Spiders

Feel like I’m in a similar boat. I bought Pokémon Red the day it came out on Game Boy, and as much as I adored it, that’s the last one I’ve played. I feel like everything since is not that different.

Arceus looks so much more like what I wanted the series to evolve towards and I’m looking forward to the impressions from vets and newbies alike.

@durrdevil That’s really the meta-joke. The Alex Jones clip is funnier if you know the truth or at least the published science; the fact that chemicals in the water trigger hermaphroditism — a natural but uncommon process — and Alex Jones called it “turning gay” is hilarious, and the joke is on him.

I’m glad someone else is in on it because it becomes incredibly unfunny trying to explain it.

@Cosmo_Joe I agree with a lot of what you’re saying, but I think there’s room for a better conversation about it.

What you’re saying is exactly right — “gay” was a co-opted word that, in most contexts, had nothing to do with homophobia at all, but it also was able to be used in a hurtful way, even if the word itself is not an insult — kind of like “Jew”. It’s not insulting to call a Jewish person a Jew, but if you’re calling a non-Jewish person a Jew it becomes an insult.

I think that for the most part, ‘gay’ stopped being used because as gay lifestyles became more acceptable and more people felt comfortable being openly gay, the average person found more gay people in their lives, found out the word hurt them, and didn’t want to use it anymore because the intent was basically stripped from it with new context.

The n-word had a different but similarly “bottom-up” journey in the 90s, when there was a “post-racial” feeling that widespread use of the word would take the power away from it, but also it covered for the more hateful context. I think it was done in a good spirit, but ultimately no, I did not work, and now we can’t even say the word, only refer to it, and probably for the best in 99% of circumstances.

I don’t think that social apparatus is in place anymore.

On the one hand, there is no room for intent, no slack for forgiveness and desire to reconcile. You are a bad person for using ‘gay’ or ‘lame’ because a good person would never say that.

Now the problem there is that it pushes you into a corner where you are defending the action because you know your intention, but no longer are unaware of the hurt it causes some people. It’s kind of a trap. The indignation of one side pushes the other into the very transgression, proving the point of the perpetrator. That’s why intention is SO important, but it has been devalued in internet communication to the point of being a liability.

We need the room to learn and make mistakes, the humility to be wrong, and the grace to be good without making someone else bad in doing so.

@antdickens We might be around the same age and I agree, it was not ok — certainly not as Ok as it seemed. But that’s not now. The majority of the Western world is beyond supportive of different sexual preferences and identities. It’s not perfect, but does making it taboo again really help? I think that’s the trap every generation falls into when progress happens. We’re always preparing for the last war.

Ultimately it’s not a gay joke, it’s a conspiracy joke with the word gay in it. Maybe they could of done some editorial work and changed the word ‘gay’ to anything else because the joke is that chemicals dumped in the water are changing them and can be done to the populous, but this isn’t Rockstar level satire.

@Ralizah I’d it though? ‘Disinformation‘ is deliberate misinformation done by a government entity, agency, or authority. Are you saying governments are misinforming the public on purpose?
Your post is misleading, thus it’s misinformation. They should put a warning on it.

@King-Demon Children being exposed to sex is fine, just not to jokes that can be possibly misleading and dangerous misinformation. Did you not get the firmware update? Give your head a shake!

@antdickens Fair enough, but I don’t know if we can put the toothpaste back in the tube for what information children can get access too, or if we even ought too.

Every generation is shocked by what their children have access to, but the trend continues to stampede in that direction that, to my mind, means we our effort should be in helping children navigate the world and to think as critically as a child can, not sheltering them from everything until the dam inevitably breaks.

I know “turning the frogs gay” is a lot for an adult to unpack for a 7 year old, but what choice do we really have? We’re through the looking glass. Prohibition makes contraband, and kids love contraband more than candy.

And seriously, who does this humor appeal to besides juveniles? It’s Mortal Kombat, it’s Postal, it’s Custer’s Revenge, and even that’s giving this game too much credit for being provocative or dangerous.

@TryToBeHopeful Honestly I think you’re right, I’m just hedging my bets that I am too old to understand it and am missing something... maybe we all are.

@Cosmo_Joe It’s not a joke about gay people it’s a joke about conspiracy theories.

@antdickens Why is it inappropriate? On a top level, it’s a meme, which is essentially the “pop culture” layer of the modern world, and it’s enshrined as a joke.
If anything, it’s offensive to Alex Jones, who was, to put it delicately, not exactly wrong, just incredibly coarse and imprecise: https://www.pnas.org/content/99/8/5476

@RR529 Great comment! I also agree that SMTV was very influenced by Monolith’s Xenoblade and BOTW (which obviously was too). It’s a slow and subtle revolution of the JRPG I hope more devs take note of while the taste-makers like Square and Namco chase Western dollars.

Well deserved! My favorite RPG on a system with some heavy hitters. Hope Atlus continues to give love to the Switch and particularly demon love... Devil Survivor, Strange Journey, SMTIV, and Soul Hackers are all great candidates for the hybrid.

@whitemage You’ve done a great job explaining the appeal of the game and the series. Wonderful comment.

@UltimateOtaku91 They’re not unique AFAIK, only the conceptual ownership is unique.

@IGN_Commenter Right. Like a wage incentivized me to work for someone else’s profit. Why do you think nobody read the article?

@Mikmoomamimocki Unfortunately most entities that make games aren’t making them for fun, but to make money.

Also, unfortunately, many people now play games not to have fun, but because they are addicted.

@SwissCheese I think NFT enables the marketplace that profile bound loot does not, and that market is where you apply gambling, addiction and FOMO pressure without the regulations. Plus their talking about “user generated content”, so this is a way tokenize this new kind of labor, even though it’s being called a game.

@TryToBeHopeful For sure, but the baseball card and comic bubble still happened, and just last year Pokémon cards were making news.

I agree with you in principle, but these things have a way of happening without them making sense on paper.

@TryToBeHopeful I agree, but I think that’s too obvious. NFTs have already shown they can garner immense value, even when nobody understands them.

I don’t know about plastic cups, but baseball cards and CCGs have made whole cloth markets out of perceived scarcity of things.

@victordamazio You seem like you know what your talking about... do you have a good resource to learn about blockchain/NFTs you can link?

Not to sound completely conspiratorial — I’m not super well-verses in this stuff — do you worry that the way the establishment is maligning the blockchain as “anti-environment” is a way nip alternative economies in the bud? There’s something very suspicious about it but I don’t know enough to say for sure.

@Zuljaras It’s the opposite. These kind of models will subsidize games like this so that only the wealthy will be able to easily afford crafted offline experiences and the “rabble” will be in these play-to-earn economies.

Even at best, it bring a lot more opportunities for classism directly into game worlds as opposed to now where it exists outside them (for the most part).

A lot of bangers in one of my favorite genres. My poor wallet!

@Eighties Save the indies, how is that list not “the same types of games”? How many Forza games are there? Deathloop and Returnal are innovative in the context of AAA, but not in the context of the industry.

Tastes change and there’s nothing wrong with that, but it’s really tied to perspective. Sure, Dread is “more of the same” from one perspective, but it’s also only the 5th 2D Metroid over the course of 30 years. Hitman 3 is the 8th game in the series like it since 2000.

Splatoon 3 will be “more of the same”, but it’s still an incredibly innovative property with little else like it (Rocket League, Knockout City, Ninjala).

Move on, sure, but let’s not pretend most of the hobby is iteration, not innovation.

@6thHorizon Wakeup call? Nintendo crushed 2021. Edge is hanging on to the prestige of what it was, and swapping in indies for Nintendo games in an otherwise obvious list isn’t going to bring them back to relevance.

@RubyDevilNine I meant go outside of yourself. Imagine another POV. Might be a nice vacation.

“You will never make me change my opinion, no matter what you say.”

I know you think that’s a statement that makes you sound strong. It’s heartbreaking to hear you feel that way.

@iLikeUrAttitude I appreciate you taking the time to write that, and it makes it easy to see where we’re getting hung up. You’re emphasizing “Their picks...”, I’m emphasizing “... for Game of The Year”. Not their favorite games, not the ones they enjoyed the most, but the best games.

Of course it’s subjective and flawed at some point, but well before at the moment of discussion at criticism.

I’m glad you agree with my sentiment on retreating to opinion. We’re just not agreeing on what this article is. I don’t think it’s an opinion piece, I think it’s a judgment, or a ruling, and that opens it up to different kind of criticism.

@RubyDevilNine Go outside yourself... literally. The true world is made up other people, not your thrashing, defensive individualism.

Maybe you don’t “follow the herd” like a sheep, but that doesn’t make you the wolf, mate. You’re a stubborn ass who doesn’t listen or learn. You don’t have to be wrong for any longer than you force yourself to be.

If you still don’t see “the point”, that’s fine. But digging in to a position that has no merit other than your own overdetermination to not be a “sheep” is such a willful kind of ignorance, I don’t understand why you think anyone ought to value your opinion.

If you don’t want to be a sheep, maybe be more curious, like the cat, or silent like the turtle.

@RubyDevilNine Well, look at it from Hugo’s POV and not your own and maybe you won’t be so perplexed at “the point of this award”.

Also, who says young people don’t read books? People who ask the question: https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2018/08/teenagers-read-book

@Tyranexx Hades is nowhere near as punishing. Really, it doesn’t punish the player at all. It’s an incredibly rewarding loop — especially dying.

I think I’d recommend for you.

@Tchunga I forgot that even came out haha. For real, I think fans of Bravely Default II, MH Stories 2, Deltarune 1+2 and SMTV — three strong JRPG titles — can all give the side-eye to some of the games (and DLC) in this list.

Even at best, the list currently makes 2021 look way more barren than it actually was. Really great games all year ‘round, just no “blockbuster” titles that got a ton of hype.

Bowser’s Fury is supposedly is that good, and not really an expansion or DLC, but I don’t think anyone even expected Animal Crossing DLC or a re-release of the least popular Zelda to even be nominated.

@UglyCasanova You’re not alone, but plenty of people also think it was well worth it, and others don’t stop playing the game when credits roll the first time. I got 45 hours out of it and when I get it back from loaning it out I will play through again.

The thing is you’re absolutely right for you, and absolutely wrong that that is the case for everybody. Different strokes, but respect that they made a great game for many, many people. Game of the year, even.

@iLikeUrAttitude How is it so hard to understand the difference between “My favorite game of 2021 is Metroid Dread” and “The best game of 2021 is Metroid Dread”?

You don’t get to advance a statement as fact and retreat to it being an opinion whenever it’s convenient, and even so, opinions aren’t some protected class of statement.

@iLikeUrAttitude But they’re presenting opinions about facts, not facts about opinions... it’s “the finest games” not “games we liked most”.

No Shin Megami Tensei V? What a snub!

No Eastward? The game I got hornswaggled into buying from NL’s glowing write-up?

DLC and re-releases? Brutal. Decent list otherwise.

@Tyranexx It’s depends what you don’t like about rogue-likes. It really transcends the genre but plenty of people have an aversion they can’t get over.

@RubyDevilNine From who’s POV? Hugo is a very prestigious award, and video games really has nothing like it, so it’s great for gaming. Young people don’t read since you can’t stream it, so it may pulls some eyes onto the scene, which makes sense for Hugo.

What don’t you get?

@Fiskern Author also says awards were “unfocused”. It’s not unfocused it’s literally the best games from 2020. They seem to be more confused than the readers.
Congrats Hades! Well deserved.

@Wexter I completely agree with you. Great post. @mariopartyfan68 should read it. ^^^

@mariopartyfan68 Read the wiki: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/AAA_(video_game_industry)

Just because you want Nintendo to be “AAA“ doesn’t make it so... like I said, it’s debatable at best and for certain franchises. And who cares? Again - like I said - the term has nothing to do with the quality of a game.

None of the games you mentioned are “AAA”. Luigi’s Mansion? That’s a joke. It was a mid-tier release when it was on the most powerful hardware at the time. Splatoon is my favorite game of all-time. It ain’t “AAA”.

@mariopartyfan68 Every 3rd party AAA game this year had a PS5 release and Sony put out Ratchet and has timed exclusive on Deathloop... what are you taking about?

Nintendo’s only AAA franchises are mainline Mario and Zelda — and even that’s debatable. “AAA” isn’t about quality it’s about budget, project scope, and marketing. It’s a silly term that should have stayed with insiders.

@Wexter I’m not sure how much was planning and how much was luck.. and then a shrewd move. My conspiracy theory: there was a plan in place to launch a “Switch Pro” this holiday but the chips couldn’t be manufactured due to supply chain breakdown. They did, however, already order the OLED screens, thus the OLED model... a new Switch SKU with the parts on hand and “off-the-shelf” components.

Really I think Microsoft had the best hand, being that they’re in the subscription business now and hardware is not an obstacle to revenue, and Nintendo kind of backed into a good position by being a very conservative yet creative company. Sony got nailed: moving major projects back to the creaky PS4, scraping together a subscription service, and still throwing their marketing budget at a machine they can’t fully capitalize on.

@Samuel-Flutter Not really. Those numbers are all consoles combined.

Wii U Nov 2014: @250,000 sales
Switch Nov 2021: 1,000,000+ sales

@Slownenberg Same! For a short game, I’ve got 45+ hours in it and am planning another play through after I finish SMTV. It just feels so good to play. I can’t think of a character that feels as good to control — maybe a Mario game, and Splatoon is the only other thing that. reaches that level of game-feel.

@Scooby-Doo I’ve taken almost as many screenshots in SMTV as I have in BOTW. Stunning art design.

70 hours into Shin Megami Tensei V. Just when I though it was letting up, boom, it shows the best it’s got so far. So much fun, so impressed, and my favorite RPG on Switch with a bullet (over Witcher 3, Dragon Quest XI, Fire Emblem 3 Houses and Octopath Traveler)... until they port over XCX of course:)

@Krull I turned the mini map off, and “hide panels when moving”. So immersive! One part later on I turned the minimal on for a bit to make it easier. Give it a shot, especially since you’re digging the Monolith-like exploration.

@KStowell1994 Dread mine (though currently playing SMTV and I wouldn’t be mad seeing it win polls) but none of the “GOTY” front runners have a broad appeal, which makes it really interesting. Metroid Dread, Shin Megami Tensei V, Monster Hunter Rise are all hardcore niche titles. It leaves a lot of room for sleepers too, like people are listing in the comments.

Dread is probably the broadest appeal just by being a Nintendo IP, but how many people are turned off by 2D gameplay and by the genre, etc.?

@Smashmatt202 Deltarune is getting some GOTY chatter elsewhere... surprised it’s not a headliner on NintendoLife.

@TheWingedAvenger You really think so? I played the first 3 stages and I thought it was good, but didn’t really elevate over the great NES games it emulated. What made it special for you?

@Dijita Why would people vote for games they haven’t played, and why would you assume that?

1. Metroid Dread
2. Subnautica
3. Shin Megami Tensei V
4. Monster Train
5. Ghosts N’ Goblins Resurrection