#now i just need to get overwatch on the xbox and switch then i can have the floor is lava trophy in all its forms.................

[polarisphobia]

☆ Hello~

.• My name is Polaris or Poli (She/Her)! I'm new to Tumblr (≧∇≦)/

✧ Here's some things about me!

↓ Keep reading! Σʕﾟᴥﾟﾉʔﾉ

꒷‧₊˚Artೋ

I'm a digital artist! I recently migrated from Twitter, and previous to that was from Instagram. I'm really just trying to find a platform that best fits my needs lol. I draw mostly fanart of characters from games or people's OCs. (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ

˚₊·͟͟͟͟͟͟͞͞͞͞͞͞➳ I will archive my art posts here! (@Polistrations)

꒷‧₊˚Musicೋ

Music is such a huge part of my life! Here are some of my top artists~

˚₊·͟͟͟͟͟͟͞͞͞͞͞͞➳ Unlike Pluto/Like Saturn, Deftones, Motionless In White, Ellise, Fabvl, Divide Music, Bring Me The Horizon, Odetari, Eminem, Vocaloid, etc.

Most of these are unranked, but my #1 top favorite artist EVER is Unlike Pluto (*´˘`*)♡

꒷‧₊˚Gamingೋ

I love playing video games! I'm a Mobile, Console (XBOX Series S & Switch), and VR player. I'm saving up for a PC! Here's some games I like: ʕ •ᴥ•ʔゝ☆

˚₊·͟͟͟͟͟͟͞͞͞͞͞͞➳ Genshin Impact, Star Rail, Resident Evil, Roblox, Danganronpa, Sonic, Back 4 Blood, Minecraft, Cyberpunk 2077, FNaF, Terraria, Cult of the Lamb, Borderlands 3, Overwatch 2, Astroneer, Fortnite, VRChat

꒷‧₊˚Horrorೋ

I love anything Horror! My favorite types are usually zombie and psychological horrors, but I can really get down with anything. I love horror movies and video games. (-"-;)

That's all I have for now! I'll update this more in the future! ·˚ ༘₊·

I grew up as an Amino kid. Can you tell by all of my unnecessary symbols? Σ(･o･;)

[ttvnadeeta]

no stream,tonight. fiance doesn't feel well and i always tell him his health comes before games. i mean i can solo something,but I'm just not in the mood to do that tonight. so plan is to game tomorrow and Sunday. and the good thing is i can stay up late Sunday as i'm off work Monday. idk if we're doing a debate stream or not. i have ideas but idk if we will have enough to work with this week or if it will be done at a later date. and plan is to do idol party with fiance(if he likes it),and then unpublish it so don't get copyright and then do another stream that we will keep published. idk if tomorrow will be the pc/ps day or if Sunday will. i will try Xbox again on one of the days,and if it gives me technical issues like before i just won't stream xbox til i can get a capture card. it has to be an Xbox or a Microsoft thing,because again the ps5 never did this when i used to stream directly off the console before getting a capture card. and i mean i use the switch as well with a capture card and i just found out from when i raided last when i did splatoon 3 that he has the same issues i do with the switch with it lagging with the capture card/streaming,so its the console itself when it goes to that regard. so wouldn't be surprised if its something similar with the Xbox. but at least even if i lag with the Xbox,at least the game will be broadcasted properly, as well as ppl wouldn't have to include their audios into the broadcast as at that point,we would be using discord. but the good thing is whether i use Xbox this week or whenever i get the capture card,my fiance and i have another game to play now,as he liked the xdefiant game i showed him. so at least now we have more games to do together. normally when its a pc/ps night we have at least 6 games we can do on ps,as some of the games are cross-play as well as the fact he has a ps5 too,and then the pc games,i can do right away as i have a capture card and use it on the pc. before i only had fortnite,overwatch,and dbd for us to play and we would usually have to backseat the rest. now not saying he and i will never backseat on the Xbox as there may be a time he is streaming something else/on a day we stream or we're done with the games we play and still need to fill out time. but at least now we will have 4 games now instead of 3,with the xdefiant game. and maybe with luck splitgate 2 once it becomes officially released(he doesn't have the 1st one anymore)

but yeah will keep u all posted,when/where i go live. in the mean time i have VOD's as well as clips/highlights on my page,u guys can check out.

anyways hope u all enjoy the rest of ur evening,and until next time^^ 💙

[vishkarstolen-blog]

sorry for not being on the past few days ive been ........ playing overwatch dsfkhjfslkg add me on battlenet if u play on pc  taakofromtv#1783 or on the ps4 as well ! pktk_lolol

[carmenblogs]

Are gaming communities becoming more toxic environments for some (e.g. women, LGBT communities, and ethnic minorities)?

It is now noted that female gamers frequently report encountering harassment and other unfavourable behaviours when participating in online gaming (Cote 2015; Gray et al. 2017; Holz Ivory et al. 2014; McLean and Griffiths 2013; Vermeulen et al. 2014). According to Yee (2006), playing online games encourages users to be more outgoing, interactive, and cooperative among team players. However, there are also negative aspects of online gaming, especially for women.

What is gaming?

Simply put, online gaming is the act of playing a video game via the internet—often with friends. Gaming can be played on a variety of devices, including PCs, laptops, mobile phones, and specialised gaming consoles like PlayStations, Xboxes, and Nintendo Switches, which can all be used to play online games. According to Bowman et al. (2015), playing online video games has long been perceived as a source of entertainment for many people, and one of the major factors in their popularity is their capability to create a sense of sociability and belonging.

The Downside of Gaming

In the gaming industry, it has been reported that 20% of female players have been victims of sexual harassment from males or other players, involving objectifying comments and threats of rape and death. A US, German, and Chinese poll discovered that 59% of women conceal their gender to avoid sexism and mistreatment online (Bougacha 2022). Personally, I don't play video games but I've seen and heard a lot of toxic stories of women getting inappropriate remarks from the online gaming community, especially from men who often mistreat female gamers online.

According to Bougacha (2022), Molly Fender Ayala, an online gamer and Twitch streamer who is the community development lead for the computer game Overwatch, wrote an online complaint to expose Omeed Dariani, the CEO of online performer groups, a production company that manages several streamers, of inappropriate advertising and sexual harassment in a tweet. Later, he quit his role as the company's CEO.

Unfortunately, it's not just Molly who experienced the same issue. Many female gamers online are constantly being harassed and have decided to speak out. According to Oppenheim (2021), Sunpi, a well-known gamer named Sunpi reports that she receives dick images from men she doesn't know on a daily basis or requests that they do so. Besides that, the verbal bullying she receives is often violent. "I've had online trolls threaten to kill me and my family if I don't pay any attention to them," she said. She also frequently discovers that innocent footage of her casually playing video games while fully clothed has been uploaded to the pornographic website Pornhub without her consent.

According to research conducted by the Young Gamers & Gamblers Education Trust (YGAM), 35% of women reported getting offensive messages or content from other gamers. While playing multiplayer online games, 28% of female gamers reported being verbally or sexually harassed by other gamers, and 40% reported getting sexually harassed. Due to the constant mistreatment experienced by women, many female gamers decided to quit online gaming as most men violently harass women (Oppenheim 2021).

In light of these facts, while gaming can create a sense of sociality and belonging, the gaming community can be an extremely toxic environment for women who are most likely to get verbally harassed and bullied due to sexism and 'white male supremacy'. The idea of women playing video games seems to be a novel attraction for men to take advantage of women. This is a serious issue that needs to be addressed that many do not speak of.

References:

Bougacha S, 2022, 'Gaming: Hidden Sexism and Harassment', IVolunteer International, viewed 27 November 2022, <https://www.ivint.org/gaming-hidden-sexism-and-harassment/#:~:text=In%20the%20gaming%20industry%2C%2020,to%20avoid%20abuse%20and%20sexism.>

McLean, L & Griffiths MD, 2019, ‘Female Gamers’ Experience of Online Harassment and Social Support in Online Gaming: A Qualitative Study', International Journal of Mental Health & Addiction, vol. 17, no. 4, pp. 970–994, viewed 27 November 2022, <https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=shib&db=a9h&AN=137907679&site=eds-live>.

Oppenheim M, 2021, 'The dark threats and sexual abuse women gamers endure', Independent, viewed 27 November 2022, <https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/women-gamers-sexual-abuse-harassment-b1860003.html>

[yehet-about-it]

Chase Me | Part 06 - Holding Back

⇐ || ☆ Masterlist ☆ || ⇒

🎮👾 ~ The Boyz Social Media AU ~ 👾🎮

"Twitching" is a British term used to mean "the pursuit of a previously located rare bird." In North America it is more often called chasing...

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*･ﾟ✧･ﾟ*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*･ﾟ✧･ﾟ

Synopsis: You are Birdy, international twitch streamer, personality and photographer and a few years ago you attended art school, where you met your best friends Changmin and Chanhee. Since then you’ve had a lot of laughs, and were introduced to another twitch streamer by Changmin, called Sunwoo, who quickly became the sunshine of your life. Sadly however, Sunwoo is a bit of a fuckboy, so, it was with regret, that you felt it was time to end things. As you recover from your break up, new feelings arise, and you slowly learn of the long hidden affections of one of your best friends. Will you allow yourself to be captured by him? And what happens when what was supposed to be an innocent twitch stream goes very awry? Read "Chase Me" to find out!

Pairings: Changmin x Reader, Sunwoo x Reader

Warnings: 17+, language, some smut in later chapters, fuckboy!sunwoo 😉

Updates Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday & Sunday @ 9pm GMT/1pm PST

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*･ﾟ✧･ﾟ*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*･ﾟ✧･ﾟ

Word Count: 1.1k Chapter Warnings: None Reccommended Listening: skeletons by keshi OR apocalypse by Cigarettes After Sex (cheerful titles I know)

“So what’s with everyone shipping you and jeju now? I saw a bunch of posts on twitter,” Changmin said, leaning back against the cushions on his bed, attentively licking the soft, yellow-ey ice cream off his spoon. You snorted, having found the whole situation quite funny, albeit rather sweet. “It was because of the stream the other day.” You laughed. “He was online streaming too and I bumped into him so we decided to work on this little village together. It was very wholesome.” You turned to Changmin with a spoonful of strawberry ice cream and gave him your dorkiest little smile, to which he grinned. “Ohh so that’s what Kevin was going on about. Sorry, I didn’t watch it, I kinda got absorbed playing Overwatch with Seonni.” Changmin’s face dropped as he realised what he’d just said, but you didn’t really mind. He was friends with the both of you and you couldn’t blame him for that. He looked at you apologetically but you just smiled, swallowing down your ice cream. “Don’t worry about it. You really don’t have to be so careful about what you say around me you know. It’s not like I’m gonna break down at the mere mention of his name. You two are close and that’s fine.” You said determinedly. “Sorry, I just wasn’t sure how you were feeling about it now.” He swallowed, still feeling guilty.

“It’s okay....” you uttered slowly, contemplating your next words. “Actually, can I ask you something?” You murmured your words, still not quite convinced you really wanted to know the answer to what you were about to ask. You knew you ought not to, but some part of you was desperate to know. Changmin hummed in response. “Sure!” “H-has he said anything about me? Like, do you think he’s totally over it or...?” Changmin raised his eyebrows at your questions. “It’s just I’ve not exactly spoken to him since... but I wanna know if he’s okay.” You babbled, trying to justify asking, not only to Changmin but to yourself too.

Changmin gulped down his last spoonful of ice cream, not sure quite how to respond. Sunwoo had been pretty down of course, but he wasn’t entirely sure that was something you needed to hear. It would only add to the mess of emotions you were feeling right now, and perhaps even make you doubt yourself for breaking up with him in the first place, which Changmin couldn’t bring himself to let you do. Not only for your sake but his own. He knew he shouldn’t let his personal feelings get in the way; in fact he’d spent the past year leaving his own feelings on the back shelf, because he just wanted you to be happy, so why stop now? But now even though Sunwoo was his best friend, he couldn’t let you go back to him, because he knew in his heart of hearts if you were to get back together Sunwoo would only end up hurting you again and he couldn’t face that possibility. Changmin had spent months trying to ignore his own feelings because he thought that maybe Sunwoo had changed, and that maybe the two of you would be happy together, but in hindsight, he wished he hadn’t. In fact, there was part of him that regretted ever having introduced the two of you at all. Not only had Sunwoo stolen the girl he adored from right under his nose, he’d also broken your heart.

Changmin’s mind waged a mental war over whether to give Sunwoo a chance and tell the whole truth, or let his personal feelings surface and encourage you to move on, but looking down at your big sad eyes staring back at him, his mind was made up. “He’s not really said a lot to be honest, but that’s just Sunwoo, he doesn’t like talking about his feelings.” Changmin began evasively, watering down the truth somewhat, for his own sake and yours. “I mean, he seems pretty down but I think that’s just down to his bruised ego.” Changmin stated. Technically he wasn’t lying. Sunwoo’s ego had been bruised by the break up for sure, but he’d been a little more vocal with his emotions than Changmin let on. He’d certainly told him that he missed you, but whether it was for the right reasons Changmin wasn’t sure.

“Oh. That’s fair... Well, thanks for telling me Q.” You said slowly. You didn’t really know how to react to Q’s information. In a sense it confirmed what you had already suspected - that he wasn’t totally heartbroken about the whole thing, but you were pleased to hear he was at least a little upset. “Sure.” Changmin replied, snapping the lid back on his carton of ice cream. “You wanna play some overwatch?”

Changmin stood up from his bed, taking the ice cream cartons into the kitchen after you nodded at him, returning a moment later with one of New’s big fluffy blankets grabbing the xbox controller off the tv stand on his way. Plopping back down on the bed, Changmin threw the blanket over you, allowing you to huddle closer to him for warmth and comfort before starting up the game.

After a couple of hours taking turns on Overwatch and Changmin helping you out here and there, being the more experienced player, it was Changmin’s turn again and you felt yourself getting sleepy. You were already lying comfortably under the blanket, your head resting on the pillow by changmin’s arm, and within mere minutes you were fast asleep.

When Changmin’s match ended, he looked to you to give you the controller, only then realising that you were no longer in the land of the conscious. Chuckling softly at your sleeping frame, he went to switch the tv and xbox off, and slipped on a change of shirt before crawling back onto the bed next to you. As he looked down at your peaceful face, nestling into his pillow, he couldn’t bring himself to wake you and decided that it would probably be okay to let you stay there for the night. He smiled to himself, overwhelmed by how good it felt to have you there with him, snuggled into his covers next to him like you were really his. But it was then the guilt set in. Here he was, with his best friend’s ex-girlfriend lying asleep in his bed, having just helped convince her that he was over her, and as the waves of guilt came crashing over him, Changmin knew he was in for a long night.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*･ﾟ✧･ﾟ*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*･ﾟ✧･ﾟ

Taglist: @lovelymultiwrites @shiberrysan @m4rshm4llow @softforqiankun @sktbzc0re @staysstrays @softyfor-sweaterpaws @glxwingstar @chiefturtlebonkghost

Please send me an ask to be added to the taglist! 🌸

[lizzy-frizzle]

I’m going to start this by saying, I have bias. Everyone does. I do not intend for this to come off as “the thing you like is bad”, but moreso “the corporation that controls the thing you like is manipulative”.

My background; I am a 26 year old trans mom, I have a history with addiction, particularly gambling, and spend most of my time playing video games. I have gone to college for about 3 years for my psychology degree, and while I do not have my degree, I have been studying psychology for roughly 12 years. This is to say, my views will reflect this background. Just because I present this information like I do, does not inherently mean I’m right, though it also doesn’t mean I’m wrong. Try to view things with a critical mind, and know that most topics have nuance.

Ok, so lootboxes, booster packs, gacha games, all of these are gambling. This is not really an argument. You are putting money into a service of sorts, and receiving a randomized result. Be that a fancy new gun, that same boring legendary you have 5 of, or that final hero you’ve been trying to collect. You don’t know the outcome before you give your money. As defined by the merriam-webster dictionary: “Gambling; the practice of risking money or other stakes in a game or bet”

You are risking your money in not getting an item you want. There are ways this is handled acceptably, and ways this is handled poorly. Gambling is also illegal to people under 21 in a lot of places, but places online aren’t quick to tell you why. I don’t have any sources because every source requires a paywall to get any information, but pulling from my own personal experience and what I learned in college, it’s because children are very impressionable. I say “I like pokemon” and suddenly my 2-year old can’t go anywhere without her pikachu. I remember distinctly playing poker with my mom and her friends when I was 12. When you normalize gambling, what it does is lower the risk aversion of gambling. You are less likely to see a threat in playing that card game, because when you are that young you have no concept of money. You don’t know what a dollar is, so why not throw it away so you can have fun. This is...I hesitate to call it fine, but it’s mostly harmless. The issue is with children and their lack of knowledge of money. When I grew up and got a job, it’s a lot harder to tell my brain, “hey, don’t spend that money, you won’t get it back and you won’t get what you want.” Because my brain just acknowledges the potential for what I want. I want to buy the booster pack so I can have the potential to get that masterpiece misty rainforest. I want to buy that diamond pack so I have the chance to get the cute hero. I want to buy that lootbox so I can get the battle rifle that does a cool effect. These are harmless concepts, but very dangerous.

Make no mistake, companies know how psychology works, and will use it to their advantage. MatPat from game theory states that companies have even go so far as to have systems in place that change the odds as you’re losing, and monitor your skill level to put you up against harder opponents, to see the better weapons and go, “Oh I want that!” and entice you to buy more lootboxes. As it turns out I found an article covering what he was talking about, Activision had actually acquired a patent to arrange matchmaking to do just that [x], and the article says it’s not in place, but my trust in companies is not high enough to actually believe them.(honestly, matpat made a 2-part video series about lootboxes, and I’d recommend watching them)

So, companies are trying to manipulate you to buy more gambling products. There’s proof of it. It’s also more blatantly obvious in games like Magic the Gathering, where they release fancier versions of cards at rarer probabilities. To better explain it, from a collector’s standpoint, you want the fancy card cause it has value, it has value because it’s rare, rarer than the other versions, so if you’re on the lower end of the income ladder you buy a pack, or two. After all, you could get lucky and get it. On the higher end of the income ladder, you buy the card outright and hoard it. Maybe sell it off later if you notice the price goes down. From a player perspective, you see a card is being used by tournament players, you want to win more games, so you want those cards, which encourages you to buy products and try to get those cards. That’s predatory behavior. It’s predatory from the company’s perspective because that poor person might not be able to afford the card outright, but $5-$10 isn’t much, plus they always entice you with that Chance. They also further this desire for the cards by making it limited runs, such as the secret lair packs, if there’s a low amount purchased and it’s made to order, or worse, if they limit the order capabilities themselves, that drives up the value, and provides further incentive to buy the cards and packs. This not only creates an impossible barrier between the poor and the rich, but also heavily encourages people buy their gambling pack than people would have in other conditions.

For the record, I love magic the gathering, I’m not saying the game itself is bad, this is just a VERY predatory marketing tactic.

Let’s switch gears. Gacha games. I play AFKArena, because like I said, I have a gambling addiction and cannot stop myself. In AFKArena, you collect heroes, and battle with them in various ways. If you collect more of similar heroes you can rank them up. If I’m to believe what I’ve heard, it sounds like this is pretty common for gacha games. So what makes it bad. In AFKArena you use diamonds to summon heroes, now, you can acquire diamonds by beating specific story chapters, logging in every day, random limited time events, or paying for them with real money. AFKArena hero drops don’t seem that bad compared to the free diamond amount they dish out, which has resulted in me not spending all that much money on it, all things considered ($20 over 2 years). I believe that for a mobile game like this, that’s fair. I get way more enjoyment out of the game than I do most $60 games, so it balances out. However, this isn’t the case for every gacha game, and my trust in companies, as previously stated, is very low. The issue lies in them making the rates for good heroes so low that you HAVE to spend money on the game to really get over a roadblock of sorts. I do think that there is this issue in my game and I just didn’t notice it, someone with a lower tolerance or patience might absolutely have the incentive to drop hundreds of dollars on the game over a month. There are people of all different flavours, and it’s important to keep that in mind when discussing these topics, just because a marketing technique doesn’t work on you, does not mean it doesn’t work on anyone. After all, they have those $100 packs for a reason, you might not be that reason but someone is. That’s predatory.

I feel like I’ve gotten off track, let’s get back on the rails. Where was...gambling...predatory…ah, kids. So my biggest issue, is that Magic the Gathering is marketed towards 13 year olds. Not directly, but the packs say 13+. AFKArena and any mobile game for that matter, can be downloaded by anyone with a phone for free, with minimal mention that there’s microtransactions. AAA title games like Destiny 2, Overwatch, Fortnite, etc. are probably the worst offenders. A kid spent $16,000 of his parents money on fortnite in-game purchases, and that’s not the only time this has happened [x] [x] . More often than not, what happens is, the kid wants to play a video game, like halo on xbox, or destiny, or something, they ask their mom for their credit card, and the system saves it. I mentioned before that kids do not have a concept of money or its value, so giving kids unlimited access to the credit card is going to result in this kind of thing happening. I’m not blaming the parents for not being hypervigilant, sometimes you are really busy, or disabled, or whatever the reason, and you don’t notice the system just saved your card. I’m not blaming the kids cause their brains are literally underdeveloped. I blame the corporations, because they make the process as easy as possible to prey on kids and people with gambling addictions. (as a personal anecdote, I found that if I want a magic card in MtG:O, I’m way less likely to try and buy it if I have to get up and get my card, I’d recommend not saving your card if you suffer from gambling/addiction problems)

So after all of this evidence, how can anyone still view these things as anything but predatory? The answer is simple. You’re told they aren’t. Businesses spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on really good marketing, and public relations. I tried to google why gambling is illegal for people under 21, and got nothing, I got a couple forums asking the question, and a couple religious sites saying it’ll make them degenerates. I try looking up sources to prove the psychology behind these concepts, but they are locked behind paywall after paywall after paywall. Businesses and capitalism has made it so incredibly hard to discover the truth and get information you need, and it’s on purpose. They want you to trust that that booster pack is a good idea. They want you to spend money on lootboxes (look at all the youtubers that shill out for raid shadow legends, or other gambling games to their super young fanbase [x]). They want you to lower your guard and go, “well, it’s a video game, how can it be predatory?” “it’s a card game with cute creatures on it, surely it’s not that bad”

But it is. So why did I make this post? I dunno, my brain really latched onto the topic, I see so many people enjoying gacha games, but I’m worried that it’s going to ruin lives...I just want everyone to be informed and critical of what is going on.

[theyakuzaswife]

Shie Hassaikai

and their overwatch mains

this was partially inspired by my buddy @elaineiswithyou and also the fact that ive been playing ALOT of overwatch lately. they plan to do some various characters as well soon, so if that’s something you would like to see, check into their blog every now and then.

Kai Chisaki - Moira

First of all, someone must have really sweet talked him to go anywhere near a game that wasn’t chess, let alone play long enough to have a main. Kai is the type of player who is a bit of a lore fanatic, and that in my opinion would be the main reason he sticks with the game. He’s invested in the story, and he’s a bit of a dick about it, fact checking people on their mains. “Oh you play Mercy? List all of her voice actors in order of language.” Lowkey a gatekeeper. He’s a support main mostly, but he can also play characters such as Hanzo, Sigma, and Symmetra fairly well. Never try and suggest he play Mercy by the way. Even if he’s a bit toxic however, he’s a great player and has invested time into learning his characters and their abilities very carefully.

Hari Kurono - Hanzo

Hari got into the game when he found out Kai was playing it, and the two began grouping together literally everytime they played after that. He mostly plays the game for fun, and is a lot less competitive than Kai. He’s also typically the voice of reason in a way if Kai begins to get irritated, and he almost never gets angry unless people are purposefully fucking him over. He’s a flex player, but he is incredible with Snipers surprisingly.

Joi Irinaka - Reinhardt

He had heard of the game but didn’t play many video games in general, it wasn’t really his thing. Kai and Hari managed to coax him into a match. They found out, to their surprise, that Joi was a fucking god at tanking without even being aware of it. Joi lost interest within the first couple of matches, until the other two brought the fact up that he was a natural tank player to him, and he decided to keep playing for their sake. He’s amazing at call outs, but can get very short tempered with people if they don’t listen. He mostly plays shield tanks, but really prefers to play Rein or Zarya.

Shin Nemoto - McCree

Another who followed suite after the first three. Shin mains McCree but also somehow is fairly good at Echo and yet dogshit at most other characters. He actually doesn’t like the game as much as you’d think, and just plays to try and impress Kai but dies every 20 seconds. Most of the time he ends up just getting kicked however when Kai finds out he’s only gotten 3 kills within 10 minutes of game time. Sorry babes, maybe next time.

Rikiya Katsukame - Bastion

There’s something off about Rikiya and his character. For some bewildering reason, he is bad at pretty much every character except omnics and other robotic characters. He sucks at most everyone, but somehow when it comes to others like Orisa, Bastion, and Zenyatta he is shockingly good. He doesn’t play the game that much, and also pretty much always stays with his mic muted, -assuming he ever had one- but if the others are loosing a lot and need the characters he plays, he’ll jump online.

Toya Setsuno - Genji

Toya is sort of the memester of the squad. He makes fun of Hari for maining Hanzo, and does stupid shit just to get laughs out of people. He’ll do stuff like emote on the cart, spam the meme voice likes like ‘you need healing’ until Kai yells at him. However, he is not a bad player. It’s not uncommon to see him getting POTG with his ults, or even without them. Kai let’s him stay around because of that no matter how annoying he is, and Toya takes advantage of that.

Yu Hojo - Zarya

Although he mains Zarya, Yu doesn’t especially specialize in anything, and can play most characters decently. He’s sort of a Jack of all trades. He’s very quiet in the vc, and most people think he has his mic muted until they hear a sigh every now and then when he dies or something goes wrong, or a chuckle when Toya is being a dumbass. He also plays Mei very well, and gets confused when the enemy team rips into him for playing ‘the ice demon’. Poor baby.

Soramitsu Tabe - Junkrat

Tabe is an... odd player. He’s a god at Junkrat, but can for some reason never play any other character good. He also is very... loud. Kind of. He, like Hojo, is someone people think is just muted, but if something goes wrong, he’s prone to screaming. He gets muted by a lot of his teammates for it, and when he scares someone from his loudness, it fucking kills Toya and he spends the next 5 minutes bawling about it.

Kendo Rappa - Roadhog

Toxic. Rappa is a shockingly good player, but he has a god awful attitude. He is prone to flaming people over the smallest mistakes, and it ISNT uncommon to see him leave if his team doesn’t win the first fight unless he is with the other members. If he stays though, get ready to get your ass ate out by this man who literally only plays road with 100+ hours, and refuses to switch. If he is with the others, they can sweet talk him into playing Doomfist, but besides that he’s road all the way. He also definitely plays on Xbox.

Hekiji Tengai - Mercy

Smart, overworked blonde plays smart overworked blonde. What more can I say. Despite being a Mercy main though, Tengai is good at just about every support, and ismore of a support main who mostly plays mercy because Kai wants him to. He’s also good at Brigitte especially. He tried to get into playing Winston once because his shield skill was similar to his quirk, but Kai always forces him to play support with him if they group together.

Deidoro Sakaki- Sombra

He only plays the game for one reason; her ‘I need a drink’ voice line.

Pops - Soldier: 76

This man has never touched anything more than a flip phone in his life and not even Kai can convince him to play the game. He did play the tutorial to get Kai to shut up though, so he’s basically a Soldier main.

[nintendocaffeine]

Issues with Online Play

Taglist: @nintendo - @nele3299 - @hoodie-art - @pepper-is-salty

Online play should be free in my own opinion and I want to list off several reasons why it should be. This will be long and I hope you bare with me. 

Nintendo Switch cost: $300 

Animal Crossing New Horizons: $44.00 

Pokemon Sword and Shield: 50.99 (Together: 101.98) 

Pokemon Lets go Pikachu and Eevee: 59.99 (Together: 119.98) 

Legend of Zelda Breath Of The Wild: 59.99 

If the console and the games you buy are that much then online should be free. I understand why not everything is free, however, like with the themes and the DLC packages. Here is a list of services that let you play multiplayer games for free without barring you with a paywall. 

 • Steam 

• Google play 

• Nintendo 3DS ($100) 

• Nintendo 3DS XL ($199.99) 

• Nintendo DS ($23) 

• Nintendo DS Lite: $33 

•Nintendo DSi ($25.)

I understand anyone can price anything as high as they deem it worth but I can buy cheaper (and better) games for a better result. In future posts I will be making will detail one by one of Nintendo's games but this is right now about why Nintendo should make online play free.

Steam is a program by Valve where you can buy a game without getting up and walking to your store to buy it. Right now leaving your house for a game is getting only harder and harder as is. Steam has over a billion games of all different types to 8-bit to intricately detailed.

Stardew Valley for example, on steam you can play it without needing to pay for a monthly subscription to play with your friends. You just give them an invite and you can even mass invite people you don't even know to have over twenty people playing at one time in one farm.

Stardew Valley also costs only $14.99 but on sale $8.99 As far as I know, Nintendo has never had a sale on any of their games. 

My friend in Germany claims her Pokemon Shield cost her $60 But let's go a little bit farther, shall we?

Steam 

Dead by Daylight: $11.99 

Overwatch: $39.99 

Don't Stave together: $14.99 

 Nintendo 3DS 

Pokemon Sun/Moon: $29.99 

Pokemon Ultra Sun/Moon: $29.99 

Pokemon X/Y: $37.99 

Animal Crossing New Leaf: $20.00

Now, Dead by Daylight and Overwatch are both for steam and the switch, however, unlike with the switch, Steam doesn't make you subscribe to anything to play online with your friends. You don't need to pay $3.99 (20.00 for 12 months) to have fun with your friends and you shouldn't have to. Then again I never played Dead by Daylight but my one friend does constantly and leaves me alone to go off and play it. I also don't play Overwatch either but it exists. I won't leave out that, yes, you do however need subscriptions on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

With the switch, in Pokemon, unless you cough up 3.99 just to trade pokemon with friends (You need to trade to have a complete Pokedex which the Pokedex isn't national), then don't even bother getting the switch. Pokemon Sword and Shield are 100% a waste of time anyway and I'll get to that game soon.

That aside, we should have free online play. That was the point. We paid for the overpriced consoles and games, we can pay for themes, DLC, and in-game items if we want. Restricting a player to pay to play with their own friends is terrible and makes whatever your game is even worse. Trust me, I could rant all day about Animal Crossing New Horizons, Pokemon Sword/Shield, and Breath of The Wild. Which the last one isn't even multiplayer- That's saying a lot. Which, I want to say that not all of my ranting is negative, I have good things to say about each game but along with that are also negative things. So basically ranting about pros and cons. I wouldn't mind doing that every day.

But I'll leave you with all this information, take this as you will.

But remember this, if a game says it's multiplayer on the box and once in the game it bars you from actually using the multiplayer function with a paywall, that's sketchy and deceptive. It should say that clearly on the box.

[texanredrose]

Hey there ! Apparently you like video-games (or at least Smash), so what's your favourite one ?

Hookay, so… I know this is going to get long, so adding a Read More, but the short answer is: I don’t have a clear cut favorite, but some of my favorites include such well known properties as Mass Effect and lesser known ones like Sudeki. I’m not some gaming guru but I definitely have some Opinions™ about video games.

Favorite First Person Shooter: Halo: Reach. Generally, I don’t ask for much in my FPS; let me kill shit and the less I have to reload, the better. However, Halo: Reach, being at the time the 4th game in the franchise that served as the prequel to the entire series, provided an excellent story with great characters and an underlying message about the indomitable human soul.

Favorite Real Time Strategy: Halo Wars. Okay, yes, another entry from the same franchise, but!!! This one also has some fantastic characters and a great storyline, even if it’s… somewhat confusing when considering the bigger narrative (Halo in general is just messy af and retconned-but-not all to hell anyway). Still, it’s a fun, mostly intuitive RTS, which is notoriously difficult on consoles.

Favorite Horror Game: Resident Evil. Listen, this game came out when I was seven, and my Uncle let me play it to fuck with me. Nothing will be scary than those early PS1 graphics, the loading screen a constant tease of ‘what’s behind this door? Is it death? It’s probably death!’ that got me good. Fear Factor comes a close second, as though it wasn’t much of a horror game, the game mechanic of your character’s rising stress level kept me on the fucking edge.

Favorite Final Fantasy: Final Fantasy X. Listen. I don’t care how awkward Tidus’ laugh was. I don’t even mind how passive Yuna was. Blitzball was amazing and I have forgiven all sins. No, seriously, I loved the cast in FFX, much like other FF games, and Seymour was a villain I enjoyed hating with every fiber of my being, and even some of the mini games were fun, too. But Blitzball could’ve been a standalone game and I would’ve bought it. Still would.

Favorite JRPG: Sudeki. If you didn’t get a chance to play this on the original XBOX, you missed out. The characters were fun, if a bit goofy, and the high fantasy mixed with science fiction was a nice touch. What really sold me, though, was the AI. Not only could you switch between different available characters in the middle of a fight- very easily and very intuitively- but the AI actually behaved very well, saving my ass more than a time or two. In most games, AI are either cannon fodder, immortal, or require close attention/precise manipulation of their preset actions. Not in Sudeki; some fights, I could actually stand back and let my party do their work, and that was immensely gratifying. Yeah, the ending was a bit of a let down, but it didn’t erase how much fun I had with the rest of the game.

Favorite Super Smash Brothers: Super Smash Brothers Melee. Don’t get me wrong, I love a lot of the elements in the sequels but SSBM was the version I played most heavily with friends, so I have the most fond memories of it. Plus, it was before they changed Link’s moveset, which I’m still high key upset about. (I don’t like the new bombs or his new down attack.)

Favorite Series: Mass Effect. Now, one might expect Halo to be my favorite series, seeing as two of the games are some of my all time favorites, but… nah. When you take out the multiplayer element, the Halo games didn’t have much left. Yes, they had a galaxy spanning conflict with twists and turns but, honestly, Mass Effect did it better, with better world building and exploration, and a lot of interactive features that I enjoyed. From what I played of Andromeda, (long after it released, so no weird bugs yet), it continued to build on the foundation of the original trilogy, though I would’ve preferred to stay in the Milky Way, and Ryder can’t hold a candle to Shepard. Still, even what issues I have with the series (LET ME ROMANCE KROGANS, DAMNIT) don’t detract from the excellent story, fun gameplay, and intriguing mystery.

Favorite Elder Scrolls: … okay, I actually don’t like any of them, tbh. And??? I’m not sure why??? I actively can’t stand Skyrim.

Favorite Soulsborne: There is only Dark Souls, and it’s the pinnacle of ‘I don’t need my brain for this’ for me. It’s just… run around and kill things. Nothing matters. I think the main difference between this and Skyrim is the way the player character moves. ES games look so… silly. At least Dark Souls looks silly for a reason.

Favorite Sports Game: NCAA 2007. I’d rather play as a college team than a professional one. Although, NFL Blitz comes a very close second, purely because it gave no fucks and only barely qualifies as a sports game.

Favorite ‘Oh Fuck’ Game: It’s a tie between Minecraft and ARK: Survival Evolved. And you’re asking ‘how are those two in the same category’ and the answer is ‘because the only difference between the two for me is, which is going to kill me, lava or a raptor?’ and don’t ask how I die to these two things with equal frequency. More to the point, I usually play these games with friends, and thus my ‘oh fuck’ moments are witnessed by others, or I witness their ‘oh fuck’ moments. Sometimes they’re funny, sometimes they’re sad, but they leave an impact and, hey, that’s fucking impressive.

Favorite Pokemon Game: Blue Version. Yeah, it’s a bit of a cop out, but the original game I got back when Pokemon first came over to the States actually taught me a life lesson: that it is possible to play a game wrong, which is what I was doing. So, I started over, and I was much happier for it! No matter what features are added to the franchise, I don’t think I’ll ever gain such an important life lesson from one again, so it’s gonna stay at the top of the list.

Favorite Chill Game: Any Harvest Moon. Let me tend my farm. (I haven’t had a chance to play Stardew Valley, which is basically Harvest Moon but gay, so that’ll probably take the top spot once I get a chance to play it.)

Favorite Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Although there are some aspects of Majora’s Mask I liked better, OoT had fishing. Yes, that’s honestly my favorite part of the game. I love fishing in video games. Don’t judge me.

Favorite Team Game: Overwatch. Love the character designs and gameplay. Witch!Mercy still owns my soul.

Favorite Battle Royale: Apex Legends. For some reason, one of the few ‘competitive’ games that doesn’t spark my frustration when I lose. Dunno why, it’s just fun. Lightning rounds are great, too!

Favorite Hack-n-Slash: Brutal Legends. Heavy metal, axes, and guitars- everything from the aesthetic to the gameplay is fun and the story is interesting as well. The RTS portion can get a bit annoying but, other than that, no complaints here.

Favorite Fable: Fable III. I endorse any game that allows me to woo as many people as I can find who are attracted to me. Let me have as many spouses as I want, one in each city. I will marry half the kingdom, damnit, just watch me. 

Those are the ones I can think of off the top of my head. I know I’m missing some but I’ve sunk perhaps hundreds of hours into the games listed, so, yeah.

[svftdandelions]

¡𝔸𝕟 𝕀𝕟𝕥𝕣𝕠𝕕𝕦𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 ℙ𝕠𝕤𝕥!

◤─────•~❉᯽❉~•─────◥

𝙸𝙿𝚑𝚘𝚗𝚎

𝚆𝚎 𝙰𝚛𝚎 𝙱𝚞𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚝𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚏: 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙴𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚗𝚊𝚕 ♡

𝙱𝚃𝚂

↺ |◁ II ▷| ♡

0:00━━♡━━4:22

Volume: ▁ ▂ ▃ ▄ ▅ ▆ █ 100%

◣─────•~❉᯽❉~•─────◢

Hello, guys, my name is Alexandra or Alex 🥥

And welcome to my Tumblr ✨ —— On this post, I’ll go into details on how this blog will look like, but the first thing on the agenda is an Intro, so let’s get started on the “about me.”

About me

🌿 I’m 16

🌿 My B-Day is September 18

🌿Pronouns: She/her

🌿(For any HP fans) I’m in the house of snakes 🐍

🌿(For any PJ Fans) Apollo, is my patron and Athena, is my matron.

🌿HS student (🎓 ‘23)

🌿Live in Maryland, US (“We have crabs 🦀”)

🌿My zodiac is a Virgo ♍️

🌿My favorite colors are gold, yellow & blue

🌿I’m Multi-fandomed

🌿Kpop Stan (BTS•ARMY!)

🌿Love the outdoors ⛺

🌿I’m bilingual, meaning I speak two languages (Spanish is my native, but I also speak English, in the future, I hope to learn Korean, Italian, and Portuguese.)

🌿 I’m a graphic designer (Not professionally but as a hobby) Editor and Author.

🌿My birthstone is a Sapphire

🌿Nationality: [American] Ethnicity: [Salvadoran, Spaniard, and European]

🌿 I am a supporter of the LGBTQ 🏳️‍🌈

🌿Huge fan of sports (Soccer has my heart ⚽️)

🌿Love watching anime (Yuri on ice, Free!, Diabolik Lovers, My Hero Academia, Haikyu!!)

🌿Big into gaming (I grew up with the Nintendo console, PlayStation and Xbox, but here are some of my favorite titles —- Detroit Become Human, Resident Evil franchise, Call of Duty, Overwatch, Minecraft, Just Dance, God Of War and so much more...)

🌿Lover of different cultures 🌎🌍🌏

🌿Diverse music listener (I listen to the music of all genres and languages.)

🌿My favorite instruments are the piano 🎹 and violin 🎻

🌿Huge Disney lover

🌿My favorite book series as of now is “Truly Devious” by Maureen Johnson and the “Trial of Apollo” by Rick Riordan

🌿My favorite movies are movies with action, but I’m a sucker for romance so here are some of my top favorites, (Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle [V:2017], Crazy Rich Asians, The Meg, Skyscraper, Charlie's Angels [V:2019], Avengers movies, Spiderman Movies and so much more...)

🌿My classes for this semester are English Honors, Algebra 1B, Health, Apush —- (when I do graduate I hope to go to med school and become a psychiatrist)

🌿 You’ll get to know more about me as we go on but now it’s time to get into the writing aspect of this blog.... 😌

Writer & Author

I have been writing for as long as I can remember, but it was til fourth grade where my love for writing truly started to blossom.

We had a decrisption writing assignment— this memory I always remember clearly and I supposed that’s due to the amount of detail that went into it.

We needed to write imagery, about a photo we choose from a magazine or article, and I choose this building a modern one in the city -- this picture was taken during the night in the rain.

At first, I was hesitant writing had never been my strong suite up to this point, in fact, I hated writing... But hey I needed a good grade so I suck it up and wrote.

Don't expect I was writing absolute Shakespeare because to be fair I was in fourth grade so what 8-9 years of age. But out of all the pieces of writing I did at that point in time, this one changed something within me it was a switch that was lifted... And when it was my turn to share with my class, at the end my teacher, and language art specialist, applaud me. As to the best of my abilities, I was able to capture that picture and teleport, everyone, to that location I made sure to use the color palette to my advantage, from memory I wrote the feeling of rain, and from the abyss of the night sky, I captured that moment.

From there on my love for writing only grew, and it's still growing from all I learn to write from all genres of literature, my passion each day only gets stronger.

My writing is unique in the sense of puzzles I write with clues weaved within the sentences -- the tiniest details can't be left untouched everything is important.

Description and detail, are my top pride and joy, vocabulary grows, day by day.

In the end, writing holds a special place in my heart, these characters, and storylines I have created will be moments in time, that will be always remembered.

And to you all, I hope you join to read one of my stories who knows maybe in this library you'll find a new book you'll like.

~Ty

¡𝕊𝕠𝕔𝕚𝕒���� 𝕄𝕖𝕕𝕚𝕒’𝕤!

(Plz follow any of these if you can 👉🏼👈🏼🥺 it would be rly appreciated.)

🌸Pinterest: 5Ahernandez

🌸Quotev: GoldenHeartalex

🌸Wattpad: avacwho

🌸PicsArt: isntitlovelyz

🌸Instagram: avacwho.uwu

🌸Discord: ID~ Cafe-lattae#7164

🌿Spotify: Name~ GOLD ✨

https://open.spotify.com/user/wypn53jhjeicrinp3c2n5k05l?si=KbMRFl1jS1y6unzliX3AcQ

🌺 Well guy’s that basically it, in the end I hope this post gives you a better idea on who I am as a person. I’m happy to be here and am really excited to dive into the community of Tumblr—-

To cap off, what this blog will basically look like —- For me I’ll be using this blog to post my writing and new works here. I’ll also use this blog to communicate with more of my readers and followers anyone is welcome to join.

I’m still new and I’m still learning so it’ll take some time but slowly and surely I’ll get the hang of it — ty all for your time and I can’t wait to be apart of this journey.

~Alexandra 🌺🌿✨

(Also my DMs are always open if you want some advice on anything it doesn't have to solely be just writing, or plainly if you just want to talk I’m here.)

[audiogrizzly]

My Top 20 Games of the 2010s

I will still be doing my usual top 5 this year, but seeing as it’s the last year of a whole decade, I am going to start off with a list of games that encompasses the whole of the last 10 years.

A couple of things to point out before we get cracking:

This is a personal list, so there’s gonna be some games that you the reader may not agree with.  I’m actually in a privileged position to play whatever I want, but I don’t necessarily agree with everything professional game writers say.  There will be a list of “honourable mentions” at the end, this may include a few of the games you might have been expecting

I do cheat a little, some entries are dedicated to a franchise of games.  At the end of the day, if you are into Destiny, chances are that Destiny 1 and 2 sort of merged into each other, Destiny 1 changed as much over its 3 year lifespan as the final product changed into Destiny 2

There are no games from 2019 in here, apart from part of one of them, see my previous point.  Maybe one day I will look at Apex legends and say “yes, that was the best game of the 2010s”, but it’s too early to say now.

I know there are a lack of Nintendo games.  There is one Nintendo exclusive and another that I played on a Nintendo platform (in the top 20, there may be more in the honourable mentions), but all in all I won’t be mentioning what system I played these games on unless I have to.  If you must know, the majority were played on either PlayStation 4 and PC.  A couple of Vita, PS3, Switch and Wii U.

I will be adding information on where each game scored in my previous yearly top 5s though and I did do those on separate platforms up until 2013.  So in a way, that’s confirming what systems I played these all on.

If you have followed my yearly top 5s, you’ll see some inconsistency, as in the fact that I have got my number 1 game from 2015 further down the list than my number 2 of that year.  Also that I have my 1st and 3rd best game from 2018 on the list but my number 2 game is merely on the honourable mentions.  This is because your thoughts towards a game can change.  I still love all the games I have ever placed on a top 5, but some games age better than others.

And I’m not going to write descriptions, I always write something in my yearly lists.  As I said before, I’m not a games writer, it’s going to take way too long and I don’t think anyone's going to read what I write anyway, just look at the list.

At the start of this decade, I had no idea if I would still be playing games by the end of it or where I would be.  I’m actually still sort of in the same place I was in 2010, but it’s been a fun ride, in a sort of “slipping into middle age” sort of way.  But I think I was born to be old to be honest.  Now I find myself at the start of the 2020s, I’m wondering how my hearing/eyesight/reactions will be at the end of the next decade.

Now that I have depressed the hell out of you, let’s begin!

20. PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale (2nd on both my PS3 and Vita lists in 2012)

19. Vanquish (4th on my PS3 list from 2010)

18. Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain (1st on my 2015 list)

17. Steamworld Dig 2 (3rd on my 2017 list)

16. Marvel’s Spider-Man (4th on my 2018 list)

15. Gravity Rush 1 & 2 (GR1 1st on my Vita 2012 list, GR2 on my honourable mentions from 2017)

14. Dangonronpa Series (D1 5th on my 2014 list, DV3 honourable mention for 2017, D2 not listed)

13. The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt (2nd on my 2015 list)

12. God of War (1st on my 2018 list)

11. The Last of Us (2nd on my 2013 list, though I really started to enjoy it more when the Remastered version came out on PS4, 1st on my 2014 list)

10. NieR: Automata (2nd on my 2017 list)

9. Horizon Zero Dawn (1st on my 2017 list)

8. Persona 4 Golden (Not listed, this is the only game I didn’t play in the year of its release on here)

7. Diablo 3 (3rd on my PS3 list in 2013, Honourable mention for PS4 in 2014)

6. DOOM (2nd on my 2016 list)

5. Portal 2 (2nd on my PS3 list for 2012)

4. CoD Series (yes, all of them, here’s a list within a list:)

10. Ghosts (2nd on my PS4 list in 2013)

9. Advanced Warfare (3rd on my 2014 list)

8. Infinite Warfare (Honourable mention in 2016)

7. Black Ops 3 (Not listed, but didn’t do honourable mentions in 2015)

6. Modern Warfare (not listed yet, but like I said, it’s too early for me to feel confident in a 2019 game, though MW is a cracker)

5. Black Ops 4 (5th on my 2018 list)

4. WWII (Not listed, not even on honourables, weirdly)

3. Black Ops 2 (2nd on my 360 list from 2012, making this my only Xbox game on my list)

2. Black Ops (Not listed, didn’t do honourables in 2010)

1. Modern Warfare 3 (1st on my PS3 list from 2011)

3. Mario Kart 8 (Not listed, the only top 5 I can find from 2014 is a PS4 list, I got this rather late in the year though)

2. Overwatch (1st on my 2016 list)

1. Destiny 1&2 (D1 2nd on my 2014 list, D2 5th on my 2017 list)

Destiny there being a good example of a game that gets better over time, I think the whole “live game” scene found its stride in the 10s and it’s made sure that this game that was never number 1 in its year of release could go on to be the game I have perhaps put the most hours into.  You also have multiplayer games taking up my entire top 4 too (I mostly play CoD for multiplayer), though all in all, the majority of this list are single player titles.

And all CoDs in the list?  It’s basically just CoD itself that’s at number 4.  If I was forced to adhere to a list where there was only single games listed, there would be no way I would have Ghosts or Advanced Warfare on there at the end of it all.  I would just keep MW3 on there perhaps, but then I would feel iffy about some of the games at the bottom of the list.  Do I really like PS All-Stars and Vanquish more than Black Ops 1 & 2?

So what of the decade’s honourable mentions?  Will it feature GTA or Red Dead.  The answer to the latter is “yes” and the former, here:

GTA 5

Batman Arkham city

Uncharted 3

Red Dead Redemption

Super Street Fighter 4

Hyper Light Drifter

Dishonored 2

Titanfall 2

Battleborn

Watch Dogs 2

Ratchet and Clank

Red Dead Redemption 2

Tearaway (Vita and Unfolded)

Sonic Mania

Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild (yes, in my honourables!)

Hotline Miami

Bioshock Infinite

Tomb Raider (2016)

Borderlands 2

Life is Strange

Uncharted 4 (and Lost Legacy)

Persona 5

Assassins Creed Origins and Odyssey (Origins I played the year after it came out, it would have been considered a game of the year if I’d had played it in 2017)

Far Cry 3 (Plus its legacy, even FC5)

Bulletstorm

And I’m just going to add Control to that list too as it’s the only game from 2019 that I have enjoyed that I see as being something that will stand up in a couple of years, maybe the Outer Worlds (I haven't played Wilds) too, but I will need to give that another play.

So there you have it, 10 years in gaming from me.  Will I still be playing games after another?  Time, and my body, will tell.  Look out for my top 5 of 2019, I still have to give Judgment and Death Stranding a good go before I can make up my mind, maybe I will play Outer Wilds too.

[guynamedultimax]

Smash Characters and people who main them

So, I was thinking about who mains certain Smash characters. Aaaand I got these ideas.

Mario: Probably Mickey Mouse. Or Emmet from the Lego Movie franchise idk

DK: Surely not King Kong because he has big hands and would break a Joy-Con just by touching it, not even a GameCube controller is safe. 100% Winston from Overwatch is the candidate, even better if he takes the blue DK skin lol

Link: Sora. This one is easy as hell.

Samus: Tony Stark is the first option that comes to mind.

Dark Samus: And since Rhodes can’t use Samus, might as well use the OTHER Samus lol

Yoshi: It is canonically stated in Deltarune that Asriel Dreemurr mains him and loves him to death.

Fox: I’m not sure how a red pirate fox animatronic holds a Joy-Con or two but probably Foxy from FNAF is the perfect main here.

Pikachu: It’s either Agumon or Jibanyan, too easy. Also put Jibanyan in Smash Sakurai pls

Luigi: Probably Donald Duck to parallel Mickey, the only difference between the two would be that Donald has a short temper while Luigi is a cowardly lion (and the plumber-sailor thing)

Ness: *MEGALOVANIA AND GAME THEORY INTRO INTENSIFIES* Ok jokes aside I think John Egbert and/or Sans are good candidates as Smash main.

Captain Falcon: Raphael, the red turtle from the Teena- wait why am I explaining an obvious character. His bros collectively main another character.

Jigglypuff: D.Va, full stop. She is a bunny person but may also love a Jigglypuff (now I want a drawing of Hana hugging the Puff help me)

Peach: Sooo, let’s see...Mickey has Mario... Donald has Luigi... I think you know where I’m going with this one.

Daisy: OH GOD I JUST REALIZED THAT DAISY DUCK MAINS PRINCESS DAISY, IT’S A “HI I’M-DAISY-CEPTION!”

Bowser: Is there any drawing of Bowser cosplaying as Peg-Leg Pete and viceversa? I’d die for that, it would be hella funny, especially with Mario and Mick dying from laughter in the distance.

Ice Climbers: Hmmm...twins...you can use them to make icy puns...I KNOW! IT’S GEORGE AND FRED

Sheik: Literally any of the ninjas from Lego Ninjago, bonus points for Lloyd.

Zelda: I have literally no damn ide-oh wait. I can use literally any blonde Disney princess lol

Dr. Mario: Undecided between Sorcerer Apprentice!Mickey and Oswald the Lucky Rabbit

Pichu: Shogunyan makes the most sense to me. I don’t know a lot about any other Digimon so I’m sorry if I don’t have Digimon ideas for Pichu.

Falco: I don’t know why but the thought of Chica maining Falco makes me laugh. Not that I ship Fox and Falco, of course, but seeing my FNAF OTP using two best pals looks funny enough to me

Any Fire Emblem character that is not Robin or Corrin: I literally have no damn idea.

Young Link: The first one that came to mind was Kenny from South Park and I don’t know, don’t even ask me

Ganondorf: I can just see Gamora giving Thanos a copy of Smash for the Switch and him curbstomping people as Ganondorf

Mewtwo: I still think that Beerus is an AU version of Mewtwo. If Beerus wasn’t a lazy dickhead maybe he would have been similar to Mewtwo.

Mr. Game & Watch: Bendy. Just, Bendy. And not even moster Bendy, just, regular Bendy.

Meta Knight: I wonder how much does Bruce Wayne play Smash when he is not being Batman. Although it’s probably possible that his favourite is Brawl.

Pit: I can just see Tony Stark losing at Smash against Pit and saying: “Fuck you, Barton.” AHAHAHAHAH

Dark Pit: This is for Hawkeye post-Decimation. Sorry if u lost ur family pal. Really sorry. I wanna kick Thanos in the groin for this.

Zero Suit Samus: Of course Natasha Romanoff mains Zero Suit Samus. Fanservice girl for fanservice girl.

Wario: I know Roadhog isn’t greedy and doesn’t care a lot about money except for his fee from Junkrat but he looks like the perfect Wario main in my opinion.

Snake: A spy for a spy. The name is Snake. Solid Snake. *mashup of James Bond theme and Encounter plays in the distance*

Pokèmon Trainer: Literally Ash Ketchum is the only possible choice here.

Diddy Kong: Uuuuh, the Apes from Ape Escape. Yup.

Lucas: Ok listen up, it’s Darwin Watterson. A squishy adorable fish boi for an adorable psychic blondie kid. It’s the perfect matchup! Almost...(Thank god Ninten is not yet in Smash)

Sonic: Me. What, can’t I reclaim one of my mains? The fella here introduced me to gaming with Sonic Rivals on the PSP. Thank god I didn’t buy a PS3 or ‘06.

Dedede: King Candy from Wreck-It Ralph. At least before he reveals himself as the fucker known as Turbo.

Olimar: Keroro from Sgt. Frog. Don’t ask.

Lucario: Sasuke? Idk

R.O.B.: Shared between C-3P0, R2-D2 and BB-8. Easy.

Wolf: Idk Boris the Wolf? I really dunno I suck at this.

Toon Link: Happy from Fairy Tail. JUST LOOK AT HOW MUCH OF A CAT TOON LINK DOES LOOK LIKE

Villager: Chara from Undertale. I don’t need to explain this.

Mega Man: Give me any blue Power Ranger.

Wii Fit Trainer: Hard one. I have no idea help

Rosalina and Luma: IT’S TINKERBELL

Little Mac: *Rocky theme intensifies* ROCKYYYYYYYYYYY BALBOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAA

Greninja: Naruto full stop

Palutena: Cosmos from FF Dissidia.

Mii Fighters: The Xbox avatars. I think this one was pretty obvious.

Pac-Man: Donnie, Mikey and Leo all collectively main Pac. Best part they stop literally any attempt from Raph to spam Falcon Punches lol.

Robin: *Hedwig’s Theme intensifies*

Shulk:...Kirito?

Bowser Jr.: My other main, the one I use the most. For you, I shall summon the perfect main! *Lancer pops out from nowhere*

Duck Hunt: It’s Pluto. You know, Mickey’s dog? Jeez, why doesn’t Disney focus a little more on Pluto?

Ryu: KAME....HAME...HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Ken: *insert Vegeta reference here*

Cloud: FINAL FANTASY TIME, COME ON AND GRAB YOUR FRIENDS, WE’LL GO TO VERY DISTANT LAANDS, WITH JAKE THE DOG AND FINN THE CLUD STRIFE MAIN- ok enough I think you understood the reference.

Corrin: Danaerys Tyrgaryen. Did...did I write that right? I really dunno

Bayonetta: *Insert Dante quote here*

Inkling: de Blob. You...you don’t know de Blob? You should go check that game, it’s fire.

Ridley: Smaug. I know, I’m out of ideas.

Simon: Van Helsing, of course.

Richter: ...I HATE WHEN i AM OUT OF IDEAS

King K. Rool: Does Godzilla count? Or is he a King Kong issue? Ok no wait, any member from the Croc tribe of Legends of Chima is fine

Isabelle: Lucy Heartphilia, easy.

Incineroar: Ok, listen up, before I get in this one, I DO NOT SHIP ISABELLE WITH INCINEROAR. That being said.....Natsu. I can just imagine him and Lucy playing Smash in such an intense way while Happy just plays calmly and beats both lol

Pirahna Plant: Actually the first one that came to mind and gave me the idea for this post. Pennywise the Dancing Clown. Cause, you know, teeth.

Joker: Robin Hood. I know Joker is not an archer user but the gentleman thief thing is there after all

Sorry for the long post, here is the word “potato”. See ya next time and if you have any ideas for missing characters I’d be glad to get them

[provincianx-blog]

what i learned from unlearning everything that i know

lessons from middle school, aurora, and beyond. 

at the age of fifteen, my mom forced my brother and me to leave our home in hayward, ca upon discovering that my dad had been using meth again and wasting all of his money on catfishes on the internet. 

my mom and dad had been separated for longer than my brother and I were aware of, but my mom finally had the courage to really leave him in july of 2011. she loved him her entire life, but she was done taking care of someone that wasn’t taking care of her. she was done taking care of someone who didn’t love her enough to take care of himself. she was done. 

while this seems incredibly simple, leaving hayward prompted what would turn into a 7 year identity crisis. 

as an outcast at every school i transferred to, i found a community on this website with my best friends from middle school and random strangers who loved harry potter and other fandoms as ridiculously as we did. true commitment to friendship would transcend from anonymous messages on tumblr to mutual follows on twitter. and here we are: in the age of twitter.

upon switching up different meds, after over a decade of looking for mental and emotional stability, i found out that i have bipolar-1, which still doesn’t make that much sense to me, but i’m beginning to understand it more than i did before.

i’m grateful to have been obsessed with star wars when i first saw revenge of the sith on opening night because of my tita and her husband’s work perks. i loved padme and she was my first crush but also my first example of a strong girl in mainstream film in addition to mulan (bruh i used my mulan costume for like 3 years and never gave a single HECK). i would then beg my dad to take me to blockbuster to watch the original trilogy, where i met carrie fisher/princess leia, who would radically transform how i saw the world and myself.

i grew up with my tita and tito. they took care of me when they were in college, and they’re still taking care of me now. i want to be able to take care of their kids and love them as much as they loved me growing up. i love them with all that i am and all that i can give. 

i studied politics because i wanted to make sure that my younger cousins and my baby brother would have a better world to grow up in than i did. it seems that my undiagnosed mental illness of nearly 14 years has been exacerbated by the political climate we live in today in 2018. 

i learned so much about life by learning about my own history, and i hope that everyone has this opportunity in their lifetime. it feels great, and the only one who seems to really get it is ariana grande. 

so here are 14 things i learned from being mentally ill and emo while being passionate about wanting to make the world a better and more habitable place. 

1. don’t trust the feds: a lot of 2nd amendment boys actually don’t trust the government as much as people think, and the 2A comes from settlers’ distrust in colonial Britain. the problems we see today are because the GOP has lured these same people and their kids (and their kids) into their corner by advocating for organizations like the NRA; gun control has reached the Supreme Court, but the 2nd amendment took precedent (i believe). gun control must come from the state and local governments, but political participation in these arenas are very low, especially for younger voters. i, as someone who has been involuntarily hospitalized despite voluntarily seeking medical help, am not allowed to buy a gun in the state of california for 5 years. and honestly, i really don’t care because i don’t want to need a gun anyway, but the poor and the middle class in the south feels that they need guns. 

2. stay woke: deray said this nearly everyday after michael brown was shot by darren wilson in ferguson, missouri. michael brown was my wake up call to reassess my complacency in the status quo and my participation in reinforcing anti-blackness. in the bay area, the n word was used so casually in places like union city/hayward that we became so desensitized to it. it’s still used casually, but non-black people like myself have no agency in saying it because we’re not black. it’s as simple as that. i began noticing how my family reacted to what would turn into the Black Lives Matter movement, and for the first time, i felt that i could no longer trust my relatives if they were complicit in the murders of black youth simply because they were at the wrong place at the wrong time. i couldn’t even talk to them without crying because of how upset i got from the anti-blackness i would hear. i began to isolate myself and found community on twitter. 

3. our youth is a reflection of how good things were and how good things can become if we learn to build community: in addition to the community i found on tumblr through avatar, harry potter, and the beatles, i found community with all the losers who had xbox’s instead of ps3′s. we would hang out and play search and destroy (which i still cannot succeed in after all this time smh agjhgarhdfhre) or 1v1 each other on rust. my nerd friends would let my brother and I play with them regardless of how much we sucked, and they hyped me up even when my KDR was trash. these friendships would then transcend from mw2, halo 3, and into runescape. my brother is now really good at overwatch, and the friends i made in middle school are also really good at overwatch. the difference now is that they’re making money off of it, and i’m just like, “let’s get this bread, nerds!” thank you for being there for me even though i sucked at everything i tried doing. i was reminded of this when i watched “mid90s” by Jonah Hill. our youth was such a pure period of time, but it was also the time we lost ourselves through imposing harmful social norms onto each other, such as the idea that a girl cannot be “just friends” with a boy. but - here’s the kicker - i’m queer, and i don’t really like cis-het men hahahahahahahahaha but whatever. 

4. becoming american made me forget who i am: our immigrant parents teach us that the only way is to assimilate into white America, which is essentially what happened to black and brown people following the civil rights movement. the notion of egalitarianism/equality has been nothing but harmful for all of us nonetheless, fueling debates on affirmative action and pitting black people against asian people. one of my best friends from elementary school is in prison for trying to make a living with the resources and skills made available to him. he was apprehended in thousand oaks. he is a black man, and we grew up in the same environment, but his life has been so different since we were in elementary school. the concept of equality/egalitarianism stemming from civil war gains (13th-15th amendments) has manifested into the racial inequality we see today; in other words, the idea that white americans and POC are equal has been harmful because this has never been true and continues to be untrue. my filipino friends and i would get bullied by white latinos for not speaking english in america, which is why i learned to hate myself and my culture. i love myself and my culture, and i am fighting so that i can return home to the philippines someday. 

5. our bodies are different, and that’s okay: can y’all believe that i got bullied for not having boobs in the 3rd grade? this is what happens when young girls are sexualized so early. boys participate in this, and they turn out to be shitty boyfriends later on. girls will be girls. girls just wanna be treated like human beings instead of sexual objects. i don’t think this needs to be explained further. 

6. america is a settler-colonial state turned global power, and that is problematic: this country began with the murders and deaths of indigenous people because of imperalistic pursuits. it was built on the backs of slave labor from africa. it was reinforced by colonialism through the conquering of countries such as the philippines. we’re socialized to believe that there’s no place like america and that america is such a good place to be in, but that is only true for white Americans and POC who have integrated into white American suburbs. 

7. know history, know self: - jose rizal 

8. if my life wasn’t funny, it would just be true, and that is unacceptable - carrie f. fisher

9. at times, being bipolar can be an all-consuming challenge, requiring a lot of stamina and even more courage, so if you’re living with this illness and functioning, it’s something to be proud of, not ashamed of - carrie f. fisher

10. rebellions are built on hope - princess/general leia organa + jyn erso

11. we have nothing to lose but our chains - assata shakur

12. keep ya head up - tupac shakur

13. everything i’m not made me everything i am - kanye west

14. i remember you was conflicted

misusing your influence

sometimes i did the same

abusing my power full of resentment

resentment that turned into a deep depression

found myself screaming in the hotel room

i didn’t wanna self destruct

the evils of lucy was all around me

so i went running for answers

until i came home

but that didn’t stop survivor’s guilt

going back and forth trying to convince myself the stripes i earned

or maybe how a-1 my foundation was

but while my loved ones was fighting the continuous war back in the city

i was entering a new one

a war that was based on apartheid and discrimination

made me wanna go back to the city and tell the homies what i learned

the word was respect

just because you wore a different gang color than mine’s

doesn’t mean i can’t respect you as a black man

forgetting all the pain and hurt we caused each other in these streets

if i respect you, we unify and stop the enemy from killing us

but i don’t know, i’m no mortal man

- kendrick lamar

[gimmesumsuga]

BTS Reaction - Having an argument and them calling you ‘Noona’

Seokjin

You love Jin, you do, but sometimes he can be so self-absorbed.  He’s always been independent too, almost to a fault, and it’s a combination of these two things that lead to the first real argument in your relationship.  There’s no screaming and shouting, but when he tells you that he’s agreed to lengthen their next tour by two whole weeks without even consulting you, it leads to the development of a very cold shoulder and a lot of tense silences.  He doesn’t even understand why you’re upset either, and that just makes it worse.  It’s not about him being away - you know that it’s all part of dating an idol – it’s the fact he didn’t even think to run it past you.  He gets it eventually, but by the time he does you’re too stressed out to even want him near you.  He disappears for a while, giving you your space, only to reappear again with a plate of food in hand and a sheepish look on his face.

“I made you your favourite.” You ignore him, not looking up from your book. “Please come eat with me, Noona.”  

Your lips betray you on hearing him use the honorific you love, twitching into a smile at your page.  Self-absorbed yes, but Jin always knows exactly how to wrap you round his little finger. 

Yoongi

You’re going to kill him, and this time you mean it.  Once again you’ve come home from work to find the apartment an absolute mess, the bed unmade, Yoongi’s clothes strewn all over the floor, dirty plates on the side.  The culprit, of course, is nowhere to be seen; he’s busy in his studio, flexing his creative muscles and leaving you to all the chores.  He must think you’re an idiot, or his mother, either one, and you’re not sure which of them makes you madder.  You stomp into his studio with an armful of his dirty underwear and drop it straight into his lap, yelling at him to do his own damn laundry.  You’re not his maid, so he needs to stop treating you like one.  You’re still muttering angrily under your breath half an hour later as you cook yourself dinner, making sure there’s only enough for one out of spite when you hear Yoongi creep into the kitchen behind you.  

“Noona,” he calls softly, and despite how angry you are you feel some of the tension leave your body, melting future when you feel his slim arms wrap around your waist from behind.  He knows exactly what calling you that does to you - the way it makes your insides clench with excitement.

“I cleaned up in our room... made our bed.  How about we go mess it up again?” 

Hoseok

Hobi’s a big ball of friendly sunshine, always has been and probably always will be.  Hell, it’s one of the things that first attracted you to him.  The only trouble is that his sunny disposition attracts a lot of other women too, women that don’t realise that friendly is Hoseok's default setting, and that him smiling at them doesn’t mean he’s in any way interested in getting into their pants.  Your temper finally snaps when yet another fan fawns over him, draping herself over his arm as she giggles.  You snap at him that you’re going home, imaginary steam pouring out of your ears when you hear the girl ask him what his big sister’s problem is and ignoring him as he calls after you, not wanting you to get a taxi on your own.  You do anyway, seething with jealousy that’s still going strong by the time he comes in through the door an hour later, looking nervous.  He pulls a big bunch of flowers out from behind his back, thrusting them at you with an over-the-top smile.  

“Don't be jealous Noona,” he pleads, sitting himself next to you on the sofa when you take the flowers from him, smelling them with a reluctant smile.  He’s always used that honorific since the very day you met, and you have fond memories of how hard you blushed the first time you heard it.  He presses a sweet kiss against your cheek, already knowing he’s forgiven.

“You know you’re the only girl for me.” 

Namjoon

You’re getting ready to go out for the night and Joonie’s got that look on his face again – the one that he gets whenever he’s taking issue with what you’re wearing.  Tonight it’s the top you’ve put on; it’s cut too low, he says.  He’s stood leant against the door with his arms folded, glaring at you when you refuse to change.  You try to remind him that you’ve been going out dressed the same way for years before you met him and that you can take care of yourself, but it does no good, he’s still sulking by the time you leave.  When he refuses to answer your texts whilst you’re out you end up getting pissed off too.  You’re supposed to be having a good time with your friends, but now you can’t stop worrying about what’s going to be waiting for you when you get home.  As it is, he’s already in bed when you return, all the lights switched off, your bedroom silent.  You change into your pyjamas, lying yourself in bed as far away as possible from him with a huff, knowing that you won’t sleep well tonight.  All of a sudden you feel his solid form shuffling up behind you, his face pressing between your shoulder blades, his arm hooking over your waist.

“I’m sorry,” he tells you quietly.  “You just looked so gorgeous, Noona.  I don’t anyone to take you away from me.” Joonie's voice is so sweet and sincere than you just can’t stay mad at him, especially when he calls you the name he saves for strictly special occasions.  He trails teasing kisses along your shoulder, his hand drifting downward along your stomach.

“Let me make it up to you?”

Jimin

You were expecting Jimin to be home about three hours ago.  The dinner you’ve made him has gone cold, the film you were supposed to watch together is over and done with.  He hasn’t given you any kind of head’s up that he’d be late, he’s not answering your calls or your texts, and for a while you’re really worried that something might’ve happened to him; until you check his social media page, that is.  He signed into a bar somewhere about two hours ago, and only an hour after that there’s a picture of him with the other members with drinks in hand, a smile on his face, and you’re certainly not worried anymore.  Oh no, you’re not worried.  You.  Are.  Pissed.   By the time he stumbles in the door, swaying slightly, you’re practically foaming at the mouth.  You start yelling at each other, Jimin’s famous temper exacerbated by alcohol, you calling him immature, him calling you boring, and by the time he’s stormed off into your bedroom slamming the door behind him you’ve got tears streaming down your face.  You wait it out for at least an hour, hoping that he’ll have fallen into a deep, drunken sleep, but when you push open the bedroom door the slip of light from the hallway illuminates Jimin sat on the edge of the bed, his shoulders slumped.  He’s been crying just as much as you, and when you walk over to him he slips off the bed and kneels at your feet, wrapping his arms around your calves and pressing his cheek to your thighs.

“I know I’ve been bad Noona,” he sniffles, wiping his face on your skirt and then looking up at you, everything about him screaming submission.  Jimin only calls you Noona when he wants you to take control, when he wants to be your baby boy, and hearing him say it gets you wet instantly.  “You can punish me, if you want.”

Taehyung

At the start of the day you’re feeling pretty hopeful.  You’ve been dropping hints about your birthday for the past few weeks - the things you’d like or where you’d like to go - and though Tae doesn’t initially wish you a ‘Happy Birthday’ when you first wake up beside him, you’re pretty sure he’s just pretending so it’ll be more of a surprise when he does something special later.  As the day goes on, however, it seems less and less likely that he’s remembered at all.  You spend the entire day slobbing around the apartment together, Taehyung not even bothering to shower or get dressed, just enjoying well-earned time off without the slightest of ideas that today has any kind of significance.   You know he’s always got his head in the clouds, his mind on a different plane to everyone else’s, but surely you’re not expecting too much to want him to remember your birthday?  As the evening draws to a close he finally starts to notice how quiet you’ve been, asking what’s wrong and gawping when you burst into tears.  You press your face into your hands, managing to tell him through sobs what it is that he’s done wrong.  He’s instantly remorseful, trying to pull you into a hug despite your resistance to be held.

“I’m sorry I’m such a bad boyfriend,” he apologises, planting kisses on the top of your head as you cry against his chest,  “I’ll try harder, I promise.  I just need my Noona to teach me how.” 

Jungkook

If he starts one more game of Overwatch you’re going to scream.  He’d promised that tonight would just be the two of you, and yeah, ok, the other members aren’t here, but you weren’t really planning on sharing him with his Xbox friends either.  You try subtle means of getting his attention; sitting next to him and leaning your head on his shoulder or gently playing with his hair with a coy smile.  Jungkook unfortunately remains completely oblivious, and after another half an hour and one more match you finally get up with a huff, collecting your things and walking out of the apartment to go home without a word.  You can’t help but wonder how long it actually took for him to notice that you were gone.  It was at least half an hour, because that’s the time it takes for him to text you asking where you are and why you left so suddenly - a text that you pointedly ignore.  It’ll do him good to see how it feels being the one who’s ignored, for a change.  When you come home the next day you’re surprised when your mom tells you that you’ve got a visitor upstairs, a wide, mischievous smile on her face, and your surprise only grows when you push open your bedroom door to find Jungkook inside.  He’s spread out a blanket on your floor and set out a plates and glasses, poorly made sandwiches and fruit in plastic containers sat waiting for you to have your very own personal picnic.  

“I haven’t been paying you enough attention, have I, Noona?”  Jungkook asks guiltily, throwing in the honorific that you both so love as he gazes up at you from where he’s sat cross legged on the floor.  He extends his hand to you with a hopeful smile, that smile growing when you take it, allowing him to help you to the floor too.  “You’ve got my 100% attention tonight, promise.” 

[ronaldsreaction]

Ronald’s Favorite Video Games of 2017

2017 was a garbage fire, but I think we can all agree that the art was pretty great. Movies, music, and video games have all been incredible this year, tbh. Plus, Nintendo released possibly its greatest console of all time?? Thank god for these escapes. Here’s my top 8 games of 2017.

(Note: I don’t have a PS4 and I really felt the XBOX One was lacking this year, so besides older games like Overwatch, Rocket League, and Halo 5, most of my gaming was on the Nintendo Switch. Thankfully, it had an amazing release lineup.)

8. GOLF STORY

I’m gonna be honest, I initially got this because I was pumped about Stardew Valley coming to the Switch and I needed something to scratch that itch. I expected a cute distraction, but what I got was a hilarious adventure game made with love. It’s seriously laugh out loud funny and the golf itself actually feels really great. It’s fun as hell and I highly recommend.

7. STEAMWORLD DIG 2

Full disclosure, I’m only a few hours into this one (bought it with an eshop card after Christmas), but goddamn! I am head over heels and I can’t wait to keep playing. After starting, I tweeted, “It’s like Dig Dug and Metroid had a beautiful and quirky baby.” I stand by it. As with Golf Story, this game is cleverly written and the controls are just really great.

6. FLOOR KIDS

Speaking of fun, oh my god! Floor Kids is a fuckin’ blast. It’s a simple rhythm game that takes a lot of practice to really get down and that almost has me up dancing every time I play it. That art style! That original music from Kid Koala! If you have a Switch, download this right now and tell me it’s not charming af.

5. SONIC MANIA

 A Sonic game made up of old levels (a nice mixture of untouched and remixed) that I grew up with and love dearly?? With some of the best bosses from the series and fun easter eggs and whatnot?! Dear Sega, give these developers the reigns to all future Sonic releases because this is the best he’s been since Sonic Adventure.

4. MARIO + RABBIDS KINGDOM BATTLE

Am I one of the many who saw the leaked promo art for this and thought WTF could this game be? Yes. Yes, I am. Am I also one who can admit when he was wrong about his apprehensions and was pleasantly surprised with the outcome? Yuuuup. This is a great game, y’all. Check it out.

3. SPLATOON 2

I love this franchise and I am good at splatting the shit out of the maps. With the addition of Salmon Run and the brilliant bosses and unexpected twists in the single player’s story, you have one of my favorite games of all time. I’ve put 65 hours into this thing and I plan to put in many more.

2. SUPER MARIO ODYSSEY

This is the best 3D Mario of all time. Not only that, but it’s also the second best Mario of all time (second to Super Mario Bros 3 (what can I say? I’m nostalgic)). It’s also probably in my overall top 5 games of all time. Listen, it’s a masterpiece and two sequences made me just straight up bawl tears of geekiness (the festival bit in New Donk and the amazing ending sequence of the story itself). Just buy the damn game already.

1. THE LEGEND OF ZELDA THE BREATH OF THE WILD

I’m just gonna cut right to the chase. Shadow of the Colossus used to be my favorite game of all time and then The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild came along and knocked that bad boy down to number two. Nintendo took the concept of the open world and just perfected it. I think they did everything right with this game. It’s gorgeous and brilliant and has literally ruined all other sandbox games for me. Why? Because you can’t do everything you want to do like you can in Hyrule. What a game, y’all. What a game.

GAME THAT MIGHT MAKE THE LIST ONCE I PLAY FURTHER:

BLOSSOM TALES: THE SLEEPING KING, METROID: SAMUS RETURNS

GAMES THAT WOULD HAVE MADE THE LIST IF THEY WEREN’T RELEASED ON OTHER SYSTEMS LAST YEAR:

STARDEW VALLEY, DOOM

[johnboothus]

7 Virtual Happy Hour Activities and Drinking Game Ideas to Fight Isolation

If you live with roommates or family members, call yourself lucky to have a built-in social network during these times of social distancing — and in that case, you can play pretty much any drinking card game. But if you’re living alone, you may be feeling an urgent need to connect with friends and family, and to have some fun, while in-person visits are on hold.

Fortunately, staying entertained and connected while at home isn’t as difficult as it may seem. And there are many ways to connect in a meaningful way, beyond FaceTime chats. Here are seven virtual happy hour ideas, plus specific recommendations for each, to try while you’re socially distancing.

Classic Drinking Games to Play Online

Start, of course, with a drink in hand — for more see tips on how to have a virtual happy hour here. Sign onto Zoom, Skype, FaceTime, Google Hangouts, or your preferred video calling app with a small group of friends. Then, try playing one of the classic drinking games below.

Never Have I Ever

Never Have I Ever is an easy game to start with. The rules: Each person starts with five fingers held up (your other hand should be free to hold your drink). Taking turns, each person says something they have never done. Those who have done that thing have to put a finger down and take a drink.

Helpful tip: Have a moderator or host call on each person to take their turn, since not everyone appears in the same order on the grid on different video apps.

Some Never Have I Ever statement suggestions to start you off: Never have I ever lived through a pandemic (everyone drinks). Never have I ever bought an entire case of La Croix. Never have I ever argued with someone in the grocery store over toilet paper.

Power Hour

A Power Hour is another easy way to gather friends near and far while socially distanced. All you need is to find a previously prepared playlist of one-minute songs like this one, or prepare a playlist that one person will play and monitor over the hour, changing songs every 60 seconds. How to play: Take a drink every minute. It’s that simple.

As one Twitter user told us last week, “My friends and I did a virtual power hour last Friday, round 2 this weekend.” How did he do it? “One person in charge, dozen people from around the country synchronized over Slack.”

To get some face time into the mix, organize the game as a video call so you can see each other and chat in between — see if you can keep up!

Beer Pong

As Alyson Shontell, editor in chief of Business Insider, tweeted last week, “Virtual beer pong is possible, you just need four phones and FaceTime.” Each couple sets up two phones, one facing them and one facing the set of cups they’ll be shooting at on the opponents’ side. A little advanced, sure, but for those desperate enough to put in the effort, why not?

Possible roadblock: You’ll need to have at least 12 cups and ping pong balls on hand, which seems unlikely in an apocalypse. But maybe you’ve stocked up.

This weekend I did my first virtual hangouts and saw friends we rarely get to see for happy hours. I can also confirm that virtual beer pong is possible, you just need 4 phones and facetime – one on each couple, one on each set of cups. pic.twitter.com/Uhpz8cVP6l

— Alyson Shontell (@ajs) March 23, 2020

Virtual Trivia & Puzzle Games

People around the internet have been touting the Jackbox Party Pack, launched in 2014, as “the perfect excuse for rounding up friends, family and fellow gamers for a few hours of gaming delight.” This delightfully old millennial and generation X-era product’s resurgence is perfect for bringing trivia, drawing, and word games like You Don’t Know Jack (a trivia game like Jeopardy), Drawful (a drawing game like Pictionary), and Word Spud (a fill-in-the-blank word game like Mad Libs) into a virtual happy hour.

Although designed as “local multiplayer” games (as in, playing in the same room), they can be played virtually with remote players via a streaming service. The party pack costs a one-time fee of $24.99 for most platforms (Playstation 3, XBOX One, Nintendo Switch, Apple TV and iPad, and Amazon Fire TV), and at press time, $12.49 for a Steam Code or PlayStation 4.

Detailed directions for how to play Jackbox games remotely are available here.

If game platforms and signup fees seem like too much effort, consider using Zoom or your preferred video platform to play Charades, Pictionary, Trivia, or Bingo. The socially isolated world is your oyster!

Video Game Drinking Games

Online Multiplayer Games

If you have a game system or even a really strong laptop, you might be surprised by how many video games can be turned into drinking games you can play with friends. Popular titles like Overwatch, Fortnite, and even Wii Sports have many drinking game iterations floating around the internet. All you have to do is start up Zoom, agree on your preferred game and rules, and you’re good to go.

VinePair’s director of marketing and resident low-key gamer, Jeff Licciardello, recently riffed on a Super Smash Bros. drinking game for a socially distanced version with two friends.

“While playing online with each other, we had Zoom up in front of us. We [VinePair] have a drinking game article on Super Smash Bros. on our site, so using those rules, I played with one friend on FaceTime and my roommate joined me on the couch for the drinking portion of the game. In terms of people, it’s up to you how many people you can wrangle. But basically … whenever you die you drink, when you’re waiting to fall off the platform after re-spawning, you drink, etc.”

Ideally, players will be fighting each other, but in a pinch (a.k.a. if you can’t get the private room to work), setting up Zoom in front of each player “at least provides a sense of camaraderie as you stream each other fighting random people on the internet while drinking wine,” Jeff says. “And my roommate, who doesn’t play video games but was stuck dealing with me hogging the TV, picked one of the opponents I was fighting and drank for them.”

Another pearl of Jeff’s drinking-while-gaming wisdom: “For the ultimate Mario Kart drinking game that doesn’t require a whole lot of thinking, simply drink every time you are hit by an item (shells, banana peels, lightning bolts, etc.) or every time you fall off the course.”

Online 1-2 Player Games

Although video game drinking games can be created for almost any game, try picking one you and your friends are playing right now (Animal Crossing: New Horizons, anyone?). You can set up FaceTime or Zoom on your phone, tablet, or laptop to see and hear each other while playing. And all you have to do is come up with five to 10 “rules” that will require taking a sip of your drink while playing.

To stay with the Animal Crossing example, players might take a drink every time you find a bug, donate to the museum, or acquire a new item for your house. Then, you can add a little more complexity to the rules: For finding your first bug, take three sips; for each subsequent bug, take one sip if it’s a bug you already have, three sips if it’s a new bug, and four sips for donating to the museum (it will make sense once you get going.).

This can also apply to social interactions in the game. When you receive a gift, take one sip; when you give a gift, take two sips; when you meet a new in-game friend like Bill or that horse or that crazy tiger chick, take three sips; and when you visit an IRL friend’s island, finish your drink.

Have a Watch Party

Playing drinking games while watching movies or series is a popular choice, and an easy one to replicate in the virtual world. In March, Google Chrome launched an extension for Netflix Party, a new feature that synchronizes video playback, allowing you to stream and watch movies and shows simultaneously. It also adds a group chat so you can message each other throughout.

Choose a theme to make the experience easily repeatable. Oscar movies or zombie flicks, for example, are readily available. For groups of friends whose anxieties are assuaged by horror, now is a wonderful time to marathon appropriately themed works depicting hyperbolized disaster and trauma.

Try a disease double-feature of “Pandemic” and “Parasite”; a home invasion pairing like “The Strangers,” parts one and two; or a triple-feature of “Cube” or “Purge.” Or, make it a week-long marathon and stream every episode of the nation’s new Netflix obsession, “Tiger King” — it’s a seven-parter!

You can turn any watch party into a drinking game. For example, as VinePair’s Licciardello suggests for one of our staff’s favorite series, “Schitt’s Creek,” everyone has to drink any time Alexis says, “Ew, David!” If you’re not in virtual earshot, you can also use the group chat to direct when it’s time to drink. Along with text, the chatroom supports screenshots, emojis, and GIFs.

Another angle might be (and we’re biased here) taking turns choosing content about wine, beer, and spirits — such as the just-released “Uncorked,” which VinePair contributor Julia Coney describes as breaking new ground for black wine drinkers.

Have a Dance Party

Let off some steam and pent-up energy by hosting a virtual dance party. You can do this in any video conferencing app, or use a platform like Houseparty.

As in real life, a dance party can take many forms. Perhaps it’s a dance-off between you and one very energetic friend. For a group together, invite friends you used to go out dancing with every weekend, and recreate a playlist you would have been sloppily sipping and dancing to at a club or bar.

Crack some glow sticks (if you’re the type of person who has stocked for a dance-party emergency), sip on some easy-to-make cocktails, and dance like no one’s watching. Because chances are, even if your neighbors can see you, you likely won’t encounter them in person for a very long time.

The article 7 Virtual Happy Hour Activities and Drinking Game Ideas to Fight Isolation appeared first on VinePair.

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