Monthly Update: September, 2026

 

Something, something, Trump is a shitty human being, and it continues to be increasingly frustrating with the ineptitude of Congress and their abdication of power to the President's whim.

Anyway.

The Squire has an unofficial claim on the Switch 2, and coupled with the aforementioned issue of Nintendo accounts, buying a second Switch 2 would not solve this issue.  Or at least, it would end up creating another issue like the one I currently have with the Switch OLED.  But unlike the Switch OLED, which I currently have at my office, I can't take the Switch 2 to my office to play on my lunch breaks, because The Squire likes to play LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Skywalker Saga or Donkey Kong Bananza after school.  Granted, I could always pull the "You can play the Switch 2 after I get home from work," but I'd rather have him spend his screen time playing a video game with Conklederp than watching another LEGO YouTuber from two years ago idolizing Drake, Mr. Beast, and Elon Musk all while chugging down a gallon of Prime; "Leave a comment below which rich celebrity we should make next in LEGO, and tag them in the chat so they know we're thinking about them!"

Anyway.

I could play the Switch 2 at night after The Squire goes to bed, and I have done that a bit, more so after Star Fox came out, but more often than not, I'll be playing the Steam Deck at night.  The problem, though, if I do play the Switch 2 at night, is that it has to be a game that I can easily save so that if I start to doze off, I can save without worry that The Squire will turn on the system to find an open game, and then close down a game I'm playing to open up LEGO City Undercover, or Wario World, thereby losing any unsaved progress.  

This lack of playing the Switch 2 has definitely dampened my desire to buy games for it, although I have purchased a couple.  Games like Star Wars Outlaws, Bravely Default, and the soon-to-be-released Nintendo Switch Sports Resort, along with recently released and upcoming titles that I've been eyeing: Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave, Chronos: The New Dawn, Octopath Traveler 0, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, Final Fantasy Resonance, Castlevania: Belmont's Curse, and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Remake.

The other issue, once again, brings up the Nintendo Tax, that amorphous price hike because 1) the game is being released on a Nintendo system, and 2) the game is receiving a physical release.  As I've mentioned before, I would love to have as many of the games I buy be physical copies (game key cards now?), and cost is definitely a factor when deciding if I buy Elden Ring on Steam for $35.99 on sale or the physical release on Switch for $79.99.

In non-Switch-related news (btw,  Nintendo just increased the price of the base Switch 2 from $449.99 to $499.99 for NA markets), I've hit a mental wall with Outer Wilds, but don't take that as a critique of the game, but more the way I've ended up playing.  I've mentioned before that I was afraid that, because of the way my brain works and how I play games like this with such a large "world" to explore, I was going to end up completely filling out the ship's log while trying to actually reach the end of the game, when only 3.8% of people who've played the game on Steam have completed the ship's log.  I'll likely look up a walkthrough for what I think is the last part, after I confirmed with Dr. Potts that part of my plan was accurate.  It feels like a daunting plan that I'm afraid will take me multiple attempts to get right.  And I might look up how to get to the Sun Station from the Ash Twin

Lastly, apparently Netflix is prepping to do a Ravenloft series with John August as a writer; he also wrote for the Tim Burton productions Frankenweenie, Dark Shadows, Big Fish, The Corpse Bride, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.  Deadline seems to think this is a boon, and their article reads that a Tim Burton-esque project, even though Tim Burton himself is not attached to the Ravenloft project, would be an amazing complement to Netflix's IP of Wednesday.  The only Tim Burton aesthetic I could see being relevant to the type of Ravenloft that I would be interested in would be Sleepy Hollow, although even that still had a little too many stripes in it for me.  Now I just have to worry about who they're going to cast for Strahd and if they're going to film flashbacks to Strahd and Sergei's youth like a mumblecore homage to Twilight, like I'm the IP owner or something.

We're now in September, so spoopy season it is.

~JWfW/JDub/The Faceplantman/Jaconian
Dial 1-900-Mixalot

Monthly Update: August, 2026

 

Where do I start with July and August?

There was the Sony announcement about Sony no longer supporting physical media by 2028.  There was the Sony announcement about the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita stores closing.  There was the Sony announcement about 551 previously purchased movies from publisher StudioCanal through their video store no longer being accessible due to expiring licensing.  There was the Crunchyroll announcement (who are also owned by Sony) that access to their online store for physical media will only be accessible to people who subscribe at the higher levels of their subscription service.  There was the Xbox announcement that they're laying off 3,200+ employees and either closing or selling off five smaller studios they've purchased in the last six years.  There's the ever-ongoing RAM shortage brought about by DRAM and DDR5 manufacturers focusing on manufacturing products for data center construction over consumer products.  And the President of the United States is still a petty bitch who still doesn't fully understand why he took the United States into a war in the first place, and, unrelated, how tariffs work.

Video Games!

While I haven't finished any games recently, I have made a fair amount of progress in the games I have been playing.  I just cleared 2,000 out of 3,072 books in Librarian: Tidy Up the Arcane Library!  I'm nearing the end dungeon and lead-up to the final battle in Super Lesbian Animal RPG, and I'd probably be finished with the game with about 10 fewer hours if I played it more than when I'm lying in bed and tend to fall asleep while playing.  You know the JRPG Grinding Sleeping Syndrome.  I'm also only seven puzzles shy of completing Picross for a Cause.  The last two puzzles I have to finish, one of which is the final puzzle, are absolute beasts; it's a 30x30 grid.  What makes that puzzle really difficult is keeping track of all of the minor changes that end up happening when you solve the more difficult puzzles.  I'm also near the endgame of Outer Wilds, or at least I think I am.  My Ship's Log is missing only a handful of entries, but I still haven't completed the main story.  It's one of those things that at times I think I know what I have to do and then it turns out that that's not the solution; such was the case with the Dark Forge, and I'm still trying to figure out how to get to the Southern Observatory but the underside of Brittle Hollow collapses before I can make it across the path lined with gravity crystals; can gravity crystals support a ship?

On the Switch, The Squire is making his way through LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga.  Both Conklederp and I are playing with him.  We're currently finishing up The Rise of Skywalker, but then we still need to go back and beat all three games in the original trilogy.  But we just unlocked and bought Darth Rey (Sith Rey?), so he's pretty happy, even though he'll commentate how he thinks her in-game outfit isn't accurate because it's different from her minifig in the Dark Falcon LEGO set, while also naming all of the parts that make up her in-game minifig.  On the Switch OLED (that I've been keeping at work and only playing physical games on), I'm on Chapter 17 or 18 in Triangle Strategy, so I'm pretty close to being done, and do I have a medium to long-length article about that game once I do finish.

I've been moving away from games received from Keymailer, partly because I would like to play more of the games that I've actually purchased.  I do occasionally look to see what publishers are offering, and if something jumps out at me, I might request a code, but I'm being significantly more picky these days.

Lastly, by the time this goes to print, Conklederp and I will have finished the wonderfully short first season of Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, a prequel series to A Song of Ice & Fire.  It's a great adaptation of George R.R. Martin's short story series of the same name, although the short stories have their own subtitles like "The Hedge Knight," "The Sworn Sword," and "The Mystery Knight."  I'm not a Dunk & Egg scholar, but I've enjoyed what has been adapted from both the books and the comic series, as well as some of the additional content.

We'll leave it at that.

~JWfW/JDub/The Faceplantman/Jaconian

My Back is Aching So Bad

Not a First Impressions for Outer Wilds (VSD)

 

Outer Wilds

Release Date: May 28, 2019

Systems: Windows, Xbox One/S/X, PlayStation 4/5, Nintendo Switch

Publisher: Annapurna Interactive

Developer: Mobius Digital

Time Spent: 18 Hours 36 Minutes

As the title states, this is not a First Impressions article for Outer Wilds (thanks so much, Dr. Potts!🤎).  This is more of a confession of sorts and a brief explanation as to how my brain is working with progression in this game.

First off, I'm going to avoid spoilers because the Outer Wilds community is excessively protective about talking about story points.  There's even an in-game character who literally says, "If I tell you how, it'd kinda feel like cheating."  I did look up a solution to a particular puzzle involving quantum mechanics and the Observer Effect, because I felt like I was running out of time. I consulted the Internet, and their one hint reminded me of a piece of equipment I had forgotten about that I wasn't actually using.

And that's been it.  I have been experiencing this game without any further assistance, and at times it feels a bit daunting because of how the game progresses.  There is an in-game Ships Log that keeps track of all of the information that you collect while you're out scouting the solar system. As I see that log fill up with more information about more planets and other celestial phenomena, and seeing that little orange tag "There's more to discover here," I know that there's still more to find out.  The way I feel like I'm experiencing this game, in order to fully understand the story and to reach whatever the actual ending to this game is, I need to complete this log.  But only 3.8% of everyone who's played Outer Wilds on Steam (upwards of 101,000 people) have actually completed the ship's log, or maybe they did while in offline mode and the game didn't recognize their achievement.  So only 3,838 people have completed the ship's log, but likely more than that have actually finished the game, meaning that understanding the game and beating the game are not reliant on completing all of the entries in the ship's log.

That knowledge both comforts me and worries me a bit.  On one hand, knowing that I don't need to find out every bit of information in this entire galaxy is a significant weight off my mind.  On the other hand, if I don't need to find everything, how will I know if I'm investigating the correct line or if I'm following a thread that only 3.8% of all other players on Steam have discovered?

Ah well.  I guess it's just time to wake up, roast another marshmallow, and head back out into space.

~JWfW/JDub/The Faceplantman/Jaconian

O partigiano porta mi via

P.S.  I love the trees in this game.

Monthly Update: May, 2026

 

I feel like April was moderately productive with punctuations from various horror games, because nothing screams horror games like April, 2026.  Organ Quarter, The Exit 8, and 8AM.  Then, in the coming weeks, we'll have some more articles for a couple of additional horror games on both Steam and Quest 2 VR.

On the Switch, I started Hades, for good or ill.  Meaning after only three runs and dying to Magaera twice.  I'm hooked.  I've not played a lot of rogue-likes, but I totally get the "one more run" at 12:30 in the morning.  I also tried showing The Squire Scribblenauts Unlimited at the same time I was trying it out, and that is some wonky keyboard typing mechanic in that game.  Was it invented by Steve Jobs?  I was hoping for some touchscreen functionality akin to the other Scribblenauts games on the DS, but this typing mechanic, I think, is going to kill the game for the Squire.

On the Steam Deck, I'll bounce back and forth between Outer Wilds, which Dr. Potts got me for my birthday, Ace Combat 7 that I'm slowly progressing through, and also recently started (because why play just one game when you can play eight?) Karate Survivor.  I was telling Conklederp yesterday that I sometimes find it hard to start up Outer Wilds because of how vast and daunting the game feels, with there being very little direction apart from "Go explore the solar system and discover stuff."  But once I get into the cockpit of the spaceship and take off from Timber Hearth, I feel more driven and focused.  Thank bloody Christ for the digital corkboard, which tracks your planetary progress through each loop.

On my laptop, I'm also playing back through NightSky, which I first received from Dr. Potts back when Humble was still doing Indie Bundles.  This was specifically Humble Indie Bundle IV, and now I can finally say that, 14 years later, I've either beaten or given the ol' college try to all of the games in that collection and will have a collection of Game EXP articles in the coming weeks.  I'm also a slut for nonogram games, specifically, right now, Picross for a Cause, which is no longer functioning for a cause, but is now just a massive Picross game that's free on Steam.

Reading-wise, I just started part II of John Steinbeck's "The Red Pony," which is part of a larger collection of short stories called "The Long Valley."  But that's an old-timey hardbound book that I like to read downstairs.  Upstairs, while I'm in bed, I'll either read "Shadows of Doom" by Ed Greenwood, also a physical paperback, or "Mexican Gothic" by Silvia Moreno-Garcia on my Kindle.  I also have perpetually open a chronology of all of H.P. Lovecraft's works and all of Arthur Machen's works.  People should really read more Arthur Machen.

~JWfW/JDub/The Faceplantman/Jaconian

I Found a Bird

P.S.  Also, our President (still) sucks.

Monthly Update: April, 2026

 

I feel like I've actually got quite a lot on my plate right now.  I have almost three months of MIDI Week Singles queued up, although six of those articles are related to a Game EXP dump I'm in the process of writing/finishing.  Not really a "dump" per se, more like two short articles covering three games a piece, and since they've all had great music, I thought it would be a perfect excuse to feature some of that music too.  I also have several articles in various stages of being unwritten for cultural bangers like Horses, Mashina, and The Exit 8.  As I look at my list, I also realized I never wrote my article about Resident Evil 6, which wasn't as bad as I was expecting it to be, just the evolution of where the game was going since Resident Evil 4, along with the expansiveness of Resident Evil Revelations in the story they wanted to tell and how they wanted to tell it.  But we'll leave that for the inevitable article.

And then I seem to have found myself playing multiple games again.  I'm about 38 hours into Divine Divinity, just over five hours into Outer Wilds, 2.5 hours into Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP, and I even started playing Dustforce a little while ago, but I don't know if I'll complete that game, as there seems to be a three-star equivalent mechanic that was prevalent in every other game to come out between 2008 and 2015.  I don't really have it in me to complete that game, or games like it, right now.  And I started another new character in Neverwinter Nights when I remembered that I had the Diamond Edition over on GOG.  But again, I've got that queue nipping at my heels.

We can't really talk about what happened in March without mentioning the Firefly animated series announcement.  A lot of the articles I've read as a reaction to this announcement laud the fact that they're going back to the time between the end of the TV series and the beginning of the movie, and from what I understood, this was supposed to be Seasons Two and Three of the show.  I get it, though, if you do a prequel to the movie, you get to have Wash and Book back, and if you're going to pitch an animated reboot of a show to a fanbase that loves the buhjeezus out of its crew, you might as well jump to a time when that crew was all still alive.  There's still plenty of show there with the development of Book's character and his leaving, as well as Inara.  Plus, the crew needs to have some bad stuff happen to put them in the bad place they're in at the start of the movie, and there're plenty of stories to tell to get them there.  Out of all of the possible announcements about a return to that hill'verse, I feel that this is one of the better routes they could take.

Movie-wise, there were quite a few trailers released in the last week:

• The Masters of the Universe
• Backrooms
• SUPERGIRL

And then there are movies that were released or are releasing within the next week:

• The Super Mario Galaxy Movie
• Exit 8
• Technically, this was released last year, but our favorite theater near us is getting it this weekend, so...
• And speaking of last January, Iron Lung, based on the game from the same name by David Szymanski (Fingerbones, The Grandfather), was released.

Now is the era of small indie horror games, all typically selling for fewer than $10 USD, to get arthouse film adaptations.  And Super Mario Bros too, I guess.

And absolutely nothing else is going wrong with the world.  Nothing.  At.  All.

~JWfW/JDub/The Faceplantman/Jaconian

And There's No Need I Know

Monthly Update: March, 2021

 

It's March.

I knew this would happen and not just because February has fewer days in it than the last February.  March is going to be a strange month for a couple of reasons.  First, this will be the one-year anniversary of our state going into lockdown mode of which we were brought out of it too soon.  A year since Conklederp and I decided that it would be safer for me to work from home, which I was thankfully able to do, but ended up being called back to the office in July as they were able to enforce social distancing between desks and put up a sign that at least says that masks are required even if not everyone who enters the office is wearing one [as I type this mine is actually dangling from my headphones cord because I was just finishing eating my lunch and drinking (more) coffee].  I will also be celebrating my second birthday of the pandemic.  It is now more than a year since either Conklederp or myself have been bouldering (the last time was Friday, February 21, 2020).  And it will have been a year since Breanna Taylor was shot and killed in her own apartment for perceived drug and drug-related money possession for people who did not even live at that residence (and who was currently already in prison) after her boyfriend fired at the intruders who broke into her apartment (the boyfriend said the Police busted in unannounced, the Police say announced themselves).  And Elijah McClain is still dead because he was Black in Aurora, CO and that was apparently offensive to the police there. And to date, more than 500,000 people have died from COVID-19 since March of last year which is a mind-boggling amount of people when you stack it up like that.

How do you work around all of this?  I mean that rhetorically, figuratively, and directly.  How are you handling all of this?  I've actually been pretty fortunate really.  I have a wonderful family (both in my house and all my friends I consider family who don't live in our house), and I have an amazing support network of people I can reach out to (although I don't really because that's just the way I am, but knowing that they're there is comforting as all hell).

Oh, and Former President Trump incited an attempted take-over of the US Capitol back in January by declaring for months that the election would be rigged if he lost and that there was no way that he could possibly lose and did you see how many people voted for him in November which was more than the number that voted for him in 2016 and how could he lose with those numbers and the Republican branch of the United States Senate were too worried about their 2022 re-election bids to do anything about it.  I know that was almost two months ago but it's still something that bugs the shit out of me if I think about it too much.  I should probably close that tab in my browser that I've had up for over a month.

Okay, moving on.

How about that Nintendo Direct huh? I mean, there were some announcements that I do not particularly care about (so I'm not bringing them up here), but I was kind of surprised by Nintendo HDing The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword considering how much of a demand I have seen (particularly) on Twitter for there to be HD updates of Twilight Princess, Ocarina of Time, Wind Waker, or Majora's Mask be ported to the Switch.  I know a lot of people complained about the controls on Skyward Sword and I appreciate that Nintendo has given the player the option on how they want to play the game, otherwise they would be alienating their entire Switch Lite base.  I am also pretty stoked for Mario Golf Super Rush because as I have said a number of times before, is that I love me some non-realistic golf games and I do recall really enjoying Mario Golf on the N64, which this looks to be a supped up version of that.  I do not see myself getting too involved in the competitive online aspect of it as it feels like it could be very ripe for cheating and I really do not have any drive (eh!?) to play competitively, golf is already an aggravating enough sport to play with randos online halfway across the globe.  I just finished the demo for Project Triangle Strategy [sorry, project: TRIANGLE STRATEGY™ (working title) Debut Demo] and there will be an article for that either this week or next, but I have a lot of thoughts about that.  Surprisingly, I do not know how to feel about the DLC for Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity even though I love the game.  I think the idea of paying for access to extra characters and a few more areas (and weapons and clothing I think too) is not that appealing to me?  But I am only 27ish hours in and not even halfway through, so that thought may change the closer I get to finishing the main campaign (and all side quests).  As for the ports being ported to the Switch, I will probably give Fall Guys a go because unlike Among Us, I do not really enjoy engaging in online communications, and I am pretty excited about The Outer Wilds.  I am also (not surprisingly so, but maybe just a little) excited for the HD release of Legend of Mana even though I have only played two games in the series (Final Fantasy Adventure and Secret of Mana) and completed zero of them.  Maybe I should get on that?

And closing out February, I jumped on two #IndieSelect Games from Brazillian publisher QUByte Interactive, GEMiNi, and Spooky Chase.  At the moment I am planning on having #IndieSelect articles out on Tuesday and Thursday, which could mean that we'll have articles every day this week, but we'll have to wait and see. Because looking at my writing queue, I kind of surprised myself (a lot of that going on recently it seems) as I have a number of articles started, both games and gaming related.  So now I just need to pace myself and like everything else in life, find the time to get them started, proofed, and finished.

Stay safe out there people.

~JWfW/JDub/The Faceplantman/Jaconian
Instrumental

Completely Unnecessary E3 2018 Wrap Up That You Don't Really Need To Pay Attention To: Special 2018 Edition

The Logo That Never Gets Old! Special 2016 Edition Maybe

So E3 happened, and while I tried to pay as much attention as a full time employee is able to afford themselves, I was really only able to watch Bethesda's pre-E3 presentation on that one Sunday night.  The rest of everything I caught up on four weeks after E3 was over. . .or something close to that; you get the idea.

So in the vein of previous E3 articles that we have featured on our sliver of the gaming rambling portion of the Internet, I am going to continue with listing and briefly talking about games that managed to peak my interest over the last week.  And these are games that I had no prior knowledge of before this last week, so games like Dark Souls: Remastered for the Switch (which I have already pre-ordered), Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (because I have no interest in the franchise), or FIFA 19 (because I like to keep my sports games simple), I will not be mentioning.  Again.  I am going to stick to the previously unknown to me.

And this is by no means an exhaustive list as I do not really have that much time, so if I have forgotten about your favorite game, franchise, character, or DLC, leave a note down below in the comments and I will look it up.

So, without further ado, here is an alphabetical list:

Carcassonne
I was completely unaware of this game, in either its board game or video game form.  And while my paranoia about playing board games against a computer is fairly well documented, I feel like after watching the trailer, I am more apt to pick up the physical board game.

Cyberpunk 2077
It is kind of odd that I feel semi-obligated to put this game on here having only played one game by CD Projekt Red, but I guess that is how a studio gets their hooks in you.  With one really good game.

DOOM Eternal
I loved DOOM on the Switch, and previous entries in the DOOM series, so this should make a lot of sense.  And because of the success of the revamped DOOM, I am not surprised that this looks similar to DOOM II's take on demons of Hell have invaded/attacked Earth.  Also more Mick Gordon music is a good thing.

The Elder Scrolls: Blades

I really was not expecting any announcements for The Elder Scrolls, so when Blades was announced for both mobile devices and consoles (coming later apparently), I was pretty excited.  Now, I am probably not going to be playing this on my phone as I am not a fan of touch controls on mobile devices in the way that they show here (although if it is as engaging as Dead Space: Mobile, I may just have to), the fact that they said it is also coming to consoles (which hopefully means the Switch) is an added bonus.  At least as far as I am concerned.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - Very Special Edition
This was a pretty hilarious part of Bethesda's presentation and I really appreciated that they were able to laugh at the public's semi-ridiculing of their porting Skyrim to as many devices as it is currently playable on (currently nine I believe).  Then on Monday, I thought it would give it a try on our Echo Dot (thanks again Shramp), and lo and behold, it is a real thing, although it does not have the level of actions that are present in the trailer.  It is still pretty fun, albeit repetitive, to play.  My skill with a weapon, skill with magic, and my shout are all level 7.

The Elder Scrolls VI
I realize that this trailer was probably created to appease The Elder Scrolls community who would have been (and was) upset at the announcement of Fallout 76, considering that Fallout 4 was released only three years ago, but it was still a pretty great teaser.

Fire Emblem: Three Houses

Fire Emblem: Shadows of Valentia on the 3DS was my first foray into the Fire Emblem series and while I was more than happy with SoV, the style and tactics of the series definitely got its hooks into me, so now I am awaiting this game as well.  Let us just hope that the game is not sold in three separate editions where you have to buy each one in order to experience the entire story, although I can easily see either DLC or amiibo related DLC as a component here.

Outer Wilds

You know, I really like the visual aesthetic here, possibly because it reminds a little bit of RiME, but obviously more detailed.  Also the music is a major factor in being drawn to this game.  I also liked that they specified that it was "hand crafted" as opposed to procedurally generated, probably to distance itself from being labeled as another No Man's Land.

Rage 2

I really liked the first Rage game so I was pretty excited to see the Walmart announcement that Rage 2 was going to be showcased at E3.  The trailer looks like more of the same of what I liked from the first game, although this one seems to take place closer to after the asteroid hit earth than the first game, which is you basically saving the world.  Either way, I will have to upgrade my computer if I want to play this thing.

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
After watching the trailer, I would have been surprised if this was not a game from FromSoftware as it seems very Japanese (in the best way possible), and very Dark Souls-esque, although the combat seems looser and more fluid that either Dark Souls or Dark Souls II (I have yet to play any other game by FromSoftware, but I feel like those are good tastes of their style).

So those are a handful of games that I felt like talking about that were either announced at E3 2018 or were news to me after the week long HERE'S OUR STUFF fest.  I realize that if you were coming here to find out what all the top games were and how our predictions matched up to reality, then I welcome you to our site for the first (and maybe last?) time, because that is not how we do things here, but you are more than welcome to stay nonetheless.



~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian
Cause You Make Me Feel So Brand New