#Nintendo-themed Crafts

[auramgold]

On Acht and Romance

going into side order, from the september direct trailer where Acht was first revealed i remember the joke at the time clearly being "and now Marina's ex is here".

the way this line [image description in alt] was written was basically the only evidence for this kind of idea, when the theories were kind of "Marina's order tantrum is sucking people in from her past and the DLC will be about going through her memories", so ellipses in a line like this is basically all theory crafters on no info need to go for shipping.

i'm not one who's super into plot theory crafting, i know full well the tendency to theorize something that's cooler than what you actually get and being disappointed that the story didn't live up to your imagination. the things i was obsessed with in side order promotional material was the obvious bleached coral theme, the symbolism of coral ejecting it that which keeps it safe out of stress being mapped onto Marina, the idea of her pushing those she loves (and those that keep her colorful) away out of a spiral (and it does turn out that was basically exactly what the prologue was going for)

so the whole "Acht and Marina exes" thing was kinda just a joke to me, wasn't even on my radar as something they were actually going to lean into, frankly i was still scared nintendo was going to make them kill pearlina by sending Marina to superhell or smth and we'd end up with a splatoonified destiel meme

so when the DLC comes out and it is legitimately a "they knew each other since childhood" thing, and the running bit is Acht feeling awkward third-wheeling pearlina, and it's explicit in text that one of the reasons they're coming back after the DLC is over is to scope out Pearl as the girl who took down the NILS statue who is now dating Marina... it struck me as really interesting.

at first it was me keeping up the "Marina and Acht are exes" as a joke, but as i kept reading dialogue lines, it slowly became less of a joke, they were to some degree dating because opposite but complimentary autisms, and then drifting apart as Marina got pulled away on the big girl assignment with DJ Octavio, and then the despair of knowing Marina left without even saying goodbye to Acht... it fits well into that reading, it slowly became less of a joke to believe that

but the thing that really makes me think this is intentional subtext is the final Acht diary entry you get from clearing Eight's palette. through the rest of side order talking about Acht's backstory, it seemed like they were retconning the OE lore that Acht had gotten themself sanitized intentionally, losing themself so they could explore their music deeper. but in the final diary, where Acht directly says they drifted into the deepsea metro to fall into their music, because, and i quote

"Hey, Marina. You can guess the chaos your desertion caused. I ended up without much to do except make music. "

they fell into a depression spiral when their girlfriend deserted their society without so much as saying goodbye, falling into their music deep away from interacting with everyone else, to the point that, as the old lore implies, they chose to give up their identity to escape the depression, but sanitization so thoroughly did it that they forget even making the choice.

so when they get brought out of that haze back into being themself again, with the only the barest strung-together horrified memories of what happened in the half a decade interim gap in their life, only to find themself replaced by some inkling they don't know at all, of course they're gonna be awkward seeing the two flirting.

they put on a stoic face because that's clearly their coping mechanism within this damaged body they barely recognize, hiding their eyes behind their tinted glasses so they can't be seen beneath. but the only time they let themself be vulnerable, the only time their eyes can be seen, is when they charge out in the climax when the world is at stake, diving in to try to save Marina, leaving the elevator and its protection behind to help the only person they remember ever caring about.

it's why i don't really like the aroace reading that much, because i think this reading is even more tragic and fits into the themes. the world has changed, it can't go back to how it once was, you can't put the octolings back in the canyon bottle. Marina abandoned Acht to the point they got their identity destroyed willingly to escape the pain, and when Acht came back they were replaced by the inkling whose voice they remember even through the haze of sanitized memories.

the lingering effects of sanitization have changed how they relate to everything (i think there's a fair argument to be made for the idea that sanitization took their gender can't have shit in the deepsea metro), but Acht clearly still cares for Marina and still, the slightest bit, resents having to be reminded repeatedly every time pearlina flirts in front of them how they were replaced.

#acht splatoon #side order spoilers #dedf1sh #side order #splatoon 3 side order #seriously i'm so normal about this you have no idea #splatoon #splatoon 3

[chaifootsteps]

stans comparing HH and SU songs is so embarrassing. Despite my issues with both shows I still like them but SU has way better songs/bg music than HH. Rebecca is an amazing composer (I’ll ever forgive or forget viv trash talking Rebecca’s songwriting. It was on an old stream but she gave sugar shit for writing music with ukeleles especially musicals but honestly just sounded like she was seething hard) “everything stay” “love like you” and “I remember you” “giant woman” the speak for themselves. Another thing about SU is it had amazing soundtrack with instrumentals, it had tone/atmosphere. It made the world of Steven have a vibe and could set the tone and tell a story with music alone.

Also I know goose and Evan did the score for HH but honestly nothing stood out which is weird because digital circus has a great soundtrack it has those old rpg Nintendo game sound which is such a vibe and again makes digital world unknown but theres more things out there we want to know. “You’re new home” is so fucking good. monkey wrench also has a great soundtrack that’s really highlighted in episode 3, it sets a sombre, melancholic tone throughout the episode and it’s a pretty damn heartbreaking episode.

With HH its not really a good score there no tone/mood just a lot of sound effects and the eres no build up or proper setting to musicals. I know songs are good but they feel empty? Cheap? It’s confusing. Either goose and Evan were told to just write whatever while most of the focus and highlights were the songs but bg music can really make a show. HH has none of that. HB has good bg music I hate stolas but his theme “stolas speaks” “robo fizz show” are pretty good and they were made by Jefferson Friedman who does the music for the Harley Quinn show. Score just set ups tone in a narrative story telling way that better than just having characters singing, but that’s just me. Respectless is pretty good even if the lyrics are really annoying, I think people stopped saying hashtag and swipe left a long time ago, just makes velvet sound like a boomer

Viv can seethe all she likes, nothing she's ever written is ever matching Rebecca Sugar's songwriting for craft, storytelling, and sheer heart.

#Anonymous #vivziepop critical #viv stuff #actual blog post

[cryoriku]

Youtube recs for syskids or agere folks ages 6–9:

potential concerns italicized!

Li Speaks 🎮

Deep-dives of 00s internet kids games like girlsgogames and ava star sue. Very cute and calming voice too.

CarynandConnie 🎮

Bubbly and funny twins who decorate houses in the Sims.

Jenny Nicholson 📽🎡

Movie/book reviews (including a number of kids movies and MLP), explorations of theme park history, and random interesting/nerdy topics. She is both appropriate and funny, + she dresses up for each video!! She does review a few R rated films and romance novels — but it'll be obvious which not to click. :)

Pokéire 🎮

Sweet and calming lets-play's of Pokémon, Animal Crossing Wild World, and Nintendogs. She has another channel posting her music (Irish and English) and more, AmyMcDonaghGuitar, which occasionally includes swearing.

Mr. Nostalgia 📽

In-depth discussions of Disney, Nick, and Cartoon Network movies and shows.

Safiya Nygaard 🌎💄

Travel vlogs, makeup/food 'science', and simultaneously goofy & informative fashion analyses. Safiya has a very bubbly personality and is fun to watch. She may make mild inappropriate jokes and swear from time to time though.

MLP Official Channel 📺

Livestreams of MLP episodes and MLP videogame walkthroughs.

Disney XD Official Channel 📺

Full episodes of Phineas and Ferb, Gravity Falls, and more.

Maybea Crafted 📚

Elementary school teacher who has read aloud a couple chapter books like Holes and Gregor the Overlander. (No longer updating)

Peanutbuttergamer / Peebs 🎮

Talks about videogames and toys, and makes silly edited videos and songs about videogames too. Generally appropriate but may make the occasional naughty joke or talk about a game little ones could find scary. Sometimes has ad reads on newer videos.

Did you know gaming? 🎮

Fun facts and analyses about a wide range of videogames, especially nintendo games.

SeDUCKtive 🪿

Vlog of a man who takes his pet duck places. Very cute and wholesome.

B.Dylan Hollis, Tasting History, Emmymade 🍴

All cooking youtubers with a light historical basis. B.Dylan Hollis focuses on American history and is very eccentrically goofy —take heed that he might make inneuendos. Tasting History has more of the vibes of a dad cooking but has a very thorough historical analysis for all he makes. Emmymade is very sweet and has a calming voice and is more focused in the craft of cooking. Tasting History and Emmy sometimes have ad reads.

#syskids #agere #system littles #youtube recs #ls

[littlebabyself]

If you do headcanons, can u do a cg!ranboo headcanon?

- @plushchi-regression

OMG YES ID LOVE TO!!!

RANBOO CG HEADCANNONS!!

remember these are just my opinions and headcannons, any headcannons you have are also valid!!

They originally had no idea what regression was but philza explained it to them when they saw tommy regressing

Caregiving is therapeutic to them how refreshing is therapeutic to littles sometimes.

they love playing games with their little. Especially Mario themed things.

they always worry what content their little is consuming, whether it be tv, social media, games, ext.

they love to do art and crafts, they do anything their little asks. Tubbo usually wants finger paints, tommy likes making birdhouses, Wilbur likes painting, ext, ext.

they also love taking their littles to amusement parks like Nintendo, studio ghibli land, and Harry Potter world. If their little one has a favorite fandom and it has a theme park then they’ll drive and or fly countless hours to go there with them.

ranboo is very good at tea parties and playing with stuffies. They have lots of different voices and personalities for them and they ALWAYS remember.

they call their littles sweet nicknames like baby, little one, sweet pea, ender, and stuff like that. They also have specialized ones for peoples names like tubaby or tubby, and Tom Tom, and wilby. They just really love sweet names.

they love to play dress up with their littles no matter the gender.

They usually only care for one little at a time so they can give that regressor their full attention with lots of cuddles and playing and naps and lots of yummy snacks.

They tend to avoid physical touch from most people but they hug and cuddle littles and kiss their cheeks.

Hiiii hope these were okay! My brain always checks out halfway through these lollll

#agere cg #sfw caregiver #sfw agere blog #wholesome #agere blog #age reggression tubbo #sfw agere #mcyt agere #agere #age regressor #age regression #sfw age regression #ranboo caregiver #cg ranboo #Ranboo Agere #Mcyt Agere

[whyiliketitantvman]

(✨I decided to make Carson some minions cuz why not ✨)

(bonus: there is a new recruit ✨)

✨Meet Gordon the silver hour watch!✨

Info: growing up with his nice whole family in his beautiful home. Everything was perfect until that one incident change his life forever. Gordon is the second member of the time gang(Carson's bodyguard and advisor being Carson's favorite) Gordon is the grumpy not so happy type being serious and grouchy and having some anger issues. Gordon is the strongest and the tallest (wonder why Carson is using a chair but it's actually a store lol) Gordon is a great cook and in his free time he likes playing mini golf!

(spider species:funnel web spider purple-gold jumping spider, tarantula)

Fun fact: Gordon shorten his hair he actually puts it in a ponytail but not only to really see it. And he gets called grumpy fluff head by his friend!

✨next meet Katie Kitty The Cat clock!✨

info: being the fastest stealth acrobatic of her circus Katie Kitty is the third member of the time gang she's able to run fast without being caught once! Katie Kitty loves being around her best friend Gordon and she loves drawing and loves playing her favorite game shell' game!

(I decided to change her the design up a bit)

(spiders species:cat faced spider or Jewel spider for short.)

Fun fact: Katie has a Garfield plushie a Nintendo switch and her whole room is cat themed! She also loves drawing Fanart!

✨And next we have Wilson the cuckoo clock!✨

info: growing up in his village in the sunflower fields and being The villages favorite Wilson has always been the smartest one in the time gang being the fourth member (and being clumsy :) ) Wilson loves playing chess and writing stories! When things are good he's just a clumsy joking adorable nerd we all love but one things take a serious turn that's a different story with him.

(Spider species: Bunny Harvestman spider)

Fun fact: Wilson has a fork tongue and sometimes when you pet them you can hear hissing noises coming from him!

✨lastly we have starry triceratops the Star clock!✨

(I decide to make her more of a dinosaur than a spider)

Info: Starry triceratops is the new recruit Of the time gang. Starry is a train conductor and owns her own train! She's a chubby fluffy triceratops! She's really silly and sometimes forget what she's doing but she's trying her best!

Fun fact: starry triceratops has star powers but she forgets she has them and sometimes she likes making arts and crafts!

Also Susan Sea star Sally seaurgent Paula pufferfish Carson caralpolyp Stewie seaCucumber Stefan seahorse wanny wahoofish and doodlenit All belong to @krislgfox

#kinito pet oc #art #Carson clock #Gordon hour watch #Katie Kitty cat clock #Wilson cuckoo clock #Starry triceratops #the sillies #i love them #their so silly #kinito fanart #kinitopet

[seandwalsh]

Yes, Paper Mario is canon

This has been something the Mario lore community has largely accepted since 2015, but it seems a lot of newer folk aren’t quite so filled in! I’m writing this post to be a quick way to catch people up on the subject. This post is also adapted from a Reddit post, which can be read here. Same experience either way, more or less!

Part 1: For Context

The Paper Mario games tell stories of Mario’s adventures through an arts and crafts or pop-up book aesthetic. This is because from the very beginning, the Paper Mario games were meant to be set in a book that retold Mario’s adventures, but were accurate depictions of the mainline Mario universe.

Since our first priority was to protect the atmosphere and setting of the Mario universe, we decided to only use characters from the mainline Mario games. The side characters from Super Mario RPG therefore do not appear. I think that with Mario, sticking to the “main road” is the best. Plus, it would feel weird to have heavy themes like “betrayal” in the overall cozy, heartwarming atmosphere of the Mario world. (laughs)

- Ryota Kawade, Chief Director of Paper Mario (Nintendo 64)

We spent close to a year and a half trying out different character ideas. We also tried using pre-renders like SMRPG, but we figured it would be more fun for us to attempt something completely different this time, and that paper-y Mario was the result.

- Hiroyasu Sasano, Support on Paper Mario (Nintendo 64)

Herringway said he definitely wants to write your story. He even came up with a title... What was it again? Let's see... Well... "Paper Mario"!! What do you think!!??

- A Penguin, Non-player character in Paper Mario (Nintendo 64)

A real Mario Story told through the perspective of a storybook. Not at all dissimilar from what Dr. Mario 64, Mario Party 6, Super Mario Galaxy 2 and Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker all do.

This carries through to later games such as Paper Mario: Color Splash as well:

…I think one thing is that because this is taking place within the greater Mario world, we wanted to focus as much as possible on the familiar Mario characters.

- Risa Tabata, Assistant Producer of Paper Mario: Color Splash

This establishes the Paper Mario games as canonical events which also happen in the world of mainline Mario games, but despite this the developers were not afraid to have some fun with the aesthetic they were working with.

Although not the main focus, many paper-based gags were present in the world from the start.

Actually, the very first challenge Mr. Kawade and others had to face was how to cowince Mr. Miyamoto. For example, we had to explain how we'd utilise the idea of things being flimsy like paper to a large degree in the final game. The utilisation of paper-like elements was more of an 'improvemert' for him than an 'innovation' since the original idea was there with the N64 version.

- Kenshiro Ueda, Coordinator on Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

Paper Mario:

- Characters are flat like paper and when they turn around their body turns like a sheet.

- In the intro sequence of the game, Kammy Koopa is taped into the story being told about the Star Spirits.

- The Star Spirits get turned into cards by Bowser and Kammy Koopa.

- When the veranda in Goomba Village falls and Mario fallls after it, he floats down safely like a piece of paper.

- When Mario rests in a bed, he similarly floats into it like a piece of paper.

- A Goomba masquerades as a picture on a signpost on Goomba Road.

- The clouds in the background of Goomba Road battles are held up with sticks.

- Mario enters and exits a pipe by folding like paper and spinning around its edges], which a Toad in Toad Town even calls attention to.

- Some Goombas lie down flat on top of blocks to hide from passers-by.

- Merlee folds Mario into cards when she casts her spell.

- Stilt Guys fall down as pieces of paper when entering General Guy’s Battle.

- A Star Kid in Starborn Valley “hides” by turning sideways.

- The stairs in the Crystal Palace unfold from the wall.

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door:

- Characters are flat like paper and when they turn around their body turns like a sheet.

- The fallen heroes of 1000 years ago place Curses on Mario, allowing him to turn flat, fold himself and transform into origami, such as a Paper Plane or Paper Boat.

- Boats turn around by rising out of the water before flipping around like a piece of paper.

- Mario enters and exits a pipe by folding like paper and spinning around its edges.

- The transition screen for entering an exiting a pipe crumples the screen like a page.

- When people in Rogueport are knocked down, they fall completely flat, parallel to the floor.

- When Mario enters a building, its walls and door unfold to reveal the interior.

Super Paper Mario:

- Characters are flat like paper and when they turn around their body turns like a sheet.

- The magical ability to “flip between dimensions”, going between 2-D and 3-D.

- Areas are “drawn” into existence when the characters first enter them.

- The Pixl Slim has the ability to turn the heroes “invisible”, represented by turning them sideways.

- Spiny Tromps are made out of cardboard.

- Sometimes a piece of paper will peel away to reveal a secret, such as a hidden chest.

- When turning into her spider-like form, Mini’s head unfolds like a piece of paper.

- At one point, Mimi says “I guess I'll congratulate you... by tearing you to little bits like stupid confetti!”

- Mario enters and exits a pipe by separating into and reforming from smaller pieces of paper, respectively.

- The transition screen for entering an exiting a pipe crumples the screen like a page.

- When Brobot enters battle, the screen is torn like a sheet of paper to transition from one scene to the next.

- One if the Sammer Guys, “Rolling Thwomp”, says “I ROLL OVER YOU AND MAKE YOU FLAT LIKE SHEET OF PAPER!”

- When Luigi performs his Super jump move, he folds himself like a piece of paper to charge before springing into the air.

- The audience that appears for Stylish Moves have jagged paper outlines surrounding their bodies.

Paper Mario: Sticker Star

- Characters are flat like paper and when they turn around their body turns like a sheet.

- Kersti’s magical “Paperize” ability makes the world “become as flat as a piece of paper”.

- Certain enemies such as Goombas use magic, likely provided by Bowser, to fold themselves into dangerous shapes.

- A stack of Toads act like a flight of stairs for Mario Warm Fuzzy Plains.

- Decalburg gets partially folded by Bowser’s magic.

- The Soggy status effect appears to temporarily affect Mario as water would a piece of paper.

Paper Mario: Color Splash

- Characters are flat like paper and when they turn around their body turns like a sheet.

- Huey’s magical Cutout ability “transcends dimensions” and cuts parts of the world like paper.

- Huey’s squeeze ability turns objects into paper.

- Magic Paint plays a major role, with it being sucked out of the denizens of Prism Island and used by Mario to restore the island to its former state.

- A Toad is turned into a letter by Bowser’s forces and mailed to the Mushroom Kingdom.

Paper Mario: the Origami King

- Characters are flat like paper and when they turn around their body turns like a sheet.

- The Origami Craftsman uses the magical Fold of Life technique to bring his Origami Creations to life.

- King Olly uses the magical Fold of Life technique to transform Bowser’s Army, Princess Peach and the Vellumentals into Folded Soldiers while turning the Toads into various Origami creatures.

- King Olly uses magic to bring the Origami Craftsman’s tools to life and make them giant, creating the Legion of Stationary.

- Mario and Olivia use Magic Circles to transform themselves using Origami Techniques, such as the 1,000-Fold Arms.

- The Toads and Mario in the Temple of Shrooms have holes punched in them by the Hole Punch and Bowser’s Minions are cut up by the Scissors guarding the castle. All of these magical effects are undone upon the bosses’ defeats.

With all that taken into account, it’s clear that this is genuinely a Paper World. However, since we also know that these events are supposed to take place in the real world, the only possibility is that the Paper Mario games depict events, locations and characters that exist in both the real world and the Paper World. We see these events from the perspective of the Paper World, but everything still happens in the real world without the paper aesthetics.

The opposite also applies, with all of the adventures the real Mario has been on occurring in the Paper World, with the paper aesthetics.

Part 2: How it Developed

In Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, the lore of the Paper Mario world is greatly expanded upon. We learn that it’s a “parallel world” located within a legendary magical book. For the first (and as of writing this, only) time, we see the Mario cast interact with their Paper counterparts. This has lead some people to believe that the Paper Mario games didn’t occur in the real world, with Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam retconning what had already been established, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.

In fact, in Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam the opposite is implied. The game constantly calls attention to how the two worlds are exactly parallel through character dialogue. Some examples of this are Kamek and Paper Kamek coming up with the same plan to betray each other at the exact same moment and have the same proceeding conversation with their respective Bowsers, or when Peach and Paper Peach talk about themselves on Mount Brrr, realising how their lives and personalities are the same and even coming to the conclusion that they are the same person.

This was wholly intentional on the developers’ parts, with the core of the game being focused on showing inner depth to these personalities through interactions with their doubles:

Mario and Paper Mario, Princess Peach and Paper Princess Peach…It was fun to create interactions between different versions of the same character who come from different worlds like these examples. For this game, we created themes for each of the interactions between the main characters. We emphasized the characters’ personalities for each of the character interactions, such as Mario being curious about Paper Mario’s special abilities and trying to see if he can use them himself (even though both Mario and Paper Mario are the heroes of their respective worlds), the two Princess Peaches talking about girl stuff, the Bowser Jrs. getting along immediately like old friends, etc.

- Shunsuke Kobayashi, Director of Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam

Plenty of other games set in the real world have also referenced the events of Paper Mario games, further proving they occurred in the real world:

- Goomboss, who was created by Bowser using the Star Rod in Paper Mario, goes on to appear in Super Mario 64 DS and Mario Kart DS.

- Dry Dry Desert from Paper Mario appears in Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, with Dry Dry Ruins, which were discovered during Paper Mario, appearing in Mario Kart Wii.

- Bowser’s Castle from Paper Mario, which was created by Bowser using the Star Rod, reappears in Mario Kart: Super Circuit’s Rainbow Road.

- Goombette from Super Mario Odyssey is pink, just like the other female Goombas previously seen in Paper Mario and Paper Mario: the Thousand-Year Door.

- Snowmen from Paper Mario reappear in various games in the Mario Kart series with the same appearance.

- The Mystery Egg item, featured in Mario Kart Arcade GP 2, is a reference to Mini-Yoshi’s Egg from Paper Mario: the Thousand Year Door.

- Sky Guys from Paper Mario reappear in Mario Tennis Aces and Mario Strikers: Battle League.

- Red Chomps from Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door and Super Paper Mario reappear in a movie projected by the WarioWare: Touched! souvenir “Reel-to-Reel”, as well as on the Pyramid Park board in Mario Party 7.

- Suits of Koopatrol armor from Paper Mario, Paper Mario: the Thousand-Year Door and Super Paper Mario appear in Bowser’s Villa on Vibe Island in Super Princess Peach.

- Koopatrols themselves appear in Mario Pinball Land.

- Whackas from Paper Mario, Paper Mario: the Thousand Year Door and Super Paper Mario appear in Mario Party 6 on the Snowflake Lake board.

- The Snow Bunny item from Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door appears in Mario Party 6 on the Snowflake Lake board.

- The Headbonk move that Goombas perform in the Paper Mario series returns as an attack in Minion Quest: the Search for Bowser and Bowser Jr.’s Journey.

- The Star Spirits from Paper Mario reappear as hosts in Mario Party 5.

- Bowser Sphinx appears with Tutankoopa’s Headdress from Paper Mario on the Pyramid Park board in Mario Party 7.

- The names of Goombario, Kooper, Bombette, Moustafa and Tubba Blubba from Paper Mario appear on the scoreboards in Mario Golf: Advance Tour and Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour.

- Hammer Bros. appear with their uniforms from Paper Mario in Mario Kart: Super Circuit.

- In Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga there’s a room in the Woohoo Hooniversity that contains blocks Mario has encountered in his past adventures. Amongst these are blocks from Super Mario Bros., Super Mario World and Super Mario 64, with a block from Paper Mario also appearing.

- Green Magikoopas, Red Magikoopas, Yellow Magikoopas and White Magikoopas from Paper Mario and Paper Mario: the Thousand-Year Door reappear in Minion Quest: the Search for Bowser, Bowser Jr.’s Journey, Mario Superstar Baseball and Mario Sports Superstars.

- Dark Boos from Paper Mario: the Thousand Year Door reappear in Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time.

- Recovery Blocks from Paper Mario, Paper Mario: the Thousand-Year Door and Paper Mario: Sticker Star reappear in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time and Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam.

- Star Haven from Paper Mario, is mentioned in the intro of the Japanese version of Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time.

The lore of the Paper Mario games in general is also clearly of great importance to the series as a whole, with Super Mario Galaxy’s Power Star lore being directly pulled from the original Paper Mario in large part.

With that, it’s clear that all of these stories, locations and characters indeed exist in Mario’s real world as well as the Paper World.

Part 3: Wrapping it Up

Finally, I’d like to address some common questions that people are left with.

Is it possible that only some Paper Mario games happened in the real world, while others happened in the Paper World?

No. The events of all of the Paper Mario games happened in both the real world and Paper World. It’s made clear that all of the Paper Mario games happen in the same universe as each other, and therefore all occur in both worlds:

- Paper Mario: the Thousand-Year Door has many callbacks to Paper Mario, through locations like Mario’s House or Dry Dry Desert and characters like Parakarry, Kammy Koopa, Lady Bow, Jr. Troopa and Moustafa.

- Super Paper Mario features portraits of Mario’s partners from Paper Mario and Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door in Mario’s House, as well as Catch Cards depicting them.

- Notes belonging to Goombella from Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door and Parakarry from Paper Mario can be found in the trash scraps of Shy Guy Jungle in Paper Mario Sticker Star.

- In Paper Mario: The Origami King, photos of Princess Peach from all previous Paper Mario games can be seen.

How do certain paper-y mechanics work in the real world, such as the Curses in Paper Mario: the Thousand Year Door or the Folded Soldiers in Paper Mario: the Origami King?

While many of the paper-y elements of the Paper Mario games can merely be acknowledged as gags and nothing more, story relevant ones like these still make sense within the real world.

Real World characters can be turned into paper, cut, folded or molded without major consequences. As seen in Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, magical abilities like the Trio Attacks have the capability to turn real world enemies into paper, before cutting or folding them without any “real world” consequences outside of dealing normal damage. Keeping in mind that the Curses in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door and Origami Techniques in Paper Mario: The Origami King are too both magical in nature, it makes perfect sense.

Additionally, the real Mario games are no stranger to cartoonish gags as well. Looking to the Mario & Luigi series, for example, in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, Luigi is able to be squashed into the shape of a surfboard, while in Mario & Luigi: Dream Team Luigi swims through the air to reach the blimp. Additionally, in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, Mario & Luigi: Bowser Inside Story and Mario & Luigi: Dream Team, Mario is able to be blown up like a balloon or filled to the brim with water.

In the Mario Kart series, characters can be flattened like paper by being crushed by a player with a Mega Mushroom or by obstacles such as Thwomps on the track, before the effect wears off soon afterwards.

In Mario Super Sluggers, a Koopa Troopa hides within a poster, identically to how a Goomba hid on a sign in Paper Mario.

Stickers from Paper Mario: Sticker Star are not natural to the Mushroom Kingdom. The Stickers come from the Sticker Star, and rain down over the Decalburg region once a year when the Sticker Comet arrives.

The magical Paint found in Paper Mario: Color Splash is consistently described as a life force throughout Paper Mario: Color Splash:

“You know... paint! That colourful stuff coursing through our bodies?”

“The paint you just absorbed is basically my blood, sweat and tears.”

“Paint adds beauty and life to the world.”

“Where exactly are we supposed to find this magical, life-giving paint you speak of?”

“I did basically sacrifice my lifeblood to get you out of that pickle back there...”

“They’re sucking the very life out of this beautiful island!”

Paint also appears as a sort of “life force” in various games that take place in the real world, such as Super Mario Sunshine, Luigi’s Mansion and Bowser’s Fury. When Things, real world objects, are wrung out in Paper Mario: Color Splash, they too produce paint, proving that paint is not a substance exclusive to the Paper World.

Conclusion

The Paper Mario games occur in both the Paper World and the real world, but we see them from the perspective of the Paper World. All of the events, locations and characters from the Paper Mario series exist in the real world, with the events, locations and characters from the real Mario series existing in the Paper World.

Thank you for reading!

#mario lore #paper mario #super mario #mario & luigi #mario timeline

[satoshi-mochida]

Super Monkey Ball: Banana Rumble announced for Switch - Gematsu

From Gematsu

SEGA has announced Super Monkey Ball: Banana Rumble for Switch. It will launch on June 25, 2024.

Here is an overview of the game, via SEGA:

About

For the first time in the series’ history, up to 16 players from around the world can now battle it out online across multiple game modes! Be the first to the finish line in Race, grab the falling bananas in Banana Hunt, team up to take down robots in Robot Smash, and more. Hungry for even more? Grab your favorite bunch and slip into a wonderfully crafted story in an a-peel-ing new Adventure mode. Journey through 200 all-new stages, featuring support for up to 4 players in local or online play! With over 300 ways to customize your character and their Monkey Ball, along with a new Spin Dash technique, you can bounce, tilt, roll, and now dash past the competition in style as you aim to become Top Banana!

Key Features

Experience thrilling gameplay that is easy to pick up and play yet challenging and fulfilling to master.

Go bananas with your favorite bunch and drop into online multiplayer​​ for up to 16 players or local multiplayer for up to 4 players!

Slip into a wonderfully crafted story either locally or online in the all-new Adventure mode, where you will journey through 200 newly crafted stages either in four-player cooperative play or solo.

Show off your style by customizing your character with over 300 fashionable items to choose from.

Use the new Spin Dash technique to sprint past rivals or create new shortcuts to victory!

Digital Deluxe Edition

Those who purchase the Super Monkey Ball: Banana Rumble Digital Deluxe Edition ($69.99 MSRP) on the Nintendo eShop will receive the following:

The Standard Edition of the game

The SEGA Pass, a DLC pack that includes SIX additional playable characters from iconic SEGA franchises, along with a bundle of bonus SEGA-themed customization items!

Digital Standard Edition

A Digital Standard edition of the game ($49.99 MSRP) is also available to pre-order. Furthermore, the SEGA Pass will be available separately for $24.99, so those who choose the Digital Deluxe Edition will save on the bundle! More details on the pass will be revealed in the coming months, so please stay tuned.

Physical “Legendary Banana” Edition

A physical Legendary Banana Edition ($49.99 MSRP) is also now available to pre-order at major retailers! This version includes:

The Standard Edition of the game

An O-Sleeve (slipcover) for the box

40-page physical artbook

Reversible cover

In addition, those who pre-order any of the digital or physical editions of the game will also receive a special in-game Banana Costume as a customization item!

Watch the announcement trailer below. View the first screenshots at the gallery.

Announce Trailer

English

#Super Monkey Ball: Banana Rumble #Super Monkey Ball #Sega #Nintendo Switch #Gematsu #Youtube

[talesfromthebacklog]

Are you looking to click with a new game and want something genuinely different?

I am always hunting for new titles to reinvigorate that click I feel with video games. Not all video games will click but when they do they can be something truly special. I wanted to go over some of my favorite games I’ve played in recent years that are available on current gen consoles. I’m not covering anyone upcoming, these are titles you can pick up today. Cheaply at that. Several of which are on sale on Steam right now as of writing this.

So. Enough chit chat. Lets’s start with an easy one:

Paradise Killer:

PC Switch PS4/PS5 Xbox

I just finished this one and am in the middle of writing my review on it. Painfully stylish with a killer vaporwave soundtrack this game oozes aesthetic. Kaizen Game Works understood the hauntology assignment and took it to the MAX. You are an investigator trying to solve an immortal god-like council’s murder in a dystopian society. You’ve returned to this gorgeous open world parasite paradise from your exile of 3 million days (about 8219 years)! If you’ve played Outer Wilds this is among that same vein. (And I will caution you, while not hard, the game relies on you wanting to just explore. It will provide hints but it won’t hold your hand.)

This is an Ace Attorney-esqe collectathon mixed with open world and exploration. There is no combat. Both the writing and the world are spectacular. Don’t deny yourself something this wonderful, because it is.

This has quickly risen among my gaming ranks as a favorite and it hits to being as close of a favorite as my number 2 suggestion…

Outer Wilds:

PC Switch PS4/PS5 Xbox

This is perhaps one of my favorite games of all time. I wanted to talk about this second because Outer Wilds has received more of the notoriety it deserves in recent times and I wanted PK to get the main spotlight. Don’t get it twisted though If it wasn’t for UpIsNotJump’s video (<— Spoilers) I would have never realized what I was missing. And I still think a lot of people don’t understand what they’re missing too. It is an absolute masterpiece. And seeing it getting released physically again is a god send. I want people to play this game. (And it’s DLC Echoes of The Eye)

No combat. You are a scientist exploring your local solar system in your spaceship in an open “universe” instead of an open world. The sun explodes every 22 minutes which sends your memories back in time. Again, I will caution you that the game relies on you wanting to explore. It will not direct you.

Eastward:

PC Switch Xbox

Too much exploring. Let’s reel it back with Eastward. A Zelda-like where you control an older man and a little girl with psychic powers in a post apocalyptic world. If you’re looking for those fun pixel games that pack that quirky feel this is it. A bit existential, a great sense of humor, and fantastic writing are all part of the Eastward package. (You startin’ to see a theme here? Ha ha)

All while boasting a seriously killer pixel soundtrack. The original Iron Carbine trailer for the Nintendo Direct had an immediate impact on me as a gamer. I knew this was a game I would fall in love with. Sometimes you just know when something is special. This game is beautifully pixelated and packed with lovingly crafted content. Puzzles are the right amount of challenging and there is so much fun side stuff to do. Including a Dragon Quest-esqe game inside the game! It also received DLC via Eastward Octopia! Which I also love.

Moon: A Remix RPG

PC Switch PS4/PS5

I do play games with combat. I swear. Several of these games just don’t have it! (Ha!) This will perhaps be the hardest game to sell to you on this list. I have a soft spot for quirky games like this, but know that this was a PS1 Japanese exclusive game in the 90s. And it sure acts like it. Slow to start, weak tutorial, and doesn’t provide a ton of direction. This game was ported into English for the first time in 2020 and I love it. It is a trial and error experience though.

This cult classic is one of the games that inspired Undertale and when you play it becomes wildly apparent. I dare say it reminds me more of Undertale than its other main inspiration Earthbound. You are a little boy that’s been fallen into his video game and you have to save the souls of monsters the hero has killed using love. (Sound familiar?)

Light hearted and weird this game also has a great sense of humor as it pokes at classic RPG tropes. And that slow intro comes into play providing a unique perspective as you journey through the game befriending people. It won’t be for everyone, I would research this one before sinking the… $18.99 on the purchase. But I think it is worth experiencing if you love Undertale.

I think I’ve yakked enough. If folks like the post I’ll follow up with a part two with a little more genre variety! I wanted to the first post to include my top favorites. So. I hope there’s something in there that invigorates you the way these games did for me.

#Moon A Remix RPG #MOON #Eastward #Paradise Killer #Outer Wilds #game recommendations #games #video games #nintendo #nintendo switch #gaming #gamer #indie game #playstation #xbox #microsoft #Undertale #playstation 5 #playstation 4 #indie games #indie #video game recommendations #video game review #video game #vaporwave

[fujomod3r]

Thoughts on Fashion Dreamer

Fashion Dreamer is the latest title from syn Sophia, and sort of spiritual sequel to their previous series Style Savvy (Style Boutique in Europe and わがままファシオン / Wagamama Fashion in Japan). The premise of the game is to become a fashion influencer or muse in a virtual world called Eve. This is done by collecting/copying clothing items from other muses (both pre-set NPCs and player created muses encountered via online features) or by unlocking clothing patterns to craft your own items. These items can then be used to create outfits known as Lookits for yourself and other muses. Some muses request specific conditions such as certain colours, styles or items to complement a particular article of clothing. Completing these requests rewards the player with more currencies to unlock and craft more items. Creating lookits and using the rewards to unlock items to create more lookits forms the central loop of the gameplay. Progress, or perhaps more nebulously, your 'success' as an influencer is tracked by how many 'likes' your lookits receive and how many 'followers' you accrue. In reality these are only virtual scores and not related to the online/social features at all.

It's by no means a perfect game, and I want to share my thoughts on what its shortcomings are, but what really prompted me to write this is looking back on the reaction to the announcement trailer. When the game was first announced during a Nintendo Direct, commenters instantly brushed it off as trite and uninteresting, many demanding it be skipped to show off more Mario or just any other game with a more 'masculine' appeal. Similarly, many streamers and youtubers reacting to the Direct mocked or derided the game for seemingly no other reason than it being 'feminine' coded or "for girls" which is extremely disheartening to see. Before the trailer had even shown any gameplay, thousands of commenters had already declared the game worthless. I'm perfectly capable of just dealing with this anti-feminine attitude, but imagine how comments and reactions like these affect the many thousands if not millions of players who are interested in this kind of game? Players with 'feminine' tastes, interests and hobbies deserve to be catered to as much as any other player. It really sometimes feels like some people never mentally matured past 8 years old, recoiling in horror from 'girly' things as an immature assertion of their own masculinity.

I don't expect all players are going enjoy something like Fashion Dreamer. I just like to imagine the world is wide enough for games like it to exist and not be mocked or dismissed outright as though they're intrinsically less worthy than other types of game. Being marketed primarily at people with 'feminine' coded interests isn't inherently a bad thing and it's truly saddening to see how easily people fall into this immature way of thinking.

With that said, Fashion Dreamer isn't perfect!! Far from it. To put it bluntly, the game currently lacks features and activities outside of creating outfits and taking photos. Previous games in the series had narrative arcs for different characters, shopping and restocking, decorating your apartment / boutique as well as activities like going to music concerts. While Fashion Dreamer allows the player to walk around Eve at their leisure, it lacks detail that would make it feel more alive. The differently themed virtual worlds or Cocoons all have the same small set of activities (that is, a photo booth, a makeup stand and gacha machines) and a collection of more or less random NPCs, meaning they end up feeling like different desktop wallpapers rather than different places. The narrative of becoming a fashion influencer is potentially a very interesting topic for exploration, especially given how relevant social media has become in the fashion world. There is also the potential for an exploration of how social media facilitates communication, expression and friendship, whilst at the same time discussing the negative impacts social media can have on people. As it stands, the game feels empty and lacks the charm of its predecessors.

Gone are the unique clothing brands of Style Savvy, with their specialisation in particular styles or items. Every item in Fashion Dreamer either comes from a single generic default brand, or is created by players. Whilst the ability for players to create their own brand is interesting, this too ultimately feels quite shallow. With all items being drawn from the same pool and with limited options for colours (and basically none for customisation such as rolling up sleeves, opening/closing outerwear etc) there's not really much incentive to 'follow' or even collect items from another player's brand. Especially since you can usually unlock the item for yourself with a bit of effort anyway. Creating your own 'brand' in this way is far less rewarding or sasitfying than creating, customising and stocking your boutique store was in the previous games. Some remnants of that feature are present in vestigial form in Fashion Dreamer, namely a custom showroom where players can display furniture, decorations and fashion items, but there's never any reason to visit your own showroom, much less those of other players. You enter the room, spend 15 seconds admiring different colour variants of the same items you have, mutter 'nice' to yourself then leave. It's unfulfilling to say the least.

It's bad enough that the clothing and brands lack personality, but the characters themselves also seem completely dessicated and one-dimensional. Where previous games had characters with distinct personalities and corresponding tastes, the NPC muses in Fashion Dreamer have much less to say and no strong preferences. Their single sentence barks don't give them much flavour and really only serve to remind you of what their 'gimmick' or 'thing' is supposed to be ("I like surfing! Surf's up! Cowabunga! Can't wait to hit the waves man!!"). Their requests for Lookits don't seem unique to their personalities (the surfer dude has asked me twice for formal suits without even trying to lampshade this by explaining why), and so far I've yet to have any muse object to an outfit or item I selected for them. Again, a comparison to Style Savvy highlights what is absent here. In Style Savvy, goth characters would balk at bright colours, characters preoccupied with elegance and sophistication would turn their nose up at distressed denims or graphic printed t-shirts. It's not as though these personalities were particularly deep, but their preferences had to be taken into consideration when recommending or selling items. Requests from muses in Fashion Dreamer on the other hand seem to be essentially random. Building a rapport with customers by talking with them or meeting them out in the town in Style Savvy felt rewarding as it let you learn more about their personality, and so better tailor your fashion recommendations to suit them. The muses of Fashion Dreamer simply repeat the same barks at every level of friendship and have much less to say about themselves or their lives making them and the world they inhabit feel much more shallow.

While Fashion Dreamer does away with having to worry about money limiting your creativity, it instead replaces one currency with 4. Instead of using money from sales to restock your store, the player must now accrue 'likes', 'keys', 'gacha tickets' and 'coins' which are used to craft clothing, unlock new designs or purchase room decorations and single-use photo props (don't ask why the VR flower evaporates after a single VR photo, it just does). The conceit of being in virtual world evaporates quickly and seems to serve mainly to hand-wave away the various abstracted elements of the game world such as the ability to instantly copy outfits and change on the spot. Grinding for these 4 abstract resources feels far less rewarding than seeing the revenue of your Boutique store increase, allowing you to buy flashier styles and splurge on store decorations.

Again I feel the need to stress that this change in focus from running a high-street boutique to being a fashion blogger in the Matrix isn't necessarily bad, but it doesn't do anything interesting with this theme, serving mainly to provide a poor simulacrum of social media 'number go up' dopamine hits. Gaining 'followers' on Fashion Dreamer isn't a reward for effort, it's literally just a numbers game since almost every action in the game rewards you with followers (which is perhaps more realistic than I'm giving it credit for). The actual social features of the game are simplistic but cute, allowing players to 'follow' one another and create or request Lookits for each other based on their multiple-choice answers to 5 simple questions (or totally ignoring that and dressing them like a Splatoon character). However it all feels quite shallow since you never interact directly with other players and so don't get to enjoy show off your unique look.

Finally, while Fashion Dreamer allows you to now create a masculine avatar (an option sorely lacking in the previous games which simply assumed the player to be a girl), the range of fashion options for masculine body types seems a lot smaller than the feminine options. It also doesn't allow masculine muses to wear feminine clothing (shoes, hats and earrings are all considered unisex, but all other clothing items are locked to a single gender) and vice versa. It's a shame to fall down here because the game has clearly made steps to be more inclusive, with a wider variety of options for skin tone, hairstyle and a 2nd gender (Ghee whizz! How come your mom lets you have two genders?). Further, the range of body shapes is still extremely lacking, with a selection of ~10 slim bodies of different heights. Overall, the game shows a real lack of interest in exploring the world of fashion, and nowhere is that more obvious than its lazy emulation of typical body/beauty standards we see everywhere else.

I know I've probably come across really harsh and critical here, but it's only out of a frustration at seeing what a strong basis there is for a game here. The character models and animations are great, and there aren't enough games that provide players like myself with the ability to indulge in playing dress-up for its own sake. Ultimately, I do want to see this game or others like it succeed because I loved Style Savvy and want developers to continue making games that dare to be unapologetically feminine in what they're about and who they're appealing to. I'm just disappointed overall in the lack of polish this particular game has. It honestly feels unfinished which is why I want to hold back from being too harsh.

Do I think this game is worth buying? Not really at the RRP, but if you're interested in some extremely light and somewhat mindless entertainment theorycrafting fits and taking a few cute digital selfies, just be warned that you won't get much else out of it. The soundtrack will start to grate on you as well, so make sure to line up a playlist of your own.

#fashion dreamer #syn sophia #style savvy #girls mode #style boutique #lookit

[zeldadeservesabreak]

One of the things I love about Nintendo is that gameplay is always the starting point. They don’t make games by creating a story and then molding gameplay around it. They create compelling gameplay first and then they craft themes and story around that instead.

Like this ultra hand ability? They crafted gameplay where using your hand to manipulate objects and put them together is the main feature. Once that’s settled they theme everything else in the game around hands imagery.

How do you access shrines? Handprint identification.

There’s a terrifying new monster? It’s literally a wild pack of creepy hands.

How do you gain powers from the sages? Handshakes.

Link begins the game reaching for Zelda as she falls?

Spoilers below the cut:

He ends the game by finally catching her.

Everything in this game is about hands. You could even make the argument that the theme of hands extends to collaboration and coming together as a community.

I just think that’s really cool!

#zelda #the legend of zelda #tears of the kingdom #Nintendo

[clowngames]

a longtime fascination of mine is the "fangame soundtrack" and other similar media. When you think of fan music, you tend to think of remixes or "with lyrics" songs or things like that, but my fascination is in the audio equivalent of canon-compliant fanfiction, and you can really only get that in very specific ways, like through the process of making a fangame.

Let me try to explain what I'm talking about and what I find appealing about it.

So a game franchise typically has an established musical identity in some way. There's a combination of preferred genres, tropes, repeated narrative patterns, motifs and so on that you get a sense of when playing the games enough. Using Mario as an example, it's pretty standard for your average Mario game to have a grass area, an underground area, a desert area, a castle, and probably 2 boss themes. You can go more specific, like how the grass area is always composed in C major, the music is written to be bouncy, light and jazzy until you get to the castle, and so on.

And once you recognize all of this you can use this knowledge to make a brand new soundtrack - original music - which has the same musical identity as the franchise you're working with. In effect, you're replicating the experience of writing an official soundtrack for a real Mario/whatever game.

And that's what fascinates me. In listening to a fangame soundtrack, I am able to catch a glimpse of what the artist is getting out of the source material. How much do they deviate from the canon? Is it deliberate? Does it work? Should Nintendo Hire This Man? and so on.

Famously, the two fangames Sonic Before The Sequel and Sonic After the Sequel are known for having a cohesive musical identity that fits the canon of the Sonic franchise while also doing its own distinct thing. They have about 5 and a half hours of music between them.

I was following the "Ace Attorney Investigations 3 soundtrack" as it developed. The artist Broocevelt skipped the middleman entirely and made a whole new soundtrack without waiting for a fangame to build around it. If you're a fan of Ace Attorney, you're probably familiar with its musical structure, and Broocevelt did a lot more than just understand that structure - she mastered it, and crafted music that so effectively utilized the narrative tools that the AA soundtracks use that it's easy to imagine a game going along to these songs.

It's the idea of creating original media that coheres with the work of the media it's based on. Media that emulates the spirit of its source as closely as possible while still being new.

[nintendowife]

I finished Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective on Nintendo 3DS a week ago. I had a great time with Capcom's classic creation which is a combination of a mystery, logic puzzles and a supernatural thriller adventure. 

Sissel appears to have lost his memory and if that weren't enough he rather appears to have been murdered too. He has no memory of who he is (or to be more exact, was) and zero clue why he was done away with. Only a few hours remains until dawn breaks and his soul will vanish forever. Sissel must solve his own murder and discover his identity. 

Ghost Trick's gameplay and concept is very unique, I can't remember seeing any other game like this. Gameplay consists of solving tricky logic puzzles in order to avert mortal fates of other people who serve as vital clues of Sissel’s past. As Sissel, a spirit caught between the worlds of the dead and living, you're expected to cause chain reactions of sorts by possessing and manipulating objects in the environments and evoking reactions from living people. Conveniently Sissel also has the power to travel back in time to 4 minutes prior to a person's death to see what happened and to change the course of their fate. You reach out to nearby objects with stylus on touch screen or by using the control stick and perform “ghost tricks” to get closer to the truth. 

Even though the theme revolves around death, the game has a light and humorous take on the subject - you won't have to worry about getting depressed over the game's events. The story is rather interesting and the characters are just brilliantly designed. Inspector Cabanela was an especially memorable character with his extravagant flair, and another favorite of mine was the brave little doggo called Missile. Dialogue is funny and a lot of surprising events happen during the course of the game. You start from a junkyard and end up going to pretty wild places! Even though my hunch about Sissel's identity was right, the ending is quite a brain twister and I'm not exactly sure if I understood everything. It was a satisfying ending to the mystery nevertheless.  The game’s length is good and there’s no unnecessary filler content to bore you. It takes about 12 hours to finish the story according to HowLongToBeat. 

The game’s audiovisual presentation is distinct and stylish. The pixel graphics are detailed and character portraits use sharp, chunky outlines. The real eyecatcher here are the animations though. It's rare to see such impressive, fluid, detailed and entertaining animation even in today's big budget games created with high tech motion capture. Yet this game from 13 years ago (2010), crafted for the small screen of Nintendo DS (that many people consider antique hardware), exceeds all my expectations that I place on motion in games. Ghost Trick's music is very good and fits the events like a glove. Many characters have their own catchy theme when they appear on the screen. 

There's a remaster of Ghost Trick coming soon to modern platforms such as Nintendo Switch and PC. If the remaster manages to retain the original's spirit (heh) you can expect an entertaining package. I recommend checking the game out on the platform of your choice if you're into mysteries and/or puzzles.

#ghost trick: phantom detective #ghost trick #nintendo 3ds

[transgirl-gaming-thoughts]

Between the Gameboy Advance, DS, 3DS, GameCube, Wii, and Switch, I actually think the Switch is my least played Nintendo console? Which is odd, since its technically their best-performing console yet. And no doubt it has great games, and plenty I haven't gotten to yet (Metroid Prime Remastered, Pikmin 4, and Mario Odyssey are next on my list I think), but the console itself is just so... lifeless.

When you look at something like the DS or DSi, the menu is pretty bare, but it has character. Buttons, details, sounds, etc all give a distinctively "DS" feel. The Wii and 3DS are very similar. Their menus both scream charm, like Nintendo carefully crafted them with visuals, sounds, and design in mind. The Wii especially is so nostalgic for me, and the 3DS is just fun and colorful.

The Switch has a menu that is the most "stock asset" menu I have ever seen on a console. The modern Xbox consoles have more identity than the Switch menu, and that's bizarre. No themes other than Light and Dark, no menu music, no shop music, no Nintendo charm. The other console menus made me actively want to boot up the system and check out what's going on or just browse the pages for a bit. The most I do with my Switch is maybe check on the eShop, or just go straight to a game. I never turn on my Switch if I don't know exactly what I'm planning to do with it.

And this seems like something really easily fixed too. At any time they could've added themes, music, new sounds, etc, but they just didn't. Again, no doubt the Switch has great games and a neat gimmick, but I really really hope that their next console has a more Nintendo feel and less of a "generic console menu" feel.

#assorted gaming thoughts #nintendo #nintendo switch

[wilygryphon]

Kingdom Hearts - Christmas Hearts

A Kingdom Hearts Christmas one-shot that I posted on FFN and AO3 two years ago. I figure 'tis the season to share it here.

Summary: The Guardians of Light celebrate Christmas at the Land of Departure.  They open presents, take pictures, tell stories, have a magical airstepping snowball fight, and enjoy being together on the most magical day of the year.

————————————————

Sunlight shone through the stained glass windows into the castle on the Land of Departure, reflecting off of the ornaments and tinsel that decorated a magnificent pine tree that was erected in the audience chamber.  Several gift-wrapped boxes sat under the tree, enough for a large group of people.  Fourteen stockings were hooked onto the railing on one side of the chamber, each colored and embroidered to indicate whose it was.  There were also two smaller stockings for Jiminy Cricket and Chirithy.  A large stellated crystal of Orichalcum was mounted on top of the tree as the star.

The castle’s clock tower bell rang, echoing throughout the castle to announce the morning.  Smaller bells chimed in tune with classic carols.  Each of the castle’s occupants woke up, some with the aid of Chirithy, who bounced on top of the late sleepers until they were finally up.  Ventus was the first one down to the chamber, still the physically-youngest and most evidently childish-at-heart.  He was joined by: Sora and Kairi; Mickey, Donald, and Goofy, with Jiminy tagging along in Mickey’s pocket; Aqua and Terra; Roxas and Xion; Riku and Naminé; and Lea and Isa.

“Morning, guys,” Lea said, yawning.  “Merry Christmas.”

“Merry Christmas!” everyone replied.

“Jeez, Ven.  You think your Chirithy could bounce any harder?” Lea complained.  “It felt like he was this close to breaking my ribs.”

Chirithy appeared in Ventus’ arms in a puff of smoke.  “If you’d rather skip opening presents, then I won’t bother waking you up next time,” he remarked.  Ventus laughed while Isa chuckled.

“Well, since we’re all down here, why don’t we see what Santa put in our stockings?” Aqua suggested.

Everyone scrambled to their stockings and took out the gifts that were stuffed inside.  They all had candy and (with the exception of Goofy and Jiminy) chocolate; there was a Santa hat and a jingle bell sash for everyone; the Keyblade wielders all got a new Keychain that would give their Keyblades a holiday-themed form; everyone had a chibi plush doll that looked like them; Jiminy’s stocking had a brand new umbrella, while Chirithy’s included a festive cape and Lux pouch.  They looked up and said “Thanks, Santa,” sure that the jolly man in red could hear them.

Next, Aqua passed presents around to everyone.  Sora’s gift from Riku was a digital watch that would sync up to the time zones of each world.  Sora and Kairi traded gifts, Sora giving Kairi a Crystal Regalia + bracelet and Kairi giving Sora a Cosmic Belt.  Sora gifted Donald a new hockey stick and Goofy a new tackle box.  Mickey gave Riku a new jacket.  Terra gifted Ventus a Nintendo Switch.  Roxas gave each of his friends a Struggle Bat and accompanying gear.  Naminé gave everyone a scrapbook filled with her drawings of each of them.  Kairi gave Naminé a new set of colored pencils; Riku gave her a new satchel for her drawing tablet and utensils; Sora gave her a new expansion pack for her tabletop RPG (Tidus had introduced it to her at school, and she turned out to be a surprisingly good DM).  Lea gave Isa a tea set.  Isa gave Xion a fantasy romance novel.  Mickey gave Jiminy a new journal while Sora gave him a new scrapbook.  The Keyblade wielders as well as Donald received a book on magic spells and lore from Merlin.  Every human-sized person received a GummiPad from Ienzo.  Donald received a Junior Woodchucks craft from his nephews and a first aid kit from Webby Vanderquack, the latter of which made Sora and Goofy laugh out loud.  Leon sent them all Christmas sweaters.  Sora found a gift from Ariel that contained a music box.

They sorted their gifts and disposed of the wrapping paper, then put on their sweaters, sashes, and Santa hats (and Chirithy’s Christmas cape and pouch).  Sora held his Gummiphone on a selfie stick and took a group photo in front of the Christmas tree, then they all took separate pictures.

“You met Santa?” Ventus asked, amazed, as the group sat around the dining room table eating their breakfast of omelettes, French Toast, and home fries.

“Yeah.  We first went there when I was fifteen,” Sora recounted.  “First we’d gone to Halloween Town, then saw Jack Skellington preparing for Christmas instead of Halloween.  He then led us to Christmas Town to meet Santa.”

“Sora got scolded,” Donald teased.

“Really?  I would have thought you would have a permanent spot on the Nice List,” Terra remarked.

Sora chuckled awkwardly.  “Well, he brought up the one time I told everyone that I didn’t believe in Santa Claus,” he admitted sheepishly.

“WHAT?!” Ventus and Xion blurted.  Aqua gasped, similarly shocked.

“It was Riku’s fault in the first place,” Sora grumbled.  Riku and Kairi laughed.

“So there’s a Halloween Town and a Christmas Town?  I think I would like to visit those places someday,” Aqua said.

“Maybe we’ll take you to visit next year,” Goofy suggested.

“Great idea,” Roxas said.

“I don’t suppose you had Christmas when you were in the Organization,” Riku remarked.

“Well, we got a day off once a year,” Isa explained.  “That was on the twenty-fifth of December, aligned with Twilight Town’s calendar.  I addressed this fact when I noticed it, and Xemnas permitted a single day with no mission.  I suppose that his intention of giving us a break on Christmas Day was to remind us of what we lacked in order to give us further encouragement to complete Kingdom Hearts.”

Everyone fell silent as they processed that statement, reflecting on the true purpose of the Organization that Xemnas/Xehanort had intended.  Donald crossed his arms and sank back into his chair.  “Humbug,” he muttered.

“You could say that again,” Roxas agreed.

They found more cheerful topics to discuss for the rest of breakfast and for much of the morning, including: how Terra, Ventus and Aqua celebrated Christmas before the Mark of Mastery exam (the tactful way in which Riku described the turning point); how Christmas was celebrated on Destiny Islands, in Daybreak Town (for Ventus and Chirithy to answer), and (mostly for the benefit of Kairi and her still-hazy memories) in Radiant Garden; and what everyone’s favorite Christmas songs were.

“Hey, guys!” Lea called, getting everyone’s attention.  He pointed out the window.  “You see all this snow outside?  I’d say it looks perfect for a snowball fight.”

Sora, Riku and Roxas grinned.  “You’re on!” Sora said.  They all put on coats, gloves, and boots and ran outside.  There was four inches of snow on the ground, a shining white blanket that covered the mountain islands.  Snow also covered the roof and window sills of the castle.  As soon as he was outside, Sora did a backflip and pushed himself off of the wall, launching himself across the forecourt.  He packed together a snowball on landing and spun around to throw it at Riku, who was making a snowball of his own to retaliate.

Everyone spread out, going all in on the attack.  They each sometimes focused on one adversary in particular, and other times briefly grouped up to gang up on someone.  They all ran around to dodge snowballs and attack from different angles.  Sora, Riku, Roxas, Aqua, and Ventus leapt through the air and ran up and down the side of the castle to take the snowball fight to the skies, leaving the others to watch from the ground and laugh as their friends glided and airstepped all over the place and snowballs arced through the air (although Donald regretted this when a stray(?) snowball dropped down and hit him square in the face).  Everyone on the ground got back into the action when Naminé, who up to that point had simply sat on the steps in front of the door and watched, threw a snowball at Terra from behind.

When they were all tired from the snowball fight, they stumbled back inside, laughing, and took off their outdoor clothing.  As they passed through the foyer, Kairi caught Sora by the hand and stopped him, then pointed up to show him that they were standing under the mistletoe.  They laughed and then kissed.  “Merry Christmas,” they said to each other.  After seeing this, the other couples decided to follow their example, and Riku and Naminé, Roxas and Xion, Aqua and Terra, and Lea and Isa shared their own kisses under the mistletoe.

The gang was truly glad to be together on the day that was all about sharing the light in their hearts.  It truly was the most wonderful time of the year.

#kingdom hearts #kingdom hearts fanfiction #christmas #sora kingdom hearts #riku kingdom hearts #kairi kingdom hearts #aqua kingdom hearts #terra kingdom hearts #ventus kingdom hearts #roxas kingdom hearts #lea kingdom hearts #xion kingdom hearts #isa kingdom hearts #mickey mouse #donald duck #goofy #naminé #jiminy cricket #chirithy #christmas presents #guardians of light #all of the main characters celebrating christmas together #set a few years later #snowball fight #sokai #rikunami #rokushi #terraqua #akusai

[endy2eepy]

Favorite Toy Brands

I wanted to make a list of my favorite brands of stuff (mostly toys and games) when I'm in littlespace!

Melisa & Doug ✨

This one's pretty well known (also a bit pricey) but they make lots of roleplay/pretend play toys- especially food themed ones, but also doctor/nurse sets, cleaning sets, ect. They have really good wooden toys.

American Girl ✨

Super duper pricey, but they're the best doll brand especially with their older stuff since each doll has a whole character with books and collections and some even have movies! They've also got lots of craft kits. I recommend MyLife as a cheaper alternative though (that's where I mostly go for extra stuff for my dolls, like clothes and furniture... if I don't make it myself of course!)

(btw here's a link to a Google Drive folder with almost all the movies and books from American Girl)

Make It Real ✨

Arts and craft kits, mostly fashion based. I can't speak much for their actual kits, but I love their fashion sketchbooks!

Nintendo (& Ubisoft) ✨

Video games... duh! I have a Wii and a DS and I love to play Just Dance on the Wii and the Petz series and Imagine Series on DS (all Ubisoft, I think) and also the Wii series games (Nintendo, obviously) and EA playground (EA, obviously)

Kidrobot ✨

Cool plushy store that collaborates with shows and stuff! I really want the Warner Brothers (and the Warner Sister, Dot!!!) plushes and a few others

disclaimer: a lot of these are toys that I want, not that I have- so if you buy them and the quality is bad and you're disappointed, just know that I am too!

#endys sleepy rambles #endys half asleep ideas #agere #age regression #sfw littlespace

[boredtechnologist]

Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors (999) for the Nintendo DS, a visual novel and adventure game, thrusts players into a dark, enclosed space where nine individuals are forced to participate in a twisted game of life and death, designed by the enigmatic figure known as Zero. The game intricately weaves themes of survival, betrayal, and the human psyche under extreme conditions, making it ripe for a deep sociological analysis. Drawing from the theories of Émile Durkheim, Erving Goffman, and Zygmunt Bauman, this exploration delves into the societal underpinnings and psychological horrors that characterize the interactions and decisions of the game’s characters.

Building on this premise, Émile Durkheim’s concept of anomie—a state of normlessness where traditional bonds and ethical norms are disrupted by major social or economic changes—perfectly encapsulates the environment in "999." The participants find themselves abruptly stripped of their societal roles and plunged into a situation where the usual moral constraints do not apply. This radical shift produces a kind of existential crisis among the characters, where solidarity is fragmented, and actions become increasingly governed by a survivalist logic that justifies extreme self-preservation. Durkheim’s perspective suggests that such a breakdown in moral norms may lead individuals to act in ways that are radically out of step with their behavior in normal society, setting the stage for Goffman’s analysis of self-presentation in crisis.

Transitioning to Erving Goffman’s theory of dramaturgy, which examines how people present themselves in various social situations, likening these interactions to a theatrical performance, we see its application vividly in "999." The confined ship acts as a stage where players must continuously perform for survival, often manipulating their identities and intentions to influence others. Goffman’s ideas illuminate how crises can transform personal identities into masks worn for strategic purposes, as each character crafts and recrafts their social facade to align with shifting alliances and threats. This façade management becomes a critical tool in navigating the life-and-death stakes of Zero's game, revealing the depths to which individuals will sink to ensure survival, thus leading into Bauman’s exploration of modernity’s moral implications.

Zygmunt Bauman’s exploration of morality in modernity provides a lens through which to view the ethical dilemmas and inhumanity within "999." Bauman argues that modernity has not led to greater humanization; instead, it often facilitates moral indifference and inhumane acts through bureaucratic structures and distancing mechanisms. Although "999" does not involve large bureaucratic systems, the game’s structure as designed by Zero creates a similar effect, where characters are reduced to numbers and potential liabilities or assets. This abstraction allows players to detach from the human aspects of their peers, viewing them instead as obstacles or tools in their quest to survive. Bauman’s perspective sheds light on how structured settings can strip away humanity, pushing individuals toward ruthless pragmatism.

In conclusion, "Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors" is not merely a game about survival but a profound sociological and psychological commentary on the human condition when pushed to extremes. Through the lenses of Durkheim, Goffman, and Bauman, the game emerges as a dark exploration of the lengths to which isolation, fear, and the breakdown of societal norms can deform human interactions. It forces players to confront unsettling questions about the nature of self and society—how fragile our moral constructions may be, and how quickly we can be driven to betray our deeply held values under the right pressures. This analysis not only deepens our understanding of the game’s narrative and characters but also challenges us to reflect on broader sociological issues related to identity, morality, and survival in the face of profound crises.

#Nine Hours Nine Persons Nine Doors #999 #Zero #Zero Escape #Retro #Gaming #Pixel Crisis