Happy Friday the 13th… oooooooh spooky. I’ve been thinking a bunch this week about friendship after I came across this chart a while ago.
The pandemic has changed a lot of the social dynamics of my friends and acquaintances. I’ve grown apart from some people and closer to others, and I’m not certain if it’s all a bad or good thing as my social circle shrinks. I’m thankful that for all the sadness and anger we have all experienced for over a year, I’ve had people in my life to help me get through it.
That’s enough introspection. Let’s get to the goods!
Video Games
It took me two weeks before I held off on talking about video games. I warned you this would happen. Nintendo held an indie game showcase this week on YouTube and of the many games announced, here were my highlights:
- TOEM – a cute 2D/3D chill photography quest game.
- Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon – Shovel Knight + puzzle game = YES
- Eastward – I’ve been following this game for a few years. It’s an RPG with a stunning art style. It just looks very intriguing to me.
- Axiom Verge 2 – A follow-up to the original from one man developer Tom Happ. I played through the original twice. It was the most Metroid-like non Metroid game I’ve ever played in a good way. The world was so isolating and alien and full of places to explore. This was shadow dropped the earlier this week and I hope to play it soon.
- Loop Hero – A game where you control the world of an RPG rather than the character.
Also announced and much to my surprise, Tetris Effect: Connected will be coming to Nintendo Switch on October 8th. If you’re not familiar with Tetris Effect, I wrote about it when it came out two years ago. This is a milestone release for Tetris, and fortunately, it won’t be locked to any platform when it finally comes home to Switch.
— David Rousset (@davrous) August 11, 2021
Okay, I like QR codes now.
YouTube
Did you know that the Ohio Department of Transportation has a YouTube channel with a show called The Loop, and that they are celebrating 300 episodes? Some comedy is incredibly cheesy, but I’ve enjoyed finding out what’s happening in the state. Without it, I wouldn’t have known that Morgan County had a roundabout training session preparing for their first roundabout. Now only if I can send them my ideas for roundabout fatigue centers.
Technology
“The Linux of social media”—How LiveJournal pioneered (then lost) blogging | Ars Technica
This reminds me a lot of when Yahoo purchased Flickr.
Facebook may be forced to sell Giphy one year after buying it. I wrote about this a last year since they were effectively planning to use GIFs as tracking pixels.
Popular Culture
Idris Elba is going to play Knuckles in the second Sonic the Hedgehog movie. (I haven’t seen any good &Knuckles memes yet.)
BACK TO THE FUTURE Gets a Manga Book Adaptation in Japan – Nerdist
A website dedicated to browsing fictional TV shows and movies from other TV shows and movies. Featuring but not limited to: The Rural Juror, Kickpuncher, Ghandi II, Angels with Filthy Souls. The design and artwork is so good.
That’s all for this week. I hope you’re doing well, and thanks for supporting me here. I’m really hoping I’ll get some questions or comments on some ideas of what you’d like to see here next week, so throw them my way!
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