

By David Crow

Bridgerton Gets Saucy (Dec. 25)

Bridgerton, Netflix’s deliciously addicting period romance based on the Julia Quinn novels, also dropped on Christmas Day, and went on to become the streamer’s most watched series ever, reaching #1 in 76 countries. The Shondaland produced drama made leading man Regé-Jean Page a global star, so much so that the announcement that he would not be returning for Season 2 (as each season focuses on a different romantic pairing featuring a member of the Bridgerton family) into a bit of a meltdown. Bridgerton has already secured another three seasons—a post-Season 1 announcement that is unprecedented for a Netflix original.

Read more

TV

Why Bridgerton Had to Let Regé-Jean Page Go

By Amanda-Rae Prescott

TV

Will Bridgerton Become the Next Game of Thrones?

By Kayti Burt

Soul Brings on the Feels (Dec. 25)

Called Pixar’s “most ambitious movie in years” by Den of Geek film editor David Crow, Soul was another Christmas release that brought solace to people stuck at home, many without their families, for the holidays. Directed by Pixar vet Pete Docter (Up, Monsters, Inc., Inside Out) and co-directed by Kemp Powers (One Night in Miami, Star Trek: Discovery), the film follows middle school music teacher and pianist Joe Gardner as he seeks to reunite his soul and his body after they are accidentally separated, just before his big break as a jazz musician. 

January 2021

The Little Things Kicks Off WB’s 2021 Film Slate on Streaming (Jan. 29)

Fans of crime thriller and/or Denzel Washington and Rami Malek flock to HBO Max and theaters for the hybrid release of The Little Things, the first of WB’s planned 2021 slate.

Read more

Movies

The Little Things is Better Than a Seven Copycat

By Don Kaye

Movies

The Little Things and the Mystery of Denzel Washington’s Character Explained

By David Crow

February 2021

WandaVision Ensnares Us

Stop hogging the zeitgeist, Marvel!

In February, Disney+ released its first MCU show, WandaVision, and it broke the internet. The miniseries, created by Jac Schaeffer and starring Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch, wowed audiences with its clever use of the sitcom format and superhero tropes to tell a story about grief that, for all of its fantastical elements, was oh so relatable.

Read more

TV

How WandaVision’s Doctor Strange 2 Connection Evolved

By Joseph Baxter

TV

WandaVision: The Unanswered Questions From the Marvel Series

By Gavin Jasper

Judas and the Black Messiah Debuts (Feb. 12)

Daniel Kaluuya and Lakith Stanfield lead an all-star cast in this 1960s period piece that follows the real life story of Black Panther Party chairman Fred Hampton, who was the victim of a targeted assassination by the FBI. In a year that saw an increased mainstream awareness of Black trauma, the Oscar-nominated Judas and the Black Messiah shone a cinematic light on yet another state-led historical injustice against Black Americans.

Charisma Carpenter Speaks Her Truth

In February, actress Charisma Carpenter came forward with allegations about Joss Whedon’s alleged abuses of power during her time on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, inspired by Ray Fisher’s own efforts to seek justice and systemic reform for Whedon’s alleged behavior on Justice League.

My truth. #IStandWithRayFisher pic.twitter.com/eNjYcJ6zwP

— charisma carpenter (@AllCharisma) February 10, 2021

Joss Wheadon’s on-set treatment of the cast and crew of Justice League was gross, abusive, unprofessional, and completely unacceptable. He was enabled, in many ways, by Geoff Johns and Jon Berg. Accountability>Entertainment

— Ray Fisher (@ray8fisher) July 1, 2020

Pokemania Returns

Many older millennials have spent their time during quarantine reconnecting with their childhood faves. This culminates with a massive renewed interest in Pokemon cards to the point where McDonald’s Happy Meals with Pokemon cards as toys sell out instantly.

Read more

Sponsored

How Pokémon Snap Helped Pioneer the Photo Mode Era

By Matthew Byrd

Sponsored

Why Pokémon Has Endured For 25 Years

By Alec Bojalad

Did we miss anything? What have been the stories and pop culture trends that have helped get you through the pandemic so far? Let us know in the comments below.

The post The Pandemic in Pop Culture Trends appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3tFxFBF

[retro-vgm-revival-hour]

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐STAGE 71: Games Of 2020⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Last year may not have gone down as one of the best years we had, if anything, comparing it to a dumpster fire wouldn’t be too far off .

In a year where so many things went wrong, video games were pretty much one of the very few Highlights that stood out in 2020.

The ability to spend hours disappearing into a beautiful world like those in the far away islands of Animal Crossing, the competitive but fun gameshow aesthetic of Fall Guys or revisiting old friends in the land of Midgar was a much welcomed breather that we all needed.

These video games provided the much needed distractions from everything else happening in the world, by enabling us to visit far away places filled with hours upon hours of entertainment, colorful, unique and intriguing characters …and most of all amazing music.

SO This is why THIS stage of the Retro VGM Revival Hour has chosen the 3 most amazing tracks from the various games released in 2020 to get you excited for what’s to come in 2021.

I hope you’re ready…. so lets begin.

                                      Full track listing: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐Game – Composer – Title – Company⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

1.) Yakuza: Like a Dragon – Hidenori Shoji, Yuri Fukuda, Chihiro Aoki & Saori Yoshida – “Kamurocho Battle Theme, Overcoming the Dragon & Substory Battle Theme“ – January 16, 2020 – Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio/Sega – Windows PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One & Xbox Series X/S

2.) Granblue Fantasy Versus – Nobuo Uematsu, Yasunori Nishiki & Tsutomu Narita – “Such a Blue Sky, Noble Execution & Arvess“ – February 6, 2020 – Arc System Works/Cygames – PS4 & Windows PC

3.) Persona 5 Strikers – Atsushi Kitajoh, Gota Masuoka, Ayana Hira, Hiromu Akaba & Shoji Meguro – “Camping Trip, A Waltz of Feasting & Keeper of Lust“ – February 20, 2020 – Omega Force & P-Studio/Atlus – PS4, Windows PC & Nintendo Switch

4.) Ori and the Will of the Wisps – Gareth Coker – “Separated by the Storm, Hornbug & Escaping the Sandworm” – March 11, 2020 – Moon Studios/Xbox Game Studios – Windows PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S & Nintendo Switch

5.) Nioh 2 – Yugo Kanno & Akihiro Manabe – “Battle II, Azai Nagamasa & Dark Realm II” – March 12, 2020 – Team Ninja – PS4, Windows PC & PS5

6.) Animal Crossing: New Horizons – Yasuaki Iwata, Yumi Takahashi, Shinobu Nagata, Sayako Doi & Masato Ohashi – “K.K. Slider Dream, Island Tour (Day/Snowy) & New Years Eve (12:00 a.m.)“ – March 20, 2020 – Nintendo – Nintendo Switch

7.)Doom Eternal – Mick Gordon – “BFG Division 2020, The Only Thing They Fear Is You & DOOM Eternal“ – March 20, 2020 – id Software/Bethesda Softworks – Windows PC, PS4, Google Stadia, Xbox One, PS5, Xbox Series X/S & Nintendo Switch

8.) Final Fantasy VII Remake – Nobuo Uematsu, Shotaro Shima, Tadayoshi Makino, Masashi Hamauzu & Yasunori Nishiki – “Scorpion Sentinel, J-E-N-O-V-A – Quickening & One Winged Angel (Rebirth)“ – April 10, 2020 – Square Enix – PS4

9.) Trials of Mana – Hiroki Kikuta – “Axe Bring Storm, Swivel & Farewell Song“ – April 24, 2020 – Xeen/Square Enix – Nintendo Switch, Windows PC & PS4

10.) Sakura Wars – Kohei Tanaka – “Anastasia’s Theme, Hatsuho’s theme & Geki! Teikoku Kagekidan (w/ vocals provided by Ayane Sakura, Maaya Uchida, Hibiku Yamamura, Ayaka Fukuhara & Saori Hayami)“ – April 28, 2020 – Sega CS2 R&D/SEGA – PS4

11.) Streets of Rage 4 – Yuzo Koshiro, Olivier Deriviere, Groundislava, XL Middleton, Keiji Yamagishi, Harumi Fujita, Motohiro Kawashima, Yoko Shimomura, David Scatliffe (Scattle) & Das Mörtal – “Nora, Estel (Round 2) & Ms Y“ – April 30, 2020 – Dotemu, Lizardcube & Guard Crush Games/Dotemu – Windows PC, Nintendo Switch, PS4, Xbox One, Linux & macOS

12.) Maneater – Daniel James – “Prologue Theme, The Great Hunter & Arc Shark“ – May 22, 2020 – Tripwire Interactive & Blindside Interactive/Deep Silver – Windows PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S & Nintendo Switch

13.) Shantae and the Seven Sirens – Mark Sparling, Kentaro Sakamoto & Gavin Allen – “Risky Blows the Hatch, Turbulent Hip Shaking & Rise and Shine Shantae (w/ vocals provided by Cristina Vee)“ – May 28, 2020 – WayForward – iOS, macOS, Windows PC, PS4, Xbox One & Nintendo Switch

14.) The Last of Us Part II – Gustavo Alfredo Santaolalla & Mac Quayle – “It Can’t Last, Allowed to be Happy & Beyond Desolation“ – June 19, 2020 – Naughty Dog/Sony Interactive Entertainment – PS4

15.) Marvel’s Iron Man VR – Kazuma Jinnouchi & John Paesano – “Old Tech/New Threats, Cost of Doing Business & Heroes“ – July 3, 2020 – Camouflaj/Sony Interactive Entertainment – PS4

16.) Ghost of Tsushima – Ilan Eshkeri & Shigeru Umebayashi – “The Way of the Ghost, The Last of Clan Adachi & The Fate of Tsushima“ – July 17, 2020 – Sucker Punch Productions/Sony Interactive Entertainment – PS4

17.) Paper Mario: The Origami King – Yoshito Sekigawa, Shoh Murakami, Yoshiaki Kimura, Hiroki Morishita & Fumihiro Isobe – “Event Battle, Swan Lake (Punk Remix) & Battle at Bowser’s Castle“ – July 17, 2020 – Intelligent Systems/Nintendo – Nintendo Switch

18.) Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout – Jukio Kallio & Daniel Hagström – “Didn’t Fall! (You Win), Fall ‘n’ Roll & Final Fall“ – August 4, 2020 – Mediatonic/Devolver Digital – Windows PC & PS4

19.) Battletoads – David Housden & David Wise – “Battletoads, Olympian Amphibians & To the Queen!“ – August 20, 2020 – Dlala Studios & Rare/Xbox Game Studios – Windows PC & Xbox One

20.) Marvel’s Avengers – Bobby Tahouri – “The Light That Failed, God of Thunder & By Force of Mind“ – September 4, 2020 – Crystal Dynamics/Square Enix – Windows PC, PS4, Google Stadia & Xbox One

21.) Hades – Darren Korb – “No Escape, The Painful Way & The Unseen Ones“ – September 17, 2020 – Supergiant Games – macOS, Windows PC & Nintendo Switch

22.) 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim – Hitoshi Sakimoto, Mitsuhiro Kaneda, Yoshimi Kudo, Rikako Watanabe, Yukinori Kikuchi, Kazuki Higashihara & Azusa Chiba – “METHIONINE, Go Sentinels, Go! & VALINE“ – September 22, 2020 – Vanillaware/Atlus – PS4

23.) Genshin Impact – Yu-Peng Chen – “Make Haste Partner, His Resolution & Symphony of Boreal Wind“ – September 28, 2020 – miHoYo – Windows PC, PS4, Android, iOS & PS5

24.) Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time – Walter Mair – “Rude Awakening, Stage Dive (N. Gin Theme) & A Hole In Space (N. Tropy Theme)“ – October 2, 2020 – Toys for Bob/Activision – PS4 & Xbox One

25.) Amnesia: Rebirth – Mikko Tarmia – “Ghoul Chase, The Shadow & Ending (Part 2)“ – October 20, 2020 – Frictional Games – Linux, Windows PC & PS4

26.) Cobra Kai: The Karate Kid Saga Continues – Leo Birenberg & Zach Robinson – “Arcade, Encino & Woodley Ave“ – October 27, 2020 – Flux Game Studio/GameMill Entertainment – PS4, Xbox One & Nintendo Switch

27.) Ghostrunner – Daniel Deluxe – “Infiltrator, Let Them Know & Truth to Power“ – October 27, 2020 – One More Level & Slipgate Ironworks/All in! Games SA & 505 Games – PS4, Xbox One, Windows PC & Nintendo Switch

28.) Watch Dogs: Legion – Stephen Barton – “A Room with a Queue, It’s All Gone a Bit Tom Tit & Orwell That Ends Well“ – October 29, 2020 – Ubisoft Toronto/Ubisoft – Windows PC, PS4, Xbox One, Google Stadia, Amazon Luna, Xbox Series X/S & PS5

29.) Assassin’s Creed Valhalla – Jesper Kyd, Sarah Schachner & Einar Selvik – “Kingdom of Wessex (w/ Vocals provided by Melissa R. Kaplan), Raids of Rage & Drenglynda Skáldið/ The Steadfast Skald (w/ Vocals provided by Einar Selvik)“ – November 10, 2020 – Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft – Windows PC, PS4, Xbox One, Google Stadia, Amazon Luna, Xbox Series X/S & PS5

30.) Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin – Hiroyuki Oshima – “Mayhem, Resentment & War“ – November 10, 2020 – Edelweiss/Marvelous – PS4, Windows PC & Nintendo Switch

31.) Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales – John Paesano – “All In, Rhino Rampage & New York’s Only Spider-Man“ – November 12, 2020 – Insomniac Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment – PS4 & PS5

32.) Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory – Yoko Shimomura, Takeharu Ishimoto, Tsuyoshi Sekito, Kristen Anderson-Lopez & Robert Lopez – “At Dusk: I Will Think of You (Main Menu 3), Night of Fate & Let It Go (Japanese ver. w/ Vocals provided by Takako Matsu)“ – November 11, 2020 – Square Enix – PS4, Xbox One & Nintendo Switch

33.) Immortals Fenyx Rising – Gareth Coker – “Heart of the Hero, The Corrupted Heroes & Art of Warfare“ – December 3, 2020 – Ubisoft Quebec/Ubisoft – Amazon Luna, Windows PC, PS4, PS5, Google Stadia, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S & Nintendo Switch

34.) Cyberpunk 2077 – Marcin Przybyłowicz, P.T. Adamczyk, Paul Leonard-Morgan, Mattias Bärjed, David Sandström & Kristofer Steen – “The Rebel Path, The Heist & Juiced Up“ – December 10, 2020 – CD Projekt Red – Windows PC, PS4, Google Stadia, Xbox One, PS5 & Xbox Series X/S

35.) Resident Evil 3 – Kota Suzuki, Azusa Kato, Ryo Koike, Masami Ueda, Takayasu Sodeoka, Saori Maeda, Takumi Saito, Jeff Broadbent & Zhenlan Kang – “Invincible Nemesis, Resistance & Save Room“ – April 3, 2020 – Capcom – Windows PC, PS4 & Xbox One

36.) Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity – Kumi Tanioka, Reo Uratani, Ryotaro Yagi, Haruki Yamada, Ayana Hira, Asami Mitake, Hikaru Yamada, Shigekiyo Okuda, Gota Masuoka, Junya Ishiguro, Masako Otsuka, Takashi Yoshida & Hiromu Akaba – “Overlooking Hyrule/Prelude to Calamity (Title Screen), Urbosa: The Gerudo Chief & The Knight Who Seals the Darkness“ – November 20, 2020 – Omega Force/Nintendo – Nintendo Switch

Edgar Velasco: @MoonSpiderHugs Youtube: www.youtube.com/c/NostalgiaRoadTripChannel Official Site: nostalgiaroadtrip.com/ FaceBook: www.facebook.com/groups/nostalgiaroadtrip/ Official Twitter: @NRoadTripCast

[light-and-heartful]

Nutri Ventures - Hulu Kids - Trailer

I always had this idea of an RPG video game based off the Healthy Eating cartoon from Portugal, Nutri Ventures, where it would have the same battle system as "South Park the Fractured But Whole" (a very simple tactics battle system) (they’d even pitch it as the family friendly alternative to that game as well as it would be the world's first Edutainment RPG Video Game), and by the way the battle system would be the same as that game, but the overworld system won't it would be top down, with the same animation as in the show, and even voice acting during the text boxes that you can turn on and off (the voices) at anytime] and it'll be not just for younger players but also older and more experienced players as well, here's some ideas that you can even submit them to Ubisoft (since they're really good with RPGs made in the Western Region) to make it for a game for the Nintendo Switch, so please listen to these ideas and consider them

it would follow the story of the show (with some minor changes to make it follow a game more, but we'll get to that), will have ONLINE Player-VS-Player battles in the form as a device from one of the scientists in Grandland HQ, who's good friends with Theo's Grandfather, that you can find in the Grandland labs & can let you battle with yourself from different universes (aka different playthroughs of the game by different people), it will also have a mini-game multiplayer mode (for offline & online) that has up to four players play the mini-games in the game's story mode such as

the Candy Bowl where it plays just like the show and has the move around the game in a camera view where it focus on the screen moving side to side as it shows them moving in circle while keeping the view front side in a continuous moving track shot (with you passing the Goal Bowl of the game at top at certain times), think of it as like NBA Jam if it was for Candy Bowl

the Pod Races where it's a basic Mario Kart racing game (with two different versions, one that has it just on the ground and you can only turn left & right to race and another where you're underwater and you can move left, right, up, & down to race

the Deep Fryer Rally where it’s like that Mario Party 6 Mini-Game “Treasure Trawlers”, where you move topdown by pressing the L&R buttons together repeatedly and turn by pressing ether L or R repeatedly, and you’d aim your position on the paddle boat in order to try to scoop up the Fried Foods with a crane (but the scoop is a fry strainer) by pressing one of the d-pad buttons in order to score points, and it would use the rumble feature as a way to tell where’s the fry food is in the grease (with the more it rumbles the closer you’re at your mark) the player with the most points wins

the Veggie Games where it features all the events from the Green Kingdom chapter

Jousting where it's a four way Joust (or three way in story mode) where players has to charge into other players in order to take down one of his/her hit points while also controlling their horse, last player standing wins

and the Oracle's Quiz (that game is the final test to get the everlasting fruit in the Orange Kingdom Chapter) where the Oracle gives you questions related to food, cuisine, health, recipes, things like that

and the main feature of the game has the players gaining different status effects happen to them when they eat certain foods that's are each based off of their health benefit, like:

Meat & Eggs give you extra attack power cause it's for force for muscles

Dairy Products give you extra defense power cause it's for protection of bones

Vegetables give you extra maximum health cause it's for healing

Wheat & Grains give you extra mana for attacks cause it's for energy

Fish & Seafood gives you extra Experience Points cause it's for Intelligence

Legumes give you extra turns cause it's for boost

Fruit cures ailments cause it's helps with sicknesses

also I'd change the names of the Bad Kingdoms cause I feel like that's fair

Sugar Kingdom would be the Pink Kingdom

Fats Kingdom would be the Bronze Kingdom

Fried Kingdom would be the Gold Kingdom

Salt Desert would be the Silver Kingdom

(also the story behind the Bad Kingdoms is that the rulers of them were also scientists in Nutri-land, but cared more about making the food taste good rather than being nutritious, this lead to many of the other guardians experiments being ruined and the citizens loving their food but kept experiencing the effects of eating them to much, so the Nutri-Guardians kicked them out, and Alex made them into his main four guys for coming up the recipe for Gen-X 100 when he otherthrew Nutri-land and called themselves the big four, and were a team for a while until Alex had enough of the ingredients for Gen-X 100 to run for years, so they went their separate ways)

there are other features include:

-a pit of 100 trials-esc optional enemy gauntlet where you go through a tower of 100 floors with something to fight on each floor in order to progress, & each 10 floors there's a boss [the first 7 being a hologram of a guardian of a kingdom, the 8th being holograms of the rulers of the bad kingdoms all at once, the 9th being a hologram of Nexus, and the last one being hologram of a younger teen version of Merdock (who looks similar to Theo)] in order to get rare and powerful weapons for each character

-extra bosses in the Orange Kingdom, Red Kingdom, & Green Kingdom chapters if you lose the mini-games of those chapters [like if you lose the Candy Bowl, you'll have to fight Candyman, if you lose the joust Theo has to fight the winner, if you lose the Deep Fryer Rally Theo, Ben, & Lena would have to fight Fritz & Fritz Jr. (but you’ll still get chased out regardless)  & if you lose the Veggie-Games you have to fight, the team leader of the winning team with Lena, Ben, Nina, & Inca]

-the bosses added as the final boss to the chapter include:

the Mind Control machine turning into a giant baker robot in the Orange Kingdom chapter

Jomanda betraying the Red Kingdom by summoning a Hydra to attack the village after the big fight with Alex in the Red Kingdom chapter

a mechanized dinosaur tank that has the big laser cannon that Alex used to almost destroy the legumes on it's head and two small ones on it's arms (kind of like the Barrel Dragon from Yugioh) that the scientists made Alex that'll you'll have to defeat it on the train before it crashes into the castle in the Brown Kingdom chapter

a powered up Alexander Bluebeard who's gone mad with Nutri-Power (like he eats a big platter consisting of a Grilled Shrimp, Bell Pepper, and Steak Kabob, a bowl of Red Beans & Rice as for a Side, and a Strawberry Yogurt Smoothie as a Drink, and this fills his the Nutri-Powers to the max, and will use more foods in the fight to boost his stats) in the Blue Kingdom chapter

& that Two-Headed Dog from the first episode of Season 6 breaking in through the ceiling of the pyramid just as they were forming the Triads of Light & Darkness to attack the heroes in the Green Kingdom chapter

-Some of the timelines would be connected together to match the form of play, in the Red Kingdom chapter, at the end of the section where Theo, Genevieve, and Nose crash into the salt desert and have to reach the dragon, it would have Theo talking to the dragon, and then cuts to Genevieve & Nose waiting near the Volcano, fire coming out the top, and the Dragons coming after them and then cuts to black and you’d to a few moments earlier where it has the Red Kingdom preparing to defend the kingdom and have the big battle between Alex, with a neverending heard of G-Squads coming during the fight, until it’s interrupted with Theo, Genevieve, & Nose coming in riding on the dragon, and Theo & Genevieve joining the battle & in the Brown Kingdom chapter, it’ll have you play through Theo, Ben, & Guardian Brown getting trapped in the mine first, and when it gets to the point where Theo gets knocked out from exhaustion in the desert, then it cuts to earlier in the day where you play as Nina and go with Johnny to find the treasure and as the two fights Curling Stone & Betty, it would be interrupted with Theo coming in still unconscious as his medallion drags him into it, where Nina & Johnny gives him some Water, Theo joins the fight, and the battle continues, and then it would lead to Theo, Lena, Ben, Nina, & Johnny getting together to go deal with the war only when they get there they discover Alex using the weapon he got from his Father’s Diary on the Legumes

-the Pink Kingdom wouldn't do that whole alternate vision thing where everything is good when you're hypnotized but gross when you aren't, it would all look good, smell good, and taste good (which is how they get the people to be hypnotized by it), but still give you the negative effects of eating too much sugar (even when Lena & Nina enter it for the first time, and your playing as Lena you have the option to keep trying the candy from the Mistresses over and over again until you say no and trigger the first fight with the matrons or until a sudden snap happens and it shows that Lena's lost a tooth, and it would lead to her getting so disgusted at everyone's teeth and big bodies that she just yells everyone to stop, and that triggers the first fight between the Lena and the mistresses, with it later in the fight having it introduce Sid as he jumps into battle)

-whenever you are at sea (floating or diving) in the Blue Kingdom chapter, it would have you doing a board game esc movement, where you draw where you want to go, and it will move in that path, and as you move enemies can move in you too and can cause battles, it kind of works like "Star Fox Command" on the Nintendo DS

-the game has you leveling up your party members of Theo, Lena, Ben, & Nina in order to improve their stats, but there's also Guest Party members who can't level up and are part of certain parts of the story or when you find and meet up with them after you completed a chapter (but they'd leave if you leave the area too far), and they include

Sid for the Orange Kingdom chapter (he's a healer like Nina)

Genevieve (or the Black Knight early on) for the Red Kingdom chapter (she's a fighter like Theo)

Johnny for the Brown Kingdom chapters (he's a shooter like Lena)

Alexander Bluebeard for the Blue Kingdom chapters (who's only available when you have your pact with him) (he's a Brawler like Ben)

Inca for the Green Kingdom chapters (she's a shooter)

Fritz Jr. for the Dragon’s Fury Challenge section in the Red Kingdom chapter (where it would have more enemies there than puzzles and traps) & the Submarine and Neptune’s Trials part of the Blue Kingdom chapter (he's a fighter)

and FYI, the different classes each shows different ways of fighting and different weapons, this is the list of them:

Fighters like Theo uses Swords and other Melee weapons and attacks by pressing certain buttons with certain timing

Shooters like Lena uses Arrows and Guns and attacks by aiming at the right target by trying to keep the cursor in the center of the circle as the cursor moves on it's own

Brawlers like Ben uses Shields and Heavy Swords and attacks by holding a button down and letting go in the right time

Healers like Nina uses water to help other party members regain their health, and doesn't need to press buttons to attack

also all each character’s attack moveset would be determined on the weapon they use (which the weapons you can use are determined by a character’s Level an whenever if it has a “G” on it so that Guest Party Members can use it), as it has different attacks and added effects for it, and an added move specific for each character, Theo can get charge his attack for two turns, Lena can analyze the enemy to reveal it’s stats (including showing the amount of Health it has left onscreen), Ben can guard with his belly, and Nina can use her cuteness to try lower the opponents defenses

-the whole quest would have it not only regaining the seven kingdoms but also to find all the stones from the start, not just starting at the end of the Red Kingdom chapter [so in the beginning of the game Theo already has the White Stone but gets it's power after talking to a Kangaroo Rat in Racing Gear as one of the Guardians of the Temple of Nutrition, he finds the Yellow Stone from a tower in the Yellow Kingdom that used to bring the people hope but worn out when Ty-Paw’s army kept attacking, and after a vision with a Journey to the West-esc monkey in the Temple of Nutrition about never give up doing what's right, Theo gets the stone and uses it's powers to defeat the invading army, and in the Orange Kingdom chapter (where it would have the 2nd test be facing the Magician Rabbit from episodes 1 & 2 of Season 6 instead of fruit bats, cause the beginning of the Black Kingdom chapter would have it start with them using Theo’s pendant to power up the Rocket into Space) the Orange Stone is in the tower used to power the Antenna for the hypnosis machine, and after a vision from the Stone Monster in the Temple of Nutrition (when it had the pendant force Theo onto the stone when it looked like he tripped when they were trapped in the iron capsule) where he talks about trusting others and try listening to what they have to say, Theo gets the stone after he and his friends getting free from being locked up in the iron capsule thanks to Guga and uses the power of the stone to turn the Pink Kingdom into a Giant Fruit Filled Garden (as shown by a cutscene of all the buildings from the Pink Kingdom being crushed and destroyed by vines & growing trees and it having a shimmer of light peek from the cloudy skies and keeps growing more and more until the sky is completely bright and blue)], and each time the players complete a chapter and get the stone & gain it's power, you get an extra special move you can do by filling up a gage by doing good button commands when attacking to do special things to happen to attack foes or help yourself (like the Star Spirits or the Crystal Stars from "Paper Mario")

-there would be a travelling chef character in towns all over the kingdoms where you can make different recipes using different foods (which all the kingdoms will have food from all the different food groups from the start, cause they'd like to keep in touch with eachother) to turn and combine ordinary foods you have into better foods to the increase the amount of stats you'd gain (for example, if you have an Egg you can eat for extra attack power, but when you give it to the chef along with a Wedge of Cheese & a Grilled Ham Leg, he'll make it into an Omelette where it would not only give you tons more attack power than a regular egg but also extra health as well and extra defense too) and it will even have a recipe log with tons & tons of different recipes

-and lastly in the beginning of the game when you start a new save file, you may not be able to change the characters' names, but you'd be able to explain a little bit about you the player, including your name, what kind of playstyle you want to do for button commands (which are described by Theo's Grandfather as an Easy Game or to play a Little Bit Harder) so all players can enjoy it, and you'd also put which food group your favorite food is (which will give a slightly more better chance at getting extra stats when you eat a food), and it would be a profile for each time you'd do a PvP battle or play an online minigame with someone, they're kind of like street passes

I just think it would be a perfect fit, don’t you think?